Author Archives: Cindy

party preparations

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Catie’s second birthday is next Tuesday, but for scheduling purposes, her birthday party is tomorrow. We’ve been talking it up to her a lot, and she seems to be pretty excited about it. Of course, this could be because there’s an episode of “Thomas the Tank Engine” (her new favorite show) where they have a party for all the trains, so that’s what she thinks she’s going to tomorrow. I don’t know.

Oh, and she knows that when people ask how old she is, she says, “one… TWO!” Again, I don’t know if she knows exactly what that means. Dave and I have heard her count up to five a few times, but I don’t know if she’s really understanding the concept of counting, or if she’s just memorized the words in order. Either way, color me impressed.

Anyway, tomorrow afternoon we will all be at Chick-Fil-A having a little shindig. I’m not that stressed about it, since there isn’t too much for me to do. I have all of the party favors made, all that’s left is that I need to pick up some cupcakes tomorrow morning, in case the cake isn’t big enough. (The CFA manager I spoke with couldn’t tell me how big the cake is, or how many servings it would make, just “well, I guess it depends on how big the slices are” – um, WTF?) I want to make sure the parents who come are all able to get a little sweet treat, too. I figure that when it comes to dessert, it’s always preferable to have too much than too little.

Oh, and btw – the bakery people that Chick-Fil-A use have never heard of the Wonder Pets, so we’re having a Winnie the Pooh themed party. Which is fine, I’m sure Catie will be just as excited about Pooh as anything else. I debated on going with Thomas the Tank Engine, since Catie is really starting to love him, but (a) as much as I hate to operate along gender lines, the Thomas stuff is clearly heavily marketed to little boys, and (b) the idea of a cake with blue & black icing didn’t sound terribly appetizing.

Honestly, my biggest worry is going to be making sure that Catie goes down for her nap early enough that she’ll be up in time for the party (or at least won’t be too much of a grouch when I wake her up). She normally naps from 1:30 to 3:30, and the party is at 4, so we’re cutting it a little close. I’m planning on getting her up early and taking her out with me to run errands, in an effort to hopefully wear her out early for naptime.

Anyway, stay tuned for pictures from the birthday party. I’m sure it’s going to be an experience!

the ways in which yesterday did not suck

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1. SNOW DAY!!!

family shot (thanks to the neighbors)

We had so much fun with the snow, Catie absolutely loved it. I thought she’d decide that it was too cold after a few minutes and want to go back inside, but no way. She really is a January girl, she had an absolute blast and cried when we dragged her inside after 45 minutes because Dave and I had had enough.

2. We got a new president. I don’t even know where to start in trying to describe how happy this makes me. As moving as Obama’s inauguration speech was, my absolute favorite image of the entire day was the photograph of Barack and Michelle Obama waving to George and Laura Bush’s helicopter as they left Washington, DC. Forever. ::happy sigh::

3. I beat Dave at Scrabble for the first time ever. He and I play each other on Facebook sometimes, because we’re nerds like that, and he usually obliterates me. It’s not that his vocabulary is that much better than mine; I think we’re pretty evenly matched in that department. But he’s got this whole strategy with triple-word and -letter scores, and he usually completely kicks my butt. Yesterday I beat him by 6 points, and I may never stop bragging about that. (Like I said, we’re nerds.)

4. Catie took her nap on time, which allowed me to do my “30-Day Shred” workout. This was the second day in a row, and it hurts like a mother-of-pearl (my new substitute swear word for little toddler ears that repeat everything). But I also feel really good, because I know that this means I’m doing something right.

The ways in which today also should not suck:
1. The season premiere of “Lost” comes on tonight. Oh, Sawyer, how I have missed your muscular, shirtless self.

2. The snow is just melty/icy enough that we ought to be able to make a real snowman. Yesterday it was too powdery, it wouldn’t stick together.

3. Day 3 of the “30-Day Shred.” My legs are killing me, but I sort of can’t wait. Weird, I know.

the shred

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My brother’s visit this weekend was a lot of fun. He and his girlfriend Debbie were planning to get here around 1 p.m., but – and this is not surprising if you know Chris at all – they got here closer to 6 p.m. It wasn’t a big deal since I didn’t really have anything planned, it was just one of those things that made me roll my eyes because it’s so typical of him. Fortunately they showed up with birthday gifts for both me and Catie, so I got over it quickly. We had dinner and played board games, which probably sounds incredibly dull, but we had a really good time.

For the record, Catie already adores my brother, but she absolutely loved Debbie too. I was a little concerned since they’d never met before, but in no time, Catie had learned her name and was giving her unsolicited hugs. So I think she found a new friend there.

This morning we all went out for brunch. Chris and Debbie headed home shortly afterward, since it’s a long-ish drive back to Charlotte (about 2-3 hours). So it was a short visit, but good.

