You deserve this.

Since I haven't blogged in FOREVER, I'm giving you this as my way of an apology.














Am I forgiven?

He has his passport!

Well, not physically in his hand yet, but he has paid for it and we are just waiting for it to get here.
Last Monday morning, C called me from work to say that there was an 80% chance he'd be going to Israel. Ok, fine, whatever, last year there was a chance, but it didn't happen.
Tuesday morning, I literally still only have 1 eye open, I'm stumbling my way to the bathroom and C rushes into the room w/ "Tanya called me, she wants to know if I have my passport. The budget got approved. Goodbye, I love you! I'll call you later." Really, all those words should be pushed together b/c I don't think he even took a breath or paused. I finally work my sleep closed eye open and say "byeIloveyoutooHaveagreatday" The rest of the day is phone calls back and forth trying to nail down dates.
Wednesday comes and again, the day is spent in phone calls. He is SO EXCITED! I am not. Well, I am for him. But I'm not so good w/ the overnight thing by myself and seriously I could not imagine being alone w/ the girl for 10 days. Plus his trip meant that he would be gone on Mother's day, and since I'm not so good w/ the whole Mother's day thing and this was MY first Mother's day; I decided that I did NOT want to spend that day alone. I started thinking... and now, while C is gone to Israel, the girl and I will be in NY with my family. We worked it out so that C and I could fly to (and from) NY on the same flights. How cool is that?!?! I'm still a bit nervous about him being in Israel, it's not like it's the safest country on the planet. In light of C's overseas trip. We have filled out our Wills. Really it is morbid, but so responsible. I feel very adult now, I can say, yes, I do have a Will. It's really weird. I just need to have them notarized and we are all set.


OK, as for my last post about the running... yeah, we haven't started yet. It was supposed to be Monday night, but I had the ladies meeting, then Tuesday night C didn't get home until 7:30pm and the baby sitter people are only at the gym until 8pm and C still needed to get out of his work clothes. Wednesday it didn't happen b/c I had gotten another shot in my spine in the morning and that pretty much knocks me out for the entire day. Although, this time was so much easier on me than it was the first time. I still think it is incredibly weird that I don't remember a single thing after the lady says "this is going to give you amnesia" as she is pumping something into my IV. Then the next thing I know, I'm out of the OR, in my room, laying on my back in the bed. (in the procedure room I have to lay on my stomach since the injection is going into my spine) I know that I get myself dressed, but I don't remember doing it. For what its worth, I do remember asking them for another apple juice. They wheeled me down to our car, I got in and then I was out like a light. C even stopped to pick up something at Central Market, he left the girl and I in the car, (not a smart move since I'm practically dead) he got back in the car and drove us home, I woke up about 2 miles from our house. I spent the rest of the day in the recliner. I'm really thankful that C's job can let him work from home. While I'm out of commission, he's able to take care of the girl.



For a couple of weeks now, I've noticed that there seemed to be a water leak by the curb in our front yard. I kept forgetting to mention it to C and when I finally did, he looked at it and said it was the city's problem. We kept forgetting to call the water company. It wasn't a gushing leak, just a slow one, but it was still causing a small stream down the road and wasting a lot of water. Finally last Thursday or Friday, I remembered to remind C to call. He did and Tuesday they came out. I wasn't home but when I did get home I saw a note on our door. UH OH! The city came out, decided that the leak was on our end and that we needed to call a plumber. CRUD! Now all that water that had been going down the road... yeah, that was ours. I'm so scared to find out what our water bill will be this month. The plumber came out on Wednesday, (cool b/c C was home and it wasn't something I'd have to deal with) it wasn't a major deal, he was only here for a little over an hour. He happened to mention that he thought we'd need a new hot water heater soon(he noticed it when he went to turn off the water), b/c he saw that our current one was installed in '96 and the life of a hot water heater is anywhere from 12-14 years.
I find this all very ironic since just this past weekend we have set up a budget for ourselves. We are starting The Total Money Makeover plan by Dave Ramsey. He says that every dollar that comes in should have a name on it and that until you are debt free (except the house) you income and your outgo will equal zero. Step 1 is to have a $1000 emergency fund, then step 2 is to do the 'debt snowball' and get out of debt. Step 3 is so save 3-6 months of expenses. There are more steps, but we are not near them yet so I don't remember them. We are very close to finishing step 1. We were closer before we had to call the plumber but that's just life I guess. I'm just glad we had the money to be able to call him. It just seems that since we got on a budget and we were excited about it, everything else has fallen apart. The sun room roof is leaking, the area around the chimney is leaking, we need a new gable vent b/c that is where 'the visitor' is coming in and C can't get him to stay out. (although while having someone here to take a look at it, we wound up talking w/ our neighbors, they had a squirrel too, they have some traps they are going to let us borrow. They also have to replace their gable vents b/c of his damaging ways.) One of the front porch pillars is falling apart due to previous termite damage. Man, when it rains, it pours! The good news is, a guy in our church is going to be able to do the work on the chimney and the gable vent and he doesn't think it is going to be as costly as we thought. He should be here this weekend. He also thinks that he can do the front porch thing. YAY! for that. The sun room roof just needs to get a layover of shingles on it and C and I can do that.
OH! and one more thing, I knew this but thought I was doing things to prevent it, but it turns out it's a no-no altogether. There is a chemical called BPA that is used in hard plastics (think baby bottles here), I had originally heard that it was harmful only if you put these bottles in the microwave or in the dishwasher (so I wasn't doing those things), b/c that harsh treatment of them caused the chemical to leak out and studies showed it to cause behavior and developmental problems as well as reproductive issues in males and females. Now they've decided that you shouldn't use them at all b/c its just not safe. Problem. MOST baby bottles/sippy cups are made w/ the plastic that uses this chemical. Anything with a recycle code 3,6, or 7 (7 being the most common on the baby bottles) are the ones you shouldn't be using. I checked it out last night, and EVERY SINGLE ONE of our baby bottles has the #7 on it. Even the ready to use single serve bottles that we have that we call 'emergency' bottles have the #7 on them. This is SO NOT COOL! I'm going today to buy some new bottles and sippy cups.
Here is a link to one story about it on msnbc. BPA Plastic in bottles.

