I seem to be hearing it a lot these days -- we hate you, I hate you.....but why? Or at least, why now? If they hated me before it was different. They don't really hate me though. Hate is such a strong word isn't it?
Apparently this who labor, delivery, & post-partnum thing I have and am going through is not the same experience that others have.
They hate me because I was only at the hospital for less than 3.5 hours before I had the baby in my arms. They hate me because I only had to push for 16 minutes. Did they have me for morning "all-day" sickness for 18 weeks? I don't think so.
They hate me because I don't look like I just gave birth less than 2 weeks ago. Actually, I am soft & squishy in the middle, but honestly, I do not look like I just gave birth. I was all prepared to still look 5-6 months pregnant. But that just isn't the case. But what I want to know was did they hate me when I was watching my food intake and making sure I had a balanced diet with lots of fruit, veggies, & whole grains? Did they hate me when I was going out for a walk several times a week?
They hate me because only a couple days after delivery we were out taking a short walk with the baby in the stroller. Again, did they hate me when I was walking during pregnancy? Did they hate me when I was practicing my kegels?
I have this suspicion that people didn't hate me when I was was working hard to take care of myself so that now things aren't as bad as they had experienced. Or maybe it is all attitude, maybe they look back and hate certain aspects of their experience and that is what they hate, it's not me, it's their experience that they hate.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
The Happy, Exhausted Family
So, here is one picture. Mom's friend Jessi took it when she came to visit us on Sunday. From this angle, you can't quite get the grasp of the bags I have under my eyes. She's such a good, cute baby.
Welcome Isabel Grace!
I just had a baby. So, this blog may get ignored & neglected a bit. Mom & baby both need their rest. My friend Jessi took this picture when she visited us at the hospital on Sunday night. We all acme home on Monday afternoon.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Vinegar & Olive Oil
Nope - not talking about making salad dressing.
I just thought I woul share a little tip for getting white rings off wood furniture. I found a website that listed a who bunch of tricks to getting those nasty white water rings off wood furniture because I had 2 on my dining room table. Many of the tips seemed too abrasive or I did not have the ingredients for or it took quite a bit of time. So, I went with what I had and it worked perfectly.
Just mix small amounts of equal parts of olive oil (I suppose you could use any oil) and white vinegar. Rub into wood with a cloth. Rub off excess oil residue and Ta Da! The white ring is gone and all it took was 30 seconds of your time.
I was impressed.
I just thought I woul share a little tip for getting white rings off wood furniture. I found a website that listed a who bunch of tricks to getting those nasty white water rings off wood furniture because I had 2 on my dining room table. Many of the tips seemed too abrasive or I did not have the ingredients for or it took quite a bit of time. So, I went with what I had and it worked perfectly.
Just mix small amounts of equal parts of olive oil (I suppose you could use any oil) and white vinegar. Rub into wood with a cloth. Rub off excess oil residue and Ta Da! The white ring is gone and all it took was 30 seconds of your time.
I was impressed.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Kudos for an eBay Seller!
I have made no secret of my addiction to eBay. I have bought several items from Celtic Folk Herbals. I have never given my kudos on my blog before to an eBay seller before, but I am this time. She sells handmade herbal prodcuts. She uses quality ingredients. I have bought from her several different times and just got another shipment today. Before I just bought lip balms and I really like them and each time she has included an additional free one. This time I bought some Mommy Belly Balm to use on my pregnant belly & afterward. I haven't used it yet, as the postwoman just dropped it off, but this time she gave me another free lip balm & a free sample of jamine glycerin soap. I have used the lip balms already and do like them a lot. So, if you want to or likes to use natural products, you should check out her eBay store. Happy Shopping!
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Da Vinci Code Movie
If I make it to Friday and do not have a baby, I want to go see The Da Vinci Code. Like a lot of people, I really enjoyed the book and also read the Angels & Demons as well. The movie opens on Friday, although when I looked for showtimes the theater I would probably go to said that due to filmmakers restrictions they can't do a midnight show, so it looks like the earliest I could do would be a noon showing. I do know if I buy tickets for the show that I will end having my baby. I think that could be worth $15 - to tempt fate and have that baby or if not, I get to see a movie.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Hmmmmm....Interesting....
I watched Dr. Know today (2 episodes).
On the first episode, they tested the 5-second rule. They tested shrimp, canteloupe, & a jelly bean in a variety of locations, including: park, sidewalk, mall floor, kitchen floor, & home carpet. They found eColi on the shrimp & canteloupe in ALL locations, but there was more on the inside locations (which they attribute to sunlight, which kills the eColi in the outside locations.) The only place the jelly bean picked up some eColi was in the park, which they attribute to wet grass making the jelly beans suseptible to picking up bacteria, otherwise the other locations the jelly bean remained dry & free of eColi.
The other thing they tested was whether or not dog's mouths are cleaner than human. What they found was that both human and dogs had loads of bateria in their mouths, but some of that bacteria in the dogs mouth are pathogenic to humans. They also tested whether or not the bacteria had antiseptic properties and they foudn that in both humans and dogs the saliva had a little bit of antiseptic properties.
