taco tuesday on a monday

I'm always looking for new recipes to expand our menus and not our waistlines. I've been trying harder to add in vegetables, grains, etc. that we probably would have been eating for years if only we had taken the time to try them. Between my sister and I, I usually cook the more involved, complicated dishes and she will do the quicker easier ones, maybe because she is actually the "busy mom" and I get home around 3 so I have more time to go all out-even after walking the dog.

Lately she has been cruising the magazines in the breakroom at her job and has been bringing back recipes she finds. I think she's brought three or four in the past two weeks. It's really cute because I know she does support my goal of having us all eat better but she doesn't always have the time/desire to cook as often or as hard as I do. So she's still involved in the process at the jump off, now if I only I could get her to swing back around and pick up the dish duties. (I clean when she cooks, but also most often when I cook as well).

Anyway, last night's recipe was from Family Circle and you can find it here. It's called "Taco Night Pasta" and it's ridiculously easy. I goofed and got medium enchilada sauce instead of mild so I only used regular chili powder rather than hot. My niece will always use "spicy" as an excuse to not eat something, so I have to make sure it isn't really spicy to begin with. I didn't put cheese because we don't all like fyh's cheddar but I did shred some fyh monterey jack for the table and everyone could add as much as she liked. My niece took nearly all of it, which is what I would have done with dairy cheese at her age, so I can't be mad at her.

I don't know if it tasted like tacos so much as chili mac from back in the hot lunch days at school but for the effort, it was good. I had two and a half small bowls, so that should say something. My only notes would be to add a bit more seasonings and maybe use more tomatoes. We'll definitely make it again, especially on a cooler day like the few we've had lately.

leader of the whack

I know I haven't always been the best dog owner but I am learning, each and every day. Sometimes I get a little high and mighty about what is right and best and I know I don't really don't have the cred to do so. This is mostly when we're out walking and I see dogs walking people instead of the other way around or when the dog is not on the left, or worse not on lead, and so on.

Anyhow ever since we have been on the walking/exercise crusade I have noticed that the only dogs really interested in bothering us are the little ones. They really want a piece of Penny. We've only had smaller dogs for the last three years or so but I quickly learned, the smaller the dog, the bigger the trouble. That size of the fight in the dog business is for real.

It seems the owners of these small dogs, at least the ones in my neighborhood don't know or don't care about this. What's the cute little dog (cld) going to do? Nine times out of ten it is going to charge at the cute big dog (cbd), and if the cbd's owner is as lax as the cld's owner, watch out.We were almost out of the park when I saw a man sitting on the bench and his cld running around. I can see him, so I assume he can see me, and my cbd. I'm on alert just in case. We get about 15 feet away and his dog comes running at us. I start to hasten our exit, but the little one will not let up and is looping us. I'm yelling at the guy and he just kind of looks over like, who me? A few moments later I actually yell something like "come get your dog", to which he just stands up and half-assedly calls it over, again, to no avail. Finally I just start walking out with a firm hold on Penny since this all this jerking around isn't fair to her. We're almost out of the park and I see the little dog is still following us, wtf right?

This guy obviously doesn't care about what happens to this dog, whether it gets beat up, lost, or ran over (it was running in the parking lot). So everyone else who does care about their own dog can just work around them I guess. I have to be hyper-careful because if something does happen, who is going to get the blame and the bills? I don't want to have to give up or destroy my dog because some other moron isn't being responsible for his own. I'm no expert, but unless your dog has amazing recall, I really think s/he should be on lead anytime you are not in a secure environment.

doing chores wipes me out

The last two times I've bathed Penny, this is all I can think of afterward. I remember watching this show religiously in high school and quoting it often. Now I'm not sure I could watch an entire episode, but that doesn't mean those idiots didn't make an impression on me. Fifteen years later, I still can't completely hide a juvenile sense of humor, or stop myself from doing Beavis' locust impression every now and again. However I'd rather watch some Daria, especially the musical to see the dad's "god god damn it" traffic song.


p.s. The bath went surprisingly well compared to the last attempt. I learned not to bathe her in the people tub, too scary.

it's my party

 

and i'll pout if i want to.

ms. penny is one year old today.

i'll try to take better pictures of her but she is not as easy to catch these days. i have a lot of shots of a brown blur that only i appreciate so they're not worth posting here. walk number four coming right up.

i wanted to have a little party, but i didn't make it happen. i'm really tired from the last two weeks and didn't even get a nerdy hat to wear in a picture. maybe we will celebrate more in a few months for the anniversary of her homecoming. her birthday was just a day i picked after counting back x-weeks from a vet appointment. the day i brought her home is real.

happy (f)easter!

i think i started revving up for easter some time in mid february. i fell for the seasonal shopping trap of jumping from one holiday to the next in the blink of an eye. unfortunately by the time easter actually got here, nearly all of my interest was gone. i had been so excited to see family and keep our traditions alive even after my uncle had passed. i was eager to don my rabbit ears and give my niece a big basket of nonsense and bite the head off an organic dark chocolate easter bunny from sjaak's. i had even agreed at the last minute to join an easter morning soccer game my sister's boyfriend was planning. for whatever reason i just couldn't maintain the excitement and motivation i had earlier in the season.

