Brussel Sprouts.

We had a pretty good weekend.  We were really excited to get Dave's car back on Saturday when they called us to let us know that it was still making strange noises and that it wouldnt be done until today.  BOOOO!!

On an unrelated matter- until this weekend, I had never had brussell sprouts.  My maternal grandmother was, according to my mom, a terrible cook and had a tendency to overcook food.  One vegetable that is AWFUL if you over cook it is brussel sprouts.  According to Alton Brown, there are ways of cooking them where they won't be completely horrible.  And that the more water and the longer you cook them, the more likely they are to end up with that smell.  I dont know what smell this is... but maybe its like cooked cabbage? 

In any case, I have seen three food network shows featuring brussel sprouts: The  Barefoot Contessa, Alton Brown, and Triple D with Guy Fieri.  Now, the consensus seemed to be, that if bacon and or butter were added to brussel sprouts, that they can be tolerable.  So I gave it a whirl last night.  I got some pancetta and did them like they did in the episode of Triple D.  And the verdict: they were okay.  I dont think I cooked them long enough, because they were pretty hard still (not tender).  Obviously, the pancetta, lemon and butter went a long way to making them edible.  However, I think that whatever nutritional benefit there is to eating brussel sprouts were likely wiped out by the pancetta and butter.  Which leads me to a conclusion:  if butter, bacon, cheese, chocolate or mayo doesn't make a food edible, then you really don't need to be eating it.  Plain and simple.

So Dave and I have been talking about moving out of our Indian Head House.  Since we are in Tallahassee for the next two and half years, we would like to get a bigger place.  We really love Indian Head and Myers Park, but if we want a bigger place, we are likely looking at Myers Park, which tends to be a little more expensive.  I drove by a place yesterday that sounds like a dream... a 4/2.  Milka-what?  A 4/2?  I dont even know what to do with that.  Our room, Nico's room and TWO EXTRA ROOMS?  So technically, Dave and I could each have our own office/craft/trophy/sports room?  WHA-What?  Oh.  And it has a dishwasher! And is twice the size of our place!  There is a minor question about the dogs... so I am not getting my hopes up.  Plus its 1.5 times what we pay now.  So maybe I should go back and strike through all that, so I don't get my hopes up. 

In any case, hope all is well with you guys and that you have a wonderful Monday!!

Lady Killer

Isn't he handsome?

Tallahassee!

Friday- whoo- hoo!!

Did anyone catch The Office last night?  When did Kathy Bates start being on the show?  And she's from Tallahassee? Wha-What?  You know, it's kind of funny because I don't ever remember knowing anything about Tallahassee before I moved here.  It's such a unique name... not like Athens (Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin) or Rome (Georgia, New York, Kentucky, Ohio).  When I was in elementary school we had something called "The Tallahassee Run" which was maybe a mile?  So when my life went to hell in a handcart during the Summer of 2002, I ended up following my syster to Tallahassee.  It was in LOST several times (Sawyer speaks of it disparagingly, Kate buys a bus ticket to Tallahassee and Locke's Dad is "The Man from Tallahassee.")  Tallahassee on The Office.  Whoot!!

Not much going on around here today.  The weather is still crap. Yesterday when I had to walk from the back parking lot to my office and my feet got soaked, I found myself regretting being so anti (I typically tend to be anti trendy things, which have included gladiator sandals, maxi dresses, tights under regular clothes for non-ballerinas, the revisit of the cut-off sweatshirt from Flash Dance and cowboy boots with shorts).  And while I have been trying to be better about it- actually considering a trend before writing it off, I hadn't gotten around to changing my ideas about rainboots.  Consequently, around the third puddle I stepped into and splashed my pants with reminded me that rainboots would have been really handy yesterday. 

Aside from that, there isn't much else to say.  I think I am going to be able to get some dissertation time in this afternoon (whoot!). 

New trick

Nico seems to have discovered that he has control over his tongue.  When I got him out of the car yesterday he was sticking his tongue out and touching his upper lip with it. 

