Crawfish Fest

We went to Crawfish Festival in Old Town Spring over the weekend. Anna ate some crawfish...

She sweet-talked Aunt Julie out of her Dippin' Dots...

She charmed the crowd...

She also sweet-talked Aunt Julie into buying her a giant, inflatable dolphin...

And a duck on a stick.

A grand time was had by all.

Um, yeah.

So, it was respectfully pointed out to me that two breasts, would in fact, constitute only one chicken.

It was early in the morning when I wrote that. And that's all I have to say about that.

Is it 1952 or is it just me?

The Great Paper Towel Rationing of 2008 is going smashingly (as I know everyone has been waiting, with baited breath, to get an update). In the past 3 days, we've used 2 paper towels (actually, only 1 whole paper towel--we use Select-A-Size). That's huge people! Normally, I'd be breaking open a new roll at this point in the week. I'm so beyond excited about this!

I'm also staying on top of the laundry as a result of this. Since I'm using a few cloths everyday for basic cleanups, I'm throwing in a load of bath towels or underwear or whatever so that we don't run out of cleaning cloths. Our laundry baskets are empty. It's so great. And, since the loads are small-ish and manageable, I'm not dreading folding them and am so on top of it all. Am Super Homemaker! Yay!

In related news, this week we've only eaten a total of 2 chicken breasts--and we've had 4 tasty dinners. On Monday, I made a really yummy pasta with chicken and marinara sauce (using some leftover veggies that were in the fridge). The chicken breasts that we get come two to a pack and are each huge. I sliced up one of the chicken breasts for the pasta sauce. We ate that for dinner both Monday, Tuesday and then I polished the rest of it off Wednesday night for dinner (Kevin had a business dinner that night). Last night, I used the other breast for chicken soft tacos. We fed three adults (Hi Julie!) and Anna had some too.

From an environmental stand-point, this is exciting for me. I figure that it only took 2 chickens to feed us for most of the week. From a cost-standpoint, well, we ate all week for probably less than $15--total...including veggies for salad, pasta, tortillas, cheese, etc.

Tonight, we'll be having salmon. I also need to make some sort of potatoes, since I bought a 10 lb bag of red potatoes at Costco last week. I saw this recipe in Southern Living and am thinking of giving it a whirl.

You complain when I don't update, but look what happens when I finally do. Boring.

Obligatory Earth Day Post

I suppose because it's Earth Day, and on every radio station, tv channel and website, there's some helpful Earth-friendly tip or statistic, I got inspired this afternoon. We blow through paper towels like nobody's business around here. In our defense, we generate a lot of mess though. Take two parts cat mess; add one part baby mess; a heaping tablespoon of compulsive cleaning and that adds up to about one roll of paper towels every day and a half or so. It dawned upon me today that, not only are we adding a lot of waste to the Earth, we're also blowing a lot of money on something that we're just throwing away. It's ironic too because I just cleaned out Anna's dresser this weekend and I found all of the soft, cloth diapers that we used as burp towels when she was itty bitty. I've actually missed laundering them because they were fun for me to fold them just so...all straight and perfect (Don't ask. It's sad, really). I suppose it was kismet that I found those diapers right as I was inspired to change our paper towel habit. Now, the diapers are in our kitchen and will be used for face and hand wiping after Anna's meals; kitchen counter wiping; dish drying; minor mess clean up; etc. Since I do at least one load of laundry each day, it will be easy to throw these diapers in with the wash each day. I'm curious to know if we'll notice a difference in our paper towel consumption. I really hope so.

Wide Open Spaces

Yesterday, while running errands, we were sitting at a stop light, when I glanced over at a large apartment complex nearby. I happened to look up at a 3rd floor apartment balcony and saw that it was full of plastic, Little Tykes-style playground equipment (slides, climbing areas, etc). I was suddenly grateful for the large, secure backyard that we have at home, for Anna to run around in.

Get Your Motor Runnin'

Aunt Julie has a new toy. We're trying to talk her out of buying a wee little pink helmet and sidecar for the squirt.

Note: Nothing says "classy" like two trashcans and a kitty litter bucket in the background of your pictures.

Huzzah!

Often, it takes Kevin to point out when Anna has learned a new word. I hear her babbles all day, everyday, so I tend to not notice when she's actually saying a new word. A couple of weeks ago, she started a game where she'd pretend to give Kevin a goldfish cracker (or some other, highly-coveted toddler snack) and then quickly jerk it away from his mouth, as soon as he was about to bite. When this would happen, Kevin would say, "Psych!" (a junior high reference. Used when you trick someone--like you've "psyched someone out")

For a week or so, I've been hearing Anna say "Huzzah!" a lot and wasn't sure what it was about. It made me chuckle though, because it sounds so Renaissance Festival of her. Last weekend, Kevin put two and two together and realized that she's saying a variation of "Psych!"...more like, "I psych!" She loves to "Huzzah" the cats with a lure of goldfish crackers or Cheetos and gets a big kick out of "Huzzah-ing" her daddy as well.

