It's All ABout The Attitude

Welcome to my corner of the Universe to any new visitors! The Castle is my place to be myself and kick back a little bit.

Since I have been nominated as a Hot Mama by the dads over at Hot Dads, I have been thinking quite a bit about attitude. Being "hot" has less to do with a physical "look" or a perfect body than it has to do with attitude. While I consider myself to be quite hot and really sexy, I am not perfect by any means. I carry extra weight and have flaws and features that I am not happy with. However, when a woman carries herself and acts as if she is desirable and sexy, then she is much more likely to be perceived that way by others. And that attitude and the ramifications of it can carry over into other parts of your life as well.

My friend, Chelle, has always called me her "Hot Mama" and it only seems appropriate that the rest of the world follow suit! LOL Here is my fave pic of Chelle and I together...


I am on the left and Chelle is on the right.... I am her "Hot Mama" and she is my "Sexy Lady". And whenever we went out..... everyone knew we were the shit! LMAO

As a part of embracing my "hotness", I decided it is time to change my attitudes about the hardships my family is facing right now. Rather than bitch and moan all over this blog, I need this to be a place to relax a little more and forget about the troubles. I am fighting enough depression IRL that I do not need to drag it into the internetz as well....

So, all of my regulars and any new visitors, tell me what you want to read about here at the castle! Ask me questions.... I promise to answer truthfully. There are only a few things that I will not discuss on this blog, and I would tell you why I won't answer a question if it hits that spot. And I am more of a NC-17 blog than Rated R or X... but only because my daughter reads me regularly. And so does my Mom! So, I will not give detailed info regarding me sex life. Unfortunately. hehe

For any of you who have not visited Hot Dads, you really should pop over. It is always interesting for women to read about things from a man's viewpoint. I love reading their posts and think you will too!

My Balls Have Sharp Edges

Juggling can be dangerous.

I may not be juggling knives but I am feeling pretty "on edge" right now as I juggle our finances. *groan* (I know. Very punny, right?) Seriously though, I feel like if one more financial ball gets thrown into the mix, all of my balls will come crashing down around my head. And my balls have sharp edges. (hehehe) It's been a rough time here at the castle lately. And I see no end in sight. So, while I would love to be able to post amusing and enlightening posts for the entertainment of my teeming masses of readers, I will probably be stuck in the same rut I have been lately. Bear with me. I am sure I will get my funny back one day. While we wait, maybe I can at least be punny. LOL

I am also struggling with more issues surrounding the middlest child and his behavior problems. I will, maybe, address that in a future post. Right now, the feelings are a little too close to the surface. My emotions are tender and in need of cushioning.... so I will keep them to myself for a bit longer.

I will be planning my menu for the week soon. We are eating out of the pantry again for another week due to, once again, financial issues. I have plenty of food available, I just have to figure out ways to combine what I have to make it pleasing and interesting. Any budget friendly meals based around rice would be appreciated!

I am also in search of a "Steve" costume for my 4 yo. You know, Steve? From Blue's Clues? Yep. That is what he wants to be. The Steve shirts I have seen on ebay are going for about $35 each. Way too much in my opinion.... so, if you have a spare size 4T Steve shirt hanging around.... feel free to send it my way! LOL

The 2 yo will be, hopefully, William Wallace from Braveheart. We have the kilt and costume, we can paint his face blue and he loves to scream and holler. Perfect. LMAO Jenna is planning to be a shifter in mid change from the show Supernatural. Steven is going to be a clone. (He will look just like himself. Get it?) And I still need to figure out my costume. I could be lil' Bo Peep again. Or a sexy witch. Or lil' Red Riding Hood after being ravaged by the wolf. Or a bad Faerie. Or Super Mom. Or..... no idea. I am open to suggestions!

All three of the kids are playing with their guitars right now. Steven really needs to start giving lessons. These noises may drive me to drink. More. he.

Catch ya on the flip side.....

I Would Totally Be A Vegetarian But I Can't Give Up Bacon

My bacon cravings are through the roof today.... the taste, the smell, the look of bacon all make my mouth water. I could eat bacon and cheese sandwiches every day and be perfectly happy. Fat and unhealthy.... but happy! (Who am I kidding? I am slightly pudgy and unhealthy anyway! Bring ont he bacon!)

For today's viewing pleasure I bring you.... the Bacon Roll! Woven bacon baked in the oven, filled with cheese, rolled up and sliced. Yes. Oh, yes.