I wondered if I could get him to duplicate that, so when we got inside, he started doing the same thing.  Check him out!



A co-worker gave us the bouncer- holy what?  He loves it.  Its great for us, because it gives me a few extra minutes, when I can squeeze some dishes or some laundry in before its FULL ON MELTDOWN. 

Awesome!

I'm in ur gender patriarchy, messin' up your stereotypes!

Last night was ok.  Our friend Flav came over last night to watch LOST and to have dinner.  All plans of responsible eating went out the window... we had some steak that had been sitting in the freezer till this weekend (coincidentally, the steak was part of an almost 30 dollar purchase of two steaks in a heart shape that Dave bought on Valentine's Day.  Isn't he romantic?)  Flav brought Gratin Dauphinois which was delicious (Potatoes Augratin).  I burned the hell out of a Key Lime Pie- which in the ended ended up being edible... more like Cheesecake than Key Lime Pie.  Meh. 

The plan is for us to get Dave's car back on Saturday- which will require a trip to Leesburg.  Will be glad when we are a two car family again. 

Dave's Mom sent Nico a little outfit for Easter.  Isn't he the most precious thing ever?  Its one of those long sleeved-long pants jobs... but sometimes we have a hard time getting the bottom snapped.  At times, its a bit like trying to put pjs on a tarpon.  He's thrashing about, kicking.  He usually manages to kick the pack of wipes off the changing table.  In general, he tears the place up!!  So consequently, he ends up wearing a lot of the pjs with most of the bottom buttons undone, which make it look like he is wearing a dress. 


I know, intellectually as a sociologist that I should be actively putting him in dresses and doing what I can to bring down the gender patriarchy... you know, contribute to mucking up the masculine discourse and all that.  But, I am a crappy sociologist.  So it is what it is. 

Meatball

Look at our kid!  Isn't he the cutest little meatball ever? 

 There are times when I catch a glimpse of him and see myself.  His expression in this pic is so much like a picture of me that my mom has (I think I was maybe a little bit older than him and was wearing a blue shirt). 

 Not much to report today.  The FSU childcare center is closed this week for Spring Break so we have been taking Nico down to C-Ville (one of our former players' moms keeps kids in her house).  He did pretty well yesterday.  Its a very different set up (from FSU).  It's funny because at FSU he is in with babies... who are, let's be real here, kind of boring.  At Terry's place, there are several little kids running around.  I think Nico is probably entertained by watching all the commotion.  I know I would be.  

All for now- doing some actual werks today.  And yes, I did just spell that werks. 

Bobby Flay aint got nothin on me!

We had a pretty low key weekend around here.  Nico was still dealing with his stomach bug on Saturday morning, so we decided to stay put and not partake in the 4 hour drive to Orlando... how terrible would that be?  Ohai- I am not going to run in the race because I couldnt get the training in.... here is my baby, isnt he cute?  What?  Now you're sick too?  Awesome!!  It was kind of a bummer- but one of those things.  Now I am a parent now, its not just me.  Thanks, Nico!!!

Dave seems to be having a hard time getting completely over this thing.  He's still nauseated and feeling sick to his stomach.  That's not good!

Me- I seem to be okay.  Proving once again that I have an amazing immune system. Whoot!!

I got some good disertation work done this weekend.  My data is completely good to go- now its just a matter of sorting out the models.  I already got two big questions for the poster I am presenting in Dallas next month answered.  Its not exactly ahead of schedule, but I am chugging along.  I feel the need to get it poppin' though, because February went by in a blink and now I see that March appears to want to do the same. 

On a completely unrelated matter- I was thinking about it this morning- but Dave and I dont read to Nico every day.  Is that bad?  I know we should.  Its just that usually when I have gotten home, made dinner and gotten Nico to eat, he goes down hill pretty fast, where he is okay to being fussy to WTF?!!  We've tried reading before bed time (after the bath), but he's usually not into it.  Anybody have any suggestions?

