Honk honk - December 28, 2006 -
Hey you. Wanna see 8 kids play at a place called Goose Island, even though I haven’t seen one goose yet? Mom placed a clicky thing here.
Umm, by the way, what’s a goose?
Why we no longer have any BLUE!! sprinkles left - December 26, 2006 -
Can you guess which one Mia made?
The Feast of the 7 Fishes - December 24, 2006 -
It is 8pm, and our bellies are full. We made it through 5 of the fishes, and were too full for 6 and 7! The scallops and shrimp will have to wait until Tuesday night.
I loved this day. I started cooking at around 2pm and we nibbled antipasto until around 7pm. The food was very easy to prepare. The key is just cook enough for everyone to have a few bites. Even doing this, we filled up fast.
Steaming the clams
Eating clammies
Clams devoured
Preparing St. Nick fish in foil
Fish in foil
Mia and Cody REALLY enjoyed this dish, cancha tell?
Actually, they ate it up. It was the most flavor packed, tender fish I have ever had. Oregano, garlic, sea salt, cracked pepper, a slice of lime and olive oil on top of the fish, and then all closed up in a tent of foil and cooked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Raw oysters (Bill also fried some)
Some of the ingredients
Now, off to bed or Santa won’t come!
Happy Christmas Eve to everyone!
(Christmas Eve photo set is up at Flickr here)
Bingo - December 19, 2006 -
Yes….I finally took the kids Christmas pictures. Tonight. As in this evening.
Do you think this counts as late? Whatevah!
If I print, address and mail them tomorrow, they might get there by the 12th day of Christmas.
It’s all good.
Christmascardapalooza 2006 is up at Flickr. Enjoy! I know I did…..
Siblings - December 19, 2006 -
I want to share a couple of pics with you. They are not spectacular in their quality. But the subject matter makes me feel like we just might be doing something right with these kids.
The photo is blurry, but Quinn has his arm around Mia, and she has her head resting on him as they watch the lovely Christmas play.
Be still my heart! As everyone plays around them, they have each other.
Merry Christmas!
I didn’t wear flip flops…but almost - December 18, 2006 -
I made it through the office parties. Large crowds of people that I do not know always make me feel anxious. Especially since I do not like to dress up.
After combing through my closet and determining that I could not dress up the glittery Roxy shirt no matter how hard I tried, I finally came to realize I would need to go clothes shopping. GAAH!
I ended up in a little town not too far from here, and tried on every skirt and flowing gauze shirt in the place. Ick, blek and gag. And then I found it. The perfect outfit. It had “Me” written all over it! It was dressy, and down to earth all at once. I even bought shoes! Wanna see it? Okay…
Chocolate jacket with glittery tank underneath
Close up of the tops
Outfit…the tops really dressed the pants up
The other party I just put on a glittery top and black slacks. I have to say that the second party was fun. We met the most wonderfully fun couple from Africa, and I plan to invite the wife for coffee this week.
So, now I am done with the awkward, office social engagements and can relax!
I am in the process of convincing the kids that we must leave for the beach on Friday and stay for the holidays. Bill is almost on board with it, and I am fine tuning my nag so as not to be too overbearing. The kids will convert to my way of thinking easy enough, not because I am good at negotiations, but for the simple fact that they adore Jesse, Pike, Sissy and Ellen so much, and are loath to see them go, so joining them at the coast will be golden.
Was that a run-on sentence? I thought so.
Any way, we feel like we have made some wonderful friends, and Bill and I wish they could stay too. I am hoping that the Post Master sucks again, and they don’t get their mail today and will have no choice but to wait another day. I am evil like that at times. ;*)
Sending some pup dog lovin’ - December 15, 2006 -
Hard to get
Demure
I’m yours
Just wait until my leg is better, Chuck baby.
How to get free stuff without really trying - December 14, 2006 -
-Have your credit card in your hot little hand.
-Call the online store that has the exact guitar your son found in Fredericksburg, but only $100 cheaper.**
-Ask a few questions about the guitar.
