A rainbow in my dishwasher

Every time I open my dishwasher, I am greeted with a rainbow of color.

Real estate on the top rack is extremely hard to come by, because it is usually packed to the gills with Take n' Toss containers, cups and lids.

And don't even get me started on the mass plastic confusion in my cupboard. The cupboard which used to have plenty of room for our glasses, plates and bowls. These days, plastic rules the day in there.

Do I like the convenience of these containers? Yes.

Do I miss my dishwasher and cupboard space? Yes. Oh yes.

In fact, I seem to remember a time when we would go one or two entire days between dishwasher cycles. I don't know. It's kinda hazy, but I seem to remember that happening quite often. 

And I'm pretty sure there were very few plastic rainbows involved. 

Waffling on the issue

Many of you know how much we Rayguns love a good pancake.

Well, there's a new breakfast food around here to love. I brought out the waffle iron this weekend, and it was a wild success. 

As I plugged it in, I was very doubtful about my waffling prowess. The last time I attempted them, the batter basically just glued itself to the waffle iron and did not result in anything remotely edible. (I think it was too thin.) And boy howdy -- getting glued-on batter off a waffle iron is no easy task. I was so disheartened, I put the appliance away and it hasn't seen the light of day for two whole years.

This weekend, I summoned my courage and made some whole wheat oatmeal pancakes. The batter did not turn to glue! We could actually eat the results! Success!

But I'm a little sad for my friend the pancake. I think my trusty pancake recipes will be put on the back burner for a while, and my griddle may get a little dusty.

But it's time the waffle iron and I get re-acquainted.

Yummy (and easy) homemade granola!

I love granola.

I DON'T love how durn expensive it is.

But you know what? Oats are cheap. Especially when you buy them in bulk. Add in a few pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, sliced almonds and currants -- and you've got all you need to make cheap (and less sugary) granola at home.

It's great as straight up cereal, and Kellan and I especially love to sprinkle it on our yogurt.

Now, the best thing about the way I made mine, is that I employed the use of my handy dandy slow cooker. I'm convinced it's the way to go for making granola at home, because the oats and whatnot are much less like to scorch. You still have to stir it a lot, but the risk of scorching is much lower. Plus, stirring a big pot of oats is a lot easier than stirring the oats on a cookie sheet.

Once again, I cannot take credit for this recipe. I'm a follower of the CrockPot Guru (that's my name for her) Stephanie O'Dea and this is her recipe.

You're wearing THAT?

Oh, the things two year olds do. We're just venturing into the world of silly made-up stories and the costumes that come with them. It's something Kellan is genetically prone to, considering how much his daddy loved costumery as a little boy. Well, lets face it -- his daddy is still partial to a good costume, especially of the rock star variety.

Tonight while I was at work, Michael decided it was time for another search for his Mysterious Missing Bike Helmet. The MMBH has been MIA for weeks now, and it's really getting on Michael's nerves -- and mine -- because it apparently has magical abilities. It has simply disappeared.

While he was rooting around through various nooks and crannies in the garage, Kellan was quietly rooting around in Michael's bag of soccer gear, pulling out all of the pennies -- one, by one, by one. (Remember pennies? They're those little jerseys players often use to delineate who's who in a scrimmage.)

And what do you do with a brightly colored, silky (and probably kinda stinky) soccer accessory? Well, if you're a two-year-old, you put them on. Of course.

Although Kellan couldn't count how many he was wearing, (his counting goes something like, "One... two... seven... nine...") but Michael tallied up 18. Enough to outfit a whole team.

Sunday shopping madness

Why -- WHY -- do I set foot inside the grocery store on a Sunday afternoon???

Seems like at least half the people in town also choose to push a cart around in there on a Sunday. Nothing wrong with that...I just can't stand the crowds.

We made the fatal parenting error of not making sure we had the diaper bag with us when we left the house. And sure enough, when we arrived at our first stop, the library, Kellan had made a "deposit" in his diaper. So we had to cut the library visit short and hightail it to the store so we could get home and get that diaper changed.

