Just a Reminder That I've Moved!

I'm having a great time over on wordpress now. Come on over and see me sometime! Oh, and don't forget to update your blog roll and readers!

My New Blog

What's Been Going On In My Life Lately

Ok, So I posted before that things in my life are changing and I'm hoping it's for the better.

Last week was my final week of babysitting. I am both happy and sad about this change. I'm happy in that I'll finally be able to get my life back on track in terms of doing my own thing, cleaning when I want, etc. I'm sad because I will miss both Baby Girl and the money it brought in. But, now that I'll have my time back during Bugs nap, I'll be able to post on my blog more, be a part of my online baby boards that I have been sadly neglecting since well before Christmas, reconnect with online friends and I can get my cleaning schedule back on track.

I'm hoping that with the lack of babysitting, I can also get myself back on a decent eating habit. After I started babysitting, my eating habits went down the drain. I haven't been the best person to count on for eating breakfast, just ask my mom, yet I always make sure Bug has something to eat first thing in the morning, generally a bowl of cereal or a piece of fruit. While I was baby sitting, I'd have to shower and do most of my cleaning first thing (vacuuming, sweeping, general straightening, cleaning the cat and dog pans, etc) because it was all stuff that needed to be done before the day could begin. This left little time for me to sit down and have a healthy breakfast with Bug. I would normally put a cup of tea in the microwave and would either forget that it was in there long after the beep or be seen scarfing it down quickly right as Baby Girl arrived. I usually get hungry around 10am or so if I don't eat first thing and since I didn't want to eat in front of Baby Girl because she'd want what I was eating (I didn't want to share...lol), I just didn't eat. Also, I wasn't always the best at eating with the kids at lunch. I'd stay with them and supervise them, but at the same time I'd be finishing laundry or trying to check my email. I often wouldn't eat until well after Bug went down for his nap...usually around 2pm...I'm hoping that since I don't have to clean first thing anymore, I can sit down and enjoy a relaxed and hot meal with my son. And, I know I can sit down and eat lunch with him since there is no need to rush to get other things done fast before the quietness had to envelope my house.

The other thing I'm hoping for is for less stress. I am starting to think that watching Baby Girl was messing with my stress level and my health, as well as my diet. I started stressing over if I'd picked up all the little toys Bug was playing with and put them out of reach. Did I clean everything I needed too? Was Baby Girl going to be exceptionally whiny today? Was she going to give me attitude when I told her no? Was she going to eat? Was she going to finally drink her milk? Was she going to nap well? I fully believe that my parenting style and Baby Girls' parents parenting style were completely different. There are things that I just had to accept that never would have flown with Bug. Anyway, I'm not entirely convinced that my stress level has anything to do with, but I'm waiting to see if A) my stomach pains that I've been experiencing each month go away and B) I get pregnant. Darling Hubby and I have been sorta trying since last July, but it's been a no go. I'm sure fate has reasons for us not getting pregnant yet. I'll be sad if we don't have a second child, but I'm just enjoying Bug right now.

I'm hoping things will get better for me and Darling Hubby in the relationship department, too. Lately, like I said, I've just been feeling stressed out with keeping up appearances, so to speak, and how my day goes that I just feel burnt out at the end of the day. Fingers crossed that now that I'm getting back on my own schedule, I'll get better about being a snuggler.

As for the 2nd income, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I've been doing some writing for Associated Content, which my friend Annie over at Fried PorkChop told me about. They pay you for writing articles for them. So far I've been paid for 3 of the 4 articles I've written. Maybe now that I'll have a bit more computer time I'll be able to come up with some article topics, as well as blog topics.

And since so much has changed in my life I figured I'd make one more big change. I'm moving. Now don't start to worry, I'm not going to physically move from my house (I like it here), I'm moving my blog. I decided a while ago that I wasn't going to participate in the big bloggy move that my friend Megan was a part of, but when I checked out her new blog it made me think that a change could be good for me, too.

So, after some consideration, I'm moving to wordpress. After checking out their site I decided it would be easier to use then Blogger, although I have nothing against Blogger. I think I just need easier in my life.

Come check me out at my new digs - http://sarandipity9702.wordpress.com/ It's still a work in progress, so pardon the dust until I can get everything sorted out and cleaned up. Don't forget to update your blogroll, if I'm part of it, and your blog reader.

Blast From The Past - Bug's Birth Story

So after posting my previous post about Bug's 3rd birthday, I got to thinking about his birth story. I remembered typing it up and posting in on my old LiveJournal, so I headed over there and dug it out of the archives. So, for those of you who never had the joy of hearing how Bug came into the world, here you go!

Originally posted on Live Journal, February 11, 2005 @ 2:17PM. It has been edited for spelling and names have been changed.

Well, Bug is finally here after one heck of a ride. If anyone wants to know how things went during delivery, here's the birth story (I actually have a moment to type it...he's sleeping in his swing after eating...yeah!)

Well, on Saturday January 29th, I woke up at 1am with minor contractions. They weren't too painful and were about 10 minutes apart or so. That lasted all morning. I ended up watching TV all morning in bed until around 6am when Darling Hubby finally got up. He had asked me on Friday to cut his hair so, while I was in early labor, I'm cutting his hair...lol We thought that labor would progress faster so we got up and milled around the house. By 6pm things had started to move along a little better. I was timing contractions all day long and they were finally consistently about 3-6 minutes apart. I called the doctor and she said that I could come in and get checked.

At the hospital, they checked me and I was only about a 2. They admitted me since I was so overdue and hooked me up to all these different machines and IV's. I could have slugged the nurse that put in my IV. She tried in 4 different places on my hands and arms until she found a place where she wasn't hurting me. A couple places actually started to bleed all over the place - the bed and the floor...that wasn't fun. I had so many wires and hoses coming out of me that it wasn't funny. There was the contraction monitor, Bug's heartbeat monitor, my IV with the tubes for the Pitocin, Glucose solution, and Penicillin (for the group B strep).

