Posts made in August, 2010

Attempting to focus

Posted by Michelle on Aug 31, 2010 in writing | 2 comments

Reading to write

The month of August has been spent practically killing myself at the keyboard, trying to deal with some recent financial issues. It hasn’t been easy but we’re pulling through and it looks like we’ll be okay for at least the foreseeable future. Praying to God that nothing totally disastrous happens in the meantime… The economy really has me uneasy these days.

The Hubs ™ hasn’t been too happy with the fact that I’ve been pulling serious writing overtime. It couldn’t be helped this month, unfortunately. When I first began to stay home, we agreed that I would pursue freelance writing as a supplemental income but that my goal, along with taking care of The Little Empress, would be to get my novels written and (hopefully?) published.

While I have been working on my novels, I admit that I haven’t been working on them as much as I should have been. Life just gets in the way. But this last month reminded me that while I do like the freelance life, my dream is to become a published fiction author. And that won’t happen by just sitting around and talking (or writing) about it.

I’m challenging myself to actually do something about this goal rather than sit on my ass six months from now and wonder where the time went. There’s no guarantee that whatever I write will sell but a manuscript is much better than just an idea. I’ve set myself a concrete work goal as far as my fiction is concerned. I’m looking to finish my novel by December and begin work on another novella as well. Two very different stories. I’m sort of torn about doing NaNoWriMo come November. I’ve always loved the idea but I don’t know if the pressure to make word count will work for or against my creative process. We’ll see.

And yes, I’ve made a new blog for my fiction: Truth via Fiction. There’s nothing there quite yet but hopefully I’ll have something to show for myself in the next few weeks….

To those without kids… (rant)

Posted by Michelle on Aug 27, 2010 in Family, Observations, Parenting | 2 comments

Warning: Rant ahead. This rant has been boiling for awhile but I’m annoyed enough to actually publish it. You have been warned.

As a parent, I am finding myself bristling a lot these days when reading my social networking feeds. I have quite a few friends who do not have children, some of whom are childfree. Which, honestly, is fine with me. I am not one of those parents who will espouse a misguided belief that one is incomplete without children. In fact, I respect folks who know, for whatever reason, that they don’t want children.

But if I read another status update about how annoying children are, I will have to smack someone. Hard. Upside the head with a truck, even.

Yes, children that tantrum can grate on one’s nerves. Trust me, I know. I have a champion tantrumer whose tantrums can and have lasted near two hours. But let me tell you something: that child is not out to annoy you. Trust me, you’re just not that damn special. So for the love of god, don’t act personally insulted that just because you can overhear a child tantrum, or that they’ve ruined your day and/or your entire outlook on children. Small children tantrum. It is normal. You, oh-insulted-one, most likely tantrumed as a child and embarrassed the everloving snot out of your poor parents at some point during your esteemed life. So quit with the holier than thou attitude. The End.

For the record, I can’t stand it when people assume that just because a child is tantruming that they are either a) being ignored or b) being bratty. Some kids, for whatever reason, due to sensory issues, special needs, etc. tantrum like they’re on fire and there’s nothing that can be done until it passes. And just because a tantrum lasts for god knows how long doesn’t mean that the parent is somehow absent or not taking care of their child.  I can assure you that while I’m sure there are some douchenugget parents out there that don’t take care of their kids, this is probably not the case for most parents. In fact, I can attest to more than a few occasions when I’ve simply sat down and sobbed right along side my tantrum-prone child because I dared to change her diaper at the wrong minute. And absolutely nothing prepares you for the stares and the not-so-silent blame that you get when you seek help for a tantruming child.

And while I’m in a ranting mode…

To those that complain that folks bring their kids to conventions or geek parties or another function with adults… stop whining. Seriously. Geek parents do not bring their children to geek functions to piss off their childfree geek peers. We could really give a sh*t what you think. God forbid that a geek family want to do something together and include their children in their geekery. Granted, parents shouldn’t run over people with their strollers (that’s just plain rude) but blaming it on the kids? How’s that work? Blame the parents for being douches, not the kids for having been brought to the convention. Jeezus.

By Request — Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Posted by Michelle on Aug 25, 2010 in food, Recipes | 0 comments

This is especially for Donna who says she got inspired by my Wordless Wednesday post. Yay! I’m glad you liked the photo. Incidentally, that pizza was one of my “clean out the pantry” lunches. It was made from scratch from things I already had on hand. w00t!

