Guess Who I Hate Most Right Now

"You are kidding me!!!!" Mrs F yells out

Signs Of Late Night Procrastination

more baking...

oh and some of this too...


Video Update:

Distractions

This morning I woke up and found myself unwittingly cast as a supporting actor on our own family version of "Intervention". It's kept me away from the blog all day. Suffice it to say that NOBODY should ever... EVER... accept a drink from a strange man. If you do you might actually die from the fucking morphine they slipped in your drink. And if you don't die you will fail the drug test you take two days later (completely coincidental) and your doctor will think you are a drug addict. And, really, no amount of explaining will convince them otherwise and pretty soon your whole family will begin to wonder if you are actually a drug addict or just an irresponsible 21 year old (it is sometimes very hard to discern between the two) who would, in fact, both wear a "I'm 21" birthday tiara and then accept drinks from creepy strangers.

And In The Morning...

I look like a sprightly elf!

Now You Know

"We're moving" I say to Kid

"Well... I'm not happy to hear that." Kid replies

Ta Da!

You'll Know When I Know

This Week The Plan

So I'm a little late... sue me.


I'm just trying to stay afloat. We've got a ton of stuff going on with the end of Kid's school year and appointments up the wazoo even without the move looming over my head. I'm going to do my best at keeping up with a menu but I foresee plenty o' take out in our near future. I am not going to put one ounce of energy into cleaning right now (waste of time)... I can clean when the house is ready to show. As for packing... that is a hard one... it is IMPOSSIBLE to do with the kids underfoot. I'm going to have to give up exercise and just try and focus on clearing out the basement in the evenings. Mr F really can't help at all during the week... and the kids are still too little to leave unattended for more than one minute (trust me). I'm hoping to get the basement cleared out by the time we take our vacation (mid-June).


Menu:

Monday - Pasta Salad

Tuesday - Chicken & Broccoli w/ Peanut Sauce over Rice

Wednesday - Kid & Mr F date night

Thursday - Tomato & Meatball Soup

Friday - Pizza

Saturday - Chicken with Pasta Primavera

Sunday - Salmon Caesar Salad


Chores & Errands:

Monday - who knows?

Tuesday - groceries, packed up sewing boxes

Wednesday - groceries, laundry

Thursday - haircut!!, move out holiday bins and hand-me-down bins

Friday - get dumpster

Sat & Sunday - slave away


Diet & Exercise:
I'd like to say I can keep this up... but let's face it... I can't.
I'm hoping for 1 - 60 min pilates session and 1 - 60 minute cardio sessions this week. I just want to keep up my strength and endurance. As for food... I guarantee I will not gain so it kind of doesn't matter (the low level nausea helps in this department... as does the IBS) I'm going to keep food journaling just so I can stay accountable and so I have an easier time transitioning back once the stress is alleviated.

The Stress Made Me Do It

Peanut Butter Smoothies
taken from "The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion"

6 T butter (I used unsalted)
1/2 c peanut butter
1 c granulated sugar
1/4 c brown sugar (I used dark)
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla
1 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 c chocolate or peanut butter chips, or lightly salted peanuts

Preheat over to 350. Lightly grease a 9x9 pan (I lined with parchment).

In a medium-sized bowl, cream the butter and peanut butter together until smooth.
Add the sugars, beating to combine. Beat in the eggs one a t a time, scraping the inside of the bowl after the first egg. Stir in the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together. Add to the peanut butter mixture, stirring to combine. Mix in the chips.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan (use wet finger tips to press in the pan). Bake the bars for 30 minutes, until the edges just barely come away from the sides of the pan. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.

Makes 16 bars at 237 calories a piece (made with chocolate chips).

*These were fantastic with the choc chips... if I had had all three mix-ins I would have used them all... that would have been out of this world!

Pins And Needles

Negotiation in progress....

Those bastards lowballed us!

