Chicken in Coconut Milk
(In Bengal, this dish is known as murgi malai, and in the Bengali language, the word murgi means chicken and malai is cream, either dairy or coconut. Coconut is a favourite ingredient of the region, and it grows in adundant supply in Bengal, Orissa and Assam.)
1 Tbsp ground almonds
1 Tbsp desiccated (dry, unsweetened shredded coconut
2/3 cup coconut milk
2/3 cup fromage frais or ricotta cheese
11/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chilli pepper
1 tsp crushed garlic
11/2 tsp grated fresh root ginger
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb chicken breast fillets, skinned and cubed
3 green cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
1 dried red chilli, crushed
2 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
Dry roast the almonds and coconut in a wok, karahi or large pan, until they turn a shade darker. Transfer the mixture to a large glass bowl.
(cook's tip: fromage frais and ricotta cheese are used here in order to reduce the fat content. For a more authentic taste and aroma, use extra coconut milk.)
Add the coconut milk, Fromage frais or ricotta cheese, ground coriander, chilli powder, garlic, ginger and salt to the bowl. Mix together well.
Heat the vegetable oil in the pan, and add the chicken cubes, cardamom pods and bay leaf. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes to seal the chicken.
Pour in the coconut mixture and stir well. Lower the heat, add the chilli and coriander, then cover and cook for 10-12 minutes, stiffing occasionally to prevent the contents from sticking to the pan. Uncover the pan, then stir and cook for 2 minutes more. Classic Pulao would make a good accompaniment (which is a good tasting rice.. if you want the recipe let me know and I'll give it to you).
FYI-- (For 10 whole pods substitute 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom OR substitute ground cinnamon, or combine half cinnamon and half nutmeg)
From Best-ever Curry over 150 great curries from India and Asia Cookbook
27 February 2010
25 February 2010
dancing on public toilets
I put this on Facebook the other day, but for those who don't look at my facebook status (mom... ) i thought i'd share.
Last night i had to explain to Abby "no abby, we do not go in a public BATHROOM to DANCE on the TOILET!!...just go pee! and STOP DANCING!... and STOP TOUCHING THE TOILET SEAT!!".... seriously kid? who dances on a public toilet seat????????
... only my child
Last night i had to explain to Abby "no abby, we do not go in a public BATHROOM to DANCE on the TOILET!!...just go pee! and STOP DANCING!... and STOP TOUCHING THE TOILET SEAT!!".... seriously kid? who dances on a public toilet seat????????
... only my child
Grandpa Smith
We were able to see my old man, i mean dad (aka grandpa smith) :) in the airport for an hour or so today. Enjoyed seeing him. I'd been trying to talk up grandpa all week so she'd be ready to meet him. All week she's been excited to see him and then at the airport she wanted nothing to with him. :( Even with all the bribing-- nothing. But she did hold his hand and with persuasion, she sat on his lap for picture.
Some day she'll enjoy being around her grandpa. We miss him and grandma smith too!
Here's some photo. sorry they're not that great. they were taken from my phone in a busy dark area. :(
Some day she'll enjoy being around her grandpa. We miss him and grandma smith too!
Here's some photo. sorry they're not that great. they were taken from my phone in a busy dark area. :(
14 February 2010
Gong Xi Fa Cai-- Xin Nian Kuai le!!! Happy Chinese New Year
It's been 6 years since i've been able to celebrate chinese new year in china. And for some reason, this year i missed it more than ever. Maybe it's because this year is the year of the tiger-- my year.
I miss the fireworks going off continuously during the night making it sound like you were in a war zone. I miss lighting them off myself. There's nothing better than the rush you get after running away from dropping a huge ball of dynomite down a tube. Especially since the chinese fireworks have a high chance of going off wrong and making the night more interesting than you thought it was going to be. I can't even count how many times my friends, family and i had to put out trees, fields, cars, skating rinks, and hair. I miss the food, the red lanterns, and the energy that you feel during chinese new year. And all of this I was missing this year more than ever.
