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.