Eat Play Love

A local elementary school was the big talk of the town, when it uttered the words, no Halloween parties. They decided to have a "fall festival" during the school day a couple of weeks ago and have a Halloween carnival during the weekend. Aah, you would not believe the banter that followed such outlandish behavior. Being a teacher, I applaud the school for the decision it made, and I do think all the hoopla that followed was just plain old silliness. My favorite part of this whole controversy, was a letter written to the newspaper detailing the evilness of Halloween, and how we should not allow our children to take part in the worshipping of satan. Aaah..conservatives, gotta love em.

Many moons ago, I was a painter. Well, I made time to paint, for a hobby. I suppose I still am a painter, that's taken a big long break. I can honestly say I will paint again one day. When I painted on my own (not in an academic setting) I was a paint pusher. I never planned out what I was going to create, I just simply put my brush in the paint color that was most appealing and set it free on the canvas. I miss painting. I always felt as if my watercolor paintings had more depth to them, like it was my strength, but I prefered the feeling and ease of a brush in acrylics. I have yet to dabble in oils, all the accoutrements that came along with oil painting just turned me off. It's funny, being a paint pusher that has painting pulling me back.

Thinking of painting in those terms left me with the notion of being a word pusher. Not really setting out to accomplish a particular task, but allowing the words to flow onto the page, from my mind, to my hands, through the G4, and onto t…

Typically I don't offer up sleep advice when it comes to children. More often than not, I duck and cover, when the subject comes up in conversation with a group of moms. My philosophies on sleep are the following, do what works for your family. I have no judgement if you are a Ferber parent or if you wear your baby all day and snuggle all night with them. If it works, more power to you.

Yes, from the sounds of it, I am having some personal turmoil in the sleep department. GL was a wonderful napper in crib until about 7 months, when she got a virus, which put us into a different space. Sleeping took a turn for the worse starting with that little virus. She started to become quite agitated and upset when I tried to get her to sleep in the crib for naps after that. As a matter of fact, she gets so upset she poops, and then I have to take her out and change her. Then I get the sad, mommy don't leave me eyes, and then I get soft.

So what exactly is my problem? GL is not taking a morn…

I have a whole Hodge Podge of thoughts running through my head right now. First, I will begin with, aaah--the poor Rockies. They were swept away from the World Series Title..Now I can return to doing exciting things with my evenings, like laundry, blogging, reading through an endless stack of magazines I've been neglecting, and watching meaningless television.

On more important home news, I am not sure if you remember my post about Uniqua, our vertical floating betta fish? Well, I am saddened (not really) to report that she has successfully moved onto the local duck pond. In the most appropriate fashion, the entire family walked with Uniqua, floating vertically in her vase, over to the pond. We wished her farewell and a happy life in her gorgeous new surroundings. Sj dumped her food out, so she had something to eat while she was adjusting to her new sources of live food in the pond. There was a somber feeling in the air, but Sj handled it like a champ! I am so proud of her. Sj aske…

Well, we did have a little getaway planned for the weekend. We were heading with the girls to Aspen, to catch a ski movie called Warren Miller's Playground and to have some fun! Geez, if we made it this weekend, we could have called it a tradition. But, we aren't going as Little Miss G has caught the bug that was nasty last week to Little Miss Sj. It's almost a relief that G has gotten it, I was walking on pins and needles everyday, watching every move, checking for symptoms. Was that a cough? Is she warm? Well, no fever, but a lovely viral seal barking cough has invaded our little darling.

So just for the heck of it, I would have been kicking my feet up right about now at a beautiful suite in The Little Nell , one of Aspen's finest hotels. Sipping a chai from Ink! coffee, which is just located across the street. In the morning, I would have enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at Poppycocks, because it's a bit mellow in town until Thanksgiving. Basically the weekend wou…

This Is What I've Come Up With, Just For Fun:I was married on a mountainside with 40 friends/family creating a circle around us.
I check labels to see where an item was produced in the world.
I think the majority of plastic american toys suck.
I drink tons of water.
I think Ben Harper is the best musician in the world and I am a member of his website, where I actually post.
I gravitate to clothing and shoes that are unique.
I blog.
I eat as much organic food, meat, and produce as possible.
Our children share our bedroom with us (gasp!no,she didn't say it!).
I buy ridiculously expensive shampoo & conditioner.
I don't envy McMansions or other people's things for that matter.
I know what a fixed gear is.
I have my nose pierced, still!
I can't eat meat from a regular grocery store, it weirds me out.
I drink tea, mainly chai.
I exclusively use Seventh Generation (or the like) cleaning products.
I don't thrive on being one of the same.
I have challenged myself numerous times to…

