Steph's Stuff - Life of Mine

It's good to be a winner

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:12:44 -0800

A couple weeks back, both my boys went through their first belt promotion in tae kwon do. I was so proud of them. They put in a lot of hard work and it paid off. They were on top of the world for about a week and now they are talking about moving up yet again. It is great to see them have goals and work so hard to achieve them. I am very proud of them.

Photo

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:10:43 -0800

I'm happy. I'm happy. I'm happy.

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:21:54 -0700

My new mantra. I needed one badly. My job sucks so badly and there have been some real trials this last year. I spent a good deal of my time cursing under my breath (or loudly at times!) and felt that I had to do something about my attitude. If I can’t make other things change, I can at least change myself. So now I try to tell myself that at least I can choose to be happy, regardless of the situation.

“I’m happy. I’m happy. I’m happy.”

Well, hello, Mrs. Robinson

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:18:01 -0700

OK, so it was literally 6:30am and raining and I was standing at the bus stop in what would be termed very dim light coming from the street lights. I ducked under the bus shelter and sat on the bench. Shortly thereafter a young man arrives and asks me if I had seen the #9. I made a comment about the lovely weather and the darkness of the hour. He then asked me if I was going to Central. I assumed he meant the Central District and I said, “No, I have to go downtown.” He then said that he loves going to college and goes early so that he can get a run in before his 8am classes. He goes on to tell me he is a personal trainer and that all of his friends are stoners, so it is a bit weird. It only occurred to me at that time that he thought I was in high school and going to Central High, which made me laugh out loud. I then mentioned that my husband used to run track in college and that his friends were also stoners. The look on this poor kids face was priceless. Trust me, if I hadn’t had my funky rain boots on and been burried under a huge coat in the near darkness, this mistake (on his part!) would never have happened - LOL!

Photo

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:24:59 -0700

Baby Princess

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:21:56 -0700

My little girl (who I call baby princess in the mornings when she wakes up) is the sweetest thing. Yesterday, when I got home from work, she said to me “How was your day? What did you do today?” In the sweetest, most interested voice ever. I really needed that.

Baby Princess

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:21:15 -0700

Life is beautiful :)

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:14:24 -0700

Life is beautiful :)

Food is my life, and other musings

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:10:40 -0700

I have discovered that blogging is a lot like my New Year’s resolutions - I was doing OK for a bit, and then not so much.

So anyway, figured I should try to do some catch up here.

After we returned from vacation, my father-in-law got very sick, and ultimately passed away. We live a full-day’s travel by flight away, so this was very stressful for my husband. He flew out ahead of us, just as his dad was slipping away, but got there in time to see him before he passed. The kids and I made the trek out the following week to be with him and his siblings. This was emotional and exhausting. I imagine that this will take some time to recover from, but that is what time is for.

I recently decided to cut all the color out of my hair, after coloring for literally 20 years. I figured now was the time since my hair is so short. I really hated spending 2 hours on a hair appointment. Not my idea of a good time. I don’t get enough personal time as it is, and this was a huge frustation point for me. Honestly, it boils down to me being super lazy. Anyway, I have gotten more compliments on my hair than I have in my whole life. Women love it - guess because it is a bold thing to do and most of us fret about the day that we are gray and the world knows it. However, my older sister hates it. Now, if I could get a decent photo of myself, I would include it here.

So after giving up on being the Next Food Network Star, I discovered that food really is still my life. I have always focused my day around food, ever since I was a kid. My mom talks about how as a child my first question of the day would be “What’s for dinner?” Food is what makes a bad day livable.

Do I need a New Life?

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:08:57 -0700

So I just got back from vacation, which would seem like a good thing, right? Not so much. My spouse and I fought nearly the whole time. And why? Because we took my sister along. After 10 years of marriage, I mistakenly thought they got along. Turns out they don’t. So I played mediator and ended up in the middle with both of them bitching at me the whole damn time. Sucked big time. There were still lots of good times though. The kids had a great time at the beach and Disneyland. My spouse cooked like a madman the whole time. We swore everything he made had bacon in it! I actually got to do a lot of nothing for a change. It was nice overall (minus the complaining).

