2011 - it's only just begun

Nintendogs has entered this almost-3 year old's life. She's completely self-sufficient with this game. I fear I'll never get my DS back.

What has happened in the last month or so?

1. We all eventually recovered from the stomach plague. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. We didn't regain normal activity and eating until 2 weeks after it struck.

2. Now that I've paid for my registration, I shall announce it to the intarwebz: I am training for a sprint triathlon in July. There's more to the story of why I'm doing it and I will share that as the training progresses.

3. Because of #2 (heh...), I have been working out almost every day. And I enjoy it.

...

No really, I do! I think it's because I love our gym - great facility, great atmosphere, great people.

4. A gluten-free store and cafe opened up over the summer. I didn't realize their true significance to my life until I found they do carry out and take-and-bake pizzas. Tried our first ones on New Year's Eve. Heaven help me.

Yes, it's a good thing I enjoy my gym so much.

5. Our family Christmas present this year is a dishwasher. We are finally getting around to picking one out. I now know way more about dishwashers than I ever thought possible.

6. Speaking of Christmas, it was fantastic. There was a moment - a few days beforehand - that we thought my in-laws would be trapped in Nairobi for the holidays (due to terrible weather in Amsterdam that they needed to connect in), but they made it back safe and sound. Slight panic ensued when we heard there was a bombing at a bus station while they were supposedly still there. They left the day before.

7. At some point this month, I got so frustrated looking at our terribly inefficient, standard reach-in closet that I tore it apart to make a new one. I had every intention of making this a "me" project - showing that anyone can build their own custom closet (Califor.nia Closets be damned!), but ShankRabbit (and Peanut for a while) was intrigued and offered help. Projects are so much quicker when you have help.

I will have a post up when all is completed. Here's a sneak peek:


Before (ugh)


Current state (still in progress). Can you see the double closet rods on each side?


8. Got the chance to attend both Bears playoff games. At one point during the second one, we noticed a couple of F-16 fighter pilots* sitting at a table near us in the United Club. I told ShankRabbit, "hey, we should go over and say hi. I'd like to meet them." So, he tells me to follow him, taps their shoulders and says, "Hi. My wife has a thing for guys in uniform...can she take a picture with you?"

(Enter completely mortified expression and bright red face)

One of the guys responds with, "well, how can we say no to that?"

So, this picture was taken:


Pretty eventful December/January. A little scared and excited to see what February brings.

_____________
* - Despite what my husband said, I really wanted to meet them because what they do is so friggin' cool! Thanks to the power of the internet, here is the information on the fighter pilots that did the flyover after the National Anthem. I believe I met the two that coordinated the timing from the ground.

Recipe time!

I have had luck with a couple of recipes recently that I wanted to share.

Pulled Pork
Let me give you background on this one. I had a recipe for pulled pork sandwiches that I wasn't all that crazy about (too much brown sugar and ketchup made it really sweet). I wanted to try it again, but I couldn't find a recipe that I liked. So, I turned to the BBQ extraordinaire, NukeDad, and asked what he had in his arsenal. He didn't have one of his own, but he sent me to this pulled pork recipe. Go ahead and take a gander at those lovely pictures. *drool*
My only changes were brining for 12+ hours and using my CrockPot instead of the oven (on high for 6 hours).
This recipe will be etched in stone and saved for all eternity in this household. It's that good.

Egg Salad
This one I can actually take credit for (which, as someone who is just getting into this cooking thing, makes me really happy).
Background: There is (was?) a little coffee shop/deli near my fosterdad's work that would serve the most YUMMY egg salad sandwiches ever. I interned at his office for a while and used to get that for lunch most days. The trick was to either get there just as lunch was being served or call ahead to have it waiting for you. They would only make so much egg salad and once it was gone for the day - it was gone.
I have no idea why, but I had a craving for it the other day. So I turned on my laptop to see how difficult it was to make. Most recipes I found had the basic ingredients of eggs, mayo, mustard, salt & pepper. Sounded simple enough to tweak.

Because I was so in love with what I made, I wanted to share it with you all.

