New Addition

Well, we have a new member of the family. No, I'm not pregnant. And I did not risk divorce by bringing another dog into the house. My husband brought home his new Jeep yesterday. It is a lovely dark green (not to be confused with the hideous baby-poo green that is also available), hard top, 4-door Rubicon. He managed to find one with only one undesired whistle/bell: the mega sound and navigational system, complete with Sirius satellite radio. After less than 24 hours, he is already talking about adding Sirius service to the monthly budget. Funny, when I said that I wanted those same features in my next car, he laughed himself silly. But after less than a day with them in his new car, they have become necessities!

He has spent every spare minute since returning home with the Jeep surfing the internet for off-roading accessories. I call it Jeep p*rn. And like many men with their, ahem, visual aides he wants me to look and be enthusiastic. He's all, "What do you think of this bumper?" And I go, "Oooh, baby. That bumper is so big." Then he says, "What do you think of this (insert unintelligible part here)?" to which I reply, "Any way you want it, baby." And so on. Snore. Are we done yet?

A very cool side benny of the Jeep homecoming is that my mom-in-law (love!) came into town to help with transportation issues and stayed to sit with the monsters kids so T and I could have an actual DATE! Without kids! Like a couple!

We went to the local Japanese steakhouse where we discovered the reason that everything tastes so good there is because the chef used at least a pound of butter in cooking our meal. Who knew the Japanese took cooking lessons from Paula Deen? Over-cooked shrimp aside, everything was delicious, if not diet friendly. Afterwards, we drove around town like a couple of teenagers (they roll up the sidewalks at 9 pm here in Small Town) and messed around with the new cool sound system. We topped off the festivities (in for a penny, in for a pound!) with ice cream.

You would think that after such a nice evening out that we would return home to do the thing that loving married couples do when someone else has put the children to bed. And we did. We went to bed early. To sleep off all of the butter.

(Belated) Weigh In

Blah. Up .3 pounds this week. Do you think it had something to do with staying home with sick babies and not going to the gym? Or maybe the Blizzard that T brought home to me and I snarfed like it was a new religion?

At least I made it back into the gym today. Another new water aerobics instructor. She was even better than the last one - who was awesome! After class I had to tell Q that I was sorry that I couldn't pick him up, as my arms were flippers. Couldn't he walk himself out to the car? An load himself up? And drive it home? Maybe not.

They liked it! Hey, Mikey!

I bought the Hungry Girl Cookbook on impulse last week. I was peripherally aware of Hungry Girl because she blogs for Weight Watchers. I signed up for her daily e-mail, and apart from an unnatural love for fake meat (veggie burger patties? Blech.), her suggestions sound tasty.

So far I have tried two and a half of her recipes and liked them all. Better yet, my kids liked them, too. I made oven fried chicken tenders and onion rings from the cookbook. Then I took that methodology and made zucchini fries. The kids loved the chicken. And it is super easy, too. Just dunk the tender in some Egg Beaters and roll it in crushed Fiber One cereal with some salt, pepper, and garlic and bake for 20 minutes. Easy. The cereal does have a slightly sweet taste, but it is crunchy and fun to eat. The kids were only lukewarm about the veggies, but I really liked them. They were a total points bargain, and the portions were huge. I am all about bulky foods!

I bought the ingredients to make a couple other recipes from the book. I'll keep you posted on how they turn out!

* ** *** ** *

Q had a rough night. He was completely limp and disinterested in food this morning, but after he got up from his nap he was back to himself. Whew!

Here we go again

So Q has a fever again. It isn't very high, but the fact that he has one even though he is on Zithromax is worrisome. That and the fact that his belly is puffed up like a parade float really have me on edge. He has been crabby and clingy all day. Boo hoo! Dr. Dad-in-law says that that there isn't anything to do at this point. It will either resolve itself or get worse by morning. Good times.

The Truth Hurts

Today was another beautiful fall day in Texas. (Who knew you could have more than one per year?) The kids and I were out in the yard playing on the swing set. Z loves to swing, but refuses to learn how to make herself go. She is my more hands-on child and, of course, she wants me to push her. This is not always convenient since Q is ambulatory and we live on two acres of accidents waiting to happen. There are vehicles in various states of repair, scrap lumber, old tires, snakes, poison ivy, the works! The only thing separating us from redneck white trash is the fact that we don't have a trampoline and our swimming pool is in-ground*.

I demonstrated to Z how to lean back/pump your legs to make the swing go on its own. I got going pretty high and then was ready to give Z a chance to try out the new technique. As I was slowing down I commented, mostly to myself, that the swing was squeezing my rear. Z's reply? "That's because your hiney is too big for that swing!"

Ack!

That is almost as good as the time this summer when Z was trying to get on my good side so I would take her swimming. I was folding laundry and came across the bottoms to my tankini. Z asked what it was and I told her is was the bottom of my suit. She smiled sweetly and said earnestly, "I think that would look nice on your big hiney." Sigh.

Okay, okay! I get it! Back to the gym for me.

*Not that having a trampoline or above ground pool alone qualifies anyone for redneck/white trash status!

Z has a Sniff

Z woke up this morning sounding all stuffed up. She announced to me as we were getting her dressed, "I only have a sniff in one side of my nose. The other side doesn't have a sniff." I guess she was trying to prove that she was well enough to go to school!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Several of the blogs I follow have Wordless Wednesdays. I think they are fun, so when I have a funny visual to share, I will slap it up for your enjoyment on humpday.
Check out the couch camo! Does this feel like your husband on housework day? This comes to me via Chica. She suggested that T should get some purple camo so he can blend in with our couches. Yeah, like he needs an excuse to wear camo!