On the 2nd show the first thing they tested was whether or not listening to loud music @ a concert damages your hearing. If you ask Andy about this one, he will tell you yes. He was a drummer growing up and was in high school band, in bands, and also was in Chop, Inc. After years of exposure to loud sounds, he is left with ringing in his ears. I had to get used to sleeping with a fan on so that he had white noise when we would sleep, otherwise the ringing in his ears would drive him nuts and keep him from sleeping. They found that the people with the $100 earplugs and the 99-cent ear plugs had no hearing loss, but the person with no ear plugs had hearing loss in high frequencies for 2-days, but this could become more permanent if the exposure is continued overtime.
The next thing they tested was whether or not sitting too long in front of the tv is bad for your eyes. They also tested it in front of a computer screen - both for 4 hours. They found that there was no damage to eyes of either person after 4 hours of constant viewing. It can cause eye strain, but not eye damage. They said there is no connection between eye strain & long-term eye damage.
I kinda like the show. It's interesting to see them de-bunk or prove the common myths.
On the first episode, they tested the 5-second rule. They tested shrimp, canteloupe, & a jelly bean in a variety of locations, including: park, sidewalk, mall floor, kitchen floor, & home carpet. They found eColi on the shrimp & canteloupe in ALL locations, but there was more on the inside locations (which they attribute to sunlight, which kills the eColi in the outside locations.) The only place the jelly bean picked up some eColi was in the park, which they attribute to wet grass making the jelly beans suseptible to picking up bacteria, otherwise the other locations the jelly bean remained dry & free of eColi.
The other thing they tested was whether or not dog's mouths are cleaner than human. What they found was that both human and dogs had loads of bateria in their mouths, but some of that bacteria in the dogs mouth are pathogenic to humans. They also tested whether or not the bacteria had antiseptic properties and they foudn that in both humans and dogs the saliva had a little bit of antiseptic properties.
On the 2nd show the first thing they tested was whether or not listening to loud music @ a concert damages your hearing. If you ask Andy about this one, he will tell you yes. He was a drummer growing up and was in high school band, in bands, and also was in Chop, Inc. After years of exposure to loud sounds, he is left with ringing in his ears. I had to get used to sleeping with a fan on so that he had white noise when we would sleep, otherwise the ringing in his ears would drive him nuts and keep him from sleeping. They found that the people with the $100 earplugs and the 99-cent ear plugs had no hearing loss, but the person with no ear plugs had hearing loss in high frequencies for 2-days, but this could become more permanent if the exposure is continued overtime.
The next thing they tested was whether or not sitting too long in front of the tv is bad for your eyes. They also tested it in front of a computer screen - both for 4 hours. They found that there was no damage to eyes of either person after 4 hours of constant viewing. It can cause eye strain, but not eye damage. They said there is no connection between eye strain & long-term eye damage.
I kinda like the show. It's interesting to see them de-bunk or prove the common myths.
Funny Cats
Andy sent me this link to a video about funny cats. I laughed so hard. We like watching funny animal videos. We watch funny animal videos on Animal Planet whenever we can.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Finally! A Use for all those C Batteries!
For some reason, over the years, I have accumulated a supply of C batteries. But the problem is that we didn't have anything that used them and it never really dawned on me before.
I remember that as a kid most toys or my boombox took C batteries. Now nothing takes C batteries.
But I just bought a travel infant swing off of eBay and received it today and opened the battery area and saw these AA batteries in there that didn't quite fit (and probably didn't work out too well for the previous owners as the AA batteries would slip out of the spaces). I thought to myself - this looks like it shoud fit C batteries. Sure enough - C batteries are the perfect battery.
Hooray! I now have a use for 4 C batteries (although I think I have about 16 more in the battery box.)
I remember that as a kid most toys or my boombox took C batteries. Now nothing takes C batteries.
But I just bought a travel infant swing off of eBay and received it today and opened the battery area and saw these AA batteries in there that didn't quite fit (and probably didn't work out too well for the previous owners as the AA batteries would slip out of the spaces). I thought to myself - this looks like it shoud fit C batteries. Sure enough - C batteries are the perfect battery.
Hooray! I now have a use for 4 C batteries (although I think I have about 16 more in the battery box.)
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Well, That Sucks!
Bah! American Idol has pissed me off. Chris is gone? How could they? I thought he from the beginning and all along would end up being the winner.
Kat should have been kicked off so many times already. And each week that she squeaks through she looks surprised - because she knows she should have gone home.
Now I just don't know who is going to win. I'm not sure I care that much anymore. I do like Taylor, but I don't think he has the image to make it big or the sound. I certainly don't think Elliot has the image or the sound either. Maybe Kat could, but she isn't very consistent in her performances.
I still think that Chris will get a record deal out of this and will be the one fom this season to actually go somewhere.
BTW - I think Chris is hot!, but I like his sound as well.
Kat should have been kicked off so many times already. And each week that she squeaks through she looks surprised - because she knows she should have gone home.
Now I just don't know who is going to win. I'm not sure I care that much anymore. I do like Taylor, but I don't think he has the image to make it big or the sound. I certainly don't think Elliot has the image or the sound either. Maybe Kat could, but she isn't very consistent in her performances.
I still think that Chris will get a record deal out of this and will be the one fom this season to actually go somewhere.
BTW - I think Chris is hot!, but I like his sound as well.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Growing Up Around Bars
So, today, as I drove to Northfield (read about on baby blog) and I was flipping radio stations I came across "I've Got Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks and it took me back to memories of my 9th grade year and hanging out with some friends at Katie's parents bar and the song playing on the jukebox and everyone singing & playing pool.
It was really not a big deal to be hanging out in the bar, not to anyone.
