I had a 20 minute work day!

I'm at home on my couch eating lunch right now :) I won't be in the office much over the next month because I have health fairs to attend. Today's was the easiest fair ever! I spoke for 1 minute to a room of 8 people and then left. Love it!

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We had my nieces over the weekend and we had a good time. The 8 year old got on a my nerves a few times, but it was more my issue than hers. We had some funny moments- and some definitely not funny moments:

6am:

*knockKnock*

Me: *who is knocking on this bedroom door? Oh well, I'm ignoring it*

*knockKnock*

TheCount: Come in

11yearold: I felt something wet where 8yrold is sleeping. 

TheCount: I'm coming

He walked out to find that little girl peed on our couch. He helped her clean it up and wash her clothes. This chick said "Sorry, but don't worry, I'm clean. When I realized I did it, I got up used 1 pump of soap to wash my 'gina and changed my pants." Everybody looked at her like "what!?" The next night, she had to sleep on the floor (I said she should sleep in the tub, but I was out voted). The 11yrold was like, "Man, I was sleeping good and then I stretched out my leg and my foot felt something wet. That's just nasty!"

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There was also a moment when 8yrold getting on all of our nerves and the 11yrold patted her on the head and whispered something to her. I fell out laughing and TheCount just sat around looking crazy. 

TheCount: What did she say?

Me: "Oh, 8yrold, SHUT UP!"

It was funny because she said it so sweetly and looked so innocent. I probably should have told her to be nice, but truth be told, I wanted to tell her to shut up too.

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Gotta go, I have bridesmaids duties to perform and some new oyin goodies to try out on my hair tonight and I need to go get busy!  I'm trying to navigate the fine line between a high fashion tea party and ghetto label whore-ness. 

And we ate... New Things

Sunday

Chickpeas and Chorizo. We ate this with Naan Bread. It wasn't nasty, but I didn't like how the chorizo sausage smelled so it made it hard for me to enjoy it.

Monday

Spaghetti- I wanted a quick meal, and what's quicker than spaghetti? Ground chuck, whole grain pasta, and spaghetti sauce 

Tuesday

I'm pretty sure we had spaghetti again- this time with some garlic bread! How fancy of me :)

Wednesday

Green Lentil Chili

This makes a lot of food, but it's good. It was a pretty easy meal, I made it Tuesday night and then reheated it on Wednesday. MrC mixed in cheese salsa and ate it with corn chips. I used some shredded cheddar and ritz crackers- both good!

Thursday

Pasta with chicken sausage in Mascarpone Sauce

This is the same basic recipe I used last week, but this time I sliced a package of garlic flavored chicken sausage and added it in there. It was so good! Like really, really good. I cooked this in 30 minutes, so no excuses!

Friday

Cheese quesadilla

Saturday

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

Well I wasn't buying french bread so I used hamburger buns. I also didn't have basil, so I used fresh parsley.I forgot to buy marinara sauce so I used spaghetti sauce. As you can see, you can easily make substitutions and it'll still be good!  These were really, really good! We had it with salad, it was the perfect meal for a warm day. Probably even better if you have a grill.

Song on Repeat

I've had to check my attitude in a major way these days. When I get in one of my moods I start to feel entitled and selfish, traits that aren't cute. I spend more time complaining about the work I have to do then actually doing the work.  I could have been done if I'd just shut up and do it! We pick up a family for church and it's out of the way, and I was getting tired of having to wake up even earlier so we could be to church on time. I never said anything, but God knows my heart- and I'm sure he wasn't happy with it. He blessed us with the ability to get a vehicle to fit an extra family in, and here I go talking about what I want to do. We're supposed to babysit my nieces this weekend. I agreed, but not with a joyful spirit. It was one of those, "fine, I'll do it so next time I can say no" type things. Instead of planning things for us to do this weekend, I did the following:

 

1. Told TheCount he better not make any plans because his nieces were coming up and he better not leave me with them all weekend.

2. Asked why the heck 8yearoldniece wasn't going with her daddy who lives around the corner from us. When mommy goes out of town, daddy gets his turn, in my opinion.

