FishEyes and Magpies

Oh. My. God...PICTURES!!

Alright.  I've been lazy and have not taken or shared any pictures lately.  I will remedy that now.

My baby gal who turns 6 months in two days:

A rose bush that has just bloomed in my back yard:

 

My TP tree (most of tp has been pulled/fallen down):

 

The front of our house (come on over!...Unless you are a buglar or psycho killer...):

Hope you enjoyed the pics!  Start expecting some bird ones become my yard is a bird haven.  I have robins, cardinals, and some brown ones I don't recognize.   

Ah, to be young...Part 2

Remember how I spoke longingly of youth yesterday?  Be careful of what you wish for.

Someone decided to decorate my yard last night.  Toilet paper.  All over the largest tree in my yard.  Written in shaving cream in my driveway:  "JRS09."  Apparently, no one told the juniors that the seniors that lived here moved.  We were toilet-papered twice already.  I think the Junior/Senior war lasts until prom.  I looked it up--it's this weekend.

So, ask and ye shall receive.   The neighborhood thinks I'm a high school senior...well, sort of...

Ah, to be young...

You know you've gotten a good work out when your butt is still twitching a half hour later...

I took a walk today...around my neighborhood.  Jealous much?

This was my second walk around the 'hood.  It's a really pleasant place for a walk.  There are lots of trees for shade, hills for added workout, and there is a creek with a bridge over it.  The creek, of course, is my favorite part. 

There are teenagers, too.  I shuffle past them as they wait for the bus.  I feel old and frumpy.  And invisible.  They glance at me before returning to their oh-so-important teen talk.  Everything is significant when you are seventeen.

This morning I passed a boy with a mohawk.  I wanted to scream, "I used to be cool!  I used to have a hairdo similar to yours!  This is your future, kid--enjoy your individuality while you can because when you are my age people frown on nose rings and liberty spikes."

Eh.  Everybody gets old. 

   

Did I tell you?

I've decided to go back to school.  I start in the fall.  I was going to major in elementary education, but I changed my mind.  Instead, I'm going back to my original major, English. 

Back, many years ago--two--I was going to a community college with the dreams of acquiring an associates in English.  After getting my associates, I planned to transfer to a university to get my teaching degree.  At this time, though, I was working part-time and raising my two boys, so most (if not all) of my classes needed to be taken online.  Unfortunately, Frederick Community College only offers a handful of classes online.  So, I changed my major to General and ended up completing 30-something hours of college.  (I think I have 36 hours under my belt.) 

Then, we moved. 

We will have been living here in beautiful Georgia for two years in October.  I decided a few weeks ago that it's time.  I should go back to school, finish my associates and then transfer to Georgia State. 

This time, I'm excited to say, the college I chose, Georgia Perimeter College, offers almost ALL of their courses ONLINE!!!!!  (Even speech, which I thought was a little odd.)

So, I decided to register.  Which I did.  But I decided to change my major again...to elementary education.  Why?  Because you don't have to be a genius to teach. 

Okay, that didn't come out right.  What I meant to say is it's really easy to get a job as a teacher because there just isn't enough people willing to work for apples.  I wouldn't have to worry about whether or not I will be "chosen."

By the way, I should mention that I do NOT intend to go back to work until all three of my children are in school. 

So, what do I really want to do?  I want to change my major back to English.  I want to write...for money.  I want to be part of a magazine, or a newspaper.  I want to edit, critique or review.  I want to be able to travel--again, this is way, way in the future--to far away places.  I want to write a best-selling novel that is translated into seven other languages and featured on Oprah, which will lead to throngs of unhappy housewives running out to their local Borders and picking up my book to forget their uninteresting lives.  I want to sign those books, and tell those women I was once in their place, and I never settled--never gave up! 

These are just dreams, though.  I'm taking baby steps.  I'm taking a few courses at a community college. 

Fortunately, though, I'm dreaming again.   

Back in High School I fantasized about becoming a famous author/artist.  I was voted "Most Creative" in Pass Christian High School's class of '96.  I was featured in "Coast" magazine for the same reason, chosen by my principal and art teacher.  I won an essay contest and got my picture in the "Sun Herald," the Mississippi Gulf Coast's newspaper.  I won first place in a poetry contest at my schools literary fair.  I placed second in a state art competition.  (I would have won first, I think, if my subject weren't so risque.  I did a block print of a dominatrix.  It was beautiful.  She sat atop a mountain of skulls and held a wipe in her hand.  I printed her in black ink against red mulberry paper.  My friend won first.  They thought her picture was of a Native American.  It was a punk rocker with a mohawk.  She didn't correct them.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is if you knew me in high school, you would've said, "that girl is going places!"  Instead of going to college, I joined the Air Force.  I forgot about my silly little dreams the first night of basic training. 

