Homemade Jello

I'm really getting hardcore into the what is in a product kind of thing, I've upped my ante when it comes to what I'm feeding kiddo. When I heard that certain types of dye are linked to A.D.D. in children, one of the first things that I thought of with the red flag was jello. 

I did a little searching and of course none of the jello products are dye free.  This was disappointing because that day kiddo was bugging me to make him some. I had bought a few from the store and gave it pause for thought.  Then it came to me: Why not make homemade jello? How hard can it be? How much more expensive?

So with a little more searching, I found a recipe that looks like it has a potential. There was some conflicting measurements, but I think I refined it to a working recipe.

Homemade Jello:

• 2 (1.8 oz) envelopes of unflavored Knox gelatin
• 1/2 C cold fruit juice
• 3 C hot fruit juice
• Optional: sugar or honey, as desired

In a small bowl combine gelatin and 1/2 C cold fruit juice. Allow it sit for 10 min to bloom the gelatin.  Microwave 3 C of fruit juice until hot. Add the cold juice/gelatin mix to the hot juice and stir until completely disolved.  Add sugar or honey if desired.  Refrigerate for 30min or until firm set.

Today I tried all natural, no sugar added Cranberry Pomegranite juice and apple juice (I ran out of the cranberry), and is currently in the refrigerator.  Hopefully this will be a hit. No added sugar or colors and it's pure juice.  I'll edit for results. Wish me luck!

Edit: Tart. Maybe need to add a bit of sugar.

Salmon and Onions

This seems like it's a really nice weekly kind of dish that is super simple.  I'd serve this on Friday's, but since we missed cooking at home a few days back, I broke out the frozen salmon and thawed it out.

Wild Salmon and Green Onions:

• Wild Salmon (bought at Walmart, frozen, for $7 for 1lb 10oz)
• Cajun seasoning
• olive oil
• salt
• lime juice (fresh is best, but bottled is fine)
• green onions (organic, yay! and at Walmart too)

Thaw out the frozen salmon in the fridge until workable.  (Debating on this point on whether or not to remove the skin because there are scales on it making the texture a bit unappetizing, but the skin is really tasty underneath). Heat a pan on medium heat and add olive oil.  Salt and Cajun season each side of fish and place "skin side" down into a pan that is already hot. Just when the sides are turning from pink to opaque, let it sit for another moment before gently flipping. A seared bottom makes for a nice crust, but in our apartment I fear of setting off fire alarms so no flambe or really good sears for us in this dish. We cook our salmon pretty thoroughly but it has firm feel when touched and amazingly not dry. At the end of cooking, spash/squeeze lime over salmon to taste.

Green Onions:
     Wash, clean, prepare onions: cut them in half to expedite cooking time. In a separate frying pan with olive oil, heat on medium, add onions with some salt.  Cover and occasionally stir to prevent sticking.  Cook until slightly carmelized.  Serve next to cooked salmon.

Easy cooking time, no slaving over the stove.  Love any kind of fish but salmon is a favorite in our house and hubby and I are addicted to the cooked green onions as well.


*Go Local, Go Organic and Pesticide Free When possible! *

Coffee, Chat and Dances With Paper (my given Indian name)

Well, not my given Indian name (helps if I was in a tribe, which I'm not and that little issue that I'm caucasian puts a crimp in that idea) but it was a good description of what K. and I did tonight at Grandma and Grandpa's Print Shop. I don't know why, but I like the whole back behind the scenes on how books are put together.  So, dancing away putting segments together, K. and I chatted away (I'll admit, I was hyped up on good food, Dunkin Donuts Chai, and being toddler free for the day) and shaved about 1 1/2 hrs of Grandma and Grandpa Q's bookbinding work.  Girl powah! Lots of fun too.

Oh, and the tacos! That was the precursor to the work. Down the street is this Awesome "with a capital A" taco place with traditional, homestyle, authentic, delicious tacos. Dude, I'm so hooked.  I had scarfed three tacos in one sitting. I had steak, chicken and dun dun dun... tongue.  I've only had tongue once before at a German place in Chicago, it was in a cold salad.  I thought it was like rubber, but this my friends, this was super delicate and soft.  I was amazed I was eating tongue.  I think Andrew Zimmern would be smiling at this. Can't help but think of him and Bizarre Foods when I eat something that traditionally is out of the "norm" for foods. 

