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.

House thoughts (not the TV show)

We will be closing on our first home in about 60 hours. We will be moving into said house in about 118 hours.*

.whoa.

* * * * *

ShankRabbit and I spent this past weekend packing, sorting, organizing, packing, laughing, packing. This state of "half-moving" that we are living in has made for one emotionally-fragile Peanut and mama. Throw in some serious teething and you've got a barrel of fun.

Not really.

Our daughter has made it known that in this time of boxed-up chaos, any teeny tiny change in her routine will send her into meltdown mode.
(see: Bedtime routine. ShankRabbit skipped over the short game of tag they play every night and went straight to story time. The world ended.)

* * * * *

I've had my issues with this house we are currently renting, (you can get an idea here) but I'm sure going to miss it. Every time I feel the least bit emotional about moving (this is the only home our daughter has ever known WAAAAHHHH...) I think of all the positives of the new place (um, hello FINISHED BASEMENT!).

So far, it's working.

* * * * *

Confession time: 95% of our bathroom items are packed up. This includes replacement cartridges for my razor (and the scary Cheapo Razors of Death. I'll tell you all about that another time). The one that is currently on my razor has seen better days. I'd probably get a closer shave with a spork.

Thank goodness it's winter. No one** has to be subjected to my hirsute chicken legs.

* * * * *

And with those pleasant thoughts, I bid you good night.

___________
* - please don't hold me to those numbers. My math is not the greatest.
** - aside from my poor husband.

Crazy is normal for me

Lots of stuff floating around in my head recently - some of those items, in no particular order:

1. A House of Our Own: we put an offer on a house. Offer was accepted. Loan application well on its way. Closing date set.
OhgawdIfeellikeI'mgoingtovomit

2. My cousin's send-off party is Saturday. He's going to join the ranks of the United States Marine Corps. Military service is common in our family, but hasn't come up in our generation. He's the first. My little cousin...well, not so little anymore. I don't think my brain can process this properly. He's old enough? Seriously?! It seems like just yesterday we were watching Barney together.
Againwiththevommyfeeling


Here he is with his sister in '96 or so. I'd show you a pic of him now, but he'd probably stop speaking to me if he knew I posted it on my blog. So, I'm using my favorite one of them as kids. Muhahahaha!

3. I had a very rare snowball of anxiety clobber me a couple weeks ago that I couldn't shake before bed (oddly, not related to either of the items mentioned above).

Lesstalkylessvommyplease

* * * * *

I have this weird thing going on with a few of my toes. After ruling out poor shoe choice and bug bites, I turned to my trusty intarwebz to see what this could be. It left me with more questions than answers. ShankRabbit is convinced I have "the gout" (said in a very crotchety, old-man voice). Thanks for making me feel SO much younger, dear husband.

I'm convinced my second toes are protesting any and all shoes. They are the longest of the bunch - why do they have to be scrunched while the other toes get ample space to move around? Equal rights for ALL TOES!

...

...

Wow. I started this post talking about my moments of crazy and end with anthropomorphizing my toes.

This would be a good place to stop before any more crazy comes out.

(Let's hope the next month brings better topics of discussion)

I'm baaaaack!

I'm finally shaking the lazy dust off from the holidays. My last day at work was the 28th and I was as lazy as I could be* until this past Monday. ShankRabbit threw a curve ball at me on Friday when he got such a bad headache that he spent all day and night Friday and most of Saturday holed up in our room with the shades drawn and the door shut.
He rarely gets headaches - and never had a migraine before - so I am ordering him to the doctor (under the guise of him needing a physical anyway. If it was an appointment just for this headache he would never go).

* * * * *

It's official - we will be (hopefully**) buying our first home in a couple months. I've been looking at houses online for months now, but this is the real deal. You know, with loan people and real estate agents and such.

So...wish us luck!

* * * * *

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that Peanut is continuing to grow like a weed - both physically and developmentally. My favorite at the moment: she grabs my hand and says " 'mon...go walk?" [translation: C'mon. Let's go for a walk] and leads me to whatever she wants at the moment. 90% of the time it's for a cookie or cracker. Ah, she's so my child.

* * * * *

We're supposed to get 6-10 inches of snow on Thursday. I don't have much money to offer, but I'd be willing to make some awesome baked goods for anyone that would like to shovel / snow blow our driveway for me (ShankRabbit will not be here to do it). Any takers?

* * * * *

Time for coffee, y'all. I'm not making any promises, but I'm hoping my blog posts become a regular thing again. Wouldn't that be nice?
____________________
* - I'm the mom of a toddler. "Lazy" doesn't have the same definition as it did when I was single.
** - I'm sure things will go as planned, but I don't like to assume...lest Fate punches me in the face.

A word tour of our home

"Hi, welcome to our home! We're so glad you could join us. Here, let me take your coat.
If you would, please leave your shoes by the door. It's not that we're clean freaks - Peanut loves to eat soil and any interesting finds on the floor. Thanks.