So, instead of taking the easy road and training for a guaranteed job, I'm going to work hard and try to become that adult I imagined I would be.  It'll be difficult, and most likely my inner voice will continuously assault me with criticism and doubt, but I'm going to try.  I don't want to settle. 

This does NOT mean I will stop knitting or sewing.  Just the opposite, I think.  School is exercise from the brain--the whole brain.  Everything will benefit. 

I should also mention I got the idea to go back to school because I have "mommy-brain."  Lately I've been struggling to find the right words.  I have been forgetting things.  My brain is lazy.  Most of my conversations are with an almost-five-year-old who pronounces "thing" as "sing."  We discuss Spongebob.  And Super Mario. 

UGH!

Still unpacking...I don't think I want to move for a while. 

My landlady keeps saying she's going to send her "people" over to clean my walls and base boards, which were dirty when we moved in.  I keep telling her, "no thank you," but she just won't listen. 

I would be incredibly uncomfortable if there were two small Portuguese women scrubbing my base boards.  That's just not the way I roll.

The place was dirty when we moved in, but I expected it.  The week preceding our move, men were tiling the floors and painting the walls.  That creates a lot of dust and dirt.  Is it inconvenient?  Yes.  Is it bad enough that I would resort to accepting help from complete strangers?  No.

Accepting help...that's hard to do.  I'm not one to complain (much), or ask for a hand.  I guess I inherited that trait from my father.  Not only does he have to do everything himself, he's incredibly proud.  Yeah, yeah, I know pride goeth before the fall.  We can't help who we are.  It's in our genes.

So, bottom line:  I don't want help.

What I do want, though, is a magic wand so that I can get this moving/cleaning business over as fast as possible.  Poof!  And it's done!  Then the real fun can start.  Decorating!  Gardening!  Morning walks!  Crafting!!!!!

Would you like to see my....c r a f t  r o o m?? 

It's not much now.  Just a room.  Soon, though, there will be a work table and some shelves.  I would also like to put a comfy chair in there, near the window. 

As soon as it's complete, I'm going to run inside and exclaim SANCTUARY!  Then I'll lock the door behind me fall to the ground....and....take a nap. 

I'm damn tired. 

Home sweet home!

We've moved in...almost.  There is so much to be done (cleaning, unpacking, etc) that I can only drop a few lines to say that we are here and the move went semi-smoothly!  (We have a lot of stuff back at the old place that we still need to move over.)

As soon as the place is settled, I'll post pictures!   

Until then!

Sunday, Funday...

...Not really.

I've been busy.  So busy, in fact, that I haven't had time to really do anything more than steal a few moments with a magazine. 

Okay, I lie.  I'm not that busy.  I'm just too busy to pull out my craft stuff (much of which should be packed away.)

This is what I've been up to in the last week:

1.) Dogsitting.  My wonderful, best friend who I've known for eleven years is on vacation.  Things have been very stressful in her home, so her, her fiance, and her daughter decided to take a break from it all.  That's where I come in.  I'm watching her two dogs and cat.  One of her dogs is...difficult.  Now I'm stressed. 

I love her (my friend--not the dog),  and so I'm trying to maintain a good attitude.  I've been taking lots of deep breaths.  Followed by yelling.

I'm such a horrible friend...and pet sitter.

Her other pets are a piece of cake, though.  They are wonderful, even!

Anyhow, I'm sure she wouldn't want me to air her dirty laundry, so I'll end it here.  She'll be back tomorrow.

2.)  I've been packing...somewhat.  I'm trying, really I am!  It's hard, though.  I don't want to pack things that I may need.  I actually felt a little anxiety over packing our DVDs.  What if I suddenly want to watch "My Big Fat Greek Wedding?"  What then? 

I actually did get a few boxes packed.  This week I have to get serious, though, because Saturday--yes, this Saturday!!--is moving day.

3.)  Peeked at my house.  The owners (my landlord) went away on vacation and won't be back until after our move-in date, so they gave us the keys early.  Right now there are workers in the house replacing the carpet with tile (good and bad, in my opinion), and repainting.  We stopped by the house yesterday and peeked at the progress.  Unfortunately, we realized that it'll be hard to arrange our furniture and TV in the living room. 

