Friendship is Like a Fruit Bowl!

I've always hated it when people refer to America as the "Melting Pot". They infer that people of different nationalities come here and lose a bit of themselves and just meld into what is known as America. I took a class at ASU where the teacher compared the America to a salad. I like this much better. In fact, she compared it to the salad you get at the Olive Garden. When the salad first comes to your table all the greens are on the bottom, the tomatoes are sectioned together, onions are in another section, there are a few olives and peperoncinis. Then they drizzle the delicious dressing over the top, but they don't mix it up. Now, you can dig right in and scoop some out if you want and it will be a great salad. You won't get the delicate blend of flavors all mixed together though, and you won't savor all of the tastes. Personally, it took me a while to appreciate the red onion, but now I love it. Our family usually asks for more olives, and I've even gotten Bill to eat the peppers on occasion. The croutons are just the icing on the cake!

But what does this have to do with friendship and fruit? I thought that it would make Rachel laugh because I'm pregnant and think about food all the time! Actually, I thought friendship was a little bit like that salad bowl, but I know a little bit more about fruit than I do vegetables. Fruits also have a core to them and I recently had a conversation with a friend about the core of people. She said something crazy like, "I'm afraid if you find out what my core is like, you won't like me anymore." Silly girl! I can usually see through the fleshy part of the fruit into some one's core before they are really want me to know what it's all about. Sometimes I'm surprised, but for the most part I'm usually right on. She was probably referring to the core of the universe or something, but like I said, I'm pregnant and think about food... A LOT.

So are you hungry yet? What in the heck am I talking about here? Well, I'm saying that I think I can assign all my friends to pieces of fruit, based on their personality and friendship traits. Bill thought I was crazy, but when I gave him an example he said, "wow, that was a lot deeper than I thought it would be." What can I say? I'm deep when it comes to my fruit. But not everyone would want to be compared to a piece of fruit, especially from my point of view. Here's an example, and I'll use myself as the guinea pig:

I'm an apple. Plain, simple, nothing too special, but most people like apples. There are many varieties of apples to fit my many different moods. In a social setting, apples are usually diced up and spread out. Rarely do you see a whole apple at a party. People eat apples in many different ways too, and that's OK with me. My least favorite way is the apple slicer though, that hurts. You just place that baby on top of me, push down, and throw out the core. That's harsh. The funny thing is, most of my close friends adore the apple slicer, including my husband. He keeps buying them and I keep "losing" them. Other people don't like the skin and carefully slice it off. Then they either slice it up, or eat it whole. Some people just take a bite and eat it whole, all the way down to the core. The funny thing about the core of an apple is sometimes you can get to the seeds pretty easily, other times the center is kind of hard and you don't want to mess with it. I think I'm like that. Personally, this is my favorite way to eat an apple: I slice it in half, then in quarters; then I carefully cut the core off the tasty flesh of the apple; sometimes the seeds fall out, sometimes I accidentally cut them in half, sometimes they just cling to the core; then I slice the quarters into 2 or 3 more pieces, depending on how long I want that apple to last and if I am sharing; I'll usually leave the quartered core on the cutting board until I'm done, but sometimes it will go right into the compost pile. This complicated apple slicing just goes to prove how high maintenance I am and Bill just said, "If I had known all this about you, I wouldn't have even gotten close." That's the funny thing about the apple: sometimes a slice or two will do, but when you're starving you might want the whole thing.

So, do you think you can take it?! Do you want to know what kind of fruit I think you are? The better I know you, the more juicy the details. (haha, a little fruit humor there) April, you were the easiest and you are going to DIE laughing! So leave me a comment and I'll try to email your fruit personality and see if you want me to post it. But remember, this fruity theory is based on how I know you.

A Warped Sense of "EASY"

As typical "me" style, I have waited until the day before Easter to decide what I'm going to do. I had grand hopes this year of really doing the Christ centered Easter thing all week and then celebrating the traditional egg and bunny bit the week after (taking advantage of after the holiday sales!). In fact, last weekend, Kyra asked me, "mom, what are we going to do for Easter this year?" I answered quite reverently, "we're going to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." Seriously, I had high hopes.

