one of those days
By Tara Zandra | February 8, 2010
But in a good way 
For whatever reason I slept really well last night and woke up in a good mood, despite the dreams of mice and rats in the house. I read blogs, did yoga, sat with Daisy, had hot tea and a banana, stared at the blue sky, and then welcomed Tabitha to the world of the awake.
From there we had a regular day with lessons, laundry, a trip to the grocery, a fort was built for Daisy, she read to me, I read to her, both girls spent time in the front yard digging in dirt/hula hooping/drawing with chalk. Tabitha chose a lovely soup for dinner called Chipotle Potato Soup with Frizzled Leeks. Spicy but very, very good. I used the crock pot and my beloved Cuisinart.
Right I’m waiting for the Kings to beat the Ducks and then we can send Tabitha off to bed and the grown-ups can watch Chuck!
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waiting for Tuesday
By Tara Zandra | February 7, 2010
At this point I’m actually looking forward to when Lost is on so I can get Daisy’s pictures up.
Today marked the 5th, and final, day of celebrating Daisy’s birthday. We ended with a trip to the American Girl Place. It was a girls’ day being that it was myself, Daisy, Tabitha, and my MIL. We started off with a nice lunch which culminated with a cake for both girls. I wasn’t initially going to do the cake since I just did it last year for Tabitha’s birthday, but Tabitha really wanted it so I went ahead and ordered it.
After the food, we did a little shopping. As a gift to both girls, my MIL had promised them matching outfits to their dolls. Daisy chose PJs which she is currently wearing to bed and looks quite adorable Tabitha chose a dress to match her new doll, Lanie and then just another random Lanie outfit for the doll herself. I had also promised both girls a small accessories set and they each chose pets. Of course, you can never buy just what you go for so my MIL was rather generous with the girls as they both came home with a few more items.
Ideally I’d like to get Tabitha all of Lanie’s stuff over the course of the year. I can do a few things for the Easter basket and then put the rest away for next Christmas. Using the catalog I added it all up and the total isn’t that bad, really. The main thing is the camper which is pricey and huge. The size will be a serious issue and I’m not sure I can talk Chris into it (I’m sure he’s reading this and shaking his head ‘no’). But we’ll see as it would be an excellent Santa gift.
Anyway, once home the three of us relaxed and then had to head out again to pick up Chris who had spent the afternoon with his dad. We then made a quick stop at the grocery store and when we got home I promptly started preparing dinner. I had asked Tabitha what we should have for dinner because my plan was to have her cook it. She chose rice, chili, and strawberries. Since the rice just goes in a steamer and the chili is canned, it seemed pointless to ask her to prepare anything. I’ll try again on Tuesday.
Topics: Life, Delightful D, Teriffic T, The Kiddies | No Comments »
I got nothing
By Tara Zandra | February 6, 2010
Tomorrow should be a better day.
‘Night.
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halfway
By Tara Zandra | February 5, 2010
We were putting in our troop’s cookie orders this evening so it was our first chance to tally up Tabitha’s sales. She is halfway to her goal with just shy of 500 boxes of cookies! She still needs another 500 and it won’t be easy, but she is determined. Our troop has a lot of booth sales scheduled and she plans to go around the neighborhood this weekend. Once we have the cookies in hand, she load them into a wagon and go around the neighborhood again. I don’t know that she’ll hit 1000, but she’s going to come darn close and she is quite happy about that.
Today started off with book club but no park due to rain. We went to Target for Daisy to spend her gift card and then met my MIL for lunch. We then went to a McDonald’s to play, but Daisy wasn’t having any fun so we bought the girls small sundaes and headed to Toys R Us so Daisy could spend her other gift card. Then we went back to Target so Tabi could use some of her gift cards and finally we made it home.
Waiting for us here were boxes of decorations for Daisy’s party. Everything is adorable and I cannot wait for her tea party Tabitha took over the laptop, I settled at the desktop, Chris played video games in the living room and Daisy played with all her new toys. Eventually I joined Chris in playing Karaoke Revolution with Daisy watching. Tabitha was making High School Musical videos with her Barbies and they were pretty funny to watch. We’re thinking we’ll get her set up in the dining room with better lighting and have her redo one of them and then I’ll post them to YouTube for fun.
Eventually we got the little one off to bed, after a quick game of Candyland, and then Tabitha, Chris and I worked on the cookie orders.
Topics: Life, The Kiddies | 1 Comment »
too many pics to even think of going through right now
By Tara Zandra | February 4, 2010
And a good time was had by all We not only went to Disneyland all day on Wednesday, we stayed overnight at the Disneyland Hotel to celebrate Miss Daisy turning the big 5!! I will get to the pictures, but goodness knows it won’t be tonight. I am exhausted, as is the entire family. But no time to sleep, Chris and I have White Collar and Psych to watch (with popcorn!).
I will say that Daisy loves her dollhouse, especially the Calico Critters figures and she definitely wants more of those.
Topics: Life, Delightful D | 1 Comment »
birthday eve
By Tara Zandra | February 3, 2010
We’ve spent the whole day at Disneyland celebrating Daisy’s Birthday Eve. We’re heading back into the park tomorrow for a few more hours for more Birthday Magic!