Also, we didn't expect the whole downstairs to be tiled.  Now we're going to have to buy two area rugs, which don't come cheap! 

But, that aside, I'm really looking forward to moving!  :) 

4.)  Counting calories.  Yes, I've been counting calories.  After Maggie was born, I dropped 14 pounds in the first two weeks.  Well, I've gained a lot of that back.  My eating habits are HORRIBLE.  I'm what you would call, an "unconsious" eater.  Pair that with my tendancy to fatty bad things when I'm stressed/upset/happy.  Yeah. 

Anyhow, I've found a few good FREE calorie counting websites where you can keep a log of all the foods you've eaten.  Not only that, but they analyze the content of what you've eaten and break it down in a pie graph so that you know the ratio of carbs/protien/fat.   Here are a few:

www.fitday.com

www.caloriecount.about.com

www.selfdietclub.com

5.) Dancing like an idiot.  I've been trying to exercise.  I bought a DVD--Bollywood Dance--and realized two things:  I'm completely uncoordinated and it's harder to dance when heavy.  (The rippling fat throws of one's center of gravity.)

To prevent injuring myself, I've decided to just put on some booty-bumping music and shake it freestyle.  This way I'm not thinking too hard while moving.

Well, that's it.  That's what I've been up to.  Next week is going to be...interesting.  It's Spring Break here, so I'll have to deal with all three children.  While packing.  It's going to be...well, it's going to be something.

Baked Mac and Cheese

Alright.  This is pretty basic...

You will need:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/4 cup flour

S&P to taste

5 c milk

4 c shredded cheddar

16 oz box of elbow macaroni

breadcrumbs to top

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Boil Macaroni according to package directions. 

2.) Melt butter over medium heat.  Dump the flour in.  Whisk it good until it browns a little.  Season with Salt and Pepper.

3.)  SLOWLY whisk in the milk.  (Pour some in, whisk well, pour some more, whisk some more.)

4.)  Now you wait.  When it thickens (coats a spoon) you can add the cheese.  Mix until melted.

5.) Combine cheese and macaroni in a large casserole.  (13 x 9)  Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top and pop in the oven.

6.) Bake until bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Alright, that is the box version.  Yes, it's good...but it's not FABULOUS.

This is what I add:

First of all, season with salt and pepper?  That's so lame.  I use a few things to season, such as crushed red pepper flake, parsley, and a little chicken bouillon.

As for cheese, I mix it up.  I play around with blends.  Yesterday I used mild, sharp, and chipotle.  (True story:  my mom thinks it's pronounced chip-aw-toll.)

I ALWAYS add cubed ham.  Luckily, I had a lot leftover from Easter dinner.

Don't have elbow macaroni?  I didn't.  What I did have was a few boxes of half empty pasta.   I used a little bit of bow tie pasta, whole wheat rotini, and egg noodles.  I looked at the cook times on them, started with the one that need to cook the longest, and that first.  Then I worked backwards.

Lastly, I was also out of breadcrumbs, so I used Parmesan cheese instead.  I liked it so much, I'm going to start using that instead.

So, make it your own.  I did. 

(BTW, the original recipe came from a box of San Giorgio.)

This recipe can feed a family of four for two days.  It is WONDERFUL as leftovers! 

True story...

I was applying my make-up and noticed that, for some reason, my eyes looked a little younger.  They were even twinkling in the light.  I've been thinking a lot about God and spirituality, and thought "hey, maybe this is my internal light shining through!  I have been feeling at peace lately." 

Then I noticed a sort of tugging feeling, up around my forehead..

It was my turbin, friends.  My towel was ever so slightly pulling the skin of my forehead back, which was, in turn, giving my eyes a little "lift."  As soon as I took the towel off my head, my lids were heavy again.  Sigh...

(And I thought I had found my divine light.)

I'd hate to be...

I'd hate to be one of those bloggers her brags about how great her cooking is.  I've done it in the past, and it comes off a little...well, fake.  Like I have nothing better to post about than dinner. 

But then again, a little bragging never hurt anyone...

It's Baked Macaroni and Cheese, and it is the one dish that I OWN.  (If anyone wants the basic recipe, let me know.  I got it from a box of Macaroni a long time ago, and the recipe is no longer available.  On the box, or at the companies website.  I'll give you my variations, also.)

BTW, here's a pic of Miss Maggie: