Crunchwrap It Up

So we've been totally caught up in Olympic Fever. I *love* the Olympics but this is the first year the kids have gotten really into it. I mean, they enjoyed the swimming and gymnastics in 2016, but this time they're watching all the things and listening to the commentary and learning and, by the end of the first night, offering the athletes advice and commiseration from the couch like any good sports fan.

We don't watch any sports, really ever, outside of Olympic years, so it's funny to watch the inevitable armchair coaching evolve on its own in each of them. Yesterday they got totally caught up in the speed skating and biathlon coverage and it was the best.

But first, when we last left off I was in San Antonio for work by day and grandparent tours by night. Night 1 involved a meal at my Grandma Mary's FAVORITE restaurant- "the one with the shrimp scampi." So, Red Lobster it was.

They are so cute. My grandpa continues to be a living breathing miracle. He's still coping with the changes to his health and life- he was so robust and active right up until the moment he collapsed on their lake property. But they also live every day so thankful to have it together. They've always been very openly affectionate with and about one another, but there's an added layer of simple gratefulness to greet each day side by side. I sent my grandpa a packet of my blog posts and facebook updates when he had his heart attack. I hoped they wouldn't be too hard to read, but I thought he'd want to know we were all thinking of him during that time. He called in tears, so many tears, SO very moved to be able to read what was going on while he was unconscious and recovering... I didn't know anything from when I got back to the cabin from my walk until I woke up two weeks later. I'm glad to have filled in a few blanks with all the love that was surrounding him, including that which was sent from you all.

On a lighter, but colder note. I have never mis-packed more for a trip in my life. When I left Fort Worth on Sunday it was lovely outside. I wasn't at the counsel's bench for the trial, so I was excited to be more casual and comfortable in the galley. I knew I'd be visiting my grandparents for dinner each day and wanted to be able to go straight there without changing, so I went with simple work dresses. I was proud to pack super lightly with my two dresses and same flat shoes so I could have room for my workout clothes and running shoes, because I'm a person who works out while traveling now. I woke up early on Monday, did my workout (running on the treadmill + yoga), got ready, and walked outside to 38 degree temperatures. 38 degrees, grey, and windy, in my dress and ballet flats and no jacket. I walked the River Walk anyway, because I had 30 minutes to kill and I was pretty sure I'd find a Starbucks over there (yes!), but it was very cold. Luckily the River Walk by morning is empty and lovely and I didn't regret it.

That night I had dinner at the retirement community with my other set of grandparents. I love that one work trip can take me to see them both.

We had a delightful chat over wine in their apartment and then headed down to the main dining room. I was feeling festive and asked if I could have a glass of champagne. My grandma immediately told my grandpa to order a bottle for the table and a bottle for the table was had.

It was such a great dinner. I told them stories about Disney that made my grandma cry and she told stories of taking my dad and his sister there when they were young. We closed down the house, the very last to leave the dining room that night. I left with hugs and a smile on my face as I Ubered back to my hotel, very much wishing I had my full complement of fleece clothing waiting there for me.

While sadly, I was to remain cold for the duration of my trip, my hotel did have a resident peacock. I tried to bond with him on numerous occasions, but he could not have been less impressed with me and my black work dress.

Isn't he magnificent? Sadly, I was judged to be not that.

I flew home after a second day in court on Tuesday, landing in Dallas at 7:30 p.m. after a quick 48 minute flight. Unfortunately, everything had fallen apart weather-wise while I was gone and it was 26 degrees outside and there was ice all over the runway. We sat on the runway for nearly 2 hours, waiting to be allowed to move forward. Then we sat by a gate for another hour because the planes were grounded and all the gates were full. FINALLY they moved a plane out of the way for us so we could disembark. I had not been prepared for a 4 hour plane ride- just my 1 hour one, so my phone was dead, I had no water, and my single snack of peanut m&ms had been eaten up LONG AGO. Then I had to take a tram and walk a million miles to get to my car because we didn't land where we were supposed to and it was TWENTY-SIX degrees outside and I was still in my dress and it was SO COLD. Once I unfroze myself on my car's seat warmers I realized I should be thankful to have been allowed to land at all- the airport was a disaster and I'm sure tons of people were having their trips ruined. Still, if it would have been possible (and legal, and safe) to drink a glass of red wine while on that drive, I would have.

