Tuesday, August 31, 2010

"It's not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised. The mosquito is swatted." ~ Mary O'Connor

I think I have finally recovered from the weekend. Talk about busy! I really wish I had more time lately to blog, instead of recapping an entire week, each time I do. Things have just been crazy and non-stop lately. Joe and I have also been really hooked on watching all the seasons of Dexter on our Instant Streaming Netflix (best $11 per month ever!), so that doesn’t help either. Each episode is an hour long. And it’s so addictive...

Thursday night my friend Gina gave birth to her new baby boy, so Friday, after putting the munchkin to bed, I headed up to the hospital to see them. Per her request, I brought some apple dump cake with me, which is basically 4 ingredients dumped into a special bowl just for this dessert, and cooked in the microwave for 8 minutes. Easy peasy but sooooo good! I stayed just long enough to get some new baby love, share in polishing off the dump cake, and then headed home.

Saturday we celebrated our friends 30th birthday with a trip to a local winery. Joe headed out around noon, riding with some friends, and I headed out at 2:00 after my mom showed up to watch the munchkin. I arrived around 3:00, and found everyone. I purchased a bottle of wine (a semi-dry red), and poured my first glass. It was very warm outside, the view was absolutely gorgeous and it had been a while since I was fortunate enough to visit a winery. I was feeling good. Maybe a little too good, cuz I finished most of the bottle of wine within an hour and a half. It was a good time and I wasn’t ready to leave, but around 5:45 we started to gather our belongings and head out. I was due at my house at 6:30 to meet up with my girl Anna to head over to an engagement party.

We didn’t get far from the winery before we saw the lights and emergency vehicles lined up ahead, re-directing traffic. We were not too far out of town, but the area we were in was only used (by us) to get to the wineries. We didn’t know the back roads (they were all “back roads”) to take to find an alternate route. We followed the cars in front of us, thought we were making progress, and 20 minutes later, we were spit back out onto the road right by the winery we had originally left. As we came up to the lights and traffic, we were re-directed in the same direction once again. As we pulled up to the man directing traffic, I rolled down my window, explained to him that we had already been through this and it only took us in a big circle. He said go to the top of the hill, and near the fire hydrant, make a right on Schlausselburg (or something like that).

After we pulled down the street, I was so elated to not have the previous car in front of me that had only been driving 15 mph. I pushed down on the gas, and suddenly realized that I was flying down a gravel road. WTF?! Apparently, we had come to a dead end, in which I was supposed to make a sharp left, but instead continued straight. After looking into my rear view mirror, I saw that I had led a couple of young girls down the same wrong turn as well. Oops. I turned my car around, as they backed up. Our cars moved, facing each other, back towards the paved road. The girls were laughing hysterically, it got me laughing pretty good as well. I had a feeling they too, had just left one of the wineries. They motioned us on to go first. I guess they still felt better about following us then going on ahead of us. I wasn’t so sure that was the best idea.

Joe turned on the Sprint GPS on his phone. It was no freaking help at all. It kept telling us to do U Turns or to make a left on a street, but would call it by another name. I think we were in too deep for the GPS. And where the hell was “Schlausselburg”? Or the fire hydrant? I am pretty sure there was no way out, and this guy was laughing at all of the trusting souls he had sent on this wild goose chase. After taking a couple of different turns we finally turned back onto the same main road, this time we were right by the accident.

As someone drove by, we asked them what had happened. Apparently, a car and a motorcycle had hit head on, and 2 of the passengers had to be air lifted out of there. I was no longer in a hurry and frustrated with the hold up. I could only feel bad for whoever was involved in this accident. We waited, somewhat somberly, another 30 minutes or so and cars were allowed to pass through. I finally arrived home a little after 7:30. I did a quick wardrobe change, grabbed my gift, and headed out the door with Anna.

After stopping at Walgreens to get a card (I can’t remember everything, I’m luckily I had a gift that I had already wrapped!), we arrived at the party around 8:15. Luckily the location of the party was only a mile or so from my house. How convenient is that? We found our way to the house and out into the backyard. We made ourselves a couple of drinks and started to mingle. Not long after we arrived, so did someone else I wasn’t too excited to see. Remember this chick? I guess it’s hard to avoid people forever when you run in some of the same circles. I was warned she may be coming, so I wasn’t completely unprepared, but it was still incredibly awkward. Well, for me anyway. Once she walked up, she gave Anna a hug, then turned to give me one. Completely caught off guard, I half hugged her back. Other then some forced, polite conversation, we didn’t speak to each other much the rest of the night. And then she left early.

I’m not gonna lie, the hug not only threw me for a loop, it also kinda pissed me off. I haven’t spoken with her at all since the whole debacle, and I was still feeling just as hurt and confused as I did when it happened. Plus, we were at a friend’s engagement party. Not exactly the right place or time to confront someone about something like this. I couldn’t help but feel relieved when she made her exit.

Apparently, I drank more wine then I had realized. I would have loved to blame all of the purple stains going down my shirt and pants on some drunk idiot, but the glass of wine in my hand was most likely the point of origin. It had been a long day, and I seemed to have lost the ability to regulate myself or know my level of tolerance. I guess that can happen when you drink much less frequently and also start too early in the day. I do wish I had been alert enough to notice the mosquitoes feasting on my feet. No exaggerating here at all, I have at least 50 bites on my left foot alone! I think one of the highlights of the evening was when Anna and I found the dessert table and shared in 3 different pieces of insanely delicious cakes. Mmmmmm.

Another highlight was seeing our friend Brooke so happy. I remember how amazing it felt to be newly engaged to Joe. How filled with hope and romantic everything was. It’s wonderful to see a friend beginning that journey as well.

