How to Be a Manly Mom

Master Munchkin and I were wrestling around recently and he accidentally headbutt me on, well, my head. It HURT! I tried to be brave but I was seeing stars. The Master decided to give me some advice. I love his "lecture" voice. He's got that down pretty well for a 7 year old.

New Year

With the New Year fast approaching, thoughts inevitably turn towards resolutions, new beginnings, and goals. Some of my goals for 2009 are rather mundane, for example, losing 20 lbs, getting our paperwork in order, finally making a will. But I encourage you to reach beyond the ordinary.

"Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep for every dream precedes the goal."

Here are some goals to inspire you:

100 Pushups Challange

40 Day Love Challange. Love like you really mean it.

Break the Water Bottle Habit

43 Things Start making your Life List

What are some of your goals for the coming year?

Smells Like (Part 2)

A quick snapshot from our day:

We recycled this morning. We usually do, but I've felt a little bit of pressure ever since the local newspaper caught me downtown last week with the Question of the Day, which was "Do you recycle? Why?". I stammered out something and posed for a bad photograph. Now, people I know (and some I don't) come up to me and say, "Hey, you recycle!" Um, yes, yes I do. Most all of the time. Just don't go through my trash too closely.

This is simmering in the crockpot and smells wonderful. The Master is sure that we're having lasagna and is happily running around, singing this at the top of his lungs.

I just got a report from the Munchkins that one of our cats is "stuck in the wall".

I've gained 4 pounds over the holidays, in part because of this. And, of course, this.

The FedEx truck just pulled up, with our Christmas cards. yea.

Smells Like Nirvana

Here's an easy way to make your whole house smell warm and homey and wonderful. Fill a saucepan with water, throw in a few cinnamon sticks (or a few shakes of ground cinnamon) and add the peel of an orange. Simmer on your stove, adding water as needed.

Guess What We Watched Last Night

Do you recognize this sound clip? Miss Munchkin watched this "classic" movie for the first time with her Dad last night.

Hint: the photo may or may not be related to the movie. I might just be trying to throw you off! :)

Merry Christmas

Since my Christmas cards are still not here, our neurotic kitty would like to do the pleasures. Like her new hat?



And here's a yummy cake that we made yesterday. It was a huge hit.

Golden Rum Cake

1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
1 yellow cake mix
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. veggie oil
1/2 c. dark rum

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over the bottom of the pan. Combine cake mix and pudding mix. Add eggs, water, oil and rum. Blend well and pour over nuts in pan. Bake 60 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes. Pour glaze over cake in pan, allowing it to seep around the edges. After cake is soaked in the yummy rum glaze, invert and serve.

Glaze: In a saucepan, combine 1/2 c. butter, 1/4 c. water and 1 c. sugar. Boil over med heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 c. rum.

Random Ramblings

I stumbled across this recipe yesterday. I think it would be a perfect complement with coffee on Christmas morning. I'll let you know - I am definitely going to try it.

In martial art's class tonight, we learned a new grappling move - how to submit someone by performing the Paintbrush on them. Basically, you take their arm and - well, here's a YouTube video to show you - it's rather hard to explain. But it was fun to do on Miss Munchkin. :)

Oh, my Christmas cards are still riding around in the back of a Fed Ex truck. They are now a week overdue.

The Master has become a Wierd Al fan.

Ok, I think that's enough random rambling for now.