7 quick takes Friday

---1---
I spent a couple hours (eep) last night watching Millionaire Matchmaker. Oddly, shamefully fascinating.

---2---
The other day KT baby (SO not a baby anymore!) was on the floor with me, and when I turned my head away from her, the back of my hair swept and tickled her face. She put her hands in it and giggled. I was whisked back to my Kindergarten days, when my best friend sat behind me in circle time, braiding what little hair I had. I LOVED that. I would always return the favor, and that’s how I learned to make braids both French and fishtail. (Here’s where Maryb needs to look away.) I imagine KT and I will play “hair salon” in the future, and I can’t wait! I just adore it when someone plays with my hair. Wait, you know what, Maryb? We are going to make a POINT of playing hair salon during Beach Weeks, WITH you. That’s a promise.

---3---
I will likely be rooting for the Cardinals this weekend – I always hope for the underdog – while my husband roots for the Steelers, whom he liked when he was a child. I believe there is even a photo of him in Steelers jammies, somewhere. I imagine I will enjoy the SuperBowl more this year than last, although I will admit last year WAS kind-of exciting. I’m taking white-chocolate-macadamia cookies and an as-yet-undecided appetizer to our annual gathering. What’s your favorite appetizer?

---4---
I don’t love this background. The lines down below that appear under the text are really distracting. I do like FREE backgrounds, however, and I'm feeling change-y, so I will likely be experimenting with design around here for a while. Sorry if that gets annoying to you people who still read ON the actual blog page and not in a Reader.

---5---
Today’s lunch: chicken and black bean burrito with corn, salsa, cheese. Baked Lays. Mixed greens salad with croutons, leftover from last night -- the croutons will be soggy. Honeycrisp Apple for 3pm snack. What’s killing me is the 5-6 o’clock hour, before dinner. I’m trying to chew gum on the way home, and pour myself a drink the minute I get there (Diet Coke, not a FUN drink unfortch), but still I usually have to snarf a handful of Goldfish to SURVIVE. Sigh. I love Goldfishies.

---6---
I guess I’m going to be a person who gets migraines. <-- Unofficial diagnosis. I had one a couple months ago that caused me to have to leave work and go home/lie down, and then this past Saturday I got one again. It wasn’t quite as bad as last time, and thanks be to heaven, KT was down for a nap at the time it really hit hard, but... poopers. I don’t want to have migraines. Very uncool. Although maybe I need to buy a flowery dressing gown and a black-out mask, and really play it up: “I’m evah so sorry, DAHLING, I can’t possibly take the Children today. I feel a Migraine coming on… I must retire to the Bedruhm.”

---7---
I’ve decided that I like a certain guilty-pleasure website (so cruel, so inappropriate, but aren’t we all a little obsessed with celebrity-bashing? C’mon, it can’t be just me) best when I “save it up” and read several new posts at a time. The trashiness! I find myself unable to stop laughing, and sad when I’ve read them all. And THAT’s why I also read sites like Jen’s (with amazing, wonderful links like this), to counter-balance all that naughtiness.

More quick takes over there! Happy Friday!

No, Cake.

I think I am getting better at dieting. Slowly but surely.

There is a lovely, 2-layer birthday cake in the office fridge, which I myself brought from home last week, after celebrating DH's birthday. I am very hungry at the moment, and the cake is calling my name!

But I just sat myself down and, inside my head, asked, "What would be more satisfying dude, the cake? Or the knowledge, later on tonight, that you didn't give in? That you are stronger than dumb, leftover cake? And anyway, you already KNOW what that cake tastes like, and the sugary film it leaves in your mouth when you're done, and how surprisingly FAST the cake episode, if you grabbed a piece, would be over. It's hardly worth it."

I really did have that conversation in my head. I think I'm growing! However, I'm also shrinking ever-so-slightly: down half a pound. Woo!

Middle School Band AND Drama Club

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and good thoughts. I think we're officially off the disabled list. KT's fever finally left us when she got a good antibiotic, and AJ's cough hasn't worsened except when he runs around too enthusiastically. Which is always.

We had a busy weekend, including a visit to our parish school for Open House, a time of great anticipation and excitement. And it turns out, also a time of great worry and woe. You see, there are very few slots for new students, even Kindergarten students, when a school is as small as this school. 54 Kindergarten seats, and it's likely that half of them are filled with siblings of older kids who obviously take priority. I was told that there are no less than four sets of twins coming in to Kindergarten. Thanks for THAT discouraging tidbit, PTA President! And why must schools call PTA something other than PTA?? Is this just me? "Home and School Association" is too fussy. Call it PTA like people have done for thousands of years. Grr.

I'm acting annoyed, but we actually DO want to get into this school. I'm hoping our status as semi-active parishoners who contribute (a tiny amount) to the weekly church offering and volunteer a (tiny) bit will help us, but one never knows.

