A long string of incoherent thoughts.

On June 2 my youngest rag-a-muffin turned 16 months old. 16 months really isn't that much time in the whole scheme of things but I simply cannot remember life without him. Ok, I really can remember life without him, but I don't want to, that's for sure.

Just in the past few months he's amazed me with his abilities to just be alive. He walks! And he tries to run! He has habits and idiosyncrasies and irritating things he does I think just to irritate me. But he's all mine and I wouldn't trade him for anything.

One of my favorite, and truly annoying, things he does is right before he throws something or drops something he says "Uh oh" as a warning and then the object is gone. He makes sure to look right at me after he says it just to make sure I see him drop his cup or throw a toy. I can't help but think it's cute. Even if it does drive me insane.

Just in the last few days he's become my own personal parrot. He will repeat almost anything you say in his own baby way. Window is 'neeno'. Thank you is 'ank u'. Derick is 'dewee'. Car is 'kah'. I could go on and on, but these are the words he says most often. Sometimes I wanna say shit or motherfucker just to see what he'll say. Excellent parent material right here. I'm aware.

He is OBSESSED with balls. It's interesting that this is his first real item he's shown interest in. He sees anything that shaped like a ball and repeats baa, baa, baa over and over again. And because I'm excited that he has his first obsession he now has approximately 97 balls. Big balls, little balls, red balls, multicolored balls and everything in between.

Recently he discovered his, um, babyhood. That's much more appropriate than manhood. He's just a baby ya know. He just looked down and realized that something was there that he'd never noticed before. It sure makes diaper changes interesting. I have to move faster than his little hands do. He gets all sorts of pissed when I won't let him fiddle with his business. Fortunately, since I have the 12 year old, I know this obsession doesn't go away. Ever. What are ya gonna do?

He's a picky eater, too. I don't think it's because he doesn't like certain foods really, I think it's because they look different. The only vegetable I can get him to eat are freeze dried peas. Do you know how hard it is to find freeze dried peas? I stress about the nutritional value of freeze dried peas versus fresh peas. But then I realize that that those dried peas are probably the only veggie he will be eating that day. He loves all fruit and cheese sticks. He's a bread man and could eat a loaf if you let him. Atkins - be damned!

When he drops something he bend his knees and sticks his butt out and it's just about the cutest butt I've ever seen. He's also started climbing on things which I'm not prepared for. I know he needs to learn to do climb and discover but I'm terrified that he'll fall and stab himself in the eye or break a leg or something equally awful. I have to remember to stand back but stay close and man, that's hard!

Lately I've been debating trimming Jackson's hair. It's so long. But it's adorably curly in the back so you can't tell it's long until it's bath time then he looks like a little girl. I don't even want to cut his hair. In fact, I don't even want him to grow up.

I hate that as he gets older I won't remember these days with much clarity. I barely remember Derick as a baby and I don't want to forget. I want to remember when he started FINALLY calling me mommy and mimicked me blowing on his food and saying 'ot' for hot. I want to remember when he sleeps he still sticks his butt up in the air sometimes. I want to remember that when I go get him from his room in the morning or after a nap that he always gets a big smile and says 'hi!'. I want to remember when he hated walking on grass even with shoes on. I want to remember the day when he finally decided grass wasn't evil but ended up walking so fast that he fell and rolled down the slope in the yard and laughed. I want to remember when he learned how to give high 5's. I want to remember it all.

Hopefully just writing this will help me to remember these days a little better. Hopefully.

Who's brilliant idea was this?

I hate working out. I lack the motivation to get off my ass and just move. It's never been my thing. If I'm on vacation and there is a hiking adventure than I'm there, no problem. If I'm running late and I need to run to get to my destination, I will. It's not that I can't move, I just choose not to if I don't have to.

I always thought the people that laced up their running shoes and ran around their own neighborhood? INSANE. No one's chasing you! Why are you running? Look behind you, no one is there. Stop the insanity with your running. Sheesh. Especially this one particular woman that runs around in her bikini top (no lie), itty bitty shorts and tanning oil. It must be tanning oil because she glistens like I've never seen anyone glisten before. I don't like this woman in the slightest.

Insert the last week. I've been running while pushing a stroller. Around my neighborhood. Ok, really I just jog mixed with walking. More walking that jogging. And I wear flip flops. And I think I lean on the stroller more than push it. But still! I'm moving and jogging through my neighborhood and no one's chasing me. UNBELIEVABLE.

I've also been working out, too. I got these 10 minute workout DVD's months ago and I finally freed them from their packaging. I've been using the 10 Minute Solution: Fat Blasting Dance Mix. I can't follow hardly any of the dance 'moves' whatsoever and I thought I had some rhythm. Apparently not. But I try and dance along with the 3 ladies on the DVD and it's actually pretty fun. Although, the main instructor has this tattoo to left of her pelvis bone and it's pretty close to being near her goods and I fixate on it and it drives me insane. But her rock hard abs make me keep going.

