I have had THE worst time with these cursed invitations. I went to hobby lobby and bought supplies to make my own invitations with many ideas in tow. Many that unfortunately required our printer and scanner to not be acting ridiculous. So I couldnt scan...couldnt print. Feeling well defeated in all areas of life especially those of birthday festivities and planning, I decided to go to Target and see what I could find in the likes of already made invites. Not so great, but I found some really girly looking ones with  a cool font on clearance. I bought them and in my delirious state decided to cover the feminine colors with cut up maps of Mexico. yes, scary. I slaved over the counter and the paper cutter for hours, glued and chopped. I stacked them high and then felt like I could cry. They were hilarious, and ridiculous. Ridiculous in that they were invitations to a bowling birthday party and had mexican maps messily glued on the backs and tops. we had a wonderful laugh at it all. 

In the end,  i decided to be done with it and just have Austin draw his weird little man drawings on watercolor paper  and write them out myself. forget it

. 

Happiest Monday!

I have much to do today. Among the daily annoyances of dishes and laundry, I need to prepare for Austin's 10th Birthday party. It is in roughly 2 weeks and I have so much planning to do. I often wish his birthday was in the Summer time, March is the pits for birthday parties. He wants a bowling party which should be a bit less hectic than last year when we had roughly 25 people swarming in our tiny tiny home. I'm off to the Lobby of Hobbies and Target for invitation ideas. Wish me luck!

Cocoa Black Bean Chili

I've never been one for chili. It's always just sort of looked repulsive, thick and chock full of kidney beans, which are just terrible. My Dad was always a bit obsessive over his chili my mom would make him and would never have let her mix up the recipe to stray away from anything but kidney beans, tomatoes and hamburger. When I saw a recipe for Vegetarian chili I thought I may take a chance at it and perhaps learn to love an old enemy....and while Im at it, do as the Aztecs do. Use chocolate. The 1st time I made it we couldn't get enough of it. I made it again this week for Nate's work's chili cook off... hahahahah. What work place really has a chili cook off? We laughed at it a bit and likened it to a church youth fundraiser....then decided I should make them a pot of our strange but delicious chili. The 1st time I made it was a bit of an adventure, so I was tossing in a little bit of this and a little bit of that and I really cant remember exactly what I did. I tried to recreate it and it was still really good, but something was missing. Maybe the fact that I had already made lasagna that night for dinner and it was basically like making 2 dinners in 1 night, I may or may not have devoted as much time as I should have towards this chili. Definitely tweak it to your own likes....as I believe it is a forgiving stew. I think the key is to really letting it have time to simmer. simmer is a gross word and i hate that i even just had to type it, but none the less, let your pot simmmmmer. 

p.s. Among the hilariousness of chili cookoff day at Area Agency on Aging, they had 11 people bring chili in crockpots and blew a fuse in the break room. that is when i want to work in an office. 

Cocoa Black Bean Chili

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 28 0z. can of crushed tomatoes

1 15 oz. can black beans

1 15 oz. pinto beans

1 c. frozen corn-I like using Trader Joe's Fire Roasted frozen corn

2 tbsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground pepper

4 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1-2 c. vegetable broth

Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot.  Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent...about 3 minutes. 

Add tomatoes, beans and corn and bring to a simmer. Add all other ingredients except for cinnamon. Turn down heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes. When about ready to serve add cinnamon and more broth if needed, depending on how thick you like it. 

Serve with shredded mozzarella cheese.

TaDA

Bloggity blog. here i am. I drove past a funeral procession today...which always makes me feel strange. What are all the people thinking or feeling in their cars with the little flags waving at me? In their circle, they are sad and miserable and having the worst day of their lives. The person in the car next to me is in another circle, and they are full of bliss and excitement. The other car to my right is in a another and they are just existing. So, perhaps I should be playing life's Twister. I should have my head on the blue happiness circle, my left foot on the yellow misery circle, and a hand or two on the just okay orange one. What i am meaning to say I guess, is that I need to be diverse. I think Im standing on just one right now. I need to mingle. I need to put myself out there and out of my comfort zone. My 1st attempt:  A Pottery Class in which my dear husband surprised me with for Valentine's Day. I was never so excited....although Im sure my works of art will be no less an improvement from the days of old in Mrs. Weavers art classes. I think she purchased her kiln from a drug dealer her husband might have been an acquaintance to.