The Art of Kat

There's a new blog in my collection, and I call it The Art of Kat. It's here. Each week (usually on Monday) I'll add a new drawing done by my daughter. Everything there is all her.

Menu - February 10 - 16, 2008

Not too inspired with the menu this week. I seem to be running on auto-pilot tonight, falling back on more familiar foods and things I don't have to think about, a lot of which are pretty repetitive. That's ok, though. I don't think we'll mind.

A. will be going to his grandmother's funeral on Tuesday, assuming he can get the time off after having just taken three days vacation to do some serious work on the cars. He'll have to drive up on Monday night and drive back shortly after the funeral on Tuesday. K. and I will be staying here. She has school and his mom doesn't want us to go through the "hassle" of it all. I have mixed feelings about it, but I'm not going to argue about it.

I have no idea what I'm cooking for Valentine's Day, which also happens to be my 16th wedding anniversary.

As always, much gratitude for Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday.

Sunday
lunch: tuna
dinner: take out

Monday
lunch: ham & cheese rolls, raw veggies, salad, pineapple
dinner: pork chops, lima beans, rice, salad

Tuesday
lunch: ham & cheese rolls, raw veggies, salad, pineapple
dinner: meatloaf, corn nibblets, broccoli, salad

Wednesday
lunch: ham & cheese rolls, raw veggies, salad, mandarin oranges
dinner: stir-fried chicken, rice, salad

Thursday (VALENTINE'S DAY / 16th ANNIVERSARY)
lunch: ham & cheese rolls, raw veggies, salad, mandarin oranges
dinner: ??

Friday
lunch: ham & cheese rolls, raw veggies, salad, mandarin oranges
dinner: pasta, salad

Saturday (PAY DAY)
lunch: ???
dinner: pot roast, mashed potatoes, broccoli

Menu - February 3 - 9, 2008

Um, yeah. I got sidetracked and now I'm running a bit behind, trying to get caught up. But I'm working on it. See? A menu!!

Other than that, it's just been crazy around here. And not always in the good way. Let's just summarize it up by saying "We need to get out of this apartment and into a house very soon" and leave it at that.

As always, much gratitude for Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday.

Sunday
lunch: ham & cheese roll ups, salad (plus manadarin orange segements for me)
dinner: take-out Church's Chicken

Monday
lunch: leftover chicken, corn
dinner: boneless pork, rice, salad,

Tuesday
lunch: ham & cheese rolls, raw broccoli & cauliflower, salad
dinner: london broil, potatoes, salad

Wednesday
lunch: ham & cheese rolls, salad, pineapple
dinner: parmesian crusted tilapia, mac & cheese, green peas, salad

Thursday
lunch: boca patty, cheese, salad, pineapple
dinner: chicken (how??), (sides??)

Friday
lunch: ham & cheee rolls, salad, mandarin orange segments
dinner: leftovers or pasta

Saturday
lunch: ham & cheeswe rolls/sandwhiches, salad
dinner: pot roast, "weird" peas, broccoli salad,

Of kids and lemons

Instead of having fish tonight for dinner we went to Cracker Barrel. No real reason for it other than I was terribly disgusted by the very notion of eating fish and desperately craving steak. It was a mood thing, I guess.

Anyway, we ate dinner and afterward I was sipping a cup of tea when K. started licking the lemon wedge that came with my tea.

Now, when she was a baby we let her lick the lemons because what better way to teach a child that's not the most yummy thing to do, right? Also, the face the kid makes afterward is always funny, and it only gets funnier with the second, third, and even fourth times. It's a learning process and some kids aren't always quick on the uptake. K. was usually pretty quick to decide lemons were not good eating, but for about a year it was always something she had to try again the whenever she saw one.

So tonight A. and I are sitting there looking at K. like she's lost her ever-loving mind, 'cause lets face it, someone reaches over and picks up a juicy wedge of lemon and starts licking it and you can't help but wonder if maybe they have a screw working itself loose. Of course, the eleven-year-old girl child bursts into a fit of giggles and "What??"s accompanied by a few "it's good!!"s.

Now, when she was a baby, it was her father that tormented her as all parents torment their babies. He'd be the one to put the lemon wedges within her tiny little reach. He'd be the one that, after she told him she hit her head on the wall, would ask for a demonstration knowing full well that she'd give it... five times. He'd be the one that would tell her things like pictures were always in color but before a certain year the world was in black and white... and in some areas of the world the color fades, reverting back to black and white until some technician somewhere refilled the color toner cartridges. Ever read "Calvin and Hobbes"? Calvin's dad was the inspiration for many of A.'s amusing little tortures.

