Tuna Taste Test

I’m on the look out for inexpensive snack-type food we can bring to Disneyland so that we don’t have to pay outrageous prices for in-park food every day. (I’m looking forward to paying an outrageous amount of money to eat at the Blue Bayou for lunch one day, but that’s it!)

I was in Target yesterday and spotted these little tuna/cracker darlings. Don’t they look cute AND tasty? OK, I’m not a big fan of tuna what with all that mercury and everything, but these little snack packs don’t need to be refrigerated, come with 6 crackers, a spreading/scooping spoon type thing, and the delicious sounding tuna mix. To top it off, they are $1.25 each. For that price I think I can put up with a little poison in my tuna. Hey, if it doesn't kill ya...

I bought one of each variety and today at lunch we had a family taste test. I wanted to find out a) if the family would indeed eat tuna on crackers and b) which variety they liked best.

Here are the results:

Robert—Liked everything, thought the Spicy Thai Chili was probably a little too spicy, but that didn’t stop him from gobbling it all up.

Ethan—Turned his nose up BIG TIME at the idea of eating tuna on crackers, even though he begs for free samples of the same stuff at the Fred Meyer deli. He took a microscopic taste of the Spicy Thai Chili and the Sundried Tomato Basil, but ate an entire cracker topped with Lemon Pepper.

Jonah—Loved the Lemon Pepper, not so much the Sundried Tomato Basil and Spicy Thai Chili, although he was much more good natured about trying the tuna crackers than Ethan was.

Isaac—Didn’t want to commit to a big bite of any of the crackers until he tasted the Lemon Pepper. He ate it all and asked for a second cracker, which he promptly fumbled in his fingers sending all the Lemon Pepper tuna to the floor. Oops.

Afton—I liked all three varieties, but Lemon Pepper was a clear favorite.

So, I’ll head back to Target in the next few weeks to pick up 5 or so Lemon Pepper Tuna Medleys. Hopefully the kids will all remember how much they loved it when we are at Disneyland.

A Star Wars Bath Time Adventure

Vanilla ice cream tastes great with chocolate syrup and chocolate syrup, once the vanilla ice cream is gone, must be licked from the bowl. After the licking, the little boys, and their chocolate covered faces head upstairs for a bath.

At first they are reluctant to get in the tub until one says, “Hey! We can have a Star Wars Bath Time Adventure!” Mom gives a puzzled look to Dad, but doesn’t complain much when she sees the two boys race upstairs to get in the tub.

Later, Mom learns that a Star Wars Bath Time Adventure means bringing all your Star Wars guys into the tub, filling it with water and bubbles, and then acting out different scenes with all the Star Wars guys.

In this picture, Isaac's guys act out the famous fight between Annakin Skywalker with the bionic hand and Annakin Skywalker with the two light sabers. I think this scene is from the 7th Star Wars Movie titled “Return of the Clone: A Bath Time Adventure.”

Reasons to Never Leave the House

It’s been really cold here in Portland. Not Minnesota cold, or Alaska cold, and thank goodness not North Dakota cold. We’ve had lows in the 20’s and while our highs have been in the 40’s, before you call me a weather wimp, let me add that it’s been quite windy. So, those of you in Minnesota, help me out here: Doesn’t that wind add a certain factor to the temperature. Wait, it’s coming to me…a wind chill factor!

Last night on the news one Portlander was interviewed about the weather. Her comment: There is NO bad weather, only bad clothing choices. Hmm. I guess I have made bad clothing choices then because I have no desire to step outside. It’s a shame too because for the first time in months, it’s not rainy.

I forced myself to run to Old Navy to find some church khakis for Jonah who came home with a hole in the knee of his church pants last Sunday. (Strangely, it was Isaac who had a scabby knee while Jonah’s knee appeared to be fine.)

Also on my list were a couple of sweater vests for church, church shoes and possibly socks. Here’s what I found at 3 different stores:

Old Navy—I can’t complain about Old Navy’s prices. I can complain about their selection. They must have been clearing out to make room for the spring line because, it’s 20 degrees with a wind chill factor and that means it’s time to sell bikini bathing suits, flip flops and tank tops.

Old Navy carries approximately 5 times as many girl clothes as they do boy clothes. I’m not even exaggerating. So, even though there were racks and racks of sale clothes for kids, there was very little square footage dedicated to the boys. (Like 10 square feet…I did the math).

Miraculously, I was able to find a pair of khakis in Jonah’s size that were, drum roll please, on sale. After the discount I paid $4.24. I also picked up a cute sweater for me for $8.50.

Ross—I don’t know why I torment myself by going into Ross. If I were to actually find what I was looking for, I’d be subjected to the world’s slowest check-out line. It doesn’t matter if there is one person in front of you or ten. It can be slow cashiers, customers who are arguing the last dollar off a $2 Betty Boop, sequined throw pillow or, heaven help you, both.

If Old Navy has 5 to 1 girl clothes to boy clothes, Ross is 10 to 1. What is the deal? Don’t the 7 year old sweat shop kids in Thailand and Bangladesh know how to make things for boys? Just to torture myself, I made my way over to where the boy’s clothes should be and found 2 racks with about ½ a rack’s worth of stuff on them: mostly jeans that would fit middle schoolers. I didn’t see any boys shoes.

Famous Footwear—With approximately 5,839 different shoes in the entire store, Famous Footwear had just 2 styles of boy’s dress shoes. One pair was black and shiny and stiff like plastic. The other was brown and thick soled, and would have been perfect for parents trying to make their kids taller so they’d get on rides at Disneyland. I got neither.

