beware, this is a rambling post about the beauty of list-making and a plea for recipes involving powdered wasabi

I am the type of person who makes a list for absolutely everything. I don’t think I could function in a world without lists. I could make a list of the various lists that I keep and it would make me happy. Crossing things off is just so satisfying. I don’t know if it’s my natural tendency or if it’s directly caused by too many years in a corporate environment. Possibly both.

So a typical to-do list for me might read something like this:

• Do expense report
• Pay AmEx bill
• Get car washed
• Drop clothes off at Salvation Army
• Get groceries
• Call for haircut appt.

The beauty of this list is that guess what? It spawns another list! A grocery list. Now we’re just getting warmed up. I have often thought that it would be helpful to make a grocery list in the order that you would encounter the items in the store. However, I am not really that anal. I am surface anal. For example, my house looks clean, but whatever you do, DO NOT open a drawer or closet. The results will frighten you.

So where was I? Well, it has come to my attention that not everyone lives and dies by the list. Some people do things willy-nilly! Throwing caution to the wind! Doing errands in a haphazard and unorganized fashion! I could tell you about the time I sent my husband to the grocery store for some dinner items and he came home with a can of powdered wasabi. We were not having sushi for dinner. We were not having Japanese food for dinner, in fact. But to this day, there is still a can of powdered wasabi cooling its heels in my pantry. A never-used can of powdered wasabi.

This is what happens when a list is disregarded. Powdered wasabi happens. But I am of the school of thought that believes when life gives you powdered wasabi, you make powdered wasabi lemonade. So if you know of any recipes that use powdered wasabi, please write it up for me and leave it in the comments section. Just avoid any lemonade recipes because hello, that was figurative.

miscellany

People, people, people. It is Tuesday and therefore I am rubbing my hands together with glee just thinking about what vocal delights the American Idols have in store for me tonight. Then, I will be spending an hour with my semi-secret television boyfriend Dr. House afterward. Win-win.

Also, I have discovered a delicious new beverage: Aquafina sparkling water in lemon-lime. Tasty.

And in unrelated news, I am really hoping the metallic trend keeps up for a while. I have made a few investments in that arena (shoes, bags, etc.) and would be sorely disappointed if it suddenly went out of style. I have this annoying tendency to go completely overboard on something I like and it turns into somewhat of an obsession. But what happens is that I’ll be a complete naysayer on that thing for up to a year before I end up embracing it full-scale. For example, back in the late 90’s I thought it was so lame that cropped pants came back in style. A year later I ended up with about 800 pairs of cropped pants in my closet. And now, I can see the writing on the wall. Right now, I’m hating the straight leg skinny jean. I love, love, love the boot cut and think it’s so much more flattering – for me at least. But I can just see myself in April 2007 wearing skinny jeans nonstop, eating my words along the way. I don’t know why I do this. Evidently I am just a Late Adopter of fashion trends.

So if you’re wandering around the OC and see a girl in flared jeans and multiple metallic accessories, feel free to say hello.

i'm back...

So, it's been a while. Here's why:

Baby gets high fever for four days, ruining his first birthday party and forcing us to kick out assembled family members to take him to the clinic on Easter Sunday.

The next day, I leave home to spend the week in Ottawa for work-related meetings.

A hefty dose of mom guilt ensues.

Meanwhile, it turns out he has roseola.

Husband stays home from work for two days to take care of sick baby.

More guilt.
More guilt.
More guilt.

... and so on.

Anyway, I am home, baby is much better and I think everyone has recovered. But today... today is his one-year checkup, which means he will get stuck with multiple needles. It's always something.

I warned you that I wasn't a home biscuit

So I made the cupcakes. Everything was going well until I attempted to crack an egg into my KitchenAid mixer while it was running. I got the egg cracked and the innards went into the mixing bowl. Then, with a quick accidental slip, half the egg shell fell into the bowl and I watched in horror as the mixing apparatus crunched the shell in with the perfectly creamed butter and sugar. Ouch.

So I had to start that process over again. The second time, I just cracked the egg into a bowl first so that I could control the egg shell environment. And it was successful.

The cupcakes turned out okay, but a tad dry. And my icing may have been a little lumpy. I told the day care lady today to make sure the kids have something to drink while they eat them. I hate to think of a kid choking on an organic cupcake that was supposed to be good for him. I think that might even be actual irony.

look to the cupcake

Can I just tell y’all, I love to blog about nothing. My blog is becoming Seinfeld revisited. I mean, the contents of my refrigerator? Who isn’t fascinated by that? But honestly, it’s kind of refreshing not to put so much pressure on myself to come up with witty and interesting topics. I am in a phase where I would rather post more often, albeit less interestingly, so as to encourage myself to write more.

And in the spirit of blogging about nothing… tonight I will be having my traditional Tuesday evening. Which is to say, I will be sitting on my couch, eating leftovers and watching Fox. And I’m wondering, how exactly is American Idol going to do with the songs of Queen? Come to think of it, I can honestly only think of two Queen songs: Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are The Champions. And I can’t imagine either of those making a good AI performance.

