Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments is brought to you by Mrs4444!





I feel like Charlie grew into a little boy overnight. One day he was a little toddler, and then he woke up one morning and was a tall, outspoken, independent little person. Of course there's nothing better than watching them grow and develop, but it's still kind of sad at the same time.



Of course, if you ask him he'll tell you "I'm not a little boy, I'm a tiger!"



We're getting more snow tonight. MORE SNOW. I know I shouldn't complain, since we were (mostly) spared the massive storm the rest of the country got this week, but I'm not looking forward to running in the snow. Not just IN the snow, but while the snow is falling. That stuff stings!

I guess snow is better than sub-zero temperatures. I snapped this one two weeks ago when I pulled up in front of the Running Spot.





It's Girl Scout Cookie time! I submitted my usual order for one box of Thin Mints and one box of Samoas. Yum!



It probably won't surprise anyone that Thin Mints are the best-selling Girl Scout Cookie, accounting for 25% of sales. What is somewhat surprising is the second best - it's Samoas, at 19%. I would have thought Tagalongs were the second best, but they only bring in 13%. Samoas always seem so polarizing - you either LOVE them or you hate them. Mmmmm, cookies and statistics. What a delicious combination.



Did you know they've trimmed the Girl Scout Cookie lineup this year? They cut it down to six! I don't really mind all that much, as I thought the expansion of the product line had gotten a little out of control, anyway.

I was a Girl Scout for 10 years and Cookie Season was always my favorite. I loved selling cookies. Those 10 years also included an incredibly disastrous stint as a camp counselor, but that's a longer post for another day.



I was all set to revive my Office QOTW, but the last two episodes have just been disappointing.



I DVRed a program called Yoga for Runners last week and tried it out over the weekend. It's really freaking hard to do yoga with a cat in the house. He had no interest in sharing the yoga mat and then decided that it would be super fun to attack my feet and calves. Kitten teeth are like needles through the skin.



Sometimes C says things that surprise me, in the "I thought I knew you!" sense. We were giving Charlie a bath the other night and somehow Brooke Shields came up. I think it was in the context of Charlie Sheen. I don't know why we were talking about him, either, but that's irrelevant. Anyway, so C said something about Brooke Shields, and I said something about "who is she, anyway?" and he said "You don't know who Brooke Shields is? She was a model. A Revlon model. And then she had a TV show."



We had a date night last week. It involved Five Guys and UC Bearcat basketball. You know you're jealous....





Have a good weekend!

Flying Pig Training - Update

I've been trying not to let this turn into a running blog, so I haven't posted all that much about my Flying Pig training. I thought I deserved an update and brag session right about now.

I ran over 100 miles in January. 101.8 according to Daily Mile, but I ran two other days in January before I started using their program. Of course, I didn't write it down, so we'll just call it over 100.

Got some new shoes after my first long run when I realized that a proper pair of running shoes was pretty much a necessity.



I'm able to run at a much faster pace than I was anticipating. On short runs I can run 9:30ish miles with no problems at all. Sometimes, I can even run a sub-9:00, which is exciting. Given that, I'm still of the mindset that "slow and steady wins the race," so my goal for the actual marathon is a nice, consistent, comfortable 10:30, which translates to about 4.5 hours. I don't like running faster, I like running longer.

On Saturday, I ran my longest run ever, with the help of my running buddy. We ran 12.64 miles. Sure, sure, we only got that extra .64 because we made a wrong turn, but we still did it. That's a half mile short of a half marathon, or just about five more minutes of running.

I decided that I'm going to run the Heart Half Marathon in March. I'd like to have an actual race behind me before going into the Pig. That way I'll know what to expect.

I'm excited!

The Awesome

I eat my fair share of Luna bars - probably 4 or 5 a week, including the protein variety after long runs. Last week at Whole Foods I noticed two new flavors - Chocolate Chunk and Chocolate Dipped Coconut - so I decided to pick up one of each, in addition to my favorite standby (chocolate raspberry, in case you care).

I could probably do without the chocolate chunk. Wasn't anything special. But the Chocolate Dipped Coconut? I think I'm in love.



They taste just like my second favorite Girl Scout Cookie.



Speaking of Girl Scout Cookies, did you hear that they've cut back on the offerings? They're back down to only six now. But that's a post for another day.

