In health stealth mode, I've been trying to introduce healthier foods in my children's diet undetected.
I've met with a certain amount of success. Whole grain cereals were an easy substitution; so was white-wheat bread. But last night I tried to slip in Barilla's "Pasta Plus," a new, nutritionally fortified pasta.
Ewww.
It was so nasty, I couldn't even choke it down. It's taste, texture and color was completely non-pasta-ish. It's tough to screw up noodles, but somehow, Barilla did.
So, I will leave you with a Chinese quote, in honor of the inventors of the dish:
You don't meet a girl like that every dynasty.--Mulan.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Another vacation
After transferring Amex yen into Southwest mileage, I managed to get tickets for the children and I to go on a little junket to St. Louis in a couple of weeks.
I'm pretty excited--it has been a while since I've been there, and it will be nice to see everyone again. I've got some sights I want the kids to see as well.
It may be a small challenge to travel like this alone (Sean will be working) but I'm up for it. I was originally going to drive the whole 1200 miles, so flying will be easy after that...
July 12-17.
Here is a quote from John Irving's A Prayer For Owen Meany, written in 1989 which I just finished.
Oh, what a nation of moralists the Americans are! With what fervor do they relish bringing their sexual misconduct to light! A pity that they do not bring their moral outrage to bear on their president's arrogance above the law..."
--John Irving, brilliant writer and soothsayer.
I'm pretty excited--it has been a while since I've been there, and it will be nice to see everyone again. I've got some sights I want the kids to see as well.
It may be a small challenge to travel like this alone (Sean will be working) but I'm up for it. I was originally going to drive the whole 1200 miles, so flying will be easy after that...
July 12-17.
Here is a quote from John Irving's A Prayer For Owen Meany, written in 1989 which I just finished.
Oh, what a nation of moralists the Americans are! With what fervor do they relish bringing their sexual misconduct to light! A pity that they do not bring their moral outrage to bear on their president's arrogance above the law..."
--John Irving, brilliant writer and soothsayer.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Quotation Whore
Because I love fortune cookie counsel, I've decided that I will end each of my banal posts with a little wisdom from someone else--someone far wiser than I.
I will fetch these pearls not from farmed oysters--i.e. some generic online quotation generator--but rather from some personal source that I have recently happened upon.
The other night we rented, and actually watched, the original Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, a gem I had not seen in quite some time. After watching Gene Wilder, I am weary of the Johhny Depp/Michael Jackson creep show arriving in theaters later this month. But I will leave you with some Wonka Wisdom for this first post:
We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams. --Willy Wonka
I will fetch these pearls not from farmed oysters--i.e. some generic online quotation generator--but rather from some personal source that I have recently happened upon.
The other night we rented, and actually watched, the original Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, a gem I had not seen in quite some time. After watching Gene Wilder, I am weary of the Johhny Depp/Michael Jackson creep show arriving in theaters later this month. But I will leave you with some Wonka Wisdom for this first post:
We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams. --Willy Wonka
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Swimming With the Fishes
What an amazing time...
There can be no comparable experience to those unexpected instances in life that you happen upon without planning...
At the beach this weekend, we were treated to glorious weather and accommodations. Beautiful condos on a pristine beach with hardly another soul around. The sun was blazing; but the Gulf waters were warm and inviting. We arrived, and immediately jumped into the water. Even the two little ones loved the surf. Beneath our feet were hundreds, if not thousands of sand dollars nestling in the ocean floor.
All of sudden, two dark, ominous forms began coming closer--not Jaws--but manatee. Beautiful, enormous manatee who felt the same need to play this Saturday afternoon. We gave them a wide berth at first; but they came in closer (we were standing) and it was clear they liked our out-stretched hands gliding along their spongy backs. As we all got bolder; they would swim beneath our feet and through our legs as if to play an impromptu game of leapfrog.
It was incredible--and even Matty and Amy didn't get freaked out (too much). It just felt so normal at the moment. It lasted about 45 minutes. Incredible.
The rest of the weekend was just as spectacular--I've got the sunburn and a bag full of shells and shark's teeth to prove it.
