Tag team at the grocery store...

Grocery shopping is one of my least favorite things to do alone.  Depending on the length of the shopping list, and the day of the week it can be a small nightmare! Thank goodness my honey doesn't blink twice about sharing in that responsibility and often offers to swing by to pick up a few items for dinner when I am working late or even offers to go do the full shopping on his own  when he has a day off during the week.

Usually this chore is a tag team event and I love it!  We save a lot of time by taking turns waiting at the deli counter while the other takes the shopping cart/list and moves along.  If an aisle is crowded and we only need one item from it, one moves on to the next aisle while the other dives in to search and retrieve, having an easier time maneuvering thru the crowd.

The small one is my husband's lunch bag.

There is one thing I do like about grocery shopping and that is to use our own bags.  Most of us do our best to be somewhat conscious of recycling and try not to use so many little plastic bags.  Practically every grocery store chain in town these days sells reusable bags with their logo printed on it.  We had a few from our local grocery store, but the materials they offer retain odors, can only be wiped down and can never be fully washed.  We needed something better; I ran into these bags on a website a year or two ago and fell in love with them! They offer a variety of sizes, prints and most can hold up to 50 pounds!

Fold so small...

They are washable, fold down to a size that fits in practically any purse (no taking them along and realizing at check out you left them in the car) and they weigh practically nothing!  We own several colors and have given them as gifts a few times.  Here is where you can find them: Rume bags, and no, I am not getting paid for this.  Just thought I'd share another option from the smelly store bags or the durable but bulky canvas totes you may own.

The holiday season has passed but here is how it plays..

Now that I've shared my family tradition of always running a little late, I will tell you about the differences in holiday traditions my husband and I now share.  These differences drive us a little crazy because at age 40-something we have lived with them for so long and now having to compromise has been a bit uncomfortable.

On his side of the family, there is ALL DAY football on Thanksgiving day. On top of that we eat our holiday feast for lunch instead of dinner. Which means you have to get up early and start the cooking before you even get the coffee maker going! Last year I was still half a sleep when I was trying to calculate when to put the bird in the oven and let me tell you, it is embarrasing when you do accounting for a living to have your father-in-law point out you can't do simple math. 

There is no dressing up for a full day of sitting in front of the T.V. watching, pro-football and college football (and if there was peewee football being aired on that day we would be watching it as well!).  Football is only interrupted for digging in to the leftovers and the cat naps induced by the turkey feasting.

On my side of the family we have Thanksgiving DINNER.  Usually after 6 p.m.(ok, more like 7 since a few of us show up late) which means you can sleep in, have breakfast, take a shower and then get the prepping and the cooking going.  There is little or NO football.  Family comes, (the older folk still dress up for the occassion) eats and actually interacts over desert or a good old fashioned game of LOTERIA. (For the newer generations Loteria has been replaced by UNO). Our stuffing or dressing is BEEF not cornbread . (I've been told if it's not cooked in the bird it isn't STUFfing.)

Christmas!  On my husband's side of the family we gather with friends Christmas Eve.  We open presents Christmas morning after having stayed up late putting together toys for the kids.  You then have to rush thru your morning getting yourself together before you get in the kitchen to cook for a Christmas meal. Again, usually LUNCH!  You later gather with extended family not present for the Christmas lunch, and though you are thrilled to visit you can hardly keep your eyes open from the late night, early morning and big lunch! Mean while you have leftovers that will sit in the fridge or freezer until they are unrecognizable and end up making your sick or making you feel guilty for tossing them!

Christmas on my side of the family means shopping for those last minute gifts Christmas Eve because of the usual late announcements of EXTENDED family visiting for the holiday and though you are happy to skip buying a gift for the adults, you just don't want to ignore the additional kids.  So, after that mad dash, we gather for dinner at someones house for our Christmas celebration!  We eat, we drink, sometimes dance or watch a movie, we try to stay up until midnight (try, because the older we get the harder it is!).  We open gifts after midnight. Yes, midnight!! Because SANTACLOS (no misspelling) is still pretty new to us.  It is a "northern" tradition adopted in Mexico.  In Mexico children get holiday gifts in early January from LOS REYES , The Kings, or "Three Wise Men" for those who are Catholic. 

