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Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Microfiber Kitchen Cloth
I've been cleaning and packing today like a madwoman and what should I happen upon in the pantry closet but a brand new Norwex Kitchen Cloth! How did I not know I had it!?! I got so excited I did a whole lot more cleaning in the kitchen than I'd originally planned.
The Kitchen Cloth:
Made of Norwex's outstanding microfiber, the Kitchen Towel is extra absorbent and perfect for a variety of kitchen jobs.
The Kitchen Cloth:
Made of Norwex's outstanding microfiber, the Kitchen Towel is extra absorbent and perfect for a variety of kitchen jobs.
I've been using mine all the time on Skylar's high chair as well as to clean her up after her meals. I'm totally stoked that now I have a tan one and a green one to start off my collection.
Happy Birthday Chloe!
My oldest niece Chloe Ashlynn turned 6 years old today. She is a sweet 'n' sassy little girl that I love to pieces. She's a great big sister to my little brother's other 2 girls Sammie and Nicki and her other sister Everly. I can't believe it's already been 6 years since I heard the news I was going to be and auntie for the first time. Chloe has always had a very special place in my heart and always will. I look forward to her birthday gathering on Sunday.
I was still living in Chicago when Chloe was born (2007). I didn't get to meet her until she was about 6 weeks old. These are two of our first pictures together:
I was still living in Chicago when Chloe was born (2007). I didn't get to meet her until she was about 6 weeks old. These are two of our first pictures together:
We did have a recurring theme of napping together every time that I went home for a visit or when she'd visit in Chi:
Since I've come back home, I've become an auntie again to 3 more little girls and a little boy AND I've become a mom. Chloe has gotten so smart and so big. A really great little girl. Here's to another year!
Brief Check in
Another day off finally, and I've got all sorts of plans without ever leaving the apartment. It's way too nasty cold to go out anyways, especially with Skylar. I just laid her down for a little morning rest since she was getting a little ornery.
I'm packing like crazy today. I'll probably doing some moving on Sunday but most of the move happens a week from Thursday. As predicted DJ failed to tell his parents about my departure and his mother read something on my facebook. Lame ass privacy settings. I totally saw this coming though and he will be letting them in on the truth of the situation tonight. I should not have to be responsible for telling his family that we're separating. Period.
Anyways, I don't want to let him soil my day of productivity at home with my babers. I'm off to foam wrap and pack my frames!
I'm packing like crazy today. I'll probably doing some moving on Sunday but most of the move happens a week from Thursday. As predicted DJ failed to tell his parents about my departure and his mother read something on my facebook. Lame ass privacy settings. I totally saw this coming though and he will be letting them in on the truth of the situation tonight. I should not have to be responsible for telling his family that we're separating. Period.
Anyways, I don't want to let him soil my day of productivity at home with my babers. I'm off to foam wrap and pack my frames!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Microfiber Window Cloth
Another great product that Norwex has to offer is the Microfiber Window Cloth.
The website's description is pretty inclusive:
The Window Cloth allows you to clean windows, mirrors, jewelry, and shiny surfaces with only water. First, clean the dirty surface with a moist Enviro Cloth and polish with the Window Cloth for a streak-free shine. For lighter cleaning needs, simply spray water on the surface then polish with a dry Window Cloth.
So the window cloth used in conjunction with a damp enviro cloth is a formidable cleaning duo. I was told that with caution, you can even use them on electronics screens (unplug first to avoid any static electricity issues). I like the idea of eliminating the need for window and mirror cleaner all together.
The real test to show the window cloth really works is the butter test. The other night at the Norwex party, Stephanie smeared a stick of butter on the host's glass door. She wiped it down first with a damp enviro cloth and followed with a dry window cloth. The butter was completely gone, no greasy traces at all, with NO CLEANER!
The website's description is pretty inclusive:
The Window Cloth allows you to clean windows, mirrors, jewelry, and shiny surfaces with only water. First, clean the dirty surface with a moist Enviro Cloth and polish with the Window Cloth for a streak-free shine. For lighter cleaning needs, simply spray water on the surface then polish with a dry Window Cloth.
