Insights

I just got tagged again. Sorry for anyone who reads this for pics of my kids. :o) I don't mind tags, or surveys....I'm eager for people to know me better, and for me to know others better. (One of the many reasons I enjoy blogging.) This is an especially great tag because it makes me think. I'm going to try to not type the first thing that comes to mind and really contemplate my answers. Well, I say that now. It might just end up being whatever comes to my head first. So here goes.

I am... always struggling with what to do. What is the best thing. Makes for a lot of indecision. i.e. do I say I am... a mom? LDS? tired? a Libra? a hopeless people-pleaser? slightly scatter-brained? trying to be a grown-up?
I think... I'm going to type what comes to mind and therefore try to be really honest.
I know... God answers prayers.
I want... a daughter.
I have... the life I thought I would since I was 16. Married to Superman
I wish... I were a better mom.
I hate... not feeling satisfied. And I hate that. I need to learn to be content.
I miss... Kelli. There's a lot to be said for having a best friend in close proximity.

I fear... Superman dying young. And lonely nights where I cry myself to sleep.
I feel... very easily. It's not hard for me to empathize with anyone.
I hear... silence. I had to turn off my music so I could really think about what write. I usually hear the dishwasher, the dryer, the boys laughing or fighting, and the TV. I'm kinda diggin' the silence.
I smell... hints of popcorn and lavender/vanilla scented oil.
I search... for good deals.
I wonder... what I would do if my life were turned upside down.
I regret... not doing more drama or musicals in high school. And since. I shouldn't let "busyness" keep me from doing the things I want to do.
I love... Making my kids laugh. Covering them up at night. When Superman calls me "Babe." Bargain-shopping. Good hair days. Compliments.
I care... about whether or not people like me. Too much.
I always... want more chocolate.
I am not... in the physical shape I wish I were in.
I believe... the cup is always half-full. There's always a silver lining. I'm a Tigger.
I dance... to make my kids laugh. And to drumline music. Whenever I feel the beat and can't stop myself.
I sing... all the time. And my kids tell me to "STOP mom! Don't sing!" Everytime! I'm seriously going to get a complex...but I'm going to keep singing.
I don't always... do what I'm supposed to when I'm supposed to. I'm a bit lazy.
I write... SO much more now that I blog. I write about my experiences. I rarely record my true feelings, except in my journal.
I win... Disney Scene It! (That's seriously the only thing I can think of. I hope to win Breaking Dawn at the party this Friday night!)
I lose... household objects all the time. Can opener, screwdriver, downy ball, dog leashes, sippy cups, remotes, phones....the list goes on.
I never... watch the news.
I listen... to my intuition.
I can usually be found...doing one or more of the 4 C's: computer, cleaning, cooking, caring for my kiddies.
I'm scared of... rodents.
I read... chick lit, Twilight, and blogs. Mostly fluff. And Church lessons. But mostly fluff.
I am happy about... Spiderman waking up dry. The Hulk showing an interest in potty-training. Making friends. My new shoes.
And I'm not picking anyone in particular for this tag because I don' t want people to think I'm annoying. But I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend it.