And then I started to think more about growing up around bars. When we were little we used to scour the house for any money we could find (but we didn't have a lot, so finding any loose change was hard to come by) and walk down the road to the 5 Corners Bar (it's a counry bar). Now, we didn't go in there to hangout or anything. We were pretty much in & out -- but they sold penny candy FOR A PENNY. So, if you managed to earn a dollar you could walk out with this bag of 100 pieces of candy. It was excellent. Even finding 15 cents was worth the walk down to the bar.
Now, in rural WI, most bars also doubled as restaurants and on Friday nights YOU WENT OUT FOR FISH. So, seeing people sitting at the bar getting drunk as you ate your fish with your family at a table was not a big deal. It was just part of everything and you never thought twice about it. And if your tables wasn't ready yet, you were bellied up the bar with your parents. Now, of course we were just having pop & so were my parents (I don't think they ever really had a drink in front of us until I was my freshman year in college.)
The other thing is that I have an aunt (now passed away) & uncle (still owns it) who ran a bar. I can't remember how old I was when they bought it, I'm think junior high sometime......but hanging out in their bar - not a big deal.
The interesting thing is I was never tempted to drink. I probably had a sip of beer when I was little and hated it, but what I hated even more was giving family members hugs who reeked of beer. I just did not like the smell on their breath. And in rural NE WI - you drink beer or old fashioneds. That's it. Go there sometime and you'll see....I would say 90% of the beverages served there are cheap domestic beer or old fashioneds - have you ever seen anyone order an old fashioned anywhere else - maybe you don't even know what one is. If you don't - take a trip north of Green Bay and you'll find out. Don't try ordering a Mojito - they will have know clue what you are talking about, or a Cosmopoliton - they maybe be abe to piece together the ingredients with your guidance, but it sure won't be top shelf. Although one good thing of the bars in NE WI is that they will have some top shelf liqour and they rarely have an upcharge for it, if they do it may just be a quarter.
So, back to drinking. I don't think I tried any alcohol until towards the end of my senior year in high school. I know it's not because my friends didn't drink, they just knew I wasn't interested and didn't even ask. How's that for avoiding peer pressure, they didn't even bother trying as they knew what the answer would be. But in my senior year I worked with some college students at a restaurant and they introduced me to Schnapps......I didn't even know such a thing existed....it was liqour that when added with kool-aid (which is what they did) tasted just like kool-aid. No smelly beer or yucky brandy.....nice fruity stuff. I didn't really do a lot of drinking those last couple of months, I was still too responsible to have more than 1-2 drinks, and I never drove home (one girl lived in that town with her parents and we stayed there.) But my senior prom was a different story - my high school friends were pretty surprised I wanted to drink with them as we partied the night away. I got pretty drunk for the first time and gave the keys to my car to a friend's 15-year old brother with a learner's permit (actually, I think we had several 15-year old's with learners permits at that party. They could come hang out with us as long as they had nothing to drink and drove us back from the cabin in the country to a house in town that we were crashing at.)
So, the moral of the story here is - only expose your kids to crappy smelling & tasting liqours while at the same time teaching them to be responsible if they do drink (actually, I dont think I was ever told to be responsible if I drink - I was just told NOT TO DRINK and told horror stories of people my parents knew or went to high school with that dies or lost body parts because of drinking.) So, let's revise the moral of the story. Only expose your kids to crappy smelling & tasting liquors and scare the hell out of them with stories of death and dismemberment related to alcohol comsumption.
It was really not a big deal to be hanging out in the bar, not to anyone.
And then I started to think more about growing up around bars. When we were little we used to scour the house for any money we could find (but we didn't have a lot, so finding any loose change was hard to come by) and walk down the road to the 5 Corners Bar (it's a counry bar). Now, we didn't go in there to hangout or anything. We were pretty much in & out -- but they sold penny candy FOR A PENNY. So, if you managed to earn a dollar you could walk out with this bag of 100 pieces of candy. It was excellent. Even finding 15 cents was worth the walk down to the bar.
Now, in rural WI, most bars also doubled as restaurants and on Friday nights YOU WENT OUT FOR FISH. So, seeing people sitting at the bar getting drunk as you ate your fish with your family at a table was not a big deal. It was just part of everything and you never thought twice about it. And if your tables wasn't ready yet, you were bellied up the bar with your parents. Now, of course we were just having pop & so were my parents (I don't think they ever really had a drink in front of us until I was my freshman year in college.)
The other thing is that I have an aunt (now passed away) & uncle (still owns it) who ran a bar. I can't remember how old I was when they bought it, I'm think junior high sometime......but hanging out in their bar - not a big deal.
The interesting thing is I was never tempted to drink. I probably had a sip of beer when I was little and hated it, but what I hated even more was giving family members hugs who reeked of beer. I just did not like the smell on their breath. And in rural NE WI - you drink beer or old fashioneds. That's it. Go there sometime and you'll see....I would say 90% of the beverages served there are cheap domestic beer or old fashioneds - have you ever seen anyone order an old fashioned anywhere else - maybe you don't even know what one is. If you don't - take a trip north of Green Bay and you'll find out. Don't try ordering a Mojito - they will have know clue what you are talking about, or a Cosmopoliton - they maybe be abe to piece together the ingredients with your guidance, but it sure won't be top shelf. Although one good thing of the bars in NE WI is that they will have some top shelf liqour and they rarely have an upcharge for it, if they do it may just be a quarter.
