Thinking About A Hiatus

Lately I feel as if I've lost my blogging mojo if you will.  The thought has crossed my mind to shut down shop.  I'm not completely sure that I want to delete my blog (because then it will be gone forever) so I'm thinking about taking a little break.

What led me to this decision is the fact that I'm struggling to find interesting topics to blog about.  Our daily life right now is rather boring (unless you count non-stop toddler tantrums as fun and exiting).  I'm not one to blog for the comments, but I've found that my most heart-felt posts and the ones that I feel strongly about typically generate the most comments.  When I'm forcing things just to put a post up a few times a week...*crickets.*

There have been a lot of cobwebs and crickets around these parts lately and to me, that means that the content on my blog has been less than substantial. 

Instead of closing down shop completely, I'm going to take a little break.  I may post something on occasion, but for the most part, I'm not going to pressure myself to write about boring stuff just to have something to post.

I'll still be on Twitter (@ThisAmericanWif) and Facebook, for those of you who know me in real life, and I'll continue reading your blogs and commenting as much as I normally do, but unless I suddenly get a wave of inspiration, I'm logging off Blogger for a while.

Basically, nothing, including this blog, is going to change (you know, since I've been a terrible blogger anyway).

The Meanest Mom in the World

I bet you're wondering what I did to earn the title of the Meanest Mom in the World when I've only been a mom for a little over 18 months.

I bought AJ squeaky shoes.

Seriously, she hates them.  She flips out each and every time she sees them.

The first time I thought she was just over tired and it was a weird thing.  I brought them out right before bed and she wasn't having it.  So I tried again the next morning.  When I strapped them on her feet she literally acted like I was giving her Indian burns (you know, when you grab someone's arm and turn your hands in opposite directions).

I stood her up and she was paralyzed in fear and would not take a single step.  When she lost her balance and accidentally squeaked she burst into terrified tears.

I decided that the squeakers were the problem and I just hoped that I hadn't scarred her from the shoes for life.  I pried the squeaky parts out of the shoes and was met by the same reaction.

I figured that it was too soon following the initial incident so I put them away to bring out again after a few days had passed.

Imagine my surprise when we were in her bedroom later that afternoon and she walked over to her shoe basket, grabbed them and took them over to D to have him put on her.  (Seriously.)  Then she looked at them and started getting freaked out.  We quickly took the bows off the top and she was as happy as a clam!

If I ever could have imagined that a little white bow would be more frightening than a squeaker in the heel of a shoe, then I'd be classified as Mom of the Year.

Don't worry, a few steps later she realized she was wearing the death traps shoes and her legs were completely paralyzed again.  She started crying and couldn't even turn around toward us.  It was like she had a flashback and suddenly realized that they were the same shoes as before.

I'm really not sure what it is about the shoes that bothers her so much, but I'm really hoping that we can move past it soon because the shoes are so adorably cute!

Obviously these are the shoes that would earn me the title of "The Meanest Mom in the World."

Our Life In iPhone Pics

AJ has been feeling a little under the weather the past few days, so we've mostly been hanging around the house.  We like to watch college football and this weekend we got super lucky and both my team and D's team were on TV here!  We both eked out wins, too!

AJ was representing both our teams all day on Saturday--she was wearing the t-shirt for my alma mater and D's Army boots (along with her jammie pants, of course)!

Here she is posing with the Army megaphone in hopes of an Army win!

I have also noticed over the past few days that the temper tantrums have increased in duration and frequency.  I think we're definitely inching closer and closer toward the terrible two's!  Heaven help me!  The thing about these tantrums that is different from before is that she's not really mad about anything like she was before (when she was banging her head on the floor), she just isn't getting her way.  She usually throws herself on the floor and just cries or yells.  It looks a lot like this (please note that this particular tantrum lasted well over 15 minutes in this position):

The best (or most amusing) part about these tantrums is that if I give in and let her have her way, she looks at me, instantly stops crying, smiles and says, "Tan You!" which is her version of thank you.

I did a little crafting and made a little something for our front hallway table.  I went a little crazy at Kohl's the other day and the table was a little lopsided, so I added this:

I made the little tree.  By made I mean, I walked out into my yard, found some twigs and spray painted them white, then made a little bunting banner that reads: "Happy Halloween".  The best part is that I can always make a new banner for each holiday if I want to!

One of the most random things that happened lately was I received a package from allrecipes.com that contained two orange reusable shopping bags.  I'm not sure why I received them (thinking it was because I'm a contributing member--I paid $25/year or something?  I don't know.) but I like it.

Fiiiiiinally, AJ is officially stealing my clothes and shoes.  We've actually had a lot of shoe sagas lately, more about that soon.  She has decided that she'd rather wear my shoes around the house.

She also has a new-found love for Nutella.

Girl has her priorities in line.

What's For Dinner?

I haven't posted a menu in a while and I've been spending quite a bit of time menu planning now that Fall is here and I can start using the oven again!  There is just something about this time of year that makes me want to bust out my pumpkin candles and make some chili!

Tuesday: Mexican Chicken and Black Bean Salad
Wednesday: Portobello, Red Pepper, and Goat Cheese Sandwiches
Thursday: Pork Chops with Apples and Stuffing
Friday: Ravioli, Homemade Sauce, Garlic Bread
Saturday: Vegetable Beef Soup and Homemade Bread
Sunday: Chicken Divan with White Rice
Monday: Homemade Pizza with Green Salad

You'll notice that I'm mixing in some Summery recipes with my go-to Fall/Winter dishes.  Since we're kind of in the South we're officially at that awkward time of year when I really desperately want it to be Fall but we are still seeing temps solidly in the eighties everyday.  My solution to this dichotomy is to just start making hearty meals and wearing Uggs and scarves in the house.  Then when I have to go outside, I switch back to my shorts & flip flops.

