Teaholic not quite anonymous

Good afternoon everyone! Wanted to pop in and say hi. Yesterday we had our open house at my parents. It went quite well. Maddy handled a house full of guests much better than I thought she would. The living room was full! She didn't want to go on a lot of laps, but if I put her there she didn't fuss really. It was an evening gathering so as not to interfer with her naps. She enjoyed seeing everyone and listening in to conversations. She sat and watched a lot, played a little and crawled around. She enjoyed my second-cousin, Tannar quite a bit. He's in 6th grade and she had a great time trying to grab his glasses, hit him, blow raspberries at him, etc. I think he enjoyed it, too!

Before the open house my cousin Tina and her husband Mike stopped over with their 1 1/2 year old, MIchael. Michael warmed up to us pretty well and Maddy liked him a lot. Maddy liked Mike too. I think she misses her daddy! I hated to cut the visit with them short, but she needed her afternoon nap before everyone got here.

Maddy really seemed to get along with everyone. They seemed to enjoy her. A good time was had by all! She even slept all night, too, which is great. I thought maybe with all the commotion that she would be too excited to sleep. But a hot bath and then bed went pretty easily.

Four months ago, I know it wouldn't have gone as well. She's really become very adaptable and capable little girl. She handles crowds well, noises better than she used to and enjoys a lot of company. She eats a large variety of foods (as long as I'm eating them too). She really enjoyed the pizza and sloppy joes we had over the last few days. She can drink water out of virtually anything (with help tipping the glass). She also loves to crawl around in the grass. I guess that's what happens when they grow up. She's such a big 10 month old!

Matt has missed out on a few new things over the last 10 days. She's starting to wave 'hi/bye' now. She's walking now holding onto my hands. Before, she HATED to hold onto my hands. She didn't understand that it would allow her to practice walking. Now she holds onto my hands and enjoys walking.

Well, that's it for now. Maddy is still down for a nap and I'm going to get a couple things done. Have a good one!

Good afternoon! Maddy and I got back home last night. Our flight was delayed by 20 minutes but Midwest actually posted it early enough to stay at home a bit longer. Check in was fine. My parents helped with the luggage. We hung out and let Maddy crawl around for a while before we went through screening. Everyone smiled at her and she'd crawl around wave at them! It was really cute.

Then it was time to go through screening. Argh. That was a pain. I don't know who Milwaukee thinks they are, but they are PARANOID freaks at TSA. They were nice enough, but man, the screener wants to see your boarding pass as you are putting luggage on the belt, they want the luggage just so...etc. It took FOREVER. Reagan was no where near that paranoid and they are right next to our nations capital! They did search my diaper bag which I expected. Didn't take very long though and they were nice as could be... cooing over Maddy.

Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers though! Managing a 10 month old, a diaper bag and a stroller sounds easy enough until you take the 10 month old out of the stroller and have to collapse it while holding her and the diaper bag. Even if that can be managed, picking up all three again is quite difficult. Fortunately, in line to get screened the gentleman behind me collapsed the stroller for me (it does benefit him afterall since it gets me through faster). Then when I had to collapse it again while boarding the plane a nice lady behind me offered to carry my diaper bag to my seat for me.

It's nice that we can bring liquids on the plane again that you buy in the terminal. It allowed me to buy water for Maddy's bottle and mix the formula before I had to have her out of the stroller. They gouge the prices though, but that's to be expected. I'm just glad I could take it on with me!

She handled the plane ride really well. Thank goodness for fruit puff snacks and sippy cup. She enjoyed a few of her new small toys before she fell asleep on my lap. Once again, thank goodness for the generosity of strangers. My seatmate put all of my stuff (snack cup, sippy cup, airline 'three pretzel' bag, etc) on her tray table and insisted that I leave it there and it was 'fine'. That was nice of her. Also, the couple across from us had the sun shining in their window as we turned and they immediately noticed I was blocking Maddy's eyes from the sun while she was sleeping and they lowered their shade.

She loved seeing Matt when we got off the plane! He loved seeing her. The car ride home was a bit long due to traffic, but I still had the diaper bag full of toys and snacks so that tided her over until we got home. We ordered out last night and it arrived as we got home. Even Maddy loved the Gyro and cheese fries!

It took her a long time to go to bed last night. She'd fall asleep in our arms but if we left the room she'd stand up and wail because she was overtired, had a long day, was scared of her room and it was late! So, I gave her a 1/2 dose of benedryl to help her get to sleep. She slept all night.

Today, I've unpacked most of the luggage. Just a little bit left to do. Grocery shopping and laundry need to get done, but Matt really kept up the house a ton while we were gone. He even laid new floor in two of the bathrooms and vaccummed the living areas before we got home (Maddy hates the vaccum). So there no extra chores to do!

Must give big kudos to my parents though before I leave off this chapter of the visit to WI. They were ready for us to come up and visit them. They had everything set to go: portable crib, baby room, noise machine, night light, diapers, formula, food, snacks, toys, everything! Maddy did really well up there and I think it was mainly because they were so ready for us. It was great seeing so many friends, many of whom had to travel to see us. It was nice seeing so many family members too. Everyone was very generous with their time and I know Maddy and I appreciate it.

Alrighty, I better get moving. I have stuff I want to do before she's up for her nap. That's enough for now, I'll talk with you all later!

Well, Matt made a doctor's appointment for me today to get my eye looked at. It had been red previous to my WI trip for about a week on and off. And this morning it started up all over again. I wasn't sure what was causing it but today it was worse than before.

Turns out I have a viral infection. It's full blown, 'pink eye on steroids'. It wouldn't go away without medication so I'm on eye drops 4 x a day. It's contagious (although they don't know when it's really contagious, before it shows up? during?) so I need to throw out my contacts and cases. All the usual--wear my glasses for a few weeks, keep my hands off my eyes, wash my hands frequently and don't let Maddy get anywhere NEAR my eyes. I never want to have to give her eyedrops, that would be pure pain for me and her.

Anyway, I went to pick up the meds tonight and it was $60!! And yes, that was WITH insurance with good coverage. It was $91 regularly. If it wasn't Friday night and I wouldn't be able to get ahold of the doctor until Monday, I would have waited and asked for something different and less expensive. But oh well, I need it, right?

Tonight is the first night since we got back that Maddy went to sleep the first time we laid her down. I heard a bit of a whine, but nothing that would make us go in and see her. She seems to have adjusted pretty well! She likes being home although I think she's bored already. Unfortunately, there won't be any playgroups in our future with this eye of mine. I don't want anyone else catching this.

Well, have a good weekend all!

The last three nights I've woken up at about 4:00 wide awake. I can't figure it out. I'm up all day chasing after Maddy, doing house stuff. I'm tired at the end of the day when I go to bed. I fall asleep really well. I'm not stressed about anything. I don't have a lot on my mind that I'm planning for or are thinking about. Yet, at 4:00 there I am, laying there wide awake.

Then I never know what to do. Get up? Lay there and hope I fall back asleep? Move to the couch, maybe thc change in venue will help? I find that if I get up like I did tonight I stay awake long but am less frustrated with the inability to sleep. But if I lay there for a while I MAY fall back asleep. But I hate to wake up Matt with my tossing and turning. I know he sleeps worse when I'm awake.

It's not that Matt wakes me up either. He doesn't snore, move around a lot or is on my side. I don't have issues with being hot or cold. It's dark and quiet--there should be no reason I am waking up!

Then, the next question is, How does Ruthie (my cat) always know I'm awake? Never fails that as soon as I wake up she's jumping up purring wanting to be petted. And of course, because Ruthie is up then Joe gets up (my other cat). He can get pretty ticked off if he gets woken up and tries to rummage through the garbage cans looking for plastic to eat.

Ah well, I better try to get back to asleep! It's 5:10!

It's fortunate that when I DO fall back asleep, i sleep hard and well. So here's to trying it again! Goodnight, all.

Well, it was a gorgeous day here today! It had rained steadily the last two days and was dreary and icky.

I got my car washed today by the Local High School Swim Team. Eh... they didn't do the best of jobs, but not horrible either. It had been OVER two years since my last car washing so, I can't blame them for the really dried on dirt! Hey, it's better at least. And well, it's for a good cause.

Maddy LOVES being outside. While we were in WI she loved to sit in the grass and pull it out (and promptly tried to stick it in her mouth, but that's besides the point). I told Grandpa she was helping mow it one blade at a time. :) She's very docile while in the grass...not crawling much, just taking it all in. She loves to feel the grass in her fingers, the wind in her hair, the sun on her face and the noises around her. She looks at all the cars that drive by (not that we have that many in our court, but my parents had more in WI) the people walking their dogs, etc. It's nice cause I don't need to run after her every second and I get to enjoy the weather too (when I'm not taking grass out of her mouth or hands). Even though she's only crawling, that little girl can move on those knees! Her little butt wiggles a mile a minute AWAY from you or AROUND you.

Anyway, we took Maddy for our usual evening stroll tonight. It was so nice getting back outside with her and Matt. We have a lot of tot-lots near our house in our subdivision with baby swings and she LOVES to swing. We have a great subdivision. It's a great neighborhood to take a walk in. Maddy still loves to put one foot up on the bar in the front of the stroller and lay to one side. Although this is getting more and more difficult for her since she's grown so much. Her little leg is almost pressed up against her chest now when she puts her foot up! She will 'read' her Who Loves Baby? Book and often finds grandpa's glasses. She has this thing with Gary's glasses! I have to say, I love Maddy's stroller. I missed all the cool doo-dads and thing-a-ma-jigs while I was in WI. I loved her umbrella stroller for the convenience and it allowed walks in WI. But I love her Graco--all the little pockets, cup holders, baskets. It's really an excellent stroller. Maddy likes it too. She was always trying to turn around in her umbrella stroller, but she doesn't try to do that in her larger home stroller.

Great news though, tonight is the FIRST night since coming back home that we haven't needed to go up after putting her down for bed! Plus, she was in bed at a decent hour, 7:15! NICE!!

Matt and I are going to have a fire in the chimnea tonight on the deck. The weather is just too beautiful to waste sitting inside. I think the air will help my insomnia as well. Here's to not waking up at 4 am! Goodnight everyone!

Tea of the day: Stash Green Chai Tea

So, obviously by now you figured out that I must love tea. Almost all kinds, you name it, I like it. I'd pick tea over coffee any day although will have a random cup of Joe here and there. I drink my tea plain, no added sugar, creamer, lemon or honey. My favorite brand is Adagio (www.adagio.com). They make FABULOUS flavored black tea. Their rooibos is good too (red tea--herbal. full of antioxidants). Their green tea is pretty good (slight caffeine, antioxidants). I haven't tried their white tea yet (very little caffeine, antioxidants).

I think my favorite tea is either black or rooibos. Green and white can be bitter if not made correctly or drank in a timely manner. With a ten month old, of course, I can't guarentee the last part. Black tea can get a bit bitter when left steeping for a long time, but the flavor, to me only gets better. Rooibos is a very mellow, warm, almost creamy flavor. When it is flavored with mango or vanilla it's really nice. No matter how long it steeps, it doesn't get bitter or too strong.

I also love Adagio's Ingenuitea steeper cup. You pour the loose tea and water into the cup and let it steep for the alloted time. Then it has a filter on the bottom and when you put it over your cup it it strains the leaves from the water. It's REALLY quick and easy. It's microwaveable and dishwasher safe. I microwave mine every day. I try not to dishwash it too often cause it is just plastic. Once every couple of days. Then I just rinse out the leaves and cup the rest of the time.

I do have some really nice teaware. I have a really nice tea set, spoons, tea cups, strainers, etc...but I don't use them very often. Normally, it's just the ingenuitea and a plain 'ol mug. Afterall, it's the tea that counts!