Lime squeezed on all, and I think I'm going to eat meat from now on with lime.  It's just that good. Everything was homemade, not the cardboard tacos you get at the grocery store or at a fast food place. Cilantro on all and ... *drools*... I so want more.  Why isn't there a place like that on every corner? That should be a law. Viva la immegracion! Legal or otherwise. Dude and dudettes, hear my plea! Without them we'd be taco'less.
 :*(

But it was a good day. I'm still on the hunt for ox tails to make some ox tail soup that my Aunt would make back when I was kid. Polish recipe? Could be.  Grocer's look at me funny when I ask if they have any in stock. "You want what now?" Ox tails. O... X.... Tails.  It is really very tasty. I will find some.  (That and tongue).

So now that I'm officically done strolling down Bizarre Foods Lane, I think I'm going to web surf for a few things as the time is... omg, 2.30am. When did that happen?

Good day, good friends and fam, good food, it all gets a kudos in my book.
Night all!

Dreams

I was catching up on some shows I missed on Syfy, and the last thing I watched was Ghost Hunters at some hotel. Anyways, when I went to bed yesterday, lo and behold I had a dream that I was on the team. I get a lot of those dreams, especially when I watch them before hitting the sack.

But, I got to say, it's pretty cool and all, being a part of the team in the dream. You'd think that I'd freak out (because in all honesty the idea of ghosts really freaks me out) but in the dreams I'm smack dab in the middle of some event and Jay and Grant are all in their "Did you hear that?" mode and I'm like, "Dude, I just saw a shadow over there" (lol, sorry Grant, I stole your scripted line).  I love in the dream how they just interact with me as if I'm like some valuable part of the team.

I'm like this fearless ghost buster and charges right into the paranormal with my K-2 meter. I always end the dream reviewing evidence and I'm like the alter ego, female style, of the stern looking Jay scrutinizing over every detail. 

I wonder if I ever will have a dream where I say to Grant, "If you ever use fishing line again, I'll kick your [bleep].  You jeapordized the show. Dumb[bleep]."

Either way, those are the dreams I love to remember. And as Hubby can attest, since I always start out with, "I had the strangest dream...", he'll roll his eyes at me and brace himself for the worst.

(This one is super tame compared to the rest).

Italian Dressing, Etc.

I love the versatility of this recipe, the Italian Dressing Mix. 

This mix makes about, oh, 3-4 servings of Italian Dressing. This is the dry mix.  It is awesome when rubbed on meat before cooking as well. Flavors are yummy on chicken and pork.

Italian Dressing Mix: (I keep this in a glass jar until needed)

• 1 TB garlic powder
• 1 TB onion powder
• 1 TB white sugar
• 2 TB dried oregano
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 TB dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp celery seeds
• 1 TB salt

For dressing:

• 1/4 white vinegar
• 2/3 C oil
• 2 TB of dry Italian Dressing Mix
• 2 TB water

Using an old salad dressing bottle is good for shaking it all together.  Refrigerate.  Note: depending on your oil, some refrigeration will turn the oil into white looking curtled mystery pieces. Fear not, it is due to the cold temp from the refrigerator. If you leave at room temperature to thaw a bit, you will see these "curtled" pieces liquify. This especially happens when I primarily use olive oil.



Rice and Pea Cold Salad:

• 2-3 C brown rice, uncooked
• generous amount of frozen peas
• Italian Salad Dressing (from the recipe above), to taste

Cook the brown rice according to directions (we have a rice cooker, and honestly we need a better one).  Let the cooked rice cool at bit before adding a generous amount of frozen peas (not necessarily needing to be thawed) and a good splash of the homemade Italian dressing (to taste).  Refrigerate at least 20 min. Serve.  Kiddo loves this, and he rarely eats anything green, so this is a nice way of sneaking them in.

Another Rainy Day

Went to the doctor and yay, muscle relaxer meds.  That and a few other things for a possible cold, and something that looks like it might be a form of arthritis medication.

I feel old.  I don't think I look at the meds and go, "Lovely, I get to be medicated for all that ails me," but I hate the idea of feeling like I'm falling apart.  After describing my symptoms to the doctor, I'm going have an appointment set up for an MRI scan.  I love this doctor, who is my regular one.  Her motto is, "Hey, look. They may gripe that it costs them a few bucks here and there, but I want to know what's going on.  And, if the tests come back without any issues, then meh. At least we know you're ok."