Details and pictures to come later.
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birthday pics
By Tara Zandra | February 2, 2010
I put up Tabitha’s birthday pictures for those that are interested.
She had a really nice birthday last Saturday. We got up very early due to Disneyland opening at 8am and Tabitha insisted on opening her gifts before we went. She was thrilled to receive her new American Girl doll. She immediately proclaimed that both dolls were coming with us to Disneyland.
First stop was the bakery on Main Street for some goodies. Then we got down to the business of going on rides. Tabitha rode Space Mountain twice, Buzz Lightyear, Star Tours (Daisy proclaimed she preferred the one in Disney World though they are both fun. The thing is, they are the exact same ride), Thunder Mountain, and Haunted Mansion. We took a little bit of a time out for pictures in front of the castle area and then went to lunch at the Blue Bayou. This restaurant is located inside the Pirates of the Carribbean attraction so the atmosphere is wonderful. Tabitha had a Monte Cristo while Chris and I had a portabello mushroom dish that was fabulous. Daisy had mac and cheese but ate a bit of my salad and a lot of my mushrooms. Tabi was brought a mousse for dessert.
She then wanted to go into Innoventions. I rarely have a good time in there so I sent the rest of the family and went browsing in every single shop on Main Street. I must say, it was bliss. I looked at so much stuff and daydreamed about potential purchases and reveled in the magic of Disney. I really looked at all the people around me and found so many reasons to smile.
After we all rejoined, we walked through Downtown Disney to get to Little Missmatched sock store. Basically you buy packs of 3 socks and they don’t match, though they coordinate. Tabitha was very excited to shop there, despite the fact that she abhors wearing socks. However, she has proclaimed their extremely comfy and wants to wear them often so there you go. She changed out of her high tops at this point so she could show off a new pair of non-matching socks.
Next was California Adventure. We let the kids play the boardwalk games, rode a couple rides then went into Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. We stayed there for the next hour and then were pretty much done. Oh, we also stopped in the candy store so Tabitha could fill a tube with colored sugar because that was the birthday treat she asked for.
We stopped at Pick Up Stix on the way home (Tabi’s choice) and then finally arrived home after a very long day.
Sunday was party day! We had 17 kids for our craft party. They decorated goodie bags, put together a toy, laced coin pouches, decorated foam gliders, sang happy birthday, decorated cupcakes, watched Tabitha open gifts and then left.
It was exhausting.
The bigger the kids get, the louder they get. Our house was loud non-stop except during the time they were concentrating on lacing the pouches. The good thing is that even though the kids ranged in age from 7-12, they all seemed to enjoy the crafts.
However, we’ve decided that due the loudness and the difficulty in managing two birthdays and two birthday parties in a two week span, next year we’re going to look at renting a room somewhere for Tabitha’s party. Her guest list just keeps growing and it’s hard to fit that many kids into our living room, plus this way, we wouldn’t have the added stress of the making the house 100% perfect. We’ll start thinking about it again in Sept.
So tomorrow starts Daisy’s birthday celebration! Her actual birthday is Thursday, but we’re starting early.
Topics: Life, Teriffic T | 1 Comment »
in lieu of a real post
By Tara Zandra | February 1, 2010
Tomorrow I shall blog and post pictures. Mainly because I become a Lost widow again starting tomorrow night. 3 hours of it! Sheesh! I better gear up my play lists to drown all the beatings, shouting and shootings.
But tonight I shall share the definition of my names according to the first entries in Urban Dictionary
Tara
Drop dead gorgeous. Used to describe the most amazing person you know. Legendary.
Wow, you are so tara.
Zandra
a very beautiful girl with a
really good personality
dont take shit from people
Lakers fan
my Love
Zandra is nice
I love that site, so complimentary
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chaos
By Tara Zandra | January 31, 2010
Tabitha’s party was today.
The theme was madness crafting so Oriental Trading Company came to the rescue.
Chris and I are utterly exhausted as there was zero down time this whole weekend.
Bedtime hasn’t come soon enough.
G’Night
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late
By Tara Zandra | January 30, 2010
Birthday!
Disneyland!
Fun!
Equals, fake timestamp on this entry so it will look like I wrote it Saturday
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hectic
By Tara Zandra | January 29, 2010
Today was insane with here/there/everywhere antics. I’m home now but still have to decorate, wrap and take care of some GS cookie business.
My BIL babysat tonight so Chris and I could head out to The Grove to hit up the American Girl shop. We bought Tabitha a new doll named Lanie who is this year’s Girl of the Year. She’s modern and only around for one year. I love this girl as she’s a nature girl and so very Tabitha. As soon as I read about her, I knew we have to get her for Tabi. I really think she’ll enjoy her. We also bought the Camp Rock DVD, a 6-month membership to Club Penguin, and the French Primer book I mentioned a few posts ago. I read the first exercise and understood it perfectly except for one word. And I wasn’t even translating it, I just understood. I made the mistake of reading it aloud though and therefore my pronunciation was corrected by Mr. French-Canadian, lol. I tend to speak French with my gringa-Spanish accent. But at least I understood it all, so that’s pretty darn cool to me Oh, and Daisy’s gift to Tabitha is a Webk!nz Jr. because Tabi really wanted one even though the website is for the younger set.
