Earthquake in Ohio

No, really. Not a tornado but an earthquake!

I was reading my little one a bed time story when I felt my whole house shake on its foundation. It felt as if a car ran into the house (ok, granted not a familiar feeling, a car running into the house, but I imagine it would feel that way).

I had no idea what happened, until today when Mike told me he saw on the news that we had a 2.9 earthquake. Holy Cow!! Ironically, he did not notice it at all (must have been asleep watching TV, but wont admit to it).

So I guess the next time a car runs into my house, I can say "Crap that felt like an earthquake" and mean it since I now know what an earthquake feels like. And let me tell you, NOT A GOOD FEELING!!

The scary part is there are two fault lines that run through my county (someone remind me why I moved here???), and both have had earthquakes that have been over 5.0. One of the fault lines is within 5-7 miles! (Again, remind me why I moved here?)

The garage sale

We had it.

Eh. First I dont know why but the amount of people coming to the sales was NO WHERE NEAR as much as last year. It was pathetic really.

We did sell some big stuff to clear out the garage, some clothing. Made $250 or so. Not that much considering we sold the travel system, a kitchen table, walker, exersaucer and a working printer. I kind of feel like we gave those things for free. Part of me would have rather kept them. But Mike wants to achieve a clean garage soon. And I really, really dont think we will have a 2nd baby.

Megan got to go to TRUs and pick a gift. She picked a iCarly DVD Season 1, and a Baby Alive doll. I told her it talks and I was scared it would freak her out, but ..... to my surprise, she loves it! Unlike the other talking dolls this one is soft.

Seriously, I have to clean

So what am I doing here??

Kitchen, and bedroom and clean. Now I have to worry about the living-room.

Last night we told Megan that we will have to sell some of her old toys and clothes. She had a meltdown. Lord this child gets attached to everything. Even when we told her she can buy the doll she really really wants, it was a no go. This will not be easy.

You might have asked yourself, what the fudge is up with all the Polish recipes. I had a couple of ladies on a message board I go to ask for some. As I wrote them down (its all in my head) I realized I dont have them written down anywhere. So once again, I am using my blog as a tool, to remember crap I always forget.

I have to clean!

Right now I am about 90% sure we decided to have the garage sale. Read about my dilemma here . The only rule is, this year I am not dealing with food, if you cant do it yourself, dont do it.

So now I have till Friday night to get ready. I have to clean my house (that looks like a tornado hit it, as a matter of fact lets blame Ike. Yes, he was in my house, the mess? All his doing, you do buy into this right?).

And after I clean (what that darn Ike messed up), I have to start on the gazillion of bags and pricing stuff, separating it, washing it etc.

Don't really feel like it. I much rather sit on my bum and play with Megan.

Nalesniki Polish THIN Pancakes

For Batter:

2 eggs
1 and 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
2 pinches salt
Beat it all together until you have no lumps. Fry as you would pancakes but remember these are very very thin (crape like thin).

Filling.. I like mine with nothing on but people love to fill these.

Leave one flat and add cottage cheese mixed with favorite jams or fresh fruits, purees whatever. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top and roll it up. Some people like to heat the cottage cheese filling before serving.

Polish beets and spinach

3-4 beets
2 cloves of garlic
1-2 teaspoons of vinegar
2-3 teaspoons of sour cream (more if you want it more creamy)
salt and pepper to taste.

I buy my beets fresh and boil them until they are tender. After this I peal the skin and puree them and place in a pan. I add some vinegar, salt, paper and the garlic (which is cut into small small pieces), cook for about 5 minutes and add the sour cream. Yummy and healthy!

Same with spinach. But I buy mine frozen.

I cook it for a while (about 1/2 of a bag) and puree it. Follow the same directions as for the beets.

Kotlety - Polish Hamburgers

1-2 pounds ground beef (you could mix and match your favorite ground meats/pork/chicken/even can be done with good fish)
1 medium chopped onion
3 slices white bread (a good bakery bread will work better than a factory product)
1 egg
Garlic, Salt, Pepper to taste.
A slice or two of bacon if you like it.

Chop the onion and fry with the bacon (or fry onion alone, its done for taste, much better in some virgin olive oil). Cool it.

Soak the bread in milk or water. Break it part and combine
the onions, bread, egg, beef (or whatever). Salt, pepper, garlic to taste. Shape them into kind of oval looking hamburgers (or whatever shape you want, not too thick).

You can either fry them or bake them. If you bake it will be on 350 for about 30 or so minutes.

They are not very good with bread (not for me anyway) but you can serve them with veggies, potatoes, rice, or noodles.

Polish Potato Pancakes

While they are called Pancakes they are not breakfast food.

1 lb. or 3 med. potatoes, poured and finely grated
1-2 eggs
2 tbsp. flour (adjust to liquid in potatoes)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 Onion chopped well

(I also like to add garlic dash or garlic powder, and you can add chopped chives if you like).