On another completely unrelated matter- my new obsession:

I was watching one of the shows on the Food Network called The Best Thing I Ever Ate.  It was an episode about breakfasts.  One of the segments was about about this stuffed french toast that Bobby Flay loves.  Basically it entails peanut butter and banana.  I went to make it for dinner this weekend and realized that I didnt have any eggs, so rather than being french-toasty, I decided to make it a'la Jessi Bishop style and add a smidgeon of chocolate and marshmallow fluff.  It is absolutely delicious.  Mmmmmmm.  And I don't think its THAT bad- I only used one piece of bread, and only a smidge of fluff and peanut butter. 

Pukeville

So Dave caught whatever it was that Nico had with the stomach issues... its funny because I lay in bed this morning at about 6am- thinking about an article I read in a parenting magazine about getting your beast baby to sleep through the night in their own bed.  Nico was stirred several times this morning, waking me up to complain about being hungry, not being asleep, not having any covers, Dad and me taking up all the bed, etc.  I was thinking about how tired I was and that I felt like I was awake all night.  Dave stirred when his alarm went off and I asked how he felt (he felt pretty rotten when we went to bed last night). 

He said that he still felt terrible and that he had been up all night throwing up.  Wha-what?  How did I miss this?  If I really was awake all night as I claimed in my previous thought, then I should have heard him throwing up. 

So that sucks.  I took Nico to school today, only to take him home- because he already had 2 squishy diapers.  Half the teachers are out with this thing and all the babies have had it.  So it really sucks for Dave, because he has to be home with Nico today by himself.  So instead of lying on the couch drifting in and out of sleep while catching bits of 90210 Judge Judy Judge Brown SportsCenter, he has to take care of Nico... which isn't exactly a walk in the park. 

I have been looking forward to going to Orlando this weekend- but if Nico is still dealing with this stomach thing, I am wondering if it is a good idea. 

Mental Bandwidth 7

1.  I am finally starting to see why one of JD's favorite channels is the Food Network.  They have some awesome shows!!  My previous experience with the Food Network was at my sister's place in Dallas (she's a huge Sandra Lee fan) For some reason, I had a really hard time with the Barefoot Contessa... she just seemed really smug.  But she's grown on me.  I love Paula Deen (who looks eerily like one of our girls' moms), Tyler and the Neelys (BTW- why the hell have I never been to the Lady and Sons in Savannah?  What is wrong with me?  I have been to Savannah like 6 times in the last 5 years...WTF?).  I dont know where this obsession with food has come from lately- except that I have been cooking A.LOT and have realized that its hard to have variety when you're cooking.  Its very easy to fall into the same traps of 3-4 main dishes and 3-4 sides.  And when you're cooking for my husband (who likes his vegetables to be void of nutritional content- because they have been cooked to death), its even harder. When you're trying to eat healthy, its harder still.  Really, there are only so many times a week that I can eat a salad.  Real conversation yesterday as Dave was going to judo:

Jessi:  So I am thinking about a big chef salad for dinner tonight.
Dave: I am sad for me.
Jessi: Why- it will be good!
Dave: can you put some tuna or salmon or something on my salad?

On a somewhat related matter:  did you know that there are iphone apps for the Food Network and for Martha Stewart?  Milka-what?  I get a notification once a day with a suggestion from Martha for what to cook tonight.  Her suggestion for tonight: gemelli pasta with Sausage, Swiss chard and Pine nuts.  Which sounds very similar to one of my favorite dishes in the world (Mackin' Cheese from FGF). 

2.  Goin to the gym tonight!  Suckas!  The last time I went (Monday night) I made myself kind of sick.  Dont know if that is good or bad.

3.  Wondering why can't I be a millionaire socialite who does lots of charity.  Want to start making hats, blankets, etc. for newborns.  But then there is that pesky dissertation.  Boo!!

4. Am I the only one who is extremely excited about the new Karate Kid?  TRAILER. 
Yes, I am aware that this current iteration appears to not deviate AT ALL from the original.  But isn't that little Smith kid adorable?  From the nose-up, he looks JUST like his daddy. 