But, I've felt rotten all week. I spent most of conference in bed, in a ball, with an icky nauseous feeling. I was able to get the Easter box out and put the stuffed bunny on the couch and the Spring pillow and wall hanging up. So here I am, it's Saturday, it's raining, and I'm trying to play catch up. As I was typing this my mom called and told me she got a couple of small baskets for the girls. YIPPEE for thoughtful moms!!! One mission accomplished and I only had to get up to answer the phone.

Anyway (the point of this post!), I was emptying my inbox of 263 unread messages, and saw a line that read, "Easy Easter Treats". I thought to myself, "PERFECT! That's exactly what I need, EASY!" I saw the following, very elegant looking dessert/fruity dishes:


Chocolate and raspberries, how can you go wrong?! It looks like there is some kind of smothery yummy frozen treat on the inside too. Yummy. And look at that, in the email it said "Difficulty level: Easy. Prep time: 18 min. Cook time: 21 min." Shoot, this will only take 30 minutes to do and look at how scrumptiously fabulous they look!

Excuse me! Anything that takes:

• a food processor
• a double boiler
• an ice cream freezer
• parchment paper
• blowing up balloons and dipping them in chocolate
• cooling chocolate to a certain temperature
• deflating said balloon without popping it
• shaving Dove chocolate singles

... can hardly be considered "easy", am I wrong?! Now, on second look, I notice that once you click on the website it does bump the difficulty level up to "moderate" and includes the extra 2 hours and 15 minutes of cooling and refrigerator time.

Needless to say, these Easter treats will not be making their way to our table any time soon. I'm now thinking the decoupaged blown eggs that Martha showed me a few days ago seem "simple"! I think maybe I'll hard boil some eggs today and we'll dip them in some dye, one color each, no crayons or wax, but maybe some stickers.
If you happen to have about half a day to devote to those raspberry/chocolate babies, feel free to chick here for the full recipe and instructions, and please bring me one!

WW: Impromptu Recital

Breakfast at IKEA

I used to go to IKEA for breakfast all the time. It was one of Tasha's favorite things to do because she could watch TV while she ate her potatoes and drank her chocolate milk. I haven't been in months. It is all April's fault. Yesterday she talked about eating pancakes and waffles and french toast for breakfast. YUM! I wanted them all. What really sounded good was IHOP and a big giant slice of french toast and a fluffy white buttermilk pancake with some sort of fruity syrup and then a thick waffle with strawberries and whip cream. But can you really order that? Do they have a carb plate? I know there are meat lovers omelets and veggie burgers, but really... give me everything made of white flour please? I don't think so.

So it's Friday and Tasha does not have preschool and she loves IKEA. I settle. They have lingonberry sauce for their very thin Swedish pancakes, yum. But please! Do you have to dump the sauce all over my potatoes too? I don't think so. I can't eat that. I eat everything on the plate except the potatoes that have been crapped on by the lingonberry fairy. Yuck. I actually took them back and asked for a side of potatoes. No problem.

Oh, sweet heavenly crispy potato butts... how I love thee, let me count the ways. And have I mentioned how delightful it is to share food with Tasha? She generally likes the opposite part of whatever I'm eating. She likes the middle of the lettuce, I like the green ends. I like the ends of the potato that gets crispy and have a little skin on them, she likes the middle that is soft and squishy. Does anyone see a trade in our future? You bet. "Tasha? Do you want to trade plates?" (As I show her a plate full of perfectly square middles.) She's game, and her plate came with 2 uneaten french toast sticks as well. I love that kid.

Chocolate milk, potatoes, and 3 slices of bacon is good enough for a 5 year old, right? We won't even discuss what I had, but the baby is happy.

Keepin' It Real

Here are some random conversations that pretty much sum up what life is like in our world...



Tasha: See my owie mom? (She shows me her knee)
Me: Yeah, I have one too. (I show her mine)
T: We need some band aids. (We've been out for weeks)
Me: I know, I keep forgetting to buy them.
T: Maybe I'll get some for my birthday tomorrow.
Oh, how very sad that my child wishes she will get band aids for her birthday. Shouldn't this be an essential in a home with small children? Lame mom. But then again, at least my kids aren't spoiled if this is what they are hoping for as a gift.