Mix it all together, and pour on a skillet just like a pancake. Fry until brown on both sides.

You can make your favorite sauce (I like mushroom) or put some sour cream on top.

Polish Kopytka -potato dumplings

This is really fun because it can be made with just about anything, you really have are of exploring here.

5 Potatoes
1 egg
2 cups of flour
Dash of salt

Peal and boil potatoes, until tender, drain them and mash them well (no lumps), add the egg and flour and mix until you make a dough like mixture (most people do this by hand, I use my mixer because I have the dough hook). Transfer the dough to the surface, and knead the dough until it is smooth and pliable. Cut a small chunk of the dough and using your hands roll it out into a "snake" that is about 1 inch thick. Cut the rolled out dough on a diagonal into approximately 1/2 inch pieces. Boil water in a large pot add a dash of salt, and throw in the peaces, make sure to mix them so they dont bunch up togther. Allow the pieces to float to the surface and boil for another 5-10 minutes. And drain.

You can also use your favorite sauce on them, or just butter.

Now here is the fun part. The potatoes can be replace by just about anything, soft farmers cheese is my favorite, you can use pumpkin (bake it first), butternut squash.

A lot of folks like to fry these up a bit after cooking, or fry up the left overs when reheating. Add some virgin oil, onions, garlic ect.

Polish Pierogi

Photo of uncooked pierogi

Photo of cooked pierogi

Its also a super fun meal that cooks get have lots of fun with.

The Dough,

4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups water
50 g butter
1 pinch salt
1 egg

(my mom also made the dough using left over potatoes, it would be the same thing as making the dumplings).

However this time after you have the dough made instead of into a snake you roll it flat and cut circles out (I just use a glass as my tool)

You place whatever you want inside the circle. It could be a potatoes and garlic, beef and cabbage, leftover chicken (just mash it all well). People even make them with blueberries (whole), cut up strawberries, your favorite veggies (some will taste better if you mash them up, some whole or cut into small pieces, your call here).

Close the dough around the filling, you can use fork on the edges (it closes them well plus looks good). Boil water with a dash of salt and throw them in. When they float to the top give about 5 minutes and they are done.

Use whatever sauces you like.

A lot of folks like to fry these up a bit after cooking, or fry up the left overs when reheating. Add some virgin oil, onions, garlic ect.

Ointmeal eater

Ok so its really an oatmeal eater, but the way she says oatmeal the oat part sounds like the oint part in ointment. LOL

She has always hated and I mean hated oatmeal. But, I decided to do the make her try it 10 times and see what happens. She really likes it now.

I make plain oatmeal and add some sugar, plus cinnamon. Looking for suggestions on what else I can add to make the ointmeal taste good and give her tasetbuds new flavors.

Added...

Take an apple and shred it, add it to the cinnamon and sugar. I will also try this with a peach.

Today is our Anniversary.

We got married in 2001, because it was days after 9/11 and my side of the family is from NYC we had a very small wedding. But, it was great and I loved it.

She loves rain.

She loves her bike.

And she rides it fast! Now I grew up with an older brother so I was determined to not have training wheels and made my dad take them off. I was just 2 years old.

Megan is 4 and I am scared to take them off. Funny how a person who always is up for a challenge and doing something dangerous is scare of taking training wheels off their child's bike.

Flashpoint

If you dont watch this show. Start.

Its really a great show. The other day they had an episode that showed me how important it is to watch your kids. We have became a culture of "4 year olds need privacy" and "parents need alone time". And than crying because the 4 year old is missing.

Watch your kids, they need you.

Air Bud

The other day we came home and Air Bud was on TV. Megan wanted to watch it so I left it on.

It got really quiet so I looked in on her. It was the moment where the boy takes the dog to the island and yells at him to go away. My daughter had the saddest look on her face you could imagine and tears running down her cheeks.

My child has such a big heart. All she wanted to do was hug the puppy because his feelings were hurt.

Garage Sale Dilemma

I have no idea what to do.

The town mother in law lives in has semi annual (fall and spring) garage sales. We did one last fall, it was a disaster... to me. We made good money and got rid off a LOT of crap. But, NO ONE HELPED.

DH got the bags from garage and dropped them in the spare-room, for a week I hardly slept because I was cleaning and pricing the crap. The night of the garage sale I went to bed at 4AM.

The morning of the garage sale, I was told I have to pick up sister in law who was also taking a part of the sale. I was told "she is ready", I arrived and she opened the door and said "come in, it will take a while" it took 45 minutes to an hour for her to be ready. I was pissed.

All Mike, brother in law and mother in law did was take the stuff from the truck and put on tables. They didnt even separate the clothing by size. It was a huge bundle of mess and something I would walk away if I saw at a garage sale because it would be too much effort on my part to find stuff.