Sometimes (well, maybe rarely) I challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone and experience new things. I did just that tonight. I went out to dinner with some MOMs Club friends, but not the circle of moms I usually spend my week with. I gave thought to cancelling with out my posse by my side, but couldn't pass up the opportunity for some adult conversation on the eve the hubby heading out of town on business. All the faces were familiar and they are hands down, a genuinely friendly bunch of women. Motherhood is the thread that runs through all of our lives and binds us, it's common ground, it's endless laughs, and it's also endless topics of conversation. We were all enjoying the moment of being out with no children tugging on us or crying for help. What a beautiful thing.

After the conversation was flowing, I just sat back and thought to myself that I really felt like I was on the fringe of the group. It's funny, but I don't give much thought to my lifes…

I guess you could say my heart wasn't totally into the ticket buying experience. My heart didn't feel like it was going to beat out of my chest, once. That usually happens when I am purchasing tickets for a Ben show or Radiohead for J. I typically have squeaky clean ticket karma, but not Rockies ticket karma. I gave it a valiant effort anyway.

I tried yesterday and today to purchase tickets for the World Series online. The Rockies announced late last week, they would only have online ticket sales. Yesterday the system crashed. Today wasn't much better for me. For 2.5 hours, on and off, I visited my computer screen to find these messages. For a moment I was excited because the little countdown stopped and just started loading, although it virtually continued to load into cyberspace pergatory. Here's my screen shot, for history's sake.

Oh, well..I guess I won't be there live and up close to make history with the Rockies. I still hope they go all the way, I actually…

Calling our Betta Fish a pet is really a stretch of the imagination. I mean it's a living creature, I feed it, clean it's water, and provide beautiful shells and marbles for it to crap on. But in the spectrum of pets, is it really a lovable creature? Do we get home after a long day and run to the fish to see how it's doing? Umm, no. It doesn't curl up on your lap or greet you with wiggly bottomed anticipation. It's just a fish.

Anyway, Uniqua is our Betta Fish, which has been a wonderful distraction for our 4 year old. Uniqua is the disguise of a real pet. Sj can proudly proclaim to her friends and anyone that will listen that Yes, she does have a pet, it's a fish. Personally, I am not ready to be the owner of a sentient being. I am just surviving round 2 of motherhood, in which I am about to embark on the first year (YEAH ME!). I will once again be the proud guardian (the PC Boulder term) of another doggie, which we will rescue from the gorgeous high class Bou…

We always joke about the bizarre weather we have here in Colorado, you know the typical shorts one day, parkas the next. Yesterday it was 70 degrees, more or less. It was a beautiful afternoon, sunny, not too breezy like the day before. Then, the storm blew in during the middle of the night.





I woke up to the sound of drizzle, heavy rain, falling. I didn't hear the hum of the furnace, which meant we had the thermostat turned to, oh 65 degrees. I immediately bundled up and cranked up the heat. Over the next hour the drizzle turned to flakes. Fluffy flakes blanketed the green grass and various forms of snow/rain mixture followed. It's cold, but the ground is so warm, it's not sticking to the roads.

Poor Sj has been holed up inside for a few days now with a cold and a bout of viral laryngitis. She begged us to go out. J has always brought her out into all types of stormy weather over the years. Now I think she has a penchant for bundling up and seeking out adventure. They mad…

Aah..beautiful Colorado weather today (snow to follow tomorrow). We are warming the little one up to the Burley. She's not quite fond of the helmet yet, she does have a petite noggin, the helmet just kind of surfs around like a stainless steel pot would. Yes, we did properly adjust it before the ride began.

The big outting was down the bike path to the library. We believe in the "slowly, but surely" bicycle trailer training. Small ride today, next ride 10 minutes longer, until we ease our way to the nap zone. It's so fun to see the girls together in the trailer. I am so glad we went with the double when we purchased it a few years ago.

Now, we'll be itchin' for those warm fall days, so we can keep the Burley love flowing.

