When I dream, I dream in stainless

My oven has been broken for about 3 weeks now. (maybe only two, but it feels like three, so that's what I'm going with.)

That gave me time to think about what I really wanted. Did I want to fix an oven I'm not in love with? Words like "gas stove" and "convection" and "double ovens" started floating around in my brain.

It's a pretty good stove, don't get me wrong, but I'm not in love with it. The flat top gets dirty easily and takes forever to clean it, and even then with half a bottle of cleaner and a lot of elbow grease, there are still black spots all over it. And it takes forever to heat up. I could cook caramels on my old coil stove in half the time. But then there's the one burner that once it gets hot, it stays hot, and even on the lowest setting I'm still stressing about burning stuff, so you know, recipes that say "bring to boil and then reduce heat" aren't very compatible with that burner, but it's my biggest burner and some days it's the only one for the job.

And there is that gas line running right behind my stove. I still wonder why on Earth I didn't get the gas stove in the first place. I kick myself pretty regularly for that one.

So I had time to think about my options.

Like this-

Oh, yeah baby. Come to mama. Price tag- only about 8,000. (that's including the add-on of the back splash with shelf-not pictured) Before kitchen renovations to make it fit. And as long as I'm at it I might as well get those granite counter tops. And I'd need the other appliances to match. Oh, heck, I think a whole kitchen makeover is in order. Maybe knock out a wall or something. (only slightly out of our price range)

I'd settle for something like this, though. Price tag- 1,ooo to 1,500

It has to be white because that's what the other appliances are.

Unfortunately I just got the oven fixed. It's not as if we have a spare grand in change just sitting around either. And then there's Christmas around the corner, and this computer is going to die on us any day now, and I could give you a whole list of other things we could do with that money.

And then there's that little voice in the back of my head reminding me what I tell the kids when they are whining about why we can't buy this or that, or go out to eat as often as they'd like- "We have the money for what we need, and some of the things we'd like, but we don't have the money for everything we want."

And so I settled for this-

Price tag- $192.00

And so for the obligatory Mastercard commercial-

Service charge to diagnose problem- $75

Part to fix oven $72

Cost for 4 minutes of labor to install part $40

Being able to bake again- Priceless. (That's what I'm telling myself anyway)

overheard

Pot:

Kettle:

Madison- "You're such a drama queen, Nick!"

Evolution

Once upon a time there was a little girl.

She was not allowed to touch the radio in the car or in the house. The only music that was allowed was 50's and 60's music. And she was okay with that. She didn't know any better. She liked it that way. It was all she knew and there was no need for change. She enjoyed listening to the radio when her daddy turned it on when he came home from work. She learned to love groups like the Beach Boys, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and the Mamas and Papas. She loved to sing along with Neil Diamond, the Eagles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Peter, Paul, and Mary.

Then one day, she received a present. An alarm clock radio. And she discovered that if she were to move the little wheel on the side, she would hear new and strange music. Some she liked, some not so much. And so continued her life long love affair with music. And while the music of her childhood was practically engraved upon her DNA, she learned to expand her horizons and seek out new music to love. And with the guidance of her friends and peers, she found new music to love and sing along with.

Time went by, and the little girl turned 16 and got a job and a car. Suddenly she had money to purchase music and not be solely dependant upon the radio. She could choose the kind of music she wanted to. Since her car only had a cassette player in it, she used her hard earned money to buy a box to hold all her cassettes in. Some cassettes she purchased, some she "borrowed" from her dad, and some she copied from her friends. Now while all this was swell and dandy, the girl had to remember to put her tapes under her car seat whenever she parked the car for any length of time, or else she would come out to her car at the end of the day during her summer internship at the country club and find all her tapes a warped mess in the windshield of her car.

A few years later after the girl had amassed a ridiculous amount of CD's because she worked at a music store, and finally got a car with a CD player in it, she purchased one of those ginormous binders to hold an obscene amount of CD's. That way, wherever she went, she could listen to whatever music she felt like, whether it were Simon and Garfunkel, or Depeche Mode, or Phantom of the Opera. This quickly became an irritation however, because it was difficult to drive and look through the binder for a particular CD, and you had to worry about someone breaking into your car and stealing hundreds of dollars worth of CD's. The huge binder was replaced with a couple smaller ones, and then only used on longer car trips.