My favorite part of tea is that I like it hot or cold. I don't care if it gets cool so long as the leaves still aren't steeping. To me, it's just as good that way as it is hot. With Maddy around, I'm lucky if I finish a cup of tea when it's still hot. So I'm glad I like it cold too!

I only drink maybe 2-3 cups of tea in the day. My first one is always caffeinated and the rest are normally low caffeine or herbal. Some days I just have my one cup in the morning. I used to have a TON of tea. I overbought and had containers and containers full. Now, I've used up most of it and have bought very little new tea on purpose. I'd like to use up what I have first. I still have at least 5 boxes of Stash Green Chai Tea on hand since I have a hard time finding it, a couple other flavored boxes, a couple of herbal boxes dating back from when i was pregnant with Maddy and my Adagio tins. I also have some tea from Matt when he went to London. So, I'm still good on tea for quite a while, I believe! I don't think I'll need to buy any for at least six months!

Anyway, I thought I really should talk a little bit about tea since my webpage's name, address, email etc...are all dedicated to it. If you aren't a tea fan this probably bore you to death and didn't make it through it. However, if you like tea, maybe you actually enjoyed it!

Tea of the day: Adagio Oriental Spice Black Tea

Hi everyone. Just wanted to let you know that I've uploaded some short video clips of Maddy from birth on in our gallery. Gallery software had a great update which also included the ability to upload video. That's great since Maddy is moving around more now, I get to show it to you! They are interspersed throughout her galleries. There are at least a couple in each grouping (0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 10 mo and growing). I tried to insert them at the approximate time they took place. They use quicktime and it will take a little bit to load--especially the older ones since they are larger. I try to keep current video to 1 minute or less to help with downloading. So if you see that blue Q sit there for a while, be patient, it will come up!

Video quality may not be the best. We only use our digital camera for the video since it has that function and is really easy to use on the fly. We do have a digital video recorder, but honestly, I don't think it's really seen the light of day since we purchased it. I love to use the camera since it's small, can sit on the table out of the way and is quick to download into the laptop. But, it doesn't have a light as shown in her recent video I mention below.

Her latest video is of her toddling along wth Matt holding her hands. She does love to practice walking!

Well, back to bed, it's 4:20. Didn't have insomnia last night and am hoping that getting up right away when I woke up tonight will allow me to get back to sleep quicker now!

Well, Maddy absolutely LOVES the cats. I think she views them as big unattainable stuffed animals who she can snuggle and move around. However, they are no long as unattainable as they once were now that she is crawling around. Now they realize she's mobile they avoid her pretty well.

The cats have very different personalities towards Maddy. Joe is more laid back. He lets her come up and touch him, snuggle him a bit and hug him. Then he'll get up and walk away. The only time he really doesn't walk away is when he's laying on something he doesn't want to give up to her--a blanket, toy, pillow, chair. I get most nervous having her around him when he is laying down on the couch or chair. He likes to sleep there and used to be out of reach. But now that Maddy's had her growth spurt, she can reach to the back of both now. And since she's cruising and pulling up so well, she can do it FAST. Joe will get irritated with her if she bugs him while he's resting on the chairs and couch. Once he mewed at her when she touched (not pulled) his tail. She got scared of course and started crying. That's a GOOD thing in my book. It's not that I want her scared of the cats, but she needs to know they aren't play things! And I'd rather a mew scare her than get bit. Now, I'm sure that will happen sooner or later too, since I can't prevent everything. Hopefully later when she's old enough to understand what it means.

Ruthie, on the other hand, is a different breed of cat. She's not as laid back as Joe. She doesn't let Maddy anywhere near her. This is good, very good, cause Ruthie does not hesitate on batting her front paw at the person who is annoying her. She won't hesitate in nipping either, if she wants to. Today, Maddy was trying to reach for Ruthie behind the chair and Ruthie batted at Maddy's hand. Maddy got upset and cried, but this is good too. You could see Maddy pull away and just look at her, thinking, "Hey, you're not soft and cuddly!" I'm a LOT more careful with Ruthie around Maddy. I don't let her get to close and always make sure that Ruthie doesn't get cornered. Joe, I'm more lenient on because he is more gentle with her. But I'm always right there too, cause well, he still is an animal.

It will be interesting to see how things progress as she learns to walk (and then run)! I wonder what kind of interactions they'll have when she's two or three. I wonder how much that cats will hide and run and how much they will dislike her. Or I wonder if they will tolerate her. Maddy is already being more careful with Joe. When I tell her to use 'nice hands' she points one index finger and very gently touches his fur. Of course, this often leads to her throwing herself on top of him after that. She can't help it, he's just soooo cuddly and pillow-like. Afterall, he's a furry lump of purring warm fat!

Oops, she's up, must run!

Tea of the day: Adagio Mango Black Tea/Adagio Mango Rooibos Tea

So, if you happen to go to google and type in 'teaholic' into the search bar, guess what the very first link is?! Yes, you're right! This blog!

So, I'd like to thank all my loyal readers (all 2 of you) who made this all possible. I'd like to thank Matt, Maddy and the cats for giving me something to write about. I'd like to thank tea for being addictive and for Matt who thought of the name.

Of course, this is all in jest, because who really cares that this blog is the first link on Google. (But I still think it's mighty COOL.)

So if you read my blog's name, you'll see that I'm not JUST a teaholic. I'm a duck-aholic too. Specifically rubber ducks. Now, most of you know the story behind my rubber duck obsession by now, so I will save you the time in reading it again (and the embarrassment of me posting it). But let's suffice to say, I love all things rubber duck. I have a TON of ducks. At last count I had over 50 rubber ducks. Of course, I've loaned a lot out to Maddy to play with in the bathtub. Now, I don't have just rubber ducks, I also have the montage to go with it. I have the shower curtain, soaps, dispensers, light fixtures, etc.. The list is LONG. And of course, once people find out I love ducks I get a lot of duck themed gifts too. Sad to say, I've had to cull out some of my rubber ducks. It was just getting to extensive. I packed some away and only left out about 1/3 to a 1/2. Matt is thrilled I believe. Why? Because, as much as I love ducks, they only are in the teeny-tiny bathroom. So you can imagine how overwhelming it can be to walk in and see that many ducks! I like 'em though. I think they're cute!

I do enjoy makeup too. I have fun buying it and applying it. I have a lot of makeup. A LOT. A few of my makeup-loving friends know how much I have and even THEY are in shock. I use it though. I'll probably (ok, ok, most assuredly) never use it all up. My favorites right now are Smashbox and Lorac. Smashbox just for the wearabililty and Lorac for the unique-ness. A few other favorites: MAC eyeliners, Maybelline Full and Soft Mascara (tried and true), Almay Amazing Lasting Concealer (unfortunately discontinued but I stocked up before they went out of stock), Smashbox lipgloss and Mac Peachykeen blush.

Babyaholic is pretty self-explanatory. :)

I enjoy reading although I haven't read as much as I like. I can barely get through a magazine. But when I can, I do. My latest read was American Gods and Anasi Boys. Both were great and rememberable. I like fun girlie stuff too, when I get the chance.

I love hanging out outside with Matt and Maddy. Now that the weather is getting cooler and fall is in the air, it's beautiful to be outside. If Maddy is down for a nap, I'll take whatever I'm doing on the back deck and do it there. The sun has also gone around by that point so it's cool and shady. Matt and I enjoy fires in the chimnea at night. Maddy and I love to go for walks and to the park.

I'm an organizational freak. I HATE mess. I'm not necessarily the cleanest person, but I hate clutter. So while you may be able to write your name on my end tables, you can at least see the end table! Of course, this has posed a challenge with a 10 month old. My 'rules' have been more lax when it comes to her toys. Afterall, most of them don't fit into nice neat little boxes. But as long as they are consolidated when she's napping and at bed, I'm happy. I also pick up behind her while she's playing so she doesn't have too many things out. That's too overwhelming for both her and I.

I love Trader Joes and Whole Foods. Trader Joes has some awesome sauces. One of our favorites is Mojito Sauce. We marinade our chicken in that and then toss it with pasta and it's fabulous. They have a great Thai Curry sauce, too. Their wine is spectacular, especially for the price. They have great dried fruits, nuts, snacks and granola. My latest favorite granola is their pumpkin spice. Whole Foods is great for their cheeses, natural pasta sauce, salad dressing, and salads. They both have a lot of natural goods at pretty good prices.

I love hot chocolate and apple cider. My favorite hot chocolate is Land-o-lakes. I will either have it plain or mix it in with coffee to make mocha. I love to make homemade apple cider by letting it mull for a full day in the crockpot. It makes the house smell fabulous, too.

I don't wear a lot of jewelry but am a fan of it. Maddy loves to pull on my jewelry so I can't really wear it as often as I'd like. But my favorite stores, by far, are Fire and Ice and Skipping Lilies. They have very unique and handmade pieces.

I love Tivo on DirectTV. Matt and I will watch just a couple programs at night on Tivo. Normally we'll watch Dirty Jobs, Mythbusters, or Comedy Central Presents. I tivo Jack's Big Music Show and Sesame Street for Maddy. This allows me to put on her shows when she's ready for them or not at all. I tivo the Secret Life of, Made in America and Biography for myself although I hardly every watch them. We tried Verizon Fios for DVR, but I didn't like the remote or the recording interface. The picture was great, but I just didn't like the rest of it.

I enjoy Jazz, Big Band, Blues, Classical and some top 40. I'll listen to the '50's now and again. I've just recently started listening to music again. When Maddy was down for a nap before, I didn't have it on. But my laptop does a nice job of playing at various levels. My last laptop was either very loud or so quiet I couldn't hear. Itunes really helps too. I just type in what I want to listen to and it's there. So it's really quick and easy.

Of course, all of these favorite things don't even slightly compare to my favorite people, relationships and values. But my family, friends, faith, values and ideals are a given. We all know those are important to me. What's the point of me saying, "I love Maddy to death!" Of course I do, she's my KID. So what I've written here are most the random fun extra things in my life--a few of my favorite things.

tea of the day: Adagio Chocolate Black Tea

Maddy is so funny. Her palette is so unusual! At least it is in my book! Two nights ago Matt and I had sweet potatos and smoked bacon peppercorn pork loin for dinner. I tried giving Maddy some of the sweet potatos but she would have nothing to do with it. Then I gave her a bit of the pork loin and she LOVED it. She just chowed down on it!

Last night we had Chicken mole with brown rice and spicy cabbage for dinner. She loved the mole! (I didn't try her with the cabbage--too spicy.) This is on top of her liking gyro meat, three bean cassarole, pizza, sloppy joes, and the like!

But she doesn't like vanilla custard, banana pudding or most baby desserts. She's even pulling away from baby peach yogurt lately. But she does like Milwaukee Frozen Custard as long as it's melted down a little bit. She is just sooo funny with her own little taste personality.

She had a very difficult time going to bed last night. She did a lot of crying and wanting us with her. She finally fell asleep, but it took quite awhile. So she's slept in this morning. But I do hear her up! So I need to run. Have a great day, everyone!

tea of the day: Adagio Strawberry Black Tea, Adagio Rooibos Mango Tea for later since it's cold and frosty outside. Or maybe some hot chocolate to celebrate fall!

Why is it that right after I finish a magazine or two, a few more come in the mail? I can never keep up! For the price I pay for subscriptions though, it's ok. I buy them through an online discount site and man, the price is right!

Maddy's latest thing is rolling her D's. I can't do that, but Matt can. I mean, I'm impressed. I'm waiting for her to roll her R's.

So, she will eat her meat baby food ONLY if I load it down with pepper and a touch of salt. This kid has some taste buds! Well, if she likes it and doesn't make her tummy fussy, she'll get it! I'm going to try some Mrs. Dash today in her meat and see if she'll like that better. She has swung back to eating Cherrios over Fruit Puffs now. I'm glad since they are better for her. She still refuses to eat baby cereal and if I can sneak it into her yogurt or fruit she'll eat it that way.

