1980: I bought my first 45 (that’s right, it was a record, and a 45 at that) when I was in 6th grade. It was Joan Jett and the Blackhearts singing “Put Another Dime in the Jukebox”. I played that record again, and again, and again until my older sister was screaming from her bedroom for me to shut it off. This is also the year I bought my first LP which was “80’s Rock” and included such hits like “Chaka Khan” and “Brass In Pocket” by the Pretenders.

1986: I was sixteen and well entrenched in “alternative music”. My favorite movie was “Pretty in Pink” (totally thought she should have gone with Duckie. I would have) and I owned the sound track. I also owned every album by Howard Jones (or HOJO as we liked to call him back then). I wrote into Tiger Beat magazine about my love for “The Fixx” and “Echo and the Bunnymen” – oh yeah, I was edgey.

1988: I graduate from high school and hair bands are at their peak. Although I never was a fan of such “trash” I can’t help but think of my high school days whenever I hear anything by Poison. I also fall in love for the first time and my boyfriend sings to me “Lady In Red” by Chris De Burgh. Years later he will come out of the “closet”. Doesn’t matter though since I still think of him when I hear that song.

1990: I meet my best friend Kym. Every success or break-up is met with a drive in my yellow Geo Storm singing to Mariah Carey. I still know every word in her debut album.

1991: Next door neighbors in college are big Red Hot Chili Pepper fans and play their albums all day and night. They seem odd and edgey at the time but in less than five years will be considered main stream. The band, not the neighbors.

1994: I suffer the worst break-up of my life. Spend months depressed over my lost love. I become enamored with No Doubt and Tracy Chapman.

1996: Rebound relationship with cute, younger guy. He introduces me to Matchbox 20, Barenaked Ladies, and The Dave Matthews Band. Short relationship but great musical tastes – I still listen to every one of those bands.

1998: I move to Texas and venture into country music. Now I’m singing along to Garth Brooks, Wynonna Judd and the Dixie Chicks.

2000: David takes me to my first Barenaked Ladies concert. We also get to meet Harry Connick Jr. that year. He introduces me to a whole array of artists from Jengo Reinhart to Dee-Light.

2004: Lucy is born. “Butterfly Kisses” by Bob Carlisle
2006: Max is born. “Arms Wide Open” by Creed (David just said that it was “unfortunate” that Creed is part of my life soundtrack – I’m choosing to ignore him)

2009: My life is so full and rich now that no one song, group, or artist could capture this stage in my life. Perhaps I’ll look back and remember listening to Tom Chapin with the kids or Raffi. Perhaps I’ll think of going to the John Mayer concert with David or Norah Jones or the multiple Barenaked Ladies concerts we’ve now attended. Up to this moment my life seemed to only focus on one note at a time and now it is too full to have that luxury.

David and I are always up for a party. As a result I’m always on the prowl for quick recipes that I can put together for company. I sort of stumbled into this one and it looked and tasted fantastic. I used a Pound Cake cake mix. That is right, from a box. I have a specialty cake pan that I got from William-Sonoma that created that “fluted” look to the cake. However, I think you could do the same thing with a bundt pan or an individual bundt would be cute too (for six mini-desserts). I baked the cake according to the box directions (seriously, I did). I made a simple powdered sugar glaze with orange juice (instead of milk) and with a teaspoon of rum extract. I made the glaze a little on the thicker side and let the warmth of the cake take over. I then topped the middle with a sliced strawberry, but really any fresh berry would work. You probably could add some orange zest to the cake itself but I didn’t have any fresh oranges on hand. It looked absolutely decadent and tasted fantastic. It was light, and not overly sweet. Simple and fast desserts is what works for me.

We mailed Max’s pacifiers to the “paci-fairy” today and on our way back home from the post office the kids had this conversation. No further explanation is required.

Lucy: Max, when you were a little baby before you had a pacifier, you were in heaven with God.
Max: Gaud?
Lucy: Yes, all babies are with God. And then you closed your eyes and slept for awhile and then you came out of Mommy’s bottom
Max: I dwid?
Lucy: Yes, but I came out of Mommy’s bottom first. WAAAAAAYYY before you. Like a 100 years ago.

Here are some recipes that I would like to try. However, I’m back on my low-carb diet and these are in no way even remotely allowed.

Sweet Potato Bread Pudding from Sugar Plum. Just reading the ingredient list makes me want to weep.

S’More Cookie Bars from Baked Perfection. Oh my, just look at all that marshmallow goodness.

I’ve really been loving Ezra Pound Cake and she makes me sad when I see things like her Hot Fudge Pudding Cake. Pudding and Cake in the same description — is this woman trying to kill me?

This Cream Cheese Pound Cake from Sophistimom looks lemony and delightful.

What are you people trying to do to me? Seriously. Are you trying to make me gain 500lbs? Late at night, when I’m by myself I dream of making and eating these things. Yummy.

This is Max home from the hospital with his pacifier

This is Max at 2 1/2 with his pacifier:

Around the time this photo was taken I decided that we were going to be pacifier free by the time he was 3 years old. Max turns 3 in two weeks. I’ve been plotting my strategy around this issue very carefully. I knew that it would take guts, cunning, courage, determination and the ability to overwhelm my enemy. It was not a mission for the weak.

