The Crazee Chick's View of Life

Merry Christmas!!

As I am hurriedly trying to help Zee find his shoes and then get them on, he says to me... "Mom, just 'cause you get mad at me doesn't mean that you don't love me." "That's right Zee.  I'll always love you but sometimes I just get frustrated with you." "Yeah Mom, and sometimes getting frustrated is LOUD" Gulp...

If you know me by now--and I'm assuming that since you read my blog that you probably know more about me than most of my family who are not partakers of the blogosphere--you will know that I don't do Christmas cards. Oh, don't get me wrong, I love to receive them.... I don't like to mail them. That's right.  I don't like to MAIL them.  I like to carefully chose the prettiest boxed card set with the most meaningful verse, buy them, write in them, include a letter that chronicles the events of the entire year and I even like to address them.  What I don't like to do is MAIL them. It's because I'm a procrastinator. Did you know that about me? I put stuff off. All the time. So anyway, back to the Christmas card thingy--my friends get mad at me because year after year they send me cards but I never send any back.  I always have one sitting here on my desk for them but it never makes its way into the post office box. Actually, one year I ...

Generally I'm a pretty happy person.  I love life.  I'm grateful for family and friends.  And I count my blessings.  Daily. Lately though I've been in a funk.  I've been extremely sensitive to rudeness.  I've begun wallowing, I've been throwing myself a pity party. I've been complaining and whining. I've been 'why me-ing?' And then...all of a sudden I got a shot of perspective. Some of my friends are having a hard time getting into the Christmas Spirit this year.  Why?  Because someone was rude to them?  Because someone stole a book out of their hand?  Because a lady yelled something at their vehicle as they drove by? No.  At this time of the year when we celebrate the birth of One so special to the world, they mourn the loss of one who was so special to their lives. One mourns a beloved sister taken in the prime of her life by cancer. One mourns a beloved and pregnant niece murdered by her spouse. These peop...

Argh!  We want some snow so badly.... Is there any snow in those clouds? Why yes, yes there is.... but not much. Still, snow is snow and any laying on the ground justifies the making of a snow angel.    There's even enough snow to coat the coat...and the sweats, but not enough to require snow boots. Kiki tries to make a snowball but all she got was a snow dust. Mo tried to slide on the slippery surface but it wasn't nearly slippery enough.  Zee tried to chuck a snowdust at her. A barefooted Zee jumping on the backyard trampoline. Wow, it's just covered in snow! (insert sarcasm here) Bouncing on a snow covered trampoline in barefeet is very painful as Zee quickly learned.  I'm sure I'll never have to try to convince him again that I know what I'm talking about when I say to wear shoes in the snow. "Ouch Mom, my feet hurt sooo bad!"  Well Mr. Snow, that's enough of a teaser...let's have a real good dump now.   Make it ...

So yesterday Zee comes out of the bathroom and says... "Mom, I've got some good news and some bad news.  Well, actually, it's mostly good news.  The good news is that I didn't get any on my jeans." Oh?  That sounds like bad news to me.... "But don't worry Mommy 'cause I put lots of toilet paper down to clean it up." With great trepidation I put down the dinner dishes that I am cleaning and head to the bathroom.  Two HUGE piles of toilet paper greet me; one on the floor and the other...on...the...toilet seat...cover. "The cover, Zee?!"  I ask.  "Really?!" "I REALLY had to go Mommy and I couldn't wait." That's obvious from the fact that it's all over the cover, dripping down the sides of the bowl, along the underside of the seat....and, of course, on the floor.  "Zee, there's pee everywhere!  Did you hold your weiner?" "No, Mommy, I never do."  "Why not?...

You know how we are always mourning this current generation's lack of manners (and spelling, reading and speaking abilities)?  Well, as I found out yesterday, it's not limited to only the up and coming generation. Old people can be rude too! And they justify it because...well, they're OLD and they think they're entitled to be that way. So here's what happened to me yesterday.  I had finished a brain candy book the evening before and decided that I wanted more of the same.  After looking through my book shelves at home I was uninspired, so I thought I'd go to the little thrift store down the street just to see what kind of junky novel I could find there.  There wasn't much there but one title really did jump out at me; The Last Wife of King Henry VIII .  A Tudor novel?!  For $1.50?!  Awesome.  I grabbed it right away, did a little happy dance (inside my head of course) and proceeded to look for more books (because if I have to pull out money ...

Not sure what's gotten into me.   Usually I only go through my kitchen to get to the living room but lately I've set up shop in there and have been busy COOKING!  and BAKING!  Not sure what's going on here but my family (and some of my friends) are really happy that I am. Tonight I created my own little dinner and it was QUICK and YUMMY!  I thought I'd share it with you.   It's called.... Pasta with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Chicken (mmmm...isn't your mouth already watering?) 1/2 onion 3 tsp crushed garlic or 3-4 garlic cloves (mashed) olive oil sun dried tomatoes (packed in oil with herbs) 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (chili peppers) 2 tsp basil 1/2 tsp pepper chicken (cubed/sliced and precooked) salt to taste Spicy Herbamare (seasoning found in health food stores/specialty stores/Whole Foods/butcher shop)   grated parmesan cheese (the REAL stuff; not the stuff in the green jar!) pasta of your choice (farfalle, penne, that spirally st...

