Oh the irony

So we hired a financial planner a couple of weeks ago to help us form a strategy and plan for retirement, college for the boys, and getting a budget in order to help with the latter. This company also forms a plan for paying off credit card debt and the like. They also reevaluate your insurance like auto and home, and happened to give us a pretty good discount. They required payment at that time to get the ball rolling and I told them that I didn't have my checkbook on me. We had to meet with them in 2 weeks for another meeting so I told them I could bring it then. They mentioned that I'd be losing out on savings if we waited essentially another month by the time all the paperwork was filed. They suggested we just put it on our charge card.

Huh?

I had to laugh to DH in the elevator because I found it ironic that the same firm that was helping us get OUT of debt, was actually wanting us to INCUR debt to secure a savings.

DH ended up taking a check back there. I don't know whether to laugh or shake my head.

Recipe of the day

I shredded the chicken before I put it back into the pot. We then ate it on fat free tortillas. Yummy!

Crockpot Sour Cream Salsa Chicken

(3 Points)

4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 package reduced-sodium taco seasoning mix
1 cup salsa
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup light sour cream

Spray the crockpot with cooking spray. Add the chicken breasts. Sprinkle with Taco Seasoning.
Top with salsa. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. When ready to serve, remove the chicken from the pot.
Place about 2 Tablespoons cornstarch in a small amount of water. Stir well. Stir the cornstarch
mixture into salsa sauce. Stir in 1/4 cup of sour cream.

Per Serving: 170 Calories; 2g Fat; 28g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 70mg
Cholesterol; 403mg Sodium. 3 POINTS per serving

An open letter to the PTA at my kids school

Dear PTA board,

Just FYI, I am not a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom). I work screwy full time hours as does my husband. Our home is a bit (ha!) chaotic and I usually have 10 things going on at once. I tell you this because I'm sick and tired of getting two friggen days notice or less when the PTA needs something from it's members. You simply cannot call on Monday afternoon asking if I can make cookies for Wednesday's Reading Week kick off. I need NOTICE and lots of it. I know it's not you specifically because I've had contact with other school PTA's and they're the same damn way. Take fundraisers for instance. We recently did a fudge fundraiser at my son's preschool. They gave us like a week for it. A week? Seriously? It took me 3 days to actually remember to have DH take the order form into his work (mine put the kabosh on this kind of stuff, effin' ridiculous but that's another open letter) and by the time he put it up, it was time to bring it home. I have no problem supporting the PTA as I know they do great things for the school, but you HAVE to get your shit together and give us parents the opportunity to help by making it convenient for us.

Oh, I can't make cookies for this afternoon. How's that for notice?

Why yes, I would LOOOOOOVE some yummy cheese with this whine

You know what sucks about this diet/lifestyle change? The fact that not only do I give up some of the food that I love but now it's affecting the one thing left that gives me pleasure in the morning, my coffee.

When I quit smoking, I KNEW it was going to be hard to not have a cigarrette with my coffee. People told me to stop drinking coffee so it wouldn't be such a struggle and actually, my mom did in fact do this but I told people that I'd rather off myself than give up coffee AND smokes. How much could one person take??? I didn't give up coffee.

Present day. When Owen started getting up at the ass-crack of dawn, I began a whole new love affair with coffee. It was the one thing I looked forward to in the morning while desperately trying to wake up and function as my bright-eyed and bushy tailed youngest child was bouncing around the room with a never ending supply of energy. The key to a delicious cup of coffee is the cream in my opinion. I always bought the Land O Lakes Half and Half that Costco sold in a convenient 1/2 gallon carton. It was creamy and made an amazing cup of coffee when paired with Dunkin Donuts ground coffee. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. As with anything that tastes good, I discovered that the delicious cream that made my coffee juuuust right was also a HUGE source of fat. Dammit. Can't a girl get a freakin' break? I was "spending" a HUGE amount of points on freakin' coffee cream (I liked my coffee caucasion). I knew it had to go. I tried every fat free cream on the market and they all tasted like shit. It's like being addicted to whole milk, then suddenly having to drink skim. HUGE difference. What a sad, sad day for me and my lover, coffee. I'm sad because although I found that Land O Lakes makes a low fat cream, I still have to drive to BFE to get it and to be honest, it doesn't do it for me. It does it better than the fat-free shit, but not as good as the original.

