Words You Never Thought I'd Say

Dear LL Bean:

YOU SUCK.

Love,
Kim

Fate...d

In the process of re-arranging our house, we'll have a sofabed and a coffee table left over.

The day we decided that those were the pieces that needed to find new homes, I got an email--totally coincidentally--from my SIL that a family in her church lost everything they owned to a house fire last weekend. They made it out with their pajamas.

With a little logistical wrangling, they're going to take our sofabed and table, and maybe some other things if I can get DH to let them go from the attic. They're thrilled, and I'm so happy that our furniture will be put to good use by some people who really need it right now.


*~*~*~*

I woke up with the plaugue this morning. Apologies if the above isn't all that coherent.

Rockin'

What do you do when there's chocolate zucchini bread in the oven making your whole house smell like a bakery and you're trying not to snack?

You dance.

Color Me Stumped

Had the annual parent-teacher conference for the four-year-old today. Mostly, it was good. She's outgoing, she's bright, she's friendly, she's smart. Ready for kindergarten.

"I do have one concern," said her teacher. "If you ask her to do something for the first time and she doesn't want to do it, and you push her, she shuts down."

Oh yeah. Don't I know it. The initial "no" is accompanied by wide eyes and clenched fists. Push her, and it instantly escalates to screams and tears and running away. Doesn't have to be something like a roller coaster, either. Just anything new that she's unsure of--writing a small "w" will do it.

It's a battle we've been waging since she was a baby. I can't think of anything that's happened that would make her so cautious. She was a late walker for the exact same reason. And pushing her a bit leads to disaster.

The teacher asked me if I had any solutions. Um...nope! That's just our little girl, I said. She'll rule the world one day, but she'll do it on her own time and at her own pace. Eventually, she'll be fine.

I'm just not sure how this is going to fly in elementary school.

Seriously...

Yum

Every time I make this recipe it makes my whole house smell so yummy that I swear I'll make it more often. And then it gets buried in the recipe box and I forget about it for six months.



Today, I remembered. My house smells amazing. I can't wait for dinner.



Chicken Marsala



from Weight Watchers (4 points per serving)



2 tsp olive oil

4 thinly-pounded boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 cups sliced mushrooms

2 tsp flour

1/4 cup Marsala wine

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 tbs parsley, chopped



Heat oil over high heat in a large skillet. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Saute until cooked through, about 3 minutes each side. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.



In the same pan, saute mushrooms until browned. Sprinkle with flour and stir to blend. Add wine and broth, and bring to a boil. Cook until sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Stir in parsley. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

Monday Morning

We've entered smackdown mode in my house. The backtalk and attitude have just gone too far. Mommy's done. Kid #1 lost his favorite TV show this morning and Kid #2 went to her room midway through dinner last night and stayed there until this morning. Oh, the joys of parenting! Somebody remind me why we didn't just get another dog?



The new TV comes today. New living room furniture comes Friday. New office stuff is surrounding me in its IKEA boxes, waiting for somebody to haul the old couch and coffee table out of here to make some room. Verizon is coming Feb. 25 to hook us up. We need to remove the surround sound from one room and rewire it in another, and then we'll be golden. I hope. I don't do well with living in a warehouse.



Don't ever call Verizon and tell them that you already have FIOS but need to move it around within your house. It blows their minds. Just keep saying "install" to the computer instead. That works better. Holy long phone call, Batman.



We went out Saturday night to a first grade parents' social at someone's house. We came home at 11-something to find the teenaged babysitter (whom we've used before and liked very much) literally passed out on the couch. Don't really care that she was asleep. But we had the hardest time waking her up! And she was in a daze the entire time I drove her home. Is it horrible that I suspect she was on some kind of substance? *sigh* Should I give her the benefit of the doubt here??



Seriously Jonesing for sugar. *sigh again*