wordless wednesday

A to Z tag

A is for age: 24. I'm kinda freakin' out about turning 25.
B is for burger of choice: Arby's roast beef
C is for the car I drive: silver Hyundai accent
D i for your dog's name: Maximus Decimus Meridius (Max) and Lucilla Meridius (Lacey). Yes, my husband's golden retrievers are named after Gladiator and his dead wife.
E is for essential item you use every day: mascara
F is for favorite TV show at the moment: So You Think You Can Dance
G is for favorite game: Hoopla -->fun version of Cranium where everyone's on the same team guessing stuff and you race against the timer.
H is for home state: There's no place like home, there's no place like home - Kansas
I is for instruments you play: piano and organ (...just the regular organ, not like a kidney or anything)
J is for favorite juice: Welch's Passion Fruit Juice. gotta get the passion somewhere...just kidding honey! :o)
K is for whose bum you'd like to kick: Heath Ledger's. 'Cuz he died.
L is for last restaurant at which you ate: Pizza Factory
M is for your favorite Muppet: Prarie Dawn was always my favorite. I like Yoda, too.
N is for number of piercings: one in each ear. I'm boring like that.
O is for overnight hospital stays: 2 times giving birth
P is for people you were with today: Levi, Isaac, Eric, Lisa and her daughter Maylee, and Eve and her sons Miles and Finn at playgroup
Q is for what you do with your quiet time: Watch TV, Eat, Read, BLOG!
R is for biggest regret: Not doing drama/musicals in high school
S is for status: Very Happily Married to my bestest friend {5 years on August 25}
T is for time you woke up today: 6 am to go walking. LOVE this morning habit!
U is for what you consider unique about yourself: I like folding laundry and ironing. That's really boring, but I can't think of anything really unique.
V is for vegetable you love: tomatos, corn, potatos
W is for worst habit: being lazy
X is for x-rays you've had: dental, forearm -->I broke the same arm twice in one year. Maybe that should be my "unique" thing.
Y is for yummy food you ate today: I'm writing this as I eat a Tony's pizza for lunch. I also had grape-nuts with raisins for breakfast. Probably yummier than the pizza. Definately yummier than the pizza.
Z is for zodiac: Libra. The scales.

And I'm not tagging anyone. But this is fun for anyone who wants to do it. Let me know if you do - I'd like to see it.

Steak Knives and Dodgeball

Yesterday was a rough day for me as a mom.

It was mostly my fault. I was up till about 1 in the morning, and I knew the kids would be up at 7. (In my defense, though, I was blogging. You know what it's like.)

So I was pretty cranky when I woke up. Spiderman brought me a popsicle and asked really nicely if he could eat it. I was so tired I just said yes and cut it open for him. (See, Motherboard? You're not the only who won't get Mother of the Year this time around!)

Superman had been up till about 4 am, so I was generously letting him sleep. (Nevermind that it was his choice to stay up that late playing. I think he forgot he's not 17 anymore.) But whenever I let him sleep, I get a little bitter. Not much, but a bit. I always think, "When is it MY turn to sleep in? When is MY day off?" Of course there are days when I ask him to get up with the kids so I can go back to sleep and I can't get back to sleep. What is that? I'll be so tired, but can't fall back asleep for the life of me! So I get up since I'm not sleeping, tell Superman he can go back to bed, then silently resent it. Such a typical woman.

So he's sleeping, the kids were watching a video after breakfast, and I decided to hop in the shower. No big deal. I had the chain locked on the front door, so no worries about the kids escaping.

No worries. Riiiiiight.

As I'm getting out of the shower, I hear the Hulk crying. Not a "I'm hurt," cry, but the "my-older-brother-is-terrorizing-me" cry. Great. So I open the door and see that the kids have steak knives.

STEAK KNIVES!! Are you KIDDING me?!

They wanted popsicles, surprise, surprise, and had pulled a chair to the counter and got the knives down to cut open the popsicles. I assume they then began to use them as swords (because they're little boys and everything is a sword) and chased each other 'round the house.

I do a quick assessment see that no one is hurt. Whew. Calmly take the knife from the Hulk. I give Spiderman "the look" and say, "Spiderman, give me the knife right now. Please."

So what does he do? He runs away. With the knife.

"PETER PARKER!! GIVE THAT TO ME RIGHT NOW!! COME BACK HERE! ONE. TWO. THREE!"

I storm to the couch, pick him up, place him in the corner, set the timer for the full 3 1/2 minutes. He's sobbing, because apparently I'm a bad mother for not letting him continue to chase his brother with the knife.

