I have the attention span of gnat,

especially while cooking.  First of all, there is recipe selection.  Today for dinner I picked a simple one from Martha Stewart.
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/sweet-spicy-chicken-00000000014577/index.html
Then I proceeded to make it not so simple.  My thought process goes something like this.

 "That looks good, but I'm using chicken quarters, and dark meat is kind of sweet to start with.  I bet it would be better with a marinade.  Oh look, we have draft cider.  Let's throw that in a gallon bag w/ some cider vinegar...and a bay leaf...and a cinnamon stick....Oregano is the only herbage.  We'll throw a bay leaf in there.  Well, what's a recipe w/ garlic and onion.  I have dried minced garlic and toasted onion.  Let's just throw that in the marinade too, and salt and pepper of course." 
And the weird factor was the dry mustard & tandoori seasoning.  Not sure about that.
    It's done marinading.  The rest is pretty straightforward, right?  Uh sure.  Off the bat I double it.  Our olive oil is garlic flavored, fine.  I find our brown sugar has um, dried out a bit...so I use honey.  I have two kinds of oregano.  Mexican is the obvious choice.  A splash of cider vinegar.  Can't be too sweet.  Red pepper flakes.  Mr. Man likes heat.  Finally, it's in the oven.

Then there's all the used-to-be-small people buzzing around, going "can I help?"
"Of course you can help.  Do you want to help me start the rice?"

In about half an hour, we'll have chicken, brown rice and broccoli, really.

Documenting this process, with pictures, is why I'm thinking about starting a food blog.  Because amongst all the weirdness, sometimes something great works out.

Surprise! It wasn't outpatient after all.

Most of you know I had my first overnight stay in a hospital for something besides childbirth.  Nothing beats coming home.  My feelings about this at the time were somewhat, what?  Whatever.  Quit poking me.  Lemmee sleep, maybe watch some food network.  
    Mr. Man visited some, and like a good Dad, brought kids by for short visits.   The kids were all okay.  Only one turned into velcro on sight, and it wasn't the youngest either.  He was living the high life at a friends house.
  I suspect the doctors in their infinite wisdom heard how many kids I have, and looked for an excuse to keep me, so at least I'd rest one day, because even though Mr. man is the best, he is still  just one man.
   There are many things I've pondered since being home.

1) Could I have picked a busier time in our schedule? 
   The answer is yes, the chaos of play+ kids playing basketball + Fri ballet still looks leisurely compared to multiple kids playing football and/or soccer in the fall.
2) Is it really that hard to clean a bathroom?
  I've delegated it, twice, but the jailer (aka husband), still says I have to wait it out for the two week sentence before I clean anything myself.
3) How many days would it be before breaking the 10lb weight limit?
  3, the answer was three thanks to SI jumping on the couch yesterday while Mr. Man was playing taxi, and my removing him, but it drove me back to narcotics, so we'll try for a longer record this time.
4) Why do I see every missed "thing" now that I'm not allowed to do anything about it?

But I digress.  With the Vibe needing a new tire/tire repair, at least I won't be tempted to drive too soon.

So, should this crazy momma start a third blog?

     I love this blog.  I love how it journals our lives, what the kids are doing, and the flow of life in general.  It is the good, the bad, and the funny of being in our family.Although much more sporadic, the hippo does help keep me accountable to my fitness goals.    Neither blog is a work of blogilicious  beauty, so why start another?
   Well,  I get a lot of food questions, so I'm kind of thinking about doing a food blog.  I might even try posting pictures on it.  If I do this blog, this would be the one where I try to take it up a notch, learn more about formatting, uploading photos, editing & proofreading, and such.  It would be a stretch, since ticky-tacky-detail-person I am not.
    It also might be just what I need to ease into having no kids at home for half a day, every day, this fall.  Planning and formatting and researching, well...it might not launch until next year.  Or it might launch next September.  I'm just considering the idea for now.

on twinkies

    Apparently, twinkies are a multi-faceted issue.  Who knew?
There are  sub-issues that came up today with the announcement of Hostess filing for "bankruptcy" protection.

1) The value of their product. 
     a)Part of why they're struggling is that they are selling less.  As people get more educated about food, they don't want to eat trans-fats (that change the structure of your brain!), large amounts of sugar, (simple sugars are hard on your blood vessels and insulin levels), or the various chemical agents used to preserve foods.  This is a good thing.  That alone, doesn't negate them the "right" to restructure, but it does make me hope that unless they totally change their product profile, that the restructure won't work. 
     This statement on my wall brought all kinds of FB fury down on me about the issue.  I credit most people for not making it personal, but the ones who did take it personally, it was because of this angle.  (Love ya friends, but not likely to change to my opinion.  Nor are you likely to change yours.)  Yes, I would still have the same thoughts is if it was my beloved Diet Mountain Dew under the axe, because artificial sweeteners, excess phosphorous,etc. are almost equally horrid.  (I *do* plan to ditch soda entirely, within the next year)
     b) Some argued for the nostalgic value of the product, it's place in our culture.  I understand this, but feel it underscores part of why our nation has "food issues."

