Steak w Stout Pan Sauce

Nice and hearty winter meal. The steak with stout pan sauce was from Bon Appetit. I used rib-eye instead of sirloin. On the side I made mushroom ravioli with a little butter and Parm (there was mold on my pesto). Also, sauteed radicchio with honey and balsamic vinegar from Everyday Food. All was yummy!


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Hachi A Dogs Tale

HUGE tear jerker!! Wow. Shelagh, Rory, and I were all bawling at the end. It was an incredible movie. I think Joan Allen had some work done...


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Computer Woes

I couldn't be more frustrated right now. My laptop has a hard drive error so it's as good as fried right now. Of course I haven't backed up recently. Why would you even ask that????? PLUS, my wireless router is screwy too so even with my work laptop at home I can't get online. I'm upstairs on my 3rd floor in a FREEZING room we don't use with dead bee carcasses all over the floor (eww). Trying to online chat with Linksys after 2 conversations with my internet provider. You'd think since I work for a technology company that I'd have more of a clue. But, I don't. Woe is me.

At least Kelly is sleeping. Rory is wandering around the house aimlessly probably binging on snack food and watching bad daytime TV by himself. Nice mothering today.

Another Snow Day

At this rate, Shelagh will be in school until July. This is the 5th snow day and we still have 2 months of winter left! Joe cleaned up the driveway at 5am and then went skiing! I got Shelagh to Kelly's place so I could make it to work. Pretty empty in here but my office NEVER closes. I guess marketing is mission-critical despite being in a state of emergency!


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Winter 2011 TV Season

Here's what we're watching right now...

1. Last Season: Big Love - I'm bummed to see this show go. Last season was pretty over the top, but I have high hopes for this final season.
2. Top Chef All Stars - I LOVE this show. This is the only reality I watch and I can't get enough. All Stars was a great idea...the people that needed to go have gone I think and the end should prove to be fantastic. I wish they'd come to Boston!
3. NEW: Lights Out - This is on FX and is about a boxer who retired but needs money and wants to start fighting again despite health issues. 1st episode was good so we'll keep watching and see what happens.
4. 1/2 Hour Comedies: Modern Love, Office, Parks and Recreation, and 30 Rock - SO pumped for P & R to return with Rob Lowe and Adam Scott (from Tell Me You Love Me and from Party Down, which I loved but was just cancelled).
5. Season 5 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: We're on the last episodes of last season. We'll have to watch Season 6 On Demand or wait until it comes out on DVD and then we're up to date. Still not sure what we'll watch on DVD next...I'd like a drama this time, but if not then Big Bang Theory probably.

SO thrilled that Katey Segal got the Golden Globe for her role as Gemma on Sons of Anarchy. This is my favorite show currently and I can't believe it hasn't gotten more recognition. Yeah!

Aquarium

I wanted to take Kelly to the Aquarium, so I grabbed the passes from our local library (otherwise it's like $22 per person!!) and we went on a Tuesday a couple of weeks ago. She had so much fun and could not stop talking about the Penguins, the Shark w/ the Boo-boo, the huge Turtles, and all the Nemo's. We went with our friends Leah & Glen. Lots of fun had by all...

The kids on the way in...

They loved all the tanks, especially the center tank which you walk around in a circle all the way up to the 3rd floor.

My kids enjoying themselves...

I got a clown fish coming out of his anemone! Way cool.

Not-Quite-So-Healthy Dinner

Intentions were good...

Shrimp sauteed in olive oil and garlic with some pesto thrown in at the end. Brown Rice (that's good!). Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms from SmittenKitchen DROWNING in butter. I halved the recipe but forgot to reduce the amount of butter - oops :)

Turnips

I haven't done too much with turnips and had a ton of them from the December bag of winter veggies. Needless to say, they've been in the frig for a long time. Good thing they are sturdy. I tried 2 recipes:

Roasted Turnips with Parmesean was the first try...I used purple turnips and green turnips that seemed to have high water content. I wasn't sure they'd work out so well, but they were pretty good - a slight bitter aftertaste whereas the purple ones roasted up nicely.

Honey-Glazed Turnips came out beautifully yesterday. They are so good and had a full honey flavor. This recipe is definitely my preferred one.

My Day with Rory

"Mom, if I'm a Jedi, I have to go to the Star Wars galaxy lots of times. Jedi's don't live on this planet. But, Mom, listen, I can't just stay here. I have to go to the Jedi council on Coruscant - that's going to be my home if I turn into a Jedi."

"I'm not going to stay in the spaceship, actually. I'm going to go out there with space oxygen and battle clone troopers. Jabba lives on Tatooine. That's a bummer. I hope Jabba isn't mad. He always gets upset when people come to his house."

