Desire, I think, is one of the great mysteries of life.  Desire can take you over completely even if the object of your desire is something temporary like dessert or something more permanent like a tattoo.  Our eyes see, our heart wants and our brain is distracted.  Lately I have been distracted by bloomers.  How crazy is that?  Now, I haven't let it consume me like a child in the throes of a fit because they are denied Mr. Softee but I have been thinking about them daily ever since I saw Rugby's Summer 2011 collection.  Check out the bloomers I am referencing here.  They are so fresh and summery and I love the freedom that they give you in a shorter summer dress.  Great for a romantic bike ride, or a walk on a chilly summer evening, they add a layer of femininity that is unique and in this case simple and intricate at the same time.  I LOVE THESE BLOOMERS.  However, the price tag of almost $200 delayed my desire.  Which brings me to my title...Put It In The Pickup.

Remember Annette who I introduced a while ago?  Back in the day, we made countless trips to Value Village (VV).  The scenario was the same every time.  We both grabbed a cart and aisle by aisle we would find things that we squealed over, laughed about and absolutely HAD to have.  Annette would say, "put it in the pickup" and we would add it to the growing pile in our carts until we could barely see over them.  After searching the entire store we would find a corner and go through the stuff item by item and suprisingly all that stuff that was so wonderful just minutes ago was seen in a different light.  A stain here, a rip here, a color that wasn't what we thought it was.  A shirt that didn't fit well, a skirt that made us look oddly shaped, a hat that was more nerdy than elegant.  A blanket we wouldn't really use, a lamp that couldn't be salvaged, a mirror that had too many chips.  Sometimes we walked out with a few items, sometimes nothing at all.  Always we were happy that we let the stuff sit in the 'pickup' until our desires could settle down and we could really see the stuff for what it was.

So, the bloomers?  The price is now not the only hold back.  I still LOVE them and kinda want them...but...as I have thought of them so much I have also thought about how I would wear them.  How WOULD I wear them?  They are cotton.  Summer dresses are cotton.  Have you ever worn cotton underwear or leggings under a cotton skirt or dress?  So irritating!  All day long the skirt is getting caught up on the underwear!  Then there is the whole bathroom issue.  How DO you go to the bathroom in this getup?  Pull up the dress, undo the waistband on the bloomers and then you have to hold them so they don't fall on the floor while holding your dress up so it doesn't get in the way.  So basically you don't want to drink anything on the day you wear these.  The desire is fading as they sit in the pickup! 

Would you wear them?  Would you pay Rugby's price?  Do you 'put things in the pickup' before you purchase?

Max and I just made oatmeal cookies.  The batch was mixed with one hand while he perched on my hip.  His curiosity was palpable. When I measured the brown sugar I put a tiny bit on his tongue.   Before I poured the vanilla he sniffed the bottle.  He leaned way over to peer into the bowl as I poured in the eggs and if I would have let him his pudgy little hands would have got right in the mix!

***Newsflash***

The little monster that I was just talking of so fondly just came over and bit my leg!  No more cookies for him!!!

**************

Anyway, now the responsibility of being a frugal stay-at-home mom is weighing on me as I sit here with a stack of warm cookies and a coffee.  The problem is that I left the first batch of cookies in just a little too long.  Fresh they are delicious but as soon as they cool we all know they will be too hard to enjoy.  So, it is left up to me to make sure they do not go to waste. 

The things a good mother does!

By the way, I almost put frugal housewife but the word ‘housewife’ sounded antiquated and I changed it to stay-at-home mom.  What comes to your mind when someone says housewife? 

Oh yeah and speaking of housewife…the season finale of Desperate Housewives was on last night.  I don’t want to give anything away if you haven’t seen it but, wow!  Check the comment section for my two cents.

Now I gotta run change a diaper and eat some cookies.

I think you could safely say that I am a procrastinator.

Remember the library project?  It is still unfinished.  As I write I am surrounded by other ongoing projects that I have started since the library project…all ‘in process’.  

It is the rare morning when I wake up feeling like attacking the day.  To do lists get made but don’t get done.  Programs are joined and their reminder emails get ignored.  I’ve tried different tactics to make myself change and tactics don’t work.

Procrastinator.  The word defines me.  It hangs over me.   

 When I do get something done, I attribute is to something I call The Power Of Immediate Response.  As in Do It Right Now!  The moment I think about something that needs to be done, I have to do it right then.  I can not step away to do something else first, or more often than not I will not come back to what needs to be done.  Two days later I will remember that there were clothes in the washer that needed to be put in the dryer and kick myself for not stopping and doing it immediately! 

 Label me.  Procrastinator!  I have no defense, no excuse, just an admission of guilt.

