NaNoWriMo

Have you heard of this? It's almost November, and therefore, almost National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). So sometime in October, if you're feeling randy, you can sign up on http://www.nanowrimo.org , thereby committing to God and country that you will write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. That's one whole novel in one short month. I REALLY want to participate, but my college classes online start on November 4th, so I'm thinking instead, perhaps the key for me would be to start now, pretending that it's November, so that when November hits, I'll not only be ready to devote all my time to school, I'll have an unedited manuscript ready for publi-- ready for serious pain to be inflicted on it with a red pen. I may have mentioned (or not) that I have a wildly clever book already underway, but that although I managed about 12k words, I'm stuck at a point where I need to do some major research before I can continue, and so I've been lollygagging (spell check wants me to make that lallygagging, but I just can't do it). I do, however, have another novel, a romance in fact, which might fit the bill. Romances generally are shorter anyway and although I'd still need to do some research, I should be able to get the base story out in a month - that'd be great since I've had this story for the last ten years itching to be written. So anyway, if you too have the writing bug, visit the site above, and then too, check out this blog which I also find to be terrifically interesting for writers and non-writers alike: http://www.shnozzfest.com . Happy writing!

(P.S. Thanks to my friend Julie for the avatar above.)

Why I'm enamored with Nico

Today, I was feeding the baby when I thought I felt or heard vibration - I don't know what sense was picking it up (perhaps Spidey sense?) but I look over at Nico and he's sitting his his Bumbo and grinning ear to ear. That's when I realized what he was doing. He had put his vibrating teething toy into the bottom of the seat, and when he sat down - VOILA! - instant butt massage! I'm pretty sure it doesn't get much cuter than that.

Get the Funk Out

I woke up this morning, and the sky is conveniently reflecting my mood. I thought it was rather dark for 7am, and when I went outside, the sky looked like this: brooding, cloudy, and in what appears to be a general funk. I don't have a lot of reason to feel this way, but thank you, Mother Nature for adding the icing to the gloom cake.

On a mixed high-note, I weighed myself yesterday for the first time since delivering the baby. I didn't know what to expect, since my clothes aren't fitting as baggily as I'd hoped - in fact, my pre-preggo pants are fitting me rather well, which ordinarily would be a blessing if they weren't so darned large to begin with. Well, I was shocked to see that I'm down 30 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. Okay. This is fantastic. More than I thought. So why am I pissed? Because I bought a pair of size 24 pants the other day (thinking, I wore 26 before the pregnancy, and those were baggy on me) and the buggers didn't fit. And when I say "didn't fit" I mean they didn't want to make it over my hips. Now, I know that sizing varies from store to store and brand to brand (which is a neverending source of irritation for me) but how is it that I'm basically no smaller than when I started out, thirty pounds heavier? WTF? I mean, my face is thinner, other people comment that I look like I've lost weight, so why oh WHY is it not evident in my pants? The only thing I can think is that the stretched out belly-ness is less fatty, but still, quite abundant.

I'm still not done with Mona In the Promised Land by Gish Jen, which to me indicates that the book sucks, because ordinarily (baby or no) I'd be done with a book that size in 48 hours, and it's been a few weeks. I've only had two or three books in my life that fell into this category of "laboriously difficult to read" and those were The Liars' Club: A Memoir by Mary Karr and We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates. I finished the former but just couldn't wade through the latter. I just hate reading books when the style or content just doesn't appeal to me. Why can't there be an English Class with books that get more than three stars on Amazon?

My boy's got asthma. Nico had a cold for three weeks which seemed inordinately long to me, never mind that frankly, there weren't enough Kleenexes in the county to sop up the ever-present mucous streaming from his nose. So I brought him in again (the first time was at the beginning of the cold since I thought he might have an ear infection) and the nurse tells me he has asthma, which is keeping the cold from getting better. Mat has asthma, and he too is having a hard time breathing these days, so I think it's just a weather/time of year thing. But really, doesn't the pediatrician know that all I ever want to hear from them is "He's perfect!"? Grr.

