10.30.04

spooky brownies

Posted in Uncategorized at 3:49 pm by Anne

Tonight we are taking Lily to some friends’ land where they are putting on a haunted hayride. It is one of their daughter’s birthday (14 I think) and they invited the whole age class from school to the thing so there is no telling how many kids will be running around the place. The only upside is that they live in a pretty small town so who knows how many total kids are enrolled in each grade?

I decided to bake some brownies using these Halloween morsels but instead of buying a box mix I just made them from scratch. You just can’t beat scratch. And they turned out, for the most part, except for the mashmellows got a little overdone and sticky, and so cutting them into squares was a chore and on the serving dish they look kind of scary, as if they were created in Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory. They are pretty tasty though, a little on the sweet side. Who cares? Hayride kids may snarf them all the same and if they don’t the pregnant uncomfortable lady and her ruffian toddler surely will.

Slowly Lily is dismantling things in the house. She managed to remove the glassless door to one of the library bookcases today and Shan remarked exasperatedly, “Are we going to have to get rid of all of our stuff?” I told him yes. We’re also going to put our lovely antique glass drugstore bureau thing into storage (with the mostly glass doored lawyer bookcase) and the other night we talked about taking down the crib. Here is the deal, the first 5-6 months with new baby, she won’t be sleeping in her crib anyway, so why keep it up? And since my Mom is coming down to help for 1.5 months, we can put another bed in Lily’s room and Mom can sleep there…more privacy will be afforded there than on the futon in the living room. Plus, Lily can wake up my Mom instead of me in the morning…how awesome is that?!

And where are our pumpkins?! We still haven’t gotten any! I’ve never been this late before on the punkin front. sigh. mmmm. the smell of pumpkin innards. To die for!

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10.27.04

Eclipse

Posted in Uncategorized at 10:19 pm by Anne

Well foo! It’s been pretty cloudy all day long except for a brief instant tonight when Shan and I were actually able to see the lunar eclipse and it was beautiful in all of its reddish-burnt sienna splendour.

sigh.

Today Lily pulled my HUGE white elephant Christmas present off a table (I thought had been safe) and I was forced to spend the last half hour making repairs to all the bean-covered picture frames. Little kids, to say they are a lot of work is such an understatement!

Also, went to the Dr this morning for a preggo checkup. All is good. I am managing to continue gaining weight somehow (HAH) and so far so good. In one month the new cherub will be here. 4 weeks. 28 days!! er, now 27 days…yay babies! I feel like nursing will be a lot less painful/anxiety producing as it was the first time around. At least I hope so. And I’m hoping top avoid using a pump of any kind since worried overzealousness with one the second day at home with Lily led to a very painful case of mastitis. Not good. Not pleasant. and certainly not pretty.

I think I hear the lucky charms a’calling.

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10.25.04

Voting

Posted in Uncategorized at 5:51 pm by Anne

I had a thought very similar to my husband’s belief that people should have to take an exam before bringing a child into this world. I know it would infringe on a pretty central tenet to the Declaration of Independence/US Constitution but I still think it would be better for the nation all around if one had to pass a very basic civics exam before being allowed to vote. It seems like too many people vote not through thinking on their own but by taking someone else’s word for it. The exam would cover a lot like:

What is a democrat?
What is a republican?
What does the term ‘conservative’ mean?
What does the term ‘liberal’ mean?
What is the difference between a small and a big government?
What is meant by fiscal responsibility? Pork barrel? Who is Allen Greenspan and what does he do?
Why does the middle class get taxed more than anyone else? Why is the middle class shrinking? What is meant by poverty level?
What is personal responsibility?
How soon do we see economic results by presidential actions etc?
What is a republic and how is it different from a democracy? (explain how the USA began as a republic and how it has moved towards socialism) socialism? fascism? dictatorship? plutocracy? and of course communism? define please with examples.

Oh hell, I could go on and on.

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10.24.04

Sunday

Posted in Uncategorized at 4:52 pm by Anne

Thank goodness I am slowly getting better. The sore throat is there but kind of lingering in the background while nasal congestion and a mild headache has come to the forefront. At least I know it’s not strep based on these little gems. And Lily is ahead of me on the up and up. She has had no fever for the past few days and only shows a bad nose occasionally. She’s still hyper and hungry and chatty, demanding ‘Woo-dee’ (ToyStory 1 AND 2) or tah-toons.

