I Got an A

I would like to share that my kitchen is free of vermin, cockroaches, and has hot running water.

Mr. D left me a surprise this morning before he left for work while I was yet slumbering.
(The things he finds while he's out working)

I got an "A".

According the our county, the health inspectors check for: "issues such as proper employee handwashing, safe food handling practices, food preparation techniques, food storage, facility cleanliness, insect or rodent infestations and sanitizing procedures.

Each violation has a point value that is deducted from 100 possible points. Grades are given on the following scale of 100-90 points (A)..."

Good to know. It is safe to eat in my kitchen.

Of course, the "A" doesn't guarantee good cooking.

Angel or Devil?

Grace and I need to spend some time reviewing my special purchase from last week. While babysitting today, my dear little girl didn't quite understand that the baby needed some attention too. If Grace had been a cartoon, she would have had angel Grace on one shoulder and devil Grace on the other. One minute she was dancing for the baby and the next she bit the baby's toes. Seriously. She bit her toes. What am I raising Grace Tyson around here?

I think its good for Grace to learn that the world doesn't revolve around her, but it scares me a little too. I hope she's just exhibiting only-child selfishness, and not a long-term personality flaw.

Of course, I need to remind myself she is only 18-months old. This type of behavior is to be expected. Right? right?

Book Meme

So I was tagged twice - thanks Linda & Angela - but I'm just going to play once.

Rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Well, the nearest book is "In a People House", but it ends around page 15. So, I'll go to the next one.

1. The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley (hmmm - wonder what's going on in our house!)
2. I'm there...
3. The nature sounds (raindrops, a babbling brook, or running water) often are similar to your heartbeat and fluids rushing in and out of the placenta, which is what your baby heard in utero.
4. Remember those sounds from when you listened to your baby's heartbeat with the Doppler stethoscope? A ticking clock or bubbling fish tank are also wonderful white-noise options. You can find some suitable tapes and CDs made especially for babies or others that are made for adults to listen to when they want to relax. Whichever you pick, listen to it first and ask yourself, "Does this relax me? Would it make me feel sleepy if I listened to it in bed?" If you put your aby to sleep in a noisy, active house full of people, keeping the tape running (auto rewind) will help mask baby-waking noises like dishes clanking, people talking and laughing, TV, or dogs barking.
5. Really five? I don't think five people read this! :) Okay, I'll pick Ashley, Karen, and Aubrey. (I know that's only three, but hey, I tried!)

Gracie Pics

I was loading pictures of Grace online tonight, and couldn't resist sharing the latest cute picture.

Rainy Day Football Fun




Oh, and the baby mullet! (one day I'll get a ponytail, I know)

Cleaning Schedule

I had an epiphany today while cleaning my house. I realized I've been doing it backwards for the last almost six years. Here's why.

I clean half of my house each week. One week is upstairs, the next is downstairs. And I just tidy up the whole house pretty much daily. Of course, bedding, laundry, and dishes don't wait for two weeks. What I'm talking about is the CLEANING: blinds, dusting, polishing, etc.

Anyhoo - when its the downstairs week, I always start with the kitchen. Oh yes, I am such a creature of habit. (or a little obsessive). So, the kitchen. Scary to admit it, but it takes me about 2 straight hours of cleaning. No, my kitchen is not even that big. (see the obsessive note above). However, I rarely get a two hour block of uninterrupted cleaning time, unless Grace decides to take a long nap - but even her naps are usually only an hour, so the kitchen is pretty much all I will get accomplished in one day with taking care of the baby, dinner, general clean-up, etc.

I clean the kitchen on Tuesdays. (again, see above), then I have the rest of the week to finish the downstairs. But the rest of the week seems to fly by with this, that and the other. Tuesdays are really my only long day that I'm almost always at home and Mr. D works late.