Christmas day we get up really late, play with our new toys, have leftover tamales or empanadas for breakfast and then go visit extended family or friends.  There is no cooking all day long, only heating up leftovers which usually only last a day or two instead of a week in a fridge. Though you may have a fridge full of food brought back from your family member who hosted dinner the night before or if you hosted it what you couldn't make people take home; because everyone brought over at least one dish that would feed a large portion of it to every single breathing organism present in the house! With the large number of "tios" and "primos" visiting all leftovers disappear quickly! (my husband hates this)

So as another year gets on the way and my husband and I begin to plan where we'll spend our next family holiday (Easter, Mother's Day, etc..) I am thankful my procrastination in posting this blog allows me to wish you a great non-family obligated holiday!  Happy Superbowl!  May your favorite team win, and may the commercials and half time entertainment help those of you who don't sleep and breathe football bear watching the game.

On Mexican Time...

I can't say every Mexican (National or by heritage) suffers from lack of punctuality, but in my family (mostly the women) many of us are famous for always running late!  I often skate into a parking lot cutting it close or being a few minutes late. Since I met my husband I have become more punctual, but that is only because he makes me aware of the time and keeps me in schedule.

You see... I HAVE no concept of it (time).  Outside of work where I can meet deadlines and stress about the clock ticking, I am usually unaware of time passing. I have a short attention span and my husband always teases me by shouting "SQUIRREL" when I talk in circles trying to get back to my point in a conversation. I lose my train of thought or forget that I need to get going and instead busy myself with things I believe will take only a few minutes, but end up eating up more time that I originally figured.  NO CONCEPT OF TIME!!   I can keep appointments, but arriving on time consists of several stressful hours for me.

I hate to say it, but I allow my husband to carry that burden for me.  He keeps an eye on the clock and makes me focus. He herds me towards the shower in an effort to get me to start getting ready. Sometimes he gets cocky being able to get ready in a flash like most men can and he ends up running short on time leaving me waiting on him. He thinks I don't notice, because he thanks me for being ready.  I make the effort not to drive him crazy with my "slow-mo" ways, but sometimes I just can't help it.

Anyways, as for my family running late.  When arranging our wedding ceremony I tried to allot a few minutes for those family members who I assumed would be running late.  Our wedding coordinator asked what time the ceremony should begin, I answered "well, the invitations say 7 p.m, but I know my people!  Let's count on starting around 7:15"  Somehow that was translated in to don't start seating people until 7:15!  We didn't marry in a church but at the hotel where we held our reception.  The staff at the hotel posted one tacky sign on the doors to the ceremony room stating seating would begin at 7:15.  All those punctual people ended up at the hotel bar killing time, including one nervous groom! 

I ended up commandeering an elevator while I waited/hid and our maid of honor rounded up everyone at the bar and in to the ceremony room! It all makes for a funny story now, but I learned my lesson.  My people are late, but the rest of the world ticks in unison!

New year's resolutions

We are well in to the year and I had meant to address this favorite and not so favorite topic.  What are your New Year's resolutions?  I no longer burden myself with unrealistic goals.  I won't be wearing a size 6 any time soon.  I will settle for ONE smaller dress size and healthier eating habits.  I will try to purge my home of all the things we do not use. The desktop computers in our home haven't been fired up in several months!  We just need time to scrub them clean and dispose of them.  We are storing old T.V.s with every intention to donate or dispose them, but never finding the time. Hopefully this year we will manage to have that garage sale we've been wanting to have ever since we cursed ourselves for paying movers to relocate our unwanted junk to our current home!

The rest of my resolutions are simple:  Find a job closer to home, keep up with friends and family, and act on all my good intentions!  That last one is particularly important.

They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.  Each year I think of several good deeds that I never follow thru... I get distracted or I over analyse things to death and end up not going thru with them.  I am hopeful I will be able to focus more, take action, and just be happy that I made the effort without thinking too much about it.

So far I've followed thru/acted on one good deed immediately!  I met someone who might benefit from an inspirational "daily".  Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach is a book I start each year (have been for about a decade now) but confess to never quite manage to finish .  Each year I get a little further and get inspired to make small changes in my life that have increased my happiness and have brightened my views.  My good deed for the month was to give a copy of this book to this new acquaintance.

If I can manage to follow thru on at least half of my good intentions this year I will feel very satisfied! I hope your resolutions this year make you happy and not stressed like most tend to do.  A little late, but the sentiment is true.. Happy New Year!

Breakfast

Long gone are the days when I would wake up at noon on a weekend; frequently out late the night before and returning home in the early hours.  These days we are usually in bed long before midnight and "sleeping in on a weekend" is now waking up before 8 a.m.  instead of 6 a.m. weekdays. Most weekends I manage to linger in bed a little longer than my husband, who by the time I am up and going he has already made coffee and has had some type of breakfast. 

