The Chocolate and The Cheese

I finally put up a post at my new little home on the internet.  Would you like to check it out?  Yes!  Follow me to A Mary Home .  Don't forget to become a follower over there, then you'll always know where to find me!

Although I've been away from this space for quite some time I was surprised to see that people were still reading it.  Go me!  So, although I am not going to be blogging in this space for much longer, I'm going to leave it up for the time being.  If nothing else as a way for people to find me in my next space. Next space you say?  Yes, I'm moving.  When I started this blog things were very different from what they are now.  I thought we were moving abroad much sooner, I was not going to school and there were no definite plans for a second baby.  That being said, the last few months I felt like I was not able to really be comfortable in this space.  So I'm opting to move someplace else, under a different blog name and start again.  I really hope that you will move over with me; I've so enjoyed having you along for the ride! So, sometime soon I will post about my new digs.  As soon as I find the time to put something up over...

First let me come clean.  I'm pregnant. Now, let the next thirty-one weeks commence where I talk of nothing else except my growing belly, appetite and need for Cheetos.  Not really, but I will say this; I'm tired.  So tired that normal everyday tasks that should only take me a few minutes suddenly sit around, unfinished, for days at a time.  Examples?  The dishwasher, the dirty dishes, groceries (the non-perishable ones, duh), folding the laundry, making the bed.  I mean, there are much better things to do, like, stuff handfuls of popcorn in my mouth while watching all the episodes of Angel, in order.  Don't judge me, I am returning to school in a few weeks; maybe this is just me trying desperately to channel myself as a Freshman in college?  Who the heck knows.  What I do know that my "golden time," or nap time as it is commonly called, was once used to clean, cook, tidy up, rest and blog.  Well, you know how much blogging I've done o...

We've had a whirlwind, chaotic, hectic, exciting week.  It was a week of fixes, car naps, quick meals and heat.  Oh, the heat!  I finally feel like today we had the chance to tone things down and take a breath.  The Little Lady and I were left to our devices for the evening while the Mr. took a much deserved night off.  We had a light dinner and then went outside for our favorite pre-bed activity, Bubble Chasing.  (Well, she chases, I blow).  The following conversation ensued. Laying in the grass: MP: Hey LL, look at all those clouds! LL:  Yeah mom, clouds. MP:  What do you see up there?  I see bunny ears! LL:  They just puffy mama. MP: (Humph, this might not work...) LL:  Mama, I see Lady! MP: (Getting excited)  That's great, what's she doing? LL:  Lady in Sky, with Broccoli.  I like Broccoli! MP: Well, yes, it does look like broccoli.  What else do you see? LL:  Poop in a glass.  Ha...

The last forty eight hours have been the kind of serendipitous summer time that I dream about all through January and February.  Perfect temperatures, light wind, sun and a casual, laid-back schedule.  It all started with a lazy afternoon outdoors.  The Little Lady chased bubbles, then we laid out our blankets and read our books.  LL read hers and I read mine.  At one point she looked at me and said, "Your book good mama?"  Seriously, this kid just keeps getting better and better. The next morning we had an impromptu coffee date with some friends.  We sat out on the patio and chatted while the kids ran around and entertained each other.  Besides that one window licking incident, the coffee was great and the pastries delicious.  After, we walked a few blocks to a new, great park.  Let the kids run off some of the sugar they had just ingested before walking back and heading home.  Then to cap it all off the LL and I went t...

Nap time is usually reserved for a mash up of cleaning, organizing, eating, blogging, surfing the web and trying to relax as much as possible before the Little Lady wakes up.  With our house going on the market tomorrow my house is the cleanest it has ever been.  Literally.  I feel like we're living in a model home.  Kind of like Michael and George Michael Bluth from Arrested Development .  It's equal parts nice and annoying.  Nice having a super clean home and annoying that I have to keep it show ready all.the.time. The best part of having a show ready house?  I have nothing more to do during nap time than blog, eat and watch Angel .  Because bad TV at nap time is the best way to relax.  Well, maybe just if you're living in a model home.

Potty training is an exercise of patience, control and humor on the part of the child, the parents and any other innocent bystander that gets caught in the way.  Luckily for us the Little Lady has done quite well for a wee person of her age.  We try to minimize and downplay accidents and have the mantra, " Pee and poop go in the potty.  Pee and poop go in the potty. "  (Imagine us swaying back and forth while clapping our hands.  Oh, the kinds of adults our kids reduce us to.) So the other week a friend of ours came to stay with us and accidentally got some paint on her arm as she was helping me paint our back porch.  The LL was quite concerned and asked if she had an accident and if she was ok and if she needed a bandaid or a kiss to make it feel better.  Our friend replied, no, she was fine and then asked if the LL ever had accidents. "Yes, I have accidents.  I pee myself." Spoken in a kind of sad, matter of fact voice.  Like...