Meanwhile, my yelling has woken up Superman. This I feel bad about. He is a very heavy sleeper. It takes me quite a few minutes to rouse him in the mornings. Once I changed a screaming newborn on our bed, with the light on, in the middle of the night. He slept right through it.

So he gets up and mumbles, "What's the problem?"

"Oh, nothing, just your kids chasing each other with steak knives while I'm in the shower. Don't worry. Go back to bed." Said with a bit of sarcasm. Very dry and subtle, though.

I guess it was TOO dry and subtle, because he went back to bed. :o)

Really, that was okay. I still had about an hour till I wanted to go. And he would just sit on the couch watching cartoons with the boys, wishing he were in bed. So it was fine that he went back to sleep.

90 minutes later, I was walking out the door for some blessed alone time. All major catastrophes avoided. I had a great two hours. Got some shopping done, and found BARGAINS!! Cereal was $1/box! The Children's Place had all their summer stuff on clearance, so Spiderman is set for next summer. 'Cept he needs more shorts. But I got plenty of time for that.

Anyway.

I came home in really good spirits. I'm always rejuvenated after having time away, and especially after shopping. Am I right, ladies? The kids were doing alright, steak knives were all accounted for, and Superman's ready to walk out the door for some dog trainings.

After this point, I can't exactly remember what went wrong. I think I was still in the "alone-time" mindset and just didn't want to bothered with the kids. (Again, Mother of the Year RIGHT HERE.) They of course had to be wherever I was, underfoot, begging for whatever it was they wanted. Or "needed," as Isaac always says now. "I NEED milk. I NEED a popsicle. I NEED to go outside. I NEED video games." The list is endless!!

Of course, I don't want to grant any of these wishes. The kid LOVES milk. That's great. Except he doesn't want to drink anything else! And it's not healthy to drink the 9 cups a day he desires. It's not cheap, either. --I can't give him a popsicle everytime he wants one (though I can see how me letting him have one for breakfast might make him think that.) --If he goes outside, he'll go to the neighbor's and play in their garage and backyard whether or not their son is out there with him. I couldn't go out there with him because I had chores to do inside. --And I don't want him playing video games 7 hours/day! Even if they're computer games or the V.Smile games that teach him stuff. (I LOVE those, by the way! Spiderman's already learning stuff.) But he had already played them for a few hours.

Anyway.....where was I? Oh yeah. So the kids are pestering me and being whiny and I just wanted to be alone. Then I realize that they haven't had lunch. (Minor miscommunication on the parents' part.) Now I feel guilty for denying them all the food they wanted.

By this point, I'm feeling annoyed and guilty and a little sick to my stomache. (No particular reason. I think I was hungry.)

So I got some goldfish for the boys to snack on and set them up with Blue's Clues. I went and served some chips and salsa for myself, and saw the conference Ensign on the kitchen table. I immediately opened up to this talk from Elder Ballard. Remember it? I knew I needed to read that talk. As I was reading, I got a bit teary.

"There are moments of great joy and incredible fulfillment, but there are also moments of a sense of inadequacy, monotony, and frustration. Mothers may feel they receive little or no appreciation for the choice they have made. Sometimes even husbands seem to have no idea of the demands upon their wives. As a Church, we have enormous respect and gratitude to you mothers of young children. We want you to be happy and successful in your families and to have the validation and support you need and deserve. "

Elder Ballard goes on to talk about things we can do as mothers to make our lives better. He says, "First, recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.
"Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. … I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less” (Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11)."

So that night after dinner, I went out and actually played with my kids outside. The chores could wait. We played a very simple version of dodgeball. They had balls and chased me around the yard. They thought it was hilarious when they'd throw balls at me and I'd fall down. It was fun for me, too. Little exercise, lotta laughing. Very healthy. I highly recommend playing with your kids.

By the time Superman came home, the kids were asleep and I was folding laundry and watching "The Wedding Date." My bad mood was gone and I was feeling quite fulfilled.

