Heigh-ho

Our heat was on this morning.  (Zoe was a good girl!  Christina Latella is awesome!)  Tomorrow it's going to be near 90.  Somewhere in the middle would be perfect for me.  We're celebrating John's birthday tomorrow.  His birthday is Cinco de Mayo!  Last night I made (and pressed) the layers for his birthday cake.  I also make cupcakes.  Yellow cake, chocolate cupcakes.  Homemade frosting to come.  (Chocolate on the yellow cake, white ((Grandma's frosting)) on the chocolate cupcakes.)

I really need to buy a new pair of sunglasses.  I've broken 2 pairs already this 'season' and one of them I actually spent a little bit of money on.  (In other words, not my normal $8 pair from Walmart.)  It's really sunny today, and I hate driving without sunglasses.  I squint a lot and then I get a headache.  Even my kids at work know that my sunglasses are broken and they ask me about them frequently.

So Saturday is John's party, and Sunday will be busy as well.  First, church.  Then at noon there's a special memorial type thing during the opening ceremony of Rotterdam Little League for Tyler.  We're going to that.  Then the rest of the day will be spent doing YARD WORK!  We've got lots of landscaping to do out front.  Soon we'll be getting a new front door and building a new front porch!

For now, I'm off to work.  Capris and flip flops.  Can't wait to spend lots of time outside today!

This is me.

1. Always on time, but a massive procrastinator.
2. Love a clean house, but not the actual act of cleaning.
3. Cooking dinner makes me feel accomplished and domestic.
4. Spiders freak me out.
5. Hate putting on eyeliner.
6. Closet eater.
7. Used to be scared of German Shepherds.
8. Want a baby more than anything.
9. Love my morning cup of coffee.
10. Fast driver.
11. Energy waster.  I leave lights on all the time.
12. Kid lover. 
13. Rather do it myself than delegate.
14. Playing piano makes me happy.
15. Relate to kids better than adults at times.
16. Family is my top priority.
17. Sinner, saved by grace.
18. Room rearranger.
19. Planner.
20. Wanna-be singer.
21. Broadway ambitions.
22. Too old for American Idol.
23. My bed is rarely made.
24. Sunshine makes me happy.
25. So does rain.
26. Homeschooled 6th-12th grade.
27. About to leave my 20's.
28. Need a new computer.
29. Not creative in the least bit.
30. Leaving projects unfinished like it's my job.
31. Recovering Facebook addict.
32. Water drinker.
33. Couch potato.
34. Daughter, sister, wife, aunt, friend.
35. Dishwasher envy.
36. Psychology was my favorite college class.
37. Hate drama.
38. Can live without milk.
39. Hate when the coffee filter folds over.
40. Take my temperature every morning.
41. Don't charge my cell everyday.
42. Prenatals every night...for 2 years.
43. Hoarder.
44. Jewelry owner, rare wearer.
45. Jaw is constantly popping and snapping out of joint.
46. 2 pregnancies, no kids yet.
47. Haven't been to the dentist in years.
48. Forgetful.
49. Don't swear.
50. Care far too much what others think of me.
51. Pinky toe, only bone ever broken.
52. Never been fired.
53. Toenails always painted.
54. Hospitalized 3 days for dehydration.
55. Right handed.
56. Cry easily.
57. Music lover.
58. Pulled over many times.
59. Been in many accidents.
60. Have an amazing husband.
61. Hate cleaning the tub.
62. Junk food addict.
63. Love candles.  John doesn't.
64. Love natural light.
65. Ice cream daily.
66. Shower, car, home alone singer.
67. Talk to myself.  And my dog.
68. Blogging is a release.
69. Shy.
70. Need for acceptance.
71. Hate all seafood.
72. Bug hater.
73. TV-aholic.
74. Love to read.
75. Straighten my hair almost daily.
76. Boat owner.
77. Love to bake.
78. Love to be tan.
79. Pro gun.
80. Cruise lover.
81. Enjoy sewing.
82. Like scrapbooking, but am way behind.
83. Proud of my firefighting hubby.
84. Can't decide between short and long hair.
85. Snowman collector.
86. Reminiscer.  If that's a word.
87. Wear a bigger size than you'd think.
88. Bad at returning messages.
89. Don't want Lost, Glee or 24.
90. Love spicy food.
91. Love the smell of fresh cut grass.
92. Love lilacs.
93. Interested (mildly) in politics.
94. DVR is my best friend.
95. I hate fighting.
96. Impulse shopper.
97. Subway lover.
98. Dislike juice.
99. Don't like talking on the phone.
100. Looking to the future with hope and faith.

