Who really needs to cook...

Well, apparently I do!

It's not that I don't like to cook.  It's just that I'm not really all that good at it.  I have my favorites that I like to cook.  Spaghetti (not in a crock-pot, bad bad mistake), pork chops, salad (although I don't think that qualifies as cooking) taco's and grilled chicken, to name a few.

But it's the entire process.  Buying the groceries, prepping the food, cooking the food, cleaning the kitchen.  It's all so time consuming.  Now the sad twist to this is I don't like frozen foods either, they are nasty.  And I don't really care for fast foods.

The perfect solution, of course, is to hire a cook.  But that doesn't seem to be in the budget.

Buy a cook book you say, oh I have those, plenty of those.  And this will sound really bad, but some don't have pictures and then I don't know if it looks right.  And most of the time it really doesn't taste right either.  You can now tell me that I have to keep trying, that I'm not going to get it right the first time.  Whatever, I don't really have the patience for that, and I'm giving you the evil eye for suggesting it!

My sister, she cooks.  Maybe I should move closer to her, that way I can stop of all the time, like I used to when I was a single mom and was tired of hot dogs and oat meal.

But honestly, I don't think this is my fault.  My mom really didn't like our help that much unless it was Christmas or a special occasion.  Other than that we really just made a mess and I really preferred to be outside riding my bicycle.  It seemed to work out for us both.

Here is the sad part of all of this.  My son, my dear sweet boy, brings a girl home for Christmas this year and I am making dinner.  All of it by myself.  Oh vey.

The ham was good.  I can bake a ham.  The sweet potatoes...I don't know, I don't like them so I just make them as the recipe states, and my husband eats them.  But come to find out not so long ago, it seems he will eat just about anything I cook in fear that if he speaks up I'll stop cooking all together.

The potatoes, what potatoes, I forgot to make those...there was other stuff too, but honestly I can't remember what it was.  Needless to say, we should have ordered pizza.  Maybe with canadian bacon and those round sweet fruit things.  Pineapples.  That's what they're called.  Whew!

Now because I didn't like the kitchen as a child, I'm suffering as an adult.  I say suffering, but really it isn't like any of us is starving...Well, my kids tell me they are, but they aren't.  They just don't like what we have and the fact that we don't have a bunch of junk food.

So is there a lesson in all of this?  Yes there is.  My children, if you are reading this (Maverick does read my blogs) then please marry someone who can cook, then I can come to your house for New Years Eve, Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and let's not forget birthdays.

Don't roll your eyes at me!  There are three of you...I can make my rounds, spread the love.  And as a token of my appreciation, I'll clean your house (maybe just the kitchen) and I'll babysit too.  Seems fair to me.

What makes (or not) an outfit?

OK, so the other morning at work I see this lady (not naming names but she is not in my department) and she is wearing this cute dress.  I look up and see her hair and it looks like she barely combed it and threw a ugly "workout" band in it.

By workout band I mean those that you buy like 10 for $3 at any convenience store and you're supposed to wear them while working out, cause girl, any other time is just UGLY!

Well, back to my story...I was talking to another lady (names being withheld for obvious reasons) and said "did you see that?"  I know it was tacky of me to point it out to someone else...but hey, I have my flaws.  My friend said "yes, and then I noticed the shoes too."  OMG, they so just ruined the outfit.  At this point I feel I should just say "as if" and pretend I'm in the movie Clueless.

Between the hair and the shoes I'm thinking this poor soul should get a full length mirror for Christmas.  Everyone should have one.  A nice mirror you can see yourself in from top to bottom because sometimes the shoes does make the outfit.  And in this case, not so much.

Now, I did feel horrible for being so critical, but I couldn't help it.  And it's bad.  This lady is really sweet and smart and maybe she just doesn't care how she looks, and maybe I shouldn't either...maybe I should just read my previous post on judging my looks....I'm going to hell!

Do you judge by appearances alone?

We all do it.  Don't deny it.  When you see that young lady walking past all dressed in black with multiple piercings, you judge, I judge, we all do it.  It's the way we are.

Yesterday I went to see my tattoo artist for some work and I took my daughter with me.  She proceeded to tell me of the piercings she was going to get before she turned 18.  My husband told her to wait until she turned 18 and then she could do whatever she wanted.  I tried to explain to her to keep in mind that corporate America judges you and she doesn't know what she want to be yet.  Major eye roll on all points, but she's smart and she understood.

So we compromised, her ears needs re-piercing, ok I can do that.  She wants 2nd holes and 3rd holes, and a bar oh and a nose pierce.   Oh boy!  I feel some major compromising coming on.  Although she did see a girl get a belly button pierced and the girl cried so I thought, bingo!  She sees girl crying and no more piercings.  Shit!  I forgot for just one second who we were talking about.  My daughter proceeds to tell me that she wouldn't cry.  She's tough.  Great...

It's not that i mind so much the piercings.  Well, the nose bothers me.  All I can think of is buggers stuck up in there and that grosses me out.  What I do mind is I don't want people to judge my little girl.  She is such a sweet young lady and I don't want this to deter people from getting to know her.

So why do we judge others so much.  Whether they are too skinny, to fat, hair too red, boobs too big.  It seems we just can't get past our looks.

A skinny blond with big boobs, we think stupid.  A brunette with glasses, we think dork or geek.  A redhead, well she's gotta have a temper.  Oh and that one with all the tattoos, well if it's a girl she might be a slut or party girl and the boy, he's only trouble....where do these ideas come from?

I know...you're not gonna like it.  It's not all the movies or music.  It's our parents!  Yes, I'm blaming my momma!  Or at least you can look to your family and see where your judgements come from.

If you say it's the movies I'm going to ask you why you are watching them, better yet, why are you letting your kids watch them.  And why aren't you talking to your kids about them later.  Be it music or movies.  Why don't you talk to your kids???

As children we hear our parents talk about others and we are swayed by their opinions.  When you are children they tell you how to dress, they brush your hair.  They tell you what doesn't look good and what does.  And if your parents are worried about looks, well then, you are really in for some major opinions and judgements.  I think we as parents can so easily forget the influences we have over our children, good or bad.

Ok so this is just my theory.  But it's a good one.

But I think we should break the cycle of judging.  And this is hard because I'm very opinionated and crap falls out of my mouth like I have tourettes.   When my kids were little I let them dress themselves.  And this was not always with good end results.  My oldest boy would wear cowboy boots with everything including swim shorts.  My daughter would never wear an outfit together, always mixing and matching.  When she was about 4 it was so bad that I made her a button.  It was her "special" button that said "I dressed myself today".  It had smiley face and I told her it told her it was her it meant I was proud of her.  And I was.  I mean she looked silly bordering on ridiculous, but I liked the fact that she had her own opinion and that she knew what she liked and expressed it.  She still does to this day.  Could care less what others think of her.  That makes me proud, even if she should dress a little more girly (eye roll again).

Not only should we all care a little less of what others think of us, and we should certainly care less about how others look.   Try not to judge.