Five Year Plan - Check!

Yesterday Chris and I celebrated our five year anniversary. Yowza! My sister was great enough to visit and babysit while we went out for dinner and a movie.

Dinner was at P.F. Chang's. It's a sign of our relationship that I was the one to suggest Chinese food as opposed to when we first met and I refused to try any. All thanks to that handsome man of mine. I had Orange Peel Chicken, which was fabulous though lacking in vegetables (another sign of Chris's influence). Chris tried Moo Goo Gai Pan, which even I thought tasted bland. I also tried a Pink Bellini. I was all excited because I have loved bellini drinks in the past. They would have champagne and pear juice and would be a nice frozen drink. I must not have read the description very well, or else took creative license with the description. It came out as a tall, narrow glass of pink liquid. It was a little sour but, wow, did it pack a punch.

So we sat and chatted. On our anniversary, Chris likes to think "What were we doing right now five years ago." We discussed the apartments we lived in since then (oh the stories from that first apartment). And we basically enjoyed being out on a Saturday night by our selves.

Afterwards we headed to the movies to see The Dark Knight. When we went to buy the tickets I saw that there were six different rooms showing it. One was the Imax. Four were normal. The last, which was at the time we wanted tickets, had the letters 'AV' after it on the listing. I was curious what it meant. So I asked (and Chris rolled his eyes). Hey, I wanted to make sure I wasn't walking into anything weird. Like the movie time reserved for people who like to come in costume.

Well, the girl behind the counter didn't know. Actually she 'didn't remember.' So she had to turn off her mike and turn to the guy behind her to ask. Sadly, she had to interrupt his air guitar routine. And the answer was, shockingly enough, 'Audio-Visual'. I was confused by this because it seemed to me that all of the movies would be both audio and visual. But I refrained from asking because Chris was giving me the hairy eyeball. So my running theory is that we saw the non-digital version of the movie. And, quite frankly, the digital version of Two-Face might have been too much for me.

Afterward we grabbed quick decaf drinks and headed home. And by golly, we didn't get home until after 11!

There's no singing here

If you know me, you should know I'm a pretty big fan of Joss Whedon. You know, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, comic books.... heck he even helped with Toy Story. Well, during the writers' strike he and some others wrote a small musical that was to be released on the internet called Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

So I eagerly anticipated this. It was released in three acts during one week. Well, when I tried to watch it I was told "This video is not available at this site." Aggravation! I assumed that the site was so overwhelmed that it broke. A couple of days later I tried again. Same thing! Argh! Then we went camping for a weekend. I came back determined to figure it out. And they had already taken it down! Oh, I can buy it through iTunes (which I don't have). Or I can wait for it to come out on DVD. So guess what is going on my freakin' birthday wish list.

(I think I can get most of it on youtube, but not act by act. And I don't want to ruin the experience).

But Joss does have a new show coming out in the fall called Dollhouse. :)

ETA: HOLD THE PHONE - I just found out They have made Dr. Horrible available again here. And I fighting the urge to skip like a giddy little girl. Because I should be a good role model for Xander.

Nothing to see here

My life is at a fairly even keel right now, not much excitement. Well, there was the camping trip over the weekend, but you probably already read that on Xander's blog.

So. Camping: check. Job: check. Workouts: same as always. Knitting: working on a scarf. Bags: trying to get a small 'inventory' made to sell. Oh, I went to buy fabric today but there were inventory people everywhere. And Xander decided to see just how loud he could be. Not crying, just loud. So, random story time!

When I was in third grade I heard a story about superstitions. Apparently when you find an eyelash, if you close your eyes and blow it away you can make a wish. I don't know why I believed it, I'm not even sure I did believe it. But in my school picture that year I didn't have eyebrows. And by golly, not a wish came true.

And now you know.

Name the TV show, peeps!

Employed

Well, I've signed the contract and I will be a working mom for the 2008-2009 school year.

The details: It is an 8th grade Algebra class with four students. It lasts for 45 minutes a day. And I will be paid for 3 hours a day. When the principal offered me the salary I had to fight to talk her down. It's not extravagant, but it is way more than I expected to be paid for teaching one class at a private school.

Basically, I am very lucky that this has come my way. I think it will work out great for everyone involved :) Oh, and I already have a new student to tutor during the next school year.

What's old is new

You know how there are shows you used to watch a long time ago? And as your mind wanders and you think "I wonder where that person is now?" A couple of weeks ago I received answers to two of them.

1)
2)
Do you recognize either of them? Do you know what show either was on or is currently on? I'll wait for comments to see just how dorky I really am. Then I'll fill in the rest of the masses. And try not to cheat with IMDB, because I know you are tempted to.

I know you're thinking "He looks sooooo familiar...."

....

I knew Ikkin would recognize the first one. Yes, John Henson was the host of Talk Soup on E! back in the day. Now is a commentator on Wipeout, a new show on ABC. And while it's amusing to watch people splash around the commentators definitely make the show down right laughable.

Any takers on #2? Ikkin is on the right path with the show but not the name.

....

#2 is JD Roth. Way (way, way) back in the day he hosted a kids' game show called (I think) Play House. More recently he hosted a kids' Saturday morning version of Survivor called Endurance. While watching #1 on Wipeout there was a commercial for a new show that Mr. JD Roth will be hosting called Opportunity Knocks. Looks like Amnesia, but funnier.

Today's Announcements

1) I do believe I will be employed next year. There is nothing in writing, but I'm hired. I will be teaching one (ONE!) Algebra class to four (FOUR!) 8th graders. I will be paid hourly instead of salary and the principal even said she can get a list of parents who might be willing to babysit. I won't be required to go to most staff meetings and I may get a room so I have use of a SmartBoard.

It really works out best for me and the principal. I have a part-time, local job and she found a teacher who is licensed to teach Algebra and willing to work for 45 minutes a day.

2) I went to my first Major League Soccer game on Saturday with Chris and Ukie. We were given free tickets to the Columbus Crew and even managed to wrangle a babysitter. It was so much fun! It was a faster pace than baseball or football, not quite as violent as football or hockey. The stadium wasn't packed, but the fans who were there were all involved in the game. There was lots of cheering, a little booing. My favorite part is even when the Crew missed a goal, fans still applauded the effort. So many other places the players would get booed for missing. The hooligans had seats in the corner and during one corner kick, they threw streamers and smoke bombs on the opposing player.

The Crew won 2-1. I may have to knit myself a Crew scarf.

3) Chris found the poison ivy that caused his previous rash and then passed onto me. He removed the ivey, but seems to have contracted another rash. I am absolutely paranoid that I will catch it. I still have marks from the last one, they kind of look like bruise-scars.