Subway Saga

...and it continues...

While on my way home from work tonight I decided to stop at Subway.  It's always a thought now...will they have the bread I want?  At least they weren't busy, that's usually a good sign.

I walked right up to the counter and told them I'd like a Spicy Italian on Italian Herb & Cheese bread.  The guys says, "We're out of Italian Herb & Cheese bread."

I can't imagine what the look on my face was...I couldn't believe my worst fears were being realized...

Then he says, "Well, I do have 2 halves..."

I was like, "Sure, I'll take the 2 halves."  Inside I was dancing for joy!!  And the awesome part was, the 2 halves were both the 'bigger' halves.  You know how when they cut the bread in half, one side is always bigger and one is smaller?  Well, these were both the bigger pieces.  Score!

And just to round out my awesome Subway experience, when I got up to the counter to pay she told me it was $5.40.  I pointed out to her that I also had chips...I knew the $5.40 was just the sub and tax without the chips.  She just said, "Yeah," and charged me $5.40.  Don't know why.  But I'll take it.  Free Doritos!  Double score!

Photo heavy

I spent the day at the Cunniff daycare one day last week.  :)  My Mom was watching all 3 of her grandkids, so I stopped by to help for a bit.  Plus I just love spending time with them!

This is Caleb at lunch.  He wasn't too into eating, but he had eaten a lot of crackers earlier, so that's probably why.  While he was sitting like this at the table he started fake snoring.  He's so funny.

Olivia enjoyed her lunch in the walker.  She did not like the fish sticks, but she did like the cheese!

Zach and I.  He was very sleepy and headed for nap when I scooped him up to snap this photo!

Zach and Livy were playing for awhile under the dining room table.  This used to be one of Caleb's favorite hang-outs when he was little too!  I think it feels like a fort to them!

Here are the 3 kids, eating crackers and reading Bible stories!  How cute are they?

Caleb absolutely loves Olivia.  He likes to hug and kiss her, and is always willing to share with her.  When I went to take their picture, he just put his arm around her and said, "Cheese!"

Not without a hitch...

One performance down, one more to go!

And if my blog title didn't clue you in, there were a few minor (okay, a couple major!) mishaps.  But the cast did an amazing job of covering and recovering.

One cast member missed an entire scene in which she had many lines!  I sat there looking at the stage, thinking, "What the heck are they going to do?"  But amazingly, if you didn't know how it was supposed to go, you may not have even realized a character was missing.  The kids did that well at covering!  They made up some lines, changed some lines so it would make sense, and thought of things on the fly! 

In another scene, undoubtedly the most dangerous scene in the musical, a 'ghost' comes to Tevye in a dream.  This ghost is a teenage girl, on a teenage guy's shoulders, and they're covered (from her neck to his toes) in a long flowy white nightgown.  There are eye holes for the guy to see through.  Little eye holes.  And I don't know if he could see or not last night...but he ran (with the girl on his shoulders!) right smack into the bed on stage, sliding it over.  At that very moment, I thought they were going to fall, and with the momentum they had going, it seemed they would fall right on me.  I was seriously scared.

But fall they didn't.  He recovered well, she didn't fall off, and the rest of the scene seemed to go perfectly.  There was one definite scream from the audience when he ran into the bed.  I think it was that girl's poor mother, who was already nervous about the whole set-up.

The music seemed to go well.  When I'm playing the keyboard for something like this, I always worry there won't be a good balance.  I don't want the keyboard to be too loud and over powering.  It's supposed to just be a fill-in kind of sound.  But I also don't want the keyboard to be too quiet.  I don't want people to be sitting in the audience wondering why I'm even up there because they can't hear anything I'm playing!

