Loquacious Lady

We have a kangaroo living in our house. Have I not mentioned that? Well, we do.

Yes, we call him “Angry Kangaroo.” We bought him for the pups when they were about 8 months old. They got tired of him pretty quickly. Green ball, the standard favorite toy around these parts, is very squeaky and easy to hold in one’s mouth, or so Liam seems to think. (He is the one who really shows partiality to certain toys. Sam will play with anything he will play with, it seems.) So, each night, Liam wants us to chase him around to get the green ball from him, throw it, and chase him some more. Some nights, we don’t want to run around. So Tom takes green ball, sets it on a counter or desk or bookshelf, and hopes Liam doesn’t see it and whine until we give it back.

Liam and Sam are pretty smart, though. They have figured out all of our “out of reach” places for ball. It’s apparently not hard for dogs to find a bright green ball. And Liam was whining. So, feeling pity but unwilling to get the ball down, I decided to rummage through the doggy bin in the pantry. This is where treats, dog meds, extra bowls, collars, leashes, vet info, and hidden toys are kept. And I found a kangaroo. This strangely angry-looking kangaroo. He has his hands on his hips and is scowling. Probably because he’s a dude, but he has this line on his belly to represent a pouch. I remembered kangaroo had little success last year, but I figured he would be enough to distract the pups for one night.

Oh boy, was I wrong. The kangaroo makes this weird, birdlike, squeaking, squawking sound when squeezed. And Liam LOVED it. And not only that, I got it out for him. So I must want to play with it too, right? He was so pumped to have this new, even more annoying, noise-making toy to bring to me over and over and over again. And he loves it almost as much as he loves green ball.

Guess where Angry Kangaroo is now? On the counter. Green ball is on the floor. In fact, it seems like all of their toys are strewn about the floor instead of in the basket I am forever returning them to. Because two dogs need 4 pieces of rawhide, 3 bones, two plush toys, a ball, and an angry kangaroo spread throughout the house at all times, apparently.

I think I’ll go clean up now.

~The Puppies’ Mama

Just wanted to shout out to the hubs. He is one hard-working guy, and he is (on a Saturday) sitting in the kitchen with papers piled neatly around him while he diligently works on our tax info. I hate math and try to avoid it at all costs. Tom is good at math and prefers to be the one who handles our finances and tax information. I am happy to relinquish this chore to him. But he’s worked all week, and he’s sitting there working his rear off on the taxes on the weekend. And he wants to help me out by making a blog just for me. We’ll work out some details of the site later this weekend. He works on a website all week long, then he works for us on the weekends. Doing more code. For free. Well, I did make him brinner last night. But still. Come summer time, when Careerbuilder goes to “summer hours” (translation: half days on Fridays), Tom will spend that time working on the yard. And enjoy it. The man is a hardworking machine. Kind of makes me feel bad that I’m still in my pj’s at 11AM as I type this. But not bad enough to get showered and dressed right away.

Point is, my husband works hard. And I appreciate it. I’m so glad I’m married to him. =)

~Meghan

In November I left my job, and I haven’t regretted it. It was like a HUGE boulder was on my chest, and then I could suddenly breathe. That was NOT the place I was meant to be, and the stress was outrageous. Since then, I’ve been looking for a part-time job. I considered teaching home-school kids Spanish, but then remembered how much I hateteaching and decided not to put myself right back in another job that I am not cut out to do. I interviewed with a family with 4 kids whose nanny was going back to her country in Costa Rica, but they decided that they were going to try going without a nanny after all. Not because of me. She sent me an email later that said, “Also, might you be interested in babysitting on the weekends from time to time and possibly doing an overnighter occasionaly? I was very impressed at your interview and feel very strongly that you will make an excellent nanny and mother:-). Just a gut feeling I have. I would feel very secure w/ you caring for our kids anytime- if you are interested.” Which I thought was really sweet of her. So, never fear, they did not meet me and decide that they would rather go without a nanny than ever see me again.

