The one time where I wanted to kick myself…

…for asking such an asinine question.  It was in fact a foot-in-my-mouth moment but there was no turning back.  And maybe if my body wasn’t so complicated I would have never been in that situation asking such a question.

My body is so not portioned correctly that I have the hardest time finding clothes.  Everything from tops to dresses to pants. And the hardest article of clothing?  Shorts.  I can’t find a decent pair of shorts to save my life.  Well maybe if I looked hard and long enough but I don’t have the patience for that.  Anyway, I’m 4’11.5”.  My thighs are like thunder thighs which I’ll blame on my hula and cheerleading days of the past.  My rear is as big as a….I don’t know what to compare it to but it’s huge.  Then there are my hips that seem to have widened after I had my radicals.

So I come across shorts that fit my hips, rear, and thighs but they are too long.  Like right above my knee too long but not to where I can pull it off to where it’s supposed to look that way.  Then I come across shorts that are a perfect length and they fit my hips but the rear and thigh part is way too tight.  Like if I sit down they will rip too tight (ha-ha!).  Then I come across the ones that fit all around but they are way too short.  Or maybe I feel like they’re too short and doesn’t feel right because my thighs are so darn huge!

Okay, back to my story…the mister decided that it was time for me to give up the 2 pairs of shorts that I’ve had for years and get some new ones.  New ones without holes.  New ones that I could wash and not worry that they’ll fall apart in the wash.  New ones that I could wear in public.  I had to mentally prepare myself before going because I really do hate shopping (gasp!).  Yes, I hate shopping for myself but it could be because I can never find anything. 

I decided to go to Jeans Warehouse (ugh!).  I haven’t been in there since my younger, partying days and I cringed when I walked in.  It’s just that after having 2 kids my body isn’t the same.  I haven’t lost all my baby weight and everything seems so saggy.  And their clothes are just not my style anymore but what the heck, I’m there for shorts.  I go through all the racks of shorts and that’s what they were: short.  I mean rear and va-jayjay hanging out kind of short.  Yikes!  I grab a couple in hopes that it wouldn’t be as short as it looks on the hanger but before trying them on I did the unthinkable.  I asked the sales girl…

“Um excuse me?  Do y’all have shorts that aren’t crotch-eaters?”

I almost died after hearing myself.  Geez Jenn, couldn’t you have asked a more civilized question?  She just looked at me with a baffled look and said “well, we have shorts all along that wall and…” but before she could go on I said “never mind, can I try these on?”

Good Lord I felt like an ass.  But I found two that fit!  They’re shorter than I would prefer but they’re not really “crotch-eaters” and I can live with that. 

3 more days until Christmas!!  I’m still waiting for one more gift to come in.  FedEx came by yesterday and I was jumping for joy thinking it was my package.  But it wasn’t and I wanted to punch him in the face.  Just kidding.  I’d never do that but I was a little sad.  Oh well, maybe today or tomorrow. 

That is all.

Happy Thursday lovelies! 

Rantings and a Recipe

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Rantings…Well maybe it’s just a ranting.

Out of all the parking stalls in the darn parking lot, why do you need mine when there are empty stalls less than 2 feet away?  That, my friends, is what I was yelling venting loudly and hand-signaling to the lady waiting for my stall yesterday.  I just finished loading up one radical and still needed to load the other and on top of that I still had to load up my groceries.  My groceries, which were at the front of the car because there was no way I could get it to the back without hitting the cars next to me.  And since the radicals were already in the car I wasn’t about to leave them there alone to walk all the way around just to get the cart to the back of the car.

Back to the waiting lady…if you’re going to wait for a stall, try doing it in a manner that will let others get by.  Am I right?  Because god knows that I get irate when I’m in the back of a waiting person who is in the middle of the road!  So, I didn’t think much of it and went about my business as quickly as I could.  But let me remind you that I have to walk back and forth to get and load my groceries…so it took longer than normal. 

