Saturday, January 19, 2008

Juno: Fairy or Cautionary Tale?

Eric got cranky yesterday afternoon and asked for my mom. So, I called her and figured they'd chat. He's starting to enjoy talking on the phone a bit. They hatched a plan for her to come over tonight and when I got back on the phone, she said "do you want to go out tonight?" to which I said something along the lines of "HELL YES!"

So, Rich and I got the rare dinner AND a movie. Once the default, dullest date around is not the epitome of excitement in my house. Whoo HOO!

So, we caught an early showing of Juno. It was really good and I was bawling, tears and snot streaming down my face at the end with nothing to wipe it on but my sleeve. EWE. When the credits rolled I bolted for the ladies and pulled myself together.

Juno is about a young girl who gets pregnant with the absolutely sweetest guy in school (Played by the actor who played George Michael Bluth in Arrested Development). She toys with the idea of an abortion but ends up choosing to let a couple she finds in the Pennysaver adopt it instead.

Her parents are disappointed, but supportive. But all in all, everybody behaves pretty decently. She begins a friendship with the adoptive father and witnesses their marriage start to unravel.

All in all, it was a wonderful film. It made me laugh and cry. It left me with a vague feeling of complete disbelief in what I had just seen. But I'm OK with that. Two hours of my time very well spent.

Friday, January 18, 2008

And the Knife Sinks in a Little Deeper

"I want L to pick me up from school EVERY day, Mommy."

"Why," I ventured. "Why do you want her to pick up up every day. I she more fun than me?"

"No, Mommy. L is prettier than you. That's why I want her to pick me up every day."

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Get your baby gender predictor right here!

I am AWESOME! Three of my best friends are pregnant, all due in June and I predicted the gender of their babies correctly all three times.

Well, in as far as their ultrasounds said, I was correct.

How many trips to CVS does it take to pick up 3 prescriptions

1. The day of the December snowstorm, before it started snowing, I dropped off 3 prescriptions from E's pulmonologist.

2. I came in two days later to pick them up and they didn't have them. They hadn't been filled because of the storm. But they found them and said they would be processed.

3. A couple days later I came back and picked up ONE prescription. They lost the other two. They said they would call the doctor and re-do them.

4. I came back a couple days later. They had 2 prescriptions for me, but they were not what I needed. One was a generic, and we needed the brand name because the doc knew that the brand name version was safe for celiacs. They also had filled a script for albuterol, but it was in a puffer, and we needed it for a nebulizer. So, I took the albuterol and left the pharmacist to find out the gluten status of the generic. She was also going to call the doc back to get the albuterol for the nebulizer.

5. Three days later, I got a call. They had the albuterol for the nebulizer. They got in touch with the manufacturer of the other drug. The generic does not use any gluten ingredients, but it is not tested for gluten. That's good enough for me. I don't use gluten ingredients, but I don't test that status of my food either, so I went back the following Saturday. (It took a few days for me to get there. I'm on a tight schedule when I go to Harvard Square because I need to get to work and pick up Eric at both ends of that trip. I got the albuterol, but the other stuff had been put on hold because I had waited too long before I picked it up. I asked that it be taken off hold and said I would be back there in a day or so.

6. I went in today. The script never got taken off hold and they went through the paperwork to do it today so I can pick it up tomorrow.

So, I guess that's SEVEN trips for three prescriptions. It's a good thing I do all this on foot, or I would singlehandedly cause sea levels to rise.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

So it Begins

"I want L to pick me up from school EVERY day!"

Sigh... I knew this day would come. But how can you be ready for the day when your kid prefers the nanny?

I mean, really.

Monday, January 14, 2008

New Cookbook Full of Fatty Goodness

I bought a copy of the latest gluten free cookbook by Rebecca Reilly. She makes frequent use of almond flour, which adds a lot of taste and texture. But in brownies, it was a big gritty.

She is a Cordon Bleu trained chef and it really shows in the recipes. They are FULL of cream and butter. A lot of the recipes are normal entrees, like quiche and spinach pie. They sound good, but I'd have to cut the fat in half or I think that food would kill me. Normal people who cook a lot, just don't cook that way. I made her corn muffins tonight and they called for a stick of butter, and over a cup of cream. Corn muffins are a staple around here. They make a nice starch for just about any meal and they keep well. But I think we'll all be huge if we make them Reilly style.

I'm all about decadent desserts. But I like to keep the meals around here relatively light. (so the desserts can rock) I have no problem plopping a chunk of butter on our green beans, but this food was beyond heavy. We're talking a POUND of cream cheese in an entree! Who cooks like that at HOME?

But there are some great recipes that I hope to explore. I think I can rework the corn muffins and keep the texture and reduce the fat.

Cross posted to You MADE That?.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

The Eyeglasses Shop: The Musical

This morning I dreamed I was writing a play about a glasses store.

The premise was that this woman had inherited an optical shop from her uncle and it was about to go broke. So, they decided to hire a sketchy optometrist who would tell ALL the patients they needed new glasses. This way they'd make money. Here's the first page. I was writing it in my head while people acted it.

Act1 Scene1:

Setting, an optical store. The decor is dated and most of the display cases are empty.

Enter Sketchy Optometrist: (He has a mohawk, facial piercings and is wearing a grungy white lab coat).

Owner/Niece:
So, are you an optometrist or an ophthalmologist?

Sketchy Optometrist:
Sure!

Owner/Niece
Seriously, did you go to medical school, or not.

Sketchy optometrist:
I'm sorry, I really don't remember what it was.

Niece's Assistant:
how are we going to buy all this inventory to make a go of this?

Owner/Niece:
I've got some guys that are going to loan me some money.

Enter loan shark. The scene starts to fade and an adorable 21 month old girl enters a light filled bedroom.

Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Enter Kaylee and Rich and the dream ended.