Then I applied for a position as a part-time vet tech at a vet’s office in Duluth. By the time I came in to apply, they already had some dude lined up for a working interview that Saturday. I’m telling you, when jobs are scarce, people don’t waste any time. I came in the day I heard about the position, and it was already gone. Geez. But, I’ve thought about that one since then, and it might be a good thing that the other person beat me to it, because it might considered unprofessional to cry when the vet euthanizes peoples’ pets. And I’m pretty sure I would cry every time. I have had cats and dogs in my life (and a few fish, but those stories ended quite badly) since before I was two, and I get the deep love and attachments that you get to your “babies.” I’m a bleeding heart for pets. If someone were to hurt one of mine, on purpose, I would have a very hard time letting that go. “You don’t understand how serious this is. They killed my dog.” Name that movie.

Okay, so today I am going to meet with Jessica‘s friend Audrey. Audrey and her husband have an adorable baby boy. And they need a nanny. But Audrey’s cousin, a teacher who is looking for a job, is living with them and can help out for now. But come time for school to start back (or a couple weeks beforehand), they’re thinking the cousin will have a job. Then they will need a nanny. And Jess suggested me because she’s awesome like that. And if it works out, I would work Monday through Thursday from about 8AM-3PM and have Fridays off. (Audry is at home on Fridays.) Sounds sweet. I would still be home when Tom was home, and Fridays I could do errands or laundry or whatever. The only thing is that they will not need me until about the end of July or beginning of August. Maybe occasionally they will need me to help out while the cousin goes to interviews or out of town. But that could also be good, because that means that July 4th, going on vacation with families, actually going to the pool this summer, and seeing friends might be done without inconveniencing work. That’s the way Tom and I are choosing to look at it.

I don’t want Audrey to feel obligated to pick me. On the other hand, if it does work out, it will be cool to have Jess as a common link. We’ve decided to pray about it and leave it in God’s hands. If he doesn’t want this job for me, it won’t happen. And I won’t take it personally.

Bring it on, job possibility number 3, interview number 2. =)

~Meghan

You know how people on death row get to have any meal of their choice before they are executed? It’s kind of like one last thing to enjoy before you die, as gruesome as that sounds. Call me crazy, but it would be hard to enjoy that meal knowing that you’d die shortly thereafter. Well, not that I think any of you are on death row, especially because I doubt you have internet access there, but…if you had to choose, what is your favorite meal? Or food?

I have a few things that I absolutely love, like cheese dip and the brown salsa and the chips at Frontera, platanos maduros, steak cooked medium rare, cheese fries and ranch dip from Outback, and chocolate cake with lots of fudgy icing. (I’m kind of hungry right now; can you tell?)

So maybe I’d have that for appetizers and dessert. Yes, steak could be an appetizer.

But my absolute favorite meal would be:

Sherry Chicken

Crescent Rolls (The big, flaky, buttery ones, yum)

White Rice

Red Jello with Bananas and Mandarin Oranges

Green Bean Casserole with LOTS of French’s Fried Onions on top (They give me an upset stomach now, most of the time, but I’m dying in this scenario, so who cares?)

Sweet Tea

OH MY GOODNESS. We are so having that on Sunday for lunch. I can’t write about it unless I can have access to it.

It’s a meal I grew up with, and it’s my favorite. We always got to request the meal cooked for our birthday when we were at mom and dad’s house for it, and my choice has been either Sherry Chicken (if we didn’t want to order food) or Outback (steak and cheese fries for me, of course) for years and years. Delish.

And, just because it’s so awesome, I’m going to share the Sherry Chicken recipe, in case you want to knock your taste buds off with my favorite comfort food. This meal tastes like home to me. Just so you know, I usually double the ingredients, except for the chicken, salt, and pepper. I like to have lots of sauce. But I will put the original recipe for you. It’s so easy and so scrumptious. =)

Sherry Chicken:

8 Boneless Chicken Breasts (I actually use tenders)

1/4 cup of cooking sherry or white wine

8oz sour cream

2 cans of cream of mushroom soup

Salt

Pepper

Several Pats of Butter

Preheat Oven to 350. Salt and pepper chicken and place in the bottom of casserole dish. Mix wine, sour cream, and soup in bowl then pour over the chicken. Pat with butter. Cover with foil and bake one hour. Remove foil, allow to bake for 10-15 more minutes. (you don’t have to do that last part with removing the foil, but I like to.)

