Narnia

Today Bel and I made our first journey into the Wardrobe.

It's magical. And snowy. She loves it. I love snuggling on the couch with my girl and a cup of coffee to read a magical book. The perfect way to start the day. Absolutely.

It totally made me forget that I had less than 4 hours of sleep last night. Well, the four cups of coffee may have helped with that too...

Reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to my daughter may just be incentive enough for me to wake up earlier in the mornings. If you know me, you know that it is my firm belief that morning does NOT begin before 8:30am. And Heaven help the person that interrupts me before my first cup of coffee.

Emotional maturity. That's what this is.

Random question: What are your thoughts on Steampunk? When you hear "Steampunk" what is the first image that comes to mind? Do you even know what Steampunk is?

Oh happy evening. Enjoy, my friends. I am off to enjoy my spiked cranberry juice and a fun book. Yes, steampunk. How'd you guess? ;-)

DragonCon

In case I haven't shared enough about how completely nerdy I am (yes, it needed to be bold, underlined and italicised)...

My best friend and I--high school freshman. I was Batman.
My mask had eyebrows like Adam West's Bat suit 

Dragon Con is coming to Atlanta. The original Batman and Robin, Adam West and Burt Ward will be attending. Gah! Actually, I recognized over half the list of celebrity attendees...Patrick Stewart anyone? John Rhys Davies and Billy Boyd?

Unfortunately, I have no money and can't go...*tear*. This is tragic. Maybe next year.

Until then...

Live long and prosper

Lawn Mowing

I mowed my back yard today. I've never mowed a lawn before. It was exciting. Mostly because the jungle that had moved into my yard while my hubby has been sick was cut back. If I could find batteries for the camera I'd have taken a picture to show you. Sadly, all batteries have been stolen by Borrowers. Look at your knees and imagine the grass and weeds brushing up against them. That was my back yard. Tempe wasn't allowed to play outside in case we lost her...

Just kidding...sort of...

So I think my skin is permanently dyed green. After I refill the gas can and finish mowing the last strip of yard I may look like the Wicked Witch of the West... Why was she green, by the way? (only asking about the original story) Was she even green in the original Baum book? Or was that an MGM addition like the ruby slippers...hmm...

I have an actual post coming up--hopefully tomorrow or the next day. It's been difficult to write. It has been a week of sadness...many tears have been shed. But I am feeling better. Thanks to all my friends to have hugged me and listened to me...I love you.

Cookbook progress

Did you know I am writing a cookbook?

It is a collection of recipes--main course to dessert--that are dairy free, gluten free, and/or just lactose free. This week I've spent time in the kitchen perfecting some recipes, brainstorming over recipe ideas and writing. It's been really fun! Before presenting the cookbook to publishers I need 100 original recipes. So far I have just under 20. But I'm working on it!

So far my absolute favourite main dish is a dairy free Buffalo Chicken Pizza. So many flavours come together into a delicious taste explosion. It's completely divine. Best part is that eating it I don't even miss eating cheese!!!

Hmm...now I want one...

My very good friend has graciously agreed to help me with this huge project. She is a gluten free foodie chemist. We've enjoyed cooking together since 2002... More likely than not at least one recipe in the finished book will have an unofficial Star Trek theme. =) Because we have way too much fun not to do something crazy like that...

Today I am researching cookbook writing software and publishers. Not that I am anywhere ready to begin the publishing process, but being informed is good.

My goal is to have the 100 recipes created, perfected and written by the New Year. My hope is that if all goes well my cookbook will be at the publishers. We'll see.

Am I completely crazy for being paranoid about posting my original recipes here? I want to share and get feedback, but I'm crazy worried that whatever I do share will be stolen and used elsewhere so I can't publish it later. But I also worry that I have spiders living in my mattress. Which I don't. But you never know. See? Paranoid.

Like Paranoid Parrot. Have you seen those?  Google it. Laugh hysterically. Picture me. =)

I googled this. I don't own it. Although this fits me perfectly.

BJs, Barf and Blabbermouths...

On Wednesdays I usually try to avoid shopping. The stores are filled with people taking advantage of senior citizen discounts. This is one thing I can't wait to get old for...saving money just because I'm old. =)  Today the trip out was unavoidable. We were out of milk. Heaven forbid my husband and youngest child be deprived of their cow product. BJs has the best price so we took a family trip to the mega store.

