Couscous or Kiki?

The halfling and I made couscous last night for his lunch today. He was so excited to tell his teachers about his cooking adventure. It didn't really matter that all he did was stir for about 5 minutes. In his mind, he cooked dadgumit! When I picked him up we headed over to my Mom's to pick up the fourthling. My Mom asked him how his day was and what he did at school. Typical halfling fashion he informed her that they went to the bathroom, played outside and that he ate kiki for lunch. In other words, the bathroom trip was the highlight of his day. Oh, and the kiki...let's not forget the kiki!

Why is it I feel inspiration when I have somewhere to be...in like an hour?

Oh, my heart yearns to crank out blog inspiration but alas, my dear readers, I have things to do today. People to see, parties to attend, money to spend. It's been ages since I've updated. I am gearing up to start an entire new blog on bento box lunches. How exciting, no? You will thank me in the future. Stay tuned!

A morning person I am not.

Feel like speaking Yoda today I do.

see more crazy cat pics

Is it weird that I can identify with Monk?

I admit it, I have issues. I've known this since I was a child. I line things up just so. Dishes have to be put away in a certain order. Clothes have to be folded my way. If things are not done a certain way....it eats at me to the point where I cannot function. It's all I can think about. I have to fix it before I can accomplish anything else.

I can distinctly remember after the halfling was born when we lost a pacifier one day. I searched for 2 hours until I found that one pacifier. Did it matter that we had 9 other ones just like it? No, it did not. Did it matter that the halfling didn't really even like his pacifier? Nope. I was grief stricken and absolutely panicked because if we lost one pacifier, that would mean that we had 9 pacifiers left, not 10.

10 is a good number...9 is not.

10=nice even number.

9=we lost a paci and we have 9 left.

9 is an uneven number and bad.

I couldn't live with that. I would obsess about the 9 pacifiers left and how we were supposed to have 10. I finally did find the damned lost pacifier, and when I did...I have never felt so relieved and happy. You'd think I'd just won the Nobel Peace Prize. It doesn't matter that I could have gone and bought another pacifier. I had to find the lost one. All things were right with the world.

Like I said, I have issues.

Bento Organization

My favorite bento inspiration place....Lunch in a Box, is having a bento organization event. I am never one to turn down organizing anything, and heck...why not try to win something cool in the meantime? Ok, you avid BU readers, here is how I organize my bento's. Here is what hangs in the corner of my pantry. I had to take it out of the pantry to get a semi-decent photo of it for the event. I purchased this mesh organizer at Ikea about a month or so ago. I'm pretty sure I paid about $7 for it. I love organizing, but I love organizing things cheaply. Dollar Tree is like my second home. I sometimes go in there once a week to see if they have anything new and versatile. It's a genetic thing, I swear. I have an astronomical amount of bento's, I admit. I'm not embarrassed, so deal...k?
I like to use something different everyday for the kids. So, there is a method to my madness. Plus, this mesh thingy makes it easy for the kids to pick out which bento they want to use for the next day or certain outing we are going on. Cheap and kid-friendly! Just for sanity purposes, I keep all the bento belts strapped on the matching bento inside this organizer. It's easier for me, and well, I would faint if I couldn't find the matching bento belt otherwise. It's a OCD thing. There really is not a particular order to each mesh pocket. I divided by size and weight (to distribute it evenly) There is one pocket at the bottom that is collapsed. It will eventually hold more bento's. I have some shipping to me as I write this. The only bento's that do not fit inside this container are our Laptop Lunches and my husband's Mr. Bento. Those fit neatly inside a pantry basket on the shelf.


Next up.....accessories! These are organized by plastic shoe-box sized containers I purchased at Dollar Tree. Inside each container there are smaller plastic containers to keep items separate. I usually keep the boxes I use the most at the top for ease of access. Other boxes that I don't use on a daily basis (egg molds, rice molds, etc) I keep at the bottom. I do have one more box on my pantry shelf for bento bags and oshibori towels. Surprisingly, these do not actually take up that much space. I recently had revamped my pantry anyway, and it left me a bit of extra room. I have plenty of room left for other supplies I may pick up in the future. I apologize for the blurriness of the photo. From the top left: 1. Baran grass, ozaku cups and food picks and skewers 2. Larger ozaku cups and silicone cups 3. Sandwich, Veggie & Fruit Cutters 4. Medium and Large lidded and un-lidded side cups (mostly laptop lunch containers) 5. Egg molds 6. Rice Molds 7. Not pictured: Bento bags and oshibori towels. Like I said, I like organized things, but doing it cheaply is better. I spent about $19 on all my organization supplies. That includes the hanging mesh container, 7 shoe-box sized plastic containers, and 5 sets 0f 3 small plastic containers to fit inside larger ones. Which leaves me more $$$ to get bento gear. Vicious circle it is.....;)

Hey, man. I am a deep, philosophical person.

