No matter what the reason is, I am OBSESSED with home decor, home magazines and home websites! My current favorite website is Houzz. I could literally spend hours and hours looking at the all of the pictures and idea books. In fact, I often do. But as obsessed as I am with Houzz, this post is not about that website. Nope. It’s about this:

Obsess much?

This mirror hangs over the washer and dryer in my friend’s grandmother’s house. She passed away and I am assisting my friend’s father in selling off some of her furniture. When I went to take pictures, I turned the corner and saw this mirror and nearly passed out. I love it. I want it. It will be mine. Oh, yes. It will.

It’s very odd, though. This mirror does not look like anything I would ever purchase. Or even glance twice at. I don’t know what it is about this mirror, but I just can’t stop thinking about it. I’m not even sure where I’m going to hang it, it is so different from anything in my house. But I do know that sooner or later, it will hang. Any suggestions?

Goofballs

Take one 88th birthday, add some chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and heap it all onto a silly two-year-old. What do you get? This goofball picture of Ryder with his Great Papa. Sugar highs make a funny little boy even funnier!

So, although it is late, my resolution this year is to focus more on me and my “mental health”. Instead of just saying these things, I have narrowed it down to three things that make me feel good that are things that are just for me: reading, yoga and blogging. While I do enjoy spending time with family and friends, these three things are things that I do alone (well sometimes I yoga with friends) and that are just for me. They refresh me and keep me sharp and happy.

While I do plan on keeping this blog and the name, I am going to broaden my horizons and not just focus on Motherhood. I think that is another reason why this past year has been a tough blogging year. I talk with/to/about my kid all day long. Sometimes I want to talk about grown-up things. Silly things. Things that make me happy. So, I will definitely no longer try to limit my posts to “mommy” stuff.

So that’s it. That is where I am starting. Or re-starting. This year is going to be a great year, with lots of activities. There are trips being planned, babies to be had (not by me), and best of all we will FINALLY be moving! So lots of good stuff coming up! I don’t know about you, but I am EXCITED!

Bwahaha!!

At the beginning of October (I know!) I was lucky enough to get invited to Mickey’s Trick or Treat Party at California Adventure. Although I am sure that Ryder would have LOVED to attend, but seeing as how the party started at 7:30 PM, he had to sit this one out. Maybe next year, Buddy! Although I do have to say that I was shocked by the number of little kids that were there. I mean little. Tiny. Miniscule.

So I gathered three of my Besties and we were on our way! The employees were handing out empty bags at the front, but for some reason, no one bothered to grab one. I had a nice little Mickey treat bucket, courtesy of Disney! Our first plan was to get over to the Tower of Terror and get ourselves a Fast Pass. When we got there, the Fast Pass wasn’t open and we were sad. Until…we looked over and saw that the wait time was 13 minutes. 13 MINUTES!! We practically skipped through the line! It was at that point that we looked around and realized that the average guest was about 4 feet high and not interested in “scary” rides. Sweet!

Throughout the park there were Trick or Treat “stations”. Basically giant carts full of candy that was being handed out. My friends held out their hands while I quickly filled my Mickey head with crunchy, sweet goodies! It was just the rush we needed to scoot over to the roller coaster! While the big rides were quick, we did get stuck in one long line: The Toy Story Ride. Apparently every kid wanted to ride on that one, because it took forever. But it was worth it! The premise of the ride is to shoot targets and score points. It was awesome! And I must say that I am quite the shot (take note, Hubby)!

I know that at this point is probably too late for you to make this event (due to my lack of blogging time), but hopefully you can make a note to try and attend next year. Even if you go without the kids.

Coming Soon: Ryder’s Birthday Trip!

Me: “Ryder, what do you have in your mouth?”

Ryder (opening his mouth wide for me to see): “Teeth”

Ummm…okay. Did I just get schooled by my not-quite-two-year-old?

I am loving the person he is becoming, though. He rocks. He sings and dances all day long. He climbs everything. Everything. He describes everything that he sees. He makes me sing Frosty and Rudolph to him ALL day long.  He says “Goodbye, Friend” when leaving the park. What a funny guy.

This year’s birthday was an easy theme to settle on: trains. Ryder loves nothing more than a good train ride (preferably with his Papa and Nan, but Mommy will do). So in addition to the day-to-day housework and my new job (more on that later), I’ve been busy planning a train party! I hope all my baby boy’s train-filled dreams come true that day!

So, knowing his history with anything wearing a saddle, I was very surprised when he appeared to want to ride the pony. When I bought his ticket, I made sure that I could get my $4 back, should my fickle kid decide that he wasn’t game. So you can imagine my surprise when he not only gladly hopped into the saddle, but was talking to and petting the horse as well!

The (stable?) girl led the pony out the gate and we were off to walk our three laps! There were three other parents out there with their kids on ponies. All the kids were looking for butterflies and rainbows, talking about the trees, admiring the ponies and horses. And my kid? My kid was obsessed with the poo-poo. I mean OBSESSED. As in yelling out to me (though I was right next to him), pointing at the ground: “Moooooommyyyyyy! Hoo-hoo (horsie) poo-poo!! Hoo-hoo poo-poo! Poo-poo, Mommy!”

I sheepishly grinned at the other parents and wished I wasn’t holding the leash to the pony, so that I didn’t have to claim the kid as mine. Or that a giant sinkhole would appear and swallow me. Whichever. Does this mean he’s closer to being potty trained?

So, my mission now is two-fold. The first part of the mission, is to master the chocolate chip cookie. I picked the CCC, because the ingredients are (somewhat) basic and I can usually whip up a batch during nap time. With an average CCC recipe, there is not much elbow grease involved. Now begins the search for The Perfect recipe (or a slight variation of).

This is where you come in, oh Faithful Readers (all 4 of you). If you have a recipe that you love, or one that you would love to try, please pass it on. I promise to give credit where credit is due. In the meantime, I will be searching and trying every recipe in every book on every shelf in my house (including the one from Joy of Cooking that calls for milk and no baking soda—WTH?).

I did try my first recipe today. It was from Martha Stewarts Comfort Food recipe book. Sounded like a logical place to start, right? Eh. Not so much. They are slightly overcooked (my oven runs so dang hot), but they are flat. And kind of crunchy. Not exactly the two qualities that I look for in a perfect CCC. However, I did put two sheets in at the same time, so one sheet came out slightly crispier than the other. The search continues.

The second part of my mission (or the Mini-Mission, if you prefer) is the search for the recipe from the darn Sunset Magazine! I know, it may be impossible to find, but I must look. Of course it would help if I knew the month or the year, but….well I just don’t. So if your great-aunt Minnie in Jersey happens to have every issue of Sunset Magazine from 1980 – 1990, could ya give her a call for me? I’d appreciate it.

A couple of days ago, I was sitting in the living room (with the window open) and I heard a loud thud and a bit of a ruckus, followed by the sound of a bird flying off. I didn’t really think anything of it, just figured that one of the birds went out for a little fly. A few hours later, my friend came to pick me up and asked if I knew I had birds. I told her of course and asked how she knew. She pointed and I looked. There on the sidewalk was a piece of the nest and a couple of broken eggs.

I can not explain to you just how sad I felt. To make matters worse, I looked up and one of the birds was on the ledge, just staring down at the broken eggs. It seriously made me cry. Even though it was a bird, it was still a mama bird. A mama bird who didn’t get a chance to be a mama. I would’ve hugged that sad mama bird if I could.

In the last couple of days, I haven’t heard or seen the birds at all. I guess they’ve moved on and I don’t blame them.