A tale of two jacks

Some of you might remember last month when I asked for help with my lack of pumpkin-carving skills.

Well, I didn't need to worry.

I found stickers that do the job nicely.


The jack-o'-sticker-face

I also got a jack-o'-lantern that is never messy


The jack-o'-plugin

I figure there's always next year....


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

No tricks, just a treat!

Winner Update: Holy cow, people love Starbucks!! I never imagined more than 300 people would comment. I used Random.org to find a winner: Amber at Four Guys and a Gal! Congratulations to Amber, and thank you to everyone who stopped by!

Boo!

KMommy booed me!

I guess that's ... a good thing?

The Blogging Boo goes like this: Go to as many bloggy peeps as you want and tell them they've been Booed! Have them link back to your blog to pick up their Halloween Treat (the picture) and tell them to Boo their peeps. (Then put the picture in your sidebar so everyone knows you've already been Booed and to send the pic to someone else.) Watch your comments to see if you get Booed!

If you're reading this, then consider yourself Booed!

Tropic of Mom's pepperoni salad

Whenever I run out of ideas for what to make for dinner (which is about every week), my husband usually suggests, "How about that nice, big dinner salad you make?"

He's referring to actually not just a salad, but variations on a salad that I made once for a dinner party we attended -- a salad that my husband has, thankfully, never gotten tired of. It's really one of the only ways he eats vegetables.

I love the big dinner salad because it's quick and easy -- and healthy! There's really not much of a recipe to it. And there's not much cleanup involved. Because I make it different each time, it never gets boring. You can add to it, or take away an item from it, and the salad still tastes great. The basics? Lettuce, fruit, cheese, nuts and meat. It's like a fancy restaurant salad, but without having to wait for a table or deal with a rude waiter.

Tropic of Mom's Pepperoni Salad
(aka the non-recipe dinner salad)

Ingredients

• about four cups of greens per person (your favorite type of lettuce, or fresh spinach, or whatever you like)
  
• pepperoni (I used Hormel turkey pepperoni, but you can use any kind, or even sliced chicken breast, steak strips, small meatballs, vegetarian meat substitute -- be creative!)
  
• diced or dried fruit (I used one handful of Craisins per person)
  
• cheese crumbles or cubes (feta cheese, Kraft crumbles or your own favorite cheese cut in cubes, about 3-4 tablespoons per person)
  
• nuts or seeds (sunflower seeds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, etc., about 2 tablespoons per person)
  
• grape tomatoes, slices of cucumber or pepper, corn, peas or beans (whatever vegetable you like)
  

Directions
Place your greens in the bowl first. Then sprinkle the rest of the ingredients on top, and toss. Or don't, and place your ingredients just so on top of the salad all artsy-fartsy like. It's up to you. Drizzle with your favorite salad dressing. Serve dinner salad with a nice bread, roll or croissant. Enjoy!

Glass-bottom boat tour

Boat riders looking down at the reef through the glass bottom


Boat returning from tour at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo

Win a treat!

Winner Update: Holy cow, people love Starbucks!! I never imagined more than 300 people would comment. I used Random.org to find a winner: Amber at Four Guys and a Gal! Congratulations to Amber, and thank you to everyone who stopped by!

- - - - -

So there's a huge blog carnival going on called the Bloggy Giveaways. Huge. There are around 750 bloggers (as of right now) giving things away during this carnival, which lasts until Friday.

Not to be left out, I am going to give away Oprah show tickets!

OK, not really. I wish I could, but I can't.

So I'm offering an all-expenses-paid trip to South Florida so you can come clean my house!

No takers, eh?

OK, my final offer is a $15 Starbucks gift card. I know times are tight. Starbucks is a rare treat for me -- now you can treat yourself too.

The Bloggy Giveaways rules say you have to leave a comment here to be entered to win. I'll pick an entry at random on Friday afternoon. Want to increase your chances of winning? If you subscribe to the Tropic of Mom feed or sign up for the e-mail (see the sidebar at right, near the top), that will give you two more entries (for a max total of three per person). Just mention in your comment that you subscribed. This giveaway is open only to people in the US or Candada Canadda why-can't-I-spell Canada.

