How is it May 5th?! Did we hit a wrinkle in the space-time continuum?! It seems like it was New Years Even only yesterday and all of a sudden we're 1/3rd of the way through 2012. Time for a quick inventory of my 2012 bucket list:
Visit hot springs during delicious winter months - CHECK. Twice.
Try out new recipes - Also done and done. We have been cooking like crazy at Casa de la Swan. And still more to try, barbeque season is starting with a fury this year.
Make a trip by myself (i.e. no kids or husband) - still working on it, although taking a trip with my husband might be better.... except he's got homework and reading most nights so I am still going to have to calculate logistics and see what makes sense. But a little California sun could be in my 2012 future!
Get to some good concerts - well, I have MontanaFair to thank for the only concert so far this year I'm considering going to: Sublime with Rome! If you know me, you know Sublime pretty much simultaneously rocks my world and floats my boat all at once. I've already been practicing holding one arm up to simulate the beer in my hand while I dance in place. It's all about the training.
Do the Women's Run - registered! And super excited to see some super awesome chicas for it!
Do the Dirty Dash - I'm being bribed to do it, because once I realized it was $50 per person to enter I was more interested in getting a tattoo for that much money versus running a race. Too bad for me that Morgan is one of the best friends a girl could ask for, and now I can't deny her this request.
So, onward into May. I'm ready to have some fun!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Easy Peasy Pasta Salad
Forewarning: there will be no pictures in this food blog. I am not a food photographer, I'm an eater. Let your taste buds do the talking.
Easy Peasy Pasta Salad
8 cups loose pasta (I used tri-colored spirals), cooked and drained
1 1/2 c mayo
juice of 1 lemon (or about a tbsp if you are using a plastic lemon like I was)
1 tbsp Ranch dressing mix (and rather than buying a package at the store, you can MAKE YOUR OWN!)
2 tbsp of Wildtree Smokey Bacon flavored grapeseed oil (or the last of the only bottle you have until your new order comes in soon) (or regular olive oil, or some other flavor, bacon isn't required but it is delicious)
1 1/2 c chopped red, orange & yellow pepper (I used a half of each color)
30 or so pepperoni, stacked and cut into quarters (or buy cubes if Walmart isn't out at 11:30pm on a Friday night while you drunkenly shop with your giggling friend Laura)
Cook the pasta, and drain. Place in a large bowl. Add in the chopped peppers and pepperoni. Stir to combine.
Mix the mayo, lemon juice, ranch mix, and oil in a small bowl. Add to pasta and toss to coat thoroughly.
Take to your old friend's non-Cinco de Mayo May 5th birthday party and bet on a pony in the Derby. Drink lots of beer, eat lots of the pasta salad, and make sure you bring bubbles and sidewalk chalk.
Cook's note: I love this bacon oil, it gives the illusion of bacon being in the pasta salad, but the pepperoni gives it a lovely chewy bite. I interchange a lot of ingredients, use more lemon juice, throw in some onion, the possibilities are endless. Perfect barbecue side dish.
Easy Peasy Pasta Salad
8 cups loose pasta (I used tri-colored spirals), cooked and drained
1 1/2 c mayo
juice of 1 lemon (or about a tbsp if you are using a plastic lemon like I was)
1 tbsp Ranch dressing mix (and rather than buying a package at the store, you can MAKE YOUR OWN!)
2 tbsp of Wildtree Smokey Bacon flavored grapeseed oil (or the last of the only bottle you have until your new order comes in soon) (or regular olive oil, or some other flavor, bacon isn't required but it is delicious)
1 1/2 c chopped red, orange & yellow pepper (I used a half of each color)
30 or so pepperoni, stacked and cut into quarters (or buy cubes if Walmart isn't out at 11:30pm on a Friday night while you drunkenly shop with your giggling friend Laura)
Cook the pasta, and drain. Place in a large bowl. Add in the chopped peppers and pepperoni. Stir to combine.
Mix the mayo, lemon juice, ranch mix, and oil in a small bowl. Add to pasta and toss to coat thoroughly.
Take to your old friend's non-Cinco de Mayo May 5th birthday party and bet on a pony in the Derby. Drink lots of beer, eat lots of the pasta salad, and make sure you bring bubbles and sidewalk chalk.
Cook's note: I love this bacon oil, it gives the illusion of bacon being in the pasta salad, but the pepperoni gives it a lovely chewy bite. I interchange a lot of ingredients, use more lemon juice, throw in some onion, the possibilities are endless. Perfect barbecue side dish.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Shop til You Drop.... Minus the Dropping
So I hosted a Thirty One, Scentsy, and Wildtree party on Saturday. It didn't have many attendees, which reminds me why I'm not a party thrower, because when no one comes its slightly crushing to one's self esteem. But the consultants are all wonderful ladies for watching me drink most of the two bottles of wine we opened and staying the whole time to visit and eat.
If you're interested in ordering anything, the links are below. Thirty One had a special that if you purchase $31 of products you can get a purse for 50% off.... this is an excellent way to order if you know someone who wants a purse (or maybe you want a purse but don't need anything else). That party is right here.
I made food using some Wildtree products for the party, and we got to sample some of the dressings and marinades. Yum! The Outrageous Orange sauce was super good. If you want to check out any of the products they are all right here.
Last but not least, Scentsy has some AMAZING body products that I can't wait to get ordered, and my consultant's page is right here. She doesn't have a party open for me at the moment online, but if you see something just email me (email address HERE) and I will put it on my order for you!
Happy Hump Day!
If you're interested in ordering anything, the links are below. Thirty One had a special that if you purchase $31 of products you can get a purse for 50% off.... this is an excellent way to order if you know someone who wants a purse (or maybe you want a purse but don't need anything else). That party is right here.
I made food using some Wildtree products for the party, and we got to sample some of the dressings and marinades. Yum! The Outrageous Orange sauce was super good. If you want to check out any of the products they are all right here.
Last but not least, Scentsy has some AMAZING body products that I can't wait to get ordered, and my consultant's page is right here. She doesn't have a party open for me at the moment online, but if you see something just email me (email address HERE) and I will put it on my order for you!
Happy Hump Day!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
The New Gig
Last year I applied for a position in the organization I work for. Lo and behold, after completing the interview process I was offered the position, that of Eligibility Administrator. Roll that around in your mouth for a moment. Nice and slow. Doesn't that sound nice? I like that it has just a shade of respectability to it. Moving on.
The company I work for, who I feel odd naming on my blog since I wouldn't necessarily recommend that they read my blog based on the use of the word asshole and my desire to make people laugh by being inappropriate, is an awesome company. I really love it. Look up Third Party Administrator on google. I work at a TPA. There is so much I now know about health care, health care reform, and insurance, and my job allows me to find ways to make those mysterious topics less mysterious to the employees we handle benefits for. I started in the call center, and I was one of the freaks that actually LOVED talking to people on the phone. I sort of miss that part every day. But on with the new position!
I started training in February, and am happy to announce that I got it done and I will be introduced to the employers that I will be handling the eligibility issues for in the next couple weeks while I quietly get to know their workload. This is the point of no return. I am choosing to walk headlong into the fray and I am oddly exhilarated by it.
I lucked out and got into a position that already seems to reward my (often spotty) critical thinking and my small town nosiness. When I have issues where we have families that appear to have coverage through baby daddy's and remarriage it's actually important for me to wonder who is who's dad and whether or not he got stuck with a custody agreement that would make the coverage through someone else a primary payer. Primary, Secondary, Tertiary. These are my daily jargon. Tertiary means third. I don't get to say it often, but when I do I savor it.
The new department has also gotten a taste of the genius that is my brain. I'm a process improver, give me a process you think is redundant or outdated or even one you don't think is really "broken" and I can probably find a way to make it faster, easier, or at least more thorough. I'm finally getting to spread my Excel wings a little bit and make my own spreadsheets for various tasks. The daily work of this new job is going to be a little stressful, but I know that when I have issues or problems or need help with a project I'll get the support I need.
This new job, combined with a new position Thad took at his work (congrats, husband, you make me so proud to be married to such a smart, handsome guy), means that this summer we probably won't get to get out of town as much as we'd like, but we already have some fun stuff planned for July (weekend at a lake house, how upper middle class of us!) and my mom's family reunion in Colstrip in August. We'll be making time for the important stuff.
I may not blog as often (haha, like I blog regularly at all as it is) but when I do you know it will be a gem! Stay tuned!
The company I work for, who I feel odd naming on my blog since I wouldn't necessarily recommend that they read my blog based on the use of the word asshole and my desire to make people laugh by being inappropriate, is an awesome company. I really love it. Look up Third Party Administrator on google. I work at a TPA. There is so much I now know about health care, health care reform, and insurance, and my job allows me to find ways to make those mysterious topics less mysterious to the employees we handle benefits for. I started in the call center, and I was one of the freaks that actually LOVED talking to people on the phone. I sort of miss that part every day. But on with the new position!