**Begin Supermom alert**

Oh, and tonight I am also going to make cupcakes for Evan’s birthday party at day care. I am no home biscuit, but tonight I am going to attempt a crafty organic recipe to wow the taste buds of toddlers, who, like, won’t even notice or care! But I am nevertheless excited about my baking project. I just hope these turn out deliciously organic, not healthy-but-taste-that-way organic. Don’t worry, I won’t put carob in them. Geez I used to hate it anytime carob popped up in a snack as a supposed chocolate substitute. Blech.

**End Supermom alert**

Well, that’s today in Bearca’s world. Someday, perhaps, I will tell you where “Bearca” came from. Like when I REALLY have nothing to blog about. (so, probably soon)

beware the broccoli.

Well, after cleaning the fridge out countless times, I finally identified the culprit: broccoli. Yes, it is among the more “fragrant” vegetables, and no, I didn’t consider that it was the offending item because it was almost brand new. But when I opened the bag and took a whiff, I almost fell over in horror. I removed it from the house and my quality of life subsequently skyrocketed. I have temporarily banned broccoli in my fridge, at least until I can recover.

DEAR GOD this is a lame post. What interesting things are going on out in the world? Did you hear that Gwyneth named her new baby Moses? Hilarious. Maybe I should consider naming my next child Nebuchadnezzar.

Oh, and also I am reading the book The Tipping Point. Fascinating! Highly recommended.

grrrrrrrrrrrr

I am in the worst mood today, all because of an unidentified hideous smell emanating from my refrigerator. It is putting me over the edge. For two days, I have been cleaning out the refrigerator multiple times a day and yet every time I open that door, I am knocked over by the odor. I have thrown away almost all our food in search of the offending item, and am coming up with nothing. And now I'm at work, completely obsessing over it.

After googling terms like “awful refrigerator odor” and “refrigerator smells bad,” I have concluded that my next step will be to clean out the drain pan underneath the fridge.

Please let me know if you have a better idea, because I’m going nuts over here.

a little glimpse inside my brain right now.

1) Are we the only ones who haven’t done our taxes yet? Am starting to stress.

2) Many people have blogged about this already today but SON OF A BEESTING, what has happened to Kenny Rogers’ face? That must represent years of plastic surgery. Wow. American Idol, thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

3) This weather really bites. Not so much a fan of the rain and cold.

4) I have an exciting new lip gloss discovery to share. Sally Hansen Diamond Lip Treatment. Yes, Sally Hansen as in the nail products. Weird? Maybe, but it’s good stuff and only like $4 at your local drugstore. I highly recommend the color Antique Bronze. It is neither antique nor bronze. It’s a good pinkish neutral. Discuss.

5) Have I ever professed my love for the show Prison Break in this forum? Also House. And 24. Am obsessed. I love me a good Fox drama (or 3).

6) My husband wants us to get a Mac. Should we? Hmmm.

random baby picture alert,

because DAMN, my kid is cute.

my standards, they are a changin’

Before Evan was born, I would have called it a great weekend if my husband and I had gone out to an awesome dinner with friends, gone away for the weekend and stayed at a fun hotel, spent one or more days at the beach, eaten leisurely breakfasts and/or read the paper cover to cover. How times have changed. I look back at the weekend we just had and honestly can’t remember a better one in recent memory. Here’s how it went down:

Friday night
Dave puts Evan to bed while I go grocery shopping. I get back, put away the groceries and feel like I accomplished something exciting because! Guess what! I don’t have to fight the crowds at the grocery store on Saturday afternoon! I am smug Supermom. Then, we proceed to watch an episode of House on DVD and fall asleep. Success.

Saturday
We get up, feed Evan and hang out for a while. He takes an hour and a half long nap. We read the paper and hang out, then clean the house. Husband vacuums house from top to bottom. Then, Evan wakes up and we take him to Toys R Us (the store that I formerly WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CAUGHT DEAD IN). We buy him new toys, then go home to play with them. He naps again. During this time, I also take a nap. Then, we go to the mall. Evan gets more toys and Mommy buys cute new sweater (win-win). We go home, play with new toys again. Once he goes to bed, we eat dinner and watch two more episodes of House.

Sunday
We get up and go to church where I am supposed to work in the nursery. I spend the entire hour marveling at Evan’s new walking skills, which he is working very hard to perfect. Afterward, we go to Starbucks for delicious caffeinated beverages. Then Evan eats lunch and takes a nap. I then proceed to take another nap myself. When he wakes up, we play with his new toys then go to Costco. Stock up on bottled water and toilet paper. Feel very confident that if major emergency happens we will not dehydrate. We go home, Evan eats dinner, plays, goes on a walk with us and goes to bed.

The end.

To sum up: I TOOK TWO (2) NAPS. Unbelievable. Evan now knows how to walk and (bonus) for once doesn’t have an ear infection. He loves his new toys. Husband vacuumed entire house. I got my most hated chore (grocery shopping) done virtually before the weekend even started. What could be better?