Yesterday and today, since I've been feeling like not doing much of anything, I've slacked on chores. Dishes need to be washed, carpet vaccuumed. As I like to call it, the Goddess inside doesn't like the clutter. When it's clean, she's happy.  All that feng shui kind of thing, I believe it. The more crap you have in a place, the less Ahhhhh there is.  Maybe hubby will do dishes? Hmmm. Nah. It's no one's favorite.

Anyway, still tickin' along.  Tomorrow I hope that I'll be more functional than a couch potato.

Headache is back again

For the last month I've had this on again, off again headache that seems to be sinus related.  It makes me feel crummy. It knocks me out. It makes my head feel like it's going to snap at the base.  Tomorrow I'm going to the doctor to see if everything is all right. So far, I've had:

• sinus pressure and dripping
• neck pain
• tingling in neck
• tingling in hands
• light headedness
• nausea
• loss of appetite

When it first hit me a few days before my birthday in July, it made me camp on the couch for 3 days.  Getting up made me light headed.  I went to the doctor (not my usual one) and she told me I may have a tension headache and the sinus pressure could either be a cold or allergies. If I didn't get better in 2 weeks to come back.

When I woke up this morning with something that really didn't feel right at the base of my neck, and tingling hands, I was worried. So, tomorrow I have an appointment with my usual doctor and hopefully she will say I can have some tests done. Honestly, I'd rather know that everything looks good/I'm in tip top (yeah right) condition, or they find something to fix.  I'm really hoping they find nothing, so that way I know nothing serious is going to pop on me and I end up like a vegetable.

I still think this apartment is making us all sick. What I wouldn't give for taking the carpet and tossing it out of the window and getting a black mold analysis done on our place.  Moving would be better tho.

Oh, I think I'm going to shut down warcraft and camp on the couch.  Survival Men show is on TLC and they always make for an interesting show. That and Mike Rowe for Dirty Jobs.  Add Disney shows and cartoons, maybe some Spongebob, and British shows on PBS and I get 10% better instantly.

Warcraft Pugs are...S-M-R-T

Ever go into a pick up group (pug) on warcraft and have to keep your 'oh shift!' handle ready because you can just tell that there is going to be a death? Join a group already in progress and see corpses of the group laying everywhere? And I don't mean just a few, I mean a lot, as in, they have died mutiple times along the way.

Ask, "How far are you guys?" and hear, "We're at the first boss." Ruhoh. That doesn't sound good (as you pass four corpses of what was previously live versions of them on the ground).

Then, you eyeball the tank. A Death Knight who has.... spellpower gear on. Pause and think about this. Or, look at the warrior dps who is wearing... a shield.  Take a step backwards from group.  And the healer, who has less mana than you, doesn't top you off before a fight and only have half health. You resort to either bandies or food products for your own personal brand of healing. And, with more than 2 mobs the tank can't hold aggro and (the mobs) are looking at you funny? Claxton warning sound: Alert, alert, aggro in progress... but you can't stop it because you have d.o.t.s.  ticking down. Suddenly all those mobs are on you and the tank is almost dead.  Mage: iceblock, blink and go invisible and run for your life. Hunter: feign death and sorry fido, you're taking one for the team. Warlock: omg, do you have enough time to soul stone yourself? (Screw the healer, they weren't healing you anyways).

And, if your cool downs are already used because you've resorted to saving yourself before this, you are DOOMED! Doesn't necessarily have to be a repair bill, if you have the state of the art "OMG Bail!" macro (I named it and hubby is macro king). Died more than once and just know that this group is elite in the specialty of S-M-R-T?
Get the heck out of there.

Use that macro. And if you can say, "Scrubs!" before you leave, more power to you.
Sometimes I'd rather wait the 30 min for a good group rather than having a 30 gold repair bill or higher because they don't know what they're doing.

Bad Day, Vet

I won't go into the details, but I'm just sort of going through the motions at the moment.
Went to the vet for our family cat's checkup, and they found a heart murmur.

We've had our Porkchop for almost seven years now, and he's my little soulmate. He doesn't exhibit any symptoms of a cat with a murmur, but we're going to do all that we can for the little big guy because he's a part of the family.