I'm also planning on making Pumpkin bread and I officially added Apple Cider to my grocery list for next week.  I know that many of us in blog-land love Autumn, and I'm right there with you!  I have to do anything and everything I can to get myself into the spirit of Fall.

What are you planning for dinner this week?

The Story of the Abandoned Belt; Or The Most Disgusting Bathroom I've Ever Seen

I'm not sure if its just me or if others have this problem as well, but it seems that every time I travel somewhere by car with AJ we are drawn to the world's most disgusting gas station bathrooms.  Now, I am fully aware that most gas station bathrooms are inherently disgusting, but the ones I end up in seem to go above and beyond the normal expectations you might have for a gas station.

Today for example, we were driving home from an out of town wedding after having enjoyed a few libations last night.  About an hour into the drive we stopped to get lunch and go potty.  While D pumped gas, I took AJ with me to the restroom.  I normally let her play with my purse or I sit her on my lap while I pee.  Afterwards we both get a liberal dose of hand sanitizer.

This particular restroom had already thoroughly grossed me out to the point that I was seriously grossed out.  I was trying to only breath through my mouth while keeping AJ's hands wrangled as far away as possible from any solid surface.  D was standing outside when I walked out and I remarked to him that I would have rather left AJ out in the parking lot 100% alone than taken her into that bathroom again.  D did not respond to this statement at all, and in fact was completely glassy-eyed.*

Thinking that I had met my quota of disgusting gas station bathrooms for the trip, the next time we stopped I walked right into the bathroom with AJ.   Upon entering I was greeted by one of the most disturbing and confusing scenes I've seen in a long time.

The next series of events took place over the course of approximately 12 seconds.

I immediately saw a belt hanging from the stall and was confused.  Who leaves their belt in a gas station bathroom?  It was then that I realized that there was more to it than that.  I looked a the toilet, then to the garbage can and the pieces started to come together. 

Are you ready for it?  In the garbage can there was a pair of (jean) shorts literally covered in poo.  There was poo everywhere.  I turned and walked out, and immediately got in the car to report back to D.  As I was explaining to him the situation, it occurs to me that if someone took their shorts and belt off and left them in the bathroom then they either left the gas station butt-nekkid from the waist down or had to call someone to bring them clothes. 

Can you imagine being on the receiving end of that phone call?

"Hi, Mom?  I'm gonna need  you to bring me some shorts and underpants to the gas station on Rte. 22.  No, just do it!"

HAHAHAHAHA.

So there you have it folks.  What progressively turned into the single worst bathroom day in my life.

*In case you're wondering why I made such a shocking remark about abandoning my 18 month old child and my husband didn't respond, I'll enlighten you.

I didn't find out at the time, but after we got home I told D I was writing this blog post and he informed me as to the reason he didn't respond to my outlandish claim.  He explained that it was because he was experiencing heavy PTSD from what he had just seen in the Men's room.  As he was explaining what he saw in great detail, he had to pause periodically to gag (6 hours later).  Apparently, it was worse than the "shorts in the bathroom incident" that I experienced just a few short hours later.

Don't Judge Me, But....

I'm a judger.

Whenever someone starts a story with this statement I automatically get ready to judge away.  Don't you?  I mean, they obviously know that whatever it is they're about to say is probably going to get them judged, that is why they qualified their statement, right?

But honestly, shouldn't we judge them?

Obviously there are situations in which we know that the actions of the person are out of the norm, and I'm willing to let it slide.  I'm talking about the people who continuously do things that they beg you not to judge them for. 

I just tend to think that if you have to ask people not to judge you for something you are choosing to do, then maybe you shouldn't do it in the first place.  Just sayin'.

If you intentionally make a poor decision and choose to tell me about it, I might not admonish you verbally, but you can bet your a$$ I'm silently making my own opinions about you and most likely judging you for it.

And you know what?  I hope that if I do something that is irresponsible or otherwise reflects poorly on me, that you'll judge me too.  I think it keeps us honest and makes people consider their actions ahead of time.  Judging is a good thing, people!

*I'm not thinking of any recent situation in particular, but this thought has just been floating around in my head for a few weeks now and I wanted to share.

Also, I posted a new recipe on my food blog today (the first since July, go ahead, judge away).  Go check it out!

Stump Burning and My Labor Day

We didn't have much planned for the long weekend, but we did know that our neighbors cut down a dead tree a few weeks ago.  After cutting the tree down, they realized that there was no way they were going to be able to pull the stump out of the ground.  They decided that they wanted to burn it by basically having a bonfire on top of it.  Sunday night we grabbed a little cooler we had filled with beer and headed over.

We chatted and laughed and had a grand ol' time!

This morning I woke up and felt like total crap!  Oops.

I had some coffee and some water and was starting to feel a little more normal, but as is typical when I enjoy beers, I was feeling very hungry around 2 pm.  I decided that instead of eating something and then making dinner a few hours later that I'd just make dinner at 2.  (Oh yeah, I'm really weird.)

I made "soothing lettuce wraps" which are also known as Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps and Kimchi Pancakes, which turned out more like Kimchi Dumplings.

As "dinner" was just about finished, I got a text from my neighbor across the street who wanted to know if I wanted some pie.  Um, hello!?

So she brought over what was more like a custard, but seriously so delicious.  It was a pear custard pie.  Yum!

I don't know about you, but when you are feeling a little under the weather (okay, hungover), there is nothing better than a big, mid-afternoon meal to make your headache disappear.