I wanted to throw a chinese new year party to help the home sickness but with andrew's senior project due this week and everything else going on it wasn't going to happen. SO... i went to the chinese cultural center with some friends and andrew and abby where they were celebrating the new year. It took off the edge of the homesickness by going to the festivities, but the celebration was really weak. Either way, I'm glad i went and had fun showing abby all the different things.
Here are some pictures we took. Happy Chinese New Year!
I miss the fireworks going off continuously during the night making it sound like you were in a war zone. I miss lighting them off myself. There's nothing better than the rush you get after running away from dropping a huge ball of dynomite down a tube. Especially since the chinese fireworks have a high chance of going off wrong and making the night more interesting than you thought it was going to be. I can't even count how many times my friends, family and i had to put out trees, fields, cars, skating rinks, and hair. I miss the food, the red lanterns, and the energy that you feel during chinese new year. And all of this I was missing this year more than ever.
I wanted to throw a chinese new year party to help the home sickness but with andrew's senior project due this week and everything else going on it wasn't going to happen. SO... i went to the chinese cultural center with some friends and andrew and abby where they were celebrating the new year. It took off the edge of the homesickness by going to the festivities, but the celebration was really weak. Either way, I'm glad i went and had fun showing abby all the different things.
Here are some pictures we took. Happy Chinese New Year!
A great date
We finally went on a date. it's been a while, but it was great.
We hiked up camelback mtn. in the middle of phoenix, az. It took us two hours to climb. the state website calls it strenuous.... meh... a little for those of us who are out of shape (me) and for parts of it you're climbing up the mountain via a pole that's been planted there... with slight rock climbing-- not really, but kind of. It only took us 20 minutes to get down, after two hours of climbing it.
After hiking we ate a feast of indian food-- yum... and then we watched avatar. good exercise + good food + great movie = Faboulous evening or happy mama. :)
here's some pictures.
We hiked up camelback mtn. in the middle of phoenix, az. It took us two hours to climb. the state website calls it strenuous.... meh... a little for those of us who are out of shape (me) and for parts of it you're climbing up the mountain via a pole that's been planted there... with slight rock climbing-- not really, but kind of. It only took us 20 minutes to get down, after two hours of climbing it.
After hiking we ate a feast of indian food-- yum... and then we watched avatar. good exercise + good food + great movie = Faboulous evening or happy mama. :)
here's some pictures.
More canning
I just wanted to share this picture with you guys.
This last week, i ended up making/bottling ketchup, applesauce (well, it was strawberry apple sauce, pear and strawberry applesauce (without the apple) and spiced apple sauce), and italian sauce.
Here's some of the spices i infused into apple cider vinegar to make ketchup:
This last week, i ended up making/bottling ketchup, applesauce (well, it was strawberry apple sauce, pear and strawberry applesauce (without the apple) and spiced apple sauce), and italian sauce.
Here's some of the spices i infused into apple cider vinegar to make ketchup:
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| From bottling |
Fire!
I tend to be a magnet for fire. Just ask any of the counselors i had for yw AND YM growing up.
Once again there was no exception. This time, however i can proudly say "It wasn't me"! I got home from a singing group for kids Abby's age (music makers) and decided to hoe my front yard. i know you're thinking hoe? really? your front yard is only rocks.... none the less we've had a lot of rain and it needed to be weeded/hoed. It turns out that it was a prompting I'm glad i followed.
I started to hoe and all of the sudden i saw smoke on the side of our house. I ran into my house to see where it was coming from and then had a slight very small chuckle (as I was thinking there's no way i started this fire, because i haven't done dishes in weeks. and because i haven't done dishes in weeks, there's no way i could be cooking because i don't have anything to cook with it's all in the sink dirty!). then RAN outside and started pounding on my neighbor's door.
