Christmas

Well it was NOT fun. It started with me feeling kind of sick.. you know, like you are REALLY REALLY hungry and your blood sugar has dropped a million levels. I ate some cereal and it didn't stop. In fact, that feeling immediately switched to "Are you KIDDING ME?? You wanted to eat FOOD? What are you, INSANE"? And next thing I know I'm in the bathroom for the next 4 hours. A stomach bug had hit full force... Right in time for Christmas!! As a result we didn't go to see any family, we didn't have yummy food and I opened lovely and thoughtful presents from my husband in between bouts of losing whatever happened to be in my stomach. Which was not a lot.

I also did not get to cuddle or kiss my baby AT ALL since I was scared to death of passing this along to him. Instead I alternated between sleeping and being in the bathroom pretty much all day. The next day I felt weak and sick, but better. I kept down some dry toast. And thank God for this because the stomach bug had moved from me to Jeff and he was down for the count. Jeff, trying to be the considerate husband and father slept on our sofa that night, and boy what a mistake that was. He woke up in PAIN and feeling like he'd been run over. I took Nathan out for a little post-Christmas shopping at Target and came home to run our sheets and towels through the laundry. I also reconfigured our closet to hold the multitude of toys and clothing that Nathan now owns. Did I mention that Nathan goes through clothes like tissues?? I swear once a month I do purge of his bureau and start to move the "too big" clothes that are hanging neatly in the closet into the bureau and the clothes that he's outgrown into large rubbermaid bins. Clothes that he's never worn go into the donation box which is growing by leaps and bounds!

So today, I'm still feeling weak and tired, not completely like myself, and Jeff has managed to keep down some toast and jam (a small miracle all things considered). But it was definitely not the "Baby's First Christmas" I had planned. :-(

Adorable Baby Part Two

Nathan watching his first snowfall. And seriously, is he not the most adorable baby in the whole world?? Color me biased because I'm his mother but he is just cuteness personified!

Dislike for Yankee Swaps

I dislike Yankee Swaps. They are VERY popular this time of year and I just went to one last night at a company holiday party. Now my problem with Yankee Swaps is two-fold.

1. I never know what to buy. I always wait to the last minute and wind up getting something boring like a Dunkin Donuts gift card, or a trinkety item that I THINK looks cute when I buy it, and turns out NOBODY ELSE WANTS IT. That always happens.. always, and then I get annoyed that I had to shell out money for something that nobody wants/need/or even LIKES. It bugs me, and it bugs me even more this year when I've been so strict about cutting back. It's kind of like throwing money away.

2. It's hard to actually EXCHANGE a gift because you will invariably hurt someones feelings if you don't like what they've picked out for the swap. You can't open the present, smile, and say HELL NO as you look around at what everyone else to see if you can get something better.

Last night was no different, and I had spent my lunch hour at the Paper Store picking out a little gift. I wound up getting a sort of Christmasy style bracelet with matching earrings. Slightly over the $20 price limit, but I thought they were cute and somewhat kitschy and people might like to wear them over the holidays. Now what I SHOULD do is just pick my own damn gift. I mean... I already knew I wouldn't mind having the bracelet and earring set, but at the same time I usually go for a different present. This year I got a gingerbread kit and it's actually really cute - it's got all the trimmings to making a gingerbread house and I will actually try to make it, but now everyone at my work wants PICTURES of this house and I'm feeling a wee bit of pressure to make the blasted thing. No re-gifting here thank you very much!!!!! Though come to think of it.... I do have ANOTHER Yankee Swap to attend in a few days.. maybe I'll wrap this puppy up and bring it!! BUT.. my bracelet and earring set were deemed "lovely, but not my style" by the co-worker who picked it and promptly traded to someone else. Another co-worker who did NOT look pleased to get it. In fact, she looked so UNHAPPY with the gift I actually told her I had the receipt if she wanted to exchange it... How sad is that?? She said no, that she would be fine but it's very frustrating. I really should learn from this and just pick my own damn gift next time!!!

Addiction to The Company Store Catalog

Has anyone else gotten "The Company Store" catalogue in the mail?? I love this catalog with an unholy desire. I love EVERYTHING about it, and I always peruse the pages lovingly. Looking over each page of sheets and comforters and blankets, the color choices, the fabric choices... the patterns.... And depending on the weather outside, I change what fascinates me. Right now I'm interesting in anything that seems "warm". Down comforters, flannel sheets and fleece throws - I look over each page and examine the different "degrees of warmth" that they have, the "good" vs "best" pillows, and I ignore the insanely high price tag of everything I want. I know I've posted before how much I want the puppy dog flannel sheets, but right now I am longing for the following:


North Pole Flannel Bedding















Doesn't that look all lovely and warm and soft?? God I want to climb into the pages and get under the covers...

Down Blanket Throw

We already have one down blanket on the sofa and Jeff and I fight over it during the winter - we need another one.

Over-Sized Down Comforter

The description for the down comforter in particular is almost pornographic in detail:

Our exclusive Double Diamond™ comforter / duvet is filled with 600-650 fill power goose down for a more luxurious comforter / duvet.
300-thread count cotton cover is stitched through in diamond pattern.
Machine wash.
Made in La Crosse, Wisconsin, of fine imported materials.
What does supersize mean?We've taken our traditional comforter / duvet and given it a few extra inches to create a supersize, super luxurious comforters / duvets with a generous 15 in. drop (that's 4" wider and 10" longer on a queen size bed). As lofty and billowy as our traditional versions, only grander because you can never get too much of a good thing.

Doesn't that make you want to buy the comforter and curl up underneath it wearing some over-sized flannel pajamas and a nice mug of hot chocolate?? Because damn do I want to do that very thing. In the wintertime I LOVE getting into bed. I love the flannel sheets, the soft blankets, the thick comforters and burrowing under all those blankets until I am nice and snugly warm. Do I need to mention that Jeff HATES that I pile our bed with all those blankets?? He gets too hot and when we first started dating I had this SUPER thick comforter and Jeff would actually throw his leg OUT THE WINDOW because he was so hot. Out the window, and I lived on the THIRD FLOOR!! I also worry about Nathan not being warm enough... right now he's wrapped in his "Baby in a Bag" comforter thick sleeping bag and I worry that it's not thick enough. Maybe it's time to break out the fleecy baby footie pajamas as well?? Oh, and don't think we've forgotten Monty, because he just got his new fleecy jacket from:

http://www.nonudehounds.com/. So he's nice and warm too!

I've Come To Realize

I've come to realize...
1. I’ve come to realize that my chest-size ... is always fluctuating!
2. I’ve come to realize that my job …is sometimes just a means to a paycheck, and sometimes gratifying
3. I’ve come to realize that when I’m driving …I like to sing along to the radio, preferably Octane on Sirius
4. I’ve come to realize that I need …more sleep than I ever thought possible.
5. I’ve come to realize that I have lost …my sense of humor when I am bone tired
6. I’ve come to realize that I hate it when …people aren't straight up with me.
7. I’ve come to realize that if I’m drunk …I've had one glass of wine and will really, really regret it at 2am when Nathan wakes up
8. I’ve come to realize that money …can bring freedom
9. I’ve come to realize that certain people …are not worth the effort.
10. I’ve come to realize that I’ll always …be slightly insecure
11. I’ve come to realize that my sisters....is an intelligent, funny, amazing person who I am blessed to have in my life.
12. I’ve come to realize that my mom …is human.
13. I’ve come to realize that my dad … is always there for me.
14. I’ve come to realize that my cell phone …is my lifeline.
15. I’ve come to realize that when I get on Facebook …I love reconnecting with people from my past.
16. I’ve come to realize that today …is over way too soon.
17. I’ve come to realize that tonight …is always going to be long.
18. I’ve come to realize that tomorrow …holds much promise.
19. I’ve come to realize that I really want to …write a novel.
20. I’ve come to realize that life …goes very, very fast and not always in the direction you would like.
21. I’ve come to realize that this weekend …can't get here soon enough!
22. I’ve come to realize that marriage …takes work and patience and laughter
23. I’ve come to realize that my true friends …amaze me with their kindness all the time.
24. I’ve come to realize that this year …was not what I expected it would be.
25. I’ve come to realize that maybe I should …have gone into the medical field
26. I’ve come to realize that I’m totally terrified …of being a bad wife/friend/parent
27. I’ve come to realize that I love …being a Mommy
28. I’ve come to realize that I don’t understand …why people can be so nasty
29. I’ve come to realize that God …is everywhere
30. I’ve come to realize my past …may not be perfect but is not something I would ever change.

Adorable Baby with Santa

And yes, we took Santa to the mall to get his picture taken. Jeff said that he wouldn't do it every year, but I definitely would. Nathan was very good too I must say. He smiled and let Santa hold him and there were no water works. Of course next year that might be different when he figures out that he's with a STRANGER and that Mommy and Daddy are not there - but for now he was perfectly content being held for his picture. In fact the hardest part was getting him to smile AT THE CAMERA. He was fascinated by all the other boys and girls waiting and kept looking to the side and smiling at them. Cute - but slightly frustrating as we tried to drag his attention back to us. Oh, and the photographer kept calling him a baby GIRL. Ah well... at least the picture is beyond cute!

