Hot Hollywood Hunks

I've never been one to oogle Hollywood Hunks... at least not publicly! Today I diverge from my usual "good girl" posts and induldge the need for hunks. This week I've been watching Smallville Season 6 on DVD and I'm having hot flashes over something I've never had before... a blonde Hollywood Hunk! Usually I like tall dark and handsome... some of whom (listed in chronilogical order of my lust) are:

1. Harrison Ford
2. Mel Gibson
3. Sean Connery (did you ever notice that my boys' middle names are Connor and Sean... coincedence? I think not!)
4. Dean Cain
5. Viggo Mortensen

See what I mean? Tall. Dark. Handsome. That's my MO, but blonde and spikey hair? Pretty weird huh? But if you saw Justin Hartley in action you'd see what I mean. I checked him out on the Internet Movied Database and found that he's only been on TV series so far. I look forward to the future and seeing Justin Hartley on the big screen.

Okay. I think I have The Pioneer Woman to blame for my temporary fit of lustfulness... her and her Chaps / Chinks post yesterday plus Smallville's Arrow episode was just too much good stuff for a girl to handle at bedtime last night!

All right, all right! I'll get back to kids and cooking and cleaning and "good girl" stuff like that now...

Suzy :P

PS: Justin Hartley plays Oliver Queen/The Green Arrow in Smallville.

Familiar Ice

Today I found myself thankful for something entirely new (for me)... safe travel on snowy and icy roads.

It was good to spend the day with so much family (even our "crazy" ones). It's hard for others to understand how we get along... but it's familiar (hey, that looks like it's derived from the same word as "family".) Maybe that's one of the good things about "The Holidays", that it reminds us of our familiar roots.

Suzy :D

Whoda-thunk!

I just found this great tutorial and all I can say is... "Aaaaagh!" I JUST donated a pile of Tom's old shirts (and even thought of saving them for a friend who's used them before to make her kids' shirts)... I've never thought of using shirts to make pants/shorts. Could be SO CUTE! My boys are totally into sweats right now (comfy and warm) but I'm not finding them at the thrift store... perhaps I'll pick up a few nice adult sweat shirts and convert them...

And here's another cute tutorial to remember for the summer.

Suzy :D

Cooking for Picky Eaters

I enjoy cooking. BUT. I often find myself dragging my feet about meals for my family. I think it's because I put so much into the cooking and then sit down to a table full of "I don't like this!" or "I don't want to eat this." or "I'm not hungry." or "You put ___ in this!?" I'm sick of it! So. What are my options?

1. Eat the same three bland meals twice every week.
2. Make what I like, get zero appreciation, and eat most of it myself while starving my family?
3. Yell, scream, and issue threats at each dinner.
4. Make four different plates of food at every meal.

I go round and round with this. Actually, while cleaning out some old notebooks today I found a list I made in Arizona titled "foods the boys LOVE to eat"... so, obviously I've been working with and struggling over this for a while. Today I was thinking, "what if I make sure to make at least one dish that each person likes at each meal, and I rotate them to make certain everyone's eating a balanced diet..." Then I thought, "that sounds like a lot of work!"

I've never been one for making lots of special foods, I've always thought they should "eat what I fix". I also think it's my responsibility as a wife and mother to cook foods that are healthy, economical, and satisfying for the whole family.

I always have struggled to plan menus. For some reason, that's just a hard thing for me to sit down and do. I've been doing better at it, but as I do better with planning a menu and shopping for it, it feels like my family does worse for the eating of it.

I'm just not sure what to do. Any bright ideas?

On a related note, here's a super-simple treat I came up with a few years back. I call them my "cheater smores". You take whatever vanilla frosting you like (homemade or store bought) and spread it on two graham crackers. Then, sprinkle a generous layer of M&M's on one of the crackers. Top it with the second cracker and enjoy with a glass of milk. Mmm, yum! Here are a few pictures.

Like I said, super-simple and totally yumilicous!

Suzy :D

Paying the Praise Forward

I was at a thrift store today digging through piles of blue jeans, and when I got up to walk to the fitting area, an older lady stopped me and complimented me on what "great, well-behaved kids" I have. I thanked her and said "I'm pretty strict with them" and she said "well it works." Then she went on to say how she thinks mother's with young kids need to hear that they are doing a good job.

She was right. It was very nice to have a total stranger pause to compliment me on my work. That's one thing I've missed with being a full-time, stay-at-home-mom... you generally don't get regular praise for a job well done. When I was working 40 hours a week (for ten years pre-kids) there were so many opportunities for compliments and praise.

I would feel like others would think I was being judgemental if I went up to another strange mother of young kids and said "you're doing a great job", but I'm certain, if I look, I can find and start complimenting others more... "pay it forward" and all that.