My friend Rachelle from back home arrived around 8 (I was talking to her on the phone before I went to the hospital and I was supposed to call her once they admitted me.) Her boyfriend told her just to come up because more than likely, he would be born within the next day or so. I was actually trying to call her on her cell when she was walking in the door.

They kept checking me and I was dilating pretty slowly, despite the pitocin. They broke my water, which wasn't clear...meaning that Bug had already had his first bowel movement. There was a risk that if he inhaled or swallowed some of the amniotic fluid that he could get pneumonia or have other breathing problems.

Around midnight, the contractions were coming closer together and were getting pretty painful. I was near tears most of the time and squeezing both Darling Hubby's and Rachelle's hands. I was actually afraid that I would hurt them. I ended up begging for the epidural. They made Darling Hubby and Shell leave the room - probably because if he heard the doctor say "oops" he probably would have decked him. The anesthesiologist who came in to do the job had no sense of humor and didn't make me feel all that comfortable. He actually scared me because he poked me in the back with a pen to mark my spine. I jumped and he was like "it was only a pen...you need to hold still." He never warned me...Can't be prepared for something if I don't know someone is going to stick me with something. Anyway, I felt much better after the epidural was put in. The only downside was that I couldn't get out of bed and walk around, much less go to the bathroom. They had to insert a catheter...luckily I couldn't feel it. So add to the previous list of wires, the epidural in my back, the catheter, and 3 cardiac monitors - to make sure that I was handling the epidural without heart problems. They also hooked me up to a blood pressure cuff that was programmed to check my pressure every 15 minutes. It was hard to get sleep when your arm is squeezed every 15 minutes. Plus, when they changed my positions (I couldn't move on my own) if they put me on the side with the cuff, it would register that my pressure was high causing a monitor to beep, annoyingly, until a nurse came in and turned it off...they had to keep doing that.

I was also starting to get really hot so they were giving me wet cloths to wipe my face with and the nurse even turned down the heat. Poor Darling Hubby and Shell were freezing. Rachelle had on 4 layers of clothing, plus she had one of the blankets from my bed.

By morning, I was starting to feel the contractions again because the epidural was starting to wear off. They kept changing my positions to see if they could get the pain to go away, but it wasn't working. They were going to give me more meds in my epidural, but there was an emergency c-section that required the anesthesiologist and all the nurses. Someone was having triplets...ouch!

Ok, so

Well, after the whole triplet chaos, they came in and gave me some more medication, but that was really all they could give me because after a few times, the medication would become toxic. It helped for about an hour and started to wear off again. My doctor came in and checked me...I was up to 7cm. They decided to up my pitocin and insert a monitor to see exactly how strong my contractions were...yet one more wire...I was actually begging them before they started all this for the c-section because I couldn't take it anymore. The doctor said they couldn't do that without a good medical reason. So I had another 1/2 hour-45 minutes of pain. It turns out that my contractions just weren't strong enough to keep me progressing and with the fact that Bug had already had his first bowel movement, it was necessary to get him out sooner rather the later.

They got me all set to go into the OR. Darling Hubby was given scrubs to change into. We called my parents just to let them know that I was going into surgery, in case something happened. I was pretty scared at the aspect of being gutted like a fish, but it was for the best. The new anesthesiologist was great and actually had a sense of humor. He made me numb from my chest down so I couldn't feel a thing. They wheeled me into the OR and moved me onto the operating table. I still had the cardiac monitors, the blood pressure cuff, the epidural, the catheter, the IV, and now these inflatable air casts that would breath to keep the blood flowing in my legs. I was shivering uncontrollably because at this point I was so cold and scared. They put this big plastic pillow across my arms and started blowing warm air through it. They covered it with a towel and it kept me nice and warm. I still felt bad for Darling Hubby once he got in there because he was only wearing thin little scrubs and it was pretty cold in the room.

They checked to make sure that I was completely numb. I guess they were pinching me pretty hard with some instrument. I could feel them rubbing my belly down with the orange liquid. I didn't feel them cut me open, but I could feel a ton of pressure as they were digging around in there. It was like a great weight was lifted out of me when they pulled Bug out. Darling Hubby got a couple pictures, but the doctor was in the way so you really can't tell where his head is and whatnot. Normally they show the mom the baby over the screen, but since there was the problem with the meconium, they whisked him off to the corner to check him and make sure his airways were clear. I, of course, started to cry the instant he started to cry. I was just happy that he was breathing and crying. It was another 45 mintues until they got me sewed back up. Darling Hubby snapped a couple of pictures of Bug after they cleaned him up. He did well on his apgar scores with and 8 and a 9.

He was born at exactly 12:12pm on January 30, 2005, weighing in at a whopping 9lbs 13oz, 21 inches long. He's doing great, except for the breastfeeding, but he's eating formula like mad and gaining weight. He lost a pound before being released from the hospital, but as of Monday the 7th, he was back up to 9lbs 11oz.

Well, I had better get going. Bug's going to wake up soon for his feeding and I'm sure he's going to be hungry. Later

Better Late Than Never Birthday Post

Ok, so this post is only nearly 2 weeks overdue, but hey, life keeps getting in the way of my blogging time. I think from now on things will get better in that department (and a lot of departments in my life), but first, here's my birthday boy, who turned 3 on January 30th!

The little girl, Baby Girl, that I babysat (I'm no longer watching her) and her parents bought Bug this little Lightning McQueen remote controlled race car. Bug loves it. It runs around in a backwards circle and when you push the button on the remote control (very 3 year old friendly) it goes forward. He zoomed it all over the house that day (except when it freaked out Baby Girl,) and for days after. He also got the book Philadelphia Chickens by Sandra Boynton. If you've never heard of Sandra Boynton or her books, you should go check them out! Bug's newest song addiction is the Belly Button Song. We also have the Belly Button Book which is where the song came from. Needless to say, it's stuck in my head right now...


