Snopocalypse in Seattle

Seattle's weather is making national news. We just aren't equipped to deal with this much snow in the city. Typically, when it snows here, it melts within a day or two. Not this time. And, they're predicting more snow tonight. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that our flight isn't cancelled on Thursday. Many, many people have been stranded at the airport due to cancelled flights.

Patti reminded me that I never reported the results on the quinoa recipe. It was tasty! I halved the recipe and we had leftovers for days. I'd only make the full portion if I was taking it to a potluck with lots of people. I didn't have any of the vegetables on hand that the recipe called for, so I omitted those and added fire-roasted green peppers instead and it gave it a great kick. Now I think I must make it again soon...

Let it Snow...Some More

It's been snowing all day long. Fortunately, the wind the news was warning us about never came to our area. We still have power and plenty of food. I'm planning on measuring the total snowfall in our yard tomorrow. Fun stuff!

Let it Snow

We got between 4-6 inches of snow yesterday. I am so happy that it waited until after Malcolm and I got home from San Diego. Another storm is expected to hit on Sunday bringing more snow and high winds. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't lose power.

Sickies

Jenn & Dad are now sick with the tummy bug. So sad.

Reporting from San Diego

Me & Malcolm are in San Diego. He's asleep on the bed beside me. Poor kid has a tummy bug. He started getting sick on Thursday. Fortunately, he didn't get sick on the plane ride but did get sick in bed last night. Pieter, bless his heart, cleaned up the bedding and stuff while I cleaned up Malcolm. He's in a relatively good mood but hasn't had much to eat the past couple of days.

I am also sick but not with the same thing. I have mastitis. Yesterday was definitely the worst with the fever and chills. I haven't had any fever today but the muscle aches are sticking around. Dad & Carolyn came back from their cruise today and were totally OK with having a mellow day. I still feel a little guilty having my sister who is 7 months pregnant and her partner take care of me and my kid.

Onion

Malcolm's memory catches me off-guard all the time. For example: last week, while at the grocery store, I bought an Onion. Mal kept calling it an Apple. While going through the check-out, the cashier told him that it was an Onion. Mal said Onion.

This week, while leaving the grocery store, we walk by the cashier from the previous week. Malcolm points to him and says, "Onion".

Another odd tidbit - the employees at this grocery (it's a co-op so it's small) have taken to calling Malcolm, "Famous" because they say he looks like Macaulay Culkin. I actually get people telling me that often. I think "Famous" is an odd nickname whether he looks like an actor or not.

As you can see, the daily posting for a month didn't keep me posting daily after the end of November. I've been busy, you see. I created a very long 'To-Do' list and my free time has been dedicated to crossing things off the list. Couple that with getting ready for our trip to San Diego and trying to put up Christmas decorations, i don't have much time on the computer.

Now that I've checked the forecast for San Diego, I can pack the suitcase. It'll be nice not to have to pack a coat, but I'm kinda sad that we're going to miss the first snow in Seattle this weekend (if it actually happens).

The Electrical Problem

I found a great electrician to come out to our house Monday afternoon. He found an extremely disturbing problem: the 'hot' wire going into our electrical panel for the dryer was loose and melted. Every time we used the dryer, it was shorting out. This scenario was a prime candidate for a house fire. I cannot tell you how lucky we feel that the panel never set fire.

He fixed the damaged wire, tightened 3 other loose wires and replaced a blown fuse. Problem solved for less than $200 (or so we thought).

I attempted to do a load of laundry on Tuesday. About 20 minutes into the dry cycle, the power goes out. Crap.

Jim the Electrician comes out again this morning. He checks the dryer (Tony pulled it out from the laundry closet. No easy feat) and makes sure that everything at the panel is a-okay. He then checks our main breaker and found that it was very loose and not bolted down. Therefore, it would flip if you breathed on it funny. Just to be on the safe side, we had him replace the main breaker. I haven't attempted to do laundry yet, but he assures me that the problem has been fixed. He didn't think to check the main breaker before because the melted wire seemed to be the obvious problem and our main breaker should have never passed inspection.