And no, no one sponsored this blog post, I just like to share things I like.

The Sound of Silence

Charlie slept until 8:30 yesterday morning. Or so I thought.

C and I had gone out with some friends the night before and got back home pretty late - way past my usual bedtime. I woke up around 7, realized that Charlie was still sleeping, and went back to bed. I woke up again around 8:15 and jumped in the shower. Shortly after I got in, Charlie started whining to get up, so C went in to get him. A few seconds later I heard chaos from down the hall and then the sound of the bath water running. I knew it couldn't be good. It wasn't.

It turns out that while I was lying in bed enjoying the peace and quiet and thinking about how lucky I was that my toddler had decided to sleep in, he had decided to change his own dirty diaper (still in diapers overnight). I walked in to find the offending diaper on the dresser with an entire (new!) package of baby wipes mushed up inside of it. Not that he pulled the whole package out in one chunk, either. Each wipe was individually removed, used, and crumpled up. It took some TIME. Of course, that wasn't the worst of it. The worst of it would have to be the poop that had been smushed into the carpet.

Actually, I take that back. The worst of it would be the dirty diaper I found shoved under his bed a few hours later, when I realized that the diaper on the dresser with all of the wipes in it must have been the CLEAN diaper he was trying to put on.

At least he was trying to help, right? And WHEN will I learn that the sound of unexpected silence isn't something to be cherished, but something to be FEARED??

Friday Fav at Beantown Baker

I'm the Fridav Fav over at Beantown Baker's Blog today!




I wrote a post about what it's like to cook with and live with an engineer. Pay her a visit to check out my awesome post, and then stick around for the recipes. She was the inspiration for my peppermint baking spree last month.

I've also had her Chocolate Overdose Cake bookmarked for a while now, just waiting for the perfect occasion.

Ode to Mixie

A million years ago I was really bored at work and spending way too much time on the interwebs talking to my e-friends. It was right before Thanksgiving, 2006, and everyone was talking about the KitchenAid Mixers they were hoping to get for Christmas. I decided to write a song about mine (which I had named Mixie) to distract me from writing a report about shampoo.

Miss you much, Angi, Sara, and LT!

Sing to the tune of "Caress Me Down" by Sublime. (Translation is at the bottom.)

Mucho gusto, me llamo Mixie!
I'm hungrier than monster, cookie!
And if you want to not be hungry then
Go and get me a recipe
You hate me cuz I got what you need,
a kitchen aid mixer with a whisky thingy
and if you want to bake some brownies just
get the eggs out and dump them in me

So I go into the pantry and I get some food
Because I'm in a cooking kind of mood
Chocolate is something that I really must include
If I want a dessert that will be fun to chew
And it went Whirr!
And the mixer goes round and round
Whirr!
That's the mixing sound - it went Whirr!
And the mixer goes round and round
Whirr! That's the mixing sound!
When I need a snackie I just visit Mixie
And in a little while there will be cake or brownies
While I mix it up I lick the spoonie
Unless I'm making bread because that's just yucky
I love my mixer that I got on christmas day
My pookie picked it out for me and passed it my way
It's silver with a bowl lift and a handle to turn
Does everything but make sure that the food doesn't burn

My Mixie, I love it, because it does it all
Just remember to scrape the bowl
My Mixie, I love it, the attachments are so cool
It's such a crazy useful tool

And it went Whirr!
And the mixer goes round and round
Whirr!
That's the mixing sound - it went Whirr!
And the mixer goes round and round
Whirr! That's the mixing sound!

Me gusta oatmeal cookies, (I like oatmeal cookies)
Me gusta pizza dough, (I like pizza dough)
Pero la cosa que me gusta mas es chocolate brownies, (but the thing I love most is chocolate brownies)

Ponga la nalga en la aire if you love brownie bars, (put your [butt] in the air if you love brownie bars)
Ponga la nalga en la aire and you'll get a gold star, (put your [butt] in the air and you'll get a gold star)

No tenga miedo, it's only Mixie, (don't be afraid, it's only Mixie)
Take your recipes, y les mandan a mi, (take your recipes and send them to me)
Levanta, levanta, tienes que gritar, (Get up, Get up, you gotta shout)
Levanta, levanta, tienes que bailar. (Get up Get up, you gotta dance)

What's Worse?

