Bad Attitude

Well hello readers, it has been a while. I come to you today with a confession, not an apology. I am lazy, and if I recall I may have wrote another blog entry at one point stating the same fact!

I took an unplanned leave from the world of blogging and photography. Why you may ask? Well, because my heart has just not been into it. I am lazy. Seems like way to much work for little to no payoff. I have lost my mojo.

It would be less humiliating to come up with a tonne of excuses and lame reasons for my disappearing act, some of which are completely valid, while others are full of shit. I could post meaningless mindless mumble jumble as I have more frequently than I care to admit. I could re post other peoples work as a way to get content into my blog, but I am even too lazy to do that! I have tried getting this blog mobile so that when I am away from the computer I can share morsels of wisdom, but I didn't bother to do anything with all of those apps that I purchased.

I could tell you a tall tale about how I was abducted by alien pirates and forced into cooking and cleaning for them. While that is not far from the truth, I must let it be known that my family are not aliens nor pirates. Being a full time stay at home Mom kept me very busy for many years, but the kids are getting older now and are in school full time. They don't keep me away from my "work" unless it is March Break or summer vacation.

I would like to tell you that I live in a 20 room mansion that requires all of my time to keep it clean and running smoothly. But lets face it, if I were wealthy enough to live in a mansion, time is not what would keep me away from blogging. If I am that rich, I wouldn't give two craps about sharing anything with the common folk ;)

2011 and so far 2012 have been fantastic. We were blessed to take a few really nice vacations all of which I could brag about here, but then that would just be bragging. Maybe the odd person out there would like to hear about my adventures in Italy or how when we went to Puerto Vallarta over Christmas we went swimming with dolphins. Sure they were great vacations and I have wonderful stories to tell, but I think my family and friends would rather hear about it, not the reader.

Perhaps I could share the fact that I was sucked in by all of the hype over the book 50 Shades of Grey, and much to my surprise I actually enjoyed the series. I know, shocking! I don't like romance novels, give me a good murder mystery any day, but there was just something that captivated me with the books. Do you really want to hear about how I found myself become hot and bothered by those books? No...I didn't think so!

As I sit here writing this, I realize that it does sound like an apology, a lame one at that. But let me assure you it is not. Honestly, I am sure that readers don't care if they ever see anything in this blog again. I don't share content that is going to change lives. I share stories about my life, interests and the things that make me go Hmmmm. That's it. I blog about my views and opinions, right or wrong, I don't care, they are my opinions. I may come off sounding surly in this entry, and that is fine by me, I am surly. I have often been called a bitch even by the people who love me the most.

I hope that getting this off my chest will inspire me to share more of my pissy attitude with you, sooner rather than later. Perhaps next time you check in I will have written 3 posts! Fancy that! So until next time, bugger off!

Excuses From a Lazy Blogger

I am back. Did you miss me? Did you even notice my absence from the blogosphere?  Frankly it has been a while since I last felt like I had anything worth posting! I have been in a rut lately in all of my creative outlets such as photography and writing. I just have not been that "into" it! But like any procrastinator or lazy bum out there I feel the need to come of with excuses for not having updated my blog in a while.
Let me share with you some very lame and careless reasons for not posting new blog entries!


1. Too Busy - I have been so very busy with the family and house that I have had little time for myself let alone writing a blog post. Actual reason - Lazy! I would rather Stumble or visit Facebook and troll about looking at old high school chums status and photos and laughing at them. The Young and The Restless is just more interesting than what I have to say.


2. Poor Timing - Often times when I think about updating my blog it is in the middle of the night. Sometimes I am startled out of my sleep by angry blog readers hunting me down looking for a new entry....(self important much?!). Rather than get out of bed and loose precious hours of slumber I choose to put of writing until the mood strikes again. Sometimes I think about blogging when I am sitting down to eat some ice cream and watch Oprah...really do you think I am going to give up that precious time to blab about how I am gaining weight. Shit...I just realized I may be gaining weight because of the mindless eating and inactivity....damn you Oprah and Pralines & Cream!

3. Research - I am doing research for my blog by reading countless other blogs! What that research is has yet to be determined, but be assured I am reading other blogs... then wishing that my blog was as good as some of the others out there. This then spirals out of control because I get down on myself for having a crappy blog and then I just want to give up. Then I find myself saying "No! You can do it! You ARE the best blogger out there! Keep up the hard work, just focus more and do your research!"...see, vicious cycle.