On an entirely different topic: I have finally caved to the peer pressure from all of the other bloggers who’ve been talking about it, and I ordered a copy of the 30-Day Shred. I’ve been doing this damn diet for two weeks and I have yet to lose a single pound, so I’m going to try something drastic to kickstart my metabolism. It arrived on Friday (happy birthday to me!), and I tried it out during Catie’s nap. It really is just as much of a butt-kicker as everybody says. I haven’t done it this weekend since we’ve been busy with company, but I plan to start my official Thirty Days of shredding tomorrow. Monday is the day for fresh starts, right? My only worry is that I have very weak knees (so do most women on my dad’s side of the family – thanks, crappy genes!). So I’m being very careful, because I really don’t want to end up needing a bionic knee like Alexa got.

And yes, it’s kind of silly to order a workout DVD when I have a gym membership, but the thing is? I haven’t been to the gym in ages. Catie hates the Y’s daycare and is totally miserable when I leave her there. I mean, sometimes she’ll be ok – she’s not happy, but she’ll manage. Then there was the time that a lady from the daycare had to come and get me fifteen minutes into my yoga class because my kid wouldn’t stop screaming and it was upsetting the other children. (And let me tell you, any relaxation or de-stressing that the yoga class had given me by that point? Was promptly undone by the embarassment of having to grab my shoes & yoga mat, and bolt out of class.) Sigh.

Perhaps even more importantly, there’s also the fact that I’m lazy. With the gym, I have to get Catie and myself dressed, get her daycare bag packed, get in the car, drive over there, make sure it’s during the gym’s (rather limited) daycare hours… it’s sort of a hassle. With a video, I just pop in the DVD and work out for 20 minutes during Catie’s nap. It’s basically impossible to come up with an excuse why I can’t work out. So that’s my plan. We’ll see how it goes.

EDITED TO ADD: OMG! I totally forgot to mention that my husband is awesome and got me the greatest birthday gift ever: he got me a Nintendo Wii. Right now all I have is the Wii Sports game, because the Wii Fit was on backorder. The sports game is fun (bowling in your living room!), but it’s not exactly aerobic exercise. I should have a Wii Fit in a few days, though, so yay! This way, if Jillian Michaels does totally kick my butt and I need to rest my muscles a bit, I’ll just do a little Wii Fit yoga in my living room, and either way, I don’t have to go past my front door to get my daily exercise. Woot!

thirty-three

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Tomorrow is my birthday. (Well, it’s 11 p.m., so actually it’s about an hour from now.) I’ll be 33 years old. Which, quite honestly, is really not a big deal at all. It seems as though you reach a point in life where the only birthdays you pay attention to are the ones that either end in a 5 or a 0, and all of the in between ones are sort of… whatever. Yeah, it’s my birthday. Meh.

The only significant thing I can come up with about this particular birthday is that I’m now the age that my dad was when he & my mom got married. (My mom was a young lass of 23 at the time; 10-year age gap between them.) When I was little, I thought he was soooo old. I mean, eww gross, my mom married an old man. Nice, right? Actually, come to think of it, 33 is also the age that Dave was when he and I got married. Huh. Weird.

Dave has made some noises about my present, so I’m not sure what he’s going to have in store for me. I haven’t even tried to guess, because if someone has gone to the trouble of planning a surprise, I don’t want to guess and ruin it. I told him he didn’t have to get me anything, because I’m a good wife like that. (He’s totally laughing at that sentence, btw.)

The only big thing happening for my birthday is that my brother and his girlfriend are driving over from Charlotte for the weekend. I’ve never met her, but she sounds nice, and I’m sure it’ll be a fun visit. Technically they aren’t coming until Saturday morning, which is the 17th, so really, it has nothing to do with my birthday and everything to do with the fact that they wanted to go someplace for the weekend since they have Monday (MLK Day) off from work. But it should be fun. Even though it means I’ll be frantically cleaning the house all day tomorrow in preparation for their arrival (sheets need to be washed, guest bath needs to be scrubbed, etc.). Not exactly my ideal way to spend my birthday, but oh well. A spotlessly clean house can be my birthday present to myself, right?

So, yep. Thirty-three. There it is.

toddler party planning

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In a mere two and a half weeks, my little baby girl is going to be 2 years old. That alone is sort of mind-boggling, but I’ll leave that topic for a different post. For now, let’s talk about the thing that’s been occupying the majority of my brain space this weekend: the birthday party.

Under normal circumstances, I would think that it’s a bit silly and self-indulgent to have a huge party for a 2 year-old who isn’t old enough to understand or care that it’s her birthday, and who won’t even remember the party a year from now. For Catie’s first birthday, we had a mini-party that consisted of the three of us and some cupcakes. It felt like a party would’ve been more for us than for her, so we didn’t have one.

