Don't ask for the recipe....

...because I don't have one!

(I've been inspired by my niece to blog about the food I'm cooking/eating - thanks, Mel. ;)

I love to cook. The way I love cooking the best is to just throw things in a pot or pan, with a vague idea of what I want the end result to be, and see what happens. More often than not, I am pleasantly surprised with the results.

A couple of days ago I made a gorgeous chickpea and vegetable soup. We're mostly vegetarians and so chickpeas are a staple at our house. They go into everything from soup to chocolate cake (yeah, that's right, I said chocolate cake. Maybe I'll post that particular recipe sometime - delicious!).

This soup has lovely chickpea goodness, along with potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic, vegetable stock, tomatoes, basil, spinach and one of my favourite soup ingredients - broccoli stalks. Yep. Broccoli stalks. I'm one of those frugal people who really hates throwing out good food. It kind of chaps my hide to serve my family broccoli and see those tasty stalks go to waste. So I try to use them up in soup whenever I can, which admittedly isn't as often as I'd like. In any case, I used them in this soup and it made me happy.

What also made me happy is that my picky eater children actually ATE this soup. Surprise, surprise!

I'm having the leftovers for lunch today! YUM!

Presenting.........

.....some positivity for the paranoid and pensive. ;)

Happiness Is.....

Happiness is....line-dried laundry. :)

Yes, spring really is here.

Happiness Is......

Happiness is....hangover breakfast....when you're NOT hungover.

Happiness Is.....

Happiness is........a kind neighbour who made me coffee when I came desperately begging for a caffeine fix on a Friday afternoon....

GAH!!!!!

....and to top it all off....

WORST HAIR NIGHT EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happiness Is....

Happiness is...when a husband offers to cook supper.

Ah.............

Thanks, Sweetie.

Good morning !!

I'm just on my way out the door for a run. I'm really looking forward to it - the warmest morning we've seen so far in 2008. But just as I'm on my way, I thought of this song. And well, if it's gotta be stuck in *my* head, I might as well share the love.

I suddenly find myself inspired to go out and locate a pair of legwarmers.....

ENJOY! :)

...If I had a Million Dollars....

Okay, so Chris and the girls will confirm that I'm all about the Barenaked Ladies these days. Wasn't much of a fan "back in the day", but I've re-discovered them and see their appeal. So I'm posting this. Humour me.

And besides, there's nothing funnier in the whole world than hearing Molly belt out the words to this song.....

This morning's "therapy session"

More therapy this morning - another run.

I am happy to report that the running part of my life is steadily improving. I am both impressed and shocked at how readily my body is responding to it again. Not to mention the positive effect this is having on mental and emotional state.

Huh. Maybe I really AM a runner after all. Well, if this doesn't teach me that, then frankly, nothing will.

This morning I found myself thinking about our dog, Max. I see lots of people out walking their dogs in the early morning, and for some reason, today, Max popped into my mind. Hell, maybe I'm just desperately searching for something ELSE to feel guilty about...

In any case, I thought about Max. Max, our 150-lb, Rottweiler/German Shepherd mix who was dumb as a post but the sweetest dog on the planet. We got him right after we were first married from the SPCA when he was just a wee puppy. He soon grew up into a massive dog with the heart of a lap dog. He was a handful! He ate leather sandals (yes, that's right, I said ATE sandals...everything but the soles!!), chewed other shoes, dug giant holes in the backyard, ripped open our garbage and dragged it through the house when he was left home alone. He did a million other things too, that have been forgotten about over the years. He loved people and he loved playing hide and seek and laying in a big bean bag chair that we had just for him. He was good natured and protective and possibly the dumbest dog that ever lived.

After Emma was born, we had even less time for dear old Max. With a little baby to care for (and a high-maintenance one at that) we had even less time for our high-maintenance dog. Max got even less attention than he had before. We weren't being fair to poor old Max.

