Friday, August 20, 2010

trying to get the biggest kid ever to eat his greens

Well, its not as much getting him to eat them as getting him to like them. I guess one of the characteristics of a couple of people who grew up in such different places is that they grow up on different foods...but there have to be green veggies in Minnesota!!

Green veggies make up a huge part of my diet, and they're unbelievably good for you...the hubby likes beets...

He will eat salads, but only with iceburg lettuce...ONLY iceburg lettuce. The only green veggie that has NO health benefit at all, and I can't mix it with other forms of lettuce or other veggies.

I LOVE turnip greens...the hubby calls them 'vile'!!

I like spinach...the hubby will eat them when mixed with large amounts of fattening sour cream and salad dressing and placed on fried corn meal (spinach dip).

I like romaine lettuce...don't even think about it.

I LOVE brocolli...it has a shot if its covered in cheese.

I cooked lima beans yesterday, he ate them because I made them and put them on his plate...then proceeded to tell me how nasty they were...at least he ate them.

Ohhh...he likes english peas...I HATE english peas...but I cook them and eat them because I expect him to do the same.

He likes green beans...one down!

I'm gonna try some brussel sprouts...something's gotta give :)

Saturday, August 14, 2010

big huge bug...in my house

The title of this one pretty much says it all...big huge bug in my house!!!!

I'm walking back inside my house from playing with the cats and a huge bug slams into the side of my face... I'm a little grossed out, but I think it's the last time I'll see this bug... not true!!!

I go inside, make a glass of water, and play with the pups. I go into the bathroom to start to get ready for the hubby's birthday dinner. I happen to look the right (or wrong) way in the mirror, and... OH MY GOD... big huge bug on my shoulder!!!

It had been there the whole time!! This thing was the size of my foot!! I tried to flick it off, and I feel it scratch against my shoulder trying to hold on to me... what??? No no no, you have to get off, this is not an option.

I pick it off and throw it away from me and it lands on my pink bathrobe hanging in the bathroom. I fly out of the bathroom and close the door. Then, I put towels under the door so the mega-bug can't escape. I call the hubby and tell him that there is a cat-sized bug in our house and I had it trapped in the bathroom. His response: 'why'd you let it in the house?'... DUDE!! The thing rode in on my shoulder unbeknownst to me!!! I would not have invited the thing onto my should for a free ride!!

So the hubby comes home to slay the mini-dragon that I have secured in our bathroom. He goes in while I wait in the bedroom. Do you know what he says?? 'Are you sure it was a bug because I don't see anything?'... Maybe you misunderstood...it was the size of our CAT!!! I had to pick it off me with my FINGERS and THROW it away from me. So I go in to look, it's nowhere!! The hubby is less concerned and ready to eat... I'm scared that the thing is going to eat through the towels and then consume the rest of our house!!

I find out why the hubby is less concerned on the way to dinner...he called it an 'imaginary' bug... what the crap??? I did NOT imagine it!! I would have imagined a mega-butterfly...not a mega-nasty!!!

We go on with the rest of our night and just don't go into the master bathroom again that night...until...

I hear the hubby get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Still a little steaming from the 'imaginary' comment... I'm secretly semi-hoping the mini-dragon lands on his thing while he's taking a leak... calm down, it doesn't!!

But...he does go back in with a piece of clothing, catch the bug, and take it outside!!!

HAHA... NOT imaginary!!! REAL!!!!

The End

box-mart bans

When I was in college I had a phenomenal professor who had a passion for being knowledgeable, not just about what we were learning in the classroom...but of being aware of our carbon footprints and personal consumerism. She would occasionally bring in NPR recordings or Discovery videos that were relevant to the class...which was a Demography class...pretty easy to make something relevant.

She once brought in an NPR recording regarding a situation with a certain fruit company, we'll call them Mel Donte. I decided that I didn't want to support that company anymore and ....BAM... first real ban!!

I was sitting in a financial advisor office waiting for an interview right after college and they were playing a video about a national Box-Mart... it made me think. I did my own research and read several books along with personal stories about how Box-Mart did business. My dad was a Computer Programmer at a local textile factory. The factory came on hard times and closed due to other companies (overseas) being able to make a cheaper product...BAM... second ban!!

That was really the end of the bans...but I recently had an epiphany...

If the Box-Mart sells what I need for cheaper and I have no money...who am I really hurting by paying more for the item by going to a different store?? And it's not like I have the principle of not going to ANY big 'mart'...just one... in fact, I LOVE Target :)

If the grocery store that I go to only has Mel Donte bananas, do I travel to a different store to get another brand?? I used to... but not so much lately. I have broken down after a long day and thrown the Mel Donte fruit into my buggy... reluctantly...but I still do.

And if I don't go to Box-Mart, I don't necessarily go to a local owned shop to buy what I need. I do go to a grocery store to buy groceries, and a bookstore to buy books, and a pet store to buy pet food... but most of these store are still national chains who use the cheapest product in order to get the highest consumer business. If Box-Mart has what I need for 14.99 and I have to drive out of my way to get it for 31.99, aren't I just punishing myself??

But I haven't bought anything from Box-Mart since I graduated college (5 years)...it's hard to break a streak like that. A huge reason (besides making me sick) behind why I don't eat meat is because I haven't in almost 2 years...it's hard to break that!!

Maybe since I'm 5 years older and a little more in tune with my own life and who I am, it's time to revisit the principles I swore to back then. That doesn't mean that I don't have any, just that maybe absolute bans on products isn't necessarily the efficient way to do things. Hmmm...

Friday, August 6, 2010

missing him :-(

For the past few years I've been going with my grandma to Hilton Head for a weekend each year. It's not really a vacation, even though its a free trip to the beach...she pays for everything. But, if I don't go, she doesn't get to go to the beach...& I don't want to be the reason for that.

It's not a vacation for me because I can't have a lot of fun without the hubby. I'm not the kind of wife that thrives off girl weekends, girls night...sure...

I am feeling like a teenager being forced away from my all-consuming crush... I miss my Paulie!!!

...and its only the first night...

Sunday, August 1, 2010

work in the mess....live in the clean

Ok...so apparently it's not possible for me to waste saturday. After the last post when I was okay with wasting a saturday, I had to get up to vacuum. I made it to around 10pm, then my minor OCD kicked in.

I can't leave dog fur on the floor, no matter what day it is...even when I'm determined to not do anything...I get this urge (not like a craving...like a pressure in my brain that won't let me focus on anything else)...hmmm

I guess at least I didn't have a bulging pressure on my brain to do more than vacuum.

The funny part is, I don't ever have that urge to clean my office. actually, I get pretty frustrated after i clean up my office because I can't find anything. At the end of each month, I organize all the paperwork in my office...partly because it's impossible to get the end-of-the-month paperwork done without organizing everything. Since the last working day of the month was Friday, I'm planning on a pretty rough monday...because it will take me about 6 minutes of looking for something before I think to look where it belongs instead of on a chair or desk. I feel like I need to put up a post-it up in my office to remind me that everything I'm looking for is exactly where it is supposed to be...at least for tomorrow.

I even have clothes in my office...scrub tops thrown onto the chair. But, I pity the fool that leaves a stray shirt or sock on the couch when I walk into the living room ((Paul plays the fool a lot))!!
PitaPata Dog tickers
PitaPata Dog tickers