I've made some promises to him: #1 Be Healthy, #2 Happy and #3 As Long As Possible Without Pain.  That was my promise to him when he camped on my bed when I was sick for a good month from gallbladder surgery.  That was my promise to him when I was pregnant with kiddo and he would nestle down against me as I slept, gently, because mommy was carrying a baby.

I will always be in 'worry' mode. And I will do whatever I can for him to have a long, good life.

In the Kitchen With Momma Q

Staring at my pantry, I wondered what would be on the menu for dinner tonight? Hubby might be hungry when he gets home. Something simple, not too labor intensive and cheap.

Scouring through the pantry I was able to find a few things for one of our not-so-waist-friendly-but-super-awesome chicken walnut cranberry salad.

Chicken Walnut Cranberry Salad:

• 1 large can of white chicken, drained (leftovers from a rotisserie chicken is even better)
• generous amount of chopped walnuts
• generous amount of dried cranberries or cherries
• favorite plain mayo
• sugar to taste (I usually put 1 to 1 1/2 tsp, depending)

Mix it all together an refrigerate for at least 30min.  The longer it sits, the better. Normally, it doesn't last the night, so I'll only assume it could taste better the next day lol. Serve on bread.



To go with this, I've been brewing homemade ice tea and it's been paying off. I got a great deal on generic store bought black tea (100 tea bags for $1.99) and Celestial Seasoning Sample teas. 

Homemade Iced Tea:

Ratios are: 2 black tea bags, and 3 of the following choices:  

• peach
• black cherry
• blueberry zinger
• orange tangerine
• raspberry
• Optional: 1 Green Tea teabag in lieu of one of the fruit tea bags

Microwave 4 C water until hot. Steep teabags in water for 20+ minutes. Remove tea bags, add 1 Tb honey and 2 heaping tsp of (I use) organic cane sugar. Add 1 1/2 Tb lemon concentrate. Stir until dissolved.  Add brewed tea to a 64 fluid oz container (old apple juice container, cleaned) and fill remainer with cold water. Chill in refrigerator and then ready to serve! Great over ice or mixed with other fruit juices.

Super easy to make and wicked inexpensive, better than store bought.

Freakout

Flashback to eight months ago where the apartment complex across the street caught on fire. Hubby and I lived on the top floor for 5 years. We loved that small apartment, it really had a great flow to it. So when we married, got pregnant, we knew that the one bedroom apartment wasn't going to be big enough. Fate interviended. Just before the due date of kiddo, the apartment across the street became available.

Keep in mind in this area there are many late 1800/early 1900's buildings. The one we are currently living in was built in the early 1900's but still has a Victorian flare to it. The apartment across the street used to be the town school back in the 1800's, then a ballroom, etc etc.

In essence, ALL these buildings are tinderboxes. I have never feared the smell of burning wood until I moved from Chicago to Rhode Island. In the wintertime, I am on constant freakout alert for fires. It is not uncommon to see home and apartment fires on the news.

And that's what happened when we were living across the street. It was pretty epic, luckily hubby and I were home playing warcraft when he smelled something burning like incense. After about a minute or two, it got REALLY strong and he went out into the hall. BAM! Smoke everywhere. We rushed down the stairs and saw a fire in the hallway leading down to the basement. Pounded on all the doors and shouting "FIRE!" and raced back upstairs to grab the cat (me) and a computer tower (rolls eyes at Hubby).  Getting things outside and people out of the complex, I ran back in and got ahold of the fire extinguisher. By this time the small fire grew about a foot and I popped the safety off the extinguisher and and blasted the thing. I should have held my breath, because I was inhaling all the smoke.  Turns out, it was arson. Freak out more? Yes, yes I did. To know that someone lit a fire while people were in the building, that's fracking murder dip shift. I never did find out who had done it, but I pray to God that they get thrown in a pit of lava.

Anyways, that building (I loved it so much for its history and charm!) had another incident eight months back. This time... worse. By this time we were already in our 'new' apartment and it's literally across the street of our old place.  Hubby was going upstairs to take a nap and I was raiding in Warcraft when suddenly the house alarm from across the street in our old apartment started to ring.  Huge black plumes of smoke stared to pour out the front door as people raced out. Hubby woke up immediately and dialed 9-1-1 as I yelled, "OMG FIRE! FIRE FIRE FIRE in the basement!" I could see yellow/red/orange fire in the window behind the glass.