After The Grove, we went to Hollywood to eat at The Grilled Cheese Truck. I don’t know how prevalent this is in other areas, but around here now, there are quite a few gourment roach-coaches. They roam around LA and post on Twitter where they’ll be. Tonight was really our first opportunity and we could not pass it up. I had the Harvest Sandwich which was roasted butternut squash, sauteed leeks, balsamic, gruyere. Oh.My.Goodness. It was fabulous. We also got an order of tater tots wit a chipotle aioli sauce that was to die for. Seriously, probably the best tater tots I’ve ever had (not that I’ve had any since I was maybe 9).
Well, time to get on with the birthday business! 11 years ago tonight, I had no idea I’d have a baby in my arms in exactly 12 hours.
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stimulated
By Tara Zandra | January 28, 2010
Lovely tax laws. My state is broke so we owe the state money this year due to raised taxes. Since CA essentially gave us an IOU on the refunds last year, can I send them an IOU on what we owe this year? No?
Also, due to the whole “we’ve been stimulated” since last April by receiving I think $13 net more per check, and due to Chris’s bonus last year wasn’t as big (what with the whole economy in the toilet thing), our fed refund sucks. As in, it ain’t gonna buy a TV.
Topics: Life | 2 Comments »
Believe it or not!
By Tara Zandra | January 27, 2010
I actually hit my goal. Despite all the up and down of my weight the last 31 days, I actually hit my goal including an extra half-pound (hey, I’ll take it!). So I’ve lost 5 pounds. I know it’s not much, but for awhile there it didn’t look like I’d lose any weight. I reset my goal for another 5 pounds in another month. Except now I probably have to lose 6 pounds because I majorly stressed-ate today when the girls and I walked to McDonald’s and I had their cookies. The girls both had their fruit and yogurt parfaits and we sat and talked while enjoying our treats.
Turns out Tabitha wants a laptop. I told her no at first, but then we talked some more and she gave me her reasons and answered my questions to my satisfaction so now we’re at “it’s something to consider.” I’m mainly concerned about the whole internet and closed doors thing. Currently our desktop is in the dining room and the laptop is used either in the dining room or the living room. But when I asked if I was on the computer and if Chris was on the couch with the laptop, where would she take her laptop and she answered with the table. I do trust her and she knows not to search google without me checking over her shoulder and she is most certainly not allowed to wander YouTube freely. So I guess we’ll need to think about it. It wouldn’t be for quite some time, 6 months or so I’d say.
Tabitha is also really pushing to go to Girl Scout camp. I’d rather buy her 2 laptops! But I promised to consider it upon gathering more information.
Daisy, on the other hand, won’t even go to museum classes this summer because I told her the 5 year olds don’t have parents with them. She’s opting to sit out and would rather go climb rocks. She does dance and gymnastics without me, but I guess those are different in her mind. Probably because she doesn’t remember not going to those classes so it just seems normal. Plus, I am right there, not exactly far away.
I’ll mention them, because Tabitha has an extremely high goal- Girl Scout Cookies. You want them? We’ve got them. Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs, Lemon Creme Chalets, Tagalongs, Do-Si-Dos, Dulce de Leches, and Thank You Berry Munch. Each box is $4. If you’re out of the area, our family will ship them to you for free. We’re also accepting donations for Operation Gratitude, Bob Hope USO, and LA Foodbank. You tell us the number of boxes you want to donate and once they are paid for, our council takes care of the distribution of the boxes. You don’t even need tell us what kind to donate, just a total number of boxes. Oh, and I can accept paypal. Don’t forget, they keep for a year in your freezer and won’t be sold again until next year!
The cookies, btw, are the source of my stress. I’m the troop’s cookie manager and made a boo-boo with my time and have to get something done TODAY! that I haven’t prepared for. I’ve put in motion what needs to be done, but I have to wait for replies to emails in order to continue. My fault for not understanding the timeline properly, but now I’m antsy for those replies. I know it will all workout, but since I’m still worried about pulling off the parties I didn’t need more to worry about.
Alright, I’ll stop complaining and whining now. I’m fully aware it’s all no big deal in the grand scheme of Life It will all workout- this I know.
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day off
By Tara Zandra | January 26, 2010
It’s dreary and cold outside. We are up and out of the house early on Tuesdays when it is very cold. Then we have about 3 and a half hours at home before we have to head out again which needs to include lunch. Today we also had a stop in between so we pretty much called it a day and aren’t bothering with lessons. Which for me means I made some good progress in preparation of the parties. Just small details but I haven’t wanted to squeeze them in between lessons and I don’t like doing that kind of thing after dinner. I wish Tabitha’s party had been last weekend. I will never do it after her birthday again- especially not the day after.
