Wild Child Part II

Sarah says:  Interesting... I like this wine more the 2nd day than I did the first.  I poured and drank a glass, then I realized I didn't take a picture... so I poured another.  Since I'm not one to waste, I guess I'll just have to drink it!  I'm also sitting here eating a bag of big marshmallows... what a combination.

Today was day one of our big moving sale.  It went great!  We unloaded tons of stuff.  I can't wait to do more tomorrow.  I've pretty much hated living on our street for the past 7 years, but it turns out, it's awesome for having a yard sale on!  Seriously, I didn't sit down for a single moment from 10 - 5, there was constantly someone here.  At one point, I even had a line of people waiting to check out!!  Had I known it was going to be so crazy, I would have planned to have extra hands on deck.  A lot of the big stuff went today, so I'm sort of expecting tomorrow to be a little calmer, but I'm still pretty excited to be getting rid of so much stuff  (aka. crap).  The only downfall... we sold our kitchen table, microwave, and toaster oven.  How am I supposed to live until we move?!  Had I known it was going to sell less than 1 min after it was outside, I would have waited until the last day to put it out.  Jon and I were honestly just bringing stuff out, and it was gone, so we just kept bringing stuff out to fill the open spaces.  Stuff was sold before I even had a chance to wipe it down and put a price on it.  It was nuts.  And awesome.  The people were so happy to be getting such great deals, which of course, made me happy to be making them happy!

People are wild!  They were trying to buy stuff that wasn't even for sale.  Since we were going in and out, in and out, we had the door to the house open.  People were peering in asking if certain stuff was for sale, when we said no, they'd ask if they could buy it anyway!  Then, they would ask for a list of things that we still needed to bring out.  I would tell them that I wasn't really sure, we were just sort of walking around the house and grabbing stuff as we saw it (Jon and I were taking turns), so they'd want to walk around the house with us.  Um, no.  Then they'd act all mad, so I'd tell them they just had to come back in an hour and see what new stuff we had pulled out and they'd didn't like that.  So, I'd try to think of a few things that I knew I still needed to bring out, and they'd be disappointed with that.  Seriously people!  I just sold you my stuff for, like, a quarter - don't give me crap about what you might miss out on!!  Even with the crazies, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow!  It's fun, out with the old, in with the new!  We're using the funds we make to buy a few new things for the apartment.  Jon and I have done a great job of living off of cheap crappy stuff for the most of our relationship - I think we deserve a few nice things... we are finally building a home that I can be proud of!  Jon is getting a TV, and I'm getting a dining room table!!!  YAY!!!

Time for bed for me - today was exhausting.  I feel tired & dirty, my legs hurt, my eyes hurt.  It feels good, I feel productive, like there is a little less weight on my shoulders.  I so can't wait to do it again tomorrow!

Wild Girl Sweet Red Blend

Description on the bottle:  A racy blend of dark purple fruits and zing - adventure!

Sarah says:  Oh boy, I've been seriously slacking in my drinking, I mean um, my writing.  I'm not sure if it's that my taste for red wine has gone back down since it's been such a long time, or if I really don't like this wine.  Either way - I'm not exactly enjoying this.  Which is a bummer, since I really enjoyed the white version.  It's not horrible or anything, but it's just not very good.  I wouldn't buy it again - but I would drink it if it was my only option.

Overall rating:  Thumbs down

Sarah says:  Things have been pretty crazy lately, I've been busy, I've had a lot on my mind, I've been making decisions and changes, and it's been nuts.  I even forgot about a meeting, something that I NEVER do! (Well it was Jon's meeting, but I was supposed to take the kids to day camp, I ended up totally forgetting, so Jon skipped his meeting and took them instead.  I'm pretty sure he was secretly happy I forgot, because he didn't really want to go to the meeting anyways!)  But the one thing I can always count on to remain constant in my life; Mary.  She is my wild girl.  I've talked about how Liam is my sweetheart and how him and I are so much alike.  Not Mary - I have no idea where she got her personality - not from me that's for sure!  She's independent, loud, and free spirited.  She knows what she wants, and when she wants it.  It's her way or no way.  Do not ever try to help Mary unless she specifically asks for help - she wants to figure it out on her own.  No matter how mad and frustrated she gets, she'll just keep on trying.  She's determined.  I admire her a little, I don't have that much will power to remain independent, I'll gladly accept help.  She does everything in her power to keep up with her big brother - boys who end up dating her are going to be in a world of trouble.  The good news is that I feel like she'll be able to handle herself around boys - she doesn't let anything that she is uncomfortable with slip by.