What's worse than watching your team get totally steamrolled in the first half of the game, coming back and giving you a sense of hope in the second half, then failing to defend against the first down with two minutes left to go in the game, ultimately losing by five points?

What's worse? Dreaming that they actually came back and won the damn game, 26 to 24, then waking up and realizing that you were only dreaming, and yes, they actually lost the damn game.

33 days until the Yankees take the field for the first spring training game!

(and yes, I realize that it's only a game and there are more important things in life, but it's still fun anyway)

Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments is brought to you by Mrs4444!

Did you SEE that Jet game on Sunday?? What a freaking game. It was unfreakingbelievable. I felt like I needed a drink after all was said and done.

Can't wait for this weekend's game. J-E-T-S Jets Jets JETS!

I miss blogging. The last two weeks have been super busy and my time spent on the interwebs has been pretty much nonexistent. It's all good though, because I've been busy getting things ready at work for the deployment of our new website. I'm really excited about it. Once the finishing touches have been made and it's live on the site my world will slow back down again.

Next Friday I'm going to be part of Beantown Baker's Friday Favs program. I've been working on a post for the last week or so, which is weird to me because I don't usually write posts in advance. I tend to blog just when I feel like it and have time and random thoughts floating around. Look for it next week, and check out the rest of her blog while you're over there for a lovely collection of recipes.

Snowpocalypse is upon us again. The local news station has a user feedback spotlight on their broadcasts, where they share some of the comments and posts they get on their Twitter feed and Facebook pages. This was one of the ones they showed yesterday:

Back from the store with 3 cases of beer, a carton of cigarettes, and a tank of gas. All stocked up and ready to go.

Really? You couldn't find ANYONE else to include?

Are there any runners out there? I've discovered a site called Daily Mile (actually, I stole the link from For Slow Kids Everywhere) that lets you track your training and post with other local and national runners. It's my new favorite website. If you're a member over there or decide to join, come and find me!

Did you watch The Office last night? It was, hands down, the best episode they've had in a long, long time. I hope the rest of the season is just as good. I haven't laughed out loud like that over a TV show in quite a while. I chose Erin for my QOTW this time, to go along with the new year and the resolutions that so many of us are making.

Erin: My goal was to learn a new word every single day. And I must say, that it is going immensely.

Have a great weekend!

** yawn **

Today is my Monday, and not only am I suffering from a three-day-weekend hangover, but Charlie was out of town last night and I got maybe three hours of sleep. It's really quite ridiculous how scared I get when I'm home alone overnight. It's not like I didn't do it a million times in the past, but it was never as creepy when we lived closer to (or actually in) the city. It's just so quiet around our house, plus we're right up against the deep dark woods. Whoever said countryish living is relaxing didn't have a very active imagination. There are all kinds of things that could be back there. Crazy people, coyotes, aliens, vele, flukemen, teliko, el Chupacabra. (bonus points if you know what show I've been watching too much of)

I usually stay up as late as I can, watching junk TV, playing on the interwebs, or working on work stuff. That way when I finally get into bed (with the downstairs light on!) I'm so tired that I can't help but fall asleep. The downside is that it makes for a pretty rough morning.

Even if I'm 100% exhausted, I still agonize over every little bump and creak that I hear. I lay perfectly still and analyze the noise until I convince myself that it's just the cat or just general house noises.

Then I start to drift off to sleep, only to allow my mind to wander to the creepy girl from The Ring and I start to picture her crawling out of the TV downstairs (another great reason not to have a TV in the bedroom!). If you've seen the movie, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. If not, well, I'd post a picture for you, but then you I wouldn't sleep for days.

Mmmmmmmm, coffee.

Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments is brought to you by Mrs4444!

So apparently I'm not really a Virgo.

Guess it's just the OCD, after all.

Did your zodiac sign change? Will this rock your world, shake your foundation, and cause you to question everything you've ever known to be true? Yeah, me neither. Although, I did have a necklace with the little Virgo symbol on it when I was 14. When it was cool.

Jets at Patriots on Sunday. I know nothing good will come of it, but part of me is just a tiny bit hopeful that the green will prevail. Just a tiny part. That's all I'm allowing.

I really, really love to hate the Patriots, but I have to give it up to Wes Welker and his hilarious press conference - he used a reference to feet at every possible opportunity. If you don't know why that's funny, read this. Now that's snark I can believe in!