I solved the dollhouse dilemma for Miss Daisy. I decided to go with a nice, wooden dollhouse (not too big or too pricey) but the family will be Calico Critters since she loves animals way more than people. This way, we can expand with Calico Critter stuff for a few years (I can hear my husband groaning now). They even have a small playtable that might be a good idea for the future. I also went over all the stuff that Birthday Express offers in the Fancy Nancy theme and decided what to do there. I worked on prototypes for the invitations yesterday and had Daisy choose her favorite. I think I’m doing them exactly like I did for Tabitha’s tea party when she was 4! Guess I’m not that creative, lol. We’ll also being doing a game that we did at her party so maybe our theme should be recycling.
I’m not 100% ready for Tabitha’s party and a little worried about getting all the stuff we need. It’s simply a matter of a trip to the party store and Michaels, but finding the time would be the problem, especially with impending rain again. In fact, it’s supposed to rain Saturday which would really stink. Tabitha says we’re going to Disneyland even in the rain so that could be a very interesting day. She requested lunch at Blue Bayou so that reservation is in place and she plans to purchase a giant stick of sugar which I think she’s looking forward to more than anything else!
So here we are, on the countdown to me being Mom to an 11 year old and a 5 year old
Topics: Life, The Kiddies | 2 Comments »
completed the challenge
By Tara Zandra | January 25, 2010
Well, I did it. Tonight I finished the 30-Day Challenge on EA Sports Active. That’s 20 workouts in 30 days. Honestly, I’m not going to go up a level just yet. The days with jumping activities really kill me and I cannot conceive of doing more of them. I’m giving myself 2 days off (though I’ll still do my yoga and whatnot on the Wii Fit in the mornings) and then I’ll restart the challenge but stay in easy mode. After that I’ll see about going up to medium level.
I can’t say the program is “fun” despite is assurances, but it definitely built up my endurance. I can honestly say that I feel a difference in my abs, despite the lack of significant weight loss. But they just feel different so I’ll take it.
I won’t know if I’ve met my weight loss goal until Wednesday morning- but I don’t think so. I’ll simply reset it and try again, I guess. I just keep reminding myself that when weight come off slowly, it’s more likely to stay off.
Topics: Life, On the fitness track | No Comments »
day of rest
By Tara Zandra | January 24, 2010
Two days in a row with no plans is my limit. I spent a good portion of the day wishing we could go out and about. Initially I had thought I would work on Daisy’s robe and party invitations this weekend. But when I was faced with it, I’d rather spend the time with my family. We spent a few hours together playing Pitfall, which isn’t the most constructive way to spend a day, but it was fun. Chris and I rearranged the girls room again since Daisy is a might too tall to be under Tabitha’s bed. We simply put Tabitha’s dollhouse and her American Girl stuff under the bed and moved Daisy’s bed to the tree painted wall. It’s not perfect and the room needs more work, but at this point I don’t think the room will be done until the day my kids move out.
Speaking of dollhouses, Daisy has decided this is what she needs and wants in life more than anything else. The problem would be space (isn’t it always?). Tabitha’s dollhouse is huge and we cannot make room for another of that size. On the other hand, I don’t want to skimp out and get the kid a tiny little thing that won’t be much fun. I’m frantically searching Amazon for an acceptable one that is eligible for Amazon prime because her birthday is in a week and a half at this point. I have three saved to my favorites so I need to go through them again and maybe make a list of pros and cons. Still not entirely sure where we would put it, but I imagine we’ll figure it out.
I’m kind of glad she came up with something though. As of 2 days ago her birthday wish list consisted entirely of “Fancy Nancy dog, Littlest Pet Shops, Webk!nz Tree Frog.” That’s it. Not exactly a lot to go on. At least she recognizes when she doesn’t need anything.
The parties are coming up and I do need to work on them. I keep thinking Tabitha’s is easy and doesn’t need much planning, but I really should make a list or I’m sure I’ll find myself frantic the day of the party. Why I had my kids 5 days apart is beyond me. I don’t recommend it
Topics: Life, Delightful D, The Kiddies | No Comments »
yellow ball in the sky
By Tara Zandra | January 23, 2010
To celebrate the rain being gone, Tabitha and I decided we were going to go on a long walk in the sun. But first we all spent the morning taking turns on the Wii Fit. Daisy is still just in watching mode, but Tabitha, Chris and I had a grand time with all the games. By the time all that was done and the kids finally got dressed, it was lunch time so our walk was postponed.
Eventually we get out and it’s more cloudy than sunny, but still better than pouring rain! It’s not warm though, the high was 53, so jackets were necessary- except for my Viking blooded husband who wore short sleeves and shorts. Me? Long sleeves, jeans, and a heavy sweatshirt. I do not come from a hardy people.
When we got home from our walk, the girls grabbed their hula hoops, jump ropes, and sidewalk chalk and played in the front yard for an hour. Chris and I played Pitfall on the Wii and after a while, the girls joined us inside to watch. I took a time out to bake M&M cookies since I’ve been promising Miss Daisy for awhile. We had the M&Ms left over from Christmas baking and she’s been patiently waiting since then.
For whatever reason I got extremely cold in the late afternoon so I took a hot bath to warm up and also to rid myself of a nagging headache. Dinner was delayed a smidge, but I don’t think anyone minded due to the cookies.
