2011 - it's only just begun

Nintendogs has entered this almost-3 year old's life. She's completely self-sufficient with this game. I fear I'll never get my DS back.

What has happened in the last month or so?

1. We all eventually recovered from the stomach plague. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. We didn't regain normal activity and eating until 2 weeks after it struck.

2. Now that I've paid for my registration, I shall announce it to the intarwebz: I am training for a sprint triathlon in July. There's more to the story of why I'm doing it and I will share that as the training progresses.

3. Because of #2 (heh...), I have been working out almost every day. And I enjoy it.

...

No really, I do! I think it's because I love our gym - great facility, great atmosphere, great people.

4. A gluten-free store and cafe opened up over the summer. I didn't realize their true significance to my life until I found they do carry out and take-and-bake pizzas. Tried our first ones on New Year's Eve. Heaven help me.

Yes, it's a good thing I enjoy my gym so much.

5. Our family Christmas present this year is a dishwasher. We are finally getting around to picking one out. I now know way more about dishwashers than I ever thought possible.

6. Speaking of Christmas, it was fantastic. There was a moment - a few days beforehand - that we thought my in-laws would be trapped in Nairobi for the holidays (due to terrible weather in Amsterdam that they needed to connect in), but they made it back safe and sound. Slight panic ensued when we heard there was a bombing at a bus station while they were supposedly still there. They left the day before.

7. At some point this month, I got so frustrated looking at our terribly inefficient, standard reach-in closet that I tore it apart to make a new one. I had every intention of making this a "me" project - showing that anyone can build their own custom closet (Califor.nia Closets be damned!), but ShankRabbit (and Peanut for a while) was intrigued and offered help. Projects are so much quicker when you have help.

I will have a post up when all is completed. Here's a sneak peek:


Before (ugh)


Current state (still in progress). Can you see the double closet rods on each side?


8. Got the chance to attend both Bears playoff games. At one point during the second one, we noticed a couple of F-16 fighter pilots* sitting at a table near us in the United Club. I told ShankRabbit, "hey, we should go over and say hi. I'd like to meet them." So, he tells me to follow him, taps their shoulders and says, "Hi. My wife has a thing for guys in uniform...can she take a picture with you?"

(Enter completely mortified expression and bright red face)

One of the guys responds with, "well, how can we say no to that?"

So, this picture was taken:


Pretty eventful December/January. A little scared and excited to see what February brings.

_____________
* - Despite what my husband said, I really wanted to meet them because what they do is so friggin' cool! Thanks to the power of the internet, here is the information on the fighter pilots that did the flyover after the National Anthem. I believe I met the two that coordinated the timing from the ground.

Of sickness and the power of Christmas

The one time I pledge to do a daily posting commitment like #reverb10 and our household comes down with the stomach plague*. I will be back to my regularly scheduled reverb-ness, once I get this past weekend/week out of my system.

Don't worry, none of the gory TMI details about the plague will be shared. I'm just going to tell you how pathetic we were all weekend.

Peanut kicked off the happy fun sickness party! for us on Friday night (on our way to visit a family I haven't seen in 3+ yrs...uh, yeah, trip was instantly cancelled), ShankRabbit was stricken by Saturday night (the night of the big snowstorm. Needless to say no snow got cleared), and by Sunday night I thought I should join in! Oh joy! By Monday we were all dehydrated, delusional, and downright diseased.

Around 4am on Monday morning, I was trying to grab a few moments of rest with Peanut on the couch. She was proped up on a couple pillows, looking just as tired as I sure felt (and probably looked, too). She insisted I turn on the Christmas tree and sing her Christmas songs** while she tried to sleep.

I wanted to cry for two different reasons:
1) This was the first night of the plague for me (and by far the worst) and I was running on no sleep 2) Peanut wanted me to comfort her by singing. She usually says "mama...no!" when I sing to her. Ok, so maybe I get all vaudeville with it most of the time, but it is common knowledge that she'd rather have her dada sing. And with his voice, I don't blame her.

As I quietly sang every Christmas song I could think of and petted her hair, my daughter - looking angelic in the glow of the tree - drifted off to sleep. *sob*

- -

We were worried we'd have to take her to urgent care that day because she was becoming seriously dehydrated...but after a regimen of 2 sips of watered down juice every 10 minutes, she kept it all down and started to perk up.