4) Chris has finally talked me into selling the grocery-style bags I've been making. I don't think I've posted any pics of those yet. But they have been so handy for me and I keep getting compliments. Chris keeps bringing one into work to try to sell, but he brings the first one I made so it is ugly and messed up. I've been making more to give away to a few people just so I can practice.

I'll probably go through a 'green' church group to try to sell them first. Depending on how many I can whip out, I may open an Etsy shop.

That concludes today's announcements.

They might like me

I have an 'informal meeting' with the principal tomorrow about the Algebra position. Those were her words, not mine. I'm taking her up on the 'informal' part by bringing Xander. I cringe at the unprofessionalism (spell check says that isn't a word, but since when do I care what spell check thinks) of bringing a nine month old to an interview, Chris needs to work, it's too early in the day for the neighbor to babysit and also awkwardly overlaps with playgroup time so no one there can help.

I figure I can pitch it as 'my salary is going directly to his school savings for when he attends here.'

A trip for ice cream

Yesterday, for Father's Day, we walked a couple of blocks to get ice cream. Along the way is the neighborhood pond. Here are our conversations.

On the way to get ice cream:
Hugs: Look, there is the mommy duck with her baby ducks! I want a closer look! *runs up to the fence*
Chicks: *rolls eyes*

On the way back home:
Hugs: Look, that isn't a duck down there swimming! What is it?
Chicks: It's a muskrat.
Hugs: Really? Cool! Wait, do we like muskrats? Are we pro-muskrat or anti-muskrat?
Chicks: I guess it depends. I mean it's one of God's creatures. But muskrats eat baby ducks.
Hugs: *shock*

I forgot to tell you

That adoring husband of mine had abandoned me to go gallivanting across England again (at least that's the way I tell it to get sympathy). He's back now and earning his keep as is proper. But while he was gone I had to pick up his slack. That includes (but is not limited to):

a) Cleaning the cat litter. It's not hard. It's not even terribly gross. But it's two cats and one box, so it's often.

b) Mow the lawn. That's right, I took Rocky the reel lawn mower out for a spin. I was nervous because the last time I tried it I had to give up when about 1/3 of the back lawn was done. Granted I was 6 or so months pregnant and it was summer. It was so easy this time! I couldn't strap Xander to my back like Chris, but I had him next to the window so I could see and hear him. And away I went!

c) Taking out trash and recycling on trash day. Once again, not hard or gross.

d) I actually had to wash more dishes even with Chris gone because we only have four baby bottles and that was right when Xander was on formula.

I know there was something else impressive that I did, but now I forget.

Thanks again to Ikkin, Trisha and Lori for helping me to pass the time. Also to my neighbors (who don't actually know about this blog)(or maybe they do and I don't know they know) who helped me and Xander the day I had a fun migraine.

Decisions, Decisions

This past year I stayed home instead of teaching, but did some tutoring on the side. But I miss teaching and getting out of the house. But when I teach I'm 'all-in' meaning I dedicate a lot of time to grading, making plans and projects and especially staying after school to work with students. That doesn't mesh too well with Xander's plans for me to wait on him hand and foot.

So the perfect plan would be a part time teaching position. But it would have to be local, because part time would not pay enough for daycare and gas prices. And of course, it would have to be math. That's not to much to ask, is it?

Apparently it's not. A local grade school (actually it's the school for the parish we belong to) is adding an 8th grade Algebra. A set of parents we know have been mentioning it all year because they are interested in me teaching it.

So I'm dusting off the resume and cover letter. No j0bs are actually listed on the website, but I'll just email them to the principal.

I'm surprisingly nervous about this. Maybe they won't be interested in me at all (why hire a teacher for one class, even if she has that special Algebra license?) or maybe they will love me (daycare? lesson planning? 8th graders??).

Botched

I love telling you about the crafts I do because it makes me feel like I'm doing something fun and important. In reality, I figure many of you tune in to read fun antidotes and when you see a craft story, you skip it. For those who don't skip it, you are either amused at my sudden shift to knitting and sewing or you are aghast at how badly I do at it. Either way, I've only told you about my successes, such as they are. Here's a few that haven't gone over so well.

I bought material to make a pillow and curtain for Xander's room almost a year ago. I finally finished them last week. The pillow is nothing great at all. The curtain is not wide enough. I knew it would be close, but after washing and trimming and the seams it has to hang flat and even then there is room on each side. Chris said to just make another one, but I don't want to spend more money on it.

I tried to reconstruct a pair of jeans into a skirt ala the Pink Shoe. Um, it's definitely a skirt. It took so much work that towards the end I was just making it up as I went. The edges are really ragged, which will only get worse as I wash it.

I tried my first skirt from a pattern. I knew that sizes on patterns were not 'vanity-sized', but I forgot that I still wasn't back to my pre-pregnancy size. So it's too small and I haven't bothered to seam the bottom of it. It is sitting down on my craft table mocking me. I should just finish it and give it away already.

But here is one new project that did turn out well. While shopping I found a remnant that I liked, so I bought it (I've got to be careful not to become one of those people). I figured I could at least make another bag. But it was too pretty. So while sitting at the table pondering I noticed a water ring forming around my glass and thought about how Chris likes to put coasters on the table to stop the water rings but coasters on the dining room table drive me nuts. Oh, a table cloth! Or a table runner! But there wasn't enough material. So... place mats! They aren't normal size and have no backing or second layer, so not the greatest place mats. But I like them and when I'm done they will fit nicely around the table. Plus, I learned to miter corners and get to practice stitching straight lines. The fun doesn't stop around here!

Last Saturday was gorgeous, so Xander and I went window shopping with Ikkin. We found these fun aprons called Kitsch'n Glam that are awesome. They are much more fun in real life than on the website. That is totally something I would love to do.

Success!(es!)

The end of May means that school is winding down which in turn means the end of tutoring season. The totals for this year are roughly a dozen calls of interest, three students who did come for geometry help, one student who stopped coming without explanation or even calling to cancel (can you feel the bitterness) and two students who stuck it out till the end.

One of those students has been struggling to pass but received good grades the last couple of quizzes. Yeah! On her last day, she and her mother showed up with these:



They like me, they really like me.

-=-=-=-=-=-

I mentioned a while ago that the Women's Organization at church asked me to teach how to make a rosary. That was last night and it went pretty well.

I had to order the cord myself, as well as measure, cut and melt the ends. And I had to bring Xander along, but he sat in his stroller and chuckled for most of it.

There were 10 women there, which is a good size when you are walking around showing how to wrap a cord around your finger to make a pretty knot. As with any class, some caught onto it and others struggled. But everyone stayed in a good mood and there were two women who actually finished their rosaries.