So the window cloth used in conjunction with a damp enviro cloth is a formidable cleaning duo. I was told that with caution, you can even use them on electronics screens (unplug first to avoid any static electricity issues). I like the idea of eliminating the need for window and mirror cleaner all together.
The real test to show the window cloth really works is the butter test. The other night at the Norwex party, Stephanie smeared a stick of butter on the host's glass door. She wiped it down first with a damp enviro cloth and followed with a dry window cloth. The butter was completely gone, no greasy traces at all, with NO CLEANER!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Microfiber Enviro Cloth
One of the most basic products that Norwex offers is the Microfiber Enviro cloth. The website's description of the product is as follows:
This multipurpose microfiber Enviro Cloth cleans washable surfaces. Use it dry for dusting, damp for cleaning walls, tiles, bathtubs, counters, metal surfaces, car interiors, etc. Between laundering simply rinse, wring out and hang to dry. Available in four colors allowing you to color-code for different purposes or rooms.
This doesn't seem particularly exciting so I'll just throw out some things I learned about these handy little cloths tonight:
In order to be classified as a microfiber a fiber has to be 1/6 the width of a hair. The microfiber used in Norwex cloths is guaranteed to be 1/100 the width of a hair. So the fibers are microscopic and incredibly strong. Woven in with the microfiber to create the cloths is silver. Silver acts as a natural anti-microbial within the towel to keep germs, bacteria and other gross contaminants from contaminating anything else the cloth touches.
To use the enviro cloth damp, you simple get it wet and wring it out completely then clean, wipe, dust as usual. It's a great dry dust cloth as well since the microfiber and silver trap dust particles within the cloth instead of kicking it up like other dusters.
If you don't use Norwex laundry detergent (yet), instead of laundering the cloths in detergents with fillers that can gunk up the towel you simply boil the cloth for about 10 minutes. My mom gave me one of her enviro cloths last week after the meeting and I've been absolutely loving how it works but it was starting to smell a little funky, like a regular old dish towel. When I got home tonight I boiled it and it's back to working wonders and the smell is totally gone!
The enviro cloth is available in 4 different colors to you can color code the rooms in your home if desired. But it's not actually necessary! You could clean your kitchen AND bathroom with the same towel and not have to worry about cross contamination! It's hard to believe but the "raw chicken demo" could make anyone a believer. You can completely clean a surface contaminated with raw chicken with just a damp enviro cloth- no soaps, chemicals or cleansers at all! True story.
So, the description is alright, but it doesn't really get down to the nitty gritty facts about the amazing little tool that is the Enviro Cloth.
This multipurpose microfiber Enviro Cloth cleans washable surfaces. Use it dry for dusting, damp for cleaning walls, tiles, bathtubs, counters, metal surfaces, car interiors, etc. Between laundering simply rinse, wring out and hang to dry. Available in four colors allowing you to color-code for different purposes or rooms.
This doesn't seem particularly exciting so I'll just throw out some things I learned about these handy little cloths tonight:
In order to be classified as a microfiber a fiber has to be 1/6 the width of a hair. The microfiber used in Norwex cloths is guaranteed to be 1/100 the width of a hair. So the fibers are microscopic and incredibly strong. Woven in with the microfiber to create the cloths is silver. Silver acts as a natural anti-microbial within the towel to keep germs, bacteria and other gross contaminants from contaminating anything else the cloth touches.
To use the enviro cloth damp, you simple get it wet and wring it out completely then clean, wipe, dust as usual. It's a great dry dust cloth as well since the microfiber and silver trap dust particles within the cloth instead of kicking it up like other dusters.