Are You Gonna Go My Way?

On our way out of Corpus on Monday, about 11:30am, we decided to stop at a North Beach eatery (not Blackbeards) to grab some lunch and take in the last few moments of long-weekend-bliss before strapping the wiggle worm into a carseat and driving for 4 hours into Houston (still hoping to miss rush hour traffic).

We were among the first patrons at this restaurant, being that it had just opened. We chose a table on the patio outside--which is the safest bet, with a potentially fussy toddler in tow. Our waiter approached us immediately. He was a dead ringer for Lenny Kravitz...and high as a flippin' kite. I mean, the aroma of pot danced around him like a vengeful ghost. The sunglasses where firmly in place, over his (surely) blood-shot eyes--especially prudent, since it was overcast and sort of dreary in Corpus that day. He took (I use the word "took" loosely in this case) our order (per Kevin): "I'll have a margarita (which later arrived with a lemon..."Man, we have limes, but they're not cut up, so I thought I'd give you a LEMON instead" Revolutionary stuff, there Einstein); we'll start with a dozen oysters; we'd like a shrimp basket with fries, a chicken finger basket for the little one and I'll have a hamburger with cheese and bacon". As Kevin rattled off the order, I saw the words vanish from Lenny's memory one by one (as visions of unicorns and lace doilies clouded his subconscious). So, Lenny goes off to slowly, one-fingeredly type our order into the computer. He came back by and said, "Can I get you folks an appetizer?". Kevin says, "If you mean, in addition to the oysters that we ordered as a starter? Um, no."
Lenny quickly said, "Ohhhh man. I knew that I forgot something".

Yeah.

So, then Lenny clamored around our table, uncomfortably, making sad, marijuana-induced small talk with us. Turns out? It was his first week on the job. He said that he thinks that being a waiter is a really cool job. Um, ok.

Then, our food arrived. Noticeably absent was Anna's chicken finger basket. Bless his heart: He was so proud to deliver our food ("I finally got an order right!"), we were almost hesitant to alert him of the missing child's plate. When we told him, he said, "Awwww man. I knew that I wouldn't get it right". Off he went to turn the order into the kitchen.

The chicken fingers arrived about 10 min later and they were scorching hot, straight out of the grease. Needless to say, Anna didn't get to eat any of them and instead, munched off of our plates.

After Kevin and I were done eating, I decided to take Anna to the ladies' room to change her diaper, before we hit the open road. On the way back, I "caught" Lenny, smoking his doobie right there at the bar, behind our table. I made eye contact with him and he totally had that "busted!" look on his face. I was disgusted by him and his behavior.

Ok, here's the thing: I don't care if you smoke pot before work. I don't care if you smoke after work. Hell, I don't even care if you smoke on your lunch break. But really? On the job? When you've only been gainfully employed for a few days? Really?

Why is it that I remember being so nervous and eager to please with every stupid job that I had and this dumbass is smoking grass on the job? The funny thing is that the night before (at Blackbeard's, naturally) we had the best waitress ever. She was obviously a mom, because she catered to Anna's every whim--from a maraschino cherry in her water cup to some applesauce for dessert. Kevin and I both marveled at her skills. And, she totally could've been high too. I never considered that until now, but if she was, she was a better waitress for it. Lenny, however, was an idiot.

It made me pretty mad. Mad that he couldn't get our order right to save his life and mad that he was (seemingly) getting away with it. Where's the sense of responsibility? I'm such an old biddy. I freely admit it. Unfortunately, I won't be able to listen to Lenny Kravitz's music the same way for awhile.