And so the CD's started to gather dust in the back of her closet, and the radio with it's commercials and lack of control, became the standard again.

Until now.

She didn't notice whether or not her previous car had this little hole in it, and wouldn't have know what it was for, but when she asked the car salesman whether her new car could play mp3's he pointed out that little hole.

And guess what? She can download all of those CD's gathering dust (okay not all of them, but a good amount) into her ipod, and she can listen to whatever she wants. Whenever she wants. And there are no tapes to melt and warp in the heat of the Arizona sun, and there are no CD's to lug around, and if anything gets stolen or ruined or lost, she has a back-up at home.

And although she sometimes misses the little upgrades her last car had, like the leather seats that cleaned off so much easier, or the heated seats, (oh yes, this may be Arizona, but those winter nights can get pretty chilly, and those seats are sure nice when the temperatures dip down into the 40's) she thinks this little hole will make up for it.

The End

Bent Fork

First, a brief history-

Shelly is one of John's oldest and bestest friends. She moved to Arizona and met Jayson. They got married and had a cute little baby, Carson. Together with her business sense, Jayson's genius in a kitchen, and their desire to live closer to family, they all picked up and moved to St. George to realize Jayson's dream of opening his own restaurant- Bent Fork. After only a few weeks, it seems to be going really well for them.

I'm very sorry they had to move so far away. We've totally been spoiled for the past several years. And now I have to drive 8 hours to see them and enjoy their company and partake of Jayson's culinary masterpieces. (I tried to convince him that Gilbert was a great place to open a restaurant, but obviously that plan fell through.)

I can still remember the first time I fell in love with one of Jayson's dishes like it was yesterday. I was several months pregnant with Zach. Past the sick stage, but not on bed rest yet, so feeling relatively good (and I mean relatively) and Jayson invited us to his apartment to watch a pay per view fight. I didn't go for the televised entertainment (and I use that term loosely) I went for the food and the company. I don't remember what else he cooked up, everything else was eclipsed by these ribs from heaven. Holey cow, I think I must have sucked down 20. Fall off the bone goodness. Oh, and the flavor. I had never tasted anything like them. I could have eaten them all day.

A few years later when I got to know Jayson better, I begged for the recipe. "There were these ribs you made at a party at your apartment awhile ago, and I was wondering if maybe you would be willing to share that recipe? Please? Pretty Please? I'll be your best friend?" (or something like that)

"You mean the green chili ribs?"

"Um, I don't think so, I don't like green chilies. And I ate ALOT of those ribs. There couldn't have been green chilies in them. You made them for that fight a few years ago."

"Those were the green chili ribs."

"Oh. Can I still get the recipe?"

( I got the recipe, but as Jayson can't do anything small, it starts off with "30 pounds of ribs" and me and my kitchen can't handle that. And we couldn't eat that much anyway. So when I try to do the math, it is totally frustrating, and I give up, and then I decide it's way too much effort anyway for one meal for one family, and so then I think I should just go back to the original recipe and share the wealth, but then I remember I don't have a professional sized kitchen to work in)

Fast forward a little bit-

A little over two years ago, John passed this huge exam- a big Cisco certification. CCIE. This thing was years in the making. So I threw a party for him. It had an 80's theme. People dressed up, it was awesome, we had a great time, and naturally I took too few pictures. ( I wasn't blogging back then) I baked for days. But it wasn't going to be enough, so I was going to order out for the rest. (Barbecue) I asked Shelly if she would mind picking it up, (cause they were coming from that part of town) and oh, and if Jayson wouldn't mind, could he make some of his awesome guacamole? Naturally I prefer his ribs to someone else's, but I don't want to impose. The story is that they had an insanely slow day at work, and Jayson was bored, so he cooked. And cooked. And borrowed chaffing dishes from work. (the fancy silver serving dishes that keep your food hot) Not only did I get guacamole and ribs, he brought a bunch of other stuff. I was so happy, I wasn't even upset no one was eating the food I made. I made the desserts, and everyone (including myself) stuffed themselves silly on the main course, and the guacamole, and the three different kinds of salsas, and the side dishes (I can't remember what the sides were, I was too intoxicated with the ribs).