Good luck!

When your child hits someone in the butt with chocolate...

Dear Madame Shopper:

I am so, so sorry that you got hit in the butt with a six-pack of Hershey's chocolate bars*. I just know that you were trying to find the words to say something kind and witty like, "Well, that's where all the chocolate I eat ends up anyway, ha ha!" But the surprised and mortified look on your face when you turned around to see what had hit you in the butt told me that your mind was just a bit more on alert than is able for coming up with a kind and witty remark.

Anyway, I deeply apologize that my son now thinks it's fun to throw things out of the shopping cart. You were the only person who got hit on this particular shopping trip (despite the fact he threw things out of the cart about seven times). My son wasn't aiming for you -- he's really not that advanced. I am just glad it wasn't the glass container of salad dressing because that could have been messy.

Thank you for understanding.

Ashamedly,

Tropic of Mom

*For the neighbors' children on Halloween. I believe in being nice to the neighbors' kids on Halloween because I don't want any shenanigans on my front lawn. A little candy goes a long way. You believe me, don't you?

A bird in the hand is worth a bummed-out day

This is, unfortunately, an ex-sparrow. (Update: It's not a sparrow. It's a rose-breasted grosbeak -- a young male that hasn't gotten his strikingly beautiful adult plumage yet -- passing through on his way to Central or South America.)

Yesterday morning while having breakfast, there was a bird ruckus in the yard, and everyone scattered. I figure a hawk must have come by. This bird flew right into my door in a panic, then fell to the ground. I think I saw little stars circling over its head.

I hoped the bird was just stunned and would get up soon and fly away, but it didn't. So I put a towel in a shoebox and placed the bird inside. Hours went by, and the bird remained completely still.

THIS TOTALLY BUMMED ME OUT!

(Not to mention this is the second day in a row that something has died at my house.)

Birds shouldn't fly hundreds or even thousands of miles to Florida for the winter only to slam into something and meet their maker.

But I suppose it happens all the time.

The bird's buddies had better be careful....




Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

The itsy-bitsy mangled speck on the floor

My son and I were playing with toys in his room. I noticed a shadow moving across the floor. It was a spider!



OK, it was really only a daddy longlegs spider.



I pointed out the spider to the Man-cub. "Look! It's the itsy-bitsy spider!" I said, mentioning one of his favorite songs. This could be an important primary earth science lesson, right here. I expected my son to revere the spider as a unique creature. Or at least study it from a distance.

He chased it.

(As much as a person can chase a spider.)

He tried to stop the spider from running away and smashed it, then accidentally sat on it and couldn't figure out where it went.

When we finally found the poor creature, it looked like this:



So much for his sympathy toward bugs.

Maybe next time I try to teach my son something, it won't involve something dying.

Big Cypress boardwalk

Big Cypress National Preserve

The Florida wildlife alphabet

In the spirit of the Crazy ABC's alphabet song on the Barenaked Ladies' children's album, Snacktime, I've come up with some alphabet words of my own. Here is a new alphabet for Florida, and it's all about wildlife!

A is for alligator

B is for burrowing owl

C is for crested caracara

D is for dolphin

E is for Everglades snail kite

F is for fox squirrel

G is for gopher tortoise

H is for humpback whale

I is for indigo snake

J is for Florida scrub jay

K is for Key deer

L is for loggerhead sea turtle

M is for Miami blue butterfly

N is for North Atlantic right whale

O is for osprey

P is for panther

Q is for the quick peregrine falcon (I'm really reaching now)

R is for rabbit (marsh rabbit)

S is for Schaus’ swallowtail butterfly

T is for tree snail

U is for Ursus americanus floridanus (Florida black bear) (I'm reaching again. Sort of.)

V is for Florida salt marsh vole

W is for West Indian manatee

X is for eXtinct ivory-billed woodpecker (Bear with me through these tough last letters....)