Christmas Shopping for now

So my friends, for Christmas shopping this year, where have you spent the most money? For me, it's Amazon.com. I've been getting some pretty great deals on Amazon.com and I've even found promotional codes for that site - something that I never thought I would find, and I've USED THEM! By scouring the web and looking at tons of gifts ideas and deals I've really made use of my dollars this year, and made use of the internet. In fact, I've used the internet so much I can't even imagine what my life was without it! Remember when there was NO INTERNET?? When we would pick up the phone and call someone? Or put pen to paper and write a letter? A REAL letter that got sent through the mail with stamps and an envelope. It just blows my mind how acclimated we all are with the internet and shopping and reconnecting with friends and reading stories, I just love it! Anyway, where have you all spent the most money on presents to date? Amazon.com is it for me, but if we're talking clothes for me - Old Navy. It's all about the most bang for my buck!!

Day 4 of Peanut Butter Jelly Time

Remember how I couldn't do the "no take out" challenge? Well it's amazing just how well I can stick to a challenge when I have NO MONEY. My bank account has exactly $35.00 in it until next Thursday. Yes, $35. Yes, I realize the slight irony that I have my age in money in my account, ans the sad reality that as an adult of 35 I still have such a pathetically low balance. On the plus side - all the bills are paid. The bills are paid, Nathan has clothes and diapers and food and is EATING BANANAS!!!! I KNOW..that's like real people food and while he still seems to think that we're crazy for giving him something other than formula...he's actually kind of chewing it. But back to money.... I'm lucky that everything is paid for, there's gas in my car to get to work, and there is definitely food in the pantry. And it's been peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch every day this week. I like peanut butter and everything, but it is getting a little old. Now the Katharine with more than $35 in her account would pick a day and perhaps go get chicken parmesean and ziti for lunch one day, or peking ravioli, or pick up take out one night. But this Katharine is BROKE..and still has some presents to get so it's been easier to "stick to the rule of no take out". But is it really sticking to the rules if I HAVE TO???

So I'll leave you all with this because even though I've seen it a million times I still think its highly entertaining:

Christmas Present Buying

I was going to attempt and head out this past Friday for my first ever Black Friday shopping spree. Unfortunately Nathan had other ideas and was a fussy, fussy baby the night previously. We can't blame it ALL on Nathan as we were staying with Jeff's father and step-mother in Randolph for the night and Nathan has been fighting a cough for the PAST TEN DAYS!! As a result, Nathan was an ANGEL all day at Thanksgiving dinner. He was passed from person to person and he only fussed slightly, and everyone marveled at what a "perfect baby" he was. Well that night, there was payment demanded for his wonderful behavior. He had NOT napped during the day - 31 people all oohing and aahing over him was WAY too over-stimulating for a 5 month old, and he was WIDE AWAKE. Needless to say he didn't sleep that night, and in fact he was so awful that Jeff did something he has only done twice before.

He brought Nathan to bed with us. Now if you know Jeff you know how strongly he feels against NOT bringing Nathan into the bed with us, so for Jeff to cave in on this issue means we were past the point of rational thinking. So the next morning there was no way in hell that I was waking up at 4:30am to shop. AND.. well we're broke. We're broke, broke, broke. Yeah, I know... what else is new???

But the whole broke thing really got me thinking about Christmas. As I get older I find the less I truly want under the tree, and instead I've been looking at several different sites and checking out toys for Nathan. So far Nathan has about 5 different toys and we've decided to stop there - after all, Nathan IS a baby and its not like he's keeping a score card about what he's getting. I plan on getting a few more books for his library, and that's about it. But for Jeff it's a different story. I just ordered two gifts for him and I've limited my budget to $150. Now that may seem like a lot, but in the past I've tended to go a little crazy with gifts at Christmas. I just like buying things, I like the whole process of thinking about what the perfect gift is, where to find it, and buying it and wrapping it. And I especially love watching people open the gifts. This time round I'm going to be looking for great gifts for Jeff that also don't cost a lot. It's going to require a lot more creativity from me, and I'm paying more attention to sales/bargains and the such so I can not only get more ideas about what to get him, but the best prices as well.

I've also crossed some people off my list. My sister and I for example decided last year not to exchange gifts and instead go out to dinner with each other. Karen is in London right now, so getting time with her is infinitely more precious than something material. I don't really exchange gifts with friends anymore (I think we're all in the same boat right now money wise!!), so the gifts also go to the following:

• My cousin
• My father
• My mother
• Jeff's mother
• Jeff's niece Alli and nephew Brian
• A $20 gift card for our postman (if you saw the hill of death we live on, you'd know the man deserves a little thank you for hiking up here to deliver our mail!)
• And I also need to get little gifts for the women who watch Nathan at Daycare. I'm thinking Dunkin' Donuts gift cards.... Though Jeff thinks this isn't necessary since we pay a LARGE sum of money for the privilege of taking him there....

Here's my question? What's your budget for the holidays? Do you exchange gifts with certain people, or with everyone? Who makes the list??

Thoughts on Spanking

I read a pretty interesting article on spanking, and according to the poll, about 49% of parents do spank their kids. You can reference the article here (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/detail?blogid=46&entry_id=51890). Now, I'm not a huge fan of statistics in general because personally I feel that statistics can be skewed to show favor to just about any argument, it's all in the way the numbers are presented. BUT, I did find it interesting to read all the different thoughts. Since I work in a pediatric dental office I see all manner of children. Well behaved, badly behaved, really badly behaved and so on. And the really badly behaved are bad. Real bad. I'm not talking about our special needs patients who obviously have reasons behind their behavior and different standards of behavior, I'm talking about kids who get away with EVERYTHING. I had one kid bat a balloon over my head repeatedly.. it bounced OFF my head several time IN FRONT OF THE CHILD'S MOTHER WHO SAID NOTHING! Not a word, not a peep, not even an ATTEMPT to discipline or correct her child. You know, that half assed "No Johnny, that's not nice" comment when the parent very obviously DOES NOT MEAN IT. Nothing. This parent let their little terror run rampant through the reception area, and she did it because hey! It's not HER house.. and what does she care if little Johnny causes havoc and destruction somewhere else. Because dammit, she's going to sit and read People magazine and find out all about the stripper who apparently had an affair with Fergie's husband and really there is nothing more important than that!

And I confess, I have thought in my own head that perhaps a spanking is something the demon child needs. But I'm not really a fan of spanking. As a child, I WAS spanked, and I have to say that my memories of it were not pleasant. And yes, I am completely aware of the fact that spanking is a punishment, and NOT supposed to be pleasant. But there seems to be something so undisciplined about spanking, that anger is getting the best of the parent and they are lashing out. So for now, I'm not on board with the spanking as a discipline method. Of course it's so easy for me to say something like that when I have a 4 month old and of course it's not even on the radar screen anytime soon, but Jeff and and I have discussed it and we're both pretty much in agreement that there will be no spanking in this house. Time outs, loss of privileges, of course. And perhaps a visit from Super Nanny if the need ever arises!!!

So my friends, what are your thoughts on spanking? Yes? No? Maybe???

Late Fall Attempt at De-cluttering

Our house is small - something I am sure I have driven home to all of you in the many, many entries I've written. And it's time to start decluttering again. I was looking around our living room/kitchen and there is so much STUFF. Lots and lots of STUFF. Where in the WORLD does it all come from?? I mean, I got rid of the gigantic dog crate, you would think that would open the place up a bit, but nope. There is still tons of STUFF all over the place. First thing I'm going to start with are my books. I stored probably about half the books I own... after a major purge before Nathan was born, and I think it's time to purge again. See, I have weakness for books and I tend to buy like 10 at a time. And I reread my books, but only the really good ones. So its time to go through my stash and get rid of the ones I didn't LOVE.

I've also been decluttering Nathan's room as time moves on. All the clothes he's outgrown have been storied in rubbermaid containers in our basement, and I've already started a large bin for his 6 month clothes. He's like a weed, this kid. It's crazy how fast he outgrows stuff.

How often does everyone else declutter? I tend to do it on an as needed basis, or when my OCD gets out of control and the STUFF makes me crazy....
I also want to go through the tons and tons of paperwork/mail and assorted catalogues that continue to multiple faster than rabbits. BUT, I don't want to go nuts and get all sorts of organzing things because Jeff and I are KIND of looking around for another house. A house where we can maybe entertain... a house where we can store the crap loads of baby crap that you apparently need these days in order to raise a child properly. And a house where there is more than one bathroom!! Ahhhh.. more than one bathroom would be sooooo lovely... so lovely... And a washer and dryer I don't have to exit the house to use! That would also be wonderful!

Oh, and my point was if anyone wants some books, let me know! I can send some your way, otherwise they're going into the donation bin!

