Silly Contests and Shameful plug

She's so cute.  And I have soooo many followers and readers (haha) but in case someone is out there, maybe they'll see this and vote... often.

http://www.parenting.com/photo_contest/137550/photos/all/399502

Vacation Bible School

Ok.  First, I'll take responsibility for my failure.  I should have started looking into it weeks ago rather than waiting last minute.  And there's no reason I waited.  Lazy I guess.  (I did the same thing with swim lessons and we missed them this summer.)

But ya know what?  So what if I'm late?  Shouldn't every child get a chance to participate?  They have a waiting list, but said it was unlikely the waitlist kids would be called.  Isn't it a church's responsibility to give every child a chance?  Isn't vacation Bible school teaching Jesus's lessons?  Did Jesus turn people away?  Ever?  Maybe I misread or misremember the Bible, but I thought Jesus always said to let them come.  He never turned people away.  And especially not children.

The Church's reasons?  They've already purchased and prepared the crafts.  If I'd called 10 days ago they would have made sure she got in.  What?  Seriously?  They're going to charge me $50 to participate and can't take my $50 and go buy the necessary crafts tomorrow?  Heck... I'll go buy them.  And I offered to volunteer.  My one child for help with 5 others?  Isn't that a win-win?

And if VBS is too full, why not open it up for another week?  Let the kids that didn't get a chance to sign up- sign up.  Does it really take that much more resources?  Especially when you're working with $50 per child and your expenses are...?  There's no paid employees (and if there are- that's a problem there.  What happened to stewardship?).  Ok, you have to pay utilities for a building you already keep running whether you have something going on or not.  And there are all of those supplies that I'm sure costs... how much per child?

I think angry isn't really the word.  Disappointed.  I'm disappointed in my church that (if you've read my past posts) doesn't offer me any accountability for attendance, hasn't really given me any real reason to participate (or reasonable way), doesn't make me feel any more connected to God.  I'm disappointed that my church would ever turn away my child, or any child for that matter.  "Don't worry Sophia.  You can learn about God... next year... if Mommy gets signed up in time."  Yeah.  There's a good Bible lesson.

Total Gleek

So, I've become a total Gleek.  If you don't know what that is, you need to get to know it.  I'm a geek for the TV show Glee.  Of course, I can't just watch a show without knowing about it, the stars, the background.  So, I searched all of the actors on IMBD, then googled the ones I'm most interested in.  Which, in this case is nearly all of them.

There are many things I like about this show.  Growing up, some of my favorite movies were musicals- Annie, Oliver Twist, My Fair Lady... the list goes on.  Glee is like a weekly, hour-long musical movie.  How wonderful is that?

But, as if that's not awesome enough (which it is), but they also add all of the drama I love in these weekly shows I get involved in- not too ridiculous, not too much, just enough.  He loves her who loves him who loves himself.  That kind of thing.  The show also incorporates a lot of the "issues" that not only high school teenagers can relate to, but also I can as an adult.  Maybe I'm relating to high school Karmen's issues, but I still relate.  I love that the show addresses real problems kids face today- sex, teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, popularity, confliction between being oneself and being accepted, bullying.  The list really goes on.  With the right discussion to my teenage daughter, the show is a great way to open a dialogue about any of the issues she may be having.

Now because my train of thoughts are just often erratic like this- I became very intrigued by the sexual preference issues on the show.  I mean, there is certainly a real issue of homosexuality dealt with on the show what with Kurt and Blaine and "the kiss seen around the world" as well as Santana and her struggle to win Brittany completely.  But my interest in this situation lead me to thinking about the real preferences of the actors/actresses outside of the show.  Which of course, I googled.  A lot came up, but what *really* interested me was an article in much debate in the Newsweek.  Here it is...  http://www.newsweek.com/2010/04/30/straight-jacket.html

What I found interesting in this article was that in some ways, I guess I agree with it, and in some ways I definitely do not.  Whatever the point of the author was intended to be, I don't think the controversey reflected his stated intentions. 

Let's consider White Collar with Matt Bomer, a show I love.  Matt Bomer is totally hot.  I definitely created many a fantasy that included him as the leading male role.  But, like Glee, I spent some research time and found that not only was Matt gay, he was involved in a long-term monogamous relationship and had adopted children.  In White Collar he does not play a gay man, but quite the opposite.  He's a bit of a lady's man in the show.  Did reading that he's gay change my view of the show or Matt's role in it?  Yes.  Slightly.  But does he play a very convincing straight man?  I would say absolutely.  Is my "gaydar" broken?  Perhaps.  Or maybe both his relationship status and his fatherhood status make him that much more sexy.  And maybe he's just that good of an actor.  And maybe the kisses he shares with some of the leading ladies is just passionate enought to stir my inner longing to be that leading lady of the moment.