For dinner, I made Bug's favorite meal...Spaghetti with homemade sauce. Here he was being goofy for the camera. Typical 3 year old...

After dinner we broke out the present. He was so excited to open it.

He got the DC Super Friends Green Lantern on a motorized scooter thingy...

He really wanted Daddy to open it...and fast...like the Flash!

Here is Green Lantern running around...veeerrrryyy slllloooowwwlllyy, I might add... around our living room with Bug in hot cold pursuit.

The only problem with the above toy is that it's very hard for a 3 year old to affix the Green Lantern to the scooter. I'm always being asked to help with it, which gets a little tedious when you've got your hands occupied with something else. Then, it gets placed on the floor to slowly run amok into the corners of the room until Mommy tells Bug to move him...But, at least he's happy and Green Lantern can now hang with his other super friends, Batman, Superman, and Flash, in the superhero bin under the TV.

All in all, I think his actual birthday was a good one. I can't believe that my baby is 3 now. He's come a long way from that little (I say little even though he was nearly 10lbs) baby that needed me to do everything for him to a head strong 3 year old who only wants me to do some things for him. I'm sad to see my little baby go, but I'm glad he's becoming self-sufficient and can do things for himself, tell me what he wants and needs and is just all around joy to be around.

We had a mini party for him on Sunday, the 3rd with just my parents. I'll post pics of that later on when I get the chance. That was when we had cake and ice cream, so fear not, I have pics of him blowing out the candles.

So Much To Do...So Little Time!

So, my mom and dad are coming up for a little "mini party" for Bug's 3rd birthday on Sunday. We are just having lunch and cake and ice cream...Nothing fancy. I decided that this year might be too much for him if we invited family and friends so we are keeping it small...super small. My mom and dad missed out on Bug's first 2 birthday parties so that's the reason I invited just them. Plus, they never come to visit so I figured if I could get them out of the house for a day it would be good for them. Let's hope they don't disappoint. I think Bug is looking forward to their visit.

I have a ton of stuff to accomplish before they arrive. You know, I have this thing where I have to clean pretty well before family comes to visit, esp my mom since she's a clean person...you could eat off her kitchen floor. I wouldn't recommend that in my house. My floor is clean and swept daily (and spot cleaned when those sticky spots start showing up), but not always mopped clean... Anyway, I'm a list maker so I figured I'd make a list of all the things I have to do here for all the public to see (and maybe hold me accountable) and that way I might be more apt to get it all done before they arrive Sunday morning, provided the temperature won't drop below 40 and it's not icing or snowing...

I'll update this post and cross things off as I get them done.

1. Bake Bug's birthday cake
   Bug helped me with that this morning...it's currently cooling.
2. Decorate Bug's birthday cake
3. Clean the kitchen (Empty dish drainer, wash dishes, empty dish drainer again, wipe down counters)
   
4. Clean the bathrooms. I even cleaned the tub...even though mom won't check there...at least I don't think she will!
5. Sweep and mop the bathrooms, kitchen, living room and dining room floors.
6. Vacuum the rugs in the office, living room and Bug's room. Although I'm sure I'll do this again Sunday morning.
   
7. Finish putting away all the dried laundry.
8. Sweep the front porch.
9. Clean out the cat and dog pans.
10. Make my bed. gasp!
11. Dust
12. Straighten up all the toys and put them away.
    

OK, let's see how much I can get done before Darling Hubby gets home. Provided it's not icy outside we plan to go out in search of a big boy mattress for Bug (A local Mom and Pop store is having a mattress sale so we'll go check them out) and then to Friendly's for a birthday treat. Bug LOVES Friendly's and he's got a coupon for a free kids meal. Then, I get up tomorrow and start tackling all the stuff I didn't get done today...on top of grocery shopping...ugg!

Food For Friday 2/4-2/8 & 2/11-2/15

OK, it's time for another edition of Food For Friday. I'm feeling rather disorganized with my menu this time around, although I've actually started prepping for it Thursday...and I'm not disorganized...really...it just feels that way.

Sunday 2/3 - My parents are coming for a visit for Bug's b-day. I'm making Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu. I made this last week and Darling Hubby just LOVED IT!! It's definitely something that's going in the recipe box!

Monday - Craft night - Sadaf's turn to cook. I will probably make Hamburger Helper before I leave.
Tuesday - Breakfast for Dinner - Bacon/sausage/SPAM and eggs with toast or maybe French Toast.
Wednesday - Pizza
Thursday - Game Night - Turkey Burgers and Homemade Fries
Friday - BBQ Spare Ribs, mashed potatoes and veggies

Monday - Craft Night - Rose's turn to cook. I'll probably make burgers/dogs and fries before I leave.
Tuesday - Rotisserie chicken breast, stuffing and veggies
Wednesday - Stuffed pork chops, rice-a-roni, and veggies
Thursday - Crockpot Beef Stew - Nothing says Happy Valentines Day like a beef stew! lol
Friday - Tacos

A Quirky Meme

My friend Annie over at Fried PorkChop has bestowed me (amongst other things that I will get to later) with the great task of a meme...well, here goes...

The directions:
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

(ONE) I once collected TY Beanie Babies...yes, I'll admit it...I was a beanie baby junkie...I was a member of their beanie board and stalked it on occasion. It was like a drug high (although I've never actually been high on drugs, so I really wouldn't know what feels like, but I can assume) when I came across some new ones in the store that I didn't have in my collection. I HAD THEM ALL for a while. Slowly that phase in my life petered out. I've boxed some of the ones that I really liked and put them away. I've sold a few and donated some. I've moved on to collecting Eeyores...although I haven't felt the need to buy EVERY SINGLE ONE I SEE in a while.

