Out to Eat

Jeff and I decided last night to go out for Mexican food. We actually haven't been out to eat for a few weeks, and I needed a break (and he felt like Mexican food!). There's a Mexican restaurant, Casa Taquila, just a half mile from our house that we've driven by a million times but never stopped. At one time several years ago we heard that it was voted one of Cincinnati's best Mexican restaurants. I'm not sure why we'd never been there in all these years. The restaurant is in a little strip mall, and not very appealing from the outside (perhaps that's why we've never been there??). But what a pleasant surprise when we walked in! Bright, clean and much much larger than it appeared from the outside. They had beautiful dining room chairs painted in bright Mexican colors with suns and stars and chili peppers painted in gorgeous hues of blue and orange and red. I'd redecorate my entire kitchen if I could get six of those chairs! The staff was attentive and friendly. Within just a few seconds of sitting down, we had warm tortilla chips served with a salsa dip and a warm bean dip in front of us, which were very tasty and seemed made fresh. I was hopeful that it was a sign of good things to come. It's always nice to find a comfortable restaurant with good food in your own neighborhood. I couldn't have been more disappointed. The food was just terrible! I couldn't believe it! I honestly thought there was something wrong with ME because no Mexican restaurant would ever serve food that had absolutely NO taste! Jeff and I both ordered a combination plate that came with a chicken tostada, beef enchilada and some other beef dish (identical to the enchilada but without the sauce). Both had beans and rice as side dishes. The rice was overcooked and soggy. Though it did have a hint of red color to it, there wasn't a trace of any tomato taste or any spices of any kind -- not even salt or pepper. The chicken on the tostada was over-boiled and didn't have a trace of chicken flavor. There were no spices or seasonings in any of the dishes! How can that be possible in a Mexican restaurant!?! I am not a restaurant snob at all. I like food of all kinds, whether it's in a fast food restaurant or an upscale restaurant. I'm not a Mexican food connosieur. Put some cumin and oregano on almost any meat and put it in a taco shell and I'm happy! Believe me when I say I am not a fussy eater and I can't remember the last time (if ever) I found food to be inedible in a restaurant. This restaurant's food was as near to inedible as I've ever found. Jeff and I always rate new restaurants we eat at on a scale of 1 to 10. Most get a 7 or 8. This restaurant received a 1 from me (only because of the ambiance and the staff) and a 2 from Jeff.

Whew - it's Saturday

Well, I made it through 3 full days of babysitting DGS Brayden. Now, these were three great days -- I enjoy every second I spend with him and he is going through my favorite stage -- the "I need to learn EVERYTHING" stage. His vocabulary is increasing rapidly and it's just a joy to sit and listen to him talk. You can tell his brain is a little sponge right now -- just absorbing everything and anything you're willing to tell him or teach him. I love it.

Three days and only one time out, that's pretty good for a two year old! And this child does NOT fuss when you put him in time out -- he sits in the Time Out chair and just waits out his time quietly. The one Time Out was for biting Umpa (Jeff), (I think he's testing what he can and cannot do to other people) but he took his time out and came back and gave Jeff and hug and a kiss and it was over with. One other time he decided to toss all his crayons on the floor, and when I asked him to pick them up, he gave me a resounding "No!", but when I told him he could choose -- Time Out or pick up the crayons, he decided to pick up the crayons. I told him I was proud of him for making a good choice :)

Although we spent most of Wednesday outside, Thursday and Friday were cold rainy days and we both missed going outside. On Friday morning, Brayden wanted to play in the kitchen sink, but Jeff was getting ready to take a shower. I told Brayden that we couldn't run the water when Umpa was taking a shower, but we would when he was done. We moved on to other things. About 20 minutes later, after I'd forgotten all about the sink, Brayden said, "Umpa done, Umma water on?" A five word sentence!!! What a schmarty-pants. So I let him stand on a step stool to play in the sink, but he couldn't really reach things enough and was getting a lot of water on the counters and floor. So the next step was to remove his pants and socks, and let him sit on the edge of the sink to play. Well, once he cracked his head on the edge of the cabinet, I decided that wasn't working too well (!), whipped off his diaper and sat him in the sink of water.... with his shirt on! He thought that was hilarious!

But Friday later afternoon, I was worn out, I have to admit. (I always say there's a reason God invented Menopause -- 50+ yr old women just don't have the energy to be with babies and toddlers full time!) Brayden is at an age where you really, really need to keep your eye on him every minute. For example, he has learned how to unlock and open our heavy patio sliding doors, and will pop outside on his own if you're not watching him. So at this point, I think it's more mental exhaustion than physical.

But today I need to play "catch up" on all the things I didn't get done last week because of the extra babysitting. So here is my list of what I need to get done over the weekend:

Weekend To Do List
-- Catch up on Yahoo group email and post sales
-- Go through new quilt magazines to sign up for newsletters (for my other blog)
-- Catch up on personal email
-- Copy music CD's
-- Bake banana bread and muffins
-- Think Spring*
-- Shopping at WallyWorld for paper goods and sale items
-- Shopping at Michael's for Spring wreath items
-- Quilting!

*Think Spring. It's time to move my family room and dining room from Winter to Spring. I need to remove dark slipcovers, wash windows inside and out, change art work, hang a Spring Quilt in the family room, and put a quilted Spring table top on the dining room table. I think I'm even going to buy some Spring flowers for the kitchen table! I saw an idea for making a Spring forsythia wreath for the front door, and I'd like to get that done this weekend too. Cheer the place up a bit and bring in some color.