We were blessed by God that we weren't in that building when it happened because eight months later, it is still uninhabitable. That could have been us, out on the street with a toddler and family cat in tow.  We would have been screwed. So, to say that I think about fires and it's damage, yes I do. I freak out every time I smell burning wood of campfires or cigarette smoke from the neighbors downstairs.  That is one out of the two things I hate about New England: wood burning fires for winter, everyone has them (not like Illinois where all you have is natural gas for heat). The other, is drivers. No one knows the rules of the road, and I've gotten hit in a car accident 2+ times since moving out here. Ug. I can talk about that later.

But, today the apartment building on the side of us had a fire alarm going off, and I was on high alert. Called the fire department and it turns out someone burnt something in their oven. Thank God for small miracles.

I want a home built out of stone. I'm serious. I loved the idea of getting a house to rehab that was old and needed some TLC, but now.. now I'm just worn out with potential fire hazards. I don't even cook in our oven in the kitchen because I don't want the uber super sensitive alarms to go off in our place. 

/facepalm. We need to get out of here and into our own place. I'm snapping like a twig, my sanity is brittle.
Donations, anyone? We accept all.

Okay, so I've written two articles for DC Universe Online and I'm sort of jonsing for wanting to play the game. It has the same mechanics of Warcraft but dude, you're a superhero or supervillain!  I've been watching youtube vids to get a feel for what the game is, and I so want to be part of the Justice League. Amazing stuff, and the trailer for the game is nothing short of epic.

Honestly, I hope my beta sign up goes through. I really want to get in there. I'm already thinking what type of character I want to be, and this has some serious customizable options for everything.

Must.. get .. into... beta!
Doesn't help that I've been listening to epic music epic music. This is the kind of music that makes you want to be a superhero saving the world.

Down Time WoW

You know, I play so much WoW that I acutally look forward to down time and maintanence days. It's like I can get a breather from running dungeons, leveling alts, and creeping my profession skills up to maximum. Okay, let it be known that I've been playing five years. Five... years. That's a commitment baby. Its not as long as hubby and I have been together but it's like it's a third (or fourth if you count kiddo part of the mix) party in the relationship.

So, when I say I have 10+ characters who are at maximum level for EVERYTHING in the game,  it's not because I have been doing it 24/7 (although I will admit, it IS a considerable amount of time), that NOT to have a full blown maintanence day, I kind of feel sad.

When servers are down I feel no compulsive need to log on. I can do my chores around the house and not give it a second thought. I can start lunches and dinners in advance and do all those kitchy "Wifey and Mommy" kind of things and hobbies that I always wanted to do. Heck, I'm so attached to this computer and joined at the hip technologically based, that I could sit down and continue writing my novel (but honestly I work better on my novel, surprisingly enough, when everyone's asleep and contrary to yesterday's post about article writing).

So, servers are up. Well, the ones I normally don't have a lot of devotion to. But, they are up.  And that means I'm sitting in que on a lower level alt since I've had from the inception of this game, and yes, I'm moaning about the fact that I just can't seem to get away from the game today. 

And kiddo's been really great today. He's been playing Plants vs Zombies on his computer and not one freakout.  I should be happy about that at least.

I'm going to try and clean the apartment. It's normally what I do when servers are down on Tuesday, so I must follow through. But I will be wearing my wireless headphones and hearing the *tink*tink*tink* of the blacksmith ingame on them.

Stalling

I've been doing a lot of writing lately for an online client/author publishing company (which pays virtually nothing for the work and effort), and today I've been completely stalling on an assignment on I'm on.

I've played WoW, I've cooked, did dishes, laundry and watched t.v.  All in all, looking at it from a very odd and positive way: I've been very productive... other than writing.  On the writing front, I'm puttering because I'm squeeeeezing out word for word trying to stretch out an advertising introduction.  You know, these clients only give a small amount of info to deal with and you're supposed to come up with a miracle of 300+ words.  Hey, I'm good, but am I that good? The last 3+ adverts that I've done I was. Boy, did I flavor text a lot on those, but I got rave reviews.

So, I have a few more hours before my deadline.  I'm almost finished, but I'm stalling. AGAIN!

