whatta pita crap

i finally remembered to take a couple of pictures of the bean's completed felt sandwich. in addition to what she already had, there's now slices of cheese, tomato, and lettuce. i did a little detail stitching on the latter two items to make them more realistic, although i don't think you can really see it here:

and here's her bag of chips. there's six potato chips in there, and i did more detail stitching to make them look like "ruffles". she likes to put them in the sandwich.

so much fun! i really do want to make more stuff for her, as she does get a kick out of playing with it, but it'll have to wait a little bit. i finally got to start on a dress for me last night, and now i'm obsessed with finishing it. i hope it turns out well, because the picture on the pattern envelope is super cute! wish me luck.

in my quest to add a little variety to the teen's brown-bag lunches, i decided to give this recipe for sun-dried tomato hummus a shot. i got everything ready, but then realized i didn't have any tahini. i turned to my friend google to see if i could get around taking a trip to the grocery store for that one item, and as luck would have it, a bunch of different sites popped up. i clicked on this one for homemade tahini and was stoked to find that all i had to do was grind up some roasted sesame seeds with a little olive oil, and voila! problem solved.

a quick whirl in my "food processor," and i was good to go. i even have enough for future use!

the rest of the process was ridiculously easy. i tossed in a can of garbanzo beans, a handful of dried basil, fresh garlic, some sun-dried tomatoes, and a few other things that i can't remember and pureed it all together.

i gave it a quick taste-test, added a little salt and pepper, and it was perfect. i'm not a big garbanzo bean fan, but this hummus was really tasty! luckily, the teen agreed when she poked a finger in it later.

there's no better way to eat hummus than with pita bread. as luck would have it, i'd found this easy-looking recipe for homemade pita bread - i still can't decide if i'm being adventurous in the kitchen, too lazy to go to the store, or simply a cheap ass (since i already had everything in the pantry and didn't need to buy a single thing to make the stuff). either way, who cares? homemade almost always tastes mucho better than store-bought crap anyway.

i was surprised that i didn't have to use warm water for activating the yeast. instead, it was room temperature, straight from the tap, and still resulted in lovely, fluffy dough.

as usual, i headed over to the grandparents' house to use their evenly-heating, larger-capacity oven. we'd been invited over for dinner anyway, and since the baking part of this recipe only required a few minutes, i waited till after the meal to get to work.

but after the oven had been preheating for about ten minutes, i happened to glance over right as a loud poppy-sizzly kind of noise erupted. at first, i thought it was the garbage disposal, with the ILs sharing dish duty right next to it, but i was alarmed to catch what looked like a fireworks display in the freaking oven. FIL pulled the door open, smoke poured out, the heating element lit up and fizzled out, and then the smoke detector went off. it was a little chaotic, and i immediately felt awful - i broke the damn oven!

the hub and his grandpa inspected the damage, took note of the oven's model number, and disappeared into the office to look for replacement parts. i kind of shrank into a corner, apologizing my head off, while everyone tried to make me feel better and tell me it hadn't actually been my fault. "it could have happened at any time, the oven's a decade old!" grandma said. and then - she's so cute - she thanked me. "i'm so glad you came over to bake, because this way everyone was here and i wasn't by myself when it happened. now, what temperature do you need? let's turn on the second oven."

i turned back to my bowl, but i was all flustered and kept screwing up the division of the dough, which was supposed to end up in 8 equal pieces. after a few tries, i finally got it right.

i rolled the little dough balls out as best as i could and popped them in the oven.

alas, it was a kitchen FAIL. i'm pretty sure i handled the dough far too much when i jacked up the division process, and my pitas ended up thick and dense. no puffy little pockets here. or maybe it didn't get hot enough - because after all, i'd broken the other oven. maybe there was a connection there. oy.

ah, well. the teen still took the flatbreads to lunch with her hummus, and said they were good. i'm so glad she's always willing to try my crazy experiments. although after a month straight of peanut butter & jelly or nutella sandwiches, i'm thinking she was just happy to switch it up a little.

i wonder what i'll fuck up in the kitchen next week. heh.

