Fresh Air

I'm going to talk about a rather indelicate subject that kind of goes along with the small house thing I last blogged about:  keeping one's bathroom fresh smelling.


We ran out of air freshener a while ago.  I didn't buy any more right away because, quite frankly?  The very reason we use it kind of ruins all of those scents for me.  You know - like the "fresh linen" scent?  Well after a while, it just smells like, "fresh linen covering up the I-just-used-and-abused-the-bathroom" scent.  Which, in a small house, kind of creeps into rooms other than the bathroom.

You know what I'm saying? 

Oh - I didn't use and abuse the bathroom.  No, sir.  I'm pretty sure my poopies smell like a spring breeze.  

It's another family member that abuses the bathroom on a regular basis.


So, the other day I bought a new scent, hoping for the best: 

I knew it wasn't going to work out the way I had hoped when Zuddy came out of the loo saying in his best Australian accent, "Gah.  It smells like someone took a crap in a New Zealand Spring!"


Sigh.

Happy Halloween!

10 Years

My sweet Noodle is ten today.  TEN!  


I can't believe it.  


Something else I can't believe?


The 'reenactment' of the blessed event going on in the next room as I was trying to read blogs this morning.

I heard Lamaze breathing (Zuddy), "pushing" (Zuddy) and wailing (Noodle).


I kid you not.  Hey - I'm just glad I didn't see anything.

Wish you were here.......

Zuddy's Rx for Mama's Breakdown....

Stephanie - from Bungalow Insanity? Maybe this would be more suitable before your 10:30 work meeting?

Oh....maybe not.

Okay, Okay....

Apparently Mrs. Coastal Nest needs some reading material. So I need to spout off about something.....anything. Well, Auntie Lees? Be careful what you wish for, sister! Here it goes:

1. Christmas around here was very stressful for me. Because I waited until the last minute to do all of our shopping - that's why.
You see, we are not using credit cards at our house. Which sucks at Christmas time because I like to give people stuff, but I can't. Well, not the way I WANT to.
Anyhoo....I didn't get to go crazy with the gifts, so that was a bummer. But we made it through and Santa was kind enough to bring the Noodle a Nintendo DS with the Nintendogs game:



and the American Girl: Julie Finds A Way game:


Which she never gets to play with because she doesn't "do it right".
Only I know how to "do it right".
Yep. I've been taking stellar care of our little puppies. And Julie, the 1974 American Girl? Well, she's thriving - despite her parents' divorce. And she's really making a difference in her community, no thanks to Noodle - who went back to school and totally abandoned Julie in her time of need.
Good thing I've been around to take care of everything.

2. The New Year's Resolutions:
A. I've decided to stick with the exercising 3x a week. It's workin' for me. I like it.
B. I've also decided to ditch all the other resolutions for the time being and I made a new one: To finish up projects that I've already started. It makes sense, right? I'm starting with the Noodle's furniture and the black hutch I've mostly painted but not finished.


3. It's reallyreally hard for me to finish things. Maybe because birth-order wise, I'm the youngest and people have always picked up my slack (Thanks Mom.). Unfortunately, I've also married another last-born. And he is NOT picking up my slack. In fact? He is worse than me at finishing stuff. And this makes for a whole houseful of unfinished projects.

4. I skipped my buddy Liz's New Years Eve party in favor of falling asleep at 8pm. When I woke up at the crack of dawn, there was a finished craft project on the dining room table:



These two stayed up until midnight and rang in the new year with a sissy butterfly craft project:

Ha. Just kidding. Isn't my Zuddy the best daddy?


4. Noodle also got an Easy Bake oven for Christmas:


She ate that little cake all by herself and felt so ill afterward that she had to go and lie down. Probably because we hadn't fed her since breakfast and put her (and ourselves) down for a nap in lieu of lunch. Because we're really good parents like that.

Let's see...where was I?

5. It's been cold here. I don't know why it seems colder than other years, but it just does.
And it makes me want to stay in the house and not leave to do things like: grocery shop.
You know - for food.
To make meals for my family.
Like any Mother worth her salt would do.
I know, I know......you're probably thinking: She tests recipes for a living! How hard can it be? Well, the Noodle is picky and Zuddy doesn't like chicken.
CHICKEN! Who in the world can object to chicken??
Those two totally suck the fun out of cooking for me.

6. I want to further my edumacation. I kind of want to go to culinary school or get a master's degree. I do not have the time or money for either of these ventures. For gawd's sake, I just finished paying off my undergrad degree! Plus? See #3. It's a miracle I got my undergrad.

7. The Container Store. Holy crap. I want to get a job at this place. They just opened a store here in October. I popped over there in November and nearly peed my pants.
Okay.
Fine.
I actually did pee my pants a little bit.
I actually do this alot. You know- since I've birthed a child and all.....
**shaking head**
ANYWAY.
The Container Store.
I've been trying to figure out a way to work there. Purely for the employee discount, of course. Because I want to buy these:


The Portofino Storage box collection.
Made of genuine imitation leather.
Lined in black nylon.
Stylish storage for your paper goods.
$34.99 for the document box.
Includes a delicious packet of silica gel.

I need a bunch of these for the Noodle's school and artwork that I've saved through the years. I thought I'd start with two of them. One for Noodle's stuff, one for all of the crafty stuff I bought for the clipboards I made (but never finished. Michelle...it's coming, I swear.)

Nope.
Couldn't do it.
Couldn't pay $70 for document storage. So I left with these instead:
The Translucent Office Storage document box.
$11.99.
Much more budget-friendly.
But no delicious packet of silica gel.


Mrs. Coastal Nest? Are you sorry yet? Did you REALLY want to hear all of this? Because I can keep it comin', sister. I've got more stupid stuff going through this noggin!

Things.....

1. Suzy from the Runs is running a marathon in Arizona in a few days. I can't stop thinking about her. And if you haven't already, you should pop by and give her some love. She wants to qualify for the Boston Marathon!!! I'm so impressed by her. She's a mom to 3 kids and a student. Plus, she's super funny. SUPER funny. And I don't even think she tries to be funny.

2. You all know I have a pretty serious problem: Facebook. And here's the problem: My new-old-best-friend Micaela would probably say my problem is that I keep sending her notes on Facebook and stalking her blog.
But that's not it.

Here's what the problem is for me. I'll go to, say...Micaela's friends list. If there's someone there who will let me look at their page? I will look at everything they have on their page. I'll look at their photos, ooh and aah over their kids. Then? I'll look at all their friends. And find someone there who will let me look at their page. Then I'll look at their photos, ooh and aah over their kids. Then? I'll look at their friends!
See? It's a hundred kinds of wrong. I know that. I mean first of all: get a freakin' life, Martha. You don't even know these people. Second? Well, there is no second. I should be painting furniture or stripping that final bit of wallpaper off my kitchen walls. Because:

3. It will be 2 years in March that I started my kitchen project. I've had 3 weeks off and frittered it away. And now I will be working for the next few months. I really need to get this done. The tile work won't be all that expensive. Mrs. Jones told me to get the cheapest tile out there and I think I will do that. Which is killing me because every once in a while I run across a photo where I see a beveled subway tile and I'm totally enamored with it. But that would be silly. In my blog-stalking travels, I've seen an interior designer whose trademark tile job is the herringbone design. Here's an image of the herringbone pattern will look like and a link to her blog:



Do you like that pattern? Do you think it will look okay in my kitchen? I'm going to go with a dark gray grout.



4. Can I tell you about my new-old-best-friend Micaela? Hi Micaela *i'm waving*! She has a blog called Striving Green. I love her blog because I'm always trying to more earth-friendly myself, though I'm not as organized as Micaela. I can't remember when I met Micaela...probably the 7th or 8th grade? We were band geeks together and she was always really funny and smart and cool. We had our 20th High School reunion over the summer - Zuddy and I didn't go, so I totally missed out on seeing her. But that darn Facebook brought us together again. Sigh. Have I mentioned Facebook before? No?
Anyway.
I heart Micaela.

5. The Noodle is really improving in school.
I brought her to work one day on my day off so I could have a colleague speak to her in Spanish and tell me if the she thought Noodle understood what she was saying.
My friend from work is named Livia and she's originally from Peru. She's fluent in English, Spanish and Inca, I think. AND she is THE most amazing cook in the world. Anyway. She took Noodle away into the back storage area to hunt for candy and had a conversation with her in Spanish. Noodle told her (in Spanish) that she only speaks Spanish at school or when she doesn't want her mom and dad to know what she's saying. Ha! Livia seemed really impressed with her Spanish and was just beaming telling us all about their conversation. Isn't that sweet? LIVIA was beaming and so proud of MY kid. So now I'M proud of my kid.
And? I've hired Noodle's BFF's Mom (Colleen) to work with her once a week on her math. Colleen is a teacher and is amazing - she is fluent in Spanish too. We've decided to go this route because Colleen will come to our house once a week to work with her for an hour. And she can teach math in Spanish, too. Which is ideal because, of course, math is taught in Spanish at Gracie's school. I feel really relieved. However, this is going to be expensive and it needs to come out my already inadequate weekly budget. Oh - Colleen tried to tell me not to pay her what Mathnasium charges, but I can't do that. She's a professional and worth every penny.

6. Boy this is getting to be a wordy post. But I've got a lot on my mind. And I'm going to puke it all out right here.

7. My brother Mike made the best turkey dinner for Thanksgiving! I don't think we even got into a fight the whole day! Amazing. Nope - I take that back. I heard him yell at his wife. Go back to last Thanksgiving to see an explanation of our totally functional family dynamics. Here is a photo of the Schmacker making apple pie on Thanksgiving morning:



I love this photo of him. When he concentrates really hard, the tongue comes out. He's done this since he was a baby.

8. Zuddy and I had a date on Tuesday. Zuddy took some vacation from work (which he never does) and we got in the car and drove to the tiny little town of Miesville to have a burger at Kings. If you are from the Twin Cities, you must go. Zuddy's been talking about it for ages. My brother Mike and sister Myrna love it. You MUST GO. They have a gazillion types of burgers there. Zuddy got one topped with corned beef. He also likes the one topped with egg and a hot dog. And the fries! Fries aren't really my thing unless they're very good.
Zuddy knows this and told me to order the seasoned waffle fries with the chive sour cream dipping sauce.
I told him, "Fries aren't really my thing."
He said, "Order the fries."
Those fries are my new thing.

Anyway, after lunch we drove around the small towns around there and looked at all of the houses. Makes me want to live in a small town. We spent hours just driving in a quiet car (no radio) and hanging out. It was great.

I told him to call me sometime and we could do it again **making the phone sign with my hand up to my ear and mouthing, 'call me'**
I think I like him, I don't know.
Next time we go out, I'm totally going to let him kiss me.
Oh gosh - I hope he calls. What if he doesn't? Oh, I'll just die. It's been two days and he hasn't called! Do you think he will? Maybe I should call him?

9. I'm going shopping and out to lunch with Kirst and MJ today. I can't wait.

10. I looked at my resolutions from last year. They were totally the same as this year. The only one I did well on was the reusable bags.

11. I start a new project at work tomorrow. That means no more obsessive blog and Facebook stalking.

We've got the Pox...

.....over here on Elizabeth Hill.

Just the Noodle, mind you. But she's got them in her throat, in her ears, on her toungue - yikes.

Guess what else? She's starting Violin lessons at school. She's so excited. Today was her first lesson - and of course she missed it, but one of the the Moms called to tell me that her first assignment is to name her violin. Right now "Jane" and "Sarah" are in the running. I don't mean to leave you all hanging, but I'll let you know when a decision has been made. In the meantime, I'm lobbying for "Tina Fey".

What? I like Tina Fey. She's funny!

Amy, I have that house tour waiting in the wings for you. There are a few choice photos I couldn't copy for some reason, so I'm going to try again tomorrow.

One more thing: I watched a show last night:

And I'm not embarassed to say that I watched it solely for the fabulous eye candy that is Simon Baker.

Oh yes I did.

When it came on? Zuddy gave me the 'eye-roll with a half back twist'. For those of you who don't know what that is? Its when your husband throws his head back and slightly to the side while rolling his eyes in exasperation at your bad TV viewing habits.

And then? He calls you on the fact that you could care less about the content of the show you're about to watch by suggesting you turn down the sound and play some nice John Mayer while you watch the moving picture show.

Gol-ly I love that Zuddy. He always comes up with the best ideas!

The State Of Things Around Here......

Oh, internets.
It's not pretty. Not pretty at all.

Where do I begin, huh?
Hmmmmm..........how about the kitchen?

I have a large obstacle in the finishing of the kitchen.

It's called, "bad walls".

Here, have a look:

When I took the wallpaper down? A bunch of old "patchwork" came with it. So what do I do, just skim-coat it and prime it? Or will I have this problem when I decide to change the wallpaper again?

This is not my area of expertise, people.

Here's another spot. Zuddy will need to patch this one up before I can do any tiling:

It's going to be a cold day in Hell before that happens, because Zuddy and I had a big argument last night.

The argument was basically about how he works 10 hours a day and I how I stay home and eat bon-bons. Which, quite honestly, happens sometimes (the bon-bon eating, that is). So I think I'm on my own with the patching of the walls and I'm at a total loss.

Then? I have a bunch of furniture to paint:

The multi-materialed hutch. It's made out of wood, laminate and plastic.

Good times, people. GOOD. TIMES:

I'm going to paint it an Oatmeal color. Maybe I'll age it, maybe I won't.

Then? We have the chair and desk for the Noodle's room:

I love that needlepoint seat on the chair. These will all be painted white.

Then, here's one of the drawers that go with the bookcase I got from my Mom. The bookcase and the drawers (heh.) are going to be white, too.

And my toes. See 'em? Totally neat and tidy.

At least part of me and my bon-bon-eating self is looking tidy.

Now.

All I want to do is vent about how hard being married and raising a little girl-person can be.

And about how much of yourself you "give up".

And about how I have dreams too, but I feel like I need to be here to raise my little girl-person.

And about how I can't follow my dreams from 9-3 during the school year and take the summers off from working on my dreams.

But I'm not going to do that right now. I'll wait until it's not so fresh. Heh.

A Little Clarification:

Zuddy wants you to know something.

When he wore parachute pants in the 80's?

They looked more like this:

And not so much like this:


He wants you to know that.

Because the top ones are so much more attractive on skinny adolescent rock "stars". And we wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression.

And I would like you to see this old Craig's list ad that I found through Google when I searched "M C Hammer":

Guess what,

I was cleaning out my closet and I found 47 pairs of BRIGHT NEON MC Hammer pants. I was going to burn them and dance around the flames to try to make it rain or something, but I thought that maybe somebody would want these. They are absolutely the worst pants of all time. I can't remember being stupid enough to buy these, but I must have been. Either that or MC Hammer owes me a bunch of rent money. I have them all in a huge garbage sack sitting on the sidewalk. If you want them you must just come pick up the bag and drive away. If anybody comes up and tears the bag and spills those hideous things into the street where my neighbors can see, I will be very unhappy. Garbage collection is on Monday so if they aren't gone Mr. BFI gets them. If you want this garbage, email me and I will give you instructions.

Note: all of my photos were found through Google

Oh! And Guess what? I start my new job today! Yay new job, Yay!

My Zuddy

I was thinking about sharing a Zuddy story with you the other day, but you know I should be working.
Not blogging.
I'll still share it, because I was reading Big Mama's blog and while I was almost in tears laughing at her "Forever in Blue Jeans" post, I was reminded of another story. So now I have 2 stories to share.

Zuddy isn't a fashion plate. I know, I know......pot calling the kettle black. But believe me - it's been an issue almost from the beginning.

Awww, crud. Now that I mention the "beginning" and "fashion issues"? I have 2 more stories.....this could be a long post, but I'm going to stick with the original 2 stories.

So Big Mama was talking about her Dad and Husband and their escapades while shopping for blue jeans. And I was cracking up - that girl can write. But I was remembering when Zuddy first got hooked on online shopping - it was right after the Noodle was born. He found a cute outfit for her (little cow-print velvet skirt) on the Old Navy website and then proceeded to shop for some new Levi's for himself on another website.

Now - you should know this about Zuddy .....he's a pretty good "try-er". When we go to a restaurant (which is pretty much never these days), he'll always order something new. Zuddy isn't afraid of taking a little risk here and there. No SIR. But really? It's best to keep that attitude within the food demographic.

Because when he was shopping for those jeans, he bought a couple of new "fits". You know - they have classic fit, relaxed fit, etc. Well, the jeans came and Zuddy put on one of the pairs.

Which made me laugh.

I said to him, "Ummmmm. Where did you get those?"
Z: "What? They're Levi's."
M: "Well, what kind of Levi's? They're not the ones you usually wear."
Z: "I don't know. The description said, 'great new slim fit!'"
M: "I'd send 'em back."
Z (offended): "I'm late! They're fine."

Fast forward to 6:30 pm that night. Zuddy walks in the door, immediately takes the pants off in the living room and says, "Stupid jeans! The guys at work called me Timmy Tightpants all day!"

Second story of the day:

I'm doing some recipe work at home. Which means lots of things in the fridge are off-limits. I need these food items for my recipes. Zuddy is pretty good at asking first, but I went into the fridge looking for my seedless cucumber and I couldn't find it. There's a leftover stub of one in there, but not enough for my recipe.

I'm kind of feeling the pressure today - I hate everything I'm working on and I need to make somebody else feel as bad as I do.

So I called Zuddy at work and said to him in the most accusing voice I can muster, "TELL me you didn't feed Noodle that cucumber I had in the fridge over the weekend!!!"
Z (defensively): "Mupp! I swear to you....no cucumbers were harmed in the feeding of our child!"

Okay, now I have another story: Zuddy just sent me an email as I'm writing this post.
When I'm doing recipe work at home, I bring the food to Zuddy's work for the guys to sample and give their opinions.
Well, I made a recipe called "Bull Bites" and brought it over.

Zuddy's email response?

"YAY! BULL BITES! YAY!"

Kitchen Essentials, Part 2

You know what?

This doesn't feel right.

When I write these posts and then after I read them....I feel like they're snotty and bossy. Do you feel like that when you read these posts? I don't mean for them to be.....I mean for them to be "sharing" posts. I think this will be my last post on this subject.

So - my kitchen is small. I don't have a lot of gadget-y type items. At one time I was eyein' up that salad dressing measuring thingy from Pampered Chef that Lisa and Cutzi talked about, but I don't have room for everything I want. My kitchen is already overflowing.

Any hoo.... here are a few more things I love. Are you ready?

I would freak If I had this cookware set. Normally there's something missing in every set, but not this one! NO SIR. But it's $2400.00.

I don't know too many people who part with that kind of money up-front for cookware.

But If I could? I'd do it.The two absolute essentials from that set (in my opinion) are the 10 and 12-inch skillets and the 3-quart saute pan (below). Whoops! I guess that's 3 things.My 12-inch skillet is an inexpensive nonstick restaurant style one from Sam's Club. I use it all of the time, but I'd love an All Clad stainless one (not nonstick). I'd never pay big money for nonstick. The nonstick coating doesn't last long enough to justify the cost.

Here's a little secret: If you're patient, you can collect your All Clad from Homegoods or TJ Maxx. MJ and I do it all of the time. MJ got a gorgeous Copper All Clad 3 quart saucepan for $39, I think.

And while I'm on the subject of All Clad.....all of my cookware isn't this brand. My 3 quart saute is Calphalon (I got it free when I worked at a cooking school), but I WISH it were All Clad. There are a few more pieces that are other brands as well, but I'm slowly replacing them with All Clad. In a perfect world we'd all have that $2400.00 set, Internets.

Having said that, People who like to cook can cook in anything. And the test kitchens I work in don't have this stuff.

Pyrex custard cups. 6-oz and 10-oz. I like this brand the best. I have pretty little white ramekins, but they don't stack well. I use the custard cups the most.
Kitchen shears.

4 cup pyrex measuring cup. I use it as a mixing bowl a lot.
Batter Bowl/pyrex 8 cup measuring cup. I also use these as mixing bowls. By the way? I bought an 8-cup Martha Stewart measuring cup from K mart and it's CRAP. Anytime I try to pour something from it, it sprays everywhere.

Microplane grater. I carry this with me when I'm working.

Locking tongs. I've been giving this really cool kind as wedding and shower gifts, but I just have this simple pair from WS. I'm too cheap to buy the cool kind for myself and I'm happy with the ones I've got.

I know I've mentioned this before, but it's worth another mention: The Turn-About from Pampered Chef. Yes - it's not pretty. But sometimes practicality trumps beauty, right?
Right.

An offset spatula. This one is large - but I like the smaller one better. I carry this with me to work, too. You can get them at Target, I think. They're cheap - unlike this one from WS $28. Crazy.

A few things that I don't have but are on my list:

A really nice food mill. I'll never spend the money on this. I want an expensive one and I'd hardly ever use it - I just know it. But, boy, it'd be nice for sauces and perfectly smooth soups.

Pasta machine. I'm always using my pal, Hilary's machine. It's really fun to use. And we do it as a family. Actually, Franklin's Mom gave me a gift certificate to a cookware store and I think I'm going to buy this.

A really nice mandoline with removable blades that can be sharpened. I'll probably never buy this for myself. But I want it. The food processor just doesn't give you the control you need for perfect slices.

Dudes I can't tell you how many times I've bought this book - and never once has it been for myself. MJ and I bought it for the Target Test Kitchen and somebody stole it. It's that good. I've bought it for many a bride - like Michelle! And she loves it, too. Well, it's officially on my list. I will get it in a couple of weeks, I think.

Dude. I wish this thing were as cheap as that cookbook! I'm so glad to be working on a regular basis again! I will buy this ASAP.

Oh sweet JESUS! I know you've never seen this before (Heh.) But it's 30 inches of dual fuel-convection lovliness. If Zuddy ever told me, "Martha, it's me or the stove - you can't have the both of us."

I'd pack for Zuddy's departure and give him a long, loving kiss and pat him on the behind as he left my life forever.

Awwwwww come ON! You know I'm joking. I'd totally try to get him back after a couple of years.

What are YOUR favorite kitchen items?

(All photos are from Williams-Sonoma, Pyrex, Pampered Chef and Amazon.com)

Craftsmen and Crazy Cat Ladies.

Hey there bloggers!

I was a very busy girl looking for Craftsman-style houses yesterday. I found a few, but they're not the kind of decor and "over the top" craftsman I think Sister Bunch-O'-Honey and Michelle are wanting.
But I found this little beauty. Oh- and ThirkleGirl will hate it.
But I want it.
Like, NOW .
And Zuddy? I have NO IDEA what the garage looks like. I know if it were up to you? You'd gut the house and turn it into a garage anyway. So for your viewing pleasure? Just imagaine every house you see as a fabulous garage.
So - here it is. A 3 bedroom, 2 bath house built in 1916 with 2,897 square feet of living space. In a fabulous neighborhood in Minneapolis (Near Jilly's house) for $514,900.

I just love the outside of this one. All bugalow-y cute. Cozy. Yum.

This storm door makes me want to weep tears of joy...and then it makes me want to see more it. The living room.

The dining room.

The kitchen.

This is a dresser in one of the bedrooms! The bedrooms were nothing special, so I didn't save those pictures.

The rear of the place.

It has a 2 car garage (Zuddy). Awwww, Zud. You know what? If I were the wife I should be - the wife I should strive to be - I would've saved the picture of the house in Saint Paul with the 2 gargages. That's right. One house, TWO 2-plus car garages! On a city lot! They were facing each other with a driveway between them. You know what Zuddy would've called them? "Dueling Garages".
For those of you who don't live around here, this is very rare. City lots are very small and there are a lot of 1 car garages.

Okay, so now you're going to need to indulge me. Mary Jane and I were talking about our newest passion yesterday - miniatures. MJ found a local miniature shop online and I went there the other day. They're going to help me wire my house for electricity. I told MJ they have classes for people on how to make stuff and how to wallpaper your house, etc.

Then? She told me about how this hobby is just thisside of "crazy cat lady"status. Let me illustrate:

Normal__________________M&MJ___________Crazy Cat Lady

In this illustration, notice I didn't put us directly to the left of the Crazy Cat Lady.

That's because we haven't actually taken any classes yet.

And I have only visited this store and haven't actually bought anything.

But I've been stalking miniature artists. And so this doesn't make me normal anymore. Because look at what I aspire to create/own:



June Clinksales

WhitledegeBurgess

And because I'm all about honesty and self disclosure: I told MJ I want to have an artist make me a slipcovered sofa for Gracie's dollhouse (It's mine.).

Because everything in mini-world is too formal.

And I'm a very casual person.

And also very normal.