Sunday, September 28, 2008

A Sordid Affair

I have a long history with Strollers. Yes, Strollers with a "capital S". I love them. I have since before I had babies. I can't help myself.

Hello, my name is Crissy and I'm a Strolleraholic.

Today I was prowling around on the net and I found a photo of my first stroller, the Chicco 2002. Then I thought about it and realized, no, it wasn't my first stroller. My first stroller was a Baby Trend Snap-N-Go. Oh, wait, nope that wasn't my first, either. Then I smiled and counted up how many strollers I've had over the years. The current count is eight. Eight strollers in almost nine years.

Here was my first stroller, an Emmaljunga Viking.

Actually, this isn't the actual stroller, but it looked a lot like this. And you could take the seat off the chassis and it had a bassinet that you could attach. Jack actually slept in that bassinet for the first eight weeks, or so. I bought the Viking before I was even pregnant. My neighbor was selling hers and approached me about buying it. I just knew I would feel like Mary Poppins if I could push that "old-fashioned perambulator" down the street. I wanted to have a baby just to have an excuse to take it for a spin.

I talked John into buying it, since we would use the bassinet portion in our room and the stroller would last well into the toddler years. Plus, I just didn't really like the look of the "travel system" back then. They were all cream or navy and there were lots of teddy bears and the like. Just not really my cup of tea.

When I did get pregnant, we made the pilgrimage to Babies'R'Us to register. Oh, to be shopping for the first baby again. We picked out the Evenflo "On My Way" infant carrier and John's grandmother generously bought it for us. I loved that infant carrier. It had a dark denim cover and the canopy was a really pretty dark blue and green plaid. That dang canopy never would stay up to block the sun, but that's another story. By the time we had Holly Grace, I just took the whole thing off. I remember that it was one of the only infant carriers at BRU that had a 5-point harness. Most of them just had a 3-point harness.

As luck would have it, while we were at BRU, we saw the Baby Trend Snap-n-Go Lite (I think it was the "Lite") and thought that it would be perfect for the short period of time the baby would be in the infant carrier. Ours looked way better than this one, though, because our carseat was navy blue and perfectly matched the Snap-n-Go. I always thought that white infant carrier with the blue Snap-n-Go looked tacky.
Very snobbish of me.

Well, we brought our precious bundle home from the hospital and five days later took him for a walk to the gazebo that was near our little four-plex. It overlooked the harbor in San Pedro and the weather was gorgeous. (It was December, you know, in LA.) My parents were with us and I was livin' the dream, pushing my baby in his Emmaljunga stroller.

Occasionally, we'd put him in that stroller, or "pram", and walk around the Base Housing area, which was really quite pretty, or we'd walk over to the "shopette", a little convenience store about 200 yards away, but the Snap-n-Go was what we kept in the car to use when we were out and about.

Well, he outgrew the infant carrier at four months. Back then, the height limit on infant carriers was only 26" (much smaller than today). And besides, he was a FAT little baby and I really couldn't carry that thing around much longer. So we moved up to the Britax Roundabout we had received as a shower gift from my coworkers and thus began the loading up of the Emmaljunga in the car. That lasted about a day before I declared I needed a real stroller for this kid.

Which is when we made another trip to BRU for this Chicco 2002:

Oh, I loved this stroller. I really wanted to get it, but it was about $160 on clearance at BRU, and I still felt like that was a lot to spend on a stroller (hah!). Really, though. I loved the colors, the seat was really cushy, the handles rotated 360 degrees (good for one-handed pushing). It had a five-point harness and a reclining seat. Strollers didn't really have cupholders then, so the lack of one wasn't really a hardship. Oh, and it was an umbrella fold and stood when folded. It was GREAT! I used and used it. Actually, my mom still has it at her house. I just couldn't bear to part with it. One of the best things about it was that we could sit our Britax Roundabout carseat in it, forward-facing, when we were going through the airport. And we traveled quite a bit when Jack was young. I never did understand why it was called the "2002", though. We bought it in 2000, and it was a 1999 model!

But then, little Holly Grace came along and it was time to upgrade (???) to a double stroller. I labored over this decision until after she was born. When she was two weeks old, I went to The Right Start in Plano and bought this monstrosity, the Baby Trend/Swan Caravan Lite:

Oh, how I came to hate this stroller. It seemed like such a good idea at the time because it could accomodate one infant carseat in the rear position, and Jack could ride as well. Plus, we'd had such a great experience with the Snap-N-Go. But it was so very, very heavy. Caravan Lite? Not so much. To lift it in and out of the car was just misery. I just didn't have many options, though. I wanted to get a Sit-N-Stand, but if you used it with an infant carrier, there was no place for the older child to sit or stand, which kind of defeats the purpose, right? So I dealt with it until I felt like Jack could just walk and I went back to my beloved Chicco for Holly Grace.

Also somewhere in there we acquired one of these. I believe that a friend of ours gave it to us when she made a $20 purchase at BRU and got it for free. That should say a bit about the quality. I have to say, however, we still have it and pull it out when the car is packed full and we still need a stroller (it fits between the seats, on the floor); we've also taken it through the airport when our nice big stroller is all packed away and checked through. It's a good stroller for going through security. Unfortunately, in order to steer it, you have to tilt it backward since the front wheels don't really roll very well. A disadvantage in a stroller, to be sure.

Well, that's only five, but the others will have to wait. To be continued...

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Did They Eat It?

This week I decided I'm turning over a new leaf. Cooking EVERY night this week, for real. No running out for pizza at the last minute because I didn't have a plan. I'm serious.