After a long decision-making period, we decided that we needed to find another home for Max. Add to the complication the fact that we were selling our house and moving into an apartment so that I could be a stay-at-home mom, and there's not too many places big enough to accommodate a dog of that size. Eventually, we took him to a wonderful animal shelter that keeps the animals until a suitable home is found for them.

I was surprised to find out how hard it was to do that, how much I missed him. How much I still miss him! Sometimes I see dogs around the city that look very much like him. I've even stopped and struck up conversations with the owners. None of them have been Max.

This morning I thought of dear old Max and was filled with sadness. We did right by him, in the end, and I'm sure that he's in a loving house and getting all the attention and love that he deserves. I'm sorry that we weren't the ones to be able to give him that.

Hopefully, for the sake of his new family, he's broken his sandal-eating habit.

A Note to the Easter Bunny

If you hadn't had quite so many beers last night, we might be able to find that last Easter Egg....

Because it makes me smile....

I'm feeling in a bit of a funk this morning, so I thought I would post this. I need to remind myself of the things that make me smile, and this is one of them. For some reason I woke up this morning with this song in my head. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something.

Oh - and did I mention that I have a HUGE crush on Ben Stiller? He's my man.

Yes, geeks are hot.

Today's thought to ponder....

Why does clean laundry take up more space in the basket that dirty laundry?

The Moment of Truth

I ate him. He was delicious.

Me...in Cupcake Form

So here is a wonderful cupcake from a certain 4 year old's "Sock Puppet Birthday Party". This was one of the "rejects", but as soon as I saw him, I knew I had to bring him home with me. The look on his face so accurately sums up how I've been feeling this last while. Frightened, worried, depressed, uncertain about life...without knowing how to make it all stop.

I don't know whether to eat him or preserve him forever.

Pass me a Brown Thing, would ya?

I'm not one to read tabloid magazines. I'm just not interested in which celebrities have cellulite, how many babies Angelina Jolie wants to adopt, who has an eating disorder, or the latest sightings of aliens, bigfoot, bat boy or Elvis. I will admit, though, that when I'm stuck in the lineup at the grocery store, I do find that my eyes gravitate toward those things like Oprah to a new diet. All my celebrity knowledge comes from whatever I'm able to read on the front covers during my five minute wait to unload my groceries.

Last night I saw an interesting headline. Apparently Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes kid, Suri, is living quite the 'bizarre' life. There was a list of things that made her life so, things like Scientology playdates and the like, but, topping this shocking list is the fact that this poor child is deprived both television AND Happy Meals. The Horror!

I went searching on the internet just now to find out just how old this kid is. She won't be two until the middle of April! Honestly, as soon as they've got teeth, kids needs to be hooked up to all-you-can-stomach Happy Meals and a steady supply of television. We need more people to contribute to the childhood obesity problem! What the hell are her parents thinking, exactly??? QUICK! FOR GOD'S SAKE, SOMEONE PLEASE PHONE SOCIAL SERVICES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So yeah, I'm more than a little bit sarcastic. But really, first of all, who the cares if this kid isn't getting McDonald's and television, and second of all, since when is that considered a bad thing?

The ironic part is, of course, if photos turned up of the kid gumming on a cheeseburger and watching Law and Order they'd catch hell for that, too. Gotta love the society we live in, man.

Chris and I walk a fine line with what we allow our kids. We don't have television but we do borrow kid videos from the library. We allow them their time each day to watch, and even occasionally give them a little extra for a special treat. We take them trick-or-treating and let them have 'treats' now and again, but certainly not on a daily basis. Our personal view is that to make it 'forbidden' only makes it that much more interesting. So they can have a little, and hopefully they will learn moderation from that.

That being said, there are certain things that are forbidden. McDonald's is definitely one of those things. I don't feel one OUNCE of guilt for that one. I can happily say that while I'm still able to make that decision on their behalf, my kids will never know what a Big Mac tastes like. Same with television. Not under my roof.

