Dinner

One of our favourite dinners in the Thomas and Emma household these days is steak in a peppercorn sauce with mushrooms (Emma ADORES mushrooms...this child will eat anything!) and onions on a bed of white rice. I used to make my peppercorn sauce, but one day I was at a neighbourhood grocery store and in the meat counter was steak in a peppercorn marinade, all ready to go. Bought it, tried it, loved it and no longer make my own since the butcher was kind enough to lead me to the bottled marinade he uses. Anyhow, as I'm preparing dinner tonight, I look at the bottle label a little more closely and it reads: "Peppercorn Sauce - The European style prepared with Brandy, Sour Cream, Green Peppercorns and Black Truffles". Umm...brandy?? Perhaps that explains why the kids go to bed so easily after this particular dinner!lol I'm kidding!!! I'm sure the amount of brandy is minimal and nonexistent by the time the sauce has spent 20 minutes in my skillet on the stovetop, but still... brandy, who knew. I might start drinking it straight from the bottle!!lol BTW, it's called Peppercorn Sauce and it's by Buckhead Gourmet in Atlanta, GA. Oh, and I swear it tastes a lot better than this picture would lead you to believe!lol Guess I'll never have a career taking pictures for cookbooks!lol

Christmas songs

I was just reading Judy's list of her favourite Christmas songs on her blog. The radio station I usually listen to has now switched to an all Christmas song lineup - who knew there were that many to play that they could do it all day long!!!lol Anyhow, I actually enjoy Christmas music, particularly in December - I can do without it the day after Halloween!!lol My favourites are the songs I grew up with - the traditional Christmas songs like Silent Night, O Holy Night, Angels We Have Heard on High, Jingle Bells, etc. As for the new Christmas songs (or newer versions of older songs), well, I can handle Bruce doing Christmas with the E Street guys, I can even handle Madonna singing Santa Baby and I do love a good rendition of Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer, but the one Christmas song that will always lead me to change the dial is that amazingly formulaic and annoying one about the little boy buying shoes for his dying mother. Oh.my.goodness.could.a.song.get any.more.corny.if.it.tried!!!! I know loads of people love it, I can't stand it. The one new Christmas song I really enjoy is Chris Rea's Driving Home For Christmas - that one I always play real loudly. :-) Now, ya'll going to pelt me with snowballs for dissing the most annoying Christmas song ever played???lol

Bad habits

Here's what started this. Judy tagged me weeks ago to name 5 odd things about me...well, it's not like there aren't many to pick from, but I haven't really had time to sit down and write a coherent post about it. Then I was sitting here, hands poised on the keyboard and this topic came to mind...it's not 5 odd things and perhaps it's not even that odd, more of a bad habit, but here's one thing I'm trying to change. What do you see in this picture? A hand? Actually, it's my hand. Yeah, I know, it's a big ugly hand with psoriasis (I have psoriasis and an allergy to many metals, my hands are always a mess)... that's okay, I know, I've resigned myself to never having a career as a hand model - well, unless the Seinfeld show tapes another "man hands" episode!!lol If you don't know me, you probably can't figure out what's different about this hand, but if you do know me, look closely?? What do you see at the end of my fingers??? My, would that be FINGERNAILS... on moi??? Yup folks, hate to admit it but I've been a nail biter for about as long as I can remember. It's just been one of those things I've done forever and did without ever noticing I was doing it. Since my nails were so atrocious, there was no way I'd ever be seen in a manicurist's chair but a few months ago, I decided to try it. I thought if my nails were polished - just a clear polish, perhaps it would make a difference. Let me tell you, the first time I had them done, I thought the smell of the stuff on them (polish and nail strengthener and various other things I'm not sure about!!lol) was so strong, I could barely bring my fingers near my face without my eyes watering!!lol Well, I went back to the manicurist every week and one week led into another and then another, and now it's been a few months and my nails are starting to look, well, normal!!lol Honestly, I'm finding having nails to be kind of a hassle and it still distracts me when I hear my nails on the keyboard instead of the quiet of my fingertips, but I'm getting used to it. :-) I usually get a French manicure which I find pretty, but today I went for a dark colour - the manicurist tells me short dark nails are in...I can handle it for a few days, although I keep startling myself with these dark nails!!lol And now that I've pointed it out to everyone, I have to be sure to keep up the no biting! So, 'fess up, what bad habits are you trying to break??

Pulled screaming into the 21st century...

