Trick or Wait

We seem to be spending our Halloween waiting around the house. The furnace is still being installed, we are still waiting for the exterminator to come get rid of the bees, and we are waiting for M to arrive home so the festivities can begin.

I can't say I am complaining, as Halloween ranks up there with Valentines Day in my book of least favorite holidays, but it IS a nice day and it would have been a good park or bike day. On the upside, I have gotten a lot of knitting done on Christmas presents for various nephews and nieces.

I also hope we gets lots trick or treaters, as if I have to eat all this candy, I will never ever fit into my skinny jeans ever again. Although I did hide the Kit Kats in the emergency stash.

Happy Halloween to everyone!

Guilty pleasure

While I was still in the workforce, one of my guilty pleasures was taking a day off and sitting on the couch in the morning watching the Today Show, Regis and what's her name, and Rosie. I would sip coffee and hot chocolate while still in my pajamas, and relish in being a couch potato. I would never admit that this was how I spent my vacation day, especially when I was working at the university. But I would plot and plan my vacation days to include at least a few of these a year, preferably during the holiday season.

In recent years my days off have been few and far between (really, nonexistent) and the few hours that I may have without both kids in two are generally spent racing around town accomplishing all the things that are a pain to do with kids. But tomorrow, both children will be in school until 11:45. I am going to be trapped in the house while the furnace gods install my new furnace and the exterminator gets rid of the bees swarming our attic. And I have every intention of being one with my couch and the Today Show, followed by Regis and what's her name and the first half of Ellen. I have my favorite mug sitting on the counter already, and am stocked up on decaf coffee and cocoa. I can't wait. Although I think for everyone's sake I will be in my jeans.

Summation

So I have three posts going right now that I can't seem to finish. I have somehow developed a blogging perfectionism complex, which is seriously hampering my ability to click the publish button. So I'll save myself the agony and just sum things up for you.

• The clock change is kicking our respective tushies. I didn't do my usual planning, which generally involves weeks of gradually shifting bed and mealtime, so we had to go cold turkey on Sunday. The results have not been pleasant. A has been trying to put herself to bed since about 4:30 this afternoon.

• Our new furnace is arriving at 8am tomorrow morning. Just in time for the heat wave we are expecting. 70 degrees in November? You have got to be kidding me. But I suppose I will be very grateful to the nice men come Friday, when it isn't supposed to make it out of the 40's.

• I fully expect to be whining about some illness to be named later early next week. Our run of bad luck coupled with drastic weather shifts will inevitable lead to illness.

• I need to start menu planning again. I hit the grocery store every single day last week, and still had issues pulling together a decent dinner. But we have expanded the kids' dinner repertoire to include spaghetti and meatballs. Or at least spaghetti. Both kids claimed they loved the meatballs, but somehow they were all full after picking through and eating every strand of spaghetti.

• C's Monday Morning News today was that babies come out of mommies' vaginas. I told you I was going to be the mommy who got called out for teaching the preschool set about the birds and the bees. I have yet to get a phone call, but it is only a matter of minutes, I am sure. Thank goodness for caller id.

• Another close friend is headed off to England. I'm starting to think that it's me.

• Speaking of dinner, I have to go figure out what I am serving M tonight. I think it will be quick shrimp broil, if I can find the frozen shrimp I swear are in the freezer someplace.
  

I need a karma infusion

OK, so now I'm laughing. A maniacal, verging on "commit me" laugh. Just as I was putting dinner on the table for the kids, I got a phone call from a former neighbor asking if I knew that there was a car wrapped around the tree in the front lawn of our old house. Uh, no. No, I didn't. And really, I didn't want to know. A car. Abandoned. On the property of a house we are trying to sell. Several shrubs. Toast. Several paver stones. Scattered around the lawn. Several tire gouges. Imbedded in the lawn and stone drive. No, I didn't need to know any of that.

Several hours later, I am in the possession of a case number that will grant me access to a police report that may or may not be ready by next Tuesday. Once we have the police report, we can pursue an insurance claim, assuming that the owner of said car had insurance. Until then, I wish the real estate agent luck in trying to convince people to buy the house. Would YOU buy a house that is a car magnet? Yeah. I didn't think so.

