Not Much To Report

My cooking has not suffered since the bottles burned. As a matter of fact, I made the best chicken ever this week. It's my favorite so far. It was a lemon pepper chicken with a white wine sauce. I'm thinking it was the lime in the sauce that gave it the unique flavor, but it was oh so good. And then the next day I made teriyaki chicken with sesame seeds. That was nowhere near being my favorite but it was edible. Oh, and how could I forget the chocolate ganache I attempted! I should have taken a picture but I wasn't fast enough - hubby ate most of them, he loved them so much. I'm going to try again though and next time take pictures for sure, even though they taste much better than they look.

Sid was a trooper through the whole bottle-burning experience. His older brother took care of him, carrying him around since he didn't have any shoes on. When the firetruck came though he was too shy to go near it. He barely wanted to touch it even though he was in awe - he loves cars and trucks.

The bigs kids are away for Christmas. Their grandpa drove (yes, drove) them to TN to visit some cousins. My mother is still in Jamaica (til next Friday). So this weekend will be pretty quiet. Next weekend is a different story. In one week Mocha will be here (and we all know how rowdy she can be!) along with some other family. Shelby is being blessed next Saturday and I haven't even begun planning for the lunch afterwards. BdaB and his family will be coming down from Jacksonville. My sister will even be here.

Speaking of my sister, she has recently formed a corporation with three other young ladies. Together they make up Star* Power PR and Marketing. She's doing things and I'm happy for her. We'll see what the new year holds for her.

Here's part of my wishlist:
a massage (all of my stress goes directly to my neck and shoulders - a massage is way overdue)
a new bicycle (since the bike I had for the past 14 years was STOLEN thanks to someone who shall remain nameless but goes by the title 'hubby')
a creme brulee torch and ramekins (my absolute favorite dessert is creme brulee - if I learned to make it I would never have to buy it again)
some good cook books (I want the classics, the ones every real cook must have)

Call Me Phoenix

Edit: Post has been updated.

I nearly burned down my house Sunday night. How was your weekend?

Yeah, so, uh, I burned the baby's bottles.

There I was trying to be Wonder Woman, boiling bottles, washing clothes, and getting Sid ready for bed, when I lost track of all what I was doing and started doing a fourth task - installing my webcam so my mother could see her grandkids while she's on vacation in Jamaica (she left Friday morning and two days without seeing her poopy and booby is much too long). Me, hubby, and Shelb were all in my room when I turned on the big flourescent light for better exposure and Sid came in from out of his bed talking about what's that smell. As he said it we were smelling it too. I went to the light to smell it cause sometimes it smells like it's burning, but that time it wasn't the cause and the smell was getting stronger. Hubby jumped up and ran out and I followed. As I got to the landing I could see the kitchen was filled with smoke. I immediate ran to open the front and back doors so hubby wouldn't choke. He, by the way, had grabbed the flaming pot with an oven mitt and put it in the sink which, by the way, had a big aluminum pot in it filled with water. All I saw was one long flame across the width of the kitchen (about three feet) as he moved from the stove to the sink. I ran back upstairs, opened the window on the landing, continued up the stairs, yelled at everyone to get out (K Jr took Sid who had his hands over his ears cause by this time the fire alarm was going off as well as the house alarm), grabbed the baby and cell phones from off my bed, opened another window and ran back down the stairs and out the house. Hubby came out but went back in and took so long to come out I was beginning to get worried. What was his excuse? He was making sure the windows were opened and the fans were on! Come on! I was worried about smoke inhalation and him passing out and he's worried about smoke in the house!! I couldn't pull his big behind down the stairs by myself! He's at least twice my weight and then some. Well, He finally came out and we spoke to the alarm company who said they could send the fire truck out to help clear out the smoke, which we agreed was a great idea. If you've ever smelled burning plastic/silicone, it is one nasty smell. Anyway, the fire truck came. (Aside: When it got to my street the had to blow the horn to get people to move their parked cars which were illegally parked and I was so happy. What if my house really was burning down?? I live at the end of a cul-de-sac and jokers are always parking on both sides of the road leading to the cul-de-sac, barely leaving room for one vehicle to drive through much less and emergency vehicle. Oh yeah, it was about 10 pm. hehe.) So the firemen came and blew smoke out the house but even after they left we still couldn't stay. Hubby and I tooks turns going in and packing stuff (leaving the kids outside) and then we camped out at hubby's mother's house. We put the house alarm back on and left the upstairs windows open for the night to air the place out. Fortunately it's been cool and breezy these past few days. In the end I didn't get to sleep until 2:30 am (figured I may as well stay up to feed Shelb since her feeding schedule got thrown completely off) and then I was up again minutes to 7 am to take Jr to school. It didn't even end there cause when I got back to hubby we drove his mother downtown so she wouldn't have to fight to park. Needless to say when we finally got to our own house about 1 pm I was exhausted, but at least the smell was almost completely gone.