This past Saturday the “Paci-Fairy” (aka Grandma) delivered an empty box for said pacifiers. A box in which the pacifiers were to be placed, sealed and mailed back to the “paci-fairy” in exchange for cash and prizes. Max and Lucy enthusiastically scoured the house for pacifiers and placed them joyously in the box. I was in shock. This was going to be so much easier than I thought. We screamed in joy, we slapped hands in gleeful high-fives and then sealed the box. Instantly Max began to cry and wail “I DON’T WANT PACI-FAIRY TO COME. I NOT BIG BOY!!” I sighed, this was more in line with what I expected. However, I had prepared for this reaction and so with the will power of a super model on a diet I calmly said “no more pacis.”

Bed time came and I was worried. I knew I couldn’t sustain this level of determination without proper sleep and so we conceded to let him have his pacifier at bed time. Max slept fitfully all night, moaning, and crying in his sleep. No doubt the result of withdrawal symptoms. The next morning when instructed to leave his pacifier in the bed the drama resumed; “I WANT PACI. I NOT BIG BOY!!” I steadfastly held my position. We would have no pacifiers outside of bed. After an hour and a half he tearfully complied. My first true victory. I rallied myself and proceeded to make breakfast. Max proceeded to whine for the next 3 hours.

Each day has been an exact reenactment of that first day. The only difference is that the length of whining has decreased and he no longer even thinks about asking for it during the day. My battle spirit is weak. I’m wondering why now, why this date? But alas, we are too far into this conflict to withdraw. Our only option is to continue our strategic offensive, to keep the enemy on his heels, to push him until his will for that pacifier is broken. We have persuaded Lucy to join our side of this battle and now Max has no allies left. He must give up the pacifier if he chooses to live peacefully within the house of Morley.

Some day I may look back upon this time and be wistful, but for now I’m focused on our mission. There is no other option but victory and it will be mine.

UPDATE: A week into this mission and now Max, after much thought, willingly places his pacifier under his pillow in the morning and joins the family. As long as he gets plenty of rest and sleep he seems to be fine. However, when something strays outside of the routine his crying is heartfelt and often long in duration. In the words of George Bush; “Mission Complete”. I think I can safely use that reference here with its full meaning behind it.

I hate insomnia. As a mother of young children I get so little sleep to begin with that wasting my time for no apparent reason is annoying and yet here I sit. The house is dark, cold, still and silent outside of Max’s lullabies softly playing. My friend Kym does the laundry when she can’t sleep or does late night runs to Wal-Mart, but I’m not ambitious enough for that. The aggravating part is what keeps me awake; lists. My mental list of what I need to do in the morning before school, what I need to get done at school, my grocery list, my list of chores, my list of reasons for us to get a dog, my list of reasons for us to move, etc, etc. Each subject neatly compartmentalized in my head and each one spilling into my consciousness. So annoying and so not productive.

What do you do to combat insomnia? To fall back asleep? Sleep, perchance to dream…

We took all of Max’s pacifiers away this week. The inhumanity of this week I will share with you all later, but in the meantime I’m desperate to keep him occupied. As long as his mind is engaged he doesn’t seem to notice that he’s missing his little blue friend. As a result, we took the whole family to see “The Tale of Despereaux”. I was very eager to see this movie since it is based on a book and that appeals to my desires as a bibliophile.

The movie was unimpressive. It was beautiful to look at – stunning. The artistry of the animation was rich and luscious and at times I wanted to just curl up next to the screen and snuggle. The screenplay, however, was disjointed. It felt like there were too many characters and at times the story felt crowded. The voice work was uninspiring since I could never reconcile the voice of Dustin Hoffman with the visual of the rat. The two things never seemed to fit together. Despereaux himself was charming and I wish more of the story had focused on him. I did like the moral and over-arching message of the movie which was to live by a moral code, be honorable, be brave, do for others. A much better message than say that of “Shrek” which is that farts are funny.

Your kids will love this — even kids a bit older (like 8 or 9). There is a fair bit of swashbuckling and a wonderful villain rat. I would stick to matinee prices since I would have been quite upset if I had paid full price.

I hate getting into a cold bed. I also hate waking up in the middle of the night to an electric heating pad stuck to my thigh. Hence I have become a lover of the corn bag. This handy little thing is a pillow filled with feed corn. You put it in the microwave for 2 minutes and it will stay a toasty warm temperature for about an hour – just long enough to warm up the bed. I’ve used these little corn bags to ease aching muscles and to soothe an upset tummy. These are perfect for children since you know they can’t accidentally get too hot or stay plugged in. They are also a cinch to make and with a pretty bow or fancy tag you’ve got a great homemade gift.

You’ll need:

1/2 yard of durable fabric. I bought some decorator fabric on remnant. It cost me $8.00 for about 6 yards. You want a fabric that will hold up to repeated heat and wear. Things like polar fleece, or quilting cotton won’t work. Chambray is great.

Deer feed corn. I bought a 40lb bag at my local TSC for $6. Since you only use about 2 cups per bag this is going to last me a looooong time.

You are fundamentally making a small pillow. I used a Martha Stewart Living magazine as a template for mine. You want them a bit bigger than a piece of paper but not too large. Sew your pieces like a pillow and leave a place open to fill your bag. I left half of one side open. Then turn your “pillow” inside in and fill with corn. You want to fill your bag about 2/3 full. If you put too much in you won’t be able to sew it. Too little and it won’t retain heat for very long. Once the corn is in then pin your opening shut and top stitch around the whole “pillow”. This provides a second layer of stitching which will help keep the bag securely closed. Be careful that you don’t run over a piece of corn while sewing, it will snap your sewing machine needle in half. (not that I would know anything about that). Easy homemade gifts is what works for me.