Narnia

Today Bel and I made our first journey into the Wardrobe.

It's magical. And snowy. She loves it. I love snuggling on the couch with my girl and a cup of coffee to read a magical book. The perfect way to start the day. Absolutely.

It totally made me forget that I had less than 4 hours of sleep last night. Well, the four cups of coffee may have helped with that too...

Reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to my daughter may just be incentive enough for me to wake up earlier in the mornings. If you know me, you know that it is my firm belief that morning does NOT begin before 8:30am. And Heaven help the person that interrupts me before my first cup of coffee.

Emotional maturity. That's what this is.

Random question: What are your thoughts on Steampunk? When you hear "Steampunk" what is the first image that comes to mind? Do you even know what Steampunk is?

Oh happy evening. Enjoy, my friends. I am off to enjoy my spiked cranberry juice and a fun book. Yes, steampunk. How'd you guess? ;-)

DragonCon

In case I haven't shared enough about how completely nerdy I am (yes, it needed to be bold, underlined and italicised)...

My best friend and I--high school freshman. I was Batman.
My mask had eyebrows like Adam West's Bat suit 

Dragon Con is coming to Atlanta. The original Batman and Robin, Adam West and Burt Ward will be attending. Gah! Actually, I recognized over half the list of celebrity attendees...Patrick Stewart anyone? John Rhys Davies and Billy Boyd?

Unfortunately, I have no money and can't go...*tear*. This is tragic. Maybe next year.

Until then...

Live long and prosper

Lawn Mowing

I mowed my back yard today. I've never mowed a lawn before. It was exciting. Mostly because the jungle that had moved into my yard while my hubby has been sick was cut back. If I could find batteries for the camera I'd have taken a picture to show you. Sadly, all batteries have been stolen by Borrowers. Look at your knees and imagine the grass and weeds brushing up against them. That was my back yard. Tempe wasn't allowed to play outside in case we lost her...

Just kidding...sort of...

So I think my skin is permanently dyed green. After I refill the gas can and finish mowing the last strip of yard I may look like the Wicked Witch of the West... Why was she green, by the way? (only asking about the original story) Was she even green in the original Baum book? Or was that an MGM addition like the ruby slippers...hmm...

I have an actual post coming up--hopefully tomorrow or the next day. It's been difficult to write. It has been a week of sadness...many tears have been shed. But I am feeling better. Thanks to all my friends to have hugged me and listened to me...I love you.

Cookbook progress

Did you know I am writing a cookbook?

It is a collection of recipes--main course to dessert--that are dairy free, gluten free, and/or just lactose free. This week I've spent time in the kitchen perfecting some recipes, brainstorming over recipe ideas and writing. It's been really fun! Before presenting the cookbook to publishers I need 100 original recipes. So far I have just under 20. But I'm working on it!

So far my absolute favourite main dish is a dairy free Buffalo Chicken Pizza. So many flavours come together into a delicious taste explosion. It's completely divine. Best part is that eating it I don't even miss eating cheese!!!

Hmm...now I want one...

My very good friend has graciously agreed to help me with this huge project. She is a gluten free foodie chemist. We've enjoyed cooking together since 2002... More likely than not at least one recipe in the finished book will have an unofficial Star Trek theme. =) Because we have way too much fun not to do something crazy like that...

Today I am researching cookbook writing software and publishers. Not that I am anywhere ready to begin the publishing process, but being informed is good.

My goal is to have the 100 recipes created, perfected and written by the New Year. My hope is that if all goes well my cookbook will be at the publishers. We'll see.

Am I completely crazy for being paranoid about posting my original recipes here? I want to share and get feedback, but I'm crazy worried that whatever I do share will be stolen and used elsewhere so I can't publish it later. But I also worry that I have spiders living in my mattress. Which I don't. But you never know. See? Paranoid.

Like Paranoid Parrot. Have you seen those?  Google it. Laugh hysterically. Picture me. =)

I googled this. I don't own it. Although this fits me perfectly.

BJs, Barf and Blabbermouths...

On Wednesdays I usually try to avoid shopping. The stores are filled with people taking advantage of senior citizen discounts. This is one thing I can't wait to get old for...saving money just because I'm old. =)  Today the trip out was unavoidable. We were out of milk. Heaven forbid my husband and youngest child be deprived of their cow product. BJs has the best price so we took a family trip to the mega store.

Have I mentioned that my husband has pneumonia? He's one of the worst patients ever. He hates being sick. He hates being sick in bed even more. Thus a trip out. Fresh air makes him (slightly) happier.

My kids love BJs because they have shopping carts with cars attached and samples. Unfortunately with my dairy intolerance I am unable to partake of the samples...they smell really good, but the kids enjoy them. Today there was a cheese sample booth. Tempe was thrilled. Cheese! Her favourite! As she scarfed down her tooth picked triangle of processed cow product I turned the ridiculously large shopping cart towards the milk aisle. Then, it happened. My almost 3 year old barfed all over the floor. Apparently, she doesn't appreciate provolone. Huge mess, worse smell. Disaster.

