Confessions of my Rough Feet

I love flip flops. I grew up in Arizona where I could wear flip-flops year round. I have all different styles and colors and I honestly think they go with EVERYTHING. The only problem with my sandal obsession...ROUGH FEET. I hate it but it's true. My feet are rough and my heels are cracked and I just hate it. sure, I would love to go get a pedicure every week but who can afford that? I am paying for baby formula and that pretty much breaks the bank. Well for those of you who have the same problem as me, I have a WONDERFUL and easy fix.

First of all...trust me. This sounds a little weird but I SWEAR by this method. Before bed wipe a STRIDEX pad all over the bottoms of your feet. The liberally apply a coat of AQUAPHOR to feet and cover with socks. By morning, you will see and feel a difference.

Carrabbas Cheat Sheet

My husband and I LOVE eating at Carrabba's Italian Grill. It is our absolute favorite. I pretty much love everything there but my favorite is not even a dish, it's the olive oil and herbs they serve with their scrumptious bread. I have found the recipe for that herb blend as well as a great Italian bread recipe. Enjoy!


Dipping Spice

1 TBSP minced basil

1 TBSP chopped parsley

1 TBSP minced

garlic

1 t. dried thyme

1 t. dried oregano

1 t. black pepper

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. rosemary

1/4 t. red pepper flakes

1/2t. olive oil

1/8 t. lemon juice

Mix ingredients together and enjoy with warm bread.

Italian Bread

1 1/4 teaspoon yeast

pinch of sugar

1 1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 TBSP luke warm water

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 TBSP shortening

olive oil to grease bowl

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 1/2 TBSP of water. After about 5 min. (when yeast starts to fizz and bubble) add 1 cup of flour into mixture. Mix and add salt and shortening. add remaining flour slowly, mixing well. Dough should be sticky and moist. Lightly oil a large bowl, add dough and cover with plastic wrap. Let raise for two hours. Knead dough down for about 4 min. Cover and let raise again. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put dough into pan and make several slashes across the top with a knife. Bake for 15 min. Without opening the oven, turn the temperature down to 350 and bake 30-40 min.

Self Control?

I have started marathon training this week and it has been HORRIBLE! I thought after my runs I would feel great, I usually do. I am usually happy and running high on endorphins when I finish a good run. This week I have barely been able to finish my runs. I am exhausted when I am finished and come home and lay on my bed. Last night, I seriously considered not showering. I have been going to bed earlier and still I am tired. I attributed my fatigue to not eating enough and burning too many calories each day.

Today I knew I had a big run coming up so I ate a great breakfast and went and got a huge sandwich from Kneaders for lunch. I ate half of it for lunch and the other half for dinner. It was delicious. My run went a lot more smoothly with all of those great calories surging through my system. Now I am home and I should go to bed but I am STARVING. So do I make a healthy snack? No, I send my husband to Arbys. Soon all of that hard work at the gym will mean nothing and when I wake up in the morning and step on the scale, I won't be a happy mom.

5 pm

It's 5 pm. I hate 5 pm. It's the part of my day when things just go a little nuts. I'm tired and hungry, but more importantly, my kids are tired and hungry. My head hurts, my house is a disaster. There are literally toys strew everywhere. The noise level is unbearable. The baby is napping...well not for long. All of a sudden someone is crying, someone is starving, someone spilled, something broke, someone needs to be changed, someones at the door, someone peed on the floor...again and it feels like someone has turned up the heat. I am trying to keep everyone happy, cook dinner, pick up toys, change diapers and mostly just try to hear myself think.


Today, my four year old Owen is climbing up the drawers in the kitchen to see what is for dinner, he is singing as loud as he can and he can not walk anywhere..he has to run or jump. He won't share his toys with his brother or go in the other room as I try to prepare dinner in our tiny kitchen. He wants to stand right next to me, which of course adds the the drama. I turn and knock him over, I close the refrigerator, he opens it. I ask him to close it. He says no. I open the oven, he tries to throw his car inside of it so that, " it can get warm". All the while, my seven month old Max is crying. He has eaten a bottle, had his diaper changed and just woke up from a nap. Why is he crying? He must hate 5pm too. I pick him up while trying to load the dishwasher. The neighbor kids are ringing the doorbell and yes there is a sign that COVERS it that says, "Please do not right the bell". Owen asks what is for dinner. Owen starts crying because he doesn't like chicken. Owen tells me he will not eat dinner and lays on the kitchen floor and starts kicking. I set the baby in his high chair so that I can take the chicken out of the oven. Owen hits him on the head.


I take a deep breath, close my eyes and try to keep myself from exploding. I turn off the TV for the 100th time today. I pull out coloring books and crayons for Owen. He settles down and starts to color. I give the remote control to Max. He has tons of toys but all he ever wants to play with is the remote control. I finish dinner, cut Owens up into small pieces and stick it in the refrigerator...he will not eat food unless it is cold. Finally, my husband walks in the door and I smile for the first time in the last hour. It is almost 6.