Pajama Party!: Hot Cocoa Popcorn

Things are certainly not easy in Thathouse right now.  Due to the nature of my profession, work hasn't slowed down at all - it's increased as we are daily faced with new rules/regulations/health crises that need to be dealt with immediately, on top of my regular workload which hasn't slowed or adapted to the additional work, with the warning that when it does slow we'll be moved into hospitals and other clinical settings.

On top of that, like most every other kid in the country, mine are home.  But mine have no guidance or direction from the schools on what to do with them.  Which means on top of working 8+ hours a day, I also am in charge of keeping them occupied in a way that allows me to address the needs of millions of people, state regulatory boards, health care providers and agencies without the flexibility of doing it after the kids are asleep or before they wake up.

I admit to being resentful when friends have viral posts about taking this time to spend with your children who need you more than ever now, or who complain about having to work 4 hours a day and then post pictures of hikes and bike rides with their children, or write that they deserve an award for answering emails while helping their child with schoolwork.  My kids get no hikes, no bikes, no help with work, no parent time at all during the day.  Time off has been canceled, we had no spring break.  My entire week is me telling my kids "no" or "I can't."  Which is really hard for them to understand when I'm right there.  I was commiserating with a friend when we realized we spend less time with our kids now than before they were home 24/7. 

I'm trying to make it up to them on the weekend.  Going device free during their waking hours so I can actually spend time with them and give them the attention they crave so much.  When I heard Disney was releasing Onward on Disney+ I decided we would make a whole event of it - turning the living room into a giant pillow pit and having a slumber party while we watched it.

We went with a slumber party theme, which is their favorite.  They love wearing their pajamas all day.  And the movie was incredible.  Maybe moreso as I watched my two boys watching it together, since it's all about brothers.  If Frozen was about the love between two sisters, this is definitely the brothers' response.

As much as I'd have loved to turn the day into a movie marathon, my kids aren't great with sitting in front of a television, and having cushions all over the floor is basically just an invitation for them to wrestle until someone gets hurt.  So instead of movies all day, we threw in some other pajama party classics.  Like playing card games.

And eating pizza RIGHT ON THE FLOOR!

And most importantly, popcorn.  It doesn't hurt that popcorn is my all time favorite food, but it fits in well with a movie too, right?  I did a choose your own adventure with the popcorn, throwing together a couple different flavors so they could pick what they wanted.

The winner?  This Hot Cocoa popcorn.  I can't even remember why I bought the container of mallow-bits, but I always find a use for them.  And while regular marshmallows would add a gooey-ness to the popcorn, these little bits have the marshmallow flavor and a crunch that goes great with the snack.

Hot Cocoa Popcorn

1/4 cup popcorn kernels (if you use microwave popcorn, skip the first and second step)

1 Tbsp butter (melted)

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 Tbsp powdered sugar

1/4 cup Jet Puffed Mallow Bits

1.  Pop popcorn kernels in airpopper, or paper bag, or however you like to pop your popcorn.
2. Pour the melted butter over and toss.
3. Sift cocoa powder and powdered sugar over the popcorn.
4. Add Mallow Bits and toss.

A Homemade Life: Bread Salad with Cherries, Arugula and Goat Cheese

I have such fond memories of summers growing up.  Not that they were terribly different than the school year.  My parents taught year-round, so daycamp took the place of school.

But the long days meant dinners outside on the picnic table in our backyard, and not having to go to bed quite as early.  And once, because it was still light, we headed to the movies AFTER dinner.  Since our bedtimes were usually around 8pm, this summer reprieve left a lasting memory for me.

I've been anxious to give Thatkid similar memories.  Especially since nowadays summers means movies in the park, which is way better than going to a theater.  But he's never been old enough to stay up late and sit through a movie.  Until this summer.  We've been taking advantage of both movies in the park as well as the drive in.

The first movie in the park we brought our chairs and blankets and watched The Box Trolls.  Which was fabulous and dark.  I love dark cartoons.  I could definitely add this to our Coraline and Nightmare Before Christmas collection.  Because it was free, it was our test run before shelling out money for a late night (8:30) movie.  Thatkid did great!

Thatkid has been asking to see The Minions movie for the past month.  But going to the theater doesn't really work for us right now with an infant.  The drive-in is definitely our solution.  Thatbaby slept the entire time, and Thatkid laughed his little butt off.

