Seven quick takes

I don't usually do this as a regular blog post, but hey, what the heck? Throwing caution (or more substantial blog posts) to the wind this morning:

1) I went out last night with a friend that I haven't seen in more than a year. It was a lot of fun, we were at the restaurant for 4 hours until they moved us to the bar so they could clean our section. Wine was drunk, appetizers were eaten, I found the difference in homemade falafel and tahini sauce versus the real stuff (the stuff of the gods, I tell you) and secrets were revealed. It was a fabulous time, and I really hope that we start seeing each other more regularly, because I did really miss her.

2) When I woke up at 3:30am to feed Henry, there were no clean bottles. This incensed me so much that after feeding Henry, I laid him back down, laid myself down, and made my husband get up with him to get him to sleep. Then I couldn't sleep because I was still so mad that I sat up and watched him rock the baby to sleep and finally said "Not to start a fight at 4am but for future reference, if there are no clean bottles please wash some before playing Fallout so I don't have to wash one at 3:30 in the morning". I think I was calm but I was still seething. I then went back to sleep. I am proud of myself because I usually either a) bottle it up and start a blow up fight the next time something small happens or b) bitch about it under my breath until we have a fight in the middle of the night, which is no good.

3) I still long for that fight in the middle of the night, as my irritation didn't wane except enough to let me sleep. And I still have no clean bottles.

4) Aren't my sons the cutest pair ever?


5) Potty training is really going to be the death of me. Like, I want to strangle myself with my bare hands every time my son stands in front of me talking and pauses to poop in his pullup.

6) I go back to work in 13 days. I'm torn between wanting to cry and wanting to jump for joy. Stocks in Excedrin Migraine should be expected to plummet.

7) I just put myself in for making a Mexican lasagna and chocolate pumpkin cupcakes for tonight's pre-Halloween party set-up party. This means I need to get my butt in gear for the day. Also means I need to shoot my coffee - anyone have an IV? I should have made more than one cup.

For more quick takes, visit Conversion Diary

The Ghost and Mr Buzz

Glad I don't live in the '50s

I hit a wall last night and decided I could not be a housewife. It was a good day with the kids, full of Chuck E Cheese with friends and cookies at the mall and library visits. And then I got home and cleaned out the under-the-sink in our bathroom and got rid of an entire kitchen garbage bag worth of stuff and organized the rest. Then I cleaned the kitchen and washed bottles (again) and made dinner and thought, I can't do this anymore. I can't be the only one to do anything around here.

So I told my husband, who was standing next to the pass-through between dining room and kitchen while I cooked, that I think I am finally ready to go back to work. I've been dreading that day (2 weeks and 1 day from today), and I'm still dreading that day, but I think I'm finally ready. And I said, "I'm ready. I'm going to miss Henry terribly, but I had a good time with the kids, and I got a heck of a lot done while I was out."

You know what he said? "WHAT EXACTLY DID YOU GET DONE?"

Seriously?

SERIOUSLY???

I cleaned our closet from top to bottom, I took two loads of clothes to Goodwill, I organized and decorated the boys' room, I cleaned EVERY DAY, I cleaned and organized our bathroom, I started Spencer's road to potty training, I read a lot of books and watched a lot of movies (I consider these things achievements too), I took Spencer to playgrounds and libraries and did sprinklers and made Buzz Lightyear wings, pulled Henry's swings and bouncy chair and clothes (that I had him looking for for two months before I had him) out of the attic. I've menu planned and cooked for him almost every night and most weekend breakfasts too, did laundry and entertained the children for 10 weeks. He hasn't even recently had to clean the kitchen after dinner, because I've been doing that too (because otherwise it's been left for me for the morning).

Seriously, what have I done?

I was especially hurt by this, and he didn't seem to notice that it was a hurtful question. He said, "what I mean is, what specifically have you done?" (please note this was about 10 minutes after I told him about our day, which was the library, the alterations place, Chuck E Cheese, the mall to return stuff, the dishes, and CLEANING THE BATHROOM UNDER-THE-SINK AND ALL THE DRAWERS. And I was standing there cooking dinner and simultaneously washing bottles).

We had two arguments in the last couple weeks, and they were both cleaning related. When I had friends over for the play date he mentioned that the rug needed to be vacuumed (usually his job because he's so anal about it), so I did so, and that night he asked if it had been vacuumed, and I said yes. "Because there's dirt here right on the corner of the rug." Okay? Was it where anyone could see it? No, it was in the corner under one of the side tables. I moved the chair and the coffee table and the couch to vacuum (which by-the-way, he doesn't do) and he's complaining about dirt under a side table?

Argument number two was a doozy, and I almost came directly here to complain but I thankfully waited until I calmed down. It was actually the same day, because I was doing laundry before the girls got here, and cleaned the house because it was a disaster from the weekend and Henry had been crying basically all morning so I got all the folded things put away and there were 3 items of mine to hang and 3 of his that I just didn't get to and put on our bed to hang later. So he comes home and hangs his three items and just leaves mine there. AAARG! I do everyone's laundry, not just mine, and wash everybody's dishes, not just mine, and clean everybody's house ... and you can't hang three items of mine? Especially when you know how much I hate to do laundry anyhow?? I was furious, and I let him know. I don't think he understood at all why I was upset, but I think he agreed to hang my clothes up if they are laying there in the future.