The rest of the eveing went as usual with dinner, playtime for the girls, bed for the little one, workout for me, bed for the big one and now blogging. Not sure what’s on the agenda for the rest of the adults only evening.
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staying dry
By Tara Zandra | January 22, 2010
We had been planning all week to go out today since we new our park day would be cancelled. We headed to the Discovery Science Center to enjoy their new exhibit “The Secret of Circles.” It’s actually on loan from the San Jose Children’s Museum so the girls and I saw this exhibit when we went to San Jose in 2008. It seemed a bit spruced up though from what we remember. I must say, this exhibit is so far the best of the temporary exhibits we’ve seen at the Science Center. I don’t know if it was set up by an inhouse team or a team from San Jose though. It wasn’t very crowded, though a class from my high school was there which I found an odd coincidence since they aren’t exactly close to each other. I couldn’t find a recognizable teacher in the crowd though. Of course, I did graduate 18 years ago =8-o
Topics: Life | 1 Comment »
cookies for everyone
By Tara Zandra | January 21, 2010
We had Girl Scouts tonight and I had to talk to all the girls about selling cookies. I hope I was informative, engaging, and motivational- but somehow I think I was a tad too boring. As long as the girls understood it all, then that’s the important part. We start taking orders on Saturday if anyone wants to put in a long distance order
I put in another Gymboree order last week and it arrived today. They have a new fairy line that is adorable so I bought two outfits in that line. But when I looked at one of them today, I realized I didn’t really buy it for Daisy, but because I can’t buy it for Tabitha and it would have been perfect for her. It’s a shirt with a fairy on it and it says “Free Spirit” which is so Tabitha. But it’s not Daisy. If it said Old Soul, then we’d be talking about Daisy. There were a couple other items I changed my mind on so Tabitha and I stopped at Gymboree on the way to the meeting to make my return. It took for-ever. Tabitha had wanted to browse Claire’s but we had to get going and we were still 10-minutes late.
On our way home, we were treated to quite the lightning show. We were oohing and aahing and basically enjoying it. It’s started up again just now and I’m not as thrilled because Daisy is trying to sleep and the dog is quite freaked out. I think we’re supposed to get a break from all this weather soon.
I made “raw” cookies today. They consist of almonds, walnuts, dates, almond extract and dried cherries processed together in the Cuisinart. Then I formed them into balls and slightly flattened them before placing them in the fridge for one hour. They are pretty darn good, let me tell you. They will come in handy during the day if I feel the need for a sweet.
I’ve decided not to bother trying to stretch my raw time to 5pm. I’m doing good with it until 3pm and am at the point where I don’t watch the clock. Today I didn’t decide to grab a diet coke and a snack until almost 4 just because I didn’t need anything before that. I think that’s the best way for me right now. My goal is simply a better way to eat during the day as opposed to free reign on the kids’ snacks. It’s much better if a grab a pear than a handful of Nilla Wafers. And it’s not like I binge in the afternoon. Some days I have a small piece of chocolate and a diet coke and that’s it until dinner. So my overall caloric intake has gone way done and my fruit intake has gone way up- two very good things for my health.
I did work more in my room today, being inspired by talking about how calming the room was in last night’s post. I cleared out the pile of outgrown clothes, put away a few things that sholdn’t have been there to begin with, got rid of the kids’ ottoman (it’s broken) and now the room looks even better. I really want to get it painted this year. We were supposed to do that last year, we even picked out the paint. But for whatever reason, we cancelled our plans the weekend we were supposed to get it done. This year it shall happen, this I decree!
Too hard for me to work out on Girl Scout night since I get home so late so I’ll need to workout on a rest day to make up for it. Just another week and I’ll be at the end of the 30 Day Challenge. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll make the weight goal, which was ridiculously small, but I just keep telling myself, it’s still healthier to work out than not work out. I just need to figure out a way to make it have an affect physically
Topics: Life, On the fitness track | No Comments »
sick baby
By Tara Zandra | January 20, 2010
Daisy is definitely sick. We had to cancel a playdate today and no gymnastics tomorrow. She came out of her bad last night around 10:15, but other than that, she stayed in bed until morning so at least she got some good sleep. Here’s hoping tonight will go just as well.
Tabitha and I got a majorly late start to the day but we still managed to get a lot of lessons in. Though I’m just now realizing neither of us did French. I don’t think I mentioned that Tabitha and I found a French primer when we last went to the book store. I opened it randomly to the middle and found a paragraph to read and we both did pretty good! She really wants the book now, but at that time our arms were already filled with enough books. I wish I knew the name of it though as it might be pretty hard to find. I was so pleased to be able to read in French! Of course, I can read a lot Spanish too, but I can barely speak it and surely do not understand it at all. I’m such a visual learner and barely comprehend the full meaning when people read to me in English let alone is another language! Hopefully the Rosetta Stone program will fix that. If it works for me, I’d really like to get Spanish sometime down the road. I wouldn’t have Tabitha do it unless she really wanted to, it would be more for me to get my comprehension skills past that of a 2 year old, lol.