Kyra: Here Tasha, I bought you this brownie at our bake sale at school.
Tasha: Thanks Kyra!
K: Happy Birthday Tasha.
T: Thanks, this looks yummy.
K: It is. I had some. It was a little bigger before I gave it to you.
T: That's OK.
Nothing is sacred in our house, especially brownies. It's fair game to take a bite before you give it to the one you love.



Me: Tasha, you need to lick the bottom of that ice cream.
Tasha: That's what's great about moms. (Not her mom, moms in general)
Me: What?!
T: If a kid has an ice cream... and it is melting... and a mom sees it... she will tell us to lick it so it doesn't get all over.
Me: Well, I'm glad to be of service.
I think Tasha gets this from Kyra. Kyra likes to explain why things happen a certain way, even when one thing has nothing to do with another.



(The day Tasha is going to go spend the night at my moms house)
Tasha: Mom. Why do we still have Bomp's glasses?
Me: Because he left them here and we haven't seen him since then.
T: We-e-ell. (yes, it is exagerrated) The next time that me... or Kyra... goes to spend the night with Maggy (his lady friend that lives with him)... when we pack our stuff... we should make sure to put his glasses in our stuff so that he will have them again.
Somehow this conversation does not sound nearly as long as it took her to spell it out that day. I'm sure there were a lot more details that I am leaving out. That kid (and her sister for that matter) can go on, and on, and on about things that just make no sense to me until the very, very end. Typically, I don't make it to the end so I have no idea what point they were trying to make.

Tasha: Where are we going now?

Me: I think we'll go to the Lee's. But maybe we need to go home first.

T: No, let's just go there now.

Me: Why? I should put this stuff up and get some food.

T: Well, maybe Sister Lee will feed you. You like it when other people feed you.

Yes, yes I do like that. Apparently I've said that one too many times in front of her.

NTS: Pregnancy Cravings Won't Last

Just because hummus tastes great one day, doesn't mean that you will like it the next. Seriously, the (seemingly) gallon sized jar of hummus from Costco was not a good idea. It has sat in my fridge, untouched since Friday.

Beef one day, chicken the next. This seemed to be the pattern. Yesterday it was salami. Today it was eggs. What's going on?! Eggs made me want to puke all week long and today I've probably already downed 3-4. But then again, other people cooked me those eggs so maybe that was the difference.

Popeye's fried chicken. Thinking about it right now is repulsive, but I had 3 pieces for lunch on Tuesday. I'd take KFC in a heartbeat though. Umm, spicy, boneless hot wings, yum!

Also, if I'm thinking about an Arby's roast beef sandwich I need to get just that, nothing else. I can't decide that I need the one with lettuce and tomato on it because that would be healthier. I couldn't even eat 4 bites of the thing. Just give me beef on a bun please.

And finally... the sweet aroma of freshly ground succulent coffee. PLEASE, oh PLEASE, let this craving vanish. I LOVE the coffee isle of the grocery store. I LOVE Starbucks. I went there to use their WiFi the other day and my shirt smelled like coffee. When I got home, I took it off and just held it to my nose. Oh, sweet coffee, how I love your smell! If this one doesn't go away you may find me working at Starbucks.

Disconnection Never Felt So Good

I might not ever reconnect my Internet at my house. Public access is so much more fun. I think we all seclude ourselves in our homes and hide out, away from the world that has so much to offer. My day wouldn't be the same without:

• The Chinese lady behind me rambling incoherently
• The seemingly homeless man in his sweats and beanie, working on his laptop
• The old lady that I made smile because I was laughing to myself about something on my way back to my computer
• The conversation I overheard where a man was trying to convey to a salesperson (on the phone) that he could not say yes without talking to his wife first. He even went so far as to say, "listen, you're talking to the CEO here, but I can't make a move without getting the OK from the president."
• The screaming baby
• The occasional whiff of coffee coming from the Tempe Cafe. (This actually makes me want to go plug in at Starbucks

And, I'm thinking of starting to study German or Gaelic. They have multimedia available for checkout here. Maybe Arabic instead? I don't know, there's also the books on CD about the Clintons. Hmm, so much to offer here, so little time.