It won't be one I soon will forget.
There can be no comparable experience to those unexpected instances in life that you happen upon without planning...
At the beach this weekend, we were treated to glorious weather and accommodations. Beautiful condos on a pristine beach with hardly another soul around. The sun was blazing; but the Gulf waters were warm and inviting. We arrived, and immediately jumped into the water. Even the two little ones loved the surf. Beneath our feet were hundreds, if not thousands of sand dollars nestling in the ocean floor.
All of sudden, two dark, ominous forms began coming closer--not Jaws--but manatee. Beautiful, enormous manatee who felt the same need to play this Saturday afternoon. We gave them a wide berth at first; but they came in closer (we were standing) and it was clear they liked our out-stretched hands gliding along their spongy backs. As we all got bolder; they would swim beneath our feet and through our legs as if to play an impromptu game of leapfrog.
It was incredible--and even Matty and Amy didn't get freaked out (too much). It just felt so normal at the moment. It lasted about 45 minutes. Incredible.
The rest of the weekend was just as spectacular--I've got the sunburn and a bag full of shells and shark's teeth to prove it.
It won't be one I soon will forget.
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Beep
You've reached Tracey's blog...I can't come to the keyboard right now due to a long weekend beach excursion that will hopefully be filled with frozen drinks, naps in the sand and a raging sunburn by Monday. Please leave a comment after the imaginary beep, and I will return your post when we get back unless the Red Tide has completely enveloped us.
Have a great Father's Day weekend everyone!
Have a great Father's Day weekend everyone!
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Boy, How things have changed
In a futile attempt to retrieve our recently-abandoned “Date Night,” we have secured a babysitter for the evening.
We used to make this a once a week event; having this one night to just go out as adults without the kids to talk about the kids. We’ve been thrown off track in recent weeks with so many other activities on the calendar, that I guess we’ve forgotten what its like to actually date.
When asked what we were going to do with our evening, both of us had to think long and hard.
He came up with a trip to Home Depot to look at kitchens and I came up with an eyebrow wax.
I can’t wait!
We used to make this a once a week event; having this one night to just go out as adults without the kids to talk about the kids. We’ve been thrown off track in recent weeks with so many other activities on the calendar, that I guess we’ve forgotten what its like to actually date.
When asked what we were going to do with our evening, both of us had to think long and hard.
He came up with a trip to Home Depot to look at kitchens and I came up with an eyebrow wax.
I can’t wait!
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Summer
Today was one of those summer vacation days when the boys just hissed at each other instead of speaking.
They are tired. They have been going non-stop for weeks with the hundreds of activities we've thrown at them, and it caught up with them today. At least, that's the excuse I'm allowing them for their pissy behavior until they go to bed in an hour.
And it will not stop anytime soon. This weekend we're heading south for a weekend on the beach with like 20 other families. We have never been to this particular place--never even heard of it actually--but it should be a good time. How can you screw up the beach? Now I just have to think of and procure the perfect Father's Day present in which to present to Sean on said perfect beach.
We're also shoring up the rest of our summer plans, which will include a driving vacation, otherwise entitled, "How many miles can we pack on the car during a 3 week span?" Right now, we've got St. Louis and New York on the trip tix.
And last, not certainly not least, we will begin our first major remodel of our 13+ year marriage--a kitchen makeover. More delicious details on that later.
Get it?
They are tired. They have been going non-stop for weeks with the hundreds of activities we've thrown at them, and it caught up with them today. At least, that's the excuse I'm allowing them for their pissy behavior until they go to bed in an hour.
And it will not stop anytime soon. This weekend we're heading south for a weekend on the beach with like 20 other families. We have never been to this particular place--never even heard of it actually--but it should be a good time. How can you screw up the beach? Now I just have to think of and procure the perfect Father's Day present in which to present to Sean on said perfect beach.
We're also shoring up the rest of our summer plans, which will include a driving vacation, otherwise entitled, "How many miles can we pack on the car during a 3 week span?" Right now, we've got St. Louis and New York on the trip tix.
And last, not certainly not least, we will begin our first major remodel of our 13+ year marriage--a kitchen makeover. More delicious details on that later.