5. Nico seems to have some sort of tummy bug.  He ralphed all over himself twice yesterday on the way to school... and had 5 blowouts yesterday. Ralphed again twice today.  Called the pediatrician and they say not to worry yet.

6. Anyone see the new grilled cheese burger sandwich from Hardees?  I want to go to there.  This may require a drive down to Crawfordville Friday after I get Nico from school.  Mmmmmm. 

7. Looking forward to seeing my girls this weekend! 

All for now. 

 

Yoga Baby

Not much new to report.  LOST last night?  Wha-what?  The best part was the end where Kate's face is like, "WTF just happened?"

We did some "yoga" when we came home from work and school yesterday. Dave got me a mom-baby yoga dvd just before Nico was born. I thought it was going to be all lets just lay on the floor and look at each other.... turns out it was kind of hard. Like lots more movement than I was looking to expend. But I think Nico might grow to like it.

I earned the worst mom ever award last night.  For some reason, Nico was really pretty crank-tastic by dinner time.  He was off the rails pretty quickly- the only thing he was interested in was putting the lid of the container for baby food in his mouth.  So I fixed his wagon and put some carrots on it.  Which made a big mess, but I think he at least got some noms in him. 

I think we have also outgrown the bumpo seat for good now.  At least for dinner time.  Maybe time to finally get a high chair.  One thing that I saw a couple of weeks ago, which I absolutely love is a little chair thing that you can pull up to a counter or an island where the kid can stand (but still be protected with rails and stuff) so they can help you cook without you constantly having to worry about them falling down.  RJ and Bridget had one that was ingenius.  Of course, it doesn't make much sense to have one of those in our house just yet... not only do we not have an island, but the kitchen is too small for one person to be in it, let alone all that. 

I used a new kind of baby shampoo on Nico last night that isnt as "baby friendly" as the packaging would lead you to believe... filling the bathroom with shrieks of pain when I accidentally got some suds in Nico's eyes.  Man! He was pissed! Poor guy!

All for now. 

Screamy McScreamerson

What is the news around here? The beat-down that is the Legislative Session starts today.  Woo hoo.  Can you sense the excitement? Yeah, I am beside myself.  I am always said to see February go.  The highschool season usually starts with preseason in September, then goes through January.  Session usually goes March and April, then club soccer starts again in May through July.  August and February are the only months of the year where we dont have major time committments going on. 

The cold that I got last week has pretty much gone away, but has left behind a sinus infection.  So I got that going for me, which is nice.  I haven't had a sinus infection in YEARS.  So its nice to be back here.  I am a little bit annoyed with "social ettiquette" which discourages me hocking up all of this phlem in my nose and throat.  STUPID OFFICE JOB!!

I had a fantastic workout last night.  Last night kind of sucked for Dave because Nico cried pretty much all night.  You see, after work, I got some groceries and went home to make some dinner and do some dishes.  When Dave was done with work, I packed Nico in the car and we went to get him... which lately he has just had a huge problem with... I dont know if its because he was playing and now I am putting him in the car to go... or its because its dark. Or what.  So consequently, Dave had to deal with Nico last night while i was at the gym.  Which sucks.

You know, its amazing to me, how big this kid has gotten.  His face has changed so much.  It's really remarkable.  All for now. 

Hippie squared

So in my little circle of friends, we have someone who is known as The Hippie.  She married The Giant last year and had a kid who is about a month younger than Nico.  They are just starting out with the solids with their him, so we decided to do a little baby food exchange.  I know what you're thinking:  could this be any better?  The original Hippie and the wanna be Hippie (me)?  Teaming up?  Is there no end to the good that we could do? 

We decided that we would each make a big batch of baby food and split it, so that we would each have six food choices, but only have to cook three items.  I know.  Brilliant!!

So this weekend, Nico and I made peas, carrots and peaches.  Wooo hooo!!  Actually, I like the taste of my carrots better than the babyfood carrots.  They taste more like mashed up carrots- and less like carrot jelly, if that makes any sense.  Bonus:  all of the veggies were organic.  Very nice!!