The Open House presentation was... hilarious. First, while people were gathering, the middle school pep band played "background music." And by that I mean "LOUD, DRUM-HEAVY, CAN'T-THINK music." It was a non-descript collection of instruments, too: I don't know when I've seen a band that included electric keyboard, french horns, lots of flutes, natch, AND one lonely violin. The conductor played her own flute, too, which I thought was... weird. As my Dad would say, they were perfectly terrible! Heh. And loud. Did I say loud? After we all sat down, began with a prayer, and were introduced to the principal, she... Introduced the Band! Again! So they could play us a few numbers! Eight, to be exact. It went on and on, and all in the key of G.

So we're definitely going to have a musical component to AJ's education if he gets in, no worries there (well, maybe a few worries). But wait, did I say "musical?" We also saw 2 numbers from the middle school Drama Club!

Between those stirring performances, we heard from the Home and School Association co-prezes, and a couple of darling 8th-graders, how wonderful the school is. We believe them. After all, in the primary grades they teach the basics, and in middle school, the students begin to USE those basics for "more advanced problem solving." REALLY? That's how school works? Tell me something I don't know. Sigh. I don't mean to be catty. Like I said, I really do hope we get in. I have to assume no one there reads this blog. GAH! I gotta go.

Coming up for air

Hey, I have got a workout tip for you. It's for your upper arms and back. Carry around a 20-lb. bag of potatoes (or a small child if you have one) for a day or two, while you're making your coffee, talking on the phone, sleeping, working at the laptop, and going to the bathroom. Don't try to put it/him/her down -- ohhhh, no. That would seriously lessen the effects. GOOD SORE!

(Privilege. Privilege, I keep reminding myself.)

I'm in the office today and DH is at home with KT baby, who was still sporting a 101.5 fever all of yesterday and most of last night, and therefore is going back to the pediatrician for a third time this week, today. When I left the house, her fever was down THANK GOD, but in general it has not responded to Infant Tylenol every four hours religiously. Which is obvs why she's so tired and won't be put down. She's drugged! And also pneumonia-y! You know how your chest and sides start to hurt after you've had bronchitis or something? I bet hers is hurting like that.

Aaaanyway, that's been our week. We're severely draining our Paid Leave days, even though I was attempting to work from home (ha, ha). And if you've seen me on Facebook you already know that today AJ is coughing. I betcha 10 dollars they call me to come pick him up for fever today. Truly. I've got my money right here.

It's good (I guess?) to be at the office, and not staring at a sleeping child whose breathing is fast and labored, and whose little heart is racing. Because when I'm there, my mind wanders to places it shouldn't, like what if this is it? Even though I know that pneumonia is common and of course she'll get over it.

It's just crazy time I guess! Lots going on in and around me, and lots going on this weekend, including Open House for New Kindergarten and 2 birthday celebrations and an entire day of babysitter for the kids. AND we need to start planning the February trip to Disney. Most of the planning's done, thanks to my parents, actually. But we have to start preparing MENTALLY for the 8-hour driveOMG, then 4 days with Mickey AND all the grandparents. Hello, overstimulated kids!

I am so good at being stressy. It's a gift, really. But I'm grateful:

-- That my kids are in general, healthy, and that I don't have to sit and stare at pitiful little bodies very often.
-- For chick flicks that kept my mind somewhat occupied during my sick days at home (The Holiday and Erin Brokovich).
-- For my husband, whose one and only 40th birthday was preempted, for the most part.
-- For AJ behaving SO WELL this week and really understanding that his sister is sick and needs him to be calm and quiet.
-- For understanding bosses and kind co-workers. One of mine even brought me a bottle of juice today, because it was Publix's 1-cent sale item yesterday and she thought the kids would like it.

Me, today

Oh, you funny Nicole. Tagging me for a meme that I don't know if my readers will appreciate, but I'm sure *I* will appreciate in 12 or so years when these are only "a few" wrinkles in comparison. The meme says:

1) Take a picture of yourself right NOW!

2) DON'T change your clothes; DON'T fix your hair... Just take a picture.

3) Post that picture with NO editing.

4) Post these instructions with your picture.

5) Tag 10 people to do this.


The awesome thing is that I'm at work and actually DID fix my hair this morning. AND that I get to use PhotoBooth. Whee! However:


What is UP with the crow's feet and under-eye wrinkles? Good gravy.

It could be -- just a guess, here -- that we're not sleeping all that well. Sigh. KT has maintained 3 or 4 weeks now of difficult sleeping. It's a popular topic, so I won't bore you with the details, but Man. "It's just a phase, it's just a phase," doesn't really help you FEEL better physically, you know? And then 2 days ago it turned into a full-fledged cold, so today she's going to the doctor.

Dudes, I have let myself down on the dieting front. I blame KT and the above information for preventing my workouts the last 4 days. Wait... 5. And I blame umm... President Bush for my poor eating. It's fashionable to blame him for everything, right? No, actually when I had that dinner party last Friday, I consumed wayyyy more than I should have, and when I pulled the package of meatballs out of the freezer, they weren't turkey, as I'd intended to buy, they were Regular. Regular fatty-fat stupid beef. Bother.

