crucible of ennui

Last night Catherine & I went to hear my niece’s choir sing Christmas songs at a local church complex. Cat did okay, but it was hard for her to keep still towards the end of the performance.

It was pretty much over for us when the pastor guy was doing his end of festivities prayer and Cat was all over the place. I did the mommy-face and asked her to please sit still for just 2 more minutes and then she took a swipe at me.

Game. Over.

She instantly knew she crossed the line. I gathered our stuff up and we walked to just outside the church because I think there’s a no beating policy in most places of worship. I was pretty pissed off and needed a frame of reference other than myself or a 3 year old and called Glenn. I think it was probably punishment enough to have to listen to me tell her father what she had done and even worse was when we actually got home. As we drove the 5 minutes home, I was in Mommy-lecture mode. We walked up to the porch and she looked at me like, “Aren’t you going to open the door?” and I was all, “No – you need to go in and deal with THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS.” Dude – so when did the ghost of my mother take over my body.

The final punishment – 3 nights no Wii.

I am Sweeney Mom.

Catherine sometimes forgets at night to get that little piece of chocolate from her advent calendar. So when she finally does remember, she has to catch up and crams 3-4 pieces into her mouth at once and then dances around the living room, singing “Fingle Mells.”

I was a Jedi until I got my boobs and then was told I had to be Princess Leia and wait to be rescued.

I think they were just scared I’d kick their sorry boy-asses.

Again.

jdub has left me hanging all weekend. No clues, no answers. Hopefully by the time I get to work tomorrow, I’ll know who the next person is who gave notice.

CURSE YOU WU!!!!!!! 

This weekend was busier than usual. 
Usual regularly being ignoring everything outside of the 4 walls of my home. 

Glenn and I headed to the office party on Friday evening. It ended up being a lot of fun. It was at Romanov’s. There was lots of food and lots of friends. We ended up leaving early and heading to see Beowulf in 3D on the huge IMAX screen. OMG. How utterly cool. I’ve never seen a 3D movie before. It’s was pretty trippy and fun was had by all. 

Saturday morning we went to our favorite breakfast diner and had some pancakes. In the afternoon, Catherine and I headed over to The Alex theater in Glendale and seeing a production of The Nutcracker. I think my favorite part of the performance was when Catherine asked ”Mama, why is that man wearing tights?!?!?” She cracked up the rows around us, especially the fathers who were probably dragged there by their wives and daughters. The dancing was fun and Cat had a lovely time and fun was had by all. 

Sunday I was able to scoot out of the house on my own for a bit. I headed over to an art show to get some unique gifts for family. I found the reversible story telling dolls I wanted, fairy wings for Cat and Bella, neat art boxes for Felipe and for myself…. I finally was able to commission one of my favorite artists take my order for a charm bracelet I’ve been wanting for 5 years. All the charms are handmade and Cindy (the artist) works with the person to get a feel of personalities and attitudes. I’m starting with 3 charms, 1 for Catherine, 1 for Glenn and 1 for me. Then Glenn and Catherine can commission more charms to add – for Mother’s Day and Christmas. I love Halloween – so a Halloween charm would be very appropriate. My bracelet will be done by Valentine’s Day!!!!

Sunday evening we headed over to Peggy’s to meet my nephew’s girlfriend for the 1st time. After that we headed home to decorate our own tree. 
 

Here’s a thought. I’m feeling lazy, but I want more of that soup I made this weekend. 

So I’m going to buy 2 or 3 of those roasted chickens from the deli… pick the meat, roast the two picked chicken skeletons and then make the soup from there. 

See…. I’ve cut out the roasting of the turkey and let someone else do it for me!

So all i have to do now is make the broth then the actual soup. 

I’ll still buy a turkey and ask Glenn to roast it for me something in the next week or two… but sometimes you just can’t wait for soup. 

that’s right. I made the bombdiggity soup this weekend. 

Glenn scoffed when I said I wanted to save the turkey carcass from Thanksgiving. But that’s what I used to make the soup.

Take a turkey carcass. 

Roast @ 450 for 15 minutes in the oven. Transfer browned bones to a large stock/soup pot

Add 2 onions, a rib or two of celery – sautee these just a bit
6 cups chicken broth
3 cups white wine
simmer 1ish hour

strain the stock and throw out the icky stuff

to the now strained stock add:
1 cup wild rice mix (I toasted my rice with some butter a bit to break down the tougher outsides of the wild rice)
2 large carrots
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp baking soda (to help cook the wild rice quickly)

simmer for an hour until rice is done. Last 10 minutes of cooking add 3 cups of leftover turkey meat. I added a few handfuls of diced mushrooms I needed to use. 

Finally – stir in 1/4 cup flour into a cup of heavy cream. 
Add flour/cream mixture to the soup and cook until thickens. 10 minutes.

Kinda takes some time, but well worth the effort. 

because it cures m-f’n cancer.