Ball of yarn cake

I just finished the cake I needed for tomorrow. It's dark chocolate with an almond paste filling. I see by my pics i need to do a little touch up and my defense is that I need to leave fast for unexpected plans with the IL's. To be smart I should have started this yesterday so my defense is a bit weak, lol. All in all though I think it and the scarf came out cute.

Cake time dilema

I need to make a birthday cake for my boss's birthday. We'll be celebrating at the office on monday. However I've run into a dilema. I can't find my ball pan and I want to make a ball of yarn for her cake. I have a wonder mold pan (makes those doll cakes) but the heating rod for the center is missing. I'm going to have to carve a cake... blech.

Pomeranian Beer

Poor Joe.. he means well but sometimes he just cracks me up with how things are said... He's been trying to find a beer he saw once. he can never remember the name of it. He was talking about it tonight and said "you know.. that pomeranian beer!". I told him I wouldn't want to drinka beer that's furry and has a bite... and that he was looking for pomegranate beer, lol

The little happy things in life

I'm trying to focus on some good things to balance out my negative post from before. I have a few minor things running thru my head so I thought I'd toss them in here....

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JP's sleep habits are changing a bit. He won't fall asleep with us near him for the last 4 nights, but when placed in his crib he calls asleep in less than 5 minutes. Today I'm trying something new. First was the nap test. Tried to put JP down for a nap around 11:30. He was having none of it, so I thought we'd try a little later and after lunch. I put him in the crib at 1:00 and he wanted to bounce and play. I lied him down again twice and the second time I partially closed the door. He knows enough to know that means Mommy isn't going to play. He started to cry and I set the timer for 5 minutes. 50 seconds later all was quiet and he was asleep.. on his own... in his crib. A bigger test will be if he does this tonight at bedtime. For now it's enough and will make nap times easier. I'm hoping he's out for a good 2 hours as he needs the sleep. He's battling the same chest cold I am and has molars coming thru in droves. He won't let me get a good look, but i noticed 2 new ones that weren't there last week... and last week had a new one as well.

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Yesterday when JP was at my office he was doing something so determinedly and so specific that it was adorable. I had my office door shut to contain him or he goes off to explore the office. Well he was playing with Joe's keys and took them to the doorknob. He would try to put one key in the door knob.. and when that didn't work he'd try another and so on. He wasn't getting frustrated.. he was just trying them all out with the expression of "now I know mom and dad use these to open doors.. I'm going to figure it out and then there is no stopping me!". I wish I could have gotten it on a video, lol.

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We have a small light over our kitchen sink. Our other kitchen light is one of those big fluorescent ones. I like the small one as it gives just enough light in the kitchen to see at night. Quite some time ago I noticed that the plastic light cover was melting. Since that seemed a risky thing I stopped using the light. Today I got the bright idea to finally take it down. The plastic cover fell out in the process and broke... but I couldn't figure out how to get the actually light fixture off. There were no screws that i could see holding it in place. Then I got my brainstorm... duh! leave the cover off and I can still use the light. So I screwed it back together with the cover in the trash and I have a nice, subtle over the sink light once again.

Bath time pics!

I realized that I don't have any pics from after the time JP moved to the big tub. Pardon the tub edge in the background, we're waiting for the new landlords to regrout and it looks awful at the moment.

back on the subject of eyelashes

now tell me if this is fair. JP has my hair color.. but Joe's eyelashes. See how dark they are? why can't I have darker eyelashes instead of these near invisible ones?

No more pictures mom!

I think these pics pretty much say it all, lol

excuse me? is that a catepillar on your eyes?

I started off the day with 2 sets of lashes... the ones on the left just felt way too weird and they came off. I left the ones on my right eye as they were. I've gotten comfortable with the lashes on my right eye.. and just reapplied the left, although I'm not sure about them and they still feel weird. I should have gotten the demi style last night with the shorter lashes, I'm going to try to go back and get them today. I trimmed these a bit and they are still too long. I have to admit that it's nice to actually see lashes on my eyes. I'm a blond and while I have sark blonde hair.. I apparently have near-invisible eyelashes. When I tried to shorten the lashes I trimmed them a bit too evenly though. They don't look quite as natural. Oh well. I also need to find lashes for my lower lashes. Now onto the whole reason for this experiment. My eyes are a little irritated, but thats because i also put on eyeshadow which I took off shortly thereafter. My eyes themselves though are a nice and clear white.. instead of pink. So far no big reactions to the glue. We'll see how the rest of the day goes. Oh and for absolute fun I put the second pair I bought on at the same time.... it looked like a fuzzy, flexible bug was resting on my eyes, lol. Although it did show quite a bit of definition, lol.

ok.. i know my few readers are probably wondering how bad this could be, lol. I do have to practice a bit more...and yes my eyebrows need to be done tonight, lol. First pic is of the one set of lashes... second pic is of the 'catepillar look, lol"

New visual adventure to attempt.