With the exception of doing the shopping, I'll spend the weekend taking it easy on my back. Although I rarely pick Brayden up, I seem to forever be stooping over to pick up toys, and my back is feeling it today. So a day or two of "back rest" is in order before it gets worse.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

It's a CAKE!!!!

Creating a new habit

I wish I could remember the name of the blog (Added: I found it! The blog is called The Lazy Organizer) where I read about starting a new habit on Saturdays. It got me thinking about my household habits. I'm a most definitely creature of habit. I am very scheduled about what I do and when I do it. For example, with the exception of the two days I babysit my grandson, I make my bed every morning before coming downstairs. When I go downstairs, the first thing I do every morning is feed the cat, then make a pot of coffee, then clean up the kitchen... which lead me to starting a new habit. My new habit (or hopefully soon to be a habit) is to clean the kitchen thoroughly every night before going to bed. Put clean dishes away, scrub the sink, sweep the kitchen floor, empty the trash if necessary, put out a clean dish cloth and dish towel, wipe down counters and stove top, and put away the bits and pieces that have collected on the counters during the day. I'm not sure how this became a morning habit because it's so much nicer to come downstairs to a sparkling clean kitchen! Normally I clean the kitchen first thing in the morning, but then I bake, or the mail comes and goes on the counter, or I've got a crock pot going -- something is always going on in the kitchen -- so I never really get a chance to enjoy my clean kitchen before the next "mess" arrives. But if I get into the habit of cleaning it every night, I'll at least be able to enjoy how clean it is for the rest of the evening, and again when I first walk into the kitchen in the morning! So that's my new habit I'm trying to create. I started last night, and will continue it every evening around 8pm. It was nice coming down this morning to the clean counters and the swept floor -- I felt less like seeing the room as a "To Do List" and was more able to enjoy the room itself. A side note: Great news!!! My son and daughter-in-law are coming home (from Colorado) in July. I can't wait!! They haven't been home in two years, and it feels like forever since I've seen them. I always enjoy their visits. This time around we will share their visit with her parents, who recently moved into our area -- but that's OK! Any time with my son and/or my daughter-in-law is a gift, and I'll take whatever time I can get :) Yippy Skippy! Jeffie's coming home!!!!

My Science Experiment

I keep seeing ads on TV for something called "Green Bags", which are advertised to stop produce from spoiling in the fridge. I do admit that I throw out far more produce than I'd like, so these bags interested me. I got on the web and started reading reviews -- and review after review said they didn't work.

But I also read what some people say DID work... and tried my own little experiement.

I bought two bags of mixed salad greens, both with the same expiration date. I opened them on the same day (the day after buying them at the store), and put both salads in a Kroger brand zip storage bag. In one bag I put two pieces of paper towel, with the greens sandwiched in between. In the second bag, I did not put paper towels. When I sealed both bags, I tried to remove as much air as I could, though not going to any extreme to do so. Both bags were opened one time during the week with about one-half of the contents removed. After seven days of being in the ziplock bags, here are the results:

You can see that the bag on the left (with the paper towel) is still green, bright, and without brown spots! The bag on the right is just the opposite and had to be thrown out.

While the "green bags" are getting terrible reviews, this paper towel trick works beautifully and costs just a few cents.

Receive something homemade from me - and Pay It Forward!

I've joined the Pay it Forward challenge over at Cathi's Quilt Obsession blog. I admit I'm looking forward to receiving something from her, but I'm just as excited to have a chance to send YOU something that I'll make for three of you!

The rules are that the first three people to join the challenge on my blog will receive a gift handmade by me. I have 365 days to make and send your gift, although I am hopeful it won't take me that long. You must write a post on your blog inviting 3 more people to join in and receive a handmade gift from you.

If you would like to join in on the pay it forward, please specifically state in your comment that you would like to join. Also make sure there is some way to contact you so I can email and ask for your mailing address! "Handmade" can mean a lot of things -- quilting, sewing, scrapbooking, knitting, crocheting, painting... wherever your talents lay, I'm sure it will be fine!

I'm excited! Having a blog -- no, let me re-phrase that -- have real people come to read my blog -- has been a wonderful experience for me, and this is my tiny way of saying "Thank You" for stopping by. And FYI - I don't mind sending an item overseas so long as you don't mind that I ship it "slow boat" method.

Picture of the Day

The Upcoming Week - List

It's going to be a busy week. Brayden's other babysitter is taking some time off while her kids are on Spring break, so I have DGS 2 yr old Brayden Wed., Thurs., and Friday this week. I also now have my car back (yay!), and the weather is supposed to be reasonably nice all week, with a little rain toward the end of the week. To Do List for the week: Monday - Clean up kitchen - done - Quick clean upstairs bathrooms - Laundry - done - Quilting Tuesday - Errands - hair cut, bank, WallyWorld - Vac downstairs - Change sheets - More quilting Wednesday* - Story hour at library - 10:15 - Car wash - Lunch at McDonald's - Laundry - Collect and take out all trash Thursday* - Yard work - Load dishwasher - Empty dishwasher Friday (rain)* - Sewing - Sweep kitchen - Dust dining room - Windex appliances, patio door * Days when Brayden is here -- I try and do housework that he can help me with. The kid wields a mean bottle of windex and a paper towel, so I set him up to clean my stove, dishwasher and refrigerator! He also loves working out in the yard and has his own wheelbarrow, so we can start Spring cleaning the front gardens if it's warm enough outside. Should be fun, but I know it will be exhausting. Luckily, he takes nice long afternoon naps and "Umpa" will be working from home two days this week.