She's a small 60 year old women who often is by herself. It took her a while to hear me, then i heard her turn off the vacuum... and 2 minutes later she came to the door. She had no idea there was a fire in her house until she heard me pounding on the door, looked up and realized there was smoke everywhere!! She had gotten out her fire extinguisher, blown out the fire and then quickly got the door. I came in side to help and realized she still had the stove on that had started the fire and hadn't moved anything around... so i stuck my hand over the hot stove that had melting plastic dripping on it, turned off the stove, moved the things by it and then started to open the windows of her house for her. She had completely melted out her microwave that was above the stove. Her cupboards were seconds away from being up in flames and her house was covered top to bottom in soot. And her alarms were going off like crazy.
She forgot she had put something on the stove for lunch and it started the fire. And she couldn't smell the fire or hear the alarms because she had the tv blasting, and she was vacuuming.... The fire department never came, but we didn't really need them.
It burned my lungs and nose to be in the house for too long from the plastic burning. I insisted that she come to my house to call the insurance and her husband and such. She did, and had to be out of her house for two and a half weeks! They had to replace her stove, microwave, fridge and cupboards. clean out the air ducts and other vents and such in her house and repaint the whole main floor, plus clean the carpet (they might have had to replace it, i can't remember).
Fortuntly, her house didn't burn down! and for the fist time, i didn't start the fire, but i did finish it!
Once again there was no exception. This time, however i can proudly say "It wasn't me"! I got home from a singing group for kids Abby's age (music makers) and decided to hoe my front yard. i know you're thinking hoe? really? your front yard is only rocks.... none the less we've had a lot of rain and it needed to be weeded/hoed. It turns out that it was a prompting I'm glad i followed.
I started to hoe and all of the sudden i saw smoke on the side of our house. I ran into my house to see where it was coming from and then had a slight very small chuckle (as I was thinking there's no way i started this fire, because i haven't done dishes in weeks. and because i haven't done dishes in weeks, there's no way i could be cooking because i don't have anything to cook with it's all in the sink dirty!). then RAN outside and started pounding on my neighbor's door.
She's a small 60 year old women who often is by herself. It took her a while to hear me, then i heard her turn off the vacuum... and 2 minutes later she came to the door. She had no idea there was a fire in her house until she heard me pounding on the door, looked up and realized there was smoke everywhere!! She had gotten out her fire extinguisher, blown out the fire and then quickly got the door. I came in side to help and realized she still had the stove on that had started the fire and hadn't moved anything around... so i stuck my hand over the hot stove that had melting plastic dripping on it, turned off the stove, moved the things by it and then started to open the windows of her house for her. She had completely melted out her microwave that was above the stove. Her cupboards were seconds away from being up in flames and her house was covered top to bottom in soot. And her alarms were going off like crazy.
She forgot she had put something on the stove for lunch and it started the fire. And she couldn't smell the fire or hear the alarms because she had the tv blasting, and she was vacuuming.... The fire department never came, but we didn't really need them.
It burned my lungs and nose to be in the house for too long from the plastic burning. I insisted that she come to my house to call the insurance and her husband and such. She did, and had to be out of her house for two and a half weeks! They had to replace her stove, microwave, fridge and cupboards. clean out the air ducts and other vents and such in her house and repaint the whole main floor, plus clean the carpet (they might have had to replace it, i can't remember).
Fortuntly, her house didn't burn down! and for the fist time, i didn't start the fire, but i did finish it!
New Calling
After ut-id, I got home and told andrew that if any one calls to tell them i'm not home. For some reason I had a feeling things were going to get busy. and they did... REALLY busy. And even though "i wasn't home"... i was busy.
However, despite trying to hide from the busy world, i STILL managed to get another calling. (i'm glad i have callings, but isn't it amazing how you can avoid all the right ppl and things and STILL get called??)
I now have a 3rd calling in our ward. I work with Andrew as family history consultants. Well... he's the consultant and i am the committee... my 2nd calling is Relief Society Committee-- I get to help plan and do the RS Activities. And my 3rd is Camp Director for this years girl's camp! yay! (i'm excited for camping! i hope it turns out well! i'm especially grateful to be out of the heat for a while during july in phx).
However, despite trying to hide from the busy world, i STILL managed to get another calling. (i'm glad i have callings, but isn't it amazing how you can avoid all the right ppl and things and STILL get called??)