Overall, I think it was a good experience. Some were talking about having a 'craft night' for the Women's group and possibly making the rosaries for other organizations. I will be surprised but thrilled if that happened. I'll let you know.

Proof that boys have cooties

So Chris mentioned that he had poison ivy. It was almost two weeks ago that if first appeared after he had worked in the yard. Within a week he had passed it on to me.

Last week I found a spot of it on my waist. Hey, I've had poison ivy before, no problem, I can tough it out. This week it has spread down my leg and across my back. Suddenly it is insanely itchy. I mean, last night spent an hour rolling and trying not to scratch. And it is red and swollen and ugly.

While tempted to try bleach, I instead went to the doctor. It was confirmed what I suspected - not poison ivy but some kind of contact dermatitis. And the reason that it is just now getting bad is because I was on a steroid for my toothache (did I mention that I am not getting a root canal - huzzah!) but when that prescription ran out this rash flared up with a vengeance.

So now I have more steroids to take. The problem is they are much stronger and Xander can't nurse while I'm taking them. So within the next week you'll find some stories over on his blog about how we are handling the abrupt weaning. This should be interesting.

Another Weekend, Another Post

Once again, it turned into a pretty decent weekend.

On Friday night we went to eat at a steakhouse with my youngest brother and his girlfriend. Xander was a little fussy with all of the noise and people, but I've finally mastered holding a baby and eating at the same time. After, Lee came back to our place for a fun game of Clue and we watched the second Fantastic Four movie. I don't recommend playing Clue and watching a movie at the same time, but we made it happen.

Chris went to the Rock on the Range concert on Saturday, so Xander and I hung around the house like any ole day. I did work on replanting some flowers I'd received for Mother's Day. Here are the gerber daises and geraniums.













And here are the azaleas that bloomed this week. They are such a gorgeous, vibrant color I just had to share.

I did some other chores, played with Xander and decided to treat myself with trying a new dessert. I made brownie pudding. It doesn't look like much, but it tastes amazing with mint chocolate chip ice cream.


I was carrying Xander while taking pictures. At one point he realized that I wasn't taking pictures of him, so he tried to remedy that.


On Sunday we spent a couple of hours walking around the local arts festival. I checked out the totes and bags being sold there. Pricey, but oh so much nicer than the ones I make. Plus I'd need to get tables and such for a booth. So I don't think I'll be going into business any time soon.

But it was fun just walking around with anther couple and their baby. We checked out some of the small shops downtown, saw the pet parade (they mean dog parade, there were no other animals in sight) and ate lunch while watching the local dance company perform. It was all very Gilmore-Girls-esque.

My first Mother's Day

What a great weekend.

On Friday, Chris and Xander took me to get my Mother's Day gift. It was 27 Dresses. Then we picked up pizza from a new place. It was actually good pizza with yummy crust. We have had a hard time finding any good local pizza. The place isn't that close to us, but we can save it for special occasions.

Saturday was beautiful, so it was yard day. Chris and Xander mowed and weeded and such. I bought a few marigolds, white petunias and vintas. I couldn't find impatiens, which I usually like. Then we had Game Night! It was a small crowd but loads of fun, I don't think we've ever had such a hard core game of SceneIt.

Sunday I received several phone calls and texts for Mother's Day, which made me feel very special. We packed up and went to visit my family for the day. Good thing too, there was apparently a huge storm here with a tornado. It was really great to see everyone and to just hang out (and let other people hold Xander).

I've gone on a sewing tear these past weeks. I finished making a pair of jeans into a skirt. I made three new bags. Two are based off of grocery bags and a tutorial I found online. They fold up so I can put them in my bag and bring them to stores to use. It's the first time I've actually had requests to make a couple, albeit 'more manly' or 'less bright'. Chris still wants me to make some to sell, but I don't know where to sell except the craft show at the church in the fall.

If only I could make a cozy for my tooth

About a week and a half ago I partook of ice cream cake and have been paying for it ever since. My teeth hurt. The right half of my mouth felt like it was soaking in ice filled water. Oragel wasn't doing much, but the Arm and Hammer toothpaste helped. Now the pain is mostly gone during the day, but I still wake up with it at night.

So today I managed to finagle an appointment at the dentist. The diagnosis is that one molar in the back is the culprit. The dentist has referred me to a specialist to get a root canal. Then I'll return to the dentist for a crown.

There goes our economic stimulus money. And now I feel old.

Chris thinks I should just get the tooth pulled.

In other news, I gave Chris part of his birthday gift early.



I knit this beer cozy from a pattern in a book called "Knitting with Balls." It required I go to an actual yarn store to buy special yarn with elastic in it. Yeah, I'm one of those people now. It was knitted in the round and turned out pretty snazzy. So snazzy , in fact, that I knitted one for Ukie for his birthday too. But Ukie is special and I tried cables for the first time on his.

Morning of the Lepus

Last Sunday, as we were getting ready for church, I saw two little bunnies enjoying our back yard. When suddenly one bunny turned and charged full speed at the second bunny! Then the second bunny leaped high into the air over the first one as it rocketed towards him! That second bunny easily reached three feet high.

They proceeded to do this twice more. Crazy!

Is this some sort of display of super-bunny-powers? Or the bunny version of bull fighting? Or were they just training to jump the fence into our new garden?

I was going to do a screen cap from Night of the Lepus, but I couldn't find a decent one. So in a moment of nostalgia, here is a screen cap for you to guess.

Williamsburg or Bust

We went to Williamsburg, Virginia for our vacation this year. People keep asking us "How did you pick that?" Well, our criteria was that it had to be within a days drive, no beaches (I will not go to a beach during spring break season) and it had to be south of us in the hopes it would be warmer. Williamsburg fit that and it included history and we thought there would be parks nearby.

Sunday
We get up and leave at 3 am so that X would sleep on the way. We get there around 2. We stayed at Springhill Suites, which I really liked because it had a fridge, microwave and a little area to set up X's Pack'n'Play. We had Xander sleep in the P'n'P a couple of nights before we left so he was used to it and I do think that helped on the trip. We puttered around and drove around a little and ate barbecue at Red Hot and Blue, which we found disappointing.

For those contemplating having children, observe the next photo. Last year when Chris and I went to Charleston, we only had those bottom two bags. The rest is for Xander. Seriously.



Monday
We went to Colonial Williamsburg. Dang, I didn't realize how expensive it would be. And you can't take strollers into any buildings, so Chris had to carry Xander in the Snuggli all day. And hold X's head up when he fell asleep. We walked around to some of the businesses and heard about how things were done back in the day. Lunch was at The Cheese Shop, which was tasty, and I found out I do like brie. It drizzled all day and it turned into a downpour in the afternoon, so we headed back to the hotel. Dinner was at a steakhouse, but X was a putz so we didn't get to enjoy it.



