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Showing posts from May, 2010

Minivan

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When I was 30-something weeks pregnant and hunting for a car that would fit three car seats, I was dead set against getting a minivan.  I JUST COULD NOT DO IT.  It was impossible to envision my 5'3" self tooling around town in a short bus.  Plus, having a car that gets under 30 miles to the gallon flies in the face of all that I think is right in the world.  It seemed that our bonus baby meant something had to give so I compromised on the fuel economy and we ended up with a Subaru Forester. Our Forester served us well until the Turtles needed to move out of their infant seats and into convertible ones.  Vivi got booted from her convertible and moved into a booster seat.  They all fit but I didn't realize that the booster required the actual car seat belt to restrain the child.  That's when our Forester turned into a royal pain in the ass.  So after 14 months of Forester ownership and a grand total of 6428 miles, I started dreaming of minivans.  Ummm ... salivating at

Animals

I am not an animal person.  Although snuggling with my children or being slimed by their boogers and puke doesn't generally bother me, the idea of cuddling up with a pet is just not my cup of tea.  Sharing my space with some furry creature is almost certainly at the bottom of things I would choose to do.  This is a bit surprising since I always grew up with pets and hate the idea of any animal being mistreated.  (Well, except for mice and rats, I don't care what happens to them.)  Still, it is a given that I will be the fervent hold-out when my husband and girls start begging for a dog. Yet, in the last couple of weeks, I have had to deal with more animals and animal-like behavior than I thought possible.  Saturday morning I went outside to check on Vivi only to find her playing with a dog I had never seen before.  The animal seemed sweet enough but I was loathe to go near it just in case it wasn't.  After much cajoling I got a hold of its collar and called its owner.  Sh

Embarrassment

I am fully aware that, as a mother, I will be an embarrassment to my children at some point.  It seems to be a requirement.  I would imagine that it starts happening somewhere around adolescence.  That point in time when friends become more important to a child than her own family.  That moment when I go from being the loving caregiver to a fat slob who doesn't know how to dress.  (Which, to be fair, is very likely true now.)  It seems inevitable that I will be that person who just DOES. NOT. UNDERSTAND. how difficult it is being my daughter. I get that but no one ever tells you that your preschooler could be an embarrassment to you.  Lately, I am afraid to say that I have been feeling very ashamed of Vivi's behavior.  In the past two weeks, she has pushed, shoved, and bitten her friends without any obvious provocation.  She seems very angry and I, clueless mother, am bewildered as to why.  This is not the behavior of MY child.  My child is creative and precocious and sweet

The Crock-Pot

My Crock-Pot and I are in the midst of a grand love affair.  I put a little work in during the Turtles' naptimes and it rewards me with delicious meals and minimal clean-up.  I've baked cakes and made super easy tapioca in it.  It has provided me with many bowls of soup throughout the winter and works wonderfully at cooking beans or making stock.  Much like my stroller , I will forever sing the praises of the slow cooker. What I will not sing the praises of, however, is Make It Fast, Cook It Slow:  The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking by Stephanie O'Dea.  Despite numerous recommendations and a few recipe attempts, I have been thoroughly unimpressed with this cookbook.  To be fair, we don't eat meat so perhaps the meat recipes are better but the Tamale pie I tried was mediocre at best.  The Quinoa Casserole was my first ever Crock-Pot disaster.  I found myself cooing to my machine, "Don't worry slow cooker.  It's not you.  It's the horrible recipe.&qu

I'm Baaaaack!

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I've returned from the familial abyss that has claimed my blogging time for the last three weeks. I don't think I've gone so long without writing since I started this blog so to the two or three people who read my ramblings regularly, sorry about that. You see, we've just had quite a bit going on around here. Vivi turned four.   The Turtles are on the cusp of walking and destroying everything in their path. My washer died and flooded part of our basement in the process. Our beloved babysitter is graduating college and leaving us which has me distraught. And my husband and I celebrated five years of mostly marital-bliss. No picture for that.  Go figure... And you thought I was just busy soaking beans and baking bread.