Enjoy! Now tell me what your favorite meal is! =)
~Meghan

If flying was part of your job, where would you try to get sent?  (Though imagine it wouldn’t be just for a day or two, but for a week at least. I mean, you want to enjoy being there.)

I would definitely choose Italy because I’ve wanted to go there for ages, especially after one of my roommates in college went and fell in love with the country. She spent our entire senior year talking about how much she loved Italy. And I am now dying to go. I want to go and photograph everything, eat the food, drink the wine…I also really love learning about and seeing historical things, so I would love to see all the ruins.

Another country I would love to visit is New Zealand. Tom and I have talked about wanting to go there and to all the beautiful land where The Lord of The Rings was shot. And although we would be close, I do NOT want to go to Australia. Everything I fear lives there. Sharks (especially GREAT WHITE SHARKS  *shudder*), crocodiles, deadly snakes, huge and deadly spiders. No thank you.

I would really like to go to Israel and do a Holy Land Tour. I mean…It would be so awesome to walk where Jesus walked and to see what it was like to some degree. It always makes history come alive for me when I can picture what I’m reading about. And I would love to see the Promised Land.

Another country I’ve never been to and want to visit is China. I want to walk the Great Wall of China, mostly. Does that sound silly?

Of course, I would try to get in trips to the Bahamas and other tropical places all the time. I love the beach, especially when the water is clear and warm.

And, though I’ve been there, though it’s in our own country, I would love to go to New York again. It’s such a big city, so busy. I want to go back. Also, the Grand Canyon. I really want to go there and do river rafting.

Also, I would definitely take advantage of flying for free in order to visit friends and family members that live all over. We know people spread from coast to coast. I wish we could visit them more often!

Where would you go?

~Meghan

I like that word. =) Bokeh, Bokeh, Bokeh. BOW-KUH.

I love my Nikon. Nikon D90, I love you. Thank you for being my Christmas present. I plan to use you for many years. You are my first (and only, for now) SLR. I cherish you. You will capture pictures of my children, someday, when they exist. You have captured pictures of my husband, my nephew and nieces, and all the pets that I love. You have caught the expressions of my parents, my siblings, and sibling-in-laws. You have frozen the silly expressions of so many of my wonderful friends.

And because of you, I have learned about bokeh. I know how to focus on something and have everything else all out of focus. That’s as technical as I’m getting here, today.

Thank you Nikon, for allowing me to be the person that the hubs turns to for some of his pictures on his blog. Because he needed Bokeh. And the Canon PowerShot, while a good and faithful point-and-shoot, was not up for the task. But you allowed me to grasp you with my cold, circulation-challenged hands, and take that photo.

Soon, I will have my own blog. And I promise to have a photography section. And as we learn more about one another, our pictures will improve, and people will see a difference. I hope. But regardless, I love you, Nikon. And I love the bokeh we make together.

~Meghan

Most females I know feel like at somepoint in their late teens or their 20′s their metabolism slows down, their life speeds up, and their body shows how much has changed. A lot of you are really good about working out, eating healthy foods, and keeping your body whipped into shape. I am not one of you.

Or, I wasn’t one of you, until recently. I’m going into my 8th week (out of 12 weeks) on P90X. I had Tom take some pictures (that you will NOT find in this post) before we started P90X. You may remember the post I put up when I first tried it out and thought I was dead the next day. It was really tough starting out. While I have gotten stronger as time has gone on, they are still tough work-outs for me. I’m not going to be someone that at the end of 12 weeks of this program, you look at and go “WOW, you look SO GREAT now.” The main reason for this is that Tom and I only changed our eating habits about three weeks ago. Soft drinks, most desserts, fatty foods and empty calories aren’t completely gone, but they are saved for the weekend. I am learning new recipes from Cooking Light and other sources that have yummy, low-fat meals and offer enough variety that Tom and I don’t throw in the towel after two weeks. We also make sure to have salad for dinner at least once a week (I make chicken to go with it, and we have different toppings to keep from getting bored.) I have found some yummy, low-fat desserts that we keep in the freezer for when we need to satisfy a sweet tooth in the middle of the week.