The weather has turned cool here! It's sooo nice outside now. Yesterday when Matt and I got up the cars had frost on them. It was only 60 degrees in the house! I had to turn on the heat. It was one of those mornings that I didn't miss having to leave the houst at 6:15 am to go to work. It was nice to stay inside with a cup of hot tea playing with Maddy.

I plan on doing a bit of baking this weekend. I haven't figured out what yet. Maybe I'll make apple crisp or pumpkin spice bread. I want it to be something for fall. There is a city festival going on today. Maddy, Matt and I may go. It'll be fun if the weather is nice and not too cold.

Maddy's birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year! I didn't realize that until a few weeks ago! I think that's really neat. So we'll have Turkey and a birthday cake. That will be interesting! I wonder what she'll do with her cake. She doesn't like sweets that much, so we'll have to see.

Well, that's it for today. I hope everyone has a very nice ane enjoyable weekend!

Had mocha coffee this morning, so no tea of the day for me.

Last night after Matt got home and we ate dinner, we decided to go to the mall. Matt needed some new shirts for work and I needed some new pants (argh, darn baby weight--ok, I can't blame the baby, darn weight), and Maddy needed some warmer shirts too. So we loaded up the stroller and diaper bag and headed out! Matt bought seven shirts, I got four pairs of pants and Maddy got two sweatshirts all from JC Penny on sale.

Ok, it gets me how inflated the cost of this stuff is originally though. I mean, we spent some money on the clothes and at the bottom of the receipt it tells you how much you 'saved' today. Well, we saved more than we spent, supposedly. And why is it saving if I'm not putting it in the bank? It's not. It's just spending less than I would have had I not bought on sale. So I'm really not SAVING anything, I'm just spending less.

Matt was a sweetheart and surprised me with two gift certificates to two of my favorite stores. I used part of one last night and didn't know I had the other until I got home because he hid it in my bag! Maddy and I will do a little shopping trip later this week during the day between her naps.

Matt's good friend Andy called us at the mall. Turns out he's in town with his family for the Air Force Memorial Dedication. So, last night him and his wife Debbie came over and hung out for a bit. Matt went out to dinner with them since they hadn't had anything to eat yet and then they all came back here and we had a fire in the chimnea and opened a couple bottles of wine. Andy was one of Matt's groomsmen at our wedding 5 years ago.

Men are funny that way. They can go FOREVER not talking to a friend and when they get together again they just pick up right where they left off. Women can do that too, but not as much as men can. I can do that with my guy friends just fine, but not so much with my women friends. Why is that?

Anyway, it was nice having them over last night.

Today Matt has cleaned some of the basement (it really was starting to become unmanageable) and put up my retractable clothesline outside. He was nervous about that since he wanted to make sure he found a stud. And the stud is only 1 1/2 inches wide every 16 inches. So the margine of error is quite large! He did hit one though which he was pleasantly surprised about. So now I can hang out clothes and avoid the dryer. Just in time for winter! Hehee. So while Matt was working on that, Maddy and I took a long walk and went to the park.

Looks like we won't make it to the fall festival today. Oh well! Andy and Debbie may be stopping by again today, but it depends on their schedule and how long things go. I think I may bop outside and try to weed and tear out some of the garden in preparation for winter.

Well, Saturday afternoon and evening from 4:00 on was pretty rough with miss Maddy Pants. She only slept for about an hour for her afternoon nap and that is NOT at all like her. I think it's the teeth she's getting in. She has at least two molars coming in. One has already popped through a bit and the other side will be soon. She won't let me in there to feel around, so I'm not sure if she's getting upper ones or not yet.

She woke up pretty irritated and demanding! HA! It still surprises me how much personality she has now. Nothing could get done fast enough for her. She wanted her bottle-STAT! She wanted food-STAT. She wanted me back in the living room-STAT! Whew! Needless to say, she needs to learn some patience.

Well, it was time to get her mind off her troubles (and demands) so we all went outside for a while. Matt played with her and held her while I pulled flowers out of the garden and cut back our annuals. Evening frost had finally set, so it was time to pull it out. We wound up with our usual gathering of neighbors. I swear, I need to start putting on makeup before I go do the garden! It never fails that we wind up with at least three neighbors stopping to talk! So while I chatted and pulled the garden, Maddy enjoyed the company, Matt, the outdoors and crawling around. It worked out nice and she seemed to enjoy it.

We came back in and ate dinner. She jumped in her exersaucer while we ate. Thank goodness for that exersaucer. I think it was one of the very best $15 purchases I've ever made for her (thanks to Craigslist). It has made many a dinner a lot easier, albeit, noisier! But she is only in it while we eat dinner so she loves it. It's always new for her every night and she enjoys it just long enough for us to eat!

After dinner she started in all over again with the fussies. Just wasn't a happy baby so we loaded up the car and went to BJ's just to get her out of the house. She enjoyed BJs and we got some frozen food, misc. goods that needed replacing. So it was productive all the way around.

We got home and she was DONE, caput, had it. We managed to bring in and put away all the stuff, clean up house a bit and get her upstairs for a bath. She was a couple days overdue! We weren't sure if Andy and Debbie were going to be visiting again that night, so I wanted Matt to pick up our family room some in case we all hung out there. So while I bathed Maddy, Matt picked up.

I did get her down to sleep. I wasn't sure how easy it would be considering how crabby she was. I did need to go back in just once for a little bit and hold her. Then she decided she was tired enough (WELL, YEAH!) to go to sleep on her own. Matt thought she'd be up forever and I was wondering how it would go, too. Fortunately, she took pity on her tired parents and went to sleep!!

Andy and Debbie called and let us know they weren't going to come over. They were tired and had a long day with family for the Airforce Dedication. We completely understood since we were tired too! Matt and I popped in a comedian DVD, opened a bottle of Fetzer Gewerstraminer, the mint cake we bought at BJs and hung out! (Andy and Debbie, you DID miss out on the cake though, it was good!)

Now, here I am at 4:15 and I've been awake for an hour! Argh. I should have known better than to have that cake though! Back to bed soon.

I've been asked to update about my eye. It's doing MUCH better. There is no discoloration anymore. It doesn't feel dry all the time, only when I wake up. I am still on the antibiotics and see the doctor this Friday for the all clear to wear my contacts again. I'll be thrilled when I get out of glasses. They are just so uncomfortable and in the way. Maddy loves to try to touch them and handle them.

Well, off to bed! Hopefully tomorrow Maddy will have better naps. i see a bit of tylanol before them to help with the teeth pain!

So yesterday at BJs I bought a Kenneth Cole Velour Lounging Set. Now, it's not quite J-Loish, in the plush. It's a short plush and doesn't hang around my butt or say Juicy on it. Let me just say here and now, I would NEVER wear one of those, in the house or definitely not outside of it. It's not my thing. But, these are basically pajamas. They are soooo soft and comfortable. They are warm without being too hot, heavy enough without being stiffling. The best part?! They don't drag around my feet! It drives me nuts when my pajama bottoms are too long. The only downfall is that they are pink. I'm am kind of sick of pink. Poor Maddy wears pink all the time because that's the only color baby girl clothes seem to come in! Grandmas and grandpas have done a great job avoiding it and finding unique colors instead of just the pink.

I also bought a 3 pack of fuzzy socks. I love fuzzy socks. So needless to say, this morning while I was drinking my tea and having breakfast (white chocolate chip pancakes with real maple syrup) I was cozy and soft!

I may need to go back and get another pair of these PJs.

Maddy has been fussy again this morning. I'm sure it's the teeth. It just LOOKS painful! Poor baby. We gave her some tylanol before her nap and now I hope she sleeps for a while.

Tea of the day: Adagio Strawberry Black tea (2 cups)

I try really, really hard to feed our family a well-balanced, nutritious diet. It's not always easy to do when dinner time is when Maddy is DONE with me but yet clings to me, too. It's really the witching hour! She wants my attention and at the same time is bored with me. It's too easy to eat junk or order in. Not only is that not healthy, but it's expensive as well.

So, I remedy this by using some short cuts. Here are a few of my tried and true ways to get dinner on the table at a decent hour without having to stand in front of the stove for an hour before hand.

Preslice, precook, preprep I will spend Maddy's nap times prepping for dinner. If I need to slice an onion for dinner I'll do that then and put it in a baggie. I'll prebrown meat and then just reheat it for dinner. I'll get out all the ingrediants I'll need or open up jars just to get ahead a bit. There's no reason you need to wait until dinner time to prep lazagna, for instance. Most of that can be done ahead and then just pop it it the oven.

The crockpot is your friend. There are a TON of great recipe pages online for wonderful, easy and nutricious crockpot recipes. I will normally put it all together the night before and just plug it in the next morning.

Frozen/precut veggies work wonders. I like these over canned since they have less salt and retain more of their nutriants. Not all are created equal though, so buy some to try out. So if your recipe calls for onions and peppers cut up, why not buy a stirfry mix and defrost it? Less cutting and sliciing for you!

Frozen side dish veggies also are great! Often, if we have fish for dinner, I"ll throw one of the frozen veggie with low-fat sauces in the microwave and that is our side dish. I love Green Giants Rice Pilaf with veggies. The only catch is that they do often contain a lot of salt.

Premade sauces spice up meat. I love Trader Joes and Whole Foods for their jar sauces. As I have said, TJ's Mojito Sauce is fabulous on Chicken for fish. Their Mole sauce is great as well. Sauces can be loaded with salt, fat and sugar though. So make sure to read the ingrediant list carefully!

Weekend cooking for the week Often, I'll make a triple batch of a favorite dish and freeze two servings of it. These work great for during the week when there just isn't a whole lot of time. Defrost, reheat and you have your favorite dish! Just tonight I made 24 mini spinach, green and red pepper, onion, turkey bacon quiches for breakfast. I'll freeze the majorty of them and then take them out the night before and put them in the fridge. They reheat well in the microwave and are portable in case Matt is running late in the morning.

Cook once, use twice A ham steak for dinner is part of an omelete for the next day's breakfast or a ham sandwich for lunch!

Well, those are just a few of the little things I do to make dinner time more managable around our house. But when it can't be helped, I pull out the exersaucer and let Maddy jump around. I normally save it for when we're eating, but sometimes--I need to pull out the big guns!

I'm sure most of you already do a lot of these things. If you have any more feathers in your cap, please let me know them! I could always use more great ideas!

Disclaimer, I realize this may sound like I do ALL the cooking. And this isn't true. Matt is very useful and helpful in the kitchen. He is a much better cook than I am, actually. He is much more creative with his cooking and it always turns out great. But, to be timely, and eat at a decent hour, I do try to have dinner done not too long after he gets home from work. But there are certain dishes I don't cook. Matt cooks most of our fish, he does the grilling, he cooks our asparagus (It's heavenly--and mine never EVER turns out as good as his), etc. He knows his stuff! His omeletes are fabulous too. He even flips 'em without a spatchula!

Tea of the day: Adagio Blueberry Black Tea

Why does it seem like household chores are never finished? Yesterday, I did all the laundry and used my new retractable clothes line outside for the first time. It worked out really nice except I ran out of room! HA! I had to hang four shirts inside the house instead of outside. But the queen sheets were on the line and they take up a lot of room. It's nice to have the smell of fresh laundry from the outdoors on the clothes again. Although, the laundry always turns out hard and not very soft when hung outside. But it save electricity from not running the dryer.

But back to what I was saying. It seems like household chores never get done! As soon as I wash one bottle there's a dishwasher to unload. And after I unload the dishwasher, there's some clothes to fold, then some floors to sweep--let's not even TALK about dusting and vacuuming. I don't do those unless I can start seeing cat prints on the tables!

