Olympic-Mania

An actual conversation posted on Mr. Bean's Facebook wall.

Note: AB is from Norway and friends of the extended Bean family. There has been a Norway versus USA rivalry going on for years with the Bean siblings and AB. There is no Kraft Mac-n-Cheese to be found in Norway, apparently.

AB: So who do you think will win the most medals in the Olympics...? :)

Me: And so it begins.... Certainly not Norway. :)

AB: Hmmm. A bit too early to say Mandie...Perhaps we should make this interesting? I've run out of Mac and Cheese... ;)

Mr. Bean: So far it's U.S.A. 0 - Norway 0.

Mr. Bean: Correction: U.S.A. 2 - Norway 0.

Me: Another correction: U.S.A 4 - Norway 0.

AB: Just keep in mind that the population of U.S.A is about 309 million while Norway has 4.5 million.... But congrats on your 4 medals! I'm really "happy" for you! :)

Mr. Bean: Just keep in mind that Norway has about 309 million tons of snow while the U.S.A. has 4.5 million. So, yeah, I gotta say I'm feeling pretty good about the four medals so far.

Mr. Bean: Hey, Norway got a medal!

Mr. Bean: ...and so did the U.S.! 5-1 now.

Brother Bean: Not to mention that the medal came in an event the US has never medaled in before.

Waiting for Sister Bean (Who is no longer a Bean since her wedding) to chime in. AB is in Norway, so I'm going to assume she's sleeping and unable to reply to all the madness.

Twelve for Breakfast

Every year for Christmas my family makes this recipe for Christmas morning. Typically we open stockings and then eat this before opening presents.

I've managed to make this recipe 3 times this holiday season. The first time was for a friend who was packing to move. I sent it to her home uncooked so she could bake it while packing (watch out, its soupy when uncooked). The second time was for our Christmas celebration. The third time was this morning since the newlyweds stayed with us last night.

As Rachael Ray would say, "It's a real crowd pleaser!"

Twelve for Breakfast

8 slices cubed white bread (whole grains don’t taste right with this recipe)
2/3 pound Velveeta Cheese, cubed
8 eggs, beaten with 3 cups milk
8 slices bacon, fried and broken into pieces ( doesn’t have to be crisp, as it will be baking during last ½ hour)

Mix first four ingredients in large bowl. (You can then refrigerate overnight and bake the next day.) Pour in greased 13X9 pan. Bake at 350 for an hour, sprinkling with bacon after ½ hour.

Where's My Tail?

My sister-in-law purchased this as a gift for String Bean's birthday:


The Where's My Tail? puzzle is made by Infantino and can be found at a pretty reasonable price. (For some reason, Amazon is listing this at $45 right now. I think it really should be $15 or less. There must be a glitch.)

Just this evening, we put together this puzzle 5 times before I called it quits. I cannot believe how quickly my 2 year old is matching the parts together. It is really amazing!

Meet the Parents

Have you seen the Ben Stiller movie, Meet the Parents? The comical things that happen to this poor guy the first time he goes out to see his girlfriend's parents is just amazing. It doesn't help that his future father-in-law is a former CIA agent and definitely knows how to interrogate a guy.

Well, my sister-in-law brought her new boyfriend over to visit tonight. All day yesterday, I was trying to come up with ways to initiate this guy into our family craziness. I was going over all the uncomfortable questions and scenarios that I could come up with in my mind and just never really settled on anything...well, that and I'm not that mean-hearted that I'd actually go through with it anyway.

The bottom line is...we met him. He's normal and not crazy, and really very likable. My sister-in-law thinks very highly of him (as does my father-in-law) so that translates into the very high probability that he is a very good guy that we will learn to love as time goes by.

We'll see what happens! Exciting times!!

Hijaking My Sister-in-Law's Friends

Facebook, which has revolutionized how I relate to people, made me "friends" with my sister-in-law's friend. We look at each others photos and ooh and ahh over our kids. Of course, I just have String Bean, but my sister-in-law's friend has two cute kids. A boy and a girl. Her daughter is 6 months old. String Bean is 11 months old, but just a runt. We both secretly have been eager to get them together to see how much bigger my sister-in-law friend's baby is than my own bundle of joy. Here is where my evil plan began: I decided to hijack my sister-in-law's best friend.
After all, once she becomes friends with me, she'll forget all about my crazy sister-in-law!

We arranged to meet at Ikea today for some 50 cent hot dogs and bargain shopping. I woke up this morning to find String Bean's nose running and all kinds of snotty goo glued to her upper lip. Disgusting. I decided I needed to talk to my target for hijacking and let her decide whether my evil plan would go forward. She didn't answer her cell. I left a message:

Me: Sister-in-law's friend who I am secretly hijacking, String Bean woke up this morning with a runny nose. I don't think she's sick, I'm pretty certain it is just because she is teething. Do you still want to go to Ikea today? I didn't want to make the decision for you by showing up with my potentially sick kid. Let me know!

After a couple hours, Sister-in-law's friend who I am secretly hijacking called back. Long story short, her kids just got over a cold and she didn't want to take the risk. We'll have to reschedule.

I hope I get a second chance to hijack her.

Note: String Bean might just be sick. She's coughing now and has watery eyes in addition to the snotty nose.