I enjoy that she wants to figure it all out - but sometimes I'm just in a hurry and need her coat zipped, like 10 min ago.  If I step in and zip it for her, watch out, she'll be screaming, loudly, for the next 20 min.  She is quite the drama queen, and cries when things don't go her way.  I generally try to ignore this, but sometimes, especially in public, I just can't handle the tantrum.  So, I've started compromising with her.  Probably not the greatest parenting tactic, but it works, so oh well.  Here's my latest; please keep in mind that I'm not proud of this.  My objective was to get in and out of the grocery store in 20 minutes - I needed cooperation.  I put Mary in the cart - she would prefer to walk - but given the time constraint, that just wasn't going to work.  Cue melt-down starting.  So... I quickly jumped into "stop the crying mode" and we made a plan together.  I prefer not to buy my kids treats for good behavior, so that wasn't an option.  But here is something that was.  Mary LOVES to pick her nose.  I generally tell her to stop, but on this particular day, it allowable.  If she would sit in the cart, quietly, for 20 min, I would let her pick her nose the entire time.  As soon as she started whining about being in the cart, the finger had to come out.  We shook on it and I immediately used some Purell!  Sure enough, it worked like a charm.  And, I probably don't have to worry about any boys coming around for awhile, double win!

What do you do to keep your wild child under control?

Miller 64

Sarah says:

Ok, so it's not a wine, but tonight just felt like beer night, not a wine night. This isn't my favorite beer (I don't drink beer enough to have a favorite), but at 64 calories you can't beat it!  It's totally drinkable and satisfies my "I want a beer" moment.

Overall rating:  Thumbs up

Sarah says:

Tonight I'm kicking back.  I don't see foresee myself doing much of that in the upcoming days, or weeks, or months for that matter.  We are having a big moving sale next weekend, last night I spent a bunch of time getting stuff together and priced, but there is still so much more stuff to get ready.  I could spend tonight getting more ready, but I'm afraid I'll regret not taking the time to relax tonight, since I won't be doing it (it being that relaxing thing) again for awhile.  I'm pretty good at predicting when I'm going to loose my mind, and now is one of those times.  Tonight's beer is a preventative measure (although there are no guarantees that it will work).  Tomorrow I'm going out with some ladies and seeing a movie (yup, Magic Mike here we come!).  Some would argue that that would be considered relaxing, but what those people don't realize is the amount of work that goes into arranging a babysitter, planning dinner for them, and just making sure everything will go smoothly in my absence, especially since I'll miss bedtime, my favorite time!  There will be enough stress during the few hours before I leave to get me through the rest of the night.  Within the next 30 days we'll be going to the zoo, camping, having a garage sale, going to the dentist (sounds simple, but Liam had some drama a few times ago involving fluoride and his eyes - he's been scarred for life, the dentist is no longer easy), taking a vacation (again sounds easy - but any trip involving a 5 and 3 year old is everything but easy!), starting a new job (more on that later!!!), registering Liam for Kindergarten (!!!! how did that happen?!  wasn't he just a baby?!), finding a new pre-school for Mary, packing up the whole house (which I haven't even begun to think about, by the way!), and moving to Canton (whoohoo!).  Holy crap, just writing it all out makes me want to have a panic attack.  

I'm excited and nervous about all the new, but I'm also sad about some of the good-byes.  Tomorrow is Liam & Mary's last day at For Kids Sake Montessori.  Liam spent 3 of his 5 years there, and Mary has spent her entire life there (well, 12 weeks and up!).  I love this place, I love the teachers, I love the other parents, I love the other kids, I love love love the owners.  I know that we'll find a new preschool for Mary that will be great, and that Liam will be going to one of the best Canton schools, but I'm still sad to leave FKS behind.  They helped my kids grow in ways that I couldn't have done on my own.  Especially Liam, since changing from daycare to the Montessori structure, the increase in Liam's social skills just blows my mind.  He'll always be shy Liam, but he talks now, he has friends, we understand the words coming out of his mouth!  He's a normal kid!!!  They really encouraged Liam to open up and to be himself, and intermixed with this encouraging, they taught him a few things along the way.  Sniff sniff, I don't want to say goodbye to them!  But, I know we are making the decision that is best for us.  Liam and Mary will thrive at their new schools, partly due to the amazing background they received at FKS.  They will be spending their last day going on a field trip to a farmers market.  Liam has already told me he has plans on buying blueberries and sharing them with his friends.  What a perfect way to end his time there!

What big events do you have coming up and how will you handle the stress? 

Iced Coffee

Sarah says:

It's been 90+ degrees lately.  On those days, I prefer my coffee iced.  The problem I have is, iced coffee is hit or miss - sometimes it's delicious, sometimes it's undrinkable.  I have yet to find a place that consistently serves good iced coffee.  I guess McDonald's has the best track record - but that record isn't wonderful.  Plus, iced coffee is more expensive than hot coffee (I still haven't figured out why), so it's a gamble.  I hate to pay up, only to have the drink end up in the garbage.