Over the years I have pondered many a deep thought. Before I had children, I debated deep philosophical questions. Why am I here? What am I here for? What is my purpose? Blah, blah, blah....

I now question deeper things. Take children's shows for instance. A deep thinking philosophical person like myself has discovered an entire new realm of discussion topics. Let's look at some of the questions I have pondered since giving birth. World peace? Who gives a shit! I have more pressing matters to attend to.

Barney is evil. And what's up with the hiring of the goofiest kids in America to join in on his lovefest? I'd hate to have Barney on my resume. That would suck. Have you seen the peeps that appear on this show? It's a crappy acting fiesta, man. It's worthy of watching and having a good laugh. And even funnier if you are drunk like I am from sun up till sun down! Cheers!


And speaking of annoying television shows for kids....how anyone stomachs that brat Calliou is beyond me. Someone needs to smother him while he's sleeping. Whiney, bald, bratty and annoying. His parents must be so proud! Wait, his parents are morons too. First off, do his parents actually work? Ever? All they ever do on the show is putz around the house catering to their evil spawn. Every tantrum is a life lesson in this house. Who has that kind of time or patience? Secondly, what parent would put up with his absolute insane brattiness? I would sell him to gypsies, and use the money to go get me a strong, stiff flask of whiskey or better yet, go to Starbucks! Just look at him. Looking at him makes me want to tie his shoelaces together and watch him fall flat on his face. God, I hate him.

Over the years I have pondered many a deep thought. Before I had children, I debated deep philosophical questions. Why am I here? What am I here for? What is my purpose? Blah, blah, blah.

I now question deeper things.

For example, Max & Ruby. Ahhh, little Max. Not quite as annoying as Calliou...but very close. And Ruby....sweet, roly-poly Ruby. How Max has lived thus long and not popped a cap in her head is beyond me. Where are their parents? They have this huge house with no parents in sight. I occasionally see a Bunny Scout leader and some weird neighbor lady on the show. What gives?
And how come Franklin is the only animal that has the fortune of having a real name? Everyone else on the show goes by what animal they are: bear, rabbit, turtle, beaver. Franklin is the only animal with a real name. What's up with that?

Why does Little Bear's parents get to wear clothes, but Little Bear runs around naked all the time? And why do all the animals get to talk like humans EXCEPT for TuTu, the dog? Why are they hatin' on our canine friends? And how in the hell did Mitzi, a monkey, get all the way to the Canadian Rockies?


There are many other children's television shows that I often ponder, but I will save those for another time. Life's greatest mysteries are all on Noggin and Sprout.

Just cause.

I want this shirt. If you want to buy it for me let me know, k?
Thanks!

Guten Tag. Ich heisse Hope!

You know, I took German for 2 semesters and I actually made an A in the damn class. And the above statement is all I can remember. I think I can say my ABC's and count to 10 or something, but I don't think that really counts in polyglot-ism. It wouldn't help me if I needed to find the little girls room or a jumbo tampon in Germany now would it? Nope.

Yeah, so it's been forever since I have updated my blog, so sue me. Today IS your day! I can't sleep because of daylight saving, and I have a distinct feeling that come 6 AM I will regret my decision to stay up and peck away on the laptop at 1 AM while listening to the Bourne Supremacy DVD Menu song repeat over and over again because I am too lazy to get up and find the remote.

So, not much has been happening in our household lately. Same shit, different day...as I always say. I have made some yummy bento's lately. Wanna see? Of course you do! Let's dance with the devil!
OK, here we have the halflings lunch of steamed carrots and baby corn, and yaki onigiri (soy sauce seared sushi rice stuffed with pulled seasoned pork)
And the bottom tier has two Hebrew National octo-dogs and a small container of organic ketchup. None of that high fructose corn syrup crap in our house! A fish shaped boiled egg and 2 small laughing cow cheese cubes. I seared the hot dogs in a frying pan after cutting them to give them a octopus look.
And the whole set in it's entirety. Who doesn't want to eat of this cute little contraption? It says "Gee!" on the back. I have no clue what that means, but I am assuming it means "Ribbit" in some weird Japanese translation. Whatev's!