Oh well, it keeps me busy, right?

What I find amusing is that I actually almost *enjoy* going to the grocery store by myself now. I used to HATE grocery shopping. But now I go when Maddy is in bed and I get out of the house by myself as an adult. Oh--the exciting life I lead! When grocery shopping turns into a night out, that's just downright pathetic.

Maddy decided to let loose yesterday and she threw up for the first time in the morning. I gave her a bit of kiwi and it went down wrong and got stuck in her throat a bit. Her gag reflex kicked in and she upchucked her entire bottle. Then later we had an explosive diaper after her nap. Oooh...the fun of bodily fluids! HA!

Maddy had a hard time going to bed last night with Matt while I was out grocery shopping. I guess he had to go up at least a couple of times and he would think he has her asleep but she'd wake up crying again. After I got home and unpacked the groceries with Matt she started in again. I went up and gave her some tylanol for her teeth and she fell asleep in my arms. She didn't wake up again and slept all night!

I did have insomnia last night though, even though I didn't have caffeine, wine, chocolate or anything before bed. I tried to lay there instead of getting up and I think that was worse than me getting out of bed. The alarm went off at 6 today (for me to work out--which I STILL haven't accomplished yet) and I turned it off and rolled back over to fall asleep.

It's rainy and dreary out today. I kind of like it though. It's relaxing. I made oatmeal for breakfast with Trader Joe's spiced pumpkin granola and cinnamon drops (think chocolate chips but cinnamon). It was a nice fall breakfast! I found my Adagio Pumpkin Spice Tea mixed in with some other teas so I will need to have some of that later since I had already made myself some Cinnamon tea.

I have more on tea and coffee, but that will have to wait until tomorrow!

Well, anyway, that's enough of that for this nap period. Time to get back to the chores!

Tea of the day: Adagio Cinnamon Black Tea and Adagio Pumpkin Spice Black tea

There are very few coffee items that will make me pass up on my tea. But, the latest one has JUST hit stores again. I adore the Coffee Mate Holiday Creamers. The Mint Mocha is very good as is the Gingerbread. Although, if you buy the normal Chai Spice creamer it is VERY similar to the Gingerbread. These creamers are about the only coffee flavor that can make me pass up on my tea!

Matt loves these creamers too. He especially loves the Mint Mocha. So I bought two, one for home and one for work and sent one to work with him today. He even had a cup of coffee this morning at home just to have some creamer! Normally he has his first cup of coffee at work while his computer boots (slooooooow).

Although, if I go out to a coffee shop, I will get a cup of decaf or a decaf coffee drink. My mom's group has coffee night once a week and I normally attend about 1/2 of them. So, if I'm at the coffee shop, I will get a coffee drink. I especially love mint mocha or cherry forest.

I also love to make my own 'mocha' at home. I add one Land 'o Lakes gourmet hot chocolate packet to a cup of coffee, with some plain creamer and it's a great mocha! Land 'o Lakes have flavors like Caramel, Mint, Raspberry, French Vanilla, Dark Chocolate-they are DELICIOUS although not good for your waistline. Afterall, it does come from the butter maker. But they make great mocha!

However, all coffee lovers get ready to recoil in horror. At home I normally drink instant coffee. Yes, I do. Instant coffee. You'd think, as much as I love my loose high-end teas I'd drink decent coffee, right? Well, nope. I see nothing wrong with instant. I normally only have one cup of coffee and I just don't see the point of dirtying the coffee pot for just one cup of coffee. If Matt and I are both having coffee, then MAYBE I'll use the coffee pot. Of course, if we have a crowd over, the pot get used. I don't use WONDERFUL grounds either--just simple Maxwell House (or Taster's Choice instant) for me.

But move over tea! The winter creamers are in! I still can't drink coffee very often though because it makes me really hungry so quickly. It gives me too much of a caffeine rush. Caffeinated Tea is more mellow and affects my system more gently. Plus, I can have more than one cup of tea if I want to. More than one cup of coffee sends me bouncing off the walls.

Tea of the Day: Since I had coffee this morning, I will supplement with Adagio Roobios Mango the rest of the day.

Well, you won't believe how hot it is here today! It's 75 degrees and sunny! Tomorrow is supposed to be the same way! This morning I put on jeans and a sweatshirt. I put Maddy in a turtleneck and a cute pair of pants. It was grey and foggy. It was *almost* raining--very gross. But after the fog cleared up it turned into a beautiful day. I changed into a tshirt and put her in a short sleeve onsie.

We went outside and played in the grass today. I was actually sweating it was so warm. I put a hat on Maddy and tied it under her chin. Off it went. I put it on again. Off it went AGAIN. I put it on again. This time she yelled and me and pulled it off. I couldn't help but laugh, sweep her up in my arms and kiss her! It was just too funny and so cute. Needless to say, the hat didn't stay on. Yes, I even tried again after that too.

After playing in the grass I decided to grab her stroller and take her to the park right around the corner. There was a little boy there and his grandma who came over to talk with us. Maddy just loved him and kept waving at both of them. So grandma and I stood around and talked while Maddy swung and the boy played. I'm sure we'll go out for a walk this evening as well.

Tomorrow I need to go to Kmart and get my flu shot. It's $25 but well worth it. I still need to get one for Maddy too, but the pediatrician doesn't have any in right now and our family doctor is out as well! I will keep checking back. After Kmart I think we'll head to the mall. I want to pick up black socks and shoes for Maddy to go with her Ladybug outfit for Halloween. Do you know how hard it is to find black socks for babies? I'll need to check the dress socks in the infant boy section. She can use red too, but those are also hard to find. I also need to take back a blush I bought at Sephora that was a bit bright and MAC is coming out with their Holiday palettes so I want to take a look at them as well. Plus, I want to look around for a gift for a special somebody but I won't name names since she may be reading here!

Hopefully, we'll be out of the mall early enough to get the stroller outside and go for a few walks! We must enjoy this weather while we have it because soon winter will be upon us!

Tomorrow night I have a Sunday School meeting at church. I teach Sunday School this Sunday which is GOOD. I haven't been to church since my birthday over a month ago! YESH. I will probably drag Matt with me and Maddy will most likely stay home with grandma and grandpa. They are coming this weekend! I'm excited to see them, since we haven't in quite a while. Once Maddy drops her morning naps, she'll be more ready to come to church with us. As it is now, her naps always fall when church is supposed to be.

I really enjoy teaching Sunday School though. I miss teaching, really. I don't miss the early morning hours, the paperwork, the politics, the meetings, but I do MISS teaching. I miss my kids and some of my coworkers. So Sunday School is a nice way to keep me in the game. I enjoy it a lot.

Can I tell you how impressed and in awe of that little girl I am? I can't believe how good she was this morning! Here's the story:

A few days ago I started to think about the fact I needed my flu shot. So, I called both doctors and neither had it in. So I called Kmart and they had just closed the clinic nearest my house. The next closest clinic was today about 10-12 miles from our house.

So Maddy got up late this morning, about 9 am, and as soon as she was finished with eating, I grabbed our stuff and ran out the door. The car ride for 10 miles took 40 minutes. Downtown traffic was all kinds of screwed up because they did different lane changes. Now only one lane goes straight at a certain intersection and two turn. Well, the majority of people want to go straight. It was a really stupid change. Anyway, we did finally make it to Kmart and can I just say that Maddy was FABULOUS the entire car ride there?!

We get into Kmart and the line for the flu shot is LONG. And the ONE nurse giving the shot is taking her good sweet time. Oh well, I drove all the way here for this right? So, the line wraps around this really tight area and I had to hold Maddy the whole time cause there was no way I could fit us in there with a cart and I didn't bring in her stroller. We probably had to wait a good half hour to forty-five minutes. She was GREAT the entire time!!!

Now, it probably helps that the majority of people standing around us loved playing with her and cooing over her. The lady behind me is a Philipino Grandma with 12 grandkids and four kids! Her name was Lola and she was wonderful with Maddy. Maddy just loved her. Maddy just loves being around people too so she enjoyed herself. The lady about three people in front of me also had a little boy who was born on the same day Maddy was! Maddy is only a few hours older. We were in the same hosptial at the same time. Small world! But anyway, when I got my shot I put her back in the cart (since there's more room by the front) to have my hands free. I pulled the cart up next to where I was sitting and Lola came over and spotted Maddy for me. It was really sweet of her.

After that, Maddy and I took a quick walk around the store. I bought her three small toys. They were supposed to be for the car ride home, but I think it was because I was just so grateful that she was sooo good! HA! We also bought some baby food and black shoes for Maddy for her halloween outfit. They may be a BIT big, but not too bad.

The car ride home was a lot faster and more uneventful than the car ride there. It still took quite a while, but Maddy never fussed a bit. Not even a little! She sucked her thumb and talked to the cars that were riding by. As soon as I got home, I started a bottle for her and got her ready for a nap. Now she's napping for a bit.

So even though she COMPLETELY missed her morning nap today, she handled it extremely well. I did get my flu shot, so that's done. Matt is getting one from his work and I need to get one for Maddy. But her pediatrician doesn't have any of the vaccine in right now. So I will need to call them back later.

Tea of the day: Adagio Pumpkin Spice Black Tea and then Adagio White Monkey Green Tea

(Originally, I had "Matt and purses" as my title, but Matt read it and said, "That is the most bizzarre topics I've ever read. People are going to think that those Brighton purses aren't yours! Let's change it to 'Matt COMMA and purses' ok?" So there, a new title just for Matt.)

Matt is soooo good to me. He had to work a couple long days at work the last two days. He completely didn't see Maddy last night or this morning because she was in bed when he got home and then she got up after he went to work this morning (and even that was late). I know he's been missing her. He came in and just swept her up into his arms and she was ECSTATIC to see him. She was giggling and couldn't stop waving hi to him. I made him a bit of dinner tonight when he got home and then he kicked me out of the house! I was supposed to have a Sunday School meeting but by the time Matt got home I'm sure it was over. I had just enough time to go out and do something before things closed. But what?

So I went out to the mall. I took back a blush that didn't work for me, bought one of the MAC eye shadow holiday palettes and a liner. I also bought something for grandma from Maddy since her birthday is coming up next week and they are coming up this weekend. I think she'll like it! I bought a picture frame for our wedding picture that says 'Unforgettable' at the bottom of it. Matt and I danced to Unforgettable as our song so I thought it was quite appropriate! I also bought a really cute little notepad holder and pen for my purse along with refills. It's a purple metal container with scrolling on it and the pen is what keeps it closed. They don't have the purple one online, but here's the link to the page. I found the refills online but they are double the price I paid for them at Hallmark. That seems pretty amazing.

I like fun girlie things for my purse. I always have. I keep Advil in a pretty pill box. I love my wallet which matches a purse I have. I keep a faux leapard skin makeup bag in my purse. But I keep weird things too; Silly putty (for those times that you're bored to death in line), a swiss army knife and a mini flashlight. But I don't keep the normal things like Kleenex. Weird, yes.

Speaking of purses, I need to call Brighton's and find out where my purse is! I sent it in for fixing over a month ago and just realized I haven't heard anything back. I will call them tomorrow.

I'm so glad I buy zip top purses now. Maddy hasn't quite figured it out how to unzip them yet and she loves to play with my purse. There are so many child-unfriendly things in my purse that I'm glad she can't get into them--yet. I've always bought zip top purses for the safety factor over snap or magnetic top.

Anyway, I strayed off course. The main reason I started writing this post was to say how good Matt is to me. He's worked some really long hours the last couple of days and when he gets home he grabs the baby and kicks me out. I know he's tired and could use a break too, but instead, he insists I get out of the house and have one myself. He's so sweet to me. Not to mention, it was able to use part of the MAC Gift Certificate he bought for me tonight, too. That was a nice bonus!