So yeah, I couldn't be a housewife. I understand that I have to do most of these things when I'm working too, but he seems to help out around the house more when I'm working, and at least there they appreciate me. Bah.

Of ugly babies.

PREFACE: EVERY BABY I KNOW RELATED TO THIS BLOG SITE IS ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE. I DO NOT LIE. SERIOUSLY.

Okay, so this girl I know had a baby about a week before me, and her baby is just not cute. Not at all. Every time she sends out pictures of the little girl, I hope that she's gotten cute so that I can gush about how adorable she is, but um, no. I say things like, "What a cute outfit!" and "It's so cute that she has a person nose instead of a baby button nose!" Or "Aww, Daddy loves his baby girl!" or "She's so tiny!" I can't say that she's cute.

And sometimes I slip and say, "Does she always cry this much?"

My husband agrees (although he doesn't like the girl, so he's anti-biased also), and our other friend and her husband agree. I feel bad - should I lie? Do you think she noticed that I haven't actually complimented her kid?

I'm hoping she grows out of it and becomes a darling little girl. Because really, it's probably not fair that my kid is freaking adorable AND super laid back while hers is ogre-like and screams at all times if not attached to her bosom.

toys for TOTs

Ten on Tuesdays!

1. What is your favorite decor item in your house?
haha, do my books count? I really don't have anything that I'm super attached to. I love our mantel clock, though. And I love the rug in my guest bathroom.
2. What is your favorite hair product?
Oooh! I was even thinking of doing a whole post on this. I love my shampoo bar by Lush. I've been on the fence about getting one for six months and I finally tried it - SOLD! Also new to my repertoire and obsessing about: dry shampoo by BigSexyHair, and Aveda smoothing products (although I'm working on a sample right now because I haven't spent the money on it yet)
3. Are you a good dancer?
No. I used to be a decent swing dancer, but I haven't done it in years. I can't do anything current - my body doesn't move that way.
4. You get some good news, who’s the first person you call?
It depends on what the news is. Usually, my husband. If I can't get a hold of him (usually), then I'll go to my mother. And then it generally gets posted to Facebook. What can I say - I have no secrets.
5. Would you rather take pictures, or be in pictures?
Take them, although I'm noticing now that I'm in no photos with my kids and I wish I had more photos with them. I hate asking my husband to take pictures because it feels vain to me, but I wish he would just take a frigging picture.
6. What is your shoe style?
Heels, heels, and more heels. Comfortable, usually about 3 inches. Other than that I don't have a preference - I like them all.
7. How often do you eat out?
Usually once a week for dinner, and then once or twice for other meals. This week I'll probably eat about 6 meals out though - it's a busy, expensive week.
8. If someone has food in their teeth, do you tell them?
It depends on how well I know them, and if I like them.
9. Do you fold your underwear?
No, but I fold my husband's.
10. Milk, dark, or white chocolate?
Dark mostly, followed by milk. White chocolate is not chocolate so it doesn't deserve to be on the list. The question should be, milk or dark? And I'd say YES PLEASE!

For more Ten on Tuesdays, visit Roots and Rings

Costuming

It was pretty easy to decide what to dress the kids in for Halloween (even if it hasn't been that easy to execute the idea).

Spencer will be Buzz Lightyear. We are almost done with the costume, except that I don't like the headpiece I made so I'm thinking of just not doing a purple headpiece. The wings are done, and I've figured out how to fasten them to his back. Pictures are to come, I swear it.

Henry will be a ghost. I found a little bunting outfit at Babies R Us, and it was 40% off so it was sold! I haven't put it on him, but hey it's cute and easy. Done. Pictures also to come :)

Our outfits are harder. Last year we were Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and all I had to come up with was a Superman shirt for my husband to wear under his work clothes and make Daily Planet press passes. We go to the same party every year, so we obviously couldn't dress in the same costumes again this year. I had thought of doing Doris Day/Rock Hudson, because we have appropriate clothing (I'm a big fan of the 50s style dress) and we would just need wigs. However, it didn't really work out so I'm shelving that idea for next year.

I found a Devil Mardi Gras-style mask, so my current idea is to go as "Devil with a blue dress on". I've been on the hunt for a blue dress; I borrowed one from a friend and also found one at JC Penny that might work, but I haven't been able to find anything that really makes me comfortable. I'm going to model them for the Hubby tonight and see what he thinks. All else fails, I'll just wear black on black top and skirt with my black boots with the mask and be a plain old devil. I'm sure I can find a cheap pitchfork at a party store.

The Hubby's current idea for his own costume is a scruffy army guy. He needs fatigue pants and he wants to wear an army camp shirt that I wear to sleep in. I think it will be too small (it was his in high school) and he'll end up looking like a gay Army dude, but hey - Don't Ask Don't Tell is all over the news lately so at least he would be topical!

Menu Monday

Last week's menu:

Monday: leftovers from Maggiano's
Tuesday: jambalaya with shrimp and sausage
Wednesday: Honey Dijon Chicken with rice and roasted zucchini
Thursday: chicken and corn chowder. I didn't like the recipe I started out with, but I added a few things and it became Southwest Corn Chowder and it was delicious! A bit of a kick, though :)
Friday: pecan encrusted pork chops, steamed broccoli and herb and butter rice
Saturday: chick-fila
Sunday: Texas Roadhouse

While I'm making a menu for this week, I might be eating out more than home. I have 3 days planned out, and I have a Navy friend in town this week who I might be seeing for dinner also. It's going to be an expensive week, but here's the general plan.

