Friday, June 29, 2012

Mantra for the Day: It's OK!!!

I really didn't mean to rhyme that.

Today I've been reminding myself that "It's OK" no matter what is happening in life right now. Thought I'd share some with you. Some are serious, some are silly. But that is me. I have a hard time being serious for more than just a few minutes unless its really important.

It's OK that it is SO hot outside (currently 102+), because we have a working air conditioner. And popsicles. Lots of popsicles.

It's OK that the house is a mess and I have company coming for dinner. Last night I finished knitting two scarves and watched many episodes of White Collar. So I was productive and had fun too!

It's OK that I have dark circles under my eyes from too little sleep. Black is a good colour on me. I may even go goth.

It's OK that my hubby is sick with bronchitus. He'll live.

It's OK that I made cinnamon rolls twice this week. I still managed to lose 4lbs. Maybe I can start my own diet... The Caitie Khan Cinnamon Roll Diet....hmm...I'll work on it.

It's OK that Herbert the Mouse is still living under my bathroom sink. He is a quiet roommate. And he will soon die. As soon as I actually remember to buy and set traps...

It's OK that my kids are doing nothing today (and probably nothing else all weekend) but watch TV.

It's OK that I am suffering hair loss. So far it isn't so much that anyone (but me) would notice. Probably stress. But the doctors aren't quite sure. Hard to avoid stress when you're stressing about losing hair... I just get to enjoy a new haircut soon. I love haircuts.

It's OK that I spent $200 on groceries, etc today. Much of what I bought is for my freezer. But boy did handing that over feel painful...

It's All OK!!! I bought a Michael Buble CD today. =)



The kids watching TV. Isobel was not thrilled with my photo interuption. I liked the interuption. It meant that "Go, Diego GO!" was paused. Anyone else find that show really annoying?

This is my new apricot tree. She hates the heat. I might buy a giant beach umbrella for her. Doesn't she look pitifully wilty?

Thursday, June 28, 2012

I'm dreaming of breakfast food...

This is what I woke up this morning dreaming about:


I made this earlier in the week. Breakfast skillet. It was huge, it was fabulous and I want another. Super easy to make yet it won me major brownie points with the hubby. =)
To make this culinary party you need:
  • 1 bag of Simply Potatoes Hash Browns O'Brien (I made two giant personal skillets and used all of it)
  • Diced onion and bell pepper
  • Sliced mushrooms
  • Diced ham
  • 3 TBS butter
  • Shredded Pepper Jack and Sharp Cheddar cheeses
  • 2 eggs per person
  • Chopped fresh cilantro (or your preferred fresh herb with eggs... thyme is tasty too)
  • Chopped green onion
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Make the hash browns according to the package directions. Sautee the onions, bell pepper and mushrooms in 1 TBS of butter until the veggies are soft enough for your taste. Divide both the hash browns and the onion mixture between two personal sized cast iron skillets (or you can cheat like me and just use whatever oven safe non cast iron skillets you have...). Layer with ham and the mixed cheeses--place into the oven just long enough to melt the cheese. While the cheese is melting, fry eggs to your prefered runniness. Remove skillets from the oven very carefully. Top with eggs and a scattering of fresh cilantro and green onions.

Enjoy the applause. Eat. Enjoy even more.

*My hubby noticed this post and claimed to have dreamed about this as well. And then was awakened to the reality of bagels for breakfast. At least there was awesome coffee!

So what is your favourite breakfast food?

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

New Friend

I made a new friend today. We met while I was in my bathroom. He was very polite and quiet and left shortly after making his appearance known. I named him Herbert. And yes, in case you were wondering, Herbert is a mouse. For tonight Herbert lives under my bathroom sink, but tomorrow... It's been nice knowing you, Herbert, but tomorrow YOU DIE.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

It's been one of those days...

This morning I was awakened by Tempe, my 2 1/2 year old standing next to my bed, shaking me asking if she could have candy for breakfast. Huh, wha??? I am so not a morning person and I struggle daily with having to get up early with the kids regardless of how well (or poorly most often) I slept the night before. It is so hard to be joyful with only a few hours of broken sleep and being awakened to nonsense...but with God's grace I am persevering...

So, with my morning off to a rough start the family decided it was cleaning day! Isobel (5) and I washed dishes and folded laundry while my husband moved furniture around. He likes to do this. Every day or so he gets a new bee in his bonnet about how much better the house would look if we just did this one thing... Tempe ran around the house being in as many people's way as she could. That kid has talent. Naturally there were also the five minute intervals of children's misbehavior. Has anyone else noticed a correlation between summer and naughtiness???  Continuing. With the mountain of clean clothes (I hate folding laundry. If I could get away with it, I'd just stuff unfolded clean clothes into drawers. Unfortunately, this fills the drawers much faster...not that I know from personal experience or anything...) finally folded after sitting on the folding table for a few days life seemed better!!! Then...the phone rang...*dun-dun-dun*

It was my Mother in Law. Now, if you know me even slightly you've probably heard about my relationship with my mother in law. We severely dislike each other. Yes, it's completely mutual. I find it extremely difficult to like someone who says (often) that I am a terrible wife and person, and only a mediocre mother. For my husband's sake I do my best (need more help with this, God!!) to love her.  Fortunately, we only see each other once a year for a few days. This helps our relationship. But I usually need many months preparing for the impending visit and as many months recovering from it. And booze. Lots of booze. Anyway, she called to tell us that instead of the planned September visit she was going to make, she'd be arriving July 10th! I literally cried. She is bringing an almost life sized toy Shetland pony with her. Like I needed more toys to trip over...

So frustrating, so annoying, so completely selfish. The house (and I) are no where near ready for a house guest. The "guest room/play room" is currently the storage room. And I have less than two weeks to prepare for her arrival. God grant me strength. And a margarita genie. Do you have those, God?

Still feeling like crying over today. Horribly naughty children and descending in law in addition to my husband being mad at me... just made today unbearable. Yes, my husband's anger is warranted. I should have chosen my words more carefully. Apparently calling his mother "evil incarnate" (however accurate in my opinion) didn't go over well...go figure! I still dread this visit and want to go on vacation during her trip. Anyone want or need a house guest between July 9-18? (No, she isn't staying the whole time. No one is sure how long she's staying...)

Working on peace. And sanity. And loving difficult people. God says to love them, but it sucks. Just going to put that out there...Also working on cleaning the girl's room. I sent them in to do it today and this is what I found later on...



Until the next time friends. I don't know what's going on in your life, or if you have in laws like mine, or a child in the very terrible twos...but hang in there. Life can only get better.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Moved(ish) and crafting again

The chaos of moving has settled (slightly) and the boxes are out of sight (sorta) so I've gone back to baking and crafting (HOORAY!).

On my list of To Dos:
  1. Finish the 3 scarves I started in January.
  2. Update and revamp my Etsy shop. Also take it off vacation.
  3. Invent and bake a blackberry muffin recipe worthy of the gods...or at least family and friends.
  4. Find hot glue gun.
  5. Organize fabrics.
  6. Make 2 fascinators.
  7. List said fascinators.
  8. And last, but not least, start the quilts for my girls. Maybe I'll have one finished by Christmas.
All this of course takes place around the normal life of motherhood, wifedom and housekeeping. Another couple of arms would be handy. I'm making do with espresso. It's cheaper and less strange to drink espresso than surgically attaching extra extremities to my person. Who knew?

Anyway, all this means is that I'm back online with more ideas and time (HA!) than ever.