Tuesday
It was still rainy and the forecast wasn't great, so we made it a museum day. We went to the Virginia Living Museum first. It had a nice boardwalk to see animals they had and some good indoor exhibits that covered different areas of Virginia. But it was a big kids place and there were lots of classes there, at least one set that was out of control.

Then we went to the Hampton Roads Naval Museum which included the USS Wisconsin. It was nicely laid out and seeing the Wisconsin makes you realize just how big those suckers are.

And then we went across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. That was one hefty toll road, but pretty impressive to see. On the other side we stopped and introduced X to the Chesapeake Bay (since we didn't have easy access to the Atlantic Ocean at that point). Xander did not like the Bay, but did like the sand.



Wednesday
The weather finally brightened up, so we headed into Colonial Williamsburg for a historic garden tour. We dallied around again looking at different shops and the Capitol building. We had to skip a couple of things because of long lines and Xander's fussiness level, but it was neat just to walk around and look at things. Oh, and we had pizza at Sal's that night that was awesome.



Thursday
Thursday was lovely, as our last day it was an odds-and-ends kind of day. We went to the world's largest Yankee Candle where it snowed in the Christmas section. We went to Williamsburg Pottery, but that was disappointing. We went to Jamestown, but it seemed to be like Williamsburg and we didn't want to pay again. Then we went to Yorktown and walked along the riverwalk for a while. We ended with Mexican food for dinner and called it a night.


The End!
(Look, a picutre with me!)

Returning from Vacation

Chris, Xander and I spent last week in colonial Williamsburg. It was a good trip, considering we traveling with a teething seven month old. I think Chris is writing up a review of the trip. He sent out some pics, so if you didn't get them and would like to see them drop us a line.

We returned yesterday (Friday) at about 2 in the afternoon, so we had the rest of the day to unpack and unwind. We were getting ready for bed last night when I went in our bathroom and froze. I could hear something. It was coming from either in the shower or possibly the vent above it. And it sounded very much like when we had a mouse in the dryer last year.

"Chris, get in here" I whispered loudly (Xander was asleep, even a mouse in the shower doesn't necessitate waking up the boy).

I listen and hear the scuttling some more. I notice something light and something dark through the door.

"Chris, get in here now" I yelled/whispered. He bolts in and I told him to listen to the noise. He climbs up on the toilet and looks over the door. And starts laughing.

Somehow a hole developed in my can of shaving cream and it was fizzling all over the shower. Cream everywhere. But it did smell absolutely lovely, raspberry something or other.

Back in the slow lane

I'm not a big runner, but my studly husband and I had a routine of going to the park on Saturday mornings for a run. That came to a screeching halt last January after a certain test came up positive. I know it's not bad to run while pregnant, but my first case of morning sickness came after one of those runs.

So I finally caved and bought a fancy pants Enell sports bra since I found some recommendations for it (I did NOT know Oprah endorsed it until I went to the store). Saturday morning Chris and I got up to go on his neighborhood run with Xander in the fancy pants jogging stroller. I politely asked Chris to go on ahead with Xander. I figured it would be better to run by myself for this first outing.

I was slow, I hurt and my lungs felt like little balloons expanding too much but I ran! According to MapMyRun.com I made it 1.5 miles. Since I didn't think I'd make it further than the end of the block, I am rather impressed with myself.

Hmm, other news. I'm knitting Chris a birthday present. I don't have any more totes to make, but have some material left to make myself another for library books. I made Waikiki Meatballs last week and they were awesome. I made burritos last night and Chris loved them. The ducks from the neighborhood pond are hanging out in our area a lot so I'm guessing they will be nesting soon.

Oh, and we woke up to find a German Shepard in the neighbor's yard. They have two dogs and this was not one of them. We were very confused and thought maybe the dog somehow jumped into their yard. I hope I wasn't too desperate-housewife, but I called one of the neighbors at work to let him know it was there. He actually found the dog this morning wandering around without a collar. So he already called around to local authorities and let them know he had the dog. He was very apologetic about the yipping the shepard was making, I just reiterated I was just concerned.

And finally, here is a video clip for you to guess. Of course at the end there are alternative videos and it tells you what show it is from, so that sucks the fun out of it. But does it ever make me smile!

Grateful

A great big THANK YOU to everyone who helped to entertain me during Chris's absence. It was a lucky coincidence that Chris's trip to England coincided with several spring breaks, so the visits during the week were really appreciated. The number of people who called to check on me and visit or have dinner was really touching. And of course Xander appreciated getting attention from everyone too.

Chris will be going again, so if you are sick of me you should be prepared to duck and cover. If you'd like to be added to my list of people-to-bug-for-adult-attention, just drop me a line :)

How to get rid of cold weather

I've been keeping pretty busy lately. Like I said in the baby blog, I went to visit my sister and brother on Wednesday. Thursday Dandy visited and we had a marvelous time at Target. Friday Sarah visited and we went on the Quest for a Jumperoo.

Other than that, I've been schmoozing around the house working on this and that. I finally finished knitting the hat for Chris. Just in time for the 60 degree weather.


Quite frankly I'm surprised it came out so well. There are little mess-ups in it that I know only I can see and a few obvious mess-ups. It's supposed to have the letters PJ (for Pearl Jam) on the side in seed stitch, but it didn't work out so well. But for knitting in the round for the first time, it turned out to be a wearable hat.

Chris is at work, so Xander offered to model for me. Keep in mind that Chris's melon is about 10 times as big as Xander's, especially when you include his hair.

Returning to Rosaries

Last week I received an email from the church's womens group asking me to teach rosary making at one of the upcoming meetings. Yes, I'd love to! This is requiring me to contact the leader of the group in our old parish, order supplies and plan a lesson. I'm surprisingly excited about this.


In other news, I guess I've lost a tutoring student. He hasn't shown up for two weeks and his friend says she doesn't think he will be continuing. Hey, thanks for calling me to let me know so I don't sit around waiting for you. The first student I had is doing great and is working hard to get a B+. The other student that is still coming is struggling so I'm changing from one session of one hour each week to two sessions of a half hour each week. I hope it helps.

And finally, Chris and I installed our TV converter last night. In the process of Chris lifting the TV so I could switch the antenna and converter wires, I jabbed my thigh into a sharp, pointy ledge on the entertainment center. As I exclaim "oh, fudge" and fall to the floor clutching my leg, Chris looks on and says "gee, I'll bet that hurts." He nearly lost an eye. And I'll bet that would have hurt. But at least the converter box works great.