I miss my coffee.

Does this make me look fat?

When I open the folder that my kindergartner brings home and see a sign up sheet for parents, I cringe. I've volunteered twice in his class for about an hour and a half and honestly, if I never did it again, I'd sleep really, really well. I've volunteered putting together Market Day orders and although it wasn't a bad gig, I happier just picking up my order and going home. The class party gig isn't too bad and I try to do those at the preschool level just because the upper el's don't do a whole lot of them. I buy all the shit they bring home, I send quarters for cupcake day, I support the PTA by membership and buying more shit they send home but I just don't want to give the gift of my precious time.

Do I suck?

&**%$#%& Newspaper carrier

I'm soooo pissed right now. The useless excuse for a newspaper carrier failed to deliver the Sunday inserts. He usually drops them off on Saturday but when they didn't come then, I figured for whatever reason he'd drop the whole paper off on Sunday. It's raining here. My fucking paper was sitting in mud/rain. The porch mind you, was only 2 feet away from where the paper was laying. Lazy bastard. Oh and no inserts. So I try to call. Everything's friggen automated with that interactive voice that wants you to think that it's a "real" person. When it was looking up my address, you could hear the click of a keyboard in the background. How cute. Maybe they should concentrate more on getting responsible adults to deliver the newspaper as a whole and on my porch rather than Interactive Inez which I bet cost thousands of dollars.

I never did get to report that my paper was missing. Just wait till the bill comes in, I'm gonna have a few choice words to say instead of submitting payment.

None of this however allows me to drink my coffee and puruse the Target ad. Someone shall pay for this.

The "Honey's not doing it" list

So we all have the traditional "honey do list" don't we? I know that the list is like a Twinkie, it'll be here looooong after the human race is gone but honestly, I'm sick and friggen tired of NOTHING getting done around here. There are things that I need the husband to do. Sure, I could do it myself, but why the hell would I? Do I not do enough around here? Why must I do everything just to be sure it get's done, much less right or the way I want it. We have no plans this summer since the The Trailer Incident so there is plenty of time to get this house straightened up. I've had it up to my eyeballs with the 1/2 done projects too. I've asked that the tub get re-caulked for oh about 1 year now and to think that my DH was pissed off because my BFF came over and her and I re-did the bathroom 'cuz I'd been asking him to do it since 2004 when we moved in. Yah and the foyer floor still isn't done. Now I'm just decorating with the plywood look in mind because I'm thinking that what I see is what I get. It doesn't make me feel better that this lack of motivation is inbred in all men, I want that list gone or at the very least, one or two of the projects checked off. I also think it's BS that the moment I bring whatever up again, it's considered nagging. There are moments in my life where I just could punch my DH in the head and when he gets mad 'cuz I'm "nagging" him, I have one of those moments. Does it take a rocket scientist to figure out that if he just made a friggen effort I'd make like a tree and leave? Of course it doesn't.

Off to nag. Apparently it's what I do best.

Mama's Valentine's Day gift

Lookie what I got for V-Day!!









The color is even more beautiful in person, it's like a wine red. Isn't she purdy??

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's O's valentine's day card:

How cute is this???






In the spirit of the day, I'm making it my mission to personally punch the 1st person who tells me, "Happy Valentime's Day" in the face. Log this under Pet Peeve #214

Oh the guilt!!