Y is for yet another sea turtle, the leatherback

Z is for zoinks, a whooping crane!

Many of these animals are threatened or endangered, and some live only in Florida.

Tropic of Mom's breakfast casserole

A funny thing about me is that breakfast foods are my favorite things to eat, but typically I don't eat them. And breakfast for me is usually a warm beverage (coffee, tea, chai, whatever) with whichever kick I am on -- protein, yogurt, steel-cut oatmeal . . . you get the idea. (Today I am not on a kick and had whole-grain toast. I am not very imaginative in the morning.)

Recently, I went to a morning moms group and elected to bring breakfast. (What was I thinking?!) I decided to make a nice breakfast casserole, which, it turns out, offers all of the four food groups. Someone else brought the fifth food group, chocolate.

This breakfast casserole is good for a small crowd, and I'm sorry I forgot to take a picture of it.

Tropic of Mom's Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients
6 cups of frozen, uncooked hash-browned potatoes (the loose kind, not the hash browns already in patties -- you can get a big bag of these potatoes at most supermarkets)
8 eggs (I know!) or egg substitute
1/4 cup milk
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 green pepper, diced
1/4 tsp. garlic or garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Spray a 13 x 9 baking dish with nonstick spray. Add the potatoes, evenly covering the dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the milk. Mix in the garlic, cheese and pepper. Pour this egg mixture over the potatoes.

Bake at 325 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes, or until you see the casserole bubbling and starting to turn golden brown. Yum!

Feel free to get wild and crazy by adding diced ham, sausage or bacon, or increasing the amount of cheese.

Serves 8 morning-moms-group-type people, or three lumberjacks.

It's hard to say goodbye

Today my husband's family will be saying goodbye to his grandmother, who died earlier this week. I didn't blog about it at the time, which felt strange because I did blog when friends mourned the loss of their mother last week. Maybe it's just because it's harder to deal with death when it comes so close to you. And that's why I really don't have much to say.

But I do hope this is the end of people dying for a good long time and that there's no truth to the "bad things come in threes" rule.

A wild snap in the dark

Recently, I was scrolling through the pictures on my digital camera and found this.

What the heck?

Apparently, when your husband loves animals as much as he loves taking pictures, and he spots a mysterious animal outside your house at night, and the closest camera at hand is yours, so he takes a wild snap in the dark hoping the picture will turn out, you end up with photos like this on your camera. And we still don't know what it was.

My husband. He always keeps me guessing.


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Swing? Down!

The scene: The Man-cub and I are in the backyard. He spots his tree swing.

Man-cub: Swing? Swing?

Me: Oh, you want to swing? OK. Umpf. Here you go. Aaaaand . . . . Swing! Whee!

Man-cub: (smiling)

Man-cub: Down? Down?

Me: You want down already? OK. Come here.

Man-cub: No! Swing!

Me: All right. Swing it is. Whee!

Man-cub: (smiling)

Man-cub: Down? Down?

Me: You just got in the swing. You sure you want down?

Man-cub: No! Swing!

Me: That's what I thought. Whee!

Man-cub: (smiling)

Man-cub: Down! Down!

Me: Argh! Which is it? Do you want to swing, or do you want down?

Man-cub: (smiling)

Man-cub: Down? Down!

Me: OK. That's it. Let's try something else for a while. Umpf. There. Do you want to look for butterflies? Play with your ball? Water the plants?

Man-cub (crying): Swing! Swing!

Me: Swing?

Man-cub: Swing!

Me: Swing. Umpf. Whee.

Man-cub: (smiling)

Man-cub: Down! Down!

International Peace Garden

The Gateway to Peace


Colorful


Peace

The International Peace Garden at the Coral Springs Museum of Art

SITS blogathon

Today is a blogathon hosted by The Secret Is in the Sauce (SITS)!

All the SITStas are celebrating by linking to five of their favorite SITStas.

Ronnica from Tale of a Kansas Girl is really sweet, blogs about her faith and sometimes has fun surveys.

