The Toxic Housewife

I'm so cold, even my beverage of choice is . . . just ice. Surprisingly-enough, it turns out Mr. C's preferred blog posts of late aren't even the ones about him: they're the ones about me.  Not about what he interprets to be "day in the life" stuff (as in, when he complained that my " 0 F's "  post was all about fashion), but more when I write about my innermost thoughts and feelings .   I can't decide what I think (or feel) about this.  On the one hand, it's sweet that your kid actually cares enough to want to learn about you.  On the other hand, it just goes to show -- once again -- that I am nothing but a cold-hearted b!tch.

  Devil Bed Bee and I have a nasty habit of accidentally spending enormous amounts of money when we mean to just buy something small and affordable. This is how we ended up with an entire dining set when we had intended to just buy 1 chair for a growing Mr. C.  Or how we now have a large (but admittedly gorgeous) paved and stained concrete driveway flowing into a patio when we were looking to just get some gravel for the area outside our front door. Or, most-recently, how we became the proud owners of an entire 26-piece set of stainless-steel, American-made cookware when we meant to just buy a cheese grater.

I've always felt that artists are at their most-creative when they're in angst.  There's something about that need to express the pain within that causes singers and poets and painters to produce prolifically.

I had some two-year-old roll-out cookie dough in the freezer, so I decided this Valentine's Day was the perfect opportunity to use that shit up!

Bee has been a drummer for nearly thirty years.   Our second meeting, in fact, was supposed to be at the New Year’s Eve party of one of his friends, where Bee and his current band were scheduled to play.   The party got canceled, but Bee instead invited a couple of friends and neighbors (and me) over to his house for a get-together.  

Wiser words were never spoken, Fickle Pickle For a long time now, Bee has worn goggles when he minces onions.   It is, of course, a brilliant solution to that pesky problem of drops whilst you chop, but it’s hard to envision the Iron Chef in such a manly getup.

Our kitchen-update has proved to indeed be the saga I feared.  Yeah, yeah: those who know me best will immediately point out that I adore a good drama . . . but this one has been a little much for my marriage.

May I just start by pointing out that Bee was FINE yesterday?  I've been battling flu-like symptoms since Christmas, but Bee was fine.

So I threw on some shoes to go to the park with Mr. C.  At which point my darling husband said, "Uuummmmm, I don't think those shoes really go with that dress." And I believed him . . . for about two seconds.  Then I remembered that I was taking fashion advice from a man wearing this :

Poor Bee.  I realized after my last online snitty-rant that I’m doing him a disservice.  Why is it easier to complain about the ones we love than publicly praise them?  (At least, it is for me.)

I am mentally-exhausted this week, due, in large part, to the bipolar nature of several activities:

The book Bee thoughtfully left out for me to read: The book in which I am instead engrossed:

What Bee gave me for Valentine's Day: yay! What I gave him:

Chocolate Almond Kisses The photo above shows the cookies I was trying to make this week for The Sugarbee Cookie Company. The photo below depicts my actual product:

Last Friday was Bee's birthday.  I hope this next year will be better, because this last year was kind of crappy for him.  All the stress he's had has caused him to grind his teeth, get some some sort of ear infection, and now have that infection travel down to his throat.  Since he is very much a victim of Man Colds , it's been a little hard around here.

Pickles, peaches, and jams.   (We are so proud!)

Strawberry-Rhubarbara Tarts 1)  I was making a Strawberry-Rhubarbara ("When Plain Strawberry-Rhubarb Just Won't Do!") Pie this week, and had leftovers.  So I decided to freeze little mini-pies in these muffin tins to bake later.

I figured that, since I don't feel like working, you may not feel like working, either.  With that in mind, I bring you the following most-excellent time wasters:

Last year, Bee and I spent 10 days on a cruise to Mexico.  It was a vacation that, quite honestly, I cajoled and then tricked Bee into taking, which – if you ask me – is a great way to start any trip with your husband.

Sugar Cookies for the Cookie Co-Op As the years go on, I find myself falling into that common old-married-couple rut of not putting forth the effort to celebrate significant events with my significant other. I realized yesterday that February 14 th is upon us and that I was shaping up to be a totally suck-y Valentine.