McDreamies

Oh, it is true. Randy is my true McDreamy (McDreamy is some inane reference to a TV show, I believe. It's supposed to suggest the seriousness of my love and devotion. Thank you television.)

But alas my friends, I have found two additions to my personal McDreamy fund.

First, my new(ish) Honda Odyssey. I offered to buy it off my parents after my last tax return. I figured if I offered to buy it I would be more likely to get it....That worked out for me. I don't like minivans. I have horrible memories of my mother shoving us into them. Us being six teenagers with long legs and cranky attitudes. Mom always thought the minivans were so comfortable but she had the nice seat in the front with A/C. Back in my day, minivans only had A/C in the front which left the rest of us sweltering, made worse by certain somebody's BO. She also didn't have her big brother taking up all the room, or her little sisters hitting her, breathing on her etc- or big sisters doing the same things!
Well, I absolutely abhor the gas mileage this bad boy gets... Appalling lack of fuel efficiency. Highway driving isn't so bad...city driving is KILLER!

BUT... for two kids and two parents and one aunt currently residing in the home, it beats out both our previous cars for comfort. No more welts on my hips as I wedge myself in between two car seats, no more kids within hitting distance of each other, A/C in the front and back, and a back seat that folds down... Oh, and I don't think this car will induce any extra trips to the chiropractor like the Yaris did.. AND I can fit my groceries and my children in it! AT THE SAME TIME!!! Wowser, that is a car.

And my second addition:



Our vacuum died. Not completely, but mostly. All of the parts were in order, nothing amiss... but I think she had lost her will to live or at least suction gunk out of my carpet. (I blame Alice) However- she was the longest lasting vacuum so far. We have had at least five in the last six years. Abby burned two of them up when she lived with us, as for the other two I'm not so sure how they were killed off. This last one though- what a brute! She was with us for THREE YEARS. That's an eternity in this household.

This new vacuum is stellar... rinseable filters, carbon filters to ward off dog stench (I would be lying if I didn't admit we have it) and special attachments that are supposed to motivate me to clean more... We'll see about that. They do look space agey and kind of cool so maybe Randy will at least try them.

Not to be gross, but our old vacuum (the $45 Dirt Devil special at Target) would take weeks of vacuuming to fill the cup- ps empty the cup every time you vacuum; It's more sanitary. I didn't, obviously, because I knew how long it took to fill up... but I did know better. (Don't tell Mom!) This new vacuum- one time and its' cup runneth over. Seriously. It caused the vacuum to overheat because I wasn't paying attention and it caught on fire.

Oh, WAIT. It didn't catch on fire because it has a thermal sensor and automatically shuts off when it gets too hot!! And that's when I realized I should empty it. Ooops.

Ya Learn Something New Every Day

Today I learned that Randy has a BA not a BS in Spanish Education. He said he is glad he doesn't have to say BS (snicker snicker haha).... I do. I have a BS in Psychology. I am also of the belief that BS and psychology often go together. Should I support my line of study more?

Speaking of learning something new everyday, how about every week? I learned a lot this week. Let me list them:

I do not handle it well when someone tells me my child isn't perfect.
Ants crawl into my house and camp out in my laundry room.
The Primary Presidency in our ward is awesome- One witnessed my initial shock after lesson number one and didn't cringe when I showed up on her doorstep asking for advice, and another told me things about Mikayla that just reminded me how cool Mik really is.
Buying school clothes for Mikayla 8 months ago paid off.
I don't like Alice, maybe next week.
Acne still strikes at our house. My face today is evidence
Randy has a nice boss at Logan's.
Candice is a good mom and way stronger than me. I admire her a lot.
I can recover from lesson number one (I think I already have- it took a good 8 hours though!)

And Last but NOT LEAST:

I love lurve LOVE Logan's rolls
I'm having a little trouble decaffeinating

The End!

Failure in the Kitchen

I only make ONE dish that my husband loves and gets excited about. ONE! The rest is me crossing my fingers hoping he'll ask for it again someday fully knowing that he won't. It's not that I am a horrible cook. Frankly, I do OK. Not fantastic, but I occasionally have glimpses of genius that are delish, and I can make a hearty soup out of just about anything. So maybe I have two things going for me: soup and lasagna. That's it. That's all I've got. For a girl who took classes on this stuff I don't have much to say for myself.

For the past three days, I've made an effort for a couple of different reasons. I tend to eat more if I cook it and I know I need to eat more, and I didn't want to subject our newest resident (Randy's little sister Janae) to our not so consistent meals. I also figured if Randy doesn't love it she probably won't either so maybe I should step it up a notch. We've been trying to meet in the middle for years- we grew up eating pretty different foods. What I think is amazing and what he thinks is amazing are not the same. For instance- I had no idea that people put butter AND jam on toast.... To me that is disgusting and I can see my arteries clogging. Alas, upon surveying those around me I have discovered that I am the weird one, not he. Darn. We like the same foods, but we do not in fact crave the same foods. (Unfortunate eh?)

My idea of dessert- watermelon, cantaloupe, or an apple with a dump of caramel; His- the ice cream he smuggles into the house. It's not that I don't like ice cream I just don't want it around all the time. And when he does smuggle it I eat it gratefully with an ever so faint smudging of regret. In fact I believe that Birthday Cake Remix from Cold Stone Creamery touches my soul in almost the same way the $750 cowboy boots I drool after do... That indescribable way ya know? Either way the love is there, just not all the time and only on my terms which I have yet to discover.

Back in our early years I never even touched leftovers- I fed them to Randy (that's really where his 'grown-up-I'm-gonna-beef-up-newlywed' weight came from...not my not so fabulous cooking.)

So this week I did three of my relatively consistent dishes. However, each one messed up, and they all came out SALTY. Saltier than Pringles. Roast Beef in a crock pot- I changed one thing and we ended up eating wet beef jerky. That doesn't sound so bad- I LOVE beef jerky and can't wait to make my own someday whenever I buy a dehydrator... but wet soggy overly salted beef was really gross. Even the veggies were blahglehlahg and that's usually my favorite part. Mikayla and Rowan refused. If Row refuses that means its BAD. He eats everything. Or he did.

Next- Chicken Fricassee. I can't spell that. Whatever, It's like chicken and dumplings with no dumplings. I don't know how that one messed up- it was salty too. Both of the kids passed on this as well.

Tonight- Manicotti. I did add Italian sausage, purposely did not season with salt, and again I had an overly salty dish that made me gag a little. And again, my children refused it.

Any suggestions for tomorrow? No salt allowed. We are all going to have hypertension at the rate I've made my family consume sodium... And given my family history that is NO good. Ugh... I like cooking. I really do. I just don't like the dishes and worrying if people like it. It stresses me out almost as much as throwing birthday parties. I usually bring prepackaged food to parties... for a reason!