A little dab'll do ya

I've recently developed a patch of weird skin on my mouth (which I can only image is some sort of flesh eating disease or weird lip cancer) and have been trying various home remedies, including psoriasis ointment (expired, naturally), left over dermatitis medicine, and copious amounts of chapstick. Doctor schmoctor! This odd regimen left me with an even larger patch of what can only be described as puffy, dry, and puckered. Lovely, right? I decided that some good ole fashion vaseline was the next best course of action.

I asked Mr. Man if we had any in the house. He said he didn't think so, but I'm not sure why I asked him. He doesn't always have the best handle on how well stocked we are (evidenced by the multiple boxes of panko bread crumbs, cans of coconut milk, etc in the pantry). I rooted around in our medicine cabinet and unearthed the little tub I was looking for. I could tell, based on the label, that we bought before we moved to TX. After a trip down memory lane we decided that Mr. Man had bought this little tub about 10 years ago. And it's only half gone. It made me wonder if vaseline is one of those things you really only need to buy once in a lifetime. I'm pretty sure if I take a peek in my dad's medicine cabinet I will find the same tub that was in there when I was a kid. I'll have to keep you updated.

Back to my lip, the crazy patch seems to have been tamed a bit. And, yes, I am going to pretend that it hasn't been a year since I last posted. Carry on.

Weekly Menu Feb 28 - March 6

Salmon Cakes
Lasagna
Hot dogs
Chicken breasts with tomato basil sauce
Beef stew with mashed potatoes
Hamburger Helper

nitty gritty

This is what happens when your husband is very excited about using the new vegetable brush.


That poor, unsuspecting sweet potato. Well, he sure did get that dirt off there!

the bandit strikes again

Briscoe has decided that his very important job in the family is to rid our house of any and all buttons. He takes this self-appointed job quite seriously and frequently patrols the commonly infested rooms with fervor. He doesn't ingest the buttons, just bites them off our clothing and generally mangles them beyond hope of reattachment. It is only funny when it doesn't happen to you. For example, when he went on a rampage and pulled 5 pairs of Mr. Man's dress pants off their hanger and took care of every last button on each one of them...pretty amusing. We keep the closet under lock and key at all times now because, while we may be made of buttons, we aren't made of pants replacing money.

Now, when I walked into this...



Not funny! Bad dog. Baaaaad. In his unflappable quest for buttons he pulled my jacket down off the chair and proceeded to do his job. Quite well. Oh Boo-boo, you are such a fluffy pain in my butt. But you do force us to keep a tidy home.

Made of muscles

Living with a self proclaimed "Mr. Green," we have reusable grocery bags. There is a phenomenon I have noticed relating to these bags... Apparently, when you use a reusable bag you get super human strength! At least that is what the people at the grocery store think.

Behold, Exhibit A:

This is what the bagger put in a standard plastic bag. For those of you keeping track, it held a block of cheese, a bag of what turned out to be very gross tasting wheat tortillas (my foray into eating healthy turned my taste buds against me), a can of broth, and two yogurts.

Let us, in comparison, see what they felt was an appropriate amount to stuff into my reusable bag.

Exhibit B:

Get out your score cards. Here we have one block of cheese, one can of beans, one large can of tomatoes, seven cans of broth, a can of diced chilies, one small yogurt, and one jumbo yogurt.

In one bag! I know that reusable bags are stronger than the evil plastic ones, but that doesn't mean I need to stuff half of my grocery list into one! It's not like I see that bag and go instantly into Hulk mode, muscles rippling as I carry my purchases inside. Although, turning green would be a nice compliment to the eco-friendliness of those bags.

Weekly Menu Feb 21-27

Spanish Potato & Chorizo Tortilla
Steak
Vegetable Tofu Tagine*
leftover soup (probably West African Peanut Soup)
Asparagus Leek Strudel
Butter Chicken


*The tofu tagine is a new recipe, we'll see how it goes!

the view from down here

Things I learned by lying on by bathroom floor:

The toe kick on our vanity is not painted all the way to the corner
The bathmat has a disturbing amount of my hair on it - I should check myself later for bald spots
Lying on the floor does not help your back feel better
Neither does kneeling, moving, or even breathing
What sounds like the dog being bad upstairs is really the washing machine
The dog is actually outside and has been scratching at the door this whole time to be let in

Groan