Have I mentioned that my husband has pneumonia? He's one of the worst patients ever. He hates being sick. He hates being sick in bed even more. Thus a trip out. Fresh air makes him (slightly) happier.

My kids love BJs because they have shopping carts with cars attached and samples. Unfortunately with my dairy intolerance I am unable to partake of the samples...they smell really good, but the kids enjoy them. Today there was a cheese sample booth. Tempe was thrilled. Cheese! Her favourite! As she scarfed down her tooth picked triangle of processed cow product I turned the ridiculously large shopping cart towards the milk aisle. Then, it happened. My almost 3 year old barfed all over the floor. Apparently, she doesn't appreciate provolone. Huge mess, worse smell. Disaster.

Tempe was quite pleased with herself. She told everyone in the store what she did. And her sister made sure to tell everyone how naughty that was.

I may not be allowed back in BJs.

Question for you: How do you teach your kids to keep silent about personal information???

Isobel and Tempe go up to everyone they see wherever we are and tell the strangers their names, address, parents name, etc. And then let the strangers know that they aren't allowed to talk to strangers. I love that my kids are brave enough to talk to people. Later in life that skill will be very useful. However, right now they refuse to learn the art of silence. And about keeping personal information personal. The Walmart cashier knows almost more about my life than I do. This disturbs me.

So how do you teach your children about strangers and not blabbing info that will get me robbed? At this point, short of duct tape, I don't know what will help them learn. HELP!!!!!

My Kids

My kids make me laugh.

They say the darndest things.

This morning their father and I went through a few boxes in the storage room. They were full of junk. High school yearbooks (yikes, I looked so geeky...in a bad way), Adventures in Odyssey tapes, signed posters for bands I was obsessed with in high school, a Civil War nurse Barbie, etc. Junk.

We did find my Aragorn (from Lord of the Rings. If you didn't know this, I'm sad) action figure. He's about a foot tall. He has a giant plastic sword. Isobel inheirited him. To say she's thrilled is an understatement. Tempe was given the Barbie. This is an example of their play conversations. Yes, I am quoting exactly. Sadly I didn't get any of this on film.

Isobel (to Tempe and Clara the Barbie): Hi, I'm Aragorn. I'm awesome cause I have a giant sword."

Tempe (to Clara the Barbie): Pretty dress!!

Isobel: So, how about you and I get married?

Tempe: EEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (exit scene)

Isobel: *Sigh* I guess I'll go kill some bad guys now. Mom, what kind of bad guys does Aragorn kill? (insert my brief explanation) Oh...I don't have Orncs. Can Aragorn kill dragons? I have a baby dragon. Let's go kill the baby dragon, Aragorn.

They also rode together on the pony Grandma brought from NYC. It's huge. Bel's feet don't touch the ground when she's sitting on it. Aiya.

Isobel's "We killed the Bad Guys" face. Aragorn is victorious. He died shortly after apparently. Arrows to the chest.

And my pic is sideways again. How do I fix this problem?!?!

So. I really don't have anything else to say. My husband is sick with pnuemonia. Between taking care of him and the kids I haven't done anything worthy of blogging about. I knit. And watch Murder, She Wrote. And eat way too much homemade ice cream. Oh, and I made "brownie in a mug." Have you ever done this? It's not the best brownie I've ever eaten (since I don't love brownies it doesn't matter), but for only taking 2 minutes it was great!

Mix together in a coffee mug: 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, pinch of salt, 2 1/2 TBS cocoa powder, 2 TBS oil, 3 TBS water. Microwave 90 seconds. Eat. I topped mine with homemade peach ice cream. Tasty. The brownie recipe link is here.

Now I must go back to taking care of the family. Happy Tuesday everyone! I'm looking forward to seeing my friend tonight for White Collar. Tuesdays are awesome.

/?!@#%*(&

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all..."

That's nice Thumper...that's nice. Always hated the movie Bambi.

My phone is my worst enemy at the moment. Or, actually its the person who calls, but the phone sends me the call. I dread the phone ringing. That ever happen to you?

