Really, we never should have gone to the mall playground

That should go without saying. But dude. You guys. We were so farking bored by 3:30.

Yep. He's wearing underpants on his head. Watcha going to do about it?

Still wearing them. Told ya we were bored.

The mall playground, though? NOT A GOOD IDEA. There were tons of big kids there-- kids way bigger than the height limit that is clearly posted outside the germ-infested playground area. Which? My bad for not getting there until 4-- Jack couldn't wake his lazy little self up from nap before then. My heart stopped for a moment when I couldn't find Harry, but I discovered him behind this truck/slide thing and pulled him away back to the big plastic flower (WTF??) that Jack and I were playing on. I was like, "Harry, why didn't you answer me?" and he was all, "Sorry. I was watching that little girl throw up." I did a double take and then slipped behind the truck to check it out-- yep. Puke.

We left.

And told a mall security officer about the --er-- spill. He seemed waaaaaay bummed. Probably because he had to clean it up.

But seriously, it was cold and yucky out today, and I am so sick of getting everybody all bundled up and then playing outside for like 4 minutes before someone craps himself or someone else has to pee. Before we decided to put our swine flu vaccines to the test at the mall, we exhausted our favorite activities.

Play Doh for a long time.

Harry took a call on the gross brown squishy phone

Jack put his sock in his spaghetti maker

Harry played Star Wars Legos

and Operation

I asked his teachers how I could help him learn to write, and they said not to push writing per se but to instead focus on his fine motor skills. Hence the Legos and the Operation. We are thinking the Easter Bunny will bring him a Lite Brite, but can you guys think of other fine motor games/activites we could try?

Ooh! I also made my favorite Asian chicken salad for dinner, and it was so pretty I took some pictures, and in the vein of Misty and Virginia, I'll show you how I make it.

Okay, first, blanch some snow peas and throw them in a bowl

Next wash and assemble the other veggies: pepper, cucumber (which I usually don't peel, but this is a-- gasp-- non-organic cucumber because the organic ones were $3.69 each and MUSHY, which was the real deal-breaker, so I peeled my poison one, hoping that the pesticides went down my kitchen drain), green onions, clementines, a few carrots to shred on top, and tomatoes.

And lettuce. I like red leaf.

Oh yeah. The chicken. These are some flavored breasts from the butcher-- parmesan, I think-- the flavor doesn't matter to me, just something subtle. This chicken is not organic, but it is local. I baked them in a covered dish for an hour and twenty-ish on 375

Isn't it pretty when it's all done?

I put a few dried chow mein noodles and some almond slivers on mine. We like TJ's spicy peanut dressing, too. To keep it low cal, though, we use these things in moderation, and we never dress the whole salad; we just add our dressing at the table, and I measure mine because I hate diet dressings, so I just use a teeny bit of the real thing.

I have no conclusion for this rambling. I'd like to tie it all together, but I am about to enjoy a Tanqueray and tonic and the rest of NBC's awful Olympic coverage. Oh-- the fine motor skills? Any suggestions for fun activities to strengthen them?