Snowmaggedon Two Thousand Eleven

Oh Lordy, the weathermen are predicting SNOW! OMGSNOW! RUNFORYOURLIVESSNOW! in Oklahoma City tomorrow. 

In fact, they're predicting A BLIZZARD.  A bona fide blizzard, y'all!  And to say that folks around here are concerned would be, um, an understatement.  People are FUH-REAKING smooth out.  The television is awash with reports from overly excited weathermen predicting Snowpocalypse Now.  Schools have already been cancelled.  And.. let's just talk about the grocery store.

O!M!G!!!! you should have SEEN the grocery store today.

Hurry! Buy EVERYTHING!

Folks, I have been to Target the day after Thanksgiving, and I'm telling you, the lines at the checkout were worse today.  And every cart for miles and miles was full to the brim with "supplies".  Supplies like milk and eggs and bread, you ask?  NOPE.  Most carts were full of things like Pringles and Rolos and Ice Cream (of all things). 

I just have no idea about us Oklahomans.  We are a weird bunch.  Friendly, but totally weird.


**Edited to Add: After reading Kelli's comment, I have admitted that there *could* be some validity to the ice cream thing.  Maybe.

Making the Cut

A few months ago I blogged about my boy and his issues with cutting.  He hated to cut.  So much so, that he would CRY in class when his teacher asked him to cut.  The mere sight of scissors sent him into a tizzy.

Not good.

So I went out and bought him a little workbook and we've been practicing fairly regularly at home.  All this practicing has accomplished two things.  First, William no longer sobs in class when forced to (heaven forbid) cut something.  And second, it has made baby Paige DESPERATE to cut.  She PINES for scissors.

And until today I'd flatly refused to let her anywhere near them. 

Why?  Well, because there is not a more accident prone human ANYWHERE on earth.  I'm serious.  The child falls down FOR NO REASON AT ALL.  She bangs her head on the corners of my granite counter tops every. single. day.  I feared that if I handed her a pair of scissors, that she'd immediately (INSTANTLY) stab them directly into her eyeball.  I know this seems far fetched, but, well, you're just going to have to trust me on this. 

But in a fit of insanity, I let the little booger try her hand at cutting today.

Here she is trying to cut off her own finger.

Kidding!  Only kidding.

I'll be honest, she did really well.  Especially since, you know, SHE'S TWO.  There was only one little glitch.

Her mouth.

I noticed that, every time she opened the scissors, she'd open her mouth.  And every time she closed the scissors, she'd close her mouth.

Clearly, she was opening the scissors when this picture was taken.

It was like watching a fish out of water.  A fish with scissors.

The Terrible Twos

My kid is two.

A two year old wearing size 4 clothes.

And she is nowhere near terrible.

Which makes me wonder if she's saving all of it until she's three.

Procrastination Prescrption

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I'm the world's biggest procrastinator.  I especially put off doing things I don't know how to do.  For instance, I'm supposed to set up a Facebook page and Twitter account for our neighborhood homeowners association. 

And I've been putting it off for almost two weeks.

Why?  Because I really don't know how I want to do it.  I mean, *I* have a Facebook account and a Twitter account - both of which I set up for myself - so how hard can it be to set up accounts for a non-profit?

I don't know BECAUSE I HAVEN'T TRIED.  I've procrastinated.

I'm also tragically lazy.  Not about big things, not about things that matter.  But about little things.  Like, the laundry.  I *do* the laundry with incredible efficiency.  In fact, there is a very good chance that, on any given day, the clothes that we wore the day before will be washed, dried, and folded the very next day.  But here's the lazy part: I don't put the clothes away.  I neatly fold them and leave them in piles on top of the dryer. 

Because, apparently, putting them away takes too much effort.  All that walking around and opening and closing drawers.  And don't get me started on HANGERS.  Now THAT just seems like way too much work.

So I put it off until the piles of clean and folded clothes on top of the dryer become so unmanageable and unwieldy that they threaten to crush me or the children.  Or the dog.

See what I mean?  LAZY.

But, recently, I have begun to overcome my procrastination/laziness.  And since I assume I am not the ONLY person on the whole planet who does such things, I thought I'd share my tricks.  Both of which I shamelessly stole from others.

Meaning, I am a lazy, procrastinating THIEF. 

The first is simply using a timer.  Laura mentioned this trick on her blog a few weeks ago and I adopted it immediately.  For someone like me who is really motivated by a deadline, the timer works like a charm.  When I find myself procrastinating a project, I simply set a timer.  For instance, with the Facebook and Twitter account setup, I would set a timer for, say, 30 minutes.  You all, I am AMAZED at how motivating this is.  Having that timer ticking away on my desk FORCES me to make decisions I might otherwise put off.

My second trick comes from my trusty Happiness Project book.  I purchased Gretchen Ruben's bestseller over a year ago, and I often go back and read certain chapters just for inspiration.  One of the things Gretchen (a fellow procrastinator) recommends is the "Do it Now" philosophy.  She does not allow herself to put off any task that will take less than 60 seconds to accomplish.  And folks, you'd be amazed what you can get done in 60 seconds. 

Including putting a load of laundry away.

