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!

It came with directions!

find your inner PIE @ quizmeme.com

Yes, I do have some spare time on my hand. And I've never had blueberry pie, so I'm not sure how I feel about my alternate pie personality.

At the grocery on Monday I decided to be adventurous and healthy and I splurged on a pomegranate. I had part of one many moons ago when I lived in Toledo, but I don't remember what I thought about it. Anyone who knows me well knows that I tend to shy away from strange foods, so this is a big step for me.

Today I followed the directions to get the arils out. The arils are like mini-grapes with seeds inside, except the arils are inside the pomegranate. Now I have a whole dish of arils that I am snacking on. I'm still out on how much I like them. They aren't gross, but some are really tart. And the edible seed inside isn't too appealing. Overall they are a 7 out of 10 on the Hugs-scale. I'm looking forward to trying them on my cereal tomorrow though.