Okay so what else has been going on? So I bet you'd like to know what the deal is with the name changing to "Sweet Meenda". Well, maybe you're not on the edge of your seat, but maybe it's crossed your mind. It's because that's what my family is starting to call me now. Because my neice Ariana.........
has finally learned that my name is not "Mommy" and that it is "Amanda". But she can't say Amanda. So she calls me "Meenda". And she calls me "Meenda" all...the...time.
Seriously! ALL THE TIME. I watch her every weekend now. From Friday night until Monday night. She spends Friday & Saturday night at my house, plus all day Sunday. Her mom comes and gets her Sunday night, brings her back out Monday morning, and then picks her back up again in the evening. And the whole time, the girl follows me around saying,
"Meeeeeeeenddaaaaa! Meeeeeeenddaaaaaa! Here Meeeeeendda!"
Or I'll be sitting in my chair reading, and there she is hanging on the side of the chair....
"Meeeeeeenddaaaaaa! Meeeenddaaaaaa!"
I love her. I really do. But after 24 hours of that, damn near non stop, it's enough to make me want to bang my head against the wall. And of course the family thinks it's funny (And it is. When I tell them about it, I laugh with them). So they are starting to call me Meenda.
Things are going pretty good with her. She's our part time kid. On the weekends Lilly get's to see what it's like to be an older sibling. For a long time she was letting Ariana push her around. Ariana would hit, yell, and scream at her. Take her toys away, etc. And Lilly would only just turn away and cry. Afraid to defend herself against a 2 year old.
So we had to explain to her that she has to start standing up for herself. Tell Ariana no, take her toy back when Ariana takes it from her. You know? Stand up for herself. Well now she found that confidence but we have to try and make her see that there is a time and place for it. I'm begining to see that my child is becoming bossy. Always telling Ariana what to do, even when she's actually just playing quietly by herself, perfectly content. I can see where Ariana would get pissed off at her and want to scream at her sometimes. Then I hear her talking to Ariana in the play room...
"Don't tell me no!" -- She gets that from David and I because we are constantly saying that to Ariana. She has a nasty habit of saying no when you tell her to do something.
"Don't look at me like that!" -- I had to laugh when I heard that one. I had this mental image of the faces Ariana must be making. Because she does make a lot of faces. She's fun to just sit back and observe because even when she's just sitting there, she's making faces. As if she's trying flex her facial muscles to see what they can do.
Okay so what else? I've been doing a lot of cooking here and there. First, my SIL had a fun party, and I was asked to make a cake. Well, what fun party would be complete without a big penis? So I made a penis cake.....
I'm pretty damn proud of that cake (even though that isn't the best picture of it). I think it's one of my better ones. Also, I've finally aquired a taste for spicy food, and can almost hold my own against my husband and his sisters when it comes to Korean food. And lately I've been learning to make all the recipies that he and his sisters remember their mother making when they were little. I've learned to make buldak (spicy chicken), gamja jorim (spicy potatoes), and bulgogi (thin sliced beef in a korean BBQ type sauce). Also I've learned to make pot stickers! I still have to learn to make galbi jim (korean short ribs), cucumber kimchi, and kimchi stew.
Also David and I were watching "Bizarre Foods" on Discovery. The guy was in South Korea (where David's mother is from) and it had our mouths watering. He was showing all the street food, and though I'd probably stay away from the blood sausage, the rest of it looked pretty good. Especially the Dduk Boki (it's rice dough balls in a spicy sauce). So I found the recipie for that and I'd like to try and make that soon.
For christmas we're having a Korean dinner instead of the traditional Christmas dinner. And it seems I'm in charge of quite a few things for it. The chicken, potatoes, and potstickers. It's a lot to make, but I don't mind. I love seeing them eat it and the happy look on their faces.
Maybe I'll teach my SIL's how to make it. No, their husbands don't eat it. Nobody wants to have to make 2 seperate meals, etc. But that's okay. Why not make it for yourself if that's what you have a hankering for? Right?
So I guess that's all for now. It's been real...It's been fun...But for now...I'm done!