A friend suggested I blog this, so before I forget here we go

Around 6-8 months ago our little music man started singing, "Memeno". That was the only word and he would sing it to a tune that was completely unrecognizable. Each week I would try to remind myself to ask his preschool teachers because surely it was a song they sang in class. Each week would go by and I would forget to ask. Soon he started to vary the lyrics singing, "Memeno Cars". Cars, huh? Of course this was about the time that everything in his world began revolving around transportation - cars, trucks, trains, planes - you name it! It was also about the time we started letting him watch the Disney movie Cars as well. So who knew, really.

As the holidays approached I finally remembered to ask his pre-school teachers. We walked in like we did every day, dropped off his lunch box, hung up his coat, and then it happened. There I stood in front of all the teachers singing, "Memeno Cars" and they stared at me blankly and then began to laugh. They had absolutely no idea what I was singing. Embarrassed? A little, but really I was just more perplexed then anything. What was Memeno?!

We began to clue in that it had something to do with the Cars movie. But we've had the fortunate of listening to the soundtrack over and over again and there is not one song that sounds anything like "Memeno". And then he began asking for the Cars movie by saying, "I want to watch Memeno Cars". Watch?! He went from strolling around the house singing to now wanting to watch? Confused.

Christmas Day our friends Dave and Karolina joined us for a joyous holiday meal and not only did they get to hear the story of Memeno, but if memory serves me right they got to hear E sing it live and in-person. What I thought would be just a happy memory for our dear friends became a healthy obsession. Dave went home and spent hours (possibly slightly exaggerated) combing over the Cars Soundtrack finally settling on this one by Hank Williams. Nope, not it. I put Elliot on my lap and played song after song via You Tube from the soundtrack and each one he would agree with me when I would say, "Is this Memeno?". Drat!

But alas, as days and weeks went by he would begin asking for Memeno race (which we quickly figured out was the first race in the movie) and then we'd be in the car and he would ask to listen to Memeno Real Gone which happens to be the song that is played during Memeno race. And sadly today he mostly just asks for Real Gone. Memeno has almost left his little vocabulary. He's moved on to bigger words and other songs from the soundtrack, as seen here in his facebook debut of "Life is a Highway".

Labels: Feeling, Kid-ing, Thinking

Losing and/or maintaining weight for those of us that are metabolically challenged is hard enough going solo, but trying to meet the nutritional needs of the rest of your family makes it even harder. But recently I discovered salad! Or shall I say rediscovered salad. I have always been one to enjoy the wild mixes of ingredients that restaurants call salad, but at home I was always a simpleton: Lettuce (not iceberg, at least), red onion, tomato, beets, maybe some chicken and tad bit of dressing tossed on. But my son needs to be eating everything and my husband wants it all but without saturated fat, so I decided to give them just that and put theirs over rice and mine on a salad. Last night, Curry Chicken with Peas. For Elliot, mixed with rice. For Dale, over rice with a side of Naan and yogurt sauce. For Me, over some greens with just a splash of creamy cilantro dressing and a couple of high-fiber tortillas to grab some tasty bites with. Brilliant! What will I think of next?

Labels: Eating, Flourishing, Thinking

Labels: Feeling, Green-ing, Thinking

I get tired of waking up at 6am,
Yet I never tire of watching my little man as we walk back to mommy's bed after getting his milk

I get tired of 'picking up'
Yet I never tire of finding the little treasures Elliot leaves behind, like a car at the bottom of his laundry basket or a truck in the tupperware drawer

I get tired of the long trek back and forth to school & work
Yet I never tire of listening to my bear talk about all the trains, planes and garbage trucks he wants to see along the way

I get tired of rushing to get dinner on the table
Yet I never tire of sitting, eating, talking with my dear husband and watching Elliot chew so deliberately

I get tired, but it's the good kind of tired...

Labels: Kid-ing, Thinking

There are two sure fire ways to Anglo-Americanize any ethnic food...a casserole or a salad! Seriously. I really can't think of any food more American then a casserole. Sure hamburger, hot dogs, apple pie, but that's what we want people to think. The truth is Americans love their casseroles and what better way to sample the fare of our neighbors then by way of a safe and comforting casserole. And in recent years salads have followed suit. Taco Casserole and Chinese Chicken Salad, enough said.

