I finally did it...

...and I liked it.

I'm sorry, Brandi, Crystal, Harmony, and any of you other girls who hate twilight. I tried to hate it. Yes, it was a bit angsty, but so is my life. I do have a teenager, you know. Also, I thought Eddie was pretty sexy. I wanted him to bite me.

I don't get the funny part. What was funny about it? Please enlighten me.

One of these days, you bi***es will get a real post from me. And there will be pictures of my house in them. Maybe.

random pictures of the past week

Isabel and Mimi all dressed up in sheets. Patricia made togas for them to wear. It kinda made me wish there was a party to go to so she could make me one.

She is usually very cute. I promise.
This is what Trystan does to Sasha, our cat. He makes me feel this way too.

Leave a ten year old boy alone with a camera, and you get about a hundred pictures of him making faces like this one. You also get lots of pictures of the animals, siblings, and random household objects. Like this:

I made waffles with blueberry sauce and ice cream for Mel's father's day breakfast. Do you remember last year's blueberry picking adventure? I learned my lesson. This year, Mel and I went blueberry picking on opening day and got close to 20 pounds of berries. UMMMMMMMM they are so delicious!

This one is for all of you who are still curious about our animal situation. It's a lizard. And it lives under the floor/in the wall of our house. That's the front door. It's about 25 feet from my bed. That's a generous estimation. Oh, did I mention that there have been mouse sightings at this exact location?

why the monkey wrapped his tail around the flagpole AKA: why i haven't been blogging

1. i'm too busy
2. i don't want to fight the kids for the computer
3. i can't think of anything new to tell you
4. the things i could blog about will get me in trouble
5. i can't do anything around my house without my kids talking to me and bothering me
6. i'm too tired by the time the kids are in bed and quiet
7. i can't concentrate
8. i'm working
9. i have laundry to do
10. i have to do the dishes

i'm not depressed. i'm actually feeling great.

my job is awesome! if you want to take a look around the new gym, just stop by. if you are the least bit interested in joining, ask for Amanda and tell her i sent you (really, she'll hook you up). she has signed up a couple of my friends already. if you sign up and want training, tell them i sent you (another hook up).

the house is coming along. i am not going to post pictures. you can come see it for yourself. call me. my old (301) phone number will give you the new one. or, you can leave a message on it and i'll call you back.

that's all for now. maybe more tomorrow. maybe not for another month. who can say?

Top Ten Reasons Marianne Hasn't Been Blogging

Today's post brought to you by guest blogger, Brenda

I don't know where she is or what she's doing, but here are a few guesses:


10. Too much time at the gym strained her fingers and she can't type.

9. She got Lyme disease from her tick infested new house and died.

8. She's in bed recovering from a Brazillian butt lift.

7. She's out shopping for mom jeans.

6. She's been playing Guitar Hero for 6 days straight.

5. She's busy cooking creative, healthful, balanced meals for her family while the rest of us just feed ours ramen.

4. She's too busy with her new friends in her new ward to bother updating the old ones. I guess she missed out on learning that old Girl Scout classic:

Make new friends but keep the old
One is silver and the other gold.

We're gold, Marianne. We're gold. Just remember that.

3. Too much connubial bliss.

2. My hotness scorched her retinas and now she's blind. Sorry.

1. She's sleeping. Shhhhhhh...

What I've been up to...

• Started working at a brand new gym. As a trainer. AWESOMENESS!!!!


• Moved into a different house at the same time. SUCKSBIGTIME!!!!


• Working early morning hours three days per week + unpacking and moving = passing out at 9 pm. SNORE!!!!


• Hard water that turned whites dingy, rusty, brown. Showers that smell like pennies dropping from the sky. Spiders in every corner. Ticks. Ticks. Ticks. WHAT THE HELL WERE WE THINKING!!???!?!?


• Water finally fixed. Spiders are hiding. Got the insecticide. PROCRASTINATION!


• Escaped to the mountains of West Virginia with husband for romantic weekend getaway and go to sleep by 9 pm both nights. STILL ROCKED IT!!
  


• Almost meltdown, held it together (loosely), organized kitchen (sorta), had great night at work (thanks, Maggie), slept in 'till 6:30 the next morning. AAAAAAHHHHHH! THE WEEKEND.!!
  

Mel is pretty awesome!!

For those of you who didn't already know, I just thought I'd tell you that he's a pretty awesome husband.