So, you see, the house nearly burned to the ground but my mind was reborn from the almost-ashes, like the Phoenix, and I will never, ever, ever, ever, boil bottles and attempt to install a webcam driver on a computer upstairs at the same time.

There must be a lesson in this. Hmm, I know, if you're using the stove, keep it within your line of vision and don't attempt to be a multi-tasking superheroine.

Btw, everyone was fine, no nausea or dizziness.

The Boy and Food and Then Some

The Older Boy
@Shawn - No, we don't spend alone time together. Up until a year and a half ago we at least had car rides to and from school. We had some interesting discussions during those car rides. Now we hardly see each other unless he needs something.

Food
Yes, I'm still cooking and experimenting I just can't remember what all I cooked last week! I know Friday evening I made "gourmet" chicken sandwiches and carrot soup. The key ingredients for the special sandwich was the ciabatta bread and the spread - a mix of dijon mustard, mayo, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, and anchovy paste (which I don't think it really needs). The carrot soup was made in a VitaMix - it had carrots, celery, spicy tomato paste, vegetable bouillon cubes, salt, pepper, onion, and, of course, water. For dessert I made more whipped cream and we had that with fresh strawberries and some diabetic chocolate pudding/cake that hubby made.
Today for lunch we had baked chicken (courtesy of hubby), broccoli and bowtie pasta with lemon, mozzarella and tomato, and leftover ciabatta bread. The tomato and cheese salad didn't look like when it's ordered from a restaurant but it's the taste that matters!

Then Some
It was nice to see my friends from Jacksonville who were in the area today. Their kids have grown so much. It's too bad they came over so late in the day and we didn't get to sit and talk at all. Let me put these people on blast and tell you that I was expecting them around noon but they didn't show up until minutes to 4:00 pm! lol They are lucky that I like them so much. I miss having them nearby. I didn't get to take any pix but BdaB, if you're reading this, I want those pix that you took in my email asap!

Went to my company Christmas party last night. They rented a tent so that we could watch the boat parade. We had a decent time. At least the DJ did a pretty good job. The food was not good at all, very blah. The desserts didn't make up for the bad food but I ate enough to fill the void. Will my hips tell on me? We'll see. Anyway, I got to talk to my cooking buddy. We love to swap stories about what we've cooked, what worked or didn't, and what we've seen that we want to make. I told her how to make the whipped cream and she told me how to make meringue, and we both have plans to make chocolate truffles. Mmmm! And I have a creme brulee set on my wishlist for this year because I absolutely have to learn to make my favorite dessert. (So far, I think the best creme brulee I've had was at Ruth's Chris, and I've had a lot of creme brulee.) Once I get the kit you know you'll see pix of me flaming that sugar.

The latest pix of Sid and Shelb are up.

You Guys Are Just So Helpful!

Due to the overwhelming response to my last post (lol) I've decided to not make the door-closing an issue. My boss always said to chose your battles and this one is probably not worth fighting considering what you all have told me (and emailed me).

