Living with a Genius

Sometimes, it is hard to live with a creative genius. I thought I'd give some props to my dear husband.
I 've already told about his fun treasure hunts. Very creative! Now to the next thing -
Whenever there is a potluck at work, he comes home and announces his meal responsibility to me - usually the night before...after I've finished cooking....when I'm ready to put my feet up. Ugh! I've gotten really tired of this, and he knows it. But last week, he gave me plenty of notice that he had volunteered to take my special caramel brownies to work. I bought all the ingredients that we would need. Then I told him that I would help HIM make the brownies.
We watch Food Network quite a bit, but he still has trouble moving around the kitchen. It's fun to watch.
When we get to the part about adding the chocolate morsels, he gets a crazy idea to substitue m&m's! I said it sounded like a fine idea, but I couldn't predict how they would turn out since I had never done it that way.
We did it his way, and the brownies were more fabulous than usual! I think the outer shell of the m&m's kept the chocolate from melting all the way and there was a nice chocolate chunk in each bite. Now, why couldn't I have thought of this?
Oh well, I enjoyed the results!
We've decided to make the brownies once a month and change up the ingredients each time. Next time, I think we'll use white chocolate morsels (and maybe macadamia nuts). And caramel, lots of caramel.

It Just Had to Be Done

Friday night, we went to a PG movie titled, "Henry Poole Was Here." We were happily settled into our seats, snarfing candy and soda. About 10 minutes into the movie, 5 teenage girls came in and sat to the upper right of us - across the aisle. They rarely looked at the screen, were turned around talking to the girls behind them, had their cell phones open so the lcd screens were shining brightly, were not talking quietly, were calling people (probably each other), did not have their cell phones on vibrate, went up and down the aisle, went to the bathroom en masse (yet were not gone long enough to have actually done anything).......At some point, I poked Paul and said, "you've got to say something." He was sitting in the aisle seat after all. Another couple in the theater "shushed" them two different times which did no good. I really, really tried to ignore them but couldn't. I poked Paul again and told him to "do" something.
Next, one girl gets up and walks to the front of the theater and does a cartwheel. That was it! I was on my feet.
As I got up, I noticed another man in the back getting up and going out too. I was so glad - I was going to go back up his complaint. [In the meantime, the girls were cleaning up their act when they saw two adults get up right after the cartwheel incident.]
The man got to the popcorn counter ahead of me (that is the only place an employee was located - this is a smallish theater that was pretty dead for a Friday night), and I was just dying to hear what he was going to say.......
He said, "Could I have some more popcorn, please?"
Wha??!!???
I stood there, waiting for him to continue while I noticed that my heart was racing.
But he just stood there, asking for "some more butter too, please."
Wha??!!!???
My heart was hammering because I was going to have to be the one with the balls!
So I said to him, "are you in the Henry Poole movie?" and "are those girls up front bothering you?"
I made to sure to ask him if he were in the same theater (even though I knew he was) in order to establish that I was not with him.
I looked at the young girl behind the counter and calmly told her what was going on. She about tripped over herself as she was going to find a manager.
When I went back into the theater, the girls were looking back at me and the (neutered) man. They saw that he had popcorn and that I had nothing. They probably suspected that I tattled on them.
In about 5 minutes, someone came in and sternly told them to straighten up or they could leave. They said, "yes, ma'am." and were pretty good the rest of the movie.
In the truck on the way home, I recounted the incident at the popcorn counter to Paul. I admitted my disgust at having to be the one to tattle (no one wants to be a narc). But I also told him and Abbie that I was proud of myself for doing it. Abbie told me she was glad I did it, and that made me feel better. Paul tried to wiggle out of it by saying, "we were that age once...we probably did that a few times..." And he called me a narc! I started to feel a little guilty. But I think I did the right thing. It's one thing to talk and be on your phone during a movie and get in and out of your seat and to disregard shushing - that is disrespectful. But it is absurd to be cartwheeling in front of the movie screen like you own the place.
I told Paul about this post and how "man"kind had let me down. He asked, "You were upset that I didn't do anything?" And I said yes.
He smiled and smugly said, "I understand kids and their need to fool around."
:)

Guess What?

Last night was Abbie's back-to-school picnic. Her teacher told us that Abbie came up to her the other day and said,
Abbie: "Guess what, Ms. Holley."
Ms. Holley: "What?"
Abbie: "I'm a rascal!"
Ms. Holley: "You are?"
Abbie: "Yeah, and I get it from my dad."

Warning *Litter Box Zone* Under Construction

Whew! I think I have the litter boxes under control now. Maybe....
I spent hours today working on a new set up. Emptying and cleaning the boxes and installing new ones with brand new litter.
First of all, the biodegradeable corn stuff isn't working out. On the surface, it was working (clumps fine, smells nice in the bag), but we've been getting whiffs of ode de poo for the last several days even though I scoop regularly. Is that sharing too much to admit to that smell being in our house?
Anyhoo, I went back to my old brand of litter, Scoop Away. I went to the pet store today and literally spent 1/2 an hour or more staring at and analyzing new litter boxes. My current set up is one covered litter box and one regular-pan-type-open litter box. There were so many options, but I finally chose a new box to replace the pan-type-open box. The new box doesn't have a high step to get in, but it does have a clear cover, and a flap on the door which supposedly helps with odor control.
And I bought a new mat for them to step on as they exit the litter box. I'm sure I could have found a cheaper and similar non-slip mat at Walmart, but I didn't want to make another stop.
Is all this worth it for 2 cute new kittens? Jury's still out, but we do love them an awful lot. I do miss the days of having an indoor/outdoor cat with no litter box to scoop (Samantha/Molly/Ellie). But the turmoil of finding out your cat has been run over (Molly), or accidentally running over your cat as you pull in the garage (a constant worry with Molly), or wondering if your cat is lost (Baby/Ellie) may be worth having indoor only cats. We shall see!

Allergies

After visiting a specialist, Paul has finally learned which foods he should avoid (his stomach will thank him). I've been trying to get him to make this appointment for several years now, and after one recent 3 am wake up, he decided he can't deal with this when he gets old.
Luckily, he does not have any #4 allergies (anaphylactic shock). But he has several #2's. The way the doctor described it that any of these food items on their own would probably not bother him, but when you stack them throughout the day (wheat at breakfast, tomatoes at lunch, strawberries and carrots at dinner), it could cause him to have a reaction. Makes sense!
So he's just supposed to avoid certain foods. As well as MSG and other preservatives (I knew that stuff was bad for you). And he's supposed to make sure that his food is well cooked and should avoid eating raw fruits and veggies if possible.
Turns out that the doctor knew his dad pretty well, and he was very nice to us. This doctor was also a "close talker" (remember that from Seinfeld?).
I have never seen an allergy test done, and I went just so I could watch. Interesting!