However today I decided to mix things up. I'm babysitting the rest of this week for our friends' baby, so I wanted the majority of the house cleaned. So I skipped the kitchen and went to the dining room instead. Oh my. I got almost all of the downstairs done - minus the kitchen. What a difference. I can probably squeeze in the kitchen sometime later this week. Rather than tackling the kitchen, spending all day in it, and then still feeling like I got nothing accomplished, instead, I feel pretty energized by my productivity today. So now, I clean the majority of the downstairs on Tuesdays and then finish up through the rest of the week.

Perhaps this makes sense to not another soul out there - chances would be yes - but I am pretty excited by this schedule revamp. Its the small things in life. And things that seem so obvious now.

Flat Bread

There's something about baking with yeast that eludes me. I can't figure it out. As much as I hate to admit it, I can't do it. Yet.

I tried another bread recipe yesterday. It fell flat. Literally.





I don't know what I'm doing wrong. The darn dough never rose. I measured the temperature of my water down to the degree. I followed the directions to a tee. I just can't pinpoint the point of no rising.

Not that I'm keeping a list of failures (I am), but here goes:

• Cinnamon Rolls - 12/24


• Pizza Crust - 1/16


• Buttermilk Bulgur Bread - 1/24
  

Hear me now elusive yeast bread. I will overcome. There will be a day when I serve fluffy cinnamon rolls, crusty wheat bread, and oooey-gooey pizza on homemade crust.

I just need to figure it out. Any suggestions?

Missing: Super Cool Cosmetics

I placed an order with THAT company on December 7th. I had received an email enticing me with $$ off if I tried their super cool, super cheap cosmetics. Eh. I'm a sucker for savings and cosmetics. I placed an order. But wait, if you spend $75 you get free shipping. I'm a sucker for free shipping. So I ordered some for me and my mom.

Mom's birthday is in January. Happy Birthday Mom. Look at me planning ahead.

So Christmas rolls around. No package arrives. I contact THAT company after Christmas. I get an email January 2nd. "We're sorry. We're reshipping. Please allow 7-10 days for arrival."

I get my credit card bill. $75 charge to THAT company.

I wait 7-10 days. No package with super cool cosmetics. Happy Birthday Mom. Your gift is in the mail. (No, I went out and got her a real gift).

January 14th. I call the customer service number and leave all my information on the voicemail.

I receive a message back from Tanya. We are shipping your order overnight via UPS. Yay! Here comes super cool cosmetics.

January 15th. UPS arrives. I open the box like a kid at Christmas. Wait. This is $75 worth of cosmetics? Hmmm. Double check the order. Over half of it is missing.

January 16th. I call my buddy Tanya back at customer service. She reviews my order. "Oh sweetie, it looks like the warehouse missed part of your order because of the way it was printed." I say thanks and hang up.

I ASSUMED that meant it was being shipped.

Today, January 24th. Still missing half of my super cool cosmetics. I called Tanya again. "Oh sweetie, I remember you. I am so glad you called. I've had your kits here on my desk but didn't know where they must have gone. I lost my sticky note. My mistake. These will go right out."

I'll believe it when I see it. My cosmetics aren't quite as super cool as they once were.

Better Than Blue's Clues?

In my ongoing efforts to entertain Gracie through means other than Dora, Blue, and the gang of Backyardigans - I tried a good, old, stand by today: playdough.

Better than that, homemade playdough. Well, I don't know if its better, but cheaper, yes. Actually in the playgroup I was in last year, the leader says the homemade stuff lasts longer.

So I made a batch of playdough. Pink, for Grace, of course.

We had a fun experience with the playdough.

See, she's so smart she already figured out how to use the cutters.

Okay, so she might have had some help earlier. This is how she does the cutters.

And now, Dad's cell phone is more interesting.

A glimpse of the future! Yikes!

Like a Kid in a Candy Store

Let me preface by saying how much I love my husband and baby girl.

That said, I got to spend an hour and a half by myself in a bookstore today. Sigh. It was great. I had gone in prepared to make it a short trip - I had my gift card and Christmas money in one hand and my printed Amazon wishlist in the other. But then the books beckoned. And I answered.

I spent everything I had with four pennies to spare. I tried to spend logically, and I went for something for the body, soul, and mind.

