Adventures in Boring Pics: Day 1

I, as usual, planted a stupidly large amount of onions.
I do this every year.
I don't just plant onions, I plant leeks, chives, green onions, and big yellow onions because apparently I think that all we need to eat are onions.
So anywhooo, I pulled a very pretty one to take into my co-worker/partner in crime tomorrow.
He will very happy and a gog and a gast.

Then The Monster spied the "papa camera. take a smile. who's dat guy pwicture" and started hamming it up.
Notice he is naked. His new favorite state of dress.
Also notice that his hair looks normal.
That is because this is about5 minutes BEFORE I found him in my bathroom "going da hair mommy".
I've decided not to cut the other side and just let him rock the classic "I am 3yo and I cut my own hair look".

He kept closing his eyes for "take a smwile mommy"...

Adventure.

I've been stinking at blogging lately.
Why you might ask???
To which I reply...
work.
work. work.
work. work. work.

For a girl that spends about 3 waking hours in her home a day blogging has fallen to the wayside.

So mes gets a thoughts in mes ole noggin.
(read: I had a random thought while brushing my teeth).

Rather than write you the story of my amazingly boring life that usually involves 8 hours of talking about sex and 4 that involve tubby time, Cinderella, and juice cups...
I figured I mix it up for awhile.

Starting tomorrow ya'll will be getting a random picture and story of something I see in, about and around the greater 3 Forks Ranch and where ever else this crazy Texas town takes me.

P.S. I really do talk about sex a lot. I am never going to be hireable for any other job now. I'm doomed but I do adore my career with all my big, girly, goofy heart.

The car that hated K8

We here at 3 Forks Ranch have 4 vehicles.

1 with a car seat.
1 that runs but I can never touch or breath on and that D loves more than me.
1 that is in various stages of repair or, er, disrepair in the garage.
1 that hates my guts.

Yesterday the one with the car seat (my Honda CRV) decided that it didn't want to do anymore work. I don't blame her. It was Friday neither of us wanted to do anymore work.
The clutch just stopped functioning.
In a parking lot.
At a clients.
ugh.
For you stick drivers out there, you know that a clutch doesn't just STOP. Usually you can feel it going and have time to prepare. On top of this, D just replaced the clutch about 2 years ago. The average life of a new clutch is 100k. Not cool for this to happen now. Remember please that I put about 100 miles a day on my car. It is my job and did I mention THE ONLY CAR SEAT!

So, D manages to come find me yesterday and we trade cars. I now have one of the three Nissan 300 ZX Fairlady's that we own until D can repair my clutch and the Monster can't leave the house again until my lovely Honda is functional.

Anyway to the point of the matter.

THIS. CAR. HATES. ME....

I am not making this up.
It is a stated and proven fact.
She hates me.

Imagine a very tired K8. A K8 that has been at work since 8am, awake since 6. It is now 9:30 pm and she is headed home from work to see her little Monster. "ah, says K8, I shall stop and get the mail"! As she does, a small 3 blocks from her home, the Fairlady decides to lock up her steering so that this tired and frustrated K8 cannot do anything with her. After some sweet talk, some not so sweet talk, and a very loud "why today God??? WHY!!!!"...K8 grabs her purse, her work bag, the bleed bag (phlebotomy bag), and the dinner she so loving ordered for her husband and stomped in the heels she'd been wearing since 6 am (and yes my feet looked like giant puff balls of swollen fat). K8 stomps and curses for 3 whole blocks. She shoves the keys in her husband's hand, who is so lovingly halfway inside the engine of her Honda, and screams "SHE HAAAAAAAATES ME!" followed by what most likely sounded like "blahblah blah blah blaaaaah". As he calmy tells K8 that she is indeed insane he takes his fajitas and walks down to the Fairlady who naturally starts up without any drama.
See? She HATES me.

Today, I have to pick up a friend from surgery and run a couple errands. I wonder what Fairlady will try to curse me with today. brakes? flat tire? Bring it Lady, I'll go Towanda on ya!

Tostada Anyone?

As promised my easy-peasy ground beef tostada recipe...
Courtesy of the very elderly insane man selling 30 tortillas for .70 cents.

A quick stop at the farmers market for a tomato, a green pepper, and a head of radishes ($1.50)...

