New Year New Project

So I know its a bit late to start a New Year project but whatever...I'm doing it. So my oldest had a request a while ago that we make an international dish once a week, and when your 10 year old ASKS you to make something from Algeria and Morocco well you just HAVE to do it! So we did if for a while and now I am finding myself being asked to chronicle this "adventure in eating" So here we go! This is the list we have for Countries around the world (complete with their capitals), we're going to just pretend we haven't done any of these yet and just start over...this is going to be a LONG project
A  Afghanistan – Kabul  Albania – Tirane  Algeria – Algiers  Andorra – Andorra la Vella  Angola – Luanda  Antigua and Barbuda – Saint John’s  Argentina – Buenos Aires  Armenia – Yerevan  Australia – Canberra  Austria – Vienna  Azerbaijan – Baku  B  The Bahamas – Nassau  Bahrain – Manama  Bangladesh – Dhaka  Barbados – Bridgetown  Belarus – Minsk  Belgium – Brussels  Belize – Belmopan  Benin – Porto-Novo  Bhutan – Thimphu  Bolivia – La Paz (administrative); Sucre (judicial)  Bosnia and Herzegovina – Sarajevo  Botswana – Gaborone  Brazil – Brasilia  Brunei – Bandar Seri Begawan  Bulgaria – Sofia  Burkina Faso – Ouagadougou  Burundi – Bujumbura  C  Cambodia – Phnom Penh  Cameroon – Yaounde  Canada – Ottawa  Cape Verde – Praia  Central African Republic – Bangui  Chad – N’Djamena  Chile – Santiago  China – Beijing  Colombia – Bogota  Comoros – Moroni  Congo, Republic of the – Brazzaville  Congo, Democratic Republic of the – Kinshasa  Costa Rica – San Jose  Cote d’Ivoire – Yamoussoukro (official); Abidjan (de facto)  Croatia – Zagreb  Cuba – Havana  Cyprus – Nicosia  Czech Republic – Prague  D  Denmark – Copenhagen  Djibouti – Djibouti  Dominica – Roseau  Dominican Republic – Santo Domingo  E  East Timor (Timor-Leste) – Dili  Ecuador – Quito  Egypt – Cairo  El Salvador – San Salvador  Equatorial Guinea – Malabo  Eritrea – Asmara  Estonia – Tallinn  Ethiopia – Addis Ababa  F  Fiji – Suva  Finland – Helsinki  France – Paris  G  Gabon – Libreville  The Gambia – Banjul  Georgia – Tbilisi Germany – Berlin  Ghana – Accra  Greece – Athens  Grenada – Saint George’s  Guatemala – Guatemala City  Guinea – Conakry  Guinea-Bissau – Bissau  Guyana – Georgetown  H  Haiti – Port-au-Prince  Honduras – Tegucigalpa  Hungary – Budapest  I  Iceland – Reykjavik  India – New Delhi  Indonesia – Jakarta  Iran – Tehran  Iraq – Baghdad  Ireland – Dublin  Israel – Jerusalem  Italy – Rome  J  Jamaica – Kingston  Japan – Tokyo  Jordan – Amman  K  Kazakhstan – Astana  Kenya – Nairobi  Kiribati – Tarawa Atoll  Korea, North – Pyongyang  Korea, South – Seoul  Kosovo – Pristina  Kuwait – Kuwait City  Kyrgyzstan – Bishkek  L   Laos – Vientiane  Latvia – Riga  Lebanon – Beirut  Lesotho – Maseru  Liberia – Monrovia  Libya – Tripoli  Liechtenstein – Vaduz  Lithuania – Vilnius  Luxembourg – Luxembourg  M  Macedonia – Skopje  Madagascar – Antananarivo  Malawi – Lilongwe  Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur  Maldives – Male  Mali – Bamako  Malta – Valletta  Marshall Islands – Majuro  Mauritania – Nouakchott  Mauritius – Port Louis  Mexico – Mexico City  Micronesia, Federated States of – Palikir  Moldova – Chisinau  Monaco – Monaco  Mongolia – Ulaanbaatar  Montenegro – Podgorica  Morocco – Rabat  Mozambique – Maputo  Myanmar (Burma) – Rangoon (Yangon); Naypyidaw or Nay Pyi Taw (administrative)  N  Namibia – Windhoek  Nauru – no official capital; government offices in Yaren District  Nepal – Kathmandu  Netherlands – Amsterdam; The Hague (seat of government)  New Zealand – Wellington  Nicaragua – Managua  Niger – Niamey  Nigeria – Abuja  Norway – Oslo  O  Oman – Muscat P Pakistan – Islamabad  Palau – Melekeok  Panama – Panama City  Papua New Guinea – Port Moresby  Paraguay – Asuncion  Peru – Lima  Philippines – Manila  Poland – Warsaw  Portugal – Lisbon Q  Qatar – Doha  R  Romania – Bucharest  Russia – Moscow  Rwanda – Kigali  S  Saint Kitts and Nevis – Basseterre  Saint Lucia – Castries  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Kingstown  Samoa – Apia  San Marino – San Marino  Sao Tome and Principe – Sao Tome  Saudi Arabia – Riyadh  Senegal – Dakar  Serbia – Belgrade  Seychelles – Victoria  Sierra Leone – Freetown  Singapore – Singapore  Slovakia – Bratislava  Slovenia – Ljubljana  Solomon Islands – Honiara  Somalia – Mogadishu  South Africa – Cape Town  Spain – Madrid  Sri Lanka – Colombo  Sudan – Khartoum  Suriname – Paramaribo  Swaziland – Mbabane  Sweden – Stockholm  Switzerland – Bern  Syria – Damascus  T  Taiwan – Taipei  Tajikistan – Dushanbe  Tanzania – Dar es Salaam; Dodoma (legislative)  Thailand – Bangkok  Togo – Lome  Tonga – Nuku’alofa  Trinidad and Tobago – Port-of-Spain  Tunisia – Tunis  Turkey – Ankara  Turkmenistan – Ashgabat  Tuvalu – Vaiaku village, Funafuti province  U  Uganda – Kampala  Ukraine – Kyiv  United Arab Emirates – Abu Dhabi  United Kingdom – London  United States of America – Washington D.C.  Uruguay – Montevideo  Uzbekistan – Tashkent  V  Vanuatu – Port-Vila  Vatican City (Holy See) – Vatican City  Venezuela – Caracas  Vietnam – Hanoi  Y  Yemen – Sanaa  Z  Zambia – Lusaka  Zimbabwe – Harare   http://www.howmanyarethere.net/how-many-countries-are-there-in-the-world/ February we are doing Uganda, The United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Ukraine; look for those posts coming soon