I've gone tote mad

So since the only thing I know how to sew is totes, I'm practicing by making them for my friends. So here is Ikkin's. It's like the one I originally made, but different material than mine. I really liked the lining because (and you can't really see it in the pic) it is cream with shiny cream dots on it, which nicely complements the olive bag with shiny metal circles sewn on it.

And here's the one I made for Sarah. It's a different pattern that I did all by myself (yeah me) and is totally cute. It has a pocket on the outside on both the front and the back. I also adapted the pattern to make the bag taller.


Chris has done a good job of acting impressed with each one (I have one more done, but no pics until I can give it to the recipient) and thinks I should make some to sell. I think a little more practice is in order first to make sure I can do things like line up the seams.

Overall I think I like sewing a little better than knitting, but I'm not giving up on the knitting :)

Random conversation

To set the scene, my inspiring hubby and I try to have some sort of deep and/or meaningful conversation during the day. It usually ends up right before we go to bed.

--------------

Hugs (trying to be imaginative): So, if you were an element on the periodic table what would you be?

Chicks: Xenon

Hugs: Ok. Why?

Chicks: Because it sounds cool. And it's a gas. And it's noble! It's a noble gas.

Hugs (anticipating the same question and wanting to avoid revealing my lack of periodic table knowledge): You know, Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table because he only recognizes the element of surprise.

Chicks: *mouth gaps a little at the shock of Xenon no longer existing*

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We bought a new camera last night, so prepare to be inundated with pictures of Xander and the daffodils that may or may not have survived the blizzard.

Passing the Time

Min is up to her old tricks.

And here are a couple of amusing things that I have found.

Frozen in Grand Central Station - this would freak me out to no end if it happened while I was there. I would probably believe it was a conspiracy theory involving a mutant cover-up.

Stuff White People Like
- some of this is not true at all for the people I know, but some are dead on for me (why yes, a Kitchenaid stand mixer would be my holy grail, preferably in clementine) and some I see in the general population (water bottles for everyone) and some are just amusing (standing still at concerts).

Objects on blog are not as crafty as they appear

I finished the monkey burp cloths for my little monkey. Ironically he is not spitting up as much as he used to (and by me writing that I have guaranteed projectile vomit for the next week).

I did get to make it to the last sewing class, so here is my tote. I love how it looks! It is on the flimsy side since I haven't put in a base and was too lazy and cheap to go buy thicker interfacing.

I know you are wondering what I am using my tote for. It's storing my current knitting project, knitting a hat. I'm trying double pointed needles to knit on the round for the first time. Getting it started seems to be the hard part. I started it over like three times.


Here is a photo cap for you. Chris, you should get this so let others try first :)

Something to Smile About

Here are some things that made me smile this week.

1) Bunny prints in the snow. You can see where the little guy stopped to eat, went exploring (the fire pit!) and took off. It's very cute.

2) Chuck Norris Tributes

3) A radio station that changed it's format and is now playing everything I loved in college (and some from high school). On one hand it makes me feel a little dated that the 90's rock gets it's own station (as opposed to '80s, 90s and now) but it sure does make me smile.

4) I'm getting decent at knitting scarves and I like it! Here is one with a little hole to pull the scarf through. Chris wants a hat and a sweater, both which scare me to try. But by golly, try I will!
5) The sewing class took too long, so a third meeting was scheduled. But I won't be able to make it. So my tote sits unfinished. I will try to finish it, but I was distracted by making these burp cloths. The aren't the fanciest things in the world but I am incredibly proud of myself for putting these together. These have letters of the alphabet and I have a few more to make with cute little monkeys.

Oh My!

I was going to log on and blog about Sock Wars (like the war game in college, but with yarn) and how I heart my bread maker but Ainsley Was Almost Eaten! SERIOUSLY! Carried away to never be seen again! I know I use to many exclamation points, but it is entirely necessary to convey my point here!

I just put all of the ingredients for Cheesy Potato Bread in the bread maker and was about to plug it in when I heard a bang from the back room. It was very reminiscent of when a bird ran into the window and died. So I thought 'oh, nuts' and headed back there, just in time to see through the back door a big bird swoop away to a nearby tree. And I see it's the hawk (I'm assuming hawk, but some large hunting bird) land in the tree in the back yard.

I saw this hawk a couple of weeks ago perched on the fence just hanging out, it flew away when I tried to get a picture for Chris, who is highly fascinated by the hawks we see when driving. So I try to get a picture this time, but the camera went fritzy again and it didn't turn out well. Then it flew away.

Then it clicks that the hawk flew into the window and Ainsley is back there. So I walk back and Ainsley is curled up on top of the love seat by the window. And right above her on the window are a couple of smears where a hawk hit the window.

Poor Ainsley has no clue she was nearly swooped away. I'll still give her a couple of kitty treats though.

PS - any suggestions on how to shrink the giant picture would be appreciated.

Adventures in Houseliving

First Story:

The house was attacked by a giant spider! Ok, so I actually found it in the corner of the basement, but it was a big spider. If my studly husband were home I would sic him on it and he would argue that spiders are good luck. If he's not home I will usually step up and take care of business. But this thing had to be related to Aragog. So I vetoed squishing it (that is a lot of ick) and I wasn't going to attempt to transport it outside. I calmly walked upstairs, got a glass from the cabinet and placed said glass over the spider. It glared at me and gnashed it's fangs.

Since I was doing laundry, I had to look at the little guy every time I went downstairs. Min followed me down and after a little exploring she found a new friend. She was very confused about the glass covering it and kept patting at it. Then she would look at me and meow. She finally came over and was rubbing against my leg. I told her "Tough noogies" and walked away.

Later I found the glass pushed onto a crack and the spider was no where to be found. I'm going to go with the theory and Min helped to smuggle her new many-legged friend to freedom.

Story Two:

Game Night was Saturday! It was so great to have people visit, thank you to all who came!

Truth be told I've been feeling a little down lately. I'm stuck indoors with the lousy weather and the only talking I have some days is with Xander, who is not yet a conversational wiz. So it was great to relax with friends.

So I think everyone had a merry time, there was great food and fun games. We played a new one called The Last Word, and we won't discuss just how bad I was at it. And the boys vs girls Cranium match was fun as always (girls ruled, but I didn't have to tell you that).

Story Three:

After everyone left Game Night, the wind really picked up and we even saw some lightening. The wind continued and the temperature dropped through Sunday. When we returned from church on Sunday morning the electricity was out. Which meant no heat. Disaster! Chris actually called up a friend to come over and explain how to properly work a wood-burning fireplace so we didn't burn the place down. So guess what we'll have at the next Game Night :)

The electric finally came back on about 4ish and the heater ran and ran, but would not get to above 57 degrees (for those concerned for Xander, we did turn on little heater to warm up his room). Seriously, it just kept running. I'm trying to sleep and can see the gas bill skyrocketing. I call in to our home warranty this morning to arrange someone to look at our heater and Chris decides to pull out the air filter. Within an hour and a half the temperature was up 5 degrees.