My husband and sister both assured me that it sounded good.  I hope they're not lying.

So, time to get ready for the second show. 

Actually, it's time to go grocery shopping for food for my Mom's birthday tomorrow.  Then make a birthday cake for her.  Maybe start on the pasta salad.  Then get ready for the show.  Niskayuna High School, 2pm, $5!  If you've got nothing to do this afternoon...it's a great show!

Late nights and caffeine

I'm playing (keyboard) for a musical (Fiddler) this weekend (April 23 & 24).

We've had late night rehersals all week.

I'm really going to have to 'de-tox' from this caffeine overload when it's all over.  Seriously...there have been a couple nights of only 4 hours of sleep.  Thank God for coffee.

Thankfully I'm off today, performances are tonight and tomorrow afternoon, and then I can RELAX!  I had 2 days off this week (instead of 1) which has helped.  But my mind has just been racing all week, and I'm anxious to get back into my regular old boring life.

I had a dream last night that the auditorium was PACKED for the first act.  After the intermission, no one stayed except the parents of the kids performing.  The auditorium was basically empty.  Hopefully that's not some kind of sign...

Well, I'm off to do laundry and practice.  No other housework besides that.  I've been too busy, and I know the chores will still be there when the musical is over.  Maybe I'll make another pot of coffee as well...

Revenge

I have this thing.  Maybe it's an issue.  It's most definitely a fear.  Maybe it's a phobia?  I hate spiders.

And spiders like to congregate in our entryway.  It's not actually in the living part of our house, it's the stairway that leads either to the basement or outside.  There's a door from the kitchen which is always shut.  Until I have to go outside.

And every morning I proceed to pull the vacuum cleaner from the laundry room into the kitchen, in preparation for opening the door.  There's almost always a few spiders, every morning.  John sprayed for them, but the spray isn't working like it did last year. 

So as I open the door to let Zoe out, vacuum hose in hand, I scan the ceiling and walls for offenders.  Zoe knows my routine, and instead of rushing down the stairs for the outside door, waits patiently till I'm done.  I suck up the spiders, then let the vacuum run a few additional seconds to make sure they're really dead.  Not just dead, really dead.

My routine didn't change much today, except that there were 2 spiders actually in the house.  One right by the kitchen door, and one in the hallway by the bathroom.  I saw the one in the hallway out of the corner of my eye while I was drying my hair.  I stopped to vacuum it up, then continued with my morning routine.

As I was straightening my hair, my mind wandered to the spiders.  I was wondering...how many are there?  I mean, they keep coming!  Every day there are more.  And are they smart enough creatures to know what's going on?  Do they realize I'm killing them off, one by one?  Could they possibly seek revenge? 

All of a sudden, in my mind I see a group (flock? herd?) of spiders, working in tandem to control a vacuum hose.  Evil laughter breaks out as they manage to harness the hose and aim it in my direction....

Okay, maybe not.  Atleast, I hope not. 

I'm gonna go check for more spiders.

You know it's gonna be a long day when you haven't even left for work yet, and you're already looking forward to being back in bed tonight.  I think the combination of getting an average of 6 hours of sleep a night, plus looking towards next week's practice schedule for Fiddler, just makes me feel exhausted.  Next week is going to be CRAZY!

I just heard the weather for tomorrow.  Christine, you'll be glad to know Neal Estano used the word "raw".  :)  Hopefully today will turn out to be a playground day, because tomorrow sure won't be.

Mallozzi's buffet last night was ah-mazing.  I ate way too much, of course.  Lots of food, and lots of desserts.  Plus it was fun hanging out with Kristen & Brian and Chrystal & Vinn.

John and I did our taxes months ago, and e-filed our federal return.  We already got (and spent!) our federal tax money.  But since John takes a fire fighter credit on our state, we can't e-file.  Our state taxes have been done, again, for months.  However, since we have to mail them, they're still sitting on the coffee table.  Guess I know what I'm doing on my break today!

Oh, I wish I was going back to bed instead of headed to work for 10+ hours.

To the vet!