My decorative couch pillows are driving me bezerk and I am not quite sure what to make of it. I've had my couch pillows for a few years now. They are a drab yellow on one side with a earthy toned leaf print on the other. The lovely poly-blend fabric is just rubbing me the wrong way. I just can't commit to new ones. I've searched catalogs, websites, and stores to no avail. Nothing seems to speak to me. I've even wandered into the fabric sections of craft stores, but everything was a little too country for my taste.

I've come up with a solution to temporarily relieve myself of my hideous pillow predicament. I could re-use some fabric I had laying around to temporarily cover the pillows, until something more chic and design worthy enters my world. So, that's what I've done. I unearthed my small bin of fabric scraps and made-do. I covered one pillow with a fabric that was left over from curtains I made for our bedroom, in an apartment we had in Boulder in 1998. …

My head hurts. I just want to cry. We've had a missing Robeez (the exact pair above) for a couple of days now. I don't know if it's better or worse that I have ONE shoe, not the pair. I am beginning to believe I want the single shoe to be gone, so then I can stop tearing the house apart looking for it's sole mate.

My efforts have included, but are not exclusive to the following; re-organizing the hall closet, removing the couch cushions and moving the couch into the middle of the living room (the one shoe we do have was found under the couch), unearthing the various stuffed animals, necklaces, and books from under my bed, crawling on my hands and knees to look under every single piece of furniture, rummaging through the basket of bibs and washcloths that are kept under the highchair, searching through about 5 bags and backpacks, poking all crevices in my Highlander, checking the office from end to end, changing the sheets, and a quick check in those obviously not going …

Content is my belly. I believe that statement would lead to a notion of overindulgence, but that isn't quite the case, thankfully. J is on a mini-vacation from work most of this week and we have been cooking delicious food. We started the week off with a trip to our favorite, not so close by, Whole Foods. We bagged the closer Boulder Whole Foods for a trip to the monolith newer store in Lakewood. Crappy drive, lovely destination. The in house bakery makes fresh tortillas which I truly find to be spectacular, well that is if you give a shit about tortillas. Apparently, I do.

Now to our menu.. Our plates have been brimming with delight! For example today, I casually mentioned a hankering for a buffalo wing style chicken, I didn't care which form it was presented in. I came home from dropping Sj off at school to find this plate; chicken breast drenched in wing sauce, placed atop a bed of organic red leaf lettuce, carrots, celery, balanced with blue cheese dressing, all on a fresh …

Have you ever heard someone say something that just resonated so deeply within you? A couple of years ago, I had the priveledge of seeing Oprah speak in Denver. During her talk, she mentioned how she keeps a gratitude journal. Every night before she goes to bed, she writes down something she is thankful for. She believes positive thoughts attract and grow more blessings...How Brilliant.

On the other hand, I am terrible at keeping a journal. I can't tell you how many New Year's Resolutions I wasted on journal writing. I go through the same motions, purchase a cute journal, write in the evening, before bed, have it waiting on my bedside table, all those factors should help me stay strong to my intentions! Ha...what a joke. I think I have a half dozen "cute journals" that end by January 16th. And to top it off, flipping through the pages, all I seem to spew by the pageful are gripes. Hmmm...so if I go with Oprah's theory (and the not so recent popular Law Of Attracti…

Today is Blog Action Day. We've all heard the usual environmental mantras, reduce-reuse-recycle, over and over again. If you google 10 Ways Help The Environment, you'll find 125 million links. The majority of them list simple ways to make a difference. Those simple ways can become routine and even save you money. Check a few out.

My focus for Blog Action Day is Plastic Bags. Have you ever opened the door under your kitchen sink and been attacked by a mountain of plastic bags? I did, one too many times. I have fought back and won!

In the past, I used my canvas bags exclusively for grocery store purchases. Most grocers offer some type of Bring Your Own Bag discount or a wooden nickel to donate to a non-profit organization. The problem is, the bags just kept piling up, namely from my retail weakness, Target. Then it hit me, bring the bags everywhere. The cashiers at Target still don't know how to handle it, they have such a scan and place plastic bag routine, I throw off their …

A blanket of cold and rain has descended over sunny Colorado. This weather has prompted me to create a list of things I must do to prepare for the cold weather ahead:

1. Bake Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies !DONE!2. Hide all summery clothes from Sj.
3. Dig out the cold weather clothes for GL.
4. Convince myself that the 40+ bags of leaves we will rake is mother nature's version of a gym work out.
5. Sort through my sweaters and keep those that will make it through another season.
6. Carve pumpkins.
7. Figure out Christmas gifts for the girls, as mail order will be essential this year.
8. Buy flannel sheets, snuggly.
9. Prompt and beg J to remove the window AC unit as soon as possible.
10. Eat warm and delicious cookies, while procrastinating about #'s 2-9!!