So, back to drinking. I don't think I tried any alcohol until towards the end of my senior year in high school. I know it's not because my friends didn't drink, they just knew I wasn't interested and didn't even ask. How's that for avoiding peer pressure, they didn't even bother trying as they knew what the answer would be. But in my senior year I worked with some college students at a restaurant and they introduced me to Schnapps......I didn't even know such a thing existed....it was liqour that when added with kool-aid (which is what they did) tasted just like kool-aid. No smelly beer or yucky brandy.....nice fruity stuff. I didn't really do a lot of drinking those last couple of months, I was still too responsible to have more than 1-2 drinks, and I never drove home (one girl lived in that town with her parents and we stayed there.) But my senior prom was a different story - my high school friends were pretty surprised I wanted to drink with them as we partied the night away. I got pretty drunk for the first time and gave the keys to my car to a friend's 15-year old brother with a learner's permit (actually, I think we had several 15-year old's with learners permits at that party. They could come hang out with us as long as they had nothing to drink and drove us back from the cabin in the country to a house in town that we were crashing at.)
So, the moral of the story here is - only expose your kids to crappy smelling & tasting liqours while at the same time teaching them to be responsible if they do drink (actually, I dont think I was ever told to be responsible if I drink - I was just told NOT TO DRINK and told horror stories of people my parents knew or went to high school with that dies or lost body parts because of drinking.) So, let's revise the moral of the story. Only expose your kids to crappy smelling & tasting liquors and scare the hell out of them with stories of death and dismemberment related to alcohol comsumption.
Odd Sighting....
So, I'm driving home and I spy a grandma & grandpa type couple driving red minivan -- ok, nothing odd here because so far I am desccribing my in-laws.
Ok, next I notice (as they are passing me) that they have handicap plates....ok, not all that odd either....but it is the motorcycle dolly with 2-seater Harley (also with handicap plates) that they are pulling that I find odd. The Harley just doesn't fit in the picture.
My in-laws don't have handicap plates or anything, but I just don't see them riding around on a Harley (or even getting all dressed in leather for that matter.) Actually, the image of my MIL dressed in all leather weather a helmet riding bitch makes me laugh.
Ok, next I notice (as they are passing me) that they have handicap plates....ok, not all that odd either....but it is the motorcycle dolly with 2-seater Harley (also with handicap plates) that they are pulling that I find odd. The Harley just doesn't fit in the picture.
My in-laws don't have handicap plates or anything, but I just don't see them riding around on a Harley (or even getting all dressed in leather for that matter.) Actually, the image of my MIL dressed in all leather weather a helmet riding bitch makes me laugh.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Gardening Stuff
We put some more layers on the lasagna garden. Before we had leaves & grass layers, now we added layers of ask, wood shreddings, and compost. Topped it all off with water and covered it to let it cook. We'll let it cook for a couple weeks and then it should also be warm enough to start planting vegetables.
Also, weeded my flower beds, planted another rhododendron with purple flowers by the other ones, a new Asiatic lily plant, a new rose bush, and a hydrangea bush.
Andy got the baby's tree, a red maple, planted and also put fertilizer and weed control stuff on the grass.
It's nice to have all that stuff done.
Also, weeded my flower beds, planted another rhododendron with purple flowers by the other ones, a new Asiatic lily plant, a new rose bush, and a hydrangea bush.
Andy got the baby's tree, a red maple, planted and also put fertilizer and weed control stuff on the grass.
It's nice to have all that stuff done.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Rainy Weekend
What a rainy weekend!
Friday night the in-laws came over and we had dinner and then went to a play. It was a cute play. Good dinner, which you can see on my food blog.
Saturday - Andy's brother Chris came down and they worked on the project Omni. They actually got it running and drove it around. I never thought I would see the day that things would actually start, let alone drive down the street. I did little projects around the house to get ready for baby, laundry, and more cooking. I like to cook.
Sunday - went to Fleet Farm and bought some seedlings & plants I wanted. I have the seedlings in my little greenhouse thing so that when it is time to plant I have them and I don't have to run out and get them with either baby in tow or a huge belly yet. Then, more laundry - washing everything to get ready for baby. Then we went to Baby Gap and Babies'r'Us in the Cities and finally to service at HOM, and then food from Dominos (which I won't be doing again in the next few weeks.....all that salt made my fingers and toes sweel up to look like overstuffed sausages -- the salt didn't bother me before, just started in the last few days.) and also got ice cream from Coldstone Creamery (Yummy!, Got the "Founder's Favorite" mixture of pecans, fudge topping, carmel topping, & brownie.) Then we came home and watched Tico'ed Sopranos & Entourage. I have to be careful what I watch just before I go to bed, as I sometimes dream about it. Last night I was dreaming I had my own "Entourage" and some was yelling "Who's in charge of her food and menus? Who the fuck let her eat all that salt? Someone better fucking take care of this. Call Artie and take care of this." It kinda made me chuckle that I was dreaming of having my own pregnancy entourage.
Today I have a Dr. appt, then will go pick up the tree & accessories we have for that (we're planting a tree for the baby). Tomorrow we sign the purchase agreement to get new windows put in the nursery & kitchen (freaking expensive, but necessary) and I am getting maternity photos taken tomorrow afternoon (supposed to be a nice, warm, sunny day). Wednesday is my last day teaching my class for the community college, time to get their final papers and give out final grades. I think this Sunday we are going to go to St. Paul to the Living Green Expo and then we'll go to HOM.