Back to the food
What else have I concocted lately, you ask? I made my very own sweetened whipped cream and I bought fresh blueberries and strawberries to eat with it (and my mother brought over sweet potato pudding). I also made rosemary chicken. Sid ate all of his and wanted mine too! Out of everyone he liked it the best. Tonight I don't know what I'm going to make but I'm excited about the little 3-cup Cuis.inart food processor that hubby bought for me. I just got it this morning and I already used it to chop garlic and parsley! :)

Edit: I have been rightfully chastised for only showing stepson in a 'bad' light. My blog is not the news channel - there should be some good news sprinkled in there somewhere. So, let me preface this post with the following statements. Stepson is by no means a bad kid. He's actually a pretty good kid. He does well in school, is a quick learner, (as far as I know) doesn't do drugs and isn't a bully. He's a regular kid with regular kid tendencies. With that said, let's get on with the post...."

After the zucchini pancake disaster I still had zucchini left over. What to do with it, I wondered. Well, the next day I made herbed rice (really good) and zucchini fries (not bad although Sid has now decided that zucchini is nasty). Yesterday I made more of the berry muffins. Today I want to make a baked garlic cheddar chicken (recipe from the net). I really wanted to make the caesar chicken sandwich on ciabatta bread that I found in my cookbook but I have yet to prepare the chicken - but I did buy all of the necessary ingredients so I had better use them.
Edit: I did make the garlic cheddar chicken and everybody liked it.

On a different note... If your child is living in your house is it acceptable for that child to act like he is living at a bed-and-breakfast? He comes home, goes in his room, closes the door, and basically only comes out to eat. Is this normal 16 yr-old behavior?? I know I could never have done that in my mother's house. Keeping the door closed alone is a sign of disrespect. To me it's a way of saying this is my life here and you all are out there and the twain don't meet unless I want it to. This, of course, is wrong, because as long as we are responsible for him his life is not off-limits to us. Am I reading too much into this? I don't want to hear about privacy. He may think he needs privacy but to do what? Every day all day??

I don't like it and I've told him to keep his door open. What does he do now? The door is not closed anymore but is only open a half inch or so. His father doesn't like it but doesn't say anything. He's quickly developing his own attitude to this situation (and others). I'm the stepmother which makes it difficult to say anything. I know that if it was Sid this would not be going on. I would have put a full stop to it a long time ago. Having stepkids is hard. The biological parent can easily get defensive when something is done/said to their children. Hubby has never done this. Regardless, I'm well aware that there is a line and I try to stay far away from it, so 99 times out of a 100 I talk to hubby and he is the enforcer. There is that 1% though and it's a fine balancing act. One wrong move could set a lot of negative actions in motion. And I certainly don't want to make things worse than they are. But a kid has to learn respect.

Today's Fare

Apparently hubby has been motivated by my ambition. This morning he made an oatmeal special which turned out really good (no pix of that though). This evening he let me know that he wanted me to make the muffins I had been talking about so I did. Those are them in the pix. Notice also that I had a helper - Sid. I had another helper (Sid's older sister) who I must mention because she did a good job of helping me get all the ingredients measured and ready.

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I am the furthest thing from a cook and that this past week is a big deal for me. I'm almost proud of myself *pat on the back*. :) That's not to say I never used to cook, but I have been pretty averse to going into the kitchen.

And I present to you Zucchini Pancakes!!

I liked them. The 16 yr-old said they weren't bad but he didn't like them. Sid said they were nasty. lol. I forgot that hubby doesn't like egg yoke so they were too "eggy" for him. My poor family. But hey, if they don't want to eat what I cook or bring home there's always pasta in the pantry!


I'm getting my recipes from I.na G.arten's latest cookbook B.arefoot C.ontessa at Home.

I had wanted to try the onion rings and a lemon butter chicken (the latter courtesy of SP's man, Tico), but I got home too late and wasn't up for the challenge. Actually I met some "new" family tonight - my mother's 2nd cousin, her daughter and son-in-law, and their three kids. The last kid is barely a month old and very cute. I exchanged email addresses with the daughter who is only two years older than me.

Last night I made lemon fusilli with arugula

I took a picture of it using my phone but I didn't realize until after we ate it all that I didn't save the picture! But, it turned out very good. Tonight I plan to try the zucchini pancakes and maybe onion rings. I know, they probably don't go together but oh well.

This is what I (we) made for dinner today. I bought a cookbook a few days ago and have been poring over it ever since. What we have here is chicken piccata (thanks SP for the tip on the white wine), tomato and feta cheese salad, and buttermilk mashed potatoes. The potatoes were a tad bit salty but everything together tasted really good.

