Simple Pleasures

Look at the jelly just oozing out the side...
*leaves to go make a sandwich*

One of the things about being a mom (even a part-time mom) is that you get to experience things through the eyes of your children. Playgrounds suddenly become fun again, stuffed animals gain new life, and "kid food" becomes a staple. For me, most of these things are a temporary weekend life-change, before the normalcy of the week starts again.

New jelly has this perfectly rounded bowl top
I find fascinating.

The exception to this is food. There is always going to be several boxes of Mac n' Cheese in the cupboard, a jug of apple juice in the fridge, and plenty of sandwich makings for that quick PB&J. Making these for the kids has renewed my love for them, and I have found myself eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day for lunch this week.

Ever since I went on the Special K diet a few years ago, my go-to lunch was a peanut butter and chocolate protein bar. However, since I did my elimination diet I now seem to have no appetite for them. As someone who is able to eat the same thing every day for literally years, this is a strange occurrence. So now, I either have leftovers, or if there are none, peanut butter and jelly.

Apples with peanut butter is also one of my favorites, so this is an ideal side dish to my sandwich. I just happened to get a good deal on the most delicious Braeburns at my local grocery store, and I bought about 10 of them. These lasted about 3 days. How could we resist them when they were sitting there, all perfectly red and crisp-looking?

The Saga Continues...

Finally, there was silence.

The small group stood, breath ragged, wiping sweat from their brows as they surveyed their handiwork. Chunks of flesh strewn about the dungeon marked the battle that had raged moments earlier. The head of a Bugbear sat forgotten in the corner, like a child's plaything after bedtime. Such a sight had brought lesser men to their knees, retching at the sight of what should remain hidden.

In short, it was a mess.

This party of adventurers was made of sterner stuff. They scarcely noticed the aftermath of carnage around them, instead focusing on the double doors ahead. Torchlight flickered off its bronze immensity standing high above them, daring all to enter and brave what lies beyond. Tor Thundercloud ran his hands over its massive surface.

"Well, well, looks like it's not even locked. It's our lucky day my friends." Tor smiled jovially. "Time to finally finish this fool's errand and go home. I've a few dwarven wenches who have been missing me, I'd wager."

"I second that!" cried Lord Andover. One of the legendary Messengers, he secretly felt he had more important things to see to back in his homeland. He wondered how he got caught up in this quest, with these strangers he barely knew.

"Uh, except the part about the dwarven wenches."

Levna Stonuntund, the obligatory rogue, looked at Tor with a critical eye and a shake of the head. In her opinion, things that appear simple rarely are.

"There is no time like the present, my friends." boomed a deep, rich voice from the darkness. "Let us go forward, and seek revenge on the thief Marleth, who has stolen Traevus' wooden box". Yoda-Gandalf of Dumbledore emerged only briefly from the darkness of the corridor before melting back into the shadows. "Don't worry. I am right behind you."

As Tor and Levna slowly approached the door in lockstep, they heard from beyond the portal the clacking of boney feet on stone, coupled with a gurgling roar. A foul smell permeated the air around them. Levna gave her dwarf companion a quick nod, and moving in perfect unison, they burst through the door with one swift movement.

As the gagging miasma rolled over them, Levna felt her heart sag in her chest. She had known it wouldn't be that simple.

Girl Time

This weekend, Trevor decided to take Ethan and go over to a friends and help cut down some trees. Whilst they were engaging in their manly endeavors, Aspen and I got to hang out, just the two of us. We ended up having a great time. It always amazes me what a well-adjusted 5-year-old she is.

We started off by making bead bracelets. She insisted on each of us making one for the other person. I finished mine off quickly and with a distinct pattern, in true task-oriented fashion, while her attention span allowed for 4 beads and then a lot of talking to me. That was just as well, as I'm a little past the bead-wearing stage.

Next, we moved on to pedicures. Aspen really wanted to paint her own toes, so I consented and proceeded to carpet our living room with old newspapers. She did pretty well, although I was on hand to give each toe a "touch-up" quickly afterwards, before it dried. My own toes were in great need of a fresh coat of polish, so this worked out well for the both of us.

By this time Aspen was literally bouncing off the walls, so I suggested we go outside for a while. To my surprise she agreed amiably (in the past, she has balked at the idea of heading outside). I really didn't have any ideas of what to do, so we started off swinging on our backyards swings. I think she had more fun pushing me on the tire swing than actually riding on it. You can see a few more pics here.

Then, we took a little walk, and I showed her our grapevines and the new trees Trevor and I planted. Her comment was "I didn't know our backyard was this big!". I guess she really doesn't spend too much time out there! Our walk continued down the street, and she suggested we pretend we were lost princesses. I agreed, and so the princesses rambled on for a while before turning around and making their way back to their castle.

After laying a bit in Bryce's hammock, which has been in our front yard all winter, she remarked that all castles should have hammocks. Somehow, our pretend-princess game turned into pretend-press-gang game, as we went to all the "castles" in our yard and demanded that they come up to "Hay-mock" code. Under threat of violence, they conceded.

It was great to have Trevor and Ethan back home, but it was nice to spend a little one-on-one time for a change. I think our relationships with the kids will benefit from it.

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, until we were just about ready to go to bed and had decided to put our new bedskirt on. All was going well, and then... crack. Our bed frame, which had been on it's last legs for a while, had finally given out. So we quickly had to clear the old one out of the way so we could set the box spring and mattress on the floor.