Okay, out of fear of being throttled I'm posting the recipe for lemon shortbread cookies.  Please, stop drooling around my front door and salivating every time I walk passed you.  I know I'm delicious but I'm not edible ( said with tongue firmly implanted in cheek )... but these are... Lemon Shortbread Cookies  (remember to dip them in chocolate! or sprinkle them with icing sugar! or drizzle with a lemon glaze!) (oops, I drooled just a bit there...) 1 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 3 tsp zest of lemon 2 cups sifted flour  (sift first, then measure) 1 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp salt Preheat oven to 325 degrees In large bowl, cream butter and sugar with electric mixer Scrape sides of the bowl Add lemon juice, zest and flour and mix  thoroughly on low speed Roll dough out onto a flat, lightly floured surface and cut into rounds (if you have one of those fancy 'ruffled' edge cookie cu...

Okay all you amazing ladies, like Karen, Pioneer Woman and Shanty2Chic, STOP with all the amazing recipes and all the galactically-defying crafts! It's causing me to become inspired. And when I get inspired I get really flustered....and busy. In the last two days alone I have made: 4 dozen buns (I've NEVER made buns before! You don't know how HUGE this is) 5 dozen lemon shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate 1 batch of date logs 5 dozen gingersnaps 1 amazing beef stew with mushrooms (Yummy! Thanks Pioneer Woman!) 1 batch of oven baked aparagus garnished with parmesan cheese shavings 1 cherry crisp I want to keep going (brownies, Nanaimo bars, more buns) but I can't. My feet are seriously too sore to stand on. Before you write me off as a wimp, may I remind you that I have just returned from an EPIC shopping weekend? I am old and need my recovery time. So here I am, blogging, as a way to keep myself out of the kitchen. Which is both a good and...

Too tired to tax my brain with anything remotely intelligent or witty so instead I'm just going to cut and paste one of my favorite 'comfort-food' recipes. This is so quick and easy...and yummy...so it's perfect during these upcoming busy, hectic, crazee Christmas season days. It also sticks to your ribs so it's awesome after a day of skating or skiing with the family. Enjoy. Beef Dairy Casserole: 1 lb ground beef 1 ¼ cup milk 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened 10oz can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 ½ cup kernel corn 2 cups uncooked macaroni 1 ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp pepper Cook beef in frying pan and drain off any fat. Cook noodles in separate pot of water. Combine milk with cream cheese in 2 quart casserole dish. Mash together with fork Add soup, corn, cooked noodles, meat, salt and pepper to the milk and cheese mixture in casserole dish. Stir to distribute all the ingredients together. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Members of Earth. Be informed. The Loot is out there. And it's called...Black Friday. Yes, people of Earth, there are human droids who are driven by a desire so  insatiable that they will shun sleep (31 hours awake!!), they will carry multiple shopping bags causing 'shopping hand' syndrome, and have been sighted laying across shopping carts in a piteous attempt to prevent crashing headlong to the floor. Oh, people of Earth, be warned that these droids are sneaky too.  Beware of the ones who feign innocence; the ones who appear as if they are dedicated and focused on their task, but are really sneaking away from their duties and partaking of sustenance called Auntie Anne's Soft Pretzels. These are the worst.  Do not align yourselves with these suspicious individuals. With their M.O. (method of operation) clearly defined,  I'm going to now tell you what we call them.  They are known as.... (dun, dun, dun) Black Friday Shoppers. Pay attention to th...

I'm a virgin. Yes, you read that right. Despite having 3 children and being married for 18 years, I am a virgin. A BLACK FRIDAY virgin. But today, I give myself wholly and willingly to the shop-a-mania that is Black Friday. We're heading down to the good ole US of A to participate in the mad frenzy of consumerism and materialism. Woo Hoo...can't wait!!! Hope I don't get trampled on. Watch the news, if you see a chick in a bright orange jacket, running shoes with orange stripes and jeans on, plastered against the glass doors of a Wal Mart or JC Penney and being pushed from behind by 20 million other frenzied shoppers, that'd be ME.  Make sure you wave at your TV and say Hi.... it'll be our last exchange before I meet my demise.... By for now....see you on Monday where I'll be bruised, battered, bartered and broke! So fun!!!

Don't know if I'm blessed or cursed. I've been so busy lately that I can't even catch my own thoughts!  I've got about a million different lists going in my head and I just know I'm going to mix them up soon. It's gonna get ugly. My TO DO list and my Christmas list are going to get all jumbled together in my head and before you know it I'm going to be 'doing' Santa. Okay, that's a little gross but at least he's more my age.  Not like that little buff, amazingly hot little Jacob who caused me to salivate and drool during the New Moon movie more than a mouth full of Sour Skittles washed down with a handful of Icebreakers.  Oh man that boy is purty!! I'm not admitting to any sort of crush on Taylor Lautner/Jacob...I'm much too old to be doing that....but just because I'm old enough to be his mother doesn't mean that I can't appreciate his efforts to buff himself up better than Mr. Clean.  Yowza!  How does a 17 y...