Gold parties.
Have ya heard of these? I'd never until last night when my Aunt was talking about one that she attended. I guess this husband and wife duo come to your house with a scale and pay you $9 a gram for your gold. The jewlery stores only pay $5 a gram so this husband/wife team is cutting out the middle man, buying your gold and taking it to the refinery themselves. Of course they make money on the deal. If you actually host one of these parties, you get 10% of the nights sales!! So my Aunt says that she took a baggie full of broken/lost earrings, bracelets that she didn't wear anymore, a nugget bracelet from her husband that he didn't wear, some stuff from my Grandma who was the Queen of Home Shopping Network and had quite a few of those thin gold bracelets, etc. Anyway, she got $2,300!!!!! HOLY SHIT!!!!! So she got the name of this couple and is going to have a party.

Here's my guilt:

My Mom was a gold lover. She had many beautiful rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc. When she passed away, I naturally inherited the jewlery. Now, her taste/style is not mine. She was a business woman, I'm a hospital worker. Wearing 4 ct. pear shaped amythesist ring is not practicle for me. Nor is it my style when I'm not working. Even without the stones, the rings she had are heavy. Lots of gold. Do I sell them? Do I sell all the stuff that I'll NEVER wear? There isn't anyone to "give" it to, none of my brothers have women who'll wear this stuff. My Aunt (mom's sister) said "Hell ya sell it! Why keep something that you'll never wear?"

True.
I feel so guilty though.

OH my aching.....EVERYTHING!

So my husband and I went to the gym today. We actually went yesterday too but today we really worked out. I'm proud to say that I actually did 20min. on the eliptical. I have no idea how I did it, but I did it. We also worked weights and my BFF and her boyfriend joined us. It was a good workout, especially for us out of shapers. Us girls then soaked in the hot tub for about 15min. which was very, very nice. I'd give my left arm flab for a hot tub at home. Oh well, maybe in a couple of years when the backyard gets re-done. That's a loooong way off.

I have to work tomorrow so no gym for me. We plan on weighing in on Saturday and hitting the gym. I wonder just how busy it'll be. It's been really, really nice this week with very low crowds. We're able to get on everything without any wait. Maybe I'll drag my ass out EARLY Sat. a.m before we weigh in. I don't know what I'll do with the kids though as DH gets home late. I don't think the day care there opens that early. Hmmmmmmmmmm....think 6 y/o is too young to watch a 3 y/o?
Kidding!

An open letter to Le Creuset

Dear Le Creuset,

I'm writing to tell you just how irritated I am with my recent purchase. Let's begin by calling a spade a spade. Your product is ridiculously expensive. I also know that it's a product that people covet and spend countless hours scouring 2nd hand thrift stores, garage sales, antique sales and discount kitchen and bath stores. Friendships and families have been broken apart over this cookware. That being said, if we are willing to give up lifelong friendships and family ties over this stuff, then the LEAST you can do is purchase freakin' stickers that come off EAISLY and without residue. After spending a months salary on a pot, the last thing I expect is to spend 25 minutes of my precious time trying to get the damn UPC code sticker off the bottom of the pot. I know that if I don't take it off, it's going to scorch into my pot and every single time I wash said pot, I will curse your Le Creuset name for being so damn cheap as to not invest in pot-friendly stickers. I think it's completely unfair that the pot I fell in love with is now a source of contention because I can't get that damn sticker off.

Enough of us women have married cheap bastards, the last thing we want to do is buy a pot from one. Get your shit together and change those stickers.

Recipe of the Day

This is so yummy over brown rice.

Crockpot Pineapple Chicken
(4 PTS)
6 whole chicken breast halves without skin -- skinned and split

1 dash pepper

dash of paprika or to taste

20 ounces pineapple chunks in juice or 1 can tidbits

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 clove garlic -- minced

Arrange chicken in bottom of crockpot. Sprinkle with pepper and paprika. In a small bowl, combine drained pineapple tidbits, mustard and soy sauce. Pour over chicken. Add minced garlic. Cover and cook on LOW 7-9 hours or HIGH 3-4 hours. Makes 6 serving.

Per Serving: 194 Calories; 2g Fat; 28g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 68mg Cholesterol; 483mg Sodium.