Long time no see

So it's been a while since I've unloaded blog style. Oh don't worry, I still have pent up rage, I just lack the time to sit and put it all on "paper".

I'm tired.

I'm tired of my kid's messy ass rooms. I'm tired of yelling at them to stop fighting, instigating, whining and doing shit they KNOW they shouldn't be doing. I'm tired of Owen not eating SHIT...EVER. I'm tired of work...oh Lord I'm tired of work. I'm tired of looking around this house and seeing a plethora of unfinished jobs. I'm tired of my husband being a crabby ass because he's tired. I'm tired of my ridiculous mess of a basement. I'm tired of dieting (although I'm down 20 lbs. Go me!). I'm tired of sweeping this GD kitchen after every GD meal because my kids don't eat over their plates. How can a kid who doesn't eat shit make such a mess?
I'm tired of being tired.

Did I mention I'm The Pampered Chef's newest consultant?

I'll sleep when I'm dead.

Da Boyz

Recipe of the Day

This recipe rocked my socks off!!! It's soooo good. I served it over brown rice.

Orange chicken

1/2 cup Barbecue Sauce (garlic ones are yummy in this)

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup orange marmalade

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. grated gingerroot

8 bone-in chicken thighs (3-1/2 lb.), skin removed ( I use boneless chicken breasts)

Stir barbecue sauce and flour in small bowl with wire whisk until well blended. Add all remaining ingredients except chicken; mix well. Pour sauce mixture evenly over chicken in slow cooker. (Do not stir.) Cover with lid. Cook on LOW for 3 to 5 hours.

Serve chicken topped with the sauce.

Lukeism #32

"Mom, I have like 6 girlfriends now!"

"Really? 6 huh?"

"Yep, and one of them is really HOT!"

"Uh, do you even know what HOT means?"

"Yes, it means the girl is really pretty"

"Right, so I'm gonna tell ya that you should get use to saying "you're very pretty" and not "you're really HOT". Girls like to hear that they're pretty"

"Uh, you're a mom, what do you know?"

Niiiice.

Lukeism #31

"Mom, when are you gonna be done with your diet?"

"Not for a long time son. Why?"

"Because I don't want you to be on a special diet, I love you just the way you are."

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?