These two things - a timer and the "do it now" mindset have TOTALLY changed my life.  If you struggle with the lazy gene, try it.  I think you'll be amazed.

On a Limb

I am clearly NOT a food photographer.

Tonight, I went WAY out on a limb and prepared Moroccan Meatloaf for dinner. No, that's not even stating it accurately, I went to the very tip of the tallest limb.  Of the tallest tree.  I mean it.  This was just so very far outside of my comfort zone.

Which is not really saying much, since my eating and cooking comfort zone is that of a 13 year old BOY.  A comfort zone consisting of spaghetti, pizza, and macaroni and cheese.  The box kind.

But I recently saw a recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens magazine. (Yes!  I have a subscription to BH&G... does that make me SO old and SO uncool?  I thought so.)  The recipe included a beautiful picture of the finished product.  A turkey meatloaf speckled with RAISINS (of all things) and topped with a delicious looking tomato chutney.  I love anything with tomatoes, so I added the recipe to this week's menu and bought myself all of the ingredients.

And then I didn't make it.  For two nights I put off making this wacko dish because I was SKEERED.  In fact, at 4:30 today I was still waffling.  But by 5pm I hadn't come up with any sort of alternative, so I decided to bite the bullet and prepare this weird recipe containing ground turkey, raisins, onions, CINNAMON, couscous and curry. 

And I won't lie - while it was cooking, my entire house smelled LIKE CINNAMON ROLLS.  It was very disconcerting. 

And then the chutney was just was weird - grape tomatoes, onions, RAISINS and cinnamon (again).  And, again, the stove top smelled like I was making onion flavored cinnamon rolls.  Eeeew!

I almost refused to try it - but I decided I'd worked to hard not to give it a shot.  And guess WHAT?  It was surprisingly good!  Great even!

Only problem is, now I'm craving cinnamon rolls.


*if you are brave enough to try this recipe for yourself, here's the link http://www.bhg.com/recipe/turkey/moroccan-meatloaf/

A Sad Sad List

Ways in which I have perhaps become a bit pathetic.

1.  When the Academy announced the nominees for Best Picture today, the only one I'd even SEEN was Toy Story 3. 

2.  And I didn't even see THAT one in the theater.  I had to wait until it came out on DVD.

3.  I was so happy for Woody and Buzz Lightyear that I TEXTED my husband (while he was in a meeting) to tell him the good news.

4.  He did not bother to text me back. 

5.  Because I have reached a new low of pathetic.

Life in Stations

I helped Susan with a little decorating project last week. (Check out her fabulous home here.)

Well, in all honesty, it started out "little", but we ended up, you know, decorating the entire downstairs.  It wasn't ME, though!  It's just that, once Susan started sprucing up ONE room, she got all inspired. 

These things happen.

I've helped friends decorate over the years, I've even done a few freelance jobs here and there - charging clients by the hour for help with redecorating, reorganizing, restyling.  Although, honestly, they should charge me because there is nothing in the world I love more.  Nothing.

And since I love nothing more, here is a tip from me to you:  Stop decorating (or NOT decorating) around your kids.  Stop trying to decorate as if your children do not exist.  Just stop that! 

So many homes have either a) a"formal" living room where no child is allowed to enter (usually filled with delicate antique furniture and fragile heirloom china) or b) an entire house filled with plastic-y storage tubs containing zillions of plastic-y children's toys.  Folks, there is a better way!

My advice? create LIVABLE spaces.  Even your "formal" living room does not have to be so formal that a child cannot set foot in it.  But, do not just give up and let your home be overrun with children's toys/toy storage devices, either.

This is my "formal" living room.  This is the room you see when you enter my home.  So I especially like for this room to be clean and neat and organized.  However, that does NOT mean my children are not allowed in here.

Dogs and kids allowed!

We spend TONS of time in here as a family.  And yes, I intentionally purchased furniture and accessories that were both beautiful AND functional (translation: pretty AND will stand up to a 2 year old).  But.  I've also created STATIONS.

For instance, I included this wee little craft table in the room.  A child-friendly STATION.  The table is painted to coordinate with the decor and placed so that the kids can play while I work at the computer desk.  I've filled a woven basket with art supplies and stored it directly under the table.  

Presto!  A craft STATION.

And in that same room, there is a hidden space under the stairs.

It's like Harry Potter's cupboard!

This is the Lego STATION.  And see the bench there in the background?  The seat lifts to reveal a toy STATION. 



And there are stations in the kitchen.  My kitchen is the heart of my home, and my children LOVE to be in there with me.  However, it's nearly impossible to get dinner cooked and the dishes washed with children underfoot. 

STATIONS to the rescue.

I stood on a chair to take this picture.  Paige thinks mommy is nuts. 

There is an arts/crafts station at the built-in desk.

Markers, stamps, and crayons stored in glass jars.

And toys hidden under the eat-in bar.

And when I'm getting ready in the morning, I have a station in my mater bathroom.

The basket contains all sorts of toys.  And the mirror contains Paige.

Do you have stations in your house?  Or have you found other ways to make peace with your children and all of their (aesthetically UN-pleasing) accoutrements?