Izzy the babysitter

I never knew that lil’ Iz would be so useful!

Yesterday, I was charged with watching a friend’s 6 month old daughter for a couple of hours. Now, I love kids, but babies? I have no clue. I had never even watched a baby before yesterday, and let me tell ya, I was nervous.

Luckily, Izzy had my back.

Evie (6 month old pictured here) is obsessed with Izzy. At only 10 pounds, Izzy is smaller than her, for one, and she’s sort of spazzy and admittedly entertaining anyway. So for the first hour, all that I had to do to keep Evie entertained was…nothing. She cooed at Izzy, and anytime Izzy came to sniff her, she would kick at her, sending Izzy running for the hills, and sending Evie into peals of laughter. Watching a 6 month old laugh is a beautiful thing.

Almost makes me want one myself. Almost.

Let me scare you with my closet

Pretty bad, huh? Well, it gets worse. This is the after picture. Yes, after cleaning for 6 hours, taking 3 boxes to goodwill, and a few to the new house.

Homemade Breakfast Biscuits for Two

When I was a little kid, my family and I traveled around Texas almost every weekend. The trips weren’t very fun for me, but there was always one highlight — McDonald’s breakfast biscuits (my favorite was bacon, egg, and cheese). Some of the Dairy Queens around Texas (Dairy Queen is sort of like McDonald’s and used to be in every small Texas town) one-upped McDonald’s by making fresh (vs. powdered) eggs and using real cheese. Those were always a prime find.

When I think of happy memories of my childhood, getting breakfast biscuits is right up there, for some reason. With buttermilk, quick scrambled eggs, ham or bacon, and real cheddar cheese, these homemade breakfast biscuits are killer. I make them for my sweetie at least once a week (lucky guy, right?) They also aren’t too hard to make once you get the hang of them. You’ll never look at a McDonald’s biscuit the same way again!

Tex-New Mex Creamed Corn

I was born and raised in Texas, and he was raised across the border in New Mexico (note to slow people–including my own COUSIN who has lived in Dallas for her whole life — New Mexico is part of the U.S.) Once you cross that border, though, you might feel like you’re in a different country, as the cuisine changes dramatically.

Any New Mexican worth his salt can’t eat a meal without a considerable amount of spice. When I first met my guy, I wasn’t a big fan of salsa or (heaven forbid) anything with green chile in it. It took a while, but I have been assimilated (his Dad’s a chile farmer, for goodness sakes, and even though his chile con queso may have made me want to cry from the burning..the burning!! could I really say no? No.)

And all Texans know that bacon is one of Nature’s Perfect Foods. This corn is a great match between the two, and is fast, as well. Once you start cooking it, you can pretty much forget about it, too, which is nice when you’re trying to whip up dinner (I made these with rib eye steaks with a mushroom pan sauce).

However, you can make this dish without the bacon (if you’re a vegetarian or don’t like bacon for some crazy reason) or jalepeno. It will still be delicious.

Izzy the Iggy

This is Izzy, arguably the cutest Italian Greyhound on the planet, guarding our tools and supplies at the new house. Izzy’s bad at guarding stuff because she doesn’t bark at people (thank goodness..I already have a barker, thank you!) but maybe she could stop potential thieves with her cuteness?? Like they would be so awed by her they would say, “You know, instead of robbing these people, let’s go home and plant a tree.”

Done for the day..

Here was the bedroom before —>

…and after—>

Desk is still a bit cluttered, but much better, I think

Now, where’s my margarita?

The value of a shiny sink

I woke up this morning to a very dirty house. I’m not sure how it got this way, and it may be due to the fact that we are living in about 400 square feet, but I swear, I JUST cleaned the house 2 days ago. Are there evil spirits living in my abode??

Exhibit A: the sink. Full of dirty dishes (dishwasher is full of clean dishes). The Flylady (http://www.flylady.net) would be none too pleased with the state of the sink.

That’s because she has a very clear opinion on what to do if your house is an unbelievable mess – start with the sink. A clean sink is the first step of her many “babysteps” to becoming a happier person with a cleaner home. Other steps include spending 15 minutes decluttering every day and getting dressed — with hair, makeup, shoes, and real clothes (not sweats or PJ’s) every day.

So this morning, I’m trying not to be overwhelmed. One step at a time, right? It’ll all get done, eventually. And my sink is very shiny.

Grading papers fast and fairly : Tips for teachers

After my rant the other day on grading papers, I thought I’d actually give some helpful advice on how to grade papers.

Grade in a pleasant place, free from distraction. I like to take the morning off and grade sitting on my couch sipping coffee or alone at a laid-back cafe. I do not like to grade in my office, on Saturdays at home, in meetings, or anywhere else. Why? Because even one, tiny distraction will force me to re-read at least part of the paper, which will make it take longer and be more frustrating. Additionally, if you make grading a semi-pleasant thing to do, it won’t be quite as painful.