Remember this list, when it's in the 70's next week.

Guinness
Guinny
Bougie
Friend
G
Chunky-Chicken
Bougie-Boujouzamel
Guincenzo-Corleone

Can a dog have 1 name?




The first year we moved to Colorado we adopted a dog from the Humane Society. He was a black lab, we never knew if he was a pure bred, but he certainly had a pure heart. Everyone would comment that his snout was too long or he was too tall to be a pure bred lab, but honestly we didn't care.

Sj was a couple months shy of her 2nd birthday, when Guinness died. It was his time to go and he lived a beautiful doggie life. Sj still talks about him, like he was here yesterday, which just amazes me. She will tell you or anyone that asks, that Guinny has moved onto the Rainbow Bridge .

I miss having a dog. And, I really miss having a dog, when GL squeals with excitement any time we are around a "daaaah"!(this is where J is thinking, oh no!) I am not ready for a dog, but I miss the companionship. Guinness was very intuitive for a dog and I often wonder if we would find such a loving d…

When I first started this blog just two wee months ago, J asked me what my focus would be. There are blogs about anything and everything. Most blogs are focused on a specific topic. I thought time would give me an opportunity to develop my voice, but now I think time hasn't given me much clarity. I am in need of a secondary title for EatPlayLove, but haven't found one yet, I am open to suggestions. Maybe it will come to me, when I get a cool header, in the mean time, boring header, no cute whimsical quote to accompany it.

Here enters my new dilemma. When I was sitting down to blog the other night, I gave thought to my audience. I was thinking should I write about what I want to write about, or should I write about a topic that would most interest potential readers. That was clearly a defining moment. My inner self told me, to write what I want, the readers may come, or they may go, but my amateur writing is not going to lure readers.. (smart self!)

So for now, Eat Play Love is …

My perspective on driving changed a few years back when I was in a car accident. My car was totalled, with no serious injuries to report (thank my angels!). This is what I learned..Cars are dangerous machinery, which we seldom give much thought to. Advances in technology have given us more ease in the driver's seat. Maybe it's not such a good thing. I try to be disciplined every day when I get behind the wheel and I leave my multi-tasking for much safer places..like now, nursing GL and typing.. pretty safe, I have to admit.

I often wonder when I see a woman driving and swerving a bit, because she's applying mascara, why don't you do everyone a favor and take TWO minutes to do that at home? or even in the parking lot when you arrive at your destination. Heck, I am guilty of putting on lip gloss at a red light. But ..mascara? I don't hesitate to honk at the person and even give them the two hands up, like come on, for real?

Then there's the classic reading and driv…

Americans seem to be so darn inventive. Sometimes I have an idea and it just hits me, like that would be a great invention! For example, I am notorious for spacing my laundry, once it's been washed. I would love a washing machine that automatically dries a load, it's the switching that gets me into trouble. Sometimes a day actually passes before the laundry gets switched and on rare occasion I just rewash the entire load. I hate that.

Problem number two, the dishwasher. J is fabulous about loading the dishwasher, but not so great at actually running it. I know new dishwashers have an automatic fill, you just load up the entire soap bottle and then the dishwasher just dispenses the soap. It's one step closer to what I need, but not good enough. I basically turn into a private investigator trying to decide if the load has been washed, if it should be emptied or run. I often wonder, why in the world would you load it to the gills and not run it? But then it hits me, it's …

It's October, you must bake a batch of these delicious seasonal cookies. Yummy Yummy in my Tummy. This recipe has been passed along via moms for a few years now, enjoy and share!

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla (although I usually add a tablespoon!)
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour (I make 1/2 cup whole wheat so they are a bit healthier, more than that is a texture issue)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped nuts of choice/ Chocolate chips (I do both, it's your choice and preference)

Heat oven to 350, combine sugar-brown sugar-butter, beat until light and fluffy.
Add pumpkin, vanilla, egg, and blend
Add dry ingredients, mix.

Drop by spoonful
Bake 12-15 minutes or until light brown edges.