I'm going to buy false/fake eyelashes. I'm hoping this works, and isn't too complicated. My reason for this is that I miss highlighting my eyes. I have very pretty dark green eyes. For the last 4 years or so I've had to forgo any kind of eye makeup. Took two urgent trips to the opthamologist to get a diagnosis of ocular rosacea. I have very little noticeable rosacea on my face, however my eyes are ultra sensitive and I can't wear any liner or mascara as a general rule. If I do I end up with eye infections. Even with proper 'lid hygiene' I have issues. Being that I love wearing eye makeup this is very frustrating to me. Last week I happened to catch a show about lash extensions. What a difference in the way they framed the eyes! no mascara or liner needed. After much research I found average pricing. yeah.. Not happening on these ole' eyes. $350+ for the initial set, $50-$100 for touch ups.. and that has to be done every few months. So I'm going to try several styles of fake eyelashes in hopes that I can get the look back of wearing eye makeup.. plus side will be no smudging. Down side will be seeing how bad my aim is in applying them, lol.

Ahhhhh to sleep ...perchance to dream.....

JP and I have had many sleep battles. He does co-sleep with us, but sometimes it's still very hard to get him to sleep. Joe has no problem lying down with him until he drifts off. But hey..let;s face it.. that's because Joe's only priority is to sleep himslef. I however, have to still get many things done. Today JP and I took a late nap because I was tired. I think we woke up around 6pm. Because of this I didn't start to settle JP down till 8:30, and expected him to fall asleep btwn 9 and 9:30. Silly me. He was tired. He was on the very edge of sleep. But he would not let go and fall asleep. He did this to me over the weekend and it's so frustrating. You know he wants to sleep and is almost there, but it's like he's fighting it with every tired fiber of his body. I finally sat up on the edge of the bed and then he started pushing at me with his legs. A new thing that drives me crazy no matter when he does it. I left the bedroom and went into the kitchen to start cleaning up for the night. He wakes up fully and decided it was play time. At this point I put him in his crib. This is not an unusual thing as he generally naps in there. However I used to work with him to get him to sleep better back in the early winter. This involved many times of lying him down again, reassuring him when he cries, etc. Not a pleasant experience for either and since I know Joe won't work with me on this I gave up. I don't want JP to associate it with punishment and a mean mommy. I should add that 'most' nights he does drift off within 20 minutes without a huge fight. Back to tonight. I put him in his crib and he was lying down kicking his legs for a few minutes. Then he got up and started to bounce. I went in and lied him down and told him it was bedtime.. then partially shut the door. This was not something he liked and he started to cry. I sighed to myself and set a timer for 5 minutes for the first break, 2 minutes later all was quiet. I was afraid to look in the room and waited 10 more minutes. Sound asleep. Poor boo-boo was so tired that was all he needed. A space by himself to sooth himself to sleep. This is amazing by the way. JP does not usually do this easily for me. there was one time that he was so upset that he cried himself to sleep while standing up with an arm over the edge of the crib and his mouth open on the edge of the crib. This happened 2 times and was very upsetting.. although I still wish I could have gotten a pic of it, as it was funny to see.. or at least I recognized that it would be after the fact.All that matters is that he is peacefully sleeping at the moment and for the night.

Nothing like a little incentive

Our home is small and tends to clutter up fairly easily. Take into account the hours I put in with 2 jobs and the time I spend with JP and cleaning does not get high on my priority list. I know once it's back to normal it takes little time to maintain. Getting it back to normal though is the issue. Joe does next to nothing, and I do mean next to nothing. He claims he's tired from his job. Most of the time he comes home and lies down for a few hours. Sigh, but thats another post. Several months ago our 90+ year old landlord became unable to care for herself. She now lives in Oregon and we've been a little apprehensive about how our living situation may change. The niece and her sig other of our landlord have been in charge of figuring out a lot. They are very nice, but with so much unsettled it's been stressful. Now they are working on trying to buy the 2 houses and property. This actually makes our situation a bit more solid which is nice. The niece's daughter is also going to be moving into our landlords house. So they are all working on updating our landlords house. Theoretically ours is next. Oh please, oh please, oh PLEASE remove the hideous carpet in the KITCHEN and give me a normal kitchen floor. Now the bad part is that I'm embarrassed to let them in the house. So that means it's time to put in the work and get the house back in shape. Tonight my pantry and bathroom are back on track. Nothing like starting with the 2 smallest rooms, lol. That's ok, it's just time to get it done. Once the living room is neatened and the kitchen organized then I will feel much better.

