Vern's Office

Here are some pictures of Vern's office. I'll talk more about it later and explain what everything is. It's kind of boring, so I won't get into it now. But here's a quick look...

Movies, TV, Books, Food

Here's a list of movies that I absolutely love, in no particular order:

Magnolia
Life is Beautiful
The Squid and the Whale
Little Children
Fight Club
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Rushmore
Running on Empty
Good Will Hunting
Stand By Me
The Princess Bride
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory


Here's a list of television shows that I absolutely love, in no particular order:

Friday Night Lights
Gilmore Girls
Everwood
Arrested Development
Freaks and Geeks
My So-Called Life
Seinfeld


Here's a list of books that I absolutely love, in no particular order:

I Know This Much Is True
To Kill a Mockingbird
Brave New World
Change of Heart
The Catcher in the Rye
Of Mice and Men
Native Son
Running With Scissors
The Red Tent
The Law of Similars
Random Family
Carrie
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
A Prayer for Owen Meany


Here is a list of restaurant food that I absolutely love, in no particular order:

Grilled Chicken and Bacon Stuffed Pizza - Papa Murphy's
Lasagna - Buca's
Spicy Chicken Chipolte Pasta - The Cheesecake Factory
Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip - Coldstone Creamery
Spicy Hot Chocolate - Caribou Coffee
Cheese Fries - Outback Steakhouse 

6 Days

We open in six days.

Super

4.12 out of 5 stars

I've been refraining from reviewing movies on this site because I'm pretty sure that nobody comes here to read my really lame movie reviews. Although, this site is such a hodgepodge of information and insanity, I'm not sure why people even come here to begin with.

So, I've been refraining from doing the Movies section, even though I have seen some good ones in the last however many months (Exit Through the Gift Shop, The Parking Lot Movie, and a little movie called Blue Valentine that absolutely everyone in the world should see, as well as others).

But the other day, Vern and I watched this movie starring Rainn Wilson as a self-made superhero called Super.... and it was such a good, darker than dark, quirky little movie that I simply wanted to tell everybody I know about it.

First of all, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that most people won't like this movie. It's just too... darker than dark and quirky for the likes of most people. And if you follow my advice and see this movie, and you don't like it, you are probably going to wonder about the state of my mentality.

But let me say this... This movie is just so original, so out-there, so "I can't believe they just did that", so creative... and I LOVE it for that.

James Gunn is the writer/director of Super. I recognized his name because I knew he used to be married to Jenna Fischer (from The Office). And that he is brother to Sean Gunn, who played Kirk on my beloved Gilmore Girls. So now, along with Paul Thomas Anderson, Noah Baumbach, Todd Field, and Kevin Smith... he is one of my favorite writer/directors out there.

Oh, yeah, and this movie also starred Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon and Ellen Page. And Ellen's role as the adorable superhero fan girl was amazing. Ooh, ooh, and the guy who plays Matt Saracen on Friday Night Lights makes a short appearance. That was very exciting.

Okay. That's it for today. Back to your regularly scheduled Easter.

A Post, In Pictures

Ocean's been taking a pottery class. She's really good at it...

On Thursday, we decorated Easter eggs. (The small eggs are quail eggs.) I cannot take credit for any of the preparations or know-how in regards to this. My friend Kelly takes care of all of it...

We visited the Easter bunny today. He was at our co-op...

We live across the street from this great wooded area. It is beautiful. We've made a fort there. There is a dirt track that the kids ride their bikes on (as well as just run down, sans bikes). It's really nice. We did this today...

Happy Easter, dear readers.

Reading to My Kids

I just finished reading the last of the Roald Dahl books to my kids. We've read...

The Gremlins
James and the Giant Peach
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Danny, the Champion of the World
The Enormous Crocodile
The Twits
George's Marvelous Medicine
The BFG
The Witches
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Matilda
Esio Trot
The Minpins

And they were all well and wonderful.

But here is what I was thinking...

When Peace gets older, I will want her to experience the world of Roald Dahl books as well... but I don't think I will feel like reading them to her. And same goes with all the other books I've read with my older two... the Kate DiCamillo books, the Clementine books, the Pippi Longstockings, the Lynne Jonell's, the Ivy and Bean's, and all the rest of it. (And the books Vern has read to them as well... the Harry Potters, and the Series of Unfortunate Events.)

We will have to do it all over again for Peace (and for any other kids that we may or may not have in the future). And that doesn't seem that appealing to me.

Is it just that parenting may become boring after awhile?

When you have the first kid, everything is new and exciting. Reading the old books that I hadn't read since I was a kid. Going to Easter Egg hunts and Toddler Tuesdays and trick-or-treating and all the rest of everything that comes with parenthood.

But by the third kid (or fourth or fifth), will it just seem like more of the same?

I don't know.

