Author: jenzug

For the record, Bryan is the better cook.

We took the kids to the lake today with their bikes – the lake nearby with a bandstand, a series of docks to run around on, and a couple restaurants. Quite spontaneously we decided to have lunch at the hamburger stand, and figured as long as we were going to eat crappy, we might as well go all the way and get some milkshakes, too.

As I swallowed my last bite I said, “I’m going to feel like crap later, aren’t I?”

And Bryan was all, “I feel like crap now.”

But the shakes? And the mushroom burger? And the garlic fries? Worth it. Hell, I lost another pound over a holiday weekend, so I can spare it, is the way I see things.

When we got home the kids went down for naps, and we slouched on the couch, moaning in our saturated fat.

“I can’t imagine eating dinner, tonight,” I grunted. “I think maybe I should just steam a big pot of broccoli.”

And for some reason we found that hilarious, and proceeded to list all the other vegetables we were going to eat for dinner to right the injustice we’d committed on our arteries.

Turns out we weren’t kidding.

artichokes w/ lemon wedges

I know! Right? I’ll let you catch your breath after that beautiful scene.

Recovered?

And now this…

tomato, avocado, and zucchini salad

Bryan added saute’d zucchini to some chopped tomato and avocado, and dusted with parmesan cheese and a pinch or two of salt. We ate this first while the artichokes steamed, and then we partook.

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eating artichokes

(My sister’s mouth is now gaping open that my children eat artichokes.)

In the ground.

plantings

I have to be honest, I was a little worried about the future of my veggie garden after the Sickness of 2008. I was laid up from mid-April to mid-May, which is usually when I do all my spring pruning and garden preparations for planting. Not that I’ve done this a million times, but this was to be the first year of my full fledged garden after last year’s trial run of tomatoes and green beans.

But well-timed sunny weekends gave me the opportunity to till under the dirt (last week) and plant these lovely seeds (today). I’ll plant another set of these rows in a week or two to stagger the harvest. I also planted two groups of pumpkin seeds, and three groups of zucchini seeds.

I was going to plant corn, but I need the entire garden space to fit all the rows in, so maybe I’ll do that next year.

The moment you realize you are the only one on the planet without call waiting..

(via email)

Her: I got your message and can’t seem to get through on your phone, I keep getting a busy signal.

Me: LOL. That busy signal probably means I’m on the phone. 🙂

Her: Dude, you so old school, i haven’t heard a busy signal since like 1998… ha ha…

Friday Link Love

Link Love Badge

WordPress themes by Scribble Scratch
Bryan and I were surfing for new wordpress themes for a new, yet to be announced blog, and came across these whimsical drawings. I fell in love, and you can expect to see more of one soon.

The Human Calendar
This was so cool I put it in my sidebar. I found out about it here.

How to Clean Your Screen & Keyboard, by Coding Horror.
If you want to know what it’s like to be me or anyone under four feet tall in this house, just imagine hearing a booming voice coming from a six foot one man yelling, “DON’T TOUCH THE SCREEN!” on a regular basis. I’m surprised this wasn’t one of the kids’ first string of words. How do you explain to a five year old she is to point at the Disney princess without rubbing her entire body up against it?

Dooce, on gadgets.
I snorted coffee out my nose when I read this. Not only do we have this tripod (because who DOESN’T need a tripod that can wrap around a pole?) but I also have the kind of husband who goes to Fred Meyer for zucchini and comes back with a Chic-Can.

nor breath nor motion – Finslippy
Having gone through a period of depression, having experienced a loss, I will say this is exactly how I felt. Only I wasn’t nearly as coherent about it.

works for me: babysitting co-op

Works for me WednesdayBryan and I have participated in a babysitting co-op for date night since our oldest (now age 5) was just two months old. This has been great for our budget, and awesome for our kids, who basically get to have or go to a slumber party every weekend.