Amazing Growing Baby

Holy Crap Nathan is outgrowing his clothes AGAIN! Now I know why my neighbor gets her kids clothing at yard sales and the such.... I cannot believe the rate that Nahan is growing. He's almomst 5 months old and he's wearing 6 months plus clothing. Today he wore 6-9 month sized clothing and was fine. The clothing was a LITTLE big.. but not too much so. Thank God I have a coupon for Carter's, I'm going to have to head on over there tomorrow and see if I can find any deals.

Oh, and HOW in the world does Nathan know when I've put him in something particularly cute and he should perhaps choose that very moment to spit up all over himself??? It's got to be more than coincidence that as soon as he's dressed in something particularly adorable that he takes that moment to upchuck over everything.

Donation Package

I decided on "1,2,3... Hi Baby" as the non-profit I'm going to give to this holiday season (you can see more about them here: http://friendsofpineridgereservation.org/organizations/123...Hi_Baby.shtml) and I've started collecting items already. The idea that a mother can't afford to get the necessities for her baby breaks my heart so I've been clipping coupons and watching specials and so far I have the following items:
2 bottles of Johnson's Baby Wash
Desitin diaper rash ointment
6 onesies for 3 month olds
socks size 0-6 months
a swaddle wrap in size large
Saline nasal spray

Not a lot, but I'm hoping to get a few more things like diapers and clothing and maybe some more baby wash and diaper creme. I've got a $5.00 off any purchase of $15 or more at CVS and I may wander down tomorrow during lunch and see what I can get. I may be broke but I can still help out in some small way... and it makes me feel better too! A win win situation all around! I would especially like to make this idea of giving around the holidays a family affair where we all get involved in a charity and gather items to help out, even Nathan will be able to help give. It would kind of be a nice tradition instead of the usual gimme, gimme, gimme that surrounds the holidays.

Keep in mind though, I'm no saint.... I'm already thinking of different things I might possible like for the holidays (cough... spa day.. cough.... cough...) and I am certainly already on the lookout for toys and the such for Nathan. What holiday traditions do you all embrace? Do you volunteer? Give?? Feel free to share, I'd love to see some more ideas!

Foot in Mouth Disease

Every time I open my big mouth in some sort of judgemental or high and mighty statement it seems I am DOOMED to do the very thing that I swore up and down I would not. Before we had Nathan I SWORE I would not be one of those parents who kept the baby in the same room with them. Swore it. SWORE it. And while we have only caved TWICE on bringing him into bed with us, he still sleeps in the same room. In a co-sleeper. Even though he's 4 months old. And now that he's getting too big for the co-sleeper, am I thinking of transitioning him to his crib? No, I am thinking of how to keep him in the room with us. We have a pack n' play that I believe I have mentioned previously, and here he is really enjoying his pack n' play time:

And I am really, really considering having him just start sleeping in the pack n' play in our room. But the pack n' play doesn't really look designed for long term sleeping, and the mattress doesn't seem that great. So what's a mommy to do?? Does anyone have any suggestions?? I know we could move the crib up into our room, but frankly I am DREADING taking that puppy apart and moving it. It was NOT easy to set up and we actually paid extra to have the delivery people do it. Thoughts? Comments?? Feel free to share!

Inability to Sit Around and Do Nothing

You know, I used to be able to do nothing. I'm home sick today and Jeff is home helping to take care of Nathan since I'm scared to death I'll get him sick so I've been avoiding picking him up. I HAVE done the following though:

Put in a load of Nathan's laundry (I swear I do his laundry like 2x a week)
Put away our laundry from yesterday
Dishes (twice)
Fed the dog and took him out
Sterilized Nathan's bottles and pacifiers (can we say soaking in boiling hot water?)
Started holiday shopping lists

I DID take a 4 hour nap though during the day, you know, because I feel LOUSY with a capital L! But I also hate staying home sick. I always feel so sluggish and blah, and while I should be enjoying the fact that I have a day where Nathan is being cared for and I can indulge myself in feeling better, I just can't seem to stop DOING things. I'm actually contemplating cleaning our bathroom because I have a day "to myself". What is WRONG with me???

Leprechaun in Space Movie Night

Well we worked our way through Leprechaun 1-3 and finally made it to "Leprechaun in Space". And oh boy was it worth the wait. It had EVERYTHING. I mean EVERYTHING. Like the writers had a huge brainstorm beforehand and didn't edit out any ideas. They threw it all in. There was:
Alien princess
Leprechaun
Space
DNA regeneration through blood
Androids
Half human/half robots
Crazy Scientists
Love Storyline
Insane DNA experiments
Mutants mixtures of spiders and scorpions
GIGANTIC LEPRECHAUN

It was all in there. Didn't matter that one part of the story was never solved, resolved or followed up. Or explained. The fact that the alien princess could regenerate is never explained, it just IS. And it's an excuse for us to later get a mutant of spider/alien/regeneration person that rips the pants off the lady scientist and spins lots of webs and eats flies and is just generally repulsive. Oh wait, the lady scientist isn't a scientist, she's a DOCTOR.. a doctor of BIOLOGY, meaning she's a BIOLOGIST. I got the serious giggles during that little explanation.

There was also a 1o second gratuitous shot of Alien Princess's breasts because in her culture, if royalty shows their breasts it means you are sentenced to death. It made absolutely no sense, it was just an excuse for her to flash, and is never mentioned again. All in all, it was highly entertaining and Jeff and I giggled our whole way through the movie. So, definitely worth it in the sense of renting. Though I still don't think we needed to watch 1-3 to watch this one. And just in case you want to see it again, here's the preview!

Bawling my eyes out

Did everyone hear about the missing baby in Florida that had been hidden in a chest UNDER A BED for 12 hours??? If not, here's the link:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/05/florida.baby.found/index.html

I was so glad to hear that she is alive and found safe, but so incredibly sad and mad that her own MOTHER had given her away and then reported her missing. I was also sad to see in pictures how tiny she is. Shannon is 7 months old and she seems TINY in comparison to Nathan. Nathan at 4 months is a chubba chub baby, and I feel like this little girl is itty bitty. I want this baby. I think they should just give her to Jeff and I and she can be Nathan's big sister. Let's face it, for all my complaining and being tired, I LOVE being a mommy. Love it. And since I haven't given Nathan away and had him LOCKED IN A CRATE UNDER A BED FOR 12 HOURS... it looks like I'm up for mother of the year in comparison. Don't think I'm not tempted to call Florida social services and ask if she needs a foster home. Think they'd let us bring her to Massachusetts??

Scary Movie

Jeff and I actually watched a scary movie last night. We not only watched it, but we watched it WITHOUT FALLING ASLEEP, and we enjoyed it! We were pleasantly surprised by the twists, and LIKED IT! This does NOT happen often so I thought I'd share it:





It's called "Trick or Treat" and it's kind of 4 short stories in one. If you are a looking for a good scary movie, rent it, it's worth it!

Halloween

Don't worry, pictures are coming, but I was interested in the contrast between this Halloween and Halloween's of past. This year we took Nathan to Marblehead where the idea was he would trick or treat with his cousins. Well this year it was REALLY warm out, really warm out. And the costume we had picked out was really warm. Cute, but warm. It was a little monster outfit and Nathan was soooo not having it. We took him trick or treating in his jammies because let's face it, he's 4 months old and really will have no memory of this night. BUT we did get a few pictures for the occasion, so that was good. Now here's where the night took a different kind of turn. Jeff and I spent the night in Salem, MA and on my urging, Jeff dressed up as Spock and went out. Last year we went out in Salem with Jeff's cousins David and Judith and had a blast people watching and checking things out. I thought, how much fun for Jeff to do that again this year?? I didn't go, I stayed in Salem with my baby and you know what? I was fine with it! Truly, I was fine with it. I got Nathan all snuggly in his pack n' play and I was out cold on the sofa next to him about 30 minutes later. No scary movie, no nothing... I was passed out. By 9:30pm people. On HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Now Nathan normally sleeps in a co-sleeper next to our bed and it's about bassinet sized, so not that big. The pack n' play however is a pretty good size. And Nathan took FULL ADVANTAGE of his room to kick his feet, squirm, and pretty much make as much noise as possible without crying. He kicked and kicked and thumped his feet and tried to roll over and was just generally a REALLY LOUD SLEEPER. Also, as everyone knows, houses make weird noises at night. And if you don't normally sleep there, you're not used to those noises. There were doors creaking, wind blowing, and generally all sorts of sounds that continually woke me up. Jeff is actually lucky that I woke up at 11:30pm when he and David got back because they didn't have any keys. I remember vaguely thinking it was a little late for trick or treaters before making my way to the door. And poor Jeff and David walked all the way home from Salem center in the rain. He was SOAKED.

All in all it was not a very memorable Halloween.... hopefully next year will be better!!

