Did you know the Faulkner County Library has a program for babies under 2? I didn’t. I just found out on Saturday, and I took Anna there this morning for her first story time! She was certainly attentive; she just sat in my lap with a wide-eyed expressionless face, staring nonstop at everything going on, probably wondering what in the world her crazy mommy had brought her to. But towards the end, she finally cracked a smile. I feel certain she’ll warm up to it if we go every week.

Afterwards I let her play alongside the other toddlers in the little kitchen play area there. I tried to get Anna interested in the pots and pans, but as soon as she discovered that she could push the chairs around, that’s all she wanted to do. (She rearranges the furniture in our kitchen pretty regularly these days!)

We’re definitely going back. It’s on Mondays at 10, if you have a wee one and want to come along. The library website actually says it’s on “Monday’s”—jeez, they ought to know better! But then, they also have it listed under their “teens” tab rather than their “kids” tab, which may explain why I’ve never heard of it.

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On Saturday David grilled a whole chicken, two flat-iron steaks, a batch of veggies, and some burgers, so we have most of that left to get us through the week. We froze the burgers and will pull them down as needed. If you’re grilling, always grill a lot—you can eat on it for several days and/or freeze some for later, and the majority of your cooking’s done!

Check out Menu Plan Monday for more great ideas.

Monday: Grilled chicken (pollo diablo), grilled mixed vegetables (see recipe below), baked sweet potatoes

Tuesday: Steak tacos, fresh fruit, chips & homemade salsa

Wednesday: same

Thursday: Roasted chicken hash (except with grilled chicken this time), green beans, French bread

Friday: same

Saturday: just snacks for supper because we’ll eat fish ‘n’ chips from Cregeen’s in the afternoon following the St. Patrick’s Day parade!

Sunday: Burgers, potato wedges

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Recipe: Grilled Vegetables (more…)

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We’ve probably all done it. You’re doing some household chore involving bleach, and you don’t want to change clothes just to do something that takes 30 seconds, and you’ll be oh-so-careful… but, nevertheless, you get bleach on your clothes and your dark purple sweater is ruined. Ok, maybe not a dark purple sweater for you, but you can extrapolate.

It was just a small area on the sleeve, but it still made the sweater unwearable. But then I started wondering if I could just dye the whole thing dark purple and even it out. So I did a little research, went to Hobby Lobby and bought some Rit dye (one purple and one black, to make dark purple), and went for it.

Here’s the “before” shot:

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Did you know that today is National Grammar Day? I didn’t, but thank you, Charlie, for bringing it to my attention in your Facebook status. In observance of this little-publicized but much-needed calendar day, I thought I’d let my readers know three things that really bug me.

1. Putting an apostrophe in every word that ends with s. You did not have dinner with the Felio’s last night. You did not buy lot’s of egg’s on your trip’s to the grocery store last week. Come on, people!

2. Using your in place of you’re. You’re going to get in big trouble because you didn’t put your dishes in the dishwasher this morning. Get it straight.

3. Using I when me is correct. I hear it everywhere: “John shared his candy with Mary and I.” Would you say, “John shared his candy with I”? Of course not! Despite those early-childhood grammar corrections that were drilled into our brains, sometimes me really is correct. And whatever you do, please do not select your pronoun case just to make the lines of your song rhyme! I’m specifically referring to the Newsboys song “Something Beautiful,” in which they sing, “… When we laugh so hard we cry / It’s the love between you and I…” Ugh! I have to change the station every time I hear that song come on. If the correct pronoun doesn’t rhyme, then re-write your song!

So what really bugs you? Let’s have it!

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Last week we postponed Saturday’s pizza until Sunday, so we still have leftover pizza for Monday. We’re planning to grill next Sunday, as long as the weather is nice, which should carry us well into the next week. Remember to check out Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday for more ideas.

Monday: Homemade pizza, salad

Tuesday: Pot roast w/ carrots and potatoes, French bread

Wednesday: same

Thursday: same

Friday: Macaroni and cheese (see recipe below), steamed veggies, green beans

Saturday: same

Sunday: Grilled chicken, grilled mixed veggies, baked potatoes

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Recipe: Old-Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese (more…)

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For a couple of weeks now, I’ve noticed Anna holding out her arm toward Sasha like she’s waving. How sweet, she’s waving at the dog, I thought.

But then I realized that’s not what she’s doing at all! Whenever we tell Sasha to sit, down, or stay, we use hand signals. We don’t even think about it anymore; it’s just automatic. Apparently Anna has picked up on this, and she’s going around flinging her arm out in Sasha’s direction whenever she’s around her. That’s obviously what you’re supposed to do around a dog, right?

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… especially when it keeps her occupied while I’m cooking dinner.

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