My very sweet welcome home card from Claire

And then my week at home started on a Wednesday which always makes things seem a little off. Happily, James 100% handles life when I'm gone and we had food and meals for all the nights and can pick things back up without pause. Thursday was barre teaching and swim lessons and this amazing crock pot recipe. New family favorite, I served it over mashed potatoes with steamed green beans on the side. Light and flavorful and different. 12/10.

Toddler at Work

We didn't have our nanny on Friday and I had a big meeting at work at 2, so I couldn't get the kids either. Luckily James owns his own business and can host bring your kids to work day at any time. At the last minute, Landon ended up going with a friend to Main Event (lucky him!) but Claire was cheerful about her swim school Friday afternoon while her brother was taking down monsters with laser guns.

It helps that she'd had a field trip to Bass Performance Hall she was VERY excited about on Friday and then ended up getting to spend the night at a friend's that night too.

Also on Friday night, we had an Olympics Opening Ceremonies party! The kids ran around outside like crazy people and the adults ate and drank and wore festive necklaces. Our beverage contribution was a pitcher of excellent sangria carefully crafted from all the leftovers from our wine party the Saturday before. When you have 10 bottles of nearly-empty wine, you dump it all in a pitcher, put it in the fridge and wait for a sangria opportunity. I added OJ, brandy, and a bunch of cut up fruit the night before, let it all marinate, and then added a can of sprite just before serving. In no way authentic or official, but it was *delicious.*

Cora is always delighted to see her fans.

Ladies in blue! Had we actually coordinated ahead of time, I feel like we would have managed more of the red and white.

I feel like our Saturday was a pretty typical Saturday-with-three-kids situation:

6:30: James wakes up to go swim (I actually have no idea when he leaves, but I know he always gets home a little before 9).
7:38: Cora wakes me up in a panic because she couldn't find Claire (she'd left the party early at her bedtime with James and Claire got permission to sleep over after that). I set Cora up with Beauty and the Beast in the TV room ("the one with REAL people mom"), sleepily realizing how nice it is to have big kids because I usually never have to get out of bed earlier than I want to anymore. I check under Landon's door, but don't see a light and am shocked and pleased to see he's sleeping in.
8:00: I mourn my lost 30 minutes of sleep, but put on fuzzy clothes, make some tea, and pull up to my usual Saturday morning spot at the kitchen table with my laptop, iPhone calendar, and a post-it to plan the week's menu and schedule.

our life; 2 weeks at a time

(I do this every Saturday morning at exactly this time; I write out the next 2 weeks (really only the first week counts, but I like the blueprint for the next one already there), look through our calendars, jot down anything that's unusual for the day and then start to fill in meals. This means I ensure all our meals work each day's schedule and conflicts and I'm never forced into a fast food dinner or abandoning the good food I've bought to cook that day. Then I write in my work-outs. This means they all fit in our schedule (like this Saturday's when I realized I could squeeze a 2:00 yoga in between Cora's friend's birthday party and Landon's basketball game) and I don't have to abandon them either (this is of course also because I have a steady and predictable job, as does James- whatever our schedule will be for the week, I generally know it in that moment on Saturday morning). It's old-fashioned and involves a ruled post-it note, but it works for me and I get a thrill each time I check off a workout and a meal I cooked because dammit those are each their own accomplishment.)

8:30: I'm done with my week's plan and make Cora pause the movie to eat some breakfast. Landon wakes up and expresses great surprise for sleeping so late while I thanked the sleeping gods because this means it will be a good day. We turn on the Olympic coverage.
9:00: James gets home and, in the middle of eating the scrambled eggs he just made, gets a text that he needs to teach his Saturday swim lessons because one of his instructors has the flu (usually he doesn't go to those). Cora has a birthday party at 10, so we decide James will take the big kids to the pool.
9:45: We all pull out of the driveway to go in opposite directions, with James planning to stop at our friend's house to pick up Claire on the way . (I found out later Claire was still in pj's and looking forward to waffles so our friends said they'd drop her at the pool when they were done with breakfast.)

Cora and I went to her friend's bounce house birthday party, and though it was a Star Wars theme, she INSISTED crowns and gowns were appropriate. "Mom. We wear crowns to birthday parties, she explained patiently.