2)  Should businesses be able to file for bankruptcy more often than individuals?
     Some thought that corporate and individual protections should be the same.  Some thought it was okay that corporations had some "extra give".  Some thought individuals should have more protections.  My dear husband said, "just let corporations fail, and figure it out.  It worked for the steel industry."   Given I have friends ranging for "occupy" activists to "tea-party", this does not surprise me.
      Personally, I'd like to see the money spent on "protecting the corporations" to "protect jobs" be reallocated somehow to train the workforce for new jobs that have higher demand.  There are still fields that have chronic worker shortages.  How?  Good question.

3) Who's paying for it?  The consumers.  The expenses of the restructure to the company will be recouped from the sale of their products at higher prices.  The decline in mental/physical health will be paid for through the consumer with higher medical insurance and fees.  The legal expenses of the court system that exceeds what the corporations are charged will be paid through our taxes.
    It's true if they failed, we'd be paying up to six months unemployment for the workers who were laid off, maybe some medicaid too.  That's hundreds of thousands, but the cost of helping them succeed is millions + quality of life.
And even I, was willing to shrug that off once, the first time.  Now the second time in not so long, I have an opinion.  My kids plates reflect that.

Heroes

Every 5th grader has to do a "hero" report on an American hero in our school district.  The paper, not so fun, but this assignment has a perk.  It has an oral presentation where they get to dress up and talk about their hero, as their hero.   This is called the "hero museum", that is open for parents, community members,etc. to come in and press a button, and watch the hero come to life.
Today was the hero museum for fifth grade. 
E1 is in fifth grade this year.  His hero is Neil  Armstrong.  It's a really good fit for him.  He was a bit disappointed I didn't make him a space suit.  (I, of course, figured out how to do so, after the costume due date.)  So he had to make do with the standard suit/tie & a little NASA symbol his teacher helped him with.
Other heroes represented were President Grant, Annie Oakley, Christopher Reeves, Amelia Earheart, Abraham Lincoln, and more.   Movie Stars and baseball to War Generals and Presidents,  the founder of the Red Cross, a famous cellist and scientists; all were represented.  I love seeing the diversity in these kids.
Carry on.  Carry on.

A pretty perfect Saturday.

   Today was the first day of Upward basketball games for the kidlets.  Martin took them, and I stayed home with the oldest two to OD on digital.  What was really fun was how with the girls games, he'd just send me scores, or Miss P's case, "herd reports."  When our tall skinny athletic kid played his first game, he started keeping stats.  0-1 for baskets, but honey, he got two steals, a rebound, and forced a turnover.  (Guess what sport my man likes best?)   Besides watching the kids play, KSU stomped MU in college ball.   I also made stew for dinner, so Mr. Man couldn't have had a better day.
   The grandparents took the youngest three after the first set of games, so the oldest three didn't have to share the Wii, or worry about the "content" of what they were playing as much.   Mostly they were being owlish, (Guardians of G'hool)...but there was some racing and Lego Star Wars in there too.
   As for me, other than making dinner and doing some laundry, I pretty much let everything go today.   I went through friends and friends of friends pages on Pinterest, discovering all sorts of skills/recipes I want to try.  It was good to recharge...for tomorrow is further on and further in.

Happy New Year! Time to jump through some hoops.

Basketball hoops that is.  At this moment, Mr. man is watching Willie and the Hawks duke it out.  This Saturday, our kids Upward games start.  Since only one child is playing in any given game, and we have three kids playing, that means we know what we're doing for about four hours every Saturday for the next several weeks.   (E1 took a pass.  He'll stick to dance and bowling, thankyouverymuch.)
   I can't wait!  Nothing is cuter than kindie sports.  Miss P is a hoot.  Piggies flying, determined pout in place, and flashing eyes as she hip-hops around the court.
   Almost as entertaining, is watching the very determined Ms D. play on a coed team where she's the only girl, and the shortest person by at least four inches.  She's great at getting the ball and learning dribbling, but oh, that basket is so high!   
    Tagging along for the ride is E2.  He's tall and skinny.  He's Mr. M's kid.  He has to at least try basketball, and see how he likes it.  I think he'll be okay.  He's in the middle of the pack, even though he has never played before.  Don't see it replacing football as a first love, but hey, it's a sport.  He likes sports.
   We do too, especially when it's our children playing them.