So today's lesson is if you buy a house, change the air filter.

And finally, a Name that Screen Cap - television edition.

Think about it

Check out the following link for pictures and information on what different families eat throughout the world:

What the World Eats

I think there are a lot of different things that can be observed from these pictures. The obvious is how much is spent on food each week on different parts of the world. At first I thought 'we are under what appears to be a US average', then I remembered that only two of us are paying to eat and the little guys is eating for free.

I also thought about types of food, both in the pictures and what we eat in our house. I should try to get more fresh foods instead of frozen foods. It's amazing how much fast food, pop and prepared foods some families had compared to fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and eggs others had.

This last time I noticed the rooms the families were in, I think the pictures were supposed to be taken in the kitchen or dining rooms. Some rooms were so empty, some had televisions and the one family was sitting outside.

It's just something to see how other people live.

A Rare Rant followed by Praise

I don't usually consider myself an opinionated person. Oh, I have opinions I just don't go around blathering on about them. I'm not a very eloquent speaker (and by using the word eloquent I prove myself wrong). Recently I read a book that made me form an opinion that I want to share but since no once else I know has read it, I have no one to blather my opinion to. I'm actually not too comfortable 'naming names' on my blog but, darn it, I feel like sharing.

So basically I am here to bore you with a book that you have not read. You can pretty much skim from here, get the point, roll your eyes at me and move on with your life.

To the point - the ending of "Confessor" by Terry Goodkind ticked me off. A little background for you follows: "Confessor" is the final book of a series called the Sword of Truth. Yes, it's a fantasy series (and I lose a few more readers). I'm a sucker for series because I always want to know what happens next. The first book had some violent scenes but I was otherwise entertained. I read the subsequent books and even bought one that I felt hit some good points about humanity. Well, after that book the serious takes those few points and turns them into long winded speeches and the speeches become not only 'this is what is good' but include 'this is what is bad.' And that is how the final book ends.

Basically the protagonist banishes everyone of faith because those people are haters and promote a culture of death. Ok, in the book that is true. But it was written in a way that feels like it not only represents our culture but our society is the result of the ending (the ending is the faith people are all banished to a new world without magic so they can reap what they sow).

I guess I feel like the author is saying that anyone who practices religion is evil. By making sacrifices I do not respect myself. By not having cable and giving that money to my church I am cultivating a hate culture. It just read like Goodkind has a huge religious chip on his shoulder and he just had to share. And his sharing was as subtle as a sledgehammer upside the head.

I'm glad I didn't buy the whole series.

Ok, the praise is for another series that I've read a couple of times. (a few people who may still be reading are totally expecting me to plug Wheel of Time) I don't know the name of the series, but there are three books about a woman named Kick written by Marne Davis Kellogg. Kick is a woman of a certain age, healthy weight and extravagent lifestyle (although I'm sure she'd disagree about the extravagence). She is also a world famous jewel thief known as the Shamrock Burglar.

The first book in the serious encompasses how Kick lives and how she gets out of the thieving business. The next two books are mysteries of her trying to catch other thieves. All of them describe a lifestyle that is almost hard to believe, with fancy food, fabulous hotels and of course wonderful jewelry.

There is just something about Kick's confidence, abilities, zest for life as well as the decadent world she lives in that I love. I feel more elegant just reading the books. Sure, they are a little 'chick lit' but we all can't enjoy "War and Peace."

Planning Ahead

I have already found what I am getting everyone for Christmas next year.

Emergency Zombie Defense Station

Seriously, it's been a month since I've seen 'I am Legend', but I still get the creeps. It didn't help that on NPR last week they were discussing synethic biology, where they manipulate bacteria to do things. Hmmm. Where have I heard about that before... oh yeah, in the first five minutes of 'I am Legend' before the rampaging zombies kill everyone!

27 (minus 26) Dresses

Friday night I was able to go out for a Girls Night. Yeah me! We went to see the movie 27 Dresses which is a typical romantic comedy (which meant that I loved it). I even went to a bar afterwards with the girls (and drank water). By midnight I was returned home to my guys and caught some zzz's in preparation for Saturday.

On Saturday Xander and I ventured out to visit my family. The main purpose of this was to get sized for bridesmaid dresses for my brother's upcoming nuptials. Let me tell you, if you can avoid it do not get sized four months after giving birth for a wedding that is in ten months. The sales ladies measured my bust, waist and hips and brought out the dress for us to see. Then when they consulted their Big Book of Sizes they saw size 20. They looked at me. They looked at the book. They looked at each other. I sighed. I asked to try on the dress they had, even though I knew it was too small at least we'd be able to see that I Do Not Need a Size 20, even if the Big Book of Sizes demands it.

So I try it on (and it is a simple, pretty strapless with empire waist) and can actually get it zipped up halfway. So the hip measurement is totally irrelevant, take that Big Book! The waist isn't too much of a problem, especially when they remeasure at my natural waistline instead of where-my-pants-are waistline. So they remeasure my bust and guess what, that didn't change. It makes my dress between sizes X and Y (what, you think I'm going to tell you? Let's just say that size X is twice as large as any of the other numbers I see jotted in the bridal party sizes). So they ask all sorts of personal questions such as 'did you gain weight in your butt', 'is this your first kid' and 'how long will you be breastfeeding' all the while apologizing. I know they just want to get the size right so I didn't take offense.

We finally decided to go with the smaller size since by the wedding I will probably have Xander weaned. I figure I'll have to invest in some Spanx and a corset anyway, might as well be optimistic about the size.

Meanwhile my sister takes almost no time getting sized. We won't talk about her size. The jerk. (just kidding people)

Then my mom tried on some dresses and we found one that looked really great, but of course they couldn't order it.

And while that was happening, some high school girls were trying on some pretty ridiculous dresses. I will end with this thought - when did mermaid style dresses come back in? I totally missed that boat.

We're going to need a bigger scrapbook

Last week there was an online sale for photos that I took full advantage of. I went back over the past five years and printed out Weddings, Xander pictures, Vacations and the odd shower or two (bachelorette and baby, you weirdo).

That came to 500+ photos.

I'll be busy at my craft table in the basement for the next year, in case you need me for anything.

Resolutions 2008

Ok, here's what I am doing for the new year.