I guess I'm down 3 pounds since 1/5/09, and I have 2.5 pounds to lose before 1/31 to reach my first goal. At which time I will buy myself some new workout clothes, which I really want. Mo.Ti.Va.Tion.

Peace to you, and Peas for lunch. :)

(I'm not going to tag anyone for the picture party, but please shoot yourself if you feel like sharing. I mean, point and shoot, the camera. Heh.)

Milestones

As long as you're sitting on the floor on a Saturday morning, you might has well have an 11-month-old take her first unassisted steps toward you. It makes it much more enjoyable. :) We've been trying to capture it on video but the camera needed charging, and the star of the show also seems to have a bit of a cold, so she's not wholly cooperative. Still.

I didn't log this a week or two ago, but she has mastered the inflection for Thank-You, so I am counting it as her first word, after mama and dada. "Da-thoooo!" Right? Always hard to know what is REALLY the first word, but I love hearing her try.

Scattergories!

Clever Nicole named this the Scattergories meme. She gave me a letter and I have to list 10 things I like that start with that letter.

My letter was "J":

1. Jill!

2. Jam (strawberry, on toast with butter... oh, no, excuse me: Smart Balance spread)

3. Jumping Jacks (with Jillian! Roar!)

4. January (I like the cold; I like the fresh, new year)

5. June (my birthday month)

6. Jewelry (self-explanatory)

7. Juice (cranberry and grapefruit are my faves)

8. Jalepenos (gotcha, didn't I? You tried to say it with a "J" sound! HA!)

10. Jiminy Cricket (I say "Jiminy!" all the time. Did you know it started as a polite euphemism? Neither did I.)


If you want to play, say so in the comments and I'll give you a letter.

Brain dump

I'm having a wee dinner party Friday. Just one other family and us, and I'm only serving spaghetti with pre-made frozen turkey meatballs -- very fancy -- but it makes me happy. They're new friends, church friends, of which we don't have many. The anticipation and hope that we'll all get along puts a little flip in my heart. Maybe (if I serve enough the right wine) we'll plan future get-togethers. This family has a daughter the same age as AJ and they're applying to St. J's School like we are, so in theory, they could be our first School-Parent-Friends. My mom says when your kids start school, you really start forming lasting friendships for this time of your life, so I've been looking forward to it (panting, really, with my tongue hanging out).

Putting dinner on the calendar gave us the oomph we needed to get the house cleaned this week, and that's always good. Last night I vacuumed in place of working out: a welcome relief.

I am learning to like working out again, but I'll tell you what's kind-of a pain: having to change clothes at 9:00 pm, all the way down to a different bra and socks, just to hop around for 20 minutes. Sigh - my life is so hard, I know. But... y'know?

-----

My co-worker is telling us all about his lymphoma. It's not sounding very good and I'm still not ready to contemplate what it all means for him. He sounds like *he's* processing through it okay, and he's got a good support system (unattached, single 52-yr-old with great friends who are taking care of him), but I do worry for his emotional health, not to mention his physical status. I just... just don't know. This morning while he was talking, that Michael Keaton movie flashed in my mind. What was it called? The really sad one where he makes the videotape for his son? The situation here doesn't seem as sad as that for some reason, but it could very well be. This friend of mine is so smart, and going about it very scientifically -- at least when he tells us about it -- which makes me think about it scientifically instead of emotionally. I want to get emotional about it. Why haven't I? This is someone who sits across from me five days a week. I share little in common with him, but everything about daily details with him. He's the person I get to say, "Man, did you SEE Project Runway last night?!" to; the first one I greet when I walk in the door, Monday through Friday. We used to lunch together 3 days out of 5, before lunch out became passe at our office. I think he's going to be fine, I do. He jokes, "we'll manage this ten years and then I die." I don't know, maybe the C-word isn't as scary as it used to be. Or maybe it is.

I'm babbling. I don't know what I want to say about it.

Trader Tuesday - Green Peas

So far my favorite health kick food this time has been Green Peas.

You: Wha...huh?

Green peas, you know? The ones you buy frozen for when you get a boo-boo and don't have an ice pack? Those ones. I recently rediscovered them and have been easily adding a veg serving to my lunch with a quick half-cup of those babies, microwaved for about 45 seconds. They are awesome. You could dash 'em with a little salt and pepper, but why? They're perfect AS IS. ...Anyone? Am I crazy?

I also adore canned early peas -- my mother says I even liked them as baby food, pureed. But cans are less convenient at the office, so I've bought a 2-lb bag of the frozens to keep in the office fridge (freezer). Held together with a binder clip, no less.

