Category: Daily

Since we last spoke, I helped a bunch of adorable first graders make buttons (I helped only the adorable ones. I sent the not-so-adorable ones away.), I took a gaggle of girls out for pedicures and fondue, I talked about physical therapy vs. massage with my migraine doctor, I met up with a friend for dinner and the symphony (as a result, I now have a married girl crush on Stephen Hough), I dealt with the sparks of a migraine, I went to a school dinner, I deposited some PTO cash, I took the girls to the American Girl store so they could blast through some of their birthday gift cards, I celebrated Scout’s one year anniversary with us, I worked on freelance, and I shopped for retiring teacher gifts.

This afternoon I attended a Greek and Roman banquet at the middle school (I baked a cake this morning!), I volunteered for a bit at the elementary, and I nearly finished one of the front sides of my Acer. This evening is dinner with a friend. Tomorrow is the Australian barbecue at the middle school and This American Life Live with my mom. Friday is lunch and more volunteer time. On Saturday, I’ll be turning 42 and writing in my new tiny orange diary. Sometime between now and then I need to choose a pen. I have no complaints.

Final Hot Pants Update: I am still the exact same size as I was two weeks ago. It is now time to wash my Hot Pants and become a bit more realistic, mainly because a good friend whom I’ve never actually met just gave me an amazing deal on a few ModCloth dresses, and the dresses are a size smaller than what I normally wear. Such a challenge. (This same good friend is vegan, and she just shared some very valuable information with me: Nutter Butter Cookies are vegan. Yes! They are! I bought a package yesterday (I’ve been going vegan on Tuesdays), and every time I eat one I think about those dresses that are certainly not going to GROW in the wash.)

In 2010, my parents gave me a rose bush for my birthday. It was lovely and FILLED with roses. I replanted it, and because I probably did something incorrectly, last year it graced me with only one rose.

On Saturday, it looked like this.

It appears that one more rose may or may not pop up in the next few days. Perhaps I’ve been listening to too much Sarah McLachlan lately, but I’m still going to say it: I would rather have one beautiful rose than seven half-ass roses. (Didn’t Sarah McLachlan say that? Am I thinking of Enya again? REO Speedwagon?!)

Can I get away with wearing my Liesl sweater over a checked dress?!

I think it works, but I’m not nearly as good at this as I used to be. (Remind me to tell you about the blind date I went on with a police officer who really wanted to show me his bulletproof vest. And by “bulletproof vest,” I mean bulletproof vest!) ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>

When I was in college, I would spend the summer months working in St. Louis for a company that tries to prevent people from collecting unemployment benefits. (It’s a long story. It never really matched up with my core values, and because I hate to compromise when it comes to Values, I eventually transferred over to switchboard operating which might sound like a demotion, but it sure didn’t feel like one because I was fed many more cupcakes and catered lunches as an operator than I was as a claim investigator. PLUS, the pay was exactly the same! Now! Back to our story!)

Because my summer months were often spent trying to lose the weight I had gained the year before in college, my lunch as a switchboard operator (when I wasn’t enjoying catering or cupcakes) normally consisted of Slim-Fast and strawberries. A few people rolled their eyes at me, and looking back I can see why: I was probably weighing in at 120 and desperately trying to get back to 107 before school started in the fall. In other words, I probably didn’t need to drop any weight, but it was A Thing. So, there I sat with my little can of diet drink and my fresh fruit trying to make conversation with the (seemingly depressed, mostly crabby) throngs of people who sucked down Chinese leftovers and tubes of Pringles. (I worked with over 300 people. I can name all of the pleasant ones in the time it would take you to say “You take my life when you take the means whereby I live.” (Shakespeare was sort of a stud, wasn’t he?))

I exited that company for the last time more than a dozen years ago, and in that dozen years I’ve signed on for MANY types of weight loss whims. I drank nothing but soup for weeks at a time. I took weight loss pills. I ate a bunch of grapefruit. I didn’t eat anything.

I have a number of tragic flaws. My inability to accept what I see in the mirror is probably my worst.

When one of my favorite people called a few weeks back to report that Groupon was offering Hot Pants for next to nothing, I was all over it. Supposedly, you can wear these things for two weeks, and you just might drop two pants sizes. (Some people say you need to wear them during exercise. Others say they did next to nothing and still dropped the inches. One woman actually reported losing four inches from each thigh and all she did was light gardening and housework, and that’s why you can’t believe everything you read on the internet!)

I’ve been wearing skirts for the past week. Do you want to know why?

I decided to take the Two Week Hot Pants Challenge, and I decided to do it slothfully. (I still have the boot for two more weeks, meaning I really can’t move around very much. This is not a bad thing. I don’t like moving around very much. Hot Pants!) The two week challenge involves wearing the pants all day and all night. The only time I’ve taken them off is to shower, and then I quickly put them back on again. Surprisingly, they don’t stink. (Believe me. I’m highly paranoid of being stinky.)

