Wonky

There was an incident today.  And no, nothing froze on my watch for once.  It was semi-warm-ish outside, so we decided we better suit up and get some fresh air.  Dylan assumed the position.  He knows the drill.

"Put Avery next to me!"  Okay.

"Avery!  Avery!  Smile for mom!  Smile, Avery!"

Give her a hug, that will work!

Avery trying to ignore his pleas (and mine).

Come on Avery!  Humor us!

How about a kiss?  Will that cheer you up?

NO!

BUahahahaha!  Totally caught a fun brother/sister fight on camera!  Loved it!

Then, since Avery couldn't ride on the snowmobile, we hit the road in the bike cart.  Didn't get too far tho b/c the front wheel is all wonky.  So we had to modify and tip it back to get it to go.

We tried to walk to the bridge to see if the otters were out sunning themselves, but with the wonky bike cart and the dang snowmobilers - the side road was a better choice.  We call this, "Carol's Road."  A lady named Carol lives on that road.  Carol rocks the short shorts while mowing.  Did I just say that?  Too much information?  I have more dirt on Carol, but I'll save that for telling you about - oh - never!  Anyway, back on topic.  Dylan is making "dinosaur tracks" here and asking if I think the snowmobilers will be scared when they see said tracks.  YES.

Then he asked to take pictures of us.  I agreed. (I bet you see where this is going)

"Okay Mom!  Run!"

"I got it! Another one!"

"Whoops!"

And that was the incident.  The point and shoot took a nasty fall.  Normally, he recovers so well, but this time was different.  He's not moving.

See how that lens is a little wonky?

I'm hoping Mr Fix It can fix it when he gets back from his old man hockey tournament.  I read online that if we take a little eyeglass screwdriver and gently stick it in there and give it a little lift that it will spring back into place.  I hope so anyway!

Well, I must now unwind with my tea.  I sure do miss my other half when he's gone!  It was a LONG day.

 

New Mac!

It's here!  It's here!  It's finally here!  My new Mac!  Who wants a crack at naming this beauty?  

Noticed how fun it was that my reflection was so crisp on her purdy screen.  Felt compelled to take another pic.

So we're just getting to know each other.  Kids are LOVING the Photo Booth application.

And I'm busy trying to figure out a new blog platform.  My SIL Renae is trying to convince me to stick with Blogger's platform as she says it has improved since I last used it.  Right now I'm trying out Mars Edit.  I'm liking this, but we'll see.

Anyway, loving it so far!  SO excited to have it!  : )  (My emoticons are gone!  waaaah!)

Sitting, waiting, wishing

  I’m busy stalking our UPS man today.  My new Macbook Pro arrives this afternoon.  Its going to be a lonnnnnnggggg day waiting for it to show up.  My luck, it will arrive damaged or something and Trishy will LOSE IT!  LOL.  It better not.  I know this computer is going to lift MY winter spirits….but what about these kids???  They’ve been sick for the last week or so.  Both seem to have a cough and cold.  Crusty noses.  Avery had pink eye.  It was good times around here. 

I made soup to try and fix them.  I bet you can guess that no one ate it but me!  

This was good though.  It’s from Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook by Kim Barnouin.  She is vegan, so clearly this is a vegan soup.  I like that because I seem to be having “issues” with dairy lately and have noticed I do A LOT better when I don’t eat any dairy products.  Anyway, this is the Black Bean and Tomato Soup.  But to be honest, it was more like a red pepper soup to me.  It tasted VERY red peppery.  Which I like.  I tried convincing Dylan that if he ate the soup, he would have SUPER EYES but it didn’t work like it has in the past.  I blame it on sickness.  He hasn’t even been eating his eggos and that’s just NOT like him. Here

‘s the recipe, if you are interested:

Black Bean and Tomato Soup

Skinny Bitch Ultimate Everyday Cookbook

Kim Barnouin

Makes 6 servings

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (I used safflower oil, but you could use olive oil too I’m sure)

1 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin

2 15 ounce cans black beans, rinsed
1 28 ounce can stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup corn, fresh or frozen
3 cups vegetable broth (I omitted this entirely – I think this is a type-o in the book because had I included it – this soup would have been WAAAAAAAAY too watery)
1 cup water
1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsps worcestershire sauce
Juice of half a lime
1/2 tsp salt
1 TB chopped green onions
1 TB chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the garlic and red bell pepper, and saute about 30 seconds.  Add the chili powder and cumin, and stir until well combined.  Add the black berans, tomatoes, corn, water, oregano, red pepper flakes and worcestershire sauce.  Stir and simmer about 15 minutes.  Transfer half of the soup to a blender or food processor.  Let sit about 10 minutes to cool and then blend until creamy before returning to pan.  Add the lime juice and salt.  Stir and simmer 5 minutes.  Garnish with the green onions and cilantro. 

I didn’t do the whole blender/food processor step and just used my stick blender to blend it all up in the pan.  It takes a little while to get it all blended up evenly, but it sure beats washing more dishes!  What would REALLY be awesome is if I had a Vitamix and I could just do it all in that.  Did you know that you can bring soups to a boil in a Vitamix????  A Vitamix is DEFINITELY on my wish list.  Seriously – go look at their website and the recipe section and try to tell me that YOU don’t want one too.  They can pretty much do anything!  Guess I’ll have to look around the house for more things to sell so I can get one cuz they are $$$.  But really, I think its something I would use on a daily basis so I think it will be worth it for me.  Now, what to sell….anyone want a small blonde boy with a matching baby sister? Just kidding!  But really, it’s going to have to be high ticket items that will get me this blender (read: things I don’t REALLY want to get rid of, but will have to part with in order to get this blender).  Okay, enough about the blender.