Nailing it

action shot

11:30: Cora and I are eating pizza at the party when our friends text saying they had so much extra beer we should come back for Olympics night 2 and they'd order pizza. I offered to bring a salad (my FAVORITE salad, mostly because I'd already had pizza, but also because it's delicious), so we stopped at Trader Joe's on our way home for the necessary ingredients.
12:30:: We get home and I prepare the lemon miso dressing because Landon has a late basketball game that will go until right before the party.
1:00:: James and the kids get back and make lunch. (the kids make their own on weekends and always involves a lot of peanut butter and fruit, with a few reluctant slices on cucumber)
1:45: I run out to a 2:00 Corewpower yoga class while James and the kids hang out at home (biathlon coverage was on; also I believe a fort was built while Cora napped). I brought clothes to quickly change into after class ends at 3 because Landon has a 4:00 basketball game and changing at home takes way longer.
3:30:: I get home at 3:20, James goes to wake up Cora, and we all leave for Landon's basketball game. He scored a basket (yay! I mean, it didn't count because the ref called a foul right before he shot, but we're claiming it anyway) and we could really see his improvements in the game, though ultimately his team lost. It's been a good season so far, and since I almost know all the rules of basketball now, I'm really hoping he'll play again.

5:25: We leave the game, stop at home to pick up my salad and some other offerings, and head down the street to our friends' house for Olympic party round 2.

There was more eating and drinking and Olympic viewing, though it was now below freezing outside (after being 60 the night before), so the kid craziness was all indoors.

7:50: James left with Cora and Claire (and my car) so they could go to bed on time. Claire burst into tears at having to leave and we gently explained this was exactly why she had to go to bed, particularly after spending the night the night before.
8:30: Landon and I left when other friends packed up so we could hitch a ride home. It's a short walk, but it was also well below freezing. Landon stayed up with us for a little bit to watch the snow boarding.
9:15: It's just James and me and some fuzzy blankets on the couch watching the Olympics and perusing rental homes for a friends skication trip our group got inspired to take for January 2019 while watching the downhill coverage.
11:00: We go to bed; I read until 12.

And that was our day. It was a good one. Cora doesn't always nap, but she had time and she always loves an opportunity for some daytime sleeping. Mostly though we just go from 8-8, carve out some time for ourselves, and enjoy being at home with whatever collection of children/adults are with you at whatever time. It's a lot more relaxed that it probably reads.

Today involved another birthday party for Cora, some yoga, a workout for James, a trip to Target with the big kids, a visit from a customer of James's who happened to be in town from Kansas and wanted to buy 35 swim bags for his team, and me making CRUNCHWRAP SUPREMES. Details below. They were delicious. But it started with a viewing of Cool Runnings, and you guys, as the tears poured down my face during the last scene and I freaked out my children, I have to say, that movie really holds up. And it's streaming on Netflix right now.

Oh and the kids did their Valentines. They're store-bought Valentine's because this is a store-bought kind of holiday and I love it in all its $4 for 28 card glory.

They take it so seriously and select the Valentine's for each kid in their class with such care and earnestness.

I have little heart emojis eyes while they do it.

And so, also with hearts in my eyes, I offer you our weekly meal planning. I haven't had them all yet, but I can definitely vouch for tonight's. Everyone in my family, none of whom had EVER experienced the joys of a Taco Bell crunchwrap supreme, gave rave reviews. I want to crunchwrap everything now.

Sunday: Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme!! After my quadrenniel visit to taco bell a blog reader informed me that one of my favorite restaurant blogs (home of this fabulous recipe we eat ALL THE TIME) has a recipe for it and it is HAPPENING in our house tonight. I'm the only one operating at all caps levels of excitement, but that's just because the kids don't know what they're missing yet. (Will also be served with Mexican rice and refried black beans.)

Monday: Veggie Turkey Chili (I'm making this up, it will involve diced onion, diced green pepper, diced carrot, a can or two of diced tomatoes, 1 lb. ground turkey, a packet of Ranch seasoning mix and 1-2 packets of Taco seasoning mix (or the equivalent from the Costco size containers I have of each in my pantry), and some of whatever stock I have hanging out in my fridge, probably chicken?), plus TJ's organic corn chips because they are amazing and make you almost feel healthy for eating Fritos.