When we got to the store, I went ahead inside while Michael stayed in the car with Kellan who was finishing up a snack. Michael kept the car keys. I had a bad feeling about splitting up with them, but thought no, I'll just rush through faster without them.

Which I did. Didn't see them in the store at all, so I figured they just decided to stay in the car and wait for me.

So I rushed out to the car and....no one there. Plus, I had a cart full of groceries and no car keys. So I had to push my full cart back into the store -- back into the Sunday shopping madness -- to track them down. ARGH.

Oh, was I flustered. And frustrated. 

But the grocery gods must have been smiling on me at that moment -- the two of them were simply waiting near the checkout line, looking for me.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?" Michael asked.

"It's dead. Can I have the car keys?"

So I pushed my car out for the second time, unloaded the groceries, and resisted the urge to pull up to the front to pick them up after they paid for Michael's batch of groceries. Didn't want them to get lost, and then spend another 15 minutes wandering around looking for me. 

Lessons learned:

1. Don't split up from your husband during grocery shopping.
2. Make sure your cell phone is fully charged. REPEAT -- make sure your cell phone is fully charged. 
3. Take a freakin' diaper bag with you, for pete's sake.
4. Don't go shopping during the Sunday afternoon madness in the first place.

Taking on too much: beware the temptation!

So life has been a little crazy in the Raygun household. I've been working more than usual and we've all been sick. Plus, I'm juggling some mini-projects for a new little venture I've got planned (more on that later). With all that, I'm having a heck of a time trying to plan two coffee dates with friends that I haven't seen in person in FAR too long. 

Where does that leave me? Well, at the moment, it's 12:15 pm on a Saturday, my boys are at the soccer fields, and I'm trying to cram in as much work on the computer as I can while they're gone. Meanwhile, I'm surrounded by a quite messy house. There are piles of stuff everywhere, and it's driving me a little crazy! But I digress.

I came across this article while on the computer this morning, and I just have to share. I know so many of you loyal Raygun readers are busy moms like me, and this post is like a breath of fresh air. It helped me realize that all the stuff I'm trying to pack into my life right now might just be too much. So, I'm going to try to simplify a bit. At least in the short term, until life's pace slows down a bit.

Hope it helps you do the same. 

I shake my fist at you, social media!!!

ARGH.

Just when I thought I was getting over my Facebook obsession, I go and add another highly addictive social media application to my life.  Yes, I am on Twitter.

What the heck am I doing? I feel so hypocritical. I recall saying once, "Who cares if you're in line at the DMV? Do people really care about this stuff???"

Well, I'll admit...it is kinda interesting. Actually, it depends on the person it's coming from and the amount of "tweeting" they do. For example, I don't really care what my random follower in the UK is doing with his days (I don't even know who he is, how he found me, or why he's following me) but I DO care to read that Jimmy Fallon got home from work early and had to choose between playing video games and watching a DVD. Now THAT'S interesting. Heck, I kinda feel like we're pals! 

Hmm. I'm kinda sounding like a psycho stalker person. I promise I'm not.

I am certainly not well-equipped for regular tweeting -- I don't even text on my cell phone, for that matter -- but I am at a computer for 8 hours a day, most days. And for some reason, the company firewall doesn't block Twitter.  In fact, it's somewhat encouraged. Because the thought is, you post about your job and people are intrigued and follow you, which promotes the station....and so on.  

Hopefully I'll get over my little love affair. But right now, it's keeping me entertained at work. So that means it has some merit, right?

At least that's what I'm telling myself.

I'm still here

Hello readers. You may be wondering where I've gone. Well, I'm still here. Just so busy/tired/sick that I can't really squeeze in new blog posts right now. 

I've got a minor cold right now, and it's not a super awful one, but it's keeping me from doing much more than the basics to get through my day. 

Hopefully I'll be able to post something a little more interesting and/or meaningful in a day or two! 

Thanks for stopping by! More to come...

It's getting a little hairy around here

I haven't seen the inside of a hair salon in 3 months. 

This is what I'm lookin' like these days:


But this is how I feel like I'm lookin' most days:

I'm sure I'm not that bad. 

