You Are An Obsession, You're My Obsession..."

Thanks to sarah for the lovely award. Here are my obsessions:

1.) Having fun:
I think about my childhood and I remember having a LOT of fun, and laughing a lot. My parents liked to make everything fun for us, and taught us to seek out the humor in life. I remember a whipped cream fight with those reddi whip cans that broke out in the kitchen, when Amy's can exploded accidentally and sprayed my mom a little. So my mom sprayed back, and pretty soon we all were covered in whipped cream, and Amy's friend was holding my mom down as we sprayed whipped cream into the space between her eyelids and her glasses.

My dad was king inventor of games, and many of them ended with a hole in the wall somewhere, or something (or someone) being broken. We had numerous sock wars when folding laundry. We placed bets on who could move a playgound ball from the corner of the game room to the sticks and weeds in the living room, using the least amount of kicks. Everything was a game. We cheat. We play hard. We certainly don't play fair. If you are losing you are fair game for insults. There is always a chance for the loser to retaliate.

My mom once took a hose right into the house and totally soaked my dad, who had escaped inside to avoid a water fight in the yard. We were always allowed and encouraged to help cook, build, craft, paint, or be involved in whatever the current project was. We all played sports, sang in choirs, belonged to the local theater companies, and my parents made sure we were all involved in our siblings events and supported each other. Even with the large age gaps between us, I still consider my brothers and sisters to be some of my very best friends.

I am so glad to have memories like this, and I want my kids to remember that I did more than make them clean up toys and go to bed at 7:30. I obsess over whether or not I am providing them with the right balance of responsibility and fun...but mostly just that I am a fun mom.

2.) Lists:
I have to do lists, to call lists, to buy lists, to clean lists, to fix lists, to go lists...etc.
I make them constantly, and I use them constantly.
I love crossing things off a list, and I love throwing away a complete list.

3.) Food:
Is this your first time on my blog? No? No real need to elaborate then, but to humor Sarah who gave me this tag... I love food. I don't eat what I don't like, and I eat a LOT of what I do like. I am really really really looking forward to a Cafe Rio fajita grilled steak burrito with black beans, lime rice, and smothered in cheese and green sauce. yeah baby. I'll be having that more than once. If we can find the time and a car to use, which I doubt we will, but if we can...we will also trek over to Brookside (hi Breanne, yes if we come we will of course, pop over to your place after) for the best grilled ham and cheese on the planet, seasoned crinkle fries and a cherry flavored sprite.

My current food loves (meaning this week) are:
-anything I don't have to cook. I do love serving my family, but it is a real treat to have someone wait on me.
-tacos (thank you Jeru for helping me love them again)
-really really good salad (like the one at Gusanos with the mozzerella and really good buttermilk ranch)
-Oranges! I can't buy a good orange if it isn't between thanksgiving and new years, so I don't. Really. I do not purchase them outside of those 5-6 weeks, because they are always bad. Right now we are stocking up on oranges and cuties like they are going outta style...which, for us, they will in 3 weeks. LOVE them. I'm also loving orange juice right now. Tropicana some pulp homestlye premixed. Love it.
-all things pasta. Dear Pasta, where have you been all my life? How did I forget about you? Homemade lasagne? Loaded Baked Spaghetti? Can't get enough. Tomorrow I'll be experimenting and trying out a thai peanut angel hair pasta that I had once at Carrie's and have been craving all week. I'll let you know how it comes out....or if it comes up.
-Kasey's frogeye salad
-gingersnaps...the soft kind, covered in cinnamon and sugar. I've now got a great recipe, but others have been making them and dropping them by for the holidays, and so far I haven't had to make them myself yet. I think I ate 6 of them today.
-avocados
i'm getting hungry, therefore this list could go on and on. I start talking about food and can't stop myself.

4.) My hair:
it's awful right now. awful. Not curly, not totally straight. bad length. Something should be done. I haven't had a cut in....I don't know, like 5 monthsmaybe longer. It's time. I am considering a good chop chop, but I can't because I need to be able to pull it into a ponytail when I'm throwing up all the good food I wasted in obsession #3. That part seems to be getting better though. I'm not losing weight this pregnancy, AND I have had days in the past few weeks where I don't throw up at all. So far, I feel very blessed that this pregnancy has been so fantastic. I have my 20 week ultrasound right after new years, so let's hope this baby cooperates and shows us a little somethin'-somethin'.

5.) Menu:
I like having a menu for the week. I am very particular (see also cheap, tight) about my grocery budget, and without a menu, that doesn't fly. I've been fairly lazy about cooking regular decent meals since I've been sick, but now that I'm feeling a little better, we are getting life back on track. I like new recipes that aren't weird, and try to have one new thing every week or two...even if it's just a variation of something we usually make. Gotta have a menu. Even if I plan on serving frozen pizza (digiorno cheese stuffed crust is the best in that dept. btw) it still goes on the menu.

6.) Goals:
I set the goal, and can sometimes become obsessed until it's complete. I like to track progress in a journal. I try to have 3 or 4, but usually focus on one or two until they are complete, before I really put much effort into the others. Most of my goals are private, and therefore I do not share them on the blog. You already get to hear most of my embarrassing moments here...I think that makes us close enough.

7.) Smells:
I smell everything. Not always by choice. I just have an incredibly sensitive sense of smell. Don't sit by me if you are wearing musky perfume, a lot of leather, Aussie hairspray, if you have bad breath, a poopy diaper, burned popcorn, broken the belt on your vacuume, just ran 5 miles (or climbed a flight of stairs...whatever makes you schwetty...don't sit by me if you have B.O.) if you use moth balls for anything anywhere in your home, if you are a smoker, or if you sharted recently and haven't excused yourself to go take care of it (ok, if you have a habit of sharting...just don't sit by me ever).
I can tell pretty much as soon as I walk into a house if there are cats there...especially the naughty kind that spray your stuff. Anyone can smell that, but to me the smell is so strong I often can't stay in the house. Gross. My OB thinks my strong sense of smell has a lot to do with the Hyperemesis Gravidarium symptoms that I eperienced with the last two pregnancies. If that's true, then why didn't it last as long this time? My nose certainly didn't break. My friend, Connie laughs because I see her every wednesday night, and I can often guess where she went out to dinner by smelling her sweater. If it was Maria's, I can smell it when I walk in the room. Mmmm Maria's...

I haven't been able to focus real well on this post since the food obsession part. I keep thinking about the dinner I should be preparing instead of blogging. Aaron will be home in 15 minutes and I have eggs to nest, juice to pour, and a polska kielbasa to sautee.