But here's where I get all whiny and bitchy. I've gained weight. I know that muscle weighs more than fat and I wanna call no fair! You eat right, move your body and expect the scale to reward you with a pat on the back. But nooooo. The numbers go up. Bastards. I think that's total crap and I want someone in the netherworld to fix this. Please make muscle weigh less than fat. Is that too much ask?

In the mean time I'll keep running, er, jogging. I'll probably make the effort to wear actual lace up shoes to avoid injury and looking stupid. And maybe I'll stop leaning on the stroller. Maybe.

Your great great great grandson loves it, too.

Dear Great Great Grandma,

Hi, it's me, Kristie. Your great great granddaughter. I know we never met and I'm not even sure I've seen a picture of you, but I wanted to stop for a moment in this crazy life and say hi and thank you.

You see, a few years ago I visited my Grandma (your granddaughter) and she passed along a quilt to me along with a few hand stitched napkins and pillow cases. I used the pillow cases a few times but I was afraid I might damage the delicate stitching so I put them away. I see them on occasion and think about you sometimes. But that quilt was always shunned to the linen closet, collecting dust.

Over the years I've spent a pretty penny on nice bed linens. I have certain requirements when purchasing bedding. The sheets MUST be a high thread count and Egyptian cotton. At least 400 count or higher. The blanket that tops the sheets must have some sort of weight to it, but not be suffocatingly hot in the summer. And there must be absolutely no print on any of these items whatsoever. I HATE print on sheets, pillowcases and blankets. It's so 'traditional' to me and I'm not a traditional kind of girl.

My design style is more modern than anything. I'm not timid with color. I can mix and match colors with the best of them. And I always stuck with plain bedding that I could spruce up with accent pillows and paint colors.

But a few days ago my whole philosophy came crumbling down around me.

I decided I wanted a change on the bed. I was tired of the same sheets and blanket. It was so boring. I took the old bedding off and went to get a clean set of sheets in a different color this time. When I opened the linen closet I saw that quilt. The one I've had for years, just sitting there. I pulled it out and decided to see if it would fit on my bed and it did. And I fell in love. Instantly.

It's not my style at all. It's multicolored and bright and so traditional, in my mind. It even looks a bit country in a way. But I love it.

After I made the bed and stood back to admire the quilt I called my grandma and asked her to tell me who made this. I couldn't remember if it was her mother or her grandma. She was so pleased to hear that I was actually putting your handiwork to use.

I still can't believe it myself in all honesty. The only thing I can come up with is that I'm so proud that someone from my family made this with her own hands. I'm sure it took weeks or maybe even months to cut each piece out, assemble it and make the whole thing come together.

I don't have the time or the patience or the desire to make something like this. But I'm really glad that you took the time to make this quilt. I wonder if you ever though of what might happen to it after you were long gone. Did you think it would passed through several generations of your future family?


I'm truly proud to have this in my home. To show it off. To admire it. And I'll be just as proud to pass it along to the next generation when the time comes.

Thank you.

:::::::::

On a side note, I've made my bed every morning since I put this quilt to use. It must have magical powers because I never make my bed.

Oh, and, does anyone know a place that repairs quilts? There are a few places that need repairing and a few small water stain spots and I haven't a clue how to repair something of this nature. My great great grandma thanks you! Me, too.

Dress for success

I got dresses! And I have entire outfits planned for my out of town trip this week. Here's the first dress, above, from Ann Taylor Loft. My only criticism? I paid full price and the website says the dress is on sale. Must remedy this soon. This dress is a dark navy and I just love the fabric. It's a cool cotton material and has little all over slightly raised dots, if that makes sense. . I'll be pairing it with a pair of Carlos Santana bronze wedge heels that I've owned for several years but rarely wear for some unknown reason. (Photo found on Ebay).

Jewelry will consist of a necklace from Forever 21 that I can't seem to find. It's got a gold chain with a large square piece of 'amber'. To add more pizazz on top I'll be layering that necklace with another gold tone necklace that I got at Kohl's a few months ago.

To tie in the wood look of the back of the shoes I'm adding a wooden bangle that has small bronze/gold colored discs around the bracelet. My ring I'm going to wear is a vintage gold tone ring with amber colored stones.

The second dress I can't seem to find on Banana Republic's website. Boo. It's a simple black cotton dress with a v neck and short sleeves. It should be super comfy and easy to move around in (read: chase a toddler in).

The last dress is by New York & Company which I can rely on for some cute duds now and again. This is a simple empire waist dress that's also comfy and easy to move in.

I'm paring this dress with a turquoise belt that will fit nicely where the seam is on under the bust. I think the belt will add a jolt of color that the dress needs.

I'm skipping a necklace on this outfit but adding a matching turquoise bangle bracelet from Forever 21.

I can't find a picture, but the earrings are turquoise hoops with silver disk in the middle that I got from New York & Co. I'm going to wear simple black flip flops with this one and a black cami under the dress.

I think I did well for the very short amount of time I had today.