**It's funny. As I sat down to right this, I was mostly thinking about all the things that went wrong yesterday. But by the end, I'm only finding good things. There are ups and downs everyday. My kids are toddlers. Of course they're going to whine, no matter how many times I ask them to "say it with a smile!" But they're also going to find happiness in the simplest things. Like throwing balls at mom. And eating pizza for dinner. And getting to say the prayer. And giving hugs and kisses before bed.

Okay. It's time for me to hop in the shower and start getting ready for church. And don't worry. I'm taking the steak knives with me.

p.s. Happy Sunday. And go back and read Elder Ballard's talk now. I promise you won't regret it.

Mosaic

1. Alyssa 2. Junk food 3. Goddard High School 4. Fuschia 5. Matt Damon 6. (Diet) Dr. Pepper 7. Historic Europe 8. Double Fudge Brownie Ice Cream 9. Mom/columnist 10. God & Family 11. Supermom 12. Lois Lane (if I had one)

I saw this on redhoodoos and desperately resisting chocolate and loved it. Here is how you can play too:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name. (kid version: favorite animal?)

So the photographers get credit: 1. Pretty Underbelly, 2. extra cheesy salami and mushroom pizza:), 3. Odd One Out, 4. New shoes always hurt, 5. Matt Damon <3, 6. The Dr. is IN, 7. Kampa Island, 8. 17., 9. Manicure Girl, 10. Day 27/365: Two years, 11. Day 22/365 Breakfast, 12. CHERRY ON TOP: TV

Wordless Works for me Wednesday

seven super summer songs

Ashley tagged me with this FUN song tag! I spent all yesterday listening to the radio, flipping between stations to try to figure out my summer songs. The ones I'm into have been on others' lists, so sorry for the lack of creativity. Is it great minds thinking alike, or the same stuff being played on the radio everywhere? You decide.

Here is the tag:
List 7 songs you are into right now. No matter what genre, whether they have words, or even if they are not any good, but they must be songs you are really into right now, shaping your summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they're listening to.

1. Viva la Vida - Coldplay

2. Bleeding love - Leona Lewis - I really liked the sons when I first heard it, but LOVED it after this So You Think You Can Dance routine


3. Piano man- Billy Joel

4. Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield

5. You're gonna miss this- Trace Adkins

6. I'm yours - Jason Mraz

7. She never cried in front of me- Toby Keith

I'm also completely infatuated with David Cook's live performances, though I'm not crazy about "Time of my Life," hence its absence from my list.

And now, I tag.......Angelica, Catie, Nemiha, Nikki, Anna, Delaynie, and Chelsea

Popsicles and blessings

About month ago, I found Otter-Pops on sale for $3/box. It was a good deal, so I bought them.

Bad idea.

I never want the kids to eat them, and they want to eat them all the time. My boys have not been trained to eat only in the kitchen, and I don't want melty popsicle everywhere, and I can't stay outside for 15 minutes with them everytime they want "pock-a-sill," as the boys call them. (Anyone else's kids dyslexic in speech?) Very frustrating all around, and I wish I wasn't so cheap and I could just throw them away.

Anyway, the other day the Hulk wanted a popsicle in the middle of dinner. He'd only eaten a few bites, and so I told him that he'd have to eat more of his dinner before he had a popsicle. He of course threw a terrible 2 tantrum. On the kitchen floor, bawling, nose running, face beet red, screaming, "I WANT POCK-A-SILL!!"

After a few minutes of this, I started to feel bad. He'd eaten a lot that day, (I never have to worry about the Hulk getting enough to eat,) and I wanted to just give him a popsicle.

But I couldn't go back on my word. I believe it's very important to be consistent with children. If you say something, you gotta follow through. Otherwise there's no trust, they don't know if you really mean it, yada yada yada. So I told him, "Just one more bite of dinner. I really do want to give you a popsicle, but you need to do what I ask." --I said it more for my benefit than his, as I know there's no reasoning with a 2-year-old mid-tantrum. Still, it was true.

