Where's the Love?

For the month of November, I am designating every Thursday as "13 Things I Love Thursday". I stole the "13 Things" idea from Miss Zoot and then scammed the "Love Thursday" idea from Chookooloonks.

You'll notice a lot of food products in this edition. I've been hungry lately and well......

I Love.......

1. the 4th season of The Wire, on HBO. Wow. This season has been blowing me away. It's hit all the right notes, hinted at all the right nuances. Wow. If you've never seen the Wire, it's best viewed on DVD anyway. Critics aren't calling it "landmark" television for nothing.
   


2. ibuprofen. Diana was right. Arun took an AMAZING nap yesterday and woke up chirpy and ready to take on the cats again. We ended up having a really nice evening, walking around the neighborhood and hanging out in the backyard.
   


3. Archer Farm Monterey Pepper Jack cheese. OMIGOD. This is the best pepper jack cheese EVER. I never cared much for Kraft's version anyway and recently discovered the Archer Farm version. I think the difference is that they use red peppers in addition to jalapenos, which lends itself to a hint of sweetness.
   


4. Mott's line of "No Sugar Added" applesauces. I bought these for Arun trying to tempt his palate, but found myself finishing off the cup by myself, then having to open another one for him. The flavors are pretty good, too - apple, berry, peach medley. (Rancid Tangent: I am increasingly getting furious at the food producers marketing "kid-friendly" foods that have High Fructose Corn Syrup in them. To feed your child healthy foods these days requires a careful reading of ALL food product labels. And OF COURSE, Arun LOVES to sit in the cart and watch me scour food labels. Not.)
   


5. Sandra Boynton, children's author extraordinnaire. I have loaded up Arun's nighttime reading list with her stuff, such as Dinosaur's Binkit, Pajama Time and The Going to Bed Book. While I was tired of Goodnight Moon before I had even made it through the checkout line while purchasing it, I am still not weary of the Boynton books. The woman is a genius.
   


6. nuts. Git yer head outta the gutter. I'm talkin' food. My favorite nut if you don't count sunflower seeds because they aren't technically nuts is the hazelnut (Side Note: I only just found out a few years ago that the hazelnut and filbert are the SAME nut. I felt really stupid when I discovered that. So for years, I would say the filbert was my favorite nut, but the hazelnut was my favorite nut flavoring. Because I'm an idiot. ). Every Christmas Season, my dad purchases a big bag of mixed nuts, whole in the shell. It's something I've continued to do myself. It's doubtful Arun will get many fresh-baked pans of holiday cookies, but he will get NUTS. Furthermore, it is awesome that Arun is old enough now where he can partake with us. Thus far, he's really digging the pistachios. (Note to Mommy Patrol: rest assured, we give him teeny pieces, not whole ones). The last few months have been stressful because I had no idea how many nuts X and I consume until we had a Dawdler hanging on to our every bite, wistfully gazing at the treat in which he couldn't partake.
   


7. Izze sparkling juice. I LOVE carbonated beverages - water, pop, juices. Izze is awesome because it's just juice and sparkling water, no added sugar or anything other crapola. I first discovered Izze at Target and it was pretty expensive, so I would very carefully save them as "special treats". Then Costco started carrying them and I was in Heaven because they were reasonably priced there. Now, Costco isn't carrying them any longer. sob.


8. Wondertime magazine. This magazine is a great read for parents - it's not about your typical parenting topics, like discipline, childcare, and nutrition. It's more about exploring the world with your child andf un ways for learning - new ideas for interesting activities, new approaches for the "same old/same old". Last summer, I purchased just about every magazine out there - Child, Parent, Parenting, etc. and frankly, they all made my heartrate go up except this one, Mothering magazine and Babytalk.
   


9. watching Arun figure stuff out. His little caterpillar brows furrowing in concentration. His eyes growing wide with the "Aha!" moment when he figures it out. The slow smile that spreads across his face.
   


10. my Badger Sleep Balm. I put some on my lips most nights and then curl up in bed to nice dreams. Bliss.
    


11. cheesy crime procedurals on television. Until recently, I only watched CSI: Original Recipe, but this season I picked up Shark. Hee-larious! Every crime procedural cracks me up because whatever the group that is the focus, does MOST the detective work. In Shark, it's the DA's office of attornies. In CSI, it's the CSI dudes. You might see a bit of the actual PO-lice doing the work, but it kills me seeing a LAWYER out in the field, solving crimes. Shark is particularly yummy because it's almost as if James Woods realizes how ridiculous the premise of the show must appear, but he is still having fun with it. And so am I.
    


12. Duraflame logs. Although, I've had a one bad experience with them, in their defense, it was my fault (note all comments were swiped when I deleted Haloscan). I haven't gotten to light one up yet this season, I can't wait.
    


13. our old crappy, cheap PC laptop with the faulty spacebar and jiggly-like screen. Participating in NaBloPoMo would have been pretty stressful had I not started using this laptop. I used to complain about it because it is hard to type and seriously, the screen is all wiggly-like and LOOSE. But, because it is a laptop withWiFi, I can use it throughout the house and am not tied to my office. And that goes a long way when you are trying to entertain a Dawdler AND do daily posts at the same time. I can tether him to the coffeetable for only so long before he starts to mount a rising protest.