Seeing how A. wasn't jumping on this giggling eleven-year-old sucking on a lemon thing with both feet, I figured it was my turn. I offered K. just a bit of sugar on a spoon. Being an eleven-year-old girl deep in puberty, she took it. I told her to chase it down quick with a suck on the lemon she had... and she did it, much to our amusement. After a few minutes I repeated the offer of sugar with another suggestion of a lemon juice chaser... and she took it and did it again. It only happened once more, but only because she'd sucked all the juice out of the lemon and A. really wanted to leave the restaurant.

Well, almost all of the juice. Just before we left the table she took that poor little lemon wedge and squeezed it for all she was worth. It gave her very little juice -- it didn't even fill the spoon halfway -- and what did my darling little girl do? Yup. She stuck that half a spoonful of pure lemon juice in her mouth.

I'm not sure which was funnier, the face she made with the sugar/lemon juice combo or the pure lemon juice.

No, I stand corrected. The face with the pure lemon juice was far funnier.

And now she has requested that I pick up some lemons next time I go to the grocery store. Seriously. The kid wants lemons on a daily basis. And she wants to try a lime, too.

Well, it is a fruit and it's not like she's going to eat too many of them and I can think of far worse things for her to be begging for, so what's a mom to do? I don't know about other moms, but I put lemons on the shopping list for later this week.

Menu - week of January 13 - 19

Hey. Posting of a menu. Yay me.

So things are getting back to normal. Proof is in the menu. Other than that, there's not much to say today. I'm tired and getting ready to sprawl in front of the television for two hours to watch "Comanche Moon".

As always, much gratitude for Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday.

Sunday
lunch: grazing
dinner: pork chops, lima beans, salad

Monday
lunch: lunch meat, cheese, salad, tangerine
dinner: fish (either tilapia or salmon), corn nibblets, salad

Tuesday
lunch: lunch meat, cheese, salad, tangerine
dinner: sheppard's pie

Wednesday
lunch: lunch meat, cheese, salad
dinner: chicken, mac & cheese, green peas, salad

Thursday
lunch: lunch meat, cheese, salad
dinner: pot roast, leftover veggies, salad

Friday
lunch: lunch meat, cheese, raw veggies
dinner: steak, baked potatoes, broccoli, salad

Saturday
lunch: ???
dinner: roasted chicken (from Sam's), leftover sides, salad

Have a great week, world.

Photographic evidence, take two!

Proof that I do eat lunch! Or, you know, that I at least fix something for lunch. The eating of such plates often take an hour or two.

And this is my beloved feline. I'm not sure if he was looking to snitch a bite or if he was approving/disapproving of my choices. He's a cat. Sometimes it's hard to tell.

And for the record, the dip is in a measuring cup because I was out of custard dishes, which is what I usually use. All the custard dishes are in the dishwasher (or sink) from where I used them in the baking prep this morning. Also, I rarely ever finish my dip. It'll be a miracle if I manage to finish half of it.

Photographic evidence

This is what an engine mount bolt looks like when it shears off.

And what happens when the bolt is sheared off? Why, the engine drops!

Luckily, there are (I hope) two other bolts still holding my engine in place so when it dropped it didn't hit the ground. Needless to say, this needs immediate attention. Unfortunately, my emergency fund is pretty wiped out from other recent events. With any luck A. can do this work himself... if he can get the other half of that bolt out of the hole...

So, for the time being, I'm housebound. Pretty much sucks with holiday errands still looming over me but I won't drive the car. Instinct (along with the information I dug up on the internet about broken engine mount bolts) tells me that driving the car in its current condition is BADBADBAD, despite A. telling me it can be driven as long as we baby it.

A. is hoping to manage a half day today so that he can get under the car before it gets dark. I'm not sure how much he'll be able to accomplish without the use of my grnadfather's tools and blocks, but with my grandfather in the woods (seriously, the man is pushing 90 and he's gone hunting again) there's no alternative but to try. Well, I suppose we could take it to a mechanic somewhere but without ready funds I'm extremely hesitant. Besides, there's this whole big lack of trust when it comes to mechanics.

So I guess today I bake, clean, and wrap presents. At least until A. gets home. Then there's a chance that I'll be playing grease-monkey assistant.