Three hundred posts

According to my dashboard, this is my 300th post. Yay me! When I first started this blog, I had a six month old. Now my six month old is a two year old who is now hitting the preschool age. (Yesterday after picking up darling daughter at preschool, all I heard throughout the day was, "We washed hands at preschool." Apparently that was a big highlight of her day.) At the time I wrote my first post, I didn't have a clear goal set, other than writing again. When I was a reporter, I struggled writing columns, so I am pleasantly surprised I even reached 100 posts, never mind 300.

I've survived the baby food era. I've survived teething. I've survived sleepless nights. I've survived a couple of poop eating incidents and potty training. And I'm continuing to survive all the challenges of parenthood throws at me. So dear readers, thanks for reading about my adventures. No doubt there will be many more to come.

Photo Wednesday: Preschool

Today was a momentous milestone for us as darling daughter started preschool.

Wearing her little back pack, it was a wonder that I didn't cry this morning. However, I did shed some tears during last week's orientation session while darling daughter was playing at the various stations preschool staff had set up for the kids. I had to look away and look interested in the reading corner so no one noticed I was getting teary-eyed. It doesn't seem that long ago that we brought her home from the hospital. Now, she is saying full sentences and going to preschool. In no time at all, she'll be going to kindergarten.

There was no tears this morning as there was a flurry of activity as parents filled out last minute forms, paid snack fees and provided immunization information. When I returned, I was welcomed with several pieces of artwork, most of which are laid out to dry in a spare room.

The preschool years have started. It is good for both of us. I have two hours to myself and darling daughter is able to socialize with other kids.

Nanas are better than mommas

I knew it would eventually happen. I just didn't realize how much it would sting.

Darling daughter spent this past weekend with her beloved grandmas -- my mother and grandmother. My mom was on babysitting duty as I went to a wedding. Darling daughter spent the weekend colouring, playing with dolls, having a tea party and other fun stuff that involves a great amount of spoiling, which I don't mind. She doesn't see her grandmothers that often.

When I returned to my grandmother's house for the night to relieve my mother of her babysitting duties, I was greeted to darling daughter sprawled out on the bed. Instead of a smile and a sweet hello when I woke her up to reposition in the bed so I could crawl into it, I was greeted with sad sobs and questions as to where "Nana" was. "Nana, Nana, Nana," she cried. It broke my heart.

It broke my heart because (1) she wasn't all that happy to see me as I was not Nana. And (2) she was so sad that her Nana had left. I could relate to darling daughter's feelings as my grandmother was a rock star in my life when I was growing up. Grandma could do no wrong. This was the woman who took us to the beach, taught me how to knit, made us cookies and would repeatedly make us Kraft Dinner for lunch, despite eating it two days previously.

So I wasn't surprised that there would be crying when we left Nana's house on Sunday. "No want to," was the response I quickly received when I informed darling daughter that we had to hit the road. There were lots of tears shed before we pulled out of the driveway.

So not only is darling daughter a Daddy's girl, she is also a Nana's girl. I'm not surprised. She takes after her mother, who was and is still Nana's girl.

Crock Pot Mondays

You can never have enough slow cookers!

This was the declaration I made at a gift opening for a friend yesterday. She and her new husband were opening gifts and they were the lucky recipients of a slow cooker. What a thoughtful gift! When they were unwrapping the present, I commented that you can't have enough slow cookers, which a true statement. The acquaintance sitting beside me chuckled, and wondered how many I have. I now have three, four if you include the Little Dipper that came with my largest Crock Pot.

In the slow cooker world, size does matter. I've discovered the truth of this fact in recent weeks. I made pork chops in my 5 quart pot two weeks ago and they were overdone. Last week when shopping, I found a 3 quart Crock Pot for $15. A steal of a deal that quickly ended up in my shopping cart.

Although I love all my slow cookers, I particularly love the 3 quart Crock Pot. It is the perfect size for the slow cooker meals I've been making lately. However, the 5 quart pot and the family size pots haven't been forgotten. They are both useful in their own right. The 5 quart pot is perfect for cooking small whole chickens and baked beans. I do foresee my family size pot making a lot of taco soup this fall and winter.