Body: Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson - An overview of incorporating whole and natural ingredients into cooking along with more than 100 recipes. I toyed for a long time between this one and "Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way" - but cost was the deciding factor.

Soul: Reaching for the Invisible God by Philip Yancey - I hadn't researched this book prior to shopping, but I liked the premise from what I read on the cover. It deals with having a relationship with God who we can't see, touch, hear, etc. Very relatable to some thoughts I have been going through on my own walk these days. I pray I have discernment when I read it.

Mind: The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver - This hefty 500 page novel will keep my mind busy for a while. It hearkens back to my days as a literature major, only I don't have to write a term paper. It was rated number one in Entertainment Weekly's fiction books of the year. The review piqued my interest.

But wait, there's more. The best purchase of the day:

One for Me, One for You

A Book about Sharing

Such a Sweet Sound

Just twenty seconds overshadows all the sleepless nights, the moments of frustration, and fear of parenthood.

Good-Night Mr. D

Mr. D is going to lose his bet tonight. I know him better than he knows himself.

We rented Shrek III last weekend and have yet to watch it. Oh wait, I take that back, we started to watch it last Friday, but SOMEONE (not me) fell asleep. So I stopped it and decided to wait until a better time when both us were more alert.

And the week went by.

And the video is due tomorrow.

So, Mr. D insists that we watch it tonight. I told him that I know he's going to fall asleep. He has promised up and down that he's not going to. But this is why he will:
* He's been up since 4am
* He's worked all week, getting up at 3:30 am the previous two days
* We have to watch the movie in our room (our downstairs DVD player is broken)
* In our room means IN BED
* In bed means Mr. D asleep before the opening credits roll through

Okay, I'll give him a little credit - he'll be asleep by 9pm.

EDITED: 1/19/08
I let Mr. D know that Shrek didn't make it through to the end of the movie and that Fiona ran away with Puss in Boots.

He tried so very hard, but once his soda was gone, there was nothing left to keep him focused and I gave him permission to give in to the dark side - of his eyelids. And the time: 9:23 pm.

Our Parallel Couple

Now that Mr. D has completed training and is working a regular schedule, he has been getting home in the late afternoon. It is a perfect time to take a nice walk in the neighborhood. By that time, Grace and I are itching to go outside, so we all pack up and take a walk.

We go between 3 and 4 in the afternoon. Dad, mom, baby and two dogs. A somewhat unusual time in our neck of the woods for the whole family to be home and out walking. What's even more strange to me is that there is another family like us out there. We have passed them three times this week. There's dad, mom, baby, and two dogs. Their baby is smaller and mom wears her in a Baby Bjorn. But besides that, the similarities are eerie!

We are always going opposite directions. We smile and say hi, but keep walking. Today, Mr. D asked how much their large dog weighed. 120 lbs., if you were wondering.

Today I got to thinking, we should be friends with these people. We obviously both have small babies, close families that like to walk together, dogs, we live in the same neighborhood even. But perhaps the similarities stop there. Perhaps they aren't social, or are boring, or can only talk about golf and the opera.

Or maybe, they are really funny, like to play Taboo and Pictionary, eat pizza and watch Survivor.

I wonder if I'll ever know.

Introducing Mr. Bento

I bought a Mr. Bento lunch jar for Mr. D. for Christmas. Since his car is now his office, I wanted to find something to pack his lunch in that would keep it warm and be able to offer him an alternative from sandwiches each day - or fast food as he has been doing the past few months. So I found the Mr. Bento. It is geared towards Asian cuisine, but I found many reviews stating that it worked well for American dining as well.

So I tried it out yesterday.

This was his lunch.

* Soup Bowl: Potato Cheese Soup - homemade I might add
* Main Dish Bowl: Chicken with artichokes, mushrooms & bulgur
* Large Side Bowl: Baby carrots
* Small Side Bowl: Pretzels

His review on the product:

"It worked well, but the food wasn't very hot when I ate it. It was okay for me, but you would have wanted it hotter."

That means the food must not have been very warm at all. Mr. D likes his food luke-warm. Blech.