And then.... Chocolate covered bacon. So wrong that it seems just right. Anyone ever tried this?


Of course, just bacon and pancakes is always pretty nice, too. Or just bacon. I'm not picky.....

Something To Blog About....

Yeah. I got nothing.

Wait, not true.

I have a 2 yo you loves to take the poop out of his diaper and bring it to me.

I have a 4 yo who is doing great in school scholastically but is unable to settle down and behave.

I have a 15 yo who just took the PSAT test today.... and makes me feel old.

I have a husband who is pretty fab but NOT HERE. These 12 - 14 hour days are killing me.... and him!

I have a broken AC unit in my living room, a toilet that has been running for 4 days and a living room overhead light that decided it was on strike this morning.

I have dirty laundry, clean laundry and wrinkled laundry awaiting my attention.

I have to do lists and menu plans and coupon clipping and ten million other house wifely things to take care of.

I have a NEED.... desperate and unattainable.... for a stiff drink....

It's been one of those days, folks. Time to go play in the rain, eat ice cream and jump on the bed. I think I am tired of being an adult today!!!!!

Is It Monday Again???

This weekend flew by. The boys were typical overactive and rambunctious boys and kept us hopping! So, with no more than a blink of an eye, here I am back at Monday again! Today's post may be kind of long, so hold onto your hats!

I had to attend a nutrition class today as part of a new WIC program. For those who do not know, WIC (Women, Infants and Children) is a food program geared to help out low income families and feed young children healthy food. They have made some major changes in the food packages we receive each month and have instituted mandatory nutrition classes every three months. It wasn't a big deal, only a 30 minute class. Today they talked about Fiber and how important it can be. I honestly did not learn anything new but several other women int he class seemed to. So, it is a good thing!

The new food package that we recived today was great! It includes a choice of 3 of the following: Fresh fruits and vegetables (choice of bags of apples, oranges, sweet potatoes or carrots) and canned fruit and vegetables (choice of 2 cans of diced tomatoes, green beans, peaches and pears, maybe more) , a choice of either whole wheat bread, brown rice or tortillas, a choice of cheese (American, string, Cheddar and others), a choice of cereals (grits, oatmeal and various healthy cold cereals) a choice of peanut butter or dried peas or beans, shelf stable milk, eggs and juices. They only had apples available this month for fresh fruits, though.

So, we get a food package for each of the boys. We ended up with two cases of milk, enough apple juice concentrate to make about 4 gallons of juice, 8 juice boxes, a package of string cheese, a package of American slices, 2 cartons of eggs, 6 boxes of Kashi Mighty Bites cereal (LOVE this!), 2 bags of apples, 2 cans of green beans, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 2 cans of peaches, 2 cans of pears, 2 jars of peanut butter, 2 bags of brown rice and 2 loaves of whole wheat bread. I felt like I had gone shopping! What a great blessing WIC is to our family. Honestly, it is so helpful when it comes to stretching our grocery budget. Next month, I plan to get more fresh veggies and fruits rather than canned. And more bread since that is generally more expensive to buy than rice is.

Anyway. If you or someone you know is pregnant, breastfeeding or has a child under 5 years old, WIC can be helpful. It never hurts to apply! Not everyone who receives WIC is low income, some people have other risk factors that make them eligible.

So, after I finished with my WIC appointment, I did my menu planning. I have NO money to do any shopping this week. AT all. So, everything on this week's menu has to be made from things in my pantry and freezer. Hopefully it all turns out wonderfully!

Monday - Pork Chops with Creamy Orzo

Tuesday - Homemade baked beans with whole wheat biscuits

Wednesday - Spaghetti Pie and salad

Thursday - Curried Beef and Apple Couscous

Friday - Leftovers

Saturday - Red Beans and brown rice with Cajun sausage


I am participating in the 30-Day Encouragement Challenge over at Laughing Family. It is a challenge geared towards enhancing and enriching a marriage. As part of the challenge, I am supposed to say no negative things about my husband for the next 30 days. And am also supposed to say one positive thing about AND to him each day. I will be posting a positive message about my husband here on the blog each day that I blog over the next month. Since so many of my posts do complain about him and his foibles, I figured it was only fair to share the good things as well!

So, today's Encoragement is: I love that my husband will eat whatever I put in front of him! He never complains, he never turns his nose up and he rarely eats only one serving of anything I cook! This is a wonderful thing for me as I learn to cook new foods and experiment with recipes that do not always turn out as I anticipate! Thank you, honey, for always being willing to be my guinea pig!