(Pickle on the side. Toasted Udi's bread. Heaven)

Recipe:
6 jumbo eggs, hard boiled and peeled
4 tablespoons mayonnaise (the real stuff...not that low fat tasteless excuse for mayo)
1 teaspoon horseradish mustard
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
4-5 drops of Frank's Red Hot (or more if you're feeling saucy...)
Dash of celery salt
Dash of freshly cracked pepper

Directions:
Are you clueless on how to hard boil eggs? Go to the American Egg Board and look up their recipe. These people know what they are talking about (much more than I do).

Now, chop up the cooked eggs (to your preferred texture) and put in a bowl. Add 2 Tbsp of the mayo, horseradish mustard, yellow mustard, and the Frank's Red Hot. Add the celery salt and pepper. Add the rest of the mayo if you feel it needs it (I certainly did).

I probably would have added a little celery for a bit of crunch, but we were out. Oh well...it was still yummy.

When saving money on a store brand was not worth it

This post was in no way dramatized. These are real events, real thoughts, real action.

Some things that must be said:

1. I adore the CrockPot Lady's recipes - Rotisserie Style Chicken is one of my favorites.
2. I have the memory span of a goldfish.
3. I don't cook very often.

Ok, now that those are established, let's continue with the story...

The first time I made this chicken recipe, I bought a Purdue brand whole chicken. Skinning the chicken was gross and cringe-inducing, but I made it through (the CrockPot Lady recommends this step. It takes a while, but it's worth it).
--
Fast forward to a week ago. While perusing the meat section in our grocery store, I saw whole chicken on sale and thought, "man, I could really go for some of that rotisserie style chicken again." It was store brand, but I thought that wouldn't matter. Oh man, was I ever wrong.

Now, on to last Friday. Peanut just went down for a nap and I had a cutting board, the chicken, and a sharp knife at the ready.

I open up the plastic and remove the little goodie bag of gizzards from the inside. I double-checked to make sure there was nothing else in there. I happened upon an appendage of some sort. I freed it from its enclosure and mentally screamed (the kid is sleeping, remember),
"EWWW! This chicken has a penis!"

I quickly surmised that this was, in fact, the neck (that'd be one hung chicken, I tell ya...)

Now, how do I go about removing the neck? With the Purdue chicken, this was removed for me and neatly placed in the gizzard bag. I've never encountered this problem before. Due to my hands being saturated in raw chicken grossness, I couldn't turn to my trusty intarwebz for instruction. So, I guessed and cut off what I thought was appropriate.

Back to skinning...

It was pretty routine at this point, though I found this chicken to have quite a bit more junk in the trunk fat than the Purdue chicken.

Once I was close to done, I decided to look the chicken over and be sure it was pretty clean. I glanced on the inside toward the bottom (which could have been the top at this point...who knows) and I noticed a section of darkness. Another gasp and internal screaming, "this chicken still has ORGANS attached? SERIOUSLY?!"* Again, the Purdue chicken had this removed.

I just wanted to be done. I wasn't sure how to get rid of said organs, so I completely cut that part out - spine and all. In my flurry of cutting, I nicked my finger with the knife (no surprise there). A minuscule cut, but it still hurt.

Now I really went into panic mode. I'm furiously trying to be done with this gawdforsaken chicken and now I have salmonella coursing through my veins via the cut on my finger!**

I scrubbed my hands no less than 3 times with antibacterial soap, threw on a temporary band-aid, and got to work on the seasoning. After throwing the bird into the Crock Pot, I cleaned up and hopped into a scalding hot shower (because at the time that made total sense). Though not before sending the following text message to ShankRabbit:

I went all Silence of the Lambs on the whole chicken. You can't unsee what I have seen. ((shudder)) Time for a hot shower...or cigarette...or both.

When all was said and done, I had 3 sections of chicken left - the breast/wings/remainder of back and two thigh/leg sections. It may have been in pieces, but the chicken still tasted just as good as the last time I made it.

Let's hope I remember all this the next time I get a craving for rotisserie chicken.
____________

* I did a little online searching and found out these still-attached organs were its kidneys. Ewwww.
** I'm a wee bit dramatic in situations like this. Can you tell?