3. Complained to everybody that I wanted to spend the first nice weekend with just my husband. We don't have kids yet for a reason.

4. Whined about how we live in a one bedroom apartment, we don't have room for these extra kids.

 

Seriously? Shut up TM. It's family. All this complaining over a weekend of watching an 8 year old and an 11 year old?

 

My entitled attitude had definitely spread to other areas, but there's no need to put myself completely on blast, so I'll keep it to myself. This morning on my way into work, I had already been praying about my attitude when the song "He Wants it All Today" by Forever Jones came on. Next thing I knew, my crybaby self was crying and praying some more. God has blessed us immensely, yet I try to hold on to it all for myself or get all proud and talk about the great things I can do, knowing good and well it has nothing to do with me. I'm grateful. I'm blessed. I'm joyful.

 

"Love me, love me with your whole heart, He wants it all today.

Serve me, serve me with your life now, He wants it all today.

Bow down, let go of your idols, He wants it all today.

All of you, more of you, He wants it all today." - Forever Jones

Busy Season

Yesterday I left all my food at home, today I left my cell phone. Can you say brain overload? Leaving my cell phone behind was probably for the best, because it means no twitter today and I'll probably get some of this work done. My tasks for the day have started invading my dreams. I had a dream about watering my plants last night, they were yelling at me because they were dying and dried out. I guess I'll get around to watering them tonight.

 

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My parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary yesterday. My mom isn't really a gift person, but she was actually really excited about what we got her: a Home Depot gift card. They're redoing the hall bathroom so I knew it would come in handy. Apparently she thinks I'm super cheap, because she was amazed at the amount. Dag ma, it is y'all silver anniversary- the least I could do was spend $100.  The next time they go out of town, we're going to redo their mailbox for them. As many times as I've driven into it, I need to be the one to fix it!

 

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Thanks for the shoe suggestions the other day. I ordered one of NewRibena's suggestions. Much appreciated guys!

 

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I've been nominated for a position at church and I'm not sure how I feel about it. First off, I want to know who the heck nominated me. I physically attacked TheCount because he wouldn't tell me and I know he knows! I'm 99.9% sure he was in cahoots with my friend's husband. If she's nominated too, it will confirm my suspicions- TheCount nominated Friend and FriendsHusband nominated me. We'll see what happens. (FYI: it's not a competition for one position, they pick multiple people each year. The congregation makes the nominations, the deacons/elders look over the list then pass it on to the Pastors. The Pastors have the final say.)

 

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Alright, time to get to work! Going to check out that new Marvin Sapp CD then listen to some jazz as I try to finish updating eligibility and doing some audits that were sent to us LAST YEAR, but we didn't have anybody to do them. They decided to train me and now I'll be going through the spreadsheets conducting the audits (tasks that I don't enjoy, but I shall not complain).

 

 

20 Questions- Shoe Edition

Who makes the most comfortable pair of work appropriate shoes you own? What style are they? Have I asked y'all this before? I feel like I have, but let's answer again and keep in mind spring and summer is coming up so I don't want to be walking around in thigh high boots. I just had the most frustrating shopping hour at Nordstrom Rack because my feet act so stupid. I don't see the point in taking medicine everyday to mask symptoms, especially since I'm only 24. If I'm on anti inflammatory medications before I even hit 25, what the heck am I gonna do when I'm 50, or 75 (please don't tell TheCount or my pastor that I'm not taking those stupid things every day)? Why not just do some surgery to fix the problem and we can fix it with some more surgery later on down the line? I don't think the world will have a shortage of toe bones, I don't think the list would be as long as a kidney transplant list- or maybe it is. Maybe I'll have to submit my name to get a new big toe and 2 years from now they'll call me and I'll have to rush in to get my new toe! Was that insensitive to people on real lists? Probably, I'm sorry! I'll trade you a kidney for a toe!

 

Back to the real question: Who makes the most comfortable pair of work appropriate shoes you own?

And we ate...