so how's that for a blog update???

~Til next time!

Really? Am I ready? Am I really ready?

Do you know what that picture means?




It means that I have reached a small goal that I had set for myself.
It means that starting this week, today actually, C and I begin training.
It means that I am going to try to become a runner.
The pink ones are mine, (of course) and the other ones belong to C.
Here's the whole story:
At the end of 2006, I decided that I was tired of being HUGE. I made a great effort to lose weight by watching what I was eating but I wasn't exercising. The day that I stepped on the scale and realized that I had lost 25 pounds, was also the day that I found out that I was pregnant. Seriously, not cool. The excitement of the weight loss was totally overshadowed by the realization that I was soon going to be gaining weight, rapidly. I actually didn't gain a whole lot of pregnancy weight. To this date, going from my 'heavy' weight (prebaby) to now, I've lost 33 pounds.
Around the beginning of 2007, some of my friends started their own get healthy plan and began walking, not too long after that they began running, training for a 5k to be exact. I was so jealous. (There. I've said it.) I really was. There is just no other word for it. I so badly wanted to run with them. It fit into my schedule, (no job, I could deal w/the early morning thing b/c I could go back to bed. :D ) it fit into my new outlook on getting healthy. It just didn't fit in with the fact that I had just found out that I was 8 weeks pregnant. I was so bummed. I loved, yet hated hearing their running stories. I loved it b/c it kept me excited, it kept me wanting to strive to be healthier, I also loved hearing their success stories, for 2 reasons, one b/c they are my friends and I rejoiced in their successes and 2 b/c I kept thinking that it was going to be me someday. I hated it b/c (WARNING: HONESTY AHEAD!) I really was jealous. Jealous of the time they got to spend together, and jealous that they were getting healthier and I was just getting bigger and bigger (I know it was a baby but still it was hard for me) and that meant that they would be leaps and bounds ahead of me and I'd have to do it on my own now. (I'm really taking a risk putting this out there, b/c I know they read this. But I've decided that it's ok for me to be honest with my friends, and if its not, well, then guess I was wrong about the whole 'friends' thing.) So, now, I'm not pregnant anymore and I have a BEAUTIFUL and ADORABLE 7 month old to prove it. I had decided that once I got to a certain weight that I would start my training. And since I usually don't do anything without C, he's starting too. The other night we went to the store and tried on about 17 different pairs of running shoes and decided on the ones pictured above. Of course, they didn't have our sizes so we had to have them ordered. We picked them up on Saturday and we are starting tomorrow b/c I just remembered that I have a ladies meeting tonight.


~Til next time!

My sunroom is attracting wildlife.

I have been searching for a picture that I took a few months ago, but I cannot find it. It was of the image a bird left on the door in our sunroom when he CRASHED into it. The image was left by the dirt/dust that came off of his body, you could see his entire outline; wingspan, neck, head, beak... all of it, even the details of the separate feathers, the bird was in flight when it hit. If I didn't know that the bird probably died b/c of the crash, I would have thought it was cool. Since then we've had more visitors to our sunroom. About 2 weeks ago, I heard this horrific bang noise and subsequent noises afterward. I went into the sunroom and found this beautiful lady.




A female cardinal.
From what I've heard, cardinals mate for life, so I'm sure her man was somewhere nearby anxious for her to get out of there! I managed to help her along her way, but not before she made some attempts on her own. Poor thing. I hated hearing and seeing her bang into the windows.

Then, Wednesday, I heard it again. BANG! So, I went to see who and where, and found this poor thing.