Our next stop is another movie in the park.  Big Hero 6.  Which would not be my pick given that Thatkid owns the movie and watches it nonstop at home.  But he really wants to see it in the park, and it does provide a nice family outing for us.  Plus, I do love picnics in the summer. Spread out on the blanket, easy cold dinners in the warm weather.  This bread salad is the perfect accompaniment to a summer picnic.  The toasted bread gives a little more bulk than your average salad, and the cherries celebrate all the best flavors of summer. 

Bread Salad with Cherries, Arugula, and Goat Cheese (From A Homemade Life)

6 oz rustic white bread

olive oil

1/2 lb cherries, halved and pitted, preferably Bing

1/8 tsp pressed garlic

balsamic vinegar

salt

arugula

goat cheese, crumbled

black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400. Trim the crusts from the bread with a sharp knife.  Tear the bread into rough, bite sized pieces.
2. Dump bread onto rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss to coat. Bake 8-10 minutes.
3. Put 1/3 of the cherries in a small bowl and crush them lightly with a fork.
4. Turn the bread into a large bowl and while it's still hot, toss with the garlic. Set aside to cool.
5. Add the smashed and unsmashed cherries and toss.
6. Add 2 tsp balsamic vinaigrette and toss.
7. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil and a pinch or two of salt and toss again.
8. Add 2 handfuls of arugula and toss one last time.
9. Finish with crumbled goat cheese and a few grinds of the pepper mill.

Have it Your Way

Lately it has been all about me in Thathouse. And I'm telling you, a girl could get used to this. You see, last weekend Thatboy headed out to the store to pick up a movie, and came back with "How to Train Your Dragon." This is a big deal, because normally when Thatboy goes to pick up a movie, it's usually a movie you've never heard of, and 9 times out of 10, it's in another language. Yep, foreign Indie films are his favorite.

I felt pretty lucky to be able to see a movie I wanted to see without having to threaten dismemberment or refusal to cook another meal. I figured it was a one time deal.

Then this morning as we were lazily lying in bed trying to figure out what to do (can you remember the last time you had no plans whatsoever?) when I suggested going to a movie. Usually that would involve Thatboy popping open his computer and checking to see what's playing - naming only movies I've never heard anything about. Which of course, prompts the question: "What's that about?" and the inevitable answer: "I don't know, let me check." He pretty much assumes if he hasn't heard of it, it must be a fantastic movie. So you can imagine my surprise when he told me to check and see what was playing. Which means I got to screen the movie choices before and purposely not tell him the movies who had names I couldn't pronounce. I gave him a list of several options, and he told me to go ahead and pick whatever I wanted to see. I stared at him in disbelief. "You don't even want to rule one or two of them out?" He didn't. And that, my friends, is how we got to see "Cedar Rapids" today. And we spent the entire time bent over in laughter. We both find John C. Reilly hilarious, especially when he's Dr. Steve Brule. And how can you not find a place in your heart for doofy, affable, Ed Helms. He's just got such an "aw shucks" quality about him.

On the way home, we stopped to return "How to Train Your Dragon" and pick up a new movie. And this is where things got suspicious, because Thatboy let me get "Toy Story 3." (Can you tell my taste in movies is a bit different than him?) I cornered him in the car, asking what gives. I thought maybe he had heard I only had a couple days to live, or something similar. Nope. Turns out, he's been feeling bad that it's been all about him with movies for almost the entire last year, and this was my turn to cash in. (I knew going to all those Twilight movies with him would eventually pay off for me.)

Dinner was one of my favorite "company meals" - Steak au poivre. Just say it, it even sounds fancy, which is why it's such a great company meal. But like any great company meal, it is much easier to make than it sounds. Because when you have company over, the last thing you want to do is spend forever in the kitchen worrying about dinner.

There are various recipes for steak au poivre, but they all bear one thing in common - coating the steak with crushed peppercorn. (That's the au poivre part) A lot of recipes use a cream sauce, but I don't think you need it. A simple gravy made with just enough bourbon to deglaze the pan has always been my go-to.

Now to add the finishing touch and really impress your guests, dress up your rice dish. Thatboy grew up with his "fancy rice" as Uncle Ben's wild rice mix. You don't need a mix though to make easy, delicious rice. And in Thathouse, unless it's Thatboy's birthday, we usually stay away from rice mixes. Instead, stir in your own spices. Add some rice and toasted almond, and you'll be amazed at the silence that fills your room as your guests fill their mouths.

