Scattered Sundays and Meal Plan

Dear marketing team. Please, please, please stop playing commercials for Insidious: the Last Key. I do not like scary movies, and your commercials are very effectively scaring the complete crap out of me. Yes, I get that is your goal, but I am never seeing your movie. Ever. So, please leave TNT from 5-6 am alone and let me watch my Law and Order in peace.

Big announcement! I have launched a new podcast called “Jack, I Don’t Give Two Shits About Minecraft or Nerf”. Oy

I have mentioned before that Jack gets hyper-obsessed with things and then wrings ever lost drop of life out of our tolerance to hear him talk about it. Then he drops that thing and hops to something else and the cycle repeats itself. He seemed to have left the Minecraft obsession behind for months, but it came roaring back over the winter break.

We don’t have a gaming system and the only time Jack plays video games is when he is at other people’s houses. I don’t personally dislike video games or anything, but a combination of being cheap, not wanting to watch them being played all the damn time, and some advice I was given when Jack was young, means we just haven’t made that leap. So instead, Jack checks out books about video games from the library and then reads about playing the games. Like a nerd.

When we were at Ocean Shores over the break, Troy took Jack into town to the arcade for a few hours. And he played Minecraft the whole time. And now we hear about all these things he is going to build, some gamer he is going to take on (this guy in the books he reads), and how he is going to become some sort of Minecraft champion.

And the Nerf. Oh my, the Nerf. The number of shits I give about Nerf is exactly zero. The amount of time my ears are spent being assaulted with Nerf facts is approximately 4,901 minutes per day. But I have to give that little crazy person credit, he is currently channeling his energy into building a video game on a large sheet of paper. He loves to sit at the desk we got him for Christmas and just creates this video game for like 30-45 minutes at a time. “Mom, I’ll be in my room coding”. The planner and list builder in me has to give him mad props.

Troy saw some quote a few months ago that said something along the lines of “if you don’t listen when things aren’t important, they won’t tell you anything when it is important”. And we constantly remind ourselves of that as we are listening to the 400th hour of the merits of creative mode versus player mode.

I have settled into a new writing routine and I think it is working so far. Bennett has reduced his only nap to about an hour. It used to be 90 minutes, which never was all that long to start with. I get up at 5 am, and work on the blog from 5:30-6:30 ish when Bennett gets up. Then during nap time, I photograph recipes and projects (or else the below happens) and squeeze in additional computer time if I can. And then I hop back on my laptop again once Bennett is asleep at night. The good thing about having an almost nine-year-old is that Jack just does his own thing in the evening. On certain days he watches football in the living room until 8 pm, but most of the time he is just in his room reading.

The first part of my day is pretty much the same under my new schedule, but now I am working until at least 10 pm every night. I have given myself one night a week to go to bed earlier if I want to. I thought I would be exhausted by working that late, but it turns out I am sleeping so much better. I only wake up once or twice per night instead of four to five times. And when I do get up, I feel like I have been sleeping super hard. Drool on the pillow hard.

With my site redesign being set to launch in just three short weeks (I am Jessie Spano excited), I am scrambling to get everything ready. And I’m not even doing the dang site work! Decisions have to be made on a daily basis, static pages updated and reworked, etc. I am beyond excited, a touch nervous, and a lot broke from the cost associated with it. Working late each night is giving me peace of mind that everything will work out and all the stress will be worth it. Knowing I put in a solid six to eight hours of work each day is probably why I am sleeping better. One would think that writing fart jokes and posting a few photos wouldn’t be so time-consuming, but it sure can be! 🙂

And the more I work, the more excited I get about the possibilities for this space. I’m a happier person when I’m productive. I’m a better person when I work hard. I think I am somehow reenergizing myself on the daily. And those are all great things in my book. It isn’t a sustainable schedule, but for the short-term it is doable.

They’re remaking Ghostbusters with an all-toddler cast. It’s going to be terrible!

I’m hosting a baby shower later today and am so excited. As I started thinking about the food a few weeks ago, I found that almost every appetizer I was choosing had Asian flavors. My love of Asian food is well-documented, and in the end, I just ran with it as a theme. I’m excited to share the photos and recipes with you next week! I was going to skip going to church this morning and just send Troy and the boys. It would give me more prep time and a Minecraft-free hour. But I remembered what I often tell Jack on Sundays – it just one hour of your week to pause and think about something other than yourself.

Mom, I’m definitely going to stay up until midnight (New Year’s). Yep, this is the year.

If you’re part of our Facebook community, you’ll already know the jubilation I felt when I discovered that there are now glass divided containers that are leakproof and eco-friendly! Rejoice my fellow “food shouldn’t touch” friends. The day has come, and it is a good time to be alive. And picky.

I have been making my Homemade Hummus for years now and it is one of my favorite healthy real food snacks. I got Love Real Food from the author of the blog Cookie + Kate for Christmas. I have only made one thing from it, but I read a tip in her hummus recipe that changed how I made mine. I have updated my recipe, but basically, you blend most of the ingredients (tahini, lemon juice, a little olive oil) together for almost two minutes before adding the chickpeas. It made the hummus I blended on Friday so incredibly smooth and fluffy. I highly recommend giving it a shot.

Jack is having three of six teeth pulled on Tuesday. He’s a bit nervous (naturally), but we are looking forward to getting a start on the long road to getting this boy’s smile fixed. We would have waited on having things just yanked out, but the teeth that are being removed are negatively impacting his adult teeth. His mouth already has enough issues without messing with permanent teeth.

Did you get a chance to read all my posts this week?

8 Easy Tips for Organizing Any Project – organizing porn abounds in this post.

Pine cones are the key to organization. Get a pine cone!

Things to Do in January – a new monthly series about things to Do, Grow, and Buy (i.e., what deals are to be had) each month.

Eco-Friendly Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner – a great easy homemade cleaner!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Energy Bites – oh holy smokes are these good. Easy to make, gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free (if you sub out the chocolate chips for cocoa powder). They’re freaking tasty.

Meal plan time!

Monday:: Instant Pot Mac and Cheese, grilled veggies, and salad.

Tuesday:: Homemade Ramen. Jack requested this, and I love when anyone in my family besides me wants soup!

Wednesday:: Sweet potato turkey burgers, fries, and salad.

Thursday:: Doing a mini family dinner, but the details are still being hammered out. I will either make something, we’ll all go out, or we’ll order take out. It’s my mom’s birthday and being together seems like the right call.

Friday:: Popcorn, leftovers, and movie night

Saturday:: TBD. Leftovers or out.

Sunday:: Family dinner

Smith Brother’s Farms: $19.31

I’m keeping the rest of the grocery purchases/prices private this week. I did some stocking up for the baby shower and the mom to be reads this blog. 🙂

What are you having this week?