[watching Back to the Future Part II]
Me and Hubby: Oh Xander look! Those cars are flying! Isn’t that so cool?
Xander: Yeah, but cars can’t really fly Mommy.

[I walk in to find him talking to a toy]
Me: Oh can I play?
Xander: Yeah sure.
Me: [talking to the toy]
Xander: Mommy, it’s just make believe. Okay?

[Watching a cartoon with talking animals]
Xander: Haha that’s funny! Dogs can’t talk!

His mind amazes me. At 4-years old he thinks so logically but retains the innocence of a child’s imagination. How does a person manage to be both imaginative and logical?

and just because I have so many great Xander quotes here are a few unrelated to make-believe…

Me: What do you want to be for Halloween?
Xander: Darth Vader.
Me: You know he wears a mask, do you still want to be him and wear a mask on your face?
Xander: Hmmm maybe not. Maybe I will be someone else.
Me: You can be Luke or Han Solo…
Xander: I just want to be Darth Vader.

[Xander is telling us about the noise that scared him & sent him into our bedroom]
Me and Hubby: What about Anya? You left her in your room with the scary noise. Did you save her?
Xander: No.
Hubby: You’re her big brother. You’re supposed to protect her. What if she was scared, too?
Xander to Anya [with a hug]: I’m sorry I didn’t protect you Anya.

[Looking at a globe on the Wii Weather Channel]
Xander: What’s that say?
Me: Camden. C-A-M-D-E-N. That’s near where we are.
Xander: Ugggggh. Just where’s the one that says Xander?
Me: There isn’t a town called Xander.
Xander: Why not?

In other news I think I have the most beautiful daughter. Equally entertaining in her commentary…

[driving past a church]
Anya: A castle! Look!
Me: Oh you saw a castle? Very cool.
Anya: Yea a castle. It’s where all the Princesses live! Hi princesses!  …I like them.

More on her next time.

I’ve had three instances in the past few weeks where children have talked to me (or in the case of an infant asked to be held by me) within seconds of first meeting me. Actually, at a zoo this past weekend two young children – obviously excited to see a Coati and tell everyone it was a “coyote” – held a small conversation with me about how it was sleeping and what noise a coyote makes.

Before that a friend’s daughter sought me out, a stranger to her, in a room full of people she knew to talk my ear off. And upon meeting my cousin’s youngest son for the first time found an immediate little buddy for the rest of the night.

Now that I think about it – I think my draw is less that I look friendly and more that I act friendly. Everyone else those two kids at the zoo tried to tell about the “coyote” walked away, while I stayed to acknowledge their excitement. I guess I don’t have a Mom-smell afterall, which is good, because that would just be weird…

Which this topic has also reminded me of two similar notebooks I kept as a teenager. While most girls were writing in diaries (I had those, too) I carried around a notebook for useless information. It contained all sorts of, you guessed it, useless information. From a list of 100 weird places to have sex compiled by everyone I knew to random interviews with friends and strangers. It also housed the cleavage collection – photos from the mall and Rocky Horror of women (and men) all too willing to get their chests (fully clothed, of course) photographed. Maybe I felt clever at 15 years old to co-author (it was mostly me, Amy, Erin, and Leah) and own such a notebook. Whatever the reason for starting that book I think back on it and laugh at my own immaturity… and then I wish I still had it.

The sequal to “The Book” (or maybe it was “The Notebook”?) was the “Freudian Slips and Dumb People Quotes” book. After maturing in age just a few years I started writing down (and sometimes illustrating) the dumb things Ann, John, and I said at the school lunch table. I’m thinking about making a copy and giving it to Ann next Christmas…

Waiting for the elevator
1. Do not stand directly in front of the doors. They will open and other people will exit. You will be in the way by standing at the doors. So you understand how this works – you can’t get ON the elevator until you let those other people OFF. Just get out of the way and it won’t leave without you.

2. Push the button and it lights up. Amazing, I know. If the button is lit up that means someone pushed it. You can push it again if that makes you feel more in control, but it won’t make the elevator come any faster. The elevator does not have mind. It doesn’t think, “oh my! John has pushed the button 5 times. He must be in a rush. Let me hurry on down to his floor…”

3. To go with the above – you do need to push the button once for it to open. Standing in the elevator bay with a dazed look on your face won’t work. The elevator can’t sense your presence, so you will stand there like an idiot until either someone else pushes the button for you or someone else happens to be exiting on your floor. You may be amazed at how people just stand there without any understanding of how to make the doors open.

Inside the elevator
1. Another elevator will come. If the doors open and many people enter the elevator, just wait for the next one. Crowding together just suffocates everyone – and more than likely the first person to get on gets stuck in the back but inevitably needs to be the first one off (or is the last floor and has to wait 5 or 6 extra stops because you had to shove your way into the elevator). An extra 30 seconds wait will not kill you or make you any less late for an appointment.

2. If the door is closing – let it close. Unless an old lady or someone running down the hall with their arms full needs to get on your elevator, you’re under no obligation to hold everyone else up. It’s one thing to be nice and hold it when you are alone on the elevator, or when the latecomer is very close to the door. It’s another thing to hold it for several minutes when other elevator users would like to reach their own destinations. I’ll just repeat – another elevator WILL open.

3. Don’t eat. It’s gross. I don’t want to stand next to you while you loudly chew your burger with extra onions.

4. Before leaving your house – put on less perfume. Once you enter an elevator your perfume stench will linger long after you’ve gone – thus giving people like me an instant migraine on my way to work. Same goes for cigarette smoke. And beer.