We’ve done a co-op with several different families over the years, but we have been doing our current swap with the same family for at least three years. We’ve each added one more baby to the mix since we started, for a total of five kids.

There are many ways to do a co-op – and you can comment below if you want me to send you more ideas – but the way we’ve done it is for the couple going out on a date to drop their kids off with the couple babysitting after or around dinner time. The kids get to play together or watch movies, then everyone gets put to bed. Couple #1 gets a healthy chunk of time alone before coming back to get the kids around ten or eleven.

Bryan and I have gone to concerts, movies, baseball games, parties – there’s a lot you can fit into five or six hours. Often we choose to go out of Friday nights, and I’ll drive up to his office in Seattle to pick him up after dropping the kids off. One evening a co-worker passed by my car in the parking lot while I waited, and stooped down to say hello to the kids. His eyebrows popped up when seeing they weren’t in the car…again… and he said, “You guys are really good with the babysitter thing, aren’t you?!”

friendsDamn straight!

Also, it’s just as fun to plan activities for the kids on the nights we babysit. In the winter we watch movies and eat popcorn. Now that the weather’s improving we’ll play outside, walk to the park, or venture down to the cupcake shop. Bryan has also been known to get remote control airplanes “for the kids.”

Our every-other-week date night is not something I take for granted. I’m thankful for it every time we get a chance to go out because I know not every married couple with kids gets out as much as we do. In fact, I often feel spoiled. We don’t have family near enough to keep our kids on a regular basis, so this arrangement has been a life saver for our relationship and for my sanity.

Go set one up now!

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For other Works for Me posts, check out the links at Rocks in My Dryer.

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Ruthie and Zoe-croppedTo find out how you can help this little girl’s family get the laptop they need, click here.

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And don’t forget about the drawing for a copy of my latest Muxtape! Contest extended until Thursday at noon.

Got a Buck?

I’m just going to come out and say it: My friend needs a new computer, and I’m asking you to help me get her one.

(Whew – that felt good. I’ve been trying to ask you this for several weeks now, and I’ve just had tremendous writer’s block).

Ruthie and ZoeYou may remember I’ve talked about friends whose daughter, Zoe, had a heart transplant almost two years ago when she was only a month old. You can read my posts about it here, and you can read their blog to catch up on what’s going on.

Jenny and I talk on a regular basis, and it just so happens that we both like to geek out on Quicken as a means of keeping track of our finances, so we talk about our receipts and our spread sheets and our reconciled bank statements and how far behind we are and what are you doing to track this and such. I warned you that we are geeks.

However, lately her end of the conversation has gone a lot like this:

“When I turned off my computer last night, the fan kept running for the next six hours.”

“Zoe pushed a button on the the CPU and it crashed. Now I can’t get it to turn back on.”

“No, don’t send me an email. My computer hasn’t worked since yesterday morning.”

And so on.

In addition to the flaky technology, Zoe is now in the hospital for the second time this winter. Both now and the previous time she was there, my friend Jen spends the entire hospital stay with her, and cannot not leave the room for fear she will pick up a virus and bring it back to Zoe’s lowered immune system (in this case, it’s Zoe who may have the virus they don’t want spreading to other patients).

A new laptop would not only solve their flaky computer problems, but Jen would be able to bring it with her during hospital stays and routine doctor visits (and there are a lot). She can use it to update her blog about Zoe’s condition, correspond with family, stay on top of their personal finances, and entertain Zoe with DVD’s – things she cannot currently do without leaving the hospital room.

[update: a laptop would also mean Jen could use a web cam to call home and talk to her four year old son who is not permitted to visit the hospital].

This is obviously not an expense covered by insurance, and your donation would not be tax deductible. But I can bribe you. I know there is always room for a bribe. I will send one of my CD mixes to each person who donates money.

And not only that, but all donors will be entered into a random drawing to win a gift certificate for the t-shirt of your choice from the infamous Baby Brewing collection, the brainchild of Mommy Needs a Cocktail.