You want more...what?

Waaay back in the day (OK, like 1.5 years ago), we were trying to find healthy, tasty, baby-friendly finger food options for Peanut. We were avoiding products with gluten until her first birthday, so the choices were rather limited. We happened upon something called Veggie Booty.

Observe:

photo courtesy of amazon.com.

It's perfect - gluten-free and full of veggies like spinach, kale, broccoli, and carrots. The texture is just like a cheesy poof, but better.
The veggie flavor is not too common around these parts (the cheese ones are made with "Wisconsin aged cheddar," so of course that's the one you find everywhere), but we've found a few places that always carry them.

Peanut LOVES them...and has ever since that first bag entered our household. Given any snack option in our house (no longer restricted to gluten-free), she will always choose these. We've tried the other flavors, but the family favorite is Veggie (even ShankRabbit gobbles these up).

[back to the point of this post]

Peanut is at an age where she verbally truncates her requests. For example, if she wants string cheese, she'll just ask for cheese (and is very clear with her displeasure if you pull the wrong cheese out of the fridge). If she wants a banana, she'll ask for a nana. Basically, asking for whatever the last word (or portion of the word) that comes out of your mouth.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

So, Veggie Booty...

"More booty?"

Uh...

At times, it sounds like she says "more buoy?" but she is working very hard on perfecting her pronunciation. 99% of the time her t's are crystal clear. I've tried changing the name to "veggie puffs" or "veggie nummies," but no such luck.

Someday soon I'm sure we'll be in a large, public place and she'll announce "more booty?" And in true toddler fashion, if it's not provided in .005 seconds, she'll repeat her request louder and clearer, "MORE BOOOOOTY?"


And what will my response be? "You mean, 'more booty, please.'"

Fall

There is just something so distracting about fall. Once the air starts getting cooler, I think "oh crap winter is almost here!" and I try to spend as much time outside as I can. This chick was not meant for cold weather (but I suck it up because I don't like the creepy-crawlies you guys got in the south. Give me wind chills and snow any day over a bug bigger than a quarter).

And that is why I haven't been around much. Well, that and booking our lives full of weddings, birthdays, garage sales and other commitments. August and September were a blur.

* * * * *
I will be starting work soon.* I am equal parts excited and frantic right now. I feel like there's so much to do before then. Same crazy feeling I get with the onset of fall, except with more sleepless nights and tension headaches.

In an effort to remain in one piece, I'm exercising my organizational skills. I have collected a bunch of slow cooker recipes** so we won't become regular customers of our local restaurants.
Hmm...that comment may lead one to think that I do all the cooking around here. I really don't - ShankRabbit takes on 95% of the cooking duties (voluntarily, mind you. He loves to do it). So really this recipe preparation is to ensure I don't have to cook after getting home from work. And that I can soak up as much Peanut time as I can before she heads to bed less than 2 hours later. Really, it's something I should have been doing eons ago.

* * * * *
My child is fun. Have I mentioned that before? Yes, there are wonderful moments with a baby and yadda yadda yadda...but now she's such a blast! She may have her dramatic moments of life not being fair (hey, if I can't play hopscotch with the DVDs, neither can you!)...but she's so much fun to be around. We have dance parties and color and cuddle and chase each other around the house. And when all is said and done and she's been tucked in for the night, not more than a couple hours goes by where I find I miss her.

How can you not miss this face?


Note: Give the child food and she'll let you do whatever to her hair.


This was taken at our garage sale last weekend. It's the beginning of October and we've already had to break out the winter coats. ShankRabbit, however, was running around in a cordoroy blazer and/or just his t-shirt. And I'm the one that's been getting sick. Grr...



She understands the concept of smiling for pictures. Here she is saying "cheese!"...or in her words "Theeeeeese!" As you can see she's starting to develop her mom's signature "hooknose" smile - hopefully she doesn't actually have a hooknose later in life. It's not pretty.

