DER TOM

The inventive spelling stage is my favorite part of writing: when it is finally starting to come together with the coordination to form letters, the ability to hear letter sounds and know the symbol that represents them, etc. I found this envelope and the card on top of the stack of cards I had addressed last night. He did all of the writing by himself. It's so sweet I had to document it.

FROM ISAAC TO TOM (my younger brother)

DEAR TOM, I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD HALLOWEEN I love it.

Not Me Monday, burnt potholder edition...

• I do NOT root through the dirty laundry for socks, work pants and pajamas and wash only those rather than tackling the huge pile of laundry that is barricading my walk in closet door shut. I always do a load several times a week and stay on top of my laundry.
• I am NOT already fantasizing about snow days.
• I did NOT recently send an e-mail at work that contained the word "hear" when I meant to use the word "here". As a teacher, I always spell things correctly and would never make an obvious mistake confusing words.
• I did NOT recently say something insulting to someone resulting in feelings of awkwardness on my part that caused me to avoid that person for several days. I did NOT finally work up the nerve to say sorry only to realize they had no clue what I was talking about. Evidently, what I was so concerned about and had worried over hadn't even phased them. Sheesh.
• This is NOT what happened when I was making macaroni today. I did NOT start a small fire in my kitchen by leaving a potholder next to my burner. I'm ridiculous. Or rather, I'm NOT ridiculous.

What have you been busy NOT doing?

This song says fall to me...

yahoo

20% American Eagle Coupon.... It's good for stores or online. I should use it for Christmas shopping. But instead I bought a ring and a sweater for myself. =)

Not Me Monday

• I did NOT have a duffle bag with odds and ends from my mid-August shore vacation still on the floor of my room as of Saturday morning. I have NOT been stepping around it and over it for weeks (months?) rather than taking the ten minutes to unpack it and put it away. I did NOT only unpack it solely because my girlfriend Becca was coming over to see my house for the first time.
• I did NOT totally oversleep and miss church yesterday, waking up in what would be halfway through the second hour. Nope, not me.
• Isaac did NOT start to sing along to some ridiculously campy pop song on the radio today. And when I asked him how he knew the words I did NOT nearly wet my pants when he replied "Daddy listens to that song all the time."
• I did NOT overbook myself on Saturday, causing me to bail on a gf only to run into her bf while I was out at the exact place I told her I didn't want to go. He did NOT call me on it and I did NOT squirm and feel guilty and have to attempt damage control.
• I am NOT contemplating taking a "mental health day" in the coming weeks to catch up on odds and ends and get my 3 inch long roots taken care of.
• I am NOT going to send my kid into school with a box of tampons for the drive for the local foodbank. Although they were on the list of things they desperately needed, I would never make my son bring feminine hygiene products to school when all of his other classmates are sending in canned goods simply because I had a high valued coupon for them.

And there's plenty more denial where that came from...

"but just as summer's hold was fleeting"

So getting back to the roots of this blog-- my failed attempts at being domestic... I don't think I have blogged about this yet, but starting over the summer I decided to make a concerted effort to cut the amount of meat I eat. I started reflecting on it and was sort of grossed out by the amount of meat I consume each day. Also, there are so many benefits (financially, environmentally, to your health) to not consuming meat. Starting in about July, I cut out red meat completely, which wasn't hard at all. Anyways, I'm on a quest to find more meat free meals that are easy to make. Here's a tasty one I ate tonight. It's from a cookbook my sister left at my parents house which I inherited. It's a really great cookbook because the recipes are all really easy to prepare and don't call for any crazy ingredients. Also, they only make 2-3 servings which is really all I need. Here's one I tried tonight:

Nacho Bean Soup

1 (14.5 oz) can ready-to-serve vegetable broth 1 cup of milk 2 tablespoons all purpose flour 1 (15.5 oz) can pinto beans, drained, rinsed 2 cups (8 oz) shredded taco flavored cheese blend 1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chiles 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (I didn't have any, so I just used dried) 1 cup broken tortilla or corn chips

1. In large saucepan, combine broth, milk and flour; blend well. Cooke and stire over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil.

2. Stir in beans, chiles, cheese and cilantro. Cook 5 mins or until thoroughly heated and cheese melted, stirring constantly. Sprinkle individual servings with tortilla chips.

Makes 3 (1.5 cup) servings.