I can't blame anyone but myself. When chaos is ensuing in the house and kiddo is going bonkers over a (non)fail video game, I actually do better.  When I'm on a roll, hubby tends to be particularly, incesantly chatty. Somehow, now that I look at it, I do better under pressure, under stress.

What gives? I have my peace and quiet and find myself hitting massive writers road blocks? Ug! That just wrong, plain wrong!

The Actual Celebration

(Ug, just had a blue screen of death and I lost all the info I had typed! So here's hoping I can redo it for a rewrite).

By the time I actually got up this morning, it was around 10pm (I had stayed up writing until 4am morning) and woke up to my son's screeching from downstairs as my wake up call.

Hubby had been cooking the hour before I woke up and made some great potatoes and eggs, a new experiment with cumin and paprika. Yum. I thought it was really good and when it was all gone wanted more.

By noontime kiddo started to fuss, and by 1pm he was in full throttle of whining and by 2pm I had had enough and put him down for a nap. Oh, he cried as if I was feeding him to the wolves, but I knew his cranky whining, and that meant it was certainly overdue for a nap.

And he slept. And slept. By 4pm I was getting antsy and wanted him to wake up. After all we were going to drop him off at Grandma and Grandpa's place so that Daddy and I could celebrate our 5th anniversary. So, by the time we actually got over there and finally in the 'baby free zone' it was about 5:30pm.

Hubby and I rolled down the road wondering where we should actually go. I cracked a lot of Taco Bell jokes saying we should just go there for our anniversary, so when we look back I can say, "Yessum, I gots me the family combo for dinner. No expenses was too great."

I was on tonight. I was pulling dinner jokes out left and right, and finally we picked a direction of where we were driving to.

Fate intervened and while we were going to Job Lot (the coolest place to find all these odd and unique things you can't find anywhere else), I spotted it.  There! Omg, a traditional Japanese sushi bar! In... Rhode Island! And I know there must be some bars in downtown Providence, but this was like, RIGHT THERE not too far away from the Lincoln Mall. And the Lincoln Mall was about 25 minutes away from our house.

(Did I ever mention that I ALWAYS wanted to go to a sushi bar? I want to LIVE on sushi. I'd fly to Osaka, Japan just to eat there. But of course I haven't mentioned it, this is only blog #4... but ask Hubby, I'm always raving about how I wished to eat fresh sushi instead of the prepackaged stuff you find in the grocery store).

I was really excited. I hoped it wasn't going to break the bank for the meal. I was fearing disappointment of high expectations. I almost chickened out and said we should go to the closest Chinese Restaurant instead.

Then, I took a deep breath and said, "This is our 5th anniversary. We should do it right. We scrimp and save all year round to save what little we can.  Let us enjoy it."

We walked in and I was even more excited. The lady who was seating us asked, "Bar or table?"
Hubby: "Table."
Me: "Bar."

We sat at the bar. It was the coolest thing ever to see the two sushi chefs making the sushi. I kept poking Hubby to turn around and watch- that's the whole point of sitting at the bar, the show! Other people (there were hardly anyone there) were chatting away about going to Japan, etc, movies, and I was just taking it all in.

When we finally had gotten our order: The Blaze, The Lion and An Awa Kashi (I'll have to edit it later), I so wanted more.  It was delicious. It was arranged beautifully and man, I was just so happy to be getting my wish of sushi with my husband, who was enjoying it just as I was. 

I think we may make this place a favorite place to dine, I know I'll be pressing it often because it was just a fabulous experience. Sure, it lasted less than 30min, but I loved it. Next time, we'll order a few sushi and split a meal.  It was so cool, I was bubbly to talk about it when we picked up kiddo from babysitting. 

Must go back. Soon. Mommy like sushi!

Happy 5th Anniversary!

Before I went to bed late last night (I'm talking late, like 4am late... I was writing) and I totally forgot that Saturday was our 5th Anniversary of being married. Well, months ago when I was shopping for an anniversary card I had remembered, so as I was just about to get in bed, I rememebered.

My little pet peeve to my husband is that I remember to get a card and he, well, forgets.  So, when I turn up with a card on his work shoes or in front of the t.v. or computer to catch his attention, he knows he's been bested. As he would tell me later in the day, "You suck!" because I had gotten a card and he hadn't. 