And not only that, but if you mention this need on your blog and link directly to this post, you will get a second entry for the chance to win the t-shirt.

The contest will end Sunday at noon, but the opportunity to give will be available for an undetermined time.

To donate using Paypal or your credit/debit card, just click this button:













To give you an idea of what it’s like to be the parent of a transplant patient, Jen once explained it to me like this…

Imagine being 38 weeks pregnant FOREVER. What does it mean to be 38 weeks pregnant? It means you always have a bag packed, and any plans you make might have to be canceled.

Jen missed our book club meeting last night because Zoe was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon. This may not seem like a big deal, and it’s not when you look at the big picture, but repeated disruption of whatever “normal” life looks like for this family becomes discouraging. Particularly when you think of their four year old son who can’t even visit the hospital.

Please keep this family in your prayers. And if you can, please donate.

Thank you.

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[update $635 raised so far – amazing!]

Book Review: Mama Rock’s Rules

mama rock's rules.JPGHarper Collins Publishing recently sent me the book, Mama Rock’s Rules: Ten Lessons for Raising a Household of Successful Children, by Rose Rock – mother to comedian Chris Rock. It’s a great, quick, entertaining read filled with simple wisdom, such as the benefits of eating dinner together as a family (“Feed Them and They Will Tell You Everything”).

Rose raised one step-son, six birth children, two “children of her heart,” and one best friend to son, Chris. In addition, Rose counts more than seventeen foster children that came through their house starting in 1969. Her house was the one on the block all the kids hung out at, but it wasn’t because she was easily duped. Her kids were the kids who had curfews. Her kids were the kids who got in trouble for not being where they said they would be. Her kids were the kids who weren’t allowed to sass or swear or otherwise disrespect their parents.

Regarding curfews, she tells a story of Chris complaining about the family rules. “Why can’t I stay out? Other kids are still out there,” he said. “The day will come,” Rose said to him, “when you are going to leave Decatur Street and go out on your own. You’ll come back sometime and those same kids who sit on the stoop will still be here, sitting on the stoop, I promise you that.”

Years later when Chris drove through the old neighborhood, “he actually saw two of those neighborhood guys still sitting on the same stoops, even at that late hour.” Chris went to his apartment, called his Mama, and told her she was right.

She seems like a no-nonsense mom, but one who is filled with enough kindness and love to share with anyone who comes into her home. Her tough love won the respect and admiration of many children, including her own. It was a great book, and I definitely recommend you pick it up.

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(For ratings and other reviews on books I’ve read, visit my Shelfari page and my books category.)

The Muxtape

Muxtape CassetteLike any child of the 80’s, I heart the mix tape. I make them all the time, for every possible reason. I’ve even considered writing a book about the soundtrack to my life, but this guy thought of it first (and I’m not the only one bitter about it).

I’m always trying to figure out a way to embed mixes into my blog – not just song lists, but the actual mixes. I waste hours trying to make it happen, only to be foiled by copy write infringement laws, or programs that don’t have access to all the music I want to use. Forgetting I’ve been through this a million times before, I said to Bryan the other day, “Hey, I had a great idea today!” [Bryan braces himself for another project that involves his tech support]. “Wouldn’t it be cool to embed song mixes into my blog?”

I’m not really sure why I have selective memory when it comes to this particular idea. Perhaps it’s subconscious tenacity. Either way, I keep forgetting it just. can’t. work.

Or can it?

This time he says to me, “I’ve heard buzz about a new site call Muxtape.com that lets you do that.”

So I looked into it. I won’t share the entire story of how I loved it, then hated it, then loved it, then hated it, then loved it again. It’s funny to me, but I think Bryan would experience post traumatic stress if he saw one more Twitter from me about Muxtape. At the very least his ears would turn red.

At any rate, I landed on loving it.