Get it?
Friday, June 10, 2005
Wet Weekend
I sure do hope that nothing else breaks that requires a trip to the hardware store.
With Arlene churning around in the Gulf,(even though it's 300 miles from Safety Harbor)
it means that no one will get with in a 5 mile radius of a Florida Home Depot.
With Arlene churning around in the Gulf,(even though it's 300 miles from Safety Harbor)
it means that no one will get with in a 5 mile radius of a Florida Home Depot.
Poltergeists About
Either Mercury is in retrograde, or some other planet is out of whack...
After the A/C blew earlier this week, we ended up getting a whole new unit. It was time, I suppose. But then last night the phone went out for no apparent reason, and so the phone company was out this morning to fix it. Now usually, these technological glitches can be directly traced back to me...I was sure that the toothpick that is jammed in the phone jack to keep the thing plugged in may have been the cause of the lack of service. Surprise, it was actually Verizon's problem, and they fixed it without cost to us.
2 minutes after the guy left, however, my keyboard starting injecting extra, non-intentional characters every time I typed a 'y', 'h' or 'k.' Try typing the word "hockey" and it looked like the Russian names who play the game, rather than the actual word.
I have fixed that problem, and now await what other technological tragedy awaits.
After the A/C blew earlier this week, we ended up getting a whole new unit. It was time, I suppose. But then last night the phone went out for no apparent reason, and so the phone company was out this morning to fix it. Now usually, these technological glitches can be directly traced back to me...I was sure that the toothpick that is jammed in the phone jack to keep the thing plugged in may have been the cause of the lack of service. Surprise, it was actually Verizon's problem, and they fixed it without cost to us.
2 minutes after the guy left, however, my keyboard starting injecting extra, non-intentional characters every time I typed a 'y', 'h' or 'k.' Try typing the word "hockey" and it looked like the Russian names who play the game, rather than the actual word.
I have fixed that problem, and now await what other technological tragedy awaits.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
It's Hot!
The A/C is out, and the temperature is soaring inside...I'm hot and getting crankier by the second.
I chose Florida why again?
I chose Florida why again?
Friday, June 03, 2005
Tampa, Florida
It seems our life-altering decision has been made, and drum roll please, we're staying in sunny, red-state, Florida.
Yes, 'tis true that we were contemplating seriously the idea of moving (so close that we had, in fact, accepted the offer originally) to New York, but after many boring details which I will spare you, we have decided to stay here.
And to celebrate this, we are going to the beach tomorrow and making sand castles with the Stanley Cup on the Gulf of Mexico...
(Need I say what pushed us over the edge?)
Yes, 'tis true that we were contemplating seriously the idea of moving (so close that we had, in fact, accepted the offer originally) to New York, but after many boring details which I will spare you, we have decided to stay here.
And to celebrate this, we are going to the beach tomorrow and making sand castles with the Stanley Cup on the Gulf of Mexico...
(Need I say what pushed us over the edge?)
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Sigh...Not
Looking back through the last few meager entries, I realize that I blog sigh quite frequently. Too frequently, as a matter of fact.
Sigh.
See what I mean? I shall correct this pithy overuse immediately and I shall never again use this particular expression in these pages.
Exhale.
Sigh.
See what I mean? I shall correct this pithy overuse immediately and I shall never again use this particular expression in these pages.
Exhale.
No news is just no news
I'm such a liar. Tuesday came and went without an announcement, and Wednesday might follow suit. Oy. What can you do?
But in other news, it's raining like crazy so we're stuck in the house today vegging out on too much TV and video games. Some days are like that, I suppose. I've got some new assignments for the magazine to work on, and the column problem, again, so I'm occupied, but the boys are starting to argue over whose turn it is on Playstation. We may have to start the summer library visits today...
But in other news, it's raining like crazy so we're stuck in the house today vegging out on too much TV and video games. Some days are like that, I suppose. I've got some new assignments for the magazine to work on, and the column problem, again, so I'm occupied, but the boys are starting to argue over whose turn it is on Playstation. We may have to start the summer library visits today...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