Back at home, I spent 10 minutes checking out a few different on-line stores and purchased 2 sweater vests from Hannah Andersen; sale priced at $12 each, thank you very much.

So, lame stores with poor selection, you have forced me to make a choice and I don’t choose you!

A Hairy Post

I decided it was time to start coloring my hair, a task I will most likely repeat every 6-8 weeks for the rest of my life. How depressing is that? I guess I didn't have THAT much grey. Most people I complain to tell me I'm over-reacting and that I am hardly grey at all. Whatever! I figure if it's too much to pluck out, then it's too much.

So today I colored my hair for the very first time. Here is why I think I'm going to have it professionally colored next time.

1. Color Selection: So I'm in Fred Meyer in the "hair color" aisle and I think they need a mirror there because I could not see my hair enough to match colors. I tried pulling my short hair around to the box top with the little color sample on the top, but it just didn't reach. When Robert saw the color I'd chosen (Cinnamon Stick) he just laughed.

2. The Back of My Head: Newsflash, I can't see the back of my head. The instructions on the hair color indicate that time is of the essence when applying the color and that you need to move quickly. I didn't know what would happen if I took too long to apply the color, but I didn't want to find out at the expense of my hair. Meanwhile, I'm expected to apply the goop to the back of my head and not drip and make sure there is even coverage all at the same time. Not likely.

3. The Results: Well, it is kind of a little fun to have that red tint in my hair, but I'm getting a little melancholy about my old hair color. I feel like I've abandoned a child. Well, maybe not a child, maybe a beloved pet. Anyway, it doesn't look like I did a very consistent job with the goop application. Also, the grey at my temples didn't get covered that well anyway, and that was the whole point of coloring in the first place.

So, Corrin, if you are reading this, expect a call from me in the next few weeks to schedule an appointment for a real hair coloring.

Writer's Strike Benefits

I'm trying to be a little controversial to get more comments. I'll see how it works. I know that most of my readers are attending a wedding and probably already on their way out of town, or else packing and don't have time to check blogs, so I guess I can't expect too much action.

I'm pretty sad that the Writer's Strike has halted some of my favorite shows like "The Office" and "30 Rock." While "The Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" are up and running, after viewing the first couple of episodes and feeling like I was staring at a minor auto wreck on the side of the road, I decided to look away and wait until the funny stuff came back.

With that said, I do think there are some benefits to the Writer's Strike. I think I actually have enough perceived benefits to make a list, so I will. And here it is:

1. No People's Choice, Golden Globes and (fingers crossed) Oscars. Sorry, but I think earning millions of dollars for 3 months of work is "praise" enough. The only practical reason I can see for these awards shows is for Joan Rivers to show off her latest "surge." By the way, have you seen her lately? Disturbing.

2. More time to read books. That is, unless you are actually tuning into drivel like "Wife Swap" and "Celebrity Apprentice." (Come on! I'm going for controversy.)

3. Opportunity to learn about new shows that were always great like PBS's Masterpiece Classic, and just about anything on Discovery Channel.

4. Time to truly reflect on the need for the premium cable or dish channel package. Cancel these services and buy yourself a pair of swanky boots with the savings.

Well, that's all I have. Really, the main reason I'm happy is because those self-indulgent awards shows have been canceled. It makes up for not getting any new episodes of "The Office."

On Second Thought...

OK, I did a little more reading about how preschool is bad. As it turns out, the first article I linked was written by a "deschooler." I'm just going to let you draw your own conclusions. Maybe this bit of info will give the article more credence, or maybe not.

The second article that I wanted to remain blissfully ignorant of, concludes that full-day preschool and daycare is the real problem. Isaac is only in preschool for 5 hours a week, so I feel like the Berkeley/Stanford research is not relevant to my personal situation.

If wanting two and a half hours of "time off" two times a week makes me a bad mom, then I guess I can live with that.

Meanwhile, I'm back on the play date article!

Ouch!

I'm writing an article for trackmyfoodstorage about how to set up successful play dates for preschool aged children. As part of my research I wanted to learn a little about how play dates might help preschoolers develop social skills. It seems to make sense that when kids play with other kids, they would have more opportunity to learn how to do things like take turns, cooperate and communicate.

My google search lead me to this article that I had to force myself to read because I sensed it contained information that would make me have to admit a few things I didn't want to. The real knife in the back was the following paragraph:

"Preschool, ultimately, is for parents, not kids. If preschool didn’t exist, who would lose out? Parents. Because parents would 1) have less time for themselves. 2) Be responsible for providing a rich learning environment 3) Have to be a parent full-time and not be much else. Kids, they would be just fine without preschool. They were before preschool existed, and they would be today. But parents, it would be very hard for them to give up preschool. That’s why it’s so popular. Although, this reality is hidden behind the “it’s good for kids” argument, which really has no real weight, except that’s what everyone wants to believe."

I then found this article on the same search that continued to rock my world. I skimmed it in hopes that I could remain blissfully ignorant about this latest research (from UC Berkeley and Stanford, no less) that indicates preschool actually damages children's social skills and emotional development.

It's always a shock to learn that you've been lied to, but I feel even worse now that I realize I've been lying to myself! I didn't know I had it in me. I will most likely need a big dose of chocolate to get over this betrayal!

Meanwhile, what kind of implications does this research have for play dates? Should I even bother writing the article now? What about the friend that Isaac has over this morning? Should I call his mom and have her come pick him up?

I'm so confused.