A few minutes later he calmed down, came and sat on my lap and finished his dinner. I said, "I love it when you do what I say! I want to give you what you want, but you have to obey me."

Then a thought occurred to me.

That's exactly how our Father in Heaven feels.

He wants what's best for us. He wants to give us the things we desire. But we have to do what He asks before He can bestow those blessings on us. "When we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated," D&C 130:21. And God, being God, cannot go back on His word. He never has. He never will. That's why we trust Him. We trust that if we do what He asks, He will bless us and have all things work for our good.

I wanted the Hulk to be happy. I knew that eating the popsicle would make him happy, but I also knew that he would be happier (not to mention healthier) if he ate his dinner first. I'm a mom. I'm smart like that. And I don't like seeing my kids unhappy, (though sometimes the tantrums are a bit humorous. When my choices are laughing about it or pulling my hair out, I really try to laugh. It's just easier.) But I knew what was best for him. I was trying to help him, and teach him.

Being a parent has taught me more about our Heavenly Parent than any other experience in my life. I'm sure they'll be more lessons along the way. Just gotta keep my eyes and ears open for them.

I'm a Super Slacker

...when it comes to blogging these past few weeks. My family was here and we stayed incredibly busy. Here's my attempt to catch up because I have other stuff I wanna write about.

Whilst "the family" was abiding in my abode, we celebrated the celebration of Father Christmas. -----Uh, my attempt at funniness came out really weird but I don't have time to change it. Basically, we did a Christmas in July so my parents and grandma could get gifts for the boys and see them open and play with the toys.

Isaac was a little excited about the presents.

As was Eric about his ball.

---

"Christmas" afternoon we went to Jumpin' Jacks and the kids had a blast.

Isaac catching some air!

Levi even got in on the fun.

And then I got this:

WOO HOO!! I've never known how to sew before, but Mom started teaching me right away. She had a really simple skirt pattern that I'm already half-way finished with. And it WILL get finished because I'm telling you about it, so I now feel compelled to complete it and impress you with my skillz.

The Dark Knight

I have SO many things I need to write about......my family visiting, trips to Bridal Veil falls, Christmas in July, a lesson Eric taught me.....I just don't have time write now. (I'm currently writing this between bites of Grape-Nuts.)

But last night, Levi (my comic book fuh-REAK of a husband) and I went to go see the new Batman movie, The Dark Night. We went to the midnight showing. A bit crazy, but my family's leaving early Saturday, so its really the only time we could go and not pay for a babysitter. We're kinda cheap like that.

But I digress.

The Dark Knight.


It was AMAZING.

Blew my mind. Seriously -- grey matter all over the wall.

Now before I go on, I will say that it had very intense violence. When I could tell it was coming I squeezed my eyes shut, so I missed the most gruesome parts. I heard a critic today saying he thought it maybe should have been rated R for the violence, but the ratings board let it go because Warner Brothers is such a big studio, yada yada yada. Probably true.

But beyond the few shots that were too much for me, it was incredible. I was *literally* without words at certain points! I could feel that my eyes were HUGE and had to tell myself to put my eyebrows down. The stunts were inconceivable. You keep on using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. No, I know what it means. They were inconceivable.

Heath Ledger's performance is definately one of a lifetime. If for no other reason, his death is a tragedy because he will never play the Joker again. He was positively stellar. I would not be surprised at all if he won an Oscar. Even if he were still alive, I wouldn't be surprised. He's really that good. I can't think of enough ways to describe how great he was. It didn't sound or look like him at all. And his Joker has all these little idiosyncrasies that make him so.....real. Positively amazing.

Aaron Eckhart plays the DA Harvey Dent, and he's amazing in the movie as well. Gary Oldman, who plays Commissioner Gordan, is really good in it, too. His character is really fleshed out in this one.

