I'm here. I'm here. I know that my desk looks relatively clutter free, but it hides the chaos in my mind. It's pretty amazing what losing one day to an ear infection (not mine) and one to Ikea (although I wouldn't call that lost, exactly) can do to set you behind. There's not a lot to report from here. I'm madly trying to meet about twenty bajillion different deadlines. My eyes are tired. We went to the mall Monday night to get Callum new shoes and the boy took for-ever picking them out. Longer than me. In the meantime Neel got a new phone, and I got exactly NOTHING. Not even lipstick.

Which brings me to an alarming point (and one that has my husband quite gleeful). The shopping urge seems to have, ahem, left me. I have some specific things I want (J. Crew cropped pants, new lipstick, a new handbag/smaller camera bag (oh, and a new camera lens, but that doesn't count), but the urge to just go and get things.....heavy sigh. Gone. Should I be concerned? Trust me, Neel isn't.

I did get out to the grocery store yesterday (now that was thrilling), and I said "hi" to this woman who looked vaguely familiar. It was an okay "hi." Not stalkerish. And it was only after I said it and she did too did I think, does she look familiar (remember, I work alone all day, people)? Anyway, I went about the rest of my shopping (and maybe I should do this everyday because the check-out ladies were so sweet to chat with!), and as I was getting in my car, I saw that same woman come out of the grocery store and get into her car without any groceries. Who goes to the grocery store just to browse? I know I left the mall last night empty handed (even though Callum left with shoes and Neel left with a phone), but I don't think I've ever left the grocery store empty handed. She didn't even have a muffin.

I um, kind of darkened burned the latest batch of Chex Mix (And if you can get Chex cereal, you can find the recipe on the box. I've been making it for so many years now that I kinda wing it, and I'm happy to share my version, if you want. The less-dark variety, that is.), which could be problematic when it comes to making our own. You have to watch that stuff every minute, apparently. Erin was a dear and hooked me up with several possible containers, and we even looked at one at Ikea, but dude we need BIG. I think I was envisioning more wide than deep, so I guess there's some shopping I still have to do.

We got Callum's dresser put together, but there's much left undone. I need a whole other Easter break just to recycle the flat-pack boxes.

For us, the hardest part about Callum getting braces was giving up popcorn. We've been eating popcorn as a snack around here since he was the smallest of babes, and I had to pick off the fluffy bits so he wouldn't choke on the kernels and husks. Back then we called it "pop-pop." Fast forward to the school years and popcorn was an afternoon staple around here. The first snack Callum could really make himself.

It's been nearly a year now, and I'm still struggling to find a good after-school snack (boy needs to eat when he gets home) that's not too over-the-top unhealthy, is satisfying and that Cal can manage himself. Lately we've been buying Chex Mix at the grocery store and gobbling bag after bag of that. Apparently we need crunch. Every winter, at Christmastime, I make homemade Chex Mix for us to snack on...it's a tradition around these parts. And while I'd thought about making Chex Mix for our everyday, somehow I resisted. I wanted our traditional holiday snack to still feel special.

This weekend I caved. I'm tired of buying bags of Chex Mix (tasty though it is) with processed ingredients when we all love the homemade versions so much. When I make it, we determine the mix of stuff (heavy on chex, heavy on nuts, light on pretzels), and while it's not completely healthy (can you say butter?), at least I know what's in it.

My decision to cave and go ahead and make it, off season, was met with universal praise. 100% of my constituents approved. I have two problems now, however. First, living with this stuff in the house while I'm working home alone all day. And second, if a big container of this manna from heaven is going to sit on my counter, I am going to need a prettier, air-tight container. Can you get on that for me, Erin?

dispatch from the front lines {life}

snacks? check {life}