Goodnight my dear friend...may you rest in peace. May you know how much you were loved. May you bless others in heaven as you have those of us on earth who had the privilege of knowing you. May we one day reunite in joyous celebration. I know one day I'll see you again. And you'll be smiling.. That gorgeous, loving, beautiful smile... And it'll make me smile. I love you Mia.  Godspeed my friend...Godspeed.

This morning I did a 2.5km swim--that's about 1.5 miles. It felt great! I finally got to try this out!  It's a waterproof mp3 player and the reason why it looks so strange is that you don't put it into your ears to hear it, you actually set it on your goggles and then position the speakers against your cheekbones.  You hear the music through bone conduction.  It's really quite amazing! So today I had a rockin' swim session.  I loved having music to listen to rather than my labored breathing.  Normally I do about 2000m when I go for a swim but because a song came on that I really liked (I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas) as I was finishing up, I decided to do another lap or two until the song ended.  Well, once I did another 100m I decided that I may as well do another 400m and call it 500 which would make it 2500m in total.  I know, it's a strange reasoning process, but it's all MINE! Anyway, the swim was great because of the music but not b...

My boyfriend's back again.  He's been gone for such a long time...almost a year.  He doesn't come to visit very often, mostly in the fall and early winter, and when he comes he doesn't stay long. Maybe a night or two. He's kind of a blow in, blow right back out, kind of guy. He's so strong!  He can move almost anything. He's been known to fall trees, lift the roofs of houses and even destroy buildings.  A couple of years ago he went on a rampage and destroyed over 2000 trees at one of our most beautiful and largest parks.  We're teaching him to harness his power.... He always lets me know he's around by whistling at me. Mostly he whistles at night.  Sometimes he whistles steadily and other times he just lets me know he's there by offering me a little quick toot or two. He rocks my rafters, if you know what I mean.... My Hub knows that my boyfriend's here but there's nothing Hub can do about it.  In fact, Hub lays in be...

Statements Made in Court These really happened... Q: What is your date of birth? A: July fifteenth. Q: What year? A: Every year. Q: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all? A: Yes. Q: And in what ways does it affect your memory? A: I forget. Q: You forget. Can you give us an example of something that you've forgotten? Q: How old is your son, the one living with you. A: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which. Q: How long has he lived with you? A: Forty-five years. Q: What was the first thing your husband said to you when he woke that morning? A: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?" Q: And why did that upset you? A: My name is Susan. Q: And where was the location of the accident? A: Approximately milepost 499. Q: And where is milepost 499? A: Probably between milepost 498 and 500. Q: Sir, what is your IQ? A: Well, I can see pretty well, I think. Q: Did you blow your horn or anything? A: After the accident? Q: Befo...

'Cause that would be so much easier for me. Running hurts. Swimming doesn't. I dry heave after a long run. I'm invincible and bullet proof after a long swim. During a run sometimes I don't think I can move my legs one more step. Sometimes during a swim I feel a little twinge in my triceps. When I run I feel like I'm going to die. When I swim I worry that I might fall asleep. Which would you rather do?  

Brr.... There's a definite chill in the air. Who am I kidding, it's FREEZING! There's new snow on the mountains and it's so beautiful. But it's  soooo c-c-c-cold.  Brrr.... So, I wrap up in my snuggie blanket and my heavy hoodie and yet I am still cold! I sit over the heater when I'm at my desk...and I'm still cold!! I have a very hot bath before bed... and I'm still cold!! I climb into bed with more clothing on than I wear through the day and I add heaps of blankets and yet... Yep, you guessed it! ...I'm. Still. Cold!! So, this is what I wear around the house during the day to try to get warm.  (Schmexy isn't it?  I feel a little like a friar in it.  Whatever.) And this is what Zee wears: He comes home from school and within minutes all, or most of, his clothes are off. Sometimes it's just a sock.  (Yes, just one sock. Weird, eh?)  Sometimes it's just his shirt that comes off. But mostly he strips down...

How can I describe the joy that is in our hearts today? Joy for our freedoms. On Remembrance Day we honor those who have fought for our freedom: those young men and women who left their homes and family to fight a war to protect our land, our shores and our right to live and worship as we choose. Today we honor and remember those brave souls. Last year we wondered what we could do to make a small contribution to others who don't have the freedoms that we have. What could we do that would honor the sacrifices of those who died on a battlefield to protect our lives? We decided to make an annual Remembrance Day tradition by filling three shoeboxes (one from each child in our family) with gifts, hygiene items, candy and toys to give to those children in war torn or underdeveloped countries. It's called Operation Christmas Child We wish we could be there to see the joy on the children's faces as they receive their red and green Christmas box.  We can only ...