After we changed the diet, we could see more of a change. Well, Tom could. And some friends could. But I couldn’t. It was so gradual that I didn’t notice a change in the mirror. And it was frustrating. My weight has only gone down about 4 or 5 pounds from eight weeks ago. And my clothes aren’t falling off of me. But people would say they could see a difference in my stomach or my face. Hmm…

Tom and I decided to take some more pictures last week. *gasp* There was a difference! It wasn’t a HUGE difference. But it was noticeable enough for me to not feel discouraged anymore, to feel that the diet change was worth it, to feel like working out was worth the hour (or more) that it dug into my day. Finally. Tom was so in shape to start with that the changes in him were more obvious. Plus men just can whip their bodies into shape more easily than women. It’s a fact: Check it out here, here, or here. Or just ask any woman in a couple that is trying to get healthier together. The point is, it’s easy to get frustrated and down when you are trying hard and seeing little reward. But seeing the side-by-side pictures helped me. I could finally see a difference, and that was the motivation I needed in order to keep going.

But why weren’t the pounds falling off of me? Well, I’m doing a lot of muscle toning and weight-lifting with this program. I spend more time each week doing that than doing basic aerobic exercise (aka: cardio). So my next step is to up the cardio so I can see fat melt away and to allow the muscles I’ve been trying to tone to actually make an appearance. My goals have been to feel good about how I look in pictures (it’s been a long time since I looked at a picture and didn’t think of my weight), to fit into some clothes I haven’t worn in a while because they’re too tight, and to feel good about myself at the beach this year. I would love to see pounds dropping down on the scale, but I don’t want to focus on that because I’ve seen it’s not the best way for me to measure progress.

So I have a few of questions for you. What do you do to stay healthy, and if you’ve done this for years, is it as effective now as it was a few years ago? Are you trying to get into a healthier lifestyle? And do you have any healthy recipes you can share? Please, do tell! =)

~Meghan

It started in high school, and it got worse as I got older. I talk in my sleep. I also walk in my sleep. I have been known to attempt to pull my husband’s foot off and tell him he told me I could have said foot in my sleep. (No, he did not.) It’s just one of the things I do. I don’t know why. My friends and family have gotten used to it.

Well….for the most part, they’ve gotten used to it. Tom is the one who suffers the most. He LOVES his sleep. And here I am, waking him up by talking in my sleep, pretty much every night since we got married. He doesn’t like waking up for no good reason, and he’s ok with telling my sleeping self to shut it. I’m ok with that too, because I don’t want to wake him up. But every now and then, there’s a (mostly one-sided) conversation that, while annoying in the wee hours of the morning, is amusing to Tom when he’s awake. And then I know it’s going public. I overheard him laughing about me with his parents on the phone the other day. And today….today I was featured on his blog. I’m okay with it. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

~Meghan

In the last post, I mentioned that Wishbone was one of my favorite shows when I was younger. I just have a few pictures to show you of Soccer, the dog who played Wishbone, dressed up for different characters in literature he depicted. How could any kid not enjoy seeing this dog as the main character?

Honestly, can you look at these adorable pictures of Soccer, depicting Wishbone, depicting famous characters from literature, and say it wouldn’t be a popular kids’ show? I think not.

Fun Trivia: Soccer lived for 13 years (1988-2001). He was named after his mutlicolor markings, like soccer balls, and after the fact that he loved to play with toy soccer balls (dog sized ones, I imagine). And he was also in Mighty Dog commercials before his big break in Wishbone.