I made it home around 12:15 or so and after a make out sesh with the hubs, I passed out.

Thank goodness, Sunday morning, Joe was getting up with the munchkin (we alternate between Saturday and Sunday). I woke up at 7:15 with a pounding headache, took my Tylenol, and went back to bed until 11:00. I definitely had to pay for my fun. Later in the day, I took the munchkin with me on a trip out to Trader Joe’s, along with some other errands.

I also wanted to mention that I bought the Trader Joe’s brand Sprouted 7 Grain bread there on a whim. So far, I have had it with an egg, turkey bacon and cheese sandwich, a turkey sandwich, a cheeseburger, and with peanut butter spread on top. It was absolutely delicious in every situation. Not only is the bread super nutritious, it has only 4 net carbs and 5 grams of protein per slice! I am loving this bread!

For dinner we made a double batch of spaghetti so we could bring some of it to Gina and Brian. I remember how impossible it was to cook a meal that first week after being home with a new baby. After I put munchkin to bed, I headed over to Gina’s. I loved snuggling up with the baby, as he slept soundly in my arms while I was there.

Monday morning I was finally starting to feel normal again. Not long after I arrived to work, Joe called me and told me his car wouldn’t start. Yay. So after only being at work for an hour, I headed home, picked up the munchkin and took her to the sitter so Joe could get a jump start from the neighbor and take his car into his friend’s shop. Luckily, it only ended up being the battery. It could have been much worse. Last night my girl Brenda came over to visit me. I made her watch the Bachelor Pad with me. (Sorry Brenda!) What is it about escaping into other people’s drama, that helps you to forget your own? And that show is never short on drama.

So tonight, I am meeting up with Anna for some sushi. I am REALLY looking forward to it. Nothing like an evening with a good friend, some sushi and a glass of wine to rewind and decompress. And yes, I am sticking to a glass, maybe two, but NOT a bottle!

Now I just have to get through work today....

Monday, August 23, 2010

Bad Breath Assault, A Kidney Stone, and a Near Death Experience

Last Wednesday, I got a massage. I was so excited about it. I hadn’t had one in quite a while, and I definitely needed one. I had some major knots in my shoulders that really needed to be worked out. Everything started out okay... her name was Laurie and she was nice enough. She did a good job, but she was a little lacking in the “deep tissue” department. Oh well, I was just happy to be getting a massage. Then it came to the part towards the end when you lay on your back and she sits right behind your head and rubs your shoulders and underneath your back using your weight to help with the pressure.... and I noticed how terrible her breath was. I mean bad. Really really bad. She was clearly a smoker (I have nothing against smokers, I used to be one, but when you don’t smoke you don’t want someone that does breathing right into your mouth). And she definitely had something strong for lunch. Maybe even a hint of garlic? Her face was inches from mine and every breath she let out fell across my face and stung my nose. I tried to breathe through my mouth and time my breath with hers so that I was breathing in at the same time as her and my breath out would be in combat with hers. It was so hard to do... her breathing seemed sporadic and I couldn’t match her rhythm at all no matter how hard I tried. I had no idea how the massage was going or what she was doing, all I could focus on was avoiding her stank breath. I wonder if she noticed how awkward my breathing had become. I hope she knew why and chose to chew some gum or pop a mint before the next client. Thanks for ruining my massage with your dragon breath. Man was that disappointing.

Thursday morning Joe woke up with a strange pain in his side. He dropped the munchkin off at the sitter and since he couldn’t get in to see our regular doc, he went to the Urgent Care Center. He had a kidney stone. I would say that I felt terrible for him, but he wasn’t in much pain considering the source of the problem. Seeing as how I have had at least 15 of them myself, I was a little miffed how he could even drive at all. Each one has caused me to curl up in the fetal position writhing in pain, unable to continue with normal daily activities. If anything I was relieved and happy for him that his stone was obviously very small. Why can’t I get the itty bitty baby ones? He was still very uncomfortable, so I cancelled my movie plans with my sister and stayed home so that he could rest and wasn’t left alone with the munchkin.

Friday was interesting. The munchkin had a snotty nose for the second day in a row, so we decided not to send her to the sitter. I was pretty sure it was allergies or due to her teething or something, but I figured I would play it safe. I stayed home with her for the first half of the day, then Joe came home around 11:30 am and I headed into work. We had some strong storms coming through, but they seemed to have calmed down. It was another story after I arrived at the office. A monsoon moved in shortly after I arrived. The rain was pouring in on all sides. You might think I am exaggerating, but I assure you, I am not. There were streams of water three inches around pouring in from the windows and the water was rising fast. The streets had turned into rivers of water gushing past carrying tree limbs and branches and other debris. The lights were flickering and outlets were smoking. A strong smell of burning electrical wires was coming from the copier. What the what?! I work in a very old building... and you could definitely tell. Luckily the storm moved on as quickly as it came in and our boss sent us home early so he and his brothers could clean up the mess. I basically drove to work, followed by the storm, waded through the water trying not to get electrocuted, and then left. I was only there for an hour. I am still not sure if I am going to have to use my vacation time for this, or if we are getting paid since he sent me home early. Even though I arrived 3.5 hours late anyway. Hmmm.

I had to pick up diapers and wet wipes on the way home. But the store was closed due to the power being out. I had to drive 30 minutes out of my way to go to the other location (I buy her diapers and wipes in bulk at Sam’s). Then I had to stop at the grocery store to get supplies for the pizza I was making for dinner. By the time I got home, another wave of storms were starting to move in. I made the pizza (the almond flour crust was yummy!), and we cleaned up, played with the munchkin for a while and put her to bed. Joe and his friend were going to play golf that evening. Even though it was lightning outside, they felt they could still go to the driving range, as they would be under a roof. Twenty minutes after they left, the storm really started. It was like there were fireworks going on outside. The thunder seemed to shake the house and the rain was pounding on the roof. Then the tornado sirens started to go off. You would have thought they were in my back yard, the sound was deafening. I completely freaked out. I ran into the munchkin’s room, flipped on her light, grabbed her out of her crib, grabbed my purse and her diaper bag, ran down the stairs, and crawled into the little closet under the stairs in the basement.

