hot or cold... nothing in between please

Is it weird that I love hot tea... and iced tea, but cannot stand luke warm tea? For example... If I'm drinking a nice hot cup of tea and I get side-tracked and it gets cold... I can't finish it. Its just gross! The same thing goes for coffee too. I love hot coffee. Oooo and speaking of if you haven't tried the Pumpkin Spice coffee creamer from International Coffee you really need to because it is delicious!!! But again, I love hot coffee and I also love iced coffee. Especially McDonald's french vanilla iced coffee. But when my iced coffee gets too warm I can't stand it... and when my hot coffee gets luke warm its just so gross!

Does that make any sense at all?

Good to the last Drop

I hate to waste things... (well except the butt-ends of a bread loaf... I don't mind throwing those away... no one really likes to eat those do they?). So I try my best to use every last bit of something. For example.... I have probably 4 different bottles of random things that are practically gone but I keep scraping more out.

I love pump lotions because of the convenience. No worrying about taking a lid on and off... or turning it over and squeezing it... just pump and its right there! This is also great for hand soap too. The only problem is it always leaves a little bit at the bottom unused! Hence my half-empty bottle strewn about. Now I don't really mind taking the extra time to get my money's worth... but I think my hubby might be a little annoyed. Oh well... I'm just trying to save us cash!

Also I like to use the last drop b/c most of the containers now-a-days are plastic, and you want to use the last bit to recycle once you're done! I am soo thankful Marion has a recycling center for its residences. My sister lives down in TN and she has no recycling whatsoever... Well I take that back, she might but its not convenient. And well I dunno if I would recycle as much as I do if it wasn't as convenient for me as it is. All I have to do is put a bin out at the end of the driveway with my trash every week. They come by and pick up the trash and recycling all in one trip! Now they do not take glass.... but the center is not far from our house so we usually stock pile that and take it in later. Which I don't find that inconvenient... we don't seem to have as much glass as other recyclables anyway.

I really do encourage you to recycle!! Its so important for our planet. Lots of things can be recycled that you might not even know about! Look for this symbol and check with your local city/county rules!

Bacon

Ok so I get that everytime I eat meat it use to be a cute little chicken... or a pig... perhaps a cow... even a turkey (although are those really cute?) for the upcoming holiday... I get it. But I like the way they taste! Who doesn't like bacon?! I mean honestly? It is sooo good. I could probably eat it at every meal! Its good by itself... in omelets, on salads, in addition to other meats on a sandwich. BLC's are one of my favorite sandwiches of all time! I know what you're thinking... BLC's? Don't you mean BLT's? Nope actually I dont.... I prefer to have Bacon, Lettuce, and Cheese on mine.. Then the other day I saw these!

How cool are those?! Especially for those "low-carb" people. I mean personally I think y'all are crazy... I love bread and other carb-related foods, but hey you can still enjoy your BLT's or BLC's with these!!

Vegans are something else too... Can't even eat dairy products! What do they eat then? I don't think I've ever had tofu... at least none that I can remember... but what exactly is it? I love watching Ellen Degeneres who happens to be a vegan.. she has her chef on there sometimes whipping up the food he makes her... its always got fake turkey or ground beef, fake cheese, fake sour cream. I mean what is this stuff coming from?! And yea I'm sure rich people like her can afford to buy these specialty items, but the rest of us really cant. Organic stuff can even be too much!

Anyway, all I gotta say is I love bacon. And I can't imagine why other people don't!?

Favorite Dip

I'd have to say one of my all time favorite dips is very easy to make. I usually call it my "chip dip" but you can use it with many other things as well.

First you take a tub of sour cream.... 16 oz preferrably... then you take a packet of Ranch Dip.. mix.. and wha laa! You have a yummy dip!!!

The best thing to dip into this delicious dip... are Lay's Classic Potato Chips.... It is soo yummy and addicting you'll eat the entire bag in one sitting... ok maybe YOU wouldn't eat the entire bag... but I would.

