Seriously

Sometimes, I feel like people don’t take me seriously.

Years ago I told my friend Emily “Someday, I’m going to be really really fat.  But I won’t be sad because I’ll have elastic waist pants and ice cream”

I had quite the elastic waist pants obsession

But then I discovered if I eat like a normal person I have a pretty rad metabolism.  Can I eat whatever I want and be a size two?  Hells no.  But eating whatever I want has never put into ElasticWaistVille.

Which is kinda sad.  Because I seriously did want some.

But Jesus loves me so ElasticWaistVille became TRENDY.

Yesterday I realized I really truly needed some jeggings.  I texted my husband.  He thought I was joking.

Joke’s on you husband.

Me + Elastic Waist = True Love 4EVAH

They’re like maternity pants on top

I love ’em.

The lack of being taken seriously has been going on for years.

In undergrad I was a sociology major.  People would ask “what are you going to do with that?”

I’d answer “become a housewife!”

Sure, they laughed then.  But yesterday did I go to work, or did I do 3 loads of laundry and make pumpkin bread?

Yeah I was serious.

Also a serious fact?

When crack oranges* come into season I talk about eating my body weight in them.

People think I’m joking but seriously, I think I ate 6 yesterday.

*crack oranges = satsuma mandarins.  They’re addictive.  Like crack.  Crack that prevents scurvy.

Another serious fact?

(that may or may not just be a reminder to my husband for Christmas…)

I need these boots

to go with my jeggings.

Seriously.  Need.

Happy Halloween!

My finest pumpkin carving moment came in college

(hard to see, but one says “pumpkin”, one “jack o lantern” and the third has a jack-o-lantern carved onto it.)

We called those our PoMo pumpkins.

This year’s pumpkin aren’t as crazy

But they’re pretty!

(a Laurelwood Free Range Red-yes, beer-logo, a face, and stars.  by my husband, my mother and law, and me)

Baby Brother, on the other hand, has come a long ways from 7th grade, when he forgot to get a costume and borrowed my work clothes for Halloween

(prophecy of his future right there friends.  prophecy)

These days he’s helping my parents house be the most over decorated house on the block

seriously

and carving pumpkins of things he loves

The best part is the stuffed gorilla out front

Which actually comes to life and is…

Baby Brother!

Happy Halloween!

What’re you doing tonight?

Basics

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I looked through my pictures today, and wasn’t sure what to write about…. Yesterday was just so…. basic.

The most exciting thing I’ve been doing lately is watching the cat play with her pepper box

(that’s a box. With peppers in it.  She loves it.  She drags those stupid peppers everywhere.  I found seven in the kitchen today.  And one in the guest room.  She’s advanced for her age)

But really?  Are basics so bad?

Yesterday I made us both oats for breakfast

(yup I followed up a salad with the most normal breakfast evahhh.  I am large, I contain multitudes.)

My husband has oats for breakfast a lot.  I lovingly make them.  In the microwave, with water.

Since I was having some too they were made on the stove, with part milk, and were also half oat bran, rather than just normal oats.

He loved them.

I feel a little guilty now.

(So guilty in fact that I made him French Toast today.  Seriously.)

I put some pumpkin and pumpkin cream cheese on mine

Is cream cheese a weird choice?  I don’t know.  But I have some in the fridge, and I’m perpetually convinced food is about to go bad.  So I have to use it before my brain is convinced it’s coated in microscopic mold.

Breakfast also calls for some coffee

Carbs and caffiene.  The basics to get your day going.

(Know what’s not basic?  Water.  I didn’t drink any till after work yesterday.  Whoops.)

Lunch was, again, basic

Yogurt (that’s a half full container, with peanut flour and enough cinnamon to kill a puppy), banana, carrots.

And I had a day of teaching kindergarten that was basically a blast.

Dinner was something I don’t make nearly enough

Chicken veggie soup.

I always get all these ideas of soups to make and ignore the basic chicken soup.  And that’s silly of me because it’s so darn good!  And easy.

With bread

I could feed my husband basically anything with bread on the side and he’d be happy.

Not going to lie, I like me some basics.

What’s a super basic meal you love?

I like toast.  A lot.  Like a weird weird lot.   But only if it’s made in the oven.

Lazy

I’m feeling a little lazy, so let’s have a Flashback Friday!

Guess what happened almost a year ago-

We moved into our house!

Madness.

I met the fiance because he was one of my roommates.  This means we’ve lived together most of the time I’ve lived in Portland.  (I lived with other roommates for 10 months in there).

Being roommates with me meant he got to see me be really cool.  And by really cool I mean he got to see this

Yeah, I’m flashing gang signs.  In an apron.

But I did point out, three years ago, after grocery shopping with another roommate, “If you looked at our groceries you’d wanna marry us”

That’s a cart full of wine, baking supplies, and pretzels.

When you start with that, you end your night flashing gang signs in an apron.  It happens.

He’s clearly been making me laugh (at least when I drink) for years

He also apparently used to drink Fat Tire.  Weird.

Oh and since it was talked about on Twitter today, I should point out that two years ago I went here

Roloff Farms-aka the Little People Big World pumpkin patch!

There was a lot of traffic

But we did get to meet Amy Roloff!

So why am I feeling lazy?   Besides the fact that I kinda am sometimes?  I’ve been busy!  It seems I like, have a job or something?  And I have to go to work?  Weird.

Good news is that forever ago I got a coupon for free Butoni through the Foodbuzz tastemakers program.  I’d been hording it for months to save for a night when I was too lazy to cook.

Lots of work = the coupon’s time had come

Hello easy dinner

I cooked up some sauce and added spinach at the end, plus green beans on the side

Super easy, and yummmmy.

But now I don’t know what I’ll do NEXT time I have no desire to cook!  I need a new backup!

What’s your favorite easy meal?

Adventures in Homeownership

Yesterday afternoon I tried to shower.  And the water would NOT get warm.

I didn’t think much of it, and scurried out of the shower, with plans to shower at night.

We had stroganoff  for dinner

With broccoli and purple cauliflower (and no mushrooms of course)

Plus salad

And I tried to shower again.

Colder.

Like any adult woman would do, I called my daddy.

(I actually gave the fiance the choice of google or my daddy.  He agreed with calling the ‘rents)

We stared at this

The fiance searched for any buttons on there to make it do something.  That sucker has NOTHING you can mess with to at least make yourself feel like you’re trying to fix it.

I talked on the phone.  I’m a good helper in situations like this.

After going over stuff with my daddy, he said to call someone.  Thankfully we discovered that the hot water heater has a warranty.

But I’m teaching today, so I kinda needed to be not greasy.  And cold showers are just not my thang.  Mama pea told me on facebook that this is good practice for moherhood.  But seeing as how the fiance hasn’t, you know, married me yet I figured I ought to do what I  can to make sure it’s not single motherhood I’m preparing for.  So off we went to the community center

For a hot shower.  So worth it.

And of course, all this fun called for some of this

(pumpkin bread with pb and brown sugar on top, microwaved so it was warm.  I think this might be a weird combo, but I’ve been doing it for years)

not to mention lots of this

Now I’m about to go off and learn some kids-it’s actually the class I student taught last spring.  In the projects.  Portland has projects, who knew?

What do you do when something in your house breaks?  I swear, no matter the problem I call my parents before I do anything.  I don’t even google first.