This week:
Monday: plum-spiced chicken with rice
Tuesday: taco salad
Wednesday: Stir fry
Thursday: Out with Stacy (sensing a trend? it's been hard to get together)
Friday: Out with Crystal (a friend from birth that I haven't seen in at least 10 years)
Saturday: Halloween party! I'm making guacamole and bringing a wine cube. It promises to be a fun night.

A helping hand is a burned wrist

Spencer has been helping me cook lately. I've found it gets him to eat a little dinner (he's never been a dinner eater) and also helps him to be a little less finicky (as he's starting being recently). I measure things and let him dump in the pots, Fill pans before they go on burners. Taste test (especially helps in the getting him to try things category, as long as it's not green).

I try to keep him away from burners and hot pans, but last weekend he was dropping cheese in an omelet and burned his wrist pretty bad. He's never been one to overreact about injuries, so after the initial freakout, he was okay but it turned into an angry red line with a blister that he kept scratching at and wouldn't let me put a band-aid or ointment on. Finally, after he fell asleep that night I put a real (read: not a kiddy) band-aid and neosporin on it and left it for a week. Now he still has an angry red line, but it's getting better (which is good, because he won't let me put a new band-aid on).

This kid is always getting hurt. He runs into things head first, trips constantly, and gets his legs stuck under his tricycle. I'm not much of a helicopter mom. I keep him from doing things that will get him seriously injured, but otherwise I generally go with the flow and let him figure things out on his own. The weekend before, he was playing at ikea with his best friend, and said best friend accidentally took him down head first to the concrete flooring. Sufficed to say, there has been an ugly yellow bruise there ever since. I never used to worry about what people thought when they saw the bruises on his head or the bloody scrapes on his legs. He's a boy, and a kid. However, with the addition of this burn (and his collection of bruises on his forehead) I worry that people will think that I'm the one that does it. I worry what my daycare lady thinks when he almost always comes to her with a new injury. She asks him what happened and he says I did it. What the heck? Is it okay for a kid to be a kid these days?

Killing time

Books read:
Catching Fire excellent, makes me long to read Mockingjay, which I'm number 116 for from the library (down from 261 originally)
Hide in Plain Sight free on Kindle, light and breezy Christian mystery. Did I mention free? not bad.
One for the Money
Two for the Dough
Three to get Deadly

I got sucked into the Stephanie Plum series. It's not really my type of reading; or rather, it's the type of book I would have read 10 years ago except that I hate those kitschy title tie-ins so I never did. They are enjoyable and quick reads, and I think I'll continue the series as in-between books while I'm not reading other things. I finally just took back Shutter Island, because I obviously wasn't going to read it right now. Also around and waiting to be read: I am Number Four, My Name is Memory, Life as We Knew It, So Much For That, and The Maze Runner.

I also have 1-2-3 Magic, The Baby Whisperer for toddlers, and The Baby Whisperer on DVD. Noticing a discipline-issue trend?

Movies Watched:
The Lovely Bones very good - it had been long enough since I had read the book last, so any differences didn't bother me.
Fame cute, and Spencer sat still for at least half of it, which is better than any animated movie thus far.
You're So Cupid hideously bad
The Break-up Artist innocuous and cute
When in Rome innocuous and cute
Halloweentown ABC Family ... cute :)
I Want to Marry Ryan Banks also ABC Family - did you know they play these movies on Lifetime Movie Network? Thank you, LMN.

I also watched another ABC Family movie, but I can't remember the name at all. I'm sure it will come back to me, or else I'll remember when I try to watch it again.

I finally paid off all of the bills related to labor and delivery. I was going to set up a payment plan for the one large bill from the hospital, but I was afraid I wouldn't remember, so I just paid it all outright. It killed me to spend all that money (and not even on shoes!) but it needed to be done, and I feel better now that I don't have any Henry-related debt. I can't imagine what it would have been without insurance, but I saw the EOBs. Ick.

I still haven't started working out, but I did strap Henry to me yesterday in the carrier and took a walk around the neighborhood with Spencer. Evidently "toddler pace" is not an acceptable rate of speed for the cardiotrainer app on my phone because it kept pausing my workout and I finally turned it off (I really was just interested in how far we went) but we were out for about an hour, and then came back to play outside for a bit (I read).

Henry had his two-month appointment yesterday, and he's 12lbs 1 oz (60%), 22 3/4" long (45%). He seems more proportional than that, but he has a lot of muscle on his legs since he's always trying to scoot himself across the floor or kick his bouncy chair so the lights turn on. We've switched him to sensitive stomach formula because he wasn't sleeping very well, and he rewarded us by sleeping for 36 hours almost straight. Now he's back on a more normal sleep schedule but I think he still sleeps a little more than the average 2-month old. Maybe he's just catching up? I got both kids the flu vaccine and still had to hold Spencer down even though his was only up the nose. Because of that, he actual napped which he doesn't do anymore, but he then woke up hysterical and I threw him in the shower to stop the crying. He does this every time he takes a nap and I don't know what to do about it. Sometimes he just needs to sleep, you know? Do I have to have 30 minutes of screaming after he wakes up? He's such an amazingly happy child when he wakes up from overnight (even though he's sleeps terribly). I wish he would be like that every time he slept.