Then again, maybe I'm just jaded because of my attraction to Matt Bomer's good looks and the sexy character he plays.  I decided to think a little harder on the subject.  I've seen several shows and movies where Eric McCormack (Will from Will and Grace, in case you don't know) plays a straight man.  From all of my research, he *is* a straight man.  But I still find it less than convincing that he could ever be straight.  Is it because I don't find him as attractive as I do Matt Bomer?  Maybe, although there are some pretty steamy photos of Eric that could lead to a fantasy or two.  Or maybe the Newsweek article has a point.

Does the type of person and/or role make a difference?  Eric McCormack is more effiminate than Matt Bomer.  Neil Patrick Harris doesn't strike me as particularly effiminate, but Sean Hayes does.  Does that make it easier for me to believe Neil Patrick Harris could be a straight man, but Sean Hayes could not?  My dad is a pretty effiminate guy, but I don't doubt for a second his heterosexuality.

Type-casting can be hard to overcome no matter who you are or what role you're playing.  Can anyone (at least my age who grew up on Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure) ever really look at Keanu Reeves and not expect him to break out into his Ted character, like totally?  Ok, maybe that one is just me.  He certainly broke the mold with the Matrix and I can almost take him seriously...almost.   But what about Lisa Kudrow?  Won't she always be Phoebe from Friends in our minds?  Will anyone ever see Fran Dresher as anything other than the loud, obnoxious Nanny?  Didn't Jennifer Aniston do the Good Girl specifically to escape her Rachel character from Friends?  I guess the low budget, small film Dreams for an Insomniac wasn't enough for her to escape Rachel even though her acting in that film was beyond awesome and actually made me a huge fan.  Maybe this is the real reason I have a hard time seeing Eric McCormack as a straight man.  He played Will Truman for a long time.  I haven't yet seen his Matrix or Good Girl role that breaks the stereotype for me.

And maybe the question to ask really, is why does it matter?  I mean, whatever your real life choices are, isn't it acting?  Aren't these men playing roles?  Tom Hanks was never really stranded on an island with a Wilson volleyball that becamse his best friend but I'm no less convinced while watching Cast Away.  And when has George Clooney ever been a Vegas thief as he was in all of the Ocean's movies?  Can we really believe Elijah Woods was ever anything more than a hobbit when watching the Lord of the Rings movies?
Bottomline- I think the problem is not the actor's sexual preference that type-casts him, but rather the roles he chooses and the length he's seen in those roles.  Play a gay man once, I doubt you're going to be condemned to playing gay men for life, but play a gay man in a legendary show for years might put you into certain category of available characters.  And be a gay man playing straight, it's no less convincing than a straight man playing gay as long as it's done right.  Of course, I can't speak for the Hollywood side of things.  What I can say, is if I were a leading lady and someone asked me to have some passionate scenes with Matt Bomer, Jonathan Goff, Sean Hayes... ya know what?  I'd do it!  Because it would be my job (and his) to play the parts we have.  And honestly, any of these men are great actors from the shows, movies, whatever that I've seen.  Maybe we need to just get it out of our minds that their personal lives have anything to do with their roles and let them be the professional men they are trying to be.  Maybe if we're so caught up in who he's sleeping with when he goes home from his "job" then we've lost the point of TV or a movie or a Broadway show.  Entertainment.  Get lost in the story.  Enjoy the experience.  Stop analyzing it for what it's not and start enjoying it for what it is.

Dating while married

Yesterday my husband and I spent most of the day together.  It started when he woke me up to go get coffee.  Of course, I can't drink coffee right now so I had water and a breakfast pocket.  It was quite an adventure since the coffee shop he likes was blocked by the Breast Cancer awareness walk so we had to park a block away and walk only to find the road had been opened by the time we got to the coffee house.  Haha!

After coffee we caught a movie- X-Men- which I totally recommend as one of the best X-Men movies yet.  By the time we got home it was 3:30 in the afternoon.  Sophia was already laid down for quiet time so we had another hour of eating lunch (quite late) and just watching some TV.  Once Sophia was up and Zoe was carefully taken to a block party at a friend's house the hubby and I watched yet another movie on DVD.