I go back and forth between NPR and ESPN radio in the mornings. Yes, I know it's an odd combination. It's even weirder when I happen to catch the NPR peeps doing sports reporting. It just sounds so forced and so restrained, especially compared to the excitement that you get from Mike & Mike. Sometimes I wonder if they've ever even seen a football game.

Sometimes I think we should all just stick to what we do best. Except Frank Deford. He freaking rocks.

The Office comes back next week! Can't wait!

Big long run coming up tomorrow. My goal is 10 miles. If you're a runner, have you heard of Daily Mile? If not, check it out. It's pretty awesome.

We had a DVRgument in our house the other day. I'm really bad about recording things that I want to watch and then letting them sit in the queue for weeks months just over a year. C always threatens to erase them, but I really want to watch them sometime. It's documentaries and movies that no one wants to watch but me. Maybe I'm a DVR hoarder.

Have a lovely weekend!

Jon Stewart Gets Serious

I don't know if I've mentioned it lately, but I love, love, love Jon Stewart. He delivered a very serious program after this weekend's tragedy in Tuscon, and I thought I'd share it. Generally speaking, I refrain from talking too much about politics on my blog, but I think that we can all get on board with what he's saying, regardless of our political views.

"I do think that its important for us to watch our rhetoric, I do think that its a worthwhile goal not to conflate our political opponents with our enemies if for no other reason than to draw a better distinction between the manifestos of paranoid mad men and what passes for acceptable political and pundit speak. It would be really nice if the ramblings of crazy people didn’t in any way resemble how we actually talk to each other on TV. Let’s at least make troubled individuals easier to spot."

You can watch the full video here. I definitely recommend watching all 9 minutes and 34 seconds of it. You'll be glad you did.

Know What Sucks?

When you get up early to get to daycare and work before the big snow hits, then get to your office only to find out that it's closed. It wasn't closed when you called at 6:30, because it was too early for anyone else to care. Yay for turning around and making the drive all over again 2 hours later.

Home now with peppermint hot chocolate and the laptop and Yo Gabba Gabba! after a harrowing drive back home, trying (and failing) to be productive. So much more pleasant to cuddle on the couch and play the pile stuff on mom game.

Flying Pig Training - Week 1

Week one is over and done!



I had my first long run with the training group on Saturday. I did a much better job at keeping my speed down, thanks to my new running buddy and one of the group coaches. It was a nice, comfortable run, a good pace to maintain a conversation but still know that I was working hard. We ran over the Cincinnati bridges, through parts of downtown, and past the stadiums. I ended up running nine miles at an 11:02 pace, which also included three shoe-tying stops and a few instances of getting a little bit lost and slowing down to get directions. NINE MILES. And I probably could have kept going. It was amazing, and I'm so proud of myself. That's 2.5 miles farther than I've ever gone before. Even more amazing, it didn't hurt. I even did my 3 mile recovery run yesterday without a struggle.

Good times! New shoes this week, for sure. I forgot that my initial complaint about the shoes I'm running in now (which I originally bought for P90X) was that they seemed a little too narrow for my feet. Makes sense that the discomfort I have is in the arch of my foot. Hopefully new shoes will take care of that problem for me.

Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments is brought to you by Mrs4444!

Holy cow, it's been 3 weeks since my last FF post! I decided to unplug as much as possible while I took my christmas vacation. It was good!

The time that I didn't spend hanging out with Charlie was spent dancing with my sister. I got the Dance Central game for Kinect and I'm completely addicted. We stayed up way too late pretty much every night dancing to some of the most awful songs ever, that are now pretty much permanently stuck in my head. P-p-p-poker face my p-poker face.

This is me showing off one of my favorite moves - the "Tell 'Em Arms."

If you got Kinect for christmas, you NEED this game.

Football playoffs start tomorrow! Let's go JETS!!

I started my group marathon training this week with a run on Wednesday. I'm still not sure if it's a good idea or a bad idea, but it's going to be fun to try. Our first long run of the training group is tomorrow - a nice 7 miler at 7:30 in the morning, when the temp is supposed to be right around a whopping 15 degrees. At least 200 of my new friends will be suffering along with me :)

Starbucks is changing their logo to remove the words "Starbucks Coffee." The market research background in me thinks this is a bad idea, but whatevs. I'm more of a Dunkin chick anyway, so let them run themselves into the ground.