Toddler snack of champions

Dried apricots, golden raisins, cranberries, mission figs and Target chickadees (off brand goldfish).

If only he wouldn't spill it on the sidewalk and then stop to eat it.

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Neighbor-befriending breakthrough!

SO!!!

Major breakthrough on the neighbor front. I went outside this morning to drop my Netflix in the mailbox and Mr. Neighbor was outside so I talked to him for a little while and SUGGESTED THAT WE ALL GET TOGETHER SOMETIME. I found out that they are from Illinois (I knew that they were Bears fans) and that she is a family therapist and he is a real estate investor and she plans on being a SAHM when the baby comes in February ... yay for befriending neighbors! But I said that we should all get together sometime, and he agreed and said we should come over for dinner or something. This is huge, people!

Now I need to get started on that back deck so we can entertain more ...

Bloggy frustration

Okay, so I decided to import all the posts from my old blogs, and I was able to do it for the three blogger ones but I can't seem to get the xml file from wordpress to upload properly. Those were some of my favorite posts! There are only 71, so technically I guess I could cut and paste them over here but is there maybe something I'm doing wrong? The other ones were so easy!

**edit: it's Blogger's fault, because they don't import from other sites. Bah to you, Blogger. I got 55 moved over tonight, and I'll finish the rest of them tomorrow.

Not enough of any one thing

I don't have enough to say about any one thing to make a proper blog post, so here's a bit of a list:

• If my son poops in his pullups one more time on purpose I think I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. That's twice today. I put a diaper on him, sort of hoping to shame him into being a big boy but I think it's going to backfire.
  


• My husband took today off for the release of Fallout: New Vegas. Of course, with two kids at home I'm not sure that I know what to do with the toddler while a graphic video game is played in my living room (and also it means that I won't be able to play said video game, which is one of the very few I care about). He also took a Tuesday off in a couple weeks for the release of Grand Turismo.
  


• Because of his one day off, he worked last night until 2am. That's right. 2am.


• He's still asleep, and I've fed both kids, had a mushroom omelet, bacon and coffee


• Now he's up after hearing me argue with Spencer about eating his waffles (he asked for them and then proceeded to eat my breakfast).


• Henry and I had a play date with a couple girlfriends and their newborns. I made grilled chicken salad and shared a bottle of wine with the other non-breastfeeding mom (okay, I drank 2/3 of the bottle, but hey, I wasn't driving!) We talked about babies for almost the entire time, and it was a lot of fun!


• Henry ate at 4:30pm yesterday, stayed awake until about 8pm, slept until 1am, ate again and slept until 6am. It was a dream.

Out if the mouths of babes

Buzz: careful, you don't want to be in the area when my laser goes off.

Spencer: okay buzz lightyear.

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Happy 2 month birthday, Henry!

My little turtle is 2 months old today. I can't believe how time flies. He's so aware and so happy. Right now he's in his bouncy seat kicking to high heaven because he's realized that if he kicks hard enough he can get the lights and sounds to turn on. His arms are flailing, because he's realized he can hit the bird and make it spin. He's not upset, he's just learning.

I don't think he realizes I can see him. If he noticed me, I think he would fuss so I'd pick him up, and then my kitchen would never get clean. I'm just marveling at how smart he is.

Menu Monday

The problem with spending $35 on groceries several weeks in a row is that eventually you run out of everything you need to make a decent meal (yes there was still food in my cupboards, but I would have had to make a list and asked you to come up with my meals because I have no idea what I would have made). So this week, $147 dollars later I was able to put together several meals and have some extra items in the freezer and pantry for when I can't get it up enough to cook. I also had to spend $80 at BJs for meat, apple juice and diapers but that got me 12 meals of meat (chicken, ground beef and pork chops) 2 gallons of apple juice (ick) and 264 diapers. So I think that's a win.

Last week's menu:
Monday: Pesto salmon and dried fruit couscous (oven, not grilled - I was out of cedar planks)
Tuesday: roasted vegetable minestrone - awesome
Wednesday: Wine. Red wine. Much needed, not enough of it (water main break)
Thursday: stuffed shells (fantastic, thanks MamaFuss!)
Friday: date night at Maggiano's - bottle of wine, fried zucchini, rigatoni D, banana pound cake, coffee ... yeah, I didn't lose weight this week either.
Saturday: Red Robin - we were supposed to go for a family member's birthday, but he didn't end up coming and we all decided to go anyhow. Guacamole Bacon burger - yummy!
Sunday: falafel - it was delicious! The recipe made an insane amount of them, but I took half the leftovers to the wife of the family member who bowed out of said birthday dinner, as she is a huge falafel fan. I also made homemade tahini sauce (hubby didn't like, but I loved) and some tzaziki sauce, and got a cilantro and thyme flatbread from Target to stand-in for pita. Seriously tasty.

