You know, one of the challenges of being a work-at-home mom (with a business, since ALL moms work-at-home moms) is switching back and forth between business woman and mommy.

I caught myself saying to Sugar today, "Yes I would love to read you stories.  I’ve just got to make a quick phone call, shoot a quick email out and then you and I can get together."

Whaaaa?

As in, "Yes, I would love to get together with you for some stories and a quick facial.  What’s better for you, evenings or weekends?"

Sheesh. 

Just so you know, Rosie returned to us yesterday.

It was two days and nights of momma missing her kitty.

And I think it is time for a blogging break for me.  I think I am taking an internet vacation of sorts.  It’ll be at least a couple of weeks, maybe more.

Enjoy the snow! 

The first thing I noticed this morning was Engineer’s big, chappy lips.  They really looked puffy, red and well, chapped. 

Maybe his lack of lip hydration is what spurred him to push our cat Rosie, out the second storywindow this afternoon. 

Because I don’t know why else he would do such a thing.

Yep.  The cat is GONE and the fiver year old dunnit.  I sure hope she comes back, because if she is not in tonight, I really think she’s gonna get eaten. 

And my lips are starting to feel like Engineer’s look.  Raw.  I can see how the raw lips could push one over the edge… to want to push someone else over the edge.

I’m trying to make humor, but I really do hope my cat comes back soon. 

Is faux fur in right now?  Like on the fashion scene?  Because it is sooooo in at our house:

In fact, faux fur is so hot at our house, that the only time we are not wearing it, is when we are not wearing anything at all.  We scream when anyone tries to remove our fur, and we even have more than one outfit to meet our need to look like a wild animal:

Yes, we don’t have many words in our vocabulary here, but "coat" is definitely one of them.

Screaming, crying, begging, wanting to wear the "coat."  I heard Miss Spider screaming the other day, "Ma Ma, Ma Ma," and I came down to see her pointing angrily at her sister who was attempting to don the beloved jaguar outfit.

She definitely knows what she wants.

And when I asked the children this morning where their little sister was, they told me they were calling her R2 D2 (playing Star Wars:) ) and that R2 was upstairs.  What they should have said was she was upstairs dressed as a baby jaguar with the cutest little tail!

I want to get up earlier in the morning. 

The problem is, I don’t want get up early in the morning.

You see, I really love being up early.  In college, I even had a job where I got to work at 6:30 am.  I loved it.  I loved being awake before everyone else, and walking the empty campus halls.  It was great.  And I know I would love it now.  I know I could get a lot done in the wee hours, even, I dunno, get a workout in.

But, I really love to sleep.

And I have tried going to bed early, I really have, but I end up just sleeping until the same time.

Suggestions?  

Do I just need to resolve my inner conflict?

Oh, and just so Emily knows, I am not ignoring your tag.  I just forgot.  Next post! 

How cute are these?

Well, someone saw my post about Christmas and the good people over at peacelovemom.com have offered my readers a 10% discount on their orders between now and the end of February! 

So head on over to peacelovemom.com and get yourself some cute momma duds today!  Your coupon code is MOMMIVERSE  

Engineer loves egg nog.  Pronounced, "egg NUG," he asks for the beverage all year long, and is so gleeful when it arrives in the stores again in the fall.  He drinks it throughout the season, and his little 5th percentile body delights in its rich, fatty goodness.  He just can’t get enough.

Needless to say, he was very disappointed (read: hysterical) when in January we could no longer purchase egg nog from the store. 

The "good mommy" in me went on a quest to discover how to make it from scratch.

My internet search for "homemade egg nog recipe" found me little results.  The few recipes I did find, used raw eggs, and I just wasn’t super comfortable with that.  So I enlisted a few of my own dormant brain cells.

What is it about the "nug" that Engineer likes so much?  The texture?  The spices?

The spices were the easy part, and I knew I would start with milk as the base ingredient.  But what could both thicken and sweeten the milk at the same time?

And then I knew.

And so I present you with my recipe for homemade egg nog!  (My first self-created recipe!  I am so excited!)

