Sleepless Spouse

Monday: badnews o'clock

Me: I love you, I can't wait until you get home so I can serve you a lovingly prepared meal and stare adoringly at you while you consume it.

Mr. X: I love you too, blah...blah...applicant...MEPS...hotel...dinner to go please.

What?! I slaved over a mildly warm crockpot all day, for this? WELL, I never!

Anyhow, Mr. X comes home, picks up his overnight necessities AND to-go dinner, then leaves; dooming me to a night of paranoia induced sleeplessness.

The first part of the evening goes by quickly:

-The kids refuse to eat my crockpot creation because it has "chickenth" and onions in it.
-The kids demand ask for a pizza.
-I make them a pizza because I feel badly that their father works unpredictable hours and feel that somehow making them special dinners will help them to not miss him so much. Then I feel ridiculous and guilty because nothing can replace their father, especially not a pizza, and I should know better. What kind of mother AM I?!
-B asks me why I have not yet made the granola bars that I PROMISED to make.
-I send the kids to bed and tell B that I will make granola bars while he sleeps.
-B asks me not to make granola bars without him since I will "probably forget to put in the peanut butter chips".

The latter half of the evening DID NOT go by quickly:

-I play Dynomite on Yahoo games get some housework done.
-I check on the boys.
-I turn OFF all the lights in the house.
-I turn ON all the lights in the house because, in the event of a break in, I will need to be able to see what I'm shooting at.
-I check on the boys.
-I turn OFF all the lights in the house because, in the event of a break in, my eyes will need to be adjusted to the dark in case I catch them while they are still breaking in, in which case they would be still outside, which is dark.
-I turn ON half of the lights in the house because I just feel better with SOME lights on, and the possibility of someone actually breaking into the house is VERY LOW. Besides, I can always use my shotgun, which only needs to be pointed in the vicinity of my target in order to do major damage.
-I check on the boys.
-At 2:45am I pop in Steel Magnolias and lay down.
-Mr. X calls and tells me HE can't sleep either. For some reason, this makes me feel better.
-I pass out right after Shelby gets her kidney transplant.
-I wake up to the DVD menu. This simply won't do, I need some NOISE.
-I put in Bridget Jones. I have no idea what time it was, I was afraid to look!
-I fall asleep right after Mark "is unforgivably rude" to Bridget at her mother's turkey curry buffet.
-I wake up to the sound of children jumping on their beds.

Despite my very busy night, I was still able to function efficiently the next day.(THANK YOU ZIP FIZZ!!!)

The boys and I made the granola bars WITH peanut butter chips in them. We finished our lessons, AND I prepared a delicious dinner that Mr. X was able to enjoy at HOME.

Don't you just love it when everything falls perfectly into place? :)

Chewy Granola Bars

*Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap Friday*

I took this recipe and tweaked it a bit!

~Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars~

3 cups rolled oats*

1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies*
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup honey

1/8 cup molasses*

3/4 cup coconut (sweetened and shredded)*
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips*

Preheat oven to 325 f and grease a 9"X13" pan.

Combine all ingredients, except chocolate chips in large mixing bowl. (If using a Kitchen Aid mixer, use the dough hook attachment since it will do the least damage to the rice cereal.)

After everything is well incorporated and moistened stir in the chocolate chips.

PRESS mixture into pan with the back of greased spatula. (Very important step! If you do not press it in you will wind up with crumbly granola cereal!)

Bake at 325 for 18 to 22 minutes.

Let cool for about 20 minutes.

Lay sheet of wax paper over the top of pan and press down on mixture again.

Loosen sides, flip out onto wax paper covered surface.

Cool an additional 30 minutes, or until they are room temperature.

Cut into bars with pizza cutter or greased knife.

Enjoy!