Movies Watched December 2011

1. The Descendants
2. The Vampire Diaries
3. Love & Other Drugs
4. The Big Bang Theory
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
6. Soul Surfer

A little bit of everything. I saw The Descendants and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in the theater. I watched Love & Other Drugs and Soul Surfer on cable. We rented The Big Bang Theory on disc, but we have also been watching the show syndicated on TBS. The Vampire Diaries was watched streaming on my nook – equal opportunity entertainment here.

Books Read in December 2011

1. Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis (NOTE: This is part of the Lucky Harbor series. The order in which to read can be found here.)
2. Cowboy Cassanova by Lorelei James (NOTE: This is part of a series. You can find more information and order in which to read here.)
3. 22 Brittania Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
4. Love, Accidentally by Sarah Pekkanen
5. Only Us by Susan Mallery (NOTE: This book is part of the Fool's Gold series. The order in which to read the series can be foundhere.)
6. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Decent book month. I read 2 book club books - December's and February's and a couple of short stories. They were all ebooks this month.

Weekend Update - A Little Bit of This and That

On Friday and Saturday nights, Husband and I made hundreds of potato and cheese pierogi. Saturday, during the day, Little Miss and I went to the library, I think. We did something in the morning. Then, we took a very lengthy afternoon nap. That part I do remember. On Sunday, Little Miss and I went to brunch for book club. Afterwards, we walked to the bakery where they had a free decorate your own cookie activity.

You'll remember that we're trying to get Little Miss to try new foods. Last Sunday night, she tried pierogi and kielbasa as a nod to her Polish half. The kielbasa (or hot dog as she called it) got a thumbs up. The pierogi did not pass muster. Still, our experiment has been going well so far.  The picture above is Little Miss eating kielbasa on seeded rye. 

On Monday, school was cancelled.  Little Miss has had a productive cough for about a week now.  On Monday morning, she threw up all over Husband.  I swear I didn't laugh.  Much.  So, I took her to the doctor as a precaution.  It turns out her cough is nothing.  It turns out she wasn't quite herself because of a diagnosed double ear infection.  So, she's on an antibiotic.  She's a bit easily worn down and extra sensitive, but she is mostly back to herself.  She did go to school on Wednesday after staying home Tuesday.  We figured it was important she go today because there is no school until January 3.


So, now it's just a mad dash to prepare for Christmas!  Little Miss has already started getting the first of her presents.  She's definitely embraced the spiritual and commercial side of Christmas this year but with a good balance, I think.

Weekend Update - It's All a Blur

Seriously.  It's all a blur.  I have no idea what we did.  On Friday, Husband and I went grocery shopping.  Little Miss came home and we hung out.  I fell asleep on the couch watching tv until Husband noticed and told me to go to bed. Saturday kind of flew right by.  Seriously, I can't remember a single thing we did on Saturday.  On Sunday, Little Miss and I walked to CVS to run some errands and took a picture with Santa.  Well, her picture was taken with Santa.  I watched and paid.  That's it.  It flew.

On Tuesday, I took off of work to help out at the preschool. The kids were cute. They all called me Little Miss's Mom the whole time. After school, Little Miss was excited when I picked her up. We then went to the grocery store, she took a very long nap, and then we walked to the library. Little Miss has been really enjoying our trip to the library though sometimes, she is sad to return the books.

This weekend, we have a busy one planned - Christmas cooking and book club. So, I'll have more to report over the next few weeks than I did last weekend.

New Foods - Pumpkin Cupcakes and Lemon Pasta w/Chicken

We're lazy.  This is not new information.  So, Little Miss has had a pretty easy diet of things she happens to like.  Nothing unhealthy necessarily, just no big variety.  I noticed recently that she is downright defiant when it comes to eating or trying new foods - even different ways of serving foods she already likes.  I informed her that in the next week, she was going to start to try new foods.  This didn't go over well, but I told her she can pick out a food each week on her own.  Depending on what it is, we can make it together.  In an effort not to ruin new foods for her forever, I suggested we start with fruits, vegetables or desserts.  So, she suggested pumpkin.  I said we could make pumpkin cupcakes (aka pumpkin muffins).

Last night, when Little Miss came home, she and I baked up a baker's dozen of pumpkin cupcakes.  Then, the three of us split one before bed.  They were quite moist.  Little Miss liked it a lot and ate about 3/4 of it (the remainder was split between Husband and me).  I think she liked it better than I did!  

We went through a food magazine, and Little Miss wanted to make a pasta dish for next week, but we amended that to having her try a dish Husband already makes - a lemon chicken pasta.  It's a slow start, but we're already making progress.

KYLE CHANDLER

Heck, if anybody deserves an all-caps title, it's my favorite actor in the world, Kyle Chandler. GQ just gave him 2011 GQ Coach of the Year as part of its Men of the Year issue (for his portrayal of Coach Eric Taylor on Friday Night Lights). Super 8, right in time for my birthday.

I Know Everything - except...

First, I have to elaborate.  When Little Miss was in trouble at the movies, it wasn't so much the behavior in the theater.  For acting up during the movie, she was physically removed.  If she calmed down, I fully planned on bringing her back in.  However, in the lobby, she started screaming louder and then balled her fists and jumped up and down.  Then, she started hitting me.  At that point, I took her arm and calmly (no, really!) told her we were going home.  