Monday

Pasta with Mascarpone Sauce

Salad

I didn't use regular pasta. I got some Garlic and Basil pasta from Trader Joe's and it added quite a bit of flavor to this dish. I also didn't have any fresh basil, so I used dried. This was quick and easy. I wanted to make it later on in the week with shrimp, but I never made it to the store to get some more tomatoes.

Tuesday

Hamburgers

Apple chips

I really don't know why I made the apple chips. I saw the picture and it looked good. The fact that I hate cooked fruit never even occurred to me. The fact that I didn't know what I was doing didn't matter to me, and the fact that it took 2 hours to make didn't stop me. It should have. The apple chips were gross, but I only used one apple so not a huge waste. It's worth a try.

TheCount was in Memphis eating at the Neely's restaurant, so I don't have a second opinion on the apple chips. If you ever go to their restaurant, he said the cole slaw is delicious!

Wednesday

Leftover hamburgers. We had to go pick up somebody and get to church by 7.

Thursday

Shrimp Quesadilla's. Tortilla's, pinto beans, cheese, and shrimp cooked in some taco seasoning and chili powder. 

Friday

It took me 2.5 hours to get from work to church, where I had to work in the nursery during the last night of our finance conference. I guess our pastors forgot everybody went to work that day and that there were children there- because service went on for 3 hours. Thankfully we had 7 workers and only 9 children in the under 24 month old room. When I got home at 11, I was so dang tired and hungry so I ate some apples while I heated up the Garlic & Butter Tilapia fillets by Gorton's. 

 

Haute Couture Tea

There hasn't been anything blogworthy happening around these parts. I haven't been going anywhere to take pictures. I haven't been doing anything worth talking about. I've just been chilling. I am helping plan a bridal shower that's in May, but the maid of honor is really slacking. I emailed her 2 weeks ago telling her I had her back up here (she lives 6 hours away) and that I could do the leg work for her- no response. I emailed her 2 days ago asking her specific vision for he shower so I can start buying stuff here and there- no response. I don't  rush and I'm not planning on running out and spending $500 in one day cuz you waited until the last minute and I didn't have time to bargain hunt. It's supposed to be a "high fashion tea party" theme. How exactly does one execute that? I've heard talks of a pink carpet, paparazzi, photo shoots, and a cake that resembles an Hermes bag. I'll let you read that sentence and draw your own conclusions. If you guys have any cool ideas for things to do at a "high fashion tea party" let me know. The bride has specifically requested: lemon bars, everybody wear dresses hats and/or gloves, and tea party food. Aside from some of the MOH ideas that I'm side eyeing, I'm actually looking forward to it. I wanted a fancy tea party for my shower, but my ma and sister refused to buy tea cups and pots. Cheap hussies.

 

I've already purchased a white porcelain tea pot from goodwill for $3 and I'll be dropping by various thrift stores to pick up some more items as soon as I get told the vision. There was another patterned tea pot with matching platter for $6, but I didn't know if the MOH wanted them all a certain color. I think it would be cool if all the decorations were white and the tea sets were mismatched. It would ONLY look elegant if all the other decorations were black and white, otherwise the room would look chaotic. Alright, I'm off to find some cool ideas, and to email the bride to ask where the heck her save the dates for her JUNE wedding!

Shall we ramble?

Tonight, I'm getting in bed at 10pm. I don't have to be asleep, but I at least need to be making my way there. I don't know how 1 and 2 am always find me despite the fact that I'm exhausted. Tonight, I shall not see 1 a.m. When it shows up, it'll see me sleep!

I was going to post my recipes that I made last week on Saturday, but not only was I lazy last week, I didn't make too many good things. Everything I used a recipe for didn't turn out well. It was my random "let's see what happens" meals that turned out well.