And this felt like 2 movies. It's a 2.5 hour movie, and about 1.5 hours into I thought, "Okay, this is the end. It was really good. How are the going to tie it off?" And then it kept going. It was just non-stop from beginning to end. But it didn't feel like too much!!

It was like eating an entire half gallon of Dreyer's Double Fudge Brownie but not feeling sick afterward! It was just SO GOOD.


Sooo.....I guess you could say I was impressed by the movie. :o) Extremely impressed. Levi and I are going to see it again when it goes to the dollar theater.

'Cuz even though the movie is extraordinary, I'm still a bit of a cheapskate.

Wordless Wednesday....what we've been up to

P.S. Kiera took this last one. She knows what she's doing!

Blog Bling

One of my blog friends, Motherboard, gave me this award! I'm so excited! It's my first award! I'd like to thank the Academy......I mean, uh, well, I guess I'd like to thank Motherboard! She's a fun blogger who has some of the best posts. I especially love these about flying solo and merging. Her blog's a great blend of spirituality and hilarity. She makes me want to be a better blogger. :o)

I'd also like to thank Kiera. She's the one who really forced me to start blgging. I can't believe how much I love it. I only started about 4 months ago, and I might go so far as to say it's changed my life. Bit drastic, but true. I'm taking a lot more pictures of my kids. I've reconnected with people I thought I'd never talk to again. I even got a book sent to me that I whined about wanting to read! I'm writing again, and feeling really creative. I do feel like I'm keeping a record for "posterity," and developing my talents. A comment on one of my first posts led me to the LDS women bloggers, which I LOVE. I have met some really great women, even if they are only "imaginary" friends. Which leads me to......

My nominees.

1. Navel gazing at its finest

2. Veater family adventures

3. Back away from the mom jeans

4. Down with Down's

5. Cranberry Corner

6. Kiera

7. Anna

Here are the rules:

1. Post the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who nominated you.

3. Nominate 7 other people for this award and add links to their blog.

4. Leave a message for the people that you nominated!

What we've been up to..... kinda boring, but I felt the urge to update

My family came into to town from Kansas on Friday and life's been a whirlwind.

Isaac, (3) is ADDICTED to my younger brother, Spencer, who's 14. Glued to his side. If Spencer uses the bathroom, Isaac cries, saying, "I wanna see Spencer!!" And bedtime's hard, too, since Spencer doesn't want to go to bed at 8:00. But they're both having a great time. They just wrestle and tickle and play video games all day.

Sunday, Isaac was an angel in church. He just sat next to Spencer and didn't say a word! He didn't even try to get up!!! I'm seriously thinking about having Spencer move in with me. The kid's working miracles...

Eric's new favorite person is my dad. "Where's Papa?" He's one of my new favorite people, too. He fixed the latch on my screen door today! I know, it's pretty easy, but just one of those things we hadn't gotten around to. But now it closes all the way! Thanks Dad!

My mom started reading Twilight for the first time. (laughs wickedly, "SUCKERRRR! " No pun intended!) Yeah, she's hooked. She's reading New Moon right now.

And my Grandma had started the series, but hadn't read Eclipse. She finished it in two days and is now on to The Host. Almost done with it, in fact.

They're here till next Saturday. We've had such a good time and have more fun things planned. We've been to Thanksgiving Point, and plan on going to Temple Square, the Aquarium, and Bridal Veil Falls. Levi's even got 3 days off next week to spend with us.

I don't know what I'm going to do when I don't have babysitters on hand all day, extra people to fold laundry for me and buy my groceries. And occupy my kids so it's not just me or the TV! We are all going to go through serious withdrawals when they leave.

Unfortunately, all the pictures we've taken are on my dad's camera, and my computer's not reading his memory card. So I have no proof of any of this. But with any luck we'll get some soon.

This is starting to sound like a journal entry, so I'll close. Now you know what we've been up to, and why you might not hear from me again for another week. Ciao!