Here in Minnesota we have something known as, "The Minnesota Goodbye."  Approximately an hour before you actually leave you announce that you're leaving, proceed to say goodbye to everyone in the room; individually, chat for a few minutes, gather your belongings and then, finally depart.  It's annoying, expected and a hard trap not to fall into. Parents of toddlers have a similar dance that they play, every time they are about to leave some place; especially if the location is particularly fun. "Five more minutes Sally, five more minutes and then we're leaving." The amount of time is really quite arbitrary.  Sally doesn't know what five minutes is and thus it is really up to the parent to decide how much longer they're going to stay.  But without that initial warning all hell can go loose in an instant. "Two more minutes Sally.  Yes, I know you don't want to leave, but everyone is leaving too." The parent talks a bit more, g...

Hello good peeps!  It's currently 79 degrees in sunny Minneapolis and I think it's high time I shared my favorite summer drinks with you.  Whether you are chilling on a patio, sipping around a campfire or simply sitting in front of your A/C, here are five tasty, cool, refreshing drinks for your  pleasure.  What about you?  What do you imbibe in the summer? Moscow Mule :  I had this for the first time at the beginning of summer and it is just about perfect.  Ginger beer (not ginger ale), vodka and lime come together to form the most refreshing drink you can have on a patio.  Sweet, spicy, with a nice little kick. Surly's Cynic Ale :  A light colored ale with a nice kick at the end.  I could drink pints and pints of this brew.  It's the ideal beer for a back yard BBQ. Arnold Palmer :  Part tart lemonade, part sweet iced tea.  Love this combination in the summer time, especially in the afternoons!  Nothing like a l...

I took the Little Lady to her first ballgame today.  It was a blast and she outdid her two year old self and sat/walked around/was tantrum free all the way through the middle of the eighth inning.  Seriously, I know adults that can't do that.  One of the reasons (I think) that she was so well behaved is that I fed her for almost three hours straight.  I pulled out all of those "special treats" that I usually reserve for bribes, long car rides or special occasions.  You know, like fruit snacks, cookies, cotton candy, ice cream cones.  All in one sitting. So it got me thinking. When I go out, whether it's a fun night out with my girls, a date with the Mr. or simply treating myself to something nice I tend to feel justified in "splurging" a little bit.  Mostly calorically.  I'll have that piece of dessert.  I'll order the deep fried asparagus (because it's still vegetables!).  Or a latte and a cookie.  Completely unnecessary, ...

Apparently getting your house ready to put on the market it time consuming and stressful.  Who knew?  The last two weeks of afternoons have been spent tidying, cleaning, organizing and then reorganizing.  The house was looking in tip-top shape; and then we had house guests.  I'm hoping to return it to it's former glory in the next twenty-four hours.  Wish me luck. I thought I would start a new little series I'm calling, "Tales of a Two Year Old" in which I highlight the hilarious, ridiculous and often adorable/infuriating aspects of the Little Lady.  We'll start off with this amusing little story. Up until this week we could not, for the life of us, get the LL to count past the number three.  It was always one, two, three, two ...  Then all of a sudden it was one, two, three, four, five, six, seven !  Huzzah!  What I say does sink into that cute little head of hers!  So the Mr. still hadn't heard this new found skill, so I was ...

I just spent the last six days at a cabin in the northern part of Minnesota, on a lake, with my in-laws.  I'm not really sure what end is up, what food I have in my fridge or where dinner is coming from.  Also, on a side note, why does my house always smell a little funky after being gone a few days?  Does it always smell that way?  But I digress.  Here is my Five Things Friday list for this week, a look at five things that are perfectly acceptable to do on vacation; but are not advisable for the other weeks in your year.  Happy Friday everyone! Opening a beer anytime before noon.  Generally not advisable if you work outside the home, or if you are the primary caregiver to a small child.  After noon; 12:00 and one second, however, are all acceptable times to crack one open, if you want my opinion. Wearing your swimsuit from sunrise to sunset.  I would say that most days I would find it a little bit ranky to be wearing your suit all day,...