Which brings me to movies. After seeing parts of ToyStory 1 and now 2 at least once a day and more often twice a day, I am really beginning to appreciate a good dvd over regular tv programming. The commericals on Disney and Nickelodeon for various children’s toys hypnotize Lily and make me throw up. Of course I remember loving commericals when I was a kid, the pining for this or that, the excitement and joy at getting this or that, and then the 10 minutes of playing with whatever until it 1)broke or 2) got boring. As such, we are going to try and start a dvd collection and keep normal programming to a minimum, since we have no TiVo and probably won’t be getting it anytime soon. Is Snow White the very first Disney movie?

Today is not so cool as promised. In fact, when the sun was out, it was downright warm. I dressed in my black chami, black yoga pants, and black sandals and announced to Shan that today I was a pregnant ninja. Black is a slimming color only when one compares it to wearing all-white. eek.

I just realized I need to figure out baby announcements.

sigh.

With Lily it was nearly 2 months after the fact until I got them ordered and sent. gahhhh.

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10.23.04

throat

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:00 am by Anne

I take it back. This is the weekend from hell. My throat is killing me. So if I can’t see my dr until monday at the soonest, what can I do for the pain?

Tylenol: no workey

gargling with warm salt water: no effect

lozenges: HAH!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. And if I can prevent Lily from getting it; that would be a very large blessing. Guess I’ll go see what is on tv in the living room.

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10.22.04

Friday Bliss

Posted in Uncategorized at 1:44 pm by Anne

Lily sleeps.
Worked this morning.
Samples all done.
Clients mostly caught up with billing.
Laundry washing.
Christmas white elephant gift completed. (Picture-frames outlined with black beans- Thanks to Martha Stewart)
Toy Story 2 dvd came in the mail.
No urgent plans for the weekend.

I love this weekend. Although Shan has to work some, we talked about spending the rest of the time at home, completing things together and being with Lily. I love that idea and the only thing I have on my list is to make some more pear preserves. I am going to try a very small batch made with Splenda for Shan’s diabetic Grandmother who gave us all the pears in the first place.

Plus, another cold front is supposed to come in tonight bringing rain and an end to these hideously humid days with temps in the 90’s.

Baby Emma has continued with her moving exercises and becomes upset when her big sister fusses; it’s kind of interesting albeit uncomfortable at the same time. I am nearing the final month of this pregnancy and very little other than pajama bottoms with seriously loose elastic can be considered comfortable. The capris I started out wearing today for work were removed when I got home and I’m not sure they will be worn ever again.

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10.21.04

Poor Baby

Posted in Uncategorized at 10:31 am by Anne

Last night was eventful and unpleasant on many levels. In the first place, Shan and I got a big scare when she came tramping up to us with a partially gnawed-on pill(not ours) in one hand that later turned out to be a vitamin (Thank GOD)but in addition to all the worry and activity that ensued from that; she wound up not sleeping at all. In fact, she tossed and cried all night. And I mean all night. She may have had a partially upset stomach but she also started coming down with a case of the nasty boogs that only show up when she sneezes and I am expecting the worse, ie a cold.

So this weekend should be extra fun!

I had to call off a playdate scheduled for this morning and am stuck with a beautiful lemon-blueberry coffeecake. Oh the humanity.

And on a different note. Poor Theresa Heinz she reminds me of Marie Antoinette. A friend of mine used to say “It is better to be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” He didn’t often get it right but he did with this one.

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10.19.04

Mom: 0 Baby:1

Posted in Uncategorized at 1:35 pm by Anne

So yesterday morning I was tired and a little bummed, read stressed. After Lily ate a mediocre breakfast, we needed to get ready for the gym. She was dressed and had dragged one of my sneakers into our bathroom and after she watched me tie one shoe on, I asked her to get my other one…the one in the bathroom. This resulted in her latest sign of independence, the ‘I-don’t-want-to-do-what-you-say’ expression. Not wanting to let her win this one and set the stage for further insubordination, I stayed put and kept on her, telling her to get my other shoe, to pick it up, to bring it to me, etcetcetc. Shan came into the room to get his shoes from the closet at one point and Lily chimed, “Daddy” in a rather plaintive voice. He knew what I was doing and gave me a pat on the back, telling me to “keep it up, don’t get mad…” etc. And then he left. It was still me and Lily. And I was starting to get mad. At that point I decided it wasn’t going to work as a lesson but I was wrong. I looked into the bathroom where Lily was standing and didn’t see a damn shoe ANYWHERE! So after 5-10 minutes of all that, I had to step up and apologise to the toddler. She must have thought I was completely looney.