So, later that night, after everything was settled, Little Miss was eating dinner.  I told her something, and she looked at me and said, "I know, Mommy.  I know everything."  Then, she paused.  "Except listening, jumping and hitting."

Punishment

Little Miss hasn't really been punished often.  She'll occasionally go to bed with no TV or get no dessert, but nothing's ever really sunken in before.  So, this past incident, she not only had a long-term punishment, but she also had to have a lot of dialogue about her behavior and what was considered good and bad.  Late last week, we explained that when she does good things, good things happen.  When she does bad things, bad things happen.  She nooded and said, "That's the truth." 

So, she's learning!

Weekend Update - Living Like it's 2006!

Well, Thursday, I took a half day from work, got a pedicure and then drove Little Miss to my parents. We celebrated Sister's birthday and then Little Miss spent the night. On Friday, my parents took both grandchildren to NYC for the Radio City show and other holiday sights around the city. So, we had the whole weekend to ourselves, without a child, to do with as we pleased.

So, on Friday night, I went to a friend's house for a Jewelry and Chocolate party and sipped a chocolate martini and laughed and shopped. Then, on Saturday, I slept late. Then, I slept some more. Then, I pretty much showered and went to dinner with a friend. We had a few cocktails and then went to a late movie.

On Sunday, I slept late again! Then, I met Sister for lunch and we had a cocktail and did some Christmas shopping. After, we met our parents and kids, had dinner, and closed up the weekend. I know Little Miss had fun, but I think she was really glad to be home.

Little Miss has her own Christmas tree. It is her favorite because of the red lights and is an extra night light as well. So, her punishment after last weekend's behavior was that she lost the Christmas tree for one week. Plus, there was a lot of communication between all of us and apologies all around. Anyway, after a glowing report on her behavior in NYC, she got all her Christmas toys and tree back.  So, good weekend all around!

Weekend Update - It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, we woke up when Little Miss woke up. We all got ready and left the house to get our Christmas tree. Per our usual routine, we drove halfway and stopped at IHOP for brunch and then drove the rest of the way to the tree farm. After Little Miss introduced herself to the owner's kids and horses, we searched out the perfect tree.  The tree above is the one Little Miss picked out.

We chose the one above which looks small in the picture, but it is not.  We trimmed the top a bit, but it is much fuller than trees we've gotten in the past.  I'll post a picture later all decorated.  We had some last minute fixing throughout the last week or so.

On Saturday, Husband went to hit some golf balls and run some errands. I'd love to say Little Miss and I took advantage of the time and did lots of things. In the morning, we had breakfast and walked to the library. Then, we ate lunch. Then, we napped until 6:30. Seriously. I actually woke up earlier, but I read in bed while she slept. It was glorious.

 

On Sunday, Little Miss and I met a friend for lunch at Cafe Deluxe. It was really nice, and everyone treated Little Miss very well. We walked around the area and then watched Little Miss play on the playground. Then, we settled in to watch The Muppets. As expected, Little Miss slept through a bit of it. Then, she woke up and watched a little. Then, she flipped out. So, we left the theater early and she was punished. Still, it was a learning/teaching moment. It also came in handy the following week. She took the punishment like a champ though.

Weekend Update - Thanksgiving

That's Toby. He's my parents' cat. That's what he did all through Thanksgiving - until he nibbled at Little Miss's cupcake, but I get ahead of myself.

We had a very relaxing Thanksgiving. I woke up with Little Miss at 8:30. Then, we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. In between, I showered and got ready. Then, after the parade, Little Miss helped me make cranberry sauce and roasted butternut squash. She loves to help in the kitchen, and I try very hard to let her help even though my inner neat freak goes a little crazy.

At 1PM, we went to my parents' house and hung out with them and my grandfather. Little Miss liked having 100% of the attention and 100% of the use of nephew's toys. I think she missed her playmate and cousin though. We had an early dinner and left in time for Little Miss to make her bedtime.

When we got home, Little Miss went straight to sleep. She actually fell asleep in the car and then slept on the couch for a little while before we carried her to bed. In the meantime, we cleaned the apartment and got the Christmas decorations all ready because Black Friday is when we get our Christmas tree every year. (See next post.)

What If...

I don't want to give away any television spoilers (you can click here if you want to know limited details, but there is a show that is doing an episode with an alternate reality. The premise is based off the question "What if this big event hadn't happened?"

So, Entertainment Weekly asked its staff the same question and the writers came up with their own list of What If moments like "What if Picard had remained a Borg?" on Star Trek: The Next Generation or "What if Jack had died at the end of the first season as planned?" on Lost.

Are there any What If scenarios in your favorite tv shows that you would like to see?

Entertainment Weekly did hit on my big TV wish:  I wish Zack hadn't gotten mixed up with Gormogon on Bones. My second wish would be that Tim Riggins hadn't lived with ferret guy who cooked his own meth or the Riggins brothers never had a chop shop (and poor Canadian Taylor Kitsch never had to say the word "chop shop" in his Canadian, poor Texas accented voice) or, wish of all wishes, Tyra and Landry never killed that guy.  

And now I must go watch Friday Night Lights...