~Meghan

Do you remember Reading Rainbow with LeVar Burton? It was one of my favorite shows to watch when I was a kid. I also loved Wishbone, which less people seem to remember (though I can still remember the song…”What’s the story, Wishbone?”). It’s about a Jack Russell (named Wishbone) who would see something going on with his owner, a boy of about 13 or 14 years of age named Joe, and Joe’s friends, David and Sam, and it would remind Wishbone of a story in a famous piece of literature. Then we would see the story from literature Wishbone is remembering, with Wishbone as the main character (so cute, this little dog in all these little outfits), and you would learn the gist of all kinds of stories. Of course, the “real-life” characters would have some parallel to the literature, and it all worked out in the end. Through Wishbone, I learned to appreciate Shakespeare, Homer, and many more story-tellers that you typically groan about in high school. Thanks to that show, I was interested in what would happen in the stories when I got old enough to have them assigned to me, rather than wishing I didn’t have to read them.

I love shows that promote reading because they make reading something that’s okay to do and fun to do instead of nerdy. My sister and I are total bookworms, and I am also part of a book-club. I could happily spend the majority of my day reading, every day of the week, as long as I have good books. This month, I’ve gotten my hands on some good material, and I’ve been in bookworm heaven. Out of the 10 books I’ve read so far this month, here are my favorites:

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire are, hands down, my favorite books I’ve read this year. One of the girls I worked with told me they were really good. So I finally gave in and bought The Hunger Games and borrowed its sequel,Catching Fire, from a friend. WOW. They are great. The books follow 16-year-old Katniss, as she tries to survive the hunger games, something inflicted by The Capitol on each district of her country, Panem, which is built on top of what was once North America. These books cover a lot of ground: government control, survival, murder, loyalty, cunning, secrets, escape, fighting, revolution, and love. The third book in this trilogy is due out on August 14, 2010, and I can’t wait to get it. This is one story I would LOVE to see turned into a movie. It would be an action/thriller for sure, and no worries, guys, it’s NOTHING like Twilight, and romance is not the driving factor.

The Total Money Makeover wasn’t as fun for me to read as the fiction I enjoy, but I want to recommend it because he has stuff worth reading in that book. Dave Ramsey is acclaimed for his financial finesse, and Tom and I had heard a lot of good things about him. We finally decided to read this book, and it’s worth reading. If you are in debt, read this book. If you are not in debt, read this book. Tom and I have always tried to be smart about our money, but this book gives you a plan for how to make your money work for you. It covers a lot:  how to get out of debt, if that’s where you are, and how to not only stay out of debt but also how to grow your wealth to pay for your kids’ college tuition, to ensure you have a nice and comfortable lifestyle later in life as well as give to those in need, and to teach you how to teach your kids to be wise with money. It’s a good read.

The other authors I’ve enjoyed reading this month are:

Sophie Kinsella (I’ve been reading her books for years. She can crack me up with her characters.)

Meg Cabot (I’ve also been reading her books for years. She is hilarious most of the time. Her characters (for her adult fiction) are usually women in their 20′s and 30′s, and they go through the every day mishaps that make you laugh, though in the end they seem to overcome some huge obstacle. My least favorite book by her is She Went All The Way, which I read this month. I’m about to read her Heather Wells Trilogy, and the titles alone make me laugh. They are: Size 12 Is Not Fat, Size 14 Is Not Fat Either, and Big-Boned.)

Mindy Klasky (She writes about regular girls in their 20′s and 30′s who accidentally stumble across magic.)

Maureen Lipinski (I read her book, A Bump In The Road. It’s a work of fiction about a 27-year-old woman (Clare) and her husband finding out they are pregnant when they had planned to wait about six more years to have kids. It’s pretty funny following along as Clare tells how her life changes over the course of nine months.)

Madeleine L’Engle (I read her book A Ring of Endless Light in high school, but I just got around to reading A Wrinkle In Time. I thought it ended kind of abruptly, but then, I haven’t read her other works to see how they follow up with the characters.)

Francine Rivers (She is one of my favorite Christian authors. I have about 5 of her books waiting for me at the library, and I intend to pick them up this week. Definitely check out her work. I’m going to read The Atonement Child and her Lineage of Grace series next.)

So, that’s my January reading list. Any books you would suggest I read?

~Meghan