100 Things Worth Doing--Part 2

74. My first day of school at a new school--8th grade. Staring at my black Converse High Tops in the principal's office, as they got my class schedule ready. Out of body experience--I was so scared

73. Showing Paw Paw my pictures from Naples, Italy and he digging out his pictures of Naples, from WWII, taken in the same locations. He was so excited to discuss our trip

72. Zip-lining through the Costa Rican rainforest...alternating curse words and prayer the whole way

71. Dancing and commandeering the iPod at my 31st birthday/Lights in the Heights party. Grease Soundtrack. Todd and April. Good friends

70. Getting my first real, bone-a-fide pet sitting client. Building a strong reputation from there on and knowing that I was doing the best job that I could possibly do

69. That first morning at the hospital, when they brought Anna in to us. I was so excited (and strangely surprised) at how beautiful she was

68. Syntex Christmas Party, about 1999 or so. Joe giving a speech about how far he's come and how well the company is doing. Feeling so proud of Kevin, Joe...the company, then, afterward, dancing to "Brick House" with reindeer antlers on my head

67. Jeff Prukop reflecting upon me, years after High School, (via email): I remember an intelligent person who took care of me emotionally when I was hurt and fallen. She seemed to make sure everyone around her was doing well and was never concerned with how far down the food chain of friends that I was on. She lifted me up, led me believe that there is a tomorrow and that there is new hope, success and a bright future around the corner. Well, I turned that corner....

66. A beach--don't know which one--with Troy. Late one night/early one morning. Contemplating the meaning of life. Our moms on the phone with one another, not knowing where the hell we were, planning our funerals

65. Watching the July 4th fireworks from our bedroom window (while simultaneously watching them on the tv, in front of said window)--Houston Heights, a few years in a row

64. Jamie Lewis' hamster spinning in his wheel all night, while spending the night with her

63. Seeing Kevin's face and hearing him go, "Awwww" when the nurse confirmed that Anna was indeed a girl, during our 20-week ultrasound. No sign of disappointment whatsoever in him

62. Sunsets in Sedona, Mexico, Italy, Key West

61. Seeing Ben eat Calamari in DC, on our honeymoon (me and Kevin's honeymoon, just so you'll know. Ben is my cousin. Ew.)

60. That cotton-y soft puppy fur right behind Moose's ears. His sweet puppy breath and not-so-sweet razor teeth

59. Dinner with James and Jen in Chicago. More food than we knew what to do with. Good conversation, sitting outside in the cool, midwest August air. Me, just beginning to feel baby Anna moving inside of me. She seemed stimulated by the conversation. She must've known that these would be people she'd know on the outside

58. Hearing "Northern Sky" for the first time

57. One exceptionally cold Christmas Eve in New Braunfels. The heat wasn't working at Kevin's parent's house. We were all huddled around the blazing fireplace with blankets. Just as it should be

56. Finding Baby Boo, peeking at me from atop our old neighbor's garden wall. There was never a question of if I was going to keep him. He's still, to this day, my baby

55. Arriving at the resort in Mexico for Erika's wedding. Stepping out into the warm, soft sand, feeling the sun beat down upon my tired, sleep-deprived, new-mom body and seeing Erika waving at us from the surf. Feeling instantly like all was right with the world

54. Stepping foot into our current home, with our real estate agent, the first time we saw it. It was so familiar to me--so similar to so many houses that I knew growing up. Knowing that it was "the one". Knowing that it was where I wanted to raise our baby

53. Halloween, 1997. Dressed up in costume at Enterprise. Jason Washa showing up dressed like a 1970's high school basketball player (complete with Afro wig, two-sizes-too small old Flour Bluff basketball uniform and gigantic white knee socks). Laughing so hard that I almost peed myself at work, as he posed for the camera--down on one knee, high school yearbook style

52. Free weekends spent at the pool at my first "real" apartment in Corpus. Weekends were so precious then because I was working so flippin' much

51. Hearing Anna's soulful belly laugh (anytime and every time that I hear it)

50. The smell of piñon throughout the drive from Phoenix to Sedona then burning my fancy, "pine" incense that I purchased in Sedona, at home, trying to re-create the feeling

Yet another fun weekend

We spent the weekend in Port Aransas, soaking up the sun, visiting with family, attending a wedding (um, ok...just the reception. Busted), looking at the Gulf of Mexico and eating sand (mainly just Anna).

I just sent a friend a 200 word or less recap of our time away. It sums it up nicely:

Yes, she did seem to enjoy the beach. There's a video of her at the beach too that I'll be posting on the blog shortly. She didn't even really freak out too much when the waves would come up all around her (and sometimes pretty high). She got completely filthy and had sand all up in her "bits and pieces" (ifyouknowwhatImean). It was a good time. Then, on Sunday, she got to swim at the hotel in Corpus and eat limes at Blackbeards. We hit the aquarium yesterday and she walked from one end of it to the other. She made the sign for fish no less than 8,000 times and when we showed her the seahorses, she said, "NEIGH!"

A fun weekend

B.F.F.
Originally uploaded by veggiejj

Anna and her friend, R. met up at Berryhill on Saturday. Anna wanted to show off her new walking skillz.

Speaking of walking skillz: