Bridesmaids

4.4 out of 5 stars

Judging from previews I saw of this movie, I was kind of reluctant to see it at first. It seemed like just another typical trying-to-hard-to-be-funny chick-flick type of movie... which is not really my type of movie.

But then, Vern pointed out that it was produced by Judd Apatow AND directed by Paul Feig (of Freaks and Geeks fame) AND written by and starring Kristen Wiig (who we always love). I don't know why I didn't know all of that in the first place (besides the Kristen Wiig part). I guess my movie knowledge has kind of dwindled since we let our subscription to Entertainment Weekly run out.

Anyway, it was our anniversary, so it seemed appropriate to see a wedding themed type of movie.

And, let me tell you... it did not disappoint! The was the funniest movie I have seen in a loooooooooong time. It was laugh-out-loud funny from someone who doesn't always laugh out loud (me). And there is this one scene in this movie, the bridal shop scene, that will go down in the history of movies as one of the most hilarious scenes ever made.

But not only that, this movie had heart. It was sweet and funny and just an all around really good flick.

Now, let's talk about the previews. There is this new Amy Adams / Jason Segel movie coming out that had the best trailer. So cute... and surprising! Watch to find out...

Anniversary Pictures

Here are some pictures we took yesterday, for our anniversary...

Then, we ate at The Cheesecake Factory (yes, again) because I really, really, really love their Spicy Chicken Chipolte Pasta. And then we went to the movie Bridesmaids (review to come). It was a good anniversary.

P.S. Do you all pose for pictures like this on your anniversaries too, or is it just us?

12 Years

Falling in love is easy. Anybody can do it.

The tricky part is staying in love.

Happy Anniversary, Vernon.

I still love you.

How I Boil a Chicken

I've mentioned in recipes before about how I use meat from when I boil a chicken (in like curries, etc.), but I've never actually told you what I do to boil a chicken.

So, here is what I do...

1) At about 8:00 in the EVENING, I put a chicken in a pot and add 4 quarts of water and a splash of vinegar.

2) I bring it to a boil. It will start to foam, and I will scoop off the foam. Then, I will cover it (somewhat ajar) and let it simmer OVERNIGHT.

3) When I wake up in the morning, I drain the broth into another pot.

4) I put that pot of broth in the fridge and let it sit there for the ENTIRE DAY.

5) With the chicken, I dump it from the pot onto a plate.

6) Then I separate the bone / scraps from the meat. I throw the bones / scraps away.

7) I separate the chicken meat into four sections and put it on tin foil.

8) I wrap them up and put them in the freezer and then take them out whenever I need them.

9) Now, back to the broth. At the END OF THE DAY (or into the next day if I forget about it or don't feel like doing it at night), I take the broth out of the fridge. The fat will be hardened at the top. I scrape the fat off and throw it in the garbage.

10) Then, I pour the broth into jars, being careful not to overfill the jars (because I have overfilled the jars many, many times before and they will BREAK when frozen if they are overfilled. Believe me. I know.). So, for a jar that holds 4 cups, I will generally fill it with only 2 cups of broth. I put them in the freezer as well and take them out when needed. I yield around 3 quarts (12 cups) of broth.

Pretty good deal for the price of one chicken.

Race to Nowhere

2 out of 5 stars

I saw this movie at a community showing a couple of days ago. I was really, really excited to see it beforehand. It's a documentary described as "tackling the tragic side of our often achievement-obsessed culture, with interviews that explore the hidden world of over-burdened schedules, student suicide, academic cheating, young people who have checked out."

But here is what it was...

About 15 different people saying different versions of the same three things. And those things were:

1) Kids today have too much homework.
2) Schools are educating kids in how to be good test takers over actually educating our children.
3) Homework / school / activities stress out our kids and take a lot of time away from the family.

And it was these same three things over and over and over again.

And I already knew all that stuff anyway so it wasn't eye-opening or interesting to me at all. I think they could have dug a lot deeper into this subject, but they didn't. This film only touches the tip of the iceberg, and I think there was a lot more that could have been done with it.

The lady who put together this film was interviewed on camera a lot, and her children were interviewed throughout. Her children were all stressed out about school and homework to the point that it was giving them headaches and upset stomachs. So, she makes this movie, giving light to these issues... but then, by the end of it, she didn't change anything! Her kids are still stressed out and getting sick!

So, yeah, this movie just left me with a "meh, nothing special" sort of feeling.

Ocean's First Communion

A couple of things happened today.