(TWO) I DVR my soaps so I can watch them later. I only watch All My Children and One Life to Live, but AMC falls right when I put Bug down for his nap so I'll watch OLTL and then go back and watch AMC. I need to know what's happening in Pine Valley and Llanview.

(THREE) Like Annie, I sometimes I wish I could go back and do some of my high school career over again. I wouldn't be as serious as I was all the time. I wouldn't always have my nose in a book or be teachers pet (come on, I really liked being the teachers pet). I think the one thing I wouldn't change would be my time spent in band. I really think that helped define me. My memories in band are the what remind me I was happy in HS.

(FOUR) I hate to be late to meetings or appointments so I'm always at least 10-15 minutes early. When I was in high school I'd always arrive to marching band practice at least 30 minutes early. I'm a clock watcher, too. If things aren't on time by my watch it drives me crazy.

(FIVE) I sometimes count my steps when I'm walking. I always count my steps when I'm going up or down the stairs, esp in the dark so I know where I am and I don't fall. I sometimes count to help me fall asleep.

(SIX) I hate when my grocery list isn't neat. If too many things have been written in badly (i.e. the handwriting is bad) or things have been crossed off, I have to rewrite the whole thing. I like pages to be neat and tidy.

Ok, there we have it...six random things no one should really know about me! lol Here are the people I'm tagging... Shannon, Corey, Stacie, Lori, Meghan and Keara

Goin' Old School Rocks

Thursday night was game night in our abode and it was one of the most fun game nights I've had in a long time. Despite not being completely up to snuff on how the rules worked, having switched gears completely, I did really well. My friend Bernie was a big help by printing out the entire list of spells I can cast, including a spell list for my daily spells, as well as a list of what creatures I can summon. We just have a few more lists to work out and I'll be home free.

Honestly, I have to say, being a magic wielding Druid really kicks mechanical butt...literally! Up to the midway point in the game I was pretty useless. The spells I had chosen weren't really things that could help us (being I'm a Druid, I need nature and we were, unfortunately, underground) so I was feeling quite useless, aside from being the note taker for the night. We finally got into a spot where my skills were useful. I can shape change into small, medium and large creatures that I'm familiar with. We ended up coming across some metal cables strung haphazardly about this passageway and they sent me in the form of a hawk, swooping down the tunnel. In passing, I brushed up against one of the cables and was in for a great surprise. Not only was I sticking fast where I touched it, but I had volts of electricity coursing through my feathery body. Thankfully our GM didn't feel the need to taser me for the real effect.

Cue the entrance of the giant mechanical spider...Have I mentioned in this blog before that I really hate spiders?

By the middle of the battle, our resident flying pixie, Tink (Bernie) was also caught in the mechanical spiders web and since the other party members were rather useless at freeing us from it's venomous bites and electric webs without getting caught themselves, it was up to me. For my last shape change of the day, I transformed into a large, hulking brown bear. My struggling against the webbing attracted the spider to my location where I proceeded to beat the living crap out of it. I was really impressed with myself. After its mechanical failure and demise, I was able to tear myself from the webbing, which was still sticky, but no longer electrified. I should say that I did take quite a beating from the webbing and the spiders bites and my hit points were nearing the zero mark rapidly when the battle subsided. Thankfully, our resident Cleric (Darling Hubby, otherwise known in the game as Skrewdat (simply because he couldn't use the name he'd used for his last character creation...the GM said, "no" and DH said, "Screw that!")) was able to heal me up and fast, before our next battle ensued...but I wasn't a part of that one. That was all Tink and some talking doors.

Oh, I should mention that Darling Hubby had a good night, too. He took out 4 ghouls in one swipe with a turn undead spell. It was pretty cool. They were there and suddenly, they were piles of dust on the floor.

Gotta love Old School!

100th Post = 100 Random Things About Me!

Huzzah! It's my 100th post! I can't believe I've actually had 100 different things to talk about. Well, in honoring the blogging world tradition of posting a list of 100 things, I'm posting a list of 100 things about me...they are in no particular order and some are VERY random. Happy reading!

1. I like to do laundry. I enjoy seeing the dirty, smell clothes go into the washer and come out smelling clean and fresh. I like hanging them out on the clothesline in the backyard in the summer and on drying racks in the winter. I like folding up those clean dry clothes and putting them away. It feels good to see the whole process through from start to finish.
2. On the other hand. I hate the act of washing dishes. I like the end result of having clean dishes and clear counters, but I hate actually washing and scrubbing.
3. I love chocolate, especially homemade hot chocolate in the winter.
4. Christmas is my favorite holiday...and not because of the presents.
5. Cats are my favorite animals.
6. I own 1 cat, 3 dogs and a tank full of tropical fish.
7. I enjoy cooking and eating.
8. I love to sleep.
9. I'm not a morning person.
10. I enjoy doing crafts (scrapbooking, quilting, crocheting and knitting)
11. I hate being cold
12. I have a blanket obsession...see 11
13. I watch too much tv. It's gotten worse since we had the DVR installed.
14. I really should listen to more music.
    
15. I love taking pictures.
16. I have a 14G hard drive on my computer that just for pictures. It has 10G full already.
    
17. I love to type and write things out by hand. I like my handwriting most days.
    
18. I love to read and have a whole bookshelf of books that have yet to be cracked.
19. I'm a good listener.
20. I can't stand following politics. Even the thought of it makes me go crazy.
21. I love sitting in front of the fireplace soaking up the warmth.
22. I'm scared of lighting matches, the ones in the little books. I can manage just fine if they are the stick matches. I'm afraid of burning my fingers.
    