The other sneaker was in the closet.

gahhhhhhh.

Now check these out. I am wild with desire for them and will be hitting the after Christmas sale in hopes of getting these guys for half-off at least. Full price is just ridiculous but see how lovely they are? Particularly the spoons! Not that I have any room for them, mind you, or even need them, I am just a pregnant woman obsessed.

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10.18.04

Plans

Posted in Uncategorized at 11:55 am by Anne

While Cess was here Sunday, we decided to make a little trip to the historic district in town. I thought maybe I’d find a gift or two for Christmas and my friend wanted candles. The spoiler: Lily. I had completely overlooked her morning nap and by the time we had her in the stroller (with the harness in a pouch, it was obvious that it might be a somewhat challenging affair. Cecily did bring a splayed rose blossom with her and presented it to Lily outside the car but Lily didn’t get the point of destroying a flower. I know she will soon enough though and props to C. for even thinking of it in the first place, she is a good auntie.

So we walked into one of our favorite curio shops, with Lily all outstretched paws and taking in the fascinating/beautiful old timey artisic Halloween decor. Cecily and I took turns pushing her around and I managed to find some baubles to match baubles I already had at home…and a candle too, but nothing for anyone but memememememe. Next we walked down the street to another little shop that had changed into a baby couture shop of blissfully lovely yet terrible expensive this and that while still maintaining some of their original antique-like objet’de’art. I handed Lily a plush baby rattle as something she could give baby Emma next month but really hoping she would find some fun playing with it. No dice. Fairly early on, while Cecily found a nice stash of candles and I pushed the girl around decadent cribs and bedding, Lily began saying rather forcefully “All Done! All done!”

So I pushed her outside, strapped her into the harness, and was all ready to let her walk about but she resisted. She resisted so much that she wound up laying facedown on the cobbled sidewalk, giving in to her very first public tantrum. It was fun. Cecily and I were appalled but couldn’t help laughing at the red-faced girl on the ground. She screamed and flipped over onto her back while I tried reasoning with her in a calm voice but nothing was working for the overtired munchkin. A few people walked past and watched the spectacle from down the street and things took a turn for the worse when Lily lifted her head and knocked it back on the ground. At that point she went limp with tears and I swooped her up saying, “I think our shopping trip is over now.” and Cecily agreed.

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10.15.04

shots and barks

Posted in Uncategorized at 3:36 pm by Anne

So yesterday I handed Lily off the to GP’s and headed over an hour early to the pharmacy at Costco for a flu shot. Imagine my surprise when I got there and the line wrapped halfway around the inside of the whole entire store! Ack. Apparently some of the contestants had gotten there as early as 10 AM! So I got real comfortable with my new baking book and got ready to stand and wait. The people near me were all elderly and super nice (I learned some about medicare) but after two hours, yes I said 2 hours, or waiting in line for a shot, I was ready to get gone. I think I was around number 189 and they only had 350 total shots. Hopefully next year will be better. Hopefully Chiron in England won’t go bankrupt and can start making next years doses now or even better, hopefully the US govt will remove the Hillary Clinton (yes, most of this flu shot shortage is her fault.)policy. See the Clinton Government Vaccine Buying Program for a taste of the problem.

Then I went to Dallas and then drove back home where Lily was enjoying some Dad-time. As soon as I walked in the door, Shan told me she had taken no afternoon nap and that it was my turn to get her to sleep. No problem. Except that when Lily saw me, she ran over to her highchair and began dragging it across the kitchen floor rather loudly. A truer indication of her hunger doesn’t exist. I learned she had beans and eggs for supper which left a nice snack of fruit to round things out. And she was hungry! She ate two kiwi fruit and a handful of black grapes!

Then the barking started. Shan began filming intermittently and I took over once Lily was asleep in her bed. These neighbors. I still can’t believe that they are so inconsiderate. At least we have a plan, though. Shan’s already filed an official complaint with animal control and he is keeping a barking log. The audiotape of these beastly untrained pups will incriminate them more than anything else. But it still sucks that we can’t be friendly with them. And a side benefit is that they are good friends with one of our bankers, which means both Shan and I get a chilly reception whenever we make deposits. lame. Why do people have to be such asses?

That said, Lily is taking a nap so I have to typea report and get to making halloween cupcakes for tomorrow’s autumn picnic. hello chocolate and hello vanilla and greetings to the halloween sprinkles.

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