This dip is also yummy for all sorts of vegetables... I prefer carrots, cucumbers, green or red peppers, and celery!! I've heard its good with cherry tomatoes but ick, no thanks! So if you're looking for something to snack on... this is a great choice. Of course its better for you with the veggies... but the chips are delicious!!

Update on life...

Saturday was awoken by my son crying at 4:30 am (Thank God it was the weekend and I could make my husband get him!!!) Fever by 10:00 am was 101 and climbing... dosed him with tylenol... called the Dr.'s office and took their advice to go to a walk-in urgent care... After spending hours waiting... saw a nurse practioner (dont know how I feel about these people.... I know that sounds back... but I prefer Doctors...) who looked in his ears said they were fine.... temp had gone down (obviously b/c I dosed him w/tylenol) he was still very lethargic though... they did a influenza test that came back negative, but that was inconclusive....

Sunday, stayed home from church (I was suppose to be in the nursery but would rather be with my sick son and frankly tired after getting up every 4 hours to check on his temp and give him more tylenol b/c it was high every time...) to tend to my sick son. He was doing better (meaning not as lethargic) but still the temp was there.. took time off and went to choir... then proceeded to wake up every 4 hours and check on his climbing fever... giving him tylenol.. etc.

Monday, actually went in to my old job to help out with data entry. My mom (a nurse) came over to watch the babe. When I got home he was pretty lethargic again, sick of it called his doc and got an appt. that day....... Turned out he has an ear infection and his wonderful doctor mentioned Motrin is better than tylenol... b/c you can give it to him every 6-8 hours... in stead of 4. His temp was practically gone with the Amoxicillin he started...

Tuesday, pretty bad day. Babe was very irritable.. thought I noticed a rash around his neck.. He didn't want to eat anything I presented him with and wanted to be held all day when he wasn't napping... Asked hubby if he thought it looked like a rash... he told me he saw nothing...he gave him a bath and put him to bed while I took a break and showered and went to the store.....

Wednesday, still noticed a rash on his neck... proceeded to continue the Amoxicillin and my mom called to check in on the patient. Told her about the rash, she told me to call Dr. Made an appt... turns out he was having an allergic reaction to the Amoxicillin... great... changed meds and went on...

Which brings us to today... He is doing much better, actually ate a decent breakfast this morning and even though I'm suppose to discontinue the bottle I introduced it back b/c he's lost weight since his check-up 2 months ago. He chugged that milk like nobody's business... He has another appt later this month as a well child visit... I do not enjoy going to the Dr. 4 times in one month though... not cool.

Dear Daylight Savings....

I hate you... you have ruined my week.. thus my life. Now instead of waking up after 8:30 my son decides to get up before 7:00 am. You suck. What gives you the right to make all of us change just for you?! Its not fair... I doubt you're losing any sleep at night... I'm sure you sleep as they say "like a baby". Well the rest of us haven't been sleeping well. We're all tired and groggy and can't wait til we finally adjust. I hope you're happy....

For Women Only

So I was looking for a book to read... and decided I'd try this one b/c it was on a book club list... While I was reading it I thought it had a lot of insight and all that... but then after talking to my husband (to check and see how accurate some of the things this book said) it seemed like it was a load of crap. Now technically the book was backed by statistical evidence and all these blind surveys of soo many men and so on.....

I'm sure the book really does have some truth to it. I know it did in certain areas. It just seemed like my man was the exception to every rule in it!? Which honestly, I thank God for. I guess it makes perfect sense.... I mean my husband is NOT "most men". Which is a GREAT thing. I mean I didn't wait around for most men... I waited for the perfect one!

I read this a while back.. and well with pregnancy brain its a little hard to focus and remember exactly what the book said.... but I do remember a few things. I won't tell you if my husband is just like what the book said... or the exact oppisite.... I'll keep those things to myself... but its interesting anyway!

