Garbanzo beans are good.

I always liked them in salads, and I like hummus, but never really just ate them plain. I've been working on changing my eating habits. I recently read an article about how much extra calories moms can consume without even knowing it and what to avoid. It mentioned about picking up some grape tomatoes and garbanzo beans in the make your own salad section of the grocery store to munch on rather than eating cookies (which keeps my kids quiet). I don't eat in the grocery store but it got me thinking about garbanzo beans. So I picked up a can today and opened it for our salad. I just ate a few and they're pretty good!

I'm excited that my tastes are changing as I change my habits and now I actually like healthy food and dislike junk food (to a point, I'm not completely there yet). My body also is getting so used to healthier foods that I can hardly handle the junk food I used to. I decided to have Coke once a week, and kinda gave it up for lent and now my stomach doesn't like it. I guess that's good. I don't want it, and so I don't get all those extra calories and sugars.

I still have to work on cookies...

Speaking of food, I'm very excited because we're planning a trip to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's this weekend. I love browsing those stores and finding new things. I already have a list of stuff we loved from our last trip. I'll post what we find.

Better get back to dinner.

I love Mister Rogers. Now my children do too.

I finally got a chance to watch the video on YouTube made by Fred Rogers's production company promoting "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" days. I was in the kitchen and the girls were in the living room. I tried to keep the volume low but as soon as the familiar theme started up the girls perked up. B1 goes "What's that noise?!" and b2 started to look in the family room which is where they usually hear that music on the TV. B1 goes "It's Mister Rogers!". My mom was with them and of course she didn't hear anything since she needs hearing aids. So she's telling them it's nothing. It was a very comical scene.

So I stopped it in order to stop a riot and just watched it now while the girls are still sleeping. We'll definitely be wearing sweaters on Thursday to honor his birthday (he would have been 80). I still remember when he died. My dad had just had a hip replacement (since he broke his) and he was in rehab in the hospital. He was being wheeled down to PT and the therapist was talking about Mister Roger's death. My dad said how it was a shame because he was "such a good man." It was odd to me because here I was with my dad, who I loved, but Mister Rogers was also like a dad figure to me. I watched him for years and he talked to me about feelings, and being yourself much more than my dad ever did. To be fair, even though my dad didn't say much, he did tell me not in so many words to be myself. My dad and Mister Rogers always accepted me "just the way I am". Now, both good men are gone.

Mister Rogers teaches so many important self-esteem values. I hope he is a positive influence on my kids as he was on me. Sometimes b1 will tell me her feelings in such a direct way and I know it's because Mister Rogers told her to. I'm so glad for that. I always want her to feel like she can tell me exactly how she feels knowing I'll love her for being her.


"It's you I like,
It's not the things you wear,
It's not the way you do your hair--
But it's you I like
The way you are right now,
The way down deep inside you--
Not the things that hide you,
Not your toys--
They're just beside you.

But it's you I like--
Every part of you,
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings
Whether old or new.
I hope that you'll remember
Even when you're feeling blue
That it's you I like,
It's you yourself,
It's you, it's you I like."

-Fred Rogers

I'm watching b2 lift her big plastic push bike and carry it in and out of the family room. B1 I just running around singing while her little sister moves it all around. Oh now b1 got into the action but she actually pulled the bike out of the room since "nightime bear" was in her other arm.

Sometimes I enjoy just watching them from afar because as soon as I enter the room all sorts of demands will be made of me and the fun is over. "Mommy, I need a drink" or "Mumma Mumma aahbalhablah!"

This is the tough time of the day since they got up pretty early. If they sleep later, they then watch a show and it's almost time for dinner. Now, they have another hour and a half till dinner and they usually loose interest in just general play after that long.

OMG, they have plastic stick pieces that came off the fairies tent and are using them like light sabers. Now they're hitting delicate objects...gotta run.

Today it really feels like Spring. The temp is 62 and the sun is out. I went outside to pick up all the sticks in our yard that had blown down over the winter. I could have been there all day. I got the worst of it, but wow was it bad. It was nice being outside but then the winds started blowing and my hair was all over the place so I couldn't see a thing. That's a definite pet peeve of mine. Trying to do yard work with my hair in my face. I don't even think a band or millions of clips would hold that hair back today.

In an effort to find something fun and happy to watch we've started re-watching "Arrested Development". That show can be so funny. I know it's not perfect, but there was some really hilarious stuff going on in that show. I can't wait till "The Office" comes back. I'm hearing there may be 30 episodes next season of it. That would be awesome *if* they can keep up the funny. Last fall when they did the hour episodes it felt like it lost some of it's punch.

One of my guilty pleasures is "America's Next Top Model". I actually like it because I enjoy watching the photo shoots and then seeing the outcome of the photos. This season is wearing on my nerves though because the shoots are getting downright ridiculous. Like posing as a homeless person to bring awareness to the problem. I loved how "Best Week Ever" made fun of it and noted how they could go home to their expensive ANTM apartment and the extras who where actually homeless...went where? "Okay we can all go home now....oh, sorry". Last night they posed with meat, and that was just dumb. Their constant attempts at making the modeling industry so "important" are wearing thin. Another major complaint I have is how much the girls scream. What is up with all the screaming? Every little thing warrants a scream. They went to a fire station and were standing there (like they always do dropped off in the middle of wherever not knowing what's going to happen to them) and firemen leave on a firetruck and they scream like they're fan girls at a pop concert. Maybe they were just going to a real fire?

