Monday, February 24, 2014

Too Much of a Good Thing

I just returned from a trip to the grocery store where I heard the song "All I need" by Jack Wagner.  Remember him?? Frisco from General Hospital back in the 80's?  I was totally in love with him...what red blooded woman between 14 and 70 who watched General Hospital wasn't?  He may have even been my first crush.  Oh and his music...I literally knew every song he sang word for word.  So as you can imagine, as I was perusing the dairy aisle of Big Y and heard "All I Need"....well, I got really excited...and what started out as a low grade hum culminated in a full fledged sing-a-long by the time I got to the frozen pizza aisle.  I literally couldn't stop myself.  In my defense there were very few people actually in the store on a Monday morning, but I do have to wonder if they have security camera's in the aisles that may have caught my impromptu karaoke session on tape.  Even if so, I wouldn't take it back!  When I grabbed that cucumber and used it as a makeshift microphone, it brought me back to the days when me and my BFF Bridget would grab a hairbrush (or whatever else was in reach) and belt out our favorite songs.  I'm totally liberated today.

Anywho, while shopping, I was doing my rounds in the produce department (who was unfortunately NOT lucky enough to be a part of my Monday morning entertainment circuit) & I went to grab my "stand by" fruits & veggies...one of which includes kale that I regularly put into my green smoothies. I remembered an article that I'd recently read about the CONS OF KALE!  Yes, you read that right.  There's actually such thing as eating too much kale which can result in thyroid issues when overdone.  What the hell kind of a world are we living in when you have to watch your kale intake???  It makes me question all of humanity.  Now I have no idea how much weight this article really carries and exactly how much kale is too much...but it did make me think that there can be "too much of a good thing".  I mean, I suppose it's like everything - moderation/balance/everything has it's place.   That's what I aim for in life.  A Yin/Yang sorta thing.  So every now and again, I'll eat an entire box of Macaroni & Cheese for breakfast to even things out.  In fact, I did that yesterday. And I didn't feel bad.  And I was liberated.  Totally liberated.

And now onto something totally NOT liberating....Winter.
That's all there really is to say about that. 


Finally, as winter colds & germs continue to run rampant, my little Benjamin has been fighting a random high fever.  Although he's fine now, there were a few days where his fever would spike up to 103 degrees...no other symptoms. It would typically happen at night and he'd wake up fussing and hot. I decided it would be best to sleep in his bed with him so I could keep an eye on him and be there in case he needed me.  Ok, so here's the scene. A twin bed...Me, Ben...and once Lauren caught wind of the fact that I was sleeping in Ben's room...she showed up with her pillow and blanket and got in bed too. 2 of my cats also enjoy sleeping on top of me- so they followed me in and jumped in bed,too. They kind of drape themselves over me and purr...which is really sweet and normally a welcome comfort....but in the context of the already crowded bed, it made for quite the interesting night's sleep.  I think the most insulting part of the whole thing was waking up in the morning all curled up and twisted to accomodate the 4 other beings in the twin bed and feeling something uncomfortable underneath me.  When I got out of bed I found I'd been sleeping on top of a pink seahorse bath toy and a matchbox car...



And on that note...to quote Jack Wagner..."All I Need...is just a little more time wine.." 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

A Groundhog Day to Forget

It's February!  Which means it's no longer January! Which means that with each passing winter month, it's less likely that come spring, someone will find a 500 page manuscript laying around in my living room, filled with just one line typed repeatedly over and over ...'All work and no play makes Melissa a dull girl'   So that's good news! 

In other news, Punxsutawney Phil has emerged from his little rodent hole bearing news that there will be another 6 weeks of winter instead of just 4.  I mean, I guess it's only 2 extra weeks of winter...but still, this is just not what people want to hear.  I mean - can't he just make the 4 week prediction and give all of humanity some hope that Spring is just around the corner??  True or not, it would do our fragile, frozen, psyche's some good to have hope for an early Spring.  I mean, as much as I enjoy a good snowstorm and pretty fresh fallen snow...it would be nice to know that green grass and blooming flowers aren't too far off.  However, as an animal lover, I can appreciate that Phil is only doing his job, and find his cute little groundhog face just too sweet to be mad at. 




The riveting fun of Groundhog Day aside, we also celebrate my son Benjamin's birthday on February 15th.  He will be turning 4!!!  FOUR YEARS OLD!  He's my "baby"!!!   It's absolutely insane how fast time goes by.  I want to hit "pause" and just enjoy both my kids right now.  Lauren just turned 5 in November and now Benjamin will be 4.  It makes me realize I need to enjoy every single moment.  Being a parent has given me a new appreciation of time and making the most of each moment....even the "not so fun" ones when things get hectic and one of them doesn't want to bathe and the other refuses to eat vegetables. Or when Ben pees in his sneaker instead of the potty, and Lauren insists she "needs her own iPad so she can play Angry Birds and Barbie Games" (her words exactly).  Or when I take them both to CVS to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy and they both put their mouths on the edge of the pharmacy counter thinking it's funny knowing it will drive their OCD momma absolutely insane - which it did.  I'm still having flashbacks of that one....BLECH!  In any event, these are the times that one day I will look back at and long for...well not so much the counter licking thing, but the other stuff. 

And finally, in other news...my new obsession is my cast iron skillet.  Brian's mom gave it to me a few months ago and I'm OBSESSED with this thing.  You can cook everything in it - you can even put it in the oven to bake things.  When you sear a steak in it, it creates lots of yummy sauce ("au jus" if you want to be fancy about it).  Skillet chicken comes out soooooo tender.  And my latest thing is making blackened chicken sandwiches with lemon & garlic mayo.  Yumsville!  I'll post the recipes for these things shortly :)

Meanwhile, after all that talk of spring, we are now experiencing a snow storm, with another on the way for this weekend....  and now I must go and work on that manuscript....