Now what? Why didn’t I grab a blanket? I could have at least grabbed a binky?! Or something to entertain the munchkin. Obviously safety is more important, but seriously what were we going to do? How long was I going to have to sit under the stairs? The lights started to flicker, then they went out. Crap. I dug around in my purse and found my cell phone. I pushed a button to bring the light on. It was completely black other then the light from my phone. The munchkin seemed completely chill, which was amazing to me. I always figured if I had to wake her from a dead sleep and rush her to the basement that she was going to be pretty pissed about it. But on the contrary, she seemed pretty happy about it. Weird. I tried calling Joe. Nothing. I did get a hold of my mom. It was nice to at least talk to someone. She lives right down the street. They were in the basement too watching their TV to see what was going on. Then all of a sudden I realized I that it was completely silent. No sounds at all. No thunder, no rain, no nothing. My phone lost reception. I just knew it was the “calm before the storm”. They say that it becomes really silent right before a tornado hits you. I just knew that was what was happening. And I was FREAKING OUT.

Then the power started to come back on and I heard Joe walking through the house. “Joe?” “Laura, where are you?” “I’m under the stairs”. I was too afraid to move. He came down the steps and opened the closet door to find me and the munchkin huddled on the ground. “What are you doing in there?”, he asked me. “What do you mean?! I am hiding from the tornado!” What tornado?”

Apparently it had calmed down outside and even though he drove home in quite a bit of rain, he hadn’t seen any tornadoes. I put the munchkin back in her crib and shut the door. Having been fully awoken, she talked to herself for an hour before going back to sleep. The storms continued through the night, but never got as bad and the sirens never went off again. That was seriously scary and it took me several hours to recover.

Saturday I went to see Eat. Pray. Love. I went with my friend Sarah. I think I needed that after such a traumatic evening. Just to lose myself in a movie for a couple of hours. It was a great movie. That night Joe and I just stayed home and hung out. We watched an episode of Dexter and I went to bed kinda early. Sunday we went to a baby shower and then dinner at my girl Anna’s house. It was so nice to visit with her family and meet another couple that they are friends with. They made us all a delicious dinner and the munchkin had fun exploring their home and checking out all the new toys.

Now it is Monday and Joe starts back at school tonight. I have really enjoyed the summer break and am not quite ready for school to start again. We gotta do it though if we want to make our lives better later.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and has a great week!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Flax Seed Pizza Crust (sugar free • gluten free • low carb • dairy free)

I wanted to share with everyone the recipe for the pizza I made the other night. I thought it was delicious, my husband not so much. It's all a matter of taste I guess. If you have made things before with flax seed and have liked it then I think you will really enjoy this. Joe just hasn't had too good of an experience with it so far. If you are looking for an extremely low carb, nutritious, and healthy pizza, then you should give this a shot.

After mixing my ingredients I spread the dough out over a silicone baking mat
and placed it on a cookie sheet. I love this mat and I use it often.
Especially when making Parmesan crackers. Plus, you can
slice your pizza (or crackers) directly on it without cutting the mat.



Then I baked the crust in the oven watching for it to brown. Then I topped it with
pizza sauce, fresh grated mozzarella cheese, and my toppings.




That is Joe's half on the left.
He wasn't interested in my black olives, onion and mushrooms.
What a wierdo.


Mmmmm more cheese.


I popped it back in the oven and finished it up!


It was so good and filling. I could only eat half of my half
and then I took the rest to work for lunch the next day.
It was even good reheated!

Best Part... I could eat it guilt free!


Flax pizza crust:

Ingredients:
  • 1 and 1/2 C flax seed meal
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • Sweetener to equal about 1 Tablespoon of sugar (1/16 tsp stevia extract powder)
  • 3 Tablespoons of oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 C water
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients, and mix very well. Let it sit for about 5 minutes to thicken. Spread on pan (I spread it as thin as possible). Bake for 15-18 minutes until cooked through, then add toppings and cook until they are done.


I am going to be making a pizza later this week using almond flour for the crust. I have a feeling this one will go over better with the hubs. I'll let you know how it goes!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Munchkin Pic Update - A New Kitchen and Chair

I actually remembered last night to upload the pics I promised! Here is the munchkin's first kitchen set along with all of the miscellaneous and random accessories. She is a little short for it yet, but that hasn't seemed to phase her much. It's hard for me to justify buying something brand new sometimes, when I can get it for 1/4 of the price used and no one is the wiser. Gotta love a good bargain!




Here's the little Laugh and Learn chair that I scored for $5.00.
The time that she has enjoyed it and spent on it already was well worth the money.



She doesn't sit in the chair much yet, instead she mostly climbs into it
and plays with the gadgets on the little side table.



Here she is chewing on her little plastic knife.
She has hardly set the fork and knife down since she found them Saturday morning.


She started pretending she was stirring things and eating them with her fork. I was totally surprised when she did this! It was so cute and I had no idea she would even think to start doing that yet. I mean obviously she sees us doing it and I feed her with a spoon, but still, it was pretty amazing to me. Guess we are ready to start feeding ourselves with a spoon... I am not sure I am ready for the big mess though. I guess I need to just get over it already!



Here she is shaking around her cinnamon and nutmeg.



Stirring the donut...



She then decided to take a break and watch some news.



Clearly this exhausted her, and she had to take a little nap.



