Shrimp & Mushroom Linguine

Ingredients:
1-2 pounds of shrimp (peeled and with tails off)
1 box linguine
1 package sliced mushrooms
2-3 cloves of garlic, pressed
(I actually use much more. I love garlic. Hoping it won't keep Edward away)
2 sticks of butter (oh shut up! It will be okay this once!)
lemon juice
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in large pan. Saute garlic (yummy smelling) for about 5 minutes. Throw in mushrooms and let them cook down. Meanwhile, cook linguine as the box instructs. Add lemon juice to mushrooms amount is up to your liking. I usually do 1/4 of a cup. After mushrooms have cooked down, add shrimp and cook only until they turn pink and start to curl. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Serve over linguine.

The End is Near

Every Saturday morning, my husband lets me sleep late. He rises with the sun, any roosters around, and all three of my munchkins and allows me to snooze it up until my little heart is content. Sometimes this is only until 8, but many times it stretches to 9 and sometimes (gasp) 10. Have no fear, I know I am lucky.

When I finally do emerge from my slumber I eat my bowl of cereal (this morning they were the extremely healthy Fruit Loops), fix my cup of coffee, and blog hop for a while. This "while" sometimes stretches into a couple of hours seeing as I just love visiting and comment on all of y'all's fantabulous blogs!

This morning I called my husband over to share a couple of blogs with him. (One was Gina With Love, which was soooo true and funny.) After reading the third blog and realizing I had been enjoying my bloggy session for over an hour, he proclaimed, "You have a problem!"

And he was right. He was not referring to my grey hair, which is certainly a problem that needs to be dealt with. Nor was he referring to my problem of trying to lose weight, which I am currently working on. He was referring to my "Every Thing Blog" addiction. And I am woman enough to admit it:

Hello! My name is Liz, and I am addicted to blogging!

Seriously! I love everything having to do with blogging. Two weeks ago I spent over 4 hours trying to figure out how to redesign my blog. I am constantly adding gadgets and learning how to add other tidbits of fun. Everyday I check in with my dashboard eager to open new blogs posted by my peeps and with as much anticipation as a kid opening presents. I have even become addicted to VoiceBoks, a phenomenal website dedicated to mommy bloggers.


Each night, when I finally sit down after teaching third graders, gymnastics, dance, homework, laundry, cooking, fixing lunch for the next day, picking out clothes, mediating fights, changing diapers, giving bottles, bathing children, etc., I dive into my blog eager to see who has visited during the day. I almost get so sucked in that it is difficult to climb out of what I can only describe as a bloggy black hole.

I know I should be doing other things: more laundry, unloading the dishwasher, grading papers, working on lesson plans, doing college work. I blog all the while feeling guilty. Guilty because I think about what I SHOULD be doing. Especially, my class work for college.

I am getting my Educational Specialist right now. I have been going to school for the last 3 years, and now I have one semester left. This is it. Soon I will be free. Soon I will get a major pay increase. Soon I will be considered smarter. Soon...soon...soon I will be able to blog guilt free because I won't be thinking about the classwork I should be doing instead of blogging. The End is Near...for now I better go and work on my next assignment!

Slippin' and Slidin'

This morning as my feet pounded the pavement and Lady Gaga sang about being "Born This Way" in my ear I was having a serious runner's high. (I use the term "runner" lightly seeing as right now the majority of my "run" is spent walking. I am building up to it though!) Anyway, I was super excited because today was "Weigh In Wednesday" and I could not wait to see how much my hard work had paid off.

Alas, my high came crashing down as I stepped onto the scale and those blasted, evil, spawn of Satan numbers appeared on the screen. I gained a pound!! Seriously??? I gained a pound?

WTF!!! I have worked my tail off. I have starved myself. I have drowned my thirst with enough water to fill a bathtub every day (be it a baby one;). The point is, WTF!!! How can this be?

Well, I guess it could be Saturday. My brother-in-law's birthday was this past weekend and there was a gathering. As you know, gatherings include food and cold beverages, both of which made their way into my belly. I have a thing for snacky dips and appetizers. Sometimes I would rather eat that than a meal. And I never fix a plate, like I know I should. If I fixed a plate, it would probably keep me from gorging myself to the point of misery. Honestly...I blame my brother-in-law. I mean, how dare he have a birthday party! Especially while I am trying to lose weight!

But I think what upset me the most this morning was the fact that I actually FEEL thinner. My husband commented a couple of days ago about how much flatter my tummy looked (and no I don't think he was trying to get some). I noticed less cellulite as I scrutinized my body in the mirror (and no I did not have my contacts out). And one of my coworkers squeezed my arm yesterday and told me how "skinny" I looked (and no I had not just flexed. That is just laughable).

But the one thing that had me absolutely convinced that I had lost weight was that my thighs were now Slipin' and Slidin'. Maybe you don't know what I mean, but normally my thighs are shoved so close together due to the extra weight that when I walk they never actually come a part. They just stay stuck together, never even having enough room to move in order to even rub against each other. It is much like they are one united being. But lately I have noticed that not only are they moving, but they are sliding right past each other with ease. This leads me to believe that although I have not lost pounds this week, I am definitely losing inches.

So over the next week I am going to continue "running" (I am walking 2 minutes and running 1 minute right now). I am going to eat even less and drink even more water. I am going to avoid birthday parties and gatherings where there are plethoras of yummy morsels that threaten to ruin my goals. And I am going to keep my thighs slipin' and slidin' in the hopes that soon I will have lost so much weight that they don't touch at all:)'