Labels: Eating, Thinking

Seriously. What was I saying? It feels like a lifetime ago that I sat and wrote anything. 2009 was a wild year. And I am pretty confident 2010 will be too! Like feels pretty great right now. We are settling into our new home, our new routines, our new community. It feels pretty darn good. I've missed writing the occasional post, sharing my thoughts and opinions...just not sure how to do it within the 2 waking hours that I am not at work or spending time with Elliot. I don't know how the rest of the blogging world does it...but, now that we are not packing, moving, living in a hotel, unpacking, surviving the holiday madness, I think I will find some more time. I am hoping that just writing this post with get me into the groove again.

Labels: Thinking

Recently we decided to take the plunge (second time around) and buy a house. We have a townhouse now, and it has served us well, but it's time to move on (maybe). We do need a wee bit more space on one level. We found a house but we lost it - oh well. There were a few needling things about it, so it was not meant to be. Of course, we still talk about it fondly. I digress. We decided to sell our home and now we live in a model home. Our Realtor came in and re-arranged our furniture, had us pack up our clutter, brought in some of their own accents, and now we live in a model home. In the morning we make sure our pajamas are neatly tucked away, our bed gets made (this used to never happen unless guests were coming over), close the lid to our toilets, put all dishes in the dishwasher, close every door to every closet, tuck all the toys away (poor Elliot has trouble finding anything), pull up the blinds, open the widows, etc., etc., etc. Essentially, pretend like you don't live here. I am starting to wish we didn't, yet it does look so good that sometimes we think about buying it.

Labels: Thinking

Did you have one as a child? I did. Maybe you have one now. I would get so excited when I would see the rapid-winged little guys outside fluttering away while sucking down some sugar H20. As I was browsing on Flickr, I came across this great photo of a hummingbird and a feeder. It brought back such fond memories (I think ours was just like this one!), so I decided I must have a feeder for myself to enjoy (Dale & Elliot can enjoy it too, of course!). So I 'did a Yahoo' (my attempt at supporting the company that helps to support my family) and could not believe how many hummingbird feeders there are out there for sale! Who knew there was such a market for these things?! Needless to say, I got overwhelmed by the choices and decided I would look into it another time.

Labels: Thinking

Years ago when we were living in San Mateo I threw a surprise party for my husband's birthday (then boyfriend). I had been pretty last minute about the food and had planned to make a taco-spread - tortillas, guac, sour cream, beans, and chicken...luckily some friends were there to help me out! One friend quickly realized that I had no idea what to do with the chicken so she jumped in started throwing stuff in a pot and at the end was this delicious shredded chicken in a tomato sauce. I have never forgotten this chicken, it was amazing! It was reminiscent of this chicken they used to have at our college taqueria. I was never really able to replicate it, so I stopped trying and it has just lived in my fond-food memory bank ever since.

Recently when I was getting my hair cut (when I do all of my magazine reading) I stumbled upon this recipe in Cooking Light, Chicken Thighs with Olives and Tomato Sauce. Now this particular recipe does not dish up a fiesta, it's more of a Mediterranean dish, but it is saucy-shredded-goodness nonetheless. I used 1 1/2 lbs of chicken thighs and 1 1/2 lbs of breasts to reduce the fat (& 4 lbs seemed a bit much). I used some chicken broth instead of wine as I didn't have any white on hand. And go easy on the red pepper flakes if you have a little one around. We served it over rice and I even threw some in a high-fiber tortilla along with some spinach for a tasty lunch. This will be in our family recipe book for years to come, in fact we made it again yesterday!

Labels: Eating, Thinking

For years I would watch people at my office go for walks on their breaks and it always sort of bothered me. Who are these people that have time to take a break and then show-off by taking a leisurely walk around the office complex. I hardly have time to go pee! So my first realization is that I am just jealous and resentful a) that they have a job that is so 'easy' they have time to take a break OR b) they have mastered work-life balance ... either way, I don't like these people! Until, that is, I realized I needed to become one of them.

As I was out roller blading in the glorious sunshine this morning I was thinking a lot about how else to burn some calories and take in extra oxygen each week. 1-2 days is not satisfactory to me. Since I am the drop-off and pick-up for Elliot each day, I cannot take an extended 'lunch' to go to the gym, etc. and still get in my 8-9 hours a day. I am not a morning person, so waking up early is not working out for me. I love to have dinner with my husband in the evenings, which leaves the 9 o'clock hour and that is not working for me either as I would rather be showering and getting ready for bed!