While I was reading about the change, I came across this article that details the origins and transformations of the Starbucks logo. An interesting read, for sure. I never knew that it wasn't a mermaid.

If you were a child of the '90s, bookmark Things 90s Kids Realize for a sweet trip down memory lane. Remember SNICK and Are You Afraid of the Dark? I LOVED that show. Except the episode with the creepy clown.

Why do clowns have to be so scary, anyway? Of course, they also pay homage to Ren and Stimpy and Carmen Sandiego, two of my all-time favorites.

Speaking of decades gone by, I also happened to come across an article showing us 20 Things that Became Obsolete This Decade. Some of them I'm happy to see go, like dial-up internet and phone books. Other topics made me kind of sad. Either way, it's kind of crazy to think that my child will most likely never have a corded phone in his room. Or in his house, for that matter. Nor will he ever know the joys of repeatedly trying to connect with a dial-up modem only to get busy signal after busy signal and then, finally, the ear-splitting screeching sound of success.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go read about Clarissa Explains it All, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Fruit Stripe Gum. Misty water color memories, of the way we were....

Have a great weekend!

Flying Pig Training - Run 1

Last night I had my first group training run. I was nervous and excited leading up to it. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. It was so neat to be out running through the streets of the city with over a hundred other people who all share the same goal of completing a 26.2 mile run. Much more motivating and inspiring than running on my own in loops through my neighborhood.

I definitely surprised myself - I put myself in the slower of the two groups, the 9:30/mile and above pace. I honestly have no idea what kind of pace I run. I know that on a 3 mile run I'm below 10 minutes, but every time I set off for a longer run I either forget the Droid or don't remember to write down my start time, so I've never actually calculated it. Last night I ran at a 9:30 pace for the whole 4.5 miles. I was shocked to find that I could (relatively) easily keep up with the front of the pack. I guess my solo training has paid off. I don't really think that it's a sustainable pace for me over longer distances, though, so that's something I'm going to need help with. I don't really know how to slow it down. I feel awkward when I try to run slower, but I know that I need to. I'm also going to need new shoes pretty soon, especially given my knee history.

Good times! I'm super excited about the longer run on Saturday.

On Facebook and Hurt Feelings and Children of Divorce

It just never seems to get any easier. I don't usually get this personal about my family life on my blog. I have no problems talking about disordered eating, or OCD, or snissing, or anything like that, but I've rarely discussed my family. I don't really have a good reason why, other than the fact that some of them read here every so often, but I don't usually have a problem sharing my feelings with them, anyway.

Which brings us to today's post.

After thanksgiving, I found out that my dad was engaged. How did I find out? On Facebook. Was it an email message from him? A wall post? No, it was a "status change" and a picture of the ring that his girlfriend posted. They've been living together for just over a year now, the two of them and her pre-teen daughter and their dog, one little happy family. Or something.

I initially thought that maybe she had just gotten really excited and posted right away and that he was going to call to share the news. But a few days went by and I didn't hear anything. C spoke to him a few times for business-related issues, but there was no mention of it in those conversations, either.

In case you haven't guessed, sometimes I'm a little passive-aggressive. So I decided that I wasn't going to call or say anything about it until he brought it up first. Neither of my siblings received a call, either. Don't you think it's just common courtesy to call your children to tell them you're getting married?

Apparently not. The first I "officially" heard anything about it was on christmas eve, when he mentioned that they were planning a very quick wedding and were considering the Grand Canyon as a possible location. Very quick, as in maybe February. And would we want to come to the wedding?

The nonchalance with which he asked if we would want to be there really stung. Sure, we've had our issues, but we've (or is it just "I've"?) worked so freaking hard to rebuild our relationship over the last five years. So "would we want to come?" WTF kind of question is that? He's my freaking FATHER, not just some random guy planning a wedding. Is that even an actual invitation? Not to mention the logistics of trying to plan a cross-country trip with a toddler on such short notice, plus the unbudgeted money for plane tickets and a hotel and vacation time. We've been saving up to visit C's brother in Seattle. Can't do both.