23. Curling up under a nice warm blanket with a hot beverage and a good book is one of my favorite ways to pass the time
24. I don't drink coffee (yuck!) Tea for me, please.
25. I like to have a clean house, but sometimes hate the process to get there.
26. I never make my bed in the morning...it only gets made if I change the sheets.
27. I like getting mail in the hopes that something good will be waiting for me. I love getting packages...even if they are just little free samples of things I've requested online.
28. I'm nosy. I need to know what's going on outside my house if I see police, firetrucks, or ambulances.
    
29. I hate when people come around knocking on my door trying to preach their way of religion on me. Honestly, if I wanted religion, I'd find it myself.
30. I don't have a problem with religion...I can talk with others about their religion...I just hate when others feel the need to push their religion on me, trying to convert me.
31. I'm a gamer. Yep, I play Dungeons and Dragons.
32. I talk with my hands when I tell a story, even if I'm on the phone.
33. I believe in ghosts and enjoy a good spooky story during Halloween.
34. I've had my own paranormal experience.
35. I love watching Ghost Hunters on SciFi.
36. I really enjoy it when it's nap time in my house. I really can use the quiet time to myself to craft, blog or watch tv.
37. My favorite cartoon character is Eeyore.
38. I love the color purple.
39. My favorite movies are Elizabethtown, LOTR, Pirates of the Caribbean (1-3), Dirty Dancing & Serendipity.
40. I like my hair. It's long and straight and easy to manage.
41. I never blow dry my hair. I let it air dry.
42. I like to cut my hair once every couple years and donate it to Locks of Love to make wigs for kids who suffer from medical hair loss.
43. My favorite books are Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel and the Harry Potter series.
44. I hate drinking plain water. I prefer juice (cranberry, grapefruit and orange)
45. I'm sometimes bad about calling friends back. I usually think that I'll find a better time to call them back and I never do...
46. I used to bite my nails until I got engaged and my friend Shannon took me to get my nails done in acrylics. After that I try not to chew them off anymore. I've been successful at keeping them long.
47. I'm not looking forward to potty training Bug.
48. I once starved myself for a boy (not Darling Hubby). Lost 10 lbs in a week. It was a stupid thing to do.
49. I have 2 older brothers. One is 20 years older than me, the other 18 years older.
50. I gave away my oldest brothers wife during their wedding. I was 9 months old. The minister asked, "Who gives this woman?" and I answered in my loud wee voice, "ME!"
51. I was a Girl Scout from the age of 6-12.
52. I've sold so many magazine subscriptions and cookies, it's not even funny.
53. I've been to Girl Scout camp (Camp Amahami) on many occasions.
54. My parents built me a tree house when I was away at Girl Scout camp one year.
55. I played flute from 5th grade through 12th grade.
56. I started marching band when I was in 6th grade.
57. I never memorized the music that first year so I faked it in parades.
58. I learned the alto saxophone in 10th grade so I could join jazz band. I played flute in jazz band, too.
59. I taught myself the trumpet in 12th grade because we needed extra trumpets in marching band for our performance in The Disney Magic Music Days in Disney World.
    
60. Our band director said I was the loudest trumpet.
61. Darling Hubby chaperoned that Disney Trip. Keep in mind I was 17 and he was 25.
    
62. On school band trips, I've only ever roomed with C Shell. We always managed to get a room to ourselves. We weren't good at sharing with others.
63. I've been to band camp.
64. I was on Honor Roll in school.
65. I was a member of the Honor Society.
66. I graduated 4th in my class.
67. I never really felt close to many people in my graduating class. Most of those who I was friends with have fallen off the face of the planet.
68. I never went on my senior trip.
    
69. This year is my 10 year reunion...I'm scared!
    
70. I've never broken a bone (knock on wood)
71. I've fallen both up and down stairs.
72. I've had stitches and staples.
73. I was bitten in the face by my own dog (German shepherd) when I was 3 - resulting in the aforementioned stitches.
74. I've had a c-section. Hence the staples.
    
75. I hate calling doctor offices to schedule appointments.
76. I hate spiders.
77. Most of the stuff filling up our attic belongs to me. My mom saved everything.
78. I use canvas bags when I go grocery shopping.
79. I wear glasses and have since I was 6. I had contacts in high school, but they were to high maintenance for me.
80. When I have computer access, I check my emails a zillion times a day.
81. I'm dreading doing taxes this year.
82. I can't always bring myself to eat leftovers.
83. I like to paint miniatures, but don't always have time for it. Especially with all my other hobbies.
84. I like collecting sets of dice. See reason in # 31.
85. I CAN'T STAND Dora or Diego. I refuse to let Bug play with anything Dora or Diego or watch them on tv.
86. I go through spurts where I want to organize and purge. The problem is, I don't always have something to sort through when the urge hits me.
87. I love going to garage sales. I like looking at other peoples things.
    
88. I love finding a good book at a garage sale or library book sale. It makes me happy.
89. I've only hosted a garage sale twice in my life. They were both a pain in the butt.
90. The person I chat with online most often is Bernie. I'm chatting with him now about # 31.
91. The place I do the most thinking is when I'm in the shower.
92. I don't sing in the shower.
93. I enjoy taking long hot bubble baths. I like sinking down under the suds and reading a good book.
94. I don't mind changing diapers.
95. I've been a member of a small baby board since I was pregnant with Bug. I've met 2 of the members.
96. I'm also a member of a larger baby board. I've met several of the members of that group.
97. The farthest West I've been is Chicago, IL.
98. The farthest South I've been is the Bahamas (my honeymoon aboard a Disney Cruise Ship)
99. I'd like to take another cruise or go back to Disney World.
100. I'd love to visit Ireland and Scotland someday.

Whew! I made it!. There you have it, folks. That's 100 things about moi! Ah ha ha ha ha! [insert thunder and lightening here] Ok, I've been watching too much Sesame Street with Bug. I hope you made it to the end, but I'll understand if you don't...