-Listen in disbelief as the salesman is a cranky ass, who obviously does not care that I am about to spend $200 at his store.
-Tell said salesman this fact.
-Against your better judgement start giving your credit card info to the ass.
-When he asks “Is the shipping address the same as the billing?” say “Yes, that should be……” and proceed to tell address.
-Restrain yourself from climbing through the phone and strangling the man when said ass says “That should have been a yes or no answer”.
-Instead of breaking the phone into a million bits, tell salesass that he just lost a sale and hang up on him.
-Reconsider letting him off that easily.
-Call back and ask salesass for his supervisor.
-Get the owner of the store on the line and proceed to tell him the tale of the salesman who lost his mind. Tell him you will not be buying a guitar from said company for this reason.
-Listen as owner apologizes for asslike employee, offering excuses such as the flu, and working 60 hour work weeks, and then offers to throw in a guitar stand, soft gig case and an extra set of strings……….and other things he will personally place in the shipping box that he will pack and send himself.
-Agree to purchase guitar.
-Thank owner, pay for guitar, and hang up.
-Pray that they actually ship items, and are not sadistic jerks who will delay sending items to get even with the tattletale housewife.
**this was an online store that was not affiliated with the Fredericksburg store AT ALL. The music shop in Fredericksburg is wonderful and we would have purchased there, but I found the guitar for less money online.
We have a backsplash!! - December 12, 2006 -
Kitchen renovation continues at the jody2ms house, and is nearing completion. We actually have a backsplash! And textured walls! And it only took us…5 years!
Loving the zoom lens
Before
After
Things that remain to be completed, but it might take a bit since it is my part of the job:
-sanding, staining and putting polyurethane on the trim and moulding. Loads and loads of trim and moulding. Gah!
In other news, children that are as kind and sweet as these are make my heart sing. They got it from their parents for sure. No doubt. Even Bill, who has little to say about anything said “They are all so nice!” Yes, Bill, internet friends are real and not computer generated, little cartoon people living in the screen.
My boys are already asking if they are going to live here.
Chocolate for breakfast - December 8, 2006 -
Learning to love chocolate even though her mother does not.
Christmas theme - December 8, 2006 -
Am I not jolly and into the season? Hohoho.
Does this theme even work for you?
If you have any problems with it, could you please leave a comment or drop me an e-mail (addy at right).
Carry on and tally ho etc.
Holiday traditions - December 8, 2006 -
Chris wrote a fun piece about Holiday Traditions of her blog In The Trenches Of Motherhood and invited everyone to share their traditions as well.
Our family is such a melting pot of traditions.
Being of Italian descent, one of our traditions is a large Christmas Eve dinner. My grandmother used to make a “pizza” with anchovies and black olives, several different antipastos, and a main entree of handmade pasta with sauce. Being from Bari, seafood was a big part of the meal. Our New York relatives, the Balducci family, (Andy and Nina are my cousins) celebrate the feast of the 7 fishes complete with Little Neck clams gathered at the beach and placed in a bucket on the back porch until it is time to cook them.
When I was growing up, the meal was eaten throughout the evening, with the main course served at midnight.
My husband would rather stick needles in his eyes than have the kids running around, spazzed out about Santa, until midnight, so we eat much earlier.
This year I will prepare the traditional Feast of the 7 Fishes. Photos of my kids eating anchovies and mussels to come.
Another tradition that we have is the celebration of the Feast of St Nicholas. We decorate the Christmas tree in the evening on December 5th, the kids hang their stockings and that night St. Nick comes for a visit and leaves fruit, nuts and some trinket toys.
This tradition was adopted the first year my kids attending Catholic School. On December 5th, Cory climbed into the car exclaming loudly “Mom, St. Nick comes tonight!!!!! We need to hang our stockings!” I was like, “O’rly???” and promptly called my friend Donna and said “Hi, I understand St. Nick comes tonight….WTF????” She explained the process, and St. Nick made a frantic stop at the candy shop to prepare.