crowns are cool

the bean slept right through yesterday's earthquake. heh.

as for me, i flipped out slightly, thinking of what the day was going to bring and fervently hoping it wasn't an omen of how it would turn out. sheesh. so much for my "eternal optimism." somehow, i managed to fall back asleep - for another hourish. the alarm went off at 5:30, and off we went.

the bean woke up just before we left, smiling sleepily and chattering quietly in her car seat as we battled traffic on our way to the dentist's office in arcadia. the stupid ass black cat that scampered across the street as we drove along didn't help my anxiety much. i wanted to get out and kick the shit outta that thing. and as we got closer and closer, i got more and more nervous and tried to cover it up by chatting and smiling brightly for her. she's already figured out that she doesn't like the dentist's (and doctor's) offices, so i guess i was just trying to make everything okay. ugh.

she didn't balk when we entered the office, but she clearly remembered it as she pointed at the plasma on the wall, checked out the waterfall in the corner, and scoped out the video games.

we'd gone to target and bought her some fun new minnie mouse jammies for the occasion, and she remembered as i took a picture of us and she asked to "see 'em?"

the dentist and doctor/anesthesiologist came out to greet us, ask a few questions about her medical history (during which we shook our heads "no" to every question), and check her heart and breathing. she sat quietly and allowed everything to happen without incident, and i hoped that was a good sign. she accepted a bright red bouncy ball and smiled at the staff, and i tried to relax, despite knowing that the anesthesiologist carried a syringe in his pocket that contained the stuff that would make her woozy.

the hub took her into his arms and i tried my damnedest to distract her with a fun book, but she knew something icky was coming. and it was - the syringe came out and was plunged into her left arm as quickly as possible as she screamed out in panic. she wailed and reached out for me, and i took her in my arms, held her tight, and watched her as the crying subsided into a blank stare at the opposite wall. we'd been warned that it could be a disturbing sight, watching the shot take effect and our sweet baby fade into a silent, unfocused lump.

i'm tearing up again at the memory. it really was tough to watch, and i did my best to remember that it was going to lead to great results. after all, she needed the procedures to ensure healthy teeth, and i tried to focus on the positive. but all too soon, the hub gently took her out of my arms to lay her down in the dentist's chair and i followed with blurry, tear-filled eyes. hers were still open, but she was really out of it and when i smiled and waved, blowing her kisses and telling her i loved her, i knew she hadn't seen or heard me.

as soon as she was in the chair, the staff got to work. the hub turned, saw me watching, and walked me back out to the waiting room. "i'll stay and watch - just relax and have a seat out there and i'll come out and keep you posted," he said. one of the assistants saw me and came over with a handful of kleenex, which i accepted gratefully.

and when i was out of anyone's line of vision, i cracked. i bawled like a freaking baby, people. but my vanity never leaves me - i carefully dabbed under my eyes to make sure my mascara wasn't running. ha! not even kidding. i sniffed and wept and watched my tears fall on the floor, and the hub came over to rub my back and let me know that she was doing really well. the IV was in place, she was completely out, and her heartbeat and breathing were strong. i relaxed a little, knowing she was in good hands, and eventually picked up a magazine to flip through as we waited for the pros to do their thang. "she's taped down to the chair, and i don't think you want to see her like that," the hub said. and he was right. i was already in about a thousand pieces after having seen her all drugged up, and i knew he'd watch over her.

the hub went back and forth between the waiting room and where the bean was, giving me updates as often as he had them. and we were thrilled to learn that the two teeth that we'd been so concerned about had healthy roots after all, which meant they wouldn't have to be pulled out and she could just get little crowns on them till they fall out.

right around an hour after they'd begun, dr. eddie came out and announced that everything had gone perfectly. she was moved into another chair one space over, so that she could continue sleeping and they could prep for their next patient. here's where all the action'd been:

she was propped up with a little shoulder roll and a "pillow" for her head, allowing for easy breathing. they hooked her up to another monitor that would let us know when she was starting to come around, and said that the longer she slept, the happier she'd be when she woke up.