So I think next time I will make sure the food is hotter before packing it up.

I was surprised how much those bowls held. Their looks are deceiving. The main dish bowl held a full serving of my leftovers.

I now need to come up with some creative ideas for breakfast/lunch items that can be packed cold. When Mr. D goes to work at 4am like today, I'm just not a good enough wife to get up and pack a hot lunch each day. Maybe once in a while I will. Maybe. Don't hold your breath.

There's Things in my Hair

I think I have made my baby a little paranoid. Not scared of the dark paranoid. But there's things crawling on my head paranoid. Okay maybe not crawling, but she definitely thinks everytime I touch her head that I left something on it that MUST be removed.

And yes, its my fault. Its my I-Want-A-Ponytail eagerness. I can't wait for Gracie's hair to grow. Imagine the possibilities: ponytails, barrettes, braids: french, fishtail, two braids, heck, three braids. I must confess, I am jealous when I work nursery and the other little girls have their cute curly locks - just rubbing it in my little Grace's face.

What does Grace have? Grace is growing a mullet. Seriously. A mullet. Her hair is finally growing in the back - it touches her back collar now. Hurrah. However, the front, still short. I have had people ask on my than one occasion if I have trimmed it. No, it grows like that.

So back to the paranoia. We went to Target last night. I couldn't resist a trip down the hair do-dads aisle. Aah - the cute little barrettes. Flowers, ladybugs, butterflies - any sort of nature - you can pin it on your head. So I couldn't resist trying them on Grace. Her hair is JUST long enough to hold them now - and that's a generous estimate. But, she reached up each time and swiped them out. The few little strands holding the barrettes down just couldn't them in. But I kept trying. And trying. Until Mr. D. finally told me that I had gone off the deep-end and could continue this at another time.

Today I was brushing my baby's mullet - we had pictures for the church directory today - and everytime I touched her head she reached up looking for something up there. So I couldn't resist, later on this evening, I just patted her head. Her little hand was up there searching for something.

I'll try it tomorrow and see if its just a temporary paranoia.

A Robe Day

My mom got me this robe for Christmas. It is the "sweetest, softest robe" from Bath & Body works. Boy, does it live up to its name. I love this robe. It wraps me in a big hug each morning as I start the coffee and breakfast.

It does have a couple drawbacks.

1. I have to roll the sleeves if I actually want to do anything because they drag and get wet.

2. It leaves its sweet, soft fluff on the couch.

3. I have to take it off to comb my hair. Its collar is too poofy.

But I love it in spite of its failures. And it loves me too.

It was so hard to take off my robe this morning. That means the day is starting and there's things to be done. I think Grace passed on something to me too. My throat and head hurt and I have the general all over body ache.

But I have worked through the aches.

The upstairs is vacuumed. I cleaned it yesterday, but left the vacuum waiting.

I organized my "Monica Gellar" closet. From "Friends" - anyone seen the episode?

Put away a few lingering Christmas presents that I had stowed away in said closet.

Now its off to enjoy my quiet hour while Gracers sleeps.

Thankful Thursday

All is right in the house.

Mr. D. came home safely from his conference. I missed him dearly. This is the longest we've been apart since he went to Louisiana for the hurricane clean-up.

Miss Grace is asleep in her crib. She is still recuperating. She ate a little for dinner, played with Daddy, endeared us with her signing along with her alphabet books, took a bath, and went to sleep without a fuss.

Dinner is done. Bonus points for the dishes also being done.

The dogs are fed. Since Mr. D. is home, I have been released from dog feeding duty.

There is frozen yogurt in the freezer.

AND, a new episode of Ugly Betty is on in 10 minutes. I didn't think there would be any new episodes until after the strike ended, so I was pleasantly surprised.

That is what I am thankful for this Thursday.

Quiet Time

It was a quiet day today. Grace is slowly recovering. She slept quite a bit. Fortunately she's past the rough part when stuff is coming up and going out. Fortunately also for mom and the washing machine. Hopefully by tomorrow, she will be back to herself again.