5. PDA is also gross on an elevator. If I’m outside I really don’t care if you’re kissing and hugging, but when I’m stuck standing inches away it’s uncomfortable.

6. Hang up your phone. Many phones lose their signal on an elevator to begin with, so odds are the person on the other end can’t hear you anyway. Shouting “I’M ON AN ELEVATOR” over and over isn’t getting your point across anyway since I’m the only person who hears it and I already know this fact. Just call the person back when you exit.

I’m sure there are plenty more elevator rules. Feel free to share your own!

The other day the dear husband noticed my newly purchase skin products and asked if I’ve been having blemish problems. My two thoughts at this question were – 1. aw how sweet he doesn’t even notice my flaws, and then 2. wait… has he not even been looking at me lately? I’d like to go with thought #1 as this lends the most romantic-ness (I can make up words).

For any who need a real opinion on the subject – Proactiv does, in fact, work well. It’s only been a few days and I’ve noticed a difference. As someone who escaped adolescence with the clearest face imaginable only to reach frustratingly constant breakouts in her late 20′s I have been searching for a way to look in the mirror and not pout. This seems to be working and perhaps a little sun will help, too (hello Summertime, where are you???).

Next up on my goal of enhanced self-image is weight. Calorie-counting has started taking over my life, but the undying sweet tooth has yetto be broken. If only it truly were a special tooth you could just have pulled thus ending all chocolate cravings.

As my own personal pat on the back today I am wearing a pair of jeans my lovely friend gave me at Christmas – a pair of jeans she purchased from Torrid (a plus size store) that have fit well, but today (after being freshly washed might I add) I feel the need to pull them up as I walk. Hello size 12, here I come!

So what have been your self-image struggles lately?

The failures:
1. Too many rising agents caused the cookies to puff more like a cake or scone than a traditional cookie. I expected something chewy and got something moist but without the right consistency.
2. Too much cinnamon. I am still relatively new to measuring and the strength of various spices. I initially jotted down 2 teaspoons of cinnamon when creating the recipe, used only 1 1/2 teaspoons when I actually made it, and still managed to use too much.
3. Something was missing. I’ve been trying to only bake snacks for my kids that seem (at least a little) healthier. So I used all whole wheat flour and minimal sugars. Perhaps my ideal cookie needs a bit more compromise…

It’s not all bad…
1. My kids like them!

The ingredients used are:
Whole wheat flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, oil, applesauce, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Cinnamon Applesauce Cookies, draft #1 will soon be upgraded to include less cinnamon, a mixture of wheat and white flours, more brown sugar, and perhaps a bit o’ honey. I also anticipate a drastic reduction, if not complete removal of baking soda/powder. Expect draft #2 to be a huge success worthy of praise and admiration from all (or to just be better). I will have my chewy cookie!

INGREDIENTS
1 package country style pork ribs (these are boneless)
Honey (I used clover honey)
BBQ Sauce (a sweeter flavor is best)
Teriyaki Sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed.

Slice ribs in half (or smaller if desired. In half is easiest to cook). Marinate overnight in teriyaki sauce, honey, and garlic. I didn’t measure any of these ingredients so use your own discretion. I did NOT cover the ribs completely (sauce came up about halfway).

Using an electric grill, or grill pan (you could probably use a regular pan – I used my Griddler Jr) – cook ribs until juices run clear.

Heavily coat ribs with a mixture of Teriyaki sauce, honey, and BBQ sauce and cook for another minute or two. I basted each side a few times while on the grill until the meat started to take on that distinct reddish color.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup apple butter
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat baking sheets with cooking spray.
Beat butter in a large bowl with mixer. Add sugars, egg, vanilla, and apple butter. Continue mixing. Add flour, oats, baking powder, and salt until all ingredients are well mixed.
Fold in chocolate chips. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto baking sheets. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

These cookies will be chewy from the apple butter. I actually made a similar recipe that resulted in hard and not-so-great-tasting cookies. I like my version much better because of the chewyness and moistness. I stored them in a tupperware container and they managed to get more moist, but the kids (and my mother-in-law) love them! I probably put extra chocolate chips and vanilla extract when I made them – those are two ingredients I have never measured exact. Either way I think you’ll like them! They don’t settle into a traditional chocolate chip cookie shape so if you want a rounder cookie instead of a the cookie clump these bake up as I suggest rounding them out with your hands before baking. I usually roll cookie dough into a ball and then press them down before they go in the oven – I just didn’t this time since both kids were awake and eager for their promised reward of cookies to be done.

I hope you enjoy them! Check out my apple butter chocolate chip cookies for a not-healthy but fabulous alternative!

Does it truly affect you in any way that he cheated repeatedly on his wife? Are you his wife, child, or mistress? No, you are not so for what does he need your forgiveness? People claim because he is a public figure and people, both young and old, looked to him as a role model he needs to find forgiveness and be punished by the public. No, he needs to find forgiveness and be reprimanded by his family.

If someone chooses to be unfaithful to their significant other because “Tiger Woods did it” I say the odds are pretty good that person wasn’t very faithful to begin with. If a child looks to him and thinks they should grow up to cheat in a relationship, then odds are that child’s parent hasn’t done a very good job.

We are all responsible for our own actions. He may have taught his kids to be a little less trustworthy in a relationship, but it’s up to the rest of us to teach our own kids morals and kindness in relationships.

I also haven’t had a chance to get a good comparison picture up. If you know me and have a picture in mind, send it my way.