1. Looking good for your man.
Apparently this was a subject most men could not seem to talk to their significant others about..... Basically a lot of men out there get frustrated and down when their woman doesn't try to impress... Grant it they say they don't expect their wife and mother of 3 to look like they did when they met in high school (that's just not possible.....) but they want them to make an effort. Now I do agree with this to an extent. Honestly... after I gained 50+ pounds with my first pregnancy I did try to lose the weight... Not at first! I mean I had a newborn to deal with... but eventually I came around, did my workouts, and looked as good as I could.

In this book the author's husband talked about how he was disappointed every time he saw the same chocolate donuts sitting on the counter every morning. He "knew nothing was going to change as long as he saw those donuts". Seriously? The woman can't eat a freaking donut?! She had just given birth to your son! She deserves a donut... maybe 3! Now I guess I don't know for sure how long the donut eating had gone on... or how old the son was (the book didn't specify). But for her husband to think like that?! It just makes me glad I can't read men's thoughts.....

The other thing was making an effort not to dress like a slob. Ok ya know what... I'm a stay at home mom... Meaning most days I don't even leave the house. Yea I'll do my best to shower...(I do almost every day!) and most of the time I put a little make up on... but do you expect me to dress to the hilt?! I don't think so... I'll stick to my comfy clothes thank you very much. What happened to the "its what's on the inside that counts."?

2. Respect your husband
I'm sure most christian married couples have heard of the Love and Respect series, and it does make a lot of sense. This book made some specific remarks about respect though. Most women never try to deliberately disrespect their spouses, but still manage to. One main statement mentioned disrespect in public, and how even a little teasing really isn't playful but VERY disrespectful. If your wife can't respect you in front of others how are they going to respect you....... just some food for thought!

3. Men are Visual
Yea yea yea... we all know men are visual... We can see the wandering eyes daily. Oh but apparently they're hard wired this way.... they can't help it... don't be mad at them for using their God-given gift! You should embrace the "gifts" God gives them and basically give them a free pass. After all they just can't help themselves...... This seems like a load of crap. Like when people use excuses like "oh I'm sorry... I just can't help it... its how I am!" Pretty much like I'm not going to even attempt to work at changing... so deal with it. I guess all in all as long as its just a wandering eye... and not going farther than that what's the harm... but still!

4. Men have a distinct drive to provide
If you're like most moms....... you probably have the instinct to worry a lil bit... just about your children in general... if they're developing correctly, if you're a good enough mother... if they get hurt you hurt as well... I'm not sure why but it seems like that's the norm. Well apparently most men have this worry... but as it pertains to providing for their families. They are at a constant alert wondering if they are doing a good enough job at supporting the family. Now I can imagine in a single-income home this burden can be even greater.... but apparently men living with two incomes still have this burden.

While this does seem to ring in some truth... it seems like I still know some free-loaders out there too....

OK apparently that's all this brain can remember right now..... in general I did enjoy reading the book... it was fairly short and did have some interesting points....

Halloween pedicure

Yay for Halloween!! Can't wait to carve pumpkins and show off my lil guy in his costume :)

Can you Excel at Everything all at Once?

Personally I KNOW I can't excel in every area every day. Its just not an attainable goal for me. The past two weeks I'd have to way I'm excelling great when it comes to cooking! Last week it was lasagna, BLT's, tacos, then Sunday it was ham and cheesy potatoes, chicken quesadillas and 7-layer salad, and I even made pumpkin bars to take over to dinner at my sister's tonight. I have to say we have eaten very well the last couple of weeks. Well... maybe not super healthy.. I mean there was a lot of butter and heavy cream involved.... but it beats grilled cheese sandwiches. But in the mean time... other things have definately gone to the wayside.

How do people do it? Or do people do it... I mean my house is a pit! I need to mop the kitchen floor soo bad it is not even funny.... sure I've cleaned the kitchen counters... showered almost every day.... and picked up around the house. But it is in no means up to par. I don't even get how working mom's can do it! I'm home all day and I can't even get this stuff done. Now I'll admit... I've been kinda lazy lately... being tired and worn out (I'm totally blaming the pregnancy). But I just can't get it all done. I usually try to get on top of laundry before things get low... but I have not been on the ball.