Whoever did the electrical work on our place did a shoddy job. Whoever did the final inspection to make sure it was up to code did an even shoddier job. We will be letting all of our neighbors know about this and strongly urge them to have an electrician check out their panels.

Blog Changes

So as you can see, I changed the look of my blog out of necessity. There are a lot of templates that are unfriendly to photos :( I do not know Html well enough to create my own template, so my pickings were slim.

I also changed the title of my blog (again). The previous title was just too long and rarely do I actually write about our 'adventures'. We'll see how long I keep this current title.

Malcolm's sleep has been wonked ever since daylight savings time ended. I thought it would fix itself eventually, but he's showing no end of his 5 AM waking. I'm often able to get him back to sleep, but on mornings where I am not, I have a really hard time functioning throughout the day.

I can't seem to find an available electrician to come out and fix our problem. So lame.

Peruvian Baked Quinoa

I think I'm going to try this recipe tonight (I'm going to make half the portion). I'll let you know how it is.

From Vegetarian Times:

Think of this recipe as a protein-packed, gluten-free alternative to mac ’n’ cheese.

Ingredient List

Serves 8

2 tsp. olive oil
1 medium leek, white and pale green parts halved and sliced (1 cup)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
2 large eggs
1 cup nonfat milk
1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese (4 oz.), plus more for sprinkling, optional

Directions

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and bell peppers; cover, and cook 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in quinoa and garlic, and cook, uncovered, 3 to 4 minutes, or until quinoa grains turn opaque.
Add 3 cups water, and season with salt. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 3 to 4 minutes more, or until most liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 13- x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl. Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese. Transfer to prepared baking dish, and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until browned around the edges and on top.

Nutritional Information

Per SERVING: Calories: 241, Protein: 12g, Total fat: 10g, Saturated fat: 4.5g, Carbs: 27g, Cholesterol: 72mg, Sodium: 295mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugars: 3g

The Last Day

I feel like I should do some monumental post for the last day of NaBloPoMo, but that's not happening at this time of night. Sorry, folks. I am tired. I have thoroughly enjoyed this long weekend with my dearest husband. We relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. I have also been eating lots of pie. Mmm...pie.

I have gone over to Julie's the past two nights to dry clothes because every time we try to run our clothes dryer, our main circuit breaker flips. I'll be calling around tomorrow to find an electrician who can come out ASAP. It's super frustrating that we are having this problem in new construction.

Goodwill Score

With breakfast remnants in it. I love it!

I think I'm going to have to change the layout of the blog again. This cutting-off of pictures is no good!

Cuteness

Sometimes I am amazed at how much I love this little guy. He's pretty awesome. Thanks to Auntie Manda for the cute picture!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Folks!

I hope everyone celebrated Thanksgiving the way they like. I am too pooped to write a real post. See you tomorrow.

xoxo,
Kris

The Center of the Universe

I enjoy reading the blogs of people I do not know. That's why many blogs exist. They are outlets for the many writers who we would never get exposed to otherwise. A group of 'mommy bloggers' started doing videos focusing on specific topics. I love it! It's called Momversation. All of the topics are valid to every mom out there. A quote from Alice Bradley of Finslippy really hit home for me. She said, "Since when did our children become the center of our universe?" I easily let Malcolm be the center of my universe and her saying that was a good reminder to me that I need to make a point to not do that.

That little center of my universe has been sleeping for over three hours now. This nice, long nap allowed me to eat lunch, fold laundry, sort through the pile of clothes in the bedroom clutter and write this post. I feel bad, though. He fell asleep on the car ride home from the Y and hasn't had lunch yet. It's now 3:30 - waaaaay past lunch time. Poor guy must've been so tired.

List Revisited

I made the banana muffins yesterday. They are, by far, the best banana muffins I have ever made. I made a couple of changes. I replaced 4 Tbsp of whole wheat flour with 2 Tbsp of ground flaxseed and 2 Tbsp of wheat germ. The muffins came out super moist and fluffy. Since I make them with whole wheat flour, they tend to be pretty dense. Not these! I believe I found my new baking trick.