I didn't realize just how quiet today had been until about 4pm. Grace was still taking a nap, and I was dusting the bedroom. I then realized I had spoken for about 30 minutes all day. I don't think I made the estimated 20,000 words that a woman speaks each day. With Grace sick, and Mr. D. out of town, it was just me and my thoughts. I'm sure I THOUGHT 20,000+ words.

On the other wellness front, I have good news about our house repairs. Mr. D. called the company that manufactured our sink. We put our sink in about 4 years ago, and it actually had problems leaking about 6 months after that. The company sent out replacement gadgets (I pay close attention to the repairs), and it solved the problem for a while. However, now the leaking is three times as bad. Mr. D. called, and the company said that they would send out a voucher that would cover the cost of a new faucet. Praise God. We wouldn't have even called again, except when we were at Home Cheap-o, one of the employees recommended we call because the sinks have lifetime warranties. He said that nowdays people move so often and don't pay attention, that the companies can offer these warranties.

Also, my cell phone seems to have withstood my antenna "repair".

AND, the DVD recorder is in working condition again. I think it was just a scratched DVD (thanks Grace). However, alas, Gilmore Girls was not completely recorded. You see, my goal is to watch the first episodes chronologically because I have never seen them all. Mr. D. couldn't handle the pure girliness of the show, so I have to revert to syndication airings now.

Power Failure

I have talked for months years now about getting our household "disaster ready". I have a list of what I need to do:

• Purchase fire safe
• Centralize important paperwork (insurance, birth certificates, social security cards, etc.)
• Videotape the interior and exterior of our home
• Prepare a trust for Grace

And I have one more to add to that:

• Have a flashlight in our room

That one seems simple enough. You would think that it would be an obvious one. But we don't have one. We have a flashlight outside in my husband's truck and in the boat located in the garage.

Today I woke up in the wee hours of the morning and realized that all was dark - no clock radio, no red glow from the telephone base, no light from Grace's room that I had left on. The power had gone out. I laid in bed for a few minutes and thought "you're all right. Go back to sleep." I closed my eyes, but it was oh so much darker than before.

Then I realized the baby monitor wasn't on anymore.

"Well, what if Grace is sick, I want to hear her." Panic. Don't worry - our bedroom doors are all open, I would still hear her if she cried. I closed my eyes.

"Well, what if its just my house without power and someone broke into my house." More panic. That's a silly thought. I said a prayer and closed my eyes.

I opened my eyes. "I can't do this." I need light. What to do?

Yes, that's right, I called my husband at 1am - woke him up in his hotel room and cried, "where's the flashlight?" (insert a wail in that question). My hubby is at a conference this week, and I'm holding down the fort. And as previously mentioned, tending the sick baby.

So last night, with my cell phone serving a dual purpose of communication and flashlight - I stumbled outside and found the truck flashlight. I then stumbled into the garage and found the flashlight in the boat. Mr. D., always so patient, walked me through my fears. I get back into the house.

"Are you going to be okay sweetie?" Oh my dear sweet, sleepy hubby.

I'm about to answer. Now, wait for it:

"Uh yes, the lights just came back on!"

I said good night, thanked him profusely and headed back upstairs. On the way, I noticed the stove said PF (power failure) 1:05 am. As I crawled back into bed, I realized that the stove records its last remembered time. The power going out must have woken me up. If I had just been patient for about 20 minutes, I would have avoided all of this, and my dear hubby would have slumbered uninterrupted.

BUT, then I wouldn't have been able to add to my list of to-do's in case of an emergency.

7th Grade Flu

I had a bad stomach flu when I was in 7th grade. It was 7th period Spanish class. I sat across from Ryan E. - who was so dreamy. Tall, funny, curly dark hair - think Tom Hanks in "Big". Okay, I have a feeling that my memory is fuzzy with time, and I digress.

It was 7th period Spanish class. I was miserable. My stomach started cramping up, and suddenly I felt wave upon wave of nausea. I couldn't focus on conjugating the verb "ir". All I could focus on is not throwing up in the classroom. I would simply die of embarrassment. And of course, I couldn't ask to be excused. I would have to do it in Spanish and I then everyone would look, and I was sure I was turning shades of green.