Dating my husband has changed.  We used to go to some nice restuarant for a meal and perhaps with friends.  Alcohol was generally involved in some quantity- large or small.  We rarely saw movies.  We talked, a lot about the future, the past, the present.  Dates usually ended in heated passionate ways.  Now, I barely brush my hair, rarely wear makeup, and while I often try to dress as nice as I can I've been known to go out wearing yoga pants and a tee shirt if we're not going anywhere more than the movies.  Our dates usually have little or no talking- he spent the morning on his iPad at the coffee house while I stared down the people around me and glared at the counter girl that was reluctant to give a pregnant woman a glass for water; then a movie which allows such minimum talking as "ooh... that movie looks good."  And the only passion dates end in now is my passion for eating and his for browsing motorcycles on ebay.

I want to complain, but really, I like the comfort zone we've come to in our marriage.  Sure, I miss passion.  Every movie that has any kind of passionate kiss sends me over the edge, but I just don't see my husband that way anymore.  Now he's that man whose hair I have to clean out of the bathroom sink every week and whose socks never seem to match up when I'm folding laundry.  He's the man that gripes at me when he's had a bad day at work or the man that loves me dearly when he's feeling all "romantic."  We're comfortable.  It's easy- mostly.

So, date night has changed.  Maybe when the kids are older we'll regain some passion or maybe not.  Either way I suppose it's good that we get those snippets of time together to reconnect however superficially and just be an "us" for a while.

Muffin recipes for Denise

So, facebook's new messaging stinks and I tried to send these two great muffin recipes to my friend Denise, but she couldn't read the whole message.  For her (and for my loyal reader... lol...) here are my fabulous muffin recipes.  I originally sent Denise two recipes, but I'm adding a third that is pretty awesome especially for fresh blackberries.  Enjoy!

The muffin recipe I use the most.  This is high protein and low sugar.  Darn good if you wrap individually (I usually wrap them in saran wrap and put them in a freezer bag) then pop in the microwave about 20 seconds or so.  Slather in butter to ruin all healthful effects.  : )

Applesauce muffins:

1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweet applesauce
1 cup cottage cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup raisins
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

preheat oven 350
bake 20-25 minutes

I guess I don't actually have instructions. I usually just whisk dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder) in one bowl. Then mix everything else but the raisins together. Fold the dry into the wet. Fold raisins in. Spoon into muffin tins about 3/4 full.

You can add mashed bananas and chopped nuts instead of applesauce or any kind of berry. I even chopped up strawberries and mixed them in and they were great!

Berry Yummy Blueberry Muffins
3/4 cups ricotta cheese (room temp)
2 lg eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 oz unsalted butter
2/3 cups sugar
lime zest finely grated
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups berries

preheat 400
bake 20-25 minutes
about the same mix process as above. Add the berries last- fold in.

Ok... Not sure how "healthy" these are other than just being berry muffins, but they are super yummy.  I found this recipe when I lived out in hell-house and we had 10 acres of blackberry bushes to harvest.  It was my only escape from the horrible decision in house buying I'd made- picking, baking, and eating these blackberry muffins (hence their name).

Save Me Blackberry Muffins

2 cups flour

1 Tablspoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup buttermilk

4 tablespoons melted butter

1 1/4 cups blackberries

Preheat oven 350

rinse and drain berries

whisk flour, baking powder salt

beat egg, whisk in sugar and sour cream

when thoroughly mixed add buttermilk and butter

scatter berries in dry ingredients then add wet ingredients gently folding to combine

divide into muffin tins about 3/4 full

bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

I hope you're all in muffin Heaven after all of these recipes.

Really quick

Two awesome sewing finds:
http://www.karimeaway.com/catalog/1

Her books are so much fun and full of cool ideas.  I liked the second book better than the first, but both were pretty awesome.  Plus, when I found her website, it looks like she has a blog and online classes.  I will be looking further into those.

My next amazon buy- http://www.amazon.com/Little-Girls-Big-Style-Boutique/dp/1607051885

This book was so full of really fun things.  I feel bad for little boys.  They just don't have all of the cute stuff little girls do.  Fortunately, I have girls, unless the newest Paterson turns out to be a boy.  Until then... Sophia may have a new wardrobe on the way full of whimsy and fun.  Or at least... in my own imagination.

Housekeeping and Granola Bars

Ok, so unlike my title, the two are not related.  I wanted to cover two topics, but not write two different blog posts.  Although, I might should have done the granola bars with pictures.  I might add those in later.

I try not to gripe too much on this blog because I want to keep it pleasant to read.  Not weighted down by the trials of my quite insignificant life.  But today I broke down and hired a housekeeper to come in twice a month and clean my house.  I have mixed feelings. 