I started training in February, and am happy to announce that I got it done and I will be introduced to the employers that I will be handling the eligibility issues for in the next couple weeks while I quietly get to know their workload. This is the point of no return. I am choosing to walk headlong into the fray and I am oddly exhilarated by it.
I lucked out and got into a position that already seems to reward my (often spotty) critical thinking and my small town nosiness. When I have issues where we have families that appear to have coverage through baby daddy's and remarriage it's actually important for me to wonder who is who's dad and whether or not he got stuck with a custody agreement that would make the coverage through someone else a primary payer. Primary, Secondary, Tertiary. These are my daily jargon. Tertiary means third. I don't get to say it often, but when I do I savor it.
The new department has also gotten a taste of the genius that is my brain. I'm a process improver, give me a process you think is redundant or outdated or even one you don't think is really "broken" and I can probably find a way to make it faster, easier, or at least more thorough. I'm finally getting to spread my Excel wings a little bit and make my own spreadsheets for various tasks. The daily work of this new job is going to be a little stressful, but I know that when I have issues or problems or need help with a project I'll get the support I need.
This new job, combined with a new position Thad took at his work (congrats, husband, you make me so proud to be married to such a smart, handsome guy), means that this summer we probably won't get to get out of town as much as we'd like, but we already have some fun stuff planned for July (weekend at a lake house, how upper middle class of us!) and my mom's family reunion in Colstrip in August. We'll be making time for the important stuff.
I may not blog as often (haha, like I blog regularly at all as it is) but when I do you know it will be a gem! Stay tuned!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
I Have Seen the Gates of Hell
And they look a lot like Disney on Ice.
Last week we took the kids to opening night of Disney on Ice. It was quite an experience, if that is what one calls the physical embodiment of their own personal nightmare.
Just kidding, in theory the idea is quite genius. Take stories from all the Disney movies, play the famous music, and dress people riding sharpened pieces of metal on their shoes like the characters in said movies, sometimes even building costumes to personify the rounder characters in all their squatty glory. As a fan of figure skating dating all the way back to the Nancy/Tanya days I like to see the jumps and the spins and the... jumps. And more spins. The problem wasn't what was going on on the ice. It was all the shenanigans ensuing off of it.
I must first say, Elora has grown and aged into quite a little girl. She is so tall, and so long in all of her limbs, but she is helpful and (to some degree) well behaved. Her brother, on the other hand, is neither helpful or well behaved. He is, for lack of a better word, an asshole. You may consider the language rather harsh for a 2 year old, but I don't tell him he's an asshole. I just use it as the most descriptive disambiguation of how a 2 year old can behave (please click HERE for a wonderfully poignant summary of 2 to 3 year old behavior, which I found when I googled "my 2 year old is an asshole"). He will probably grow out of being 2, and then 3 after that, and will likely start to normalize a bit. But for now he's belligerent and unreasonable.
As the story unfolds we get to the show and get seated, and we wait patiently for the show to begin. This is Colter's first time in the Metra, and we got pretty nosebleed seats so I wasn't worried of the danger that one of my kids would be playing too close to one of the rails and fall over. The PA system is playing canned messages that must come with the whole Disney on Ice tour, stating that you could take pictures, but only for your own purposes and no video, only to later send ushers through the upper reaches of the bleachers to tell people to not take any pictures regardless of the what the message said. Two words: Nazi. Regime. And I wasn't even taking pictures, I just heard some poor guy behind us get told what-for. Fascists.
The audience is rampant with the various toys/drinks/junk food that accompanies an event of this nature. The show gets started and the kids are mesmerized. Colter is singing along with the music, Elora is yelling "I love this song" at the beginning of every song, things start off strong. It was my bright idea to go get the "stuff", the crap that the event shills, early on so we could keep kids distracted when necessary. I ask Thad to switch places with me so he is beside Colter and I can go get the stuff. He says "I can go get it", so I hand him all $40 of crap buying cash I had with me. I should have given exact instructions. Hindsight is always 20/20.
Thad returns soon thereafter with a spinning, light-up Tinkerbell themed toy, and a plastic Stitch. That's it. Stitch doesn't have lights, he doesn't have anything that spins, and frankly Colter hasn't even seen Lilo & Stitch so he has no idea what the hell it is. And the total of the two toys left no money left over for even a drink to keep a kid distracted from his sister's toy. So Colter wants Elora's toy. And he proceeds to flip out repeatedly, even when the toy was put away, in an attempt to get at the toy wherever it was at. Thad and I both got up and walked him around the stands, and each time he settled for roughly 2 minutes before turning into a psycho hose beast attempting to get to the bag with the toys.
