Monday, August 23, 2010

Seriously?

Manic Monday went by slowly. Once my lunch break finally arrived, I hopped in the car and headed to the bank (gotta love those errands, includeing getting money to pay the babysitter!). Did my thing, (boring stuff deleted) and decided since I was out and about to just go out for lunch. There was a McDonald's across the street.

I meticulously guided my SUV through the drive through with no clue as to what I wanted. Then IT caught my eyes. An angus burger. Since I love JackInTheCrack's version, I decided to give the Mickey-D's version a try as well. Unfortunately, I noticed a couple of EPIC FAILS right off the bat. The WHITE STUFF in the picture... WTF was THAT? I asked the attendant and was horrified with his reply. "Mayonnaise and mustard." WHAT?? Um, excuse me, but you don't put MAYO on STEAK? I mean, seriously- I don't know anyone who would eat a steak with mayo and mustard on the side. A-1? Lea and Perrins, perhaps, but MAYO and MUSTARD?? C'mon!

Of course, I'm a person who is prejudiced against most things mayo. Chipotle mayo? Any flavor mayo? Maybe. But plain old mayo? Ew. The stuff stinks!

So I ordered my old standby instead- ranch. Since they only had packets of ranch, a little manual labor was involved, but I didn't mind. For a decent-tasting sauce, it was worth it. Truly.

However, when I got back to work and dove into the fries (c'mon, who doesn't? ;)) I noticed not one, but two, HUGE dipping-style buckets of ranch. As in, I only used 3/4 of one of these "packets." They gave me entirely. too. much. Ah, well, better too much than too little, right?

Sunday, August 22, 2010

What's For Dinner, Mommy?

I know I'll hear that sentence before I know it, so I may as well get used to it, right? For those who don't know me, I'm the ultimate slacker when it comes to cooking. Plan ahead? Nah. I constantly forget to take stuff out of the freezer. Fortunately, though, there is a remedy for forgetfuls like me.

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Lazy slacker brain I have, I recruited my crockpot. To make things even simpler, I put a liner in the pot to quicken the cleanup (just like putting foil in the dishes I bake in) and finally tossed in the tropical marinade. Next, I plopped (ok, not really) two frozen chicken breasts in the pot and turned it to high power. Dropped the lid on and 4 hours later...

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Total yumminess!

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Paired with an 88-cent bag of frozen veggies, here's the finished product. *drool*

Saturday, August 21, 2010

The Ride.

My heart began to pound as I stepped into the train and took a seat. What was I thinking? was the only thing crossing my mind as I pulled the lapbar down to my lap.

A flash of a t-shirt came running by me, quickly pushing and pulling on my lapbar, then another lapbar, and another and another... until finally, the teen at the control panel grabbed the mike and announced the golden words: "All clear, dispatching train."

Off we went. The sneaky train made a quick U-Turn to the right and we began our ascent. It felt like forever as the train's backstops loudly rattled up the hill with us, like heavy metal thumping on a hollow, metal pole. My heart began to pound even harder. Still climbing. It felt like we had been climbing for about five minutes, but in reality, we were only halfway there. Sheesh. Will we ever get to the top?

Finally, as I began to think my heart was going to literally pound its way out of my chest from all the adrenaline I had, we reached the top. Monumental. I looked around and could see clearly the Rangers' Ballpark in Arlington, a local hotel, and nothing but air. Suddenly my stomach was tickled and I screamed as we made a rapid, 85-mph descent into a long, dark tunnel. We were suddenly back in the air again as the cars took a U-turn then dipped again, careening us into a mangled-looking maze of track. 4 G's and two spirals later, we were back into the station.

The ride for which I had waited literally months to take on had ended. My adrenaline turned into endorphins as I exited the train and couldn't help but to jump up and down to release some of it. While the ride of my life was over, the rush was not. I had tackled the long-anticipated Titan, and it was everything I thought it would be, and then some.

There is something about roller coasters which has basically made me gaga. What it is exactly I can't quite put my finger on but whatever it is, I feel the bug to ride again beginning to wiggle inside me. Being pregnant last year knocked me clean off the riding roster, as did a chicken of a husband. And while K doesn't like roller coaseters, he is occasionally generous enough to get on one with me. The Titan was no exception. At over two centuries tall and breathtaking speeds, it had certainly proved its worthiness.

A roller-coaster fanatic friend of mine posted on Facebook about this Intimidator in Virginia this morning and it brought back the golden memories of the many adrenaline rushes I have lived through to tell about. But this thing appears to live up to its name- at over 300 feet tall and lashing speeds of over 90 miles per hour, it's definitely no joke, but I look very forward to the prospect of conquering it. One day.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Thankful Thursday

Nom, Nom, Nom! I'm so thankful for my babyjess, even if she does chomp on her toes!

I'm sooo thankful for my husband, who also loves the babyjess.

Things may not always easy 100% of the time, but hey if it was, life would be no fun. And in my book, no challenges=no fun. My recent job loss created a bit of a financial challenge- mainly b/c it was after another job change and being out of work for 7 weeks without pay (my maternity "leave" from having Jess. But that's another post, for another time). It adds up. That's all I'm sayin.'

