7 Quick Takes Friday- Volume 2

--1--

I am pretty sure that blogging is supposed to include more than just Quick Takes, but the last two weeks have not been blogging-friendly.  Oh well, carry on (as Uncle Tim would say)!

 

--2--

I have a problem: I am completely addicted to Kindle samples.  It's really a problem.  I think I've downloaded about 10 books and about 30 samples.  Anytime anyone mentions a book, in any situation, I immediately go on Amazon and download the sample.  It works really well because I have sort of a "reading to-do list" on my Kindle at all times, but it is also contributing to my shortened attention span, I fear.

Here are a few of the many I have on there (most of which I really want to read to completion):

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century

Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef

The Hiding Place

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story

There is a lot of non-fiction in there, now that I look at them together.  Usually that's not so much my bag.  Interesting.  If anyone has any suggestions for other books that I need to download (a sample of), do let me know!

 

--3--

This here?  This is a problem too.  Lots of problems around here, apparently.

That is an empty non-decaf coffee at about 3:30 yesterday.  I specifically requested a decaf, and much to-do was made about making it a decaf, but it was most definitely NOT a decaf.   For other, regular humans this might not be an issue, but I am not a regular human. My super-(sub-?)human caffeine sensitivity is well known hither and yon.  Anyways, my insane hyper chatter made my coworkers and then husband crazy for the rest of the day and I think I finally passed out once the caffeine had exited my system around 3am.  No more McD's coffees for me.

 

--4--

This is J's newest face.  No further comment.

 

--5--

I have two cooking posts coming up this week!  My poor husband has had to put up with my taking pictures of every step of our dinners for the past week or so.  He's such a good sport.

 

--6--

We're working our way through my birthday present: the ENTIRE series of I Love Lucy.  I had forgotten how much I love this episode:

I do love her.  She cracks me up.

 

--7--

No seven!  Can't think of anything and I don't want to pull a "high school junior" and BS the last one!

Thanks to Jen at Conversion Diary for hosting Quick Takes Friday!

Baby Poop

My little jelly bean has started pooping every other day or so instead of every day, which has led to a correspondingly higher amount of poop per poopy diaper.   Last night she pooped, and after we had given her her usual 15 minutes or so to finish, I took her back to change her.  I could tell it was going to be explosive by a) the heat/damp emanating from her nethers, and b) the smell.  I opened it up and, sure enough, it was nasty.  I started cleaning her up and realized the poop went all the way up her back to her NECK.  At that point I called to hubs to start running her bath, because there was just no point in using some futile wipes with this level of mess.

I started taking off all her clothes (which she tried to EAT.  She kept trying to put her poopy onesie in her mouth) and getting her sorted and she started to poop MORE.   Hubs came back in at that point and we giggled over her "Code 9" disaster and he went back to finish getting her bath ready.  Finally I sort of stood her up so we could get rid of the clothes (and just drop them in the incinerator.  I mean, seriously) and she was happy as a clam.  So here we are, waiting for the bath, both of us just COVERED in baby poop; so for good measure started pooping AGAIN.  I lost it.  I started laughing so hard I was crying and was barely able to stand up well enough to support the baby.  She, in turn, found this so funny that she started giggling her little head off.  That is what hubs found when he came back to fetch the baby: wife: coated in poop, in tears of mirth, nearly dropping baby, and J: giggling maniacally, pooping, and loving it.

I do wish we'd had the camcorder handy.

A picture is included to remind you that she is super cute, despite the poop.

7 Quick Takes Friday

 

-1-

This is my very first Quick Takes as a new blogger. Feels good.

-2-

Are they supposed to be that short? Jen's are never that short.

-3-

...

-4-

Alright, I can do this. We're having a bocce ball tournament for the hubs's birthday on Saturday. I plan to win and win big.

-5-

The baby has been super gassy the last few nights. I read so much conflicting information about whether what I eat has any effect on her digestion that I haven't really spent time charting what happens to her when I eat certain foods. Is there any reason a four month old would suddenly have an increase in gas?

-6-

I had thought I would struggle finding topics to blog about given that I don't have a very clear-cut "theme" here (it's not specifically a mommy blog, or a religious blog, or a food blog), but that has not turned out to be the case. I have a list of posts I want to write and the list keeps getting longer. This Quick Takes is not included in my inspiration rush, obviously. I just noted I wanted to write a Quick Takes post, but didn't indicate what I might include therein. I think we can all agree this was a mistake.

-7-

Phew! Made it to 7. Has anyone seen The Adjustment Bureau? I really want to see it for some reason but have heard no word of mouth and haven't gotten around to reading any reviews.

Happy Friday to everyone! I, for one, am thrilled for the weekend (I'm all about controversial and rebellious statements like that. It's how I roll.)!

Quote for the year

Picture totally unrelated to content.

I have said several times this year in a more unofficial capacity that my "word" (or "words" in my case) of the year is "Be Present."  It's something I'm not always good at, and something upon which I know I can improve (that awkward sentence brought to you by Grammar Rules: How Not to End a Sentence With a Preposition) .

With that in mind, I found this quote today and it is perfect, perfect, perfect and I am going to do something pretty with it and put it up in my house.  I will assuredly take pictures of this process and post them for the world (my three readers) to see.

“Patience is a hard discipline… it asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient, we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later, and somewhere else. Let’s be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.”

-Henri J. M. Nouwen

Birthday Dinner

Photo credit:  The Pioneer Woman

Today is my hubs's birthday.  He is 3 cubed and he is psyched about it.  He got a composter for his birthday (yes, I am that romantic) and we are having  possibly definitely the best steak and sauce/side combo ever for dinner.  It's going to be legendary.  PW is not messing around.  I wouldn't lie to you.  It is spectacular and if you haven't made it I implore you to do so.  I don't even like blue cheese and I could put this stuff on my ice cream, it's that good.