I have a recipe for pea salad, though it's not an exact recipe. Just throw stuff together in a bowl and mix.

cup or so of green peas (either variety, canned or froz)
cup or so of yellow corn (again, choose your delivery vehicle)
handful of shredded cheddar (or more if you're feeling naughty)
chopped or diced ham for protein, if desired
1/4 cup (?) or so of light mayo (eliminate if you're dieting like me)
couple of tablespoons of sweet relish (yes, really!)

Serve chilled. ZOMG, I could eat barrels of this stuff. Mom used to make it. Hope she'll chime in with a comment, if I forgot any important details.

Mom, Pop, and the neighborhood

Teh weekend. Gone again. It seemed busy, but we still managed to laze around in our jammies quite a bit somehow. (AJ's making a habit of it, actually, which I think can't be good. I need to figure out how to motivate him to get dressed. By himself would be a bonus; just dressed would be a good first goal.)

One thing we did was take our car up to a mom-and-pop place that was recommended to us, to get the brakes looked at. The dealer had told me at my last oil change that all the brakes were DANGEROUSLY close to being metal on metal and we'd "better get them replaced ASAP or risk an even higher charge than $400-some-odd dollars" OMG. So Mom-and-Pop, located in a darling little historic Town right next to the train tracks, quoted us "$120 and the back brakes are fine," and we are right pleased with that edit. We're taking it back next week after they get the parts. The customer waiting area was, you know, green linoleum and dark wood-paneled, and smelled of new tires, decades-old cigarette smoke and something else - PineSol, maybe? You know that smell? Even AJ knew it "smelled old." Established 1966, to be exact. I loved being there. Reminded me of somewhere from my childhood, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly where. Just being in those kinds of places with my Dad, I guess, on Saturday mornings. Made me really, REALLY happy to give them my business instead of Giant Shiny Toyota Dealer. (Much as I like our dealership.)

We also got haircuts at a brand-new salon opened by three of our friends who have just left GreatClips to go into business for themselves. I say "friends" but we only know them through GreatClips -- however, they've cut AJ's hair since he was a tiny wailing 1-year-old, so they're like family you know? Anyway, I am super hopeful for them and want to help in some way, to tell everyone I know to head (HAR) over there for a cut and color. For some reason I just want that little business to thrive. I thought about purchasing an ad for them in my church's bulletin, since the church is located nearby. Surely they could gain a customer or two from that, right?

I likely won't do it, but I guess it's the economy making me feel like I want to buy local, support the community, and all of that. One of the stylists even offered for her oldest daughter to babysit my kids if I ever need it. I wouldn't have thought the suburbs would actually FEEL like a community, but we've been there nearly 7 years now, and lo and behold, it does. I'm liking that.

Friday gratitude list

1. Dirty rice supper

2. Sunrise

3. Slow days for surfing

4. Sore muscles

5. Darling Husband

Another boring diet post

I felt slightly silly, taking a walk at 9:30 pm on "First Monday;" felt like anyone who drove by me would eyeroll and say to their passengers, "Oh, look, a New Year's Resolution-er! She'll be over it by next Tuesday. Hahahaha loser." Luckily, it was raining and no one really passed by.

...did ya catch that? It was RAINING. I was WALKING.

Am serious this time, apparently.

Unfortunately, I'm not drinking SlimFast so I can't entertain you with stories of my gag reflex. I just go for Cals In vs. Cals Out. Booor-ing! I use Fitday.com, which lets me set weight goals, log food and exercise, and even has a little journal feature so I can bitch about it there instead of here.

When dieting, I typically eat sparsely during the day -- little snacks and meals for b'fast and lunch -- and then let myself have a regular (albeit portion-controlled) dinner. Because it's too hard to change our family meal routine from Mac and Cheese. And I recently read a new article about that method, so it must be legit. Example:

B'fast:
-granola bar, lite peaches (canned), and coffee w/skim

Snack:
-trail mix with nuts and berries in my desk drawer

Lunch:
-Lunch from home is a pea salad with ham and sweet relish (no mayo)

Another Snack:
-Diet Cherry Coke

During the drive home:
-Gum

Dinner:
-"fried chicken salad" with lettuce, cukes, gr peppers, maybe cheese, bacon bits, and balsamic. Using Dinosaur nuggets for the chicken, of course. ;)

Also: Drink More Water. Trying to drink one glass before every caffeinated bev.

All calories (this menu adds up to around 1450 and is actually a little too low) planned and accounted for.

I'm doing the same as all my other (mostly unsuccessful) attempts to lose these 15! Except I think I'm (so far) working out harder. When I started losing this baby weight the goal was Beach Week, end of June. Down to goal weight and feel good in a bathing suit. (last year was... uncomfortable... when I was 3 months postpartum. No one wanted to see that, least of all me.)