Tempe was quite pleased with herself. She told everyone in the store what she did. And her sister made sure to tell everyone how naughty that was.

I may not be allowed back in BJs.

Question for you: How do you teach your kids to keep silent about personal information???

Isobel and Tempe go up to everyone they see wherever we are and tell the strangers their names, address, parents name, etc. And then let the strangers know that they aren't allowed to talk to strangers. I love that my kids are brave enough to talk to people. Later in life that skill will be very useful. However, right now they refuse to learn the art of silence. And about keeping personal information personal. The Walmart cashier knows almost more about my life than I do. This disturbs me.

So how do you teach your children about strangers and not blabbing info that will get me robbed? At this point, short of duct tape, I don't know what will help them learn. HELP!!!!!

My Kids

My kids make me laugh.

They say the darndest things.

This morning their father and I went through a few boxes in the storage room. They were full of junk. High school yearbooks (yikes, I looked so geeky...in a bad way), Adventures in Odyssey tapes, signed posters for bands I was obsessed with in high school, a Civil War nurse Barbie, etc. Junk.

We did find my Aragorn (from Lord of the Rings. If you didn't know this, I'm sad) action figure. He's about a foot tall. He has a giant plastic sword. Isobel inheirited him. To say she's thrilled is an understatement. Tempe was given the Barbie. This is an example of their play conversations. Yes, I am quoting exactly. Sadly I didn't get any of this on film.

Isobel (to Tempe and Clara the Barbie): Hi, I'm Aragorn. I'm awesome cause I have a giant sword."

Tempe (to Clara the Barbie): Pretty dress!!

Isobel: So, how about you and I get married?

Tempe: EEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (exit scene)

Isobel: *Sigh* I guess I'll go kill some bad guys now. Mom, what kind of bad guys does Aragorn kill? (insert my brief explanation) Oh...I don't have Orncs. Can Aragorn kill dragons? I have a baby dragon. Let's go kill the baby dragon, Aragorn.

They also rode together on the pony Grandma brought from NYC. It's huge. Bel's feet don't touch the ground when she's sitting on it. Aiya.

Isobel's "We killed the Bad Guys" face. Aragorn is victorious. He died shortly after apparently. Arrows to the chest.

And my pic is sideways again. How do I fix this problem?!?!

So. I really don't have anything else to say. My husband is sick with pnuemonia. Between taking care of him and the kids I haven't done anything worthy of blogging about. I knit. And watch Murder, She Wrote. And eat way too much homemade ice cream. Oh, and I made "brownie in a mug." Have you ever done this? It's not the best brownie I've ever eaten (since I don't love brownies it doesn't matter), but for only taking 2 minutes it was great!

Mix together in a coffee mug: 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, pinch of salt, 2 1/2 TBS cocoa powder, 2 TBS oil, 3 TBS water. Microwave 90 seconds. Eat. I topped mine with homemade peach ice cream. Tasty. The brownie recipe link is here.

Now I must go back to taking care of the family. Happy Tuesday everyone! I'm looking forward to seeing my friend tonight for White Collar. Tuesdays are awesome.

/?!@#%*(&

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all..."

That's nice Thumper...that's nice. Always hated the movie Bambi.

My phone is my worst enemy at the moment. Or, actually its the person who calls, but the phone sends me the call. I dread the phone ringing. That ever happen to you?

I can't say who calls (*coughmotherinlawcough*) or what about mostly because I won't be able to say even one nice thing. And you don't need that. Or to know my every thought and feeling about certain people. =) Suffice it to say, my husband is extremely hurt and angry at his mother and has every reason in the world to feel so. As his wife I am hurt for him, but also feel completely useless. What can I do? Nothing. Butting in would make things worse for everyone. Sitting in the sidelines of a fight while your most loved person in the world is in the ring is hard.

Anyway...

To celebrate my younger brother's orientation for his new job (!) I am making this recipe. from the blog "Return to Sunday Supper." We love shrimp. We love spicy food. And we really love warm crusty bread to mop up yummy sauces... Since I've never made this recipe before I cannot say for certain that it's amazing and you should try it. But it does smell amazing... 

I am also making homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert. If the recipe turns out well I'll have to share. Since everything must be completely dairy free for my dietary restrictions ice cream is hard to come by. Before being diagnosed with dairy intolerance, ice cream was my favourite summer treat (and winter treat...if you eat cold foods your body will be cold to match the outdoors and you won't get sick). Now I only get ice cream if I'm willing to shell out $5.99 for one pint of So Delicious brand coconut milk ice cream. It's tasty, but every bite is swallowed with the pain of spending that much money. Then, while shopping at BJs I saw a carton of whole milk lactaid and ice cream was forefront in my brain. So we'll see!

Dinner time. I shall try to bring back good reports.

***UPDATE***

Dinner was amazingly incredible. I mopped up every last drop of the spicy rich sauce and mourned when my tummy was too full to eat more. I predict a battle over who gets the leftovers. This is definitely a make over and over again dish!!! Best shrimp I'm ever had...