____________--

This week:
Monday: Plum-spiced chicken with roasted zucchini
Tuesday: Stuffed pork chops with steamed broccoli
Wednesday: Out to dinner with Stacy since I missed her birthday dinner last week
Thursday: Dijon chicken with rice
Friday: Corn and Chicken chowder with garlic cheese biscuits
Saturday: taco salads

No good very bad day

Spencer slept in this morning until 8am

From 9 until 10 he ate breakfast - cheese eggs, banana, toast with jelly - and watched Barney (blegh)

By noon: S had emptied half a bottle of medicated lotion all over my bedroom floors, rug, tv, alarm clock, a speaker, his hair, various toys and other various places. He then peed on the hallway floor and rug.

By one: S pooped in his Pullup (for the second time today), dropped a kiddie chair on my foot, ate a PB&J sandwich had two time outs and blew his nose on my kitchen hand towels.

By two: climbed in his closet to try to get his skates, emptied out his bin of balls and distributed them all over the house (the best hour of the day so far).

For the lotion incident, I've barred him from his "shows" for the rest of the weekend. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'm punishing him or me. Here's to hoping I get through the rest of the weekend.

Buzz wings

Sneak peek - the front of the wings are done, now I just need to do the back part that you can see and affix them to his back.

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Chicken

This post is coming to you from chick fila, where I would love to say that my boy is not a chicken and climbs those steps with reckless abandon, crawling through tubes and sliding down slides but alas, that is not the case. If there are any other children around he will happily watch them play, and if there are no other children he will march up those three steps... And then back down. We've tried meeting friends, thinking if he knew someone it would encourage him, but to no avail. You'd think a kid so intent on being crazy (especially on playgrounds) would be braver, but no. He loves the IDEA of playing at playplaces, but something about the enclosed space just doesn't work for his sensitive nature. Although right now he's alternating between stuffing chicken nuggets in his mouth and jumping three feet off the bench seats.

I bought a gift certificate for our favorite Mexican restaurant today for a birthday present, and I suppose I should tell you that I find it to be a good thing that it took 3 people who understood "gift certificate" in English. Even if it was a little annoying. One guy thought I was asking for seating for 25.

And I stopped by Joann's to get supplies to make wings for Spencer's semi-homemade buzz lightyear costume which he is seriously excited about. If it works out how I want, pictures are to come later today - I'm even excited.

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Not how I wanted to meet my neighbors.

Last weekend, there was a leak. It was a bad leak in the sprinkler system between the new neighbors that I wanted to befriend and our house. Mr. New Neighbor alerted me to the fact that it was in fact my sprinkler system and not his, and helped me turn off the outside water so that Hubby could repair it.

So Tuesday night Hubby looks at the leak, and buys the stuff he thinks he needs to repair it.

Then Wednesday night, he starts working on it. It turns out, there was a root about 4" wide wedged between the sprinkler pipes and the main water line. One little tap and there's water water everywhere. We don't even know how to turn OFF the main water line, much less repair it.

Enter our neighbor on the other side. P is actually one of the few neighbors here that I know, and he's such a nice guy. He's almost 30 years older than us, but he has so much more energy than anyone I know. He's a professor at DeVry University, which apparently gives him the freedom to bike ride and work on his xeroscaping and all sorts of different things. I ran over to P's house to see if he knew how to turn off the main water, which of course he did. Then he proceeded to stay at my house with an assortment of tools from his house and mine working on getting that root out of my pipes. It took 4 hours, late into the night. Then he thanked my husband (!!!) and asked when we wanted to start in the morning fixing the pipes.

What did I do? Had a glass of wine, took care of kiddos and baked oatmeal chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies for P, which I sent home with him still warm last night.

Here's to hoping for water by noon.

****edit: Here's hoping for water by two?

Don't know what to say

A friend of mine's son is dying. I've known that it was a possibility for awhile, but I really didn't think it would happen. She had problems with the pregnancy and he has had problems since he was born. There have been ups with his health, hopes. And there have been downs, setbacks. He's 4 months, 10 days today.

His latest blood work shows liver failure, and hospice is coming. I'm not sure how to deal, how to help. I've never met him even though they only live about 45 minutes away. It's just never been a good time for both of us at the same time, and now ... now I have a healthy 2-month old and I'm scared to offer an in-person shoulder because Henry will be on the other shoulder.

If it's in you, please pray for them. Pray he's not in pain, pray that she gets more time with her beautiful baby boy. Pray for their daughter, who turns two tomorrow and loves her baby brother. If you're not the prayer type (and I'm not), please just keep them in your thoughts.

The epitome of a boring post

I can't believe I wrote a whole post on cleaning my closet.

And I can't bear to delete it.

I'm sorry.

Fall cleaning

Yesterday I spent more than four hours cleaning my closet.

It started out that I needed to hang my new purchases up, and figured that I would pull out some of the things that were either a) to small and not going to fit in the next month when I go back to work b) seriously not my style and what was I thinking and c) seriously worn out and I haven't worn since six months before I got pregnant.

Therefore I decided to try on every pair of pants, every skirt and every dress in my closet to decide what fit and what looked good. And I put all my blouses in color order.

Then I decided to clean the bottom of the closet, which houses all my dress shoes (43 pairs) and my slippers (3 pair) and an enormous amount of clothes that I pulled off the racks in frustration that I didn't like and all my sweaters which didn't get packed up last season because it was the winter that didn't want to end.

Then I decided to clean the top of the closet, which has my sneakers (8 pair) and flip flops (7 pair) and all my purses, as well as various crap that I didn't know what to do with.