Lose weight - I'd like to get to prepregancy weight for three reasons.
1) So I can fit into my pants again
2) So I look hot (hey, I'll admit it, I want to be hot again)
3) Story for you. I was walking in the mall and caught a glimpse of a woman out of the corner of my eye and thought 'whoa, hoochie mama, get a shirt that doesn't display your enormous assets quite so much.' Then I realized it was a reflection of me wearing one of my prepregnancy fitted shirts. I realize that I'm nursing and my assets won't necessarily go down in size, but almost none of my fitted shirts is appropriate to wear in public and I even feel a little slutty wearing them at home.

Quite frankly I'd like to lose more weight, but one step at a time. Anyway, here's the beginning of my plan
1) Lift weights four days a week (2 days on upper body, 2 days on lower body)
2) 6,000 steps a day (using my fancy new pedometer, I'm usually around 4,000) Start running again in the spring
3) Each morning fill my 64 oz jug with water, drink it all.
4) Cut back on those darned sweets, to one a day

Sew - I'm all signed up for the class to learn to make a tote bag. If you are all lucky, for next Christmas you will all get a tote with a nicely knitted scarf.

Oh how I've missed the Drop Spin

For those of you who aren't aware, I was in the marching band flags in high school. It was a lot of fun and it was one of the few extra curriculars that I actually felt adept at.

Flash forward to yesterday in the car. I'm driving along and on the radio 'Ice Ice Baby' begins. Of course everyone turns that up when it comes on. I'm driving along, listening and letting my mind wander. By the end of the song I realize that I have created half of the choreography for a flag routine to this song, including costumes and flags. All I'll tell you is that there were ripped, faded stone-wash jeans involved. And side ponytails.

Resolutions Revisited

Let's check in on how I did on my resolutions last year. This is the list I printed on my blog last year.

1) Learn to sew - I want to say 'yes, done!' but this is more of 'well, I learned to use the sewing machine, does that count?' I'm hoping to take a class at Joann's fabric to make a tote bag and learn a few more basic skills.

2) Learn to knit - yes, done! I learned the basics at a class last February and did a few small projects over the year. I used birthday money to buy Stitch 'N Bitch and spent the holiday really working on different types of stitches. I also blew my Christmas money at Joann's and bought supplies for several scarves.

3) I forget.... - and I still don't remember

4) Write things down so I don't forget - which I think I am better at. However I am not consistent about where I put my list, so that isn't always helpful. I did create my CFO Duties list, so I can keep track of when I last did chores. I'll swear I dusted last week and then check the list and realize it's been three weeks. That explains the half inch of dust that has accumulated.

5) The usual jazz about eating better and exercising - I eat vegetables nearly every freakin' day now. I haven't run since I found I was pregnant (and it was winter and I didn't want to slip and fall). So that one is a toss up.

6) Read more non-fiction - with all of the pregnancy and baby books I have read I can proudly say Done.

I'm still thinking of what I'll do for 2008. I know it will include weight loss. I was trying to think of something fun and unique like 'get a video of myself of youtube that becomes viral' but most of those are embarrassing videos so I'll skip that. I'll let you know next blog.

Happy New Year!

I feel like a new woman

For Christmas I got new kicks. Thanks Mom! I don't remember the last time I bought shoes just for casual, fun wear. I'll be spending some Christmas money of fun socks.
I also spent a few hours out and was able to get a good haircut and manicure! Thanks Barb!

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

This year there was the usual traveling to visit family, but you can read about that at the Ringing in the New Year blog.

One thing different is that with our new house and new baby, we wanted to at least wake up at home on Christmas day. It ended up being that we were here the entire day and I made my first Christmas meal. I actually had a written schedule of when to start each food so dinner would be ready at 6(ish). Here is all of the hard work I did, with a few fun facts:

1) White Bread - the first time I made bread in my 5 dollar bread maker. It did not come with instructions, but did have a short informational video that I watched. It turned out pretty well, but I'll try a more exciting bread next time.

2) Berry Banana Bread - this was actually for my family on Wednesday, but I made it Christmas afternoon.

3) Ham - when Chris and I were at the grocery store we picked up a 4 lb chunk. Chris commented that he could probably finish that by himself, so we traded in for a 7 lb+ chunk. I threw it in the oven for a couple of hours, no fancy toppings or marinade. It was good, but as some of you may be thinking we had a LOT left over.

4) Christmas Green Beans - ok, these didn't actually happen. It's a recipe from a cook book, but I never got around to making them. I was a little too caught up with trying to dominate at Star Wars Episode 1 Monopoly. So instead I heated up canned green beans.

5) Cornbread Stuffing - from a box.

6) Yams - from a can. However, I did manage to spill half of the yam juice on the kitchen floor when I was trying to get them heated up. That was fun.

*Picture was pre-food, in case you are thinking I'm amazing at cleaning.

Christmas Early

My wonderful husband gave me my Christmas gift early because we had to make sure it works.

3-in-1 Beverage Center

At first I was all "It makes coffee, which I don't like, and you've been wanting one of these for years." But after using it I realized it's great for my oatmeal, tea and best of all hot chocolate. Once we buy the pods for it, it will be awesome for things like Game Night. I mean after driving for thirty minutes to see us and consuming a couple of beers, the least we can do is send people off with a hot cup of caffeine.*

* This requires you to bring your own travel mug people!

No vampires here

Yesterday I tried a new recipe called Black Bean Soup with Sausage. It was ok, Chris really liked it. I did miss the last part of step one that says 'Drain and rinse beans' so the soup was watery and looked black. What can I say, I rarely cook with dry beans. And since it need so much garlic, the kitchen reeks of it today. I like garlic, but it's a bit much to handle.

There isn't much excitement around here at the moment. Christmas decorations are up, including lights out front and cards ready to be dropped in the mail. I plan on doing some shopping tomorrow, I'm just debating which mall to head to.

I did forget to post that we had another successful Game Night last weekend. Dandy brought SceneIt (the regular movie edition) and the girls team conquered. And I have to say Dandy is a wiz at translating pictures into names. The guys won at Cranium. I would say they won because we were rolling the dice at the wrong time, but that would make me sound like a sore loser.

Not a screen cap (I couldn't find one for this movie) but here is a toy based on a character from the movie. Can you name it??

Sharing the love

The cats have adapted fairly well to having Xander in the house. In general, they leave him alone and don't get in his stuff. Oh, there was the one time where I found them both in his Pack and Play. But they have been deprived of some love and attention.

Ainsley is dealing the best. She just compensates by getting extra love and attention from anyone who visits. Seriously, she'll be all over whoever is sitting on the couch. The trouble with this is that my one student is horribly allergic, so Ainsley has to be trapped in the basement. My other student is fine and ends up spending half of the sessions with a cat in his lap.

Min has been acting up more. The chewed toilet paper is happening more often. I'm seriously considering sacrificing a few rolls by spritzing them with Bitter Yuck! so she'll learn not to chew on them. However I am afraid that I'll forget these rolls will be out, they will be used and then some pain might ensue.