I decided to go down the path of making it on my own.  I've tried making hot coffee, then pouring it over ice cubes to cool it off, but that just gives me watered down cold coffee.  I don't have any fancy equipment, so per google, the best method for me, was to take my coffee grounds, slowly pour cool or room temp water over it, stir once, cover with plastic wrap, and put in the refrigerator for 12-72 hours.  Apparently, cold water takes longer to brew than hot water.  So, I did this overnight.  My coffee ended up soaking for about 15 hours.  The next morning, I put a coffee filter into a small funnel, and slowly poured the coffee/water mix into it, to filter out the coffee into a cup.  This took FOREVER.  I basically had to stand there and wait for the coffee to drain out.  I have a pretty small funnel, so I could only pour a small amount in at once, and the coffee grounds kept clogging up the bottom, so I had to keep dumping them out.  I really didn't have the write tools for this project.  Eventually, I had a cup of filtered cold coffee.  I didn't add ice cubes, because it was already cold from being in the refrigerator overnight, and I didn't want to water it down.  I added a little cream, and ta-da, I had drinkable iced coffee.  It wasn't the greatest I've ever had, but it wasn't the worst either.  It could have been stronger - I basically used the same ratio of coffee to water that I always use, not sure if that was the right thing to do.  Plus, I went on the short end of the brewing time - mostly because I didn't know it would take that long and didn't plan ahead.  IF I were to do it again, I would do it for longer.  I need to soak all the caffeine I can get outta those beans!

I don't think I'd do it again though, the whole straining out process took too long, I don't have the time or patience for that.  Does anyone have any suggestions for making it go faster?  Suggestions that don't involve spending a lot of money?  I know I could buy a fancy press thing, but I'm just not going to do that.  The only reason I would do it again, and I am thinking about doing this, is to make coffee cubes.  I discovered this while doing my iced coffee recipe research.  Basically do the same thing - but pour the filtered cold coffee into ice cube trays & freeze.  Then, make hot coffee as I normally do, and pour it over a few coffee cubes.  This will also give me iced coffee, without watering it down!  Brilliant!  But I'm not looking forward to doing it.  The only positive is that it will give me several cubes, so I won't have to do it very often.  Making daily iced coffee like this isn't practical for a working Mom.  Any idea what it's like holding a coffee filled filter over a cup waiting for it to drip out while and 3 & 5 year old are screaming for breakfast.  I'll just sum it up for you: not fun.

I guess for now I'll just have to keep on taking my chances!  Any suggestions on who makes the best iced coffee?

Good Girl Part III

Sarah says:

Several days later and this wine is still good!!  Man – being healthy is a major bummer – I like drinking different wines every couple of days.  This whole 4oz at a time thing is boring!  Luckily, Jon is home tonight, so I can enlist his help!!

Jon says: ok so this is my first experience with this wine and i was very pleased. it was rather sweet and fruity but not so sweet that i thought i was going to become a diabetic. very nice.

Sarah says:

Since we’re still on the topic of being good – let’s talk about my kiddo for a minute, Liam.  In general, Liam is a good kid.  He’s quiet, he follows directions, he aims to please – wow, sounds a lot like me!  But every now and then, he goes through these crazy phases that are so out of character that I wonder if he is sick.  He’s been having tantrums lately – like 2 year old tantrums, except that he is 5!  First, he’ll scream… LOUD and high pitched, if that doesn’t get him what he wants (which it never does), he will angrily take off his clothes, ALL his clothes.  He has an order… first the shirt, then shorts, then underwear, then socks.  The whole time he is staring at me waiting for something.  I try to stay serious, but at some point (usually around the underwear time) I can’t help it but laugh.  It’s hysterical!  I don’t know why he does this; it’s never gotten him anything.  This phase started a few weeks ago – but I am eager to make it stop.  Thank God he’s never done it in public, and I don’t think he ever would, he saves most of his bad behavior for the comfort of his own home, but still, my 5 year old should not think its ok to strip naked when he’s not getting his way.  Why can’t I have a normal kid who just lies on the floor and cries, why does he have to strip!?  It’s a lot harder to ignore.

What crazy things do your kids do for attention?

Good Girl Part II

Sarah says:

Yup, I’m drinking this again. When you are only drinking 4 oz at a time, it takes awhile to get through a whole bottle!  It's still yummy yum, and it's a wonderful way to end the day, especially a Monday, especially a 90 degree day, especially after an exhausting weekend.

So, I am a little obsessed with looking at the stats of this blog.  I now have over 1,300 page views.  That’s exciting, right?!  Considering we’ve only had the blog for 70 or so days – I’m pretty proud.  We have viewers in 10 different countries (US, Russia, Germany, Malaysia, Canada, UK, Korea, Philippines, Argentina & Australia) – thanks everyone!!  I also enjoy seeing how people are getting to the site – a lot are through facebook (no surprise there), and a number are getting to it through Google.  Most of the google searches are for specific wines, but a few are just hilarious. 

One of the Google searches that stumbled on our site was “sexy lady with pink moscato” – I wonder if someone saw me buying the wine and is trying to find me?  J  My favorite google search is for “nylons”.  Seriously google, I may have typed the word nylons once in all the words that I’ve typed.  I’d be pretty disappointed if I googled nylons and ended up at a blog about wine and life – but oh well, it still got traffic to the site, so I’m ok with it!

I wish Jon and I could do more blogging together like we originally intended, but it seems to make more sense for me to do it on nights that he isn’t around.  Plus, we have a difference of blogging opinion – Jon wants to just write about the wine, I think we need to add a little more excitement – just writing if we like or don’t like a wine can get pretty boring pretty fast. 

What do you prefer?  Should we keep it short and sweet?  Or should I keep up the extra stories?  Thanks again everyone for reading – hope we're not boring you!