Another week down

So I have a new kid to watch...actually I have 4, yes FOUR new kids I am watching now. 3 are part time and one is full time. So yeah me = crazy anyways I have been doing better on the whole working out front, I started walking at least 3 times a week with a friend for at least an hour (which averages us at 2.5-3 miles a morning) ;) I have found THE dress I NEED for Navy Ball this year (depending on my being able to talk the hubby into going that is so I NEED to be able to rock it just in case.... here it is.... I wuvs it! Ok well I guess this has to be a short one... I am trying to figure out dinner (without resorting to the pizza guys again)

So its been a week

A friend from High School is staying with us this week, he is on this broke road trip going as far as he can for as cheap as possible. So far I'd say he's been pretty successful. Check out his blog for some interesting stories about Memphis, St Louis, and the Hampton Roads areas on the cheap. We just went Mermaid Hunting with him, Norfolk has a minor obsession with Mermaids and they are all over the city so we went out hunting through the Downtown area for Mermaid Statues. Apparently Mermaid Hunting it exhausting work

We did pretty well we found about 7 statues before the weather took a turn for the worse (and I had to go to work) The munchkin had her dance recital last night and she did great! I wish that Dad could of seen her but YAY Navy :/ He's been out to sea. and its Summer.... I have no idea what I am going to do with these kids but it really feels like this

I found that image on Ramiro Garcia's blog, check him out he has some good stuff. Ok so I am going to wrap this up I guess...the kids are requesting being fed AGAIN! Geessshhhh demanding little twits lol ;) Oh and I need to go do the holy f*ck my husband is coming home cleaning today...thank God I have help this time ;)

Dance Mom aint got nothing on me

So its been a while...I dont even know how to catch y'all up so really I think I will just leave it at I have failed epically at being a modern June Cleaver (oh well), my diet has crashed and burned like the Hindenburg, and I am now ONE.OF.THEM....a DANCE MOM! So apparently the transition is a slow one and sneaky... today I was at my daughter's Irish Dance class (which is dress rehearsal for her recital this week) and the teacher calls me a Dance Mom.... when freaken TEACHER! Oh she is also the damned Studio owner...all this over my saying I would make bows for the girls to wear this week in the recital and I would stay on hand through the 1st mini run through in case of bow repairs. yeaahhhh so next thing you know I'll be all like so I am apologizing in advance. Oh and I have returned to the world of babysitting for money....and um.... seriously I would like to know...the last mom I was babysitting for is freaken CERTIFIABLE! But because I may be entering legal actions against her (like I said CRAZY) I wont go into it any more at this time. But yeah I think that is it.... I need to try to get at least one room kinda cleaned before bed tonight so I GUESS I should go do that :/

I took the red pill....