Tuesday: Pasta with a TJ jarred sauce because we have science night at the children's museum after work and it's going to be a night of craziness. (I've also allowed that this may be a night we just have to stop for tacos on the way home; I can't predict the future, but it may be necessary.)

Wednesday: Valentine's Day! I like to embrace the kitsch here. We decorate the kitchen table for the kids in the morning with dollar store supplies and for dinner we used to order heart-shaped pizza from Mangia's in Austin. James picked up the tradition by hand-making a heart pizza here in 2013, and after a detour for some heart-shaped pasta last year (swim lessons really make mid-week holidays difficult), he's determined to pick up the mantle yet again and have heart shaped pizza waiting in the fridge for us when I get home. A really good bottle of champagne after dinner and a date night on Friday will also be involved.

Thursday: Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken, broccoli, brown rice. I teach barre on Thursdays on my way home from work and get home at the exact same time as James pulls up with all the kids from swimming, so Thursday is ALWAYS a crock-pot night.

Friday: Date night! We're headed to HG Sply and the kids will eat something terrible and delicious with the babysitter.

Saturday: We have a children's play in the evening, so I've learned I have to have a crockpt recipe to come home to to resist the urge to eat out afterward. This one looks delicious. Grilled Pineapple Pulled Pork Sandwiches, chips, fruit.

Sunday: Run Fast Eat Slow Bison Meatballs with Marinara Sauce. DELICIOUS and will make your whole house smell amazing.

18 Bottles of Wine on the Wall

I'm alone in a hotel room in San Antonio. I'm here for work through Tuesday and already had dinner with one set of grandparents with a date set up with the others tomorrow. Step Up is playing in the Amazon app on my phone that's sitting next to my laptop with blogger up on the screen while HGTV plays silently on the giant TV across from my bed while peacocks roam the garden my room's balcony look out on. Step Up, laptop time, and resident peacocks. Basically, I'm living my best single life.

Speaking of living my best life - this was what I found on my kitchen counter when I woke up this morning. (I later discovered my newly restocked beer fridge was also empty.)

So Wine Party 2.0 was a success.

After visiting every store in Fort Worth, I went with a simple gold and silver theme because it already matches the rest of my living room and also I found the plates and tablecloths for $1 and the "cheers" napkins for $2. I found some red and pink sequins in my desk drawer from our Women's March sign decorating and BOOM, a mildly sparkly, slightly Valentine's inspired, wine party tablescape was born.

Everyone was bringing an appetizer or dessert and their wine entry for the contest. I made the cocktail meatball recipe I stole from a friend (they're SO good; recipe below because I love you), caprese skewers I made up thanks to the discovery of tiny mozzarella balls at Costco and Trader Joe's delicious balsamic glaze that James already pours on everything, and my dark chocolate bundt cake. And vodka punch. It was pink and I love a mixed cocktail at a party.

I brought out the 24 cheap wine glasses I bought for the last party ($16 for all at BB&B! so much sturdier and better than plastic and reusable! they live on the top shelf of our pantry until their service is required), a stack of brown wine bags I borrowed from our local grocery store, the score cards I made (that somehow, despite improvements, were STILL unclear to some people (you know who you are); next time we're having a longer orientation and a printed FAQ), all the kids' homework pencils, and a sign I bought at At Home for $3 on clearance.

"Love the wine you're with."

Sage advice. Unless your job is to score them. Then you should only love the wines that deserve it.

all due seriousness

The food was a random combination of delicious things. Just some light bacon-wrapped roasted butternut squash to cleanse your palette and ready yourself for your next taste of wine.

Somewhat unexpectedly we ended up with an 88% acceptance rate on my evite, so we had 28 people in our living room that is cut in half by a couch. Next time I'm moving the couch to the playroom and opening up the whole space. I can't imagine why I didn't do that this time? I must have gotten distracted by the sequins. Though people did spread out a little, including an offshoot that immediately went outside with a bottle of whiskey and were never seen from again.

ladies!

One of my favorite things about our friends is how seriously they'll take a competitive task. Most people participated in the rating and the comments were a delight: "toothpastey," "communion wine," and "this makes up for that other one" were just a few of my faves.

