Today my son dumped a whole bottle of water on the carpet and played in the puddle while I was on the phone. As soon as that was cleaned up, I found that he had greased my kitchen table with butter. After that, I found the chalk art all over the counter. Once that was cleared, I found him playing with the plunger in the bathroom. Ewww! At this point, I thought I could kill him or we could get out of the house immediately. So we went for a walk and visited my friend. Sanity saved!
Moral of the story: Don't get mad, get out!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Mmmm Chocolate, Part 2
The introduction to fine chocolate class was AMAZING! I learned so much!
The amount of effort that goes into turning a bean into a bar is staggering. It boggles my mind that the process was ever even discovered. Harvesting, Fermenting, Drying, Cleaning, Roasting, Hulling, Grinding, Conching, Tempering. All for a few bites of...well bliss, but it's still a lot of effort.
We talked about bad chocolate, and what makes it bad (ahem, Hershey's!), and then we got to taste. We tasted mediocre chocolate, and then - and THEN we tasted extraordinary and perfect chocolate! Heaven! Did you know that chocolate's melting point just happens to be at body temperature? Try to tell me that wasn't a gift from God.
So after we'd tasted a bunch of really good chocolate, our instructor gave us a bite of typical grocery store chocolate. It was so gross! I wanted to spit it out! All I could taste was coconut oil and chemicals. Bleugh! Luckily we ended the night on a good note, with the #1, #2, & #3 chocolates in the world, made by Amedei and Amano.
Shut. Up.
Amazing doesn't quite describe them. And all that stuff about chocolate releasing feel good chemicals in the brain? 100% true. I felt super happy and mellow when I got home. I think I'll start medicating with fine chocolate. My drug of choice:
This is the best thing I've ever eaten. Amano Guayas. Oh, baby.
The amount of effort that goes into turning a bean into a bar is staggering. It boggles my mind that the process was ever even discovered. Harvesting, Fermenting, Drying, Cleaning, Roasting, Hulling, Grinding, Conching, Tempering. All for a few bites of...well bliss, but it's still a lot of effort.
We talked about bad chocolate, and what makes it bad (ahem, Hershey's!), and then we got to taste. We tasted mediocre chocolate, and then - and THEN we tasted extraordinary and perfect chocolate! Heaven! Did you know that chocolate's melting point just happens to be at body temperature? Try to tell me that wasn't a gift from God.
So after we'd tasted a bunch of really good chocolate, our instructor gave us a bite of typical grocery store chocolate. It was so gross! I wanted to spit it out! All I could taste was coconut oil and chemicals. Bleugh! Luckily we ended the night on a good note, with the #1, #2, & #3 chocolates in the world, made by Amedei and Amano.
Shut. Up.
Amazing doesn't quite describe them. And all that stuff about chocolate releasing feel good chemicals in the brain? 100% true. I felt super happy and mellow when I got home. I think I'll start medicating with fine chocolate. My drug of choice:
This is the best thing I've ever eaten. Amano Guayas. Oh, baby.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Mmmm, Chocolate
I'm taking my first real "foodie" class tonight. Introduction to Fine Chocolate. It is like a wine tasting, but for chocolate, and without the spitting. We'll learn about the different beans and aromatics, etc.
I just re-read the class description, and my heart actually started to pound. I am SO EXCITED!
I just re-read the class description, and my heart actually started to pound. I am SO EXCITED!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Proportionate Response
In the (now very OLD) movie The American President, there is some discussion of a "proportionate response" when some terrorists bomb an American embassy overseas.
I am trying to learn the value of a proportionate response when it comes to parenting. I tend to be one of those parents that ground their kids until they're fifty or for the rest of their lives, which doesn't do any good because they know I don't mean it, and I can't enforce it.
So yesterday we were at church, and my daughter was bored (which happens a lot), so she decided to alleviate the boredom by picking on her sister (as usual) and she wouldn't stop (as usual). I gave her three "strikes" and told her that if she got to strike three she would be grounded. She blew through the strikes and I grounded her. At which point she turned her wrath to me.
The good news was she was no longer bugging her sister. The bad news was she was now arguing and fussing at me. As it carried on, I added a day for each time she sassed, argued, hit, or kicked me. (Keep in mind we were at church!) We got up to thirty days.
After we got home, and I cooled off, I started thinking...Is grounding her from TV for a month a proportionate response for being disruptive in church? I decided it was not. So we had a talk and put together some solutions for next week. We figured out a new seating arrangement, put together her quiet bag, and agreed on a more reasonable length of time for her to be grounded.
Considering that most of the time I feel like the villain in a gothic novel when it comes to discipline issues, I'm considering this one a victory.
I am trying to learn the value of a proportionate response when it comes to parenting. I tend to be one of those parents that ground their kids until they're fifty or for the rest of their lives, which doesn't do any good because they know I don't mean it, and I can't enforce it.
So yesterday we were at church, and my daughter was bored (which happens a lot), so she decided to alleviate the boredom by picking on her sister (as usual) and she wouldn't stop (as usual). I gave her three "strikes" and told her that if she got to strike three she would be grounded. She blew through the strikes and I grounded her. At which point she turned her wrath to me.
The good news was she was no longer bugging her sister. The bad news was she was now arguing and fussing at me. As it carried on, I added a day for each time she sassed, argued, hit, or kicked me. (Keep in mind we were at church!) We got up to thirty days.
After we got home, and I cooled off, I started thinking...Is grounding her from TV for a month a proportionate response for being disruptive in church? I decided it was not. So we had a talk and put together some solutions for next week. We figured out a new seating arrangement, put together her quiet bag, and agreed on a more reasonable length of time for her to be grounded.
Considering that most of the time I feel like the villain in a gothic novel when it comes to discipline issues, I'm considering this one a victory.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Neglect & Update
I've neglected this sad little blog for the last six-plus months. Hopefully, no more. Here's a little update regarding some of last year's posts.
The vegetarian diet DID lower my cholesterol! Enough to get me back in the "normal" range - albeit barely. I've stuck with it, and am now approaching the year mark of eating vegetarian, and guess what? I like it.
I stuck with the running, too, and ran a 5K in August. I finished somewhere in the middle of the 700-plus runners, and it was a great experience. I'm planning to do it again when the weather warms up, and hopefully, I'll progress and do a 10K this summer.
We had basically no TV for six months, (those digital boxes are crap) and that was all my husband could stand (One college football season). He subscribed to cable for Christmas. I'm glad, but at the same time, I'm not getting as much done.
I'm still trying to get the hang of being a stay at home mom and all that entails. Something I've learned that has helped: The dishes and a load of laundry and cleaning the bathroom must be done every day. Every. Single. Day. This is probably so basic that it is instinctive for most people, but not me. So I try to remember this and make it happen. It doesn't always, but I think I'm getting better. Baby steps.
The vegetarian diet DID lower my cholesterol! Enough to get me back in the "normal" range - albeit barely. I've stuck with it, and am now approaching the year mark of eating vegetarian, and guess what? I like it.
I stuck with the running, too, and ran a 5K in August. I finished somewhere in the middle of the 700-plus runners, and it was a great experience. I'm planning to do it again when the weather warms up, and hopefully, I'll progress and do a 10K this summer.
We had basically no TV for six months, (those digital boxes are crap) and that was all my husband could stand (One college football season). He subscribed to cable for Christmas. I'm glad, but at the same time, I'm not getting as much done.
I'm still trying to get the hang of being a stay at home mom and all that entails. Something I've learned that has helped: The dishes and a load of laundry and cleaning the bathroom must be done every day. Every. Single. Day. This is probably so basic that it is instinctive for most people, but not me. So I try to remember this and make it happen. It doesn't always, but I think I'm getting better. Baby steps.
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