On the one hand, I am so excited to have a clean house.  Not just a clean room or two... the whole freaking house is spotless!  Best yet, I didn't have to do it, oversee it, or even pay for the cleaning supplies!  It smells wonderful which is awesome since my uber sensitive pregnancy nose is on overdrive lately and the house has been my nemisis what with doggie smells and kid smells and husband smells and whatever dinner we have that day (or yesterday and is sitting in the garbage can) smells.  It's such a relief knowing that the house will be cleaned and there's no stress.  When we have company I won't be embarrassed.  And with them coming twice a month I can manage the in between times with light cleaning and organizing.  Something I can do easily, but also isn't such a stress in getting the kids and husband to help maintain.

The con.  I feel inadequate.  I mean, aren't I supposed to be June Cleaver or something?  Cleaning the house spic and span all day, having homemade treats and goodies for the kids when they get home from school, dinner on the table at exactly 6:00 p.m., and somehow looking fabulous with my hair in its place and pearls around my neck.  I'm a stay-at-home mom.  What is my job?  I take care of the kids (mostly), but aren't I supposed to also take care of the house, the food, the yard, the dog, the husband?  Let's face it.  Right now I'm exhausted.  Pregnancy at 35 is taking its toll on me.  Not to mention I'm busy with school, a teaching assistant position, and a research grant I was awarded to do research.  Then there's chasing the almost 4 year old around, keeping her entertained, socialized, and educated.  And the 16 year old is a lot more work than one would think what with running her all over Cary for movies, study groups, track/cross-country, and whatever else.  Let's not forget the emotional issues I address at least on a weekly basis solving relationship dilemas and school problems and general problems with a step-parent.  And if all of this wasn't enough, I try, yes I try, to be at least a decent wife and spend time with the husband- date nights, entertaining friends, work family socials, etc.  Ok.  Maybe when I lay it all out like that I don't feel entirely inadequate.  I'm certainly not lazily not cleaning the house so I can sip mimosas by the pool and read a Harlequin Romance.

Of course, there's also the dilema that Dave is against housekeepers.  His list of reasons is long, but the bottom line is he feels like the teenager could and should help more and he's worried about the money aspect of it.  (Between us, it's $60 which I think is a real steal.)  But sure, that's $120 a month and I don't get a lot of money in my budget.  Something will have to sacrifice.  Sophia and I can't eat out for lunches anymore.  And we'll have to do much, much better at conserving gas to keep our costs low.  But I think it's worth it.  I really do.  I know we're not uber wealthy and maybe I'm trying to keep up with the Jones's that are on a higher income level than we are, but I just can't justify *not* spending this money when there are so many things I can justify.  As for the teenager cleaning... well, she has chores- daily and weekly- and she is responsible.  There's more to responsibility than just cleaning house.  And we are kids for such a short time in our lives.  I'd like to give her the opportunity to be a kid for as long as possible.  Not to mention, I don't want her to look back on her high school years and resent her siblings or me for haivng to do house cleaning and babysitting because her mom was pregnant.  Isn't that fair?  Maybe I'm spoiling her.  I'll feel the same for the younger two.

As of now, I have a housekeeper coming.  And as of now, I'm not going to feel guilty about it.

So, here's the granola bars.  Yeah, you had to read a lot to get to it, but it's here too.  Not to mention, it's another way to save money.  $2 a box for 10 granola bars?  Nah.  These are much cheaper in the long run.  And a great snack.

Homemade Granola Bars

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cups raw sunflower seeds
1 cup sliced almonds (I didn't add these because of nut allergies in the house)
1/2 cups wheat germ
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cups dark brown sugar
2/3 cups unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
6 1/2 oz chopped dried fruit (we used Ocean Spray cherries)
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven 350
toast oats, seeds almonds, wheat germ - 15 minutes
Cook honey through salt ingredients over medium heat until brown
mix toasted ingredients and cooked ingredients
(here's where I had trouble with the chocolate chips so I'm going to tell you what I *think* you should do)
Once you mix everything but the fruit and chips let everything cool.
Set oven temp at 300. 
When it's all cooled mix fruit and chips in and press into pan.  (9x9 inch pan)
Bake at 300 for 25 minutes.
Let cool.  Cut into bars.

I wrapped each bar in saran wrap to keep.  If the chocolate chips melt they're still super yummy, just extra messy so the saran wrap is extra great for using to hold them while you eat and lower your mess.

Enjoy!  And let me know of any perfections you make to this recipe!  :)