And so, during my skating session, I realized I should become one of 'those people'. I'll bring my 'gym shoes' to work and each day if I can escape for 15 minutes, I will. A friend at work already started trying to do this, so I will follow suit. And although it won't challenge my body much, it will still provide me that extra oxygen and stress relief that I also so badly need.

Labels: Flourishing, Thinking

I'd like to think I stayed the same and possibly even lost some more, but the fact is I forgot to weigh-in today. I was meeting-hopping today for hour long intervals and when I had a free 1/2 hour I ran to Safeway to buy me some Garden Burgers, High-Fiber Tortillas & Mother's Day cards. When I jumped into my next meeting I thought to myself, 'Today is Tuesday, I didn't weigh-in!' I then proceeded to go to 4 more meetings, rush back to my office to grab my things and race over to pick-up Elliot. Here's to a healthy (and hopefully less hectic) week!

Labels: Flourishing, Thinking

A long while ago I made a commitment to myself to have more (or some) hobbies. I even made a declaration on my blog. How am I doing? I don't often take these moments to assess, but lately it has become more crucial to acknowledge the little successes in my life. Though I haven't gone on any photography excursions like I would have liked, I have snapped a few that I have been proud of and even got around to hanging one on our wall. I have yet to find the perfect coffee photo for our kitchen wall, but I continue to snap away and am confident I will be satisfied with one of them someday.

My cookbook collection has suffered. I managed to jump-start with some favorites I found on a great site, but the joy in collecting is discovering them at a garage sale, estate sale or used bookstore...and there has not been time in my life for those excursions...somehow I feel like my dream of becoming a master at garage sales will have to wait for retirement.

Another declaration I made long ago was to make one new recipe a week. Some weeks cooking at all is a luxury, but other weeks I have managed two great recipes (both on Sundays - a workin' Mom strategy that I will go into another time).

We have been having a lot of fun in the kitchen these days and here are some of my favorites that are full of flavor and pretty fast too!:

Spicy Curry Beef not really that spicy & Elliot likes it! I don't seem to have a picture of it anywhere, but it really is a favorite in our house.

Asian Concoction - even Brussel haters will enjoy this! Using low sodium ingredients is crucial otherwise it's too salty, tastes great over jasmine rice.

Good Excuse for a Margarita Meal: Holy Mole Flank Steak (we threw it on the BBQ), Spicy Red Rice, & Garlicky Pinto Beans.



Not Your Mama's Italian Sandwich: make a quick tomato sauce (we recently tried the Quick Tomato Sauce from Cooks Illustrated and it was awesome!), marinate & grill some chicken (just used some lemon juice, olive oil & rosemary), toast your favorite roll with a slice of provolone, top with arugula and chow!

Labels: Creating, Eating, Flourishing, Thinking

I was in a meeting at work recently where we discussed 'Community Engagement'. The dialogue was already well passed the definition of and had moved to the importance of, the value in, and the risk in not 'doing'. I have been in these discussions often, so my mind wandered. I wandered back to the definition of community. All my life I have interpreted the word to mean a group defined by a common interest or belief in something...a church community, neighborhood, etc. But in this discussion they were talking about people who lived within pre-defined boundaries. I started to wonder how many people in the room were like me. I live in one community and work in another (and I am not a distance commuter). I sleep in one and spend much of my awake time in the other. I send my son to school in the other (really it is daycare, but it makes me feel better to call it school). I shop in both, actually I shop in multiple others. I find myself engrossed in local politics in both places, but more in the other (naturally because I work for the other). I only vote where I sleep, those are the rules. The 'engagement' discussion that I zoned out of excluded me and my family, we were not who they were trying to reach. I realized that outside of a professional capacity I wouldn't be invited to any of their meetings and I must admit that hurt a little.

Labels: Thinking

My Mom was born Febuary 18th, 1944. Today she would have been 65 years old. This picture was taken when she was in college. It's been 11 years since she passed away and I still miss her very much!

