Monthly Archives: February 2012

Bonus Post

Posted on by
6

Of all the years for me to decide to write every single day, I had to pick a Leap Year.  Consider this a bonus post and in honor of it being a bonus, I’m going to be all over the place in this one.

First of all, I try to take advantage of certain milestones or days to post about since I have to come up with hundreds of ideas to write about.  Yesterday, I didn’t realize until after I hit “publish”, that it was my 100th blog post.  I have been blogging since May of last year and never thought I would actually make it to triple digit numbers when it came to posting.  I’m going to pause and give myself a little pat on the back.

In regards to Leap Year.  I have had two feelings about this day.  They both have to do with people who were born on February 29th.  I remember having a teacher or someone of similar stature, that was born on Leap Day and them saying they were only 7 years old since their birthday only came around every 4 years.  I was pretty young – maybe 5 or 6, but I distinctly remember thinking this person has no authority over me.  They are only a year older than I am!  The second thought was I’m glad I wasn’t born on this day.  I wouldn’t get presents every year.  So in a nutshell, being born on Leap Day, in my eyes, really sucked.  I always felt that birthdays and The Olympics, should come every year.(The summer Olympics – not the B rated, Winter Olympics.)  I still don’t know what people do if they were born today as far as tracking their age.  Is it counted on February 28th or March 1st?  I’m just curious – I’ve lived 35 years and not had enough interest to actually look it up so if you know – go ahead and comment.

My last piece of useless information was that I woke up with hives all over my body today.  I have absolutely no idea what they are from, but I was scratching the hell out of my legs, arms, and head last night.  I was going to go to urgent care, but I know they would have told me to take some Benadryl.  So I saved myself $25 and picked up some allergy drugs at CVS after I dropped Kamryn off at school.  The directions said adults over 12 could take 2 and I thought that was a good idea since I was about ready to tear the skin off my body.  About 30 minutes later, I was so loopy and tingly, I haven’t been able to move from my chair.  I’m no longer itchy and the hives are gone.  Thank God I wasn’t born today because I would have been turning 9 (I think) and only been able to take one pill!

Also, if you haven’t done so and you feel so inclined, please vote for me to win a Skydiving Adventure!  You vote by clicking on this link and clicking on all of the options you subscribe to as well as the “like” button with the yellow star.  You can only vote on each option once, but since there are multiple ways (Facebook, Twitter, etc) please vote in all the media’s that you subscribe to and please feel free to leave a comment! Thanks!!

 

Snickers?

Posted on by
4

Once again I was snoopin’ around on Pinterest and came across another homemade candy bar recipe.  I have tried making Almond Joys and Butterfingers, but I have found a Snickers recipe.  If I could successfully make the nougat, I would be a happy girl.

I don’t ever buy full sized Snickers bars for some reason.  I buy the fun sized ones or the really little bite-sized ones.  It may be because ofhowI eat them.  I like to bite all the chocolate and caramel off until all that remains is a chunk of nougat.

The homemade Snickers take some time.  The actual recipe isn’t difficult, but each delicious layer needs to cool and harden before adding the next.  I also love that even the chocolate layer is mixed with peanut butter.  I thought that was going to be overkill, but I was mistaken.  I used a sauce pan to melt everything and thought it was much easier than microwaving.  I tend to burn my chocolate whenever I melt it in the microwave.  I just don’t know when to stop trying to melt it.

Here is the finished product.

In less than 24 hours, this was all that was left.

NOOOOUUUUUGGGGAAAATTTTTT!

 

Self Promotion Take 2

Posted on by
Reply

I realized that the email I submitted to be a finalist isn’t on the site.  Here is what I submitted to be considered in the skydiving contest.

My name is Amy Peterson and I live in San Diego.  I recently started following Lesley’s blog and was thrilled to see San Diego listed as #5 in her list of the greatest cities she has visited.  San Diego truly is an amazing place and some days I can’t believe I actually live here.  I am a native Iowan and moved to San Diego in 2003 after my husband I got married.  In 2007 we moved back to Iowa after having our first child.  We thought we should be closer to family since we had started a family of our own.  However, 3 short years later and another addition to our family, the pull of San Diego was too strong and we found ourselves packing up our house and moving back to the West Coast.  We have been back since November of 2010 and have no plans of ever leaving again.
The first time I thought of sky diving was when I was 18.  A company was offering a sky diving package for $75 and my brother and I discussed doing it on a weekend when my parents were out of town.  I immediately got butterflies in my stomach and the more my brother and I talked about it, the bigger those butterflies got until I’m pretty sure there was something the size of an eagle flapping around in my abdominal cavity.  That was all I could take and I bowed out.  If I was that nervous just talking about it, I didn’t think there was any way that I would be able to actually jump out of a plane.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I was reading Lesley’s post and I got those butterflies again.  I got it in my head that I needed to take advantage of all that San Diego has to offer and if it means jumping out of a plane, well, then so be it.  I was just telling a friend last weekend about how I was thinking of sky diving as we discussed our fear of heights that has developed as we have gotten older.  I suggested that if I went sky diving, it would resolve me of that overwhelming feeling of having to jump whenever I am in a high place.
I don’t know that I’m any more deserving to win this fabulous prize than anyone else, but I will say that it will definitely be the most adventurous thing I will have ever done and possibly will be for the rest of my life.  I have learned to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves and the timing of this contest was a little too perfect.  All I can guarantee is if I am chosen as the winner, some hilarious video and photos will result from my jump.  My hands are cold and clammy as I’m typing and my heart rate has significantly increased the closer I get to sending this email.
I’ll be anxiously awaiting March 12th to see if I am announced as the winner.  In the meantime, I’ll have to put it out of my head or run the risk of talking myself out of an amazing opportunity!
Once again, here is the link if you would like to vote for me!  Thank you in advance!!!

