Really really!

SHREK: Listen, little donkey. Take a look at me. What am I?

DONKEY: Er... really tall?

SHREK: No! I'm an ogre. You know, 'Grab your torch and pitchforks!' Doesn't that bother you?

DONKEY: Nope

SHREK: Really?

DONKEY: Really really. 

That's kind of how the decision to move to Hawaii happened.  The BF (I'll come up with something better maybe later) and I were texting about his living situation at his new duty station and somehow living together came up.  Since it was via text message and moving across the OCEAN is kind of a big deal, I sought some clarification later on the phone.

"You really want me to live with you?"

"You really want to live with me?"

"Well, yeah."

"Well, okay."

"Really?"

"Really really."

And that was about the end of the discussion...at least as I remember it. You'd think that a lot has changed, but it doesn't seem like it. I still get everyone up in the morning.  I make everyone's lunches. I get the kids off to school. I get to work. After work, there is homework, gym, dinner, tv, etc. Pretty sure the biggest changes have been for the BF...the loss of his quiet solitude now interrupted by the chaos of a teen, drama-tween, and child. Plus, he has to SHARE the X-box. (Oh the horrors!)

One thing I've started doing again on a regular basis, is cooking.  There is one major factor behind this: it is outrageously expensive to live here.

The perk however is that I've been reminded that I like cooking.  And not just a bunch of boxed, pre-made stuff that gets thrown together and called a meal.  No, I've been making meals that would make my mama proud. I made a cake from scratch! Before this, I have never made anything but boxed cake mix.  I also made waffles and pancakes without Krusteaz.  I even tried my hand at pizza dough and pizza sauce...with yeast and everything. Today I made mini-pineapple upside down cakes. It will be perfect with a cup of Kona coffee later. Nom nom.

 

What's for dinner?

I don't know what the deal is, but there is always more condiments in my fridge than actual food. I'm never sure how it works out that way.

Actual edible, life sustaining things in my fridge right now:  eggs, tortillas, lettuce, yogurt, apples, lunch meat, cheese.

Sure, there are a few other things in there that can be combined with pantry items to sustain life: milk (+ cereal), jam (+ bread and peanut butter), cream cheese (+ bagels).

Pretty much, however, my fridge is full of a variety of salad dressings, mustards, mayo, soy sauce, salsa, Tabasco, jams and jellies, beer, and butter.

Funny thing is, there's a lot of stuff that will probably not get used. The hoisen sauce, for example, that was purchased for a delicious Thai meal. Not enough for a whole second meal, but too much to just "toss". I hate being deliberately wasteful. Perhaps I'm not being creative enough in my cooking. Maybe I need to be way more serious about meal planning.

Sigh.  Please tell me someone else's fridge looks like this.