introductions...

suppose I should start by sayin' I'm not new to blogging...I had one that I kept pretty faithfully for over 5 years...but as they say..LIFE HAPPENS and I found myself kinda..carried off in the under-toe for a while...but..I'm baaa-ack...

I'll give you all a moment to throw confetti (or rotten tomatoes) and otherwise cheer (or jeer) as you see fit...

dum-dee-dum...

alright..moving on...after a kinda long break I felt like I needed a fresh start...and I guess the best way to do that is with an introduction...

so for those of you who don't know me...I'm a housewife..married to a super awesome guy (who I probably don't deserve) I almost never call him by his actual name so to avoid confusion..I will most likely always refer to him here as 'the spousal unit'

we've been together for 22 years (married for 15)

we never got around to having kids..kinda never grew up ourselves I guess..but we have an awesome niece & nephew combo (they are both 7) ..being an aunt is the best!! ...it's like all the benefits of being a grandparent..without having had to raise the original kid!! WOOT!

the girl (we call her 'the monkey') belongs to MY sister..and lives in Arizona...the boy belongs to HIS sister..and lives less than a minute down the road

strangely though..if I tallied it up..I bet we see the monkey more..even though she lives 2000 miles away

we live in the HUDSON VALLEY in 'upstate' NY (I say 'upstate' because true upstaters would not consider THIS upstate..but I want to clarify for all y'all who think NY is one big city..that I am not in the city! ...not that there's anything wrong with the city..it's just not where I happen to be..and for some reason people not from NY seem to get confused easily by this..no offense)

for those of you not familiar..this is one of the most beautiful places in the entire country (if not the world) ...full of awesome architecture, mountains, trees (fall in the hudson valley is..AMAZING!!) ..creeks, lakes...and of course the hudson river..which is pretty (if ya don't look directly at the actual water) ..and farms...lots and lots of farms!!

which is great for someone like me..who likes to cook..and eat..and cook...

that's kinda my thing...I cook..people eat..everyone smiles..we're all happy...as Martha Stewart would say..it's a good thing!

I also bake...people prolly smile more about that..but seein' as how I'm a housewife an' all..cookin' is part of my job description...I bake because well..who doesn't like a cookie??

I started doing both out of necessity...when the spousal unit and I first got married I had never cooked anything in my life...

(that's not true..one time when I was about 14 I made something out of a richard simmons cookbook..I don't recall exactly what it was..but I remember it contained mass quantities of pimientos..which to this day make me want to throw up! ...with one exception which I'm sure I'll write about sooner than later)

anyway...in the beginning we lived with my mother and I worked with her in her store 72 hours a week..while the spousal unit went to school...at the end of the day we pretty much holed up in our room (this whole period in time is a story for another day) but the point for now is that we ate A LOT of take-out and fast food..actually that was pretty much ALL we ate...

fast forward a year or so..I had gotten totally burnt out and walked out on my job..he finished school..we got our own place...and once it became clear that I was not going back to work...I thought it best I do something to justify my new status as 'housewife'

we were both sick of fast food and take out...I wasn't used to eating that way and I didn't want to get used to it! ...and he..well when I met him he ate pretty much nothing but junk food..but as he got older he got more into nutrition and caring about what goes into his body (and my body too cause he luvvvvvs me :) ..plus we're both pretty disgusted by the packaged food industry!! (again..another story for another day)

also I missed some of the food I had grown up eating..so I asked my mother how to make a few things...and dug out a bunch of my grandmother's old magazines and started trying recipes

after some near disasters I found my groove and discovered I'm actually not a totally terrible cook...

the baking came when our first Christmas on our own rolled around and we had NOOOOOOO money...someone (when I remember who..remind me to stab them in the eye with a rusty spork!) suggested that I bake for everyone...it seemed like a decent plan..looking back I have no idea how I pulled it off!! ...my kitchen was ill equipped to say the least and I had never really baked anything before (strange considering that place where I used to spend 72 hours a week was a BAKERY!)

it kinda snowballed and now I'm threatened with bodily harm if I dare consider showing up anywhere without some kind of baked good...sometimes I complain..but usually it makes me happy..it's nice to know I don't totally suck at EVERYTHING hahaha ...but seriously...it's nice to be able to do something that people appreciate and that makes them smile :)

aside from housewifery..I also draw..take lots of pictures..watch way too much tv (or so I'm told..personally I don't believe there is such a thing as TOO MUCH tv!!) ...LOVE movies (mostly horror and comedies) and music (mostly metal and classic rock) ...I say and do a lot of goofy things..I'm a total dork and proud of it!!

as for my writing style..as you can see..I don't use proper grammar or punctuation...basically I write like I speak..if we were having a conversation this is pretty much how the words would come out (minus all the dots of course :) ..what ya see is what ya get...as with everyone there are always some bumps in the road..but all in all life is good...so why not share it?