Memorial Day Respite

Overcoming Our Move Related Paralysis

Purging in Progress:

Haircut Day

Things That Must Happen

We are going to get the "word" regarding Mr F's job in Asheville either tomorrow or Monday. The owners don't call you from their vacation to tell you they aren't interested if you know what I mean.

I'm filled with anxiety and sadness. It's easier to focus on the anxiety...

Here are the things we need to get done this weekend:

• Buy stainless oven... we've already got a fridge & dishwasher... and the weird 80s cream stove is an EYESORE.


• Scrape off large flaking paint chips off porch and re-paint (wishful thinking)


• Mulch, mulch, mulch... instantly looks like we know what we're doing in the garden (right?)


• Buy hanging baskets... never too soon to ramp up the curb appeal


• Spray for ants... sorry Baby but your little friends are going "bye bye"


• Order dumpster

The Evidence

(Yes I realize the sideways upload kind of takes away from my thunder...)

Worst Case Scenario

If there was a Mother's Worst Case Scenario Handbook...

This would certainly rank in the Top 10:

Yes... That would be neighborhood construction that inexplicably starts right as you put your baby down for a nap.

Like She Was In On The Joke

"You're making me nervous!" Mrs F exclaims to a naked Kid.

"It's like you're on Crack Cocaine this morning!" Mrs F continues.

Kid cackles wildly, menacingly brandishing a wooden spoon, as if to prove the point.

Belated Birthday

I promised Kiki I would reveal Mr F's 40th birthday present...

I was looking for something meaningful... unfortunately I didn't start looking until 2 days before his big day.

Mr F recently went to Asheville for a job interview and when he left (beautiful suit in tow) he was wearing a freaking plastic Target watch. Why? Because yet another leather band has broken... and this most recent one actually can't be replace.
So I thought that I'd get him a metal watch and band... one he'd be able to hold onto forever (conceivably).

Well when I started looking a stumbled upon this...

Which looks astonishingly like this...

Mr F got me this watch for our wedding. He picked this one because it goes so well with our matte finish thick platinum bands. Seeing as this Men's watch was nearly identical, and it was somewhat sentimental in that it was reminiscent of my wedding watch (same brand and style), and I knew he'd like it since he'd picked out mine, it was a done deal.

He got it the day after his birthday which, although disappointing to me (especially since I paid for the expedited shipping), didn't bother Mr F one bit since that is his usual gift giving MO.

Happy Fortieth Mr F!

Oh Good Grief

After a long car ride back from Kid's field trip I quietly asked Kid

"Is Sissy sleeping?"

"No... but she is a mess." Kid replied.

What? I thought to myself...

and then I opened the car door...

OCD Anyone? How About A Good Old Fashioned Phobia?

I just finished watching the crazy OCD Oprah with Dr Oz. Did anyone see this show? The show featured 6 OCD suffers and followed them as they went through an intensive treatment weekend. Most of the participants suffer from extreme germaphobia. These are men and women whose lives are literally crippled by their obsessive compulsive thoughts and actions. While watching it I was reminded of how easy it is to dismiss someone else's experience when it doesn't match up with our own. I don't have one ounce of germaphobia and of course I can see how irrational that fear is... but it reminded me of my own.

I have such a strong, crippling, fear of rats that I can in fact empathize. While, of course, I can more easily avoid rats than they can avoid germs... I could feel and relate to the level of anxiety and trauma they had to go through while testing their limits and pushing through their compulsions. While it would have been nothing to me to touch a toilet seat, or the inside of a dumpster, there is no way in Hell you could get me to touch a rat. Seriously. I would rather be locked into a burning room than locked into a room with a loose rat. I don't even know if I can come up with something worse to me than being in close proximity to a rat... let alone my absolute worst fear... having a rat crawl up my body. I don't even like that I've just typed that. So as silly as their exercises may have seemed to an outside observer I commend them. It is more than I would be willing to do.




And please don't go writing a whole bunch of rat anecdotes... seriously I can't handle it.