A couple of weeks ago, in anticipation of Mother's day and our recent move, he made 'secret' arrangements with my brother and a good friend of the family (Carol) to take me away this weekend. We are going to Carol's wonderful cottage in West Virginia called 'Dream Time'. My brother is staying with the kids, and my mother also came up for the weekend to see the house and to help out. I don't know how to get there, I don't know what we are going to do, I don't know what we are going to eat, I haven't been involved in any way. All I have to do is show up. I love that!! I know it will be great.

I can't wait until tomorrow morning!

Is it wrong...

that I don't want to go to church in my new ward today? I have to be all smiley and nice to people I don't know and pretend that my life is great, and that I am not totally stressed out over moving. I miss Ft. Meade already. You people know me. I can be real (well, almost) with you people. If my day (or week) is sucking, I can just come out and say it. I think you girls expect that kind of honesty from me.

I thought that I didn't really care about moving away, until I realized that I might not be kept in the loop about all the lunches and playdates and book clubs (that I never go to) and all that stuff. So, keep me in mind. I'm still close.

Don't worry, I won't like them as much as I liked you all. I've already made up my mind.

Cooking with Brenda: Asian-ish Chicken Noodle Soup

Today's post is brought to you by guest blogger Brenda

I think Marianne is busy moving. Or maybe she died. I dunno. In any case, she totally missed posting a recipe this week. So, being the friend that I am, I'm stepping up to post one for her. And today I'm going to feature an ingredient that you will likely never see on this blog again: RAMEN. It's seems like the anti-Marianne ingredient. Right up there with Canned Cream of Fat and Sodium Soup.


So here's what you'll need (for 2-ish servings):

-One package of chili flavored Top Ramen (other flavors are acceptable, especially chicken, but the chili gives it a nice heat).

-1/2 cup cooked and chopped chicken (I like to use some from a rotisserie chicken. I'm all about the laziness).

-1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (white and green parts)

-1 TBS minced cilantro (or Knorr makes a tiny cilantro bullion cube, sold in the Mexican food section, that works great)

-1/2 TSP minced ginger

-1/2 TSP minced garlic

-2 TSP sesame oil

Cook the ramen according to the directions on the package (Do not drain!!). Add in all the other ingredients. Enjoy!

(Oh, and Pampered Chef plug: I use THIS to make ramen in. Four minutes in the microwave and viola! Done to perfection.)

She's Gross!

Me: Vivian, where did you get that gum?

Vivian: From the floor. It just had a couple of fuzzies on it, so I picked them off and chewed it. It's fine.

Me: EWWWWWWWW! That's gross.

Vivian: Ha Ha Ha. (giggling) I KNOW!!!

Are you guilty?

You are not alone. There's help out there.

The accidental field trip

I was a good mom on Tuesday, and spent the day chaperoning a field trip to DC for Trystan's class. Can you guess where?



Can you guess what this is a picture of? I'll give you a hint: See all those knives? I bet one of them was used to debone a chicken on air. We saw lots of things, but this was my favorite. The boys indulged me and let me take a few pictures, but I couldn't really get a good look at much.

See that? Yeah, that's what happened on the way home. Our bus driver rear-ended this truck. The bus was moving 5 miles per hour, and did't even get a scratch. Needless to say, it caused quite a stir. Here's the friendly policeman who boarded a bus full of antsy fifth graders to make sure everyone was ok. I think I made him blush when I asked if I could take his picture for my blog. How many Police Officers, Firemen, and EMT's does it take? Really?As you can see, they were all terribly busy and didn't have a moment's rest. Whew, I am glad they were there.Potty break, fresh air, and simon says!Are we home yet? They were so happy to be on their way.
Want to hear something funny? Not funny ha ha. The school set up a new automatic notification system. The notification didn't go out to all the parents until 4:30 that their children wouldn't be at school for dismissal because of a minor traffic accident. Seriously? Duh! School let out at 3:45.

I can make lumpia! (Tuesday's recipe a day early)

This is one of my favorite foods. I don't get it often, because I don't know how to make it. So, when I discovered Naika's recipe blog last week, I was thrilled to try it. Most of you know Naika and know how sweet and generous she is. I believe this is her signature dish. For my birthday last year, she made some for me. That was such a thoughtful and delicious present. Ever since then, I have wanted to learn to make it. Now I know!

Rolling it up was easier than I thoughtI didn't realize that I wasn't supposed to cook the meat before I cooked it. Oh, well, it still tasted delicious. I'll do it the right way next time. Looks pretty good for a novice, huh?