It's Been Ruff, Ruff, Ruff

It's been a rough couple weeks in the Sarandipity household. It started out like this...Last Monday Baby Girl was dropped off and she had a head cold. Nothing major, just a little bit of a stuffy nose and the occasional sneeze. I'm not too concerned about Bug being around head colds, cause, come on...he's gonna have a zillion of them when he starts school. Best to get some of the minor bugs out of the way now. By early Wednesday morning, Bug woke up crying and saying his nose hurt. And it was no wonder his nose hurt...he had enough snot in there to sink a battleship...and I'm not talking one of the little plastic ones from the Milton Bradley game. He eventually went back to sleep and seemed ok come morning; Still stuffy, but nothing we couldn't handle. By Thursday around 2am, the cough had set in. In the morning, I get a call from Baby Girl's Mommy. Apparently, Baby Girl is having some trouble breathing and the earliest doctor appointment she could schedule wasn't until 1:45. She hated to ask me to watch her being that Baby Girl obviously wasn't feeling well, but she had a meeting that had already been blown off once and Baby Girl's Daddy was out of town. I agreed to watch her and made sure I kept her and Bug separated to make sure nothing else was exchanged between them. She ended up taking an early nap and ate most of her normal lunch and was in good spirits, despite the breathing difficulty, when her mom picked her up around 1. Turns out she had an ear infection and just a bad chest cold. They gave her antibiotics and a nebulizer (which went over like a ton of bricks) and by Saturday she was acting like her old self again.

Saturday at our house the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs decided that it didn't want to remain hanging where it was and fell completely off the wall, landing on the dogs in the dog bed below it...No one was hurt. Sunday morning, Bug decided that it was "I'm not going to listen to Daddy" day and went downstairs alone. Daddy told him to stop, but Bug pulled his "bye" routine and started rushing down the stairs. In his hurry, he tripped on the last 2 stairs and fell face first into the side of the plastic dog bed. For the record, the dog bed is a plastic storage container without the lid and a hole cut in the side. I was still in bed and heard a thud, some crying, Daddy going down and coming back up the stairs and telling Bug to sit on the toilet so he could check him out. I go running in there not knowing what to expect. Turns out he busted the inside of his mouth open pretty good. There was lots of blood, but thankfully it stopped pretty quickly. No loose teeth that I could determine. He has a slight bruise (very faint yellow) on the right side of his mouth and the scrapes are getting better. The inside of his mouth looks better too, although he won't let me get a really good look. In a way, I'm glad the baby gate wasn't at the bottom of the stairs that day and that the dog bed stays there. If it the gate was there, he probably would have bounced off that, too before landing in the dog bed. And, without the dog bed, it would have been a face plant on the hardwood floor...who knows what kind of damage that could do from that height....I shudder to think...

So fast forward to last night. After dinner I helped Darling Hubby upgrade the power supply and the video card for the computer. Then my stomach started hurting. Don't worry, it wasn't the nauseous feeling, but more of a pressure, like gas but worse. I've had this feeling before on several occasions and it seems I just can't pin point when or why its going to happen. For a while we thought it might be a lactose intolerance, but even if I don't eat cheese or milk, it still seemed to happen. I seem to think it may be a menstrual thing, but sometimes it happens around that time and sometimes not. It's very annoying. Last night was a very bad episode. My stomach hurt all night long, no matter what I did. I took Tums, drank water, drank hot tea, tried all different positions in bed and eventually took an Excedrin around 5:45 this morning. That seemed to help, as it has in the past. I think I jinxed myself by talking to my friend Fried PorkChop about this issue last night. She has a similar tummy problem...It's frustrating for both of us, to say the least.

Then, this morning around 9, I get a call from Baby Girl's Daddy. Apparently Baby Girl has a case of the "Return of the Last Meal Eaten," so she's not here today. In a way, I'm glad because I'm very tired from not getting a lot of sleep last night. I just hope that we keep all the sickness away from me. I'm actually getting tired of disinfecting everything. My house is one big ad for Lysol.

Anyway...I'm knocking on wood for good health.

And, on a good note, I finished Bug's 2nd (larger) sweater as well a the one I made for Baby Girl. I've started working on the one Fried PorkChop has requested for her son Buckwheat. I finished the front panel this morning...only the back panel, 2 sleeves and a pocket to go.

Oh, since my friends Fried PorkChop and T-Bone got new banners for their blogs, I thought I'd redo mine as well. I made it myself. I'm pretty proud of it...if I do say so myself...

Food For Friday 1/21-1/25 & 1/28-2/1

So I'm having the worst time getting this weeks menu sorted out. My newest Kraft Magazine arrived in the mail the other day and there are a ton of recipes that I want to try, but the every looming questions are, are they going to be easy, will my family (and myself) like them and when do I have the time to actually make them...Here's what I've come up with so far.

Monday - Burgers and fries
Tuesday - Mustard Crusted London Broil in the crock pot
Wednesday - Shipwreck Dinner
Thursday - Game Night
Friday - Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

Monday - Craft Night - My turn to cook - Chili
Tuesday - Cheesy Manicotti
Wednesday - Bug's 3rd Birthday dinner - Spaghetti with homemade sauce
Thursday - One Pan Pork Dinner
Friday - Almond Chicken Dijon served with rice or pasta and broccoli

Now to sort out the grocery list....and then off to retrieve Bug from upstairs. He's refusing to nap today, although it's obvious (to Mommy at any rate) that he needs it since he was up several times in the night coughing Publish Postthanks to this lovely cold he managed to get from Baby Girl...I hope it's a short lived cold...

Feelin' Crafty

Yesterday was Monday and I was feelin' crafty.