Even if I were to scrape the extra cash together to bring my family out there, my brother and sister certainly couldn't. They're both on tighter budgets and tighter schedules. "Paid time off" isn't even a phrase in their vocabularies at this point. And he knows that. And he knows that it would be hard for me to come with such little notice. Yet he'll go through with it anyway. Whether or not his own three children will be there.

My parents have been divorced for 14 years now. Many of those years were packed with drama and nastiness. More than any of us would have liked, but what's done is done. I'll spare you the details for now. Maybe in another post. Maybe not. He and I didn't speak for years after his second wedding. Then I got engaged, and C and I started planning our wedding, and I slowly began really trying to bring him back into my life. It started out small, with lunch meetings here and there, trying to get to know each other again. He had a massive heart attack on the plane ride home after one of those meetings. He very nearly died. That's when I realized that it was time to let go of the hurt feelings and the nastiness of the past and just focus on moving forward.

Five years since then and a lot of things have changed. But some things still haven't. It's like deja-vu all over again. New woman, new kids, new family.

And Away We Go

This evening I'm doing my first run with the Flying Pig Marathon training group that I've signed up with.



I'm feeling a little intimidated by the goal that I've set for myself. Sometimes I think "no problem, I can SO do this!" Other times it's more of a "WTF am I thinking?" mentality. It seems to vary day to day and mile to mile. I feel like I'm just randomly guessing at what I should be doing, so having some sort of set schedule and people who I can go to for advice on pacing and eating will be good for me. I tend to thrive in that kind of structured environment, which is why P90X worked so well for me. I'm hoping that I'll be successful this time around, too.

I keep telling myself that it's ok if I only end up running the half marathon, but I know the overachiever in me will be disappointed. For the time being, I'm going to pretend that option doesn't exist. That could all go to hell in a handbasket next week, but we'll just take it one day at a time :)

Top Posts from 2010

Happy 2011! Other than the fact that 2011 is a prime number, I'm excited about the new year. So much potential! In honor of the flipping of the calendar I decided to pick some of my favorite posts from last year to share with you. I tried to pick one from every month, but I'm horrible at making decisions, so it didn't quite work out that way. I'll be returning to normal blogging activities this week :)

Enjoy!

(Yes, I know there are 13 posts, and I hate the number 13, but if I added another one there would be 14 and I hate that number, too, so I would have had to keep going until I got to 16, and that would just defeat the purpose. I might as well just tell you to read the whole blog.)

Faith Envy

Tantrums: The Whole Story

Through the Eyes of a Toddler

Things You Want Wednesday - Stronger Muscles Edition

From the Mind of an 8-year-old

Chicken Nuggets

P90X 90 Day Pictures!!

Things You Want Wednesday - Good Friends

Is the Internet Making You Stupid?

Goodbye, Dear Friend

All is (Almost) Right in the Baseball World

On OCD, Again.

10 Years Ago

Vintage Bean

I found this a few years ago when we were unpacking the ornaments. It's from 1988 - I was in 2nd grade, 7 years old, and that was my catholic school year, hence the plaid :)



We got Nintendo that year and I had chickenpox for christmas.

Blogcation

Another christmas has come and gone, and it was great to spend the holiday in New Jersey and Pennsylvania with my family. This is the last time for a while that we'll be out there for the big day. We agreed a long time ago that when we had kids we would spend christmases at home during the "Santa Years." Charlie traveled out of town every year growing up, and he doesn't exactly have the fondest memories of being away from his own house for every single christmas. Part of me (ok, a lot of me) is sad that it's going to be another few years before we start up the east coast christmas express again, but the other part of me is really excited for Toddler Charlie because he'll get to have those christmas memories of waking up in his own bed in his own house. I always forget just how lucky I was that my entire extended family lived in the same place. No one was ever missing from our celebrations.

I'm lucky enough to have a super long christmas vacation this year, so I don't go back to work until January 4th. I try not to spend too much time on the computer when I'm home, and the XBOX Kinect Dance Central game is taking up a lot of my time and energy after Toddler Charlie goes to bed, so I won't be around too much until after the new year. Hope you had a fantastic holiday season with your families!

Bean and the Sibs, Christmas 2010. This is why we're hot.

Peppermint Trifecta

I've said it before, but I LOOOOOOOOVE peppermint and chocolate, and this was certainly three successful outcomes.



I stole two of the recipes from Beantown Baker and made a very slight adaptation to each to up the peppermint goodness.