I'm playing CSI: Hard Evidence for the XBox 360 right now (yes, I know, I'm an anathema to the legions of Halo 3 devotees). It's no better, but also no worse, than the previous editions. I had to get my fix in since I have no TV right now, and this past Thursday, I became the only CSI fanatic who has no idea what's happened to Sarah. And no, I don't want to know. I'm waiting for it to be downloadable on the 360, so don't post any spoilers, chickee-monkeys! One thing is certain though, Grissom is no where near as hot rendered in blocky 3-D graphics as he is on the show. 'Nuff said.

Anyway, the sky is brightening ever so slightly, and shortly, my quiet morning will be filled with the whoops and hollers, shrieks and cries of three little boys. It's much harder now with the baby, particularly since Nicholas' cold has got him in double-bad sorts which only compounds the jealousy. He's the neediest little pain ever right now, and I spend most of my day with both of the babies in my arms at the same time -no small feat. I've unfortunately also had a headache ever since I had Joseph. It varies in intensity, but with rare exception, it is always there. I'm going to set up an appointment soon if it gets much worse, because I don't know if I can wait out the six-week appointment. Then again, what can the possibly do for me? Most medication that will help with headaches is counter-indicated for nursing. So, with head a-throbbing, I bid you adieu until next time!

Dog update

So yesterday, before I left the house, I ran into my neighbor outside and he was telling me how his dog must like the bark collar, because he'd tested it, it was working fine, but the dog was still barking as much as ever. He told me the dog would be staying inside from now on.

Well, later, I was getting the kids out of the car and saw him "walking" his dog, which amounted to him standing on the porch, yelling at it while it was supposed to be going potty. Vinny got Nico out of the other side of the car, and then the dog came into my yard. I asked, "Do I need to worry about that?" as I started walking around to where the boys were. I came around the side of the car to see the hound on top of Nico who'd fallen under the dog's weight as it tried to kiss him. Now, Nico is a little dog-phobic to begin with, so I wasn't happy at all. Then I became VERY unhappy, as I told Nico (whom I'd picked up by then) "Oh, the doggie was trying to give you kisses, you're okay!" (Which he was - no physical harm done). My neighbor says something about what I'd said, I don't remember exactly what, but then he proceeds to grab the dog, and bodily slam it against the side of his truck. WTF? He hits it twice into the truck, asking "How do you like it?" After putting the dog inside, he comes out and says, "I'm SO sorry!" I told him it was okay, no harm done (except for the potential psychological trauma to Nico) and he said, "Oh no, that dog is gone, I'm not going to have a dog that knocks down little kids!"

Here's my theory: Maybe, just maybe, if you're trying to potty train an approximately four-month-old puppy and you KNOW you don't have him trained well enough to stay in your yard, PERHAPS, I know, I'm going out on a limb here, PERHAPS, a leash would be in order? Ya think?

My hope in all of this is that my neighbor is true to his word - that he finds a new home for that poor puppy, and in doing so, eliminates the noise problem AND gives that dog a chance at a happy life. I'm no PETA member, but I don't abide that kind of crap.

Charity

I'm a big fan of charitable giving. My bank account doesn't always let me be as magnanimous as I'd like, but I give when I can and volunteer when I'm able. One thing I like to do is donate blood every 54 days (when I'm not pregnant or nursing), as that's as often as you can donate. It doesn't cost me anything and it saves lives (I'm O+ so I'm almost a universal donor).

Today I saw a featured video on YouTube.com. The guy was pretty annoying, but I thought, in contrast to the billions of "hey, lookit me!" videos out there, using youtube for good instead of evil appealed to me.