1. Ocean had her first communion...

 

2. I took this picture... because I was looking in the mirror and I was like, "Vern, come take my picture because my hair looks really cute." So Vern took my picture. And then he took another picture. And another, but none of them were quite right and I was like, "What the heck?" And Vern says, "You're looking at an image in the mirror so it's not going to be the same." So, then, when I uploaded the image onto my computer, I flipped it horizontally, so it would look like the reflection I saw in the mirror. And now I am happy.

3. Ezra got really, really dirty...

A Letter to New Fathers

I have a couple of friends who are about to become fathers soon (you know who you are), and I was going to write something to them personally about advice for new fathers, but I decided to publish it here instead for ALL new fathers to see. Here it is...

Dear Father-To-Be,

There are a couple things you need to know about being a new father...

1) You're going to have to take care of your wife. She's going to be busy with the baby and will need someone to tend to her needs (food, water, maybe a foot rub). Don't be jealous of her relationship with the baby, because, yes, she is going to like Mama more in the beginning because Mama is the one with the breasts, but don't worry... it will all even itself out around Year Two or so. See, when babies are born, they come out about 9 months earlier in their stage of development than any other mammal (look up Ashley Montagu's research on this. He's really smart). The reason they do this? So their head is still small enough to fit through your wife's vagina. (If they waited another 9 months, their heads would be way too big to fit. Trust me on this.) So, yeah, babies really, really need their Mamas, especially in the beginning.

2) But don't let this mean that you don't take care of the baby at all. Your wife will also need help with this. Therefore, another important thing you need to learn is how to wear your baby in a wrap. Believe me, the baby, and your wife, are going to love you for this (and there really is nothing more sexy than a man in a sling). Don't rush into it or anything (baby and mom are usually pretty good tucked into bed together the first couple weeks)... but after that, get yourself one of those nice Moby wraps and learn how to use it. Please.

3) Speaking of having Mama and Baby tucked into bed together the first couple of weeks... make sure that she does this. Number one, it helps with bonding. Number two, it helps with getting Mama's organs back where they belong after the birth. And, Number three, it helps protect her pelvic floor. If you ever want to have sex with your wife again in the near future, you're going to want to make sure that she protects her pelvic floor. So, none of this walking around and letting her uterus drop down and put pressure on her pelvic floor. No, no, no. (This is one of the reasons she'll need your help with doing things around the house, by the way. So, be sure to volunteer to help so she doesn't feel like a pain for asking, because sometimes it's really hard to ask for help with something you're used to doing yourself). A good rule of thumb for incorporating more activity into each day is: Five Days In the Bed, Five Days On the Bed, and Five Days Around the Bed. If she tries to do too much too soon, just shout at her, "Protect your pelvic floor! Protect your pelvic floor!"

4) You need to be the one who checks in on your wife every single day to make sure that she is doing okay. Post-partum depression affects too many mothers, and it's not fun (especially if she gets to the point where she wants to throw your baby out the window, am I right?). So, YOU need to be the one to look her in the eye (EVERY SINGLE DAY) to make sure she is doing okay. Make sure there is some spark in her eyes. Make sure she is okay. This is up to you more than anybody.

5) Don't circumcise your baby. Sure, you have a circumcised penis. Big deal. You're not going to go around comparing penises with your kid when they're older (believe me, I have never compared vaginas with my daughter, not once), so it doesn't even matter. What DOES matter is that you won't be bringing pain upon this wonderful new little human that you had a part in creating. Can you imagine punching your baby in the face? No? I didn't so. So why the hell would you consider cutting off part of his penis? (I'm just saying.) Plus, circumcision WILL almost definitely interfere with breastfeeding and bonding. I have heard too many times where this was the case.


Well, I guess those are the main five. I'm sure there are many more, but you will learn them on the way, like we all have.

Best wishes,

Goofy Mama

The Accidental Environmentalist

I've never really been that into the environment, mostly because environmentalists (like vegans) kind of annoy me.

But, somewhere along this little road called life, I think that I've kind of turned into one (minus the pretentious political attitude that usually goes along with it).

For example:

1) I save water by not showering that often and hardly ever doing the laundry.
2) I wear second-hand clothes.
3) I eat organic, sustainable food.
4) I don't waste much of anything (food, paper, etc.).
5) I use natural cleaners, shampoos, etc.

But I didn't start off doing any of these things "to save the environment". I do them because they just feel right for me. I like getting second-hand clothes because I like the energy that comes from it. I also like to save money, be healthy, and live simply... so I think that being an "environmentalist" (I don't like that word... let's call it something else please) is a natural side effect.