I now have a 3rd calling in our ward. I work with Andrew as family history consultants. Well... he's the consultant and i am the committee... my 2nd calling is Relief Society Committee-- I get to help plan and do the RS Activities. And my 3rd is Camp Director for this years girl's camp! yay! (i'm excited for camping! i hope it turns out well! i'm especially grateful to be out of the heat for a while during july in phx).
Utah-Idaho
Still catching up on life!
After Christmas I had planned to go up to UT-ID for a while to see Nikki's (one of my best friends growing up) wedding and my family that was hanging out up in ID. I meant to leave Sat night/Sunday Morning so that i could get there and not be rushed with family and a wedding... but I turned out to be too sick to leave. I finally stopped feeling like i had the stomach flu Monday and tried to leave that night but lost my keys. I spent the whole day taring apart my house trying to find my keys. At 4am, i gave up and finally went to bed. I had a dream that night that I went downstairs walked in to our front room, and in the cracks of our couch, got my keys and left to UT. I woke up... it was 6:30am. I went downstairs, looked in the cracks of our couch and low and behold, there were my keys!! I had prayed and prayed and searched and searched and couldn't find my keys. I'm glad I finally decided to go to bed because if i hadn't, i don't think i would have found them. Thank goodness for personal revelation.
I got on the road and finally left that morning. It was sunny, warm and beautiful. The weather said 10% chance of snow all the way up to ID. But.... after flag staff i ran into a blizzard. I was following a car a decent speed-- not too fast but not too slow. I had passed the grand canyon and not too long after i hit black ice. My poor AZ tires couldn't handle the fish tailing at all. and all of the sudden i saw Abby's side of the car going right towards the road post. i turned my wheels and barely missed it. i thought i was going back on track and then my car took a turn and i ended up doing 180s down the road in the on coming lane. Missing several road posts and signs... going back and forth between the right lane and the on coming lane. then as i was starting to go back into the on coming lane (not good, and it was dark) i saw semi lights coming in my direction. Scared and not wanting to die, i had what i like to call a "Jesus take the wheel moment" (you know, from the Carrie Underwood song). i slammed on my brakes twisted my wheel and hoped for the best. I landed in a small ditch. I barely missed the semi... and i scared the living crap out of the man who was behind me. He was worried I wouldn't be able to get out of the ditch and so was the semi who saw it. But, after i took a deep breathe, watched the semi pass, i was able to amazingly drive out of the ditch make a u-ie and get on my way. Abby wasn't screaming and she didn't seem scared through it all-- so that was helpful. My airbags are now not working because of that little... incident. They didn't pop out, but they should have-- thank goodness they didn't though. I stopped in the next town to put my self back together.
This really didn't help the fact that i needed to be at a wedding in UT the next morning. I drove back up... my baby sitters (my brother's and sisters) were in ID but it was so late that i tried to stay in UT that night because it was also still snowing and my windshield wipers weren't working and my tires weren't driving on the snow well. but no one was answering their phones in UT...
i ended up driving through the night up to ID. Stayed for an hour to shower and then turned around to try and make it to Nikki's wedding with all the snow. I ended up hitting MORE snow and bad stand still traffic. I prayed while i drove and prayed some more that I'd make it in enough time to see Nikki get married but the odds were against me. I missed it. :( I tried so hard Nikki-- sorry!
But I saw her afterward for a split moment. (You were a beautiful bride!!-- Allen definitely found a good catch!)
I definitely said a prayer, thanked my Heavenly Father for letting me come out this trip safe and alive. I know there was heavenly help finding my keys and safely landing in that ditch.