And now: clean!! (note: this was all about my side of the closet. While my husband cannot actually hang something straight on a hanger and misses the hamper more times that he makes it, his side is relatively clean at all times.)

Also, I managed to (generally) come clean about how much I purchased and the fact that I opened a credit card without fainting from the pressure of it. It's usually not a problem - he's usually there for my purchasing (what can I say, my husband likes to shop) but I really went overboard the other day, but when I looked at it all I couldn't find anything to take back. So instead I cleaned.

His only comment? "I guess I'm glad I'm working all this overtime." Works for me!

Ten on Tuesday

1. What does your work out schedule look like?
Non-existent. I planned to start working out on the Wii Fit and walking three days a week, and then start running, but, um... yeah. Hasn't happened yet.
2. What is your favorite machine to use at the gym?
It was a certain eliptical that had long ski-length strides. I could be on that thing for an hour easy, as long as I could get through the first 10 minutes. And it burned the most calories of any of the other machines.
3. What is your favorite class to take at the gym?
The only class I was man enough to take was Zoomba and I didn't do that very long either.
4. Where do you shop for work out gear and clothing?
Target.
5. If you can’t go to the gym, do you have a favorite outdoor activity?
It used to be bike riding, but I can't do that again until Henry is a year old so ... walking, I suppose. To Target is nice.
6. What about a favorite work out DVD? If so, please share!
nope!
7. Are you more active now or when you were in high school?
I was in marching band in high school, and that was actually pretty active. So then.
8. How has your dieting/working out philosophy changed since high school?
My diet is better, but my working out is worse.
9. What do you do while working out– (i.e., day dream, read, listen to music, gab with a friend)?
Read or listen to music/watch Oprah. If I had a workout buddy I wouldn't mind gabbing.
10. What working out resolution would you like to make for yourself this year?
I didn't make one this year. I just want to lose 30 lbs. If this could happen magically, I would be most pleased. Anyone know how to make that happen?

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Bounty

I may or may not have gone on a bit of a shopping spree today. I may or may not have spent too much money today. This may or may not include a newly opened Loft credit card (actually, it does include that).
BUT I got so much stuff! A pair of shorts, two pairs of jeans (needs alterations but there is a local place that does a discount on denim alterations on Tuesdays - A does not mean average length, it means Amazon length), NINE tops! Two pencil skirts! A pair of brown slacks! (those might go back, I always feel like a 60-year old teacher in brown pants, but they fit really good) Knee boots! Two new bras! Four pairs of panties!

And a partridge in a pear tree.


This also does not include that last week I spent also too much money on four sweaters (it was the one chilly day last week) and a pair of heels.

BUT I think I'm done. And really, I did need new clothes to go back to work next month, and I really did get a lot for my money. But I feel really bad about it. And I think I'm going to try to stop spending money. After I get Spencer's Halloween costume, that is, especially since that was ultimately what I went out for today.

All this deserves a sideways smiley face. :)

Menu Monday take two

Okay, so now that I've had a little sleep (Henry only let me sleep from 6am to 8am this morning), I've devised a menu and made a lengthy grocery list since I'm running low on just about every thing.

Monday: cedar planked pesto grilled salmon with this couscous
Tuesday: roasted vegetable minestrone
Wednesday: burgers at Green Iguana for a friend's birthday
Thursday: stuffed shells (thanks for the idea, Mama Fuss!)
Friday: Plum-spiced chicken and fried okra (can you tell this has been in my freezer for awhile? It's on my menu nearly every week)
Saturday: date night! Maggiano's (we have a gift certificate, and I dream about their fried zucchini ... is that weird?)

Ooop, baby crying ... again. It appears I might need to strap him to me again today ...

Menu Monday

Last week's menu:

Monday: Stuffed burgers with goat cheese and spinach, baked sweet potato chips, baked beans
Tuesday: grilled chicken, Annie's whole wheat mac & cheese and sauteed cabbage w/ bacon
Wednesday: pork enchiladas with sour cream and homemade guacamole
Thursday: dinner at my in-laws' house (Ribeye steaks, mac & cheese, corn, green beans, broccoli salad, cuban bread, deviled eggs, cream cheese-stuffed celery and German chocolate cake. No I did NOT lose any weight this week)
Friday: grilled hot wing pizza
Saturday: Panera - Mmm, Fuji Apple Chicken salad - my #3 favorite salad behind #1 the Stonechase Salad and #2 Summer Salad from Crispers
Sunday: Spencer and I split my leftover shrimp Udon from lunch on Friday. He ate all the noodles (and various veggies that I may or may not have said we orange noodles) and I added plain ramon noodles to the rest for me.

Okay, so I've been trying desperately to work on using things in my fridge. Have you heard about putting cabbage on your boobs to help the engorgement subside when you stop breastfeeding? I did it, I can vouch that while it doesn't take the pain away completely, it certainly alleviates it enough to sleep. However, ever since then I've had half a cabbage in my fridge which was still good and I had no idea what to do with it. The only time I've ever cooked cabbage is boiled in a slow cooker with a corned beef for St. Patty's Day, and since my husband doesn't like corned beef, it's been awhile. SO I decided to cook it the way I do brussel sprouts. I mean, sprouts are basically just little cabbages anyhow, right? O-M-G it was awesome. I chopped up the cabbage into manageable pieces, rendered a couple of pieces of chopped-up bacon, added the cabbage and then sauteed until soft. FABULOUS!