After 90 mins or so of tasting and eating and tasting some more (and/or dumping out all your "tastes" into the sink halfway through because you're apparently incapable of pouring a small enough sample size to handle the 13 wine entries you have to try (me, that was me)), I collected the filled-in score cards and attempted to determine a winner. This was immediately impossible and I had to draft in my laptop, some Microsoft Excel, and two outside auditors.

"I love when you talk VB to me."

That's Visual Basic he's talking about and it was far and away my favorite line of the night.

After taking the AVERAGEIF of all columns (to control for those entries that some people skipped) AND, when we had a nail-biter between the top two, eliminating the one card that failed to rate both of those entries, we had a winner. A winner by 0.003 points.

I'm not sure what's happening in that picture, but I think one of my auditors just discovered his wine was the one that lost the top prize by three one-thousands of a point. Numbers can be so emotional.

Final standings: (1) Menage a Trois Silk Blend; (2) Bogle Cabernet Sauvignon; (3) Las Rocas (Old Vine Spanish Red).

Me announcing the final standings, possibly a capella(?), while balancing my laptop, phone, and notepad with the winners. I'm a one-person wine party circus act.

The winners received a bottle of my favorite champagne and wine socks.

Wine socks that I STOLE and WORE an hour later when it was 10 p.m. and I decided I didn't need to wear 3" heels anymore, and despite it being my house with all my clothes and the fact that I had just given those socks as a gift to someone else, I opened them and put them on and wore for the remainder of the party. I'm sorry guys, thirteen samples of wine is a lot. We're lucky I didn't try to open the champagne.

Yes.

Post-tasting we all soaked up our losses by dancing to music from the late 90's and early 00's. "Back when music was good!" we cried, like every generation of old people ever.

My children came home from Tara's apartment at some point, maybe 10ish? The party was still going strong and this morning Claire told me with a judgy sigh, "there was a lot of screaming at your party mom."

I think our last guest left around 11:30. And since we're all paying babysitters by the hour, I consider this the highest of compliments.

I can't wait to do it again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tamara's Meatballs

3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp minced onion (I use dried)
2 tsp horseradish
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried mustard
3 drops Tabasco
dash pepper

Meatballs (I use 1-2 bags of TJ's frozen party-size, or you can be an over-achiever and make your own)

1. Combine all sauce ingredients and stir in slow cooker.
2. Add meatballs.
3. Cook on low for 5 hours (or less; until meatballs are warm and the sauce has soaked in).
4. Eat so many you double it next time.

Friday Night and Nothing to Read

I just finished book 3 of my re-read of the Red Rising trilogy and I don't even know what I'm living for anymore. What am I supposed to do with my stolen pockets of time? How will I end my day if not with bloodshot squinting eyes at a blacked out iPhone screen under the covers while James sleeps soundly beside me? The latest In Death book came out last Tuesday but I'm like #17th on our digital library list to check it out. The newest (and HIGHLY ANTICIPATED, by me; I've even pre-ordered it, damn the cost, because I have no tolerance for check-out hold lists when it comes to Kresley Cole) Arcana Chronicles book comes out on February 13th and that is a LIFETIME away. And so, at 10:50 p.m., when I should absolutely go to bed, I thought- I should write a blog post! That's how I'll ensure I'm properly screwing with my sleep and my eyesight. And so here we are.

The kids were off school today (well, all except Cora, our most studious of students), so I took most of the day off.

They needed some minimum supervision and I needed to run one million errands to prepare for a 2nd round of our wine party from two Octobers ago. I started the day with a really fantastic yoga class (after another high-energy barre class at TCU last night!) and some green tea. Then I took a sharp turn after pulling into a Taco Bell parking lot around 2 p.m. for lunch. My errands had gotten away from me and I was starving and every 8 years or so I need a crunchwrap supreme. Also, I will do almost anything for queso fries. Even just the promise of queso friends.

Sadly, these did not live up to their name, but the crunchwrap supreme remains worthy of its exclusive spot on fast food cravings list. I look forward to my next one in 2025 or so. Properly fueled on my crunchwrap and the three fries I ate before admitting to myself they weren't worth it, I continued on my journey to every store in Fort Worth. It shouldn't have so many, but no one store seemed to have every single thing I wanted, or maybe they did, but not in the color I wanted it, so off I went. Party prep is my favorite.