* * * * *

Last night was the first real meal we all had. We had been eating small bits of plain rice, toast, and the like when we could handle it, but we ate CHICKEN SOUP last night. Such a colorful and flavorful meal after so many days of blahness. Ah, food heaven.

So, now that we are almost healthy, I will get back to that #reverb10 thing I was working on. And maybe get some humor back into my life, too. That'd be nice.

___________________
* Every time we get a major sickness in our house, I hear "yeah, it's just that nasty bug going around." Is this just a canned answer or are people seriously all sick at the same time? Do these bugs travel like frickin' Santa Claus? I swear someone on the East Coast can have the exact same symptoms as we do in the Midwest. How is that possible?!

** Funny moment - after a particular awful "spilling" (a.k.a. vomiting, to Peanut) episode, she looks at me and starts singing "simply having a wonderful Christmas time!" If it wasn't so sad, I probably would been on the floor laughing.

Random Thoughts: November Edition

1. When I was a kid, I remember learning proper letter writing in school. I was taught when it was OK to have a more casual correspondence and when a more formal letter was required.
Now that email is part of our daily lives, do they teach proper email etiquette? Are future employers going to receive an email like this from their employee:

Yo,
so i was all lolz cuz i thought OMG i forgot the deadline! but DOOD...totes dun!
:D

I think the intricacies of forwarding and cc/bcc should be covered as well.

2. I saw some brand new (in the bag) halloween costumes at Goodwill today for 75% off. I wanted to grab all the cute baby ones - ladybug, bumblebee, football - but my 2.5 year old is no longer a baby. And she's a 4T. Maybe I can put the bumblebee one on her leg and dress her up as a beekeeper next year? Though a giant bee attacking the leg of a beekeeper might be more of a beekeeper FAIL.

It's a good thing Peanut tells me exactly what she wants to be for Halloween.

3. ShankRabbit brought up the baby topic last week. I think we're rounding the corner from "ohgawdnowaynobabiesanytimesoon!" to "well...it wouldn't hurt to revisit the topic...in 6 months..." It's all about progress, right?

4. My grandmother had a funny quirk. Whenever we'd sit down for a family meal, our forks would mysteriously disappear. Turns out she would grab the nearest fork to serve dishes, cut meat, etc. and not notice which one she grabbed. We'd all laugh when she'd say, "goodness, how did I get 3 forks?"

Why do I bring this up? Because I have developed a similar flatware-related quirk. I use so many knives during the day that I can easily use every single one we own in a day. Putting butter on toast, making sandwiches, cooking...by the time we sit down for dinner they are all gone.

I've secretly started using disposable plastic knives on occasion. Shh...don't tell ShankRabbit. He thinks I've gotten better with my knife usage.

5. I had a very introspective September/October. Mostly, I was thinking about family (probably a post for another day). Blah blah blah...I decided somewhere in there that we should host our own Thanksgiving.

...

Did you catch that? I am hosting one of my all-time favorite holidays. I will be cooking. For other people than the husband and the daughter.

If you've never cooked a full turkey before, do you make a practice one a couple weeks before or do you just hope for the best the day of Thanksgiving? I did find helpful tips from a couple of "never let me down" sources - Alton Brown and The Gluten-Free Girl.

6. I'm so happy November 2nd is over. I don't mind the political ads (yes, annoying...but whatever). You know what bothered me? The "AAAARGH! GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!"
"I VOTED AND THERE WAS NO ONE WAITING IN LINE! SO SAD!"
"IF YOU DON'T VOTE YOU'RE THE WORST PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE!"

Did I vote? Yes. But I didn't make a big deal out of it.

7. Medical update: still broken. The doctors have no idea what's wrong...still. I think I'm done trying to figure this out. I've been on a gluten-free diet since August and this seems to help with most of the problems I'm dealing with, but no concrete answers.

8. 2010 seemed to be the year of "frustration." Can 2011 be "contentment," "love," or even "unicorns?" Let's make it happen.