Which reminds me... I have a friend who was doing a "Pay it Forward" challenge. I signed up with her, and what I need is three people who would like me to make them something... in exchange, they must post on their blog and find three people that they can make something for. You have one year from the date of your post to make the things and send them on. So. If you would like me to make you something, please be one of the first three to post a comment on this thread.

I had the most relaxing hair cut and blow dry this evening. From a very tired lady at the Wal-Mart hair place in Rock Springs, Wyoming. Her name was Tatyanna. I don't know if it was her or the fact that I just finished my third water aerobics class this week... I started exercising again on Monday... YAY ME!!!... but I REALLY enjoyed my haircut this evening! And, by the way, we mother's of young children may THINK that running around after the kids and being on our feet all day counts as "exercise", but it really doesn't! I've been winded this week after just 1 1/2 laps in a pool (33 laps = 1 mile). It's pathetic really, but I'm invigorated by the water aerobics and excited to be exercising again. I'm enjoying it too!

Suzy :D

Whoo-hoo! Our House is SOLD!

I JUST got the call from the Title Company, and our house in Mesa, Arizona is SOLD! YEAH! In June a sale on the same house fell through on closing day, so this was GREAT to get a phone call saying "the sale is done and the check's in the mail." Hip-hip-hooray!!!

Suzy :D

Signature Smallville Training

I just put together a block in a pattern I first found in December 2003, in the "365 Quilt Blocks a Year Perpetual Calendar" called "Twinkling Star". I modified the pattern so the you must sew a partial seam (as opposed to a nine-patch format). My modification makes it so all eight of the star points are complete pieces of fabric without seams in them. I've always enjoyed trying out blocks by making one of them... this block I keep making one of in different colors and fabrics (often with a black "background"). My husband and I think it's becoming my "signature block". I've even used it in block exchanges in the past (two times). I realize that I have a heart one and a snowman/Christmas Tree block stashed away. Now with this new pumpkin one, I think I'll keep making them (as the spirit moves me) so that I can piece a "holiday time" quilt with (at least) twelve blocks all the same "Twinkling Star" but different fabrics and themes in each block.

When Lois & Clark, The New Adventures of Superman first came out, I watched it faithfully. Besides Babylon 5, I can't think of any other TV series I've EVER watched each week on TV. In the past I wrote the producers asking for Lois & Clark to go to DVD. When it came out, I bought them, but I never watched them until this summer. I was still watching them while living with my cousins. After much arm twisting from the cousins, I started (slowly) watching Smallville. When I came home from Arizona sick last month, I threw myself on the Smallville Alter and watched 1/2 of season 2 and all of season 3 in ONE WEEK. I'm hooked! Last night I watched the season 4 finalie and began season 5. I was trembling at the end of 4... and my heartrate was still up two hours later! I can't believe I'm so "into" any TV show! I REALLY enjoy it! It's funny, I was never really a "Superman" fan before, but I'm quickly turning into one.

This gets me thinking... I have watched other TV series on DVD. I like the control you have over viewing with DVD's... like not having to wait a whole week between episodes and being able to watch as much or as little as you want, when you want. Anyway, here are the series I've enjoyed on DVD:

1. Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett
2. Babylon 5
3. From The Earth to The Moon
4. Firefly
5. New Battlestar Galactica
6. Lois & Clark, The New Adventures of Superman
7. Smallville

These are listed in the order I viewed them, not the order I enjoyed them. Actually, I enjoyed them all. I think a lot of that has to do with the ability to control my viewing... oh yeah, I've also watched a lot of X-Files. But I watch those because my hubby's have wanted to watch them (hubby one and three), they were not things I generally watched without them. Oh! I just remembered another show I use to watch each week, with hubby two we watched "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" I liked that show; funny stuff.

Okay. I'm rambling. One other thing about the Smallville Season 4/5 show... I bit SEVEN nails watching it! I haven't bit so many fingernails in like SIX YEARS! It totally had me on the edge of my seat! Thanks alot Cousin Bobby! I'm COMPLETELY ADDICTED to Smallville now!

The one thing I dislike about cats is kitty litter. I hate dealing with scooping it and smelling it and ESPECIALLY how it tracks everywhere! I've always avoided dealing with litter by having indoor/outdoor cats. Currently though, my cat was adopted and had never been outside. She spazes out when I let her out. So, I (for the first time ever) have indoor cats. I'm also in a tiny apartment without room for the litter to be "stashed away". So, it's in my small bathroom. When we moved in, I ordered the "City Kitty" toilet training kit. After reading through it, I decided to wait until my trip to Arizona was done. As of today, I've started the kitty's on toilet training. Here's a picture of them checking it out right after I introduced it (to them and my boys). The biggest inconvience of this training is that we only have one toilet in the apartment, so, anytime you have to use the toilet, you first have to move the litter pan. With any luck though, we'll be toilet trained by the new year (it typically takes 4-6 weeks for cats to be fully trained). I look forward to a New Year without Kitty Litter sticking to my feet!

Suzy :S