last night i made a late trip to the grocery to get makings for bean salad since i could not show up empty handed. i think i stayed up until around two dragging it out since i was tired but also didn't want to rush it and ruin it. going to bed so late made me not want to get up to play soccer so i flaked out like a jerk. it sure was nice to sleep in though. i had breakfast and walked the dog, then started getting ready to head out, but not before putting a basket together and hiding some plastic carrots around the house for my niece.

as we rounded the corner of my uncle's street and started to see everyone's cars it all came back. there were so many people and so much food i think the first ten minutes or so were solid hugging/greeting time. we didn't have all of the original activities, but we still had an egg hunt for the kids, tug of war and my unfavorite, the raw egg toss. we used to also have sac race or three legged race but not for a few years now. one or both will be back next year according to my cousin. my niece found 29 eggs in the hunt, with a little help from my sister, her boyfriend and myself. i didn't last too long in the egg toss but at least i didn't get any egg matter on my outfit since our egg hit the fence. i was on the winning side of tug of war, but my one of my havianas lost on the second round. i was able to fix it, thank goodness.

for dinner we had a fast food feasting frenzy after forty days of abstaining. we had taco bell and pizza. i must admit it was disgustingly delightful. i also enjoyed my easter chocolate, perhaps a little too much. i had two rounds of peppermint tea and a long walk with the pup afterward since we missed the usual 4 o'clock park trip. i make sure she gets all her walks in, or rather that we get all of our walks in, sometimes they're just shuffled around.

it was a great day but i am glad it is over. i'm updating my playlist and i'm out. happy easter everyone.

half the fun

for under forty bucks at the old navy i got a new denim skirt (above the knee-watch out!), an adorable polka dotted hooded sweatshirt and two bright easter egg-like
t-shirts, one pink and one yellow. score! i am feeling the spring colors and they look good on me now that i've got some color of my own. i'm not going to go completely clothes crazy since i shouldn't be spending a lot of money and also because i'm still under construction. i just get a top or two here and there so i don't get too bummed about not having a lot to work with when i'm working it.

by end of the month i think i'll have closed the deal on twenty pounds, which is really exciting. to say i'm not counting would be lying, i probably hop on and off the scale at least once a day but i don't put too much on it. i know you can lose/gain water really easily but it's just fun when you get a lower number that you know isn't totally real yet but it feels more in the realm of possibility than it might have a few weeks ago, since for that moment is it right in front of you.

when i was younger and starting to gain weight (maybe 8 or 9?) my mom would try to scare/nag me into losing weight by warning me i was "getting there". i know she wasn't saying it to hurt me, and it was probably coming from a caring place but it was also a little hard to swallow since no one in my family was then or is now, the picture of health. other than my sister i would say most of us are technically obese. there is always junk food in the house and we were never very active as a family. maybe if we had healthier options we would have turned out differently, but we're all adults now and control what we put in our mouths and whether or not we choose to get off our asses.

i am working really hard to change that in my own life and i can only hope that they will also start to make changes to take better care of themselves and each other. i have been trying to drag my mom and/or dad out with me for at least one of penny's walks a few times a week. i think my mom went about three times last week and my dad once. i know it can be tougher as you get older but it's really never too late to try. i still have long way to go to get to where i want to be, but i am sure as hell "getting there" this time.

i should be reading

but on my first quiet day in some weeks i decided to rot my brain on the internet instead. it took me forever to finish a motivational book, which doesn't mean the book wasn't good, i just lost my, um...motivation. he's a great speaker, but it seems some of the spirit is lost when not transmitted via the proper medium.

i'm aiming to get back on track with reading and cooking and everything else now. lots of things fell to the wayside when i was caring for the pup. i still am/do, but in between feeding and walking there are some decent gaps to get other things done and i need to fall into them gaps. i cooked sunday and yesterday, easy repeat stuff like quinoa primavera and black and white bean soup. i took tonight off and had leftover taco mix over rice with some salad and fyh monterey jack on top. tomorrow i am cooking another repeat. let's see if i can ribbon brussel sprouts and slice tofu any faster this time. i am totally cheating with the brown rice too.

there are four or five books i've yet to start and need to finish since they're almost due. i'm not sure they're all renewable either so i definitely gotta get a move on. when i was little i would dump whatever fave stuffed animal i had as soon as i got a new one. i've noticed i still do that. i am throwing all the "boy" books aside to read lavinia greenlaw instead. even though i just got it and will have it for longer, i want to read it now (read in veruca salt: "i want an oompa loompa now deddy" voice), so i'm gonna.

p.s. mike tv is actually my fave character from that movie.

time machine

last night we partied like it was 1998. we technically don't "party" like we used to but we did play music, chat and enjoy alcoholic beverages. of course by now we have learned the lesson of quality vs. quantity. gone are the days of st. ide's special brew, schnapps or other poor choices of the twenties. there is no longer a need to keep up or get to a certain level. i don't know if it's so much that we have learned to be smarter/more cautious or just that our bodies won't let us. i only had two jameson rocks and i didn't get up until noon today. eleven years ago i would have had at least two more drinks, got up for work, did the damn thing and wanted to go out again the next night. for whatever reason, we are slightly more sober, but not somber. we still found plenty of time to act like fools, especially in front of cameras. it was good to see people we don't see too often, primarily for geographical reasons. the dog/child schedule can also be a factor at times, but that's a little more flexible. we make time for so many other things, we have to make time for fun too.