Then, today, I walked 1.6 miles to pick Vin up from school with Nico in the stroller and wearing Joseph in a wrap. I forgot that I'd transferred all of my purse stuff into the baby bag, and so when I went to get a soda out of the machine at the grocery store, I found I had exactly $.22 to my name, and the sodas were $.25. I said, oh well, and went to walk away when a lady said, "Excuse me," and handed me two quarters. "For your son," she said in stilted English. I thanked her, put in the two quarters and heard one hit the change return. She thought the soda's were $.50 (as they are at a minimum anywhere else, but this was Shasta soda). The change return was full of the extra quarters her daughter had pumped into the machine. I handed them back to her, thanking her again, and thought to myself, I guess there are people out there who still do nice things for one another. It'd been a long time since I'd witnessed it first hand, and in a "shout-it-to-the-universe" kind of way, I'd like to publicly thank her again for showing a fellow person the kindness of a cold soda on a hot day. Thank you!

You ain't nothin' but a hound dog...

I hate my next door neighbor's hound dog. The bloody thing howls/bays all day long, and now, it's 8:45pm, my kids are in bed, and he's at full throttle. We've talked to the neighbor, and he assured us he was getting a bark collar, bringing the dog inside and if all else failed, he sure wasn't going to keep a dog that barked all the time! Liar.

I registered for classes today! I'm going to be taking a basically three classes plus two that I have to take because I'm going to school online (they're 2 credit educational planning classes - yay.) So I'm taking a class on the Enlightenment, World Religions, and Multicultural Lit. I started reading one of the books for the lit class, Mona In the Promised Land by Gish Jen. It's okay so far - she's got a pretty sassy voice, and when I say she, it's only because I don't know if Gish is a male or female name, but the first person narrator is female. I start back to school in November, but I figure getting a head start isn't a bad idea.

I went to a fiber festival yesterday and bought some wool yarn. Now, although I'm glad to have decent yarn instead of the acrylic crap I normally buy, I'm having a hard time figuring out what to make with it since it's wool and can't be washed in the machine. Not being able to wash something in the machine renders almost any garment unworthy of existing as far as I'm concerned. I can't tell you how many "dry clean only" items I've bought and threw in the wash because if they didn't make it through the wash and dry, they simply weren't meant to be in my wardrobe. I've toasted a number of dresses that way. Anyway, I'm thinking hats might be the way to go, otherwise, I'm going to knit some wool soakers for cloth diapers to sell online. May as well make a shekel or two.

I seriously hate this dog.

I was quite domestic today. I got up, and got the boys situated and did the dishes. Then, I threw some white bread fixings into the bread machine to make dough while I grated up some zucchini for some zucchini bread. When my mom came to visit, I made the same bread and forgot to add the margarine. This time around, I forgot the 1/4 cup of sugar. (It still had 1 Tbsp. of sugar that I proofed the yeast with, but still, WTH?) So with my head clearly NOT on my shoulders, I finished the three loaves, and they came out okay. Dinner was a much better success. My friend gave me a slew of tomatoes and some basil and parsley from her garden, and I made a delish pasta sauce for dinner. I browned some ground Italian sausage, pureed the tomatoes with some olive oil, the basil and parsley and a pinch of salt. I mixed it all together, fried some garlic in a olive oil and tossed it in as well. I served it over Rigatoni and used the sugar-light bread to sop up the sauce. So yummy!

I sent Mat over to ask the neighbor to deal with his dog. He did, and now, blessed silence. The guy apologized said the dog has a bark collar. The dog must be a masochist.

I was going to walk to pick Vin up today, but I was chatting w/my brother on the phone, and realized I had 20 minutes to get to the school .8 miles away, and Nico was still napping, and the baby needed a diaper change. There was no way I was getting there in time, so Mat left work to pick him up and had lunch at home instead. Tomorrow I'm walking because Mat is closing, and I'm not piling the kids in the car at 9pm to go get him if I keep the car. He can take it.

