For My Birthday I'm Getting...

The basement carpeted and a brand new stainless oven!

Oh that's right... I don't get to keep those.

I did sneak a piece of my cake before it was technically served...
it was just sitting there eyeing me on the counter... and what the heck... it is my birthday.

Adorable Message From Kid:

You Say It's Your Birthday

It's My Birthday Too

After The Realtor's Walk Through... The Blow By Blow

More Rooms Completed For Your Perusal

Playroom

Downstairs Bathroom


Living room


Bottom of Stairs

(hey check out that fake Orchid I got at Target)
Kitchen


(behemoth stove in question)
Dining Room

Living Room

Master Bedroom (bed will be put together before showing!)


(that stuff in the closet is the box spring and headboard... white upholstered)

Exhaustion

I'm tired folks. Really, really, tired.
I'm so tired I actually feel that I'd be a danger behind the wheel. No joke.
I've got 26.5 hours until the realtor does his walk through. Hopefully I'll still be alive...


UPDATES:
Guest Room Done



Upstairs Bathroom Done

Linen Closet Done

(believe me it did NOT look like this before)

Excellent

I received this email from Kid's preschool yesterday....

"Thursday parents: Your children may have been exposed to hand-foot-and-mouth disease last Thursday."

Of course Thursday was the "Preschool Olympics" and since I was manning an event I had Baby with me.



Video Update Of The Day:

Deck's Done

Going Green

Since changing out our "regular" cleaners for "Green" cleaners I've noticed an interesting side effect...



Video Update of the Day:

One Down

Wondering why there's a kitchen in the nursery? Watch this:

This Week The Plan

I'm not going to lie to you... I'm exhausted. Seriously.
Getting ready for the move is not just physically exhausting, but mentally and emotionally as well. I wake up ready to go to bed.

I'm not menu planning this week. We're trying to get the house on the market in 9 days. Believe it. We'll be eating take out from now until then.

I'm not exercising this week. I don't know what I was thinking last week... but... yeah... every "free" minute is being spent clearing out or cleaning up.

As for chores and errands... well... that is all I will be doing. Astonishingly I did one grocery trip and the laundry last night... both of which were 6 days late or 1 day early depending on how you look at it. I'm trying to remember that I still need to pay bills and stay on top of the regular household management which is getting harder and harder to do.

Oops I Did It Again

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Candy Bars

1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c Karo syrup (dark or light)
1/2 c peanut butter
3 c rice krispies (I used brown rice crispy cereal... cause you know that made it healthy)
1.5 c chocolate chips
1/4 c peanut butter

Melt together the sugar and Karo syrup in a pan stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and stir in 1/2c peanut butter until thoroughly combined. Stir in the cereal and coat completely. Pour the cereal mixture into a BUTTERED 9x9 pan... pressing it into place.

In the microwave melt the chocolate chips and the remaining peanut butter. Do this in short intervals and remove before completely melted. Stir to melt evenly. Pour over cereal mixture. Place pan in refrigerator until chocolate is set (about 30 minutes).

I cut these into 48 very small pieces... and then I ate 24 of them ;)

Today's Video Update:

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!