he showed us her x-rays, pointing out where the work had been done and also where her permanent teeth were forming, which was really cool. she's got some big toofers coming in a few years. and i couldn't stop looking at her and brushing the hair back from her face. i just wanted to hold her and give her hugs, but i held back and let her sleep it off.

the anesthesiologist saw me snapping away and gathered dr. eddie and his staff to take a group pic. haha! awesome.

after about an hour and a half, the monitor went off and she finally woke up. she looked around with glassy eyes, and i dropped everything and rushed over to pick her up. the doctor came over to check her out and remind us that her coordination and balance would be off in a big way - "keep a hand on her shoulders so she doesn't lean back and fall out of your arms." she didn't say anything and was still out of it, but she was awake and she looked wonderful to me. we wrapped her in the blanket, bid adieu to the office, and headed home.

in the car, she sat quietly and moved her head from side to side slowly while i watched. she picked up one hand and pointed to the cotton ball taped to her wrist where the IV had been: "band-aid? i got a band-aid?" and then she noticed that something was off and opened her mouth wide and moved her lips around. "feels...weird," she said as we laughed. she was still numb from the anesthesia, and kept making funny faces. oh, i was so happy to see her smile.

the faces continued when we got home.

it didn't take long before she decided she wanted to get up and play. i followed her every move, watching her teeter on shaky legs. and she thought her clumsiness was hilarious:

after climbing up and down on the couch and the chair, with me like a shadow, she put out her hand and said this:

she spent most of the afternoon defying the warnings we'd been given: "she's going to be really sleepy all day long and won't want to do much." instead, she was up and around, just like any other day...until about 5:00, when she finally crashed on the couch.

how do you spell "relief"? s-o-g-l-a-d-i-t-s-o-v-e-r.

gonna hurl. or cry. likely both.

by the time you read this, hopefully everything will have gone well and i won't have puked my guts out from anxiety.

the bean is scheduled for her big dental appointment at 7AM and i'm completely freaking out over it. the anesthesiologist called over the weekend to answer questions and give us more details about what to expect, and while the hub seems to be taking it in stride, i am seriously paralyzed with fear.

they're going to give her a shot to numb her, and then put in an IV that's going to knock her out. they'll spend about an hour doing the x-rays, checking the two teeth that brought us in to begin with, and if the roots are still healthy, putting crowns on them. if they're not, they'll extract. yikes! and then they'll do a cleaning and she'll be done.

she'll be groggy for a while, and her coordination and motor skills will be off for a few hours - but since the procedure is so early in the morning, she should be at 95% by dinnertime. and since it's so early, we can just scoop her up out of bed and bring her in her pajamas.

please send your happiest, shiniest thoughts our way today. kthxbai.

glee-ful saturday

my friend lilcee, the teen, and i had been looking forward to this past saturday for weeks. and why? well, because we had these:

what exactly is that, you ask? well, paleyfest is a series of events, with each evening devoted to a different tv show. the creators, writers, and cast members sit on a panel and discuss their show, and it's a neat opportunity to hear the insiders' views about how the show came to be, what the process is like, and even a bit of q&a with the panel. we'd been tipped off by our buddy weezermonkey about it, and while she isn't a glee fan, she was kind enough to pass the info on to us. thank goodness, too, because the tickets sold out fast.

and saturday's event was all about "glee." whee! it's one of our favorite shows on tv right now, and we were all super duper excited to see which cast members would show up. none of us had ever been to a paleyfest event, so it was all a new experience for us. and you already know how starstruck the teen and i are, although we refrained from wearing "gleek" tees and making posters. heh.

i'd tried earlier that morning to snag some tickets for the upcoming glee live concert tour - it's right around the teen's birthday and she'd hinted that it would make a great present. of course, i was more than happy to comply - or at least, try. i was on the ticketbastard site the moment the sale opened up, with fingers flying on the keyboard, to no avail. the damn thing was completely sold out before i got past the effing word verification. i tried and tried for a solid half hour, but it was not to be - even with two browsers open searching for two measly seats on two different dates. i was incredibly bitter, but decided to keep checking every day. they often release more seats as the event gets closer. still - bah!

