Whatsa "Scampi"?

A couple of weeks ago I told Bill I was going to make chicken scampi for dinner. He said, "oh no you're not." He confirmed what I had thought- scampi means shrimp, and he doesn't do shrimp. I assured him that this recipe didn't have any shrimp in it and that he would like it. He did. So did I. Who doesn't like something with butter as the base ingredient, right?

But the scampi debate has been going and going in my head. Why did we both think scampi meant shrimp? Is it merely because the only scampi dish I have ever heard of is shrimp scampi? Maybe. I decided to let it go. Until tonight. I made the chicken scampi again, and again it was delicious. But again, my head wouldn't let go of the thought that scampi means shrimp.

So here I sit, 10:15 Sunday night researching about scampi...

Merrium-Webster says scampi is "a usually large shrimp; also : large shrimp prepared with a garlic-flavored sauce." There you have it, we were right. But a garlic-flavored sauce? Maybe this had garlic in it, but it certainly didn't overpower the dish. So I must do more research...

Wikipedia says scampi is a variety of lobster. It also says that in the UK it is a lobster tail that has been breaded, deep fried, and served with 'chips' and tartar sauce. (This would be very different than what we Americans think of as scampi) In the US it can be a term for a type of dish that is cooked in a garlic-butter sauce with white wine and served over pasta or rice with bread. But finally, it says The word "scampi" is often construed as that style of preparation rather than an ingredient, with that preparation being called "shrimp scampi", and with variants such as "chicken scampi". So we were wrong. Or we were wrong and right? Or nobody really knows what they're talking about. I don't know.

There is your scampi lesson for the day. Aren't you glad you got into my head today? Bill is because he won't listen to all of this. He said to me once, "do you ever think that maybe you over think things a little?" Well...YEAH! Duh. He should be grateful or he would be eating shrimp in a butter/garlic/white wine sauce and kissing garlic breath! My real question is this: do I continue to call this dish Chicken Scampi and let it continue to bother me (or let it go?! haha), or do I rename it something? And if I rename it, what should I call it? Frickin'-awesome-chicken-cooked-in-butter-with-garlic-but-no-wine? That seems a little long.

Approximately...

3 pounds of corn meal

8 pounds of flour

4 pounds of butter

3 dozen eggs

1/2 a gallon of milk

2 pounds of M&M's

2 pounds of chocolate chips

2 pounds of raisins

and 10 hours later...

125 squares of corn bread

and...

200+ cookies!

Long Live the Queen of Baking!

Dear Jenny,

I hate you.

And your stupid sister-in-law.

I went to your blog, linked to one of the blogs you follow, and read this post.

Damn you. Now I'm all worked up and there's nobody home for me to rant at.

I'm such a bad Mormon. That post I read just confirms this fact. I won't be teaching my children all this nonsense about marrying early and starting their family right away. That's just garbage. Do I really think that they will have such little self-control that they will have sex before getting married just because they wait until they are mature enough to marry? I would certainly hope not. I have no problem if they truly meet their spouse at a young age and marry, but I agree with your mom that rushing to get married because you're afraid you'll have sex is just plain stupid. She's a wise woman, your mother. You can tell her so.

I hate your sister-in-law because I borrowed her book and it tells me that I can't actually blame you for my feelings. I need to take ownership for them or else you are in control of me. We all know how I feel about people controlling me now, don't we?

This book that I'm reading (Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline) is, in fact, the dumb book that you were supposed to read for a book club and didn't read. It's "therapy in a book" and it's "knocking my socks off" to quote 2 very brilliant women, that I hate.

And, FYI, when I say "shut up" to Bill, he responds with "I love you too." So, you can figure out what "I hate you" means and get back to me.

I really should have gone to bed with Payton. I'm really just waiting for Bill to bring me home one of a couple hundred chicken legs that he just bar-b-qued.

H

Sex is Better Than Chocolate Cake

Are you allowed to utter those words in front of 3 teenage girls?

At a church function?

While discussing abstinence before marriage?

In front of one of their mothers?

Too late. I already did. And I was kind of giggling.

My bad.

WW: Hundreds Gather in Protest of Global Warming

Q: Who do you fear most?
A: "It's not a who, it's a what. I fear ignorance." (Agent Gideon, Criminal Minds)


This question/answer was just on a show I was watching. I feel the same way. Ignorance is something that I fear, hate, stress over, and worry about.