I had to compromise, though. I can’t embed the code for it to play right in my blog. I have to link to it, but I think it’s a compromise worth making. Also, I can only make one mix. If I want to make a new mix, I have to replace the old mix. I didn’t like this at first, but Bryan made a good point about the value of the limited time offer (he’s so smart, that one). So my mixes will be available to listen to only until I’ve amassed another 12 songs to share with you, which could actually be awhile since I’m not really that cool.

To listen to my first mix at Muxtape, click here (open in a new tab or browser window), then come back and read below about the songs I chose while you listen. (This mix is no longer available to listen to.)

…waiting…

Are you back?

Here’s the song list:

West Indian Girl – What Are You Afraid of?
I first heard this group on Seattle’s KEXP (90.3 for the locals) a couple years ago, and downloaded the whole album from iTunes. Then I somehow lost it. I think it never made it to our server, so when I got a new laptop I forgot to move the mp3 files. Bummer! I couldn’t bring myself to pay for the whole album again, so I just bought this, my favorite song from their album titled, West Indian Girl.

The Republic Tigers – Buildings & Mountains
I heard this on KCRW.com and loved the sound, particularly the disco-like beat and the ensemble vocals.

Long Range – Madness and Me
Who knew that the girl who loves The Indigo Girls would also love electronica? It has to have just the right sound for me to like it – smooth and round, not sharp and choppy. Though I likes me a good beat, too. It also helps to have a chick singing with a breathy voice.

The Weepies – Gotta Have You
I’m not sure I totally agree with a portion of these lyrics (“No amount of coffee, no amount of cryin’, no amount of whiskey, no amount of wine – no, no, no, no, no, nothing else will do. I gotta have you…”), but this fits right in with the kind of music I listen to most of the time.

The Weepies – Hideaway
This was actually the first song I heard by The Weepies on KCRW.com. I went to download it from iTunes, but discovered we already had this song! Turns out The Weepies was featured on Paste Magazine‘s music sampler recently.

St. Vincent – Jesus Saves, I Spend
Bryan bought this album awhile back, telling me this gal used to sing with Sufjan Stevens. And I’m tellin’ ya what, but any friend of Sufjan’s is a friend of mine.

My Brightest Diamond – Inside a Boy
This is another former Sufjan vocalist. She is apparently trained in opera, which added a pretty interesting layer to his music when we saw him live at The Paramount ages ago (ahem, where’s the new album, sufjan?!). I love her voice, but to be honest I can’t take a whole album of it. Hence, adding her to the mix.

Tracey Thorn – By Piccadilly Station I Sat Down and Wept
I heard this on Dave’s mp3 blog, Goodnight Believer awhile back and loved it so much I bought the album with some gift money. I should have done my homework better, because this and one other song he reviewed were the only songs I liked on the album. Oh well, you live and learn.

Luna – 23 Minutes in Brussels
I heard this song on KEXP last summer while driving around on a sunny day without my kids. I cranked it up, hung my arm out the window, stuck my chin out, and bobbed my head just a little. For about five minutes I thought I was riding in a 1960’s Mustang convertible painted chartreuse (shut up). Bryan heard this play on one of my mix tapes shortly after and said, “Is this Luna?” And I was like, “Yeah, why?” And he was all, “Did you download this?” And I was all, “Yeah, why?” And he was all, “This band is really big right now.” And right then and there he fell in love with me all over again for being so cool.

Blue Scholars – 50k Deep
Another song to showcase my wide range of musical interests. I don’t know what you call this genre, but driving around LA in December in our phat rental SUV with the kick ass stereo and sun roof prompted me to listen to this kind of music for three weeks straight. Bryan was glad to get the folk-lovin minivan back.

Lily Allen – Absolutely Nothing
I first heard this on Seattle’s KEXP and fell in love with its passive aggressiveness.

William Shatner – Ideal Woman
A little known fact about me is how much I love William Shatner. He’s totally weird in every possible way, but something in me says his brand of eccentric is exactly how I want to be when I get old. Imagine my delight when he came out with an entire album of spoken word pieces. I think it was written and produced by Ben Folds, which makes it even better. This is my favorite song off the album, and I put it on every mix I possibly can because I think everyone needs a little dose of William Shatner now and then.