Abby LOVED the snow! At first she was telling me that the snow was an "uh oh" but i told her it wasn't an uh oh and that it was supposed to be like that. After that she was fine with it completely. i didn't mind it as long as i wasn't driving in it with my car. :) Impressively, Abby started going down mom and dad's front hill by herself! She doesn't however like to be hit in the face with snow balls. :)
Here are some pictures from the trip:
After Christmas I had planned to go up to UT-ID for a while to see Nikki's (one of my best friends growing up) wedding and my family that was hanging out up in ID. I meant to leave Sat night/Sunday Morning so that i could get there and not be rushed with family and a wedding... but I turned out to be too sick to leave. I finally stopped feeling like i had the stomach flu Monday and tried to leave that night but lost my keys. I spent the whole day taring apart my house trying to find my keys. At 4am, i gave up and finally went to bed. I had a dream that night that I went downstairs walked in to our front room, and in the cracks of our couch, got my keys and left to UT. I woke up... it was 6:30am. I went downstairs, looked in the cracks of our couch and low and behold, there were my keys!! I had prayed and prayed and searched and searched and couldn't find my keys. I'm glad I finally decided to go to bed because if i hadn't, i don't think i would have found them. Thank goodness for personal revelation.
I got on the road and finally left that morning. It was sunny, warm and beautiful. The weather said 10% chance of snow all the way up to ID. But.... after flag staff i ran into a blizzard. I was following a car a decent speed-- not too fast but not too slow. I had passed the grand canyon and not too long after i hit black ice. My poor AZ tires couldn't handle the fish tailing at all. and all of the sudden i saw Abby's side of the car going right towards the road post. i turned my wheels and barely missed it. i thought i was going back on track and then my car took a turn and i ended up doing 180s down the road in the on coming lane. Missing several road posts and signs... going back and forth between the right lane and the on coming lane. then as i was starting to go back into the on coming lane (not good, and it was dark) i saw semi lights coming in my direction. Scared and not wanting to die, i had what i like to call a "Jesus take the wheel moment" (you know, from the Carrie Underwood song). i slammed on my brakes twisted my wheel and hoped for the best. I landed in a small ditch. I barely missed the semi... and i scared the living crap out of the man who was behind me. He was worried I wouldn't be able to get out of the ditch and so was the semi who saw it. But, after i took a deep breathe, watched the semi pass, i was able to amazingly drive out of the ditch make a u-ie and get on my way. Abby wasn't screaming and she didn't seem scared through it all-- so that was helpful. My airbags are now not working because of that little... incident. They didn't pop out, but they should have-- thank goodness they didn't though. I stopped in the next town to put my self back together.
This really didn't help the fact that i needed to be at a wedding in UT the next morning. I drove back up... my baby sitters (my brother's and sisters) were in ID but it was so late that i tried to stay in UT that night because it was also still snowing and my windshield wipers weren't working and my tires weren't driving on the snow well. but no one was answering their phones in UT...
i ended up driving through the night up to ID. Stayed for an hour to shower and then turned around to try and make it to Nikki's wedding with all the snow. I ended up hitting MORE snow and bad stand still traffic. I prayed while i drove and prayed some more that I'd make it in enough time to see Nikki get married but the odds were against me. I missed it. :( I tried so hard Nikki-- sorry!
But I saw her afterward for a split moment. (You were a beautiful bride!!-- Allen definitely found a good catch!)
I definitely said a prayer, thanked my Heavenly Father for letting me come out this trip safe and alive. I know there was heavenly help finding my keys and safely landing in that ditch.
Abby LOVED the snow! At first she was telling me that the snow was an "uh oh" but i told her it wasn't an uh oh and that it was supposed to be like that. After that she was fine with it completely. i didn't mind it as long as i wasn't driving in it with my car. :) Impressively, Abby started going down mom and dad's front hill by herself! She doesn't however like to be hit in the face with snow balls. :)
Here are some pictures from the trip:
08 February 2010
Christmas
The house was a disaster because had an unexpected trip into Phoenix the evening before. I ended up coming down with the stomach flu, and was doing my best to even be there for opening presents. Andrew was sulking.. but Abby LOVED it! This was the first Christmas that she finally connected with the idea of unwrapping and gifts. Despite being sick it was fun to watch her. She came down before I was done wrapping presents (but i was pretty much done... the stockings were stuffed and ready and the room was pretty much ready... ) She saw it all and was stoked! she sat on her new bike, I had JUST finished putting together. She saw all the colour wonders and gifts and her eyes got big. Some how I was able to convince her to go back to sleep as it was 4:30 am. But even I had a hard time going back to sleep after seeing her reaction.