I am no June Cleaver... or super hero... I hope there are more out there like me... and I'm not the only one who can't excel in everything. I feel like if I take more time cleaning.... then I'm not spending enough time with my son. If I spend more time with him... then I'm not cooking, or showering, or getting chores done! I guess I need to work on my balancing skills... I'm sure it wouldn't kill me if one day I focus on cleaning... and the next focus on playtime... then the next a little me time... but I just can't seem to balance it all. I watch those shows like The Nanny and think how can they have a schedule?! But maybe I should look into that.... It seems to work for them.

Starter of Projects

I love starting projects. I love getting the materials all ready to go. (Especially if there is any shopping involved). I like coming up with an idea and preparing a plan. The only problem is.... I rarely seem to finish the projects I start.

For example:

1. I have a scrapbook that I started in college that is strickly a "college years" book. I left pages blank along the way with the idea that I would print certian photos off and finish the book... Well the other month I decided snapfish was having a sale on prints... so I'd print a bunch off and get going! Well I think I did about 4 pages... and whoops... it fell to the wayside.

2. This past summer I decided it would be fun to try and make a t-shirt quilt out of all my old high school t-shirts. Shirts from my involvement in show choir, volleyball, etc. I recruited my aunt Sandra, my sisters, and my mom to help me. Its a very long process... We had to cut all the t-shirts, iron on this pellon stuff to make the material thicker, make a template and cut each panel out my hand. They helped with the cutting of the t-shirts and ironing on... and that seemed to take long enough. I mostly did the tracing and cutting with the template. There's a lot more to it than just that... but I'll spare you until a later post when the quilt is actually done! Right now I have started sewing the panels together... but still its yet another project that is not complete....

3. I came up with this idea for Christmas gifts this year. I'm not going to go into details in case the people receiving the gifts read this blog... but there are several things I want to do... most of which I have started on, but again have not completed...

Why is it so easy for me to start something and so hard for me to see it to the end?!

Frustrated

Why is it that my 14 month old child refuses to eat..... I really hope its just a phase and it will be over soon. Cause I am so frustrated trying to feed him. Its not like he only eats once a day either... he eats anywhere from 3-6 times a day... So here I am, frustrated at least that many times per day. I prayed and prayed this morning for patience and guidance b/c I don't know what to do about it. It bothers me b/c I know how important nutrition is for his development and growth! He's already a little guy as is... I don't need his not eating to hurt that more....

For example. Breakfast: 1/2 container of yogurt, 1/2 piece of peanut butter toast

Lunch: 2 slices of canned peaches 12 gerber veggie crackers

and that was it! I fixed him some baby food, but he wouldn't have anything to do with it... waving his hands in front of his face over and over not letting me get a spoon in. He wouldn't eat carrots either, and he use to love those.

I know it can take a while when introducing new foods... but old foods that he's eaten and loved in the past... now throwing them on the floor over and over! I dont want to encourage bad behavior... but I want him to eat too... Ugh its just really hard right now.

Clutter

So here's the thing about clutter... I really don't like it in most cases. It kinda drives me crazy. I hate clutter on countertops. That is by far the worse. It seems like my kitchen counters ALWAYS have clutter too. No matter how many times I clear it, and clean them... next thing I know its piling up again. Its a vicious cycle like everything else in life!!??

But here's the other thing about clutter... we have this shelf unit in the kitchen. I like to call it the "green thing". I can pile so much crap on there and it doesn't even phase me. Although it drives my husband crazy. He HATES the "green thing"; you could probably even say he loathes it. He's threatened getting rid of it several times.