I don't know what else to say. I really don't. So I think I am just going to keep laughing that maniacal laugh until someone commits me. Because really, I'm starting to think that a little pharmaceutical intervention might be in order.

Date Night

There is a rocking date night planned here at Chez J-E. Some dinner, some wine, and two laptops crunching numbers trying to figure out how much money we will lose renting the old house versus how much we will lose by reducing the price yet again. Ahhh. Romance at its finest.

Overheard at Preschool Pickup

At preschool pick-up today...

C's Teacher: "He's a real pistol, isn't he?"

Chichimama: "Ummm..."

C's Teacher: "He has a VERY active imagination."

Chichimama: "Yes he does."

C's teacher: "Well, have a good weekend then."

Chichimama: "You too..."

So, consensus. Do you think being a "real pistol" is a good thing or a bad thing? I was a little unclear.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog

Blogger beta did bad, bad things to haloscan. Thank God for that revert button. I think I will get myself a phantom blog to try and figure this out.

For now, enjoy the old look :-).

Don't get used to it

Please excuse the blog look. I made the HUGE mistake of starting this in the am while the kiddos were up. This is NOT the look I was going for, but now I have to go make breakfast. So I'll have to regroup at bedtime. Don't mind me, I'm just trying to ignore the fact that I have no heat.

I swear this will never, ever be funny

You know how the furnace guy was coming today to do the annual furnace inspection? And I made that joke about a furnace older than I am? Turns out, the furnace actually IS older than I am. By a lot. And that furnace? Kicks carbon monoxide into the house. And those carbon monoxide alarms I bought? They don't seem to work. I guess the upside is that my miserly ways saved us all from carbon monoxide poisoning. The downside? We are going to be very cold for the next several days and we have to buy a new furnace and carbon monoxide detectors.

Oh, and the hot water heater? It's, well, not so hot. But we might get a year out of it. Or it might croak tomorrow. God, I just LOVE home ownership.

The only way is up

So apparently, I have been wrong for years. Or else I have grown an inch over the last few decades. At my physical today, my doctor informed me that I am actually 5'4"! Which means that technically, I don't have to lose weight after all as I am barely on the right side of normal according to the BMI chart. Go me! Now where is that Halloween candy?

I have to tell you, that really perked me up. Of course, it still doesn't explain why I still need to hem petite jeans, but we won't go there.

Groomzilla, I challenge thee

Groomzilla, I'll do it if you'll do it. Think of it as my gift to your novel-writing muse....

Booed

So does anyone know anything about "Boo" etiquette? Yesterday we got "booed" by someone, I don't know who. I guess that's the point, but really, how am I supposed to reciprocate if I don't know who I am supposed to be thanking for the lovely bag of candy goodies and spooky flashlights for the kids?

I've been sneaking peaks at all the neighbors windows, and see no evidence of other "boo" activities. So I have no clue if this is really a neighborhood "thing" or if one family is trying to start a "boo" thing, or if I was totally wrong and the "boo" bag came from someone else like Lovely Friend.

So what do I do here? Do I "boo" two neighbors? Do I "boo" two friends? Do I play dumb and "boo" no one? Apparently actually living in a neighborhood is much more complicated than I had originally envisioned. We are already dreading the holiday season...

BB Pellets for the early am

• We all have a low grade sniffle and cough. Which sounds suspiciously like it is going someplace. I so hate it when you have a few days warning that illness is descending. Like the time I got the phone call from a friend about the fact her son had thrown up on C on a playdate. That was a fun time.
  

• You want to know how I know the cold is going someplace? Because it is 65 degrees in my house, and I keep shivering and wanting to turn the heat on. AND I am wrapped in my fluffy blanket.

• This is why I hate the fall and winter months. The constant wait for the next illness. Because as soon as you are over one, you just know there is another waiting in the wings.

• I have no long-sleeved tee shirts. Before the move, I purged my closet and figured I would replace all of my ratty clothes at Old Navy, and then when I actually went there, there were no plain old tee-shirts to be found. None. There were sparkles and cowl necks, and these strange gathered things that I can't imagine would look good on an almost 35 year old, but no plain old tee shirts.
  