"Ignorance: lack of knowledge, education, or awareness."
(from merriam-webster.com )

Ignorance means you don't know about something. Whether or not you are making a conscious choice or not is where my concern is. There are plenty of things that we can ignore and not care about, but there are many other issues that we need to address as a world, country, society, culture, family and as individuals. Educated choices that need our full attention. Problems that arise that are affecting others, and may soon affect us either directly or indirectly. We may like to think that we live in a bubble, but the fact is that our actions or inactions are felt by people we may never know. One misspoken word, one misdeed, one inappropriate action, or one unkind gesture may lead someone in a direction they may not ever have taken. It is those seemingly insignificant actions that we do in ignorance that may haunt our society for years.

So, in 5 words or less,
Q: What do you fear most?

The Least Expensive Date He'll Ever Have!

Bill: Tasha, will you go on a date with me Friday?
T: Sure.
B: Don't act so excited.
T: I can't go on a date with you.
B: Sure you can. It's a daddy-daughter date.
T: Oh, OK.
B: You're right though, you can't really date for another 25 years or so.
T: OK.
B: Where do you want to go?
T: Taco Bell.

Awesome!

Then and Than

People, please! You know the difference between these two words. Use them correctly! There are way too many educated people out there switching them around. There is no excuse for this nonsense. Slow down, take your time, and sound it out. It's not rocket science. But, since rocket science takes a fair amount of time and effort and sometimes we are typing quickly and spewing our thoughts across the net, I will forgive you some of the time. One of those times, however, is NOT on your blogger profile. If I click on your name because you comment on some one's blog that I know and in your profile it says then for than... well, I think you're just plain stupid!

Rant is over. Thanks for "listening".

I Believe it Too...

"I truly believe that one virtuous young woman, led by the spirit,

can change the world."

-Elaine S. Dalton, General YW President (10/08)

The Mormon Mojo

Me: Go ahead, ask me.
Bill: What?
Me: Ask the question.
Bill: How was mutual?
Me: The youth rock!
Bill: What did you do?
Me: We read Alma Chapter 5...

Yep, the youth rock and all we did was read scriptures to work on a virtue value experience. And if you don't know Alma 5, it's long. Alma rambles and we were trying to decipher all his questions. Geez. As we wrote down several of the questions I was trying to make sure the girls wrote them in a way that they could understand and answer them.

Verse 14 "...Have ye received his image in your countenances?"

Allie: What's a countenance?
All the leaders: Umm, well... (looking to each other for guidance)
Evelyn: Sort of like the way you behave and how people see you.
Me: Kind of like your demeanor.
Evelyn: Yeah.
Allie: Your mojo?
(lots of laughter)
Me: Yeah, your mojo!
(Allie writes: Do you have His image in your mojo?)
Ashley: Don't write that!
Evelyn: Why not?! (She crosses off countenance on her own paper and writes in mojo.)

AWESOME!!!

I think my mojo has been missing for a while, but I'm getting it back. I think my Mormon mojo is going to be the first to resurface. Hopefully the rest will follow suit...

Observations of the Day

The college guy across the street got some new clothes today. His mommy bought them for him. I saw her going through the stash outside their house today while I was walking with Payton. I believe he also got some sort of cleaning device like a swiffer or something like that. I can't wait to do that to Payton. How fun.

Sometimes people will surprise me and they turn out not to be the people I thought they were. Today it was a good thing. I like pleasant surprises like that.

It takes me only 3 hours in February to get a sunburn. I also did a lot of walking walking/standing facing west because only the left side of my face/body is pink. Thank goodness Payton has Bill's skin and Tasha stayed in the shade.

Bill really isn't a culture guy. He turned on the Olympics for about 30 seconds, saw a guy spinning and said, "yeah, ice skating is still gay." He continued to channel surf, hit the games 2 more times and said, "yeah...no..." and changed the channel.

Another neighbor had Sonic today. He stood outside and ate it standing up off the hood of his truck. I was wondering why he did that. I'll sit in my car and finish a drink if I don't want to share with the kids, but this guy doesn't have kids. Why did he do that? And more importantly, why didn't he bring me a cherry limeade? I almost sauntered down there and asked him that.

Our family is blessed when Bill does his home teaching. Thank you Heavenly Father for giving me that immediate blessing this evening. I needed it.

Morgan, on Criminal Minds, has the absolute most drop dead melt your heart I'll do anything for you cutest smile. Oh my heck.

If you don't take care of your housework, especially the garbage, you will get sick when it needs to be done. This will make you crazy, but you won't have the energy to do anything about it. I'm pretty sure that's why I stay sick longer- I don't want to face the mess.

When you're looking for a scripture and can't find it you should keep your eyes and mind open. You might just find something you weren't looking for. It's pretty awesome.