For some reason the start of the year always has me perusing the house for clean-outs and updates. Our master bedroom and playroom will be my projects of this year. Nothing major - and no renovations, but some definite updating. I want to turn the playroom from a toy room to a homework/craft room. Built-in desk and shelves + giant oval conference table in the middle that can be covered in glue and glitter and whatever else the kids' creative impulses require. Our master desperately needs some finishing. And new floors. 2012-me would be horrified to know that 2018-me is still walking on the gross old (possibly late-80's-old) carpet floors that came with the master suite when we bought it. 2018-me is also horrified. It was just so much more fun to redo kitchens and bathrooms. But new floors ahoy! And some decorating touches. Not like right now, but sometime soon. Hopefully spring.

Soon, my pretty, I have plans for you

But in the meantime I put a few final points on the living room. The area we spend the most time. I love this space. It's come so far. It had dark brown walls when we bought it and a giant wall between the kitchen and main room. Now it's so light and sparkly and ours.

A little revisit to my 33rd birthday gift to myself. It was a good one. I just updated most of the pictures; they're all my favorite.

I bought this bookcase to house the photo books I've labored over for each kids each year. They never had a good place to live and they're already getting looked at so much more now. Plus it's cute and also holds our most used games and some other random things I'm still working out.

This required me to move the little hutch we bought from the previous owners and I feel like it really likes its new home.

Our new secondary TV also required some adjusting around the fireplace.

And then I needed a floor lamp. I mean, that has nothing to do with the TV, but it was on sale at Target for $50 and who am I to argue with what Target wants me to buy?

Also this table. Target wanted me to have this table on the far right. I put it together myself and I'm very proud.

Then I had to have James move a lot of things around on the walls. He LOVES when I have him move things he's previously already hung on walls.

Then I had him hang some new things on the girl's walls. It just makes him the happiest.

But I wanted to commemorate our Disney trip for Cora, since it was her favorite six days of her existence, and I found this cute little wood piece at Ross for $6. Cora noticed *immediately* that all the princess's signatures match the ones in her autograph book and ones ago, cheers to Disney, you're a master of your domain. I got this collage frame at At Home for $10 and figured I can switch it out with pictures of the girls over the years, but for now- it's all Disney. Cora would like to go back tomorrow.

I love this room too. It's so them.

In other random happenings discovered in my photo folder- my men, on Tuesday night. Landon gets to stay up 45 minutes later than the girls. Generally, this happens in his own room because James and I have no capacity left for parenting after 8 p.m. when the girls go to sleep. This works for Landon because he usually has something he's desperate to read by then, but on 2 nights a week he gets to stay up with us, and one of those nights is nearly always spent with James and his Supernintendo.

I love when I'm sitting behind them and both their heads cock the same way. The other night is generally mine and we play a game, research something on the internet, or watch little pieces of a movie the girls can't watch yet (Jurassic Park being the overwhelming favorite so far). Continuing on the theme of Landon, one of his buddies came over today to build Legos for 3 hours and they spoke in (terrible) British accents the whole time. I wasn't here when it began, so I have no idea why they (1) thought they could talk in British accents, or (2) felt they needed to, but I admired their commitment.

Claire spent the whole day with her buddy down the street. They created a gymnastics video, ate ice cream, and went to the rodeo. I offered Landon's friend a snack at one point. One of us is totally nailing this playdate thing. Cora was at school, counting to 100, writing all her numbers, coloring continents, and generally taking command of the playground.

It's now a few minutes until midnight, so I feel comfortable heading to bed even without my new favorite trilogy to keep me company. I did find this picture on my phone and it puzzled me for a moment until I remembered a blog commentor had asked what products I use on my hair when I leave it curly. I use the mousse below when I'm letting it air dry and the gel when I just want to scrunch it for a few seconds and then ball it on top of my head. When I leave my hair straight I don't put anything in it, but when I wear it up it a whole palm of product. Luckily, the two products I've found work the best cost $3 each. Every time I stray, it's for something that works the same or worse and costs more, so back to Herbal Essences I go. And now I have these nice pictures of them in my phone.

Now I just wish I knew what I was going to wear at my own party tomorrow night. You'd think one of those million stores I visited today would have provided that for me.