Ha ha... sike!



She likes licking the little mushroom on her table.



Reading the little book. As you turn the pages, a voice reads the story.


I was hesitant to buy her any new toys before her birthday party next month, but I am so glad that I did. She had been so crabby in the evenings lately and I really felt like she was getting bored and stir crazy. I think I was right, because she's been in a much better mood since these items appeared! I would definitely recommend the little Laugh and Learn Chair... that thing has really kept her busy and she gets so excited about it!

An Action Packed Weekend and Mini Rant

Guess who's walking?! That's right the munchkin is walking! Well not very good and usually not more then 6 steps at a time, but still, she is working on it. She has been practicing this weekend and it has been melting my heart to watch her. She will take off with this look of determination on her face, that just really cracks me up. She flings her body forward, wobbling 5 or 6 steps then tumbles over. Sometimes she moves on and doesn't let it phase her, other times she yells or cries out in frustration. I just can't believe she is going to be full time walking soon. I am excited to see her more mobile, as I think she will be less frustrated once she is, but at the same time, I am sad to see her growing up so fast.

I bought her a little kitchen set off of someone on craig's list. It was pretty dirty and neglected when I picked it up, but with a little elbow grease, you would never know. It is really cute and it came with a bajillion accessories. All sorts of dishes, along with lots of plastic foods and condiments. The lady threw in all sorts of random items with the kitchen set. Included was a pop-up toaster with toast, a tea pot, a little pitcher that makes liquid noises when you push a button, pots and pans, and cups. A chicken leg, a donut, pancakes, salt shaker (no pepper) and jelly. There is even a DQ ice cream cookie and dilly bar. What is funny is that out of all of that stuff, her favorite items have been the little plastic fork and knife. She carried them around with her all weekend. I will have to add a pic of that later. I don't have any good photos with me at work. For now, here's a pic I took of the kitchen with my phone camera.


From the same lady, I also purchased a little Laugh and Learn Chair. It plays music when they sit in the chair and also when she touches things on the side table. There is a voice that reads the words in the book as she turns the pages and also sings songs when she pushes down on the crayons. She climbs into the little chair and plays with all of the stuff on the table. It is really cute and she loves it. Gotta be one of the best five bucks I have ever spent! Here's a terrible picture Joe sent me from his phone while I was out grocery shopping.



I think we are finally getting the table foods down better and getting her off the jar food completely. Fruits and vegetables have been pretty easy for her, but I have been having trouble finding meat that she would eat (other then out of a jar). I had been feeding her Earth's Best Organic Stage 3 foods, which she loves and anytime I would try to give her other stuff like cut up chicken she would just have a hard time figuring out what to do with it. She would gnaw on it with her gums and store it all in her cheeks like a squirrel. Most of it would end up getting pushed back out instead of swallowed. I realize that chicken can be kinda dry, so I would get dark meat to start with, but it didn't help much.

So on my last trip to Trader Joe's I picked out some new stuff. I grabbed some turkey dogs and turkey deli meat that were preservative/nitrate free with no msg or fillers, and some all natural salmon patties. I had to de-skin the turkey dogs for her, but she gobbled them right up! I couldn't believe how much she ate! I steamed some carrots and threw in some applesauce and she ate everything I gave her. Yay! Most of it she fed herself. I was so excited... I really wanted to get her completely off of jar food before she was a year old. Her cousin Q, along with most of my friends kiddos have been off of jar food way before then and even though every baby is different, I felt like I was really lagging behind on getting things going. Part of the problem was finding things I felt comfortable feeding her. I felt very good about the particular jar food she was eating. I knew everything that was in it, and it was hard for me to venture away from that. Plus, she only recently got her first 2 teeth in, and even though everyone says that her teeth do not matter, I just didn't feel right giving her too much table food without any teeth.

This also brings me to another subject. What we feed our kids. I am not going to get too into this right now, but I just want to say that I truly believe that this is a very personal choice for each individual parent. I have been very picky about the food that I put into my own body (especially lately) , so naturally I am going to be the same way about my baby. I have been really frustrated lately with the way some other parents look at me like I'm a wierdo because of what I will or will not let the munchkin eat. I do not care what other parents feed their children. Infact, I couldn't care less and realize that it is none of my business. I am not judging you, so why are you judging me? I don't say anything to them about how I feel about the food they are feeding their kid, so why are they giving me a hard time for what I am feeding mine? It really pisses me off sometimes actually. I feel so much more comfortable feeding her natural, healthy food, that doesn't have preservatives or fillers. Isn't that a good thing? It doesn't make any sense to me why I should be made to feel uncomfortable by other parents because of these choices? It's getting old, and I am worried about the mom that says something to me on the wrong day at the wrong time, when I have finally had enough.

Does anyone else ever have an issue with other parents commenting on what they are feeding their kids? Whether you are feeding your child a hot dog or won't let them have one, what do you say when another parent is actually rude enough to make a comment on how they feel about it?

Ok... moving on...

All in all, we had a fantastic weekend. Friday night I got caught up on a bunch of things I needed to get done around the house. Saturday, I met my sisters for sushi for lunch, then went to the container store with Amy. After that, we went to a birthday party for our nephew, and then my parents and Amy & Q came over to hang out. We watched 3 comedians in a row. We just recently got a blue ray player (awesome sale price at Best Buy!) and can now get netflix streaming instantly. I gotta say for 8.99 a month it is totally worth it. We can watch all kinds of movies and tv shows instantly! Plus we can still get the dvds in the mail. With the money we were spending every month renting movies at blockbuster and red box, this is way cheaper. And way more fun! We love movies. We went so long without hardly being able to watch any at all, so I feel like we have alot to catch up on. We started watching season one of Dexter, after it was the most highly recommended show from a poll I did amongst my friends on facebook. And they were right, so far that show is awesome. Sunday, was my weekly trek out to Trader Joe's (why won't they build one closer to me?!) and the rest of the day was spent hanging out at home with Joe and the munchkin.