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If you like the mix and want a copy, comment below and I’ll send a CD out to the winner of a random drawing (contest closes Wednesday at noon Thursday at noon (updated deadline), when Ruthie will tell me how many pretzels she wants, between one and [ __ ] ).

Sometimes I think I’m just a little bit insane.

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No, this is not a birthday party. Nor do I run a daycare (which a police officer once asked me when he saw three kids of varying shades of skin playing in the yard with my blondies). This is just the sort of thing I do to myself on a regular basis: a pool party with six kids under the age of five. Or wait – is that one six already? I think so. Six under the age of SIX, then. But still.

Ever since I was a kid I wanted a big family. Maybe as a practically-only child I fantasized about large families, but even as an adult married woman, I still thought I would birth a baseball team of boys. Then I actually HAD kids, and then I had postpartum depression, and now I nearly have the youngest out of diapers.

I can’t imagine doing that all over again.

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Yet, I find myself with a house full of kids – or at least one extra – at least twice a week, sometimes more often. I’ve always imagined being the house on my block where all my kids’ friends come to play, my refrigerator and pantry filled with snacks to share, plenty of games on the Wii and other interesting things to make it so my kids and their friends like to be here.

Maybe six kids under six for dinner and a pool party on a record-breaking hot day is practice for ten teenagers who choose to come here after school rather than the mall? I admit I’m a romantic. My friends with teenagers can tell me how it really is, but I guess I’m learning I like a little bit of high level chaos as long as they all go home at some point and let me recuperate before the next wave of chaos.

But I get to keep these two forever. Which is nice, because they’re both just a little bit crazy like me.

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Friday Link Love

Friday Link Love

The first installment of (hopefully) many posts about what I discover on the web (p.s. I made that badge up there all by myself after Bryan showed me how – go me!).

This American Life episode from 4/18/08, Mistakes Were Made.
I’ve been having several Parental Panic Attacks lately, wondering if I’m completely failing my children. More important than any behavioral modification, I want my children to understand issues of their hearts, motives, and intentions. I can spot a fake apology at 20 paces, and I can call it to attention. But can I force my child to be truly repentant?

As I was feeling bogged down with frustration this week, Bryan pulled up the above episode of This American Life for me to listen to. If you don’t listen to the entire episode, at least listen to the first five minutes or so. Ira Glass discusses true apology and remorse with a father, and this father tells the story of David sleeping with Bathsheba, having her husband killed, and his initial lack of repentance.

It was just what I needed to hear to remember I am not alone in this concern I have for my children, and that God does provide the opportunity for everyone to truly repent. I need to patiently lead and pray for my children in this way.

Twistori for Twitter art.
This is another link sent to me by Bryan, and is a very cool artistic rendering of Twitter. It draws from Twitters containing key words such as Love, Think, Hate, Believe, Feel, and Wish and displays them with colorful font scrolling over a black backround. I love checking into this site once in awhile for inspiration.

You Can’t Handle the Truth! from Practical Theology for Women.
Wendy uses two famous lines spoken by Jack Nicholson in two different movies to illustrate how we struggle between our desire to be more like Jesus, and the reality of getting there.

Stay at home moms worth $117,000 per year.
Salary.com published their 8th annual Mother’s Day study determining what mother’s would earn if they were paid to be mothers.

The Morning Becomes Eclectic show on KCRW.com
I fell in love with this Santa Monica based radio station when driving around LA at Christmas. I stream their music nearly all day every day, and I’ve never met a song I didn’t like, particularly on the Morning Becomes Eclectic show. It’s dangerous, really. I write down all the songs I like from their track list, and now my wish list of music is longer than my bank account is full.