Over all christmas was great though. I spent most of it sleeping and being ignored by andrew. But that evening, we had our friends the Lawton's come over as well as the missionaries for dinner. I didn't want to cancel christmas dinner even though I was sick... So andrew picked up the house and I made dinner. The feast was tasty, the friends were warm, the missionaries had fun and I think they liked that I had a stocking all made up for them. I was still sick but not as bad and Andrew put aside his disappointment his disagreement with my dirty trick to enjoy having friends over.
Here's some pictures.
Over all christmas was great though. I spent most of it sleeping and being ignored by andrew. But that evening, we had our friends the Lawton's come over as well as the missionaries for dinner. I didn't want to cancel christmas dinner even though I was sick... So andrew picked up the house and I made dinner. The feast was tasty, the friends were warm, the missionaries had fun and I think they liked that I had a stocking all made up for them. I was still sick but not as bad and Andrew put aside his disappointment his disagreement with my dirty trick to enjoy having friends over.
Here's some pictures.
Dirty Trick
So then there's Christmas... what you get for Christmas is a supposed to be a surprise, right?
Well... someone in this household doesn't think so. :)
We got Andrew a pressure washer + accessories and clothes for him for Christmas. He knew he was getting the pressure washer, as I had him look at before I bought it off of www.woot.com, I didn't want to buy a big gift and not have it be what he wanted (which is typical when buying for engineer). He saw me order it and was expecting its arrival.
Things must have gotten pretty crazy for him, because it came during Thanksgiving and sat in a box by the front door with a picture of what it was on the side of the box for a couple of weeks without him noticing, even when I told him it came. I also mentioned to him that I bought him clothes... but he failed to remember that conversation. (He was working nights... so I'll give him that-- when he worked nights he wasn't always completely conscience during the day time hours, in between work and school.)
Finally after telling him and having it sitting around, he asked "so did that pressure washer come yet? are you going to buy me clothes?" It'd been right in front of him the whole time and because he didn't notice.. i couldn't help but play along. I told him the pressure washer hadn't come yet and I bought a size 30 x 30 pants that he wanted. He was outraged! Christmas was in a week and he's definitely not a 30 x 30 (so he thought i bought him the wrong size clothes) and his big gift wasn't there yet. He consistantly asked me every day all week if it had come and i told him no. In the mean time while he was at work and school, i had moved the box, wrapped it and hid in our neighbor's garage so it'd be a good surprise.
The day before christmas Andrew asked again and I said that it had been back ordered and wouldn't be here. He was shocked and devistated... I had no idea Christmas was such a big deal to him. He made me drop what I was doing at 4 in the evening on Christmas eve and drive into phoenix to go to home depot to look for a last minute gift because he wanted something to open on xmas. when we got there it had JUST closed and we couldnt look around. so then we went to lowe's and it had also JUST closed... so then we drove home (Andrew was just heart broken, sad and disappointed... i didn't know whether to keep playing along because I felt bad to see him so miserable, or to just keep going... ). I decided to keep going along with the joke. I was trying my hardest not to laugh and smile, as he was so sad. We went to Walmart and it closed in 10 minutes... so we walked around quickly trying to find something... He couldn't find anything he liked there (no surprise)... and we went home empty handed.
Instead of doing our usual, reading the scriptures and books and singing on christmas eve, then wrapping while Abby's asleep.. He sulked on the couch doing nothing and retired to bed early. ... while leaving ME with a lot of wrapping to do alone and I was feeling like I was coming down with something. I called the neighbor and grabbed the present from the garage after he went to sleep and snuck it underneath the piano in the back.