The meal we made last night proves that size does matter. Making chicken drumsticks in the family size pot wasn't enjoyable because the chicken would cook extremely fast. Using the 3 quart pot made all the difference in the world. This is an allrecipes.com recipe.

Molly's Chicken

Ingredients:

3 1/2 pounds chicken drumsticks, skins removed

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1- 8 ounce can tomato sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

Method:

Place chicken in the slow cooker. In a bowl, mix soy sauce, sugar, tomato sauce and garlic together. Pour on chicken. Cover. Cook low for eight hours.

How a container of sour cream cost me about $13

I will preface this post and say that I'm not very proud of myself.

Darling daughter and I went grocery shopping this morning. Darling daughter is into stacking these days. She even stacked the contents of her sandwich at lunch. While we were grocery shopping, she stacked the container of sour cream I had placed in the cart on top of some canned veggies. Toddler clumsiness and gravity soon took over and the container of sour cream took a header onto the floor.

I was a poor example for my daughter and put the container of sour cream back into the dairy cooler. When I was leaving the store, a heavy feeling fell over me. I knew I should have taken the container with me to the check out counter and offer to pay for it.

I believe in karma. This may sound silly, but I'm afraid that I will be reincarnated into an earwig as penance for the number of earwigs I've killed this summer. I knew when I got behind the wheel of the my car to go home that I would pay for my not-so-good deed. And my payback has come in the form of a club pack of chicken thighs. I bought chicken thighs on quick sale. They expire tomorrow. The lure of 30 per cent off the regular price was too much and I bought them. Since they expire tomorrow night, I started cutting them up for a stir fry. I soon noticed that they don't smell right. In fact, they smell a bit fishy. Now I'm leery of using them. Right now they are sitting in plastic baggies in the refrigerator for dear husband's final inspection. I need a second opinion on the smell.

In full meal planning and budget mode, I called the store to see if I could get my money back. While dialing the number, I knew I was pushing my luck. The woman who answered told me the store's policy is not to refund money on quick sale products. Although she offered to transfer my call to the meat department so I could discuss the issue further with a staff member, I declined I decided to accept this experience as my penance for the sour cream incident.

Although I'm a bit annoyed that I'm likely out $13, I have learned some lessons.

1. Don't let toddlers play with dairy products. It will likely spell trouble.
2. You take your chances on buying quick sale products.
3. Karma always kicks you in the butt so go with your gut and do the right thing.

Running towards denial

I'm in denial.

Although summer is officially over, I still dress for it every time I step outside to run.

Headband. Check.

Visor. Check.

Water belt. Check.

T-shirt. Check.

Shorts. Check.

Well, tonight it was damn cold while I was running. I don't know what I was thinking. Earlier in the day, darling daughter and I went to the park and it was a bit chilly. I guess I had tomorrow's warm forecast in my head when I left the house. It was only when I had started out that I realized it wasn't as warm as I thought it would be. I should have worn the new long sleeved shirt I bought two weeks ago, but no matter. When I run I'm committed to finishing, despite the weather conditions. But I really I have to get my mind wrapped around the fact it is fall and I need to start dressing for it.

Photo Wednesday

Lately, for whatever reason, I haven't been taking that many photos, but I did catch darling daughter feeding her Pooh Bear lunch the other day. Toddlers are funny creatures. I bought that bear when she was about two months old because it reminded me of the huge Pooh Bear that was in one of the waiting room at CHEO that I used to sit and wait in when I was a kid. Until last week, it sat quietly on top of a book shelf. Now, she has taken a huge interest in him and he is now a regular at her tea parties. I'm surprised he hasn't joined the crib posse that consists of two stuffed Care Bears, a little purple cow, a Cabbage Patch doll, a doll and two assorted teddy bears.

The last day of summer and the weatherman lied

I woke up this morning expecting to haul darling daughter in her green wagon to the park. Instead, I've had to cancel our park plans due to rain, which is annoying as the weatherman said there would be sun today.


So when I noticed the dark, large cloud hovering over my house this morning and no sun in sight, I consulted the Environment Canada website. Instead of the sunny and relatively warm weather that was forecast by my local weatherman during the weather forecast last night, I was welcome to the sight of rain cloud icons on my computer screen. Cloudy, showers, thunderstorms, rain are some of the weather action that is being promised for the next four days.