Steak au Poivre
4 steaks (filets are the typical cut of choice, but I also like thin guys because they cook so quickly)
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp peppercorns, coarsely crushed (I give 'em a good whack with the meat tenderizer)
3 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp oil
4 Tbsp bourbon

1. Rub the steaks with salt. Sprinkle them with half the peppercorns. Now, remember that meat tenderizer you used to crush the peppercorn? Use it again to pound the pepper into the steak. Flip the steak over and do the same thing on the other side.
2. Heat the butter and oil in a skillet and saute the steaks, 4 minutes per side. Remove from pan.
3. Add the bourbon and 2 Tbsp water to the still hot pan. Cook, scraping the browned bits off the the bottom of the pan. Boil for one minute, and pour over the steaks.

Turkish Pilaf (From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)
6 Tbsp butter
1 cup rice
1 1/2 cups onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 bay leaf, crumbled
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
2 cups chicken broth

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Melt the butter in a skillet and stir in the rice. Cook over low heat a couple minutes till the rice is shiny.
2. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until they are soft.
3. Pour the skillet contents into casserole. Add the salt, bay leaf, cinnamon, raisins, and almonds.
4. Heat the chicken broth until it's boiling and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Cover and bake 45 minutes.

The Last Few Weeks

Didya miss me? It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks, and the inlaws are on their way which means a flurry of activity involving dusters, brooms, and sponges. And we've been cleaning.

So what have you missed?

Well.....first there was Easter.

Our coworkers enjoyed these chickie cupcakes courtesy of Martha Stewart. Well, courtesy of me, but inspired by Martha Stewart. Because of Passover, I also made them Passover friendly by using flourless chocolate cupcakes as the base. BAD idea. BAD. Don't do it. Unless you like free forming crumbs of cupcakes into lumps because they completely fall apart when removing them from the pan.

Thatboy and I dyed eggs. And I'm hoping by showing this picture I can embarass Thatboy into getting rid of that shirt. I think he's had it since high school. I also think there are more holes in the back than in the front. At least I've stopped him from wearing it outside the house.

The finished project:

G Squared and his folks came down to San Diego for the weekend, so we met them for dinner in Mexico.

Just kidding. We went to Old Town because it was near the G's hotels. But close enough.

I ran another 5k. So far I'm doing great with my "race a month" plan! Even with some unexpected complications.

A couple weeks before the 15k I went on a long run and towards the end my knee starting bothering. Because I received my medical degree online, I decided to consult the internets to determine what was wrong with me. Based on the location of the pain, I self diagnosed myself with ITBS and began stretching and resting the muscle. I thought I was doing great, pain free for a couple of weeks. But after the 15k, I got the pain again. So I tried something new - KT tape. OMG I LOVE THIS STUFF! It makes my knee not hurt AT ALL. And it's cool looking, right?

And it worked great. I PRd this race!

And this is now Thatboy's favorite race. He wants me to run it every year. Because after the race? There's a beer garden! And every runner gets 2 free beers! And fabulous beers, supplied by Pizza Port. And running a 5k then downing 2 beers? Makes me a VERY fun Thatgirl. Just ask Thatbrother who got a drunk dial when I decided I wanted to talk to someone on our walk back to the car.


And then there's the news about my friend Michelle. For the past 11 months, she's been working on writing a book. And it's phenomenal. I've been reading her drafts along the way and telling her good things like "I want to punch the main character and the love interest;" "This is brilliant;" "I hate this entire paragraph;" "I love everything in this scene." And generally confusing her by using every theater term I can think of to describe a piece of writing. Luckily for me, she's a brilliant writer and even more luckily for me, she hasn't killed me yet. And I'm the not the only one who recognizes her talent, because this past week she signed with an agent to represent her book - and the two others that will be following it! Wanna hear a secret? There was more than one agent who was interested. Which isn't surprising to me. She's fabulous.

And UDubb? She's an Aunt! Her brother just had his first baby. A little girl! She's going to be such a fabulous Aunt.

This week has been especially anxious and trying in Thathouse, so Thatmom decided we all needed to relax, and the three of us went to see Kick Ass. Or as Thatmom calls it....Pick Ass. Because she's not great at hearing things over the phone. She admits to thinking that would be a really weird name for a movie.

We all enjoyed the movie. Thatmom enjoyed it more than she thought she would. I think she has a crush on the main character...which is good, because apparently he has a thing for older women. I liked the story line, and thought the battle choreography was great. I'm a sucker for superhero movies. The only thing I didn't love was the mouth on Hit Girl. Swearing tweens just don't do it for me.