Nico seems to like these carrots more than the store bought ones... which brings the score to:  Mama Made Food: 1 Store Bought Food: 3.  As you can see, Nico was quite the helper -->  I did learn a very important lesson though:  try to only use fruits and vegetables that are in season.  I convinced myself that we needed peaches and when New Leaf didnt have any fresh, I bought frozen.  Which is okay, as long as you're not paying 4.59 for 6 ounces of frozen peaches.  Frugality: FAIL!!                

Aside from that, not much exciting to report.  I spent most the weekend trying to kick whatever it is that has infested my head with its viral nastiness.  I did go to the doctor on Friday, but as I suspected, they couldn't do much for me, except tell me to get some sudafed and drink some warm liquids.  But I got lots of sleep Friday and Saturday nights, and a 2.5 hour nap at 6 pm on Sunday night, which left me wide awake for most of last night.  I feel a lot better.  Still have a sore throat and am pretty stuffy.  And apparently it was pretty bad, because I snored a lot last night, according to Dave (usually I am a drooler).  Awesome.  Happy Anniversary!

I did get a chance to work on some dissertation data last night.  I actually was quite productive.  Am thinking with some productive time this week in the evenings and Friday, that I might be ready to start talking about what it all means.  Milka-what?

Hug, Hug, Hug... tear.

We had our soccer banquet last night.  Wanna talk about surreal- I can't believe our freshmen are seniors.  That is so weird.  I remember their first game like it was yesterday.  I was a little nervous, because these things usually turn into sob fests.  I try my best to be sensible and tough with the girls most of the time.  Typically I dont get weepy on Senior night.  I tend to lose it over the last game of the season- which is understandable- because for most everyone, the last game of the season is a loss and represents the end of the dream that is the season.  But get me talking about these kids and how special they are- its hard to keep it together.  But we got through...

The parents got us this really cool clock.  It had an engraved message thanking us for the time that we've given to the program.  Get it?  Clock-time?  Very nice!!

Bonus: we came home with a Godiva gift set AND a cheesecake.

True story:  when JJ was here with us last summer, the McCuller's kids made us a cheesecake.  Now, not all of you have had the pleasure, but the McCullers' have some sort of secret recipe that makes their cheesecake irresistable (side note: I would go so far as to suggest that the secret ingrediant is crack, but the McCullers' kids are too good to put crack in cheesecake).  Between JJ, Dave and Me, we ate the whole thing in one day, standing up in the kitchen.  I would get into the fridge for some celery or some fruit and one thing led to another.  And so I would have little bite of cheesecake.  If you have three people doing that- it goes pretty quickly. Yeah... I said THREE people... you know, for someone who doesnt like sweets very much, Dave Royse sure does love their cheesecake.  In any case, I have threatened to cut him if he eats all of it... or all of the godiva.  <-- Oh. if only that weren't hyperbole!

So this cheesecake is pretty much amazing.  I had some for breakfast.  Plus a chocolate covered strawberry (from the Godiva giftset that Shay and the seniors got me us me.)  Is there still a nutritional advantage to fruit if its covered in chocolate?  Which leads me to this assertion:  life would be so much nicer if you could have chocolate and cheesecake every morning for breakfast. 

The other big news around here is that I appear to be sick.  I am actually kind of worried that its menengitis.  My neck hurts and I have had a bit of a headache... my throat feels like I gargled with a bleach-battery acid-lemon juice solution.  I am going to the doctor today- which is kind of anti-me.  I'd like to say that is a philosophical thing, but its mostly a lazy thing.  I would rather just go home and try to sleep it off.  Of course, the last time I did this, I got a sinus infection, bronchitis and pneumonia all at once.  So there is that.  And I also have a kid now... since I dont want him to catch whatever nastiness I am carrying around, I am headed to the doctor. 

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Mental Bandwidth 6

So I have a few minutes before I have to go back to my contract manager training... milka-what?  Yeah, I am going to be a contract manager.   Ha!!