• On the upside, while linking to all those fashion disasters, I DID find plain old tee-shirts on the website.

• On the downside, tomorrow the furnace guy is coming to inspect the furnace. And I'm not buying any tee shirts until then, because the furnace is many, many years older than I, and if my doctor insists that I am middle-aged, then I can only imagine what my furnace will be called. Hopefully not toast.

• I still can't find the camera. But before M heads off this am, I am going to try to remember to ask him if he knows. If not, I did find the video camera, and just maybe I will learn how to use YouTube. If only YouTube had been around when I was an aspiring television and film major. I spent a good while last night checking out the work of the students at my alma-mater. Too bad I can't offer any of them a job...unless they want to babysit.
  

• I need a pillow for my blogging chair. My back is killing me. Big comfy chairs were not actually designed for short people.
  
  
• I hate Monday mornings. I have to go rally the troops for breakfast and school. Gah. I should have done afternoon pre-school.
  

Bookish

Last week the kids and I ventured to the library so C could attend story (half) hour. He disappeared into the story room, and A and I did every puzzle in the library several times over. For some reason, while she won't touch the 40 billion puzzles in our playroom, at the library the puzzles are a major draw. But I was finally able to bribe her into accompanying me to the adult section with a stack of new Dora books to peruse while tucked under the water bubbler. I picked out this book, and so far it is fabulous. Then I added this one and this one, as how many books sitting in your Amazon cart can you actually ever find on the shelves of the library? Clearly the library gods were telling me it was time to pick up the pace. As we passed the travel section, I picked up a few books on London as well, so I could show C and A where Julia and Evan are now spending their days. At the circulation desk, the librarian stopped us and handed over this baby, which I hope to take for a test drive this afternoon.

Just as A started terrorizing the patrons and I began wondering if story (half) hour would ever end, the children emerged, each carrying a coloring page and a book. One by one they bolted to their caregivers, full of news about the itsy-bitsy spider and Georgie the Ghost. But as A and I stood there with our piles of books, a little concerned about the whereabouts of C, a small figure stumbled out with only his eyes visable over the collection of early readers gathered in his arms. The librarian trailed behind, picking up the droppage. She finally spied us, and steered C over. As she eyed my pile and C's pile, she laughed. "I see he comes by it honestly. We generally don't let the kids take out this many books from the story hour room, but he was so engrossed in them all..."

I gathered up C's books with my own and thanked her, while C literally buried his nose in a book and started walking towards the door, running into several other patrons on the way. He handed over the book under protest at the scanner, and then quickly snatched it back and curled up in a chair with it while waiting for A and I to finish checking out the rest of our finds. I have to say, it perked up an otherwise dreary parenting week. Now if only he would learn how to actually read the book himself....

Overheard at Bedtime

A: "I want to sleep in the hallway!"

Mommy: "No, we sleep in our rooms."

A: "But I used to sleep in the hallway!"

Mommy: "Well, the rules have changed and now we sleep in our rooms. Not the hallway."

C: "A, she does that sometimes."

A: "Oh."

The ultimate chili

Tonight, I think I finally perfected my chili. So for all those chili lovers out there, here is my recipe. It has been a seven or eight year work in progress, but tonight it got the "Ymmm" of approval from M while he shoveled it into his mouth at the stove.

Chichimama's Chili

1 lb lean ground turkey (optional)
2 green peppers, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 to 4 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
2 tablespoons oregano
2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 bottle chili sauce
1 cup dry white wine (optional)
2 15 oz cans kidney beans
1 15 oz can cannellini beans (2 if omitting the meat)
1 can tomato paste

Stir fry the ground turkey until cooked through in a large dutch oven. Remove from pan and drain grease. Add onion, pepper, garlic jalapeno, oregano, chili powder and cumin. Stir fry 5 min or until pepper is crisp/tender. Add tomatoes, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chili sauce and wine. Simmer for at least 20 minutes, but I usually let it go for an hour plus. Add the beans and tomato paste (if you like a thicker chili like I do). Simmer for an additional 5 - 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Mexican cheese (or cheddar) and serve.

