It's me again

The girls just left for school, I have clothes in the dryer, and I'm about to get another cup of coffee and see if I can remember anything of what I said last night. Not necessarily in the same order.

The camera wasn't working (blush) because Ray had put the batteries in upside down and I didn't think to check the obvious. Tim took one look and fixed it. I've glad I didn't take it back to Circuit City.

Rebecca "forgot" her homework at school for the second day in a row. For that she missed out on free admission day at the nickel arcade and was grounded at least for last night and possibly Saturday. We'll see. A weekend grounding falls into the category of "this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you".

At ten minutes before bedtime, she decided to make amends by going on a cleaning spree. She loves to polish and shine. She got the counters, the table, the stove and the microwave before I chased her off to bed.

I wonder if she believed that she could get away with "forgetting" . I think she had an ulterior motive; possibly that she wouldn't have time for the nickel arcade if she brought homework in. We would have made time. They have it a couple of times a year and we manage to get them there. A learning experience for Miss Becca-boodles.

Rochelle isn't that interested in the arcade. She goes along but it's crowded and noisy. She loves to drive the race cars but after she's done that she usually gives Rebecca the rest of her tokens and the two of them share the prizes. Then she hangs out with me in the quiet room and chats. Works for me.

We've taken Elcie but she's outgrown it somewhat. She'd rather play the computer games here. They don't move as fast. She still gets to practice fine motor skills but the pressure isn't so intense.

I struck a nerve with my remarks about pre-teens. Elcie will be 13 on March 9 so she will qualify as full fledged teenager. Wonderful. I agree with those who said there are limits. I'll discuss for a while but my final word is my final word. She can stomp off, I might even allow the eye roll although not as a rule, but they will not disrespect me. If I ever allow that to start, I'm doomed. There is a line they cross at their peril

Mangos and aloe vera. Granny Fiddler made a good point in her comment. Once you have used the mango slices as first aid, they will be thawed from the warmth of your hand and you can eat them. Not so the aloe vera. Mangos 1, aloe vera zip. My Arkansas mother-in-law had a huge aloe vera plant right at her front door; my first experience with this wonderful plant. We used it for sunburn among other things.

Chicken teriyaki - I cheat a lot. I had stewed a large batch of thighs and drumsticks on Tuesday with chicken and dumplings in mind. Then I remembered the two younger girls eat dinner at the church on Tuesdays. On Wednesday (shopping day), dumplings seemed like too much effort. By the way, if you ever decide to make the flat, noodle style, non-rising dumplings, a pizza cutter works much better than a knife.

I put a large bag of frozen cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots along with a little bell pepper, can of water chestnuts and a can of shitake mushrooms in my huge frying pan (visible in one of the photos I think) along with diluted Kikkoman teriyaki sauce, ginger and Chinese five spice. I wished for snow peas and bean sprouts but if had the energy to go back to the store (to say nothing of wasting gas), I could have just made the dumplings. I added the cooked boned chicken. I let them hang out together for a while without overcooking and made a large pot of rice.

Add the girls' special bowls and voila - dinner. It wasn't authentic, it probably wasn't even teriyaki, but they lapped it up. The girls have six wide, shallow soup bowls. Three are decorated with pink flamingos and three with red chili peppers. All are from the 98¢ store. Presentation is everything. I have a collection of dirt cheap special dishes for them.

I'll skip the rant about the House of Representative and the obscene budget bill passed yesterday while the Senate was busy passing a tax cut. House vote carried 216-214. It won't help much for me to get busy with the elections; my Congressman went the right direction. My Senators split predictably on the tax cut. Senator Feinstein may hear from me; I'll have to go back and see what they've given away on the backs of the poor. So much for skipping the rant. It was longer last night.

I've read all the comments and answered some. I'm afraid to save this as a draft after the problems with blogger last night. I suppose I should learn how to do this on Word one of these days. How hard can it me for someone without enough sense to check the batteries in her camera?

Blogging Baby has a post about the suitability of opera for kids. Interesting. I grew up with it and I'm doing my best to indoctrinate the girls with excerpts, not complete productions. First place they'd be bored with too much at once and second, much of opera is "R" rated or at least PG-13. I'd have to pick and choose or else explain going in that they are just stories. Even The Magic Flute which is often produced for kids with puppets involves child snatching, a distraught mother, and attempted rape. To say nothing of the hero and heroine walking through fire to reach their (his - she doesn't count) goal. Hansel and Gretel? Nope. Lovely music - monstrous parents and lost chldren.

I think I covered everything that Blogger ate. I hope it has a tummyache. Now I have to go be useful for a little while. For those of you whose day is still ahead of you, have a great one.