Mealtime Mondays
So I thought I would add a new weekly feature to the blog. As far as cooking goes, I guess I am OK. I like to create meals sans recipe, and I make many things once. , mostly because I don't remember what I did. Unfortunately, this does not transpose into the world of "potlucks". Generally dishes I bring to those types of functions are avoided. In my family you tried everything that you haven't tried before. Of course sometimes this isn't possible because of the selection. Having this background it does kind of hurt when my food isn't even touched. For example last year at a church potluck I brought in a "corn casserole". The dish was fine, people who ate it liked it, Chad's family makes it all the time. Unfortunately I could not be there when anyone asked "what is this", and alas, the person who was there would tell people "Corn soufflé" because they couldn't remember "Corn Casserole". Although "corn soufflé" may be fine depending on how you make it, however when most people heard this description the most disgusted look would cross their face. I ended up taking some home very dejected. I have had similar things happen before:
A gob of ranch dressing ended up in my cranberry dressing at a holiday potluck at work, I didn't even touch that one.
Someone else makes something similar, then proceeds to tell people how hard they worked on it and/or it’s a cherished family recipe that everyone must try.
I think the worst was when Chad's cousin pointed and laughed at something I made....I still don't know what was wrong with it.
I have basically given up trying to bring something to just about anything. However I have realized it’s not necessarily what I make but possibly the presentation. That is why I begin "Mealtime Mondays" where I present something I have made during the previous week. That way I can share dishes I make without the humiliation of it not being eaten.
So to begin Mealtime Monday is a dish I made last Tuesday:
It is veggie pasta. First I sautéed onions and garlic in a little bit of olive oil. Then I added some diced zucchini (from my garden) and let it brown. Then I added diced tomatoes (also from my garden), and a little bit of corn. Finally I added some whole wheat angel hair pasta and let it all cook together for a little bit. Before serving I garnished with some parmesan cheese and fresh mozzarella.
In looking at the pictures I can see why it wouldn't look appetizing. The fresh mozzarella looks like marshmallows. I obtained this mozzarella from Trader Joes. They are smaller than I am used to seeing, but that is why I picked them up. So I if I do bring this anywhere I will leave out the mozzarella. Oh and Chad suggested red pepper flakes would enhance the taste as well, and I agree.
Anyone who wants to join in the fun, please do. Leave a comment with your entry so others can visit!
Afternoon funny
Chad and I have a tendency to match each other when we dress. Most of the time it’s done without thinking, and we won't notice until after we leave the house. It’s not that hard really; we both wear khakis often, and have similar taste in what colors we wear.
However this morning I was getting Daniels clothes out that I wanted to change him into before we left. I was half awake and got some pants out and a shirt. However there was a specific shirt I wanted but couldn't find. I also decided to go with the grey pants, since he had already wore jean shorts the day before (Heaven forbid I put him in another pair of jean shorts!). Chad started to feed him and I went off to get ready. When I was done I changed his clothes and we finished up our morning routine......Well it wasn't until after my lunchtime visit with Daniel I realized that he and I both had on grey pants....however while I was wearing a blue top, and he had a white top with blue paw print all over it. The odd thing.....the shirt I wanted Daniel to wear...was blue.
OK, well this is probably only funny to those who make fun of Chad and I in the first place.
I am guilty of being a Horrible Stupid person
So I had to tell our Realtor that we won’t continue the contract today. It’s hard because she is a friend and it’s really no fault of hers…..This is why I feel so horrible today. It was also all the more difficult because I swear I already told her. That is why I feel stupid. I could have sworn she called last week and I told her…..I don’t know it’s probably me, just being dumb again.
What I hate is the guilt I feel. I really know it’s not her fault; it’s the market…..and the fact that our house is apparently a big steamy pile of stinky crap…..oh which brings me to a funny story.
So Friday I got a call in the morning that someone wanted to see our house (we had just lowered the price to the lowest we could go). I had been home sick the day before (I lost my voice). I wasn’t feeling 100%, but the house was in enough order it wouldn’t take to long to be “show” ready. The showing was going to be between 5 and 6. Everything was going smoothly until 4:30. My boss IMs me that there is something wrong with a report I submitted to him over 2 months ago. Daniel woke up screaming, and I still had to vacuum the house before the showing.
OK, so I got the boss out of the way, he was going to stall since it would take a while. Started to get Daniel calmed down….then realized I was just going to make a loud noise anyways so he waited while I vacuumed. Then I ran around blowing out candles (because a piece of advice I OFTEN receive is “Oh Denise you
HAVE to make the house smell nice), and put Belle's collar on (I would walk them during the showing). After I changed him and started to feed him, Daniel calmed down. By now it was already after 5 by now, but I figured they would HAVE to understand ...right?