I hope everyone else had a fantastic weekend! I am not going to try to get caught up on everyone else...

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Summer Fun at the Pool

We took the munchkin over to my parent's house yesterday to play in their little pool that my mom set up for the babies. She LOVED splashing around and playing in the pool. It was great because we could kinda let her go and play on her own. If she slipped and fell, she would just bounce off something soft. She kept standing up and clapping. She had so much fun!

Here she is sporting her new suit.


Watching the waterfall come out of the fishy's mouth.


This pool was just too cute.


Look at that happy face!


Dad helping her down the slide.


Having so much fun!


Checking out the palm trees.




I am not sure what she is doing here, but this face always cracks me up!


Reading books with grandpa.


Snuggling up with grandpa.


She was definitely worn out by the end of the day. She passed out when we got home and even slept in this morning.

This afternoon we are going to our friends daughter's birthday party, and then back home to make some food for the week. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

Friday, August 6, 2010

“You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.” ~ Dave Barry

Although yesterday's post did make me feel better at the time, I also am feeling a little guilty that I let myself listen to what the little devil on my shoulder was telling me to do. I swear, I am usually not that catty. I promise. But in my defense, I have never had any of my friends be that down right mean to me for no reason. I wasn't even sure how to respond.

Although I still feel the same way about what went on, I apologize that you all had to witness that.

Ok, now we are really moving on.

The munchkin is teething soooo bad right now. I mean bad. She is pooping yucky all day long. She is crabby and in pain. She wakes up in the middle of the night screaming. It's usually about the time her tylenol has worn off, so I go in there and give her some more and after a while she calms down again and falls back asleep. It's awful. I feel so bad for her. I know that she has many teeth to come, so I really hope that it gets easier for her. Normally, when she is crabby, I take her somewhere outdoors or even just walk around a store, but it's so incredibly hot lately, that I don't even want to take her out of the air conditioning. With her constant yucky diapers, I don't want her out in the heat too much to make things worse. I literally feel like I am melting when I step outside the door. I am so glad that I was pregnant last summer and not this one. I can't even imagine. (Gina I feel really bad for you).

I am really grateful that it's Friday. It's been a long, strange week and I am hoping to do some relaxing and recouping this weekend. Tomorrow I am having lunch with my sisters. We are going to head out for sushi at the new place I went to the other day with Gina. It's sooo good and cheap I just can't believe it. Joe and I have a dinner date with Gina and her hubby for next Wednesday to go there again. I guess I am making up for lost time. I love that you can order your roll with brown rice there. And their spicy tuna just melts in your mouth. Mmmm. Sunday we are going to a birthday party and will probably spend the rest of the day lounging around, doing laundry and getting things ready for the next week.

Tonight Joe is going to play golf with a friend at a night time golf course. I think I might finally clean and organize my computer room. Exciting.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

An Update to Yesterdays Drama...

Nothing much has changed in regards to the subject of my last post. I wanted to thank everyone for offering your opinions and advice. The comments and emails I received made me feel much better. They definitely validated my feelings. The funny remarks also lifted my spirits and helped me to get over it.

Sometimes, when something as strange and off-kilter as that happens, it's hard to even rationalize and judge your own reaction to it. It's not a familiar situation... so being confident in my initial reaction and feelings about it were slow to come. I am not used to my (good) friends talking to me that way, especially so unprovoked.

I am done worrying about it and I am moving on.

But before I move on completely... I thought I would respond to some of your questions/comments... And yes, I am aware that this may be completely unnecessary and most likely somewhat immature. But to be honest, I am just not concerned. I'm going to have fun with it, even if it is at the cost of some of my "perceived" maturity level.

If you did not read my previous post, you might want to start there.

As far as lost in translation goes, as this seem to be a running theme among the comments, I would like to start with that. Texts are definitely notorious for causing this sort of problem. I would like to offer up some examples from our conversation, giving them other possible translations. Maybe I will see things in a new light. Who knows, maybe I will end up having to call her and apologize myself after this exercise. Let's begin.

"I just want to hang out with Joe. He sits at home while you go out, why can't you? I think that's wierd"

Now initially, I thought this meant that she just wanted to hang out with Joe. That she was telling me that he sits at home, while I go out, so why can't I do the same. And that she thinks that it's wierd that I won't let him do that as well. But, if I look into this a little more deeply, surely I can find some other meaning behind it...

I got nuthin.

Seriously people, what else could that possibly mean? Okay, so we are not off to the greatest start. But since some of you think that something could have been confused somewhere, I have confidence that maybe another example will produce greater results. Let's take her next text.

"I am sorry that you are so upset that I want to hang out with Joe. I offered to do dinner with all of us and then drinks but you said no. Joe works and goes to school. I don't get why he can't have time with his friends like you do.

Well atleast she's sorry I'm upset. To be honest, I felt some sarcasm there. But for argument sake, maybe she really does feel bad for me. And she did offer to do dinner with all of us before she took my husband out by themselves for drinks. But I said no. Did I say no? Actually, I don't remember ever saying no. I did, however, invite myself to join them. Wasn't it her that said no to that?

She says she doesn't get why he can't have time with his friends like I do. Hmmm. It really seems to me that she thinks that I get to have time with my friends and he doesn't. Now that's just silly. As anyone who hangs out with us on a regular basis knows that Joe actually sees his friends MORE then I do. But, MAYBE she really means just her? That I get time with her alone, so why can't he? If that's what she meant, then that would be true. So true infact, that Joe has never gone out with her by themselves without me there.

