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I have found it.  The perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe.  And I have made (and tasted) MANY chocolate chip cookie recipes.  This one rocks it out.  This was originally posted on Erin Cobb’s blog (my internet friend – yes, I’m a blog-stalker) in March.  I’m just getting around to giving it a go.  I’m so glad I did.  Yum.

Cookie Recipe

I think the key is parchment paper, which I’ve never used before.  The ingredients aren’t all that different than a normal recipe, so I’m going to tell myself that it’s the paper.  Wink, wink.

If you come by my house this week, I might share.  Maybe.

Last night on the way home from ballet, Samantha said “bucks and man.”  Or at least, that’s what I thought she said.  She said it several more times before I realized what she was saying.  Turns out, she was saying “Books-a-Million.”   We were driving by one of her favorite play places!  She loves to go there to play with Thomas and Friends!!

I got a letter in the mail today (well, technically, Brian got it, which still gets my goat*) from GM about a condition on some 2006 Pontiac G6 vehicles.  The electric power steering goes out.

My car has had that condition for several years now.  I crank up the car, the car beeps for a few seconds, then a display on the dash says “Power Steering.”  Until the power steering actually started locking up, I never did anything about it.  Over the last 6 months, it started locking up more frequently, so I knew I needed to part with my cash and finally get it fixed.  I got it fixed in July.  That’s a story for another day about picking up the car, feeding a toddler and a newborn and selling the house.  Sounds exciting, huh?

Along with getting the steering column replaced, they also worked on the tie rods.  Again.  Let’s see, and before that, it was replace the tie rods, replace the interior headliner, replace the interior sun visors, replace the battery (less than a year old doing freaky, random things like the clock resetting, changing from CD player to radio, alarm goes off, doors lock and unlock), and replace the interior headliner pins.  None of these things sounds like a big deal, but that’s a lot of trips to the mechanic on a brand new car.  Granted, my car is no longer brand new, but everything until now had been covered under the warranty.  I’m not even counting normal things like tires or oil changes.

This car has taught me not to buy another American car.  I thought I was doing the right thing by “Buying American.”  If buying American means taking my car to the mechanic at least once a year and listening to the creaks and groans of a new car because it’s a cheap product, I’m not interested.  No thanks.  I’ll go buy a quiet Japanese car that lasts forever.  Thank you, GM.  (But I’ll take my reimbursement on the steering column replacement.  Thank you, GM.)

*Brian’s name is registered to the G6.  I got news for you, GM:  I picked the car, I negotiated the deal on the car, I wrote the check for the car, I drive the car…it’s my car.  My husband doesn’t like my car.  Why is my husband’s name on all correspondence?  Because he’s a guy?  Grrr.  That really gets my goat.  Parents are People.

Samantha has been so excited to start ballet class this fall. We have been talking about it for a few weeks since we registered. She got some ballet shoes and tap shoes at the dance store. We’ve tried on several leotards to make sure they fit. The first class was upon us.

Samantha took a great nap after her rough night. (See a previous post.) She knows that on the days that she takes a nap, we celebrate by doing something fun. She can play on her computer, watch TV, or even go to the park. So, she woke up and with no prompting from me, wanted to go to the park. I asked her if she wanted to go to ballet. She screamed “NO! Go to Park!” Uh oh.

Now, if she were not feeling well and wanted to be a couch potato that night, I would have been cool with that. She was sick and hadn’t sleep well the night before. It was the first class -- what could we miss? However, since she was so insistent on going to the park, I knew she didn’t feel all that bad.

After hurriedly eating and grabbing all of her ballet gear, we headed out the door. She told me that I was going the wrong way. “Park! This way!” pointing in the opposite direction. Naturally, we were late and the rush hour traffic didn’t help us get there in time. Once she saw the building, she got very excited and knew that it was time for ballet.

I changed her in the dressing room (what a big girl with all the older girls) and got her into her classroom. That little room full of toddlers was adorable and hilarious! It’s a 3 and 4 year old class, so I knew she’d be the youngest. She followed directions very well. I think she had lots of fun!

And here are 2 videos. The first one is about a minute, and the second one is about 2 minutes. We are behind glass, so you can’t hear inside, but you can hear me laughing.