Last night I worked out in our unfinished basement, using my laptop as DVD player. I workout where no one can see me, do you? I can't stand when I'm hopping about doing AEROBICS and another PERSON walks through. See also: doesn't go to gyms. It's all I can do to walk in public, on a road. I'm a TAD self-conscious, don't want to look like a bubblehead. (Also, don't want anyone to hear me saying "Nooooo!" when Jillian suggests Circuit Three of cardio. GAAAAH.) But last night I told DH he should come do the workouts with me. He's been saying that when he turns FORTY (in 13 days) that he'll get in shape. A challenge issued, perhaps??? Heh heh. I know he would never want all of you to know if he WERE doing an aerobics video. So I can't promise I'll follow up with this thread. Anyway. Hi, honey! And you're welcome, Tess.

Siblings

One of the best things about having a 2nd child is, naturally, watching the relationship with the first child develop. AJ has been head-over-heels about KT baby since day one (I'll never forget his high-pitched cooing at her in the hospital, and he STILL, to this day, mimics me; whatever I say to her, he repeats to her with the same pitch and inflection).

Yesterday at lunch, she was being a monkey and putting her half-chewed biter biscuit in her hair. GROSS. I sat next to her, exclaiming, with my hands up, "NOooooo! Don't put it in your hair!" Being serious, but saying it in a funny way with a smile. Well, AJ thought that was the funniest thing he'd ever heard, and he laughed at me across the table. At that, KT whipped her head around to see where the laugh was coming from, and light dawned. She did it again, I exclaimed again, and they BOTH laughed.

From then on, it was a conspiracy to get Mama mad. She started putting cookie in her hair on purpose, repeatedly, and AJ totally egged her on, to get the laugh.

The first of what I expect will be many times they'll plot against me.

Okay okay, resolutions.

I wasn't going to do this, but just commented on Skiplovey's January post, and stated these three resolutions:

1) Listen to more music

This morning I cracked open the cellophane on my new Keane cd -- gift from Hubby for Christmas -- and it energized me, made me smile, and calmed my commute... A commute when I could have been worrying over plenty of little (big) bits of bad news (can't share). I was saved from starting my week very negatively. So, More Music. (Also: I heart Keane! British bands rule.)

2) Stick to a regular exercise schedule (YES)

I haven't put this on the calendar yet. Yesterday was my "cheat day" diet-wise. I made Ro*Tel dip. (I only ate one serving and put the rest away.) If I can get to bed on time tonight, I plan to rock the 30DS tomorrow morning at 5:15. OR, take a walk tonight after the kids go to bed. One or the other is my promise to you. But really, I would like to put at least 4 days' worth on my calendar, every week.

3) Be more present in my marriage (shifting some of my focus from the children back to the two of US).

Don't need to expand on this -- you guys know how it is. You forget, sometimes, that it all started with two lovebirds. ;) So this year I'm hoping to target that in my mind, instead of sweeping by it every few days while crossing household items off the to-do list.

Last day of work in 2008, huzzah!

I am carefully avoiding my work Inbox this morning, because I'm hoping to pawn off a client conversation that I'd rather not have: "No, your job did not print on the day after Christmas because you never called to say it was okay, ya moron. And now it isn't going to ship in time. TOO BAD."

Not that I'm grumpy about being here all day on the 26th WAITING for that phone call, with no success. Nah.

So here's a great way to pass the time instead: Linda's End of Year questionnaire. She does this one every year, and I've done it once or twice before but can't seem to find the posts to link to -- perils of having a blog for nearly FOUR YEARS.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Gave birth to a precious little girl.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? My only new year's resolution in '08 was to try to make each day better than the last. I even printed it on my personalized Starbucks gift card last year! I didn't keep it EXACTLY, but a resolution like that one stuck in my mind much more easily than a laundry list of items; I thought of it often through the year. If I ate four cookies one day, I would try to only eat ONE the next. Or if I spoke harshly, the next day I really tried to be more gentle. Obviously it's a good resolution to carry with me EVERY year, so I will resolve it again on the 1st of January. Other than that, of course I'm resolving to eat more healthfully than I have in the last month, and exercise again. No, really. REALLY. I mean it this time... I do.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Me.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Why this question? No, thankfully, no one close to me died this year.

5. What countries did you visit? Exactly none.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? Muscle tone in my abs, and lower cholesterol. A pain-free back. My side of the bed to myself. (I'd better stop here...)

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Clearly, Feb 15, 2008 will remain in my heart forever, the day of KT's birth. Other than that I don't know that I'll remember any dates particularly, except maybe 12/26/08, as it was the first 12/26 that I have ever WORKED, in my entire life, I think. Seriously -- never been in school on the 26th, and I've always managed to take that day off, even when I was a brand-new low-level employee. It was WEIRD.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? In the last few months I have actually "come around," to quote my husband, to his way of thinking re: cleanliness and order. He is a neatnik, I'm not afraid to tell you. And I....? Am Messy Marvin, in comparison. But lately I've really been doing better keeping things straightened up, put away, etc. I am trying to help more in this area. He is very proud of me when I say something like, "Let's get a plastic bin for those action figures." Heh.