Try it.  Trust.

PS- Where would you be without me to guide you to these little known sites like "YouTube" and "Pioneer Woman"?

Makeup Tutorials

I love makeup tutorials on YouTube.  There. I said it.  I love them so much my husband thinks I'm crazy.  I honestly don't even know why.  I just find them mesmerizing.  All my favorites are ones where the artists are from the UK or Australia, so maybe we can chalk it up to my love of makeup + my love of England/accents.

In case you've never seen one, this is the gist:

Pixiwoo



I actually went out and bought the eyeshadows she talks about after watching this one.  Gorgeous!  I also love Lisa Eldridge and Amysass7 and many others.

I have  literally no comment to make on these other than that I love them.  That's all.  Little window into my psyche.

Swaddle

We recently freed J from her swaddle at nighttime.  The result is hilarious.  Her newfound freedom has gone to her head, clearly, as she now sleeps in any and every position other than on "on her back, regular."

I'm seriously a little worried about her neck.  I mean what is this?:

 

And this??:

Crazy little acrobat.

A List of Praises

It's long, but so worth it.

 

A List of Praises

by Anne Porter

Give praise with psalms that tell the trees to sing,

Give praise with Gospel choirs in storefront churches,

Mad with the joy of the Sabbath,

Give praise with the babble of infants, who wake with the sun,

Give praise with children chanting their skip-rope rhymes,

A poetry not in books, a vagrant mischievous poetry living wild on the

Streets through generations of children.

 

Give praise with the sound of the milk-train far away

With its mutter of wheels and long-drawn-out sweet whistle

As it speeds through the fields of sleep at three in the morning,

Give praise with the immense and peaceful sigh

Of the wind in the pinewoods,

At night give praise with starry silences. 

This is why I avoid Trader Joe's

These are on my desk right now.  Full disclosure: I have already had one and it's 9:32am.

People talk about it like it's a health food store but I always leave with what must surely be crack-laced chocolate covered pretzels, parmesan crisps, wine, fried fontina-filled riceballs, and, like, pink lemonade.  It's not just me, right?  Or does everyone else leave with tabbouleh and quinoa and organic baby spinach?

It's the big questions in life, you know?

Buckwheat Pancakes

Okay listen. I'm perhaps the least qualified person on the planet to start doing cooking tutorials, but I was making buckwheat pancakes for the hubs yesterday morning, and I thought just in case anyone needed some pancake tips, I might help. Let's begin.

Here's what you'll need (this picture is minus the buttermilk, which is being created on the opposite counter.  Did you know that if you mix together one cup of milk with one tablespoon of vinegar and let it sit a few minutes you make buttermilk?  Fun fact.):

The green egg isn't required, but it is fun.  And never you mind what the wine is for.  That's neither here nor there.

In a medium bowl whisk the dry ingredients together, then set those aside.

Beat together the egg and molasses, then add in the melted butter and buttermilk.  Now add the wet to the dry and whisk together.

More after the jump...

Big

When I was pregnant I was told frequently that people would give me all kinds of unsolicited advice as a new mom (does telling one that they should be prepared for oodles of unsolicited advice count as unsolicited advice?).  I'd get told (so I was told) that strangers would accost me in grocery stores and shopping malls, wagging their fingers and tongues at me in wild condemnation of... whatever it was that I was doing.

Once I had J I did occasionally get the odd bit of advice, but more often these sweet older women just wanted to come over and smile at my little girl.

Most of them offered one piece of advice, though, and it has really stuck with me: cherish this time.  They grow up so quickly.  It goes by fast!

That same sentiment in all kinds of different ways.  My mom has said it.  My aunt has said it. PW says it.

So I'm trying.  I'm trying really really hard to remember it all and take pictures and smell baby head.  Because seriously, this little critter

is already practically a teenager.  I mean, look:

Who taught her that??

 

 

Stumble

I definitely fell down during my lunch run today.  There I am, huffing and puffing along, and --this is the weird part-- I actually thought to myself "wouldn't it be funny if I fell down and skinned my knees?  It would be just like when I was 8."  Note to my fellow runners/klutzes: don't think things like that while you're running.  You will will them into being.  Just like Oprah says (does she say that?  Seems like something she would say).

My toe clipped the edge of something (an uneven sidewalk, my other shoe, a stray piece of grass, air ... we'll never know) and I skidded, palms-first, onto the sidewalk. Thankfully, a car blew by right at that moment, so I know my finest moment will forever live in the memory of that passerby.   I popped back up oh-so-casually: nothing wrong here, I'm good at running!  And kept jogging, hands now festively adorned with blood and bits of sidewalk.

The moral of the story?  Oh, you want a moral?  Um, avoid trippy things?  Wait, no: think positively!  Or maybe it's just that I wanted an excuse to post this sweet note I got from the hubs reminding me to deposit a check I've been carrying around for a month and also, of the important stuff:

 

Who cares about falling?  That guy's great.

Wordless Wednesday

To not plucking blackberries

… 'There’s nothing great
Nor small,’ has said a poet of our day,
(Whose voice will ring beyond the curfew of eve
And not be thrown out by the matin’s bell)
And truly, I reiterate, . . nothing’s small!
No lily-muffled hum of a summer-bee,
But finds some coupling with the spinning stars;
No pebble at your foot, but proves a sphere;
No chaffinch, but implies the cherubim:
And,-glancing on my own thin, veined wrist,-
In such a little tremour of the blood
The whole strong clamour of a vehement soul
Doth utter itself distinct. Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries...

---Book Seven, Aurora Leigh - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

It is Lent, after all.