Thad decided to take Colter home, which is one of the many reasons I love living so close to the Metra, because when this shit goes down we can drive home and back in less than 15 minutes. So Elora and I finished watching the show with some friends of mine who happened to be there with their daughter. This couple I've known since before they were a couple, which is hilarious because we all met when we started training together at Bresnan, and they weren't together at the time and didn't get together for a very long time. She had to go through a ridiculous marriage and a beautiful daughter before they got together, but the sexual tension had been palpable for a very long time. She laughs at me in a way that just brings out my entertainer, and we bantered and cackled during the show while our kids ignored us.
At one point I mentioned that I just was so curious about what goes on backstage for the cast of Disney on Ice. I want to know all the sordid details, who is sleeping with whom, whose drinking is causing problems, who called who a whore. We laughed over this remark and I followed up with the best quote of my 30s thus far... "Disney on Ice skaters are like the carnies of the figure skating world". Sheer comedic gold. I think I'll constantly be trying to top that one, and likely failing miserably my entire life.
So that is it, my experience with Disney on Ice summarized for your reading enjoyment. The Shrine Circus looks like it could be another experiment in pain, but I will be better prepared by enlisting the services of grandparents to wrangle the young one. And a leash.
Last week we took the kids to opening night of Disney on Ice. It was quite an experience, if that is what one calls the physical embodiment of their own personal nightmare.
Just kidding, in theory the idea is quite genius. Take stories from all the Disney movies, play the famous music, and dress people riding sharpened pieces of metal on their shoes like the characters in said movies, sometimes even building costumes to personify the rounder characters in all their squatty glory. As a fan of figure skating dating all the way back to the Nancy/Tanya days I like to see the jumps and the spins and the... jumps. And more spins. The problem wasn't what was going on on the ice. It was all the shenanigans ensuing off of it.
I must first say, Elora has grown and aged into quite a little girl. She is so tall, and so long in all of her limbs, but she is helpful and (to some degree) well behaved. Her brother, on the other hand, is neither helpful or well behaved. He is, for lack of a better word, an asshole. You may consider the language rather harsh for a 2 year old, but I don't tell him he's an asshole. I just use it as the most descriptive disambiguation of how a 2 year old can behave (please click HERE for a wonderfully poignant summary of 2 to 3 year old behavior, which I found when I googled "my 2 year old is an asshole"). He will probably grow out of being 2, and then 3 after that, and will likely start to normalize a bit. But for now he's belligerent and unreasonable.
As the story unfolds we get to the show and get seated, and we wait patiently for the show to begin. This is Colter's first time in the Metra, and we got pretty nosebleed seats so I wasn't worried of the danger that one of my kids would be playing too close to one of the rails and fall over. The PA system is playing canned messages that must come with the whole Disney on Ice tour, stating that you could take pictures, but only for your own purposes and no video, only to later send ushers through the upper reaches of the bleachers to tell people to not take any pictures regardless of the what the message said. Two words: Nazi. Regime. And I wasn't even taking pictures, I just heard some poor guy behind us get told what-for. Fascists.
The audience is rampant with the various toys/drinks/junk food that accompanies an event of this nature. The show gets started and the kids are mesmerized. Colter is singing along with the music, Elora is yelling "I love this song" at the beginning of every song, things start off strong. It was my bright idea to go get the "stuff", the crap that the event shills, early on so we could keep kids distracted when necessary. I ask Thad to switch places with me so he is beside Colter and I can go get the stuff. He says "I can go get it", so I hand him all $40 of crap buying cash I had with me. I should have given exact instructions. Hindsight is always 20/20.
Thad returns soon thereafter with a spinning, light-up Tinkerbell themed toy, and a plastic Stitch. That's it. Stitch doesn't have lights, he doesn't have anything that spins, and frankly Colter hasn't even seen Lilo & Stitch so he has no idea what the hell it is. And the total of the two toys left no money left over for even a drink to keep a kid distracted from his sister's toy. So Colter wants Elora's toy. And he proceeds to flip out repeatedly, even when the toy was put away, in an attempt to get at the toy wherever it was at. Thad and I both got up and walked him around the stands, and each time he settled for roughly 2 minutes before turning into a psycho hose beast attempting to get to the bag with the toys.