Today was the big day. We woke up at the crack of dawn, got dressed in our gloves, scarves, and PINK, and headed to Denver. Our hubbies (Kev-o and J) tag-teamed the drop offs, shuttling us, back and forth. We were going to do the bus, but it's really not set up for the early race. We took a chance driving and it was a good bet. The 7am, women's only 5K was the right choice for us! The crowds were mellow, as well as the traffic. We ran, walked, ran some more, and skipped through to the finish. There were bands to keep us entertained, I preferred the rock and roll, it made it very festive. We were a sea of women, coursing through the Denver streets, how powerful!!

Post-run we meandered through the crowds, collecting trinkets from the sponsors. We were able to get a feel for how large the crowd was after the race, just moving from a to b.The news reports an estimated 70,000 participated! WOW! Next year, we'll know the in's and out's, where to park,etc. I am looking fo…

My mom casually mentioned something about a recall of Baby Einstein Cloth Blocks. Here starts the ball rolling, YET AGAIN. Yes, we own them, but they are of Sj's generation, not recently manufactured. To top it off, just the blue one is being recalled. I don't know how this goes over with you, but I most certainly can't take away a blue block and hand over the other 3, which are part of the set without hesitation. One goes, they all go.

Now, I am checking the list, checking it twice. Gonna find out who's a naughty manufacturer. Turns out everyone from Pottery Barn to Graco to REI is on the list, please read it.


The really cute painted pink and green sand tools I bought with such excitement this summer from Target are TOXIC. This is an example of the other tools that were also Target recalls. I just got my refund. (Insert your favorite explitive here)! Then yell it out loud and that's where I am at right about now!

Time for the move to the cave. Before I go, I urge…

Everyday adventures are the best. Yesterday we visited the Butterfly Pavilion. The Butterfly Pavilion is essentially in our backyard, I drive by it numerous times weekly, and I am sad to report we hardly ever go. I hadn't been to the BP since Sj was small enough to fit in the Bjornie. What a travesty!

So why now? A dear friend and her 16 month old were visiting from New Hampshire. While brainstorming a fun meet up, the BP was mentioned, and I though it was a perfect . We managed to arrived before the school groups, which due to size of the building, is a huge plus. The Pavilion is home to many exotic insects, star fish you can pet, fish, and even Rosie the Tarantula. Sj, held the tarantula, it is safe to assume, I did not. What a brave 4 year old. She claims it's very soft and I claim that thing could haunt me into retirement if I were to touch it.

When entering the butterfly habitat, a warm rush comes over you. The air is thick and humid, the plants are lush, the flowers are go…

My dictionary widget that typically pisses me off (because it doesn't help me spell a misspelled word, it just says, word not found) defines Sappy as informal oversentimental, mawkish. Now, I have to look up mawkish, because it's a new one to me. Mawkish is characterized by sickly sentimentality; weakly emotional. Hmmm..I may be on to something here. Yes, I am hormonal. I may just be weakly emotional.

I'm in a mood tonight. I should be cleaning the house, for the playgroup lunch date. But then I think, why clean the house for my mommy friends, they know my house gets messy. They absolutely know what life is like with kids, they just get it. So then I reason with myself, sit at my computer, and procrastinate.

Which leads me to SAPPY. J and I moved to Colorado in 1994, 2 months after I lost a close friend in a car accident. That friend, JNM, lived in Boulder, she brought us here, but then she was gone. I longed for some friends. We had friends, but I longed for some true conne…

Well, my first love of sport is for the Tour de France, my second love is for World Cup Soccer. As of the other night, I have a new interest, Colorado Rockies. I know, baseball..it seems so odd. I grew up watching the Yankees, I think it's in my blood to be a Yankee fan. I have a photo from my childhood, I am dressed head to toe in a Yankee uniform, guess that's what 3 brothers will do to you. I haven't found a photo yet of me dressed up in some princess garb. Dismissed as coincidence.

Over the years, I tap into my love of baseball during the World Series. Typically, the Yankees are playing so it's all good. Well, this year, the little team that could is making strides. The Rockies are in Division playoffs. I love an underdog. We saw the Rockies in May, it was a blast. I was surprised at how much fun I had at the game. I am assuming it has a lot to do with all the great snacks offered at Coors Field.

One game down, maybe 2 more to go.. sweep, sweep, sweep. Hopefully, I&#…