Melody from Pennies in My Pocket has thought-provoking questions every day and is a very caring person.

Meaghan from I Kicked Cancer's Ass is a beautiful, brave young woman who blogs about life and cancer.

Tracy from The Journey blogs so well about really enjoying the simple things of life and cherishing your family.

Leezee from Why Isn't There Mouse-Flavored Cat Food? is a funny woman who blogs about cats and other entertainment!

These women have just been so nice, and they have all had their special day being featured on SITS. It's always great to meet new bloggers to see just how lame of a blogger I am compared to everyone else. Thanks, SITS, for keeping me on my toes!

Will walk for boobs

If you're sick of hearing about my breast cancer walk, I apologize. But all I really wanted to do was to share a few pictures from Saturday -- which I have to say are pretty cool -- and to thank you for your well wishes for my Making Strides for Breast Cancer walk.

I also need to thank Cool Zebras and Momisodes for donating. Mwah! They helped me raise $225, or 90%, of my goal!

We started at 9 am, and it was at least 87 degrees already. I was expecting hundreds of walkers -- but there had to be well over a thousand. So you can imagine how we really stunned some homeless guys trying to enjoy their Big Gulps when we walked under their bridge. Here are some highlights.

And they're off!





The fallen:





The scenery:





The finish line:





And yes, my legs are still sore....

No breasts here

I thought about illustrating this post with a picture of breasts -- don't get too excited because they would be clothed ones, possibly even mine -- but instead I give you this map of downtown Ft. Lauderdale and the route I will be walking tomorrow with hundreds of other people who have raised money in support of breast cancer with the American Cancer Society. (There's still time to donate to my walk!) I hope you're not too disappointed there aren't any breasts on this post.

(Hmm.... But if a couple more people donated to my walk, I might be persuaded to upload a picture a la Sarcastic Mom.)

There will be lots of breasts tomorrow, though, and we will be walking in honor and support of breasts everywhere. Because everybody probably knows somebody who has been affected by breast cancer ... because breast cancer kills and leaves behind loved ones in mourning ... because I am glad I was able to nourish my son with breasts ... because even someone so young as 36-year-old actress Christina Applegate had a double mastectomy ... I will be walking for breasts.

Then there will be a follow-up fundraising effort for the legs, feet and backs that ache after all that walking....

Make Tracks Family Trail Weekend

Remember my recent post about playing with kids in the great outdoors? Yeah, I don't blame you. I think it was called something like Take a Child Outside Week. It's not quite a national holiday -- at least not yet. (And Take Your Dog to Work Day is getting closer and closer to that status.)

Well, there's yet another outdoorsy, kid-friendly event this weekend called Make Tracks Family Trail Weekend, or MTFTW. Catchy, huh? It's a push by the National Wildlife Federation to get families out appreciating nature. All they want is for people to sign up and say they are going to take their family down a trail. They don't offer you money or prizes or even a T-shirt or anything, so I guess the reward is just feeling proud for having gone.

These programs are trying to combat nature-deficit disorder, a term used to describe how kids are growing up disconnected from the natural world. Spending time in a natural setting not only helps kids develop a love of the environment, but it also supposedly helps kids develop imagination and eases stress and symptoms of ADD. Having free-play time outside allegedly prevents obesity. And it makes your teeth whiter and your hair shinier, and you never have to worry about fuzz in your belly button.

My breast cancer walk (there's still time to donate! just $5!) is on Saturday, so I hope my husband and I can take our son to a nearby refuge on Sunday. After surrounding the Man-cub with lots of green and brown outside, I'll be looking for signs of imagination and lack of stress. Oh, wait -- he's only two! He has imagination in spades! And no stress whatsoever. Well, going down a trail has to be good for something. Like, oh please, maybe a really long nap.

Wading birds

I took this picture in my backyard.

Ha!

No, really this flamingo and white ibis live at the Palm Beach Zoo.

I've had plenty of white ibises in my yard. But flamingos? They're actually rare in the wild in Florida.

Gone

Friends lost their mother to cancer this morning.

