We’re coming up on Thanksgiving or as I like to think of it – let’s pour nasty gravy on all the things. YUCK! I didn’t grow up in a gravy loving household and it’s not something that I have ever acquired a taste for. I literally cringe when I have to pass it. There’s just something about the murky brown swamp-like color, and the way it jelly-like moves in the container, and the SKIN it gets over the top. UGH – just writing this has me tensing up.
Chick-Fil-A – long before their societal views became public I was already a hater. It took just one trip there to discover I was not a fan of their food. How can you possibly make chicken nuggets and french fries not appealing? Couple that with everything else CFA and I have never been back. I’m not alone – apparently it’s a Cali thing. (TBH – I really could fit in in most of these states based on this survey.)
Red velvet ANYTHING – I grew up in a time when red food dye was BAD, very very bad. There were no red M&Ms in the bag and even now I think of them (and the blue ones) as abominations. Red food tastes weird. It tastes chemically. It’s just gross. Chocolate cake should be BROWN not red with cocoa powder added. EWWW.
boba – WHY on earth would anyone want goo marbles in their drink? Just the idea of sucking one of those up a straw and having it hit the back of my throat is a surprise I just do not want. I freak out enough when I accidentally pull up some ice! Tapioca “pearls” do not belong in my drink – pearls belong in jewelry not drinks! Whole lotta NOPE!
And finally, potato soup. I’m all alone in the fam on this one. It’s like mashed potatoes mated with a milkshake and this is their bastard child. The fact that it’s often topped with green onions doesn’t bode well for it in my book either. Shudder.
So many things I could have written about over the last month but I just wasn’t feeling it.
There have been adventures…
E and I went down to a cool, private botanic garden in Fallbrook a few weeks ago without the boys. We’ve been trying to spend more time together without them. It’s all about balance and learning how to be a couple again after being 2:5 for so long.
There were goats, lots of rustic crap, and some yummy food.
Side note: this was my first time on the 395 in Fallbrook since the accident and I think I handled it pretty dang well. I don’t think I’ve put last year’s accident behind me but maybe I’m desensitizing a little. Now if I could just stop seizing up every time I see a car roll in a movie.
Last Sunday I asked E if he was in the mood for a sandwich. (AKA easy way to get him to go somewhere that he likely would not have wanted to go in the first place.) My ulterior motive was a scrapbook store that had lost its lease and was having a close out sale. Instead of reminding me that I have enough crap and that I had just been at the expo the day before – all he asked was if it was the store with the comfy chair. Like I said, sandwiches get me pretty far.
Katella Deli for a shared sandwich – after 30 years we’re getting better at sharing one meal rather than bringing home a ton of leftovers. (We’ve officially turned into that old married couple with one meal, two plates, and two glasses of water.) It’s all about compromise and finding something we can both not just tolerate but enjoy. The winner? A combo of pastrami AND corned beef that was taken apart so that we each got exactly what we wanted – his side with yellow mustard and mine with brown and both slathered in coleslaw.
I miss deli SO much! It reminds me of my dad and it is IMPOSSIBLE to find anywhere near us. We both commented on how the sandwiches at Katella seem to be shrinking. I also noticed that the clientele was all our age and older. Although they were packed, like always, I wonder if after we are gone, Katella will be as well. My kids don’t get excited about deli the way we (still) do and I cannot imagine them driving an hour to get a sandwich. I hope I’m wrong.
There was scrapbook… shopping…
I keep sitting down to craft and nothing comes out. Kind of like my writing – over the last few weeks I’ve been dry. I was hoping walking around the expo with Lisa would solve that. All it did was enable me to buy more stuff. When I went to put it away I realized between the expo and the store, I’ve managed to buy a bunch of duplicates. I REALLY need to organize again and get some stuff done. Crop signed up for Thanksgiving weekend so I have the incentive, now I just need the motivation.
I did play with alcohol inks a few weeks ago and made some cool tile coasters that are still sitting in the family room waiting to be sealed. THREE WEEKS LATER!
I probably should get on that. I was so excited about the tiles that I went out and bought 9 more bottles of ink and some more tiles so that we could have a family craft night – ummm yeah… not sure when exactly the planets will align for us all to be home together but it was a nice thought. The newly purchased supplies are also sitting in the family room; a constant reminder that we all lead WAY too busy of lives.
There was also a trip to Sam’s Club the other night to get a ginormous cinnamon roll. Went for the roll, spent over $200 on stuff – mighty expensive pastry. It would have been cheaper to get us all Cinnabons! FYI Cinnabons would have tasted better, too – ours looked NOTHING like the Delish article.