This is what I know: The Hot Pants make me sweat like crazy. I’m now drinking 64 ounces of water every day (at least), and all 64 ounces are dripping off of my hips, legs, and butt. I’m totally okay with that, because it feels like something is happening. (I just hope the something has nothing to do with an unfortunate infection brought on by sitting in puddles of my own sweat. I know! It’s nastiness! Hot Pants!)

After one week of wearing the pants, here are my results:

My hips are exactly the same size as they were one week ago.

My thighs are exactly the same size as they were one week ago.

The texture of my skin is the same as it was one week ago.

And, yes. Deep down I sort of knew that this would be the case. There is no such thing as a pair of pants that will change your shape as you sit on the couch eating kale chips. (So many kale chips!) I’ll take my measurements again at the end of the challenge, but I have a funny feeling I won’t be seeing any changes. Because I take less than 1,000 steps per day! (I’m not proud of that. Don’t think I’m proud of that.)

So, anyway. One week down, and one to go.

Sing it with me! Hot Pants!

(Wait! Don’t hit my comment box and go all nutty on how ridiculous I am! I know myself even better than you know me! That is a fact!) ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>

A few months back, I received an e-mail asking if I was interested in reviewing a book for kids titled The Cupcake Club. The main character in the book is Meredith’s age and seems to share Meredith’s love of cupcakes. The main author of the book is the co-author of Soul Surfer. Meredith LOVED that movie. The “mean girl” in the book is NAMED Meredith. Too many coincidences. I couldn’t pass it up.

When I told Meredith about the book, she asked if SHE could review it. She read the advance copy in less than a day and gave me the following summary:

The Cupcake Club is about a girl named Kylie who has a drama teacher named Mrs. Valentine. Mrs. Valentine is Kylie’s favorite teacher. Mrs. V will be having twins and going away, and that makes Kylie really sad. When the new drama teacher arrives, they put on a play and Kylie thinks Meredith has done something to her hat because the pipe cleaners wouldn’t come off and when the show was over, the new drama teacher told Kylie to come backstage with her. She gave Kylie a red velvet cupcake and told her how when she was younger, her hair was the color of red velvet cupcakes, and now red velvet cupcakes are her favorite. She also tells Kylie that she was bullied in school, and that she started bringing in homemade cupcakes, and pretty soon the bullies weren’t important anymore, because everyone was loving the cupcakes she made and that motivated her to stay happy. Kylie decides to start up a cupcake club.

Kylie and her friend Lexi make a cupcake club with a few other girls. In the cupcake club, they bake cupcakes. On the first meeting, they made muffins that didn’t turn out very well because they didn’t follow the recipe correctly. The muffins were crunchy with eggshells. Eventually, they make cupcakes for a bakery and they bake a cupcake for the Golden Spoon Gourmet Grocery and the money goes toward the new EcoCenter.

In the end, it was field day, and in a tug of war game, Meredith fell down and lost her necklace. Everyone looked all over for it, and then Kylie found it! Kylie gave it to Meredith, and Meredith hugged her unexpectedly.

I loved this book because it has cupcakes in it, and I love cupcakes. It also teaches the lesson that you should like yourself for who you are and don’t be quick to not like other people.

When I told Meredith that she could actually interview the mother/daughter team who are writing the series together, she flipped out. We typed up her questions, we sent them off, and we received our answers from Carrie (the nine-year-old co-author of the book) the very next day.

Meredith: Did you actually prepare the recipes that appear in the book? Which one is your favorite?

Carrie: I made them with my recipe developer, Jessi Walter. My favorite is definitely the Maple Red Velvet cause I am an RV girl!

Meredith: How did you write the book together? Did you base the characters on people you know?

Carrie: I based the characters on my friends, teachers, family…A LOT! We write the book starting like this: We talk about it first. Then, my mom writes a first draft. She prints the whole story out and I have to read it and edit it. Once my mom has added in my changes, she prints it out again, then I edit it…we do this about 7 times in total.

Meredith: Will there be a second book? (I hope so!)

Carrie: YES! There will be at least 4 books! We just finished the second book: The Cupcake Club: Recipe For Trouble. It comes out in November!!!!!!!

Meredith: If there IS a second book, will Meredith and Kylie become friends? 

Carrie: Meredith is still in the picture–but Meredith doesn’t bully her anymore and Kylie learns to deal with her.

Meredith: Do you see Kylie and her friends opening a bakery when they get older? I hope so! And I hope you write a book about it!

Carrie: We don’t have that planned right now–they’re only in 5th grade in the second book. But it’s one of Kylie’s big dreams so great idea!

We’ve already marked our calendar to look for the second book in November! In the meantime, Meredith is definitely recommending The Cupcake Club to all of her friends, as well as anyone who knows a cupcake loving kid! ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>

Do you remember last summer when we drove to Kansas City to visit the American Girl store? If I had become pregnant during that trip, I would be preparing to give birth right about now!

Coincidentally, St. Louis is currently preparing for the grand opening of their very first American Girl store! On Saturday morning, the front door will open, and hundreds of American Girls will fly out!

Fun Fact: If you enter an American Girl store and purchase a baby plus all of the things the baby will need (high chair, bed, clothes, etc.), you will spend more money than Jeff and I did when we welcomed Meredith into the world! And that included a five day hospital stay! (Okay. We had good insurance. But still!)