Have a good night all!

So let's talk about fat. Fat is really pretty simple. It happens when people eat too much and the wrong kinds of foods and don't move enough. It's simply about calories, output verses imput. It sounds simple, but man, if it isn't hard to keep the fat off (or get it off in my case).

Diligence and discipline are needed to keep moving and eat the right foods. Please note, I didn't say starve yourself, just eat better. Well, I haven't had either diligence or discipline lately.

I tried the South Beach thing and it worked--for a while. Then I went to WI and it just wasn't as easy to eat right all the time. Not that my parents didn't try to help me, cause they did. But, it was just too artificial for me and I got SO SICK of salads. However, it did teach me a lot about Glycemic Index which I still value. I always knew that high fiber/complex carb diet was good because it kept you full longer and benefitted in digestion. The less fast sugar a food has the better it is for you and at keeping cravings at bay. But, I lacked the discipline so I quit that and kind of went back to eating like I had been--which wasn't very good or very bad.

Then, I decided to start working out again. We own an elliptical machine which I have to say I really love. I also have a balance ball, resistance bands, weights, yoga mat and work out videos. So, I was going to start getting up early at 6 and working out. That didn't happen. We'd go to bed late and I wouldn't set my alarm or I'd turn it off when I have insomnia in the middle of the night. There's that diligence part again!

Anyway, this morning my alarm went off and I actually GOT OUT OF BED and worked out. Can I tell you how good that felt? How nice it was to have a bit of time for myself in the morning? To get a shower before everyone else was out of bed? To be READY for my day now without rushing around? It feels GREAT.

Working out has always been a precursor to eating right for me. If I work out, I'm more focused on eating the right foods. So, hopefully, this little trend will continue into next week and beyond. I'd like to drop some weight, fit back into my prebaby clothes and just feel better about my body. I'm not expecting miracles overnight. I'm not expecting to have my same body shape that I had pre-baby. Afterall, I did have a baby!! But, that's not saying I shouldn't be able to fit into my clothes!

And you all are going to help keep me honest. I'm going to start adding my work out of the day at the bottom of my blogs to keep track of what I'm doing. So along with my tea, you'll start seeing my work out too. I'm also going to judge my eating habits from the previous day on a scale of 1-5, bad-good. Ok, well, Maddy just woke up! Gotta run!

Tea of the day: Adagio Pumpkin Spice Black Tea
WO of the day: 20 minutes Elliptical, 3

...ok, ok, I could see before too. But I HAVE been given the OK to put in my contacts four days from now! The doctor checked out my infection and said it is healing up wonderfully and it looks like there won't be any scarring. I'm now tapering down the meds from four times a day to three times, then two, then one. So, once I hit two times a day i've been given the go ahead for contacts again! I CAN'T WAIT!

Maddy was great at the doctor's office. The nurse and doctor just couldn't get enough of her. As a matter of fact, because I was early they were able to get me in early! But I probably got out late for the amount of cooing they did over Maddy. I think they spent more time on her than me! Hehee.... I have to say, I do eat it up though!

Well enough of this. I want to clean house some before Matt's parents get here tomorrow. The floors needs to be swept and vacuumed horridly and I'd like to dust a bit too. Have a good rest of the day!

Well, Matt's parents made it up just fine! They can't believe how big Maddy has gotten. She's doing so many new things now in just over a month since they last saw her. She's so excited to see them and have company in the house!

Right now she's down for a nap, Matt's parents are taking a bit of a nap, so I thought I'd pop on real quick. We'll all go out for lunch today to Big Bowl for Matt's mom's birthday. It is the first time for Maddy going out to eat! I've been avoiding it, actually, finding it's just easier to bring in food. But it's time to give it a shot. I'll bring lots of toys, cherrios and a sippy cup. We have a high chair cover too that we'll use today for the first time.

_______________________

Well, lunch went really well. Maddy was really good. It took us a bit to get her chair cover on the chair since we're not used to using it. The first thing Maddy did was drop her Cherrio container on the floor. That's to be expected, of course. But it came apart on the floor and cherrios were ALL OVER the floor of the restaurant. Matt even asked me if I wanted him to tape it closed, but I said no. I thought, "We aren't going to be there that long, so it won't matter." You see, the Cherrio Container is a twist on, but it only twists about 2 cm and there's nothing there to keep it twisted. So when it fell, it just popped open. Oh well!

Once we got settled, everything was much easier. The waiter was VERY good -- very understanding about the cherrios, sweet to Maddy, accomodating as much as he could be. Lunch was very good too! We got two appetizers, our meals and two desserts. I like Big Bowl a lot, it uses the freshest ingrediants and doesn't overcook them. It was also a great place to take Maddy for the first time because it has a lot of ambient noise and any noise she makes easily blends in with the atmosphere. She was fabulous though!

After we got home, we put Maddy down for a nap and Matt and I left. We went to the outlet mall not too far from us and I bought a new pair of running shoes for work on the elliptical machine. My left arch starts hurting about 10 minutes into my workout and then stops about five minutes later. I'm not sure why, but it does. It didn't happen with my old shoes, but did with my current shoes. So, I thought I may as well and get some different ones. I can't believe how light they are! They are basically mesh sides with good support on the bottom. They feel GREAT. Matt got a new pair too since his current pair are REALLY beat up--torn up on the inside.

I also purchased a couple things at the Cosmetic Company Outlet, too. I'm going to need to go Cold Turkey on makeup! I"ve more than made up for my dry spell on buying lately in the last week! Eak! I got a couple other things but I can't talk about them because they are like the Christmas presents I purchased for relatives.

After the outlet mall, Matt and I went out and got coffee. Then we drove around an area that we always wanted to explore and tried to make sense of the layout. Well, that didn't help! It made it more confusing than anything.

We came home and unloaded, played with Maddy for a bit and now she's down to bed. I'm just waiting to make sure she's actually asleep before I go and hang out with everyone else. I hate having the monitor on and hearing every little sigh and move. But if we're in the family room, we need to have it on if the TV is on. So I'd rather wait with it off in a closer room to make sure she's down, then go downstairs and turn on the monitor just to hear if she starts crying. Speaking of, I think she's down, so it's time to go and visit! Have a good rest of the weekend!

Tea of the day: Adagio Cinnamon Black Tea
WO of the day: None due to company and it's the weekend, eating at a 4!

Even though I really don't know why I'm all that tired. It was a decent day, but long, I guess.

Last night at about 3:30 am Maddy woke up making noises, not crying, just kind of awake. So Matt went in first and held her for a while. She wanted to go to sleep so he laid her down hoping she'd fall asleep on her own. Well, nope, so I went in and tried my hand at it. She snuggled me for a long time wanting to be asleep, but after a bit she sat up and tried to play with my glasses. So I decided to do the routine: I changed her diaper (check, no longer wet), gave her tylanol (check, teeth don't hurt), put on PJ bottoms under her sleep sack and turned up the heat two degrees (check, not cold) and I gave her a bottle (check, not hungry). Yet, she was still up for about an hour after that too. She finally fell back asleep at 5:45. I think she had a touch of mommy's insomnia because she looked tired, but didn't seem to have the ability to fall back asleep.

I was able to get another 2 1/2 hours of sleep. So I got up at 8:30 and got ready for church. I ran out the door at 9:15 since I wanted to get there early to prep for Sunday School. That went fine as did church. I came home and we all ate lunch and Matt's parents left.

We laid Maddy down for her afternoon nap and she would have nothing to do with it, so I went back up to check on her and it turns out she had a dirty diaper so I changed that and gave her a bottle. Yet, she still didn't want to sleep. So she was up from 12:30 until 7:00 tonight. YESH!

Matt worked his butt off tonight and laid insulation above Maddy's room in the attic. It took him 2 1/2 hours and he is soooooo sore and tired. His back is killing him. Maddy's room was one of the coldest in the house though, so this should do the trick!

But, I will tell you, she was pleasant the entire time she was awake both in the middle of the night and this evening. She never got fussy or crabby. She was tired about 6:30 and snuggled me and sucked her thumb until 7, but 6:30 is just too early to go to bed.

One really fun thing today--we put Maddy in her halloween costume!! She was so cute in her Ladybug outfit!! It was a very mild day and the grandparents were here so I thought today would be a good day for pictures. We took her outside to the grass with the pumpkin and took some. I also got some of her with grandma and grandpa, some with Matt and I, and some of Maddy and I. You can view them starting here.

So anyway, I see an early bedtime for Matt and I tonight!

Tea of the day: No tea since we made coffee this morning for Matt's mom. So I had coffee too.
WO of the day: Didn't, since we had company and eating yesterday was about 3. And yes, thanks Claire for keeping me honest!!! :)

Ok, not really published, but printed. Ok, I've been printed in excerpt. Parents Magazine had an article not long ago about the 'baby-haters' out there. You know those people, the ones who look at kids like they are the bain of existance and they shouldn't breathe the same air these people are breathing. No matter how good and cute a kid is, the baby-haters can't stand them since they are walking snotty, poopy, germ factories. Don't get me wrong, everyone can be annoyed by kids at one point or another. A kid throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of the store can still irk me. Or a mom giving in to her every kid's desire even after she's said NO numerous times makes me roll my eyes. But I don't dislike all kids just on sight alone.

So, I had to comment. This is what I wrote:

"I am a mom of an adorable 8 mo. old girl. I completely agree with Ms.
Dolgoff when she says there is a lot of open hostility towards children
today. Children get evil looks all the time over things they can't help.
However, I think there are times where children get evil looks because
parents put them into difficult and avoidable situations. How many times
have you gone out shopping at 10 pm and have seen toddlers crying in
carts? Or gone to five star restaraunt to have an 9 month old bored and
screaming at the table next to you because there is nothing to do and have
been there for too long?

Children are often held up to unreasonable expectations and understandably
break down. Missing a nap, being out to late, being subjected to
child-unfriendly places, being dragged over God's-green-earth all day is
bound to set a child off and get nasty looks. So yes, nasty Child-haters
are intolerable but so are parents who don't let kids be kids and don't give
them what they need."

This is what they actually published:

"I completely agree wtih "The Baby Backlash". There's a lot of open hostility toward children today. However, I do think there are times when kids get those dirty looks because their parents put them in inapproprate situations. How many times have you gone shopping in the evening and seen tired, cranky toddlers? So, yes, "baby haters" are intolerable, but so are parents who don't give kids what they need."

So there you have it--my first letter to the editor that has been published. I think I've only written three in my life, so 1 out of 3 isn't bad!

Tea of the day: Adagio Pumpkin Spice Black Tea
WO of the day: 25 min. Elliptical and yesterday's eating was a big fat 0 since Cheese Fries can kill any good day of eating!

Well, Maddy had a rough night last night. She went to bed about 9 pm after we got home from grocery shopping at Wegmans. She did great at the grocery store and was tired when we put her to bed, but not over tired. She did fuss once or twice and we needed to go up and see her. But, for the most part, she went to bed pretty well. Matt and I were tired as well so we didn't stay up much later. We were in bed by 10:45.

At 12:20 Maddy woke up crying. So Matt went in and held her. He tried laying her down at least three different times but she wanted nothing to do with that. So finally he had to leave her in there and leave. I went in next after I let her cry it out a bit. I held her for a while and then laid her down--same thing. So I asked Matt to make a bottle and I changed her diaper and gave her the bottle. She was passed out in my arms when I laid her down again. So I put her down to sleep and she jumped up and started crying.

So I let her cry it out. I knew there was nothing I could do to settle her so she cried it out and went to sleep on her own. At 4:30 the same thing happened. But neither one of us went in and after about fussing/crying for five minutes she went back to bed.

My alarm went off at 6:45 and I just turned it off and rolled back over. So my workout will need to be during her nap today. I was just too tired to do it this morning. We all woke up about the same time at 7:30.