In any case, these are the things I am thinking about:

1. Seriously, I missed the boat with this whole blogging as a career thing.  I could SOOOOO do this:
http://www.dooce.com/.  She is now going to be on HGTV.  Her blog is just about her husband, her kids, her dogs, things that annoy her... and people send her stuff... for free... for her to review.  Cool stuff.  Like this and this.  Damn it!!

2.  Banquet tomorrow night.  Not sure I am ready to see our seniors go. On an unrelated matter- I took two trophies to the award shop yesterday to get a plate engraved and attached.  The guy dropped one of the trophies.  Wha-What?  How is this possible?  They want to know how to make it right.  I am not sure.  

3. Do any of my tallahassee peeps want to join Good Friends Fitness?  I want to join for spinning... they have childcare so Nico could chill out there. 

4.  I really want some cupcakes.  What else is new?

5.  Turns out, this breast feeding thing is a lot more fun/relaxing/chill/cool/not as sucky as I thought it would be.  But I am looking forward to being able to take adderall again.  Productivity: WIN!!

6. Sometimes when I think of the 15-20 minute snatches of life I get when Nico plays by himself in the pack n play, or when Dave is getting Nico ready for bed, I am tempted to go craxy with crafts I want to do, which include:
-make this scarf
-make a wonky log cabin quilt for Nico
-finish Christmas stockings
-make a christmas tree skirt

Then I remember that there is a sink full of dishes to be washed. 

7. Am very happy for my two grad school friends who are about to finish their PhDs.  One has just been offered a job at DePaul.  I am happy but a smidge jealous at the same time.  But I have a baby.  So top that!

That is all I have for right now. 

Bowling: EPIC FAIL.

So- I was asked to bowl last night, as part of a group from AHCA.  I hadn't bowled in 10 years (I think- wait... am I really old enough to say that I hadnt done something in 10 years?  WOW).  In any case- I thought, what the hell? 

Dave had offered to watch Nico, but I figured I would take him, because I really am trying to do as much stuff as possible with him- so I can still do stuff, but not feel like a bad mom because I dont spend any time with him.  I also wanted to see if I could add bowling to my list of activities I can do with Nico. 

Now there is a whole post that I could write dedicated to the rants I have about what are sports and what are not sports.  But briefly: every sport is an activity, but not every activitiy is a sport.  My criteria for judging whether or not something is a sport:  Do athletes break a sweat?  Do athletes get any sort of cardiovascular endurance benefit from playing the sport?  Can big fat guys with beer bellies drink beer and play sport?  Can a girl partake in the sport whilst wearing big dangly hoop earrings with her hair down?  By these questions, I have come to conclude that Curling:  may or may not be a sport- likely not though, because you dont break a sweat whilst curling.  Darts: Not a sport- dont break a sweat (besides- most often played under the influence of cheap beer).  Bowling: Not a sport.  You see how this goes. 

So, long story short, not only am I a terrible bowler while wearing Nico in his wrap, but I am a terrible bowler without being able to blame it on Nico.  One of my coworkers brought his 7 year old nephew to bowl with us.  The seven year old nephew got a higher score than me.  Really.  No joke.  FML. 

Of course, I was dealing with some impairments.  One, my crooked pinky finger doesnt lend itself easily to bowling (hard to hold the ball).  I also kind of hurt by middle and ringer fingers.  Plus, I hurt my left ankle.  And also, what is with the slippery floor?  I would rather just bowl with regular shoes on, thank you very much.  At least that way, I won't feel like I am going to fall down. 

Needless to say- if this was some sort of tryout- like an audtion for the new girl, I failed.  I dont think anyone will be asking me to join the bowling league.  Which is actually okay, because its not a real sport anyways. 

A whole bucket of cute...

Nico and I went down to Ocala on Saturday... it was originally supposed to be a "have fun finishing that degree in Sydney" thing for JJ... but he decided not to go back this semester (insert rant about program).  But Mom had already gotten the hotel rooms so we went anyway.  Turns out it was pretty fun and so we will probably keep doing something like it- it would get us a weekend to get out of dodge.  Maybe do something kind of funsie in the central Florida area.