Friday night the in-laws came over and we had dinner and then went to a play. It was a cute play. Good dinner, which you can see on my food blog.
Saturday - Andy's brother Chris came down and they worked on the project Omni. They actually got it running and drove it around. I never thought I would see the day that things would actually start, let alone drive down the street. I did little projects around the house to get ready for baby, laundry, and more cooking. I like to cook.
Sunday - went to Fleet Farm and bought some seedlings & plants I wanted. I have the seedlings in my little greenhouse thing so that when it is time to plant I have them and I don't have to run out and get them with either baby in tow or a huge belly yet. Then, more laundry - washing everything to get ready for baby. Then we went to Baby Gap and Babies'r'Us in the Cities and finally to service at HOM, and then food from Dominos (which I won't be doing again in the next few weeks.....all that salt made my fingers and toes sweel up to look like overstuffed sausages -- the salt didn't bother me before, just started in the last few days.) and also got ice cream from Coldstone Creamery (Yummy!, Got the "Founder's Favorite" mixture of pecans, fudge topping, carmel topping, & brownie.) Then we came home and watched Tico'ed Sopranos & Entourage. I have to be careful what I watch just before I go to bed, as I sometimes dream about it. Last night I was dreaming I had my own "Entourage" and some was yelling "Who's in charge of her food and menus? Who the fuck let her eat all that salt? Someone better fucking take care of this. Call Artie and take care of this." It kinda made me chuckle that I was dreaming of having my own pregnancy entourage.
Today I have a Dr. appt, then will go pick up the tree & accessories we have for that (we're planting a tree for the baby). Tomorrow we sign the purchase agreement to get new windows put in the nursery & kitchen (freaking expensive, but necessary) and I am getting maternity photos taken tomorrow afternoon (supposed to be a nice, warm, sunny day). Wednesday is my last day teaching my class for the community college, time to get their final papers and give out final grades. I think this Sunday we are going to go to St. Paul to the Living Green Expo and then we'll go to HOM.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Earth Day (Weekend)
I decided that for Earth Day I need to make food at home all day, and now I decided to carry that over to Earth Weekend. We did go out & get Subway on Friday, so I guess I am only counting Saturday & Sunday.
Yesterday for Breakfast I made these Sticky Cinnamon Nut Rolls and Bacon, Mushroom, & Onion Souffle (still not sure how bacon will sit with me, so I used Turkey Bacon and that was fine). The Sticky Buns were absolutly fantastic, but now I understand why people buy them, because they are time-consuming to make (at least this recipe was a bit.) I got both these recipes from the James McNair Breakfast's. I only changed the rolls recipe slightly (different nuts) and I did change stuff in the soufflle recipe. Andy thought breakfast was really good but asked me, "Do you think there is ever a recipe that you won't change?" My response was that a few years ago I didn't change much, but now I don't think so. Honestly, I like to change the recipes and see how it turns out - it could be even better. Usually I change things to make them healthier and I would much rather have healthier and take the time to change things.
Well, actually breakfast was more of a brunch......so there was no lunch.....but for dinner Andy's brother Tony was over (helping work on the project car) and I made a nice salad, and made pork steaks with potatoes and sauer kraut in the crockpot, and then later for dessert we had angel food cake with strawberry sauce (bought 4 lbs of strawberries the other day) and whipped cream. Yummy.
Right now I have Andy's Scones cooking in the oven. I had to alter it a bit, as I didn't have any craisins, so I used fresh strawberries, but otherwise it is basically the same recipe. Someday I will try altering it and use WW flour to make it a little healthier (& maybe get rid of the white choclate chips.) Mmmmm....I'm eating one right now, fresh from the oven with a cup of Costa Rican Coffee that I bought for Andy for his b-day (since we couldn't get there this year due to inability to fly because I am with child, we both decided to acquire some of our favorites from there for each other's birthdays.) I think I like it better with the fresh strawberries.
And not sure what else I will make today. I was thinking of a Red Lentil Soup for lunch and for supper it will be something with chicken (I got chicken out of the freezer.) I'll have to let you know what I decide on.
The other part of my Earth Day Weekend was to do something in the garden. So, yesterday I transplanted strawberries in my starwberry patch (from my neighbor's garden, they are tearing out the veggie garden and putting in a flower garden) and hopefully I'll be able to transplant some rhubarb from their garden as well (have to wait & see what the other neighbor says and she got first dibs on that and I'm not sure how much of it she is taking.) And I worked on the first layer of my Lasagna Garden. Today I want to get the some more stuff for my layers, possibly buy some bushes (lilac) and a tree (we want to plant a tree for the baby, that way someday we can say "we planted that tree for you when you were born". We're thinking of a red maple of some sorts, as we would like the different colored leaves for the fall than waht we already have.
Yesterday for Breakfast I made these Sticky Cinnamon Nut Rolls and Bacon, Mushroom, & Onion Souffle (still not sure how bacon will sit with me, so I used Turkey Bacon and that was fine). The Sticky Buns were absolutly fantastic, but now I understand why people buy them, because they are time-consuming to make (at least this recipe was a bit.) I got both these recipes from the James McNair Breakfast's. I only changed the rolls recipe slightly (different nuts) and I did change stuff in the soufflle recipe. Andy thought breakfast was really good but asked me, "Do you think there is ever a recipe that you won't change?" My response was that a few years ago I didn't change much, but now I don't think so. Honestly, I like to change the recipes and see how it turns out - it could be even better. Usually I change things to make them healthier and I would much rather have healthier and take the time to change things.
