Storms A Comin!

They say we will get blizzard like conditions for the next three days... like the blizzard of '82. Well, I didn't live here in St. Louis in 1982 - I lived in sunny Dallas, Tx. But I grew up hearing all my friends here talk about that 'one time it snowed so much' when they were kids... And how they tunneled to each others houses and built forts in the snow... the stories go on and on about the blizzard of '82....

So while I"m not convinced it's going to be that big of a deal, especially seeing it through adult eyes, I'm trying to prepare for it none the less. Making sure we have charged flashlights and batteries and I know where all my big candles are... They're predicting lots of power loss due to the ice build up. In 2006 we had an ice storm and we lost power for about three days. Nola was just born (about 3 mo old) and I was up at 4am feeding her when my neighbors giant old tree in their front yard cracked, fell, and took out our power. It was an eerie sound as the tree cracked, much louder than I thought it would be, even not knowing what it was at the time... and then five minutes later it crashed down, hit their house and took out all our power lines. I believe I screamed in the dark... I was in my living room and very close to where their tree stood.

There was also the aftermath of that ice storm... I remember standing on my front porch in the evening and looking out over the neighborhood covered in ice... and then it started sounding like a giant was walking towards me... the trees were just crashing to the ground off in the distance. My street is very quiet so the sounds were echoing up to where I stood and it sounded out of this world....

I've heard we had three feet in 82. And they are only predicting 10-12 right now... plus all the ice. So I'm not sure if they are just trying to scare us. But the weather reporter on the news last night said the words the national weather warning used were: crippling conditions. That can't be good, right?

So I will be stocking up on smokes, wine, batteries, salt, milk... and hoping for the best.
See you all after the thaw! ha ha!

Week Three

I am at the end of week three of this year and of working out. And it's going pretty good!

So far I've lost 9 pounds. NINE!

I was aiming for three and I got nine. And I'm realizing that I enjoy working out. It's like a break from the kids, I can listen to my headphones really loud (if someone is watching the kids... if it's just us then I only listen in one ear...) and it's getting so much easier as I go. And the fact that I'm actually seeing results is keeping me going. So yep. That's it. Nine....

Hot Salt!

What's better on a super snow day than something super HOT? Hot Salt!

I had all these hot peppers drying from the summer and kept meaning to do something with them... So I decided to not just make pepper flakes, but hot pepper salt.

Started out with a plate full of dried Pinata Peppers that I grew this past summer.


I took the tops and stems off and put them into the food processor.


A couple pulses of the chopper and they were broken down to large flakes.


So I added some Kosher salt and mixed it a few more times...


And voila! Hot Salt! And this stuff is on fire! I've added it my salads and to spaghetti... WOW! Burn Baby Burn!


I'm just proud of myself for actually doing something useful with something I grew. I think this stuff will last us a long time, seeing as that you can't really use too much at a time...

Barbie 2011

So if you didn't read yesterday's post - go do that now.

Later in the day Logan comes out of the bedroom with this in hand.

Holy shit Barbie! What the hell happened to you!?!?!


"But Mama.... I just wanted her to be cool! I wanted her to be cool like your fingernails, all black and sparkley.... " Nola.

I guess she's right... I do have really cool fingernails. But poor Barbie will never be the same again.

Week Two of 2011

So the second week of the year is almost over...

I have lost four pounds. That's twice my goal! So I'm on track. Who-da Thunk It?

This morning:
Nola: I need a wipe! Where are the wipes?!
Me (still in bed): I don't know... get a paper towel!
Nola: Noooo.... I need a wipe.
Me (getting up quickly): Why do you need a wipe?
Nola(with hands behind back): For my hands....
Me: Why? Show me your hands. (I got and handed her a wipe)
Nola (running away): thanks....
Me (following her): Show me your hands... What did you eat?
Nola: Nothing
Me: SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!
Nola: I can't....
Me (grabbing her hands and turning her around): What is that?
Nola (with black on the ends of two of her fingers): I don't know...
Me: Fingernail polish! That's my fingernail polish.... Why did you do that?
Nola: I didn't...
Me: Then how did it get there?
Nola: I don't remember....
Me (remembering she had had fingernail polish...) WHERE IS IT NOW?
Nola: I put it back on top of the microwave....
Me (after checking the safety of my polish) So how did that get on your fingers?
Nola: I didn't do it.... When I picked it up it must have just leaked out....
Me: Seriously? Leaked out? No it did not...
Nola: IT DID! It leaked on me so I put it back...
Me: No polish unless you ask first.
Nola: okay....

So they just lie. Is that the deal? For no good reason, they just lie like we're stupider than dirt and won't possibly be able to figure out the truth. Damn kids.... I realize I'm lucky there wasn't black fingernail polish on my new dining room table or all over the walls. (Walls that, by the way, have a lovely painting on them done in fabric paint that the manufacturers apparently decided to make with super glue so as to make it non-removable. Logan completed his masterpiece and then anxiously ran to me telling me he drew me a picture... Gee Thanks!)

Resolutions

A week late but that's okay. I have but one resolution this year. And it's one I've had for about five years now... and one that most everyone else in the country has as well....

I resolve to loose weight. I have a year. 52 weeks. And I need to loose about 50 pounds. So my resolution is to loose fifty pounds this year. That's one pound a week. And if I think of it like that it doesn't sound so overwhelming. And if I loose a few pounds a week here and there, that just lets me stay on track if I have a bad week! I just need to loose the weight by New Year's Eve 2011. If I complete this goal early... well, then hoo-rah for me!

So that's it. One goal for the year. And a whole year to get it done. I'm thinking positive on this plan and I think I can do it. Happy New Year!