So while times have been a bit challenging for us in light of the craziness in our lives, I have a *ton* to be thankful for. My extended family, my mom, my HUSBAND, my JessyNicole, my NEW JOB, my car and house, our health and safety... I could go on and on about what is right with my life. And maybe I will ;)

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Sweet Sunday (and Saturday)

I can't believe it's Sunday night already. Ahhh, Sunday night. It's a night I dreaded when I worked certain jobs. I always felt like the weekend was over after church ended for some reason. :/

However, tonight is different. I sit here relaxing, as I should be after a moderately hectic Sunday. You see, yesterday I bought a package of two, big-ass steaks yesterday at Target. With the $2 coupon I had, it was a steal. However, it was too much for Keith, myself and Jessy to eat alone. Just kidding. Jessy isn't ready for steak yet... So we invited J, my BIL. Sheesh. I just realized I didn't take any pictures, so that means you'll just have to trust me when I tell you that the marinated, grilled steak with salad, mashed potatoes, cantaloupe and strawberries was very tasty. Of course, it was a beautiful meal before we devoured it. Healthy food and all. *crickets*

After we ate, BIL had to run to let his dogs out for the night. That's when my adrenaline rush kicked in. The pizza tray and cutter which *blush* had been sitting on the stove for two weeks? I finally had the energy and motivation to clean it. I felt ENERGIZED. After work, I always feel totally wiped out. Too much so to even rinse out Jessy's bottles alot of the time. However, after I entertain? I feel GREAT. I feel ALIVE. I just need to do it more often.

On the household front, Jessy finished her fourth night of green beans. They didn't go as well as the carrots did; it seems as though she has gone backwards on the food. So, we're jumping the gun and will sstart her on a fruit this week and see if that makes a difference.


In the meantime, enjoy a few pics of our little sweetie "devouring" her veggies like a good little girl. :-)




Saturday, August 14, 2010

Viva la vida!

I grew up as an only child. As a result, I have pretty much always wanted at least two kids... maybe even three... or four! Many people say that they wish they were an only. But do they really wish for that? Perhaps, nobody to fight with or share anything wish sounds quite attractive. Or how about the Mt. Everest of presents under the tree on Christmas?

Yes, I lived all of these little "perks." Once school was out, I got to come home to peace and quiet (with the exception of my mom nagging me on my homework :p). No siblings punching or picking at me. No siblings invading *my* space. I had *my* own Mt. Toyverest under the tree. All of which were the direct opposite of what I would have had if I had siblings.

That's not to say that if I had had siblings I would have had other kids picking on/at me at home. I would have had to share some space, and definitely no Mt. Toyverest under the tree. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not some materialistic freak or anything, I mean, hey- what kid isn't thrilled at a Mt. Toyverest under the tree? Perhaps I would have learned to fight back against bullies/lowlifes a little better. Perhaps people wouldn't think they see a "NAIVE AND STUPID" stamp on my forehead. Sometimes, I can't help but to have peoples' ignorance under my skin, but that's a whole other soapbox. There's practically a laundry list of stereotypes about only children.

Back to the bright side of things. I had more one-on-one time with my mom, along with my grandparents (even though they have, like, elevendy-billion grandkids) than alot of other kids in the area. I developed an awesome relationship with my grandparents. More on that later.

Now that I'm older, though, there *is* a new set of considerations for me. When the time comes, the responsibility will be all mine to handle my mom's affairs. (my 'rents divorced when I was very young- more on that later, too.) Also, growing up, I had an awesome extended family. Lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. However, Jessy (and any other kiddos we might have) will only have her three cousins (who live in CA), three uncles and an aunt. Not the same privilege of a huge extended family at all. I have fewer godparent choices for our children.

While growing up, recess time often (but not always) found me playing by myself: I couldn't relate to my classmates. "Experts" say that only children tend to be more mature than their counterparts who have siblings. This was painfully true for me. Through the years, however, the effects of being around mostly adults became less profound as I grew up. The older people are, the less age matters- both physically and mentally. How often do you see, say a five-year-old getting along well with a 10-year old? Probably not very often- they're as different as night and day! However- a 30-year-old and a 35-year-old? Not too bad there. Mental age has the same effects.

Thankfully, though, I have the important stuff: a loving, devoted mom, a doting husband and sweet daughter, who all love me as I am, quirks and all.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Carrots, Green Beans and Bronx Cheers

One week ago today, Jess turned the big 6 m-o-n-t-h-s. She went for her checkup as usual, weighing in at her snow-normous, well, 17 pounds*, 27 inches long with a 17-inch noggin. Per the doc's recommendation, we have stepped up on her solid-food consumption. 

We started with carrots and stayed with that for five days (minimum of four days). But tonight, we started the green beans. YUM! Seriously, when I opened the packet some of the puke-green puree splashed out on to my thumbnail. So I did what any other crazy, loving mom would do: I tasted it. And surprisingly it was- very tasty! Of course it wasn't very satisfying, but still tasted good. Like actual green beans. 

However, Jess had other ideas. Tired little thing she was, she drooled, spit and Bronx-cheered most of the tasty morsels out of her mouth.



*16 pounds, 15 1/2 ounces.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Working-Mom Musing: New Gig

My other gig with the auto finance company fell through. *sigh.* But, as some may say, things happen for a reason. Think about it- contract goes pop on Thursday night. Friday- in with staffing agencies. Monday- official job interview. The rest is history.

This new gig I think is going to rock- MUCHMUCHMUCH closer to home, $1 more per hour and, um, did I mention closer to home?? No more 30-mile commute out to the boonies by the airport and back. No more racking up extreme toll bills on George Bush. ($6/day for less than 30 miles each way! The other miles were made on a FREEway)

Now weather, will you just cool off already? I'm SO over this 1,000,000-degree heat! And no, I could never make it living in hothothot places like Vegas or Southern Arizona. *crickets chirping*.

In other, more random thoughts, what exactly is Brian supposed to represent in Family Guy??
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