I used my crockpot tonight and I was a tad disappointed with the meal. Chris liked it, Tabitha thought it was okay, I wasn’t fond of it all. Once again it had potatoes so Daisy had no opinion. She was quite happy with her grilled cheese sandwich and grapes The opposite page of the one I was using in the cookbook had a braised tofu recipe so we’ll be trying that in the very near future!
We ate rather early tonight, so after dinner Chris and I played our Pitfall game while one kid or another watched. Then it was workout time for both of us. We use EA Sports Active and there’s a two player mode, we really need to try that sometime. But we can’t then both take a shower because neither shower would have enough hot water then. Unless we showered together, but we’ll save that for a night when the kids are elsewhere 
I realized this evening how our days are very settled in a nice rhythm. There are certain things that I do every day right around the same time and I don’t even feel in a rut. It definitely leads to me feeling less stressed which is always my goal. I know I talk about being stressed a lot, but it is really something I need to control. I’m extremely high-strung and get very tied up in knots over anything mildly distressing. Just to give you an idea, my mother used to tell me I’d have a heart attack by 16 if I didn’t calm down. Anyway, one of the things that I think is contributing to my current calm state is my bedroom. When we took the TV, the room brightened up because it was on top of a tall dresser and therefore could block some light. Also, my new dresser is smaller than my old one, and with the new dresser I was able to get rid of my pile of clothes that couldn’t go in the broken dresser. All more space opened up. Plus I did a few other things in there and really, the room just seems more neat and streamlined now. There’s a few more things I want to do to open it up even more. Since I’m in and out of there all day, I think it has a lot to do with my state of mind. I no longer walk in and feel the disruption. Maybe it has to do with Feng Shui, I don’t know.
Well that’s enough rambling tonight. I’m going to spend a few minutes on Webk!nz before Tabitha goes to bed and then settle in with Chris. I think we have Chopped and Ace of Cakes or Modern Family tonight.
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building the ark
By Tara Zandra | January 19, 2010
Always fun to watch the wind blow the sheets of rain horizontal. Oh well, better than snow! Better than extreme cold! Better than tornados! Strike that, we actually had tornado warnings today. I didn’t see any here, but there was plenty of lightning and thunder. Thankfully Tuesday is a lite lesson day due to activities so it wasn’t too hard to keep Tabitha reined in. Not to mention it wasn’t a constant rain.
We had dance this morning but I kind of wish Daisy hadn’t gone because this evening it became apparent she has a cold. I hate spreading germs if it’s at all avoidable (vacations are exempt from this rule). On the other hand, I hope her super immune system kicks it into high gear because I would rather she didn’t miss gymnastics this week.
I check yahoo periodically throughout the day for any news that I should know. In general I stay away from the scary stuff and I really don’t read about any local violence. One feature though is 7 easy meals to help people menu plan. They always include a vegetarian dish or two which I appreciate even though I’ve never made one of their recipes. Until tonight that is. It was Beef Goulash Soup though I would call it a stew and also mine was vegetarian. I used Smart Life’s “steak” strips and vegetable broth with a hint of [vegetarian] worstershire sauce to give it more depth. Other than that I followed the recipe and let me tell you, yum That one will definitely be made again. I’ll be checking the yahoo recipes more closely in the future.
After dinner we all played charades. Lest you think we’re the Waltons, it was for a Girl Scout badge requirement. I don’t even like charades but I was proud of myself for my candle impersonation.
And now, Miss Tabitha is waiting for me for a couple games before bed. Then it’s White Collar with Chris
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I wish it only rained at night
By Tara Zandra | January 18, 2010
Because then Tabitha wouldn’t be able to A) talk non-stop about the rain B) constantly run back and forth from the dining room to the living room to see which window had the better view of the rain and C) stare aimlessly at the rain instead of doing lessons.
Don’t get me wrong, I love her exuberance for life. The fact that she can take such joy in nature is part of what makes her, her. I just wish that didn’t make everything else about the day run in slow motion.
Plus, I was pretty annoyed in general at the rain. You see, I have to go out my kitchen door and dash to the garage door to do laundry. The garage is attached, but there isn’t a door directly into the house and that side of the house doesn’t have a cover. Well, it doesn’t have a cover that does any good because it’s slats which just means tons of hard drops falling off of those. At one point the wind was so crazy that the rain was blowing directly sideways and I had to walk into it on my dash back to the house. Eventually I gave up and had to declare the laundry done for the day.
Thankfully, the skies completely cleared up around 3:30 so I was able to run a couple errands while Chris took the girls to dance. Good thing too or dinner would not have been good. Actually, Tabitha and I agreed that the mashed potatoes I made weren’t very good anyway. I made them with red potatoes and added parmesan cheese to them as I mashed. Chris loved them, but neither Tabitha nor I could take more than a few bites. Daisy doesn’t eat potatoes so she didn’t have an opinion.
I realized tonight that I serve myself way too big of portions at dinner. Going with so much less calories during the day makes dinner really sit heavy in my stomach. Tomorrow I’ll start remembering that it’s easy to get seconds if I feel the need. But once too much is on my plate, I tend to eat it even after I’m full. I don’t do that in restaurants though, which I find odd. I rarely finish a plate in a restaurant. Of course, those plates really are huge and we often have an appetizer and I always have a salad. By the time the entree comes, I only need 3 bites for the taste and then I’m done!
