Sharing the love

For the past two Christmases, we have shown up empty handed at family gatherings. Jake was laid off from two separate jobs two years in a row and there just wasn't money for gifts. We joked last year that Adeline was everyone's presents, but I still hated not having actual gifts to share.

This year we're still on one income, though this time it is by choice. But there still just isn't alot to go around. I wrestled with what to do-buy everyone a tiny gift? Make people gifts? All of my choices still felt cheap.

And then there was Chelsea, and Chelsea's blog. Because of her, I will not be empty handed this year at Christmas.

On top of all the free stuff I can shop for, she gives stuff away too! Like right now she's got a giveaway going for cloth diapers. Now, don't go an enter, because that'll lessen my chances of winning. I'm just posting this so you can see how generous Chelsea is, and so you'll go look at her blog.

Burning down the house...

My mom came over today to hang out with Adeline. I have no illusions about who it is she comes to see when she visits-she likes me well enough, but the baby is the interesting one in this household these days.

Since dinner was take-out Chinese, my mom opted to stay to eat. Since I really feel like take-out Chinese is not a good choice for a one-year-old, I decided I'd cook Adeline something while Jake was picking up our dinner. I put some water on to boil for pasta-simple enough, right?

The next thing I know, there are flames coming out from under the pot. Flames. So, I very calmly turn off the heat, take the pot off the burner and flip a skillet that was sitting there upside down over the fire, thinking that would put it out. Which it, of course, did not. Fortunately we had a big container of salt in the cabinet right next to the stove, and dumping the majority of that on the fire put it out. The smoke alarms were going off, and my poor mother was standing at the edge of the kitchen holding the baby looking like she was ready to evacuate. She had one hand covering one of Adeline's ears and she was trying to hold her so that her other ear was pressed against my mom. Adeline just looked annoyed that she was being held when she wanted to be playing.

After the smoke alarms were turned off and the water was set to boil on a different burner, it occurred to my mom that Adeline hadn't really reacted to the alarms. And that I had been remarkably calm during the entire episode. Which forced me to admit that the smoke alarms go off nearly every time I cook because there's something burnt onto the bottom of my oven that creates a nice cloud of smoke, and if the oven is open for more than ten seconds or so, it ends up setting off the alarm. And I'm clumsy and I spill, a lot. And things on or under the burners tend to catch fire kind of often. Not like what happened tonight, but I've dealt with my share of little kitchen fires.

So when my mom left tonight, it was with strict instructions that tomorrow I am to run the self-clean cycle on the oven and clean out those trays under the burners (which are soaking as we speak).

A day at the park

About a week ago Jake and I took Adeline to the park. This was her first outing since she could walk where we could just let her down to go where she wanted, so I wasn't sure how she would react.

She wasn't so sure either, at first. Then she got her balance, and she took off.

She'd fall and hop right back up. Or, if she fell and there was dirt, she'd play in that for a minute before moving on.

Then, we went to feed the ducks. I couldn't get any pictures because I was too busy trying to keep her from jumping in the lake. Then a goose showed up and he kept coming up on the sidewalk, and that was enough for me, so we stopped feeding the ducks. We popped her back in the stroller and wandered around.

This is the view of the ducks from the bridge. I don't like birds, so this was kinda intimadating! For some reason Jake liked that brownish one in the middle and kept trying to feed just him, but that duck was rather dumb and kept missing the bread.

It was a fun day.

Could it be?

I'm not the most organized person. I would like to be, and on days that I clean, the house looks awesome. Never lasts though, usually within hours things start to pile up again. The worst of it is the laundry. I despise putting laundry away, and if Jake doesn't do it, it just gets left sitting. Since we use cloth diapers, they're often left in the pile, and we just pull them out as needed.

The other day, Adeline brought me a diaper. She loves playing in the laundry basket, so I didn't think much of it. Then, a couple of days ago, she brought me the package of disposable diapers (I get lazy sometimes).

How is it that in the last week we've gone from her running in the other direction if she saw me with a diaper to her bringing me diapers? I can't keep up with this kid sometimes.

Shopping is done, but it is nearly 1 PM. We got started later than I'd hoped to. I'm off to cook...dundundun!

Lasagna is done, beef stew is cooking and ratatouille is almost done. So far, no disasters. Adeline has been a doll all day, she did great at the store, but she loves going to the store so there's no surprise. She had some cuddles with me right after we got home and the rest of the afternoon she entertained herself with her toys or played in the kitchen cabinets. Right now, she's napping.

I think I'll rest with her for awhile and then finish up. This is exhausting!

It seems that I do not own enough pots and pans or tupperware for this endeavor. My freezer is going to be filled with an assortment of tupperware, tupperware covered in foil because I can't find the proper lid and ziplock baggies.

Four meals to go, and a GIANT mess to clean up.

Take it easy

Things are too complicated right now. I work evenings, which leaves Jake in charge of dinner, bath and the pre-bed routine. Adeline isn't much on nighttime and tends to get cranky and needy as it starts getting dark, and Jake hasn't mastered the art of cooking with a kiddo hanging onto his leg. Which means that dinner often just doesn't really happen. The kid gets fed, but Jake and I usually scrounge.

So I'm thinking-can I make a freeze a weeks worth of meals on Sunday? Is that going to be just awful? Or will the day of cooking not be so bad when I'm eating real food on a Tuesday night instead of Cheezits and ice cream?

So the plan is make seven meals, freeze them, and eat like royalty all next week.

Jake'll be gone all day tomorrow so I'm on my own for the shopping and the cooking parts. Should be fun!

Meal 1: Lasagna (beef)
Meal 2: Chicken Enchiladas
Meal 3: Beef Stew in the crockpot
Meal 4: Spaghetti sauce w/ turkey meatballs (turkey)
Meal 5: Spanish Chicken and Rice
Meal 6: Ratatouille
Meal 7: Black Bean Soup

Nablopomo=Fail. I just can't do the everyday thing. I can't/won't just post for the sake of posting.

So Dead Like Me...I'm into season two now. There's something about the main character-I think her name is Jasmine Guy, she reminds me of the person who plays Meredith on Gray's Anatomy-something in the mouth area. It is mostly looks, but the way they speak seems similar as well.

I also started Weeds. So far I'm not seeing the big draw. I like the older son's character, but the rest of them seem too stereotypical and it is kind of boring.

The sun needs to come back out. We've had these weird overcast days lately and enough is enough. This makes me feel crappy and I want my sunshine back.