15 minutes left. I can do this. Breathe.

10 minutes left. Keep breathing. Don't open your mouth for any reason.

5 minutes left. Dear God, make the bell ring early. Please. Amen.

The bell. Thank goodness. I bolt out the door without even my usual sidelong glance at dreamy Ryan E.

Sigh. I still have a mile long walk home. That walk seemed to go on forever. Each step fighting back waves of nausea. I make it home. I make it to the bathroom. I'm re-living my Carnation Instant Breakfast and PB&J. (I probably didn't need to share that.)

That wasn't the first, nor the last time I had the stomach flu, but it is ingrained in my memory.

Grace had her first stomach flu today. I feel so bad for her. She is so sad and bewildered everytime she throws up.

It has been a long day. She was doing fine this morning, but woke up from her nap with something bothering her. At first we thought it might be her ears. But I know now, she was living out those stomach cramps. Then re-living her avocado and PB toast. In her 5th pair of jammies tonight (only 3rd pair for me), she's now sleeping peacefully. Hopefully the worst is behind. I would relive that horrid day in 7th grade all over again if I could help her feel better. Now that's a mother's love.

This Infected House

There's a bug in the house. All the humans are healthy (mostly), but its the electronics that are failing. Within the past two weeks we have sorrowed the loss of our ice maker, smelled the sad scent of a broken heating coil in the dishwasher, and sopped up the streaming leaks from our kitchen faucet.

We have also made a trip to the recyling center with our CD player that would only grind CDs rather than play them. Our VCR no longer rewinds unless it is in the PLAY mode - so that makes rewinding a tape endless. And, I pulled the antenna out of my cell phone yesterday. I have a sneaking suspicion that simply jamming it back in probably didn't fix it. I think the brass wire was probably supposed to stay attached! I guess we'll see when I'm in the middle of a call next time.

But to top it all off, my DVD recorder has been permanently frozen in the middle of recording an episode of Gilmore Girls from Thursday. It won't respond to anything I push - stop, open/close, off. The next step to unplug it and hopefully pry out the CD. Bummer - I didn't get the whole episode recorded!

So I'm looking for a vaccination for this bug. I hope it can be stopped before it spreads too far - taking down the fridge, the washing machine, the television, and heaven forbid - my curling iron!

Happy Birthday Mr. D

It's my dear hubby's birthday. Happy birthday Mr. D! I love you so much.

To celebrate today I let him pick what he wants to eat. I offered to make anything he wanted or we could go to the restaurant of his choosing. Not suprising, he picked his favorite place - a miner-themed restaurant that serves plates of food that could feed a small country.

This is what happens at this place.

This picture, as you can see, is from 2003 - celebrating my birthday. Yes, we are a new and original couple.

Mr. D knows that he needs to live it up today because today marks the end of all holiday celebrating, and thereby, holiday EATING! Our holiday celebrating/eating starts with the pre-Christmas birthdays in early December and end with his in January. Next week I am stocking up on some good, healthy food to cook meals that don't contains sticks of butter or cups of sugar. I don't even want to count how many sticks of butter I went through this year in my baking endeavors.

So we're off to eat too much. Perhaps if we have room, we'll indulge in a piece of the famous chocolate mother-lode cake.

Yes, that is a single serving of cake. Even those of us with miner-sized appetites can't polish this off in one sitting.

New Year, New Blog

It's a new year, so I thought I would start a new blog. Okay, so I don't have an old blog, but this is a new one nonetheless. I was going to be all cliche and start it yesterday on the 1st, but I wanted to be different. Okay, Christmas un-decorating got the best of me and I ran out of time yesterday, so the blogging starts today.



Anyhow - Happy 2008! I'm looking forward to this year as I start it off at home with my baby girl, taking care of my dear hubby. I'm excited to share my adventures of motherhood, wifehood, and general life-hood. I will try not to flood this with too many adorable pictures of my baby, but I really can't guarantee that.

Told you I have no self-control.