This is a predominately Czech town, and St. Nick stems from that.
So, we now celebrate out of “OhmyGODthekidsatschoolgetstockingsandwedon’tahhhhh?”
My father was Danish, and when my grandmother died, I inherited some Christmas ornaments. One box contained candle holders for the Christmas tree. These holders have been on the trees of my grandparents, great grandparents and great-great grandparents. They have come across the sea from Denmark. They have little fish shapes on the bottom and are well used. This year, I will have a small tree, and we will use the candle holders, lighting small white candles on Christmas Eve. The volunteer fire department will be standing by, as well as my freaked out husband with a fire extinguisher.
Another tradition that I am trying to figure out how to squeeze in is our annual Christmas shopping trip on the Strand in Galveston. Usually we do this the weekend of Thanksgiving, but were unable to stay more than a day due to Bill’s new job, so I am not sure when this will happen. It is something we have done together for the last 19 years or so, Bill even longer. We grab a beer at the Strand Emporium, and stroll along, shopping and watching the people.
So, how do you celebrate? Blog about it, visit Chris blog and leave a link in her comments.
And Buon Natale!
Affiance - December 6, 2006 -
We are in the kitchen. Dinner is cooking on the stove.
The kids are wild. In 1 more day St. Nick will come and fill their stockings.
They are running through the house, sliding on the floors and laughing. Running ’round and ’round the kitchen.
Bill is sitting in a chair at the table, thumbing through Surfer magazine.
Not listening.
In his own world.
I can’t get him to engage.
He is unwinding from work.
His brow is furrowed.
I sidle up to him, slide him and the chair back, and climb in his lap.
At first he jokes that I am breaking his lap, his arms remaining on the chair rails.
I kiss him.
He tells me dinner is burning.
Whatever.
Finally he melts, wraps his arms around me and I snuggle down into him, kissing his neck.
The kids are spinning around us. Laughter and noise.
We stay like that for an eternity.
When I try to break away, he grabs me back and holds me tight.
The kids are everywhere.
We look at each other.
Finally connecting in the chaos.
After all of the kids are asleep in their beds, Bill climbs into bed next to me.
He wraps his arms around me.
No words.
I just know.
I got his attention.
Happy Love Thursday a bit early.
The last mammoth - December 6, 2006 -
I have a bunch of friends here. People I love very much. People who are so good to me that it hurts. It hurts because I feel lost in their midst. The flurry of lunches and teas and shopping and trips to get your hair done. Girlie things.
They are wonderful, beautiful people that I am so grateful for and I don’t know what I would do if they were not in my life. They are my friends for life. But we are different. I feel sort of like the last mammoth of the ice age, searching for someone just like me.
I wear UGG boots because they keep my feet warm, not because Kate Moss is wearing them now. After a winter surf session, I dry myself off, climb into the truck and stuff my sandy feet into them and watch the surf that I just played on.
I don’t wear makeup.
My Levis have holes in them, not from the factory, but because they are 15 years old and are worn out.
In the summer, I wear tanks tops and baggies.
My t-shirts are paper thin from wear. I even have one from summer camp when I was 12.
I didn’t have 30 pairs of shoes for NoBloShoMo and was a tad bit embarrassed to share my shoe closet. It has the essentials, all very well worn..Tevas, flip flops, Uggs, Merrills, Birkies (17 years old), running shoes, biking shoes, one pair of black pumps that I would rather die than wear, a pair of black flats, some mary janes, Roxy tennies and a pair of work cowboy boots.
I usually have on a Roxy cap.
I call my boys Dude, and everything is radical, wicked, gnarly, and if you wimp out, you are a Barbie or a Kook.
I think about wanting someone to call me and say “The surf is up, lets head to the beach”. Here, if I did that I would have no takers. Trust me on this. Or if I did it would involve great planning and strategy. Forgitit.
I want to go hiking with my best friend…..hiking that makes me cry, it is so hard.
I want to stand in someones garage and see their new surfboard.