Thanksgiving

Two weekends ago I was sharing in the celebration of a life that ended too soon. One weekend ago I was sharing in the celebration of a life that is just beginning. This weekend I'm grateful for the lives of my family members and friends.

It's been freezing here the last few days. It hit the 30s yesterday. Thankfully it will begin warming up today, just in time for our Thanksgiving Day barbecue. Because I mean really, what is cold weather without snow?? As a matter of fact, hubby's favorite vacation was when we visited Toronto some winters ago when the snow was deep. I keep telling him we need to move to Germany but I think he's stopped hearing my pleas.

My mother and her brother are going to Jamaica in a few weeks to visit their aunt and uncle. It would be nice to be going with them. And speaking of Jamaica, at long last I have received a letter and card from my aunt. In a nutshell she said she was glad to hear from me and she congratulated me on the birth of Shelby.

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Is ANTM even worth talking about?? I was so glad when they kicked off J.aeda last week. Michelle went last night. If only she wanted it. She could probably have won. We're down to the final four and I don't know who to root for anymore. There's no one who stands out.

I was reading Gian's post and it reminded me of the last time I was approached by a man in a grocery store. (I would highly recommend reading his post before reading mine.) Last week. I went to the deli to order a sub for my mother. I was my usual self. I'm not an intimidating person or anything and I usually smile if my eyes make contact with someone else's. I smiled at various people behind the counter, listening to the banter going back and forth between different people. Nothing flirtatious. After I left the store and was all the way back at my car I noticed one of the employees walking towards me - one of the guys from the deli area. I figured that since the store was almost closing he must be coming to take the cart back. He approached me but it wasn't the cart that he wanted. He tried to make small talk before asking the main question; Where was I from, do I have any kids, am I married, and surprisingly even after I told him I was married he wanted to know for how long. Now, he's a grown man and none too attractive to put it mildly, but I politely but consistently put him off. He continued to tell me that he sees me all the time and whenever he does I'm the one he wants, how there's no one else like me, he'll never find anyone like me, blah, blah, blah. I told him of course he'll find someone and she'll be even better than I am, which of course he refused to believe. I don't know what he wanted me to do - did he expect me to offer my number or my 'friendship' or something else?

I'll Admit It...

...Sometimes I block specific people on msn. I always log on with my status set to 'offline' to see if there's someone(s) I do or don't feel like talking to. If I see someone I wouldn't mind talking to then I go 'online'. If I also see someone I don't want to talk to then I block that person first. Come on, I can't be the only one. You know how certain people are, they'll immediately try to engage you in a conversation, so instead of having to put them off I save them the trouble of trying to start anything.

...I look better pregnant. Ah, yes, a little baby fat never hurt anybody. Now I feel too skinny (except for the belly that I'm working on).

...Sid was a (slightly) cuter baby, but it doesn't matter cause Shelb is still beautiful.

...I don't talk to my friends nearly as much as I would like....

...I have a secret blog. Ok, I have two secret blogs, neither of which I post to on a consistent basis. They more represent different phases of my life. One is about dreams, imaginings, sometimes fiction. The other is the one I use to vent about certain people who may or may not read my public blogs.

...I love chocolate and bread together (think nutella or toblerone), and cinnamon and brown sugar with butter on toast, and pineapples, and watermelon, and orange juice, and Jamaican food, and the smell of a newborn baby, and reading, and watching people, and, and the list goes on.

...I love my baby, my hubby. He's so sweet and fine and even though he gets on my nerves sometimes he's all mine.

For those wondering about SP, the last I heard she was doing fine, enjoying life with her boy toy. It would appear, based on words coming out of her own mouth, that they are offically an item how, but you didn't hear that from me!

You've Got To Watch This!

I think it's hilarious!

http://www.whiteboydj.com/babygotbook.html

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I had a mixed weekend. Saturday evening was the most stressful but the day ended on a good note. I went to hubby's cousin's baby shower. She's due in a few weeks but she looks good. She looks like she's ready to pop, but she still looks good. Some family flew down from NY which was a nice surprise for everyone. One cousin came with his girlfriend. The other cousin came with his wife and their seven week old daughter who is three days older than Shelby. Of course there was food and I was all up in it!