Basic Pizza Dough

• 1 c. warm water (110F)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp yeast
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 1/3 c. all purpose flour*
• 2/3 c. whole wheat flour*
• 2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten*
• 1 Tbsp salt
• Up to 2 Tbsp of dried herbs / other flavorings (optional)

• Proof the yeastDissolve sugar in the cup of warm water and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let sit in a warm spot for 5 to 10 minutes or until foamy and yeasty smelling.
• Mix the DoughIn the mixer’s bowl, combine the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, gluten and salt. Add the proofed yeast mixture to the flour and mix together with a dough hook until it comes together. Knead for 5 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball.By hand, combine the water + yeast mixture with 1 cup of the flour to form a batter. Add the rest of the flour in 1/3 cup measurements until it gets too difficult to stir. Turn out onto a flour board and continue to mix in the flour by hand until everything has been incorporated and you have a slightly tacky dough. Knead for 5 to 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball.
• Proof the DoughDrizzle a bit of oil into a bowl. Place the ball of dough in the bowl and turn over to coat. Cover with a wet kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let proof for at least an hour or until doubled in volume. Punch down and cut off a piece of dough big enough for the pizza you would like to make. This recipe can make 4 thin crusted “personal” sized pizzas (big enough for a Mommy + toddler for lunch!)
• Bake Preheat an oven to 400F. I don’t have a pizza pan or anything fancy so I just line a baking sheet with foil, spray it with non-stick spray and place the formed dough onto the baking sheet. Top with your favorite toppings (mine are Ranch dressing + cheese + meat) and bake for 10 ~ 15 minutes.

Vital wheat gluten + all purpose flour is a quick alternative to “bread flour” and quite a bit cheaper! I like keeping vital wheat gluten on hand than keeping several different flours on hand. (Psst… “cake” flour is just sifted AP + 1 Tbsp of corn starch per cup! Don’t be fooled by marketing.) Vital wheat gluten is also marketed as “bread improver” — I get it in the bulk bins at my local discount supermarket so it is never too expensive since I can buy only what I need. Otherwise, it comes in 8 oz bags which can be a bit pricey.

You can also use plain AP flour if you can’t get a hold of wheat gluten. It is not that critical.

Wordless Wednesday

Posted by Michelle on Aug 25, 2010 in Photography | 0 comments

Homemade Adobo Sliders on Pandesal

Chicken & Spinach Ranch Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust

Everday Chocolate Cake (from the Smitten Kitchen's recipe)

Here’s the original recipe for SK’s Everyday Chocolate Cake.

Toddler Craziness

Posted by Michelle on Aug 22, 2010 in Family, Life, Parenting, Photography | 0 comments

Ever since The Little Empress became a toddler, I’ve continually marveled at the seemingly random thought process of toddlers. It just never ceases to amaze and intrigue me.

A long time ago, we got a large yellow rubber ducky blow up bath for The Little Empress. She bathed in it from the time she could sit up until she was a little over a year old. Since then, it has been retired to life as a diaper holder in our master bathroom.

For whatever reason, The Little Empress decided on Friday night that Mr. Ducky is the bestest. toy. ever. and insisted that Daddy bring Mr. Ducky downstairs for her to play with. Daddy complied and TLE spent the rest of the night toting this rubber duck bath tub with her everywhere she went. Mr. Ducky is easily just about as big as her and quite unwieldy but TLE still insisted on toting him around.

TLE thanking Daddy for bringing Mr. Ducky downstairs

On Sunday afternoon, TLE was playing on and off with Mr. Ducky as well as just running around like a maniac, per usual. Oddly, she’d chosen a pair of pink footie pajamas as her outfit of the day. (This after wearing mismatching pajamas when we went out yesterday. I let her out in public in the most horrific of outfits but she’s so proud to do so. Who am I to stop her?) Eventually, she settled down (somewhat) to watch a few episodes of Futurama with Daddy while I attempted to wade through my work backlog. It was a nice change of pace as The Hubs ™ has been working 12+ hour days for the past two weeks so I think both of them were happy to have some bonding time.

About an hour into Futurama, I hear The Hubs ™ call out.

“Uh, honey? We’ve got a situation here.”

Situation, huh? I pushed back my chair and started to make my way out of the office when The Little Empress ran out right in front of me. Grinning, she handed me the diaper off of her naked butt and then promptly ran off. According to The Hubs ™, she had suddenly tired of her pink footies and decided that she wanted to run around nekkid. She continued to run around the rest of the afternoon, happily bouncing from chair to ottoman and to the floor again, reveling in the awesomeness of being nekkid. It took me about two hours to convince her to at least wear a diaper. (I’ll defend other families’ decision to EC but we are definitely NOT an EC household!!)

TLE & Mr. Ducky

Oh well. At least I got a few photos to embarrass her with later in life. And really, isn’t that what digital cameras in the hands of mothers is all about??