_____________________

* I just got word that A (the lady whose maternity leave I'm covering) went into labor early yesterday morning (30+ days early. Yikes!). I really should be starting work NOW, but since I can't leave the child at home, I have to wait until her official first day of daycare. Could you imagine the absolute brain-chaos I'd be experiencing if I had to start right now?

** I sufficiently scoured the CrockPot Lady's archives for yumminess and I could use a few more ideas. Have any recipes to share?

Pie!

I do not recall ever making a true* pie before. You know - cutting cold butter into flour, making pretty edges on the crust, prepping the filling, etc.
I love a good piece of homemade apple pie, but I would never attempt to make it myself. No culinary desire to do so. Until this past weekend...

I asked ShankRabbit what kind of dessert he would like for his birthday.

"Pecan pie. Man, I LOVE pecan pie," he said, practically drooling.
My look of confusion must have signaled further explanation.
"It's my dad's fault - it's his favorite as well. Wait...you didn't know my favorite pie is pecan?"

I've known this man for 9 years, been married to him for almost 3, and I would have never guessed pecan pie as his favorite. The only pie I've ever seen him consume was pumpkin (this man makes a kick-butt pumpkin pie, I must say).

My first thought was "maybe I could find a pre-made GF pecan pie?" Before you laugh at me, there is a place in Pewaukee known as Molly's Gluten-Free Bakery. They make excellent GF bakery items (I have a great story about this place, but I'll save it for a later post). Unfortunately, I was not within in their 2 day notice time frame and didn't see "pecan pie" on their list...so I was definitely stuck making my own.

If you have never attempted baking something gluten free, try it sometime. It will humble you. Bland and brittle are just two words that describe the majority of my GF baking attempts.

After a lengthy online search, I settled on combining this GF basic pie crust recipe (from Glutenfreeda.com) with this pecan filling recipe (from Pillsbury.com)

So, I was set to make the pie...except there was a catch. We were having dinner with friends (and their parents) that night, so I had to finish baking it there.

...

Did you catch that? Not only was I bringing them a GF pecan pie that I had never tried before, but I had to finish baking it in someone else's kitchen (a.k.a. an oven I was not familiar with).

[Cue minor freak out]

After I calmed down a bit, I figured, "hey, if this pie sucks, at least we'll have a funny story to tell" and I would have a great blog post.

Pie was eventually baked and consumed...with delight. I've never had pecan pie before so I can't give a true comparison, but I can tell you that it did not taste GF at all. It was darn tasty.

There were quite a few people at dinner that night, so the pie servings were pretty small. I decided to make another pecan pie a few days later...you know, to see if I could make it just as good.

My stomach says yes.

____________________
* Our Thanksgiving Pumpkin pies don't count because we use a simple cereal pie crust. Very easy, very yummy.

Thank you, Chex

I am in the process of writing up a recipe post about homemade refrigerator pickles (for those that follow me on twitter, this is old news). In the meantime, I thought I'd share a picture of what I woke up to yesterday morning:



8 boxes of Chex cereal (8th one not pictured as it is on the counter, already opened).

Why do we have so many boxes?

1. Buy 8 boxes of General Mills cereal, get $10 off and 2 coupons for free gallons of milk ($3.25 value each).
2. Up until recently, only their Rice Chex were gluten free. Now, they offer Honey Nut, Chocolate, and Strawberry Chex...all gluten free. For my husband who is stuck eating bland cereal all the time*, this is a major breakthrough.

So, we'll be eating a lot of cereal in the days to come (I've been told that a bowl of Chocolate Chex makes a nice dessert option).

___________________

* Yes, there are flavorful gluten-free options out there for cereal, but they require a trip to the health food store and cost more. It's nice to have a mainstream option.

Random Wednesday

The past few weeks have been...life.
I don't know how else to describe them other that. There have been ups (how can you not enjoy a perfect sunny day?), there have been downs...but that's life. You know?

* * * * *
I woke up this morning to the wonderful sounds of Peanut who, upon seeing me round the corner, took out her binky just long enough to sign for "food." A whole banana, a piece of toast, and half a bowl of cereal (adult-size...as this was originally my breakfast) later, she was finally full. A mere 2 hours later, she wanted a snack. Hmm...can we say growth spurt?