In any case, Nico was really really snotty.  Like, couldn't breath out of his noise snotty.  He had been getting a little snotty on Thursday and Friday- which makes it hard for him to nurse (because you gotta breath through your nose for that).  So consequently, he didnt eat well, which leads to not sleeping well.  Of course, the constantly running nose and a mom that is always trying to wipe your nose leads to your little nose getting kind of raw... the result is that you have a big fit whenever she gets near your nose with one of those snot sucker things... Nico ran a fever most of the weekend and didnt feel well generally.  He napped a lot and was overall kind of cranky.

So we get back last night and I start taking his temperature- which ranged from 100.5 to 102.5.  He was up and down all night with the sleeping and trying to nurse but not being able to.  So we kept him home today- and he was pretty cranky for most the morning.  We got some good naps in and finally around 330 today he was a LOT better.  I think he's about to cut a tooth- he's been gnawing on his hand all day.   Overall, he's been very snuggly (read: needy)- which is annoying when you called in sick to work... because, damn I could get some stuff DONE!!  But I opted for laying around with Nico and getting some naps in.  And I watched part of Armageddon.  Again.  

In the picture, he's wearing a sweater that Granny You made him.  We've been on a epic voyage to find a sweater that is easy enough for me to knit it... given that I dont have time to learn another language (which is essentially what you have to do to learn to knit.  The bonus here, is that it's almost identical to a sweater that Dave has.  Its a little big right now (made for 18 month old) so he has to wear the sleeves rolled up.  But I think he is pretty much adorable.

What I would rather do...

So.  My boss is good friends with my department chair at FSU.  So its common knowledge that I am working on my dissertation.  I have consequently got it arranged so that On Fridays, I work half a day so that I can leave early and work on my dissertation.  Sometimes it works out... other times (like last week), I ended up not leaving till 200 because I was in a panel meeting.  But I am hopeful that I can leave tomorrow at noon. 

In one sense its awesome... not a lot of employers would be cool with that.  But I'm OPS, so its not like I am getting paid for it.  I think I will definitely make headway on the old dissertation being able to work on it 3-4 hours on Fridays and 6 hours on Sundays.  Its just that there are lots of other things I would rather do on my Friday afternoon:

-Long lunch at Olive Garden with LH, KS, AS which results in a nap for me.
- Drive down to St. Marks have lunch by the river, which results in a nap for me.
- A massage and a movie, which results in a nap for me. 
- A pedicure and a haircut, which results in a nap for me. 
- A drive by the one of the 2 cupcake stores we have, which would result in a nap for me. 
I think you get the point. 

But I guess that can be motivation right?  If I ever aspire to have Fridays off filled with cupcakes, massages, naps and long lunches, maybe I should get it poppin' with the dissertation.  And if that isn't inspiration enough, how about so I can stop paying tuition?  Which sucks, lets be real. 

Dont know if I had mentioned this or not... I joined GOLD'S Gym.  There is one that is ridiculously close to the house- so its pretty convienent.  I had a pretty good workout there tonight.  One thing I wish that someone had told me about pregnancy is that you can expect to have 0 abdominal muscles when you're done.  And to plan accordingly. 

In any case... seeing the parents and JJ in Ocala this week.  Apparently, one of the top 10 flea markets in the country is in Mt. Dora.  I will attempt to resist the urge to buy fruits and vegetables of unknown variety and origin . 

Have a wonderful weekend. 

Wiped Out

Good night last night.  We had the Senior All-Star Game at FSU.  Its a really cool event in that for a lot of these girls, they will never again get the chance to play at some place like FSU... in front of such a large crowd, on a field that means so much.  To a lot of these girls (including the Wakulla county girls) they have been coming to Noles games for four years and idolozing players for that long.  So its cool that FSU hosts it. 