However.

This is the longest I've ever gone without a cut and color, and you know what? There is a LOT of gray on top of my head. In fact, those gray hairs are multiplying like rabbits. Rabbits, I tell you!!! (I was going to share some close-up photos to prove my point, but such zoomed-in shots of my scalp just looked too weird.)

I guess I've been coloring and covering up so long, I didn't realize just how many grays were mass producing beneath the fake pigment. Or perhaps -- and this thought freaks me out -- I'm so stressed lately that they really have been multiplying at an increased pace.

I guess I'll never really know. But I do know this -- my April 4 appointment can't come soon enough.

Yay for St. Patty's Day!

All right. I am super excited for St. Patrick's Day morning. Because I am going to make this again: 


Yep....what better day for a bright green smoothie! Seriously, if you have a banana, some milk, some vanilla and some kale in the house (well, that might warrant a run to the grocery store) you should seriously make the Kale and Banana smoothie. It is quite good and quite healthy. And extremely green.

And while we're on the topic of green, I have to send a big THANK YOU to Danielle for this:

I signed up to be a part of a pay it forward project she suggested on her blog, and this is the lovely package she sent me! She designed it all around the theme of being LUCKY, with a fantastic looking Irish-themed book, nice green Chapstick, and a Jason Mraz CD with one of her favorite songs, "Lucky."

Thanks, Danielle. I do feel lucky, indeed.

Found another one! It's typo time

I found this blatant typo last week and just didn't have time to post it.

If you saw the Idaho Statesman last weekend (can't remember if it was Saturday or Sunday), maybe you saw it too!

These managers, who annouce the layoffs, get stressed out, too

Maybe the Business section editor was too stressed to run a spell check!

A Legacy of Leading

In case you missed my subtle hints earlier this week, here it is -- the University of Idaho 'Legacy of Leading' 60 second spot I voiced last year.

Makes me a little nostalgic for my alma mater. I tend to get that way about U of I.




It wasn't really made to air on TV -- it is mostly shown to prospective students when they visit campus. Hopefully it's helping a few people choose the Vandal path!

Mystery revealed!

Okay, I know I didn't give you much time to guess the answer to the What Is It? post. But I just couldn't wait to tell you.

This, my friends, is a Kale and Banana Smoothie. Yes! You read that correctly! Kale and bananas -- together!

And guess what else?

It's actually quite good!

I know, I know... this looks absolutely horrendous.

But if you use young kale (as in small leaves, I suppose) it's not so bitter, and the banana overwhelms the taste of the veggie.

The other night, I pulled up the Kale and Banana Smoothie recipe, which I've been wanting to make for a while. Then I told Kellan he was getting a "treat", and he watched me whip it up with great anticipation.

Ta da!  He liked it! He really, really liked it!

He kept smacking his lips and saying, "Ahhh..." as if it was the most delicious treat ever. 

I was delighted to know I'd snuck one of the healthiest veggies in the world right by him. Hee hee!!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Here's to another happy and healthy year! Once you get over that awful flu bug, of course.

Love you!

What the heck is it???

Check this out!

Any idea what it is? Go ahead, take a guess.

I can't wait to tell you about it, but I'm too tired... I'll have to tell the story another time. 

But really! Take a guess! I wanna hear what you think...

DaviesMoore: A New Brand is Born

I try to keep talk of our careers out of the conversation here on The Rayguns. Well, except for all that freaking out I did a couple weeks ago about my big transition. But today is a big day for Michael, and I just have to point it out.

Yesterday was Michael's last day as an employee of MMG (Marketing Media Group).

Today he is VP of Brand Planning at DaviesMoore.

The new company is a blend of old and new in the Idaho advertising community; the oldest ad shop in the state is joining forces with the most aggressive, forward-thinking agency. From MMG and Davies Rourke to DaviesMoore. I think good things are in store. Very good things.

Anyway, check out the new website if you have a minute. There are some pretty sweet glam shots of Michael and the DM peeps on there. Like this one:

And, see if you can find one of my thumbprints on their site if you're really bored. I'll give you a hint: it's on their blog page.