Monday
Stopped in at Wal-Mart after I dropped the dog off at what Holly every-so-seriously calls "the broomer". Her mispronunciations could be a post of all their own. I picked up a few fresh items that will hopefully allow me to cook all week. I have about an hour and a half of "peace" in the afternoon, so I put together my mom's lasagna recipe. However, I have pork chops to cook Monday night, so I stick the completed lasagna in the outside fridge. Monday night we have grilled pork chops, salad and corn.

Jack - not crazy about them.
Holly Grace - Yes, please. And can I have Jack's leftovers, too?
Mitchell - uh, no thanks. But I would like some more salad dressing to dip my fingers in.
Charlotte - harrumph. I'll take some milk, though.

I'm really bummed - we ate pork chops a lot growing up and I loved them! We'll just have to keep trying.

Tuesday
Tacos. I've decided that one of the biggest deterrants to me actually cooking is having the meat out and thawed. We have lots of beef in the freezer from the side of beef we get every spring, but I'm just not good about bringing it in to thaw in a decent amount of time. So, this morning, I asked John to bring a package of beef in for tacos tonight. Everyone loves tacos, except Charlotte, who claims that they are "yucky" and proceeds to toss hers on the floor and ask for a "snack" instead.

Jack - 2 HARD SHELL tacos, let's be clear that they must be HARD SHELL.
Holly Grace - 2 SOFT tacos. Again, let's be clear that they must be SOFT tacos.
Mitchell - THREE! TACOS! I don't care - in any combination - I'm starving here. And after I'm done, can I have an extra hard taco shell to munch on?
Charlotte - "Yucky!" But now that you mention it, can I have a hard taco shell, too? Yum! It's like having chips for dinner!

Wednesday
Spaghetti? I have all the stuff and it's pretty quick if I use the canned sauce. Hmmmm. 

Yep, they ate it, and some of them (Holly Grace, I think) even requested sauce. Everyone, of course, loves Pepperidge Farm Garlic Bread, but only John and I ate the Caesar salad. Of course, I put some on everyone's plate, but they complained about that "yucky sauce" until I gave in and said, "Fine, you don't have to eat it. But nothing else to eat until BREAKFAST, capice?" Okay, I didn't really say, "capice". Heck, I don't even know how to spell it. But I thought it.

Thursday
Roast? Heading out to the freezer after finishing the post.

Friday
Lasagna. Ah, the beginning of the weekend and I've already made dinner!

Live Blogging - Couch Pillows

Why bother having them when you have four kids? Let's just see what happens with the couch pillows over the course of a day. Maybe it's not as bad as I think.

11:00 a.m.-2 on the couch, 3 on the floor. Pick them all up and place them, nicely, back on the couch.

11:32 a.m.-all four kids are still outside for their morning "break" (my shower). Cushions still in place; I'm thinking about lunch...

10:25 a.m.-everyone's in bed, and guess what? the couch pillows are STILL on the couch, nice and neat. And tomorrow everyone's at school, so maybe it's just my imagination. To be continued...

7:48 p.m.-ALL FIVE pillows on the floor. I'm not sure how it happened, 'cause they were all on the couch when I last checked at 6:00 p.m. I know this, because five of the six of us played a rousing game of Ring-Around-The-Rosies in the living room at that time. WHO IS THE CULPRIT??? I shall begin the interrogations as soon as they are all out of the shower.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

The new thing that I love

It's called Click-and-Pull. It's at Sam's Club. It helps me avoid the vortex at Sam's that sucks you in holds you hostage and makes you pay a ransom of at least $200 to leave the store. Every Sunday, I log onto samsclub.com and "do" my grocery shopping. It's great. I take John's laptop upstairs and sit with him while he watches football. Good wife, on two counts. She is grocery shopping and she is also watching football. I click "place order" and go about my business. Monday morning, I drop the two big kids off at school at 8, then Mitchell at 9. Then I cruise right on over to Sam's, go through the exit (since I am a big fancy "Business" member and can shop earlier than the lowly PUBLIC). I pull my order out of a binder at the membership desk, take it to a cashier, and pay for it. Then a person brings my cold stuff out of the back and I pick up my basket of everything else by the pharmacy. Then we leave. Ten minutes, tops. The End.

Warning: you cannot add stuff to your Sam's Club shopping cart over a period of a couple of days. It will not save. It makes me sad, but this is how it is. I know from experience, so trust me. All of your "clicking" will be for naught if you try to keep "adding" to the cart over time. You will log in and the cart will be empty. And there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. And someone might rend their garments. It's very upsetting, is what I'm saying, so use a 20th century notepad and pen to make your list until you are ready to shop.

Chicken Cacciataco

A new recipe for you! Six ingredients! And you probably already have (or should have!) them in your pantry/freezer. A side note: every time I try to type "pantry", I inadvertently type "panty". What does this mean???

2 tsp. seasoned salt
4 chicken breasts
1/4 c. (or less!) oil
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1/4 c. water
1 16-oz. can tomatoes

Leave the chicken breasts whole, or, if you really want to live a little - cut it up into bite-sized chunks. (Did you know that chicken is easier to cut up when it is still just a little bit frozen? Yes, I have time to hover all day until my chicken reaches the perfect state for cubing.) Heat the oil in a skillet. Toss the chicken and seasoned salt in a bowl until the chicken is coated. Brown the chicken on all sides. Drain. (If you don't use the full 1/4 cup of oil, there won't be much to drain! What a concept!)

Add everything else to the skillet. Cover and simmer 40 minutes (or less, if you're pressed for time). Serve over spaghetti, rice or on tortillas. John likes it on tortillas, with cheese and taco fixin's. I like it tossed in a big pot of spaghetti. The kids like to eat the tortillas and spaghetti plain while I sob quietly over why they won't eat what I cook unless it's meatloaf