Every spring (and, thankfully, no time in between!) we make that yearly visit to the vet.  Dr. Singer has been Zoe's vet forever.  She used to work at Rotterdam Vet, then moved to Glenville Vet.  We followed her.  She's that good.  We love her, and Zoe does too.

A vet appointment is usually guaranteed to set you back a couple hundred dollars, and today was no exception.  Zoe had her temperature taken (you're putting that where?!), blood taken for a lyme/heartworm test (came back negative) and was weighed. 

Speaking of weight...2 years ago (2008) we got in trouble.  Zoe weighed 107 pounds, and was too heavy.  We mentioned she seemed to have trouble getting up sometimes, and Dr. Singer gently pointed out that all that extra weight would make it hard on her.  So we tried really hard, cut back on treats, even cut her food amount back a little.  Fast forward 1 year (2009), and we took Zoe back for her annual check-up...scared that she was still going to be overweight.  To our great surprise, she weighed in at 85 lbs!  We were shocked and very happy!  We want Zoe to be healthy and live a long time!

This year I was afraid again.  We haven't been very careful lately, and Zoe's only been on a few walks since the weather has been nice.  True, she plays out in the yard, but she doesn't get any consistent exercise.  I feel like a bad parent.  But lo and behold...Zoe weighed 86 lbs today!  Only up one pound from last year at the same time!  Dr. Singer was very happy with that, as are we!

So anyway.  After the weighing and stuff was done we waited in the exam room for Dr. Singer.  She came in and thanked us for the Christmas card (yes, we are the dorks that do a picture with our dog for our card, and even send it to the dog groomer and vet.) then jumped in with Zoe.  She's always petting her and giving her treats.  And shots.  I think Zoe prefers the treats.

We discussed some of Zoe's issues: she has an eyebrow tumor (we got cream to put on it, if it grows she'll need surgery) and, of course, her anxiety issues.  We're going to wait it out a bit with that, and see how she does.  We may try some behavior modification, or, as a last resort, medication.

All-in-all Zoe did a great job, and I'm glad that's over for another year.  I really hope she doesn't need to have surgery on her eye.  It would suck money-wise, and I don't want her to have to go through that!

Boneless Chicken Wings

Another night of trying to decide what to have for dinner.  I like cooking, but don't like coming up with ideas for what to cook.  John mentioned wanting wings, but he couldn't decide whether he wanted regular or boneless.  Soon after this discussion, he left for a fire call, and I set to work.

I knew I had some frozen boneless chicken breasts, so I thawed them out (2 large ones) and chopped them into pretty much bite-sized pieces.

(Ew, I hate raw meat.)

I found a recipe on http://www.myoutdoortv.com/ and pretty much followed it.  I got 3 dishes ready, the first one with flour, salt and pepper, the second one with buttermilk, and the third one with flour, salt and pepper again.

I covered each piece of chicken with flour, coated it in buttermilk, then dredged it through the flour a second time.  I put about 15 pieces into my fry basket, and fried the chicken at 360 degrees for about 5 minutes.

After each batch I would drain them on paper towels.

Once they were all fried up I put all the chicken into a bowl.

(During all this, I had made the sauce: 3/4 cup hot sauce, 1/4 cup water, 1 Tablespoon butter, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.  Melt together in a sauce pan, then set aside.)

I poured the sauce over the chicken and tossed to coat. 

Yum!  I transferred the chicken to a baking sheet and stuck them in the oven for 20 minutes at 350.

And...the finished product!

They were delicious, and John loved them!

Thai Beef, take 2!

A while back I wrote a blog about making Thai Beef Stir Fry, remember?  I was too busy (and hungry) to photographically record my meal.  Well I recently made the meal for a second time, and actually remembered to take pictures! 

This time I prepped the meat and veggies the night before so that the meal wouldn't take as long.  What a great idea that was!  It was so much faster, and made it possible for me to make this on a week night, even when I'm working.

I also did it in my electric frying pan this time, instead of my wok.  It's much bigger, and I didn't have to do the meat in batches.

Here's the meat, cooking away nicely.

And the cauliflower, carrots and broccoli.