I love the Manor Farmer's market.
We've lived here long enough that I know the 5-6 vendors at our local market. Often times we trade produce or they pass along over ripe for free. It's all very Oregon trail-esque without Laura dying of typhoid and I've yet to break a wagon wheel.
I was going to just make veggie black bean tostadas but I was already in town and I've been forcing my vegetarian tendency on D as of late so I felt he deserved some grease laden ground beef. The Manor Grocery is another one of my favorite places in Manor (this isn't saying much considering that there isn't much else actually in Manor).
It's the type of grocery store where a can of diced tomatoes is 2.99 but a 1lb of ground beef from Jim Bob down the road is 1.50. Fresh bacon 2.15 and homemade spicy sausage 2.29.
It's awesome.
Fresh jalapenos .50 a lb and cilantro .10 a bundle.
Jar of baby food 3.00. haha...
you get the idea.


At the grocery I picked up some ground beef and cilantro (mine died in the one freeze we've had) and as of yet I'm not raising cows.


Back in the 3 Forks garden I collected an onion, some garlic, and some butter lettuce.
Then I diced everything up all nice and pretty like.
While out in the garden I found the following items...
that stupid lizard.
a superhero.
my high heel.
a granola bar.
and 3 headbands.



This is the point in the story where I realize that it is nearing 8:30pm.
This is not good. D will be home within 30 minutes.
O is currently in some odd form of dress. (read: he has mittens on his feet and a head bannd around his "nweck-wess").
No lunches have been assembled, much less breakfasts and sippy cups.
This is what I lovingly refer to as K8's speedy gonzales mode.
I then remember mid way though tubby time that I haven't even browned the beef yet.
After telling the Monster NOT to slip, fall, and crack open his skull I run to the kitchen and start the ground beef...


Back to the the tub. The Monster actually made it 3 minutes without an injury.
New world record.
Now to stir the beef, and assemble lunches.
I may or may not have stopped to soak in some crap TV.
And because all of us here at the ranch are super environmental and tree hugging green peeps the Monster air dried all natural by running naked from one end of the house to the other.

See that lettuce?
I grew that.
Yep, yep I suuure did.


I had some leftover corn and black bean salad which I had mixed with sour cream, onion, radishes, cumin, and cayenne so I pulled that out of the fridge...
and found an ice cold beer with my name on it.


As I zip up the lunch boxes, lay out our clothes for the next morning ( I must do this or else I end up wearing the most random outfits and often forget essential parts of my wardrobe), and begin to assemble the tostadas I hear the roar of D's car headin up the road.

Look how yummy and greasy it looks!


D even asked for seconds.


All in all it's been interesting getting back into the work routine.
I am thankful for the time to catch up on my sleep but I am even more thankful to be back at work. I really do love the work that I do and even though it ca be stressful and social work pay it makes me a better person and a better Mom to my Monster.

A Random Rant

I tend to think that I am fairly open minded and accepting. I mean, come on, I'm a social worker. I've worked with drug addicts, rapists, the sick and dying, anorexics, child abusers, and all ends of the spectrum of sanity. But there are just a few things in life I just don't understand.

For Example...

1) Why in the hell do people actually pay 20.00 for a towel at BB&B (sometimes referred to as Bitchy Busty Brides (as those are the only people I ever see shopping there)? This concept is beyond me. I'm fairly certain that there is no way in hell it costs 20 bucks to assemble a shitty cotton towel destined to look like it's been put through the ringer after one trip through the washer.

2) "small" drinks at fast food joints. When I think small soda I think about a cup and a half of soda with a little ice. WRONG! A small at Smack-Donalds is a jumbo mega cup of ice and two swallows of soda. Crack in the Box doesn't even have a small size. You get your choice of large or larger (customer service is clearly a top priority). I don't need a cup of mostly ice so large that it doesn't even fit in my cup holder.

3) REALLY REALLY long fake plastic finger nails. For those that know me personally and intimately you will know that I do, indeed, have a love of fake nails. Mostly due to the fact that I have baby nails that never grow. ever. I am not even kidding. My nails need growth hormones or something. So, yes I do wear fake nails but. I repeat but. My nail aren't long enough to require their own zip code and I am still capable of opening soda cans and putting keys on my key ring.

4) Wedding pictures. The following things should NEVER be in wedding pictures.