Unfortunately, now I get to go back to work and try to figure out how to get through 1200 emails while spending the week in training. Should be a good time.

I have still been thinking about having my own cooking show, even more now than I had in the past. I spent some time on the trip looking into the rules for the NFNS and I am convinced I am in over my head for sure. I have some great plans for a show, but I don’t know if I could pull it off. I have been reading blogs, going through recipes, etc. I feel very overwhelmed. Just wish I had the courage to do it. The up side to all this research? I found a killer cupcake link :)

http://www.yumsugar.com/4140940 - 7 Unconventional Cupcakes. The one with bacon looks awesome! Makes me think my spouse had a hand in this one - LOL!

Kids in San Francisco market

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:06:30 -0700

Kids in San Francisco market

Reality Check

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:45:00 -0700

So I get that I am not a culinary genius, but I still like the idea of trying out for the Food Network Star. I told my oldest son, who is 9, my idea and he said “Dad is a better cook than you. No offense.” I had to laugh. Maybe that will be my schtick - a woman who can’t cook with a cooking show. LOL!

Calling in life?

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:06:28 -0700

Work has been really hard. This week has been brutal. I work in a very aggressive environment and it can take its toll. I have been questioning myself since I started this job nearly 2 years ago. Lately, I spend a lot of time fantasizing about winning the Food Network Star title. I know this is just an escape and coping mechanism, but I honestly think that I need to do something else with my life. While I like the work itself, this place will be the death of me. I have such bad muscle tension in my back that I have radiating pain down my arm, my stomach is literally full of lumps and my eye is twitching… again. I just wonder what my calling really is. I can’t be here to save the world one person at a time, but what am I hear to do?

Seeing spots

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:59:00 -0700

I was in a meeting today and was staring at my hands while tuning everyone out. In my deep concentration on my hands I noticed that there was a blemish on my thumb knuckle area and when I looked closer I realized that I had faint spots all over both my hands. I literally have age spots. WTF!? I just turned 40. This really bites…

Photo

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:19:32 -0700

Projects

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:53:09 -0700

OK, so I have been trying to connect with this woman in my neighborhood to scrapbook for nearly a year now - not kidding. I have gone so far as to get books, sorted some pictures, picked out stickers, etc. The scheduling issues aside, I am just overwhelmed by this project. I literally have about 5 years of pictures to catch up on. I am not even sure where to start. So this weekend, I thought I would sort through my digital photos and collect the ones that I never printed and get them ordered so that I would at least feel like I had all the pictures to choose from before I started in on a book. I made it through 2004 and 2005. I found some of the BEST photos of my middle child, Coop. He was the chubbiest, yummiest baby ever. At least I left happy, if not more organized :)

Kids Race

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:47:41 -0700

So both my husband and I used to run. Key term here is “used to”. Anyway, in trying to get our kids into a healthy lifestyle mode, we do what we can to keep them active and outside a lot. As a kid, no one in my family ever exercised or even went anywhere that required a lot of activity, but I want my kids to have healthier habits than I did. They recently signed up for the Seattle Kid’s Triathlon. This is Parker’s 3rd year and Cooper’s 2nd. They did great!

The boys after the race. Parker claims to have nearly drown, so...

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:46:19 -0700

The boys after the race. Parker claims to have nearly drown, so he is a bit full of ‘tude at this point. Keep in mind the water is 3.5 feet deep and he is at least 48” tall. I guess standing wasn’t an option??

Coop, Mom and Bailey at the Finish Line

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:44:35 -0700

Coop, Mom and Bailey at the Finish Line

Parker waiting to start the swim

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:43:41 -0700

Parker waiting to start the swim