Self Promotion

Posted on by
7

A couple of weeks ago, I submitted an essay of sorts for a chance to win a Skydiving Adventure.  I found out today that I am one of 15 finalists!  I’m already shaking and nervous at the prospect of possibly jumping out of a plane, but Ryan has instructed me, in his best you will do as I say voice, “You’re doing it!”

Here is where you, my attractive, intelligent, and successful (did I mention beautiful?) readers come in.  The finalist with the most “likes”, “tweets” or other “mentions” under their profile by March 12th, 2012 at 5pm PST (GMT-8:00) will be the winner of the Skydiving Package.

I am just asking that you stop by Bucket List Publications’ finalist page and comment, like, tweet, or do whatever you want on my profile.  I’m the only “Amy”.  Go ahead and tell your family and friends to do the same.  Maybe you want to stop by a couple of times (actually, I don’t know if you can vote more than once, but if you can, maybe that is something you would like to do.)

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Dear Amy?

Posted on by
Reply

I am taking some serious consideration into embarking on a new career.  I usecareer loosely because I think for something to be a career, you usually get paid.  I haven’t discovered the money making part of it yet.

The person I spend the most “grown-up” time with is Ryan and if you told him he had to describe me in one word, I don’t think he would argue if you suggested opinionated as that one word.  Just out of curiosity, I asked him what word he would actually pick and he chose engaging.  His justification was:

You have things to say.  You take an interest in what other people are talking about and you care.  Engaging.  You’re engaged.

I have to agree with his word choice – maybe more with his justification, but nonetheless, I agree.  This was actually an excellent segue into my new career choice prospect.

I want to have an advice column.  I have no problem giving unsolicited advice, but I’m curious how I would respond to someone actually asking for my opinion about something.   I admit, I am more interested in just what people are having a hard time figuring out on their own, but I do enjoy a good conundrum.

The only thing that I know for sure is that I will have the world’s biggest disclaimer on my column.  ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!!!  NOT A LICENSED ANYTHING BUT DRIVER!!!  You get the point.

Flashback Friday

Posted on by
4

We had a fun-filled vacation and tonight we got to hang out with our good friend, Mike, who we haven’t got to see in a while, but will hopefully being seeing more of soon.

That being said, I’m totally taking the easy way out on my Flashback Friday.  It is 10:02 right now and I am tired and ready for bed.  See – it really is 10:02 a lot when I look at the clock – hence the name of my blog.

Here is a photo to enjoy.

Super swollen

You know how people take pictures of their feet and if you look past their feet, you see this nice beach or pool?  It’s to show you that they are lying back and enjoying a nice view, at least that is what I get from it when I see pictures like that.

Well, I didn’t start seeing them until about a year or two ago and just to show all of you that I am way ahead of the curve on things, here is a picture of my feet.  From the date stamp you can see it was almost 6 years ago.  I realize you can’t tell, but that is airport carpet and after spending an unusually hot and humid weekend in Minnesota for my friend, Mary Jo’s wedding, this was the result.  Oh and it probably didn’t help that I was 6 months pregnant at the time.  But seriously, doesn’t it look like someone beat my ankles like Annie Wilkes did to Paul in Misery?

So maybe I’m not way ahead of anything, but I did take a picture of my feet once.

Oh Right…This Is Why We Don’t Co-sleep

Posted on by
Reply

I never co-slept with either of my kids.  I had them both in a bassinet next to my bed when they were newborns, but eventually, they both ended up in their respective beds.  On the rare occasion that one of them has a nightmare or has their bed peed upon by a sibling, I offer them a nice little spot on the floor to sleep.