Well, actually breakfast was more of a brunch......so there was no lunch.....but for dinner Andy's brother Tony was over (helping work on the project car) and I made a nice salad, and made pork steaks with potatoes and sauer kraut in the crockpot, and then later for dessert we had angel food cake with strawberry sauce (bought 4 lbs of strawberries the other day) and whipped cream. Yummy.
Right now I have Andy's Scones cooking in the oven. I had to alter it a bit, as I didn't have any craisins, so I used fresh strawberries, but otherwise it is basically the same recipe. Someday I will try altering it and use WW flour to make it a little healthier (& maybe get rid of the white choclate chips.) Mmmmm....I'm eating one right now, fresh from the oven with a cup of Costa Rican Coffee that I bought for Andy for his b-day (since we couldn't get there this year due to inability to fly because I am with child, we both decided to acquire some of our favorites from there for each other's birthdays.) I think I like it better with the fresh strawberries.
And not sure what else I will make today. I was thinking of a Red Lentil Soup for lunch and for supper it will be something with chicken (I got chicken out of the freezer.) I'll have to let you know what I decide on.
The other part of my Earth Day Weekend was to do something in the garden. So, yesterday I transplanted strawberries in my starwberry patch (from my neighbor's garden, they are tearing out the veggie garden and putting in a flower garden) and hopefully I'll be able to transplant some rhubarb from their garden as well (have to wait & see what the other neighbor says and she got first dibs on that and I'm not sure how much of it she is taking.) And I worked on the first layer of my Lasagna Garden. Today I want to get the some more stuff for my layers, possibly buy some bushes (lilac) and a tree (we want to plant a tree for the baby, that way someday we can say "we planted that tree for you when you were born". We're thinking of a red maple of some sorts, as we would like the different colored leaves for the fall than waht we already have.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Ahhhh! How Cute! They Are Touching.
Here are the two rascals. They NEVER sleep touching, actually it's rare that you see them sleeping even in the same room. But here they are, in the nursery. They have both taken a liking to the toy box my parents made for the baby & the placement of it in the room. They love sleeping by windows. We had to cover the pillow top with a towel since they decided to claim it and we didn't want it all full of cat hair before the baby is here. The pillow top is cute, it has Seasame Street characters on it and is these fun colors. I don't mind them sleeping there (or the rocking chair in the room, which Lucy claims from time to time as her own) as they always move peacefully when we need them too. They haven't had any interest in the crib, so that I am happy about. I think it's just because it would be too hard to get into and out of.
No Classes to Teach in the Fall
For the past 4 years I have taught classes at the local community college; one of the classes I have taught for the last 3 years.
Well, I noticed last night that someone was teaching MY class in the fall and I was quite upset by it. I called the dean I work under and left her a message asking to clear things up for me (like was this person a FT person & I got bumped or what.)
Well, turns out that the college had to cut out classes for the fall because of low enrollment numbers and with cutting out those classes it means that FT faculty (who pick first) can bump out people, then there are the PT people, and finally the adjunct faculty (which is where I fall). Within each of these groups there are seniority lists and the higher up you are the more choices you have. So, FT people are bumping lower seniority FT, PT & adjunct, PT are bumping lower seniority PT and adjunct, and higher seniority adjunct are bumping lower seniority adjunct.
So, somewhere in this domino effect I ended up getting bumped from my class. If enrollment goes up and they add more classes, things could shift again, or maybe someone won't want to teach it in the spring. Guess we'll see in at the end of September when final spring assignments are made.
I'm kinda bummed because I really liked teaching my night classes, although the time for my night class was moved up and we were uncertain how daycare would play out. I am also bummed because the money I earned from teaching went to pay for any vacations we took. So, now we have to look at everything (including the extra added expenses of having a baby) in our budget and we might not really be traveling too much at all, which makes me sad. Not that we travel a whole ton (we would have liked to have done more than we have), but traveling out of the country, like to Costa Rica, might not be as feasible next year for spring break.
Well, I noticed last night that someone was teaching MY class in the fall and I was quite upset by it. I called the dean I work under and left her a message asking to clear things up for me (like was this person a FT person & I got bumped or what.)
Well, turns out that the college had to cut out classes for the fall because of low enrollment numbers and with cutting out those classes it means that FT faculty (who pick first) can bump out people, then there are the PT people, and finally the adjunct faculty (which is where I fall). Within each of these groups there are seniority lists and the higher up you are the more choices you have. So, FT people are bumping lower seniority FT, PT & adjunct, PT are bumping lower seniority PT and adjunct, and higher seniority adjunct are bumping lower seniority adjunct.
So, somewhere in this domino effect I ended up getting bumped from my class. If enrollment goes up and they add more classes, things could shift again, or maybe someone won't want to teach it in the spring. Guess we'll see in at the end of September when final spring assignments are made.
I'm kinda bummed because I really liked teaching my night classes, although the time for my night class was moved up and we were uncertain how daycare would play out. I am also bummed because the money I earned from teaching went to pay for any vacations we took. So, now we have to look at everything (including the extra added expenses of having a baby) in our budget and we might not really be traveling too much at all, which makes me sad. Not that we travel a whole ton (we would have liked to have done more than we have), but traveling out of the country, like to Costa Rica, might not be as feasible next year for spring break.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Happy Easter Weekend.