"Why am I wasting my time? I've got important things to do," Rabbit, from Winnie the Pooh

I was just changing Eric's diaper while he was watching "The Tigger Movie" and heard Rabbit say this. It's exactly what I'm thinking. I've got oodles of things to accomplish today, yet here I sit, blogging.

My family is coming from Kansas to visit us for two weeks. This will be my parents, my 14-year-old brother, and my grandma.

Tomorrow.

I have got to seriously CLEAN.

I am not a perfect housekeeper. I know this. My parents know this. My parents are not perfect housekeepers. I know this. My parents know this. But it's the first time my mom's seeing my home, and I want it perfect. I've gotta wash walls, vacuum baseboards, mop, do the bathroom, clean up all the junk that accumulates at the computer desk, (oh, who am I kidding? It accumulates everywhere.)

Plus all the normal stuff - walk the dogs, clean up after the kids all day, lunch and dinner, dishes, laundry....

Yet here I sit. I am SO addicted.

Now, I could easily go into why I want my house spotless. My Monica Gellar-esque need to please and have people like me. I could talk about why blogging is so addicting. The title of this post suggests I should. But that does not help me accomplish my tasks to day, and I desperately need to get them done.

I'm hoping that putting my to do list out for everyone to see will help me get it done. It did last time. I did everything on the list that day!

So here's hoping. It's already 9:20. And I have to walk the dogs and be home before 10, otherwise I have to shower again.

And I really don't have time for that today.

P.S. Happy Fourth!! I'm so excited for the parade!!!

Works for me Wednesday

Rocks in my Dryer has my theme for Works for me Wednesday. Her site has literally hundreds of links for easy recipes - 5 ingredients or less.

Here's mine for pasta salad:

Trio Italiano pasta
Tomato
Green onions
Cucumber
Italian Dressing

Cook pasta, drain. While cooking, slice and dice one tomato, one cucumber, and some green onions. Mix with cooked pasta. Add a good amount of italian dressing. (Enough to thinly coat everything, but it's your preference.) Cool in fridge for an hour, then enjoy!

This is my favorite dish to make/eat in the summer. Sometimes I add parmesan cheese.

The best thing I make from scratch

I'm posting this recipe because I have a picture of it. I would have done it for the WFMW, but it's more than 5 ingredients and I wouldn't exactly call it easy. I mean, it's not hard, but it does require a bit of effort.


Chicken Parmesan:
2 chicken breasts
1 egg white in bowl
4-5 T italian bread crumbs
garlic, pepper
few T olive oil (EVOO for all you Rachael Ray fans)

1 16 oz can tomato sauce
parmesan cheese
mozerella cheese
trio italiano pasta
(I do one breast/person, so if you're serving more people, you'll probably need more of the bread crumb mixture and more tomato sauce.)

Start boiling water for pasta. Pre-heat oven to 350.

Dip chicken in egg whites to cover chicken. Mix bread crumbs, garlic and pepper in a bowl. (Mixture is mostly bread crumbs, with about 1/2 -3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, and a dash of pepper.) Coat chicken with mixture. Place chicken in skillet with EVOO over medium heat, lightly fry on both sides. The chicken will not be completely cooked, but that's okay since it's going in the oven.

Pour tomato sauce into casserole dish. (8x8 or 9x13 work.) I used to leave the tomato sauce unseasoned, but have started adding spaghetti seasoning, parmesan cheese and garlic & pepper since DH doesn't like straight tomato. Both are delicious. Just a personal preference.

Add now-fried chicken to sauce. Cover generously with mozerella cheese; add light layer of parmesan cheese. I also sprinkle mozerella on the sauce. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Finish cooking pasta, drain.

Serve chicken over pasta.


This is the only dish I fry, but it is SO worth it. I get a lot of requests for it. I've even done it in the crock pot before so when we come home from church I only have to do the pasta.