It may just be me, but September seems to be turning out to be a crappy month weather wise. Sunday was a gorgeous fall day, but summer seemed to have disappeared two days after Labour Day. At this point, predictions of it being a warmer than usual September aren't shaping up to be true.


I guess I should cut the weatherman some slack. He's only human. He doesn't create the weather. He just predicts it. But what a crappy day on the last day of summer.

Crock Pot Mondays

Well dear readers, I haven't fallen off the meal planning bandwagon, but I had a bit of a scare on Friday when I was attempting to come up with this week's meal plan as I was struggling to find suitable recipes. Luckily, I came up with seven meals that I can live with.

To ensure I don't encounter the same issue this coming Friday, I went to the library and picked up three cook books, including the Biggest Loser Family Cook Book. (Disclaimer: I don't watch the Biggest Loser. The only reason I chose this book was because it was staring me in the face in the express reads section. I usually get all my library books in the express reads as I'm too lazy to look for actual books).

This book, surprisingly, is wonderful. I've found a lot of easy, healthy recipes in this book that I hope to use next week. I'd recommend getting your hands on one if you are stuck for meal ideas.

I used the Crock Pot almost every day last week. One of the recipes that stands is taco soup, a recipe I found on Stephanie O'Dea's crock pot blog.

Slow cooker taco soup

Ingredients:

2 cans of kidney beans
2 cans of pinto beans (I couldn't find them so I used lentils)
2 cans of corn
1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 can tomatoes and chilies
1 package taco seasoning
1 package ranch dressing mix

1 pound browned ground turkey or hamburger (optional.)
shredded cheese and sour cream for embellishment (optional)

The Method:
Brown meat

Drain fat and place meat into the Crock Pot.

Sprinkle both seasoning on top of the meat.

Drain and rinse beans and add to Crock Pot.

Add the entire contents of corn and tomato cans. Then stir.

Cover and cook for low for eight to 10 hours or on high for four to five hours. Stir well and serve with a handful of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream, if you like.

This is a wonderful recipe if you want to stretch your grocery dollars as it makes leftovers galore. We had this for dinner last Wednesday and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday we were still eating leftovers for lunch.

I'd suggest using a large crock pot because I had to downsize this recipe a bit as I couldn't fit the second can of lentils or corn into my five quart Crock Pot. This would also be a great meatless option to serve the family. The next time I make this recipe, I'm going to use half a pound of ground beef, just to stretch my grocery dollar just a bit more.

Poopie talk Fridays

I thought I'd give one (hopefully!) last potty training update.

Four weeks ago on Monday, darling daughter and I started on our potty training journey with the three-day potty training method. A month after starting potty training, I'm proud to say that we are about 95 per cent trained (knock on wood).

Now, I hope the potty training gods don't look upon this post and spite me for being cocky enough to say that we are almost at the end of the training journey. For the last week and a half, darling daughter has been pooping in the potty like a little champ. After initiating positive peer pressure, naming every kid to her who she knows who poops in the potty, both dear husband and I then introduced the "push, push, push" mantra. Push, push, push, we tell her. Push that poop out! We sound like a pair of labour and delivery nurses cheering on a patient. But you got to do what you have to do to encourage potty training.

It seems to be working. Now when she is trying to do her business, she says "push, push, push." Plus, the special surprises (otherwise known as Smarties) help as an incentive for potty usage.

The reason I say 95 per cent and not 100 per cent is because of the use of Pullups. Last week I gathered up enough courage to try out disposable training pants. Darling daughter was sick and no one was getting any sleep until I got her to wear Pullups. They were a security blanket of sorts, allowing her to sleep past 4 a.m. in her own bed. Having a tossing, kicking toddler in your bed at 4 a.m. is not a lot of fun as no one gets sleep.

For the most part, darling daughter is dry in the mornings. Last night when we got her up at 11 p.m. for her nightly pee and Pullup change she didn't have them on for very long. About an hour later she was demanding the Pullup off and wanting underwear instead.

So this is where we are in our potty training journey. There have been a lot of hard work, tears, poopie messes, coaxing and poopie talk. It is a work in progress and hopefully we will soon be done.