"I don't want to be a paleontologist anymore. The dinosaurs might eat me and Antarctica is probably cold."

House Bathroom Situation

We are about to embark on a major bathroom project (hopefully). We live in a Victorian Gambrel house that is 110 years old. We have made mostly minor changes (landscaping, small deck, molding, some recessed lighting). We did only 1 major change which was the basement being turned into a playroom/laundry room as soon as Rory was born and I realized we'd have double gender toys overtaking my living room. We have 1 large living room rather than a living room/family room so playroom renovation took precedence over replacing my 1960's kitchen and ugly bathrooms. I do not regret it. However, now it's time to do the bathrooms.

We have 2 full bathrooms. One of them is on the 2nd floor near all the bedrooms that we all share (linen closet, then my bedroom to the right of the bath in the 1st picture below). It is narrow and has the fireplace chimney going up through the middle (behind Kelly's back). The 5 of us squeezed into that room during the morning rush is a complete nightmare - Joe trying to do contacts, Rory pooping, Kelly trying to brush her teeth (she loves brushing teeth) and Shelagh and I doing hair...it's truely ridiculous.

The 2nd bath is mid-level between the kitchen and basement/playroom. It was added on to the original house, is not insulated, is ICE COLD from Fall through Winter and most of Spring, and the shower drain pipe is not connected and therefore is just sitting there unused. Even if it worked you couldn't shower in there - I'm not kidding - it's ICE COLD.

Here's the plan. Renovate the current bath so that we can 1) reorient it for better space usage, 2) get rid of the floor to ceiling tile and rotted moldings, 3) update the bound-to-fail-soon plumbing, and 4) replace the nasty runners that the glass doors use that do nothing but collect disgusting goopy slop. Simultaneously, build a new master bath in our pretty sizeable bedroom flush up against the current full bath (to the left of Kelly in the back left corner) and take advantage of existing plumbing being open. Next to the new bath, create an enclosed space for a shared closet as the new bath will go where 1 closet resides and the 2nd closet, across the room, will need to be removed to reorient the bedroom furniture (this is good since the closet doesn't even support the full depth of a hanger).

Eventually remove the downstairs shower all together when we very long term do the kitchen and surrounding area and hopefully replace with some sort of mudroom and 1/2 bath.

We are ready to start, but I have to get estimates; learn about tile, showers, fixtures, bathroom flooring, etc; and figure out what I want in both baths. Overwhelming.

Kids Bathroom:

• Definitely want a tub
• 1 sink only
• MUCH better toilet (we clog constantly)
• Better orientation around the chimney
• Pocket door to preserve space
• Storage - either a vanity with bottom cabinet and no shelving or a pedestal sink with some sort of very small closet/shelving area.
• Probably white tile and a single color or maybe some sort of 1/2 wall on the bottom and a single color on top.

Our Bathroom:

• Shower only (Joe wants glass walls)
• 2 sinks (This is a must have. Joe likes to trim beard, etc and the little hairs drive me nuts)
• Pocket door
• I like a large slate looking tile similar to a friends house we stayed at in Canada over several summer vacations
• If we can manage a heated floor since it's a small space that would be cool

Other:

• We will probably lose our linen closet in the hall for bath space but can replace it with another one in our bedroom to support all linens.
• We do not have a backup shower since the one downstairs is broken and we don't want to fix it since we will likely remove it. Therefore, it would be best to wait until Summer to do this project so we can shower at the pool. Or, we will proceed now and shower at the Y then we can - oh boy do I DREAD that.

Wish me luck!

Cute Kelly Things

Kelly is coming up on 2 years old in a couple of weeks and I just cannot believe it. I really love 18mos to 2 years - what a fun age. Running all over, talking up a storm, so much fun stuff. Here are some of my favorites...