Sadly, this one didn't survive. I tried to protect her. I gave her some time to recoup (or so I thought) then went to encourage her to get out of our yard b/c we have two hound-type dogs, she let me get REALLY close, I had to nudge her tail feathers with my foot before she flew a few feet away, so I tried again and this time she flew behind some bushes up against the house. She died there. It's so sad.
I hate to see the negatives of nature. I just want to enjoy its beauty. Lions are magnificent animals; but I hate to see them when they are catching their prey. I know they need to eat, but I don't want to see them terrorizing a herd of Zebra's to do it.
I guess it's like that for all things really. I want to become more financially responsible, yet I don't want to deny myself any pleasures. I want to grow in my relationship with God, yet I don't want to take any time of 'my time' away in order to spend more time with Him. I've had this book for a while now, 'Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World', referring to the story in the Bible when Jesus is at Mary and Martha's house speaking to a group of people, Mary is at his feet listening, yet Martha is in the house cleaning, cooking, getting things ready for everyone, being the "Martha Stewart" of her day. In the story, she goes up to Jesus, stamps her foot and whines about it, (I'm paraphrasing here) she wants to know how come Mary isn't helping her, look at all the stuff she's had to do for everyone else, she wants Jesus to make Mary go and help her! Jesus tells her to chill, He says to her, Martha, you are worried about too much of the not as important 'stuff' and Mary has chosen the one thing that is needed, she's into the good stuff, the stuff that will remain with her forever. Martha's concerns were limited to the here and now (the cooking and cleaning), whereas Mary was concerned with the things that are eternal (her soul).
It seems we all can get caught up in the the 'Martha' things; family, kids, the house, work, church, etc) and not get caught up with the 'Mary' things; our Bible study, prayer time, and God. I am currently a Martha, who wants to be a Mary. I just have to find the right balance.





(hmm, I don't usually get all preachy/spiritual on here... I wonder where that came from.)

I don't even know what to say.

Let it be known that, I do not consider myself to be inept in the kitchen. I feel that I can hold my own. New recipes do not scare me. I actually volunteer to teach a high school boys class how to cook! The pictures that I am about to post will totally belie the information that I have just shared with you.
First of all, I saw this recipe on another blog, it sounded good, she's mentioned foods in the past and seems to be a big fan of the stuff, so when she said this was a GOOD pound cake and even posted the recipe to prove it, I figured she had to know what she was talking about. Plus she's from the south, and well, it has been my experience that every good southern girl knows how to make dessert!

Let me begin with, the girl was in a wonderful mood, she had slept until 1pm; allowing me ample time on the computer, which always makes me happy. However, I did not feel so great, I had a slight headache and my stomach was not happy. (It still feels kind of 'off' today too.) But I was going to push on!
I plopped the girl in her (new!) highchair, and got myself ready to bake.
Here is my helper:
(Also known as Superbaby, b/c she tends to wear her bib as a cape)


Isn't that the coolest highchair EVER? I mean, COME ON! It's ORANGE!!!!

Got my butter, shortening, and sugar in the mixer; they are creaming together nicely.


Still no trouble from the girl, so I carried on.
Got the batter finished up, (with a few deviations from the recipe b/c sometimes I am just too far ahead of myself, just don't tell BooMama's Mama that I didn't stir in the baking powder w/a fork [gasp!] AND I totally forgot about the milk until the very end, so it went in last.) Poured the batter into the pan, now here is probably where I made my biggest error. The 'pan' was called a 'tube pan' in the original recipe, there was even a link to a website to show you what it looked like and/or to purchase one for yourself. I have a pan that looks A LOT like the one in the picture, so I figured I was good to go. I sprayed Baker's Joy (another deviation from 'THE RECIPE') on my 'tube pan', filled her up and set it in the oven. I should be good for almost an hour and a half. HOWEVER....
Not too long after, I smell 'a smell'. It was kinda good, like the wonderful aroma of a baking cake, but also kinda bad, like the smell of something burning. This continued for a few minutes before I decided to go check things out. This is what I found:




WHAT in the world????????????? How did that happen?????

Apparently there is a difference between a tube pan and an angel food cake pan. (Guess what I ordered from amazon this morning? yep, a tube pan.) *note the edit at bottom of post*
I persevered though, I yanked that puppy out of the oven, put it on a sheet pan and shoved it right back in! Of course, I cleaned up the spilled batter first. It was actually quite easy, see the burned smell I was smelling... yeah that was the batter actually burning, ya know, so it's all nice and crispy on the bottom. I just used a spatula and got it right up, just like a pancake!
After about 90 minutes in the oven, this is what I got.


and it was still yummy. C said that I should make that again 'real soon', without the mess up. He also didn't want to take a piece to work today b/c he said he felt bad b/c he couldn't share 'the yumminess' with everyone else. He did ask for me to make one the next time he has to bring breakfast in.


*****EDIT!
It was pointed out to me that in the reviews of the 'tube pan' it says it is in 2 pieces and leaks!
I cancelled my order. Guess I'll have to find one at BB&B.