9. What was your biggest failure? This isn't a failure, exactly, but it something that I lack, and I miss -- I gave up choral singing. I had kept singing in one performance chorus until this year, and in August when the renewal letter came around, I just couldn't bring myself to commit to it. Truly, it's a success in the "Saying No/Knowing Your Limits" category, but I still feel the loss. However, it's a huge win on Saturday mornings when I don't have to haul myself to a 4-hour rehearsal.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Plenty of illness, none of it serious. No injuries except the carpal tunnel syndrome during pregnancy. Oof.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Groceries. Seriously.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? DH's did! When he sent AJ away from the Thanksgiving table because the conversation of the grandpas and great-uncles turned impolite (not to each other, but re: politics).

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The Real Housewives of Atlanta. EPIC FAIL. Way to make Atlanta look bad.

14. Where did most of your money go? Say it with me: DAY. CARE.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Getting to stretch my maternity leave as long as I did. That worked SUPER WELL and it was such a great gift to myself. (Remember, I was off 8 weeks, worked from home 2 weeks and then took Fridays off for 3 more months? That was awesome.)

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Love You, by the Free Design. I downloaded it shortly after KT was born and I loved singing along with it while she and I were on leave.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? hm. I'd have to say neutral. No change. Is that bad? Are you supposed to say 'happier?'
b) thinner or fatter? woo hoo! thinner! (because I was PREGNANT, so it hardly counts)
c) richer or poorer? poorer. aren't we all?

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? The 30-Day Shred. I got started and LOVED IT, and then had to come back to work 5 days a week and gave it up.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Telling AJ to eat his dinner. (GRAND SIGH.)

20. How did you spend Christmas? At home with my family; my in-laws came to visit. Honestly, I spent a lot of it on the floor playing with the kids in our jammies. Bliss!

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? Oh, yes. :)

22. What was your favorite TV program? This important item, right after "did you fall in love." HA! I think I've said before: 30 Rock, 30 Rock, 30 Rock.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? There is a woman at work that I didn't even know last year, and she's difficult to deal with. I don't hate her. She's nice enough. But I experience stabby feelings toward her sometimes, yes.

24. What was the best book you read? Ahab's Wife, by Sena Jeter Naslund. I have never read Moby Dick, but this story of Captain Ahab's wife, Una, really gripped my mind. I loved it.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Didn't have one. I am so sad that DH and I have really left "new musical discoveries" behind. He used to be great about listening to the college radio station and ALWAYS developing his musical tastes. Now we just don't. We don't buy CDs, we don't download new iTunes very much... I don't know why. We NEED more music in our life, I think.

26. What did you want and get? A baby! AND, a niece or nephew!! My sis- and bro-in-law announced that they're having a baby! Eeeee! Oh, and also a programmable crock-pot. ;)

27. What did you want and not get? A raise. :(

28. What was your favorite film of this year? I like how they say "film," as if I've been seeing lots of good art films and not repeats of Ben 10: Race Against Time [ad nauseum]. My favorite film of this year was The Duchess; the one girly flick I got out to see.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Thirty-four, and not much.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Can't really say out loud. (wait... no, not THAT!)

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Laughable, as usual. I keep buying things that are either: Cheap from Target or Old Navy, and therefore, don't last (get holes!), or Cheap/Convenient from Marshall's across the street from my office, but end up being hand-wash only. Ugh. I seriously need a fashion assistant.

32. What kept you sane? Meal-planning and having family dinner together almost every night in 2008, despite some of the meals being from a box. I will say we are very successful at this, and I think it does keep us grounded, no matter how difficult the mealtimes sometimes are. (Sit straight. Eat your food. No dessert. Don't kick the table. Etc.)

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Sadly, Heath Ledger. I finally saw Brokeback Mountain this year and developed quite a fascination with him after that.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? GAWD. Let's not talk about it. No, I mean, I was stirred, for sure, by the election. I think I got most 'het up' when all the liberals/feminists were trying to say Sarah Palin wasn't "thinking of her faaaamily" in running for VP. Grrrr. Hypocritical.

35. Who did you miss? I wish my grandmothers could meet KT baby. I miss them both very much when I think about them. I miss my family in Florida. And in Copenhagen.

36. Who was the best new person you met? Ooh, my co-teacher in Sunday School. She is great. I'm worried about her because her husband lost his job right before Christmas.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Enough to eat is exactly that: Enough to eat.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. U2 always has good lyrics for questions like this. I think "Some Days Are Better Than Others" is pretty universal:

Some days are dry, some days are leaky
Some days come clean, other days are sneaky
Some days take less, most days take more
Some slip through your fingers and onto the floor

Some days you're quick but most days you're speedy
Some days you use more force than is necessary
Some days just drop in on us
Some days are better than others

Some days it all adds up
And what you got is enough
Some days are better than others.

We really did have a great year. Happy and healthy, and that's the goal, right? Play along if you like! Let me know - I love reading these things.