I'm back

I finally dusted off my keyboard today. If you didn't read in ShankRabbit's blog, I was struck Sunday night with a sudden, random bout of a stomach flu and it knocked me out hardcore. Thank goodness ShankRabbit is who he is and was able to deal with the crying pathetic whimpering sicky me. I'm a sad case when I'm sick.

Fun story about Saturday night...

We stayed at the in-laws on Saturday so we wouldn't have to travel too far for church the next day. Lots of fun to be had with the family.
Peanut decided at 12am - after 4 hours of sleep - she was done. I don't know if she was too hot (changed her jammies), still hungry (tried another bottle), not liking her surroundings (not home), or whathaveyou, but she was awake. Bouncing in her bed, smiling...which turned into whining...then crying. It took 2 1/2 hours, lots of cuddling and back-breaking rocking (on a twin size bed...no rocking chair in this room) before she finally passed out. ShankRabbit was in the other twin size bed trying to make it work with his adult size frame. Heh - I wish I could convey in words how funny this was, but you'll just have to take my word for it.
(Sorry, hun...I'm not laughing at you. Ok, maybe I am. But you'd laugh as well if you saw it from my perspective)
I am about to settle in for the night when I feel a little pinch on my leg. I pull back the covers and find an Asian ladybug - beetle - whatever those dang things are that infest every household.* Upon further inspection, I find another under my pillow. Since my bed was the closest to the window, I got to enjoy the bedmates. Fan-freakin-tastic.

I was done.

I packed up my pillow (sans bug) and a spare blanket and kissed ShankRabbit goodnight before retreating to the downstairs couch. It's not remotely close to any windows, so the chances of being attacked were slim. I settled in and finally a bit of sleep.

Fortunately, Saturday night's crib rave had no ill effect on Peanut the next day - thank goodness. She was just as charming as always...and that combined with family time, coffee and fantastic pastries made my Easter morning way better than anticipated.

And what are the morals to my story?
1. Bugs don't make good bedmates
2. Babies, no matter what they do, will always win with their cuteness. Every time.
3. Forget dogs - coffee is man's woman's best friend
________________

* - Harmonia axyridis, the Asian lady beetle. I contemplated posting a picture, but this blog is the only place I have left where I don't have to deal with them. So, click the link for photos and information.

Tuesday short

It is not your typical St. Patrick's Day in the Midwest:



70 degrees? In the middle of March?! Wow.

Although I'm certainly not complaining (who would?), I can't decide if I'm happy about this or not. It's gorgeous outside and I fully intend on taking Peanut out after her nap, but it's just a tease. It goes back down to the 50's tomorrow. Just one brief day of warmth.

* * * * *

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, here is an Irish saying my grandfather used all the time:

May those who love us, love us.
And those who don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if he can't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping.

Fatherhood Friday: An important holiday!

READER'S WARNING: I'm pretty sure I don't have a following of children reading my blog, but if you have nosy little ones peering over your shoulder while you catch up on blog reading, you may want to send them in the other room while you read this post.

I don't want to be responsible for having your child ask "what's a BJ?" (and I'm not talking about the yellow dinosaur on Barney and Friends)

* * * * *

STEAK AND BJ DAY

Here's the story...taken from an email I received several years back. You can read about the start of this holiday in the Urban Dictionary.

"You know the drill. Every 14th of February you get the chance to display your fondness for a significant other by showering her with gifts, flowers, dinner, shows and any other baubles that women find romantic. Every Valentines day you rack your brains for that one special, unique gift that will show your wife or girlfriend that you really do care for them more than any other. Now ladies, I'll let you in on a little secret; guys really don't enjoy this that much. Sure seeing that smile on your face when we get it right is priceless, but that smile is the result of weeks of blood, sweat and consideration. Another secret; guys feel left out. That's right, there's no special holiday for the ladies to show their appreciation for the men in their life. Men as a whole are either too proud or too embarrassed to admit it.

Which is why a new holiday has been created.

March 14th is now officially "Steak and BJ Day." Simple, effective and self-explanatory, this holiday has been created so you finally have a day to show your man how much you care for him.

No cards, no flowers, no special nights on the town; the name of the holiday explains it all, just a steak and a BJ. That's it. Finally, this twin pair of Valentine's Day and Steak and BJ Day will usher in a new age of love as men everywhere try THAT much harder in February to ensure a memorable March 14th!