On the way home, I asked Samantha which shoes she liked better: the pink (ballet) or the white (tap). White. Naturally.

Now we just have to work on her to wear a ponytail!

After a rough day at the babysitter’s house, she told me that Samantha was exhausted and surely she’d take a good nap. Sam certainly looked it, so I hoped for the best. One thing after another, she didn’t go to sleep until 4PM. Normally, I don’t keep her in the bed that long, but each time I checked on her, she seemed SO close to falling asleep. Needless to say, she didn’t go to bed until about 8:15PM. Here begins my night.

8:52PM – I just checked on Samantha and that little turkey is still awake. I go back to our bedroom where Brian and I are talking about how to handle Ellie during the night. She’s still not sleeping great. We have been taking turns at each outburst, but after 3 or 4 of those during the night, it’s hard to remember whose turn it is. I was proposing for each of us to take a night. For example, one night, I am responsible for all outbursts so Brian can sleep. The next night, it’s his turn so I can sleep. We didn’t really come to a resolution. I lay down on the bed, which means: game over, I fall asleep.

11:01PM – Brian wakes me up to feed Ellie.

11:38PM – Go back to bed.

1:15AM – I hear Samantha crying. She woke up crying last night too. That never happens. Last night, she must have had a bad dream about a boat. Random. I get up and walk into her room. She tells me, amid the crying, that she needs a napkin to wipe her ear. Um. What? I get a Kleenex and ask her which ear. Sure enough, there’s a nasty goop all over her left ear, face, hair and pillow. Great. An ear infection. (Here’s the original discovery that goop could come out of her ear. Beware, it’s gross.) She had a cold a few weeks ago. She got over it in about a week, so I thought we were in the clear. Oh well. I make a note to call the doctor. I ask her if her ear hurts and she says yes. I ask her if she wants some medicine and she says yes. I give her some Motrin. I tell her we’ll call the doctor in the morning.

1:30AM – Go back to bed.

3:30AM – There’s a raucous on my nightstand. What is it? Is Samantha standing by my bed messing with my nightstand? I’m confused. Molly. Molly is trying to eat my lavender lotion. “Stop. Molly. Stop.” I say as I’m hitting her rear end. She stops only momentarily. I grab her by the collar and pull her off my nightstand. Fall back to sleep.

4:08AM – What. In. The. Name. Of all that is holy. “Molly. Stop.” She’s trying to eat my bottle of lotion again. I grab her and throw her out of the room and close the door. Go back to bed.

4:33AM – “Mreow.” Oh for crying out loud. “Mreow.” Maddie. “Mreow.” She’s standing on the floor just beneath my nightstand. “Mreow.” She is staring up at me. “Mreow.” She wants to be near her beloved Molly. “Mreow.” She is persistent. “Mreow.” I get up, open the bedroom door and wait for her to bolt out. Mostly close the door. Go back to bed.

4:35AM – The air conditioner kicks on. The bedroom door slams closed.

5:13AM – Ellie wakes up. Normally, I would be happy if she slept till after 5. Brian gets up. I don’t hear her in the monitor any more.

5:15AM – Brian yells at me from the front of the house. “Jane! I need some help!” Doesn’t he know that he’s going to wake up Samantha if he yells like that? I get out of bed. I nearly walk into Sam in the hallway. She is standing with nothing on but a shirt. Ellie starts to cry. Brian is stripping Samantha’s bed. He says “Pick one.” I go into Ellie’s room and give her a paci. She falls right back to sleep. On a normal night, that never happens. I come back out and help Sam get to the potty. We sit for a while in the bathroom. She says she needs to go, but nothing happens. After Brian finishes with her bed, I put another diaper and new PJs on her. I get her back in bed and tell her to go back to sleep.

5:30AM – Go back to my bedroom. I ask Brian what happened. Apparently, after quieting Ellie, he heard some strange noises in Sam’s room. He went in and she was sitting up in bed. He told her to lay down. She said she couldn’t because her popsicles were wet (her PJs have popsicles on them). Sure enough, she and all her bedding were wet.

6AM – Ellie wakes up. Brian gives her a paci and comes back to bed. She continues to squawk. It’s not really a cry, but it usually means she’s tired or cold.

6:30AM – Alarm goes off. Like I need it. I’ve been awake since 3:30.

The end.