I want to get dirty on a mountain bike ride…..dirty with a scraped, bloody knee and the satisfaction that I did the ride with my best friend.
I want my best friend to be able to do all of these things with me.
I want my best friend to have a healed brain. One that can do all these things with me without the worry of having another stroke.
I have a butt load of Christmas parties to go to for my best friends new job and dread it because I have to get dressed up. Do you think I could wear some jeans, a glittery t-shirt and some flip flops? No?
See what I mean?
I skipped a party today with my friends. An ornament exchange. I am sick with a chest cold, and just didnt feel like getting out….reality is I felt more like I just wanted to be at home. Large social situations like that really make me uncomfortable these days. I do better one on one.
I am the person that everyone thinks would be pretty if she would just put on some makeup and dress pretty. I clean up really good.
If it were not for Bill, I would be the last mammoth.
It’s coming down to nothing more than apathy
I’d rather run the other way than stay and see
The smoke and who’s still standing when it clears.
**this post is a variation of the “six weird things” meme Karen tagged me with.
Another one for the vacuum man - December 5, 2006 -
Mia spilled an entire carton of blue cheese crumbles on the kitchen floor. The 76 or so year old kitchen floor with the gaps between the floor boards wide enough to lose a small child in.
As I was cleaning the mess up, the crumbly, smooshed mess that required a knife to scrap the cracks out, I stupidly carried out a dialogue with my 2 1/2 yo daughter.
“Dang it Mia, I have told you not to get into the refrigerator, haven’t I”
Mia: “Yes you have.”
Me: “But you do it anyway, and now there is cheese all over the floor”
Mia: “Yes, there is cheese on the floor….and my shoes” to which she stomped her foot and sent more cheese flying.
Me: “Oh, Mia. Who do you think has to clean up this mess???”
Mia: “DADDY!!! Charge the vacuum!!”
Poor pup dog - December 5, 2006 -
Satanic pin out, feeling better, but still jailed.
It is going to be a long 4 weeks for the dingo dog.
Dogcat - December 4, 2006 -
Honey thinks she is a cat.
She curls up on the sofa with us in our laps.
She leans up against our legs all the time. When I am standing at the sink washing dishes, watering the yard or taking her for a walk.
She also gets on the window ledge outside the kitchen. This ledge extends from the backdoor and runs along the windows that bank our kitchen. She accesses it from the porch, and then walks the ledge like a cat. At its highest point, it is around 4-5 feet off the ground. I have repeatedly told her no and tried to stop her. My fear was that she would fall to the ground below, which is concrete.
Last Tuesday I came home from work and was greeted by frantic kids. They said Honey was limping when they got home from school, and so she was. Badly. A visit to the vet confirmed my suspicion of a broken leg. She literally snapped the head of her little femur clean off.
She had surgery on Wednesday and a pin was placed in her leg. She must remain in her crate at all times, except to use the bathroom.
For 6 weeks.
If it were that simple, I would be in heaven. Complications keep setting in…….the pin broke through the skin at the back of her leg. I was assured this was normal. She was placed on antibiotics.
On Sunday the pin broke through the front of her leg at the knee. It is very sharp, and I don’t think this should have happened. She also licked the area raw. It is just terrible. I can guarantee you that there will be no pictures of her leg, because if she survives, I do not want anything to remember this by.
This morning she is heading back to the vet.
I really love this dog. I am so sad for her discomfort and so worried that the vet may not be able to repair her leg.
Honey has completely stolen my heart.
Now lets pray that she does not break it.
**UPDATE….They removed the pin from Honey’s leg, and the bone seems to be holding together. She is staying the night at the vets, and then we can bring her home to strict crating to allow the bone to heal strong. I went to visit her, and she is a new dog. That pin was just very, very uncomfortable and I am so glad it is out. I think if it had remained in, she would have lost the leg due to infection.
a few margaritas - December 1, 2006 -
We have made a few blenders of these
and some fish tacos to munch on.
Friday night is so damn fine.