I have some tedious paperwork to do today, sorting, paying bills, etc. I have some stuff I've been wanting to accomplish for a while so I'm hoping to get at least some of that done today!

Tonight I have Mom's Night Out at a friend’s house. We are ordering pizza and I'm bringing a salad. It should be nice since I haven't been to a MNO in a while or to playgroup for that matter. I don't plan on getting back too late considering what happened last night. But MNO runs pretty late normally. I'm hoping to bed home no later than 10:30.

Well, I just wanted to check in! Hope this finds everyone well! I'll write more later if I get the chance but I highly doubt it!

-------------------

I was able to get my workout in during her first nap! I didn't turn on the monitor. I thought to myself that she could handle 45 minutes in her crib without me listening for her just fine. I was even able to get a LONG hot shower after as well, so that felt really nice.

She's been very snuggly today! I love it, really. She'll come lean on me and suck her thumb while resting her head on my shoulder. Then she'll turn to me, smile through her thumb and crawl away to play for a while. She'll come back about 5 or 6 minutes later and start all over again! She's been a cutie today and very independent!

She's been so independent that I was able to get a couple chores done while she played. That was nice and a bit unusual. I can get chores done but not normally without her pestering me to include her in on everything. Of course, I wonder, how do I include her on paying bills, making phone calls, etc? Ha.

She was also independent enough today to pull away a toy box and open the tv stand. So now she's found the CDS! Of course, I put a different toy box there and I'm hoping that will dissuade her from trying to open the door again. But if I know my Maddy, it won't! Here's a picture of her plotting her next move!

I was able to spend some time cleaning out and organizing my vanity. With all my latest purchases and misc. free samples my vanity was a mess! So now that it's all sorted through and put away, the bedroom is looking much better. We are never in our bedroom so it tends to be a dumping ground for things we need to put away but we never get around to it because by the time we are in the bedroom to go to bed, we are exhausted and trying to be quiet as not to wake Maddy. So the stuff sits there for days and days accumulating. So about once a week, I like to sort it all out and put it away. That is today!

By the way, Wegman's bakery is the bane of every diet's existence. Matt bought a peanut butter pie yesterday night and it is heavenly. I've only had a little slice yesterday and an even smaller slice today, but--I can just imagine how bad this is for me. I can't actually find out because Matt threw out the tag with the nutrition facts on it. I'm probably better off that way! I want to send the rest with him tomorrow to work!

Ok, well, I better get moving. I still want to make my salad, clean up the bedroom some more and sort papers.

Tea of the day: Adagio Blueberry Black Tea
WO of the day: 30 min. Elliptical, Eating yesterday was a 0--pizza and peanut butter pie for dinner!! EAK!

Ok, this is your public service announcment (disclaimer) --this blog entry is a complete vent session. So, if you don't want to hear me complain, stop reading now.

That said, let's get on with the venting! Let's start from the top, shall we?

We had Cox Cable Phone service, High Speed Internet and Direct TV for Television. Verizon Fios came to our area about a year ago or so. Yeah! Matt was thrilled. Fiber Optic Service is really cool, I guess. The Internet speed is really quick; the cable is digital and really nice (not to mention, it would use our digital TV).

So, we started with getting the internet installed. That installation went fine. The installer knew what he was doing and everything got switched over without a blink of the eye.

Our next installation was phone. This is where things started to go funky. We had an install date given from Verizon but they never showed up that day. When we called them at 4 pm they informed us that they weren't planning on coming that day because Cox refused to give up our phone number. They had cancelled the install. Well, that's fine and dandy except it would have been great had they called us to cancel the install too! They never apologized, realized how inconvenient this was or anything of the sort. So, we get another install date and they tell us to call Cox to give up our phone number. Well, if they needed us to do something about Cox, shouldn't they have called us when they knew they had issues so it could get fixed? So, we called Cox, took a deep breath and waited for the next install date.

This install also came and went without them showing up. Once again, we call them at 4 pm and they say that there was an issue with the install department and that once they get that corrected they will be out. ?!?! So we complain that this is the SECOND time they have canceled on us without calling and what seems to be the issue here?? So we get a third install date set for a Tuesday.

The Saturday before that Tuesday our phone dies! Turns out Cox did give up our phone number starting Saturday but because Verizon hadn't installed yet, we didn't have phone service for three days!

Matt calls to complain (on our cell of course) and they apologize for the inconvenience and will credit us $50. We never see the $50 and they say that they never said they'd give it to us in further calls.

OK, against my best judgment we decide to get the TV service. We have it installed and it goes ok. There's something funky about our network and the cable and as soon as Matt gets home he should be able to get it to work. He gets home and says it's not the network it's the hardware they left. So we call the Fios department and this call goes TRAMENDOUSLY well. The guy is helpful, knowledgeable and is sending someone out to fix it the next day. The service tech comes out the next day and fixes the issue and gives us a whole lot of hardware because he felt bad that the last guy left it the way he did. Ok, Verizon just moved up a notch in my book!

But... we don't like the service. I don't like the DVR and the remote so we decide to get rid of it within the 30-day free trial. So we call them, they cancel it and come to pick up the equipment. The schedule tells us that they will be there within a three-hour window to pick up the stuff. Matt says, "I can't be around for three hours waiting for you!" (Maddy and I were in WI.) The guys says, "That's all I can do." So Matt says, "Fine, then you'll find it all on my front porch waiting for you. If I were you, I'd tell your tech to get here ASAP before it disappears. It is no longer my responsibility." The guy says, "I don't think that's a good idea sir." Matt says, "Well, I already told you the better idea, but you didn't listen, so that's all you get!"

He comes home later and it's gone. So, Matt pays the bill in accordance to what the cancellation person tells him to pay with the 30-day free guarantee out of it. We get our next bill and there is a LATE FEE for not paying the right amount from the last bill. Turns out that the billing department prorated our cancellation and charged us for the 15 (or so) days that we had the service instead of the 30-day free trial. ARGH. Now I'm really mad! I mean, first they don't credit us the $50 they say there were going to and now they are charging us for what should be free!

Matt calls and the rep says they've 'never heard of a 30 day free trial and we don't do that sir'. She says her manager will need to call him back today. There still has been NO WORD from them yet. But I tell ya, if they screw with our credit by applying this late charge they will lose our internet and phone in a heartbeat! I am royally ticked off at the way this has turned out.

So buyer beware! One had at Verizon doesn't know what the other hand is doing and YOU are the one who gets screwed over because of it!!!

I had a fabulous time at Mom's Night Out last night. It started at 6:30 and I showed up a few minutes late because of traffic. We all met up at one of the mom's houses from our group. There were quite a few of us, at least 12! We all ordered pizzas and everyone brought something along to share. I brought along a mozzarella and tomato salad, which morphed into an antipasto salad without the meat. When I went to Wegmans I bought a nice mixed olive group from their olive bar and also marinated mozzarella. So when I got home I remembered that I had roasted red bell peppers too, so I cute a few of those up and added it. I also added capers. So the end product was: fresh tomatoes marinated in olive oil, oregano, basil and rosemary, olives, roasted red peppers marinated mozzarella and capers. It was really good!

Other people brought desserts like Wegman's Ultimate Chocolate Cake, brownies, and donuts. I was actually very good with the desserts and only had a small slice of the cake. It was good, but not as good as the Peanut butter pie that Matt bought from Wegmans.

It's always fun to get together with our mom's group though. They are really nice and fun to be around. We wind up laughing so hard we are almost crying. It's amazing where our conversation leads and what kind of stuff we talk about. You wouldn't believe me if I told you! (And the mom's group would probably kill me too, if I openly blogged about it!) I told myself I'd get home at 10:30 but I wound up home at 11:30. Matt and I hung out for about a 1/2 hour watching a Dirty Jobs then off to bed. I was worried about Maddy getting up in the middle of the night. She was due up at about 7 am so I wanted to get to bed!

Well, she had pity on her mother and did NOT wake up in the middle of the night and slept through the night until 8:00 am. Of course, didn't set an alarm for this morning so I wound up having to work out and shower during her nap. I worked out without the monitor on but turned it on when I was stretching and doing my sit-ups and pushups. She was making a few noises so I hustled up the stairs and took a fast shower before I needed to go in and get her.

I need to do a few chores this afternoon before Maddy gets up and Matt gets home. Other than that, it's a pretty uneventful day. I still have yet to get through another magazine and every day a new one comes in the mail. I swear I have a stack of magazines at least a foot high that I haven't read.

Oh, another minor customer service complaint: Bank of America bought out our credit card company and now we can't access our credit card online because Matt is just a 'authorized user' not a 'co-owner'. So we can't see it on our joint Bank of America account. Now I'm on the phone with them (on hold of course listening to ads) waiting to get that straightened out. They will need to send me paperwork to fill out and send back to get this accomplished. It drives me crazy though that for years we've been able to access our CC account online without issue, but now that BOA bought them out we're having issues. Funny, since BOA is our bank and the credit card company they bought is our cc company! You'd think it would be EASIER, not harder. SHESH!

Tea of the day: Adagio Blueberry Black Tea, Adagio Green Tea
WO of the day: 30 min. Elliptical, 3

I love Fall. Autumn is one of my favorite seasons. I like it even more than Spring. I love pulling out my sweaters and wearing warm fuzzy socks. I love slathering on a nice scented lotion and burning incense or candles. Warm baths are so much more enjoyable when it's cold outside. Having warm apple cider and hot chocolate is such a treat!

Autumn and Halloween aren't the same things for me though. Halloween is a part of Autumn and I enjoy it. It's fun to see the little kids come around in their costumes and say trick-or-treat. It's nice to spend the evening outside with the neighbors chit-chatting. I love buying candy for the kids. Of course, Maddy will be too young to go trick-or-treating this year. Halloween will also fall during part of her bedtime too, so one of us will need to sit outside and wait for kids to show up. But Maddy will enjoy hanging out outside during the beginning part of trick-or-treat. Her costume is very warm and add in another layer underneath and a hat and she'll be fine.

But yes, Halloween is a part of Autumn but doesn't define it for me. I love seeing the leaves fall off the trees and taking walks in the park. I love putting on mittens and a hat and feeling the cool against my nose. I love to bake! I make pumpkin bread, cookies, apple crisp, gingerbread cookies, and other breads. It's the time to bake to warm up the house and make it smell good! I made a new pumpkin bread recipe last night and it's really nice. I'm probably going to send a loaf with Matt to work today since it made two loaves and we don't need it around the house here. Or, I may give it to our Chinese neighbors who are always sooo wonderful about giving us food they make. I think I'll split it between them both. I also like to toast pumpkin seeds and dip apples slices in caramel.

Most of all though, I love to be outside in the fall. It's a fabulous season, even if it does get darker earlier! However, it's the dark later in the morning that has been hard for me. My alarm goes off at 6 am so I can get up and work out. Well, I'm having real trouble dragging myself out of bed to work out! The last few days I've worked out during her morning nap instead of at 6 and while it's ok, it's still taking up that first nap. So I feel rushed during my workout and feel like I am not getting things done around the house in a timely manner. So I promise myself the next time my alarm goes off I WILL get up. Well, once again, this morning my alarm went off and I didn't get up either so it's another day of working out during her nap. But at least I'm working out!!!

Tea of the day: Adagio Blueberry Black Tea, Adagio Organic Rubios
WO of the day; 30 minutes elliptical, 3

So I can't really believe it. It looks like our Verizon problem is ACTUALLY fixed. I'm in shock. This has been going on for over two months and it looks like it's actually completely taken care of. Not only did they give us our one month free for the TV with full money back, they actually DID credit us the $50 from the phone fiasco on top of it! So now we only owe them about $35 this month!