Sunday some friends came up from MIA to visit another friend, K, her hubby and their nine month old son. I just happen to live almost across the street so visiting me was also an option. However, being as nosey as I am I wanted to see the baby (and the house) too, so instead we all met up at K's house. Couldn't stay long though because Sid had a party at his school and we still had to meet hubby at the bike store before that. Should I say that we never made it to the party? Sid was having too much fun riding bikes around the store and he said he didn't care if he missed the party. Apparently he was serious because when we were ready to leave he wasn't.

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Happy Monday!!

My Babies

More babies here.

And here.

More Rambling

See the smiles of the day here!

I went to work again yesterday but this time it was for a meeting to be updated on the progress of the project I was working on before I had to leave. The meeting was with the new guy who started a week into my leave. I was impressed by him. The guy is good. Anyone who reads technical books and writes programs in his off time while being married with two young kids and going to school for his Masters must love what he does. I, on the other hand, like what I do. When I leave work I don't want to think about computers except for checking email, reading blogs, or researching personal topics. Maybe I need to find something that I love that pays well. Anyway, we'll see how this whole thing pans out for me between now and the next review period.

ANTM - You're right, Shawn, about Jaeda. How much longer do we have wait for her to prove herself?? As for Melissa Rose, yes, it's hard to watch her a lot of the times, but I like her pictures lately. I definitely like Caridee's pictures too. Sometimes it feels like she's overdoing it though. And How could I forget Anchal?? Her "groaning" is grating. Eugena can take some good pictures - except there's no connection. The judges are always complaining about her eyes not showing anything and I agree, but how do you fix that? I'm on the fence about the twins. One is better than the other but I can't remember which one. I don't know how successful the past winners have been (I see Eva in the news quite a bit) but I'm rooting for Danielle.

Oh, the randomness of it all...

I went by my job yesterday morning with hubby and the baby. It wasn't as much of a shock as I thought it might be. Everyone ooh'd and ahh'd and congratulated and complimented. I didn't plan to stay there as long as I did but that was ok. They already had my computer disconnected and ready for me to take home (which I did, and might I say those dual 21" monitors look o-so nice on my computer table). I know the rest of year will go by uneventfully workwise. Could it be because I have 89 vacation hours and 23 sick time hours that I have to use up by Dec. 31? Plus Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are in there too. That doesn't leave too many working days. :) Plus Mocha and fam will be here so I have something to look forward to!

Later in the afternoon I had my first post-pregnancy check up. You probably remember when I mentioned that my doctor made reference to "when I get my tubes tied" to which I promptly replied that I want to have more kids. Well, I am such a trash-talker! lol. I'm actually considering it now. Sidney was a breeze. Shelby gave me a morning in hell. I can't imagine it being any worse. I don't see how a next kid would be any better considering I'm only getting older. People say you forget the pain. Umm, yeah I've forgotten how it felt exactly but I have NOT forgotten how much I hated it when it was happening. Hmm. I'm still thinking.

Have you been watching ANTM? I'm not that impressed by any of the girls but I'm liking Melrose more and more. But I am so tired of hearing Jaeda complaining about her hair!

Sid's school is having a one-hr pajama party tonight when after care ends. (One hour???) Would you believe that up until this morning Sid didn't have any pj's to speak of? I fixed that problem by picking up some Spidey Man pj's. I hope he likes them. He's really into Mcqueen right now but they didn't have any in his size. Anyway, I think the parents are supposed to wear pj's too so I'm off to go pack my stuff!

So Much And Nothing

Don't look at me like that! I'm not the only one who hasn't been blogging lately!

Monday coming will be six weeks since I had Shelby. Yes, time has flown by. I have so enjoyed the time. Monday I officially start back working (from home at least but still).