Would you like a tour?

This is our living room. No, we do not decorate with Tupperware containers and measuring spoons. Our child just loves to play with those. Be mindful of where you sit - you don't want a kitchen utensil where the sun don't shine! Hahahaha...heh...wooo...moving on.

This would be our dining room. I know that most dining rooms have...oh, what do you call it...furniture in them. But we're minimalists. We like to think the absence of furniture in here will make our house seem bigger. In reality, it provides more floor space for Peanut to leave her toys. And for us to have dance parties. Who needs to eat?

And now we have made our way into the kitchen. We spend most of our time in this room, as you can see by the dishes and stuff on the counter.
Isn't our fridge "festive?" Peanut loves to decorate the fridge with handprints and slobber. Oh, and take note of which letters of the alphabet are on the fridge - the other 22 will be underfoot during this tour. Think of it like a scavenger hunt!

We can skip our rooms and the bathroom. The only thing of interest in any of those is our family photo - which can be found on the floor of the bathroom. Our daughter has quite the design sense, doesn't she?

Oh, you're leaving so soon? But you haven't seen our toy-riddled TV room yet! Well, if you must, you must...

Thanks for stopping by! "

Cake or death?

I've talked before about my general dislike for any kind of bug in the house. We had our issue with spiders, silverfish (though, if it's anything like last summer, this will only get worse), and the occasional odd bug here and there. It's an old house, what can ya do?

My husband, the keeper of my sanity and "do it yourself-er" extraordinaire, got a pest control product for me us last weekend. We have yet to try it out, but I'll let you know how it works.

--

So, while I'm daydreaming about someday being able to relax in our TV room and not have a silverfish fall on me (ew. ew. EW!), I notice a strange dead spot in the landscaping on the side of the house. At first we thought it was damaged from the bad rainstorm we had a week or so ago, but upon further inspection, it's an ant colony. A LARGE ant colony.

After surveying the rest of the property (it's not big, so it didn't take long), we noticed at least three other areas of the yard where the little buggers have destroyed the grass and set up shop.

Now, I've said before that I don't mind bugs when they stay on their own turf (read: outside)...but this is excessive. They are destroying the lawn and creating more work for me in trying to keep Peanut from smashing and playing with ants (good thing she hasn't taken to eating them...yet...).

I asked the Google gods how I could get rid of an ant problem without going chemical-crazy. Of course, it returned a lot of answers. I'm not sure how effective these are, but here are a couple I found interesting:

- Sprinkle grits or Cream of Wheat around their colony. They will eat it and eventually die of starvation (it expands and they can't digest it).

- Pour a few gallons of boiling water directly over the colony.

Geez. I'm not trying to extract top secret information from them; I just want them to leave. Do I have to resort to torture?

I know, I know, they are just ants. But doesn't this seem...extreme? I guess it's better than sprinkling chemical death on their abode. And I'm sure politely asking them to take their business elsewhere won't work either. Though, maybe if I asked the queen herself...

The creepy crawlies

Bugs. *shudder*

I hate bugs.

Let me clarify - I hate bugs in the house. If they are outside and doing their bug thing...all is good. Once they crawl their way into my house - MY DOMAIN - they are playing a serious game of roulette with their lives.

Tonight I found 3 spiders in the span of 5 minutes:
1. Washed hands in the bathroom sink - spider hanging out on the drain (didn't need hubby to kill that one. Nothing a little soapy water and a good dose of Listerine couldn't solve)
2. Walked into our bedroom and noticed one on the ceiling on MY side of the bed
3. On my way to call ShankRabbit for spider removal and saw one creeping his way across our kitchen ceiling.

Over the last week, I can't tell you how many spiders I've found in our house. I don't know where they are coming from, but they must have all been from the same spidey nest - they look exactly the same (same color and same size).

Before you get all "equal rights for BUGS!" on me (I like to think there are some bug advocates out there. Everyone else has one), I have every right to despise them. I spent a good deal of my childhood in a basement apartment in Chicago. You couldn't go a couple days without getting some sort of bug bite (usually a spider). I vividly remember waking up one morning to a spider bite on my eyelid that caused my eye to swell shut.


I've causually mentioned it to ShankRabbit before, but now I'm strongly suggesting it (because I know he'll read this): exterminator.

Because I can

Random photo time!

ShankRabbit and I have naturally (very) curly hair...so it is expected that our daughter will have the same. When dry, Peanut's fine baby hair is stick straight...but when it's wet, curl city! Look, I have proof:



* * * * *

Imagine our shock last spring when we saw flowers sprout up next to our house that we didn't have to plant. Gotta love those...uh...plants that come up every year (perennials? annuals? I never know which one). Our resident bunny does the garden upkeep (he lives under our deck...I've grown to like him. As long as he doesn't bring any floozy bunnies home and start babymakin', he is welcome to stay). We should probably check his credentials, though. He never takes care of the weeds, just the flowers. Hmm...