I have a bunch of green stuff sprouting in my garden. I think it's mostly weeds and clovers, but I'm pretty sure some of it looks like lettuce. Is that possible? I didn't plant it. On that same note, a full clover lawn looks pretty good. If you don't believe me, drive by our beautiful green clover patch. Just don't walk on it come summer time- ouch.

Bill and I have our own language of love. He says, "I love you". I reply with, "shut up". Then later, when I'm blogging and he's channel surfing, I ignore him and he makes fun of me. It's quite comical when I think about it. It is also pretty dang special if you ask me.

I have way too much reading to do and a husband to ignore. I better go...

"You can not control your feelings or emotions. You can control your behavior"

-Becky Sauer (counselor extraodinaire)

Whatsa "tare"?

Bill just left to go see about a stroller he found on Craig's list. I sat down to prepare my lesson for YW tomorrow and he had left the listing up. It read: "This stroller is in very good shape and has no stains or tares."

I'm almost in tears.

That's the kind of tears that come out of your eyes, not the thing that can happen to a piece of paper or fabric. You know, like there is a "tear" in the fabric of this stroller cover.

Sometimes It Takes Tears

Kyra does what she is told. She pretty much always has. When she was young, if I told her to stop doing something, she would. If I asked her to do something, she would. If I was stressed out she would up her game and not stress me out as well.


Tasha is another story. She plays off my emotions, almost always being one step ahead of me. If she is anxious about something, I usually get anxious and hour or so later. If I'm upset, she gets upset too. When she can feel a situation getting tense, she starts acting out which just makes things worse.


Parenting is tough business, especially when your children are nothing alike. Just when you think you know something, another child comes along and challenges that knowledge. Geez. What I have discovered is that tears seem to work with both of these girls. Not their tears, mine. Honest to goodness, sincere tears from me seems to help them understand my point of view and become repentant. I can only recall 3 times that it has happened...

1. The girls had been at each other's throats for days and I had tried everything to get them to cooperate, etc. I finally just quit trying, went back to the laundry room, shut the door, screamed and then started crying. Kyra came and found me, put her arms around me and calmed me down. She really stepped it a few notches for a while after that.


2. Tasha used to refuse to hold my hand in the parking lot. That freaks me out because she's shorter than many vehicles and she could easily get backed into. Then there's also the problem of her just running off and getting hit. She must have been about 3 years old when I broke down right there in a parking lot. I cried and cried and told her I just didn't want her to get hit by a car. She put her sweet little 3 year old arms around me and hugged me. She never again pulled her hand away from me or refused to hold hands with her sister. It stuck, to this day.


3. Tasha likes to play outside in the front yard. That's fine with me as long as she stays in the big yard and doesn't go over to the little side yard and around the side of the house by the park where I can't see her. There are crazies over there and anyone could just take her. I've told her this many times. I've yelled it many times. I've sent her to her room, taken away play time, refused to let her go outside because she continues to do it. You can tell when you're talking to your kid that they are just listening to the words without absorbing them and taking them to heart. This happened Saturday afternoon and I lost it. I yelled and threw her into her room, steamed on my own for a little while, then pulled her out of her room and told her to go back outside and do whatever she wanted. She finally stopped crying and came inside. I told her we could pack a bag with some clothes and food in it and she could keep it on the side of the house so when someone came and took her she would have some of her own things with her. Tasha didn't like that plan but still nothing on that little 5 year old face. I kept talking and finally ended up in tears telling her how much I would miss her if she was gone and I really didn't want that to happen. I was so upset that I had to go outside to calm down before I went into her room. She had written my name on her chalkboard and put about 10 hearts around it. She came over and hugged me. We told each other that we loved each other and that we wanted to stay together forever.


Ugh. I'm exhausted. Maybe I should go read that parenting book...

Don't Tell Me What to Do!

I've seen this attitude in Tasha many a time. If you suggest something to her, she won't do it even if she wants to. If you give her a choice and she knows you are leaning one way, she'll do it the other way. Sometimes, she will not do something that she really really wants because you have agreed that is it OK. Stubborn child!

Apparently, she gets it from her mother.

I had this conversation recently:

Me: (reluctantly) I just don't want to be told what to do.
Friend: CLEARLY!
Me: I don't like the enthusiasm with which you just said that.
Friend: Let's just say I don't want to be around you when you're 80.

So there you have it, "Don't tell me what to do!" That's my new mantra.