It's been several weeks since I completed the quilt (I'll eventually take pictures) that I was working on with my friend Rose and now I'm moving on to bigger and badder things...well, not really bigger and it's actually much easier. I'm crocheting. Yep...that's what I'm doing. I recently broke out my crochet hooks and balls of yarn in the hopes of making a cool scarf and hat for myself...not that I need another scarf or hat, but hey. I rather do something constructive with my hands while I'm plopped on the couch practicing all manners of silence while Baby Girl naps in the next room. This is much better than noshing on potato chips and chocolate.

So the scarf and hat didn't pan out. I just wasn't happy with the pattern I had nor the color yarn I was using so I decided to attempt one of the few patterns I had and make Bug a sweater. I figured it would be fun to make as well as functional. Now the pattern I used was one from an I Taught Myself to Crochet book that I swear got all it's patterns from the 1970's. But I figured I could always modify it if I wasn't happy with it...So, after about 3-4 days of steadily working on it, here is the end result.

Showing off the kangaroo pocket.

And a bonus shot of him being goofy...

Bug loves it. He wants to wear it all the time, even before I had it totally finished. He has even started attempting to put it on himself. He had to wear it over his footie pajamas the other day...too cute.

Since I've been bitten by the craft bug and want to share the wealth of my craftiness (and since Darling Hubby has practically forbidden me to make another blanket), I've made a sweater for Baby Girl. It's pink with purple stripes and a pocket. I still have to put the buttons on the neckline (I didn't have the right needle last night) and it will be done. I think it looks very nice and I hope she likes it, too. I'm going to give it to her as a going away type present. She's going to be moving to an actual daycare after the first week of February when she turns 18 months.

Oh, and since Bug's first sweater was a little on the snug side (I made the middle size (2-3T)) I'm making him a slightly bigger one in blue and green (he picked the colors). Today he actually told me he wanted me to make him pants...I may have to come up with a way to make him some pants...we'll see...lol That would be totally crafty...crocheted pants!

I think once I'm done with all this crochet craftiness it will be back on to learning how to knit. Then I will make my scarf! Only, I probably won't need it by the time I get good enough to produce something worthwhile...lol

Goin' Old School

So every other Thursday a group of friends get together at my domicile and we role-play. If you are new to visiting my blog, you will know I'm not talking about dressing up like our characters and swinging foam swords around (although I have swung a foam sword around at a picnic once), I'm talking just sitting around a table rolling dice and saying we are doing things. Tonight we are going old school. I'm talking dusting off the Dungeons and Dragons core books (Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide and Monster Manual) and creating Elves and Dwarves and Pixies.

I've been sitting around for the past 2 days trying to come up with the perfect character for me...I've finally decided that I'm a magic weilding Elven Druid. I've never played a magic user before, only Scout/Thief type characters. Darling Hubby felt it was time for a change of pace for me. Although, I think I'm going to stick with my favorite weapon, the bow. I like being the ranged attacker. I guess that will probably never change.

With help from my friend Bernie I think we've created a decent character for tonights initial game. Now I have to take time to equip her with all sorts of goodies like armor, weaponry, cool magic items, supplies and a faithful animal companion. Since we are starting off at 8th level I have 27,000 gold pieces to play with. What's an Elven Girl to buy? Maybe a cool cloak or some nifty magical jewelry...I can't wait to go old school. Who knows what adventures we will have after dinner.

Part Deux of the Christmas Update

When we arrived at my parents house it was late and I figured Bug would be wrapped around my leg like he gets when he gets "scared" or shy. I was really amazed when he went running right into my parents kitchen and right up to my mom to show her his new Hess Truck. That really melted my mom's heart. Anyway, like I'd said before, Bug refused to sleep in the playpen as we'd planned for him to do so it made for a LONG night of him sleeping between Darling Hubby and I in a full size bed...It doesn't help that I'm a spreader and sleep in the middle of the bed and that Bug likes to sprawl out, too. He's definitely my son in that regard. On top of it, he kept waking up and crying. I think the night light was too bright for him (he's used to it being dim in his bedroom) and he was in a strange room with all sorts of weird shadows everywhere...despite the fact that he was laying between Mommy and Daddy.

After a restless night, we woke up around 8 on Christmas Eve for some breakfast. My mom made pancakes, which Bug enjoyed very much. A little later we sat down in the living room to open presents. As a combination Christmas/Anniversary gift we got my parents a couple old movies on VHS (yes...although it is REALLY DIFFICULT to find movies on VHS, it can be done.) and a 2008 calendar that I made on Shutterfly with pictures of Bug throughout the year. We got money, a Flue Renew log for our fireplace, some craft type books and the best thing of all....a can of SPAM in a SPAM keeper. lol I had been talking with my mom a few days before Christmas that I hadn't had SPAM in a long time mainly because Darling Hubby isn't a huge fan and it would go bad if I left it in the fridge. So, mom gave me a SPAM keeper so my SPAM won't go bad.

Bug got a Thomas the Train toy that when you pull back on the car on the bed in the back it runs across the floor and the best toy...a bowling set. He's been asking for a bowling set for ever. He kept flipping through the K-Mart flyer pointing to all the bowling games. He even tries to set up wooden blocks and bowl them over with a beach ball...Now, he has an official bowling set.

We had a nice quiet lunch with my parents with a delicious ham and all the fixing. Bug ate his fill. So did the rest of us. We didn't want to get home too late so during the early afternoon we headed for home. And arrived around 6. We lugged all our loot inside and started making preparations for Santa's arrival before putting Bug to bed. When I checked the mail I found a package for Bug with lots of glitter on it. It was his Magic Key to let Santa in through the front door. Then we made sure we hung it outside the front door and left out cookies and homemade hot chocolate mix (with a note telling Santa the milk is in the fridge and to go ahead and use the microwave). We want Santa to warm up, not drink cold milk. We read The Night Before Christmas before snuggling Bug in his bed for the night.