Weekly meals 6/22 - 6/28/08

I started doing this via email with some friends a few weeks ago, then thought hey.. let me share with the few wandering souls that read my blog, lol. This started as a way to cut down on costs of food and to really cut down how much we ate out. It's been really successful and I'm glad I'm taking the time to do meal planning. I got off track last week with Joe being in the hospital, so it's time to get back on track.

Sunday - Steak Tip Marinade
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Steak-Tip-Marinade/Detail.aspx
Monday: leftover steak over tossed salad
Tuesday:Yummy Honey Chicken Kabobs
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Yummy-Honey-Chicken-Kabobs/Detail.aspx
Wednesday: Simple Malaysian Fried Chicken
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Simple-Malaysian-Fried-Chicken/Detail.aspx
Thursday: Moo Shu chicken w/ purchased wonton soup and egg roll
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Moo-Shu-Pork/Detail.aspx
Friday: chicken pot pie made from rest of roast chicken used on Thursday
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Pot-Pie-I-2/Detail.aspx
Saturday: Take out

better day today

Well as usual my 24 hour bug is completely gone... or almost. I have to be careful of what I eat or my stomach cramps again, but other than that I'm good to go. Today I made sure I did a whole lot of nothing. Did get the kitchen cleaned and took JP to a new park, but other than that I did my best imitation of a sloth that I could. I'm off to bed shortly to continue that theme.

How to make your non compliant diabetic husband nervous...

It's no secret that Joe isn't the best diabetic patient. Or that we battle over his inability to see the severity of his blood sugar. I was hunting around the pantry today for something to use in marinating some chicken for dinner. One of those big ole' marinade injectors. Joe has never seen this, lol. I took it into the bedroom where he was lying down and told him the next time he needs insulin we'll just use that. He knew I was joking but he was nervous about why I had something that looked like that, lol.

Why is it always on Wenesdays....

that I get stomach bugs??? The ONE day I need to be at the office until 7pm. I woke up this morning and felt fine. Went back to bed after a bathroom run and lied on my right side. Only to become nausea's and experience stomach cramps. This went on until I got up. I took my temp and it was fine. Joe had a follow up appointment with the thoracic surgeon this morning so off we went. All looks great and the chance of it happening again are about 20%. We're focusing on that and believing that this won't happen again. I didn't feel great, but I was functional and just hoping my stomach would calm down. While waiting at the front desk to leave I got extremely lightheaded and felt as if I was going to pass out and had to sit down. You know that fuzzy/tingly/almost electric feeling you get right before? yeah, that was fun. Got Joe home and took my temp again. Feverish now. greeeeeaaaat. I get to work and manage to sit for about 30 minutes. I'm whiter then white and my boss adjusts me and has me stay lying down. Then our massage therapist moves me into her room with the heated table. This is about noon. I pretty much slept for the next 2 hours. Got up because our other MT had a massage. I sat at my desk for all of 15 minutes and felt as if I was going to pass out again. Now it's off to the back of the office to our other, spare massage table to lie down again. I'm trying to eat to see if that helps. I just need to get thru 4 more hours and be useful. I ache all over now too and almost feel as if I've got the flu.

this better be a 24 hour bug.

just some outdoor fun today

JP and I just played outside for about an hour this afternoon. The temp was so comfortable since the heat wave passed. It was so nice to just sit outside with no TV, no computer and no phone. Watching JP play while trying to get his attention for at least one picture was an adventure. It's times like this that sooth my soul and bring me peace.








look at this gorgeous moon tonight

Mud!!!!!

Mud! Mud! Mud! Mud! Mud!

Mud is slimy, mud is grimy.. mud is so much fun!!!!!!

Look what mom let me do!!!! I got to play in a mud puddle. How cool is mud? It's so squishy between my toes and fingers! Although it didn't taste very good. blech.

look what you get when the lawn is mowed

they finally came and mowed our jungle of a lawn. Just before bedtime I took JP outside and let him play on his slide and walk all over the fresh cut lawn. Here are a few cute pics.

our wild kingdom

we rent and in a weird situation our landlord had some health issues... which resulted in her moving in with family across the country. where we live there are 3 houses in an almost triangle pattern. the house behind ours and our landlords belongs to the DIL and grandchildren of our landlord. Since Emily (landlord) is not around, the grandson is lazier then usual. Our lawn has yet to be mowed on the side of our house and front. Hasn't been done once this year. They have a pug that they lost this week because you couldn't see him in the long grass. He eventually resurfaced. Today I was walking into the living room and looked out the back window. JP and I then watched the 2 adult deer and 1 baby fawn munching their way thru our jungle of a lawn. While I will love having a nice neat lawn again, I think I'll miss the opportunity to see the deer that close to the house. JP now keeps going back to the window to see if they are out there. He caught them once.. i'm hoping they stick around most of the afternoon.