My cell phone died this weekend. It was a good phone - you could make and receive calls with it - what more could one want?? While I always carry my phone with me, not many people have the number and I rarely use it. I want it so that if anyone I've given the number to as an emergency contact, like Thomas' school, can reach me when they need me. We have a pathetic plan with 100 minutes per month (that's for both mine AND Gary's phones together!) and I don't think we've ever gone above our allotted minutes!lol

Anyhow, I go in and I want the most basic flip phone I can find. It just so happens that our contract with the cell phone company had expired and if I renew it, I can get a free phone, up to a value of $250. Well, not seeing any reason why I'd leave money on the table for Megalocorp, I pick the $249 flip phone. If I can figure it out, I think this phone might cook breakfast for us!lol Really, what the heck is one supposed to do with a phone that's a camera and an MP3 player amongst other things...it has Bluetooth as well... not the slightest clue what that is except that I know our laptop has one and a car we looked at this weekend had it too!!

So, I spent a good part of my day today redoing my cell phone book and such. And you know what, picking the right song for your ringer is really quite a stressful process!!!lol Thankfully, I don't really know how to download anything other than the ringtones already on the phone so I picked from that. Being the nerd I am, when the songs I picked come on, I'm more likely to just sing along than answer the call - I'm really that dumb that it'll take a few seconds for me to realize it's my phone ringing!!lol So, what great tidbits did I pick. Well, when Gary calls me, the ever so fabulous 70s hit "Daddy Cool" will play...anyone remember that? I picked it for no other reason than I remember liking it as a kid... probably haven't heard it for 30 years until today!!lol A regular call will give you "I walk the line" in honour of my father forcing me to listen to Johnny Cash incessantly as a kid and C3PO will kindly remind me to pick up my messages... can't find anything else that appeals at the moment. I will figure out how to download songs so I can pick anything... oh, the pressure... so, what do ya'll have as a ring tone if you have a song? BTW, I'm gonna have a friend show me how to text - yeah, I've never once sent a text message to anyone...if you have my cell phone number and know how to text - send me a message!!lol Oh, one annoying thing though. Why can't these companies ever use the same type of plug/battery, etc. for more than one model? My old phone was a Samsung, so is the new one, but I had to buy a new car charger. When I bought my Nikon D80 camera, the charger wasn't compatible with my other 2 Nikon chargers...c'mon, give us folks a break, how many chargers are we supposed to keep around and figure out what to do with!!lol Yeah, kicking and screaming, I'm being pulled into this century!

How cute am I!

What a face!! :-)

Pardon me? - with update

Emma's just having breakfast - she requested pancakes for both her and Thomas this morning - and I was telling her that we're going to head off to do the groceries when she's done. Her reply: "first, Emma help mommy tidy". Ummm...excuse me, but are you telling me the house is too messy for you??lol It's funny, I was just reading a blog where another adoptive mom mentions that her daughter is very much like her. I'm not sure I could make that statement about Emma and certainly not about her love of tidying...we're going to drive her crazy when she's older because we're all messy!!lol

***UPDATE*** We really are going to drive her crazy. We just got back from running our errands and I'm carrying the groceries from the front hall to the kitchen. I call out for Emma and ask her what she's doing - "Emma get hanger" I hear... go back to the front of the house and Emma is trying to reach a hanger in the front hall closet to hang her coat - why can't she just throw it on the bench by the front door like I do??lol She kindly hung my coat up too... she definitely doesn't get that from me!lol

Emma singing!

Here's Emma singing her current fave song - can you tell what it is?lol And notice the one glove...she's doing a little bit of a Michael Jackson thing I guess...lol

Emma the tree frog!

Here's Emma, jumping like a tree frog - there's a Go Diego Go episode starring some red eyed tree frogs - Emma LOVES those frogs!lol

Let it snow!

The kids, okay, Thomas mainly, were pretty excited to see snow when they got up this morning. As soon as breakfast was over, we headed out to play in the back yard. Emma's looking a bit like the Michelin Man isn't she?lol She's not too sure about this whole snowsuit thing - actually, I quickly ran to put my camera in the house and when I came out, there was Emma in her sock feet in the snow - guess boots aren't tops on her list!lol

Random Act of Kindness

Early this afternoon, I decided to go out and run a few errands. The weather was atrocious, windy and rainy, but I needed to get out of the house. I pulled into a public parking lot. As I was walking towards the meter to get a ticket for my windshield, an older gentleman approached me and offered me his ticket for my dashboard. He said he was leaving now but his ticket was still good for a few hours if I wanted to use it. I thanked him and walked back to my car to put the ticket on the dash. When I was done shopping and leaving the lot, another couple of hours remained on the ticket and I gave it to someone who was pulling in who very gratefully accepted it. Sometimes the little things do make a difference. :-)