I'll be out of town starting tomorrow until next week. Since Blogger finally lets you schedule blogs to post at a later date I've set up a few. I'll be back next week and am already dreading the 9,534,882 blogs that I'll have in my Google Reader. Ha!

Be safe and have fun. See you guys soon.

In which I title this with 'In which' because it seems everyone else is doing it, too.

I want some dresses. Cute dresses that I can throw on during the weekend and be comfortable but snazzy looking. Work appropriate dresses that I can dress up or down. A date dress for all the dates I go on. (Can you see my eyes rolling?)

Here's my criteria:

• Can be sleeved or with straps, but MUST have wide enough straps to conceal bra straps. My girls need support and not everyone needs to see that support. Spaghetti straps don't cut it for me. Strapless bras are a total joke.
• No shorter than just above the knee. I'm 30, it's innapropriate. That and I've inherited the spider vein gene.
• No longer than just below the knee. Longer than that and I look short and squat. And on my 5"4' frame I certaintely don't need to look shorter.
• Must not cost an arm and a leg. I don't mind spending a good chunk if I love the dress, I just want to be able to make my mortgage payment. My mortgage company wants the same.

With that, any have suggestions or links?

My closet thanks you.

I too, am a Hungry Girl.

My youngest son's babysitter, and friend, Debi bought a cook book recently that I had heard of. I still can't remember where I heard about the book from, but I distinctly remember hearing about it. In the book is a recipe for low fat peanut butter fudge. Is that an oxymoron or what? That was all it took. I'm soooo there.

I went to my favorite online shop that carries practically everything you could ever want and placed my order for the cookbook. It finally came in the mail after a few days and I couldn't wait to crack it open and see what recipes were inside. Boy was I surprised to see that the recipes were extremely low in fat and calories and a lot of the recipes were insanely high in fiber. Weight Watchers people, you know that's a good thing. I was also surprised that these were simple enough recipes with just a few ingredients for most of the recipes. This pleases the 12 year old in the family because he can pronounce all the ingredients.

I made a grocery list and headed to my local store to stock up on stuff to make a few recipes for my family and a few things just for me.

My first recipe I made was Jalapeno Swappers. It's jalapeno poppers without the popping of the pants that become too tight because of all the fat and calories. Now, I'm no expert on jalapeno poppers at all because, honestly, I've never even had them at restaurants but that's neither here not there. I took photographic evidence to show you guys this recipe. The ENTIRE recipe is only 4 points for you Weight Watcher's fans. I could only eat 1/2 of it and was satisfied.

See the recipe book in the background? It's my new bible. In the front we have 5 fresh jalapenos, store brand fat free cream cheese and fat free cheddar cheese. The background shows my lovely pepper and salt mills, Egg Beaters and Fiber One cereal. Don't get all freaked out with the cereal part. I promise, it's not that bad.



In the recipe book it specifically says to be careful with the jalapenos. I've worked with jalapenos before and I should have known better. I think my eye is still stinging because I stuck my finger in my eye. I know.

This is the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, salt and pepper mixed together.

The Fiber One is the 'breadcrumbs'. Get it?! It's awesome and that's how you get all the good-for-you fiber.

Nicely ground. I just love my mini food processor.

Egg Beaters and 'breadcrumbs' ready and waiting!

Jalapenos stuffed and ready to be dipped.

Ready to be baked. See my much loved baking sheet? I really need a new one.

Hot out of the oven. YUUUUMMMMMY!

The only thing I would have done differently was to cook them longer because I got the hottest batch of jalapenos on the planet earth. My eyes were watering and my nose was dripping like a faucet. But they were so good, I couldn't stop.

Since I made this recipe I've made several more with many more on an upcoming menu. I made a low fat, low calorie version of an Egg McMuffin...only 3 points. A version of Rice Krispy treats that were only 1 point. And lastly, Chili Cheese Nachos aka OMG THESE ARE FREAKIN' AWESOME, at 4 points per serving! And tonight we had pepperoni pizza at 3 points pers serving. I plan to make Shepard's pie and 'fried' chicken strips sometime this week.

Is it obvious I'm in love with my cookbook? Maybe just a touch.

:::::::::

If you want your own cookbook you can get it at probably any book store. Here's where I got mine.

Also, you can sign up online to get newsletters and recipes sent straight to your inbox. How cool is that?

He's gone.

My grandpa Jack passed away last night. I got the call at 6:30am this morning.

He was a very sick man for the past few years. A stroke caused him to be a mere shell of who he was that I remember as a kid.

I tell you what though, I'm relieved. I hate death, but I hated his quality of life more. I hated that he could barely talk. I hated that he needed to be strapped into a wheelchair to prevent him from falling. I hated that he couldn't express his thoughts and feelings. I hated that he just wasn't him.

My grandpa was a magician back in the day and I hope he's chillin' in heaven pulling little foam rabbits out of the ears of the kids up there like he used to do with me.

Grandpa, I'm so sorry you never got to meet Jackson, but I know that you will know him in your heart. Please watch over us all and remember, a magician never tells his secrets.