Okay, another hint: you won't see me, but you'll hear me. 

All right, just one more hint: it has to do with my alma mater. 

If you can't find it now, you obviously can't mouse click your way out of a paper bag and I wash my hands of you. 

Anyway, cheers to DaviesMoore and a new chapter in Idaho advertising history!!!

Betty Baker I am not

I hope this post will be a reminder to me next year that I am not good at baking.

The things I bake almost always turn out to be yummy (like the Cranberry Banana Chocolate Bread I made last year...mmm), but I tend to have a leeeetle problem with handling baked goods once they're out of the oven.

And sadly, that's what came to pass on Saturday, 24 hours before Kellan's Pre-Birthday Birthday.

First, I found some excellent inspiration online -- a killer-looking red guitar cake.

Then I traced the outlines of all my cake pans and cut them out of a JC Penney flier so I would have some idea of how to cut them all once they came out of the oven. (Never mind the fact that I was petrified by the idea of having to squeeze them all into my freezer so they'd be easier to cut, and/or attempt something called a 'crumb coat.' Yikes.)

I had to split the cake mixing into batches, because I couldn't fit it all in my KitchenAid mixer! But after dividing and conquering, I got all of the batter into greased and floured pans. I'm pretty sure my fingers were actually crossed as I slid them into the oven.

Then it happened. 

I let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes after they were done baking, and figured it was time to turn them out on the racks.

It was not time.

One of the sheet cakes quite literally fell to pieces. I wasn't really surprised -- I had anticipated some kind of major cake-making failure during the process -- and actually, I'm a little glad it happened early on so I didn't spend a ton of time buying special little candies for decorating and stuff.

After cursing my stupidity, I developed a Plan B -- create a stencil and dust powdered sugar over the second sheet cake. And if that failed....well, I still had two rounds I could just stack and frost.

It only took me about 25 minutes to carve out the stencil from the sweet birthday posters we made to decorate the house with:

Cool huh? Michael designed it based on the cover for U2's new single, pictured below.

And here's what we ended up with:

I was pretty sad about how the powdered sugar started to melt. (The cake was too moist to handle the sugar. See? I told you what I actually bake is yummy.) But then I started to see the coolness of the effect. Kinda looks rock and roll, don't ya think?

Our baby is TWO!!

Two years ago today, around 8 in the morning, I felt like I'd just won the lottery.

My son was 4 hours old. He was fast asleep, and so was my husband. All our family had gone home to get a little shuteye, but I couldn't close my eyes. I couldn't believe that Kellan was here. Really, really here.

So I spent a couple of sleepless hours tossing a word around in my head that felt a little foreign at the time: 

MOMMY.

It's been an eventful couple of years. But I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Happy Birthday Kellan

A wonderful Pre-Birthday Birthday

Phew. The past 48 hours have been a whirlwind! My mom went into the hospital Saturday night for appendicitis (it was removed before it ruptured), and we had about 24 hours to put together Kellan's second birthday celebration. (The time change didn't help!) All things considered, however, I think it all came off pretty well. And most importantly, Kellan had a blast.

Here's a little highlight reel of his Pre-Birthday Birthday, starting with Sunday morning at Mama Hina's (Grandma Tina's) hospital room.

More birthday details to follow, once I've caught up on sleep!

Tylenol's apology

It's one thing to have a typo. It's another to have one in your own brand name.

You'd think if a customer pointed out such an egregious error, the company would be enormously grateful. Or you'd at least think the customer would get more than a canned response. That's exactly what Tylenol left in my inbox this morning.

Thank you for expressing your displeasure with one of our ads for Extra Strength TYLENOL® acetaminophen products.

All of our ads are researched thoroughly for consumer acceptance, but it is difficult to produce advertising that appeals to all tastes. Please accept our apology if you were offended.

We appreciate your taking the time to share your comments with us.

The Information Center

Apparently it is also difficult to produce advertising that correctly spells a product's brand name.

I wasn't so much offended as I was appalled.

No year's supply of Tylenol products for me, I guess!