Today was not easy, since it was my first day home alone with the two little ones. Nothing is more frustrating than settling in to nurse, and when the baby finally latches, your toddler decides to dismantle your DVD collection. That happened at least five times today. We're moving the DVDs.

Oh, AND, I tried to make my curtains today, and my sewing machine isn't stitching right. Not sure why, but I don't have the know-how to know what to look for. Oh, AND, I'm on Mat's computer, because, that's right, mine took a dump yesterday. I do have the know-how to troubleshoot it, but not the patience. I think it's the power supply. We're going to get one tomorrow.

Now, it's off to wrap up the first season of "Heroes" on DVD. What a great series. I hope they don't cancel it. (Damn you, HBO! I'm still mourning "Deadwood"!)

Night, all.

Back in the saddle again...

Fall is a-coming! I can smell it. The mornings are crisp and the evenings sublime. I'm back to blogging for a number of reasons:

1.) We had our baby. I did most of the work, but we are now proud parents of baby boy Joseph Anthony Martinez! He weighed 7lbs. 13oz. and measured 20 inches long. He's a VERY good baby, and I'm actually getting decent sleep (please take a moment to knock on your nearest wooden surface or object). Here is a picture of me and my boy:

2.) I am starting classes in November. I'm hoping that in two short semesters, I will be the proud owner of a piece of paper saying I have a B.A. in English Lit. I'm registering next week, so here's to open classes!

3.) Walking will be back on in the next few days. I feel better after this delivery than I did with either of my other two boys, and anticipate that within the next week I should be able to start logging some more walking distance. I've deviated from my original one-year plan, but who cares? I anticipate that I've lost about 25lbs. since the start of my pregnancy (I don't own a scale because I obsess, so I have to wait for my 6-week doctor's visit).

Anyway, that's my current events info, and I will endeavor to keep this blog rolling so that when the netizens of the world are bored, there's one more self-absorbed blog out there with fresh material.

The grand master plan

We have been struggling lately, and I think a lot of it is just simply not planning and to further that point, not knowing what the future holds. I'm making some changes. I am due with my third and final SON, Joseph in September. Two days before my due date (good timing, I know) I begin my final leg of my English B.A. with Empire State College (a SUNY school) in New York online. I will be obviously here in Utah. After that, I will continue on to my M.A. in either Lit or Creative Writing (probably lit because I think it'll be more useful career-wise) also through SUNY. I found out the residencies are only 3-4 weekends during the program in Albany, NY - maybe some family would be able to come have lunch with me or something - it's kind of far though. Anyway, after that, the nation-wide hunt begins. I don't know as much as I'd like to about how the career of an English Professor works, but I think I will be looking for a school that will accept a teacher with an M.A. into a tenure-track position with the goal of completing my PhD. at said university. If not, I know I should be able to get in as an adjunct lecturer while I complete my doctorate. I'm starting so late, but I am so glad to finally know where my road will take me. Okay, not exactly where. I don't begin to know where to start looking for the most desirable university, locale and neighborhood to raise my kids in, but I'll figure it out. There's got to be something online, right? In the meantime, once I've got my B.A., I should be able to procure a job on campus locally working hopefully in the English department and maybe even assisting an English professor. I'm late getting my time in on this, so the more experience the better! Now, all I have to do is 4.0 my way to my B.A. so I can get to the Master's program. Piece of cake. LOL

Wow, time gets away from me...

So it's been almost two months since I last posted. Sorry 'bout that. Wow, let's see. I've been having a different kind of pregnancy this time around. I truthfully barely recognize myself, and that's not a bad thing. I felt like all this time I was talking out my ass, saying, Yep, that's right, I'm going to CHANGE how I eat, CHANGE how I move, and CHANGE my attitude about my body. Well, looky here...enough talk about something and it might actually gain a foothold. (Note to readers, I am NOT a proponent of this new fad book known as The Secret, though I do believe positive thinking can only help). So I find myself suddenly not trying to "be better" or "stop eating bad foods", and instead, I just buy healthy food, make it the way I like it and eat a reasonable amount. My body has decided that twice as much food as I need is no longer a reasonable amount, and so I have without any effort, managed portion control. I think I just needed to stop thinking about it so damn much.