Anyway, as I glance at the waiting lady I notice that she is blocking traffic from all angles.  {Just a side note: this parking lot is the weirdest parking lot ever.  Once you’re blocked, you’re really blocked in.  You can’t go anywhere until someone MOVES!}  And as soon as I hear blaring horns I start to panic.  I start flying my groceries in not thinking that I may be breaking the eggs or smashing the bread or a jar breaking open and leaking everywhere.  I just wanted to get out of there so the traffic would start moving.  So I finish loading flying my groceries, jump in the car, and move to another stall… that is less than 2 feet away. 

Y’all must think I’m crazy but I felt bad for all the people who were blocked in because of this lady.   Anyway, I park and jump out to fix my groceries while cursing and still doing my crazy hand-signaling.  I must have looked crazy.  As I’m doing that the car that was behind her drives past me and I tell and hand-signal to him “look at all these empty stalls!  Is she serious?” and he just laughs and shakes his head.  Great buddy, I’m glad you can laugh about it now because if I’m not mistaken, you were the one blasting your horn.

Okay, thanks for letting me get that out.  I really was flabbergasted!  I posted about the apple crisp I made for Thanksgiving dinner earlier this week.  Here’s the recipe:

Apple Crisp via The BBM

Topping

2 Cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 Cup Raw rolled oats

2 Cups light-brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup butter (i used margarine)

Apple Filling

4 Cups cut apples, in 1/2 inch pieces (I used 8 apples)

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

1/4 Cup unsifted all-purpose flour

1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon

Peel and Chip your apples

Pre-Heat Oven to 375 degrees.

Make topping: In large bowl, combine flour, oats, and brown sugar, mixing well.

With a fork, stir in butter to make a crumbly mixture.

Make Apple Filling: In lightly greased pan 7 x 11 inch baking dish, combine apples, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, and 1/2 cup water; stir to mix well.

Sprinkle topping evenly over filling;

Bake, uncovered, 35 minutes, or until topping is golden-brown and the apples are tender.

Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream or whip cream if you want!

There you go, easy as pie.  I took a picture with my phone and found a way to get it on my computer but Blogger is giving me an error message (boo!).  You can go make it now and after indulging in a piece or two or maybe the whole pan (haha), you can come back and thank me.  No wait, you can thank Natalie – The Busy Budgeting Mama.  Thanks, Natalie!!  And while you’re there, stay a bit because she has the cutest family, awesome diy posts, more recipes, and much much more.  Go, go now and show some love.  Oh, and she also has an Etsy shop, Pretty Paperie Printables….awesomeness.

Happy Friday, Sweets!

jenn

I'm {blank} because...

I’m weird because…

I drive with the windows down while the ac is on.

If I cook spaghetti, I won’t eat it until the next day.  That means I only eat the  spaghetti noodles the first night.

If I happen to be awake at 2am, I would check to see if Oswald (from NickJr) is on and if so, I’d sit there and watch it.  I’m an Oswald and Little Bear fan and I wish they would bring back Pinky Dinky Doo and 64 Zoo Lane.

I’m a bad friend because…

I don’t make an effort to visit when I’m home.

I’m not quick to return text messages.

I’m a party-pooper when it comes to getting together without my family.

I’m a good friend because…

I’m a listener.

I’m there when you need me.

I’ll be the one to come and get your ass no matter what time it is or where you’re at.

I’m sad because…

Time is flying by way too  fast.  November has come to an end, Christmas is right around the corner, and before you know it we’ll be celebrating the New Year.

My radicals are growing up.

We live so far away from family.

I’m happy because…

I’m 99.9% done with my Christmas shopping.  That’s a first!  I’m one of those wait- until-the-very-last-minute people.

I’m blessed to have the mister as my partner and two happy healthy radicals.

Diapers are becoming sooo last season!

I’m excited for…

My very first holiday meal that I’m making!

The New Year and what it has in store for us.

The look on the radicals faces when they open their Christmas present.

Happy Hump Day!

jenn

Thanksgiving Week-ending…Recap

I wanted to post this yesterday but life got in the way…

This year Thanksgiving was actually enjoyable!  There was no minimal bickering/drama.  A week before Thanksgiving my dad announced that we were going out to a buffet and of course I had to throw a hissy fit.  Well I guess it worked because the week of Thanksgiving he said we were doing our traditional feast.  Yeah!  Anyway, we did the drive home Thanksgiving morning and although my mission was to get there before 9am, it didn’t happen and I missed my beloved Macy’s Day Parade (sad face).  Oh well, there’s always next year.