And then of course, there's been the endless cleaning cleaning cleaning. But we're at the point now where just a couple last minute pick ups need to be done. Which is definitely a VAST improvement. I don't think our place has been overhauled to this extent since last year when the inlaws came to visit! So we've been doing quick and easy (and pretty healthy) dinners. But everyone gets sick of chicken all the time, and since we're so far from November, it's safe to pull out the turkey again. I love grabbing some turkey tenderloins at the store because they cook really quickly. And throw them in a brine the day before, and it's just like Thanksgiving. But a million times faster!

Turkey Brine

• 1 qt cold water
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1 tsp dried celery seed
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme

1. Mix all ingredients and stir until salt is dissolved.
   
2. Place turkey in water and refrigerate overnight.
   
3. Remove tenderloins from brine and and rinse well.

Working Backwards

Hoo boy do I have a lot to share with you! But it's going to be totally out of order because I'm already DAYS late on a Valentine's Day post, and frankly the later it gets the weirder it's going to be when I start going off on hearts and flowers. So let's start with some Valentine's Day celebrationing and then we'll go from there. Sound good?

Good.

Sharing the Love

If you know me, you know that I don't limit my Valentining to Thatboy. We sent out Valentines to our friends and family - and little gifties to Thatniece and Thatnephew. We got presents to give to Thatmom, Thatbrother, and UDubb since we'd be spending the actual holiday with them. And of course, appropriate treats were brought in to share with out coworkers.

Take a little trip, Take a little trip, Take a little trip with me

Thatmom told us last month that she really wanted to send Thatboy and I away for Valentine's Day. As I've mentioned before, we've been spending a lot of time with Thatmom on the weekends over the past year, and she wanted us to have some quality time to ourselves. Thatboy told her he'd gladly accept her offer, as long as she came along with us. There was no way we were leaving her alone on Valentine's Day weekend - not only because of the holiday itself, but because last year, this was the last weekend she had with Thatdad. And we knew it was going to be a hard one for her. She fought with us about joining, assuring us she was going to treat it like just another day, but we were stubborn. Eventually she agreed. Soon Thatbrother and UDubb were roped into the weekend getaway and on Friday night we all found ourselves heading out to Palm Desert.

Thatfamily has multiple timeshares in Palm Desert, which means anytime we want to get away for a weekend, we head East. Our ownership meant we got a great deal on the brand new (opening weekend) Westin Desert Willow Villas. Brand new everything! We were the first to sleep on the heavenly beds, the first to use the oversize towels, the first to turn on the double showerheads, and the first to take advantage of the jacuzzi tubs.

But getting there on a Friday night was quite the ordeal. Our quick little trip took almost 3 times longer than we were expecting! Thatboy was trying to arrive as quickly as possible so he could watch the Olympics opening ceremony. Luckily we were able to get there in time for him to tune in. We stopped at the first place off the exit so he wouldn't miss a minute while we ate.

Thatboy's "Fire Chief" - a 1/2 lb burger topped with swiss, pastrami, and thousand island dressing. He said it was good, but he could feel his arteries clogging as he ate it.

I made my own burger - topping it with blue cheese and bacon. And can I just sing the praises of beer battered fries for a moment? Heaven. Of course, neither of us was able to finish. I couldn't even get through half of my burger!

Race to Love? Love to Race?

I really wanted to do a race this month, now that I'm back running like it was my job. All the "good" or fun sounding races in San Diego however were on Valentine's Day weekend. Which wasn't going to work with our plans. So I decided to check and see what Palm Spring had to offer. Which is how I stumbled upon the Palm Spring's half marathon and 5k. I'm not quite up to a half marathon yet, but a 5k I can almost do in my sleep. As I can attest to my many morning runs when I'm not quite up yet. I emailed UDubb to see if she wanted to join me, and she was in. Then she made the mistake of telling Thatbrother about the special "Sweethearts division" of the half marathon. This allowed couples to run the half as a relay. One person does the first 5ish miles, the second does 3ish miles, and they run the last 4ish miles together. UDubb was beyond surprised when Thatbrother said he wanted to do it. She made him go on a 5 mile run with her, and then waited a couple days to make sure he was serious before signing up.

The plan was for UDubb to run the first section of the relay. Thatboy would meet up with her at the switchoff and run the second section. Then he'd loop around and pick her up so they could do the last part together. The halfers got a headstart on the 5kers so we were all there to cheer UDubb on.