He didn't wake up early or even want to wrap my presents-- why should i have presents when he didn't have any? (and I'd like to note that i bought MYSELF my presents... which he could have done too) We opened present after present. I made sure to give him the accessories and NOT the pressure washer. "He kept saying, great another part for something i don't have..." and he threw his clothes on the couch not even looking at the size!! I told him he better go back and look at those sizes again. Sure enough they were the right size!!!!!! he was soooo mad. Does he REALLY think I'm THAT stupid??
then... when almost all the gifts were finished, i asked him to come help me with this last gift as I was feeling too sick to lift. he didn't even notice the HUGE box behind the piano. He came over grudgingly and looked at it. Opened it up... and found the pressure washer.
.....
He was so mad, he didn't talk to me for the rest of the day. Apparently someone feels you should know your presents before Christmas. :)
He went to work and told his co workers about my dirty trick and took a vote. 8 out of 10 thought I was in the right to not tell him. 1.5 thought it was wrong and mean, but .5 thought it was wrong and mean, but still fine as you're not supposed to know your presents. after finding out that 8 out of 10 thought it was fine, he gave in and stopped being mad at me.
Well... someone in this household doesn't think so. :)
We got Andrew a pressure washer + accessories and clothes for him for Christmas. He knew he was getting the pressure washer, as I had him look at before I bought it off of www.woot.com, I didn't want to buy a big gift and not have it be what he wanted (which is typical when buying for engineer). He saw me order it and was expecting its arrival.
Things must have gotten pretty crazy for him, because it came during Thanksgiving and sat in a box by the front door with a picture of what it was on the side of the box for a couple of weeks without him noticing, even when I told him it came. I also mentioned to him that I bought him clothes... but he failed to remember that conversation. (He was working nights... so I'll give him that-- when he worked nights he wasn't always completely conscience during the day time hours, in between work and school.)
Finally after telling him and having it sitting around, he asked "so did that pressure washer come yet? are you going to buy me clothes?" It'd been right in front of him the whole time and because he didn't notice.. i couldn't help but play along. I told him the pressure washer hadn't come yet and I bought a size 30 x 30 pants that he wanted. He was outraged! Christmas was in a week and he's definitely not a 30 x 30 (so he thought i bought him the wrong size clothes) and his big gift wasn't there yet. He consistantly asked me every day all week if it had come and i told him no. In the mean time while he was at work and school, i had moved the box, wrapped it and hid in our neighbor's garage so it'd be a good surprise.
The day before christmas Andrew asked again and I said that it had been back ordered and wouldn't be here. He was shocked and devistated... I had no idea Christmas was such a big deal to him. He made me drop what I was doing at 4 in the evening on Christmas eve and drive into phoenix to go to home depot to look for a last minute gift because he wanted something to open on xmas. when we got there it had JUST closed and we couldnt look around. so then we went to lowe's and it had also JUST closed... so then we drove home (Andrew was just heart broken, sad and disappointed... i didn't know whether to keep playing along because I felt bad to see him so miserable, or to just keep going... ). I decided to keep going along with the joke. I was trying my hardest not to laugh and smile, as he was so sad. We went to Walmart and it closed in 10 minutes... so we walked around quickly trying to find something... He couldn't find anything he liked there (no surprise)... and we went home empty handed.
Instead of doing our usual, reading the scriptures and books and singing on christmas eve, then wrapping while Abby's asleep.. He sulked on the couch doing nothing and retired to bed early. ... while leaving ME with a lot of wrapping to do alone and I was feeling like I was coming down with something. I called the neighbor and grabbed the present from the garage after he went to sleep and snuck it underneath the piano in the back.
He didn't wake up early or even want to wrap my presents-- why should i have presents when he didn't have any? (and I'd like to note that i bought MYSELF my presents... which he could have done too) We opened present after present. I made sure to give him the accessories and NOT the pressure washer. "He kept saying, great another part for something i don't have..." and he threw his clothes on the couch not even looking at the size!! I told him he better go back and look at those sizes again. Sure enough they were the right size!!!!!! he was soooo mad. Does he REALLY think I'm THAT stupid??
then... when almost all the gifts were finished, i asked him to come help me with this last gift as I was feeling too sick to lift. he didn't even notice the HUGE box behind the piano. He came over grudgingly and looked at it. Opened it up... and found the pressure washer.