Love of Fall

I LOVE Fall. I really, really, really do. Especially since I'm old enough that I don't have to go to SCHOOL anymore! Seriously there are days when I think, "work sucks, but at least it's not SCHOOL" and than I laugh in an evil and demented manner.

But Fall I love. I love the chill in the air, I love hot chocolate (the real kind by Godiva made with milk and shaved chocolate), I love candy apples and the smell in the air. I love sweaters and boots and pretty leather jackets, and I love Halloween and Thanksgiving and generally just about everything. Some of my FAVORITE things about fall are as follows:

1. Flannel sheets on the bed along with our super warm down blanket
2. The mentioned hot chocolate made with shaved chocolate and milk
3. Sweaters, sweaters, and more sweaters. I have so many sweaters its ridiculous, and its yet another reason I need to lose weight because I have TONS and I'm not about to start replacing them.
4. Naps. Naps on the sofa curled up under a lovely blanket... and while I do NOT have the chance to actually TAKE naps anymore, I fondly remember lovely naps. I remember lounging on the sofa under a soft blanket with my pillow, stretching out and napping a Saturday afternoon away for hours at a time. God I LOVE naps.. love them, and miss them.

So what does everyone think of Fall? Like? Hate???

Disenchantment with Charities

I give to very few charities. Very few. In fact, the only ones I give to normally are the following:

• The Ocean Conservancy (http://www.oceanconservancy.org/)
• Fund for Animals (http://www.fundforanimals.org/)
• sometimes to Performing Animal Welfare Society (http://www.pawsweb.org/)
• and a charity for native Americans that I refuse to name because I am disgusted by them

I am angry because I recently found out that the charity I had been giving to, supposedly to help native Americans on reservations, keeps almost 80% of the donations and distributes it in salaries. Less than 20% goes to the actual people in need and this pisses me off big time. Now here's where I am WAY too trusting. I've been giving to this organization for YEARS. YEARS! I give every Thanksgiving and Christmas, and from time to time give for different fundraisers. Recently I had donated $50 to give packages of baby things to moms on the reservations. Supposedly the mom would get diapers, blankets, a baby tub and some toys. Now I realize that it's primarily a scam and I am soooooo ticked off. I wasted that money and the people I had wanted to help got very little. I don't know why stuff like this surprises me, I guess I'm just too trusting, but I did a little more research and found a place where they actually HELP the people on reservations.

http://friendsofpineridgereservation.org/

This place lists several donation events you can participate in and two of the ones I'm thinking of helping with are the following:
http://friendsofpineridgereservation.org/projects/Urgent_Supplies_for_Three_Preschool_Classes_at_Wolf_Creek_Elementary_School.shtml

and

http://friendsofpineridgereservation.org/projects/Turkey_Fundraiser_Donation_Drive.shtml

According to the different places I've researched this group actually gives ALL the purchased donations to the schools/churches and community, and they rarely ask for cash donations. I like the idea of picking out items from a list and sending them, and I'm thinking I'll pick up some diapers the next time I'm out and about and send them off. Diapers are PRICEY... very pricey.

Anyway, this holiday season I'm thinking I'm going to concentrate more on things like this rather than getting more STUFF for me. Because let's face it.. I don't really NEED more stuff. Well, Nathan always needs more stuff.. but I don't! ;-) Of course if Jeff is reading this I can always use a gift card to say... Macy's!!! Or perhaps for a pedicure!!! Hey.. I'm only human after all! ;-)

Does anyone else have any favorite charities they give to?

Size

I am a size 16. Check that, I am a WOMAN'S size 16. That means that I can't wear a size 16 pants unless I am in the WOMAN'S department. Now there is nothing wrong with being a size 16, nothing at all. But I'm not exactly thrilled to be here. So I'm going to be starting a work out routine. I won't join a gym because I don't know when I'd actually GO to the gym... so it's time to break out the exercise DVD's. And I have a LOT of exercise DVD's. I get suckered into buying them in a fit of good intentions.. work out for a week and then something happens and months go by while they collect dust. I read somewhere that it takes 21 days for something to become a habit so my new challenge is starting tomorrow to do ONE exercise DVD. Even if it's only for 15 minutes.. I have to do it. It's going to be hard because... well, I'm lazy. And right now I have the world's best excuse for lazy. I'm exhausted and have a 4 month old baby at home. My "down time" is precious. But since I don't have an infinite supply of money, and most of my clothing is NOT a size 16, I need to lose some weight. So looking forward to dusting off my DVD's and if I'm so inclined maybe I'll even post a little review of them so you can all see if the routine is actually doing something.

Wish me luck, I don't do well with "Challenges" (in case you didn't notice from the failed "no take out" attempts I've made), so I need lots of good wishes sent my way!

Inability to Accessorize

I love jewelry. I love "statement necklaces" - you know, necklaces with large stones and interesting gems and textures, and I love broaches and bracelets and scarves. I however, have NO idea how to accessorize. AT ALL. This was hammered home this past weekend when I attended a "Lia Sophie Jewelry Party" and I found myself drooling over all sorts of gorgeous necklaces and matching earrings. One by one I tried on all the beautiful pieces, and one by one I discarded them. Those gorgeous "statement necklaces"? Did not work on me at all. They looked odd to me, and I just knew I wouldn't be able to carry them off. Now I have a few necklaces in my jewelry collection already, and I wear them on occasion (my favorite one right now states Nathan's birth date, weight, inches on it and I got it from Jeff). And I have a few pieces of faux gemstones from my Grandmother's collection. Now my Grandmother.. that woman could accessorize. She had scarves and pins and rings and necklaces and all sorts of sparkly and dazzling things. My sister and I would sit and play with her jewelry for hours when we visited (And her jewelry took up two drawers in a dresser... TWO DRAWERS). That ability to "dress up" or "dress down" an outfit is lost to me. I have no idea just what looks best on me.. and how to pair a normal sweater with just the right broach to make it "pop".

I mean, on a normal day my jewelry is my wedding bands, maybe my Nathan bracelet or necklace, and a pair of earrings. IF I'M LUCKY!! Sometimes it's just my wedding bands and everything else goes bye bye...

So does anyone have any hints for the accessory challenged such as myself? I saw so many beautiful necklaces I would have loved to purchase but I just know they would sit in my jewelry box untouched and unloved....

Updated

Does it count if JEFF bought take out? Technically I was not the one to give and get the chicken Parmesan subs for dinner... it was Jeff. Am I still in the game?? Or did we once again fail miserably????

Food intake to Date

I know.. you are all DYING to know how I'm doing on this self-imposed challenge. Well, it's Wednesday and I have not done take out yet. I DID however get lunch out today when the Doctor at my work took me and the other admin girls out to brunch at the local chinese restaurant. It was yummy and didn't cost me a penny. Score!!! And for dinner tonight? That would be Raisin Bran and milk. Hey! It was quick and easy and required no thought. oh, and it didn't cost anything.

Let's see if I can keep this up for the rest of the week!

Future/Destiny

Jeff has been watching this show called "Flash Forward" where the whole world passes out at the same time and has visions of the future. It got me thinking - if I had a chance to look into the future, would I? I think knowing the future can be scary... too scary. Like, if you see something bad would you bring about that very same bad thing as you try to prevent it? Or do you bring about that bad thing because you think the future is a done deal and you can't prevent it? I think the whole fortune-telling/know your future scenario is never a good thing. Unless of course we're talking about knowing the next pick for the Mega Millions, than I'd LOVE to know the future. I'd be ALL ABOUT knowing the future.

So what do you all think? If you COULD know the future, would you take that opportunity to see it?

Oh, and a quick update. Day two after making my "no eating out post" and I'm hanging in there! It means I had cereal last night for dinner, and Stouffer's chicken Parmesan for dinner tonight. Tomorrow night, I don't know what we're having, but hopefully it won't be take out!!!

Rough Mommy/Wife Night

Oh it's been a rough, rough Mommy/Wife weekend. Jeff had to work most of the weekend and I was home all day with Nathan. Now, I don't MIND being home all day with Nathan, but Nathan is still sick. So he's not sleeping well. And by not sleeping well I mean getting up about every 4 hours and having a very difficult time going to bed. Lots of crying means lots of running upstairs for snuggles and kisses to calm him down before I put him back in bed and then have to repeat the process again and again. He wakes up SOOOOO upset and screams his little head off. I know part of it is he is overly tired from not sleeping well, he's all stuffy and sick, and he just wants comfort. But oh my oh my is it exhausting. Exhausting!!!!

I also felt so bad that I'm not entertaining him enough - that I don't keep him as occupied as they do at daycare, so I tried really hard to do things like singing and playing with toys and I even tossed in some "tummy time". One thing we did he REALLY liked was he pretended to stand. I held him under his arms and let his feet rest on me as he pretended to "stand". He LOVED that and just laughed and laughed. That was definitely fun, but oofah he was soooo cranky for most of the time. Jeff would come home from an exhausting day at work and I'd be passed out on the sofa with Nathan on the bouncy seat in front of me.