I even ate brussels sprouts last night. I hated them. BUT I did give them an honest go, and they failed my taste test. That's okay though...I ate them, and will just buy their other green cousins for my veggie fix.

I have not been walking like I had been, BUT I have been gardening and mowing the lawn, which is a BUTT-whoopin' for me, but I enjoy it, so it's not such a chore.

I found out about a food co-op here in town. I remember my mom belonging to a co-op when I was a kid. The food is so well priced, and it includes local fresh produce, so you can't go wrong with that.

I am toying with the idea of writing a book about eating. Not a diet book, more of an anti-diet (and by that I mean the opposite of diet, not that I'm against dieting, though I am). I want folks to take a look at the food on their plate and wonder where the heck it came from! Folks joke about it, but ask a kid where chicken comes from, and rarely will you get "the farm" as an answer. And if he did say "the farm" he wouldn't be right on that count either. The travels and tribulations our food goes through are something everyone should be aware of. I'm trying to stick to foods with pronounceable ingredientes, and when possible, if a food is going to be "processed", it's going to be processed by me. Really, what I need is a Kitchenaid Mixer with all the bells and whistles (including the pasta attachment) if I'm going to go totally un-processed, because we eat a lot of pasta.

Speaking of pasta though, try this: Instead of buying jarred, salty, greasy, flavorless pasta sauce, gather the following:

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/4 onion chopped (optional)
2 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes (plain old tomatoes only)
1 Tbsp of Italian seasoning (or basil and oregano at the very least)

Heat the oil in a pan on medium until it spits if you flick water at it. Put in the onion and garlic and stir until the garlic turns a little golden. Quickly, so the garlic doesn't burn, add the can of tomatoes, add the seasoning and heat through. You can add or subtract seasoning as you like, and salt and pepper to taste. It doesn't really take much longer to make it, but you KNOW what's in it. Here's the ingredient list for Ragu Traditional:

Tomato Puree , Water , Tomato Paste , Soybean Oil , Salt , Sugar , Dried Onions , Extra Virgin Olive Oil , Spices , Romano Cheese , Part-Skim Milk , Cheese Cultures , Salt , Enzymes , Natural Flavor

1/2 cup contains 6 grams of sugar and 580 grams of sodium. Who needs that? And what, pray tell, are those "natural flavors"?

Obviously, compared to many food items, the Ragu isn't even a scary list of ingredients. At least you can say them all without spraining your tongue.

So I guess, my challenge to you is, see if you can't take something you use all the time: bread, eggs, pasta sauce, taco seasoning or Hamburger Helper and find a way to make it yourself or get it fresh from a farm. See if you can't make a healthy alternative to the packaged, preserved garbage we stick in our mouths every day. You may find it to be cheaper even, at times, and it is almost ALWAYS more flavorful.

Oh, speaking of eggs. Have you ever eaten a farm-fresh egg? I hadn't until this past month. A co-worker of a friend gave me two-dozen eggs to try from his farm down the road to see if I wanted to buy them on a regular basis. The shells ranged from speckled rust color to light green and blue. The inside was where the real shock was though. The yolk was BRIGHT orange. To clarify and give you a better picture, when scrambled, they were the color of dark, sharp cheddar cheese. They were richly flavored and when fried, the yolks stood VERY tall and didn't break easily. Compared to the bleached (literally) white eggshells of the pale-yellow-yolked grocery store eggs, these were a total shock. And they were wonderful. I found out two interesting facts: the yolks are orange because the chickens actually get to go outside and have greens in their diet (weed shoots, alfalfa, that sort of thing) AND, they make terrible hard boiled eggs. Why? Because they're not old. Old eggs peel easily when boiled, which is why if you're planning on boiling eggs, either buy them from a farm in advance, or buy them at the store where they're already plenty old.