"I never get to see Joe and he rarely gets away. You enjoy your time away, why can't he? Why is it so weird that I want to hang out with him? Do I need your permission to be his friend now? I think you are being unfair.

Now the first part of this really is sounding familiar. The "You-get-to-go-out-and-Joe-doesn't" bit is really starting to get old here. This is clearly not an issue for me and Joe, so why is it for her? Again, unless she means time away with her. Then okay, she is right on this one too. Why is it weird that she wants to hang out with him? I don't think it's wierd at all. Joe is lots of fun to hang out with. In fact, that's one of the reasons I married him. Does she need my permission to be his friend? No. Everyone should be Joe's friend. She thinks I am being unfair. I suppose she does have a right to her opinion, even if it doesn't make any sense at all.

"I am not questioning your rule. Joe doesn't even do that."

This one is really interesting to me. Unlike some of the previous statements. This one really could be translated in different ways. "Rule" could mean several things. Let's look at it's definition:

Rule
1.a. Governing power or its possession or use; authority.
1.b. The duration of such power.
2.a. An authoritative, prescribed direction for conduct, especially one of the regulations governing procedure in a legislative body or a regulation observed by the players in a game, sport, or contest.
2. b. The body of regulations prescribed by the founder of a religious order for governing the conduct of its members.
3. A usual, customary, or generalized course of action or behavior: "The rule of life in the defense bar ordinarily is to go along and get along" (Scott Turow).
4. A generalized statement that describes what is true in most or all cases: In this office, hard work is the rule, not the exception.
5. Mathematics A standard method or procedure for solving a class of problems.
6. Law
a.
A court order limited in application to a specific case.
b. A subordinate regulation governing a particular matter.
7. See ruler.
8. Printing A thin metal strip of various widths and designs, used to print borders or lines, as between columns.

My first impression of what she meant really does seem to fit the majority of the options for a definition. But as you can see, there are infact, other options. See #8. It just so happens that, as a graphic artist, I do work at a print shop. Maybe she wants to point out that she is not questioning some of the equipment that I use at work. Joe doesn't question that sort of thing, so why would she? And if that's what she meant, then I thank her. I really don't need her questioning how I run my marriage with my husband and how I operate things at my job. That would really be going too far.

"Grow up. You are his wife not his fucking wardon."

Hmmph. This one has me even more stumped on alternative meanings. It really seems that she is suggesting I grow up. I wonder if she ever did read this, if she would think I took that suggestion or not? I am his wife, she is absolutely correct there, although she seems to forget it everywhere else in the conversation. And no, I am not his fucking wardon. Now, was she using "fucking" as an adjective or a verb? Here, I can see other translations.

Alright. I took into consideration some of your suggestions that things might have been "lost in translation". I am now thinking you are all full of shit. No offense. But really, you are. That exercise really has me feeling better though!

As far as Joe being in on what is going on. Yes, he is fully aware. In fact, he read the entire message after we got home from work and was even being informed mid-text conversation. And yes, we are definitely on the same page.

I hope you enjoyed this little exercise just as much as I did. And if there was a prize for the comment that made me laugh the most, it would have to be between Gina and Nikki.

But thank you to everyone for sharing your two cents!

Update (one hour later): I just want to clarify, that this post was not meant to be taken seriously. I do agree that things can definitely be lost in translation and something may have been in this case (although for the most part I am pretty sure I know what she was saying). I do not think that anyone suggesting that is full of shit. I totally respect your opinion and would never want to offend you:)

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

I need to unload... and would appreciate a little advice...

I am feeling hurt and upset over something that happened yesterday. I am not sure where else to go with my thoughts on this. I guess that's what my blog is for, right? I really need to get this off my chest though. I am hoping blogging about it will help.

I texted a friend yesterday who I hadn't seen in a while. I told her I missed her and wanted to hang out. I asked her if she wanted to have dinner with us one night this week. She went on to tell me that she had been wanting to take Joe out for a birthday drink since she had missed his birthday party. She suggested we all have dinner together on Friday and then her and Joe could go out for a drink. I told her that I didn't really want to sit at home by myself friday night, that we had been really busy lately and I was hoping to hang out with Joe as well on Friday. How about we all have dinner and then I could see if my mom could come up and hang out at our house with the munchkin while we all went out for a drink. She basically told me that she hadn't hung out with Joe in a long time and she wanted "boy time" , then went on to say she would "work it out with him". So I said "Are you seriously saying you would rather me not be there? I rarely see you either. That's kind of wierd."

Let me cut into my story real quick and say that this friend is friends with both of us, but she was definitely my friend first. Her and I hung out by ourselves often, and we would all hang out together, but her and Joe never did things by themselves. I have known her since high school and she wasn't friends with Joe until her and I were reunited and started hanging out together a few years ago. And now, we don't see her see her or talk to her near as often since the munchkin was born. Not that any of this really matters, but I just wanted to give you a little background.

Now I don't have any other friends that (even though they are friends with Joe too) would want to take him out by themselves. But I didn't even really think twice about this part when she first said she wanted to take Joe out for a drink. I am in no way worried that she is interested romantically in Joe and I am definitely not worried about Joe being interested in her. The part that bothered me, was when she flat out told me she wanted to spend time alone with Joe without me there. I can't, in my wildest dreams, imagine telling one of my friends this about their husband. Or how would Joe react if one of our mutual guy friends told him he wanted to take me out for a drink and would rather him not go with us. He would think the guy was crazy! Even if she did think it would be more fun to hang out with Joe without me there, who the hell would actually say that? And then when I asked her about it, she started to question my relationship and how me and Joe handle things.

She says, "I just want to hang out with Joe. He sits at home while you go out, why can't you? I think that's wierd".