.....
He was so mad, he didn't talk to me for the rest of the day. Apparently someone feels you should know your presents before Christmas. :)
He went to work and told his co workers about my dirty trick and took a vote. 8 out of 10 thought I was in the right to not tell him. 1.5 thought it was wrong and mean, but .5 thought it was wrong and mean, but still fine as you're not supposed to know your presents. after finding out that 8 out of 10 thought it was fine, he gave in and stopped being mad at me.
07 February 2010
Pre Christmas
I finally have the computer for a bit so I thought it was time to update! It's been a while since I've been able to use the computer long enough to write-- Andrew's working on his senior project which is due on the 17th (my birthday). I can't WAIT for him to be done!, as I selfishly want his attention to be on me and not electronics. :)
We enjoyed our holiday season with friends, relatives and each other. We had a Ward Christmas party were Abby was able to meet Santa. She didn't like Santa very much. She got close enough to steal the candy cane out of his gloves and then keep her distance. She now calls every old man Santa. If you show her the picture of Heavenly Father and Jesus appearing to Joseph Smith in the Sacred grove she'll point at Heavenly Father and say "SANTA!!!!!" and now matter how hard i try to convince her it's not santa, she still thinks it's Santa. I have a feeling she might think Heavenly Father and Santa are one of the same.......
A few days before Christmas we were also able to make it over to the Mesa Temple and see all the Christmas lights and the annoyingly persistent missionaries on the temple grounds... seriously... I'm all about spreading the good word but there's a point when you're stalking and being too overbearing-- and there were a lot of missionaries there that didn't know when they crossed that line. On different note, we always enjoy going to see the lights each year and remembering our Saviour. I think next time we go it won't be so close to Christmas. It was more crowded than some places in China! Abby enjoyed it and didn't want to leave for dinner, but she was out voted.
Here's some pictures of the Ward Christmas party and Santa. Abby hung out with one of her friends, Bella, a good part of the time so she's in most of the pictures too. I tried to crop myself out of most of them-- didn't want to ruin the pictures. :) I think they had a great time at the ward party with finger paints, playing ring around the rosie and running from Santa being some highlights.
I also made these really cool cans to hand out to friends and neighbors for Christmas... unfortunately, I got sick and we ended up not handing them out when wanted to... :( But If I remember, I'll take a picture to show how cool they were.
We enjoyed our holiday season with friends, relatives and each other. We had a Ward Christmas party were Abby was able to meet Santa. She didn't like Santa very much. She got close enough to steal the candy cane out of his gloves and then keep her distance. She now calls every old man Santa. If you show her the picture of Heavenly Father and Jesus appearing to Joseph Smith in the Sacred grove she'll point at Heavenly Father and say "SANTA!!!!!" and now matter how hard i try to convince her it's not santa, she still thinks it's Santa. I have a feeling she might think Heavenly Father and Santa are one of the same.......
A few days before Christmas we were also able to make it over to the Mesa Temple and see all the Christmas lights and the annoyingly persistent missionaries on the temple grounds... seriously... I'm all about spreading the good word but there's a point when you're stalking and being too overbearing-- and there were a lot of missionaries there that didn't know when they crossed that line. On different note, we always enjoy going to see the lights each year and remembering our Saviour. I think next time we go it won't be so close to Christmas. It was more crowded than some places in China! Abby enjoyed it and didn't want to leave for dinner, but she was out voted.
Here's some pictures of the Ward Christmas party and Santa. Abby hung out with one of her friends, Bella, a good part of the time so she's in most of the pictures too. I tried to crop myself out of most of them-- didn't want to ruin the pictures. :) I think they had a great time at the ward party with finger paints, playing ring around the rosie and running from Santa being some highlights.
I also made these really cool cans to hand out to friends and neighbors for Christmas... unfortunately, I got sick and we ended up not handing them out when wanted to... :( But If I remember, I'll take a picture to show how cool they were.
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