• Massage: We like massages in this family so Kelly now will stand up behind you on the couch, pinch your shoulders and shake you gently back and forth to give you a massage. She will also do karate chops on demand. She will also ask for massages. She got that from Joe :)
• "Hi Honey" and "SEEENNNAA": She will call out to me from the other room at the top of her lungs "SEEEENNAA", until I say "You can't call me that!" at which point she says "Hi, Mama" and gives me a huge hug. She also will enter a room, look right at me and say "Hi, Honey". It's way cute.
• She likes to run back and forth in the kitchen over and over and say "I runnin". She will then grab your hand until you do it with her.
• Her hair fixation is still going strong. While hugging she wraps her arms around you and plays with your hair. Sometimes she says "ponytail, ponytail" if she wants me to put mine up for easier playing. It doesn't have to be me either...she plays with anyones hair she is hugging - my mother in laws, Shelaghs, Rorys (not as easy), the babysitter at the Y, whatever. She also will carefully move my hair from my chest so as to clear a place to lay her cheek.
• When she wants your attention, she wants it 100%. To talk to you, she will grab your face with both hands and bring it right to hers to tell you something. To bring you somewhere, she grabs your pants (really firmly!) and pulls you saying "Come on, Dad. Come on!" You have no choice but to oblige. When she wants to show off, she yells out "Look at me, Mom! Look at ME!".
• She is really into gentle kissing right now. She will take your head, bend it down, and kiss you on the head. Then, kiss your cheeks and lips and anywhere you might have a boo-boo. She also likes to go through her repetoire of affectionate gestures at bedtime as part of our routine..."Huggytime!"...Hug, Squeeze, Snuggle, Kiss, Kisses all Over, Eskimo/Noses, Butterfly Kisses (followed by a 'hehe' from Kelly), then ended with "Friends, here I come!" which is her announcement to the sleeping stuffed friends that she's coming in. First, though, we have to name them all - Big Snoopy, Little Snoopy, George, Rocket, Baby, and Hippo. Then, she goes in and calls out for little blanket and big blanket. Then she announces "warm and cozy" and follows my "Love you, Kelly" with "I know, Mom". Heaven.
• She loves to float in the tub on her belly. I squeeze her bum and yell out "Squishy Tushy!" and she yells back "No squishy tushy!!!". She's tough to get out after that goes on for a few minutes.
• And, finally, my favorite is the purposeful and blatant usage of her puppy dog eyes when she knows she is doing something wrong. It starts with rapid blinking, some shifting of eyes to look sideways and finishes with a lowering of the head and pout. Classic.

Wizard of Oz SNAFU

When I was a kid I remember The Wizard of Oz coming on TV once a year every April (am I remembering that right????) I would watch it and inevitably get flying monkey nightmares year after year. Ridiculous, really, b/c those flying monkeys were so hokey. Anyway, I hadn't shown it to the kids out of fear that it would be too scary for them. I saw it on the guide when I was taping Holiday movies in December and taped it, determining that they were ready to take on the Wicked Witch of the West and sing Wizard of Oz songs with me.

Drumroll....we had a snow day Wednesday (thank you 2 feet of snow!) and the kids were pumped to watch it - this is exciting in itself b/c they don't agree too much on TV/Movies these days. I hit play only to discover that I had inadvertantly taped a 1927 version of the movie in a TCM tribute to silent movies. SERIOUSLY. Who would have thought that there was a pre-Judy Garland version???? Thankfully, On Demand saved the day and the classic version we all love was available to watch.

Result...both kids liked it; I sang along at the top of my lungs; Kelly loved the lion (Lions Cryin', Mom); Shelagh will probably beg me for Ruby Slippers (Target, here I come); and Rory got a little scared - but only when they were at the witches castle. Plus, I have noticed that MANY awesome female characters have red hair! Dorothy, Lucy Pevensie from the Narnia stories (which my kids love), Pippi Longstocking, Ariel, Annie...hmm I feel like there are more and I can't think of them now. There are definitely more.

Shelagh Skating

Miss Shelagh is a natural at ice skating. Joe wanted the kids to learn to ice skate this year, so I signed them both up for a class. She has taken 1 class, had 1 skating family activity and this was her 3rd time skating. She falls and gets right back up. She can spin (she was watching some guy doing tricks and just copied him). She stays on the ice the whole time. She LOVES it. She said it was her favorite part of the weekend in NH. Here she is with her friend, Eve, skating at a rink in Conway, NH from New Years weekend.

Rory Ice Sledding

I would call this Spinning Ice Sledding. Rory and his good pal, Leah, had a BLAST doing this over and over between Joe and Paul while we were in NH. Enjoy.

Recent Movies

No TV to speak of lately, so we've been watching some movies over the last few weeks...Very happy for the new Winter TV Season to start back up!

At the Movies

1. The Fighter: Awesome movie. Christian Bale is just amazing. We saw it in Lowell with Joe pointing out all the local sites and characters who got to play themselves or cameos in the film.