Create and share an mp3 mix tape on Muxtape.com
Speaking of music, I had this brilliant idea to create mp3 mix tapes to embed on my blog as I discover new music. The problem is, there’s no real easy way to do this without violating copywrite (or whatever you call it). I could create an iMix, but I believe those only play a snippet of a song (correct me if I’m wrong), and you can only use mp4’s purchase through iTunes – kind of a problem if you bought the actual CD. My Last.fm account allows me to create and embed mixes, but not all songs are available, leaving holes in some of my mixes. Same with Rhapsody.com.

Bryan said Muxtape was getting talked about, so I checked it out. I can’t embed the mix code into my blog, but I can link to my mix on the Muxtape website where you can then stream it. The downside (for me) is you are only allowed one mix of 12 songs at a time (you can’t create multiple mixes under the same user name), and I’m not clear yet whether you can change out those 12 song slots for new songs or if I have to make the One Really Great Mix Tape Of All Times. Will be interesting to check out.

Sleep Deprivation Means More Drama, from NPR News.
This was an interesting article. I’m just wondering why they didn’t include MOTHERS in their list of crazed, sleep deprived reality show contestants. Because this is definitely reality, and sometimes it’s so outrageous it must be a show.

Works for me: stair baskets

Works for me Wednesday

There are many benefits of living in a multiple story house, such as letting the kids sleep in the main floor play room while you and the husband have uninterrupted… sleep… upstairs.

That definitely works for me.

What doesn’t work for me is the potential for running up and down the stairs 20 times in an hour, particularly when I’m trying to get things straightened up. While I’m aware that stair climbing would provide a great boost for my weight loss and exercise goals, it also provides a certain amount of… how shall we say? … opportunity for the dynamic duo to reach the candy jar on top of the refrigerator.

I kept thinking to myself, If only I had some sort of storage receptacle that would fit on the stairs to neatly contain my junk clutter things until the next time I went up. Then one day I rounded the corner at my local Goodwill and saw this eager-to-please basket on a shelf with so many ordinary baskets.

She may not be as pretty as this one, but she’s about $58 cheaper… and that works for me.

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Check out Works for Me Wednesday host, Rocks in my Dryer, for more Works for Me posts. Also? You should check out the really cool badge on this post if you can’t see it in your feed reader.

Naked This Pile (doh!)

Welcome to my website. I’m sorry it looks so crappy today, but my CSS disappeared. And? I have no idea how to fix it. We’ll see if I can convince my loving and handsome husband (flattery sometimes works) to fix it tonight after spending the entire day staring at his computer for work. He’s been known to say things to me like, “Please don’t ask me about CSS on Sundays.” Sigh.

Update: FIXED!

Lunch Today: Feta Pockets

feta-cucumber pita sandwichI was caressing my Costco-sized tub of feta the other day, and happened to notice a recipe on the side label for Feta Pockets. I made this once for myself, and like any other good thing in my life, I turned it into an obsession. If you come to my house, now, you will be served this Feta Pocket. Period. No exceptions. I am no longer eating anything else for lunch. It’s light AND filling, and though I haven’t added up the calories, I can’t imagine it has too many for lunch. I think the 200 calorie whole wheat pita carries the most weight, but it also provides the bulk that prevents me from being snacky two hours later.

Here’s the recipe as it appears on the label, but I usually eyeball the quantities, and make enough for only two. If no one is eating with me, I save half for the next day. One adjustment I have made is to add the sprouts to your sandwich separately. Trying to stir them in with the yogurt makes them soggy and clumpy, and we don’t want that, do we?

Feta Pockets (from the President brand feta label):
In a medium bowl, stir together 2T sesame seeds, toasted, 4oz crumbled feta, 4 cups sprouts, 2 small chopped cucumbers, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Cut 4 pita breads in half. Spoon mixture into bread halves (I used Greek pita, which doesn’t have pockets). Cut 2 medium tomatoes into slices and place slices on filling in bread half. Makes 8 servings.