 

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Yesterday my ma and I went to this natural market in DC that Qhemet Biologics said carried their products. First off, it was closed. I saw somebody inside and she let us in, thankfully. Secondly, they had NO Qhemet products and the lady didn't even know what I was talking about. Third, the lady's hair was tragic and she kept complimenting me on mine. It wasn't that mine is so great, hers was just so bad! She had braids in and you could tell it had been at least a month since any type of water/cleanser/moisturizer hit that head. I told her about some easy things she could do and wrote it down for her. I hope she listens. Did I mention the store was the size of my bedroom? Seriously Qhemet? If you only sell your stuff in one store in DC, pick one big enough for me sneeze in without infecting the entire store.

 

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We also went to a thrift store that we heard people rave about. Womp womp! I guess they got all the good stuff on Saturday. I did get some toys for the church nursery (don't worry, tonight I will wash them with soap and water, tomorrow night I will bleach them, then I will rewash them with soap and water, and then use a natural disinfectant before taking them in to the nursery). I'm in charge of the 15-24 month old class. It's a new class because we had to split up the under 24 months crowd- there's too many of them! We had huge almost 2 year olds trampling out 2 month olds. It's still the smallest class (our children's church gets 350 0-12 year olds every Sunday) so we get no real support. They have to do bulk orders for furniture and supplies, and since it's not time for the order yet, they were trying to get us some materials from the 2-3 year old class. Those teachers aren't trying to give up anything! They have so much and we have nothing but cribs (that we took from another class) and a changing table (that we took from another class). I understand that they need their stuff too, but dag, can y'all throw my kids a bone? No? Fine, I'll do it myself! I'm not the type to sit and argue or beg, I'll just handle it. We had a meeting on Saturday and after 20 minutes of back and forth asking for either cubbies, a storage cabinet, a BROKEN cubby container, or some hooks, they agreed to....NOTHING! Selfish hussies, lol.  They are gonna wish their class was as cool as mine is going to be when I'm finished with it.! My mom had to pop my hand and make me leave the store because I was about to buy 20 elmo's because then all my kids could have one! The only words all of my kids know consistently is "elmo." We were on the floor having snack yesterday and one of the kids came in with an elmo bag and they all looked up, pointed, and whispered, "elmo." It was the scariest thing ever.  My ma asked how I was going to sanitize them and then I thought of the horrible things that would be living in them and kept it moving, lol. I spent a grand total of $10.89 on 3 guitars, a turtle thingy, a cell phone that does numbers, letters, and songs, and a sesame street something. I''ll probably hit the goodwill and Christian bookstore by my house later on this week to see what I can come up with. A parent gave me a cd player to use because my kids don't really like to watch the tv (which is good because the 2-3 year old class stole our dvd player).

 

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While we were hanging out yesterday we went to MOM's organic market. I have one by my house and go all the time, but they just opened this one near my ma. She had so much fun in that store! We made friends, we played with children (and by we, I mean me, and by play, I mean made a fool of myself while he stared at me), and I made faces at the samples and then gave them to my ma cuz I thought they were gross. We got our flax seeds (I put them in my smoothies), nettle tea (Dr. Oz told my momma it will help her hair grow), and some shampoo and conditioners. While were there my mom remembered she had a 60th birthday dinner to attend, so I tagged along.

 

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I ate like a dang pig at the dinner. Fried chicken, fried fish, corn, salad, and seafood pasta salad. There was other food, but I just kept eating that. There was also a coconut cake (I don't eat cake) that I watched everybody taste and then make a horrible face! It was hilarious and I warned nobody. My ma asked my aunt to taste it and as soon as she did I yelled "gotcha!" and laughed and laughed as she made faces. If I'm ever watching you eat, don't eat it! If I'm looking at you it's because I know something you don't!

Can't we all just get along?