At Home

1. Sherlock Holmes: I was so pleased with this movie. I don't know why b/c I've really enjoyed all of Guy Ritchie's movies. Maybe b/c Robert Downey Jr has been a bit overdone lately. Maybe b/c Jude Law seems like a bit of a tool and hasn't done much in the recent past. Who knows, but it was fantastic. The coloring of the film lends so well to the story. Joe loves Rachel McAdams so her parts helped!
2. The Ghost Writer: I thought this was good, but not great. Ewan McGregor is a talented actor, for sure. I have enjoyed pretty much anything he's been in (and I'm not just saying that b/c he kicked ass as young Obi Wan Kenobi and we are slanted in favor of all things Star Wars in this house). I guess I just don't get the whole Roman Polanski thing. I mean the guy pumped up a young teenage girl with alcohol and drugs and raped her and ran away to escape consequences. And people are still in awe of him? Really? Who knows...maybe I'm being harsh, but people are still in awe of Woody Allen for having sex with his "daughter" and marrying her. I have to admit I'll still see a Mel Gibson directed movie but being a raging alcoholic,anti-semite is not quite the same things as having sex with minor girls I suppose. Anyway, the movie was okay. I don't like Pierce Brosnan so that probably didn't help things. Plus, Kim Cattrall as a proper English secretary just didn't fly.
3. State of Play: Russell Crowe's haircut was distracting. But, again, Rachel McAdams just wows you - she's so perky and cute and is a pretty good actress to boot. It was predictable, but a solid thriller.

TV

We've managed to get almost through Season 5 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Still liking it a lot, but all the screaming and yelling does get a little old when you are watching episode after episode on DVD instead of waiting week to week, season to season. Not sure what TV show we'll watch on DVD next. I'd like to finally watch Battlestar Gallactica, but Joe is iffy on the whole Sci-Fi TV show gig. We both want to watch the Big Bang Theory (supposed to be the college version of Freaks and Geeks), but I'd like to do a drama before we do another 1/2 hour sitcom catchup.

But, What if the Cable Line Goes Down?

Then, we're screwed!

This is the view from my door at 630am this morning. I'm just sitting here wondering why the hell my work hasn't announced they are closed yet. I mean seriously...I do marketing. Is that really essential????

My coffee is brewed, thankfully, as I got up at 545 to see what the deal was. The snow storm during Xmas week wasn't this bad. There is 1 plow stripe up my street and it's still coming down. State of Emergency not declared yet from the state so Rory's pre-school is still open. Joe will probably be closed since Boston already declared state of emergency last night. Our town school closed last night.

My cable line!!! Seriously, this is bad. It's dipping down over my driveway. It's Top Chef night!!!

Motherhood Defined

I got one of those "pass this on to all your friends" emails from a friend of mine and while I usually delete before I even read them, I read this one. I teared up at work. I think it really articulates beautifully how motherhood profoundly changes a woman.

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We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of 'starting a family.' 'We're taking a survey,' she says half-joking. 'Do you think I should have a baby?' "It will change your life,' I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. 'I know,' she says, 'no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations.' But that is not what I meant at all.

I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable. I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, 'What if that had been MY child?' That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.

I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of 'Mom!' will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moments hesitation.

I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for child-care, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is alright.

I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that rest-room. However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.

Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs. I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor.

My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who carefully bathes the baby or who never hesitates to feed, change or play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic. I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war and prejudice.

I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. 'You'll never regret it,' I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.

New Years in NH

A few shots from our weekend with friends in New Hampshire for New Years. We had a great time...sledding, skating, hiking, skiing...lots of fun for all.

Rory is 5

Isn't he dreamy? I cannot believe he's 5 and off to Kindy next year. He is so snuggly, loves to tell me about his "smart brain", can discuss the finer points of Star Wars for hours on end and is such fun to be with. Love this kid.

We spent his birthday so far

• at the new local bakery picking out special flavor cupcakes for each family member
• at the party store picking out Star Wars paper goods for his pool party this weekend - Clone Wars or Old School, Clone Wars or Old School...Old School won out so all the plates and stuff are Yoda or Darth Vader. (Mollo-he loves Clone Wars, but he's old school inside)
• at Starbucks getting him a Green Machine (he has no idea it's filled with broccoli and spinach along with the super sweet pineapple juice).
• at the Dr almost getting shots (but I mixed up the day and his appt is actually in 2 weeks)
• getting a SUPER handsome haircut and a blueberry lollipop to go with it
• at the Babies R Us where I impulse bought him a pillow pet (the girls have them and he didn't seem to care that he didn't, but he spotted a dolphin and as you can see above, he's loving it)
• eating his favorite lunch - fish cake, kiwi, raspberries and cinnamon toast
• watching the Clone Wars movie that Santa brought while I do bills, calls, etc
• playing Star Wars legoes

Joe & the Baby

I can still call her that, right??? She's not quite 2 yet, so I say yes.

(Even though she corrects me and says "Girl, mommy")