I had more to say, but it’s time to watch Chuck with Chris!
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need a different time
By Tara Zandra | January 17, 2010
By the time I sit down to type, all my creative juices are gone. I need to try and find a different time of day to blog.
There was nothing on the agenda at Casa Anc today. I’ve been up since 5:00am due to a little visitor. I tried desperately to go back to sleep but it wasn’t to be. It was a peaceful morning, albeit a cold one. I had a sweatshirt and wrapped a blanket around my legs while I sat at the computer. After a few hours, the rest of the family joined me.
We kept it pretty lazy this morning with a cinnamon roll breakfast at 10. We did go for a walk during the warmest part of the day. We only went to a local swapmeet but all we bought were strawberries. After we were home there were major kid issues with one of the girls, so the rest of the afternoon was spent even more lazily with Chris and I playing Pitfall while the other kid watched.
For dinner we did homemade pizza because I wanted to make dough in my new Cuisinart. However, the thing is so big that the recipe in the manual was for enough dough to make eight 9-inch pizzas. That seemed a bit excessive! We found a different recipe online but by the time I had the dough rolled out, it didn’t quite make as much as we would have liked. So next time we’ll make the giant recipe and just freeze some of it. Actually, next time we do homemade pizzas were going to do individuals so the girls can make their own because that’s always a fun time for a kid (and an adult!).
The evening was spent as usual with Chris and I doing our workouts and showers. I also supervised Tabitha doing some Girl Scout badge work and Chris played spinning games with Daisy that included her counting to 5 in French. We’re not trying to teach her French, but she is too cute when she speaks it!
And now, just me and Chris alone for awhile before bed.
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wasting time
By Tara Zandra | January 16, 2010
I’ve spent the last hour and a half on cakewrecks.com, awkwardfamilyphotos.com, and engrish.com. Now I’m out of drink, headachy, cold and ready for bed. But at least I laughed a lot!
Today was the big Cookie Kick-Off to get the girls jazzed and ready to sell cookies. I’m not sure the event did that, but overall it was a fun time for the girls. Me? I came home completely wiped out.
And I want cookies.
Tabs and I were supposed to stop at the store on the way home, but we were way too tired. Instead we figured out what I had on hand and came up with a misture of rice, black beans, sauteed onions, red pepper and mushrooms, with scrambled eggs, topped with cheese and chipotle taco sauce. Let me say, for something to so simple, it was delish
I know I mentioned that our TV was really working anymore. It had a constant shadow of colors on every object. We happen to have a TV in our room that hasn’t been hooked up in 4 years or so. Right now we put the big TV in the garage until someone can pick up. We put my old, broken dresser in the living room to be a stand for the bedroom TV which turns out to be very handy! My kids, mainly Tabitha, have a lot of those joystick games that hook directly up to the TV and now we just put them all in the top drawer. The middle drawer has loads of other video game paraphenalia and the bottom drawer was taken out completely so there’s a space for the center channel speaker. It’s amazing how much larger our living room looks with a 32″ TV on a small dresser compared to a 55″ big screen! Thankfully, it’s a pretty decent TV so the lack of HD won’t kill us. It will just make us appreciate a new TV that much more.
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You know
By Tara Zandra | January 15, 2010
Working out is not fun. I curse anyone who disagrees and enjoys it. I guess I would enjoy it more if IT WAS FREAKING WORKING! But alas, it’s not. I’m really not sure what to do after my month is up. On the one hand, as I said before, being active is better than not. On the other hand, I truly hate it and my weight loss is barely worth noting. The only reason I loss anything is becuase I switched to a raw diet for half the day and then it was water weight. The minute I had an extra non-raw snack, I gained half of it back. So what’s the point? I’m just feeling really discouraged right now, I guess.
Despite that, we did have a good day. We had a great time at park with all three of us enjoying our friends. There was quite the game of “Red Rover” going. To quote a friend of mine “It puts a smile on my face to see them all play like that.” I agree
After park we headed back out to the shopping center with anthropologie so I could return the doorknob. I was asked if I wanted to browse the store first so I had to tell her this was my second return so I was good. I’d still love a new doorknob, but it’s pretty low on the old priority list right now.
We had decided ahead of time that we were going to go to Baja Fresh tonight so that’s what we did after Chris was home. We also stopped in Henry’s for some dates (I’m going to make raw “cookies”) and also Barnes and Noble and Target. By the time we got home, we were putting kids to bed. I didn’t even get to workout until 9:30pm and then my shower. So even though it’s 10:30, Chris and I have spent no time together. We shall remedy that ASAP.
G’Night.
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work it
By Tara Zandra | January 14, 2010
Lots of negativity swirling today so I’ll focus on the good stuff as it does no good to dwell on the past.
I worked extra hard at my morning workout to makeup for skipping yesterday’s workout and eating Ben and Jerry’s last night. It was enough extra activity that I needed a morning shower, usually it’s yoga and very light aerobics that don’t even make me glisten.