So at about 5:20 I put Daniel in his stroller, Put a leash on Belle and went for a walk. I was about a block away when I realized I still didn’t feel good at all and wouldn't be able to go very far. So I cut the walk short and returned home after about 15 minutes and sat on the porch and wait. I waited for a little bit when Chad got home. I told him I was sure no one showed up by now it was I think 10 to 6. I was curious and ran inside for a quick second to see if anyone had come and left a card. That is when I smelled the most horrible smell a house could have when you are trying to sell. Apparently when I went around blowing out candles (make the house smell nice Denise light candles) I either forgot one, or got to it to late. With my cold I probably didn’t notice the smell earlier. However after I got back I noticed it. It smelled like burnt garbage. Of course before I could do anything about it….they showed up.
Later I figured it was the candle that was sitting in Potpourri that caused the stink. Either it burned down before I could get to it or I missed it altogether. Later I remembered that I also forgot to take out Daniel’s garbage before we left. Our realtor didn’t get their information; it’s just as well I don’t need to hear it from someone else how bad my house smells. I could also bore you all with the many other small things I noticed after I returned.....but I won't
The worst part of all of this is the guilt I feel. I generally feel guilty about everything. Even if it is something out of my control, I feel guilty about it. What if those people on Friday would have LOVED the house….if it weren’t for the smell? Then I would have a buyer
AND not feel guilty about my friend not selling our house. I probably could list out 20 things I feel guilty about at any given moment. I understand that feeling guilty doesn’t help the situation, probably even makes it worse….however that only makes me feel…..more guilty for not handling it right…..Argghhh
Anyways I am starting to look back at Friday and laughing it off. Now I can really mean it when I say our house is a steamy pile of stinky crap, just keep me away from candles and maybe it will improve!
Hopefully I will remember to get the pictures off our camera tonight. Daniel has an adventure to write about, and I have a picture and a new feature to post.
Meme time
Jamie tagged me for this meme of 5.
Five things in my freezer (what I could readily identify):
1. Veggie Burgers (and various other morningstar yummies)
2. frozen chopped onions (makes my life easier)
3. Ice Cream
4. spinach
5. edamame (soybeans….very very good you should try them!)
Five things in my closet:
1. Raquetball raquets
2. Box of “stuff” I crammed in there when someone was coming to view the house
3. Workout bag, which I haven’t used over a year
4. bag of cross stitch stuff (hmmm I really should finish those Christmas snowmen from 2 years ago)
5. Old work review (why I keep this I don’t know)
Five things in my car:
1. carseat
2. Sling to carry Daniel
3. Belle’s leash
4. Michigan County Atlas
5. LOTS of bungee cords
Five things in my purse:
1. Aleve
2. Leader Dogs for the Blind eyeglass wipes
3. Passport
4. An empty Starbucks card:-(
5. The Modern Spirituality Series by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a gift from a friend that fits great in my small purse
I don't think I have 5 readers who have a blog that can do this (and Jamie and Amie already have done it)....so I tag whoever wants to!
I've become one of those mothers.....
I said I never would....I said they were dumb......I thought "what if my baby wasn't cute"....However I couldn't stop myself. I entered Daniel in a beautiful baby contest. Not only did I enter him......we took several pictures to get it right.....ok several is putting it lightly. As you will see from his
picture, we went for the "dirty old man" vote. Not to sure how many "dirty old men" will walk into a gift shop in Caseville...AND buy something, but you never know. That is the downfall of this contest. You not only have to buy something, the amount is counted too. We figured this out after we spent a whole dollar on Daniel. Then we reread the rules and saw it was the total amount of purchases made. Geez......after we had to pay to enter him, oh and we have to be present next Sunday in order to claim any win. We weren't planning on going back up. Oh well it was actually kind of fun taking pictures and acting all goofy just to get him to smile....Its so hard not to become one of "those" moms when your baby is so darn cute!
Other than a minor bee stalking, and Daniel not sleeping well because of congestion, we had a great weekend. It wasn't very long I really wish we would have just taken a day off for it. But it was relaxing.
Thank you all for the comments from before. I really think I am better about the house now.
Who wants to be a Superhero
OK I think I am back to the land of the functional (Did you know I left?) . So I have come to the realization that it will take at LEAST a year for my house to sell. I honestly mean that, I don't mean "oh geez I swear it’s gonna take a year for my house to sell"
We looked at some data....and it really could be a year. Sooner would be great but.......
Let me tell you a story about the nasty depression trip I have been on:
So there was a guy who wanted to come back and see our house..... really liked it, but he hasn't been heard from in a couple of weeks. Last we knew he was seeing if he can get a mortgage......yes he was not pre-approved....
(begin rant)
YES I realize that some realtors will not let anyone EVEN LOOK at a house unless they have been pre-approved....well
1. We looked at houses without being pre-approved, so it is common.
2. That is the ONLY people we have looking at our house, if we insisted that someone would need to be pre-approved, well after almost 6 months on the market NO ONE would have looked at our house.
(end rant)
Where was I?