Garlic Cream Chicken

This is the recipe that my friend Rebecca recommended, which I originally resisted making because I didn't have the ingredients and I wanted to make this instead. But, boy, was Rebecca right, because this dish was AMAZING! And I really should have known this, because excepting our views on the universe and whether or not we shave our armpits, Rebecca and I pretty much agree on everything (same taste in movies, TV shows, food, etc).

So, here is my spin on the recipe, which of course I always tinker with to make it either, 1) cheaper, or 2) easier, or 3) healthier. But if you want to see the original recipe, go here.

5 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 c. white wine
1 T thyme
2 TBSP flour
1/2 the meat off of one chicken (remember how I boil a chicken and take apart the meat? Do that.)
2/3 cup raw, heavy cream

Bring garlic powder and white wine to a boil for a couple minutes. Add chicken, thyme (and salt and pepper to taste). Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

In small bowl, whisk together flour and 1/2 cup of the sauce, then add back to the rest of the sauce. Add cream and boil for about 3 minutes. Serve over rice.

This meal is really, really good. I've come to realize that I am quite a lover of different types of sauce-type meals, and this is one of the best. It's yum!

Push Ups

So, I completed my first two weeks of doing the Push Up Challenge. Two weeks ago, I was able to do 38 consecutive push ups. Today, I was able to complete 51. According to the program, in two weeks, I should be strong enough to do 100. (I'm not quite sure how that is going to happen though.)

Did you know... Buzz Aldrin was named Edwin when he was born, but since he was the only son, everyone called him "Brother". His sister, who was only a year older than him, could only manage to say, "Buzzer". Pretty soon, everyone started calling him "Buzzer" and it was eventually shortened to "Buzz".

No pictures today, but Vern's office is starting to look really good.

More on Food

So, I wrote my Food Story a couple weeks ago, right? Well, I've been thinking about it some more. Here are some thoughts...

Vern was at a Maximized Living chiropractic seminar last weekend. Maximized Living is going to be teaming up with Jordan Rubin, the author of The Maker's Diet, to do some nutritional stuff. So, Jordan Rubin was one of the speakers at the seminar. In his talk, he mentioned how his kid had only at two bites of junk food in his life... once, it was a Popsicle at a friend's birthday party, and the other time it was a bite of white rice.

And, part of me was thinking, "Wow. That's pretty cool that they treat their bodies so well." But another part of me was thinking, "Wait a minute... that sounds kind of annoying to be that obsessed with healthy eating."

Then, I read this good article on The Nourished Life blog, where she writes about keeping traditional diets in perspective, as well as this article on the Underground Wellness blog. And I'm starting to think that I am actually pretty okay with my food choices. You know, my 5% way of living (which sometimes turns into 10% which sometimes turns into 15%...), and I'm totally okay with it. Almost. I think. Maybe.

Anyway, the point is, there is more to life than how we eat. But yet, how we eat affects our quality of life (how we feel, how we look, how much energy we have)... so, it is important to find the balance. And, also, the most important thing... don't stress about ANY of it.

Peace / Office

Let's start today off with some pictures of Peace:

And here is how the office is looking today:

It's painted, but I think we're going to paint over some of the green with a slightly different shade of green. And we're going to use a Satin finish this time because the Flat finish sucks donkey butts. The shade of green that I chose isn't sitting quite right with me. It's too light. It reminds me of Peppermint Bon Bon ice cream. And, although that is my very favorite kind of ice cream, it does not necessarily look good on the wall.

So, back to some more painting for us.

Thai Peanut Noodles

I have found a recipe that is somewhat in response to my Recipe Request. Blog reader Rebecca recommended the recipe for Garlic Cream Chicken from the blog Rumble In The Kitchen. So, I looked at that recipe, and I thought it looked good, but then I saw something that looked even better... THAI PEANUT NOODLES.

So, that brings us to where we are today.

If you want the original recipe, go here... otherwise, here is my version (because I always end up altering them in some way to fit my needs/cupboard).

16 oz. rice spaghetti
3/4 cup peanut butter (Trader Joe's has peanut butter made with Valencia peanuts... which is what you want to get to avoid the mold issues)
1/2 cup tamari
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Dash of Stevia
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3/4 cup reserved pasta water
Cut-up chicken (Have I mentioned how I do this yet? About once a week, I boil a chicken in 4 quarts of water overnight. It makes stock, plus I also separate the chicken from the bones and freeze in 4 to 5 sections to use in things like this.)

1. Cook pasta in plenty of water.

2. While pasta is cooking, combine all of the other ingredients (except for the pasta water and chicken) in a bowl. Mixture will be thick.

3. Just before pasta is done take about 3/4 a cup of the water and mix it into sauce.

4. Drain pasta and return to pan. Add chicken.

5. Mix pasta and sauce.

This is really, really, really delicious. Thank you Rebecca! (Sort of.)