Embracing the grey, an update

I believe embracing the grey is working.

On Sunday, I met with C, my friend and running coach. We didn't run. Instead, we shopped for running clothes. When I got into her car, she immediately asked me about my hair.

C: What have you done with your hair? It looks different.

Me: Nothing. Nothing at all.

C: Did you get it coloured lately? It seems reddish.

Me: Nope.

I explained to C that I haven't coloured my hair since sometime in late 2009. It was a waste, I told her, since the dye wouldn't adhere to my grey hair. Two weeks after a dye job, I'd need another dye job. I could no longer justify going to the salon every six weeks just to get my hair coloured.

I think C was a bit impressed. I don't expect everyone to embrace the grey. (And I highly doubt if C has one teeny tiny grey hair on her head. Lucky girl!) But since I've embraced the grey, I feel a bit better about myself. No more worries about budgeting colouring sessions. No more worries about fitting colouring sessions into my schedule. And no more fretting if my grey was showing through my latest colour job. I know my grey is showing and I'm okay with that.

Photo Wednesday

This week's edition of photo Wednesday is a stinker, of sorts. It is garbage day on our street. The amount of garbage we place at the curb has been reduced drastically with the faithful use of our organics bin. Our garbage consumption has been further been reduced with the introduction of potty training as there are less diapers going to the landfill.

While I may seem like a bad neighbour for complaining about the following, I am tired of going out every garbage day and seeing the lack of recycling boxes at the curb. Of the residents who use this garbage pad, we are the only ones who use a green bin. Actually, there are only a handful of organics bin users on my street. Except for our blue bins, others of their species are rarely seen at the garbage pad. However, I should mention one of my neighbours did put out their blue bin after this photo was taken. Also, remnants of a dresser were also added to the pile. (Come on people, have you ever heard of an organization called Goodwill?) I will give my immediate neighbour a pass on this because she barely makes any garbage. (It really is quite amazing. I'd like to know her secret).

But please consider this a public plea of sorts: please, please, please consider using the green organics program. It substantially reduces garbage output. Less garbage in bags at the curb is a good thing. Plus, you are paying for the program so you might as well use it.

Rant over.

Crock Pot Mondays

In my quest in my battle to succeed at meal planning, I've decided to introduce a new feature to the blog: Crock Pot Mondays. Basically the premise is for me to post recipes that I've tried or currently trying in my slow cooker. This way (I hope!) I will be continually motivated to keep up with meal planning. Lately, my Crock Pot has been working overtime. In the last couple of days I've made lazy chicken and sloppy joes. I've got most of my recipes from Stephanie O'Dea's A Year of Slow Cooking blog. This woman's blog is giving the inspiration to expand my slow cooker repertoire from the usual fare I make. I really want to make a cake.

So what's in the Crock Pot today, you ask?

Lemon and herb roasted chicken

Ingredients:
* 1 whole chicken, thawed and skinned

* 1 head of garlic

* 2 lemons
* salt and pepper

* fresh rosemary

Method:

After you skin the chicken, rub it inside and out with salt and pepper. Place chicken in slow cooker. Peel garlic and stuff several whole cloves into chicken and sprinkle more cloves on top and around the chicken. Slice lemon and place on top, around and inside the chicken. Wash rosemary and do the same. The recipe states that if you are using dried rosemary, use a good amount, about two to three tablespoons. Do not add water. Cook on low for eight to 10 hours.

I've never tried this recipe, but I have no doubt it is a winner. I've made fragrant lemon chicken, which is a similar recipe and it was delicious. There is nothing like the smell of rosemary wafting through the house on a coldish September day.

Are your parents in?

I don't like interacting with door-to-door salespeople. I find these encounters awkward. From time to time we get unwanted solicitors knocking at our door. Most times it by sales representatives trying to sell us hot water heaters. I've got one. I'm good, I usually tell them before I shut the door. Sometimes salespeople from cable companies attempt to woo us with offers of discounts. Tonight it was a representative from an energy company showed up on my front doorstep.

I could ignore the doorbell, but that would be rude. After all, it is municipal election season and candidates are on the prowl for support. When I opened the door I knew I was in for a sales pitch of some sort. She introduced herself as a representative from one of the many energy companies that have flooded the market in recent years. I wasn't in the mood for a sales pitch as I had a headache and feeling a tad nauseous.