The NUG

1 glass milk (8-10 ounces)

1 tsp (approximately) french vanilla instant pudding mix

1 dash each, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves 

Stir until thickened, or chill briefly.  Serve immediately (so it doesn’t get too thick)

 I know this recipe is a succes, because I asked Engineer to take a sip.  And he just kept on sipping.  I asked him what it was, and he looked at me with a big grin and said, "Egg NUG."

I am a friggin’ genius. 

I have a confession:

I like to do puzzles.

I also have a shocking revelation to share with you:

Doing any kind of puzzle that requires the use of the table for more than five minutes with children under the age of five in the house is, um… impossible.

Two days ago I walked into my home office/guestroom/craftroom/excerciseroom and found puzzle pieces all over the floor.  I recognized the puzzle as one I had never completed, yet attempted several times, and began picking up the pieces and putting them back in the box.  As I filled the box, I noticed it was getting rather full, and there were still a lot of pieces to be put in there. 

What the?

I noticed puzzle number two.

Crap.

I had been intermingling the tiny pieces of two separate 1000 piece puzzles.  The first thought that came to my mind was, I could totally put together these puzzles to figure out which pieces belong to which puzzle.  And then I had rational thoughts.

Lets talk time versus money.

As a Mom, I make approximately no money for my time working, but my time is still valuable.  If I paid someone else to my job, it would be a lot.  For practical purposes, and to make myself feel good, let’s say I am worth about mmm, $100 an hour.  To put together a 1000 piece puzzle takes let’s say, 10 hours.  (forget the fact that like I said earlier, it’s impossible anyway with small children, but we’re being theoretical right?)   If I were to put together the dollar store puzzle with the idea in my head that I spent good money on it, blah blah, I would make, in theory 10 cents an hour.  But we know it would take a lot more time to do both puzzles, especially not knowing which pieces belonged to which puzzle, so….

That would be like earning a tenth of a cent an hour.

And we know I am worth at least 100 dollars per hour.

We threw the rest of the puzzle pieces in the trash, and I feel strangely liberated.  It was going to be like 20 years before I got around to putting those together anyway. 

So, I am on the phone today, trying to rectify a Mary Kay prize situation.  The lady on the phone asked for my consultant number which happens to have the letters Z and F in it.  She wasn’t quite getting the letters, so she asks me to repeat them.

Me: Z

Her: As in?

Me: uhhh…. uhhh… Zoo..oo.ology?

Her: Okay, next letter?

Me: F… as in… (Frank?  Fart?  No, I can’t say F as in Fart, this is Mary Kay.) Frank?

I don’t know why I wanted to post this, but are there really not that many words that start with F? And what is that saying about me, that the second word I came up with was FART?  Seriously? 

Dear Mapquest,

I want to start this letter by thanking you for your many years of service to me.  I am, to put it politely, directionally challenged, and you, you have always been there to guide me.  You’ve been my north star, my guding light, my navigational friend.  I have been spared many a paper cut and painful map folding experiences because of you.  I have saved many a cell-phone minute, by not needing to call for directions, because of you.  We have had some good times, Mapquest. I amvery grateful to you, as many a time, I know I would have been lost without you. 

Excepting of course, the times, I was lost with you… or even because of you…

Unfortunately, dear, sweet Mapquest, as much as I have loved you, I am writing you this letter to let you know that you have been replaced in my life.   Yes, you heard me, you are being let go.  

You live in my computer, Mapquest, and though she is a laptop, my computer can’t go with me everywhere I go.   My computer doesn’t plug into my car and tune into you, Mapquest.  And as much as you give good directions, Mapquest, you do not have a lady voice that gives audible directions.  You have definitely been there for me, but never in my car telling me when I have made a wrong turn.  You don’t give that many alternate routes, Mapquest.  And when was the last time you found me a great parking garage or even some teriyaki, while I was out on the road?

I love you Mapquest.  My love is strong.  But there is a new, stronger love in my life.  BEHOLD!

OH!  Feel the power of the GPS!  So sleek.  So smooth.  So portable and tells-me-where-to-turnable.

Never to be lost again! 

And the giver?  Most, wonderful Charming.  Best Christmas Gift Giver, Charming.  Owns the key to my heart, Charming.  Never to sleep alone again! 

Mapquest, adieu!