They found out she was sick only a couple months ago, so their mother's passing has been so sudden. That someone you love can slip away from you so quickly isn't something I like to think about ... but now that my friends' situation has my attention ....

Instead of spending my son's naptime blogging today, I think I will spend some time calling / mailing / e-mailing the mothers in my life (mother, stepmother, husband's mother) and sending them something in the mail like a picture of my son.

Peace....

In which I compare Sesame Street Live to outer space

Today, I took my son to the Broward Center for Performing Arts to see Sesame Street Live: When Elmo Grows Up. The Man-cub has never seen a live show like this.

And there's a good reason.

I thought he might be too young to go to a theater performance, even Sesame Street. I think he did really well, but the steps were such a big temptation for him. (And we got the cheap seats waaaaay up in the balcony, so there were a lot of steps.) The bags of cotton candy at his eye level were a temptation. (We didn't buy any, but not for his lack of trying or the seller's lack of rolling his eyes when we didn't.) The backs of the seats in front of us were a temptation. Everything was something he'd never seen before, so it was kind of like going to another planet. Without the spacesuit and lifeline and headset that allows you to talk to Mission Control.

The Man-cub did settle down for one portion of the show, however:



Ah, Elmo. Terra Firma. Mother Earth.

Taking my son to see the show was a good learning experience for both of us (except for my dealing with the parking garage Nazi who preferred yelling at me and making me feel bad for not understanding a sign, over just giving me a ticket).

But what I want to know is, shouldn't treating your child to a fun outing create a nice deposit in the good behavior bank? Taking the Man-cub to see Sesame Street should have equaled at least two peaceful days of happiness and sunshine. At least! Instead, he threw a large piece of chicken at my husband at lunchtime and then squirmed on the floor. Ah well. Maybe that's part of the adjustment after coming back from a trip to outer space.


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Cata-logged: When your mailbox is full

The nation is facing a financial crisis, and last week we saw an unprecedented 777-point drop in the stock market.

I, however, have seen the largest one-day gain in the catalog market. My mailbox was stuffed with stuff. Companies want me. They want me bad. Problem is, most of the stuff they've got is stuff I don't want. Let me show you.

Here is Exhibit A:



Looks nice enough, but...



...where is the Mom ornament? I feel a bit left out.

Halloween is just around the corner:



But the costumes for women? They look like the little inserts I used to get with my Barbies.



Here is a closeup. Peeps, this is the kind of stuff I might wear ... in the bedroom!



What about this catalog?



Catalog marketers, does a suburban South Florida mom need a Plow? Pass.

When I saw this catalog, I thought, How old do they think I am?



But then I realized it's not an age thing -- it's a style thing. For example, you'll never find me wearing a belt like these. I like to keep my waist moose-free, thanks.



Here is an old standby -- maybe one of the original catalogs:



The day someone buys me any of these items (a monogrammed coffee scoop?), though, is the day I realize I have too much stuff and have become that impossible-to-buy-for person:



And anyone who organizes watches and bracelets in a box like this has too much time on their hands:



Here's a holiday catalog:



Nice, but it's kind of out of my latitude. (Note the "just add snow" reference below.)



And I found more moose. I never thought, You know, what my tree really needs is a moose ornament.



Finally, a catalog I thought I could enjoy:



I could just eat up this little banana! Too bad she's it's $69!



The person who dressed these kids in white sweaters is just asking for a cranberry sauce stain.



And this kitchen? It's better than my real one!



...and once again -- yet more moose. Do people really love moose this much? Why are there no Christmas sweaters with alligators, manatees or Florida panthers?!



Last, here is another kiddy catalog.



I can't really make fun of it, though, because I wanted everything in it. For myself! For example, I could forecast hurricanes with this weather station! Look out, Max Mayfield!



And if I had this portable karaoke contraption, I could share my gift of song with everyone, everywhere! Standing in line at the post office or library. Shopping at Publix. At the playground with my son. I'd be a hit!



I guess to sum up: spare me the moose, and bring on the toys!