No work on Friday, so I went to the Meditation Center, then the Co-op, and then Target. Then I cleaned the 3-season porch and we put up curtain rods and curtains in there (looks nice.) Then we ordered pizza for delivery (so nice to have a place to finally deliver to our little town) and sat on the porch eating pizza, "good" chocolate from the Co-op (not Hershey's, just can't eat Hershey's much anymore after you start indulging in really good stuff) and Andy having beers & me having Diet Sierra Mist & chatting & listening to music....for 3 hours.....it was so nice (the weather & the company!)
Saturday we did more stuff around the house.....I was doing stuff in the garden (previous post)....Andy worked on spring tune-up to the lawnmower & began thatching and bagging.....then we went to pick up some fresh Mexican food from La Tapatia and ate that with the guacamole I made and some fresh salsa...and sat on the porch again.....I made fresh starwberry daquiri's (mine was NA) with fresh strawberries (yummy!).....
Yesterday was Easter lunch @ Andy's parents.....
That's about it.
Saturday we did more stuff around the house.....I was doing stuff in the garden (previous post)....Andy worked on spring tune-up to the lawnmower & began thatching and bagging.....then we went to pick up some fresh Mexican food from La Tapatia and ate that with the guacamole I made and some fresh salsa...and sat on the porch again.....I made fresh starwberry daquiri's (mine was NA) with fresh strawberries (yummy!).....
Yesterday was Easter lunch @ Andy's parents.....
That's about it.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Gardening Things I Learned Today
I was out today getting rid of the dead leaves and stems from a variety of flowers I have planted in our flower beds, strawberry patch, herb garden. Actually, I think the only place I didn't touch was the vegetable garden.
But I learned a few things today.
Oregano is a perennial herb. I didn't know that. So, in my herb garden right now I have chives & oregano. I bought some sage & rosemary seeds (other herbs that are perennials & I think I will pick up some thyme seeds as well, and make my herb garden a little more self-sustaining. Now, if I could only get my vegetable garden to be self-seeding (although last year the beans that grew came from plants that re-seeded them selves, and I had a couple tomato plants that did the same thing.) I think the only herb I will plant in my herb garden that I really would like to have fresh in the garden is cilantro.
Strawberries & Rhubarb should be transplanted in April or September. The neighbor behind us saw me outside cleaning up my strawberry patch (just as I was thinking I wanted to get a few more plants as some plants didn't come back this year - planted them last year, I think they were squuezed out my my pumpkins & squash vines taking over the strawberry patch.) Anyways, she came out & told me that they are not doing a vegetable garden and are pulling out the strawberries & rhubarb and I was welcome to what I wanted. Yeah! I don't have to go buy strawberry plants anymore. I am happy about the rhubarb as well, because the stuff I planted in my garden is green rhubarb and they have red rhubarb and it will be nice to have both varieties, especially if she is getting rid of hers and I wouldn't be able to grab some of theirs. Although, I don't think she realizes that rhubarb is pretty hard to completly get rid of, the roots go pretty deep. I had to look up the transplanting times online.
Hummingbirds arrive in Minnesota in May. The same neighbors put out all their bird feeders and filled them, including the hummingbird feeders. I had out hummingbird feeders last year and got several hummingbirds, which was nice. But I have never seen hummingbirds this early, but I didn't know if that was because they aren't here yet or I just never got my feeders out until later. Well, after a search on the internet I found out that they don't arrive in Minnesota until May. A good rule of thumb of when to put your hummingbird feeders out is the same time you would plant your vegetable garden in MN.
Rabbits like tulips. Bah! They never bother the ones by the house near the carport, but the ones i have planted in that area I landscaped area are being eaten. In my vegetable garden I just put up a chicken wire fench to keep out the rabbits (& dog) and planted marigolds around the perimeter, but it's too early right now for marigolds. So, I looked up some other stuff I could do. I don't want to kill them or trap & release. I wanted a humane way to deter them that I can do in April. I could plant garlic or onion bulbs near them. Apparently they hate the smell of them. Or I can spread human hair around, which I don't have access to enough, or use hote pepper spray on the leaves (which I do have - but I read this awful post about someone who watched a squirrel who touched the leaves then their face and was basically tortured by the hot pepper in the eyes, so I don't think I want to do that) or spread bloodmeal around the plant (don't have that) or make a spray out of garlic & oil & spray the leaves (again, the hate the smell and will go away.) I think I will try the garlic thing.
Andy is thatching right now and then we are going to toss that on the garden to mulch & probably try to get the compost out of my compost bin and throw that on the garden too, & spread out the grass clippings from last fall that we threw on the garden. I want to try that Lasagna Gardening I wrote about in a post this winter, but we need to start getting the layers going. We'll start with the clippings & compost, and we're going to add ash from the firepit (good way to empty some of that) and I'll also go buy a couple straw bales from the feedmill & we'll get some peat moss & maybe some manure to out on the garden next week. We'll the layers a good soaking so that they start to decompose together and then by time it's time to plant we'll have our lasagna garden ready. I'll let you know how it turns out....this type of gardening is supposed to be very easy to maintain and doesn't require weeding, digging (you just pull back the layers and insert plants and seeds) or any fertilizers....next year I just throw some more layers on (but I probably won't have to go buy anything since the base will already by started).
