Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to my right...

I have class two nights a week for four hours each. Five pm until nine pm Monday and Wednesday nights are rough. My Monday night Linguistics class is a little abstract and after listening to a babbling two year old all day it takes some time for me to wrap my brain around it. So I get to class at least an hour early to go over my notes, finish any reading and generally...take off my mom hat. There are numerous problems with this. First, I have to set up the room. The prof insists that we sit in a U-shape so we can "collaborate" more effectively. Yeah, and the two woman who still insist on sitting in the middle of the U are really sharing in that plan. Second, I have no say in who I sit by. I'm left to the mercy of the seating gods.

And apparently, they don't like me so much right now.

For the past few weeks I have been sitting between the equivalents of the clown and the joker. The clown on my left is a unassuming, younger girl. She laughs a lot. I thought we were going to be friends. And then she whipped out here laptop. Really. No body else in the entire department uses a laptop to take notes; and she doesn't either. She spends her time on Facebook and chatting with friends all the while those annoying little keys are tap, tap, tapping away in my ear.

It.drives.me.bat.sh*t.crazy.

On my right is the joker. Except, he's not funny. He carries a gallon of nursery water to class every night and inadvertently spills a least a cupful on the tables by the time we take our first break. This I can forgive, I understand the importance of hydrating. No, this is also the guys that "talks" to the prof during the whole lecture. Every sentence the prof says this guy answers under his breath, "Sure, yeah, oh, ok. Yeah, I see what you're saying." I am about ready to claw my ears out, request an ASL interpreter and never hear the sound of my dear daughter again.

But, you see, I'm a creature of habit. I'm sure you're all thinking that I should just move places! New people to sit by, no more annoying classmates! &In truth, that would probably solve my problem, but I have been sitting in the same seat, in the same spot, in every classroom I have inhabited since my undergraduate career began. I can't help it. I feel comfortable there; I can see the board, hear the professor, but safely enclosed by the rest of my classmates. It's the perfect position.

Beans, Beans, the Magical...

I'm still working into getting a groove with this school, blog, life thing.  Thank you for being patient!  I'm thinking right now that I will blog on Tuesday and Thursday.  That's the goal and I will try to stick to it.  But that's enough meta talk for tonight.

I just made the best dinner.  The Mr. just recently went vegetarian again and it's been a little bit of a struggle with me being pregnant and craving meat/protein and one very picky toddler.  Add in two nights a week when a sitter watches the Little Lady plus one night of Daddy and Me class and you have one meal planning nightmare.  But, I may have found a solution!

Quesadillas and burritos are huge in our house.  I love anything with taco seasoning and the Little Lady will eat a cheese quesadilla like there's no tomorrow.  So tonight I decided to make homemade refried black beans to go with it.  I'm not sure if there were very authentic, or if they were truly refried, but they were damn tasty.  Here's my partial recipe.

MP's "Refried" Black Beans

2 Cups of Black Beans 

Use dried, try this quick and easy method,

or canned are fine

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Cumin

Chili Powder

4 oz can of Green Chiles

1. Take about half of the beans and mash them up in a bowl.

2. Add all of the beans to a small pot.

3. Add seasonings to taste and the can of chiles.  

Don't forget the salt!  Beans need salt to make them taste good.

4. Add a bit of water and keep mashing until the beans are

creamy and of beany consistency.  

5. Taste.  Adjust Seasonings if needed.

6. Use as desired!

A very quick and easy way to get dinner on the table and nutritious and delicious to boot.  Try it.  The Mr. got his in a burrito form since it was easier to transport.  Even the Little Lady choked some down.  And that, if nothing else, makes them a success.

Bon Appetit! 

A Reunion of Your Life

I had my ten year class reunion a few weeks ago.  I realize that reunions are usually events that strike fear into the hearts of many, but in truth, I've been looking forward to mine for almost ten years.  I'm still good friends with many of the girls that I hung out with in high school, so in some ways it was just a bonus to see and catch up with the other fifty people that made up my graduating class.  (Yep, fifty.  We were a small town.)

As the reunion got closer, happened and then past I started thinking about all of the other people in my life that I no longer see, talk to or hear from.  Wouldn't it be neat if you could have your own personal reunion?    So instead of a "Ten Year Class Reunion," I would like to see a "The Past Ten Years of MP's Life."  It would get expensive because the people that I still think about, talk about and wonder what the f- happened to them are spread all over the world.  You would think that in the age of Facebook finding everyone would be easy.  Wouldn't it be fun though!  It would be like the best house party ever, and you (or I) would be the one unifying factor between all of the guests.  I love those kind of parties; I've been lucky enough to have such awesome friends that I'm fairly positive that it would work.  A sampling of the guest list?

• The NY gal that inspired me to study abroad and was the first person to treat me like an adult.
• The MN Catholic school girl who was younger, wiser and infinitely more awesome than anyone else at summer camp.
• The guy that I hung out with one semester.  He was super tall, super funny and I am still super bummed that he joined a frat and realized I wasn't as cool as he thought I was.
• My theatre pal who looked crazily like Portia de Rossi.  For real.  And had some crazy mad acting skills to boot.
• The dirt bike riding, Jesus loving, beard growing landscaper that everyone thought I was dating, but really just enjoyed talking too.  He married his best friend and quite possibly the sweetest person on earth.

What about you?  Who would you like to see show up at the reunion of your life?