The bride and groom with their dogs. This will end up on some website about awkward photos and very poor decisions made by stupidly happy couples.

The groomsmen holding up the bride. This is some weird trend that should just die.

The classic "bride looking back at the camera while holding the groom's hand" picture. For reals??? The symbolism is enough to make me puke.

The "lean" picture. Think Sandra Bullock in " While You Were Sleeping". If the groom is doing the lean please don't pay stupid amounts of money for that photo or send it to your great grandmother. Worse yet, don't post it of FB. Instead I suggest just getting a room.

Lastly, shoe pictures. There, I said it. WORST wedding corny trend EVER.

Thank you for stopping by for my Thursday morning rant.

Enjoy.

Lo sabías el setet dinero la maize el tortilla?

As you know my job sometimes takes me to parts of Austin that I wouldn't normally visit.
Parts of Austin where I stick out like a sore thumb. (side note: I HATE that expression. It is just plain silly). The upside to sometimes looking completely out of place and probably in a teeny bit of danger is that sometimes I stumble upon hidden treasures (and no, I am not referring to the trash in the gutters or a crack house). This happened to me yesterday...

I am waaay out in the middle of no where when I am called back into town to see a client. Naturally, in true K8 fashion, I manage to get incredibly lost. What do I do one might ask.
Well, I wander...
around and around and around.

This apartment is clearly masked in Harry Potter magic. I have now found every other stinking apartment number except the one I need. My heels are caked in mud, I'm freezing cold (it was only in the 70's yesterday...hate me and see if I care), and I am bordering on running late for a scheduled meeting. Never mind that I haven't had lunch and I am doing the potty dance. I finally decide to stop into this little grocery, where I know I will have to speak in K8's version of Spanish (think English with the letter O added on the end of every word and la or el added to the front of every word). Thank you American school system for neglecting to teach me something that may have actually been useful because, geez, I sure do use that old long division on a daily basis and I am regularly asked to sing the preposition song.

In I go to the little bodega and I say:
"Hola, excusi moi. Do you Lo sabías el apartmento el numbero ...?"
Old, old man that I'm not sure is actually still alive shrugs, points to a huge (think about 30) freshly made corn tortillas and replies "setent. You buy".
After much shaking of my head and bobbing of his head along with a long explaination to me (of which I only picked up the words (caliente, tortillas, el, la, ad gracias) I left with 30 warm corn tortillas for .70 cents.
I also eventually found that stupid apartment.

Flash forward to my kitchen hours later.
I made wraps for lunch, breakfast tacos, peanut butter quesdillas for the Monster, and yet I still have a stupidly large stack of corn tortillas.

For those of you that don't know, fresh tortillas don't taste so yummily after a bit, so ya kinda need to use them.Then in a moment of inspiration it occurred to me:
" I shall make tostadas"!

I heated up some peanut oil and started frying...
and frying...
and frying....
and, guess what?
I did some more frying!

Drained them on paper towels, let them cools, and bagged em up.


Stay tuned for K8's Eats Friday Beefy Bean Tostadas!

A Second Chance

I wasn't sure what to expect on my first day back at work after a month of leave.
Personally, I so very much missed working.
I missed my co-workers and feeling like my time was worth something to others.
I missed that fulfillment.

I was so nervous as I pulled into the parking lot as if it was my first day on the job.
Then, much to my surprise, I was welcomed with ope arms and happiness at my return.
My desk felt like home and the smiles and jokes rolled just as fast as the work we were all completing.
I realized just how much I love this job, the pressure, and the endless learning curve. I love people.

When I got home from work I was so happy that I made chicken spinach enchiladas and Amish egg bread...


The house feels warm and inviting, despite the rain, and our dwindling bank account.
Oliver and I snuggled on the couch and read "Pigs in Hiding" as the smell of baking bread drifted from the warm kitchen over to our corner couch.

After our nightly bedtime routine (which felt amazing to fall back into) I heard the key open the front door and D arrived with a HUGE bouquet of wildflowers (for those of you that know D this is kinda a biiiig deal).


Even better, he brought along some cheese to smush between the hot, delicious bread.

What a perfect end to the day.
I am so thankful.
So very thankful for being blessed with a demanding, intense, but incredibly sustaining and inspiring job.


k8 is back!