Trader Tuesday - Recipes... for disaster

I've had real trouble with my holiday goodies this week. I tried, first, to make my Grandmother's Cherry Bourbon Balls. I don't particularly love bourbon balls, but these are made with cherry licqueur and are better than most. Besides that, I had all the ingredients on-hand and knew I'd need to fill up some Christmas tins as gifts for our neighbors, and these are good for filling. But my walnuts were much too old. The finished product tasted stale slash awful, and ended up in my garbage disposal. Dismay.

I also made the most delicious of recipes, Swistle's mint-chocolate wonder. I do that in cookie form, and they turned out wonderfully! However, I didn't eat them all as quickly as I would have liked, and even though I've stored them in an airtight container, they're dry and crumbly now. Sigh.

Then I tried making what I call "Melanie's Extra Rich Chocolate Graham Bites," but surely they have a real name. I don't know. Those tasted good, but they were a bitch to get out of the pan. I used Pam, even, but they were so sticky and gooey and did not deliver on their promise that I could "cool completely, then turn out and cut!" Like it's so easy! "Ha, ha," they said.

Since they turned out the best, albeit the most sinister (and since they are the one recipe I can remember because it only has 3 ingredients), they are what I'll share today. Enjoy!

1 1/3 c. (I think... just use a whole sleeve) graham crackers, finely crushed
1 6-oz bag semi-sweet morsels (I sometimes use a few white choc chips to make my 6 oz, if I don't have a whole bag of regular)
1 can condensed milk

Mix up the ingredients. Pour into a 9x9" greased pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool completely and turn out, then cut into 1 inch bites.

Wrapping it up

This year has come and gone incredibly fast. Some highlights (courtesy of Wordle):

7 Quick Takes For a Friday

---1---

Is it REALLY Friday? Finally?? This week has seemed so long! So much to do! Wednesday and Thursday I just took the night off, though, from decorating or laundering or present-wrapping or baking. Last night I watched two episodes of 30 Rock, played on Facebook, and did little else. Tonight, though, I have to get productive. I'm planning to 1) bake something and 2) really give the kitchen a thorough cleaning before ALL the cooking of next week must begin.

---2---

Any Ally McBeal fans still out there? I find myself amused lately in the Unisex. (We actually DO have a Unisex! True story! It's a one-holer so you won't find someone of the opposite sex IN THERE, but it functions for both.) Seems I get to the office first nowadays, and this predicates something that makes me unreasonably happy.... I get a Fresh Bowl. Just like The Biscuit! Hee hee. I chuckle to myself every time. (And reading all his other eccentricities on that linked page makes me miss that show so much!) Strangely, I have never once listened to the show's CD which someone gave me as a Christmas gift several years ago. Might have to remedy that.

---3---

I'm having a hard time deciding WHAT to bake. I want to do some things that AJ will like, such as the easy cookies shaped like reindeer, that you make by slicing pre-fab cookie dough, pinching it in the middle, and putting on a red hot candy for the nose and mini-pretzels for antlers. BUT! Those aren't necessarily portable and I'm also baking for neighbors and coworker gifts. There are several old family recipes (Cathedral Candies, Sand Tarts, Bourbon Balls) but I'm feeling like they're a lot of trouble. Then there's Holiday Snow which is delicious, but not a cookie. What to do.

---4---

I'm getting tired of sharing our bed with AJ. God bless him, he comes in every night, and begins by sleeping on the floor right next to our bed (I toss one of our extra pillows down there to get it out of my way, and it has become HIS pillow). Later, though, once I'm GOOD AND ZONKED, he taps me on the arm and climbs into bed behind me. Sneaky kid -- I think he KNOWS I'm so far gone he can get away with it. I barely remember him doing this each night but I know I sit up so he can scoot into the middle. And then, 2 hours later I'm getting kicked in the back or poked up the nose. Last night I came to and dragged him back to his bed. He returned AGAIN. Usually, though, I don't even come to the first time.

What was I posting about it being a privilege yesterday? Hrmph.

---5---

Don't know what to do about Christmas Mass, as usual. It's so NOT a good time for Mass, y'know? (Isn't THAT the most despicable thing for a Catholic to say?) For one, it's a Wednesday/Thursday. For another, the 4:00 p.m. vigil Masses are packed with kids whose parents don't want to have to dress them up and haul them out the next morning. I hate the crowds even though I know, it's lovely that everyone wants to be there. But the next morning.... who wants to dress the kids up and haul them out?! There are presents! And coffee! And secular Christmas to celebrate! Plus, my in-laws aren't Catholic and none of THEM wants to get dressed up... You can suggest Midnight Mass and that I should just go alone, but ... whine. I don't want to be ALONE, and I need to get some CHURCH instilled in my kids, after all. I struggle with this every year.

---6---

Billing and reporting and invoicing and end-of-year, oh my! At work. These are a few of my non-favorite things.