This is an awesome recipe that you all should try. Follow the link above to her recipe.

What happens to old mattresses

How often do kids get the chance to slide down the stairs on a mattress?


mattress slides=unprecedented cooperation and kindness

Bad touch! Stranger danger!

Today's post is brought to you by guest blogger, Brenda.

Have you seen this yet? This is a real commercial. For a kid's meal.





I thought the one where the woman wakes up to find Creepy King in her bed was scary, but this one will give me nightmares.

Does anyone else feel like they just ate an E.coli infected Whopper?

Now What!?!?!?

Am I the only one out there who thinks this? Now that Brandi's blog is extinct, where am I to go to get my daily dose of reality? Any suggestions?

She triumphed for only a moment...

... and then they killed her, but made it look like suicide.
Her spirit will live on. We will always remember you, little girl who drew beautiful pictures.

Sea Angels!

I like to give my creations funny names if I can. This recipe is for angel hair pasta with seafood. It was a hit. Mimi picked out all of the seafood and gave it to Vivian. It doesn't have a very seafoody flavor, so if you have someone who doesn't like seafood, they should be able to pick it out and still enjoy the meal.

*This cooks fast, so don't start cooking until you are ready to eat. Be careful not to overcook this meal, because the seafood will turn to rubber and the pasta will turn to mush.

1 pound angel hair pasta
4 Tbs butter
1 pound scallops (bay scallops work best because they are small and cook fast)
1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup ham, cut into bite sized pieces (we used leftover Easter ham)
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
parmesan cheese
parsley

1. Put enough water to boil entire box of pasta. When water is almost boiling, proceed to next step.
2. In large skillet, melt butter on medium heat. Add garlic, seafood, salt, and pepper. Increase heat to medium high, and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Break noodles in half, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain, reserve water.
4. When seafood is done, remove it to a separate bowl. It will continue cooking, so be sure not to overcook it in the pan. Brown ham in skillet for 2 minutes.
5. After ham is browned, add pasta and ricotta cheese, combine well. Add pasta water, one ladle at a time, until throughly combined (if you don't add enough water, the pasta will be dry). Add seafood, mix gently.
6. Turn out onto serving plate. Top with parmesan cheese and parsley.

• You could add lump crabmeat in step 5, if you like. Just make sure not to mix too vigorously or the crabmeat will break up.

Once again, there's no picture. I just realized that I should take a picture before we eat it. I usually test the recipe on my family before I decide if it will be posted. However, by the time I have decided, the food is gone so I can't take a picture of the meal. Why haven't I figured this out before?

Once upon a time...

There was a little girl who loved to draw. She was a sweet little girl who was quiet as a mouse on the surface, but when she drew, she was like a lion. One day, she decided to share her talent with the world. She shared these beautiful drawings with her friends. They in turn shared it with their friends and their friends shared it with their friends and so on. Eventually, people from all over were able to enjoy her beautiful artwork. Her drawings inspired and moved people. She could make you laugh or cry with her beautiful talent for drawing.

Some people didn't like these drawings. They thought there was something wrong with the pictures the little girl drew. They thought her pictures were too moving and too full of emotion. So, instead of looking at other artwork, they decided to make sure she couldn't draw her pictures the way she wanted to.

She is still drawing. Her pictures are different now. They have lost some of their feeling. However, her pictures are still beautiful. If you see one, it will still make you happy. But if you were lucky enough to have been able to enjoy them before, that's exactly what you were, lucky.

Happy Birthday to Mimi!

She came into this world with her name in lights!

I don't know what I love most about this picture, the fact that all three are touching and they aren't fighting, or Trystan's delicious lips.

She was a pretty chubby kid. This was the first birthday. She reached the cake while we were singing to her. Why did I choose chocolate frosting?

She's one tough girl. I think this was when she turned six. We went to my mom's house and helped her get some work done in her yard. Look at her work!
Mimi and her third sister, Isabel. Those two girls are like two peas in a pod.

Seriously? Could she get any more beautiful? Yes, it's possible. Superstar? Totally. See, I knew there was a reason why she started this life with her name in lights. She is one of the lights of my life. I love my sweet Mimi.

OH! The drama

So, I have decided that I love Brandi's blog more than my own. I swear, I check it like 10 times a day to see when she's updated it, and what her comments are. I tell everyone I know about it.

Does that make me a groupie? Am I the only one who feels this way?

If you haven't ever read her blog, you have to start now. She has a really great discussion going about sex right now.