15-20 minutes later, the 5kers got our start!

And even though I started so much later than the halfers, I finished before even one of them crossed the finish. Because I am so very fast. Or because they were running A LOT more than I was. Toe-may-to, Toe-mah-to. You can see the half marathoners clock to the right of me. Because it had only been 47 minutes since they started, we figured we had a wait ahead of us and we headed out to mile 11 to cheer on Thatbrother and UDubb. At mile 11 they were looking great. And strong. Thatmom had been worried about Thatbrother who is NOT a runner, but he looked pretty good. We'd find out why later.

We headed back to the finish to watch them cross. How cute are they holding hands? It was Thatbrother's idea. UDubb wasn't interested. I can tell you one of the reasons was probably because Thatbrother had MISSED THE SWITCHOFF POINT. When she arrived and he was no where to be found, UDubb just kept going. The joined up again at the point where she was supposed to join him after his section. Thatbrother looked so much better than we expected because he'd only run a little over 4ish miles. UDubb had run THE WHOLE THING. And yet - they still came in second overall for all the "mixed" relay teams (a man and a woman). Somehow they didn't get put into the Sweetheart division, but they would have come in third if they had been.

Nothing says "I love you" like blood.

The first Valentine's Day Thatboy and I spent together we were both in college. We decided to skirt convention and go and see Hannibal. So when I saw that The Wolfman was opening Valentine's Day weekend, I thought it would be an appropriate homage to go see it. With Anthony Hopkins in it, we were expecting it to be phenomenal. Plus we'd both seen the original. Let me just say - Benicio Del Toro is no Lon Chaney. The story has been revamped a little, making the female lead the fiancee of Del Toro's brother. Which bothered me a little. Because really, if anything ever happened to Thatboy, I don't think I'd be lusting after TBIL. Seriously. Men are not interchangeable just because they're brothers. Think about how well that worked out for Catherine of Aragon. I also had a hard time buying into Benicio Del Toro as the romantic lead. Whether it was because of his wooden acting, stilted lines, or the nearly 20 year age difference between he and Emily Blunt. In that sense, the movie was a disappointment. The creepiness factor was fun though, and I liked the fact that they didn't over use technology. I love cheese in classic horror and the costumes weren't all CGI and technical.

Table for Two

There are a lot of thoughts on eating out on Valentine's Day. Frankly - Thatboy and I have never run into the stereotypical issues complained about, but I do my research in advance. I check for prix fixe menus that charge astronomical prices, I make reservations in January, we don't go places where you go to "see and be seen." But it is an excuse to eat out, and we take advantage. Thatboy wanted to start out with some drinks, so we began our evening bellying up to the bar at The Falls. This is where we discovered their signature "Smokin' Martinis."

No really, those things were better than a witch's cauldron! When I asked the bartender what drink it was, he was very blase. "That's one of our martinis. They all do that." When I commented that he didn't seem nearly as excited as I was, he cracked a smile.

So of course we got a couple rounds, purely for science to discover if different alcohols had different smoking properties.

After our drinks, we stumbled our way over to our dinner reservations at Pomme Frite. Where of course, we started with some more alcohol.

I found a new favorite beer while in the desert - St. Bernardus Abt 12. It's a brown ale, but really smooth and fruity. LOVE it. Thatboy had the Piraat Ale. I didn't sample it or ask how it was, because I was afraid that would open me up to having him ask for some of mine.

I began with a French Onion Soup, which was the highlight of my meal. So cheesy they served it with scissors to cut through the deliciousness. I didn't want to share this either, but I did.

This bowl of darkness is Thatboy's Split Pea Soup. Not nearly as good as my soup. I was actually kind of surprised he ordered it, but who am I to argue with him?

I had the coq au vin, which was nothing to write home about. Probably a bad choice on my part since this is a recipe I make at home - and I make a mean coq au vin, so it's hard for restaurants to live up to my standards. The chicken was perfectly cooked, but the au vin sauce wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked.

Thatboy went with the house specialty - mussels. The only food I'm allergic to. That I know of. He had his mussels in a saffron broth. He was in heaven. I kept hearing proclamations of "I can't believe how many there are!" and "This one was SO sweet!" They were apparently perfect.