* * * * *
I wrote up a post about someone I was not very happy with...but in the end, decided not to publish it (I'm certainly glad I got it out...even if no one will read it). Since I don't want to leave you wondering who is ruffling my feathers (it's not an easy feat), I will share this little bit with my readers...
My father's side of the family INVENTED manipulation and guilt trips. I can hear one comin' a mile away. So, if your intention is to have me emotionally check-out with you and doubt your words/actions, then by all means...send one my way. I'll point to center field and knock it out of the park every time.

* * * * *
I had very painful deja-vu this morning. I was just sitting on our couch, sipping my coffee, watching Sesame Street with Peanut when I shifted my position ever-so-slightly - resulting in throwing out my neck/back. Again. Same time of day, same situation, same debilitating pain.

* * * * *
To all the people getting ready for BlogHer: I wish everyone good weather and safe travels.

Revisiting childhood with an artichoke

When ShankRabbit and I married, he assumed the title of "Chef" and I the "Baker." This arrangement suited us well. He can look at a few ingredients and throw together an amazing dinner. I, on the other hand, need planning, measurements, order (if only you understood how much I truly enjoy leveling off a cup of flour...).

Now that I am the one at home all day, meal preparation is quickly becoming more of my responsibility. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy cooking...as long as I have a very explicit recipe. Give me a bunch of ingredients and say "have at it!" and I'd either curl up in the fetal position on the kitchen floor or pelt you with said items. Or both. Though I'm sure my aim from the floor would be pretty poor.

(ShankRabbit's domain will forever and always be the grill. I know how it works and what to do...but it still scares the bejeebies out of me)

Last night I decided to try my hand at a childhood favorite - stuffed artichokes. My Sicilian great-grandmother used to make these for us quite a bit and I honestly haven't had one since (well over 15 years ago).

After a lengthy internet search, I deduced that the recipes are relatively the same. So, I melded my favorite ones and got to work.

I won't bore you with the recipe I created, but I will say that it was quite yummy (and thanks again to my hero, The CrockPot Lady, I was able to "set it and forget it" in my crock pot). And for anyone attempting to cook these on your own, here are some things to know:

1. I knew to trim the tips off the leaves, but I didn't know why...until I punctured my finger on one. Apparently, artichokes have thorns (they seem to be sharper the farther in you go).

2. When the directions say "tap the top of the artichoke to spread the leaves," they mean turn the artichoke upside down and smack it against the countertop. Seriously. The wider apart the leaves, the more stuffing you can shove in between (and the more yummy).


This right before it was cooked. They didn't hang around long enough for me to get an "after" photo.

That first taste was just as delicious as I remembered it. While I was inhaling eating, I couldn't help but think fondly about my great-grandmother and how much I miss her (she was 98 years old when she passed in 1999). She was an amazing lady.

Random #21

I need to lighten the mood around here, people. It is time to bring out the big guns - Random Thursday!
--
I was in the bathroom washing my hands when I heard a "clip clop" noise entering Peanut's bedroom from the kitchen (her bedroom is right off the bathroom). When I saw what she was doing I burst into laughter...and let her continue what she was doing so I could get the camera ready:



What are those, you ask? The caps to her bottles. She pulled everything off the shelf got a couple from the bottle shelf and was using them to crawl. I was amused and impressed at the same time. I mean, this could be her future:



I drew an arrow indicating what I was talking about...in case you thought I was referring to the uber-creepy cheetah (while a very talented performer, that animal in the Broadway version of "The Lion King" gave me the bejeebees. I think it was the way he moved).

* * * * *

I could do a whole post of pictures from Peanut's birthday, but I'm sure you wouldn't be all that interested in them (since I'd probably blur out the faces of anyone that was not ShankRabbit, Peanut or myself). I do want to take a moment to talk about the AWESOMENESS of our friend who did the cake and cupcakes for the party. She went over and above expectations - both in taste (I shed a tear when I ate the last cupcake) and presentation. All we asked for were cupcakes and a small cake with a "spring" theme. Here's the magic she created:




Those big cupcakes are flower-shaped! With white chocolate butterflies (and the letter "A" - Peanut's real first initial)!