having been warned by our friend winnie, who'd attend the "lost" event a couple of weeks ago, we were prepared to show up crazy early to get a decent spot in line. the event was scheduled to start at 7, and so the teen and i arrived at lilcee's house around 3:30 (we needed to change and get ready, and the plan was to leave around 4). we had "rear balcony" seats, and it's a general-admission kind of thing. the earlier you get there, the better your seat will be in that section.

battling almost zero traffic on the way to the 90210, we were still amazed to find the line looking like this:

holy shit. the damn line was wrapped around the freaking corner. granted, we didn't actually arrive till 5:30, but i had to wonder what time the folks at the front of the line had gotten there. insanity.

we only waited for about half an hour-ish before the line started moving, and good thing, too - it was getting chilly out there.

we climbed a shitload of stairs to get to the balcony, and when we got inside the theater we headed right down to the very front row of what we thought was our section. i was making my way to a killer seat when the usher informed us that our tickets entitled us to seats in the very furthest area of the balcony. dang. oh, well - i tried.

after making our way to the center of the theater, we plopped down to get settled and read our complimentary issue of tv guide, who was a major sponsor of the evening.

right at 7, the lights went down and a man (of course, i don't remember who he was) came out onto the stage, said a few words of welcome, and then introduced this lady, who's the editor-in-chief of tv guide:

then the screen behind her lit up and showed a clip chosen for the evening from the archives at the paley center. the entire audience giggled as we were treated to a ridiculously cheesy bit from the old "brady bunch tv hour" variety show.

we were all really excited to hear that we were going to see a screening of the next episode of glee, which isn't scheduled to return to the air until a full month from now - april 13th. there was a smattering of cheering and squealing as it began, and i snapped a few shots of the screen with my DSLR, which i'd brought along with my zoom lens. hee!

but my giddiness quickly dissipated as i was approached by an usher, who demanded that i hand it over so he could delete the pictures i'd taken. shit. i wasn't about to give him my camera, so i just deleted them while he watched. i put the camera down for the rest of the screening and didn't even think about taking any more. dude was big, yo. and i wasn't about to get kicked out of there. besides, the pictures weren't all that great anyway. heh.

despite the fact that the stage was set with what looked like about 47 chairs, we were pretty amazed to find that, along with the co-creators and other show staff, almost the entire cast was present. lea michele, the fantastic singer/actress who plays "rachel," was glaringly absent, the two girls who play cheerleaders, and the principal were also MIA.

it was fun to listen to them banter back and forth, tell stories about casting and tapings, and hear spoilers and other cool details. i don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but if you want to read what we learned about upcoming episodes (music and storyline), EW has a good report here. i also found out that the tour tickets that had gone on sale that morning sold out in a record 22 seconds. holy eff - i never had a chance.

i took forty gajillion pictures, snapping away every few minutes, so here's just a handful. you can tell how far our seats were - again, i took these with my zoom lens!

jane lynch is freaking hilarious. she shared a couple of "sue sylvester's" more risque lines, ones that they're not sure will get past censors, like "shut your mouth before i rape it" and "i'm going to punch you square in the vagina (or, her cleaned-up version, taco)."

the audience q&a portion of the evening came and went all too quickly.

and then it was over. the lucky fuckers who were down near the front got to meet the cast members, who came over to sign autographs. we watched wistfully as we exited our shitty balcony.

we made a pitstop at nearby versailles for a late dinner, but i was still on a glee high and forgot to take pictures. no biggie, though. i'll just tell you that it was delicious and a great way to end our evening (aside from the hair that the teen found in her beans, boo).

now, if i can get my hands on a couple of those concert tickets...

that's my girl

i finally finished the bean's felt brown bag lunch yesterday, but didn't have time to upload any pictures. oh, well. she's now got a whole sandwich, complete with lettuce and cheese, plus a bag of "chips." totally cute and super easy.

as she enjoyed a mini cupcake, i whipped out the flipcam:

and while i was at it, i decided to capture something else:

ah, she's gonna kill me for that one some day. or laugh her ass off. if she's anything like her sister, it'll be the latter.