It’s not so much that I am afraid of forming a irrevocable habit, but I value my sleep too much.  I am unable to sleep with little people in my bed – they are all over the place.  Last night I tried to get the kids to sleep in the same bed (we have 2 double beds in our room), but Rory wanted to sleep with Ryan which meant Kamryn was with me.

She has a habit of squeezing her feet between my legs and putting her face right in mine and breathing all over my face.  Last night she was actually spooning me.  I don’t let Ryan sleep that way – I’m sure as hell not going to let my 5 year old daughter.  I moved her back over to her side of the bed countless times, but within the hour, she was right back in my business.

Tonight, I’m going to try and get Kamryn and Rory to sleep together again, but I don’t think they’ll take the bait.  Or, I’ll end up with one or both of them waking up in the middle of the night and having to play musical beds.  Either way, it’s a lose-lose situation.  It’s a good thing the only energy I expended today was getting out to the pool and sitting in the sun.

Vacation!

Posted on by
4

We have finally made it on a family trip that isn’t in combination with some other event.  We have absolutely no obligations so I’m not going to waste my time blogging, but since I am still under a daily post requirement, I have to post something.

Our patio is going to get used a lot when we aren’t at the pool.  This is what it’s been used for in the last hour.

Watching golfers...they were further down the fairway.

Eating popcorn - AKA sneaking snacks.

Reenacting the Corona commercials.

The Birds

Posted on by
Reply

Birds were somewhat insignificant in my life for many years.  Sure, I enjoyed seeing the first robin in spring and the occasional cardinal or blue jay, but I lost a lot of respect for birds at a very young age.

We had a big picture window in our living room and each spring and summer, countless birds flew into that window, breaking their necks on impact and landing in the bushes below.  Who knows how many episodes of Pee Wee’s Playhouse or Saved By The Bell were interrupted by that unmistakeable thud followed by the telltale, down feather impression on the window.

All of that changed in 2003.  I was walking into work one morning.  It was a beautiful day and I was in an exceptionally good mood.  I had my coffee in my hand and a skip in my step when out of no where, I received a blow to the back of the head.  I spilled my coffee and almost fell to my knees.  My hair was thrown over my face and as I was trying to regain my composure and readying myself to punch whoever had hit me, I saw a hawk taking flight back up into a tree.  Suddenly, my scalp was stinging and my neck and head were throbbing.  It was then that I realized that I had just been attacked by a fucking hawk!

I only suffered some minor whiplash, a few scalp lacerations from the hawk’s talons and a lesson that if you get attacked by a hawk, people will laugh at your unfortunate attack before asking if you are OK 100% of the time, regardless of their rank at a Fortune 500 company.

Ever since that feathered assault, I have been very leery of birds.  I gave them another chance a couple years later at a pet store.  I allowed a little bird to crawl up on my finger so I could show Kamryn and before I knew it, that bird crept all the way up my arm to my shoulder.  He was dangerously close to my 1 year old daughter and I was trying to pass Kamryn off to Ryan and alert the pet store worker that the stupid bird was biting me and putting holes in my t-shirt.

That was the last straw and birds officially became my least favorite animal.  I avoid them like Avian Influenza.  Today we were playing in Balboa Park with friends and there were pigeons everywhere.  Luckily, I had my own little scarecrow to rid my surroundings of flying rats.

Quite Possibly The Only Recipe You’ll Ever Need

Posted on by
Reply

I was looking for a recipe for dinner a few weeks ago.  I didn’t know what I wanted to make, but I did know that I didn’t want to go to the store so it had to be something I could make with what I had on hand.  Little did I know that I would find a recipe for one of the best things I have ever made.  Ever.  Seriously…ever.

I love orange chicken.  It’s usually the only thing I get when I order Chinese food.  To call the orange chicken I get at Panda Express, Chinese, would probably be a bit of a stretch, but it’s delicious, so I forgive the lack of authenticity.

I came across the recipe on The Art Of Doing Stuff about a month ago.  Karen, the author at The Art Of Doing Stuff, came across this recipe at The Noshery.  Karen seems to share my love of orange chicken and she is really funny, therefore, I assumed I could trust her suggestion that I make this chicken.  Yeah, if you’re funny and like the same food as me, that is all I need to form a trusting bond with you.

I’m going to go ahead and tell you to not change a damn thing in this recipe.  It’s absolutely perfect and it is so much better than any orange chicken that I have ever gotten at Panda Express.  You can try and convince yourself that you will make it healthier, but please, just eat it this way once.  That will be all the convincing you will need to not try to make this any other way.  As long as you don’t eat it everyday, you’ll be fine.

The only liberty that I’m going to allow you is whether you make white or brown rice.  I don’t remember what color of rice I cooked – it doesn’t matter because I didn’t want to waste my precious stomach space with rice when I can be filling it with the delicious orange chicken.

Enjoy your dinner.