Labels: Feeling, Thinking

The Story before The Story:

I was going to write a resolutions post, didn't get around to it. But a key component of that post was going to be about revisiting the past. I started down this trail as the year came to a close when I reunited with old family friends (more about that another time or we'll never get to the point of this post). These sorts of visits are difficult for me because I don't like to 'go there'. Inevitably my Mom will become a topic of conversation and it is still a topic I don't talk about very well. Anyway, I faced that fear and had a wonderful visit with dear old friends.

For similar reasons I generally dread going to storage because there are all these large pieces of furniture that I do not foresee ever fitting into our home, yet there they are collecting dust and I can't part with them so I just leave feeling conflicted and bummed. So when I innocently went into storage to find a particular photo of my Mom I wanted for our family room (I am working on a family photo display), I happened upon the past and I embraced it! I went rummaging through dusty boxes and came across all sorts of wonderful treasures that I didn't even remember were in there. Sadly the photo was not in the best quality and will not be able to be a part of our display, but here it is. I will find another one on my next trip!



The Story:

On my visit to storage I happened upon a box that had a stool in it that my brother and I used to use as children. I forgot I saved this and was so excited by the timing because Elliot is just now starting to use a stool to reach the sink for brushing his teeth or to get up to his highchair. How wonderful that he can use the same stool I used!

Another box that I happened up had one of the most amazing finds of all...an entire box of typed-written short stories authored my Grandfather, Paul V. Sheehan (my Mom's Dad). Paul V. (as my Mom liked to call him) passed away when I was around 3 (I believe he was in his 60's). He was a Professor of Journalism at Fresno State from around the mid-1930 to early to mid-1960's. On the side he wrote, and wrote and apparently wrote some more. My mom spoke of his short-stories, but somehow it got lost in my memory. It must have been a box that my Mom had in her storage shed that I just moved without really looking at because the writing on the box is hers. It feels like the first time I've ever seen these stories. I am going to see if I can find someone/someplace to scan them (page by page at home is not an option) to ensure they are preserved, but I cannot wait to read them in their glorious typewritten paper form! {Isn't the title of the one that was on top a little eerie?}

Some other noteworthy finds...my very first 'ATM' card known as a Versatel card, an authentic cassette tape, a grade school yearbook from when I was in Kindergarten, a box of paperbacks and one near the top was about MLK (strange considering it was days from his birthday as well as the Inauguration of Obama), a school assignment where I drew a pie chart of oil production in Asia (5th grade I think, I guess I was destined to be an excel super-user), an 'original' copy of 'I am a Bunny' one of my favorite books that I have convinced Elliot to love too (in a box with a ton more Richard Scarry books which might have been from when my Mom was a teacher, not sure).
And the final artifact that had me laughing and crying was a recipe that I wrote for my mom for Mother's Day when I was in the 3rd grade (I think):

Labels: Feeling, Thinking

I know it is only 'natural' for 'grassroots movements' to hit the mainstream marketing scene. And I realize that it is an overall good thing that they do, but it can be quite annoying. I have been bothered by 'Natural' for quite sometime, but today at the gym when I saw a Pizza Hut commercial it sent me over the edge. Pizza Hut has a new 'Natural' Pepporoni Pizza, yes, 'Natural'. The crust is 'whole grain' and the sauce does not use any high-fructose corn syrup. Again, I know that overall this is a good thing that "unnatural" ingredients are coming to the mainstream consciousness, but it is still annoying. Seriously, I mean, what are they really saying about their existing product line? They are essentially admitting that the rest of their products are 'unnatural'. What is even crazier is that we buy into these labels of 'Natural' and the FDA isn't even really regulating that term. And as much as I am indeed a proponent of 'Natural', I think it is clearing being abused. And really, if I am going to eat at Pizza Hut I would not worry about it being 'Natural', it's Pizza Hut!

Labels: Flourishing, Thinking

Oh my, it has been over a month since I have said anything! I have had many thoughts at the gym, in the car, at work, and more...just haven't had a moment to type them out. These days a not-so-clever facebook status is about all I can muster up. I am sure that you (my five readers) are just all broken-up about this, but don't despair I'm not gone for good.