Starting at the top, we have peppermint fudge. I used her standard fudge recipe but used mint chocolate chips instead of plain chocolate chips. It's the easiest fudge recipe in the world, so I suggest you check it out. When I say "easy," I mean EASY, as in less than 10 minutes to prep. The hardest part is waiting for it to chill in the fridge.

The Peppermint Bark is my favorite holiday trick, because everyone always thinks that it's so impressive and that it must be so hard to make. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but it's really one of the simplest things ever. I kind of wing it, but the recipe that I've come up with, if you can even call it that, seems to work pretty well. I'm not even going to break it into steps, because you don't really need to:

Melt 8oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate with 1/2 tsp of canola (or vegetable) oil and 1/2 tsp peppermint extract. (You can melt the chocolate in a microwave, but I prefer a double-boiler.) Spread onto wax- or parchment-lined cookie sheet (thickness is a personal preference!), then sprinkle crushed peppermints on top.

Chill for an hour, then melt 8oz white chocolate (not the fake white chocolate candy coating, the good stuff! Look for cocoa butter and milk, not hydrogenated oils.) with another 1/2 tsp canola oil and 1/2 tsp peppermint extract, spread over chilled darker chocolate, top with another round of crushed candy, and chill overnight. Break into pieces when it's set.

Finally, we have the phenomenal peppermint cookies. This was a new recipe for me, and they're my new favorite, for sure. Again, slight deviation from the recipe in the form of peppermint extract - I doubled the recipe and added a teaspoon to the cookie dough. I also added a half teaspoon to the chocolate topping, which was just enough to add the minty kick but not be overpowering. Finally, I opted to crush my peppermints a little bit finer, just because there will be toddlers eating my cookies.

So there you go, three of my new favorite christmas recipes. Now, if only Ben & Jerry's would release a Peppermint Ice Cream to go along with them, I'd be totally set.

My only regret is that I didn't make it to Beantown's Peppermint Brownies. They're definitely at the top of my list for next year!

One of Those Nights

Charlie woke up right around 1:30 because he needed a drink of water. He went right back to sleep, but I wasn't so lucky. I tossed and turned for two hours after that thanks to a stream of random thoughts running through my head.

It started out with thinking about how to explain shadows to a toddler (that's his newest obsession - the shadow on the ceiling that appears when he turns his light on and disappears when he turns it off. "Where did shadow go? What's shadow doing?"). Then it moved on to reminiscing about how I was too scared to walk down the hall to my parents room because I was just positive that Skeletor lived in the hallway closet. Where did that come from?



Then I started thinking about the other things I used to be afraid of when I was little, namely that vampires lived in the sewers and would come up out of the toilet when you flushed it. I used to stand as far away as possible and push the flush lever with one finger and then turn around and run out of the bathroom as fast as I could. Sometimes I even enlisted my siblings to come sit by the door and tell me jokes while I flushed so I wouldn't have to think about it. We were weird like that, and called them "bathroom jokes."

That led me to thinking more about the house I grew up in and how weird it was - my dad and my grandfather built it and some things about it were just "off," like how there were no closets other than in the upstairs hallway and there was a huge window in the bathroom right over the toilet and only a little tiny window in the playroom.

The next logical step from there was to start thinking of the neighborhood kids that we used to play with, and my friends from elementary and junior high, and how we used to go christmas caroling and play the piano and sing awful show tunes.



Then I relived the day we moved to Ohio and how bad it sucked and how miserable I was. But I made friends, some of whom I miss dearly. So I started thinking about my old friends and old times and how much trouble we used to get into, and what would have happened if I had started dating my old buddy from high school when he showed up in my philosophy class in college, before I had met Charlie, and then being glad that I didn't, because I have a very lovely life and if we had dated even for a few weeks I probably wouldn't have ended up meeting Charlie, at all.

I thought about the music we used to listen to and the million games of laser tag and the slam book and some other random happenings that I'm not about to broadcast to the interwebs.



And after that it was just random, like trying to remember where we had dinner on our anniversary each year, or studying the flashing light on the smoke detector and wondering when we last changed the batteries, or thinking about the peppermint bark setting in the fridge and the other stuff I had made over the weekend and whether there would be enough to share with everyone and enough to take with us for the trip.

And it just wouldn't stop. Fun times.