Are you responsible for paying the energy bills in the household? she asked.

Nope, was my reply.

Are your parents in?

This question threw me for a loop. My parents in? Are you kidding? I may look young (despite for the grey hair) for my age, but I don't look teenage young. Maybe it was my vacant stare or my dishevelled appearance that caused her to ask the question, but regardless she had made my entire day.

Nope, I replied before she left my doorstep.

I must point out that I didn't lie when I answered her questions. Dear husband is in charge of paying for the energy bills and my parents aren't in. They live an hour outside of the city. So nope, my parents aren't in. Thanks for asking. And thanks for making my day, lady.

Back on the meal planning bandwagon (maybe)

It has been a year since I wrote my first meal planning post. To be truthfully honest, nothing has changed. I'm not sure when I fell off the meal planning bandwagon, but it was several months ago. A staple in our meals has been a lot of shake and bake chicken and a lot of ham sandwiches (or hammages as darling daughter calls them) for me.

Today, I decided to take action. I hate cooking. Absolutely hate it. Slow cookers make cooking a bit bearable as I don't actually have to cook. I just assembling. I'm okay with assembling. When dear husband broke our slow cooker earlier this year, he went out and bought the hugest slow cooker he could find. Bigger is not always better as the slow cooker seems to overcook our meals because it is too big. So I bought a smaller slow cooker. Now I have two, I absolutely no more excuses why I can't assemble slow cooker meals.

I have yet to come up with a comprehensive slow cooking/meal plan. It is a work in progress. I've got some ideas, but it remains to be seen if I'll stick with it. Since I have a poor meal planning track record, I'll likely be writing a similar post this time next year.

So are you wondering what is my slow cooker? This recipe, taken from The Everything Slow Cooker Cookbook, is a slow cooker staple in my house. I usually tweak my recipes to suit my tastes. When I assemble this recipe, I usually opt using chopped onion rather than using onion flakes. Also, I don't put in the milk and cheese until 30 minutes before I'm ready to dish out the meal.

Wyoming Cowboy Casserole

1 pound lean ground beef

1 cup Colby cheese, cubed

1 can condensed tomato soup

1 can (16 ounce) whole kernel corn

1 can (16 ounce) red kidney beans (I usually drain and wash before throwing them into the pot).

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon dry onion flakes

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1. Brown ground beef in a skillet on medium-high heat; drain off grease. Spread beef on paper towels to cool before placing meat into the slow cooker.

2. Add all ingredients to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for four hours. Serves four.

*Serve over biscuits and with a salad.

Routine keep sanity intact

I love routine. I hate when I'm out of a routine.

It has been a hectic couple of days. After the CIBC Run for the Cure charity garage sale on Saturday, I thought I'd spend the rest of the weekend relaxing. Heck, dear husband even had Tuesday off. With that many days off, surely we'd do something as a family.

If you consider snapping at each other, getting under each other's feet and whining family time, then we spent lot of quality time together. Darling daughter was sick on Saturday night and refused to sleep. Sunday was spent in a sleep deprived coma. Monday (I can't remember what happened Monday) came and went and yesterday we spent underneath each other's feet. Also, darling daughter refused to nap. Fun times weren't had by all.

Dear husband was stoked that he could spend the rest of the week in the computer room, participating in a work-related training sessions. However, he changed his mind and announced yesterday he'd be doing the course from his office. I don't blame him. I'd want to take a break from all the whining, too.

So with him out of the house, our routine has resumed. I've spent the day cleaning up poop, cleaning out the refrigerator and baking muffins. And darling daughter has decided to resume her naps. Yes, I love routines. They keep me sane.

Half marathon dreams

Summer is over.

This is the conclusion after I hung up the phone with my friend and running coach, C, yesterday afternoon. We have a " running date" this coming weekend. It sounds like hills will be involved. I haven't done any hill running since May. Ugh. She also mentioned an alternative, but it sounds as painful as hill running. I think that option may involve running eight kilometers. Double ugh.