And there it is folks! Pretty bad huh? I'm sure those of you who have been to my house know exactly what I'm talking about... You probably want to start throwing stuff away on there yourself! Its hard to justify clearing the countertops 24/7 when that's staring ya in the face! But its just so weird that it doesn't bother me! It's kinda like that episode of friends where Monica has the secret closet that no one gets into.... Finally Chandler breaks in to find absolute chaos. And of course for Monica its terrible cause she's such an OCD freak everything has to be in order... but then she has this messy closet! Then the real kicker was Chandler wanted to throw some stuff in there too and she replied "But I'm worried you'll mess it up!"

I'd like to say in most cases I try to be organized... I try to put things back in their perspectives places after I use them. This just makes sense for future use... And in fact I have several things on the "green thing" at any given time and I can find them... usually...

Upcoming Concert

Chorale Midwest is having our first concert as follows........

A Festival of Song

October 30, 2009 - 7:30 PM

Free Will Donation

First Lutheran Church - 1000 3rd Ave SE

Cedar Rapids, IA

So in case you're free that night we would LOVE to see you there. We have been working very hard on the music!!! If you'd like more information feel free to leave a comment. But as listed the concert is FREE, with a free will donation.

Junk Food

Do you ever see a commercial with those kids eating Chef-Boyardee ravioli and wish you had some? I know there are better things for me to eat.... But have you noticed how you try to be healthy... you buy a bunch of fresh fruit and veggies and next thing you know they're rotting away in your crisper drawer! Why is it that the things that are better for you cost more and don't last as long?

I had that ravioli for lunch and it really hit the spot... sometimes I'll go with Spaghettio's (with meatballs of course) too. I really like Totino's pizza rolls! Although I saw a commercial for bagel bites that said they didn't have all that artificial stuff in them like the rolls do.. so I bought some bagel bites to try out sometime. I always use to make those when I was younger but it seemed like that bagel part would be rock-hard and then the pizza part was cold! I'm hoping since I have a toaster oven now they'll work out better. Toaster ovens are just awesome! Jeremy introduced me to them... I don't know how I ever lived w/o one! Microwaves are good too... but toaster ovens just work so much better for certain things. Like for instance I also love mini-tator tots... and it can be such a pain waiting for the huge oven to pre-heat so I make them in my toaster oven sometimes for a smaller portion!

Ok back to junk food though.... If it wasn't for junk food I don't think I would eat at all somedays. Its not like I eat it every day, all day... but sometimes I just don't have the energy and that's the easiest thing to make!

Weight

So I pretty much just got back down to weighing what my body will allow (apparently I am unable to get back to "pre-pregnancy weight"). I'll just pretend my boobs weigh the difference :) I think I got down to this weight around May.... I had to work on it too. And now it all feels like a waste... considering all I'll be doing is gaining weight. I already feel bigger... I bought new jeans this summer and they are already getting uncomfortable. That's why I'm so thankful I bought in-between-jeans....

These are jeans that I treated myself to after I had Johnson. I did lose most of the weight once he was born. And then a couple weeks later when all the water-retention went away. But I still couldn't fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans. I was so sick of wearing sweatpants, and workout clothes I had to buy some jeans that were a size up from my usual ones.... Man am I glad I did that! I'm wearing them right now.. Its kinda sad to think I can't already fit into my newer jeans... but its all for a good cause right? And technically I can still fit into them.. they just aren't comfortable.. and right now that's all I really care about.

Well I just broke down and bought some belly bands! Here's what they look like....

I'm hoping this will help my situation... Cause I can't button some of my pants!! These are suppose to help keep your pants up if they're too big, or conseal un-buttoned pants also! I'm looking forward to getting them and trying them out :) I had to go for a 3 pack... that way I had some choices for color ya know?

Another thing I want to invest in eventually is this post-pregnancy wrap thing. I'll just give you a link b/c the pics are a little risque..... http://www.babooshbaby.com/tauts.html It supposedly helps get your belly get back to its firmness or whatever after baby... It took me forever last time.. so I think I might need a little help second time around... we'll see though cause its pretty pricey!