Sunday, March 8, 2009

Don't Forget about the Little Things...

Ok, so maybe I was a bit over-reflective in my last post... (is over-reflective a word??) I am still every bit as confused about my future career endeavors but I have a somewhat level head. Luckily for me, I have this hilarious little sidekick around to remind me that my greatest achievement is him! So this post is about some small things that may have gone uncelebrated had I not decided to write about them on the world wide web. 

Gavin is beginning to soak up knowledge like a sponge. He is very close to saying "thank you" and likes to mimic animal sounds. He pets the dogs and says "hi doggy." He walks around, pretending to be talking on a cell phone. He dances to American Idol and is starting to do a little singing himself.

I am staying very committed to my workout schedule and for the past two months- I have worked out five days every week. I bought a treadmill in February and can now run a 5k without any trouble. I have set my next goal to run a 10k and have a half-marathon in the back of my mind. Gavin likes to climb up on the treadmill and pretend to run. I feel good that I am setting a good example for my son by getting regular exercise. Maybe someday he and I will run 5ks and 10ks together.

I had two fabulous achievements in the kitchen today. My mom makes a wonderful poppyseed cake and I have tried making it twice before- each time was just a wreck. I almost cried earlier this week when my cake was flat and it crumbled out of the bundt pan. This morning I decided to give it another try and it turned out beautifully. That success inspired me to take on pot roast. I have been struggling with pot roast all winter long. They always turn out dry but after a little research, I realized that I have been buying the wrong cut of meat. I was buying bottom round and trying to braise it. Bottom round is better when oven roasted for a shorter time period. Chuck roast is the appropriate cut for braising. I used Tyler Florence's recipe which I have a link to on the side of the blog. I changed it a bit by using 1 cup of red wine in place of water and used stewed tomatoes in place of crushed. It was fantastic and I encourage you to try it out as your farewell to winter meal. My next challenge to myself is to take on gnocchi- my last batch turned into mashed potatoes as soon as they hit the boiling water.

Now, I have saved the best for last. I have no idea how I did not know about the greatest cleaning supply on the planet: The Magic Eraser. I discovered this beautiful invention today and am so giddy about it. I vaguely remember someone mentioning it to me years ago when their child had drawn all over the walls with a marker or crayon. Oh my gosh-these things are genius! The previous owners of this house used flat paint on all of the walls- including the kitchen (hello, moronic!) Well, naturally kitchens get dirty and there were finger prints and stains all over the place. I figured I was going to have to repaint the kitchen this summer. The magic eraser actually cleaned up all the stains. I then started running around trying to find stains to see if I could "erase" them. There were scuff marks on the bathtub- gone! Black paint from picture frames had rubbed off onto the walls- poof! gone! If you have not tried these out- you are seriously missing out. If you have kids or pets and you did not already know about magic erasers- this post could dramatically improve your life. 

Adam is on vacation this week- we will likely take some kind of day trip. Stay tuned for a new East Coast adventure. In the meantime, I hope you celebrate the small things going on in your lives. 


6 comments:

Steve Davey said...

Now, I have saved the best for last. I have no idea how I did not know about the greatest cleaning supply on the planet: The Magic Eraser. I discovered this beautiful invention today and am so giddy about it. >

I'm honestly not even sure where to begin on this...but I'll try.

The Apprentice - Season 2, Episode 5.
www.realitytvworld.com/index/articles/summary.php?i=414

I know for SURE that you were watching this show back then. Just goes to show that if you don't have the little destructoids (kids) around your house you miss out (gain?)on quite a bit.

This episode was so impactful that I went out and bought it the VERY NEXT DAY and had them shipped. They worked like a charm and I spent the next week or so telling everyone at work and everywhere else how great they were.

So now the truth comes out. You really didn't listen to me at work.

Jenny said...

Oh- that's right! I totally forgot about that. I actually remember this conversation now that you mention it. But Steve, let's be honest- you got worked up about a lot of reality tv shows so I may not have appreciated this specific excitement with regard to the magic eraser. I was thinking to myself while I was erasing stains that instead of doing card tricks- you should have just brought a magic eraser to work and I would have been totally impressed!

Steve Davey said...

touche

Unknown said...

hey, I was totally spreading the gospel of the magic eraser to you about a year ago at moms house. You hadn't heard of it and i was say it takes scuffs of like you wouldn't believe! It truely is magic.

Gavers is so freak'n cute.

Anonymous said...

Maybe I'll start including a Magic Eraser with all the baby shower gifts I give in the future. Thanks for enlightening us.

Dielle said...

Yeah, I used a magic eraser on our walls, floors and dishwasher when a 2yo Trey used a big, black PERMANENT marker on them. And then I used a bunch of them to clean 30 years of grime from our textured wallpaper in our Tacoma living room when we were selling our house. Sadly, I had no idea that the wallpaper was supposed to actually be white, until shortly before then when I was cleaning (again w/ the magic eraser) some crayon off of it. The eraser is also great for taking the burned on stuff off of my glass-top stove.