And of course, with a name like Pomme Frite you can better believe we ended up with pomme frites accompanying our meals. Thatboy thought they might have been the best french fries he's had. Served with a trio of dipping sauces - ketchup, something spicy, and one that look enough like mayo that I steered clear. But they were perfect for soaking up my chicken juices and his saffron broth.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day my loves! Hug those close to you, and don't forget to tell them how much you appreciate them.

Holiday Movie Review

Thatboy and I go through movie phases. We watch movies at home at an alarming rate, but we'll go for months without setting foot in a theater. And then all of a sudden, it's like we're always at the theater.

Recently it started with Thanksgiving. We had a family tradition where Thatdad, Thatbrother and I would go see a movie on Thanksgiving day, leaving my mom to cook in peace. Thatboy got in on the act just as soon as we were married and he started spending Thanksgiving with us. This year I didn't really want to go to the movies without Thatdad - maybe it's something that will re-emerge when we have kids, but for now it's a tradition that's going dormant.

Instead, the day after Thanksgiving Toxicesq, Thatmom, Thatboy and I went to see a movie. And I think we've been going for every week since!

It started with "The Blindside." We all went into this movie with pretty low expectations - but there was a severe dearth of movies playing during Thanksgiving weekend. Surprising, no? (Thatboy was pushing for New Moon - but he was outvoted, more on that later) Anyway we all loved this movie. It's the perfect family film because it has a happy ending. Even though none of us are sports fans (Thatboy couldn't identify what city the Seahawks played for when I asked him last night) we all enjoyed the movie way more than we thought we would.

Next came "Up in the Air." The movie was okay, another circumstance of "there's nothing else really out there" although I think we all wanted to see this movie. Don't get me wrong, the movie was definitely okay, but I would classify it as a renter, and not necessarily worthy of all the hype it's getting. It was definitely a change from all the Judd Apatow style comedies we've been seeing lately.



Christmas Day we went to see "Nine." If you want a REALLY fun experience, you should go see a movie loaded with sex sitting next to your 80 year old ex-priest father in law. I spent the whole movie telling Thatboy how uncomfortable I was. BUT I still managed to enjoy the movie. Enough where I'm looking forward to renting it and watching it at home in a more suitable environment. I loved the musical productions which were big, bold, and colorful.


Shortly after Christmas we saw "New Moon." A couple years back, Prez got me "Twilight" for a birthday present. She thought I would like it given my love for vampire stories. It went to the bottom of my bedside "to read" pile, but Thatboy got to it before I did and fell in love. He was already into the second book, New Moon when I started reading it. I can remember the exact moment I turned to Thatboy with exasperation and asked WTF was up with this book. I was angry. He laughed. As I read I got angrier and angrier. Thatboy and L both told me not to keep reading. The main character can't walk two steps without falling down, so much so that the author has her being carried the entire second half of the book (Jasper carried her up the stairs, Edward carried her down the stairs, Alice carried her to the car.........). And when the guy she's been making goo goo eyes at? the one she's been doodling Mrs. Hislastname all over her books? The moment he acknowledges her presence she gets ANGRY at him for getting to go to school and not having to go to the hospital with her. It only gets more and more ridiculous as the series goes on. I know. I read over Thatboy's shoulder every now and again. Mostly to annoy him. Unfortunately, the producers of the movie are in cahoots with Thatboy because the movies all come out his birthday weekend. Which means I get to go to the theater with Thatboy and about 300 fifteen year old girls and lonely single women. (I know this because there were pretty much people fainting in the aisles when one character took off his shirt during the movie). I stalled for as long as possible, even planning a trip to Las Vegas the weekend of his birthday, but there is only so long you can stall the inevitable.


I had to wait a while to see our last movie because UDubb and I had made plans to see it together. Neither Thatbrother or Thatboy were interested in "The Princess and the Frog", so we were going to do a girls date. And then the boys jumped in. Thatboy didn't want to be left out, and Thatbrother got guilted into it. I believe UDubb's direct quote was "I see so many of your crappy movies, at least this one is only 90 minutes." It was so much fun to see an old school Disney movie again - with a princess, and talking animals, and most importantly - music! I bet it'll only be 20 minutes before you'll be seeing it on Broadway.


And you know what goes great with movies? Popcorn. Well, I believe popcorn goes great with everything, but especially movies. I love love love making my own popcorn too. Everytime I expect it to be greasy and oily because, well you dump all this oil in a pot. And I never cease to be amazed when it comes out light, fluffy, with nary a trace of oil. Which helps when you want to cover it with spices. This is my take on kettle corn. The sugar makes it sweet like kettle corn, but the 5 spice powder gives it a kick of cinnamon and other yummy flavors which is even better than kettle corn.