I dealt with a little bit of the clutter in the bedroom. I listened to the advice of my Aunt Sally and just focused on tackling one pile instead of feeling like I had to clean up the whole mess at once. I still have quite a bit to do, but at least I've started. It can be so difficult keeping this house clean because my little toddler is constantly making messes for me to clean up. Fortunately, he's at the age where he can learn to pick up after himself. We play the clean-up game every day and he thinks it's fun. I'll have him scrubbing toilets by Christmastime.

I often like to look at pictures of Malcolm when he was a newborn and marvel at how much he has changed. Here's a picture of him when he's about 4 weeks old:

Thanksgiving Feast

I don't know about you, but my mouth is already salivating in preparation for all of the food I plan to consume on Thursday. Julie & Jeremiah will be hosting this year. Because I love food and my own cooking (is that pompous to say?), I have volunteered to bring a sweet potato dish, a green bean dish, cranberry relish and an apple pie. Everyone else is bringing 1-2 dishes. I got stuck with 4 because I want to eat all of these things and no one else volunteered to make them :)

It's Day 23. I'm Due For a List

- I cooked carrots and butternut squash for Mal today (cook it, mush it, portion it into ice trays, freeze it). I also had plans to make banana muffins but ran out of time.
- I cooked halibut for dinner tonight. I honestly can't recall the last time I made fish. It's been a few years.
- Mal has been refusing to eat dinner the past few nights. I've been offering a wide variety of foods and he just turns his nose up. Don't know what's up with that.
- It was a lovely sunny day in Seattle but I didn't manage to get Mal out of the house to enjoy it. Bad Mommy!
- I intended to tackle some of the clutter in the bedroom. Didn't happen.

As a matter of fact, this weekend flew by and I wasn't nearly as productive as I hoped. This seems to happen every weekend. Yet, I seem to constantly be busy doing something. I don't get it.

And Here is My Underbelly

*the landscape pictures are not showing fully due to the new format of my blog. LAME.

There has been something that has been weighing on me heavily and it continues to get worse. Aunt Sally, if you're reading this, you may want to stop now.

I have something to admit. I have a clutter problem and it seems to be getting worse. Today, I will be showing you my bedroom. Why I am doing this? I'm hoping that by doing this I will be embarrassed enough to actually do something about it.
Here is my side of the room:

*hangs head in shame*
clutter I hide behind the mirror:

Old tape cassettes that I'm not sure what to do with, a ribbon from a gift, a gift bag Mal pulled from the closet and other crap:

Mal's old clothes that need to be sorted and the co-sleeper that I'm not sure where to store long-term:

On top of the dresser (with a nice layer of dust):

This stuff used to be in a bag until Mal pulled it out to play with. Still, I was hiding it in a bag beside the dresser:


I could blame this on being a mom to a toddler, but the truth is is that I've always had a slight clutter problem. And I've always hated it. I have the Hanna gene that is getting severely ignored. I need to figure out how to tend to my need to clean.

The Call at 3 AM

Remember those commercials when Hillary Clinton was campaigning? Hated them! So why did I make that reference in the title of this post? Because it was around 3 AM this morning that I remembered that I forgot to post something. I considered getting up and writing something real quick, but then realized that Thursday was already over and it was the wee hours of the morning on Friday.

Am I usually up in the wee hours of the morning? Why yes. Typically, once a night when Mal wakes up. I don't mind him waking up once a night. It's much better than what it used to be.

Hit and Miss Recipes

First, the hit: Vanilla-Scented Tofu Oatmeal. I know it sounds kinda weird, but it's good! I've been looking for a way to add more protein to our breakfast in the morning and this is perfect. I've only made it once (this morning) and it got me through yoga. The real test will be tomorrow morning when I do cardio and weights. I've been having difficulties with crashing before I'm done with my workout.

The miss: Gnocci & Spinach Bake. I was hoping this would be a hit with the boys, but Mal wouldn't even try it and Tony said, "It's not my favorite" which translates to "I don't really like it but I'll eat it." Mal usually will try everything so I was thrown off by him not even willing to take one bite.