We really do have flowers this year. I'm sure it will be short lived if Mr. Bunny has anything to do with it.

* * * * *

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

Artist/Band: Gin Blossoms
Song Title: Hey Jealousy
Kid-friendly?: Yes (thematically, not really)

Fatherhood Friday: Remembering the Good Times

Visit Dad-Blogs to get more information on Fatherhood Friday. Great group of people - dads and moms alike!

I'm up way too late. I just spent a good deal of time power-cleaning our house for the arrival of my fosterdad tomorrow morning.

Normally, I just do the quick pick up before a guest arrives...but he has never seen our house nor met Peanut. This is a big deal.

And I just realized we are out of coffee. CRAP.

Anyway, to the point of the post. In honor of his visit, I would like for you to take a moment and think of the person (or people) that acted as a father figure in your life (hopefully you can find a good example and I'm not drudging up bad memories). Maybe it's a family friend, uncle, coach, adoptive parent, or foster parent.

Now...tell me what your favorite memory is with that person.

I will post my favorite memory on Monday.

Random #20

I've decided not to give my Random posts a name other than "Random #[insert current number here]"...because when the fancy strikes me, it's never on the day I schedule. I am assigning the arbitrary number of 20, because I don't want to go back and count what actual random day we are on. So, # 20 here we go:

* * * * *
I think I should start with a confession. I've had two beers. An amount that typically has no effect on me, but tonight (as I am writing this on Tuesday night. Don't worry, I'm not a morning boozer) I feel like I've consumed a whole bottle of wine...and a few shots. Let the par-tay begin!

* * * * *
This past winter, we had to move around our living room furniture to accommodate our Christmas tree. This meant the TV stand (with receiver, record player, CD player, and Wii) collected dust in a corner of our tiny bedroom...until now. Today I moved it back to the living room - but that meant I had to move the big couch, the little couch, and the ridiculously heavy coffee table (I think it was originally intended for a Wookie frat house). And since Peanut's birthday party is a mere 11 days away, I figured the crap collecting desk dining room table could go to the basement now. Though, I'm saving that big project for when ShankRabbit can help. Peanut doesn't know how to dial 911 just yet.

* * * * *
I made a kick-butt pork roast today.
*looks to see what part of the pig a pork roast comes from...after 5 minutes of searching, realizes it said "shoulder" on the packaging. Saddened I cannot make intended butt / rump joke*
And because I like you, here is the recipe (I would love to give credit where credit is due, but I can't remember where it came from):

Plagiarism Pork Roast
1 pork roast (4-5 pounds)
1 garlic clove, halved lengthwise
salt
pepper
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard (I used what I had on hand: Jack Daniels horseradish mustard)
*optional* about a 1/4 tsp of Sriracha...because we put it on practically everything in our house.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rub roast with garlic and discard the clove halves when done. Sprinkle salt and pepper over roast. Put on rack and bake for 2 hours (this is where I got creative with a metal wok rack and a Pyrex baking dish. Worked great!). Mix rest of ingredients together and cover the roast with it. Bake for an additional 30-45 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 155 degrees. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing. Supposedly serves 6 (bahahaha...more like 3-4).

For feeling like I'm buzzin' I did an AMAZING job at recalling all the details of this recipe with no visual assistance.
I better re-read this tomorrow and make sure I didn't just give you a recipe for a shepherd's pie truffle. Or feet.


* * * * *
I use the oven a lot. You'd think with all the baking and cooking I do, I'd remember to preheat the darn thing - especially when the first direction is always "preheat the oven to..."
I forget every time.

* * * * *
ShankRabbit is at his desk, playing a computer game. I stretch and without missing a beat he says, "SOOOO BIG!"
Can you tell we have a kid?

* * * * *
Leave a comment on Code Monkey Daddy's blog to enter the "Song About You" contest. No purchase necessary.

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

Artist/Band: New Radicals
Song Title: You Get What You Give
Kid-friendly?: Sorta...there is one swear at the end of the song

3 pounds of fun

Warm day + melting snow + 3 pounds of tree roots clogging a drainage system =



Yes, that is water on our basement floor. On the plus side, we've gone through our basement flooding before (torrential downpours of June 08 - major flooding, disappearance of Lake Delton)...so nothing of real importance was sitting on the floor. And I caught the water early enough it didn't have a chance to spread throughout the entire basement. Still...it sucks cleaning that stuff up.

* * * * *

When you've given your child all toys possible to keep her occupied while you make dinner, you improvise.

I present you with the purse....of WONDER:



(oooh, aaaah)

Provides at least a half hour of entertainment - crinkling the paper, taking it out of the pockets and putting it back in, petting the leather of the purse, trying to open the zipper...

Who would of thought those Valpak coupons I don't use could be so beneficial in other ways?