Its not really an All-Star game in the sense of the word "All-Star".  Because really, if it were actually an All-Star game, we'd let underclassmen play, and the weaker players wouldn't... but it's supposed to be fun.  Our seniors plus Norma Rae who came to watch!

Here's Nico and me. 

Both Dave and I are pretty wiped out.  Generally, the weekends help us recover from the previous week but also fuel up for the coming week... so that generally we can usually make it to Thursday before we feel the grind.  But then you go into work on Thursday and its lunch time before you know it... you can eek out the rest of the day, then suddenly its Friday.  Fridays are okay... then its the weekend again. So this past weekned with the driving and the stress and everything means that we are pretty much wiped out now.  I guess I should have thought about that before I made us watch LOST when we got home at 11pm last night. 

All for now... Hope you're well. 

Sitting in the corner...

So Nico has been sitting lately.  This is pretty recent... at the beginning of the month, he'd been trying.  But would topple over pretty quickly.  He is now sitting upright pretty well by himself.  Awesome.

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I ended up making the cupcakes last night with sweet potato casserole filling- as I couldnt find pumpkin.  They were delicious.  I highly recomend. 

I have been on a quest of late to perfect my hummus recipe.  You see, I love the Sabra brand of hummus... its got a lot of flavor and its very smooth.  My hummus, while very good (I think) isn't quite as smooth.  So I was experimenting last night.  I got to the point where the texture was about right, but it had no flavor.  So I got out what I thought was the garlic powder to add some flavor... turns out I misread the bottle and got the garlic salt (instead of the powder).  Which resulted in overly salty hummus :(  which is probably too salty for normal human consumption.  Hummus: FAIL!

Hope you're all well. 

Mmmmm... cupcakes.

So… it was kind of a crazy weekend. Dave ended up having to go to South Florida last minute on Saturday- so Nico and I were by ourselves for most of the weekend. We got a lot of stuff done on Saturday- JoAnns, a soccer game, got an exersaucer from our friend Julie, the post office (SUCK) the UPS place. It was pretty crazy.


Sunday we were off getting groceries when I got a call from Dave. About the 4Runner. Now let me get Tarentino on your for a minute and get you back to the fall. So Dave and I were driving to Galveston for the Southern Demographic Meeting. We were driving on the interstate in stop and go traffic when we heard a very audible THUNK coming from the car. Just once, as it was shifting up from 3rd to 4th. We heard it a couple more times on the trip (combined with the increasing difficulty to shift it into gear) and assumed that it was getting time for a transmission situation.

So we get back to Tallahassee and take it into the dealership. Who was completely unable to replicate the situation? Wha-what? So they sent us on our merry way. It’s still been difficult to shift, but I attributed it to the fact that its getting old (the car is 10 years old) and that it has over 150000 miles on it. But the dealership didn’t have anything to say about the tranny. Fast forward to a yesterday when Dave loses the ability to make it go on the Turnpike. Milkawhat? Yeah, while Dave was driving on the Turn-Pike. Suck. So I had to put the groceries away quickly, feed Nico, and turn around to head down to Leesburg to get Dave. The 4Runnr is at a transmission place down there and we are kicking it as a one-car family for the week.

So we got back last night around 930… pretty late for us. In addition to the fact that this little situation is likely to be costly (any time you lose the ability to drive your car whilst on the highway it’s never cheap), I didn’t get the chance to make Japanese inspired steak stir-fry, Key Lime Pie or chocolate pumpkin cupcakes (or in this case, chocolate sweet potato cupcakes). I know. It sounds gross. Apparently, according to one JD- you take a can of pumpkin (as in you know… pumpkin) combine it with a box of Devil’s Food and it makes the most healthy, delicious cupcakes ever. See, you don’t use eggs and oil… just pumpkin. It increases veggie count for the day, fiber and all that… and it’s delicious. I have in my head, making these beasts and frosting them with marshmallow fluff. Then I was going to bring one to work in one of my cupcake carriers (that I got from Santa a couple of years ago). Sadly, all I have today is stupid salad, stupid yogurt and stupid fruit bowl. Thanks a lot Toyota!