Better 'n Kettle Corn

1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp 5 spice powder

1. Put kernels, oil, and salt in large bowl. Cover with lid and cook over medium heat.
2. When corn starts popping, shake the pot back and forth (like Jiffy pop!)
3. As soon as the popping slows, remove from heat.
4. Add sesame seeds and shake to distribute.
   
5. Sprinkle 5 spice powder and sugar over popcorn.

Weekend Update

What's cute about this picture? Thatdog is on TMD's bed, and TMD is on Thatdog's bed. Sharing's nice.

On Friday morning I snuggled into the car seat as Thatboy drove us to work, thinking how nice it was going to be to take a little nap on the way up to Thatmom's house that evening. Then I remembered - I was going to be driving - grrrr. Thatboy had a hearing on Monday morning so we were taking two cars up and I was going to get to come home myself on Sunday night. It was no consolation that I got to have Thatdog as my companion. He's not very good company in the car - spending most of the time sleeping. The only thing that makes it a bit better is that he manages to contort himself into the strangest, most uncomfortable looking positions. Next time I drive up with him I'm going to try to snap a picture.

Saturday we had discussed going up to the LA Festival of books. It's something Thatmom has enjoyed going to in the past, but that was back when she had a faculty parking permit making parking a breeze. She was having mixed feelings about going, since it was something she always did with Thatdad. Then she started having sympathy pains in her back. Thatmom and I are so connected that whatever ails me, also ails her. So we decided to skip out on the festival so we could run errands and go see a movie. We saw Sunshine Cleaning which was so much better than I'd heard. The reviews compared it to Little Miss Sunshine and were disappointed in the movie. As for me, I wasn't a huge fan of Little Miss Sunshine to begin with and going in with low expectations definitely helped. Amy Adams and Emily Blunt were adorable and dysfunctional and the little boy who played Adams' son was adorable. Thatmom remarked that he looked like Thatdog in human form. We came home and I got to work at making dinner - grilled shrimp fajitas. After dinner Thatbrother and UDubb went back to work and we settled in to watch Grey Gardens. What an interesting story. Thatmom is beyond fascinated and has already added the documentary to her blockbuster que. She also believes Drew Barrymore deserves an Oscar for her performance. We spent the rest of the weekend making references to the movie and the bizarre relationship between Edith and Edie Beale.

Sunday we all got together for breakfast - I am becoming well adept at cooking for 5. Then I went for a run again. It's been a while since I could run because of my back, but I get so antsy when I don't. If you run, you'll understand how good it feels your first day back. I ran for over 7 miles which is the longest run I've done in a while. In general I run 3 miles a day, 5 days a week, but the first day back, I always feel like I could run forever. Thatboy got me a cute pink waterbelt for Valentine's Day and I hadn't had the opportunity to test it out yet. The rest of the day was more "around the house" chores until it was time to get dinner ready. It was a request from Thatmom, her favorite of my recent cooking - grilled chicken with avocado salsa and honeyed corn bread. Then it was back in the car with Thatdog and on the road.

This morning I went back to my 3 miles. I brought my usual running partner with me - Thatdog. I had left him out Sunday because I didn't want the extra strain on my back. This morning I realized that as much as I love the company, sometimes it's nice to run without him. Especially when he gets into one of his moods. This morning as we approached the trail behind my place where we run I noticed a power walker. The man was older, stoop shouldered and moving his arms and hips back and forth as he heel-toed it. Thatdog wasn't quite sure what to make of it, and since Thatboy takes on a similar position when he's playing "creepy scary chasey guy" around our place I think it spooked Thatdog. He began barking at this man like he was going to eat him - my sweet little dog! I knew he wouldn't do anything to the man, but the man didn't know that and he hightailed it in the other direction. How embarrassing!

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful - I only had one tearful moment in my office which is a vast improvement over this weekend. By the end of the day my legs were feeling all 10 miles over the past two days and so Thatboy ran me a bath to soak. We've been doing a ton of "accidently on purpose" spicy food lately and tonight was no different. Last week I accidently over red-pepper flaked our chili, and tonight I realized I had bought the extreme spicy version of enchilada sauce. Good thing we like spice. Thatboy said these enchiladas are the best I've ever made. But oh so messy!