Tonight’s workout bought near killed me, but I got through it and in less time than projected which means I ran faster than it thought I would.
That means shower number two for the day and it was nice
We went to Ikea to get me a new dresser. I wouldn’t call it an impulse purchase since my old dresser broke about 4 years ago.
The girls played together a few times today and it was really nice listening to them have fun (though I could have done without the screams and screeches, seriously, why must girls *do* that?)
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issues
By Tara Zandra | January 13, 2010
There were issues going on today that made the clouds in the sky seem especially dark over my head. Eventually things got better and the girls and I even took a walk under those dark clouds. Though we made it a short walk since we didn’t have jackets and the wind made it a bit nippy when the sun was hidden.
Tabitha and I did lessons and I also put in some research time on what I want to purchase for our California study. I want to go pretty in depth so I’m finding as much as I can. I also want to do a study on the history of Los Angeles and lucked out with a free curriculum from the city of LA. Of course we’ll also do the missions as well as the gold rush.
After dinner tonight I headed out to a training as I’m the cookie manager for Tabitha’s Girl Scout troop. Tabs and I didn’t have a lot of time or energy to give to Girl Scouts in the fall but now we’re back with a vengence! We’ve been working on badges and I’ve been finding field trips for the troop. After tonight I’m ready to get our girls to sell, sell, SELL!
Alright, maybe not, but I am eager to get started. Not sure how I’ll control myself though, Girl Scouts doesn’t make a raw cookie, lol.
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not the mentoring type
By Tara Zandra | January 12, 2010
Today I was in a homeschooling conversation and I don’t think I was much help. I can tell you why I homeschool, but if you need advice on how to homeschool, I am apparently not the person to come to. I can’t tell while I’m in a conversation, but after the fact when I’m replaying it in my mind I realize how truly non-helpful I am. I wish I could recognize it and change while I’m speaking but I’m not sure how to do that.
I guess it makes sense that advice is not my forte. I don’t read parenting books or magazines and I very rarely ask for advice for myself. I seek factual answers to questions, but not opinions. I feel bad about not being able to be helpful.
I wasn’t able to extend the amount of raw time today. We weren’t home in the morning so I missed a snack and then I ate too small of a lunch and nothing was sounding good to me so basically I was counting down until 3:00pm because I thought I wanted Tabitha’s leftover Chex Mix. But then at 2:45pm I felt it was ridiculous to wait 15 more minutes and if I wanted the Chex Mix I should just eat it. Turns out it’s not what I wanted at all and I should have just had a pear and cheese. I’ll remember that for tomorrow. But I will say, Curry Walnut Pate was fabulous. I topped cucumber slices with the pate and it was so good. I’ll do the not-tuna pate on Thursday as I’ll be having the rest of the curry walnut tomorrow. There’s a tad too much onion in it so I need to remember to use less next time, but other than that, seriously, I will be making it again.
I feel like it’s the same thing every day right now. I don’t mean my life, just the blog updates. Right now I’m planning two birthday parties (arts and crafts for Tabitha, Fancy Nancy tea party for Daisy) and yard plans and potential vacations all while planning my next purchases for lessons for the girls. So though tons of stuff is going on in my brain, it’s all in the future and I don’t usually write about the future here.
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monday-shumday
By Tara Zandra | January 11, 2010
A fairly normal Monday today. Other than Chris was home sick. He rested much of the day so it wasn’t too different than when he’s not here at all. Other than I could go smile at him whenever I wanted.
It was my first day with my raw food morning/afternoon. The soup was very tasty and I’m happy it made two servings so I can easily enjoy it again. The sandwich (romaine lettuce leaves instead of bread) was okay. On the surface it seemed just right, but instead I found it a tad lacking. Could be that I used a bland dressing. I wish I had started with the sandwich and ended with the soup because I’ll admit that though my stomach felt full, my taste buds felt deprived. I ended the raw food diet at 3:00pm though my goal is to eventually stay raw until 5:00pm. I don’t know that I’ve ever in my life gone until 3:00pm without a Diet Coke. When I finally had one, it tasted weird to me after a day of water. Tomorrow I’ll be having a “not tuna pate” which should be interesting.
I did several lessons in French today, but I think I’ll be repeating the last one tomorrow. I passed with a 70-something percent. It was the writing lesson which is always very hard. I mean, French has two different “E”s with accents é and è so it’s not always easy to remember which one to use. Not to mention all the dashes and apostrophes. It’s no wonder Tabitha can’t pass the writing lessons.
Alrighty, it’s getting late and there’s yet another new episode of Chuck to watch. Goodness I love that show. So happy it’s back.
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le television
By Tara Zandra | January 10, 2010
Our TV isn’t so much on the healthy side right now. The colors sometimes split which, although interesting, don’t exactly make for a good tv watching. So now we’ll be looking into new ones, which was the plan for next year. It’s not like we can do anything about it right now. We have the girls’ birthdays to get through first.
To be honest, we haven’t bought a TV since 1997. Oh we’ve gotten new TVs in that time, but for various reasons they were free. I forsee a sticker shock, lol.
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