Is it truly Wednesday already?  Something about this week, heck this month, is flying by.  We've been busy around these parts with getting the house ready for market and being gone for various family reasons. Summer is truly a seriously busy time.  So busy that most days I feel like I'm running around like a chicken that has just had it's head lopped off.  Whew!  However, today I decided to change that and have a nice, easy day running errands.  Whoo-boy.  Was I wrong!  Here's how the day has shaped up this far: Little Lady woke at 5:15AM I thought I had written out my grocery list, but hadn't. Ditto on the weekly coupon clipping.  Seriously, where have I been? Finally made it to the gym at 10AM. (FIVE hours after I was woken up...) After a great run and shower, realize that I forgot to pack my bra. Clean shirt = thinnest T-Shirt I own. Let's just digress for a moment here, shall we?  Now, as I've mentioned before , I am kind of ...

Five things that I hate worse than tornadoes?  Or the "T" word, as I like to refer to them as when my anxiety gets particularly bad?  Let us see what that list would look like. Nothing Nada Not a Thing Nope Not unless you count werewolves, but I'm pretty sure those don't exist. Happy Friday!  

...if your floors were clean. ... it you didn't do it the way they wanted you to. ...if you made the most money. ...if the paint colors matched. ...if you ate that last slice. But, it does matter... ...if you told your kid you loved them. ...if you helped that person. ...if you were honest to yourself. ...if they made you smile. ...if, at the end of the day, you were happy just being you.

So a few months ago I decided I was going to become a runner.  I didn't buy any special gear, I didn't read anything about running; I simply jumped on the treadmill and ran.  Well, I proceeded to attempt to run.  I made it through the first two weeks.  At that point I repeated the phrase I've used since I learnt how to run, "I only run if I'm being chased...my body isn't made to run." Then Emily had to go and start the program. I'm not competitive.  It wasn't that I wanted to try and "beat" her.  But watching her go through the program and talk how much she hated it, but how it ultimately made her feel good made me think I should try it again.  Perhaps this time with some forethought.  I realized there was a podcast you could download that tells you when to run and walk, thus making watching the clock tick away unnecessary.  I bought a pair of running shoes.  Cheap, Target running shoes; just in case I couldn't stick with it.  ...

When I became a mom a lot of things changed.  And no, I'm not just talking about my shoes size, my waist and my unending need for Diet Coke.  The way I looked at the world changed.  I became a master of ten nanosecond risk management.  "Is this floor clean enough for you to crawl on?"  "Is a fall down these steps going to be a lesson about climbing or a trip to the ER?"  "How many doors does this room have and how many are viable exit routes for you?" And people wonder why I am so scattered brained. I also learned to look at the world through the eyes of my Little Lady.  Puddles have become the most entertaining half hour after a rain storm.  An empty coffee can and a chopstick have become, at once, the most terrific marching tools and migraine producers.  An empty hallway in the middle of a mall can become the best playground when you are with you buddies. A long hallway?  Nah, it's a race track, something new to explore. Giggles ...

It's true.  I have a little escape artist on my hands.  After months of deluding myself that the Little Lady was too short to open doors, she went and did it this afternoon during nap time.  The sound of that door opening was the single most frightening sound I've ever heard in my entire life.  I can't even begin to explain to you the mental upheaval I have right now.  No longer can I place her anywhere without her getting out by her own volition. No place is safe. I know I can get one of those door knob thingys so she can't get out of her room.  But now, the possibility of escape there.  So long "quiet" time.  However, the ramifications of this go far beyond my precious two hours of peace in the afternoon.  No, now I can't leave her on the porch to play without ensuring, beyond a shadow of a doubt that the door is locked.  Showers will be shared and I will probably find myself with a midnight wanderer once again. And I thought po...

The Mr. has been sick, I've been potty training the Little Lady; so let's just say that my house is currently covered in bodily fluids. So I'm ready for put in for some PTO.  Anyone know where I can send in the slip? Anyone? Hello?  ( tap, tap, tap )   Is anybody out there? Sigh, why didn't I negotiate that into my contract? Oh right, I don't have one.

Happy Friday everyone!  It's been a rainy, wet week around these parts, and although that is good for making us stay home to potty train, it does nothing to improve our cabin fever.  The weekend is supposed to be a bit nicer, but cloudy.  As long as it's not raining I'll be happy. I have never been a person to have rituals or routines or even a set way of doing something.  Or so I thought.  After my morning "non-routine" got went all kiddywampus this morning that I not only have a routine, if that routine heads south I am one crabby customer.  I won't go into the details of the derailment this morning, but I will say that by 7AM, the Little Lady was in the bathtub.  So in an effort to recognize my own routine during the day I decided to write down what I thought was my first, necessary five steps that I do every morning. Put on my glasses and a pair of yoga pants.  Seriously, if I don't have any clean and have to get dressed, the morning is o...