ANYWAY, because Meredith and Harper love the American Girl dolls, books, and movies, they were absolutely thrilled when the new St. Louis store was announced. They were even MORE thrilled when we were invited to be test customers at the American Girl Bistro this afternoon. (Get this: I picked the girls up from school almost two hours early to eat at the bistro. That is NOT the kind of mom I am! I schedule their dentist appointments on days when there is no school! What are you doing to me, American Girl?)

We arrived at the store early enough to do a bit of browsing before we ate.

(The bistro was running about 45 minutes behind on the reservations, so we actually had time to do a LOT of browsing before we ate. As you can tell by Harper’s face, we didn’t mind a bit.)

(Please know that I’m really not liking Flickr’s new photo editing options. I’m no good at it! Argh! But back to my story!)

Check it out. This is McKenna. She is the Girl of the Year for 2012, and she’s a gymnast, and she has a really amazing purple loft bed, and she’s injured.

(Because Harper’s heart bleeds (and rejoices!) when anyone is suffering from a bum wheel, we actually came home with a set of American Girl crutches this afternoon. They will go very well with the American Girl wheelchair that Harper purchased last summer. I’m not kidding about this.)

The six of us (four humans, two dolls) were eventually seated, and it was 100% heartwarming (and slightly weird, but you just have to go with it) when the  girls’ dolls were treated like real people. (When the server brought our drinks, she brought teacups for the dolls and mentioned that they looked thirsty. This is when I began to cry. (Not really.) (But almost.))

We started our meal with a curly fry appetizer. (We had ordered fruit kebobs, but when the server brought fries, it almost seemed like she knew us better than we know ourselves. Sure, we pretend to want fruit, but really? Yes. The fries hit the spot.)

I decided to go with the afternoon tea platter as my meal option, mainly because I’m a sucker for meals served on a tower with a pot of steaming chai.

The bottom layer? Fruit kebob and yogurt. In the middle? Two cheese and tomato star sandwiches and a tiny bowl filled with the best macaroni and cheese I’ve had in a long time. On top? A chocolate chip cookie, a brownie, and a cupcake. Perfection.

When Meredith finished her meal, she proclaimed it to be the best meal she has had in her life. In her LIFE!

On the way home, Harper said that today was the greatest day ever.

The grand opening is Saturday. I highly recommend the macaroni. (And the crutches.) ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>

1. I am now the proud keeper of my medical records, and I didn’t have to pay a dime for them. This just reinforces my belief that life is so much easier when people are kind to one another. I was kind. The medical records lady was kind. As a result of all of the kindness, I treated myself to a chai latte and a naked burrito, and am getting ready to head to my favorite vegan restaurant for hummus and knitting. Today is a good day. (By the way, if you haven’t read the comments to my post from yesterday, please do. Kelly’s comment (#27) changed me. It’s always good to hear what’s happening on the other side.)

2. I finished a cotton Liesl to wear over tank tops because I’m not happy with my upper arm jingle jangle. (I’m not sure why I’m standing like that.)

This evening I’ll be knitting on a sock whose partner has been waiting for over four years. It’s time to finish what I’ve started.

3. I cannot get enough of this song.

I’m liking the entire album, but this particular song is speaking to me today. (Actually, it spoke to me at least ten times today as I made the trip to the doctor’s office and back and to lunch and back and school and back.) The way the singer handles the phrase “This I know” at 0:59 gives me happy shivers. (Sometime I’ll tell you about how Les McKeown from the Bay City Rollers sang the word “right” and how the way he sang that word intrigued me so much (at age 6) that I spent days listening to nothing but the first fifteen seconds of the song over and over again—just to hear that word.) (If the acoustic live version is a bit too screamy for you, go here. So good. I love this one, too, mainly because Harper mentioned that it sounds like it could be a new theme for The Lion King.)

4. I know I said three. This one doesn’t really count. I just want to make it official that I’m growing out my hair. Starting yesterday. ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>

Back in 2009, Jeff decided to take a family photo after we returned home from church on Easter.

I have never seen a photo represent our family as well as this one. Jeff? Happy. The rest of us? On the edge of something wicked.

We did a bit better in 2010.

(The kids weren’t cooperating, so Jeff and I decided to make the most of it.)

This year’s photo is Very Much Okay.

(I’m not liking Flickr’s new photo editing options. Change is so hard, people. Especially when you lose your white balance option.) A much better photo from our Easter is this one:

When I was a kid, my favorite cake was chocolate chip cake with no icing. Although my mom doesn’t recall making it for me, she made it for me. Fairly often. I’ve been searching out a similar cake recipe for years, and I’ve finally found one that I love. (The layers of cinnamon and sugar take this cake right over the edge. Go make it right now. I’m making another one tomorrow. Really. Because I’m still hungry.)

I was going to tell you all about last night’s produce haul at the co-op, but today is the only day this week during which I have a four hour block of time to work on freelance. My four hour block begins in ten minutes.

Tomorrow is another day. A day for discussing mangos and kale chips! ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>