A herd of elephant on my roof

I sat down tonight to blog about Paige's upcoming birthday party. It's definitely going to be interesting. But, that will have to wait. As I sat down at my laptop, a herd of elephant started running across my roof.

What herd of elephant you ask? Or, how can your roof support a herd of elephant? It's actually the cats. We have 2 cats, and Wendy has 2 cats. We have a flat roof over our bedroom. When the cats start playing up there it sounds like a herd of elephant are trampling over our heads. Normally it's funny to hear them. Paige just giggles when they run. At other times they do it in the middle of the night. On those nights I swear we're getting rid of the cats. Never happens.

Maybe if we were smart we would cut down the trees close to the house. That's how the cats get up there in the first place. But, they are some pretty oaks, and we don't want to lose them. So for now we have to live with the herd of elephants, um cats, running across the roof.

Think we should put them on diets? And don't even get me started on what it sounds like when they chase squirrels. I've been to concerts that aren't as noisy.

First Sinus Infection

There's something you don't find a place for in baby books! Have I mentioned that Paige has been cranky lately? Oh, you say I have? I thought so.

Yesterday Paige had 2 nosebleeds, something she's never had before. I decided it was time to go to the doctor. Luckily, we have a great pediatrician! Dr. Laycock is wonderful. We called at 7:30 and had an 8:30 appointment. My poor little girl has post nasal drip & a sinus infection. Just what she needs. Sinus infections are rather painful. At least that explains why she's been so cranky lately.

I know that at almost 3 she can't really tell me yet exactly what is wrong. I've been quizzing her lately. I would ask about ears, throat, tummy, the usual stuff. Yesterday she said her ears hurt. Then later she said they didn't.

Unfortunately it looks like Paige has inherited my sinus problems. I do wish she hadn't. That's one of the things I didn't really want to pass on to my child. My sinus issues, Ronnie's finger toes, the poor child is doomed! She'll be the kid at the beach with the runny nose & ugly toes. :(

Freezer Cooking

This is probably my single greatest time saving device. Of course it takes Ronnie hours of work, but it save me a lot of time! For the uninitiated freezer cooking requires you to plan ahead, have a deep freeze, and spend an entire day in the kitchen. I guess you don't have to have a deep freeze, but it does make things a lot easier.

First, make a list of items your family enjoys eating, and that freezes well. Meals like casseroles, soups, beans, stews, meatloaf, lasagna, spaghetti, gumbo, stroganoff. All of these freeze very well. Pick 3 or 4 that you want to start with. Hit the grocery store and get ready to cook in bulk. Ronnie will typically have 2 crock pots and several pots going at one time. On his last cooking day he made beef stew, pork stew, gumbo, red beans, black beans, stroganoff, and spaghetti sauce. Cutting veggies in bulk & prepping everything before you start will make it go smoothly. You can put a stew in the crock pot, while you cook beans & spaghetti on the stove & have a meatloaf in the oven. Make sure you time it so that everything isn't ready at the same time.

Think about the last time you made stew. You probably had leftovers for days. That was a lot of meals. We got 5 meals out of the last stew Ronnie made. We freeze our meals in serving size. A serving for us includes enough for me to take leftovers to work the next day. Using blue painters tape to label the containers will prevent them from getting marker permenantly embedded in the plastic. It peels off easily no matter how long it's in the freezer too. We've found that the perfect containers are the tall quart containers you get egg drop soup in from the Chinese restaurant. It's enough for all of us to eat, plus have leftovers.

Once all the hardwork is done, relax with easy meals for weeks. We usually do this, OK Ronnie usually does this, about every 6 to 8 weeks. Sometimes longer. Once the freezer starts getting low we start making lists of what we want next.

Weekly Menu

After talking to a coworker, a few other friends, I realized either I'm a freak, or my friends are freaks. I'm not so sure which is better. But that's beside the point. At lunch we were talking about dinner. Our office is all about the food. My coworker, Crystal, had no idea what to fix. She said she usually just wings dinner & it may end up being fast food or corn dogs from the microwave. My dinner? Beef stroganoff, pasta & peas. Tomorrow? Grilled chicken, mashed potatoes & green beans. Crystal was amazed. I already knew what I'm having tonight, and I had planned for tomorrow as well.

I do this every week. Saturday morning I sit down and plan a menu for the week. Ronnie does a lot of freezer cooking, but that's another post. I take into consideration what we have prepared in the freezer, and what meats we have already. Then, I put together a shopping list. I only buy things on the list. Since I use a lot of what is on hand, my weekly shopping bill is down to about $35-$50. When things we use frequently are on sale, I'll stock up the pantry or deep freeze then. Otherwise, I'll buy as we need.

This saves a ton of time as well. Take tonight for example. The beef stroganoff was from the freezer. Last night I moved it into the fridge to thaw. By the time I got home, it was completely thawed. I made pasta while heating the stroganoff. Toss some frozen peas to steam in the microwave & dinner is served. Dinner tonight took about 20 minutes from walking in the door to table. And that does allow for a potty break for Paige, and Mommy getting out of work clothes.