I was very upfront and honest with C. Although I have been running faithfully all summer, I have been quite lazy. I haven't ran more than 4.1 kilometers for months. I consider four kilometers a long distance run. I'm scheduled to run in the CIBC Run for the Cure on October 3. I know I won't have any problems running the five kilometer route, but I'm not looking forward to it as there has been an element of laziness in my running throughout the summer.

And if it is any consolation for me, C hasn't ran this summer. She doesn't run in the summers. But for me, I must run, even in the most humid, sticky days. I don't have a choice. If I don't run, I feel antsy and unbalanced. I can't afford to feel those feelings. During our conversation, C mentioned that we should do the Race Weekend half marathon. Although months ago I was all gung-ho to do a half marathon, I now have my doubts. The other night while running a 4.1 kilometer route, I started to wonder how I even ran a 10 kilometer race in June. Was I nuts? And am I nuts for contemplating running a half marathon? I could be.

Time will only tell. Hills are fun, C tells me. Horrible but fun. If I can survive a hill run this coming weekend, maybe, just maybe, I might start considering a half marathon.

Just because you like your stuff doesn't mean everyone else will

On Saturday, me and two fellow mommas and friends, organized a charity garage sale. From gathering donations, to organizing and pricing, this sale was a huge undertaking. But all the work we invested into it was well worth it as we raised more than $450 for the CIBC Run for the Cure.

For the last two months, I've been slowly getting rid of darling daughter's baby things. It has been a work in progress. I sold a bunch of stuff in July through on-line classified ad sites. I've taken a break because that it was a huge undertaking in itself. Dealing with strangers, including those who can be classed under the random category, can sometimes be an exercise in frustration.

I decided to put darling daughter's clothes in the garage sale because I have painfully discovered that selling baby clothes is nearly next to impossible. Some stuff I sold at the garage sale almost broke my heart. Parting with baby clothes is hard as they are a reminder that the baby age is gone she'll never be that small again. Despite the fact you are ready to let go, it is hard to divorce yourself from these items. Throughout the sale, we sold the clothes at bargain prices. Again, this broke my heart (and injured my ego a bit) as I knew they were worth more than what we were selling them. I tried to remind myself that (a) this was a garage sale, not a consignment sale and (b) selling this stuff was raising money for charity. I think at one point I agreed to sell a clothing lot consisting of seven sleepers and two pajamas for $5. That was hard.

Despite having my heart broken a bit, my ego was injured when people rejected darling daughter's stuff. The thoughts of What do you mean you aren't going to buy this stuff? My kid look darn cute in it? ran through my head as people pawed through the clothing bins. Despite trying, I couldn't win.

I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with the leftover items. I guess I could keep them. Or I guess I could try and sell them again. Between trying to sell baby and maternity clothes, I think I've given myself a massive headache.

My moment in the spotlight

I belong to a local online moms group. It is a wonderful group. As well as the in-person events hosted by members, we talk online and offer virtual events, such as Mom of the Moment.

I can't really take credit for Mom of the Moment. Although I "host" MOM, it was never my idea. The premise behind MOM is that each month one lucky mom is randomly chosen from a pool of moms. In turn, she is showered with little gifts and cards by the participants who have signed up for the event. It is pretty cool idea. Each month I enjoy going to the card store, finding a card for the lucky mom and buying a little something, usually a Second Cup gift certificate, and popping my mail in the Canada Post mailbox at the local pharmacy. Although I participate, I never thought I'd get chosen as MOM.

When I returned home from our Prince Edward Island vacation, I was surprised to learn that I was August's MOM. Since I wouldn't be home to do the monthly draw, hosting responsibilities were temporarily taken over by the group's head organizer. Before I left for PEI, the card was ready to go with the intention it would be mailed once I learned the name of the lucky MOM. It was certainly a surprise to learn that lucky mom was me.

All month long I've been enjoying the cards and the little presents. I must say, MOM is a great pick-me-up, especially on horrible potty training days when I've literally have had to deal with poop all day. Since there are so many, my cards are strung across a piece of string in my living room. They create a garland of sunshine of sorts, especially on days when I'm not having the greatest of days. I think I'll be keeping the cards up for awhile. Looking at them instantly puts a smile on my face.

Thanks ladies for shining the spotlight on me this month. It was a lot of fun. And I hope September's lucky mom enjoys the spotlight as much as me.