I'm rambling, but I'm learning so many things, and I want to SHARE! I'm no longer afraid of butter, olive oil, sugar, bread, etc. I've discovered that there are ways to use all of these things in moderation that gives you the flavor you want without going nutso. I found I can make two loaves of white bread with 1 Tbsp of sugar (in lieu of the one loaf I was making with 1/4 cup of sugar! I found that whether I choose margarine or butter, it doesn't matter, so long as I try to do a lot more cooking with either in small amounts for flavor and not slathering it on bread or potatoes on my plate.

Speaking of plates: I have taken to plating up dinner for everyone before we sit down, with the understanding that what's on the table is ALL there is to eat. Any leftovers are for lunch the next day, and are not available for "seconds". No one seems to miss them.

Tilapia is my new friend. Read about it here.
Everyone in my family loves it from the baby and my six year old to my husband. You can make it SO many ways, it's sustainable, low fat and SO delish. Between that and chicken, my proteins are just about covered for the week.

Okay, so that's probably enough for the day.

March of Dimes Walk 2007!

Hello, hello! Today I enrolled my http://www.utahcountymommies.com team to walk in this years March of Dimes Walk America! I'm very excited about it, and we've got quite a few people interested in participating If anyone wants to help but isn't here in Utah County to walk with us, you can sponsor me by going to Eileen's Personal Walk Page. You can donate using your credit or debit card, or PayPal! Thanks so much for your help!

Oh how I hate Chuck E. Cheese

My son has had a very rough year at school and recently started treatment for ADD. He has done amazingly well, and had an entire month (with only one bump in the road) with great days at school. My husband decided to treat him to a "fun night", and of course, he chose Chuck E. Cheese, animatronic beacon of fun to children everywhere. He told me that the Chuck that comes out on stage is a robot and so is the one that comes down and hugs the children. I told him I didn't think so, but he assured me that he had an amazing brain that could figure these things out, so I conceded. Even after seeing the Man/Mouse walking around, he's certain it's a robot. Then again, I would think anyone working at this particular Chuck E. Cheese would do well to be able to go on autopilot. What a circus. I have never seen one of these places SO busy. I have crowd-o-phobia (don't ask me for the real name, I don't feel like looking it up) and the noise and crowd and lights are really too much of a sensory overload for me. So I am immediately in panic mode and ready to leave. Then I eat a ton of pizza and bad salad and finally decide to go next door to Robert's craft store (like Michael's) and buy the remaining yarn for Nico's blanket. (I'm going to attempt to design a teddy bear on the off white background and give it a blue and brown border). Immediately, I'm getting gas pains enough to nearly double me over, but I perservere, wanting to waste as much time as possible without going back to the Cheese. Finally, I couldn't wait any more, so I left my yarn at the service desk and went to get Mat and Mat's wallet. They were just wrapping it up, and so we finally got to leave.

I hope never to go back again. I know this is too much to expect with two children younger than Vinny to contend with, but at the very least, I can assure you I will NEVER go back on a Saturday. NEVER.

Now we're going to watch season One of Battlestar Gallactica (the new one) that my brother lent me. Chat atcha later!

Buying a house

Well, we found a house we liked on Thursday and put an offer in. They accepted it this morning, so we're under contract now, and the wheels are all turning. We have to do our inspections and whatnot, but hopefully all will go well, and we'll have a new house in three weeks! The kitchen and downstairs bath are both BRAND NEW, including a shiny new fridge and dishwasher. The range is not brand new, but it's newer and in great condition. It's a tiny three bedroom with the main bedrooms in the basement, but the basement is a daylight basement with a walk-out, so it's a lot safer than most of these Utah houses with six bedrooms in the basement where the kids would have to scramble out of the window well six feet above their heads. The best part is, ours and the kids' bedrooms are downstairs, so NO ONE ever has to walk by them when they come to visit! And the laundry is in the basement too, so no carting clothes upstairs! Whoo hoo! I love the hardwood floors in the living room and kitchen, and the yard is gorgeous! There's already an area set up for a garden (complete with rotting veggies from last year - ew!) and a shed of the back of the garage that is BEGGING for gardening tools. I am going to start my journey into organic goodness this Spring!