I wish I had something funny to add but oh my it was a hard weekend. Jeff wanted to go grocery shopping today and I just couldn't. I was too tired. Instead we came home and took turns with Nathan until he finally passed out around 8pm. And may I add that Jeff wasn't far behind.. he's sleeping next to me on the sofa right now as I type this! Here's hoping that this up-coming week is better!

Pretend Shopping at Macy's.Com

One of my favorite things to do is "pretend shop". That's when I go to a site such as Macy's and fill the cart with all sorts of goodies just to see how much everything would cost. Last night I pretend shopped for various "wants/needs" like black flats, black pants, a dress, and two tops from Macy's. Grand total was just under $500. Not bad, right?? The store is having this huge online Columbus Day sale and once again I am grateful (well, kind of grateful) that I don't use credit cards because the temptation to buy all these items is really.... really GREAT. I want them NOW. And I've already semi-justified everything because they are practical and I am still too fat for my pre-pregnancy clothes. BUT.... I've held off. I haven't gone scrambling through credit card receipts to find my Amex card number... I haven't tried to tell Jeff that we should raid our daycare fund so I can get clothes... instead I have moved on.

This whole getting out of debt thing is HARD!

So I'm going back to one of my ideas, which is no take out. I've decided that I will not get take out from today until Friday. That's 7 days. I can do this. 7 days with no take out.... Even if it means I'm eating cereal for dinner every night, there will be no take out. I've failed at this task previously, so I'm really hoping I can follow through now. And who knows, maybe by Christmas time I'll have a spare $500 to go shopping!

Irritation Level

So I've lost 33 pounds and can still only fit into a teensy, tiny part of my pre-prgenancy wardrobe. Like maybe a few shirts, one dress... and one pair of fat jeans. I know... it took me 9 months to gain the weight, it will take time to take it off. I understand that and for the most part I'm fine with it. But I get VERY irritated by celebrities doing insane things to shed their baby weight in like a DAY.... it just annoys me. I have other things to worry about like WHEN WILL NATHAN GET OVER HIS COLD. Seriously people he has had this cold for almost 2 weeks and while he's getting better he still has SUCH a hard time sleeping so this is his favorite way to sleep right now:

Okay, who am I kidding... this is his favorite way to sleep ALL THE TIME! He loves this. And while it's lovely to have a snugly baby all curled up on you there are times I would like to do the following:

Pee

Sleep

Perhaps eat something

Stretch my legs

Pee

Anyway, I was further irritated by "The Kardashians". Yes, I am forever ashamed that I know who they are, but one of them, I think Kourtney?? Is pregnancy by her asshat of a boyfriend and he actually made a statement about how glad he is that the baby will know Kourtney while she is "young and hot" and not an "OLD HAG"!! A HAG???? Because I know when Nathan is screaming in the middle of the night the most important thing to him is HOW I LOOK. If I don't have my make up perfectly applied and my hair done he wants nothing to do with me. GAH!

Worst Movie Experiences

So 'Rotten Tomatoes" put out their hundred worst movies of the last decade list (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/worst_of_the_worst/2/)and I took a minute between walking around the house with Nathan on my shoulder to peruse the list and see if I'd happened to see any of the movies.

Here's the movies I've seen that have made the list:
The Fog #66 (made me want to hang myself, awful, awful, awful...)
BloodRayne #48 (so bad it was laughable and has the most awkward, cringe-worthy sex scene I have ever had the displeasure of viewing. You seriously want to scrub your brain with bleach after)
House of the Dead #42 (actually not that horrible if you realize it's a Grade B zombie movie with no real plot!)
Code Name: The Cleaner #37 (I think Jeff rented this and I half watched it while playing my Sims on my laptop - I don't remember much about it but it did have SOME funny moments)
The Covenant #31 (I saw this in the THEATRE and I believe it was my choice so I have no defense here but the movie was somewhat entertaining even if the teens did look like they were in their 30's!!!)
Battlefield Earth #27 (I saw this at someones house during a "bad movie night party")

Now that I've fessed up, who else feels like letting the world in on all the horrible, horrible movies that they've seen? I would like to add "Van Helsing" to the list btw.. that was such horrid, horrid crap... and with a HUGE special effects budget to boot!

Family

Well Nathan still has the sniffles so Jeff stayed home with him yesterday and I'm home with him today. Poor baby is all sniffly and congested, not as bad as he was a couple of days ago, but not good either. He's been sleeping a little more during the day, but we've been watching him to make sure he's still eating well and interesting in what's going on around him. Last night he slept all bundled up in his fleecy sleeper from about 7:30pm - 4am and around 10pm Jeff and I were getting ready for bed ourselves. Jeff was teasing me about my day off and what I would be doing and I told him it wasn't REALLY a day off. At least not a day off like I used to have. My day instead revolves around Nathan and keeping him happy and well fed and dry and entertained. Not like before him where I would perhaps lounge around and paint my nails and maybe watch a movie curled up on the sofa. For now, those days are gone. It's weird to contemplate in a way.

But then this morning I was reminded that though those days are gone bye bye, we have different days ahead. See, 4am Nathan was fed and changed but was coughing too much in his co-sleeper to sleep comfortably. So we did what we have only done once before. We brought him into bed with us where I propped him up next to me so my arm cradled him. Snug as bugs in a rug. And wouldn't you know he settled right down. No coughing, no fussing, just looked around at us and feel deep asleep. Although I should add that babies move a LOT when they sleep and I got whacked in the face and throat more than once over the next few hours, but still I can't complain!

Search through Craigslist

Searching through Craigslist I was looking for potential yard sales for this weekend. I also always peruse the "part-time" job category to see if there's any part time position I might take. It's more habit than anything else as I really don't have the energy for a second job, but I still look. And I found this doozy (the misspellings are not mine by the way, I just copied and pasted):

Candidate should look really presentable and also willingness to help and grow. Looking for a really smart, presentable candidate who can not only answer phones in a pleasant voice but do the following additional duties. Candidate has to demonstrate willingness to assist the owner in all areas. Looking for a multi tasker. Candidate should have excellent communication skills and willingness to learn and grow. If you aspired to be a model, love to work in an internationally diverse firm, interested in assisting the business in all areas.. of professional and personal duties. (answering phones, running errands occassionally, ensuring visitors are served in fine bone china, coffee and drinks, keeping the kitchen stocked, assisting in filing, maintaining the office by ensuring all aspects of the office function smoothly , being in charge of supplies, copiers, faxes, telephones, computers, helping in travel booking for the owner, ensuring corporate lunch is served in a professional fashion. Are you a person focussed on excellence and attention to detail? Then if you are, then email us a paragraph of who you are and your ideas to schedule an interview. We are looking for someone presentable, dynamic, efficient so as to give our organization a wonderful "first impression" of excellence, sophistication and class. Basic knowledge of computers is a must... Email/Internet/Word... Do you know how to work with apple?

And what caught my eye was the emphasis on being "presentable". Now as a former receptionist I know that looking good is definitely key. Sadly we are a society that judges by appearance, but this ad REALLY rings the alarm bells. It talks about how you need to be "really presentable" and "aspired to be a model". so not only do you need to be computer literate, attention to detail, be dynamic and have a great speaking voice - but MODEL GOOD LOOKS are also key. Somehow I get the feeling that the MAN (yes, I'm making a stretch and assuming the writer is a MAN), is looking for eye candy who can do all his dirty work and for the low, low price of $10 an hour. Yup, he wants model good looks at $10 an hour. Good luck to him I say!

Need to Establish a Work Out Routine

So I need to get back into the habit of working out. Even if its only like 30 minutes daily, I need to do it. I always FEEL better when I'm exercising regularly (even if I loathe actually DOING it), and I have a feeling it will be the only thing that helps me shed some more baby weight. It's just that I am sooooo tired. I know I should work out in the morning, but here's what my day looks like now:

5:30am - wake up and take shower
5:50am - in bathrobe I make about 5 bottles for Nathan and put them in the fridge so they are ready for Jeff to take to daycare
6:00am - get Nathan up, changed, and fed while Jeff showers.
6:15am - 6:45am - make-up, dress, blow dry hair, grab lunch and out the door usually between 6:30am and 6:45am (I need to be at work by 7:30am)
7:30am - 5pm - work
5:30pm - 6pm - pick up Nathan from daycare
6pm - 7pm - get Nathan fed, bathed, and into jammies so he's ready for bed (though we don't give him a bath every night. I mean, he's 3 months old.. he doesn't really get dirty.)
7pm - 7:45pm - help Nathan go to sleep. My routine consists of lots of cuddles, swaddling, and a pacifier. I keep the lights low, the white noise machine on, and I lie next to him and keep putting the pacifier back in his mouth until he's sound asleep.
8pm - some sort of dinner
8:30pm - 11pm - I do a wide range of things. Sometimes I take Monty for a nice long walk, I work on my laptop, read a book, watch a show.. and get in bed ready to do it all again the next day.