By morning, Santa had come, left presents under the tree, a thank you note to Bug for the nice warm hot chocolate and a reminder to keep his Magic Key safe until next year. We started opening presents. Bug got a DC Super Friends Batman, Superman and Flash as well as the Batmobile. He also got a couple books, too. So far, the Super heroes have been a big hit. Darling Hubby got a Nalgene water bottle for his iced tea that he takes to work, Call to Arms 4 for the DS, and a collection of Sherlock Holmes movies on DVD. I got 2 books (You Slay Me by Katie MacAlister (read my review of it here) and Summer Pleasures by Nora Roberts) and a pair of warm fuzzy pajamas.

No one opens Christmas presents faster than the Flash!

Max supervising the opening of Superman

What is in this big box?Playing with all his new toys

After that we had brunch. Guess what Mommy cooked...yep, you guessed it. My SPAM. I love me some SPAM fried crispy (like my bacon) and served with a sunny side up egg and toast. I love to dip it in the runny yellow goodness. Mmm! Anyway, I'm pretty happy with how Christmas turned out overall. Despite the zoo at the beginning, it was nice to have a quiet Christmas on Christmas day with my own little family. I hope things work out as well for next Christmas.

Finally A Christmas Update...

Nothing like a week after New Year's Day Christmas update...Let's just say, I've been busy and haven't had or felt like having much in the way of computer time. Darling Hubby was on vacation from Christmas 'til New Years and with the cold spell we've had all I really wanted to do was curl up in front of the fire. Plus I was feeling a little down in the dumps, but all that is past now.

Anyway, Christmas was the same as always...a total ZOO! Darling Hubby's brother and family were planning to come in to NY from New Mexico (we haven't seen them since June) and despite their visit, I was adamant that we were going to be home so Bug could have a proper Christmas eve, complete with leaving cookies out for Santa before going to bed, so we crammed a lot of Christmas into 2 days. Sunday before Christmas, we drove down to Darling Hubby's Grandfather's house. With the family growing exponentially the house seems to get smaller and smaller with each visit. Try dealing with too many cooks in the kitchen and then fitting 21 people into a small room for dinner...It's no easy task, let me tell you, and lots of toes get stepped on and people get annoyed...but hey, it's family...they are bound to be annoying, right.

Bug had a good time playing with his second cousin, Brynne. Here they are "napping" under the throw rugs. They're just weird.

After some QT with Grandpa and the various Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and whatnot, we ventured to our little hometown to spend a little time at DH's sister house with her, her 3 kids and his dad (who napped for much of the time we were there since he drove most of the trip from NM) before heading over to DH's mom's house for dinner and presents. Bug had a good time rough housing with his younger cousin, who is a little bruiser...lol He can hold his own with an older brother and sister, that's for sure.

After that, it was on to DH's mom's house. We dined on Grilled Cheese sandwiches and I have to say, it was the best possible meal to have on Christmas...Don't ask me why. Then it was time to "Bring on the Zoo!" When there are 6 small kids (ages 18months to 10 years) and 8 adults all attempting to open gifts at the same time, the noise in nearly unbearable and it's amazing that something doesn't get thrown out accidentally, broken, or opened and taken home by the wrong person. I just think we need to come up with a better way for everyone to go about the whole opening process. Right now someone hands out presents and one person may get 4 gifts before another gets any. To make matters worse, poor Bug kept getting toys that he couldn't play with right away because of space and mess factor and he was very upset about that...and the fact that none of his cousins would let him share in their new toy fun...Plus, I don't even know what people thought of the gifts that we gave because we didn't see if they opened them or not. I like to see the reaction people have to our presents because we do put some amount of thought into what we are buying...I'm digressing...Anyway, we came away with (for Bug) A couple play-doh kits with tons of molds and accessories, footie PJ's, tons of Matchbox cars and little Tonka trucks, and a firehouse Matchbox play set, The Wiggles Getting Strong DVD, a book and a box set of Curious George cartoons and other movies from Scholastic. I got a 7 quart crock pot, 2 crockpot books, an Eeyore sweater, a shirt with a cardinal on it. Darling Hubby got sheets for the bed, a hooded sweatshirt, and The Fantastic Four dvd. I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting...but you get the idea...we needed our big huge Santa bag to bring all the loot home in.

Here is a picture of the whole family after dinner has been eaten and the presents unwrapped.

Since we didn't get started with presents until nearly 8pm it was quite late when we left and despite Bug being obviously tired and only taking a 20 min nap in the car he didn't fall asleep on the way to my parents house like we'd hope. And, upon arrival, wouldn't sleep in the playpen like we'd planned...But that's all for part 2 of the update which will have to come later...So until then....

Food For Friday 1/7-1/11 & 1/14-1/18

So it's time for another installment of my Food for Friday. Umm..yeah, so I missed last week's menu because of the holidays and boy, was that ever a mistake. I honestly had no clue what I was going to be cooking until a few hours and sometimes mere minutes until Darling Hubby walked in. I blame it on all those Christmas cookies and candy. They totally messed with my mind. Anyway...I really want to write about the zillion things that have happened since Christmas, but that will have to wait. I need to get a menu planned so we don't go over budget this shopping trip. Gotta make sure I have the money to cover the $370 vet visit when the credit card bill comes due...

Monday - Vegetable Minestrone - I'm cooking for craft night this week
Tuesday - Breakfast for dinner - probably French Toast or SPAM and eggs
Wednesday - Oven Fried chicken fingers and fries with honey mustard
Thursday - Game night - Dinner to be determined later
Friday - Tacos

Monday - Craft Night - Rose cooks
Tuesday - Rotisserie Chicken with veggies and mashed potatoes
Wednesday - Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
Thursday -CrockPot Pot Roast with carrots and potatoes
Friday - Homemade pizza

OK, I promised Bug he could play on PBS.org, but I really want to search the web for crochet patterns for a sweater...I'll be a good mommy and let him play for a little while before Darling Hubby gets home and wants his burgers and fries...