Okay so at this point, I am starting to get a little upset. Trying to keep my cool, I respond, "I am actually at home with (munchkin) way more then he is. I very rarely go out. U r both starting school soon I thought it would be fun for us to all hang out. I am sorry u don't see it that way".

Her response : "I am sorry that you are so upset that I want to hang out with Joe. I offered to do dinner with all of us and then drinks but you said no. Joe works and goes to school. I don't get why he can't have time with his friends like you do. We have been trying to book this since his bday. Why are you so upset? I even told you that I wanted to take him out. Why is that so hard?"

Why is that so hard? I am really starting to feel like she is crossing a line here. And I am really starting to get pretty pissed off. We don't even see her very much any more and she has no idea how often or when either of us gets out or what we do on a daily basis. I have no idea why she is judging us or what we do and how she even came up with the conclusion that I go out all of the time while Joe stays home by himself and watches our child.

I respond "First of all joe goes and hangs with his friends without me just as much if not more then I do. Not that that is any of your concern anyway. I think its out of line that you are even questioning the way we do things anyway. I also think its really wierd that you want to hang out with Joe and that you don't want me there. Why would you not want me to go? That just doesn't make sense."

She says "I never get to see Joe and he rarely gets away. You enjoy your time away, why can't he? Why is it so weird that I want to hang out with him? Do I need your permission to be his friend now? I think you are being unfair. I am not questioning your rule. Joe doesn't even do that."

Okay.... WTF?! "Question my rule?" What the hell is she talking about... is she saying that I lay down the law with Joe and he has to obey me? Yay right. And why does she keep going on and on about how I get to do stuff and Joe doesn't? Is she really telling me that she wants to hang out with my husband, that she would rather me not be there, that she thinks its not fair that I get to go out all the time and he doesn't? This is so out of left field, with absolutely nothing to back it up whatsoever and so hurtful that I don't even know what to think about it. There are not many things that would make me want to just walk away from a friendship right then and there, but this was one of them.

I say to her, "Wow. I can't believe u are even talking to me like this. If I didn't know better, I would say that you are purposely trying to lose me as a friend. Either way, mission accomplished."

She only confirmed this decision with her response, "Grow up. You are his wife not his fucking wardon. I obviously didn't mean that much to you if my wanting to take Joe out for his birthday is causing such an issue."

Does she seriously think that that was why I said that? That it was because she just wanted to take Joe out?

I foolishly thought further explanation could help her to understand why I was upset with her, "This is not about him not being able to go out without me. He does that plenty. It's about u saying u dont want me there. I thought we were good friends, .... "

She cuts in "Whatever helps you throw people away... "

I finish "Why wouldn't you want me there? Then you go on to question how our relationship works and say that joe doesn't even question my rule. Who talks to their friends like that anyway? I would never talk to you like that and I would rather not have friends that would. Sometimes your just plain mean. What is said is that u don't even realize it."

That was the end of our conversation and I haven't heard from her since. Other then a few opening remarks, I have not left anything out and included our conversation in quotes so that you would get the entire story without me changing anything or skewing things from my point of view.

I don't even know what to make of it. I am so hurt that she would act that way towards me and say those things about my relationship with my husband. I have never said or done anything unkind to this woman and have always tried to be a good friend to her. I stood by her when no one else would while she went through a very tough relationship with her ex boyfriend. I never judged her or tried to tell her how she should handle things. I have seen her turn on other people and be mean to them before in ways I couldn't understand, but I had always thought that we were too good of friends for her to treat me that way. For the past 6 months or so, there has been a few incidences of things she has done that have hurt my feelings or made me question what kind of person she is, but I tried to ignore them. This however, I can not. I am done.

Wouldn't most woman be a little upset or think it was weird if one of their friends told them they wanted to take their husband out for a drink and would rather them not be there? Who says that? And even if you thought it, who would have the balls to actually tell someone that as if it's no big deal at all?

To be honest, if we were all going out for drinks and something came up and I could not go, I would have no problem with the two of them going on without me. What I do have a problem with, is me asking if we could all go out for drinks together and her specifically telling me that she didn't want me to go. I was really wanted to spend time with her because I missed her. That was why I had texted her in the first place. Are you kidding me? Why would she think that wouldn't bother me? Am I totally off base here?

Then go on to question whether I let him go out enough or not. Why would she ever think in a million years that our marriage and how we operate it is any of her damn business anyway? Even if what she was saying WAS true, although it is very clearly not. And why wasn't she getting that I had no problem with him going out without me, that that had nothing to do with why I was upset? It was because she was specifically telling me that she didn't want me to go out with her and my husband while they went to get a drink and that she was talking shit about our relationship and what we do and saying things that were completely untrue. Didn't I spell that out for her... more then once?

I suppose now that we won't be hanging out with her, she will assume that I laid down the law or my "rule" and told Joe that he couldn't hang out with her anymore, when really why would a husband want to hang out with someone that would be so hurtful to his wife and say those sort of unfounded things about their relationship? What did she think was going to happen? What was she trying to accomplish? Did she think that I was eventually going to say, "You are right, I am being silly. Why don't you go ahead and take my husband out for a drink and I will stay home since you don't want me to come". Or that her shedding light on my grossly overlooked tyranny was going to make me take a step back and realize the error of my ways? Seriously... what was she thinking? And why would she even want to talk to her friend like that or treat me that way? How could she not think that everything she was saying was going to extremely hurt my feelings? Could she really be that off base herself, or did she just not care?