No real time to work out. I COULD get up at 5am and do it, but I really don't want to. I am sooo over-ambitious when I SET the alarm the night before, but I haven't worked out in the morning yet. Help me out people, any suggestions???

Newest Purchase

On Saturday Jeff and I went to the Marblehead Crafts Festival with friends. It was advertised as having a chowder and chili fest, crafts fair, hay rides. It looked like soooo much fun. Reality was not as much fun as we planned. The hay ride had no hay.... and the chowder and chili fest were really two booths... and the crafts at the fair were sooooo expensive. I saw a painting I really liked until I saw the price tag of $1500. PASS!!

But I DID find this:

Why yes it is a DUCKY SWEATER!! How cute is this??? The woman selling these sweaters was like a hundred years old and she was adorable. She had sweaters of all sizes, colors, and they were beyond cute. I bought this one for Nathan, and my friend bought one for her daughter. Jeff, however, was not as thrilled with the sweater as I was. He thinks it's "therapy in the making" for Nathan. My feeling is there's only going to be a short time where I can dress Nathan in whatever I want with no feedback from him. So NOW is the time for ducky sweaters!!! Thoughts? Is this a cute sweater or am I just giving Nathan things to talk about when with his therapist?

Cold

Ugh... Sick. Sick and had a lousy day at work. Just didn't feel like myself, you know? Where I kind of felt out of it and only half there. Very unmotivated. Jeff is out for the night at his monthly karaoke thing and I'm home and feeling LOUSY! I'm really, really hoping that Nathan sleeps for most of the night as I'm scared to death I'm going to get HIM sick.

My baby made it through his first week of daycare and apparently he's liking it because he comes home EXHAUSTED. I give him a bottle, we give him a bath and he is out cold. And he stays fast asleep until like 4am. So the daycare thing has definitely been harder on me than it has on him. And some of the hard things are:

1. Picking him up. While I'm ECSTATIC to see Nathan.. he's not really super excited to see me. He's usually really tired and/or hungry and my drive home consists of him passed out cold, or cranking for a bottle. Keep in mind that all daycare reports are of him behaving WONDERFULLY so apparently his Dr. Jekyll personality only comes out for me. Fabulous.

2. He goes to bed so soon. I don't want to force him to stay awake when he's so obviously tired, but that means he goes to bed now between 6:30pm and 8pm. So we really don't see much of him on daycare nights. And that sucks because at work I really do think of him a lot and I miss him bunches.

3. It stinks that I'm not as good at keeping Nathan occupied during the day as the daycare workers are. Yes I realize that part of the great thing about daycare is he is with OTHER BABIES, and obviously I can't provide that... it's just hard to thin that I might not be doing a good job with him when we're alone. I had joined a Mommy Group with the idea that I might actually go out and do things with other moms... but the group just disbanded. Sigh... I'll find another at some point, but that kind of sucked.

Anyway, it's a sniffly and sneezy kind of night and I have a feeling I'll be going to bed myself very soon!!!

Super Irritation

I stopped watching "John and Kate Plus 8" awhile ago. I stopped because it was kind of the same show every time, and watching the parents bicker was not fun. I also hated hearing about their divorce and how the two parents seem to have morphed into complete and total media whores. Frankly I think they should stop the show and concentrate on raising their children in as stable a home as possible without television crews filming every minute. But that's me. I did however read something about them today that really, really pissed me off.

Some time ago the couple purchased two German Shepard puppies for the family. This raised alarms because Kate, the mom, was always completely OCD about the family and house being clean and puppies... well puppies have accidents. But the family got the puppies and are now... GIVING THEM BACK TO THE BREEDER.
See story here:

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/jon-gos
selin-gives-up-familys-dogs-claims-kate-refuses-to-care-for-them/27983


OMG does this piss me off like you would not believe. This family has MILLIONS of dollars. MILLIONS. And they are returning the puppies since apparently this former couple is too selfish to work together and come up with a solution for keeping them. Like maybe, hiring a dog walker. They can freakin' afford a dog walker to come three times a day, every day for the rest of the dogs' natural born lives, but instead. Dogs go bye bye. You know, having a pet is a COMMITMENT. It's hard work. And at times irritating and expensive. But that animal is completely and utterly dependent on you for EVERYTHING. Food, vet care, attention... you name it, that animal cannot get these things for themselves. They need us, their people, to provide them. And in return they give us unrequited love. It's a pretty fair trade, and the idea that a family is just returning their beloved family pets like a sweater makes me insane with rage.

Maybe I'm just really sensitive to this issue since I worked in an animal shelter and I saw pets given up for all sorts of awful reasons. One cat was given up because it didn't match the new sofa. Swear to God, that was the reason. Pets are not just for when its convenient for you. And for a public "personality" like these people to return their pets like it is nothing just burns me up inside.

Okay, stepping off my soapbox for the evening!

Early, early morning

Around 3:30am this morning I was woken up by.... no, not Nathan. Nathan was peacefully sleeping in his co-sleeper all swaddled up and comfy cozy. No, I was woken up by Jeff who was prowling around the windows and peering out into the night. Here's the conversation as I recall:

Jeff: Effing raccoons. Those bastards are in the garbage, I can see them!
Me: Huh?
Jeff: Raccoons are in the garbage, little bastards woke me up.
Me: What?
Here's where Jeff goes downstairs and leaves me to wonder if the whole thing is a figment of my imagination. Nope, I hear the front door open and Jeff is outside turning on his car alarm which is parked next to our trash can. I shake myself awake, peer in at the oblivious Nathan and head downstairs. Together, Jeff and I walk outside and look to see if the raccoons have been scared off. We see nothing. The garbage has obviously been tampered with, the lid is off, and the bag has been ripped open. But no raccoon. Apparently it didn't enjoy having its little midnight snack interrupted. I was kind of bummed not to SEE the raccoon because I personally think they are adorable, but since Jeff was still thinking of ways to kill them, it was not in my best interest to mention how cute they are.

I also didn't mention that my sister and I used to feed the family of raccoons near our house. We'd leave them peanut butter and bread (on napkins so it wouldn't get dirty) and one night we tossed hot dogs out the window to them. My father had no idea that Karen and I were apparently hosting an all you can eat for free buffet for the raccoons of the neighborhood and did everything he could to discourage them. Alas his efforts were no match for our passion for baby raccoons! We fed them every chance we got!

I won't be doing that now because I suspect Jeff would NOT be happy. But I have thought about it. Meanwhile I've got to head outside and pick up all the garbage that was thrown everywhere, see, raccoons enjoy leftover Chinese food as much as I do!

Christmas Presents for EVERYONE

I know nobody listened to me earlier about the awesomeness that is Quacker Factory. And shame on all of you, SHAME. But since I know nobody listened I can confidently purchase the following items as Christmas presents for EVERYONE with no fear of any of you already owning this little gem.

Yes that IS a "Glamour and Shine Zip Front Cardigan" that comes in an assortment of colors. Personally I cannot WAIT to see everyone's expression when they open this little gem!

Sadness over Patrick Swayze Passing

I loved Patrick Swayze from the moment I saw him in "The Outsiders". He was soooooo handsome and insanely good looking, and never mind that is character was trying to hard to do the right thing and raise his brothers. I swear if it was possible to marry a book/movie character, I would have done so. I love just about everything that he's ever done, and the fact that he married his high school sweetheart and they STAYED married and for all reports happy for over 20 years?? Made me love him all the more.

Favorite Guilty Pleasure

I love TLC, "The Learning Channel". Love it. If there's a show on this channel, odds are good I'm watching it. Currently I tape "Say Yes to the Dress" and "Masters of Reception", and I am also known to tape episodes of "LA Ink" if I see a preview that appeals to me. But the BIGGEST guilty pleasure on TLC? That's the shows about medical mysteries such as conjoined twins, primordial dwarves, the world's tallest teenagers and more. I love, love, love these shows. And Jeff HATES these shows. In fact, the only show I refuse to watch on TLC is "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" because my God am I sick of hearing about these people and I feel so bad for the kids. But everything else? Game on people, I'll watch it.

Now Jeff can put up with shows like "Say Yes to the Dress", but he draws the line at the shows about conjoined twins and the such. I wanted to watch the world's oldest conjoined twins (two brothers who actually supported their entire family with their work in a Carnival Side Show", and he absolutley drew the line there. He would NOT watch it, and in fact was so disgusted he refused to even be in the room with it on the screen. So I taped it to watch it later. I'm not quite sure WHY I love shows like this, and since there are so many of them on I suspect I am not the only one. I think I'm just really, really nosy and I like to know how other people live and I am fascinated by people overcoming challenges, and well.... I just like to watch them. I can't really justify it anymore than that.

Does anyone else find themselves addicted to TLC??? I promise I won't tell Jeff if you are!

Horrible, horrible day

You know how you just have a FEELING that you're going to have a bad day and that you should perhaps stay in bed with the covers over your head?? Today was one of those days.

I'm going to take you through my day by steps and you can all feel SOOOOO much better that your day did not suck ass like my own personal day.