It does not matter what time it is when I wake up, for me breakfast is the first meal of the day. My husband on the other hand has an amazing internal clock because his stomach knows exactly when it's lunch time.  If I wake up "late" and get entertained with house chores before I stop to have breakfast my husband will usually point out that it's closer to "lunch time".  I will offer to cook whatever he wants for breakfast, and always he suggest I cook something for lunch instead. 

My response is usually a sideway look at him and my final offer.  "Should I cook breakfast for one or two? I am having breakfast!" His responce is always "ok, I'll have some...."

I love to cook a big breakfast on the weekends; a noticeable difference from our breakfast "to go" on weekdays.  It always happens, once we are thru with our meal I somehow manage to get my honey to fess up exactly what he managed to eat without supervision.  Yep, because more times than not he will eat more than what he eats on weekdays which is fruit and a cereal bar.

I give him the benefit of the doubt; cook a full serving for him thinking that his earlier meal will stop him from eating it all but it's rare.  I marvel that he can put away more food--but then again he suprises me when he starts talking about lunch not even an hour later!! I ask him, what are you A HOBBIT?  Breakfast, second breakfast, lunch...

Procrastination and entertaining.

It is a terrible flaw to procrastinate, but it is a nightmare when two with this flaw marry and decide to entertain!!  Whaaaaahh! 

Last weekend my honey celebrated his 44th birthday and we hosted a little birthday bash for him.  We had planned the event for a few weeks, but unfortunately (more often than not) we waited until the last minute to get ourselves in gear! Usually one will have enough sense to push the other to get things done, but it wasn't the case this time.

What should have been addressed a little at a time thru out the week prior we ended up doing the evening before or the morning of the event.  We are very blessed with laid back friends and family who can overlook a few delays, but to my sister in law and my best friend I am very thankful!  They were in the kitchen with me finishing up prepping the food that was heading to the grill and without their help I don't even want to imagine...

My honey enjoyed grilling: I have never met a man who doesn't love to hover over fire and the party was a success!  We had more people come by at once than ever before, so we certainly felt the love!

My mother called the next day to say she had a great time and inquired if we will be having another party next month for my birthday.  At that moment I said NO; I was tired and fighting some bad allergies (may be was a little hungover) but I am pretty sure we will be spacing our gatherings by a couple of months. 

Last year we only hosted one party when we usually have one every season. I don't know where time went or why we laid low all year but I am looking forward to seeing friends more often this year!

My husband the "Herder"

It took me only a little bit to catch on to my husbands talent or strategy and I don't quite know if it's he who caught on to my need for personal space that gave him the opportunity but here is what I am talking about.

Shortly after he and I became a couple and began doing "couple things" I noticed him inching in.  Perhaps that "honeymoon" phase helped me not notice or not mind at first, but I have a great need for personal space and have no problem stepping back a bit when people move in too close or just plain ask someone to keep their distance. 

My clever husband figured that if he moved in to my space I would move away as a reflex when not engaged in a romantic moment.  He would inch towards me and I would naturally move to a comfortable distance. I noticed his tactic first when shopping at a department store. I can't say that men don't like to shop, because they do if it's something that interests them. My honey for example hates to shop for clothes and even worst going shopping with me, so to "usher me" out of a store he began to use what I call his "herding" tactic.  Once I caught on I called him on it and asked him if he thought he was a sheep dog trying to herd me towards the door. 

Now some times I plainly see that he is doing it and don't mind, especially when visiting my mother.  I  know I can talk forever to my mother: in my defence, I don't see her quite as often as I wished I did, so having a 15 minute conversation by the door on my way out isn't unusual.

Other times I just plain want to hurt him like when we are shopping for his clothes.  He hates shopping for clothes and will start to heard me in the direction of the nearest cash register.  I can be looking around for another pair of pants for him to try on attempting to take advantage him being present, because I HATE having to return things that do not fit him more than he hates shopping!

When he's had enough (after one or two visits to a fitting room) he will begin with the herding: inching in, standing opposite the direction he would like me to move.  I realize he is doing it, but I ignore him until he is practically standing on me and makes me snap at him. "Ya!" (translation from Spanish = Enough!) and then he looks at me with "Nermal Eyes" (for those Garfield fans) and I feel awful for loosing my temper over what he thinks is funny or even cute! 

I'll still want to sidekick him, but he'll make faces batting his eyelashes and making me laugh!