Remember a while back when I said I was going to have to unfriend somebody on facebook because they always had disrespectful statuses about religion, Christianity in particular? No, well I unfriended him, as did TheCount. We went to high school with Dude and he lives across the street from TheCount's mama and calls TheCount on a regular basis so when he added us back as friends, we accepted to keep things from getting awkward. Recently TheCount has been commenting on Dude's statuses because he really is just over the top with animosity. Even one of his friends that believes as he believes, asked him why he was always attacking Christians and no other religions. The other day he posted something about how the Bible contradicts itself and listed a verse that he clearly misunderstood. TheCount asked him how so? Dude proceeds to make this long list of stuff and we could see that he wasn't understanding the verses properly. TheCount explained the verses to Dude and Dude responds back with, "long winded nonsense... No, you're wrong." TheCount is such a kind soul, and never wants to disrespect anybody so he responded with something along the lines of this "Dude, my explanations are correct. You don't have to believe it, but that's what it means according to the Bible. Believe what you want, but you can't ask me to explain what I believe and what the Bible is saying, then tell me my explanations are wrong. Why don't you tell me what the Bible is saying then since you're obviously know more about what I believe than I do. I'm not saying you have to accept what I'm saying as YOUR truth, but you asked me about MINE, and I explained it, it was not wrong. I'm not defending the institution of religion or "the church", I'm defending my faith."

 

How lovely and kind of him. Me? I start flying off at the mouth getting all smart mouthed. TheCount told me to make sure I don't ever get in any religious debates, because I don't know how to debate in love. How can you debate with somebody who doesn't listen to you? He came back talking about the sun god and stuff, and how our God stole from his gods, and how our god doesn't even have a real name, which wasn't remotely related to anything TheCount said. My response? (spoken only to TheCount, since I'm banned from the conversation) "I don't have to debate, defend, or convince anybody of anything. If you ask me a question, I will answer it. There is no back and forth, there is no trying to disprove me, as I won't try to disprove you. I state my case and I'm done with it. Believe it or don't believe it, I don't care. My salvation is not contingent upon you accepting it, or even understanding it. Don't be surprised if you die and find out Heaven and Hell are real, and I won't be surprised if I die and stay dead, or come back as a goat or a rat. All of these possibilities were presented to us and we chose to believe what we believed."

 

I'm glad TheCount and his friends actually enjoy defending and explaining what they believe to others, I don't. I know everybody that reads this blog doesn't believe as I believe and that's fine! I've never had issues with anybody because I'll respect your belief, and you'll respect mine. It irritates me when people start telling me about how us "Christians are" and making all these assumptions and generalizations. I am me. The same way you don't want people assuming that everybody of your race acts the same, don't assume that everybody of my "religion" acts the same.

 

What about you? Do you like to have religious conversations with people? Do you enjoy the thrill of debating or defending what you believe? If you don't mind sharing, what's your fundamental truth?

 

My truth: Jesus died for me, I believe it, see ya in Heaven!

How I live: Love the Lord God with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself

On Our Nightstand

TheCount and I are currently reading through this book. It's about identifying the primary way you express love and how to better fulfill your partner's love needs. The five love languages are: quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch.

Based on what little information I've given you, which of those five things do YOU do to show somebody you love them? Which of those five is how somebody could express their love for you?

*more on this tomorrow, or the day after that, heck, it might be next week*

And We Ate...late

I meant to post this on Saturday! Lasts weeks meals were underwhelming. Nothing I'm really dying to make again.

 

 

Monday

Red Beans and Rice Nothing to write home about. Probably because I used whatever I felt like using and it definitely wasn't andouille sausage.

 

Tuesday

Clams, Fried Chicken, and Oreo's (TheCount was out of town, I decided to have a free for all!)

 

Wednesday

Spice Rubbed Steak and White Beans It was in the March issue of Bon Appetit. The steak was nothing to write home about, but I really enjoyed the beans. They were canned beans and after draining and rinsing I cooked them in a skillet (add 1T olive oil) with 2 cloves of minced garlic and 1 teaspoon of cumin. Yummy!

 

Thursday

Domino's- I planned crab legs for dinner, but TheCount decided to give me a break and ordered pizza. I really think he just didn't feel like cleaning the kitchen again.

 

Friday

 Steak and Shrimp Fajitas The marinade wasn't flavorful enough for me. I should have added chili powder and then I think it would have been fine. I also shouldn't have used 2 month old limes and jalapenos. Yeah, this one might have been my fault too.

 

Saturday

I'm sure we ate. I'm sure I cooked it. I sure don't remember what it was.