Our credit card thing seems to be fixed too. We can see our line on our Bank of America online account now. So that was fixed pretty fast as well--only a day!

And a side issue, I was overcharged at Bath and Body Works online. I had a discount and a coupon code to use but they didn't credit the discount. After a couple of emails it looks like this was worked out too! $5 back to my credit card!

Maddy and I took a long walk yesterday. We meant to take a pretty long walk but not as long as we did. It's supposed to rain the rest of the weekend so I wanted to get out with her and enjoy the sunshine and mild temperatures! We did our walk and wound up at the park like we always do. She swung on the swings for a long time and then we decided to go home. So in the process of getting her back into the stroller I found that she was missing one of her velcro'd bears that hook onto the canopy of her stroller. I remember her tearing off both of them on the walk but never saw one fall. So I decided to backtrack to try to find it. We did find it, half way back through the walk. I was glad though cause she loves taking the bears off during the walk and chewing on them.

I got the most unexpected phone call yesterday! Rosanna, my really good friend and old coworker, called my cell phone from work! Turns out that Carleta, the teacher who replaced me wanted to call to say hi since they hadn't heard from me yet this year. I thought that was TOTALLY sweet of them. Honestly, I'm really impressed with Carleta. She does a fabulous job with the kids. I'm also very pleasantly surprised that she's so interested in keeping me in the loop. I'm REALLY glad she is, cause I really care about those kids. After all, I had them for so many years. But, for a sub to come in and get to know me for less than three weeks and still want to keep in contact with me and let me keep in contact with 'my kids' is a blessing and a very caring act. I mean, she could have just walked in and said, "No, your teacher is gone now and I'm it, so get used to it!" But instead, she looks at our picture page with the kids (before I changed the link and forgot to tell her, sorry Carleta!) and really includes me as part of their life and conversation. I can't tell you how happy that makes me because I really do care about those kids. Anyway! I was able to talk with both of my old students. It was GREAT. I miss them both. And I think I'm going to go and visit them the day before Thanksgiving. It shouldn't be too busy that day with fun activities going on and I hate interrupting class.

We locked poor Joe-Joe in the laundry room two nights ago almost all night. I had gone in for something and knew he came in behind me so I didn't close the door on the way out. But Matt came around behind me and closed the door without knowing Joe was in there. I thought that he got Joe out before he closed the door. No wonder Ruthie was pawing at the door about 10 minutes later. She was trying tell us Joe was in there! About 4 am Matt heard Joe crying. So he went down to let him out. I gave Joe his favorite treat this morning, banana! I felt like he deserved it.

My friend Jenny gave me the ambition to make 'proper tea' this weekend with my good tea service. She is from Northern Ireland and is also a teacher like me. Although, Jenny teaches High School--bless her heart!!! But we were talking tea and it inspired me to pull out my tea service from the china cabinet, give it a good washing, make some scones and prepare good tea! I don't know when I'll drink it while chasing after Maddy, but it will surely be a challenge if anything else!

I don't really know what's up for this weekend though. Matt may or may not go down to his parents for the weekend to help his uncle install their heater. (His uncle is a professional heating/cooling guy.) If he doesn't go this weekend he may go next weekend. I also am thinking about going to a local high school arts and crafts fair. Our mom's group is having a Halloween party on Saturday but I haven't signed up for it yet and I don't still know what they need or what committees to sign up for.

I'm also starting to think about Christmas shopping. I like shopping for gifts, really I do. However, with Maddy around it's been really hard to focus on what people would like to have. Normally I can peg the person to the gift without issue, but it takes some thought process. Honestly, I haven't had much of that lately. I'm thrilled in the day if I get my workout, shower, a few house chores in, Maddy doesn't kill herself and I have dinner on the table in a timely fashion! So, I think I'll need to sit down and make a list of people we want to buy for and gifts for them. I have a few ideas here and there, but not a whole lot.

I would like to span the Christmas gift buying out over a couple months though so it affects our budget less. But it depends if I can think of what to buy! Now, the next question is, what am I going to buy Matt?!? And really, Maddy doesn't need a darn thing. So I wonder what I'll buy her too? What will I buy her for her birthday too?

Oh, oh! My purse is in! Brighton's has my purse in! It took 'em two months to do it, but it's in! I'm excited since I miss that purse a ton. I will go this weekend to pick it up or maybe tomorrow if Maddy and I get bored around the house. I can't complain about free repair work though.

Matt totally sabotaged my workout this morning! My alarm went off at 6 and I was actually awake enough to get up. But Mr. Matt said to me, "Why don't you lay down to think about if you want to get up right now." I told him, "Yes, I'm actually awake enough to get up!" He said to me, "Why don't you snuggle with me until you make a different choice..." HAHAhaha... Well, I can't pass up a snuggle offer so I went back to sleep! I think he only does it to get back at the two talking heads that play on the radio when my alarm goes off! So it was another day of working out during Maddy's nap!

OH! But about Maddy sleeping--she slept all night last night and didn't go down with a fuss! It was awesome!

Well, that's it for now! Hope this finds you well!

Tea of the day: None, I had coffee with splenda and Mint Mocha creamer
WO of the day: 30 minutes Elliptical, 4 yesterday!

Matt here. It's amazing the way a woman's mind experiences the world. While reality's busy happening around them, their brains are crafting experiences that just didn't happen! President Ammedeini-whats-his-name of Iran says the holocaust didn't happen. Its an accepted, horrible fact that it did; I don't make light of that. But, if he were a woman, he'd admit it happened, but claim that all parties involved wore fluffy bunny costumes!

Here I stand, friends and family, accused of sabotaging Bec's workout. Now allow me to make my case.

At 11:00 last night, when we finally crawled up to bed from an evening of watching Tivo'd "Dirty Jobs", Bec sets her alarm. Now, a word about her alarm... Fortunately, its not one of those *BRACK, BRACK BRACK* alarms. I survived that alarm for 5 years at 5:30 promptly every weekday morning, with nary a complaint. Well at least none that I voiced. Well at least not voiced loudly. Okay, so maybe I have something against alarm clocks, sue me. Anyways, the new, non-brak alarm was purchased not for my benefit, but for Maddys. She sets the alarm last night, for 6:00 AM this morning. My protest at this point is something like, "I don't mind you setting an alarm if you're gonna get up, but if you subject me to those [insert plural nasty term here] on your radio at 6:00 just to roll over back to sleep, I might lose my mind!"

Fast forward through seven hours of decent sleep, to be awakened by the idiotic banter of my two favorite people to hate on her radio alarm. She turns it off and slowly, sleepily heaves herself up in order to change for her workout. What do I say here? What, you ask, is the heinous crime I committed? Uttering, half-asleep, "are you getting up? Why don't you lay down, so you can make your decision on a level head."

There, I admitted it, I shot the sheriff.

No waterboarding, no CIA-approved coersion methods, none of the "creative" techniques I've learned from absorbing hours of Jack Bauer doing his thing on "24". She lays down, and I know I've sealed the deal. One warm and snuggled Becky, coming right up!

Let's start talking about workouts first. I have to say that I really do love my elliptical machine. It was one of the best fitness purchases I think I could have ever bought. It doesn't take up much room, is low-impact on my joints and is a great cardio workout. I love it as well cause it really works my legs, butt and thighs. They've always been my trouble spots. It's not overly loud so I can work out while Maddy is sleeping.

I normally do thirty minutes of elliptical. I don't stretch first because I start out slow to warm up. After I do the elliptical for thirty minutes I spend about 10 minutes stretching out my legs. Then I do some push-ups and I use the balance ball to do 60 crunches. I love the balance ball to do crunches because it really works your abs without letting the muscles go. But it's GREAT on your back too so you don't pull it. I also use the ball for other muscle toning and stretching exercises too.

I also like to do Pilates and Yoga. I'm not really good at either one of them, but I like them. However, I'm not really doing those right now cause I want to drop some weight and elliptical is a better way. If I start getting up at 6 to work out (shakes finger at Matt!), it will give me another nap cycle to do Pilates or Yoga. Once I really get moving to my workout routine I will be able to switch it up and do different things each day if I don't want to do Elliptical. But right now that's working for me! I also have a couple free weights that are just really light. I like using those for my arms, but haven't actually incorporated them back into my routine yet.

I normally work out five days a week during the work week but take off on the weekends.

Now let's talk about women. Why can women be so personally bitchy and catty? I've had a few friends go through instances of hearing women cackle about each other. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think anyone should be 'happy sweetness' all the time. There are times where I complain about instances or the way people do things. There are times where peoples' actions drive me crazy and I vent about them to my friends. (This being one of those times.) We need to be real people with real emotions that we can vent. If we're happy ALL the time, we'd be really boring. If we are always politically correct, there are very little opinions left in this world.

However, I think it's really nasty when a group of women get together and talk about other women they know behind their backs. Because, number one, if they are saying these mean things about other women what do they say about ME behind MY back? Secondly, why do women feel good about being nasty to someone else? I guess it's probably the common bond that occurs from being mean together. But aren't there other bonds that can be formed that are more positive?

Third, nothing drives me more crazy than when people 'pretend' to be friends and then turn around and back-bite about them. I don't want to hear someone say, "Oh, but I am their friend!!" Friends DON'T say one thing in-front of the person and then turn around and talk about them behind their backs. That is NOT a friend. That person is a two-faced liar. Also, why is it that some women say, "Well, we women need to stick together and support each other," but in the next breath they are catty and demeaning. How hypocritcal. That doesn't lift women up--not the woman they are talking about or the women who are doing the talking.

I'm not saying, "Oh, let's all be friends." There are some people who rub you the wrong way or are like oil and water. But I'm saying, if you are going to be someone's friend, then mean it. If you're just civil to them, that's fine too; but then be civil to them in front of them and when you're not in their presence.

Men don't seem to have this issue. If they do have this issue, it's more the alpha male thing where they do it publicly in front of one another. This is more tolerable in my opinion, since everyone has a chance to defend themselves or at least one-up each other.

Anyway, this world is waaaay too small to say things behind someone's back. It will come back around to bite the negative person in the butt. Even if it doesn't, has that even remotely made this world a nicer place to be? We have enough junk going on every day that we read about in the news and happening in our own communities that are full of negative things. When people get together with friends it should be a happy and uplifting time, not a negative gab fest.

I guess, in the end it really does come down to, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

I have two pieces of advice before I leave off on this topic. If you have a friend who's always backstabbing others you may think it's 'funny' or a nice way to 'get the dirt' but I will guarentee you that they are talking about you when you aren't around. So you may want to rethink that friendship or at least try to change its direction. Second, if you are the one who's doing the backstabbing maybe you should try to figure out why it feels fun to cut down on other people. Maybe you should try to figure out what it will do to your reputation as well. Because, in the end, that's all you have--is your reputation and your good name. Let's hope it's still good when you finish!

On a very positive note! Maddy slept through the night last night again! No fussing or complaining.

Tea of the day: Amhad Strawberry Black Tea in our tea service!
WO of the day: None, since it's a weekend. I'd say a good 4 yesterday!

I meant to mention that I DID wind up pulling out my good Tea Set to have tea yesterday! It was really nice to use it, but a pain in the rear to prewash (a bit dusty) and then wash when I was finished. But it was fun to use. Here's a picture of the teapot, creamer and sugar. Here's a picture of the tea cups and coffee mugs. Matt had tea too. He pulled out his throat a couple day ago while stiffling a sneeze and turning his head at the same time. Since then, he's forgotten to let out his sneezes and has pulled it over again! So his voice is all croaky. It sounds like he has a bad cold, but doesn't.