Now the meat, veggies and sauce all mixed together!

The finished product!

And my plate when I was done.  :)

There was enough left over for both John and I to have leftovers the next night, him at work, and me at home!  I think this meal is definitely in our top 5!

Half Off

For several years I've been seeing Sonic commercials.  I used to think...that looks cool, sure wish we had one!  Then I started thinking...that looks so yummy, I really wish we had a Sonic!  Then I starting thinking...why the heck don't we have a Sonic here?!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, there is a Sonic.  I don't know if I would exactly use the word near, but it's pretty darn close.  It's located in Kingston, and it's about an hour drive from my house.  John and I have made that drive 3 times within the past few weeks. :)

Today we made the trip with Adam & Stephen.  We were so psyched for Sonic, I can't even tell you.  They were late getting to our house (because Stephen had to shower!) but finally we were on our way.  We had some fun conversation on the way down, and I got caught up on all the happenings of their lives.  I think John already knew everything.  You know boys, and how they talk.

So we finally arrived at Sonic.  We all decided what we wanted (while watching others get food delivered on rollerskates to their cars) and John pushed the little red button that connects you to the order-taker.  We waited just a few brief moments, and then a carhop headed towards us and we heard the words that left us all jaw dropped.  "I'm sorry, we're not taking orders."

I glanced back at Adam, who is without-a-doubt the most Sonic-obsessed person that was in the car.  I wish I had a camera to capture the look of disbelief, sadness, and maybe a bit of anger that flashed across his face.  Of course, I think mine looked the same.

Their computers were down.  They didn't know when they would be back up.  Their manager was on the phone with "the people".  So we just sat there for awhile, waiting.  Hoping.  I'd like to say praying...but, even though I am prone to pray for fast food to go my way, we didn't pray about Sonic's computers getting back online.

Finally we drove away.  There was a ShopRite nearby, and I had a really bad headache (from NO FOOD all day!) so I ran in for some Tylenol.  Then we drove back around and parked in a different spot at Sonic.  Another carhop came out, told us the computers were down, and gave us free ice cream cones.  Thanks.  I mean, it was nice of them.  But I wanted onion rings.

We drove away from Sonic and parked...kind of in the middle of the parking lot.  We sat watching, as many, many more people got their free ice cream cones.  Some would park for awhile, hoping (as we were!) that the computers would start working.  Some would just drive off, undoubtedly headed to Wendy's or Burger King.  These are people who live near Sonic.  Who can have it any other time they want.  We drove an hour!  And the thought of going to Wendy's was enough to make John cringe.  He wanted Sonic.

John sent Stephen in (a couple times!) to check on the progress.  I think Stephen enjoyed flirting with the girls there.  John locked Stephen out of the car.  I used the bathroom.  We made friends with 2 guys from Colonie who were also waiting it out.  John and Adam yelled at Stephen.  You see, if you haven't made the connection yet, Stephen running late beforehand made all this happen.  If we'd been there 5 minutes earlier (or less!) the computers would have been up and we would have been able to get our order in a timely manner.

We killed some more time (and gas) just hanging around Sonic.  Stephen's last 'check the status' trip resulted in finding out that tickets were printing out, and that wasn't happening before, so the carhop thought it might be another 15 minutes. 

AND IT WAS!!!!

Adam almost beat the car seat to a pulp when we realized we were actually going to be getting Sonic.  It was a pain ordering.  The computers were still screwy.  But finally they brought us our food, and gave us 50% off!!!  They knew we'd traveled a distance, and had seen us waiting it out for 2 hours! 

Our order was wrong, but they brought out the missing items and we basked in the deliciousness that is Sonic. 

We played a little TV theme trivia on the way home.

So even though our trip lasted much longer than anticipated (which sucked because John had to go straight to work when we got home) it was worth it. We got Sonic.  Definitely a trip we'll remember!

Subway

Every once in awhile A lot of times, John works in the evenings.  I like to cook, but not for only one!  So some nights I'll just make and eat a box of couscous.  Or maybe I'll fry up a batch of french fries or onion rings.  My favorite meal-for-one, by far, is Subway!  I get the same exact thing everytime I go.  I love it, I crave it, and I usually have it atleast once a week.