I just don't get it. At all. I hate to even feel this upset about anything or to get this mad at someone. I keep thinking about it and wondering if somehow I did something wrong and am not realizing it. But from any angle, I just can't find any fault of my own. Throughout the entire conversation, I tried to refrain from saying anything hurtful because I always try to avoid saying anything that I might have to apologize for later. There were so many things I wanted to say, but I held my tongue. But really, who does she think she is? Doesn't she realize that we are having this conversation about my husband and my marriage? She is clearly clueless of the sanctity that comes along with that and where the lines are drawn.

I just can't understand how a text, starting off with telling a friend that I missed her and wanted to hang out, had turned into something like this.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

I won a prize! A birthday Luau! Shopping! Baking! And ofcourse, lots of cute pics!

This past week has been busy, busy, busy!

Friday morning started off really really good when I found out I won a giveaway from Lil' Woman! I couldn't believe it! I never win anything! I won a $40 gift towards anything at CSN.com How fun is that?! I have had my eye on some of these for a while, so I went a head and ordered this and this on Friday and they should be arriving any day now. I am so excited! It's one of those items I have been wanting for a while now, but couldn't justify spending the money. With shipping and everything, I only paid about $1.50. Thank you so much Lil' Woman! You should check out her blog too, her and her big man are really cute;)

Friday night my sister came over and we started making and preparing the food for my mom's birthday luau the following night. There was alot to do! So we were up pretty late getting everything done and then cleaning up the mess. We also indulged in the key lime pie that I had made the night before. It was low carb, sugar-free and absolutely AMAZING. I have been trying out recipes from this girl's blog and I am so happy that I found her. She is a master at making low-carb, sugar-free deliciousness!! I had 2 big pieces every day over the weekend and somehow my weight still went down... crazy! I also saved a piece for my grandmother who is diabetic and she absolutely loved it. She was so happy to share in dessert and not worry about how it would affect her.

I picked up my mom Saturday morning and we headed down to The Loop. It's about a 20 minute drive over to a stretch of road with great restaurants, shopping and music. They have the cutest little boutiques with unique clothing and accessories and lots to look at and lots to do. This was important be because I needed to keep her busy while the rest of the family got her house ready for her party that night. I was bringing her back around 5:30 when we would walk in the door and everyone would yell "Surprise!" She had never been down to The Loop before, so she was excited to go. We had alot of fun walking around and checking out all of the shops. We got very lucky with the weather. It could have been a scorcher considering the weather on the days before and the days after. But it actually wasn't too bad and we even had a breeze. I didn't even sweat. Yay!

Her party was alot of fun. Old friends she hadn't seen in a while showed up, along with family and other friends. Everyone's babies were crawling around and having their own fun. Then at the end of the night, we all decided to crash there. Even my sisters neighbor decided to stay (only because he was too inebriated to drive himself home). So he slept on the couch, Amy on the little couch, her hubs J slept on the floor in the living room right beside my sister Erin and her man C. Joe and I slept in the bedroom downstairs. The munchkin and her cousin each got their own bedroom upstairs. Not fair at all I tell you, but whatda gonna do?

This was the first time the munchkin had slept the entire night in her pack n play and not in her own crib. I wasn't sure how it was going to go. I gotta say, I was mighty proud. She went down at 8:00 and slept soundly through the entire night until about 7:30 in the morning. I was also afraid that she was going to freak out when she woke up in a strange place. But instead I just found her standing up looking around and talking quietly in her little baby babble.

My mom made breakfast for everyone. Her specialty, bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy. Yum! I skipped out on the biscuits and gravy and had brought my own muffin, but it was all still delicious and it was so much fun having everyone around the table for a big breakfast, along with the addition of our guys and little kiddos. I think it would be really awesome if we could all live in a huge house together. Ofcourse, we would all have to have our own private quarters equipped with kitchens and private living spaces.

Sunday was spent recouping and getting ready for the next week. I usually make up a bunch of food to prepare for the week ahead and this is also the day we do all of our laundry.

The munckin's babysitter's kiddo was sick on Monday and Tuesday so we took turns taking off work and staying home with her. It was pretty awesome having an extra bonus day to spend with her. My favorite part of the day with her is in the mornings before her first nap. We usually only get to spend that time with her on the weekends.

I am slowly easing my way back into carbs. Things like brown rice and whole wheat pasta are things I definitely want to incorporate back into my diet. So last night my girl Gina took me out for some sushi. There is this new sushi place near my house where you can sorta build your own roll and you can opt to have it with brown rice! It was so good. The spicy tuna practically melted in my mouth. It had been over 3 months since I was able to eat any sushi (this is huge coming from someone who previously ate it 1-2 times per week... or more). It was a glorious reunion. Her hubby and their little boy came over with her and stayed and hung out with my hubs for some bbq pork steaks while we ventured out for the sushi.

I gave the munch some edamame and she loved it! I bought them already shelled at Trader Joes, boiled them for about 6 minutes. I then peeled the skin off of them and laid them on her tray. She gobbled them up. Look how happy she is!


She has just been so much fun lately. She is clapping really well now and waving hello and goodbye. It's so amaing to see her grow and learn new things every day.


Her and her little cousin are definitely partners and crime. When they are together, they just follow each other around and get into everything. Here they are trying to pull things out of the fridge.



Reading books. They are so smart.

For the first time ever, they were actually sharing toys and handing each other things.

Our friend Justin brought his little girl Mya over to play too. It was pretty hilarious watching them all crawl around like a small herd of animals.

They kept fighting over who got to hold Mya's cheerios.

I put the munchkin in this little dress on Sunday. I thought she looked so adorable in it, we just had to do a photo shoot.


She got some cool new shades on Sunday from Target. This is as close as I could get to a picture of her wearing them.

I had alot to do in the kitchen yesterday before we could head out for sushi and not much time to do it. I gave the munchkin free reign over the storage containers cabinet to keep her busy. It worked like a charm.


So there's my week. I better get back to work!