I spent a long time staring at this cake - before, during and after the party. The details are insane! The first (and only) thing Peanut was interested in eating off this cake were the tomatoes. Funny. It was almost as if she knew it was too pretty to eat...though being sick could have had something to do with it.

So, if the cake decorator superwoman is reading this right now - thank you thank you thank you!

* * * * *

When was the last time you smiled this big?



Swings = huge hit.

Wednesday whatnots

Happy Johnny Appleseed Day!

In honor of this random holiday, I share with you a camp song/meal prayer I learned a long time ago:


Oh, the Lord is good to me (clap clap)
and so I thank the Lord (clap clap)
for giving me the things I need: the sun and the rain and the apple seed
the Lord is good to me (clap clap)
uh huh (clap clap) uh huh (clap clap)
uh huh uh huh uh huh LET'S EAT!

Now, you could do the educational thing and find information on this fellow and enrich your minds...or you could just go eat an apple. That's mind-enriching AND you get to eat. What could be better?

* * * * *

I missed out on wishing you a Happy Mario Day yesterday (Mar. 10 looks like the word "Mario"...get it?). He was launched as a character in 1983. What a way to make a person feel old, huh? I can still remember blowing on the old school Nintendo cartridges before putting them into the machine. Ah, memories...

* * * * *
It's Wednesday...you know what that means...

Dance Party Time!
(Have no idea what I'm referring to?...read the bottom of this post)

Artist/Band: Journey
Song Title: Any Way You Want It
Kid-friendly?: Yep (seeing as there is only 9 actual words to the whole song, just repeated in different configurations...I think it's OK)

Random Friday #3

I'm not really sure if this is the 3rd Random Friday or not...so, I'm declaring it to be so. Here we go -

* * * * *


This is a picture the homemade teething biscuits I made for Peanut, all set for the freezer. They were easy to make and taste exactly like sugar cookies. Really! I have no problem admitting I ate one...or two...

* * * * *
Have you ever been in such a rush to get out of the house that you forgot to brush your teeth? Ok, maybe a few of you can agree.

And since you ran out of gum the day before, you grab a peppermint candy cane to munch on as you run out the door?
I didn't think so.

* * * * *
Peanut was playing with her fridge letters last night and pulled a few off. These were the only letters she removed:



Now, is she from Boston and trying to tell me she wants to party or does she need a bathroom break?
Maybe it's a different word entirely. I've never been good at anagrams.

Food and projects (not food projects)

I am incapable of making a box of macaroni and cheese and not eating it all in one sitting. I feel overfull after I'm done, but I do it every time. You'd think I'd learn. Someday I'll tell you all about how I can't wait for things to cool down before I eat them.
Though my food behaviors would tell you otherwise, I am a human...not a puppy.

* * * * *

I completed another project over the weekend. I'm really proud of myself because I started it on Saturday and was done this morning...with TWO of the same thing. I know, I know...who is this and what have I done with Isabella?!

I was under a deadline. Our landlord (also one of ShankRabbit's coworkers) and his wife are having twin girls. She is due this week! I only found out about it on Wednesday, so I can honestly say I didn't procrastinate on this one.

I have a couple more items to add to the gift, so I won't post pictures until the gift is ready to go out the door...but it will be by tomorrow at the latest.

OK, I'm off to lie in a mac 'n cheese-induced food coma on the floor with my child. Have a great Monday!

Random Friday

It's time for another random Friday installment -

Mystery bruises
You know...you find a bruise and say, "huh...I wonder how I got that one."
One foolproof way to figure out where a mystery bruise came from - hit it on the same thing that you did in the first place. My example? The windowsill in our bedroom. Ow.

Food is for eating
Peanut loves to blow raspberries...while she's eating. In fact, she will do this as soon as she gets a mouthful of food. It's even better when the spoon hasn't left her lips yet - giving her ample ammo for a 1 foot radius of sprayed food. When I am the one feeding her, it's annoying, but as a spectator, it's so darn cute.