Then on Friday I used up the leftover wings from Winghouse that were never going to be eaten (lest I remind, we are not leftover eaters, unless I can reimagine them into something else. Hubby does not really like to eat the same meal twice in one week, including lunch). Chopped up, added a little Frank's Red Hot and honey because there wasn't enough sauce, chunky blue cheese mixed in with ranch and a little cheddar grated on top. Yum!

And only $35 in groceries (plus $35 in diapers and a cute sweater off the clearance rack; I really shouldn't do my grocery shopping at Target). Most of that grocery bill was snack-y food, since I feed Spencer lunch at home 4 days a week and I went to the store hungry (hello Sabra hummus and yogurt-covered raisins).

Honestly, I have no idea what to cook this week. I'm pretty low on supplies from my freezer, and need to do some real shopping. I think I'm going to make soup, maybe this soup. I want to try falafels. I'm completely out of chicken. I feel like just going to the grocery store and meandering through the aisles, but I know that means I'll end up with a lot of things I don't need and still no full meals. I'll have to think on it and make a list - I'll get back to you later.

TMI

Doesn't it seem like a cruel joke that after giving birth, you bleed for 6 weeks and then have a period on week 8?

Yeah, I think so too.

Checking in on my list

I've been doing a LOT of reading. Read: Hunger Games (loved). Glass Houses (too young, too shallow). Forest of Hands and Teeth (meh). Still working on Shutter Island (very good but I keep finding myself straying to greener pastures). Blood Omen (totally different from the usual vamp fiction, not bad - good departure for me). Shiver (delightful). Fire (loved once I realized there was a corresponding character with Graceling, which I also loved).

I also watched a couple movies that Hubs would never watch: Love Happens with Aaron Eckhart (cute) and Play the Game (meh). I think my hormones have permanently changed me, because I seriously cried at the end of Love Happens (movies normally never make me cry) and then I got choked up watching the end of 10 Things I Hate About You (during her poem ... WTF?) which I've seen eight million times. We also watched Up In The Air, which I quite enjoyed.

I finished the boys' room (including finding and installing the perfect shelf:


The potty training is going relatively well. I'm not pushing it; I bought more pullups. They aren't much more than regular diapers, so at this point I'm just going to leave him in them and move on with my life. He's a boy; he's only 2 1/2. In the grand scheme of things, he's early for potty training and I should be happy with whatever I can get. He pees in the potty about half the time and poops about 90% of the time. There haven't been any more smears of poop all over my bathroom, so that's a plus.

I still haven't taken great pictures of the boys, but I'm thinking of taking them to a beach or park or something like that to see what I can do, maybe on Friday. I did take this picture, which melts my heart:


I think I've decided against a Kindle or Nook for the time being. I have apps for both on my phone and I've read several (free) books on that, and I'm pretty happy with it except that it eats battery life.

I'm currently addicted to Wordfeud on my Android (are you on it? What's your user name? Let's scrabble!)

One thing I have not done is start exercising. I still haven't pulled out the Wii Fit, and I've taken a couple walks but nothing significant. I just can't seem to get myself to get in a habit. I know it's up to me to get motivated, and I think I will, I just can't seem to do it yet.

AND I have managed to take Spencer to do at least one fun thing every week. We've been to playgrounds, we've played in the sprinklers, we've been to Ikea (don't knock it, he's enjoyed it). Ice cream, play places, visiting with other kids. We've generally had a good time. Two days in a row is a little much for us and we fight a lot on the second day, but somehow even though it seems like I want to kill him then, when I look back it's not so bad. Mommy amnesia is almost as powerful as labor amnesia.

Holy smokes

What happens when you forget to add water. Oops!

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Mr. I have no interested in sleeping while momma washes bottles. Oh, and I have the hiccups. Again.

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Paranoia

I find myself checking the mirror constantly to make sure that Henry is in the backseat - I'm terrified that I'm going to leave him somewhere, or set his seat down next to the car and drive away without him. I was never this way with Spencer. I don't know if it's because of the craziness of two children or because I'm so used to the toddler chatter going nonstop in the other seat, but I'm always sure I didn't grab him. Do you get worried that you've forgotten your kid?

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Boys' room - Finis!

I might get some blue and green ribbon to add color to the lamp (some day).





These canvases were straight brown and white, so I added blue and lime green.


Inspired by Roots and Rings' initial canvas, I painted these in the colors of the room. Ideally, I am on the hunt for a 30"-36" brushed metal floating shelf to go above the hat rack. Barring actually finding such an item, I am also on the hunt for the correct style and length that I can spray paint to look like brushed metal. The canvases will then go on that.

The sweetest thing

Henry has been a little cranky this morning, but he's still the cutest thing since, well, since his brother was this age. This morning he was all cozy in my blankets for half a minute before he started fussing again.

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My way of making fake Mexican

Not "a" fake Mexican, you understand. So I've been making enchiladas lately. I don't make them "the right way". I have done PW's enchilada recipe once, and while fabulous (aren't all her recipes?) it's definitely a Saturday meal. It took about 1 1/2 hours to make. My go-to? 5 minutes prep time, 20 minutes cook time. AND it uses up leftovers that would otherwise go to waste, since we are not a leftover-eating crowd over here.