The Office

Here is what the office is looking like today:

Oooh... and here is the exciting part:

There is a lot more painting than I anticipated. It involves primer, and coats, and second coats, and cutting in, and taping, and so on and so forth. It's exhausting. Remember how I'm doing that 100 Push-Up Challenge? Well, I started Week 4 of it this morning, and totally maxed out on push-ups. And then I went to the office to paint for two hours. Whew... I could barely hold my arms up at the end of it.

But, all in all, this opening up a business thing is pretty exciting. I think everybody should do it. It's fun.

Because here's one thing I love about myself (and you'll love this about yourself to, if you can master the notion): I never worry about anything. Sure, I get stressed at times (see here, and here, and here, for example)... but I never really worry about anything.

It's a gift. I know this.

So, this is a good attitude to have when opening a new business. It doesn't matter if we don't make any money right away (which WON'T happen anyway, because we're awesome), because, as I always tell Vern, "What's the worst that could happen? We end up living with your brother or living in a crappy apartment?"

Been there, done that, right?

I just really trust God to figure everything out for me, and I don't worry about things. (Because, if there is something to worry about, either do something about it so that you're not worried... OR, if there is nothing that can be done, don't worry about it because there is nothing you could do about it anyway. Worrying is a worthless activity, really. I don't know why so many people do it.)

Sometimes things happen and you can't really see why they happen until later. Let me give you an example...

A couple of months ago, Vern got rear-ended and his car got totaled out. Bad news, right? Not really... because that enabled us to get $7,500 for the car (which we only paid $5,500 for), thus giving us extra money to help with starting the business.

See... God looks out for us. And he'll look out for our business and all aspects of our lives as well. What's there to worry about when we have that going for us?

Douche Bags

You guys are all douche bags. I only got 2 serious entries for my recipe request yesterday. I bet if Smitten Kitchen would have sent out a request, she would have gotten hundreds.

In other news: I filled out an application with a nanny company the other day. I was hoping to get some evening babysitting gigs in order to get some extra money. 

They rejected me.

Here is what they wrote:

"In reviewing your application we don't see that you have the minimum qualifications that we expect from candidates which includes current or very recent full time long term child care employment history."

They're douche bags too.

Got Recipes?

Do you have a favorite recipe? I want to try it! Write it in the comment section below, and I might feature it on this blog.

With Ocean

I took Ocean shopping for her first communion dress the other day, and then, as a special treat, I took her out to eat... just the two of us.

The problem was, as we were sitting there at the Red Lobster, wolfing down basket after basket of those garlic cheese biscuits, I couldn't think of anything to talk to her about.

I literally thought to myself, "This would be so much more fun if I was here with Vern instead."

Is it the fact that she is 8 and I am 34 that creates a conversation block between the two of us? Because Lorelei and Rory we were not.

We had fun shopping for dresses. We have fun doing stuff together. We enjoy each others company on a daily basis (most of the time). We like each other. But, as I sat there, thinking, "What should I ask her? What should we talk about?", I came up with nothing.

I WANT TO BE LIKE LORELEI AND RORY!

100 Push Up Challenge

Today, I am starting this program to get myself to do 100 push-ups. (You can do it with me, learn how here.) I can do 38 push-ups now, so I'll be starting with Week 3 of the program. (If you can only do 2 push-ups, start at Week 1.)

I really like the idea of this because I like to have something to train for, something to work toward. That's why training for a marathon is cool, and I'd be doing that still if training for marathons wasn't so stupid. (Seriously... endurance training is a horrible thing to do to your body.) So, now I have this.

Have you all seen this video on How To Be Alone yet? It's pretty cool. I like being alone.

Poop

I was reading about the GAPS diet lately (a specialized diet done to reduce food allergies), and I came across this poop chart:

It said that, ideally, our poops should be either Type 3 or Type 4 (optimally, closer to Type 4).

I had always kind of wondered if my family would benefit from being gluten-free or dairy-free... because it seems like that (along with amber necklaces and baby legs) is what all the cool kids are doing now-a-days. Am I right here, people?

But when I looked at this poop chart, I realized we must be doing alright because my family has AMAZING poops. We are all (actually, strike that, because I don't really know what Vern's poops look like) a Type 3 or 4 family. (If you're suffering from a food allergy, chances are your poops look like Type 6 or 7.) So, why mess with something that's not broken, right?

Also, remember that today is Treasure Mapping day. Make a Treasure Map (click here for tips on how to make one)... because if you don't know where you're going in life, then how are you ever going to get there?

The Mind

I rule my mind, which I alone must rule.
I have a kingdom I must rule.
At times, it does not seem I am its king at all.
It seems to triumph over me,
and tell me what to think,
and what to do and feel.
And yet it has been given me to serve
whatever purpose I perceive in it.
My mind can only serve.
Today I give its service to the Holy Spirit
to employ as He sees fit.
I thus direct my mind,
which I alone can rule.
And thus I set it free
to do the Will of God.

- from Gifts from a Course in Miracles