We thought we had more time

There is something we haven't done in our household yet.

Babyproofing.

I know, I know...what's taking us so long? It's not that we don't want to or anything - we just haven't gotten around to it. As of last night, it's now become a major priority. Why now, you ask? Peanut just figured out how to open a cabinet door. Dang it.

We can't just pick up a mega-box of the cheapo cabinet locks. Since we're renters of this house, not owners, we don't have the authority to screw a bunch of holes into the cabinet doors. Therefore, we have to get the adhesive-backed magnetic locks. Considerably more expensive.

* * * * *

As I was feeding Peanut her dinner last night, I was trying to find more finger food options. She's mastered Veggie Booty and cheese pieces. I wanted to find her something a little more challenging, but yummy (and gluten-free). Enter Rice Krispies.

She loves them. Though, when she's done eating them, they become a fun way to decorate the floor.

Last day

It is officially my last day at work. I've passed on my responsibilities, packed up my personal belongings, and now I'm sorting through the many file folders sitting on my desk.

And in honor of my last day (at least I like to think so), one of my coworkers brought in a small CrockPot of Lil Smokies in barbecue sauce...a very yummy departure from the usual chocolate and cookies that occupy the "food corner" (a.k.a. the counter space across from my cube). the spicy aroma of a non-sweet got to me. I've admittedly had a couple servings already.
Mmm...food...nom nom nom nom...

Where was I?

Hmm. I can't remember where this post was going. Great.

Well, when I've collected my thoughts, I'll return with a more substantial post. Let's just leave this as an 'adieu' to the company I've been with for more than three years.

I'll miss it here.

Tag! You're it!

I've never been tagged online before. It sure beats running around and getting pushed to the ground (hey, I was a skinny klutz of a kid...someone tags me while I was running and my face frequently met the pavement).

Rules
1. Link the person who tagged you:
Dwell & Cultivate
check
2. Post the rules on your blog.
check
3. Share seven random or weird facts about yourself.
(Listed below)
check
4. Tag seven others and include links to their blogs.
Um, from what I recall, almost everyone on my blog roll has done this already...maybe not Nate.
5. Let each of the other people know by commenting on their blog.
Check.

Without further ado, here are 7 facts about me -

1. I have "spider toes." I can pick up objects, play various instruments, and clasp them together like hands. I'd post a picture, but they are scary. The only time this ever has any practical application is when I'm holding Peanut - she drops a lot of things.

2. I'm a food separatist. Different food items cannot touch on my plate - and if they do, the touched part of each item is not eaten. I've been known to create "food dams" so that this infiltration doesn't occur across my whole plate.

3. The story of how I learned to jump rope: I was in kindergarten and we were performing "Teddy Bear Picnic" for our school assembly. During class one day, the teacher was dividing the class in two sections - those who would just sing, and those who would sing and jump rope. Jumping rope sounded so cool, so I told her I could. It didn't occur to me until I got home from school that I would actually have to jump rope...in front of the whole school. I told all the adults at home (we lived in a three-flat...mom, dad, aunt, grandma, great grandma) that I needed to learn how to jump rope RIGHT NOW! I think I spent a good week or two practicing every night. When it came time for the performance, I was one of the best teddy bear jump ropers out there...at least I think so.

4. I have no idea what rhubarb tastes like. I've wanted to try it on many occasions, but never did.

5. I am very inconsistent with my pronunciation of the words "coupon" (koo-pahn / keew-pahn) and "envelope" (en-veh-lope / ahn-veh-lope). I have no idea why I change it up - and I'll do it during the same conversation. It drives my hubby crazy.

6. I was a member of the Chicago Children's Choir when I was in elementary school, Show Choir in high school (although I had to drop out right away due to scheduling conflicts), and Gospel Choir in college. Nowadays, you'll NEVER hear me sing in public. No sir.

7. Even though I have mild vertigo, I went up in the St. Louis arch - twice. Both times I couldn't stand when I got to the top and had to crawl my way back to the elevator. Chalk it up to jr. high peer pressure. Hey, at least I wasn't smokin' the reefer.