Tomorrow won't take long either. I already have the George Foreman out on the counter ready to go. On weeks when I'm really on the ball, it takes even less time. Some weeks I'll pre cook any rice or pasta that I'll need for the week. That seriously cuts down the cook time in the evening!

So, am I the only one? Am I the freak or are my friends?

Well, we survived

It wasn't pretty, but we survived yesterday. Paige was very cranky, and spent some good quality time sitting by herself in the bathroom. (Works better than her room since it has so many toys.) Paige decided to play on my rocking chair, which is usually fine. But she started to get very rough with trying to stand and jump from it while it was rocking. I kept telling her to stop or she would get hurt. Well, Mommy caught her. And now I have a really nasty bruise that covers most of my pinky on my right hand. Really not pretty.

She didn't take a nap at nap time. We could hear her playing. We each went in once, and put her back down. About an hour into what is usually a 2 hour nap, she called for Daddy. She had wet the bed. Ronnie showered her off while I changed the sheets. That one I don't get since she pottied just before nap time.

Ronnie still wanted to do something special with just the 2 of them. He packed her up and headed to the Exploreum. She loves it there. So much so that she didn't want to stop playing to go potty. She peed on herself. Ronnie had repeatedly tried to get her to potty, and she refused. As a result, she lost TV privileges yesterday afternoon and evening. They had to leave early to come home & get cleaned up. (Paper towels in the mens room doesn't really do much.)

She argued & acted up more during the afternoon. She pretty much refused to eat dinner. We refuse to cook 2 meals, so she may have gone to bed hungry. (And it was her fave meal anyway- fish, cous cous & green beans.) We did put her down to bed early also. Usually bedtime is 7:45. Last night we put her down at 7:15. We didn't hear a peep from her. She was so tired she was instantly asleep.

One of those days

I think it's going to be one of those days. Paige let us sleep late today, and we didn't get up until 7:30. That was a small miracle in itself. But, the extra sleep didn't help her any. She's cranky.

She started off by asking for chocolate milk. Ronnie said OK, and they started to the kitchen to get it. Then the mistake came. Paige told me that I couldn't have any. That it was only for her & Daddy. Now, I don't drink milk of any kind. I hate it. But, it's the principle of the thing. She's got to learn to share & to be nice. She's still refusing to share chocolate milk. She's had to sit in the bathroom this morning. And, she's been told there will be no chocolate milk today at all.

There's been much crying, screaming, a couple of temper tantrums, and an overall not very nice mood this morning. I'm hoping it gets better.

The Best & Worst of 2008

They're everywhere. The best of this from 2008, the worst of this category from 2008. There's Oscar Buzz, and lists of who we lost in 2008. I don't tend to agree with most of them. So, I've created my own. Here it is, Angie's Best & Worst of 2008.

Movies:
Best Actor- Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight. He freaked me out.
Best Action Movie- The Dark Knight
Best Comedy- Wanted. I know it wasn't supposed to be a comedy, but have you seen it?
Best Comic Book Adaption- Iron man. Except for the very, very end.
Best Surprise Moment- Hancock
Best Sequel: Hell Boy 2
Worst Movie: The Love Guru. I didn't see it, but the previews killed braincells.

TV:
Jumped the Shark: Nip/Tuck
Best SciFi: Battlestar Gallactica
Best Reality Show: Top Chef
Sorry to See Go: Stargate Atlantis
Why Was it on So Long?: Boston Legal
Please Cancel: Most Reality TV
Best Imports: Dr. Who/ Torchwood. Torchwood is a spin-off, so I'm justified in selecting both.
Thanks for Canceling: ER
Best Cartoon- Bob the Builder
Best Drama- CSI

Internet:
Over-hyped: Lyndsay Lohan is gay. And?
Over Drama Queened: Brittney Spears
Most Addictive Site: Twitter
Most Time Consuming: Facebook
Best News Site: ABC News
Funniest: LOLcats
Most Over Publicized: Brad Pitt/ Angelina Jolie. I really don't care.

Books:
Best New Read: Duma Key, Stephen King
Best Reread: Stephen King's Gunslinger Series
Most Anticipated: Ender in Exile, Orson Scott Card
Most Read in our House: Sing a Song of Sixpence

Politics:
Stupidest Politician: Blagovich. Seriously, don't talk about it on your cell phone!
Shoulda Ran: Colin Powell
Most Un-newsworth Story: Palin's clothes shopping spree.
Is It That Serious?: Obama's get a dog.

Around the House:
Can't Believe I said: "Cat's don't wear chapstick."
Favorite Gift: Strawberry Shortcake Display Stand. I LOVE IT!!!
Nosiest: Paige on the drums.
Biggest Achievement: Using the potty.
Longest Overdue: Graduating from college.
Best Invention Used Around the House: DVR
Can't Live Without: George Foreman Grill
Most Used: Coffee pot
Mini Me Moment: Catching Paige laying in bed reading.