Speaking of which, I went to Target last night and found they had normal Kellog's cereal in an organic variety (Rice Krispies and Frosted Mini Wheats are what we bought). The mini-wheats are my favorite, and I actually preferred the organic because it was a much lighter "frosted" side, so I didn't feel quite so bad blowing away my diabetic rules and regs. Vinny had the Rice Krispies (which I hate) and said they were good. Then again, he also enjoyed a hunk of the cement brick I made out of whole wheat flour in my bread machine. My son is every mother's dream - if I make it "homemade" he thinks it's the greatest.

Anyway, I'll keep ya's posted on the house!

Finally

In 1990, I started college at the University of Buffalo. I went to orientation and the first person I befriended was a young woman named Linda Yalem. She was upbeat, athletic and we hit it off right away. We talked about running together since I was a former track runner and she was training for the New York City marathon. I've never been much of an athlete though, and as college got underway, I kind of stopped hanging out with her as much and we never ended up jogging together. Then, on September 29, 1990, while jogging alone on the bike path near the college, Linda was raped and murdered.

I felt guilt the likes of which I had never experienced before or since. If she hadn't been alone, if I had been with her, maybe... I couldn't watch TV because they kept putting her face on the screen. I couldn't go to the bathroom because the composite picture of that bastard was on the back of every stall door. (I tore quite a few of those down - counterproductive, I know, but I just couldn't bear it). Throughout the past 17 years, I have periodically searched the web to make sure her memorial run was still happening and to see whether they'd found her murderer.

My best friend from college called me today and told me that it seems they've found him. His face looks a lot like the face on those flyers and more importantly his DNA looks like a good match. I'm glad they found him, though I'm not happy that Linda was not his last victim. I'm angry now, angry like I was back then - I can't believe it's finally over. I pray that Linda's family finds closure when they put this man away. I'll be keeping my eye on the proceedings, and hope that justice is served swiftly and with the steepest penalty allowable for such a miserable, heinous crime. God bless you, Linda.

Just for Erin

I wanted to post just because Erin said she needed more wallpaper options for her desktop. I think this is one of the cutest pictures of my boys.

This week, I'd be surprised if I haven't lost 5 lbs simply for lack of eating. I've felt cruddy AND we're broke, so food in the house actually requires lengthy preparation and I just haven't felt like it. Last night we made a pretty good shrimp stir-fry, so I got some much-needed vegetables and protein in me. We discovered that jasmine rice apparently needs more water and more time in the steamer (or it stays a bit "al dente"). I also discovered that my husband, for the last few days, thought the dishes in the dishwasher were clean. (They weren't). Ewww.

Still working on a new baby blanket which is going to be for Nico since I never finished his yellow one and now the pattern for the yellow one isn't making sense so I've dropped it for now. This one is all off white, but I think I'll put a blue and brown border around it and I'm going to try and embroider a teddy bear on it. This will be my first attempt at a self-genenerated design, so it could be disastrous. Good thing he's a baby.

Oh where oh where has my litle blog gone?

I have not been posting. Mostly because I have not been walking. I had a scary moment after a long walk, and since then I've been leery of walking for fear of "overdoing it" and losing this baby. So here's the worse news: I have gestational diabetes again. I have to go in and find out just how bad it is with a three hour test, but it's not a matter of "if" I have it but "how bad" I have it. The good news is, when I went in for my first appointment (four weeks after finding out), I'd lost a pound, so at least I'm not piling on the fat. My goal is to try and gain only 15 lbs this time around.

