1. We’ve cooked and photographed 17 recipes in the past 5 days. My fridge is stuffed. And so am I.
2. Those are my photos of the recipes from the blog that we shot, not Ashley’s. Thank heavens she’s here.
3. If you recognize a favorite recipe from above and want to send me/leave me a quote to possibly be used in the new book, by all means, please do. If you want to come take any of the above out of my fridge, by all means, please do.
4. I haven’t done laundry in a week. I hope there is no occasion in the next few days when I lose my pants, because right now, I’m sporting the postpartum black and pink floral granny panties. Desperate times call for ugly underwear.
5. The girls have been hard at work entertaining themselves while the kitchen and breakfast nook have become war zones. They have a handful of games that have kept them occupied:
a) practicing their Woody Woodpecker laugh. Not a fan.
b) marrying off their stuffed animals and then taking and editing their own photos of the affair. I expect to see this on your Pinterest wedding board.
c) pretending to be yappy, whiny puppies needing rescued from the pound. This is Ashley’s favorite of them all. One more day here and she’s going to be asking me to tie her tubes for her.
6. We were able to wrap our shoot a little early yesterday and take a trip to Portland to see the sights. Okay, we just went to Voodoo Donuts and Powell’s. What else do you need?
7. Ashley talked me into leaving the house after 8 pm at night and going and seeing a friend’s band play at a local pub. She’s such a good influence.
8. Getting home and making cinnamon rolls after a long day of cooking, sightseeing and a wee bit of wine drinking seemed like a good idea. Then I saw the misshapen balls of not-at-all uniform dough in my fridge this morning.
Oops.
9. My family is just miserable with all this food around. Just miserable.
10. Something is going on with my hormones. And no, I’m not pregnant. But in addition to my breakdown Friday, I started bawling at the gym this morning when this song came on my iPod. “One day you’ll drop her off at preschool and she won’t even know you’re gone?” WAHHHHHHH. I liked him better when he was Hootie. Hootie didn’t make me cry.
11. After the puppy nuptials today, The Cat Bandit struck.
She took all of Lulu’s jewelry, hog-tied the dog and then Lulu said, “Oh no, she’s going to take my skirt!”
I’m not sure where she’ll strike again, but I’m keeping a tight hold on my pants.
12. Three more recipes to go and the book will be wrapped. That makes me so happy, I’m doing my Woody Woodpecker laugh.
“Ha-ha-ha-HAA-ha!”
Holy moly.
I had a very rare breakdown into tears while packing lunches this evening. Pea Daddy asked why. Big mistake.
My response: “I’d say it’s getting up at 5:30 to workout, racing home to make sure everyone is dressed, gone potty, had breakfast and has their hair done, packing snacks for preschool, making Cracklin’ Cauliflower, packing lunches, taking Gigi to school, finishing the Quinoa Tabbouleh, picking Lulu up from school, baking Apple Cider Donuts, making Lulu lunch, playing Hangman with someone who can’t spell, making Peach Cobbler, coloring, reading stories while trying to make sure my cobbler doesn’t burn, making Lulu a snack, picking up Gigi, making Gigi a snack, packing Gigi’s lunch, making sure her homework is done and trying to get some semblance of a normal meal on the table for dinner. That’s all.”
He’s sorry he asked.
Tonight we all needed a little comic relief (or a horse tranquilizer), so I decided to ask the girls this list of questions I found via Pinterest (and originally from this blog).
1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
Gigi: Please read to me.
Lulu: Go pee pee.
2. What makes Mommy happy?
Lulu: Us.
Gigi: Not peeing on the floor.
Me: Keep it clean, guys.
3. What makes Mommy sad?
Gigi: When we make big messes.
Lulu: When we pee pee on the floor. (You can see how much Lulu respects my authority.)
4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
Lulu: Make funny faces.
Gigi: Wacky Wednesday videos!
5. What was Mommy like as a child?
Gigi: You had two brothers.
Lulu: You had short hair and brown eyes (she says looking at my short hair and brown eyes).
6. How old is Mommy?
Gigi: 34. (I’m 33, verified via text message with Pea Daddy two weeks ago.)
Lulu: 68.
7. How tall is Mommy?
Gigi: 51 inches. (4 foot 3?)
Lulu: Stand up. You’re that tall.
8. What is Mommy’s favorite thing to do?
Gigi: Play with us.
Lulu: When we smile.
9. What does Mommy do when you’re not around?
Lulu: Go shopping.
Gigi: Go shopping. Make lunch. Hang out with Lulu. Hang out with me.
Me: You’re not here!
Gigi: I’m invisible.
10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Lulu: The best cookbook.
Gigi: Being the best mommy in the world (hugging me).
11. What is Mommy really good at?
Lulu: Working on the computer.
Gigi: Being a friend (hugging me again).
12. What is Mommy not very good at?
Lulu: Walking on a tightrope.
Gigi: Making typos.
Me: I’m not good at making typos?
Gigi: Actually, you’re pretty good at that.
13. What does Mommy do for her job?
Lulu: Work on the book.
Gigi: Write books.
14. What is Mommy’s favorite food?
Gigi: Salad.
Lulu: Everything!
15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
Lulu: Hoopa-looping.
Gigi: Jumproping up to 57.
16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Lulu: Linus, because I love Linus.
Gigi: Can we change the subject? (Touched a nerve there.)
17. What do you and Mommy do together?
Gigi: Read books.
Lulu: Sing “Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Where Ya At?! Where Ya At?!”
18. How are you and Mommy the same?
Lulu: Because we love each other (hugging me).
Gigi: We both have curly hair.
19. How are you and Mommy different?
Lulu: We’re not the same old.
Gigi: I’m in school, you’re not.
20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
Gigi: Because you take me out to frozen yogurt.
Lulu: Because we live together.
21. Where is Mommy’s favorite place to go?
Gigi: Starbucks.
Lulu: The grocery store.
You know where to find me.
