Friendiversary

Amelia and her friend Andrea have decided that September 30th is the anniversary of them becoming friends. They met last year in kindergarten. So today Amelia took Andrea an anniversary card that she had made. And Andrea gave Amelia a High School Musical 3 refrigerator magnet.

I asked Amelia where she got the magnet and she told me it was from Andrea. I said, "Oh, that was nice of her."

Amelia said, "Mo-om." (You know the 2 syllable exasperated 'Mom'), "It's our anniversary. We always gets each other gifts for our anniversary."

Plugging along

I have no stories. Nothing interesting to say. We're just plugging along. I've found that I'm much better at managing my time when I have a lot more to juggle. I've also found that nursing textbooks cause narcolepsy.

I thought they were supposed to be low-maintenance.

I am first going to say that I am head over heels for our kittens/cats.

And then I am going to tell you that some days I'm ready to hand 'em over to my sister's crabby neighbor who sets neighborhood cats loose up Butterfield Canyon.

Yesterday I was juggling a million tasks while making dinner. I have a big cottage cheese container that I've been using to pour old cooking oil into (bacon grease, etc.). It was full, and sitting on the counter waiting for me to take to the trash.

I should have known better, but it was sitting right next to the fish bowl, which just happens to be Willow's favorite drinking bowl when he thinks we're not watching. So while I had my hands sticky with bread dough, Willow jumped up on the counter to drink from the fish bowl (naughty kitty) and somehow jumped into the container of grease, spilling it all over, but not before submerging his whole hind quarters in it. So lets see....my hands are covered with bread dough and flour, the counter, backsplash, and floor is covered in grease/oil. And I have a pissed-off half-greased cat running through my house trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

I alert the girls--one grabs Gabby (the dog) to keep her out of the grease, the other grabs Mango to keep her out of the grease, and I go searching for Willow. After tracking him down, we tried to figure out the next step. What do you do with a cat who is covered in semi-liquid bacon grease? We first tried toweling him off. That did nothing. And I couldn't just leave him--for one thing he stunk. For another, did you ever see that Oprah where the kid drank baby oil? So did I. I wasn't going to let that worry keep me up for the next week. So I tried something that in hindsight was not the smartest thing. I put him in the shower stall and turned it on. Let's just say the sounds that came from that shower would have made a sailor blush.

So that didn't work. We finally decided on a good ol' fashioned kitty bath in the kitchen sink. This required that I first attend to the grease spilled all over the kitchen counter and floor. Once that was done, the kitty bath went....okay. Slightly fewer feline profanities this time, although with all his scratching and flailing, Willow did pull The Joy of Cooking off my window ledge and into the bath with him. And he knocked a vase into the other side of the sink where it shattered to bits. Really lovin' the cat at this point.

Once he'd been thoroughly scrubbed clean with dishwashing soap (Dawn really does cut the grease), and rinsed, and then dunked one more time just for ruining my cookbook, we wrapped him up in a towel and started rubbing him dry.

And this is when he turned on the charm. He snuggled right in and started purring and acting like the last 90 minutes was just exactly what he had hoped we could all do that afternoon.

The mice will play

I had to call in my first favor. The girls get out early on Wednesdays, and I had class until 3:00. So they went to my friend Nikol's and played with her (sub)urban chickens.
Then Nikol took them to her friend's farm where they chased goats and ducks and then pressed apple cider. Both girls came home happy as can be.

Can't say the same for their tummies, which couldn't quite handle all that fresh apple cider.

(What a nice friend Nikol is to take pictures so I feel like I was there.)

First day of school

So I had my first day of school. And my second. And I've really enjoyed them. The more I learn about what a nurse actually does, the happier I am that I'm on this path.

Maybe you know this about me, maybe you don't, but I like to obsess about unimportant things. One of those things I've been obsessing about is feeding the family while I'm in school. When I'm scrambling to cobble together dinner, it makes me feel like life is out of control. So here's the plan I've come up with for the first month of school:

• Mondays--roasted chicken or pork w/ veggies
• Tuesdays--Mexican night
• Wednesdays--pasta night
• Thursday--leftovers

I figure that gives me enough guidance without locking me in to anything specific.

So tonight was Mexican night and I made a fajita "recipe" my sister-in-law, Heather, gave me years ago. It's been a long time since I made it, but it's officially going back in the regular rotation. I forgot how good it is!

Ready for it? Jar of salsa. Packet of taco seasoning. 4-5 chicken breasts. Throw it all in the crockpot. Shred the chicken once it is cooked and return to sauce to serve.

I sauteed some onions and peppers and made some guacamole to go along with it. So delicious!

And I do have to confess, last night's dinner was roasted chicken and veggies, and it was a complete bust. Nasty. One of those nights when the only thing left to do is pull out the cold cereal.