However, soon after we moved into this neighborhood and Catie started to get acquainted with the kids who live around here, they all started asking me when her birthday was, and what kind of party she was going to have. Um…? I guess it makes sense, nothing is a bigger deal than a birthday when you’re a little kid (except maybe Christmas). But since I was talking to little kids – who, let’s face it, don’t have much of a sense of tact – it quickly became obvious that they all expect to be invited to Catie’s birthday party. Hmm.

Here are the problems I’m facing:
(a) our guest list consists of about 12-15 kids, plus their parents – I know that probably seems like a ridiculous amount, but that’s actually leaving out some of the kids that we don’t know that well or who very rarely play with Catie. These kids range in age anywhere from one to 12 years old. Yikes.
(b) Catie’s birthday is on January 27th. Late January is typically not the best time of year for an outdoor party, so inviting the kids over for a big backyard shindig isn’t really an option.
(c) I don’t want all those kids (plus their parents) in my house. It’s too much, I would be ridiculously overwhelmed.

So that leaves me with only one option that I can see, and that’s to have the party somewhere else. After much investigation, we’re thinking about having it at Chick-Fil-A; it’s relatively cheap, there’s an enclosed play area, and they handle pretty much everything for you. They provide meals for each kid, decor (plates, hats, cups, etc.) based on the theme you choose (I don’t think Wonder Pets party supplies exist, so I’m torn between Winnie the Pooh and Thomas the Tank Engine, Catie’s other two favorites), balloons, cake, ice cream, everything. Oh, plus we get a visit from the Chick-Fil-A cow mascot, who I imagine will absolutely terrify Catie. But still, big scary cow mascot not withstanding, it’s a really good deal.

I was talking about this with Meredith, the mom next door, and she said that the kids usually love parties that take place anywhere outside of the neighborhood. There’s something about seeing their friends outside of their normal context (i.e., at each other’s houses) that gets them all jazzed and excited. So I think that’s probably what we’re going to do.

What do y’all think? Is it too white trash to have a birthday party at a fast food restaurant? Or too over the top to have a big birthday bash for a two year-old?

recipe sharing time

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I don’t think I’ve ever posted a recipe here – I don’t love to cook that much, it’s kind of just not my thing. But since we started this no-sugar, no-white-flour diet, I’ve been looking around for creative meal ideas. I dug out my old South Beach Diet cookbook, and found something that we’ve never tried before. I modified it a bit (added chicken, since the original version was vegetarian), and the end result was awesome. Seriously, Dave and I both couldn’t stop talking about it, and we loved it just as much when we had the leftovers tonight. It was fantastic. So, just in case any of y’all are also trying to eat healthy, here you go:

Whole Wheat Pasta with Eggplant and Ricotta

* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 1/2 pounds eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes [note: this is where I messed up; I sliced the eggplant way too thin and it basically shriveled up to nothing. So make sure you cut them into nice big chunks.]
* 8 ounces whole-wheat penne pasta – you can use regular if you want, whole-wheat is just how we roll at our house
* 1 small onion, thinly sliced
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can of chopped tomatoes
* 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
* 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
* salt & pepper
* fresh basil (optional)
* My addition: 1 pound of chicken breast tenders, cut into bite-size pieces. I think pork would also work (maybe pork tenderloin?), but probably not beef or fish.

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Lightly coat a baking pan with oil (or spray with Pam). Place eggplant in the pan, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, season with salt & pepper, toss to coat, and spread in an even layer. Bake, stirring once, until eggplant is lightly browned, about 25 minutes.
3. While eggplant is roasting, cook pasta according to the package directions.
4. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. In my version: add the chicken (or your meat of choice) and brown it. Of course, it’s not mandatory, this was just something I added, since for Dave and me, it doesn’t really feel like dinner if there isn’t meat involved.
5. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened – about 5 minutes.
6. Add garlic, cook one minute more.
7. Add tomatoes (with juice) and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 3 minutes.
8. Stir in vinegar and season to taste with salt & pepper. You can also add basil if you like. I tore up a few fresh basil leaves and added them, and I think it really improved the flavor. (Plus the touch of green made the dish a little prettier.)
9. Drain pasta and place in large bowl. Add tomato mixture, eggplant, and ricotta cheese. Toss to combine, season with salt & pepper (maybe – I thought it seemed unnecessary after salting both the tomato mixture and the eggplant), and serve.

It really was fantastic. My only gripe is that it isn’t exactly a toddler-friendly meal. Catie didn’t like the whole-wheat pasta, and the sauce was a little too “herb-y” for her (the combination of onion, basil, and balsamic vinegar – it’s a very strong taste for a little one). She ate a little bit of the chicken, and then I had to find something else for her to eat for dinner. But if you aren’t cooking for a two year-old, go forth and godspeed. Let me know if you try it, and what you think of it!