After this all three of them went into the house sat with their legs up (yes, really when I walked in to pee, they were watching TV, relaxing with their legs up) and left me and sister in law, with the garage sale, food that mother in law was selling and the kids to take care of. OMG.

They did not lift a hand during the whole thing. Did not do one single thing. But, I walked in on mother in law on the phone saying how she will never do one again because "it all falls on her and she has to do it all" Are you freaking kidding me?? After the garage sale, she made comments of how usually she makes a lot more money on food, etc. Ugh.

I was hurt and upset and felt as if I was being punished for being late, even though it was not my fault at all.

This year Mike wants to do one again, and while I would love to get rid off some of the junk from our garage, and make some $$$ while at it. I just dont know. I dont think I will get stuck with it again, because this time brother in law and sister in law have to work, so they just might bring some stuff for the sale, but wont be there. My other sister in law is coming down, and Mike's aunt might do one with us. I think everyone will be on their best behavior and help a ton, just because those 2 will be there, and that will make me feel more like crap. Because they couldn't give me the same respect a year ago.

I think what would make me feel better about the whole thing is if I finally got the truth and an apology from both Mike and mother in law. I am not stupid, I can tell the not helping was planned, I can tell it was done because we were late and didnt help with the set up. But, that was NOT MY FAULT, so have the balls to finally admit to me "Yes we did it, it was a stupid idea because you, not her, paid the price, I am sorry". I have gotten an apology from Mike, however he never admitted as to why it was done that way.

Houston, we have wireless!!

Yes, I can now sit on the toilet and blog with you folks. No, I am not doing it now.

Setting up wireless is easy, or "should" be easy, most of the time its just plug and play, maybe tweak a bit of the settings. However, because I have vonage, and need to use 2 routers (unless I buy their wireless router that has gotten really bad reviews), it was a bit complicated, you have to route and reroute and route again all the settings. On top of that the first adopter I tried to use was broken (which I didnt know, it took hours before I realized it was) and Mike had to dig for the 2nd one.

But, I did it! We have wireless! My main reason for wanting wireless is that I can now web-chat with my parents from the backyard. They can see their grand-baby playing and having fun.

Love it!!

"swimming dog" moves in

Megan got her "swimming puppy" today. And while she loves him to pieces, she refuses to turn him on and walk or swim. If I do it, she runs for anything you can climb and climbs up like a cat thrown into water.... ok.

Thank you Ike!

For the great 13 hours of no power you left behind!

The whole day we had high winds, high yes, but we had higher before. Ike however was some wicked storm because at 8:10PM we lost power and did not get it back till after 9AM. What's odd about this whole thing is that we lost power 40 minutes after the winds died down and we assumed we were in the clear.

We did venture out about an hour after we lost power and most of our city was left in the dark. We could also see lots of huge tress down but it was hard to see any other damage since it was pitch dark.

I am so thankful for having my power back, I am pretty sure the food in the refrigerator is a gone bad (or more like I dont really trust it) but the stuff in my freezer and deep freeze should still be good.

Its amazing Ike made contract with land in Texas and he still managed to make an impact here in Ohio.

New Friend

Found this little guy by our side door. I told Megan to kiss it and he will turn into a prince, she went running for dear life. Ok so its a frog, but even I was scared of him. Since DH was mowing, I caught him in a net (no I would not touch him, come on he is slimy), and had DH, let him go by the trees.

That's when Megan begun to cry, I told her he had to go to his family and he said "but mommy, we are his family".

"swimming dog"

"But mommy, he walks and he swims, he is the best toy"

UGH!! So this is why parents hate commercials? This toy is the first toy Megan has every really wanted just from seeing on TV. She has been asking for it for about a month, each time making a case (like a future lawyer would) why this is a great toy that will be always used, while you as a parent know its a toy that will be played with for a day or two and forgotten.

We have been very blessed and item has never been in stock in any store we went to.... until TODAY.

It begun with my child having a meltdown over "SuperMonkey sheets set" and me looking like an evil mother who wont even buy her child sheets. To distract her, I finally said hey lets go look at toys. As we rounded the corner I saw a big box on the shelf with "swim dog" my childs eyes shined like a Christmas tree as she ran to it. And when she was told that no she can not have him today, the meltdown begun. Oy. I just wanted to find a rock and hide under it.

Let me just say.... I HATE COMMERCIALS!! It doesnt get better, does it?

Craig Kilborn on politics

Last night I watched a bit of Craig Kilborn and his rant about the media and politics. It was 100% how I feel.

This election is so important and I really dont care who you want to vote but what have we become? Instead of the issues and trying to focus on what can/will be done to this country, media and people worry about McCain cheating on his 1st wife, Palin's daughter being unmarried and pregnant, Obama's childhood and if he was a Muslim as a child. It's the first time ever, a VP has been getting so much coverage, why? Because more drama follows her. WHO CARES? Are people insane? Those things don't mean crap! What matters is the problems we as a country have.