So when I realized that guy who was REALLY interested in our house was probably not going to come back. I started to get really really really sad. Then one day I couldn't leave the house when someone wanted to look. Then we missed a call one Sunday when someone wanted to look at our house. If they only called the cell phone, or if we only checked our messages it would have been fine. The house was clean, the dog was with us. But alas another opprotunity missed. After all of this I started to beat myself up. I got very sad, depressed, angry...not to mention bitter. I really felt I couldn't do ANYTHING right....nothing...I sucked...oh and not just the house selling. I mean I sucked at EVERYTHING, oh and I was fat and ugly to boot (I think I mentioned in my last post how doing the weight loss contest was dumb for me to even have done) Then we got more bad news.
Our realtor every once in a while does a market analysis, where we find out what everyone else is listing at, what everyone closed at and so one. We usually lower the price after one of these. Well In our neighborhood there has only been one house sold that is similar to ours (3 bed, 1 bath, garage 1000-1300 square feet) this year. Anything else has been sold last year. Additionally, the other houses similar to ours in the same neighborhood are listed $5,000 - $15,000 less than us. Actually only 2 are $5,000 less the rest are closer to $10,000 and $15,000. Oh and there is 9 other houses like ours listed within a mile. Also for only a little bit more price wise (or about the same depending) you can get a basement or another room or bathroom....or all of the above. We can't go that low, we just can't. I would LOVE to be able to take a loss on the house. However after 5 months of daycare and high gas prices we can't even do that we just don't have the funds. Additionally, I don't think lowering the price would even help when no one else is selling. After realizing all this I became very very angry. Not really at anyone in general, actually there is no one really to blame, so I just started to blame myself. Then the "I suck" attitude became even worse. However after I started to accept that it will take a year....at least....to sell I started to feel much better. For some reason I was sitting at work and I just felt.....ok about it all.
Chad is going to see if he can work from home for a few days a week for while. It would save a TON of money, which means we might be able to lower our price and take a loss. I guess the thing that upset me the most about all of this is people who are honestly trying to be nice and helpful. For instance
when someone says: "Oh don't worry the right person will come along"
I say "I sure hope so"
I think "gee whiz and I have been looking for the WRONG person all this time...me so dumb I never thought that all it took was the RIGHT buyer"
when someone says: "You should have an open house"
I say "Yeah we had some"
I think "actually 5, and only 2 couples showed up and neither could afford it big waste of freaken time...oh and NO Neighbors came, I know that is everyone’s big claim that neighbors come and that is what gets it sold because of word of mouth, well BS to that NO NEIGHBORS EVEN WALKED BY"
when someone says "You should fix ........."
I say "We thought about that"
I think "Several times actually, however the bank account sthen tells us something else...plus why do I want to even waste my time and money fixing something a buyer may not be bothered by (the comments on our house have been good and they haven't said anything needed be fixed). We have had maybe 8 people look. I am more than willing to fix, install, paint whatever a buyers heart desires (I will pay). However no one has even asked, we just don't have the people looking. I DARE a buyer to make an offer and asked for something to be fixed or replaced. The carpet....any color style they want. If it were up to me, the cheapest beigest carpet I can find. However I will happily have carpet (of their choice) installed and ready for when a buyer moves in"
I feel bad for thinking these things when someone is just trying to make you feel better. However I am about ready to haul off and hit the next person who is just trying to be nice. Boy I would feel really bad then. So....I have been angry and hostile, which doesn't do any good, but I really don't know what else to do. I try not to take it out on others. But
everyone has told us
everything there is to be said about selling a house. It irritates me then it just gets bottled up. However as I said before, I have actually come to accept it will take a long while to sell. I have peace with that and I feel better than I have in a long while.
Last night I laughed for the first time in what feels like a decade. Which is sad considering I have an adorable infant who is just silly.....I do giggle with him but it’s just not what it should be (but all is better now). Anyway the show is called
Who wants to be a Superhero?, it's on the Sci-Fi channel. A bunch of people who want to be superheros compete to star in their own Stan Lee comic book. They dress up and act like superheroes......I don't know why but I found it hysterical. I was feeling sick yesterday so maybe that had something to do with it. But I was happy to have found something to truly laugh at.
Well TGIF everyone, tonight we go to
Key North, where we wil be at the annual cheeseburger festival in Caseville. If we are lucky no one will dare ask us about our house, or offer suggestions on how to sell, whom to sell to etc... If they do I just might throw a margarita on them!
One note wonder
Not much to post on...other than house stuff. We have not found a house that we felt was "it" yet. However we have found 2 we could be happy with. But because of the price on one we have to wait until we sell our house to make an offer. One guy is very interested but just doesn't have the time to make it out to do a second look. I guess I am way beyond frustrated with this whole moving thing. That is pretty much all we talk about currently, thus we have become boring people.
Chad's cousin won the biggest loser competition. I am so glad that is over, and I will never do that again. It was honestly one of the stupidest things I have done. All it did was add more stress to my life. I could have lost the weight without it (I lost almost 15% I think). We will continue to do what we have been doing, but gosh darn it I can now eat a treat every once in a while without the overwhelming guilt of losing $200. I am just happy its over.
So hopefully next time I post I will be a little perkier, but between STILL not having sold the house, losing $200, and this heat I am a little down.