The word is already beginning to spread, but as with any new idea, it needs a little push to start the ball rolling. So spread the word, and help bring love and peace to this crazy world. And, of course, steak and BJ's."

Wednesday whatnots

Happy Johnny Appleseed Day!

In honor of this random holiday, I share with you a camp song/meal prayer I learned a long time ago:


Oh, the Lord is good to me (clap clap)
and so I thank the Lord (clap clap)
for giving me the things I need: the sun and the rain and the apple seed
the Lord is good to me (clap clap)
uh huh (clap clap) uh huh (clap clap)
uh huh uh huh uh huh LET'S EAT!

Now, you could do the educational thing and find information on this fellow and enrich your minds...or you could just go eat an apple. That's mind-enriching AND you get to eat. What could be better?

* * * * *

I missed out on wishing you a Happy Mario Day yesterday (Mar. 10 looks like the word "Mario"...get it?). He was launched as a character in 1983. What a way to make a person feel old, huh? I can still remember blowing on the old school Nintendo cartridges before putting them into the machine. Ah, memories...

* * * * *
It's Wednesday...you know what that means...

Dance Party Time!
(Have no idea what I'm referring to?...read the bottom of this post)

Artist/Band: Journey
Song Title: Any Way You Want It
Kid-friendly?: Yep (seeing as there is only 9 actual words to the whole song, just repeated in different configurations...I think it's OK)

Multiplication and me

The chocolate, nuts, and cookies from Wednesday (as mentioned in this post) multiplied. My guess is they got together on Thursday while I was gone and had food babies.

Now there are MORE cookies, MORE candies, MORE chocolate covered nuts...and the new addition: Almond Pecan Honey Corn (a really fancy name for something that resembles caramel corn).

It's a good thing I only work three days a week. With my lack of self-control, I'd be 500 pounds by Christmas.

* * *
I enjoyed my hour of "me time" last night. I took a really hot bath (something I haven't done since before I got pregnant), read a couple chapters of a David Sedaris book, and had an adult beverage.

I was determined to make this evening as indulgent as possible. Seeing as we had no chocolate products to snack on (dang it all!), I figured a drink was the next best thing. Usually I like to sip on wine, but none could be found. All I could dredge up was rum and vodka (potato vodka, for those keeping tabs on my gluten-freeness). So, I created the Isabella-version of a dirty martini:
--
shot of vodka
a little water
a couple lemon slices
slice of pickle
2 tablespoons of pickle juice (what can I say? I love pickles!)
serve over a few ice cubes
--
Needless to say, when ShankRabbit and Peanut returned home I was all sorts of relaxed.

This may become a weekly thing (I hope!)...if it does, I will need to make sure chocolate and wine are in our house. Maybe I'll even go crazy and paint my toenails. *gasp!*

'Tis the season to be jolly...

"...and so begins the onslaught of holiday goodie baskets - displayed for all to eat."

This is what I messaged to my husband this morning.

Our office executives get wonderful food baskets during the holidays - everything from cheese and sausage to fruit and chocolate. Being the generous types, they open it up and share with the whole office. I'm not one to complain - their generosity is much appreciated (my no-breakfast tummy will confirm that). But when you have a sea of chocolate covered everythings and a tin of pistachios staring at you from a mere 5 feet away, you have to indulge. And then you hate yourself at the end of the day because your meal schedule looked like this:

7:30 am - arrive at work. caramel turtle.
8:05 am - get cup of tea from the kitcken. handfull of chocolate covered nuts.
9:00 am - groan when you discover there is a huge tin of pistachios you missed - take one handful.
10:20 am - get print job from printer. take more chocolate covered nuts and pistachios. decide that nothing else gets printed today for fear of eating more.
11:00 am - drop mail off in someone's office...notice they have a basket on display with things like brie, creme brulee cookies, and other extravagant stuff. cut visit short and leave before temptation sets in.

On a typical day, I would have had a yogurt, banana, and maybe a bowl of cereal by now. I'm not even to 12pm and I've already had enough chocolate for the rest of the week...and still, no real substance.

Here's to hoping we get a lot of fruit baskets in the weeks to come. Harry & David, anyone?