Thad decided to take Colter home, which is one of the many reasons I love living so close to the Metra, because when this shit goes down we can drive home and back in less than 15 minutes. So Elora and I finished watching the show with some friends of mine who happened to be there with their daughter. This couple I've known since before they were a couple, which is hilarious because we all met when we started training together at Bresnan, and they weren't together at the time and didn't get together for a very long time. She had to go through a ridiculous marriage and a beautiful daughter before they got together, but the sexual tension had been palpable for a very long time. She laughs at me in a way that just brings out my entertainer, and we bantered and cackled during the show while our kids ignored us.
At one point I mentioned that I just was so curious about what goes on backstage for the cast of Disney on Ice. I want to know all the sordid details, who is sleeping with whom, whose drinking is causing problems, who called who a whore. We laughed over this remark and I followed up with the best quote of my 30s thus far... "Disney on Ice skaters are like the carnies of the figure skating world". Sheer comedic gold. I think I'll constantly be trying to top that one, and likely failing miserably my entire life.
So that is it, my experience with Disney on Ice summarized for your reading enjoyment. The Shrine Circus looks like it could be another experiment in pain, but I will be better prepared by enlisting the services of grandparents to wrangle the young one. And a leash.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Adventures in Menu-making
I had posted on Facebook recently that I was going to try to stretch my tax return as far as it will go this year by trying to make our paychecks last longer for groceries and gas and the day to day, week to week stuff we always need. I'm the main money person in our household in terms of money management (Thad is a spender, not a manager), and now that my husband is going back to school we'll have a nice sum of debt to pay back after he gets the degree he's going to work on.
I had been using Ziplist, and I loved it, it lets you add your recipes that you like and make shopping lists out of the recipes, but it had no planner capabilities. I really need a planner. I used to use Tasty Planner, but had made the switch over to Ziplist. Someone I worked with recommended Pepper Plate, and oh boy I'm in love. I've worked out the initial kinks (what is the difference between the Menu option and the Planner option?) and found that they offer a bookmark button that lets you add a recipe from a webpage you are viewing. If it's one of the website supported by Pepper Plate you don't even have to copy/paste, but if not the copy/paste is all done in a sidebar on the page and is SUPER EASY. Case in point, I added about 30 recipes to it this morning from various places.
After I added all my recipes for the morning I started adding the things I plan to make to my Planner. Menus are where you can combine recipes you plan to make for the same meal into a Menu, and then you can add those grouped recipes to your Planner. Once I picked the days of the week I was going to make my meals you add that days to your Shopping List, which I had already customized to match the aisles at our nearest Walmart so it would group my ingredients into where I would find them. I took out the stuff I knew I already had, added a few things that weren't food related (like diapers) and voila, we're ready to hit the store.
I've also been using Pinterest a bit more these days, which has introduced me to a lot of really awesome recipes and some homemade cleaning products, so as I find these I will probably start adding them to Pepper Plate. I also fell in love with a blog called Mama Loves Food that has pretty much given me a new reason to live.... or at least cook :)
I'm still working on a way to capitalize on my children. They are cute but I don't know if I'm the kind of mother that can force them into child modeling. I'll work on loosening my morals on the subject a little more :)
I had been using Ziplist, and I loved it, it lets you add your recipes that you like and make shopping lists out of the recipes, but it had no planner capabilities. I really need a planner. I used to use Tasty Planner, but had made the switch over to Ziplist. Someone I worked with recommended Pepper Plate, and oh boy I'm in love. I've worked out the initial kinks (what is the difference between the Menu option and the Planner option?) and found that they offer a bookmark button that lets you add a recipe from a webpage you are viewing. If it's one of the website supported by Pepper Plate you don't even have to copy/paste, but if not the copy/paste is all done in a sidebar on the page and is SUPER EASY. Case in point, I added about 30 recipes to it this morning from various places.
After I added all my recipes for the morning I started adding the things I plan to make to my Planner. Menus are where you can combine recipes you plan to make for the same meal into a Menu, and then you can add those grouped recipes to your Planner. Once I picked the days of the week I was going to make my meals you add that days to your Shopping List, which I had already customized to match the aisles at our nearest Walmart so it would group my ingredients into where I would find them. I took out the stuff I knew I already had, added a few things that weren't food related (like diapers) and voila, we're ready to hit the store.
I've also been using Pinterest a bit more these days, which has introduced me to a lot of really awesome recipes and some homemade cleaning products, so as I find these I will probably start adding them to Pepper Plate. I also fell in love with a blog called Mama Loves Food that has pretty much given me a new reason to live.... or at least cook :)
I'm still working on a way to capitalize on my children. They are cute but I don't know if I'm the kind of mother that can force them into child modeling. I'll work on loosening my morals on the subject a little more :)
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