---7---

I have five dollars in my wallet and I'm looking forward to Taco Bell for lunch today. Hee. I've eaten Office Holiday Potluck leftovers 2 days in a row (plus the actual Potluck making 3), and some good ol' fast food is going to be a welcome change. One of my Facebook buddies from West Texas was saying yesterday she ate an Allsup's (convenience store) burrito for lunch and felt no guilt. I've never had one of those, but I bet I would LOVE IT. I can chow down on low-budg burritos, LET ME TELL YOU. I like the kind you can buy frozen individually at the grocery store, and I used to LURVH the ones my elementary schools carried (both schools! different burritos!). My parents used to even get a bag of frozen ones from Sam's and MAN did I ever eat my share. Beans and whatnot wrapped in a tortilla? HAND IT OVER. :)


Go see Jen for other Quick Takes!

Privilege

Sometimes motherhood is Such Hard Work, y'all.

(Understate, much?)

We all find our little ways to get through the tough parts, especially at 1:00 a.m. MightyMaggie recently caught herself saying Hail Marys, and rediscovered the phrase full of grace. Her post struck a chord with me, because oh, MAN, I've prayed that prayer too sometimes when I'm desperately tired, but STILL AWAKE with a baby. Oh, Man. Dear Mary, YOU understand. YOU DID THIS, TOO. Please pray for me, and let me have just a teensy bit of your grace in motherhood. (NOT that I'm devout enough to pray as a usual response to midnight wakings. Usually I'm more grumbly than prayer-y, or still trying to figure out whatever wacko dream I've been shaken from ...while trying to find KT's (always missing!) pacifier.)

One night when I was baby-pacing and cold because KT's room is so stupid and badly insulated, and she was fitful on my shoulder and just wouldn't settle down, the thought crossed my mind -- it has to be God speaking when this happens, right? -- "What a privilege, to hold this child." I'm telling you this NOT because I am so wise and calm to KNOW THAT, but because I want to remember it, myself. That one thought has really kept me in check through KT's infanthood, and carries over into daytime life, too. When 29-pound AJ wants me to carry him down the stairs EVERY MORNING and I think, "But my knees hurt and I'm tired and he's HEAVY," I'm reminded that it's simply a privilege to carry him. Not only because of all the women in the world who'd do anything to have a 4-year-old to carry downstairs... but a little because of that. A little because he'll be 15 one day and won't let me near him. And a little because it just IS. A privilege and a gift to be a mother. To have need to beg for grace.

Maybe "privilege" is just another word, another way to say I'm counting my blessings. But it gets to the heart of each of my moments, lately, most especially the tender little ones with my family. I might have to call it a resolution for 2009: To recognize this life, all of it, as a privilege.

She's almost 10 months now, but whatevs

Rrr! I was going try to type a single entry, for once in my life, without being pissy, but two of my coworkers were just in here for 20 minutes CONVERSING IN ALL CAPS and would not SHUTTUP. Rrrr! So loud! So annoying! SO PISSY.

You know, I never did do a "3rd quarter update" on KT baby. She is getting so big! Man, it's hard to believe how fast the rush-wind of this year has flown. Blink! Here we are. I have to record the things I will want to remember of her right now:

• that she talks and talks while we eat dinner, "ba-ba-ba-baH-BAH!" getting louder and louder 'til the exclamation point at the end!
• that she is driving me CRAY-ZEE with the rolling over and standing up on the changing table! Sit Down, Young Lady, and get your pants changed like a good little incontinent!
• that she likes Napoleon's Squeaker almost better than toys -- it must taste the best judging by how she crams it into her mouth, eww
• that she also loves Little People, which AJ just didn't get interested in, probably because I introduced them too late; we've enjoyed the Mayflower and Thanksgiving sets, and now our Christmas Little People
• that she WAVES! Not "bye bye," but "hello. hi. da-da." With her whole arm, shoulder and everything
• that she really does say "Da-Da" to indicate Daddy! And once in a while, "Ma-Ma" means me
• that she still LOVES bathtime, and playing in the water, and getting splashed
• that she also still kicks her own feet when she sees something she wants, like her bottle, which is about the only thing left that still feels like a baby.

Hey, we re-sitemapped (work jargon, woo!) our living room for Christmas this year. With two kids now, and Grandparents, an Aunt-&-Uncle set, and possibly an extra dog (don't get me started) all coming to our house for the holiday weekend, we needed to get the tree out of the middle of the room. To say the least. Sofa - to the other side of the room with you! Coffee-table-bench, off to the side so that you're almost useless, but still might hold a Pepsi my Ginger and Seven while I'm admiring the beauty of twinkling lights. I'm really excited because we think we might leave our furniture thus arranged, minus the tree, after Christmas. I've always admired my friends who can rearrange their furniture every few months. It's such a great way to satisfy your decorating urge without really doing (buying) anything.

... I started this post at approximately 9:24 and it's now 11:50. In the meantime I've dealt with several headaches at work and so my train of thought is lost on the Track to Nowhere at this point. I'm going to eat my lunch now. And go to Party City for paper plates and napkins for AJ's class party. See ya.