As usual people have been getting on my nerves. I would love to explain how but I shouldn't. Let me just ask you this, what's worse - a hypocrite or one who tries to get over all the time? I have both in my life and for reasons beyond my control they will be in my life indefinitely. I think being a hypocrite is worse. I absolutely cannot stand when someone smiles in my face and then talks behind my back. Granted, that's not the case this time, at least not to my knowledge, but this person is definitely two-faced and try as I might to help I don't seem to be getting through. And I have to try. But it's hard. If I had a choice I would choose to not have to deal with this person.

Shelby is getting so big and she demands attention. Sidney is a wonderful little big brother. Lately though he's been complaining that he doesn't have anyone too keep him company when he goes to bed so many nights I wake up to find him standing next to me - so I pull him into my bed. (Thank goodness for the new king bed!) Jr got a cell phone. I know he was so excited when his father finally gave his consent. Stepdaughter - no news there. Her and Sid together drive me crazy though. Hubby is alright. And me, I'm here, spending my time with the bottles and the diapers and baby who seems to love to spit and drool.

What's up with you?

Today's Pix

Ok, no pix here, they're on Shelby's blog.

@Shawn: You're idea about getting my insurance to replace my phone was a good one, but *ahem* I, uh, didn't get any, er um, insurance on my cheap phone.

@Aziza: I hope it doesn't take me too long to learn how to use. As for why it's called chocolate...think dark, dark, maybe really dark chocolate. :) Actually, think sweeeet!

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Got some good news yesterday. Cuz Mocha and a bunch of other family on my father's side will be coming my way this New Year's!

Preoccupied

Ok, so I've neglected my blog for a while. I know you don't blame me for being preocuppied with my Princess. She's such a good baby. She eats a lot and sleeps a lot. She stays awake longer now, she smiles (no, it ain't gas), and she even started cooing. What a blessing!

I'm sick and Sid's sick, so I'm trying to make sure Shelby doesn't catch whatever it is that we have.

I'm finally getting a new phone. I've had my current phone for at least two years now. Hubby always goes for the gold when we get new phones and I always opt for one of the cheap ones. Well, not this time. I'm getting a new phone because the one I have has done it's time. It's been dropped a few times too many and it's age is showing. As you can tell by the picture, it's being held together by some elastic bands. See, if I take them off, the battery will keep coming loose and interrupting my calls by shutting down. How inconvenient. Well hubby won't let me be telephonically-challenged anymore. I ordered a chocolate yesterday. It shipped today and I can't wait to get it and start playing around.

She's Here!

By now, if you don't know for sure you can probably guess that my princess is here. It was a rough 2-3 hrs but we made it through. She's happy and healthy and she knows she's gorgeous. If you haven't checked her blog lately (like in the past 15 minutes) take a click over there and see the newest pictures. For those who wanna know how it all went down, I put a post up there about that too (it's not for the squeamish).

What else is going on? I've been getting lots of rest. This girl can eat (she has my appetite) and she can sleep (yeah, she gets that from me too). She's even a night owl like I used to be. She has me up from midnight to 3 a.m. every night. But in general the rest I get in between feedings is priceless. I've needed it. Last week I could hardly walk! I have a two-story house so I spent most of the time upstairs having food brought to me (I love my husband). This week is much, much better. Thank God for friends and family. A girlfriend of mine called last Friday and offered to cook for me the next day. At first I declined. I really wasn't up to "entertaining" plus I have a hard time accepting help from people. Hubby convinced me I was crazy to turn her down so I ended up taking her up on her offer and was glad I did. We enjoyed the company of her, her husband, and daughter. Makes me miss the times when I used to be more social.

Anyhoo, I can tell you I am SO GLAD to not have to go to work! I could be a stay at home mom. I would find stuff to do. Maybe I'd volunteer work part-time at Sid's school. They have a daycare there too so Shelby would be nearby.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

We Have A Winner!

Chele is our grand-prize winner this weekend. Her prizes include a trip down memory lane with stories of newborn drama and...a new car!

Ok, well, not the last one, but the memory lane I'm sure I could do. I'll be updating Shelby's blog with all the latest dirt.

While there are an infinite possibility of answers, for the purpose of this contest other correct answers include:

• Having interminable contraction pains every 3 minutes while being stuck behind a school bus picking up children in wheelchairs.
• Knocking an engorged breast against the shower door on your way in.
• A bad breastfeeding latch.