This was the first year that we were actually on schedule with dinner (insert high five!).  My g-ma from Hilo came to spend the holiday with us which was nice since the rest of my family rarely sees her. 

I ventured out of my normal baking and made apple crisp.  My dad said “OMG!  This is so good!  It’s to die for!”  I got the recipe from Natalie over at The Busy Budgeting Mama.  I’ll be sure to post the recipe later and you can bet that I’ll be making it for Christmas.

My brother and his gf went to Wal-Mart for the Black Friday or pre-Black Friday or whatever they call it.  I was very tempted to go with but I was stuffed to the brim and totally dysfunctional.  Haha.  The mister and I went on Friday around 11am (minus the radicals) and I was kicking myself in the rear for not going the night before because, of course, everything was gone.  Duh, Jenn!  The mister scored his drill set at Home Depot and we got the rest of the stuff to finish our kitchen.  Anyway, Target had a Nikon digital camera on sale for $99 and I missed purchasing one by 4 hours.  Gosh darnit, if we didn’t spend HOURS in Home Depot I would have scored one.  But that’s okay, I’m just stoked that I got 99.9% of my Christmas shopping done, I got to spend some qt with the mister, and I got my Hayashi fix.  Oh Hayashi, how I’ve longed for you…it’s a hole in the wall sushi joint where you can make your own roll.  Well, not really make it yourself but you can choose whatever you want to go in your roll.  And the prices are awesome.  5 bucks for 8 jumbo pieces…I was in heaven.

We made the drive back home on Saturday and I ran into a sweet friend that I haven’t seen in months.  I also got to see her little man that I’ve named the Michelin Man because that little guy has the cutest rolls!  It was still daylight when we got home and the mister was so excited to use his drill that he went straight to work in the kitchen.  He put up our shelf, installed the new door handle for my pantry and then he wanted to put up the door for our hallway closet.  He was so drill-happy that he kept asking me if there was anything else I needed done.  Boys and their toys…

And that’s about it!  It was very peaceful, relaxed, and I was happy to be surrounded by my family.

I hope y’all had a Happy Thanksgiving and an awesome weekend with family and friends.

Until then,

jenn

I'm Thankful...

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I’m posting this today because we’ll be on the road tomorrow in the wee hours of the morning and I won’t have a computer.  We’re going home for Thanksgiving weekend!  It’s been a month since I’ve been home and I’m in need for some family time.

After posting my complicated living situation I was feeling a little Debbie Downer-ish.  Although I get all emotional and remember the hurt and bitterness, I’m reminded that it’s made me a stronger person.  Anyway, with that said…

I’m Thankful for…

-          The bumpy road I’ve traveled.  I’ve learned from it, I’m a changed person, my outlook on life is more positive.  I took a crappy situation and used it as a motivator to get my life back on track.

-          My radicals.  They changed my world.  They are my everything.  I’ll love and cherish them forever and a day.

-          The mister.  We’ve been through a lot.  Our ups and downs and everything in between but we’re still standing strong.

-          My mom, dad, family, and friends.  They are my encouragement, support, and my worst critics who keep me in check (haha)!

-          Mr. Moscato.  My bff during happy hour ;)

-          Blogland and the lovelies behind the blogs.  Y’all, I’m serious!  The inspiration, support, encouragement.  It’s amazing.

Alrighty friends!  I hope y’all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Enjoy the yummy food and time with family and friends!  Oh, and does anybody get all crazy and aggressive during Black Friday?  Do I need a helmet and body padding?  Catch y’all next week!

jenn

It's Complicated - Part 3

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If you missed Part 1 and 2, you can go here and here.    

I have to clean all this?  Say what?...