SOMEBODY wants me to read a book that I don't want to read. It's a parenting book and I refuse to be told how to parent. This author doesn't know me or my child so how can they tell me how to parent? Don't tell me what to do! Actually, what I realized is that if you teach me why my child is behaving a certain way I am happy to try to work with that behavior. If you give me insight into boy/girl differences, I'll be happy to treat them differently. Now, in all honesty, I've not picked up this book so I have no idea what it's about, just an idea. I'm just resisting to be stubborn. Somebody might just have to shove the book into my hand like they did Twilight. Just be prepared for me to stall and not finish it or hate the philosophy and not tell you about it. (This is actually the reason I'm resisting this particular book which is probably why this person wants me to read it in the first place. Stubborn, stubborn me.)


Friend #1: "Clearly" I have issues!
Friend #2: I still love you!
Other friend: Just loan me the damn book so I can get this over with. I know you know who you are. I know you think I should read it. I also know that you don't think I'll do anything is says because I'm just as stubborn as you are when it comes to changing my ways.

WW: And The Poo Just Keeps On Comin'

Highchairs are for the Bathroom, right?

I love when friends are cleaning out their homes and giving away items that I need. Sometimes the items come a little sooner than I will need them and I lose them or forget about them. This was the case with the highchair that a friend offered me for Payton. He's a couple months old. He won't be eating for a while. It made me laugh when she offered it, but I'll need it. Fortunately, or unfortunately, a high chair is both too hard to lose and too big to forget about. It takes a lot of space and I see it daily. This particular high chair also reclines. I was looking at it thinking, "it's safe like a car seat, but it's elevated like a chair. What can I do with that?"

And there you have it. This is where Payton waits for me while I shower. And this is also where he gets set down as I dry off and get dressed. Aah, sweet high chair! I love you! I can shower when I want and if you are awake. Sweet, clean bliss. (It's the simple things folks. A shower, but not a shave this time.)

"The Jacket Just Ain't Cuttin' It"

I got an email from a friend that said I needed to send Tasha to school with a warm hat for her head. Apparently we need sun hats for the hot summer-like days, and now we need woolly, furry hats for these mock winter days. I'm not a hat person, can you tell? Anyway, apparently the teacher said that the hood on the jacket wouldn't stay on her head when she was playing. I can totally hear her saying, "the jacket just ain't cuttin' it." It made me chuckle, and we tried to oblige the next day. I told Tasha that she needed to start dressing warmer for school and that included a hat. Here's what she came up with:



This just makes me laugh. We don't have winter in Tempe. We have a little bit colder than it was in the fall which is still warm enough for shorts if you feel like it. Silly people, hats are for Minnesota. Oh well, I guess it's all good. If there's a snow storm Tasha will be ready.

"True Colors"

You with the sad eyes

don't be discouraged

oh I realize

it's hard to take courage

in a world full of people

you can lose sight of it all

and the darkness inside you

can make you fell so small

But I see your true colors

shining through

I see your true colors

and that's why I love you

so don't be afraid to let them show

your true colors

true colors are beautiful

like a rainbow

Show me a smile then

don't be unhappy, can't remember

when I last saw you laughing

if this world makes you crazy

and you've taken all you can bear

you call me up

because you know I'll be there

And I'll see your true colors

shining through

I see your true colors

and that's why I love you

so don't be afraid to let them show

your true colors

true colors are beautiful

like a rainbow

(and because Scott likes to hear the song as well...)

Glee's version (my favorite, I like the cast!)

Cyndi Lauper's version (best sounding, weird video)

Phil Collin's version (most feel good)

WW: Payton Found His Thumb Yesterday

NTS: Payton Doesn't Like Spicy Chili

We had a rough day today. Apparently the chili I had for dinner last night did not agree with Payton this morning. He didn't fall asleep until I needed to get him in the van to go pick up kids. I walked outside with him 4 times. Once he slept in the sling for a about 1/2 an hour so I sat and stared at the baseball field. By 4 I had given up putting him down on his own at all and just slept in the recliner with him for a max of 45 minutes. The good thing is, the chili milk has slowed down the poo velocity and there was only one minor poo escape onto a pair of overalls that are too small anyway.

Well, it's 7 now and he finally nursed and fell asleep... hopefully for a good long time. Now, do I try to do all the things I didn't get done today, or can I rest it off since the day was such a challenge? I'll probably do a little of both. If I don't do some laundry he'll have nothing to poo on tomorrow!

To Hell With Chickens, I Want a Cow

With the amount of milk that my family consumes, the 2 fabulous cream sauces that I've made this past week, and my love for real butter, I've decided that I want a cow. I have enough friends with chickens, so maybe we can trade eggs for milk. Apparently one cow can produce enough milk for my whole neighborhood, for a week, in one day. Now that's some serious overproduction. Anyway, I'm just not sure what to do with all the cow pies yet and am not sure about the city ordinance on owning a cow. So, for now, I'll wait.