Back to my sick children.  I just wrestled Avery to the ground in an effort to wipe her nose.  She is one tough baby.  Her only defense is to drop to the floor and scream at me.  Sadly for her, mommy is super strong!  Ha!  Dylan is better about it but used to be the same way.  I

know what will make them all better though – sunshine.  

We go to South Padre Island 2 weeks from today and I think that will be what finally cures us.  

Plus, it will be nice that we can flush the toilet and do laundry down there!    Yeah, I think when I wrote my last post, I was in the midst of dealing with getting the septic tank pumped.  Since then, we’ve been told its partially frozen and we can only put 1200 gallons of water into it before its full again.  So this means, flushing the toilet for poo only (yay), doing laundry at a laundry mat (yay again) and taking super short showers.  And many other unpleasant things until it thaws out sometime in April.  Shoot me now, people.  Shoot me now.

 

Well, I have to go sit by the front window and wait for my computer.  Catch ya later on my MAC! 

Zumba Instructor Training

What?  I was gone again?  So sorry about that!  Life got in the way the last few days.  I was gone to Minneapolis for Zumba instructor training (!) and then when I got back, Eric left for a business trip and we’ve been busy busy busy ever since.  And things just got even more awesome last night because our “shitter is full!”  Yep, the septic tank needs to be pumped.  Why, oh WHY, do these things always seem to happen when Eric is not here?!  Like when the pipes froze 2 winters ago?!  Fun times for Trishy!  So anyway, its gonna get kinda stinky around here today (and possibly tomorrow since it can’t be pumped in sub zero weather).  NOT looking forward to it.

 

Well, how about something a little more pleasant.  Zumba!  The instructor training was, in a word - AWESOME.  The instructor who taught us all day was just a breath of fresh air with a fun personality and was an amazing dancer.  We started out by taking her master class and dancing for an hour led by her.  The music was so loud and moved through you in such a way that you just wanted to keep going and going.  When that hour was up, it was kind of a let down, but at the same time – exciting because it really gave us all something to strive for – giving a class JUST like that.  I mean, I had goose bumps the whole time because it was just such a fun experience.  I can only hope I am able to be HALF the instructor she is someday because if I am – that will be enough for me.  She really did  make the class and I often hear from my fitness friends who take Zumba that its the instructor that makes or breaks the class.  So, I have a lot to live up to!    The rest of the day was spent breaking down the 4 main rhythms of Zumba dance and dancing several songs in each rhythm.  So, basically, we danced ALL DAY.  Which was actually quite fun!  Definitely draining, but the songs she picked were always so great that once you heard the music, you forgot how tired you were and just went with it.  We also got a lot of written information and some DVDs and CDs of choreography and music to work on in preparation for our first classes.  I need to learn 10-12 songs for my 1st class.  I already have 1 song down (from before the class) and I just started on 3 more this morning.  Problem with this plan though, is that I can’t hear the music very well at 5am because I have to have the volume down so as not to wake my peeps up.  So I might have to re-evaluate my plan of action.  And I’m also supposed to listen to my music CONSTANTLY.  This is the first time Eric is hearing this, so get ready honey!  LOL!  You’re gonna love turning Latin!  The kids have already converted and can speak fluent Spanish!    They really ARE enjoying the music though.  I turn it on and they immediately start smiling and dancing.  There’s just something about it! I don’t know what it is about this music – but it really does make you want to shake it!  Avery even gets a little mad when I turn it off.  She starts yelling, “BOOMBA!  BOOMBA! BOOMBAAAAAA!!!!!”  I can’t wait til she’s old enough to come to class and be my mini me dancing in my class! 

 

So anyway, it was lots of fun and I’m nervous and excited about teaching my first class.  I KNOW without a doubt, that I CAN do this.  But its going to be A LOT of preparation to get ready to teach my 1st class.  I think after I get over that hurdle, that it will become a lot easier.  People all over the world are doing this every day and are doing awesome at it.  So why can’t I?  Ya know!?  So, I will be busy busy busy with learning my combinations.  So forgive me if there are less blogs and less pics of recipes, etc.  At least for a little while.  Though, the instructor did say that I can expect to lose 5-10 pounds while learning my 12 songs for my 1st class.  And if I DON’T want to lose weight (which I don’t) then I have to start eating more.  So perhaps there will be food pics!  LOL!  But you better believe that there is going to be some Latin FLAVA in each meal – even if it means that I am dancing while cooking.  That’s somethin! 

So, get ready for Zumba with Trishy because it’s coming people!  Wish me luck!

Oh and here’s a couple of things I need to mention – 1. My new Macbook Pro will be arriving sometime this week!  So this means I will be blogging from a new TBD platform.  If anyone has any recommendations, please GIVE THEM TO ME.  I am gonna seriously miss Windows Live Writer I think.    BUT – I will have a new Mac, so there’s that! Yay!

2. I kinda dropped the ball on Shuttercal.  There, I got it off my chest.  Shuttercal is dead.  Let’s all just get over it and move on.  Though, I’m sure that no one really kept up on it this time judging by the lack of comments (jerks!). 

Okay, well, I think I will try to take some kiddy pics today of my little latin dancers.  So that gives you something to look forward to!  Hopefully our stinky-ness doesn’t translate into our photos too much!

Later!