I did spray my plants with Bitter Yuck! I'm not sure which cat has been chewing on them, but it has stopped.

About once a day I'll find an ornament from the tree on the ground or the gold bead garland hanging funny. Today I caught Min pulling down some and I scared her pretty badly. We'll see if that happens again.

And of course there is the hose obsession that Min has. I hung some from a shelf and it was at least five feet off the ground. Yeah, found it on the floor but it didn't have an holes. And I just found the head of the dusting rod I use (think Swiffer but made of cotton or something) sitting in the cat bed when it was last on top of the drying rack. I have no idea how she negotiated the rods on the rack to get it down.

Guess I need to remember to give them both a few more hugs.

Toot-toot-tootoring

I have a second student to tutor! The cards I passed out at the local schools have paid off. My second student is also in geometry and just has trouble understanding the teacher. So far both students are fairly motivated and bright, so they ask questions and want to do well. I was a little worried I would get students who were forced to go to a tutor by their parents and didn't actually care.

Last night, in an effort to further expand my palate, we had brussel sprouts. I bought a bag of frozen sprouts that I could just through in the microwave to steam. Yeah, I can see why they have a bad rap, even Chris didn't like them. They were surprisingly juicy which I didn't like. I'd give them a 3 on the Hugs-o-meter.

But it was made better because I made Fantasy Fudge(but without the nuts). Oh sweet bliss.

Holland

I've had this post in mind for a while, so here it is.

While I was pregnant, and even before, Chris and I would discuss the possibility of our baby having a disability. Be it mental, physical or even something as temporary as colic. The thought really, really scared me.

Let me add that Xander is in perfect health. This isn't to scare anyone, this is just a blog about something that had gone through my mind.

One thing that calmed me was a friend saying that a special needs child would be lucky to have me for a mom because she knows how well I'd take care of that child. I never thought of it that way, that it wasn't about me but about the child.

The other thing to calm me was this:

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by
Emily Perl Kingsley.
c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

New Food

For Xander's baptism I decided to try to make barbecue to share. I found a recipe in the slow cooker cookbook. It involved buying beef round steak, cubed. I'm not sure if the cubed refered to how I should buy it or if I should cut it into cubes after I buy it. I went with the store bought steak cubed. The other ingredients included onion, chili pepper, tomato paste, ketchup, cider vinegar and a beer. Let's just say the predominant ingredient besides the steak was beer.

So everything was slow cooked overnight and shredded in the morning. Some of the sauce was removed. And barbecue was made! Except I didn't think it tasted very barbecue-y. It tasted like sweet beer. Don't get me wrong, it still tasted good and it was all eaten, it just seemed like false advertising on the name of the dish.

I also made cupcakes. They tasted good, not my best. They did LOOK great. I really need to stop using strawberry cake mix though, it's getting boring.

I am nuts

This morning I got up at 6 am. Yeah, Xander needed fed but I was planning on getting up then anyway. That is when Chris gets up to work out in the basement (he is nuts too). I have been stuck at ten pounds overweight for a month now and I'm sick of it. On Monday I went shopping with my mom and sister and I spent more time being sad about not fitting into the clothes I'm used to than enjoying shopping. I'm not working out on my own so at least twice a week I'm dragging myself out of bed to get some exercise in. Chris at least is excited to have the company.

But I did find a pair of pants while shopping. They fit great, were originally $40, were on the $15 dollar rack but rang up at $10! I never get that lucky at clearance sales! And they are desperately needed since I only have one pair of jeans that fit (and by fit I mean cause a muffin top).

In other news I did buy the Disney edition of Scene It. My rationale was that everyone has seen some Disney and some day Xander can play. After Game Night on Saturday I'll never get anyone to play it with me again. I didn't think I knew that much Disney, really!

I had my first student over for tutoring. The tutoring itself went well, but the girl is allergic to cats so of course Ainsley and Min were trying to rub all over her. And Xander was all out of sorts (probably from the eight hour mall trip the day before) and kept crying. She's scheduled to come back next week, so I'll try to get the cats in the basement.

Yesterday was an awesome day out (just in case you were busy working or not being in Ohio). I took Xander to the library and we decided to take a jaunt to the local park. The trees were still gorgeous colors and the temperature was just right for a great fall day. I sat and read for a while and Xander continued his nap. Then when I got home I decided a walk was in order and broke out the stroller for the first time in a week. I'm glad I did because it is twenty degrees colder today. But I did see snowflakes!

That pretty much catches you up on my life :)

Boy are my arms tired!

I've been dallying with an idea for a while that I finally put into motion today. I am going to try to tutor. My supportive husband has ok'd the idea and approved me doing it at home so that there is no need to hire a babysitter or for him to rush home (especially since he has a big project he is working on).

I can't continue at my previous tutoring job because it is a 20+ minute drive. If Chris gets off at 5 (which he won't), gets home at 5:30 and I leave immediately I could make it to work from 6 to 8. But that is unlikely, which makes it only the 7 to 8 shift. That would barely cover the cost of gas to get there. So I'm branching out on my own here. I'm also hoping that my previous employment doesn't find out because I did sign a no-compete agreement. My argument is I'm not competing since they don't go to the level of math I plan to tutor at.

Today I made up little business cards and handed them out at five local schools. It was more difficult than it sounds because at each school I'd have to get Xander out of the car and bring him with me. I kept him in his baby carrier so it just got to be heavy after a while. But he did help me win over the receptionists and they were all 'good for you for staying home to raise him.' Hopefully that will get me some bonus points.

Last spring I had told my high school I would do tutoring and I have gotten calls from there, but most of the calls came while I was still pregnant and parents didn't want to deal with me taking a month off after birth. I did get a call today from a woman who is willing to drive all the way to my place from the school, so I may already have my first student!

Now I need to root through my school boxes and find the binder and papers I'd set aside to help keep the tutoring organized.

I got my sticker!

Current Pet Peeve: Christmas commercials before Halloween. Actually even before Thanksgiving, but if I hold that grudge I'll go nuts.

Current Irony: 'separation of church and state' yet I vote for government officials in a church building. There is probably a good explanation for it.

I was very proud of myself for voting yesterday, I even looked up the candidates in the paper! I found it odd that two of the six candidates for city council owned bed and breakfasts downtown. This morning when I turned on the news they had election results I felt more like I had made bets than I had voted for someone. And I usually lose those bets! Ah well.

By the way, pomegranate arils taste good on Rice Krispies.

It's been a while, so here is a screen cap for you. Actually, it's not directly from the movie, but just a picture of some of the characters. Very easy this time!