1. Nathan did not sleep well. Yes, I realize he's only 3 months old and thus all bets are off with sleep, but he usually does a good 6-7 hour stretch and I've become rather used to that stretch and when I did NOT GET IT, I was a wee bit put out.
2. Of course we all know that Nathan, being my adorable and precious baby who can do no wrong, does not get the brunt of my anger. Oh no.. I save that for my HUSBAND! So Jeff tried to do something nice and took Nathan out of the bedroom around 6am and went downstairs so I could sleep in. (To be fair, Jeff was out last night with friends having drinks and BEING SOCIAL while I was home with Nathan, but still, it was nice of him to let me sleep).
3. I woke up a little past 6am to howling wind and torrential downpours when I remembered that our basement door was unlocked. It was unlocked because Jeff had put in a load of laundry last night and we hadn't brought it up. So I went tearing down the stairs and threw on a pair of sandals while I told Jeff I was going to lock the door and get the laundry. Apparently in my rush I was talking louder than I would normally and I woke up Nathan. This sparked a "discussion" between Jeff and I myself.
4. My package of "fat clothes" came in the mail and the jeans were a little snug. Let me underline that for you. I got clothes in sizes I have NEVER WORN IN MY LIFE and the jeans WERE TIGHT. This was not destined to put me in a good mood. I sausaged my ass into the jeans and went about my day.
5. Jeff and I spent $200+ on things for Nathan. Fun things like oh, diapers and wipes and formula and new bottles and God the excitement never ends! As a result we are broke, broke, broke and this of course makes me want to spend, spend, spend or eat, eat, eat which is why we are broke and I am fat - but I digress.
6. On the way home from Babies R Us I had "An Incident". Without going into too many details I suddenly, and urgently needed to use a bathroom. IMMEDIATELY. Did it matter that Jeff needed to pick up a prescription? Hell no. Did it matter that Jeff wanted to deposit a check to cover our spending spree mentioned earlier? Not in the least. I forced Jeff to drive home at breakneck speeds where I RACED to the bathroom and got there just in time. I left Jeff to bring in Nathan and the gazillion of bags and boxes that we had picked up at Babies R Us.
7. I made Jeff use the plunger on the toilet.

Anyone feel like telling me about their own horrible day?? You know, to try and make me feel better??? ANYONE???

Love/Hate Relationship with Lottery Tickets

Jeff and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary on September 8th. I got Jeff just a few things since we're still trying to watch our pennies. I got him the following:
A Card
Two bags of jellybeans
4 scratch tickets ($5 each so a total of $20).

See, Jeff buys scratch tickets from time to time, and he will even occasionally buy a lottery ticket if he remembers to. Me? I'm not a big fan of the lottery. I kind of feel like it's a waste of money and that if I was going to buy lottery tickets I would be better off putting that money in a savings account. Of course I watch things like "The Lottery Changed my Life" and I want to run out and buy tickets because of course I fantasize about WINNING the lottery. But I almost always regret the purchase. I mean, if I DO win, it's like a dollar. And poor Jeff? The tickets I got him were complete losers. And I'm slightly annoyed I spent the $20 on the tickets and perhaps I should have got him a gift card to like Starbucks or something. At least than I wouldn't feel like I had thrown money down the drain.

What do you guys think? Do you play the lottery? If so, do you play often?

Neighborhood aka Party Central

Right now there are two houses across the street from Jeff and I having parties. The house across from us has a steep driveway that ends right in front of our house. Or to be more exact, right into Nathan's room. This makes me kind of nervous since these parties include drinking. Quite a bit of drinking. Granted, Nathan sleeps in our room right now (in a co-sleeper next to our bed) but his nursery is right next to the street. Not really a big deal since we live on a private road with mostly families. But across from us is Party Central and there's a couple of guys who live there that throw loud get togethers. (Let's not forget Disco Ball Fred who lives on our other side, but he's been pretty quiet lately since getting a girlfriend). And right now there is loud music, drinking, and lights. Nathan is passed out upstairs in our room and I have the air conditioner running to help drown out the noise, but I'm pretty ticked off. This is a residential neighborhood. A residential neighborhood with families. On one side of us is a family with 4 kids, and across the street is a family with 2 small kids. At the top of our hill is another house with 2 kids. So it's pretty family oriented and I don't know what would possess single men to buy homes in this neighborhood. And personally I think it's pretty disrespectful to have loud music going on at all hours of the night. It's not like these guys don't KNOW there are small children living near them, so I just don't get it. Anyway there's no real point to this post other than I'm irritated and it's making me want to move Nathan's crib into our room to keep in safe.

Dog

See how I wrote just a few hours ago that I cleaned the living room? Vacuumed the rug and all that? Well Monty just deposited the entire contents of his stomach ALL OVER MY NICE CLEAN RUG.

Why do I even bother?

Sick Day

What is it about me that has an inability to sit around and do nothing when I'm sick?? I've been cranky and tired and just plain achy these last few days and in an effort to be nice Jeff took Nathan to a brunch with his family - leaving me with the house to myself. Well I slept till about 9:30am (BLISS!!!) and took a shower and then...

I vacuumed the kitchen and living room
Pulled up our throw rug and vacuumed underneath it and put down a rug pad
Cursed at rug pad because it was too small but wound up using it regardless
Mopped kitchen floor
Took out trash
Ran laundry

And I also really, really miss my baby. See, Jeff took Nathan with him. Since birth, I do not recall being in the house without Nathan. Jeff has gone out a few times for karaoke and I've stayed home with Nathan, and I've gone out a few times without Nathan (okay, I think I've been out once without him), but for the most part I've had Nathan with me. He may be in the other room sleeping, but he's been with me. And I miss my baby. I really, really miss my baby. As a result I'm sitting here and staring at the clock and wondering just when Jeff and Nathan will get home so I can hold my baby boy. I can't rest, I can't relax, I just want my baby back.

My question is, is this normal?? I'm serious people, is this normal?? It's not like Nathan is with a stranger, and I'm not worried about Nathan. I just WANT HIM BACK. Someone please tell me I haven't gone insane, and feel free to lie to me if I have!

Holy Crap Check This Out!

I was watching SyFy this afternoon and there was a marathon of those really, really horrible Leprechaun movies from the 80's. I've never really watched any of those movies all the way through because even though I love bad movies, these were below even my standards (I know, I'm shocked as well). And that's when I struck bad movie gold:




Yes people, it's LEPRECHAUN IN SPACE!!!! The little blurb describing it says that the Leprechaun is trying to marry an ALIEN PRINCESS SO HE CAN RULE THE UNIVERSE. You KNOW I had to Tivo it. I am so excited to watch it, so excited. But now Jeff is saying he can't watch 4 without watching the other three.. that watching it out of order isn't going to work. My feeling is, it's a LEPRECHAUN MOVIE. What do you need to know?? Evil little leprechaun loses his pot of gold and kills people to get it back. The End. There's no PLOT... there's no ACTING... this is not Oscar nominee material. It's about a LEPRECHAUN IN SPACE.... Let's just start the Tivo and hit play!

But if I DO have to sit through the first three movies, I'll be sure to write about them so I guess it's a win/win situation all around!

Horror

Everyone here already knows about my love affair with QVC, right? And I particularly enjoy watching "Quaker Factory" because the woman who makes all these bedazzled creations is just a walking ball of entertainment. Well I was surfing the QVC website and of COURSE looking through all the sparkly, rhinestone encrusted creations that are for sale for "Quaker Factory" and I came across these:

Yes, it is a sweatshirt declaring your love for your cat. YOUR CAT. It lists all the charming reasons you love your cat (don't have to give them a bath or walk them being some of the reasons) and it's all written on YOUR CHEST FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO SEE! This is so awful, so beyond awful I can't even think properly. This sweatshirt basically says - "I don't have sex". It also says "I have given up the hope of ever having sex". And it also says "I have about 3 dozen cats at home and spend my weekends hosting birthday parties for them". You know, I loved my own dear cat Princess Lily. She was spoiled and pampered and I adored her. She was my baby. She could do NO WRONG in my eyes. But I did not EVER wear a sweatshirt proclaiming this to the world.

Oh, and you dog lovers out there? Don't feel left out because there's one for you as well. I just couldn't copy the picture here for some reason. But feel free to take a peak at it on QVC.com!

Being an Adult

Do you know what's truly sad? When you get a birthday check (yes, it's my 35th birthday tomorrow - I'll pause so everyone can run out and get me a present) from your father and instead of thinking of the all the indulgent things you want to get you instead think the following:

• Boy I need new tires
• There can never be enough diapers in the house
• Maybe I'll save it for the oil bill

You know what?? Being an adult SUCKS!!! I miss my carefree blow all of it on a gorgeous pair of shoes and a facial days. Sigh...