So, I groggily crept back down the stairs and got the card I had purchased months ago. It was a good card, and I do mean good. It was soppy, emotional, and heartfelt. It was exactly what I wanted to say to him, but it was all written in the card for me.

I put it on his work shoes and crept back up the stairs and settled in for the night. Hubby, to be fair, had called me at 12:01am to tell me happy anniversary from upstairs while I was writing on my computer. I giggled and said "Happy anniversary hon! Love you." Promptly he fell asleep and I could hear him snoring from upstairs like a chainsaw.

I hadn't known it, but before he left for work, he went to the place he knew I was sure to be at in the morning: my computer. He turned it on, went into photoshop and created a quick card/anniversary note. Sure enough, when I got done with the morning routine, I turned on my computer.  I saw it immediately. It read:

"I Love you with all my Heart
Every moment without you
 tears me apart
Cause when we're old and grey
And dreaming the day away
I'll still be grabbing your parts.
I love you."

I LOL'd and loved every line. I had to call him up at work and let him know it was great :) :) :)

We ran a bit late today for celebrating, since he got out of work at almost 4pm. By the time we went to a birthday party for Uncle, it was getting pretty late. Tomorrow we are imposing on Grandma and Grandpa and all the Uncle's to watch junior while hubby and I take a drive somewhere to enjoy our 5th anniversary.

All in all, it was a great day. We've been together longer than five years, and it still feels like yesterday that I fell in love with him and just "knew" he was the one.

Friday the 13th, the un-unlucky day

I've never had a problem with the unluckiness of the number 13.  Actually, I've found that I've been pretty lucky on those days, but full moons... now that's a different story.

One of first meetings betwen hubby and I have been on Friday the 13th.  I actually flew out to Rhode Island on a day designated by the masses as unlucky. Sure, I think I was freaking out in the back of my brain that the fates of universe would strike me down in mid-air as I was going to meet my soulmate. But, nothing of the sort happened, and it was the first step of the adventure of marrying a Rhode Island boy (there is something about New Englanders, I must say).

Anyway, today was a wee bit different for a Friday the 13th.  Everything was going along well at the beginning. I woke up with kiddo (hubby was at work) and we proceeded to do our normal everyday routine of breakfast, PBS and computer time.

Then, the whining started. Let's just say kiddo is VERY sensitive when it comes to playing his online video games. He is, after all, not even four years old yet.  At a very early age (what could be earlier than four years old you might ask), he gravitated toward computers. Before he could even be potty trained (that's still a work in progress, ug), he knew how to change the settings on our computers.

But, if he doesn't win or understand the game, it's the end of his world.  He'll cry and cry and cry.  Even when he has a time out on the couch, he'll mumble about not winning the game.  If it wasn't so constant, I would have thought it was an endearing quality.

Not when I'm trying to write tho.  There is no way to block out that kind of kid emotion. You put your project on pause and you console. When consoling doesn't work, you try to explain. When explaining that "It's okay" doesn't work, you are soon approaching the end of control.  Diversion: "Are you thirsty? Hungry?" More whiney crying.  Eventually, it runs its course. THANK GOD!

By the time hubby gets home from work, he can only hear the second hand account from me about it all. Lucky bugger.

Anyways, by the time the night is over, I hardly even acknowledge that it was a Friday the 13th.

To me, it's just another day.

Gray Skies, Writing Bug

Well, this is day one of this brand new and shiny blog. I debated whether or not to even start one, but despite the fact that I may or may not lead a boring life, this blog may just prove me wrong. 

Today, with gray skies looming up above and kiddo happily playing away on his computer, I've come down with a serious writing bug. I feel the need to scribble, create, design and write something. I don't care if it's poetry or just doodling in a scrap book- I just need to do it. 

And I do all of this in between WoW que times for getting into a group for dungeon. Yes, I game. I like to call myself a hardcore casual. Ironic calling myself that? Figure it this way, I need to have the flexibility to ditch a group if junior needs me in a pinch. My guild understands that, but rarely have I seen anyone on lately. I'll always have a wet diaper to change (not on me, on kiddo), and bottles, sippy cups and food will always be made or prepared and that takes a chunk of time.

Woops, got to go, my 30 minute que just popped. If I don't get it now, I may never get in...