Friday, July 23, 2010

Yes, because a food thermometer is a vital purse item

As the mother of a toddler I admit to carrying strange items in my purse at any given moment. This can run the gamut from food, to toys, clothing, toothbrushes, spoons, to who knows what. A mommy's purse is a magical thing and contain unsuspecting items that will quiet a screaming child.

However, I never thought to carry a food thermometer in my purse. Apparenlty the microwave food industry did not prepare us well enough for life as busy adults working in an office.

The picture quuality is very poor (silly cell phone) but I will caption the words below for your reading enjoyment:

CHECK that product is cooked throughly.
Internal temperature needs to reach 165 F as measured by a food thermometer in several spots.
Has anyone ever been anal enough to do this? Check their microwave meal with a thermometer?

So before you leave the house, make sure you have all the items that you need for daily life:
keys...check
wallet...check
sunglasses...check
food thermometer.....che---what!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Oh my knee, my knee

Well, I won't be running in that half marathon in September after all. As some of you may know, I have a torn meniscus in my left knee and I dislocated my knee. It happened while doing yard work. It was the reward for all my hard work.

Anyway, saw the doctor this week. Four more weeks of wearing the knee brace:

For quite some time the brusing was rather spectacular and I felt like a piece of abstract art:

And now the buising and swelling is mostly gone. I can finally sleep without the brace. I can do my physical therapy at home now. My exercise is restricted to activities such as walking, cycling or the elliptical. No running and no yoga yet.

It only really hurts if I pivot wrong or if I use it too much without my brace. Luckily I am healing quickly and will hopefully continue to do so.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Mmm, mmm good

Dear lady who gave me the entertainment coupon for Salsaritas on Saturday: thank you! We were standing in line looking over the menu since it was our first time there. I had Ian on my hip and was talking to him as well to keep him entertained. You came up to us and handed us the coupon with a smile.

That coupon saved us $5. Thank you very much.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Dance and Sing and Torture the Cat

Dear Ian,

You are growing up so fast and wanting to be independent. Every day it seems that you add new words to your vocabulary: socks, cereal, circle, bag, snack, more, shot, mine, row-row, itsy, open, close, up are just a few of the most recent.

At first you hated moving up to the toddler room at school and now you are loving it. You want to walk yourself in at the beginning of the day and walk out to the car by yourself at the end of the day.

We have a new game that we play. You invented it. It's the night-night game. You will go and get one of your blankets and hand it to one of us. Then you will say night-night and go lay down on a blanket, stuffed toy, or even the cat (!) and we are to come and cover you with the blanket. The cat often looks scared now when he sees you heading directly at him.

You love to dance. To the music your toys play or to the songs that you ask us to sing. Row Row Row Your Boat and the Itsy Bitsy Spider are current favorites. You try and make all the hand motions along with the Itsy Bitsy Spider.

When someone says "adios" you reply with bye-bye. They are trying to teach words and phrases in different languages at school. You know where your toes, nose, hair and mouth are. You struggle a little with ears still.

The other day you told grandma's cat "no, no kitty-cat" when you thought he was going to eat your blueberries.

I love that giddly little feeling I get in my stomach when you say a new word. They are so cute and sweet and I know that I will miss these first little milestones as you get older.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Broken

Sometimes things break. If we are lucky, they are small things that are insignificant in the larger scheme of things. Like the handle on a favorite coffee mug.

Before things break they often crack. Sometimes those cracks are tiny and need no assistance. Sometimes they require a band-aid, like tape, and things are better. Turn the vase a quarter of a turn this way and no one will see the little taped crack.

Occassionally something with get a big crack in it, maybe even a small piece falls out, but you can rubber cement it back into place. If you are lucky the break was a clean one and the rubber cement can cleanly seal the wound and it's almost as if it had never happened. Most people would have to look very, very closely to even notice it.

Then there is that special piece. Something you always hope you will have. Something that you never want to get injured even in the slightest little way. Sometimes I think we are too careful with these items. We want so badly to keep them pristine and perfect that we never truly appreciate them for what they are.

What happens when the vase has hundreds of tiny little cracks? There is only so much rubber cement that can be applied. Sometimes that piece is going to shatter and there is nothing else that can be done.