Someone's getting a great kitchen...

Since we're putting our house on the market, and I'm so busy and crazed that I can no longer think straight, I've been pretty much allowing my realtor to make all the important decisions for me. (Don't blame me if my outfit doesn't match today, the realtor picked it out!)

After his "staging" crew walked the house with him last week, he came up with a big long list of critical home improvements that we needed to make before the house goes on the market. So, suddenly I'm painting our front door red. Or, at least, I'm trying to do so. But after two coats, I'm still nowhere near red, nowhere near having covered up the color underneath (black).

We're peeling off all the wall paper in the guest bathroom. Supermom that I am, I realized that something as destructive as peeling wallpaper off the walls would be a perfect job for June, the little devil!

Now for the worst part. We're putting granite counters in the kitchen, peeling off the blue and white country wallpaper and repainting. Why is this awful? Aside from the amount of work that needs to get magically done by next Thursday (while I'm, coincidentally in California at an in-laws wedding half the time), I've been too cheap, lazy or unmotivated to make these changes for myself the entire time I've lived in this house. I disliked the wallpaper and counters from the minute I stepped into the house. Did I ever look into putting in granite counters for myself? No, it always seemed too expensive or too much trouble. Did I ever tear that darned wallpaper off for myself? No, too much work, I can live with it.


So now, we'll have a beautiful kitchen, which we'll possess for hopefully only a month or two. And I really won't even be able to use it much, because I'm eating Diet to Go , and besides, we've already packed half the kitchen things.

Enough ranting!

Cleaning up...

It looks like we are going to sell our house. It was always one of those financially questionable decisions in the first place, and money's really tight right now. So, we're putting our house on the market.

Our realtor seems pretty positive, thinks that we'll get some equity out of it. But he walked the house with us over the weekend, and showed us what things we could do to make it look as nice as possible for the open house and market. Funny guy, he didn't want to "tell" us what to do, but he kept saying "so,...,are you going to take away that table/cabinet/chair/couch, etc.?" and "so,....are you going to have it cleaned and clean the windows?"

The long and the short of it is that 3/4 of our furniture and belongings needs to magically be beamed up to some netherworld while our house is on the market. Some things are important to us and we know that we'll want them when we get wherever we're going next. But a lot of our things have been dragged along with us from California to Texas and now to Washington DC. And some things we haven't even liked for years.

So we're doing some serious selling and clearing. We already had a garage sale. I've done some Ebay selling before, with some luck. But lots of things haven't sold on Ebay, and you pay for every listing either way, and wait and wait for it to not sell. And we're just a bit upset at our Goodwill right now (meaning, way totally upset), so that's out. Plus we're Jewish so we don't usually give to the Salvation Army. So what to do?

Well, we posted a lot of things on Craig's List. Wow, I'm amazed at what an efficient world this is becoming! We posted things in the morning and they were gone by the end of the day, for decent prices!! And it's free to post, even with pictures! What a great system.

Then, for the things that we didn't think would be worth posting on Craig's list, we posted those to our local freecycle group, and those went even faster. Sometimes we use the phrase "that's so ugly, I couldn't even give that away!" Well, it's just not true. It turns out you can give most anything away. I saw chunks of wood, broken vacuums, dirty clothes, moving boxes and so much more. We picked up some moving boxes from one person and gave away clothes and extra holiday decorations to others. What a resourceful world we live in!!

Confession...

I'm ashamed to admit this, but I'm a Webkinz addict! For those of you who don't know, Webkinz are small stuffed animals that come with a secret code attached to them. The secret code allows you access to a virtual world, where your "pet" becomes an animated resident. In this virtual world, you play games to earn "Kinzcash". The Kinzcash is used to buy rooms and furniture for your house, food and clothing for your pet, and other goodies.

It started out simply enough. My daughters tired of their account at Club Penguin because although much of it was free, the best things required a monthly paid membership. So they moved on to Webkinz. March received a koala that she named Koko. June got a monkey that she named Cheeky. And so it began. Soon enough, we'd all been sucked into it. I am now the proud owner of five Webkinz pets: a chocolate lab named Chip, a penguin named Dudley, a raccoon named Bandito, a pinto horse named Dottie, and a cow named Shirley. My husband even joined in, reluctantly at first, but now he's as addicted as the next person. He has a rabbit named James Bond, a penguin named Kopol, and a tiger named Lord Bubu. It would take me too long to list all my daughters' pets, but June has 19 and March has at least 15.

The latest addition? Grandpa adopted a black bear, named Blackie. March and June call him and have "playdates" with him!! They send each other virtual gifts for each other's pets!

Watch out, you might be next!

My Hispanic roots?

Seriously, I have none. Here's proof:

When I lived in Austin, I had a nanny from Mexico, who used to make us tacos (she made chicken mole too, but that's another story). I watched a few times, so now I know how to make them. Not those dry, crispy pre-made taco shells they sell in the store, and not the "soft tacos" that are made from a smushy tortilla wrapped around the filling. But a fried taco.

It's not too hard, really. You heat some oil in a small pan, drop the flour tortilla in, and poke it a few times so it doesn't turn into a giant tortilla balloon. When it starts to turn slightly brown and crispy, flip it over and add fillings. Then fold in half and press down to secure the fillings inside. Voila (not sure how to translate that into Spanish!), you're done.

March absolutely LOVES tacos. Since she's a vegetarian, I fill them with refried beans and cheese. Then she adds lettuce and tomato and, her favorite, sour cream. Since the planets would all collide if both girls liked the same food, June only likes beef tacos, and, in fact, doesn't really want the taco at all, but would prefer to eat the filling and the toppings separately.

The other night I was desperate to make a quick and hearty meal for the girls. Since I've been eating Diet to Go , their eating has been a bit...well, odd. Not unhealthy, just a bit like grazing. Anyhow, searching desperately, I found some tortillas and some sour cream and cheese, but no refried beans and no meat. I had just bought a new package of tater tots, though. So, yes, I made Tater Tot Tacos (say that 10 times fast!).

Truly, not an authentic Mexican tradition, but they were incredibly delicious. I snuck a bite--yum! March begged for seconds, and begged me to make them again about two days later. Even June took a bite and liked it and had some the second time!!

Tip: Microwave the frozen tater tots until they're soft and warmed, about 30 seconds. Then stick in the frying tortilla along with a sprinkle of shredded cheese. Fold over and press together until cheese melts. Dinner in five minutes or less!!