So first:
Shred leftover pork roast or chicken or whatever floats your boat. Then add chili powder, chopped green chilis (don't drain), salt, garlic powder or salt, and cumin. You may also need a little water if your leftovers are a bit dry from sitting in your refrigerator for 5 days.
And then it should look like this:




Then I take flour tortillas and roll some of the mixture in each one, placing in a pan seam-side down until pan is full or filling is used up. Then pour a can of enchilada sauce on top (if you have a lot, you might need more than one, but I only had 5 enchiladas). You can use red or green, but I prefer the green.



Pop the pan in the oven or toaster oven (I'm addicted to toaster oven cooking) At 350 for 20 minutes. It should look like this:



And is delicious next to some sour cream and homemade guacamole.

10-for-Tuesdays

1. What keeps you up at night? (figuratively)
The fact that I'm going back to work in (checks calendar) five weeks and hardly anything that I want to get done is done, and my baby! I have to leave my baby! And it's taking me 12 weeks to decorate a room. Not completely re-do, just decorate.

2. What keeps you up at night? (literally)
My newborn son, my husband's snoring, my toddler's middle-of-the-night wakings. <-- directly lifted from MamaFuss, as we are one person living similar lives, like Sliding Doors without the drama of adultery and Irish men with sexy accents.

3. Where do you want to go in life? (figuratively)
I'd like to work part-time because I like it and not because I have to (although really I need to be working my full-time job), ideally owning a used bookstore which I don't have to make ends meet at. I'd like two well behaved children who adore me and do not scream "I don't love you anymore!" when I tell them they have to leave the playground.

4. Where do you want to go in life? (literally)
I'd like to see everything worth seeing that I haven't seen. Which is a lot. Ireland, Italy, Paris, Colorado ... and then I'd like to go back to Memphis and sit on Beale St with my beer and watch the street performers.

5. Have you ever bit off more than you could chew? (figuratively)
All the time

6. Have you ever bit off more than you could chew? (literally)
Yes.

7. Is the grass really greener on the other side of the fence? (figuratively)
I don't think so.

8. Is the grass really greener on the other side of the fence? (literally)
no, but there are a couple of patches that TruGreen has not held up their bargain in bringing back from the dead.

9. If you can’t stand the heat, do you get out of the kitchen? (figuratively)
If it's not my fight, I usually try to work on cooling it. If it is my fight, I usually started it so I'm amping up the temp.

10. If you can’t stand the heat, do you get out of the kitchen? (literally)
I'm always the one cooking.

Visit Roots and Rings for more 10 on Tuesdays.

Menu Monday

Last Week's Menu:

Monday: chicken mac & cheese
Tuesday: chicken tacos
Wednesday: spinach lasagna rolls
Thursday: Vallarta's ... god loves their mushroom quesadillas
Friday: re-imagined leftovers - I split up the last of the tortellini from Saturday, sauteed some shrimp and served it on a bed of sauteed spinach with garlic chips
Saturday: pulled pork sandwiches, guacamole, bacon-wrapped jalapenos, baked beans and lots and lots of wine!
Sunday: leftovers again! This time less re-imagining - I had the end of the mac & cheese and a slice of the beer bread from the previous week, and Hubby had the last lasagna roll with the last slice of beer bread with cheese and garlic on it.

This week I haven't done any shopping so I'm not sure what I'm going to do for meals, but I've gotten as far as this:

Monday: burgers w/ goat cheese and spinach, leftover baked beans
Tuesday: pork enchiladas or quesadillas (w/ leftover pulled pork), rice and beans
Wednesday: grilled chicken with fried okra
Thursday: dinner at the in-laws'
Friday: TBD
Saturday: TBD

10lbs of bananas weighs the same as 10lbs of dirty socks.

This is the longest I've been away from my blog since I started again, but I've had good reason!

My dear friend Becky, who is the only out-of-towner I ever met who I know directly through blogs (she blogged as NPRjunky for years), was in town with her fiance for four days and I spent most of my time with them! We went out for great Mexican (Vallarta's) and wings (Winghouse) and seafood (Frenchy's) and I brought them to Clearwater Beach (because aren't you obligated to take out-of-towners to the beach when they visit?). We hit up the biggest and best used bookstore in the area (Haslam's) and they were excited to see a Krispy Kreme since they don't have a location anymore. We also visited many a Target (for a certain item that they plan on using as favors for their wedding) and they checked out a few Goodwills (for fishbowl centerpieces for the wedding).

Saturday night I had a couple other friends over for dinner, drinks and board games and Becky and Chris smoked us at Trivial Pursuit with their (his) knowledge of pop culture and I made guacamole (seriously, the best guacamole ever), PW's bacon-wrapped jalapenos, baked beans and pulled pork from a roast that Hubby cooked on the spit all day. It was all delicious.

BUT all good things must come to an end and they flew back Sunday afternoon (after a second jaunt to Winghouse) and I was left to my normal life, which involves the older boy running out into a parking lot again, smearing poo all over the toilet and sink of my second bathroom and leaving a pile of it on my bathroom rug, and running around the house nekked with one hand attached to his penis at all times. And pardon me, but the younger one is crying and I think he wants (another) bottle.

Beach bound baby!