What is it?  I'll tell you.  Footlong Spicy Italian on Italian Herbs & Cheese bread.  (That's 10 slices of salami and 10 slices of pepperoni.  Yikes, when you put it that way!!)  Provolone cheese.  Toasted.  Lettuce, tomato, onion and jalapeno.  Oil & vinegar.  Salt & pepper.  (Doritos on the side.)

So tonight, knowing John is working till 11pm, I stopped at Subway on my way home.  It was mobbed.  But I already had my heart set on my sandwich, and I wanted to have it.

As I got closer to the ordering counter, I noticed there was one piece of Italian Herb and Cheese bread left.  One.  There is no substitute for this bread.  I would still get the sub, even if all 'my' bread was gone.  But it would not be the same.

There were still 3 people ahead of me in line, and one of them was holding a list.  Never a good sign.  That means they're definitely getting more than 2 subs.

The first 2 customers each ordered a couple subs.  But none on IH&C bread.  Phew.

Now the lady with the list...she ordered 4 subs.  I held my breath when the guy behind the counter asked what kind of bread.  (I may have even prayed.  Hey, God cares about my sub happiness, right?!)  Three wheat and one Italian.  Phew!!

I think I started grinning, I was so happy that I would be getting 'my' sub!  As I approached the counter, I now had a better view of the tall class apparatus that holds the baked bread.  As I looked down into the lower case, I saw a huge tray, piled with loaves of IH&C bread. 

All of a sudden I didn't feel quite so triumphant.

I was still happy, of course, to have the sub I wanted.  And to be honest, I was glad I wasn't taking the last loaf of IH&C.  (Although I have done that before!)  But I just didn't feel quite as victorious as I initially had.

Oh well.  I enjoyed my sub nonetheless!

Easter

Contrary to what some people (and Walmart) believe, Easter is not all about candy.  It is also not all about the Easter bunny.  It's not just about eggs, family and good food.  It's not even about church.

Don't get me wrong.  I love my church.  I don't like eggs, but I enjoy coloring them.  The Easter bunny is a cutie.  I love candy.  And anyone who knows me, knows how much I love my family and good food!  These are all great things, fun things, entertaining or enjoyable things.

But that's just not what Easter is about.

(It's not even about the Yankees/Red Sox game I'm enjoying at the moment.)

Put simply, Easter is about Jesus, dying for the sins of man, and rising from the dead on the 3rd day.  Jesus, a perfect being.  100% God and 100% man.  A sinless man who took on our sin, my sin, and was brutally beaten and crucified.  For me.  For you.  He didn't deserve death on a cross.  And we don't deserve an eternity in Heaven.

Yet that's just what we can have.  Our free gift.  Jesus loves us more than anything.  He loves us so much that he was willing to fulfill the plan that God laid out before Him.  And because Jesus gave His life, took our sin to that cross, we can be free.  If only we trust in Him.  Surrender our life and live for Him.

It's that easy.

There an old song (Newsboys I think?) that has 2 lines I love: "When we don't get what we deserve, it's a real good thing; When we get what we don't deserve, it's a real good thing. 

What do I deserve?  I'm a sinner.  I deserve hell.  But I'm not going there!

What am I getting that I don't deserve?  Heaven.  Eternity with Jesus.  Thank God for his amazing gift of eternal life!

And I am so glad that it's not about me.

I recently read a yahoo article about Tiger Woods, and his religion.  He was telling a reporter how his religion is all about how good you are, how much good you do, how moral you are, etc, etc, etc.  (This interview was pre-scandal.)  I read that article thinking to myself, I can't imagine if my standing in God's eyes was dependent upon me.  I would never make it.  I would never be good enough.  If not for God's amazing, saving grace, I would be destined for a life of eternal separation from Him.

Praise God that Jesus' blood covers my sin.  Praise God that my Savior did not stay on that cross or in that tomb.  Have you heard?  Jesus is alive! 

And that's what Easter is about for me.

Big Cheese!

Caleb and I at Olivia's First Birthday party

March 28, 2010

"Cheese!"