Need for New Books to Read

So I have pretty eclectic taste when it comes to book. I read everything from classic literature to poetry to fantasy to biography to trash. Right now though I've been reading mostly baby and toddler books. Things like "Baby 411" and books on sleep habits and the such. Also, most of my favorite authors are working on their books and as such I don't have a whole lot new to read. Sometimes I go through the Amazon "if you liked this.. than you'll like this" recommendation list and buy them super cheap and used on the Marketplace, but nothing is really floating my book so to speak. Right now Amazon is recommending a lot of children's books (but I want books for ME not for Nathan's library), they are recommending parenting books (I already have quite a few and would like something a little more "fun"), or they are recommending some truly horrible and poorly written trashy books.

I need help.

Please feel free to let me know what you guys are reading. Favorite authors, titles.. help me out people and give me something new to read!

Newest Idea

There's a video on CNN.com about this family that is not grocery shopping for a month and instead is going to eat what they already have. The rules were no grocery shopping unless for milk, and eating out once a week. The woman estimates she's saving $800 a month. Very interesting. I'm tempted to try it since Jeff and I, while having cut down on our eating out quite a bit, still eat out way too much. Also, we're not that great about planning meals ahead of time. In fact, we suck at planning out our meals ahead of time. Maybe instead of a month, we'll do something a little easier, like two weeks?? Or is that just silly??? The woman on the video made a very good point of saying that we all have things in our freezer that we just forget are there... and that's certainly true for Jeff and I. In fact, maybe tomorrow I'll go through our freezer and cabinets and take stock of what we do have and throw out what has been in there since the earth cooled. From there I can kind of get an idea of what we eat and what we would need to stock up on.

I'm actually kind of excited about this.. which is kind of sad in a way... but excited regardless. Feel free to leave me any tips you might have - I'm going to need them!

New Annnoyance

I'm just curious why it is if you mention to someone that a particular topic bothers/disturbs/makes you sick to your stomach, and that seems to signal some sort of trigger in the person to tell you a story ABOUT THE VERY THING YOU MENTIONED MADE YOU WANT TO RUN TO THE BATHROOM TO GET VIOLENTLY ILL.

I mention this because my birthday is coming up and my father is treating me to lobster. I love lobster but I hate, hate, hate the way they are killed. I actually didn't eat lobster for 29 years because I was traumatized at a young age by the whole lobster killing thing. See, my mother one day brought home live lobsters for dinner. A treat for the family, right? Well her mistake was letting the lobsters crawl around on the floor before sending them to the big lobster pot in the sky. My sister and I were delighted with the lobsters. We NAMED THEM. We seriously thought they were going to be our new pets and would live in our bathtub. Needless to say when my mother served them for DINNER we were not happy. My sister and I buried them in the backyard. We were NOT HAPPY. So I never ate lobster after that. But I met Jeff. Jeff LOVES lobster, loves it and eventually I tried it and got to like it. But I still don't like the whole boiled alive thing, and I refuse to pick out my own lobster since the whole idea seems so cruel. Lobster is a treat. Lobster can be killed by other people, and sometimes I make a suggestion that perhaps the lobster can be killed humanely by driving a knife through his little head. Of course people look at me like I am NUTS when I make this suggestion, but I still try.

The point of the story is that when I mention how upset the boiling alive thing makes me, someone will tell me how they saw some horrible other form of killing an animal in GRAPHIC DETAIL. Why?? Didn't I already mention that topics like that bother me? That I stopped eating pork for 5 years after watching "Babe"? Still the stories come.

Which also reminds me of something my Grandmother said to me once. In an effort to be nice, she gave me her old, vintage, and quite beautiful fur coat. Why did she give this to me? According to my grandmother giving me a fur coat was perfect because I "love animals". I shit you not people... I love animals = fur coat. I gave it to my sister and it looks fabulous on her.

Sugar Intake

I was reading this article on MSNBC that stated that Americans eat 22 teaspoons of sugar a day (not including natural sugar as found in fruit and such) and it got me thinking. According to MSNBC and this study, one of the biggest culprits of added sugar is soda. Now if you all recall, I lusted after Diet Coke with an unholy obsession when I was pregnant. And as soon as I had Nathan I started drinking it again, a LOT. We're talking almost three cans a DAY! That's a lot of soda! Now I adore my Diet Coke, but going so long without it and then guzzling it down like it was the fountain of youth made my tummy less than happy. So I cut back. WAY back. I rarely buy it anymore for the house and instead switched to Crystal Light. My tummy is a little happier, and I still get my beloved Diet Coke when we go out to eat. What you say?? WE go OUT TO EAT?? Well you've got me there. Our going out to eat experiences tend to be along the lines of Bickford's or Chili's and they are always planned out ahead of time. Not so much for money reasons, but because we have a baby that can morph into Dr. Jekyl in the span of a second. It's just no fun to scarf down a meal in a restaurant when you are doing the following:

Staring at your child to see if he's about to start screaming

Holding your child in one hand while you attempt to eat with other (something you have to do because your child DID start screaming and this is the only way to calm him down).

Venture into the ladies' room to change a diaper and discover there is no changing table and instead have to take over the entire sink area forcing other patrons to just FREAKIN' WAIT TWO MINUTES WHILE I CHANGE MY HYSTERICAL BABY! Don't think there haven't been times where I've wished Nathan would pee on someone who was impatiently pushing past me to wash their hands.

So restaurants are not super easy for us right now and we tend to eat more take out if we do splurge. But back to the sugar, I was thinking that now that I have a child I should be more selective in my eating habits. You know, to model some good behavior for him and somehow I don't think my previous lunch of Diet Coke and Mint Milano cookies is something he should be duplicating. Right?? I mean, daycare probably would frown on that if I packed it for his lunch. Anyone else have any other suggestions for cutting down on their sugar consumption??

Morning

I'm just curious, has anyone ever come downstairs and found that their husband has left his underwear on the kitchen counter?

Anyone? Anyone at all?

No???

I guess it's just me.

Book Recommendations

This is for people who loved the Twilight series - I have some recommendations for books that are still easy to read, actually well WRITTEN, contain romance and/or hot sex, and something paranormal.

Whenever I rant about these books invariably someone will ask me about what I think are GOOD books. So here I go:

Looking for a vampire love story? Try the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. I haven't seen the show "True Blood" that its based on, but I love the series. Sookie is a strong heroine. She saves her vampire boyfriend more than once, she is an ADULT and there are actually sex scenes rather than a fade to black (though not so insanely graphic that you're embarrassed to read them on the train!). I've read all the way up to book 8, and I confess I'm not as thrilled with the series now but that's all my issue. I tend to lose interest in a series after awhile.. I feel like the author runs out of ideas.

Looking for a paranormal story that includes vampire and werewolves and the such? Two authors that I love are Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews.
For Patricia Briggs there is the Mercy series which is about a werecoyote and how she solves mysteries and is friends with werewolves and vampires and all sorts of cool magical entities. She's also a mechanic and supports herself and there's tons of sexual tension between her and two other werewolves, but not sex. It's a harder series to read in the sense that its not lighthearted, it's very REAL but it's extremely well written. There is also the Alpah and Omega series which is about two werewolves Anna and Charles and it's very good. It carries on with with the werewolf side of things that is started in the Mercy series. Excellent!

Ilona Andrews writes about a bad ass Mercenary named Kate who also happens to be the daughter of an incredibly evil man. She can do magic and she's strong, takes no BS and has a running romance with the alpha of the shifter clan. It's a completely alternate world but its well done, and while there is no sex (yet), there's enough sexual tension to keep things moving along. There are three books in the series so far and they are all excellent.. I already have the fourth on my list for Amazon even though it won't be published for a LONG time.

Okay, so you're looking for hot sex. I can help here as well! There's the Dark Hunter series written by Sherrilyn Kenyon. It's all about vampire hunters called Dark Hunters (natch!) and they hunt Daimons (who are like vampires, but not) and these Dark Hunters are immortal. They also have a soul mate and the books usually focus on the whole standard romance idea which is this scary ass, insanely good looking guy is scarred from the past and learns to trust and love and blah, blah.. the stories aren't that original to be honest, and after reading two books you've basically read them all so I stopped buying them, but the sex scenes are pretty hot. No cut aways here!

Next up is the Riley Jensen series by Keri Arthur. Riley is a half werewolf and half vampire and she works for an elite security like CIA place where they police and solve supernatural crimes. In this world werewolves are insanely promiscuous and its refreshing to read a heroine who has NO QUALMS about recreational sex. In the werewolf world here monogamy is not something they practice until they meet their "mate". And at that point they are monogamous. So the sex is hot and frequent but by book 4 I'm a little frustrated with her insanely awful choices in bedroom department. You would think that for someone who has so much sex, she would be better able to weed out the potential assholes. Not so. You can bet that if there's a controlling, two faced bastard out there she will have sex with him in about two seconds flat. I also get a little tired of the author continuously telling me about Riley's need for sex and why. I get it, I don't need it hammered over my head all the time. But they are a fun series even if you will be embarrassed reading it on the train!

So that's it for now, I'll write another entry about other books I enjoy that are not fantasy based but I thought this might help you all out for now!