But talking about the issues would make for boring TV, no ratings, no newspaper sales. So instead we will fill the time and pages with Enquirer type gossip because that's what sales. And takes away the focus from the real issues.

It makes me both sad and angry at the same time. Not only is the media responsible for reporting this kind of bull-crap, so are the candidates for getting into it, and so are the people for not demanding more talk about the issues instead of someones dirty laundry.

What I did yesterday.

Megan still sleeps in our bedroom, her crib converted into a toddler bed was in our bedroom (her crib has been in our room since the day she was born), yes roll your eyes now, I like it that way, it doesnt bother me at all. When she wants to and is ready she will go to her room.

But I kind of felt her toddler bed was getting too small, she still had room left but I didnt think there was much comfort room in there. We are planning on converting her crib into a full size bed, when we find rails for it (which has proven to be not easy at all) but that can only be done in the spare-room. I had this futon from Ikea in the spare room, its a twin size that unfolds and becomes a king-size bed almost.

Out of nowhere I got up and begun moving furniture.

The before, her crib in our room

The before futon in the spare room
The after, futon used as a new bed (it will not be unfolded) and only used for a while, I think we will just get another twin size bed. This is old and while Megan loves it, Mike hates it.
The after, crib as a daybed in the spare-room. It was quiet a challenge to move this out of our bedroom, Mike had to come help me because we had to take it apart and put back together in the other room.
Goal achieved. Megan LOVES it! She is thrilled to pieces with her "new bed".

I asked Megan where Babcia and Dziadzia will sleep now when they visit. She said Dziadzia can sleep in the crib because he fits (yes when he came for a visit she made him pretend sleep in her crib, she even sung him some songs), and Babcia can sleep with Mommy and Daddy LOL.

9/11

Seven years ago today, my phone rang. I was still in bed. I looked at the called ID and rolled my eyes. It was Mike's mom "what does she want now?".

I picked up the phone and she said "turn on the tv, now". I didnt understand, why? what channel? what's the rush?. Her comment was "they are bombing NYC". I turned on the TV and watched in horror. WTF was going on? Its my HOME. I worked just blocks away from the WTC towers. At first like many Americans I felt horrific accident, another example of idiots who should not get them, getting a pilots license.

And that's when the 2nd tower got hit. I knew, it was no accident.

I called my mom and got through right away, I kept asking what's going on, is the whole city under attack? My mom said they have no idea. But my nephews school just called and told my brother he has 20 minutes to pick up the kids because the school is going under a lock down. And no one will be able to leave or come in untill whatever is happening is over. And than my mom spoke the words that made the world around me come crashing down... "we cant get in touch with dad, he had a meeting at the wtc today". OMG.

It was the last time I spoke to her for hours, I kept calling her and my brother and could not get through. I remember calling Mike at work and just crying.

I watched as the 1st tower collapsed and the 2nd, all I could think of is "is my dad there? I didnt tell him I love him".

Finally, during the evening the phone rang. It was my mom. Dad was ok. But stuck at work, because roads are closed. While on the way to wtc, he noticed someone forgot to add some blueprints and had to go back to Queens to get them. He got to his office and was angry, what a waste of time they caused. And that's when the towers got hit. God, does work in mysterious ways.

Today I am watching MSNBC, they have gone back in time and are showing their coverage from that day, as if it was that day.

My heart melted.

My daughter went to the backyard with her dad today. All of the sudden she comes back in screaming "mommy, mommy". My heart dropped thinking something is wrong.

I ran to the kitchen as fast I could and there stands my baby, with a beautiful purple flower in her hand. She looked at me and the flower and said "I knew I would find one for you mommy, I knew it".

My daughter was so happy and proud. And my heart melted.

The same night she asked me to rock her before bed time, she looked up, used her hands to push my hair way and said "Mommy, you are so beautiful". Again, my heart melted.

What makeup?

Huh? What are you talking about mom? What makeup?

AP - Megan the firefighter!!!

I love my baby, and think she is the best thing under the sun, but dont count on her saving your house from a fire. She WALKED the whole way and had the firefighters cracking up!

But she did put out the fire!! YAY Megan!!

Fireman told her GOOD JOB!!

And she got her certificate!

AP Petting Zoo

The petting zoo was a huge hit with Megan.

She loved the goats.

Not so sure about the donkey

Was kind of scared to touch the calf


Ran back to pet the goat again.

Looking at the calves and donkey eating

Santa's Reindeer!!

AP The Bounce Castle

She remembered it from Gymnastics and as always LOVED it.

AP the Crafts Tables

Megan making her AP backpack.

Megan with her plane that she made on her own

She also made a key-chain, no pictures and sadly she broke it. Mommy will try to fix it for her.