While we were away on vacation I had an amusing experience with my kids. On the way to our vacation spot, we stopped at a Tim Horton's for a bathroom break and to grab a bagel for lunch. Timmy's is a spot that we go to about once a year - when we make our annual vacation trip. I prefer fair-trade organic coffee from small, local coffee shops. I prefer not to help out big business. Besides, Timmy's coffee tastes like crap.

We stopped there and the girls looked at the display of doughnuts and asked if they could have one. In a moment of weakness, I bought them one chocolate glazed doughnut to share in the car during the second half of our trip. After we ate, we got loaded in the car, and Molly said loudly, "I want my brown thing!"

"Brown thing? What brown thing?"

"Mommy, she means the thing you bought us to eat." Emma explained.

Oh! Her brown thing. Poor child didn't even know it was called a doughnut. I had a memory of Emma at the same age when she saw a package of plain sugared doughnuts at the grocery store. She called them 'sugar bagels'. Hm. Maybe I'm depriving my children more than I thought.

Please, no one phone social services on me, 'kay?

It's still relevant this year...

Valentine's Day STINKS!

Guilty Little Pleasure

Today I indulged in one of my guilty little pleasures. It's been a long time since I've done it. There I was, standing in the grocery store this morning, and the compulsion overtook me. I couldn't refuse it - I didn't have it in me to say no.

I know it's bad, it's something that I shouldn't indulge in. At one point I was pretty addicted to it, and finally broke the habit, and felt better for it. It wasn't something that I wanted my kids picking up on and trying themselves. But today, for some reason, I just couldn't help myself.

I was in the door only about five minutes, made sure the girls weren't around, and then cracked open that box of Q-tips and swabbed my ears, hard and deep, like I haven't done in a good long while. It felt even better than I remembered. Then I stashed the box before anyone could see it and start asking questions. I know that tomorrow morning, after the shower, I will hear those little cotton-tipped swabs calling my name.

I know that it's bad...but it feels oh so good....

A Moment In Time

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who has certain thoughts.

So I'd like an informal show of hands - how many other people out there experience these absolute distinct moments when they feel like life is absolutely ridiculous?

I had one of those moments tonight. I was on the bus, on my way home, after my evening out (it was a good evening by the way, I holed up in a quiet corner of the library and wrote and wrote and wrote. It was glorious!)

In any case, there I was, sitting on the bus, truly living in the moment, and enjoying my time as an independent human being. Normally when I'm on the bus, I'm busy distracting the girls, or having silly conversations or trying to avoid eye contact with the weird old lady who is making strange eyes at my children. I was listening to my iPod, enjoying the music, when a young girl got on the bus, talking loudly on her cell phone. I'm not sure if she was high school or university aged; in any event, she was a whole lot younger than me, that's for sure.

She got on the bus, and sat directly behind me, still talking loudly.

"You know, I'm starting to like, realize that Mondays are like my stress day. 'Cuz now that it's, like, going on Wednesday, I'm finally feeling like I can relax a little and not, like, stress out so much, you know? I still have a whole bunch of reading I have to get done, but I'm like, 'I can handle it, it's Wednesday'."

She was talking so loudly, in fact, that I could hear her over my music. With the exception of this girl, the bus, though rather full, was completely quiet.

I simply closed my eyes, turned up the music, and tried to go on enjoying my moment...even though I could still hear her over Cat Stevens. And as I sat there, with "Morning Has Broken" blaring in my ears, hearing this girl talk on, I was suddenly overwhelmed with two thoughts:

a) Life is completely and utterly ridiculous sometimes

and

b) This would make a great scene in a movie.

I smiled a huge, silly grin, suppressed a giggle, even, and turned up Cat just a little bit louder.

Glamourous Moment # 4,327 in the Life of a Stay-At-Home Mom...

There I was, pants rolled up to my ankles, standing in the tub, barefoot, scrubbing the shower walls, and trying desperately to think of what I would do with the girls when I was done to keep them amused, and keep myself from going nuts, when the phone rang.

It was my friend. Her husband is home from work and would be taking their daughter to the local playgroup for the morning. Did I want to join them?

YES!!!!!!!!!!!


Thank God.