This makes a vat, so be prepared to freeze some. And it tastes even better after being frozen.

Overheard during quiet time

C: "Mommy, I want to talk to Julia on the typing phone."

Mommy: "The what?"

C: "The typing phone. You know, like when you type on the computer to Rebecca and she types back and then my name appears."

Mommy: "You mean Google Talk?"

C: "I guess so. Here, let me show you."

Mommy: "How did you know how to open that?

C: (shurgs) "I dunno. I just knew."

Mommy: "Huh. Do you know how to fix the printer too?"

C: "Not yet, but give me a few minutes. I can figure it out."

Shopping assistance needed

Why is it that they don't make hats for kids over the age of two with ear flaps? Has anyone seen one anywhere? I was finally able to purchase C a jacket on Ebay at a reasonable price as I just refuse to pay full price for a winter jacket, but now I can't find a hat that isn't camouflage, which I refuse to buy on principle. The few that I do find he'll never keep on his head. I want ear flaps. He's never going to keep a scarf on, and quite honestly, it's a hazard at the playground.

BTW, the new spell checker on Beta? Fabu. If you need spell checker like I do, it is totally worth the switch.

Caved

I caved and moved to Beta. I couldn't resist the labels. But looks! Haloscan, my blogroll, and all three of my doohickys made the move with no assistance on my part! I procrastinated long enough that they figured it out for me!

Look out for flying labels...

Settling in

Chaos is slowly being restored to our lives. When I leave in the morning, the breakfast dishes are in the sink and the beds are unmade. If the toys are out in the playroom, oh well. Life is good. Except the chaos bothers me more than it used to. Not enough so that I am inspired to DO anything about it, but enough so a little voice over my shoulder sometimes whispers "Wasn't it NICE to walk into a clean house?" I then promptly swat that little voice away with a big booming "But I was a B-I-T-C-H on wheels to my kids, and that was no fun either."

Beyond the chaos, we seem to be slowing settling into our new home and routines. After several retrievals from the old house, Dumb Cat seems to have figured out where the people now live, and returns after his jaunts around town. Although he insists on howling to be let in at the front door, which means I only hear him if I am walking upstairs and he seems less than enthused about the back door for reasons that are clear only to him.

The kids alternate between "We love the new house" and "We miss the old house," which is only to be expected I suppose. I just wish they would start sleeping for longer than two hours a clip. The toys are all back out, and several old favorites have been rediscovered. Like the Legos and puzzles, which disappeared with the arrival of the for sale sign, as who has time to pick up 500 Legos and sort fifteen puzzles when someone is about to arrive on your doorstep?

M has flown off to, well, someplace, as tis the season to travel. Except right now he is trapped at Newark, because it is raining and Newark doesn't seem to like to send planes up in the air when it rains. But when he is in residence he is wallowing in the joy of a fully networked house and a screened porch that keeps the bugs at bay.

I've been battling with the various appliances, most notabley the microwave and I have yet to have a meeting of the minds. I need to get pointers from Rebecca on cook times as I think it is the same brand as she used to have. I LOVE the new range, I can actually control the burner heat instead of having "super hot" and "off." The oven, however, seems to be quirky. I think I actually need to dig out the manual as there are several buttons that are not self-explanatory, and the two meals I have tried to cook in there have turned out dismally. Clearly I am missing some critical piece of information, like how to actually get it to turn on. The dishwasher and drier rock, they both take half the time as our old ones saving both time and money. Whirlpool is my new favorite brand folks.

I know I promised pictures, but the camera is among the missing items yet to be discovered. Perhaps tomorrow it will be found as I actually need to pick up for A's little playgroup who are arriving to inspect the house with furniture and toys. Although these people know me well enough now that I don't really feel obligated to pick up for them. Except, well, I do because I'm compulsive that way. But I like to THINK that I won't pick up for them. Ahem.

So hopefully in a few days things will return to as close to normal as possible, and I might have enough brain cells regenerate to be able to whip out a decent post. Or, I'll just continue in my current vein until I throw up my hands and start posting random pictures of the cats.