Cat Lady

I've been rushing around today trying to get ready for my first day of school. Part of getting ready has been printing out a bunch of photos for the girls for the miscellaneous school projects they are sure to have this year which will require photos. I came across this picture of Mango. How cute is she??? I am officially that annoying lady with the cats.

Why my eyes ya?

We have watched this video more times than we should, and yet it still makes us laugh. Now, at any given time, you can hear someone in our house moaning, "Oh Long Johnson" or "Oh Don Piaaaano" or "Oh my Dog."

Bonding Bust

So the other day Kolby thought it would be fun to print out the guitar tabs and learn "Highwayman" for Madeline. He invited her in for a sing-a-long. She exited the room about 5 lines into his song, came back a minute later with her Shuffle and said, "How about you listen to the song first so you know how it's supposed to sound? Then I'll sing along."

I like lists.

Eleven days to go. Actually 10.5. In the last couple of days I have (finally) reached a pretty good place in my head about plunging into this nursing program. I think I had to mourn the loss of my (somewhat) care-free life before I could really get excited about it. I almost forgot how bad I wanted this. But I do.

I'm going to be a damn good nurse. And I'm going to enjoy nursing school. I'm sure it'll be a pain in the butt, but it's also going to be a lot of fun. And then I'll be a nurse! Woohoo!

So in the next 10 days, here's my list of things to do for fun:

• kayak with the family
• kayak without the family (maybe alone, maybe with my friend Nikol)
• go out to dinner somewhere "fancy" with Kolby
• catch at least one more matinee (I've snuck off for a couple since the girls went back to school)
• finish reading Prodigal Summer
• finish the 2nd season of "Gossip Girl"
• spend a day shopping in Seattle

And here's my list of things to do to keep myself sane for the next 12 weeks:

• get my eyebrows waxed
• make some freezer meals (keftes, baked ziti, chicken pot pie, beef stew, tortilla soup, minestrone, and tomato soup)
• finish organizing closets
• top to bottom deep cleaning of the house and my car
• solidify this schedule I've been working on for the girls (morning and afternoon routines)
• make a master grocery list
• finish getting all my bills set-up on auto-pay

(Isn't that exciting!!!)

FYI, I made a similar fun list last year and did pretty well with it. Shall we revisit it and see how I did?

• Get a season ski pass and ski once a week--check
• Yoga--nope
• Train for another half marathon--started to, but stopped when I got up to 7 miles and my IT band started giving me problems again.
• Learn to kayak--check
• Take bass guitar lessons--check (although I decided it's just not something I'm willing to devote enough time to...maybe because I suck?)
• Catch up on Simpson's and Arrested Development? Check for Arrested Development. No Simpson's though.
• Read The Economist weekly--um. No. I made a valiant effort.
• Find some rewarding volunteer work--Check, but not what I had in mind. I ended up volunteering at the girls' school. I know I said I wouldn't. I caved.
• Cook and bake more--check
• Learn to play tennis and golf--check (I didn't say I had to play them well...)

So there you go. I'm feeling pretty good about the ending of my sabbatical.

End of Summer

I know they say it rains nine months of the year in Seattle, but that has not been the case this year. The sun came out May 1st, and it hasn't gone away until now. We have had such a lovely sunny summer that some of our bushes are dying because we didn't "know" you are supposed to water them. Usually we get some rain during the summer to keep native trees and plants alive.

It started raining Friday night. I'm not complaining. I love the rain. But it makes me very happy we said goodbye to summer last weekend before the kids started school.

Fluffernutter Fridays

Apparently, Fluffernutters are an East Coast thing. I heard about them for the first time this Summer from someone who said she does "Fluffernutter Fridays" for her kids' school lunches.

Fridays are my absolute favorite day of the week, especially when school is in session. We have our ritual: the girls have rockclimbing, we go out to dinner (usually sushi), and then get a movie and have "Family Movie Night" at home. This usually includes copious amounts of popcorn and Sour Patch Kids.

From the moment I heard about Fluffernutter Fridays I was determined to add them to the ritual.

So this morning, the first Friday back in school, fluffernutters were made. Peanut butter, nutella (not traditionally on fluffernutters, but so necessary), and marshmallow fluff. I'm sure there is a bit of nutrition in there somewhere. Their teachers will totally appreciate the sugar surge.

I even cut the crusts off. It's Friday.

ETA: Fluffernutters were a huge hit. With me and with the girls. (Of course I had to try one too.)

Case in Point

Madeline, cuddled up behind the couch singing "Highwayman" with Johnny Cash. I love that she is discovering her own music. (And I love that she has great taste.)

Back to School (Phase 1)

4th grade and 1st grade! How is that possible? You can see that Amelia has the 1st grade cheeser down perfectly.