Well, we missed both Halloween parties yesterday! We had one in our neighborhood and one for my mom's group. Maddy was due up for her afternoon nap right around the time they were both starting. However, she would go to bed, but not fall asleep. So we wound up getting her up for a bit and then laying her back down again. It still took her a while to go to sleep even then! But, she MUST have that afternoon nap otherwise she is a very crabby-Maddy at night without it!!! I've always maintained that I will not mess around with her nap schedule just to attend fun events. They are too important. I understand if we need to go to the doctor, get a flu shot, have an appointment, etc. But other than those, her naps come first!

Speaking of sleep, I bought this new medication (really an herbal supplement) called Midnight. I can take it at any hour of the night to help fall back asleep without leaving me hung over the next morning! It's not addictive and doesn't give me weird dreams the way Simply Sleep or Tylanon PM do. Plus, I've woken up in the middle of the night after taking it and I don't feel drugged up either. It's pretty awesome stuff!

Yesterday I was able to hit the mall to pick up my purse. They put a whole new strap on it even though it was just the end clasp at the end of the strap that kept coming undone. It looks really nice. Brighton's really does stand behind their product and they do good work. I really highly recommend them. Plus, their purses wear really well to. The leather is high quality and doesn't mar easily at all. My purse (besides the strap coming off now and again) looked brand new before I took it in for repairs and I'd used it virtually every day for over a year. Now it looks and acts just like new! I'm not overly careful with my purses either even though I should be. I set it on the ground, the floor of the car. It gets bumped around and thrown around. But it really has stood up to it all! I stopped in at Aveda and picked up my free trial size shampoo/conditioner set from a flyer I received in the mail. I also bought the Hand Relief Lotion that is just HEAVENLY. That was quite a splurge!

I did some grocery shopping too and went a bit crazy on the coffee creamers! I bought two more Coffee Mate Mint Mochas (one for Matt's work and one for home), a International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer and Mint Chocolate Creamer. However, Matt likes the Coffee Mate Mint better than the International Delight Mint so I guess it's worth the extra $1 more! The Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer is delicious in a cup of cinnamon tea with just a touch of splenda. Matt's mom bought us Almond Toffee creamer while she was here and it is also really good in coffee and plain black tea.

Maddy slept all night again last night! She didn't have any issues going to sleep either. However, I did hear her talk a couple times during the night. I don't know what was up with that. She cut her ring finger this morning on the plastic zip tie ends that hold up the plastic railing guard. She must have ran her hand on it JUST right to get it to do that. She started crying and I thought, "But wait, I didn't hear a thunk!" She also bit her tongue for the first time a couple days ago. Oh, she HATED that. She started shaking she was so mad and hurt.

I really am loving Daylight Savings time. I am hoping it will make it easier for me to get up at 6 to work out. I like waking up in the light anyway. Of course, that will mean no more evening walks with Daddy because by the time he gets home it will be dark out and getting colder too. Too bad, cause we love our evening walks. Now our evening walks are going to be at about 4:00!

Other than that, today is a stay home and do some chores and relax day. I baked banana walnut chocolate chip bread this morning. I have some mulled apple cider going in the crockpot now. I have a couple chores to do, but overall, not that many.

I forgot to say that I'm back in glasses again. My right eye was red right next to my iris yesterday night. Just very slightly, but I thought it would be prudent for me to wear my glasses anyway today. *sigh*

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Tea of the day: Adagio Cinnamon Black Tea with splenda and Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer
WO of the day: None, I ate at about a 3 yesterday (too much smoked gouda and wheat thins last night!)

So, Matt leans over to me at 6:30 and says, "Honey, honey, it's 6:30. Are you going to work out?" I say, "Well, now it's too late to get started, I'll have to do it during her nap." So I roll over and turn off my alarm clock without looking at. Although, I wondered why it didn't go off. Fast foward to 8:00. Matt wakes up and says, "It's 8:00, we should get up." Then he says, "Oh wait, did you set back my clock yesterday???" NO! NO! I didn't set back his clock. I didn't get the chance and only set mine while I was turning on my alarm. So it was really 7:00 and it was only 5:30 when he woke me up to work out!

Fortunately, I do already have a load of laundry going so it should make my work out easier at her nap time. Sigh...

It was such a beautiful day yesterday! Matt, Maddy and I all went for a walk. We walked through the back wooded area behind our house. We have great walking paths and a little stream. The leaves are turning colors and starting to fall. It's fun to hear them crunch under our feet and the wheels of the stroller. Maddy really enjoyed her walk although she wanted to get her hat off. I wouldn't let her though, because it was just too windy out. She dropped a bear again, but we did find it within thirty feet of dropping it.

The bridge and pavement have been fixed in the wooded area. We have three bridges behind our division and one of them was just totally torn off at the base during a really big bad storm we had. It was mid-June, Matt and I were driving home from NYC from Matt and Holly's wedding. We made it home, but arrived very late. It was HORRIBLE rain and caused a lot of deaths in the area. The stream behind our house turned into raging rapids. It came up over the path and picked up a down tree which then smashed into the bridge and took it off its foundaton! Here's a couple pictures of it.

We saw deer again as well. We think it was the same doe and her two fawns. They were about 7 feet from us when they ran away and we saw them. It's always fun to see them as long as they bolt the other direction!!! They are so pretty though. But if you take your eyes off them for even a second you lose them in the brush again.

So Maddy did have a hard time going to sleep last night. I don't know what it was. But she was asleep but then woke up about 10 minutes later complaining (not crying). We let her complain for a good 20 minutes before we went in.

So let's see, what are the latest Maddy-isms that I've noticed that are new??

-Biting. Since she is still teething she's been biting everying and anything. It's not malicious, but she's bit me and Matt both. She'll try to get Joe's tail in her mouth but I won't let her. She even bites her own shirt sleeve. She WON'T bite teething rings though!

-Cruising more and more. Maddy is now tranfering from one piece of furniture to another. So she'll stand at the very edge of a chair, lean as far as she can and grab hold of the TV stand and walk her way over there. This is obviously a very scary time for me! I especially dislike the TV stand since it's very pointy! Other than that, I let her fall for the most part.

-Trying to walk. She'll also turn around while leaning on the couch and just try to walk away from it. Of course, she falls almost instantly, but she's trying.

-Throwing herself backwards and rolling on the ground. Yes, she's back up to this old trick again! She'll sit on the ground and then just THROW herself backwards to rollie-pollie on the ground. She has no idea what's behind her, but she doesn't care. I do, of course. There have been many a time where she'll smack her head on a toy and start crying!

-Playing catch. Maddy is starting to throw balls now and loves to throw back and forth. She gets mad if it doesn't go far enough though!

-Throwing items over her shoulder. Yes, she is throwing toys she's done with right over her shoulder now. It's really funny to see her think, "Well, I'm done with that now! Toss!" She loves to sit in front of her book basket and pull out all her books to throw over her shoulder too. Here's a video of her throwing over her shoulder.

-Obsession with the TV! My goodness has she been loving the TV lately. She climbs into her toy baskets to grab hold of the TV stand. She shoves the baskets out of the way to get into the cabinet doors where we have our CDs. She loves to press the Tivo buttons and the DVD player buttons. She doesn't quite have the strength to open the TV magnetic door yet, thank goodness! Here's a picture of her getting into the cabinet door!

-Eating lots of new solid food, larger quantities of baby food and mixed formula with milk. Within a month, I'm hoping Maddy will be eating mainly solids with some baby food mixed in. She will be off formula within a month and I'm hoping off the bottle soon there after. She is tolerating formula mixed with whole milk pretty well. She likes to eat solid food, but would still rather play with it than put it in her mouth on her own but she does make it now and then to her mouth!

-She loves to sit down with a *THUD!* She just goes from standing to sitting on her bottom in no time flat. I can just imagine how loud it is in the basement when she sits down. Thank goodness for the padding in her diaper!

-Sharing. Often times Maddy will come up to me with a toy and hand it to me. Then she giggles and takes it back. She'll often hand me the same toy four times in a row.

-Giggling when she toots. When Maddy passes gas she looks at me to see if I noticed and then will start giggling if I make a face at her. It's REALLY cute.

-She pounds on the wall her crib is on if she's not getting attention. If she wakes up for a nap and decides that it's time to get up, she'll stand up and pound on the inside wall. This wall runs the length of our house and you can hear it ANYWHERE in the house. So she did it last night when she should have been going to sleep. It was just too funny and I couldn't help but laugh. "BAM! BAM! BAM! bwawamamadada!!! BAM! BAM! BAM! dadad mamama waawahah." Gosh she's a cutie pie.

I think that's it for right now! I can't think of many more but I know I will once I post this!

Tea of the day: Adagio Mango Black Tea (last Adagio black tea I have)
WO of the day: 30 minutes elliptical, 3

Yeesh, yesterday was a really long day! I don't know what it was, but my mind was just racing with things I wanted to get done in the house besides the normal stuff. I did all the wash and put it all away. I fit in my work out and quick shower. I unloaded the dishwasher, cleared out the trash cans (even the one we never empty in the laundry room), vacuumed, and got out our winter gear (hats, gloves and scarves). Then, of course, I decided they needed a washing as well. I didn't bring them in off the clothes line until 7:30 tonight!

I also chose as well to go through Maddy's toys and put away ones she no longer plays with and reorganize what she DOES play with. Of course, as I packed stuff away she'd come up behind me and take it out.

Fortunately, she took a decent morning nap that allowed me to get the load hung out, my work out in and my shower in, too. I can't say as much for her afternoon nap.

Today should be a little less busy. I was able to get up at 6 for my work out and shower. The work out was still pretty tired and my muscles weren't awake yet. But it was nice to just get up and do it. It's really nice to be showered and basically ready for my day too. I still want to clean bathrooms and do some floor work today since I didn't get that done yesterday.

Matt had to work late last night because he had his six month cleaning at the dentist in the mid-afternoon. I knew he'd have to work late, so that's not an issue. I think he could hear how tired I was in my voice when he called me earlier because he even brought home some gourmet chocolates from a shop near his work called Edibles Incredible. That was totally unexpected and very sweet of him! I had one last night and tried a small nibble of a couple more.

So tonight is Halloween! Our candy is ready to go (and no, I haven't even dipped in AT ALL yet). We bought different assortments of candybars and also lemon heads, atomic fire balls and gobstoppers. Man, I loved Gobstoppers in High School! I've actually been very GOOD with the baked items I've made lately. I've sent the majority of it with Matt for lunch, to his work to share and to the neighbors. So I've had maybe one or two pieces of something and then I've sent the rest away! Maddy is going as a ladybug. Although I have some pictures, I will take more tonight. I'll probably parade her up and down the block some, but other than that, it'll be close to her bedtime! Of course, we won't actually go trick-or-treating. She's too little for that. But, man is she cute in that outfit.

Other than that, nothing new here! Happy Halloween! Hope this finds you well!

Tea of the day: Adagio Hojcha Fugue Green Tea, Adagio Mango Black Tea, Homemade Mulled Apple Cider
WO of the day: 30 min. Elliptical, 3 for eating

I opened up my Adagio Hojicha Fugue Green Tea for the first time yesterday morning and was REALLY surprised at how wonderful it was. Opening the container was a completely different experience than I've ever had with green tea before. Normally whole leaf green tea is long stems that are green and dried. When I opened this tin it was brown dried long stems. Also, the initial scent was quite different than green tea. It was very woody and warm scented. It was the first green tea that smelled so much like black tea. After steeping it for a while, I was not surprised to see how dark the Hojicha Fugue was after seeing how brown the stems were. Normal green tea is a light yellowish green. This was almost completely brown with a hint of green. Once again, the smell was much more woody than what I normally expect from my green tea. It tasted wonderful too. Green tea normally tastes quite fresh with a very mild flavor. This was quite flavorful and as close to black tea as green tea has ever been. It was very warm and strong. I was quite impressed!

I can definitely see me buying this again!

Here's the Adagio site for the Hojicha Fugue tea