But I learned a few things today.
Oregano is a perennial herb. I didn't know that. So, in my herb garden right now I have chives & oregano. I bought some sage & rosemary seeds (other herbs that are perennials & I think I will pick up some thyme seeds as well, and make my herb garden a little more self-sustaining. Now, if I could only get my vegetable garden to be self-seeding (although last year the beans that grew came from plants that re-seeded them selves, and I had a couple tomato plants that did the same thing.) I think the only herb I will plant in my herb garden that I really would like to have fresh in the garden is cilantro.
Strawberries & Rhubarb should be transplanted in April or September. The neighbor behind us saw me outside cleaning up my strawberry patch (just as I was thinking I wanted to get a few more plants as some plants didn't come back this year - planted them last year, I think they were squuezed out my my pumpkins & squash vines taking over the strawberry patch.) Anyways, she came out & told me that they are not doing a vegetable garden and are pulling out the strawberries & rhubarb and I was welcome to what I wanted. Yeah! I don't have to go buy strawberry plants anymore. I am happy about the rhubarb as well, because the stuff I planted in my garden is green rhubarb and they have red rhubarb and it will be nice to have both varieties, especially if she is getting rid of hers and I wouldn't be able to grab some of theirs. Although, I don't think she realizes that rhubarb is pretty hard to completly get rid of, the roots go pretty deep. I had to look up the transplanting times online.
Hummingbirds arrive in Minnesota in May. The same neighbors put out all their bird feeders and filled them, including the hummingbird feeders. I had out hummingbird feeders last year and got several hummingbirds, which was nice. But I have never seen hummingbirds this early, but I didn't know if that was because they aren't here yet or I just never got my feeders out until later. Well, after a search on the internet I found out that they don't arrive in Minnesota until May. A good rule of thumb of when to put your hummingbird feeders out is the same time you would plant your vegetable garden in MN.
Rabbits like tulips. Bah! They never bother the ones by the house near the carport, but the ones i have planted in that area I landscaped area are being eaten. In my vegetable garden I just put up a chicken wire fench to keep out the rabbits (& dog) and planted marigolds around the perimeter, but it's too early right now for marigolds. So, I looked up some other stuff I could do. I don't want to kill them or trap & release. I wanted a humane way to deter them that I can do in April. I could plant garlic or onion bulbs near them. Apparently they hate the smell of them. Or I can spread human hair around, which I don't have access to enough, or use hote pepper spray on the leaves (which I do have - but I read this awful post about someone who watched a squirrel who touched the leaves then their face and was basically tortured by the hot pepper in the eyes, so I don't think I want to do that) or spread bloodmeal around the plant (don't have that) or make a spray out of garlic & oil & spray the leaves (again, the hate the smell and will go away.) I think I will try the garlic thing.
Andy is thatching right now and then we are going to toss that on the garden to mulch & probably try to get the compost out of my compost bin and throw that on the garden too, & spread out the grass clippings from last fall that we threw on the garden. I want to try that Lasagna Gardening I wrote about in a post this winter, but we need to start getting the layers going. We'll start with the clippings & compost, and we're going to add ash from the firepit (good way to empty some of that) and I'll also go buy a couple straw bales from the feedmill & we'll get some peat moss & maybe some manure to out on the garden next week. We'll the layers a good soaking so that they start to decompose together and then by time it's time to plant we'll have our lasagna garden ready. I'll let you know how it turns out....this type of gardening is supposed to be very easy to maintain and doesn't require weeding, digging (you just pull back the layers and insert plants and seeds) or any fertilizers....next year I just throw some more layers on (but I probably won't have to go buy anything since the base will already by started).
Thursday, April 13, 2006
The 30th Birthday Surprise Geekfest
This was really the highlight of last weekend, as I had been planning it for so long. Here is a pictuer of the guest of honor. He was pretty surprised. I betcha he didn't realize his wife was so sneaky. I think he had a great time. I think all the guys had a good time. It was Andy & 10 other guys that played their war-type games and shot each other in the head.
Andy is wearing a t-shirt that I had made with his screen name and image that a co-worker drew of his screen name.
Here is a picture of one of the guys. I'm not posting pictures of all of them. This is one of the rooms they were playing in. They split into 2 teams and are in separate rooms. Here is Brandon in the "fancy" room. We set up 2 banquet tables in this room. I think they end up with having moer room to spread out with this set up.
Here are Jared & Alex in the "fancy room". As you can see, one of the benefits to playing in this room is that they can grab one of the wingback chairs to sit in. Talk about getting comfortable. Don't the guys look like they are pretty into their games.
And here is Dave & Jason. They are in the other room, the dinig room. We have a rather large dining room table (to fit in our rather large house) and then we throw a card table on the end. Dave doesn't look like he wanted his picture taken.
Those not pictured include Chris, Raoul, Wade, Kyle, & John.
I was very happy with how cooperative the guys were with getting there on time to set up. I am even more pleased with how everything turned out. And I am sure they were all happy to come & drink beer, play video games, and eat all the food I provided. I'm really not sure if there will be any more geekfests to be had at our house. I think this may have been the 5th one (could have been the 4th), but they have all been at our house. But with the baby coming, I am just not sure if we will want to do it anymore. Maybe someone else will have to step up and do one, or maybe the guys won't be able to get together and shoot each other in the head. I guess time will tell.
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