Or caramel apples… I’ve been craving one for at least a month but the one at Myrtle Creek was disappointing and I cannot justify $10 at Rocky Mountain. E saw that they have 13 varieties of apples on sale at Sprouts this week and I suggested that he buy one of each kind and we have an apple taste-off. I even offered to make caramel dip. Nope, not a self-serving suggestion at all. 😉 We’ll see if he comes through when he goes shopping. If so, there WILL be a DIY caramel apple bar in our future!
Aaron tagged along on a trip up to Idyllwild last week. E needed to site supervise the placement of the chapel he designed at Camp Emerson and I went along so he didn’t have to drive up alone. Not sure why Aa came with except that he thought he was getting breakfast which apparently is NOT the same thing as run through the drive through at Mc Donald’s – good to know. After we were done at Emerson, Aa DEMANDED “real food” so we stopped in town. We walked around for a little bit – how have we never walked around Idyllwild despite the hundreds of trips we have made up there???? Happened upon a store that sells HAND-DIPPED ICE CREAM BARS! I search FOREVER for ice cream bars and the one time I find one I am too stuffed from eating TWO breakfasts?!?! Good thing I can guarantee that that will not be my last trip up there so at some point, there WILL be an ice cream bar in my future. Damn you Costco for taking them off the cafe menu! Curses!
There was a bunch of random ass shit, too…
The other night I was getting into bed and Anthony asked me why I was going to sleep in my work clothes. I was wearing Rudolph pajama pants. Either I’m way overdressing for sleep or I need to step up my work clothes from leggings. Probably the latter. Probably not going to happen though. #leggingsarepantstoo
I finally de-Halloweened the front porch. Took that nasty spider web crap off the trees. That shit is worse than tinsel. They’re both like holiday herpes! Aa is already talking about Christmas so I am sure it’s only a matter of days before one of those damn trees is setup in my house.
Speaking of Halloween, we went to Target last week and bought about $20 in candy. When candy is marked down 50% off that’s a shitload of candy. I brought one bag of Reese’s to the office with me because I live with damn locusts. E may have a few bags of Skittles hidden. The GIANT bag on the counter is at least half way down! Locusts I tell you! (In all honesty, it’s mostly Aaron.)
The Mystery Oreos are STILL sitting on the kitchen counter from almost a month ago. We tried them and they were just SO tasty that more than 1/2 the package is still there almost a month later. Since it doesn’t look like anyone is going to eat them, I might need to find something else to do with them – maybe scrape the filling out and use the cookies for a cheesecake crust? Other ideas? Want to know what we thought of them?
That being said, I just saw that they have limited edition Hot Cocoa Oreos out now. Yeah, THOSE will be in my cart, most definitely.
Monday night I finally was able to stand on one leg. WITHOUT FALLING OVER! We’re nearing the end of yoga class so apparently the damn optimists were right and persistence does indeed pay off. Who’d have thought?
Last week, I read Dan Brown’s new book Origin. We saw Thor: Ragnarok. We rewatched the original Kingsman movie in hopes of seeing the sequel which is pretty much not even playing anymore. We still haven’t watched season 2 of Stranger Things – once again trying to find a time when we can all watch it together so that no one is an asshole and spoils it for anyone else. Yeah, not sure when/how THAT will ever happen. It’s been a no go for the new season of Orange is the New Black, too – every time I sit down to watch it some kid starts asking me questions about characters or plot lines or the criminal justice system – sheesh, just watch it from the beginning and stop yammering on so I can hear what they are saying!
One last thing, there may have also been donuts as big as our heads, too.
The last two months of the year are filled with madness. I have an adventure day with the boys scheduled for tomorrow (Veteran’s Day observed). Band is winding down – only 2 more performances to go! 2nd Annual Thanksgiving with the Weiners. Our 18th familversary. Feeding pomegranates to and riding camels – YES REALLY! CHINA!!!! Hanukkah/Festivus/Christmas. E’s last birthday starting with a 4.
Holy shit that’s a lot of stuff – and I’m sure it’s not a complete list! Despite the mayhem and chaos, it will be filled with family, friends, laughter, adventures, and shenanigans. Definitely shenanigans! Because of course they are MY assholes children…
Fall is in the air and for some Gd forsaken reason that means candy corn! What the heck is this crap anyway? Seriously? This should not exist. This is NOT CANDY! Snickers is candy. Even Eric’s Big Hunks are candy. And it’s not corn – it doesn’t even look like corn! This is just GROSS. Just NO!
And Flamin’ Hot Cheetos? You take everything good about Cheetos and cover them in fluorescent red chili powder! NO! I have mad respect for the Hot Cheeto dude and his rise from janitor to VP and I totally dig elote but this odd concoction is no bueno to me.
Vince’s – well if you’re an 909er you either love this place or hate it. I’ve never met a single person that was in the middle. Seriously, no gray area. Me? I CAN’T STAND IT! There is nothing nice I can say… NOTHING! The sauce, the salad, the “soup”, UGH!