Here I am with the last part.  I promise, I’ll get to the actual part of why my living situation is complicated.  Here we go…  

So, in part two you learned that I became a SAHM.  Being a SAHM is awesome.  I love it!  But with that comes the “stay-at-home” part.  Haha, clever huh?  Anyway, I never really took much notice before but now that I’m home all the time, I noticed that this lady has so much stuff!  We’re talking borderline hoarder status.  Everywhere you turn there is stuff.  Every inch of this house has stuff.  I’m not kidding.  It’s so much stuff that it needs to be cleaned like every week just so that the dust and grime wouldn’t settle.  And it’s hard to ignore when I’m home every day.  

I grew up with a white glove Nazi of a mother, so too much stuff and I don’t go well together. 

I’m going to back it up just a bit with how I didn’t have time to think about it when I was working.  Once a year I would do a major cleaning but since I was on a time crunch, there was no room for grumbling.  I would clean and grumble at the same time.  I would curse at all the knick-knacks that had a year’s worth of dust and grime on them.  But I’d clean them anyway.  And let’s get real here, I wanted to spend my days off with the Radical, not cleaning a bajillion knick-knacks that didn’t belong to me.  I also didn’t think about how this house was not baby-proof because again, we were never home.  Okay, back to the story….

So there I was, a SAHM, being stared at by all this stuff.  I would clean them but as time went on, I would get the itch to put things away.  I honestly was getting tired of cleaning her bajillion knick-knacks.  Who wouldn’t?  I didn’t box these things up but I was starting to move them in her room; out of sight.  I started off slow and inconspicuous with the knick-knacks but eventually her room ran out of room.  It had turned into a storage space which was a problem because 1) I would have to put everything back when Merrie Monarch week rolled around, 2) what would happen if she did a surprise visit, and 3) it was an eye sore.  


The Mister gave me the green light to relocate the furniture that wasn’t baby-proof because now that we’re home all the time, the Radical needed space to roam.  


Then I got another itch.  I was starting to feel like I needed my own space.  I wanted pictures of my own family up, I wanted my own décor up but I can’t do that if there is no room.  I didn’t want to add more stuff to the already stuff-filled house. I wanted a space that felt like my own.  


I wanted our living space to feel like our own but there was one problem: this is still her house.  I feel like I was stepping over some kind of boundaries by putting her stuff away.  What would happen if she came home to visit and all her stuff was put away?  I had a sense of fear.  I anticipated the worst.  There was one time I put away a side table she had out in the living room because it had pointy edges.  With a toddler learning to walk, it was a disaster waiting to happen.  So I moved it but it found its way back into the living room when she was home for Merrie Monarch.


Little knick-knacks (like figurines that the Radical could easily break or rocks) that I put away found their way back to where I took it from.  And I was just getting tired of telling the Radical a million times over not to touch or play with her things.  It would be my fault it he broke it and I honestly didn’t want to go there.  I’d rather just put her things away. So we can all have peace of mind.  But no, things I put away come right back out.  


And that pool table she “bought for the house”?  We have no room for a pool table and we don’t have time to play pool.  But she buys it anyway and ships it over and where does it go?  In the living room where the Radicals play.  I can’t even begin to tell you my frustrations with this.  Did she forget that we have a baby and a toddler?  Do you know the mini heart-attack I had when the Mister forgot to put the balls away?  Radical #1 thought it was an actual ball to throw.  


And that my friends, is why living here is so complicated.  Yes we pay rent and utilities and live here 24/7 but it’s still her house.  I don’t know how to describe my feelings.   I guess it’s a mixture of me not being in control of my surroundings and how she puts the things I put away, back where they were just for me to put it away (again) when she leaves.  I get that it’s her house and she has a say but at the same time she doesn’t live here.  It’s a touchy subject.  


However, the Mister is finally comprehending my feelings because we just re-did the kitchen (I’ll post on that later) and we’re talking about re-doing the whole house.  

I still have some of her stuff out but the bulk of it is put away.  I mean, there’s no inkling that she’s coming home and if I can’t move then I might as well get creative and roll with it.  Not only am I creating my own space but we’re giving her house a facelift at the same time.  A win-win situation again.  The way I look at it is we’re holding up our end of the deal with ‘taking care of the house’ just minus all the ‘stuff’.  

So there you have it…my complicated living situation.  I’m okay though.  I’m learning to embrace this time in our lives; live, learn, and move on.  And not to forget to love and laugh along the way!  