Labels: Thinking

If I were born ten years later I likely would have wound up with an ADD diagnosis (Attention Deficit Disorder), not to be confused with ADHD which adds hyperactivity to the mix which was not at all my situation. In life I always seem to be racing the clock. Sometimes it is self imposed due to procrastination, but mostly it is just how I roll (I cannot resist the temptation to use some wannabe hip-hop slang and I mean no disrespect in doing so). Anway, the point is I tend to move from one thing to another so quickly that I sometimes miss things. Most often I get what I need out of the conversation/television show/book/magazine/fill in the blank. Sometimes I miss and miss BIG.

Recently at work I skimmed an e-mail (I get at least 40 relevent e-mails a day, so I do this for efficiency sake). The Executive Secretary to our Agency Director sent out an e-mail reminding staff of the upcoming Charitable Contributions Campaign where all employees have the opportunity to donate to a charity for a whole year and it's deducted from your pay, pre-tax sort of a thing. Each year there is apparently a kick-off celebration where you can eat donated pumpkin pie (my original interpretation), admire carved pumpkins and eat green things (in honor of "going green"). So when our Director sent a follow-up e-mail with a plea and then the Secretary sent yet another follow-up with yet another plea, I bit and said, "Hey if you haven't had any volunteers for the pie donation, count me in."

The next thing I got was a thank you for entering the upcoming Charitable Contributions Contest! WTF?! I didn't recall anything about a contest? I thought I was baking a pie to donate. Now I need to bake TWO pies, both identical (one for the judges and one for display!)? This is like a real contest (albeit for San Mateo County Employees only)! The fun didn't stop there. A day later an e-mail went out to all 850 Human Services Employees and said, "Come taste a sure to be award winning pie baked by Amy Kaiser..." And if that were not enough another one went out a couple days later saying "Also, just a friendly reminder to come taste a sure to be award winning pie baked by Amy Kaiser..." The pressure!!!

So here I was at 7:30 trying to make sure Elliot was asleep, cooking dinner so my dear husband and I can toast his Mom's 60th Birthday, and baking TWO pies for a contest tomorrow. I have never baked two pies - yikes! I encountered a bit of weight issue as I put both pies on a cookie sheet which caused the cookie sheet to dip in the center and the pie filling leaked and made ugly pie! They might taste OK, but they are not my finest works. Wish me luck!


P.S. I am too tired to even proof read this, so it is what it is.

Labels: Eating, Thinking

• Woke up to a singing baby boy
• Tried to rationalize with a hungry boy
• Gave temper-tantrum boy his medicine
• Packed the car
  
• Drank coffee while driving the bear to school, me to work
• Hit traffic
• Dropped bear off at school, set-up his breakfast, kisses goodbye
  
• Arrived late for work
• Got a desperately needed car wash during lunch (no longer would the washer fluid clean the shat off)
• Left work early (few meetings today = a lot of work done in less time, that's my justification anyway)
• Drove the hungry bear home
• Fed the hungry bear dinner
• Let the hungry pug out to go potty
• Fed the hungry pug dinner
• Gave the tired bear milk
• Laid the sleepy bear down to sleep
• Checked e-mail, facebook, etc.
• Cooked dinner with Hubbie
  
• Decided not to wash any dishes
• Wrote this post
• Off to shower, watch some tube and hit the hay
  

Labels: Thinking

Tonight while I was at the gym my mind began wandering as it does when I exercise. I began thinking about canned peaches. First I began to wonder how canned peaches get to be that perfect solid color of yellow-orange (not peach) and are completely smooth and absent of any evidence that there was a giant pit in the center, strange and oddly unnatural. I then began to think about how common it was for us to eat canned fruit when I was a child - peaches, pears and fruit cocktail were the most common. How is it that a farmer would allow his family to each such things? One day we would eat fresh fruit straight from the orchard out of a crate that would sit atop our dryer in the laundry room and the next day it was canned peaches. I then remembered a more recent conversation with my Dad where I learned of his love of canned fruit (anything sugary, really) and then remembered seeing him eat peaches right out of the can. How could he like those sickly sweet versions of the real thing? Generation gap. When my dad was growing up his mother preserved jars and jars of fresh fruits so there would be fruit for the winter. It makes sense now, produce wasn't flying in at record speeds from around the globe all year round, so if you wanted peaches in the winter you'd preserve them in the summer. Somehow I feel like Grandma's peaches were probably a lot tastier then the "Del Monte" variety. This got me through about 10 minutes of my work out.

Labels: Eating, Thinking