And then there’s pepperoni – bleh. Probably a hold over from not eating it as a kid but between the grease and the flavor, no thank you. Yes, just one of the things I pick off the pizza in my house because my family does not see the benefit of pepperoni-free pizza.
Finally, Chipotle. What is everyone’s fascination with this place? Their rice tastes funny and the food is simply ick. I can’t… I just can’t.
Weigh in – divergent opinions welcome just don’t try to be helpful and deliver this crap to me in hopes I’ll change my mind. Not going to happen.
Leggings. SUV. UGGs. Little dog in my purse. And the second they start hitting stores, PUMPKIN SPICE EVERYTHING!
Eric can’t stand pumpkin anything. But me, I crave it year-round.
Creamer. Ice cream. Baked goods. Milkshakes. Beer. Bring it on! And the pie… OMG PIE! I don’t like pie crust so I’ve been known to sit down and devour all the filling with a can of ReddiWhip. Or better yet, Cheesecake Factory’s amazing fall only pumpkin pecan cheesecake. Seriously, heaven on a plate.
I even made the big guy take me for pumpkin pancakes at Corky’s Sunday to officially start the season. And the first pumpkin pie milkshake? That happened weeks ago when I was on my way back from Sadness.
So when we were binging at Target last night for date night (it’s our thing, don’t judge), I might have actually squealed when I put these in the cart. E just rolled his eyes.
So go be THAT girl and partake in all the pumpkin goodness you can find before they’re replaced with peppermint flavored everything and those nasty conversation hearts – but that’s a post for another day.
So once again it’s Rosh Hashanah and another year has passed. Jews worldwide have made it through the reading of the Torah and are getting ready to roll it all back and start over again. A whole year.
5777 kind of sucked, not going to lie. It was kind of an extension of a sucky 5776 actually. But we’re all (mostly) still here and I’m not going to let 5778 suck, too. Nope.
Each year around this time, because of course the Jewish calendar is not as conventionally predictable as the Jan-Dec one that pops up on my phone to remind me of where I’m supposed to be, I look back and reflect. I say a couple more “sorry”s than I had hoped to say, accept that things have not always gone as I had hoped, talk to my mom (I know she’s dead and that’s kind of weird), and try to let go of the shit that is still weighing me down. Sometimes I’m successful at that. Other times, not so much. OK, most of the time not at all – I’m kind of a hoarder of resentment and hurt feelings.
Truth be told, growing up, the high holidays were my least favorite time of the year. A) forced to sit for SOOOOO long in temple, B) fasting UGH, C) challah with nasty-ass raisins, and D) it’s so somber. Now, I’ve come to appreciate one of those – no, I’m not fasting. No. Way.
So, if I’m not exactly observant – in that I haven’t been to temple in more Fridays than I can count – why do I do this year after year? Because there’s something about taking responsibility for your thoughts and actions – even if just with yourself – and starting over. Like I say to the boys ALL THE TIME, “own your shit.” Accept it for what it is, learn from it, let it go, move on with your life. Honestly that is the best any of us can hope for.
So as I usher in 5778, I will again try my hardest to be kind, forgive, breathe deeply, take time for me, create, laugh, love, sparkle, and make the world a little better. Go out. Make 5778 the best and for the love of G-d, be good humans.
“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.” — Neil Gaiman
What the hell, Aaron? It’s only September 10th! We don’t need to have Halloween OR Christmas decorations out yet. No! Just NO!
I came home last week to this:
He went to Dollar Tree and bought a bunch of Halloween crap and draped it all over our front yard. Great! We now OFFICIALLY have the worst looking yard in the neighborhood.
But that’s not all…
This is what greeted me when I walked in. When cleaning out Grandpa Curt’s house, Aaron brought home not one BUT TWO small artificial trees and YES, they are already up. Once again, SEPTEMBER 10TH! Christmas is 106 days away and oh BTW I’m Jewish! He seriously needs a damn countdown app!
If he starts hiding eggs around the house, I am out of here.
Fall is in the air and for some Gd forsaken reason that means candy corn! What the heck is this crap anyway? Seriously? This should not exist. This is NOT CANDY! Snickers is candy. Even Eric’s Big Hunks are candy. And it’s not corn – it doesn’t even look like corn! This is just GROSS. Just NO!
Weigh in – divergent opinions welcome just don’t try to be helpful and deliver this crap to me in hopes I’ll change my mind. Not going to happen.
He went to Dollar Tree and bought a bunch of Halloween crap and draped it all over our front yard. Great! We now OFFICIALLY have the worst looking yard in the neighborhood.
This is what greeted me when I walked in. When cleaning out Grandpa Curt’s house, Aaron brought home not one BUT TWO small artificial trees and YES, they are already up. Once again, SEPTEMBER 10TH! Christmas is 106 days away and oh BTW I’m Jewish! He seriously needs a damn 
Sparkling Llama 