And then they went and moved all the way to St. George. Woe is me. And they don't even have ribs on the menu. I complained. Jayson said he'd let us know when he offers them as a special. Maybe I can put in a request ahead of time the next time we're driving through town on the way to Salt Lake.

The restaurant doors officially opened last month, and we'd meant to make it up there to see it and support them before now, but life gets in the way. So, when we got an invite to Carson's second birthday, held at the restaurant, (so that Jayson could be there), we went. Even though they just sent us the invite cause they thought it was cute, not that they were actually asking us to come. We had a free hotel stay, and the time was right, so we went.

It was fun. Carson was cute and thoroughly enjoyed the attention and the cake and the toys. It was good to see Shelly and Jayson again.

That night we met up with a couple of my cousins who happened to serendipitously be in town. It was so good to see them, even if for just a little bit. Jill and her three kids and Peter and Brittney and their two and Britt's parents all agreed to meet us for dinner at the Bent Fork. I think I scared Shelly when I asked for a table for 16, I'm fairly certain that's the largest party they'd seen at that point, but it worked out great. Britt's parents live in St. George and seemed to know half the people there that night. Apparently the Bent Fork is the talk of the town. And well deserved. We all went away very full and happy. I couldn't tell you the last time I heard so many exclamations of "Oh my gosh, you have to try this!" in one sitting.

John ordered their signature green chili lasagna, of which he gave me a taste, and despite the fact that I dislike green chilies it was AMAZING. I would totally order that. And love every bite. I don't know how he takes yucky green chilies and transforms them into something I can't get enough of (ribs) but he does. I did mention he was a genius, didn't I? I ordered the tenderloin, but I was still full from lunch, so I took most of it back to the hotel and happily ate that instead of the free continental breakfast the next morning.

The next day I dropped John off in Vegas at the airport and drove the rest of the way home myself. The kids were pretty good, and traveling is becoming easier. Which is really nice. John was worried about me driving alone, ( I reminded him he leaves me for days at a time, and I'm practically a single mom, so I don't know why he was freaking about a few hours) but he left me with tools, jumper cables, AAA, a GPS, and Onstar. We made it home without incident.

So, in conclusion, if you happen to be in or around St. George, I know this great little restaurant you should totally check out.

slacker

fighting the blogging blahs. still.

so what's new? nothin' much.

weather is cooling off, so i've tried to take christopher for little walks this week. his stroller recently broke, so i'm thinking longer walks might be out of the question. i'll have to ponder on this. i enjoyed my walks last year.

nick has a big "concert in the park" tonight for school. orchestra, band, and choir. you take a blanket and they have a bunch of junk to eat, and you listen to the kids perform under the stars. i'm going to miss it. john is out of town and christopher is naughty. i'm thinking if i took him he'd either scream half the time because i won't let him run around, or he'll escape and find a lake to drown in or something. plus i hear it's a zoo. hundreds of people.

nick understands of course, which almost makes it worse. he has to be understanding alot of the time. he feels bad, and is disappointed, but he understands and doesn't complain. it's a recurring theme for him.

i'll probably buy him a book or something to make it up to him and ease my conscience. i feel like i'm buying him off or something. "here kid, sorry i couldn't be there in person to support you, have this material item so that i don't have to feel like a lousy parent."

my stupid oven is still broken. i put my meat thermometer on top of it, and covered it with a dish towel to keep in the heat, and after 15 minutes it registered 127 degrees. inbetween the turned off burners, in the front part of the stove top where a kid could easily reach. technically speaking it works, i'm just afraid it will work too well and burn down my house or something. after burning my cookies.

went to st. george this last weekend. i'll probably devote a whole post to that. it was a fun little whirlwind trip. john had a free hotel stay he needed to use up, we saw some dear friends, ate at their brand new restaurant, which seems to be doing really well, and even met up with some of my cousins while they happened to be in town as well. that was an unexpected and delightful bonus.

at this very moment i am totally procrastinating going to the gym. i think i have arthritis or something in my feet. they hurt all the time. and shoes are particularly painful. i'd go to the doctor, but i'm afraid it will go something like the time i went to the doctor about my knees- "you're just fat. lose weight and your joints will feel better".

wah. wah. i just noticed that 75% of this post is me whining about something. sorry. i'll shut up now, but feel free to leave a comment and tell me what a whiner i am.

feeling blue

This last weekend Nick got to go on a boating trip with the boy scouts. He said he had a lot of fun. They did all the usual activities like water skiing and knee boarding. Nick said he was really careful about keeping his glasses safe and tucked away when there was danger of losing them in the lake. (However I have it on good authority that on at least one occasion he forgot and tried to jump in with them on, but luckily he has some very observant leaders who were kind enough to remind him in time.)