sewing FAIL, the sequel

okay, so i'd cut out the material to make a little case for my flip videocam a few days ago, right? i'd followed the same tutorial i used to make 10yearstogether's laptop sleeve, figuring that it would basically be the same thing, just smaller. makes sense, right?

but the joke was (again) on me. because it was so small, it was a total pain in the ass to sew - the material kept getting sucked up and stuck in the built-in needle threader, and i struggled with a few of the steps as the sewing areas got smaller and smaller. topstitching was a total bitch, and even trying to turn it right side out (several times) proved to be more difficult than it should've been.

and the worst part? when i finally finished the fucking thing, pressing it out to get it all nice and pretty, it. was. too. small.

it fit inside all snug as a bug in a rug, but somehow i'd miscalculated the length. or something. the end of the flip stuck out and i couldn't close the flap properly. damn.

but i realized it was the perfect size to hold a point-and-shoot, so i pulled mine out and tested it out.

and wouldn't you know it - perfect fit. too bad i already have a neoprene case for it. wah waaaaah.

kind of sucked to be me at that moment. gah!

but i'm an eternal optimist. so, oh, well. on to the next project!

experimenting in the kitchen

during a costco run, i picked up a giant jar of sun-dried tomatoes to throw a little different twist in to a meal or two. well, it IS a giant jar, so it's probably more like "a meal, or twelve."

i scoured the internet for ideas on how to use these things - but with my usual criteria: meatless ideas for the teen, low-cal/low-fat/low-carb for the hub (who's knee-deep in an office "biggest loser" contest with a lot of cash at stake). i found several good recipes and decided to try giada's recipe for sun-dried tomato pesto. it was written with penne pasta in mind, but the teen's all-time favorite is angel hair, so that's what i went with. and for the hub, i just seasoned a chicken breast and tossed it in the oven to bake.

i scooped a crapload of those tomatoes out of the jar and poured some of the olive oil from it into my "food processor" *cough*babyfoodmaker*cough*. after adding some minced garlic, a little salt & pepper, and a handful of dried basil (because i was too lazy/cheap to go and buy the fresh stuff), i gave it a whirl and ended up with this lovely, fragrant pesto.

this is an awful picture, i know it, but it's all i got. by the time i was done cooking (and it actually didn't take very long at all, but i got a late start), i had to hustle to get it all on the table so that my family could actually eat at a fairly decent hour. i'd added some frozen broccoli florets to the pasta as it bubbled on the stovetop, drained it, and tossed it all together with the pesto.

i smeared some on top of the hub's chicken, served it with some steamed veggies, and dinner was served. and i was gratified when they both mumbled their approval - the teen said "OMG mom, this pasta is ah-MAY-zing. it's so good, i want to roll around in it and eat my way out." the hub really liked it as well, although he was slightly less dramatic in his enthusiasm. heh. the best part was how easy it was to put together. a keeper, for sure.

the bean woke up on sunday morning with a mad craving for waffles. and you know i'm always willing to bust out the hello kitty waffle maker. but with no teen home to help eat them and the hub avoiding carbs like the plague, i decided to try out a common housewife/mom/etc. trick. i whipped up a whole batch of waffles, gave the bean a plateful, ate a couple myself, and then let the rest cool completely.

i threw the remaining waffles in a ziploc and put the bag in the freezer. now, i'm not always thrilled with how stuff turns out after i give it a deep freeze, so that's why i was slightly hesitant about doing this to begin with. but i figured it was worth a shot, because it would be lovely to have a couple of these with a drizzle of syrup during the week.

the next morning, i pulled a couple of waffles out, put them in my toaster oven, and set it on low. these come out with a really good, chewy/fluffy texture when fresh, and i was really hopeful that freezing them wouldn't totally fuck 'em up. and when the bell went off, i pulled them out, topped them with some syrup, and took a bite.

and yay! they were perfect. i munched on them on my way to work and was quite a happy camper. poor hello kitty's going to get quite a workout in the weeks to come.