Photography

You might remember me mentioning a month or two ago that I got a new digital SLR camera. I pretty much know nothing about photography other than "point and shoot", but I'm learning and I'm having lots of fun. I've taken one basic photography class and a more advanced one is coming up. Today, I bought a wide angle lens... I'm really amazed at how much more it captures. Can't wait to use it on landscapes in Arizona! But in the meantime, here are a couple of test shots from my living room - taken from the same spot - notice how much more the wide angle lens can fit in! Please ignore the lack of quality in the photo taking!lol

Toby update

A couple of people have e-mailed me to ask how Toby cat is doing, further to me mentioning him being sick in a post last week. He's doing well. He's currently taking antibiotics and next week he'll go back for a bloodtest and hopefully his liver numbers will be much closer to the normal range. The vet is hoping that he has an infection and that's why the numbers are so off and after being treated with antibitics for 2 weeks, results will look better next week. In the meantime, Toby's his usual good natured self and you'd never know he was under the weather.

Trouble?

Now, does that little face look like trouble or what??lol

Algeria

Thomas came home today saying he and his friend Jordan were working on a project on Algeria at school. Algeria I ask, how did you guys pick Algeria, are you studying countries in Africa. No, says Thomas, you know, Algeria, the math with letters...ahhh...algebra you mean??lol

TV

Does anyone watch Boston Legal? A friend got me hooked on it a few months ago and I've since rented Season 1 and am now making my way through Season 2 on DVD, while watching the current season on TV. This show is so out there, it may be called Boston LEGAL but trust me, it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the reality of a law practice. As long as you understand that when you tune in and don't expect reality to interfere with entertainment, it's a totally hilarious show! I'm telling you, James Spader and William Shatner are the BEST couple on TV - and no, they're not a gay couple, just part of a really wacky friendship!lol Their characters are both completely outrageous and yet somehow loveable - well Spader more than Shatner - and they have great chemistry... check them out!!

Painting

We've found a home for our new painting, above the living room fireplace. We love it. Now we're debating whether we hang it or just let it lean on the mantel. Gary's a hanging kind of guy and I'm a let it sit kind of gal... I guess one way to get my way is to wait for Gary to hang the painting... a handyman my honey is NOT!!lol

Just stuff...

I hit upon a potty sale a couple of months back so I bought a few and have just had them lying around the bathrooms. Emma will occasionally sit on them when she comes to the washroom with us, but that's about it. We haven't officially started potty training yet. Anyhow, today, she twice asked to take off her diaper and sit on the potty and both times she peed. I'm thinking being in early potty training just around when we're heading off for Christmas vacations isn't ideal, but we'll see how it goes. I'm not one of those people who believe in training indefinitely - I admit that I just don't have the patience for it. With Thomas, he was about 3 months short of his 3rd birthday when we did the potty training. It took a weekend and beyond that, I think he maybe had 4-5 accidents and that includes nights - he was ready and it was easy. I'm honestly not sure how to go about potty training a not quite 2 year old!lol We'll see if she keeps asking or if this was just a fluke! I know a few of the girls from our travel group are already out of diapers so maybe this is happening for real!

On a different note, we were out for a walk today and Emma saw a dog and started saying "puppy" and barking. I asked her "Is Emma a dog" and the replied "No, Emma Chinese"!!lol I honestly don't know where she got that, it's not like we bring it up to her, but I guess she's heard us telling people who ask where she's from either that she's from China or she's Chinese and she's picked it up. Something else she's picked up. A few weeks ago we were in the car and someone in front of me wasn't moving and I impatiently called out "Move Lady". Well, Emma has started using that expression all the time and now. When we're out and she hears a car honk at another, she yells out "Move Lady"!!lol

It's finally here!

Well, after being held at the airport for almost a week, the painting of the kids has finally been delivered. Here's the picture it's based on and here's the painting... I simply love it!! A picture of the painting could never do it justice, as it doesn't show the texture and depth of colours, but it's the best I can do for this forum. Ya'll need to come see it in person!lol The artist, Katherine Valentine, did a great job. She named the painting "A Walk in Time" which is so appropriate. What a treasure this will be for our family. :-)

Winter style - kinda!lol

Here's Emma, moving at her usual speed, showing off some of her winter wear...she's definitely missing a few layers to complete her winter look!lol

Oh, that's nice!!

We had people over for brunch today and Emma just fell in love with Denice's super soft and furry scarf... it just so happens it matched her dress perfectly... here she is modeling her new look!lol