I got to see the little bean via ultrasound this time, and everything seems fine. We've got one (thank goodness) healthy baby and our due date has changed to September 12th.

Anyway, I may start using this blog to document my gestational diabetes fight since the walking is probably going to be cut to a minimum, at least for now.

Here's a pic of the throw blanket I crocheted for my livingroom. Vinny keeps trying to confiscate it for his own room, but THAT my friends, is a battle he will not win!

3.03 miles today

Amanda and I walked 3.03 miles today. I left Nico home with Mat again because he still has the sniffles. My hips felt a little achy by the end, but it was a good walk. Not much else going on, but I wanted to post! See ya Friday!

Thank goodness for snow and friendship

So I told my friend Amanda, "Don't take 'no' for an answer when it comes to us walking!" Since I've come to the conclusion that getting in shape means life or death for me (avoiding diabetes), I took a "no messing around" stand. That is, until I shoveled my whole driveway last night AND this morning and was comfy on the couch watching Top Chef with hubby who didn't have to work until 2pm. The phone rang, and I said, "Oh my God, it's Amanda, and I totally forgot to call her, oh man, I don't want to walk...Hello?" That's when she tells me she's parked outside my house, and how long would it be before I was ready? Gotta love it. So I threw some semi-warm clothes on and left Nico with Mat so I could walk solo. We did a shorter walk than usual, but it was because it was cold as heck! I think we probably walked about 2 miles though. So, I'd like to publically thank Amanda for getting my butt in gear this morning and making me live up to my end of the deal!

Surprise, surprise!

While eating Tostitos and homemade salsa (why is this stuff so damn good???) and swigging a beer, I signed up for Weight Watchers online the evening of January 1st. In the morning, I had a doctor's appointment to talk about a digestion problem I've had where food gets excruciatingly stuck in my chest, to the point where it's actually made me get sick. I also have tinea versicolor that's gone untreated for forever ('tis a lovely fungals skin problem that discolors your skin in little spots - quite lovely if it was wallpaper and not my shoulders). Plus, I wanted to get my psychotropic cocktail re prescribed now that I'm no longer nursing Nicholas.

Doctor tells me that I've likely got an esophageal constricture, and that he was referring me to a specialist to have a scope run down my throat and if that was the problem, to have my esophagus stretched. None of which sounds the least bit pleasant, pardon me if I seem the naysayer.

He prescribed me my anti-fungal cream, Topomax for mood swings (and apparently it also actually helps folks lose weight as an added bonus), Cymbalta for anxiety and depression and Xanax for anxiety attacks. This heavy does of meds for a small dose of "normal". Hallelujah!

So he says, "Is it possible you're pregnant, because you can't take these if you are."

I said, "It's not outside the realm of possibility, but no, I don' think so." So he sends me in for a urine sample anyway, and a little while later, the nurse comes back with something cupped in her hand that she shows the doc.

"Looks like we're going to have a positive," he says matter-of-factly.

Tears spring to my eyes and I probably said something like, "What?!? Are you serious? Oh my God, really?"

So he cancelled all my scripts (except the anti-fungal) and I went home and cancelled weight watchers. I did tell my walking buddy that she's no longer allowed to take "no" for an answer. I'm going to walk 3-5 times a week if it kills me. Well, hopefully what it will do is prevent me from gaining (along with eating all the veggies and good-fat foods I bought yesterday) but also it will tone my body for an easier pregnancy and labor.

Did I mention my baby is nine months old???

We walked for about an hour and a half yesterday, maybe three miles. Not sure if I'll make it out today, the weather is supposed to be dreadful. We'll see.

Vinny is the only one we haven't told yet (Mat and I haven't been home at the same time with him yet), but I imagine his reaction will be something like this:

I know mine was.