So the trip is over, the glasses are still safe, the kids are cleaning off the boat, and somehow during all this, Nick gets hit in the face with a wet towel (it was an accident- according to Nick they had formed a human chain and were cleaning their stuff off the boat by tossing it to the next kid in line) and the glasses end up at the bottom of the lake.

So later that night we ended up at Sears ordering him some new glasses. I was prepared to buy him some cheaper ones, but he is willing to work off the difference and he wanted to get the same blue ones again. And to be honest I loved the blue ones. They were pretty awesome.

The only problem was they didn't have the blue ones in stock, and apparently the staff is incompetent. It took two people to look up his order on the computer, and they were trying to tell us his glasses were brown.

"No, they were definitely blue."

"Could they have been gray? These glasses only come in brown, black, and gray, and it says you ordered the brown ones."

"No. Blue. Really blue. Bright blue, definitely, unmistakably blue."

"Are you sure? The computer says they were brown."

"Can you check again? Maybe you have the wrong account."

After checking again, with me watching over their shoulder, and making sure they click on the 12 year old Nicholas Berrett instead of the 35 year old one in a totally different city, they finally found his order.

"You're right. Those are blue."

Keepin' it real

I had a conversation the other day with a friend who is a also a fellow mom/blogger. We were musing on the tricky situation with kids and blogging about them. I have this blog to talk about life, My life. And sometimes life is great, and kids are great, and everything is great, and sometimes, not so much. So that's where the tricky situation falls into play, I don't want my kids to feel bad about themselves because all I do is bag on them in such a public way, but some days that's life. Some days are full of stuff like the oven breaking, someone losing their glasses in a lake, rooms that refuse to be clean, bad grades.....

There's the good stuff too, and I try to share much of that, have a good balance.

So where's the line? What about posting pictures of a little girl's room that is always a disaster, and I have been waiting for the past 6 weeks for her to keep it clean so I can finish fixing it up. I still have to caulk and paint the beadboard, and hang up everything on the walls. I'll have to move furniture and stuff, and I don't think I should be the one to clean the room first so I can move the furniture to paint the beadboard, AND it feels like if she doesn't care enough to make her bed and pick up her clothes, why should I care if her room doesn't get finished?!? THAT IS LIFE. (The pictures don't even do it justice- you can't even see the huge pile of clothes on the other side of the bed.)
Is that terrible that sometimes I use my blog as a threat? Once I walked into Nick's total disaster of a room, took a picture of him in the middle of it all, and said "Clean it, or I'm blogging about it." Obviously he cleaned it, because I never posted his shame for all to see. (I can't find it to post it now- I think someone "accidentally" deleted it.) Public humiliation doesn't seem to deter Madison though, she just glared at me, rolled her eyes, and proceeded to ignore me (I think she's practicing to be a teenager) However, she did clean it in record time when I told her she couldn't go to a party.

But then there's the other stuff, the stuff that makes my heart break a little. Like Nick getting kicked out of Honor's English. We're crossing our fingers it will all be for the best, and he will love his new teacher, and maybe it will be one of those blessing in disguise kind of thing, but right now, I think Nick feels pretty bad about it. He doesn't talk much. There's not much to say. It is what it is. In many ways things are better with school this year, but obviously we're still working on issues.

Of course anyone under the age of 5 is fair game. I figure that what they can't read won't hurt them. Besides, they always have that iron clad excuse of just being a little kid and not knowing any better. So when I post pictures of finding Christopher's attempt to make a sandwich, which for whatever reason includes driving his favorite Lightning McQueen car on the semi prepared pieces of bread, well that's just pure entertainment (for me, and possibly a grandparent or two).
I guess what I am trying to say is I hope my kids forgive me some day, and will still come and visit me when I am old.