While it doesn't exactly fall into the "healthy" category (590 calories!) it definitely was easy and delicious. Another good one from the same cookbook:

Fiesta Quesadillas

1 (11 oz) corn with red and green peppers, drained

1 (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles

1 cup fat-free refried beans

8 (8 to 10 inch) fat-free tortillas

1 cup (4 oz) shredded colby-Monterey Jack cheese blend

1. Mix up corn, chiles and refried beans. Spread 1/4 of the mixture on a tortilla. Top with another tortillas

2. So the book tells you to put these on the grill, but I don't have one. It also suggests the broiler. I usually just put it in a frying pan with a little Pam on low heat for about 3-5 mins. I turn it over with a pancake turner and do the other side for about 3 minutes, making sure all the cheese is melted.

3. Cut into wedges and eat. I had mine with tomato soup. I'm a big soup person.

Makes 4 quesadillas (450 calories each).

It was a pretty great weekend. Isaac was with his dad. Friday I went over to one of my coworker's house with a few friends. She is really into stamping and cardmaking. I have always enjoyed scrapbooking but I have never gotten into stamping. She had everything you could ever want for Halloween cardmaking and I am totally hooked (although the last thing I need is another hobby that requires purchasing tons of materials).

Here's a few blurry cellphone shots of a few I made (if you are lucky, you might get one in the mail!):

She is going to have us over again in a few weeks to make more cards and I can't wait.

Saturday I cleaned my whole house from top to bottom which was extremely satisfying. Then my friends Becca and Jamie came over and went shopping at the outlets. I got a fabulous new pair of boots and a Columbia jacket (marked down to 75 bucks!). We had a dinner at Ruby Tuesdays (which, incidently, has almost no vegetarian options. They are both vegetarians). Then we decided to check out the haunted house at Pennhurst. a former state asylum which is literally about five minutes down the road from me. When got our tickets and got in line and waited and waited and waited... It turned out the line was THREE HOURS LONG, which is definitely the longest line I have ever waited in. The attraction was cool, but after that long almost anything would have felt like a let down.

And now here it is, Sunday night, sitting on verge of another 5 days of work.

How was your weekend?

You know you're from Philly when...

So on Sunday one of the Sacrament Meeting speakers had recently moved to the area from Utah. She was highly emotional and obviously felt a bit lonely and out of her element, so I am trying not to be too judgemental...

(BUT...)

She explained that her family had moved here after living in Utah for a very long time, but originally she was "from here" having lived in New York as a child........................

This comment struck me as, well, hilarious, because the last time I checked this is southeastern PA, which is no where near New York.

Now I realize this terrified Utah transplant was probably referring to "here" as in "the east coast". I will give her benefit of the doubt that she was not referring to "here" as "the mission field" which is one of my TOP Mormon Culture pet peeves.

Anywho, I thought I would compile a list of reasons that you KNOW you're in Philadelphia area, just to help her out.

• You know how to spell Schuylkill River
• You don`t call a cheesesteak a Philly cheesesteak or a hoagie a sub
• Seeing the Liberty Bell is not that big a deal
• You hate Kobe Bryant
• Your favorite dessert is "wooder ice"... or Tastykakes.
• A vacation at the Jersey shore (pronounced "Down the shoore") is better than going to an island (there's more stuff to do, plus you know everybody.)
• You don't think that "Wawa" sounds funny... and you recognize and fully appreciate it's awesomeness.
• You've never referred to Philadelphia as anything but "Philly." And New Jersey has always been "Jersey."
• You refer to Pennsylvania as "PA" (pronounced Peeay). How many other states do that?
• You know what "Punxsutawney Phil" ( A Ground Hog ) is, and what it means if he sees his shadow.
• You know that Blue Ball, Intercourse, Climax, Bird-in-Hand, Beaver, Moon, Virginville, Paradise, Mars, and Slippery Rock are PA towns.
• You know that driving is easier in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
• You know what a mummer is.
• You think Ben Franklin is the MAN.
• You have an uncontrollable urge to buy bread and milk when you hear the word "snow".
• You say the correct pronunciation LANG-kist-er instead of the mispronounced Lan-CAST-er, and LEB-en-in instead of the equally incorrect Leb-a-NON.

Pennsylvnia is sure NOT New York, but it's a pretty awesome place and a place that should be appreciated.