I can't say who calls (*coughmotherinlawcough*) or what about mostly because I won't be able to say even one nice thing. And you don't need that. Or to know my every thought and feeling about certain people. =) Suffice it to say, my husband is extremely hurt and angry at his mother and has every reason in the world to feel so. As his wife I am hurt for him, but also feel completely useless. What can I do? Nothing. Butting in would make things worse for everyone. Sitting in the sidelines of a fight while your most loved person in the world is in the ring is hard.

Anyway...

To celebrate my younger brother's orientation for his new job (!) I am making this recipe. from the blog "Return to Sunday Supper." We love shrimp. We love spicy food. And we really love warm crusty bread to mop up yummy sauces... Since I've never made this recipe before I cannot say for certain that it's amazing and you should try it. But it does smell amazing... 

I am also making homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert. If the recipe turns out well I'll have to share. Since everything must be completely dairy free for my dietary restrictions ice cream is hard to come by. Before being diagnosed with dairy intolerance, ice cream was my favourite summer treat (and winter treat...if you eat cold foods your body will be cold to match the outdoors and you won't get sick). Now I only get ice cream if I'm willing to shell out $5.99 for one pint of So Delicious brand coconut milk ice cream. It's tasty, but every bite is swallowed with the pain of spending that much money. Then, while shopping at BJs I saw a carton of whole milk lactaid and ice cream was forefront in my brain. So we'll see!

Dinner time. I shall try to bring back good reports.

***UPDATE***

Dinner was amazingly incredible. I mopped up every last drop of the spicy rich sauce and mourned when my tummy was too full to eat more. I predict a battle over who gets the leftovers. This is definitely a make over and over again dish!!! Best shrimp I'm ever had...

Ouch

I threw my back out yesterday. My mother in law is coming in town tomorrow at noon. The house is a wreck. Messy, dusty and dirty. AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  But, because of my back, the weather and her own whatever, she is no longer staying the night or next weekend. Thankful in some ways, but sad for my girls sake. And I threw my back out cleaning her bedroom out for nothing...

In happy news, my hubby and I got our date. We went to see Snow White and the Huntsman. It was fine. As far as epic movies go it was pitifully short on epicness. Epicness, is that a word? Kristen Stewart was Kristen Stewart. Chris Hemsworth was Thor (I loved Thor). Charlize Theron was pretty awesome as the Evil Queen...but after watching Once Upon a Time (twice) she wasn't nearly as amazing as Regina. Loved Once Upon a Time. The back story was so incredible. If you haven't seen it, DO!

Do you have Netflix? We got it a month ago. I'm completely addicted. While my hubby was playing a video game last night I laid on the couch and watched The Women on the 6th Floor. It's a French film. It has subtitles. I love subtitles.

I'll bet you didn't know I like French films. Loved Cryano de Bergerac (with Gerard Depardieu), the above stated film and am greatly looking forward to seeing The War of the Buttons with my brother's girlfriend when it comes out.

This post is rambling and strange...sorry...I'm on pain meds. And can't sit down...only allowed to stand or lie down. Have you ever stood up to type? It's an odd feeling...

When I am no longer in pain I will post something substantial. Lots happened over the weekend that I want to share. But not to type while standing up... 

I didn't forget about you. Wanted you to know.

Bleh

I spent several hours today mentally composing a brilliant blog post for today and now that I have the time to sit and write it the exhaustion from today's activities has sunk in and I am way too tired to even remember what brilliance I was going to share with you.

Long run on sentence. See, I'm tired.

Cleaned for 4 hours straight today. Then came home to a messy dirty house. That's depressing. At least other people get to enjoy cleanliness. Maybe tomorrow my home will join their ranks. But probably not...

Tomorrow my hubby and I are going on a date!!! It's been several weeks since our last date. So excited. It's very needed.

Now I shall enjoy a (large) serving of dump cake and watch an episode of "Lie to Me." Because someday I may need the skill of lying undetectably.

Dump Cake. If you were here, I'd share. Since you're not, I'll have yours...

A day of rest

Happy 5th of July, my friends.

I'd have said happy fourth, but I was busy baking yesterday.