Why did I tell you this? Well, 1) so y’all don’t get confused in the future when I talk about my complicated living situation and 2) I’m not afraid to blog about how I’m human and my life includes spiders, ants, and miniature prehistoric creatures alongside the butterflies and rainbows.  

Happy Tuesday, sweets!  And guess what’s in two days, besides Thanksgiving?  THE MACY’S DAY PARADE!!!  Yes I’m shout-typing because I’m that excited!!!

jenn

It's Complicated - Part 2

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Happy Friday Friends!

I have to say that I’ve been a bit apprehensive about sharing this.  I’ve been afraid that somehow the Mister’s mom would come across my little ‘ol blog and read this and then hate me forever.  But you know what?  These are my feelings and everyone is allowed to have feelings right?  Right. 

I feel obligated to stay…

Like I said in my last post – I thought this was temporary.  But I apparently our definitions of “temporary” are different.  

Radical #1 was born in April of 2008.  I continued to work and I felt so lucky to have the best babysitter in the world, Miss Connie Lou over at Island Buzzy.  She is awesome and I trusted her.  She put my day-care paranoia at ease because let’s face it, who doesn’t have anxiety and fear of having someone you don’t really know watch your kid(s)?  I have major paranoia. 

Then I got pregnant with Radical #2 in 2009 and I also lost my job (crap!).  Raging hormonal pregnant lady…that was me.  I never prepared for the worst and the worst was happening.  Losing my job meant losing my income and benefits so yes, I had a meltdown.  

I finally came to my sense (having a meltdown wasn't helping anyone) and went through my options.  I could easily find another job and all will be well in the world.  But I was informed that my beloved babysitter was no longer available.  Cue another meltdown.  Because remember, I had major daycare paranoia.  

Then I had the bright idea of moving back to Kona.  I had more resources there and I had babysitters there.  It was in fact the perfect plan; I had jobs, babysitters, and we would be closer to family and friends.  Why didn’t I think of this sooner?  

Oh, because I forgot about this house!  “What’s my mom going to do about this house?” was the Mister’s question.  Honestly, I felt like that wasn’t our concern anymore.  What we should be concerned about was how we were going to support our family.  Up until I lost my job, I was the one with the steady income.  Don’t get me wrong, the Mister is a hard worker but he’s in the construction industry and work wasn’t really stable.  I was certain that he could find work in Kona but the obligation we had to his mom and this house was on the forefront.  

Yes, I felt crappy for putting a halt on what she was doing but I also felt that I had to think of my family first and the situation we were in.  There was another option: the Radicals and I could move to Kona while the Mister stayed back to take care of the house.  But I really didn’t want to separate my family on his mom’s behalf.  Why should my family have to suffer because she’s not ready to come home?  But the reasons for moving didn’t matter and all they could think about was this house.  

So I sucked it up and looked for jobs and daycare here.  I found some jobs but the reality was that I would be working just to pay for daycare.  What’s the sense in that?  And so I began my journey as a stay-at-home mom.  It made me very nervous that the Mister was taking over the financial part of our lives.  

I was no longer in control.  The first year was financially difficult.  Scraping coins, deciding which bill was going to be paid and which ones had to wait, and just stressing out on how we were supposed to live.  It was hard to budget with a sporadic income.  It was tough and it tested my patience like never before.  I became depressed and bitter towards the Mister.  We were constantly arguing and I just couldn’t help it when awful things would come flowing out of my mouth.  Things like “you and your mom put us in this position!” or “if you and your mom weren’t so selfish we wouldn’t be having this conversation so it ain’t my problem!”  

I started to realize that instead of being a snappy witch, I should have been more positive and encouraging towards the Mister.  My crappy attitude wasn’t helping him or our situation.  I have to say that this situation and the years to follow have brought us together; it’s made us stronger as a couple.  We’ve lived it, we’ve learned from it, and now we’re moving forward…as a family.  We’ve grown, we’ve changed, and we have a better outlook on life. 

So maybe I shouldn’t say I feel obligated to stay but more so, I feel it’s best for our family to stick together.  In time, things will start to look up.  After all, this is life and nobody said life was easy.    

jenn