I'm not much for political anything and I absolutely abhor the news pundits on all the time on news channels, but whenever I catch "The Daily Show" I usually end up laughing out loud. Since his subject is what I hate, even though he's making fun of it, I don't watch the show much. Today when I was walking on the treadmill and absolutely nothing was on (which makes walking on the treadmill much slower) I watched a repeat of "The Daily Show" from last night. Stewart showed a clip of someone (from CNN maybe because he was talking to that Anderson Cooper) touching this big touch screen of the country hypothesizing about Obama and Clinton's potential primary wins. It was all over the place and it made no sense. It was like he was just making stuff up. So then Stewart comes back saying he has a big touch screen too so he can make stuff up too. He unites the Carolinas, cuts off Florida and Texas, makes the bottom tracker a race car race, turns the guy (oh his name was King because..)into the Burger King (scary mascot guy for BK) <--that's the part that really cracked me up. I also love how he keeps pointing out how that Spitzer guy (and all other political men who've done similar crap) keeps bringing his poor wife up to the podium with him. That is so true. The one place the wives should be excused from is where he addresses his betrayal. These "advisers" of these pigs better get a clue. That doesn't work with most of the general public. At least I, and Jon Stewart don't think so.

I better go do something while I can before the naps are over!

I just realized it's been almost 2 years since I posted! I misread and thought the last date was 2007.

I know why. June 19th little miss wombat entered our lives and it's been non-stop ever since.

Maybe this is a sign things are getting back to normal (meaning I have a moment here and there to like pee, or eat) I type this as she's pulling on the gate back and forth like she's trying to get out of prison.

...or maybe not.

It's been a long time, but I'm back!

Got the inspiration to post hearing the birds singing. I hope it's a sign that spring is very near. It's so heartening to hear the birds sing.

Spring resolutions:
Walk on treadmill almost every day! (you can't expect miracles)
Keep eating better!
Post!

Gotta run to make dinner.

I missed it here.

Wow, I skipped all of May! We have been watching movies. Here are some we've seen recently:

Shopgirl - This movie is based on the novella by Steve Martin (yes, the actor) which I liked a lot better. The book is very character based, and succeeds by Martin's narrative voice. The movie can't capture that. I'd recommend the book over the movie. I'd actually recommend Martin's second book "The Pleasure of My Company" even more. I loved that book. FAIR

Kung Fu Hustle - Odd, very odd. It was hard to decide if we liked it or hated it. It's a mix of everything (musical, drama, comedy, horror, warner brother cartoons, special effects, kung fu, etc.) all mixed up and churned out in a wild ride. It was nothing like how it was marketed in the U.S. (silliness with pop rock songs). If you don't like Kung Fu, skip it, if you do, and you like odd movies, go for it. FAIR

13 Going on 30 - I'm almost embarrassed to admit I rented this but I was looking for something my mom and I could watch together. It's a typical Freaky Friday type movie with choreographed dance scenes thrown in. Cute, but simple. FAIR

It's review time!

King Kong - I didn't have much interest in this movie in the first place, but it was even worse than I thought. It doesn't help that I don't think the story is all that riveting, but it was also way too long and drawn out. There were so many scenes where the actors just stared for minutes, it seemed like. That apparently was "acting". To me it was annoying. It was inconsistent too. At times it looked amazing and at times cheesy. I could barely watch it all. BAD

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- Another movie that suffers from it's story. The story is okay, just not as interesting as the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter stories. You don't really care too much about the characters, which is always a bad thing for me. FAIR

Pride and Prejudice - This is one of my favorite literary stories. I loved the BBC miniseries version with Colin Firth (who will always be Mark Darcy to me), so this had a lot to live up to. It was very beautifully done, and enjoyable. It was neat to see the story sped up using only the major plot points. At first I didn't like the actor who played Darcy because he looked mad, rather than prideful and complex as the character actually is, but he grew on me. GOOD

It's been awhile since my last post because whenever I think of something to write, I never get a chance to post it. I'm finally going to just do it.

We're still digging the Netflix. Here are some recent movies we've watched:

March of the Penguins - I'd heard about this compelling documentary but didn't want to see it after I learned it was sad. My sister-in-law said it wasn't and that they didn't show any deaths. The hell they didn't. It was sad. It's a nature documentary. It's to be expected. This one is a bit better, but if you don't care for documentaries, don't bother. And if you're pregnant and emotional, steer clear. If you like them documentaries, go for it. FAIR

Walk the Line - Interesting, though depressing, life story of Johnny Cash. It's really a love letter to June Carter-Cash though. Johnny Cash isn't very likeable, but she is. If you like Johnny Cash you should see it, otherwise skip it unless you want to be bummed out. FAIR

Hero - A beautifully shot Chinese made film (subtitles). It's a story about the Chinese concept of a hero set against the backdrop of an assassination attempt. It's like a fable or fairytale in it's storytelling and visuals. It's neat, but probably not for everyone. GOOD

So, kinda ho-hum on the movie front these days. We have King Kong now and soon we'll get The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Pride and Prejudice. Hopefully there will be some winners out of those.

I just watched some Sesame Street with B to zone her out before her nap. It was a fruit themed episode. In it, Miles (Gordon's son?) sings about fruit like he's on 60's American Bandstand after Elmo and Zoe want ice cream and cookies for a snack. Then some bird sings "A Cookie is a Sometimes Food" to Cookie Monster, which I had actually heard about (Sesame Street going healthy) in the news last year. The ironic thing is, I had fruit (strawberries with Marzetti's chocolate dip, which is very good, but probably undoes the healthy part) right before I watched the show, but now I'm craving cookies. All this talk and song about cookies, even though it's about not eating them, made me want them even more. Doesn't look like their message got through to me.

As a side note, the kid who plays Chris Rock from "Everybody Hates Chris" was on the show briefly singing backup to Miles on his song about broccoli. He really emoted for those 5 seconds of screen time.