So tonight when my husband showed me a recipe for Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake, I said, “I should make that!”  And so I did.  Immediately!  Now it’s late, I’m tired, some of the dishes didn’t fit in the dishwasher so I left them soaking in the sink (see what I mean?) but I am full and happy.  It just may be the best cake I have ever eaten.  Every component from the cake to the icing to the topping is scrumptious! 

Even procrastinators can get things done!

Among 25 other items in my inbox this morning were the following emails:

Deal find - 85% Off Colon Cleansing Treatments
WagJag - 67% off Professional Photo Framing
Groupon - 49% Off Cruise from San Francisco Sailing Company
Living Social Deals - Pole Dancing Lessons
Groupon - Up to 52% Off Sightseeing Bus Tour from Cowboy Bus
Living Social Deals - Teeth Whitening (NYC)

Delete, delete, delete, hmmm….delete, delete, delete.  Even though I hate getting this many emails I can’t pass up the possibility that the next email may contain a deal that is just for me! 

Yesterday WagJag had a great deal for Coffee and Scream and so I shared it on Twitter in hopes that other Calgary Moms would be able to join in on the savings.  As a result of that Tweet I received an invitation to check out yet another Daily Deal website.  It made me so tired to think about subscribing to yet another site but seeing as how I can’t pass up a deal, I checked it out.  You should too.  It is the answer.  It is the deal finder's dream.  I am subscribing immediately and unsubscribing from all other daily deal sites! Sorry WagJag, Groupon, Living Social, RedFlagDeals, and all you other daily deal sites.  I still love you, but...there is someone better for me.  Someone who isn't as needy and doesn't take up as much space.  I am cluttered enough as it is without all of your emails.

Meet my new love, www.dealmeet.com.  One site, all the deals from every other deal site listed for the city that you select.  How easy is that?  Check it out!  Don’t miss any deals and clean up your inbox today.  It’s what I’m doing.

I remember a time not so long ago when I wondered aloud to a friend about the day when I would finally become annoyed with my adorable baby boy.  We totally lucked out with Max.  He wasn't a fussy baby, very rarely cried and even when he did it was short, not too loud and easily silenced with food or sleep.  Well, ladies and gentlemen, after two weeks of our household being sick with what I now think has been the flu, mommy is annoyed!  Lack of sleep, Max's constant whining and refusal to eat anything besides frozen yogurt, a headache and a middle of the night fight with my husband over why Max wasn't sleeping (half-asleep zombie fighting is pretty funny after the fact) and I am full-fledged annoyed.  Then morning comes and I feel like a monster.  How could I get annoyed with someone who has feet like this? 

So cute!  Sorry sweet baby that you heard the frustration in my shushing that became more of a hiss than a comforting shhh.  And then the morning whining begins again...this monster mommy is going to take a nap while the adorable little whiner is napping!

I like to cook.  I love to eat.  I like to menu plan.  I dislike making grocery lists.  I hate to go grocery shopping. 

Fine Cooking is one of my very favorite magazines and I have been perusing old issues for the past couple of days looking for meal time inspiration.  (Don't you find it easy to get inspired?  How quickly do you get uninspired when reality sets in.   Reality sets in for me as soon as I realize I don't have what I need right now to make a dish.)  Fine Cooking magazines not only have fantastic recipes, their photos will make your mouth water and your nose will smell the food right off the pages!  If only it were as easy as reading the magazine.  They do make their recipes easy to access online which is fantastic for people like me who fall in love with a recipe and then lose that particular issue.  Issue 46, pages 66-69, Master Tuna Confit Recipe.  To die for!  Try it and you will see what I mean.  Absolutely the most flavorful, perfect-textured tuna you will ever eat.  I made it when the issue first came out in September 2001 and have dreamed about it ever since. 

Anyway, on to my grocery list problem.  Yesterday, during the precious moments of silence while Max was napping, I tried to create an interactive spreadsheet/database where I could input recipes and  check a box that would copy the ingredients to a shopping list.  That way I could easily see what I need, sort it by type, and make my life a little bit easier.  #fail #waste_of_time #frustrating

Although I had searched all day yesterday for a free online program that would do this for me  and had no luck, for some reason this mornings search produced a result.  Introducing Group Recipes!  A free, easy-to-use, site that allows me to search other members recipes and add my own.   The best part?  The add-to shopping list icon!  I love it.  All-Recipes has the shopping list icon as well but you can't add your own recipes, only links to a recipe which doesn't bring ingredient lists over.  So, trial run.  I've entered my first recipe, the Fine Cooking Tuna Confit, and now have the ingredients on my shopping list. 

Do you already have a system or program that you love to use for organizing your menu planning and grocery shopping?