So for those of you who haven't watched "The Matrix" in a while, the red pill is in reference to Keanu Reeves's character, Neo, is given a choice to take a red or a blue pill. The Blue Pill would allow him to return to his life of ignorant "bliss", not knowing the reality of The Matrix or take the red pill, which makes you see reality. Now the background information out of the way let me explain what I mean by I took the red pill... about a year ago I had a crisis of faith, I had been raised Catholic and with the exception of a short period of time in High School I was more or less a "good Catholic". Then I just had it, my breaking point was Lent. Lent is the 40 days before Easter where good Catholics sacrifice something in order to become closer to God. Well my issue was I wanted a cheeseburger... and it was Friday. So I started complaining to a friend about it and she said something very simple to me "why does God care about what you eat on Friday?"... I had no answer for her. The concept is pretty odd when you think about it... why would God, with all the war, death and famine in the world, care that I ate a cheeseburger during Lent!? Doesn't he have something better to do? I had realized that Lent had become superficial to me, it was no longer about focusing on my relationship with God but it was more a personal challenge to see if I can survive without something. Now here I was, during Lent and not practicing it. Of course I couldn't go back to a Catholic Church...but I didn't want to give up on Church. Now would probably be a good time to specify my leaving The Church wasn't 100% over a cheeseburger, it was over a few other things. Such as women's rights, marriage equality, divorce...and the cheeseburger on Friday. So I did what any disillusioned Catholic would of done... I went online. I found out about Unitarian Universalism, which really I don't fully understand (yet) but I am loving the acceptance... Everyone is welcomed regardless of gender, orientation, race, etc everyone. Heck the Minister at the Church I am now a member of is not only a woman BUT A WITCH! Yes a Witch! How freaken cool is that!? So you could say my red pill moment was when I found UU-ism (Unitarian Universalism...UU is much easier to type)...I have found that religion can be about community, not about exclusion, and the God you pray to doesn't need to have the same name as the God the person behind you in Church is praying to in order for your prayers (or theirs) to be heard. That coexisting can be possible

SAHM theory of Time relativity

Ok so this really isnt that science-y or even that "heavy" of a thought... I just had a moment while loading the dishwasher... when your a stay at home mom you seem to have 2 kinds of weeks. One is the kind where everything needs to get done at the same time as everything else, your older kid(s)are just not being helpful at all (cause ya know when mom says we're leaving in 5 minutes get your shoes and jacket it really means "keep watching horseland...we wont leave for another 30 minutes. Of course you can start a new episode"),your husband is acting like the older kid(s), oh honey I need you to change the battery in the smoke detector over the stairs I can't reach totally means "ignore that beeping sound at 3 am, its ok to start a new Dungeon in your game. Smoke detectors are completely over rated anyway" :/ Mom is not amused. So of course in this kind of a week you are 3 days behind in laundry, a day behind in dishes, and lets just not cover when the last time you vacuumed was. Then there are the other kinds of weeks... these ones are where your older child(ren) are helpful, polite, go to bed on time. Your younger kid(s) nap on time, are cheerful (ie no teething) and your husband changes light bulbs, takes out the trash and replaces batteries as he is asked. You get so caught up in the bliss of this kind of week (here comes my theory here) that it seems the hour of nap time has gone by so quickly that you havent had time to change the load of laundry to the dryer. Why? Because you were enjoying the 5 minutes, well what felt like 5 minutes...I guess it is an hour, that you could check your Facebook with out needing to change diapers or stop fights. So you are also behind in laundry and dishes. Guess what kind of week we are having in our house? I will give you a hint... the damned smoke detector is about to find a new home in the garbage can. The new ones come with batteries right? I think I should go clean the house while there is a lull in the craziness...plus I think my husband would like to have a clean uniform for work in the morning

Deployment is looming

Like the tall shadowy figure that hung out in your childhood closet Deployment is looming... its the stuff of nightmares...and well I cant go on for fear of the trauma. Actually deployment isnt that bad, it really isnt for the one at home at least. yeah it gets lonely, at night especially, and 6 months plus being the only parent at home is completely draining but you find friends, you pick up new hobbies, and you get yourself busy...I swear the busier you are the faster the deployment goes by. Last night we had a predeployment brief. For you non military people thats a meeting with the command for married Sailors, and what ever wives decide to show up. It was entirely way too long and it was boring,yup wicked boring. I am glad I went though, you know playing the whole "supportive good little wife" is a good thing. But more importantly it has made one thing very clear, deployment IS coming, well maybe. If you didnt already know.... /center> Thanks Oprah, sit back down. So what does this mean? Well it can mean everything or nothing, it means he MIGHT deploy as scheduled, it MIGHT be delayed, it MIGHT be cancelled all together (doing what I like to call "pulling a Truman ;) ) or they even MIGHT go out on time but come back late. Its fun... yeah hurry up & wait has taken a whole new meaning.