I made cream scones, and used my favourite cookbook (Traditional Scottish Recipes by Eleanor Cowan) to make Scottish Shortbread (I cheated and dipped an end in dark chocolate). Yum. You need this cookbook if you like cooking and enjoy ethnic food. You can buy this cookbook here. Not only do you get to read interesting facts about Scotland, but you also get to enjoy the intricacies of metric conversions. And you can make Rumbledethumps. Come on, admit you are dying to try something that sounds that awesome (even better, they taste amazing and are EASY to make).

Anyway...

The girls did sparklers this year. Tempe had the time of her life. Isobel was mortally afraid of the sparks. If it hadn't been so pitiful it would have been funny. Oh, who am I kidding. I totally laughed about it after she went to bed. It is nice to see my mostly fearless child actually afraid of something.

Bel shrinking back from her sparkler. Right after this was taken, she dropped it and ran away shrieking



Tempe with her "FIREWORKS!!" Happy girl



Naturally the girls went to bed late. Tempe fell asleep right away, but Bel watched the fireworks from her window for a while. I know this because I check on them. I really wish I'd had the camera on me. Picture this: Tempe sleeps in a trundle bed under the window. Tempe was completely out, dead to the world asleep and her sister was on her knees straddling Tempe's head watching the fireworks out the window. Hysterical. And weird. Bel got back in her own bed and claims to have dreamed of beautiful fireworks all night long...

They are both napping today. I might join them.

What did y'all do for the 4th?

Keeping Cool

The sprinkler broke yesterday.

Ordinarily this wouldn't be news. Things break all the time. But this came out of the box broken. The Dora the Explorer sprinkler the girls picked out to play with was unwrapped and wouldn't work.

My two girls were already in their bathing suits. They were hot. And if I fed them one more popsicle they'd have collapsed in a sugar coma. (in hindsight a tempting thought...)

Improve time! We watered plants. And the girls. Because they need to be watered to grow tall, don't you know.

Then we filled the 5 gallon home depot bucket and used it as a make shift pool. Tempe was expecially hysterical with it.

Sorry for the sideways photos...for some reason they won't rotate. They aren't that way on the computer!!!

Anyway, they had fun. They kept cool. We ate watermelon. My plants are no longer wilting. Pretty successful, wouldn't you say? The girls are requesting a repeat performance. =) Maybe tomororrow...

Monday

It's Monday. My third cup of coffee for the morning is sitting in front of my as I type. The kids are watching their 6th eipsode of Dora the Explorer for the day, which I justify by claiming they are learning Spanish. Ha.

I actually put on make-up today to hide the dark under eye circles. I'm also wearing earrings. Another thing that rarely happens. The attitude of "why bother" is something I'm trying to change. I am home with the kids all day and rarely go out to more than Publix but it is nice to feel all put together.

Yes, I am actually that pale. No, I am not a vampire. Although rare steak is tasty...

So, this weekend was actually productive. In the personal crafty sense, not the "cleaning out the room in preparation for the in law visit in one week" sense. Trying not to think about that. Anyway, I caught up on Etsy updating, uploaded pics from the camera, painted the girl's fingernails, made coconut candy, knit, and watched way too much White Collar. Oh yeah, also read a couple books. See? Fun productivity.

These are dark chocolate covered coconut candy. They may not look pretty, but boy do they taste awesome! Isobel and I whipped them up and were enjoying them in less than 30 minutes. Fortunately I had everything in the pantry and didn't even need to leave the air conditioning! Score!

Dark Chocolate Coconut Candy (homemade Mounds)

2 cups shredded coconut
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (or, if you are like me and cannot consume dairy use a splash of dairy free milk and 1/4 cup light corn syrup)

Stir together until combined. Sample to ensure it wasn't poisoned. Sample again just to be sure...
Using a small cookie dough baller scoop the coconut onto a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Chill while you make the chocolate.

2 cups dark chocolate chips
2 TBS shortening

Melt together in a small pot over low heat until smooth. Take off heat. Using a fork, drop the coconut balls into the chocolate to cover then place back onto the waxed paper until all are done. Freeze 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!

If any instructions don't make sense, I blame Monday. Too much coffee makes my hands shake.

Off to BJs. This morning depleted my coffee stash.