Old Yeller

by Fred Gibson
192 pages

Time for another classic (although, this one I'd never read before). Like A Bridge to Terabithia, it was probably a little too old for my kids, but it really didn't seem like it. They both enjoyed it immensely and we've even gone on to read another book from Fred Gibson (Little Arliss).

From Ezra, age 5 - "I liked the part when Old Yeller became friends with Travis."

From Ocean, age 8 - "Good book. I liked the whole book. Bye. Goodnight."

The Origami Video

Check out this video. It's really good.


Because the Origami - 8in8 from Ben Jacobson on Vimeo.

Thai Chicken Curry

Hmm... how do you take a good picture of a curry?

This picture doesn't nearly do it justice, because this is the BEST curry recipe I have found! Anything with coconut milk and peanut butter is a winner in my book.

1 onion, chopped
2 tsp garlic
2 tsp ginger
1/4 cup tamari
2 tsp curry
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 T peanut butter (or more!)
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
Cut up chicken

Cook and serve over rice.

Seriously, this one is really good, y'all.

The Babysitter's Club

If I were a conglomerate of members of The Babysitter's Club, I would be 58% MaryAnne, 21% Dawn, and 21% Kristy.

Who would YOU be?

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Curry

When I did that call for recipes, Jody responded with: "Once, I had a dish with quinoa, brown rice, and little teeny squared sweet potatoes. I think they seasoned it with Braggs. There was something else in it, but I can't remember. That was pretty good."

Thank you for that, Jody.

So, I googled something like, "quinoa sweet potato recipe" and came across this recipe.

Here it is, more or less in its entirety:

1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ginger
1 T curry
1 T chili powder
1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 can drained chickpeas (or 1-1/2 cups if you're making your own)
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 cup salsa (optional... I've made it both ways and didn't notice when I left it out)
Salt and pepper

Cook onion, garlic and ginger. Stir in curry and chili powder. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Add chickpeas, sweet potato, coconut milk, water, and salsa. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

Serve over rice.

Goofy Mama Answers, Part 6

Okay, okay... I'll answer your questions.

How long do you plan to homeschool? Are you going to keep them home even as teens? If they asked to go to school, would you let them? 

I'm not sure. I take it year by year. If they asked to go to school, I would probably let them, depending on their age. I'm not sure what that age is yet.

Do you ever worry that 10-15 years from now your kids are going to feel like they missed out on things. If they decided as a pre-teen that they wanted to live a different lifestyle than you and Vernon would you let them go their own way or try to keep them on the path you chose for yourself.  

No, I never really worry about anything. I think kids could feel like they missed out on something no matter what route you choose. Like, maybe, if they went the conventional route of schooling, they would feel like the missed out on family. Who knows? I expounded on the different lifestyle stuff in this blog post here.

You've written about unschooling your kids but, you obviously value an education since you just supported your husband during years of Chiropractic schooling. What is your plan for your kids as far as education is concerned? What if they want to become a teacher, lawyer, engineer or any other career that requires an education? How will they be able to go to college without any structured education or testing? How will they be able to get a job or earn a living? 

I've been avoiding answering this homeschooling/unschooling questions because they are asked in kind of an accusatory tone. I'm pretty sure it's my mother, or someone else who is too lazy to do the research on what unschooling really is. Read Sandra Dodd's website, read some books by John Holt, read this Psychology Today guy. Believe me, I've put in more research in my decision to unschool than most people do into putting their kids in school.

That being said, I will attempt to answer your question.

First of all, of course I value education. And unschooling IS education. And if my kids want to become a teacher, lawyer, engineer or anything else, they can certainly do that. Kids LOVE to learn. They are always learning. They will continue to learn. They will grow in adults who LOVE to learn. That is the goal. And, with that LOVE of learning in place, anything is possible.

More Of...

What do you all want to see more of on this blog? I feel like it's so disjointed a lot of the time. I'm going to start giving it more of my energy, pretty soon here, hopefully...

So, what do you want?

More pictures?
More recipes (do any of you even like my recipes)?
More dooce-type humor?
More talk about parenthood, with all my pretend-wisdom?
More pictures of my mother?
More answers to the questions you ask when I ask you to ask questions?
More talk about my period?
More on organic-living?
More about Papa Murphy's Grilled Chicken and Bacon Stuffed pizza (I am a paradox, yes I am)?