Weekend Away

For the past few years, my family has done a Christmas gift exchange instead of individual gifts. My mother, always adventurous, decided to switch it up yet again this past year. The result was a family weekend getaway to Duluth, which we took this past weekend.

What a wonderful and relaxing time. As always, Duluth is a great town with lots of places to go and things to see, but the best part of the trip was getting to spend time with my husband and my family. We played board games, skied, did a little sightseeing, cooked some great food, ate some great food, and generally talked the whole weekend.

Arrr, mateys! Prepare to be boarded!

Off to the ski hill!

We found this guy wandering around and invited him in.

Trevor and I decided not go skiing, but went to the Great Lakes Aquarium instead. I had never been there before, but I think it was worth going. There were not only fish, but lots of other creatures to see also. We took a bunch of pictures and video, so you can see for yourself!

Of Dungeons and Dragons

My entire life I have been a nerd.

Mostly I would categorize myself as a "computer nerd", although I definitely would qualify for several other species of nerd also. During my teen to young adult years, my group of friends did almost every geek-type pastime that was available to us. We held LAN parties 6 times a year, built our own computers, played the whole spectrum of board games, went head to head in Halo, and watched Mystery Science Theater regularly.

My friends, none of that compares to these 3 words.

Dungeons & Dragons.

It's really amazing that we never tried Dungeons & Dragons (DnD) sooner. Although my friends and I definitely ran in those social circles, we never really ran into anyone that played it (although we did have some enthusiastic LARPing acquaintances).  About the closest we came was playing computer games that ran on the similar dice-roll mechanic.

My experience with DnD started a little over 2 years ago. My brother Jason had pointed me towards a podcast that was simply 3 guys and a Dungeon Master (DM) trying to save the world. Not only was the podcast hilariously entertaining, but it sounded like they were having so much fun! For the first time I had a glimmer of understanding why people love this game.

Shortly after this, my brother and I had the opportunity to attend PAX. It had been a dream of ours to attend a gaming convention, so we hopped on a plane and flew west 1,500 miles to Seattle. In the midst of a whirlwind of game-related activities, we knew we had to make our way to the Wizards of the Coast booth and try this thing called DnD. After a short intro game, we were hooked.

So, why, if we attended PAX over 2 years ago, are we just getting around to starting our first game now? It's called life, my friend. We have had a couple of "failed launches" along the way, and I have to give all the credit to my dear husband for taking the reins and saying "we're doing this" (although our friends Ike and Bryce who bought him the red box starter set deserve their share I suppose). Mix that with a semi-dedicated group of nerds who can manage to carve out a Sunday night every week or so, and you have it.

Things don't look good for Yoda-Gandalf of Dumbledore.

Nerd heaven.















P.S. Trevor's computer ate all the pictures I took except this one, so I'm sure there will more to come after our next session!

Before and After

I alluded last week to a large change that was coming my way. This was definitely a self-inflicted change, so not the kind you complain about. Most of those who see me on a weekly basis already know, but for those who don't live around here...

... I got my hair chopped.

Before

After

Shockingly short? I actually planned on going shorter. We'll see about next time!

Another Week, Another Weekend

This weekend was another oasis in a busy week. As time goes on, I feel like I learn more and more about how to balance spending time with the kids and getting things done for myself. I feel like this weekend was the best yet for making that balance work. We played video games, exercised, spent time outside, made cookies, played board games, did some graphic design work, and had a wonderful time having Jason and Kelly and their kids over to play.

In her fort.

Our carpet became a ocean as they waged a
seafaring battle

Rolling the dice.

I'm not sure what is going on here.

My favorite Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe

Wrestling!

Fitting some biking in too.

Winds of Change

Sometimes life brings you changes you can't control. And sometimes you feel the need to bring those changes on yourself, for making a better life, or just shaking things up. Change can be scary, and yet exciting. I am a person that likes to have something to look forward to, something to set my sights on when everyday life gets a little too mundane.

This week, I am planning on a big change, just for fun, which I hope will be for the better. I really think it will be a short-cut to a spring feeling. I am so excited to share this change with all of you, but you will have to wait a little longer to see what it is!

Back to normal

Eggs, how I have missed you!

I haven't really had the chance to write much about how it has been going to back to normal eating after my month of my elimination diet. It was an extreme month of healthy eating and I didn't want to go to the other extreme of eating a bunch of crap. The true result is a mixed bag. There has been a good share of frozen pizza, and other frozen foods, but there has still been more vegetables and fresh fruits. I still cook some meals that I could have eaten during the diet, but it's been enjoyable to go back to eating bread, eggs, dairy, and all the other foods I couldn't have.

Autumn vegetables to make a colorful rice pilaf

One big change is that the processed protein bars that I have been living on for lunch for the past 5 years, all of sudden have no appeal anymore. As someone who could eat the same thing for months or even years every day without getting bored, this is an interesting situation. Fortunately, one of the things I started doing was always making extra food for dinner, and then eating leftovers for lunch. When I don't have leftovers, I have started making myself chicken wraps with pre-cooked chicken. I use a Caesar vinegarette dressing and romaine lettuce on a tortilla. Delicious!

One of the harder things was realizing how expensive all that healthy food was! I would like to continue buying a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, but they are more costly that processed foods. For example, I can buy a whole frozen pizza for the same price as one red pepper. One.

The plus side, is now I back to trying new recipes again. It is so freeing to be able to pick any recipe that looks good without having to worry about a bunch of substitutions which may or may not make it taste nothing like it's supposed to!