4.Writers Block - this is just another fancy term for I just have not put any thought into it. You can be the best writer or the worst, but you almost always have ideas to share and opinions to boast. If I took the time and just chose one topic to focus on then I am sure I would have plenty to say. I would likely be able to write several entries on one topic that I feel passionately about....hey maybe I'm on to something here....oh wait, I have to check the television to make sure I am not missing any good cooking shows, oh and I am feeling a bit tired right now, maybe I will just sit and stumble for a while....friggin' laziness!

5. Lack of Focus - out of all of my excuses this one is the most accurate and honest. Since I started my blog I feel as though I have lost my way. I try to think back to why I even started blogging. I have plans to discuss everything from parenthood, food and photography to travel. It is with this large scope that I overwhelmed myself. I realized that I was trying to pay too much attention to everything and as a result absolutely nothing was accomplished!  I need to narrow down..... Hey look! Something shiny!.... See, my focus is terrible!What I was trying to say is that I need to narrow down the niche of my blog.

In all they are pretty lame excuses for something known as Laziness! I really want to promise you that I won't disappear again, but honestly...I know I likely will. Unless this blog some how earns me the big bucks, I can't imagine putting countless minutes a day into it! I am not saying that I won't try, but maybe I need to fine tune my expectations. I should start by narrowing down the type of content I write about. I think I will let go of the dream of sharing photography tips and recipes on this blog ( save those for my other blogs - Cibo and Licini Photography) and just rant about being a woman who happens to be a crazed Mom and wife! Yeah, that's it! Half cracked wife and mother...something I certainly know a great deal about!

Lazy Mom's Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

As a SAHM of 2 and a doting wife to the Italian Stallion, I spend a great deal of time in the kitchen. I am always cooking up some sauce to accompany the evenings pasta. I am not content 'most of the time' with a hum drum meal of just meat and potatoes as I grew up on. I always feel the need to out-do the last menu.
However, I am not much of a baker. Try as I may, I often fail in this area. I suppose that I am too impatient for many of the sweets to come to fruition. Maybe I just plain suck at baking. Either way I still feel the need to provide my family with fresh home baked treats (every so often....I'm not a glutton for punishment).

One of the 'cheater' recipes that I have tried over the years are Kraft's Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies. I have to say that following their recipe to the "T" has always made me a happy camper but at the same time the inner gourmet in me cries for more. Over the years I have changed the white sugar the recipe calls for to brown sugar. I always add chocolate chips to my dough. But today I tried something a bit different. I added NUTELLA. (this is the point that the angels sing about the glories of this chocolate spread). I will be the first to admit...they rocked! Second to admit is my 6 yr old son who has never liked peanut butter cookies of any sort. These  he loved.

Here is the recipe switch up! Just know that when I did this it was by 'eye', quanto basta....you know when enough is enough.

SCANT 1 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp NUTELLA (add to PB to make a full cup...you judge based on your taste)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chocolate chips (choose what you like...I prefer dark chocolate)
1 egg
1 tbsp flour
pinch salt

Mix all ingredients together well. Preheat oven to 325 and bake for 15-16 minutes or until very lightly browned. Let cookies stand on baking sheet before removing to cooling rack.

Now ladies...tell me how frigging easy is that and I can assure you these are very tasty cookies! Give it a try because on those week nights when you barely have energy to cook let alone serve dessert these little morsels will come in handy!

When Laziness Gets In the Way

I have to admit something very personal, it is something I am not proud of, I AM LAZY!
That's right, LAZY!

I often find myself dreaming up wonderful crafts to do with the kids, but often they never come to fruition. Why? Laziness. I don't feel like purchasing the supplies to do the craft. I would rather watch a movie with the kids than have to clean up the mess that would surely be involved in said craft making venture.

Not only does my laziness prevent me from being a good mother, wife and housekeeper, but it also gets in the way of my one true hobby, photography. As a budding photographer I have snapped hundreds, if not thousands of photos over the years. In the beginning I was 'gung ho' to get the photos developed. I filled at least 30 albums. As time passes though I find my interest in developing the images has waned.

The walls of my family room are a dedicated showcase for my photographs. 90% of those photos are of family or special places we have visited. Recently I was going through my deep archives of pictures on the computer and came across quite a few images that have not been printed and that should be on display in my home. I was embarrassed. One picture in particular is loved by so many family members who have seen it on Flickr, but I was too lazy to give them prints. I don't even have a print, not even a small one.

So I have vowed to get off my lazy ass and get multiple prints of this photo printed. I will also spend quite a bit of money to get 500 more photos printed. This sounds excessive, but when your a 'photographer' it is the least you should do!