If you don't use Norwex laundry detergent (yet), instead of laundering the cloths in detergents with fillers that can gunk up the towel you simply boil the cloth for about 10 minutes. My mom gave me one of her enviro cloths last week after the meeting and I've been absolutely loving how it works but it was starting to smell a little funky, like a regular old dish towel. When I got home tonight I boiled it and it's back to working wonders and the smell is totally gone!
The enviro cloth is available in 4 different colors to you can color code the rooms in your home if desired. But it's not actually necessary! You could clean your kitchen AND bathroom with the same towel and not have to worry about cross contamination! It's hard to believe but the "raw chicken demo" could make anyone a believer. You can completely clean a surface contaminated with raw chicken with just a damp enviro cloth- no soaps, chemicals or cleansers at all! True story.
So, the description is alright, but it doesn't really get down to the nitty gritty facts about the amazing little tool that is the Enviro Cloth.
Getting Started
So, I just got home a little bit ago from my first Norwex party. For those unfamiliar, Norwex is a brand of household cleaning supplies sold in homes at parties and also at trade shows. My mom hosted a party that I was unable to go to (because of work) a few weeks ago and really thought I'd be interested, not just in the products but in the mission of the company. Her consultant, Stephanie, told her about a meeting (come to find these only happen twice a year here) for team leaders, consultants and invited guests to learn more about the company and the opportunities for growth. I ended up at this meeting with my mom, who is not just a new avid supporter of the products but is also interested the opportunity for supplemental income and potential career growth (for me). I was pretty convinced that the incentive to join this company is there. I just needed to see the products in action.
Tonight.
So I kinda felt like a creep peeping in on this "couples" party that Stephanie was hosting this evening, but I really needed to see the products in action before deciding to sell them. They are amazing. Seriously. Stephanie says (and so did the speaker at the meeting) that people do decide to become consultants without ever having been to a party. So I'm not a total nut job for wanting to jump right in right?
I don't think so. And here's why:
The Norwex mission is to improve quality of life by radically reducing the use of chemicals in personal care and cleaning.
This mission statement really states what I want to see in my life going forward for myself and my child. I'm pretty obsessive compulsive about cleanliness so I simply cannot ignore an opportunity to equip my home with the proper tools to clean it while still keeping it safe from germs, bacteria, dust, etc. And it's all eco-friendly!!!!! I have been wanting so badly to incorporate more "green" practices into my every day life. This is a perfect way AND I can make money on the side. I do like my full-time job as a framer, but I don't see it supporting me the way I need it to in the long-term so I need to be thinking ahead. The thought of stepping away from a full-time job with benefits to work for a company I know very little about is flabbergasting at the moment. But it's not completely out of the question. For example, Stephanie is a stay at home mom (of 5!). She averages 2-3 parties per week and makes about $20,000 per year from Norwex. Plus she gets tons of incentive gifts and products. If I were to achieve a level of success that I could potentially be a stay at home mom that does parties on nights and weekends, I would definitely utilize the home time artistically. I do still want my artistic practice to be a primary aspect in my life.
I feel like I've sort of had to talk myself into this in a way. There's always going to be a portion of myself with doubts. I think my doubts in this situation are sort of silly and the fact is they're not. It's normal to doubt the unknown. I hate the saying "if it seems to good to be true, then it probably is" because it can be shockingly true. However, I think that my decision to join the Norwex family can't be a reflection of that statement. Some good things are truly good. And nothing good comes without at least a little hard work. I'm pretty sure that if I can get hit the ground running, I can really make something amazing happen for my life.
Whew...
I just read back over that...It may not sound like I'm convinced. But I am. I spoke with Stephanie this evening as the party was wrapping and March 5th is going to be my official signup day. I do have to do $2000 in sales in the first 3 months otherwise I will have to pay for my start-up kit. So, I'm going to do a little homework for myself. I'm going to make a little post about each product so I can start familiarizing myself with them all the items Norwex has to offer. That way I can start to put feelers out to my network of folks to get some parties booked ASAP. I think, no, I will make this happen for myself. It's not a question of if, it's a matter of when.
Tonight.
So I kinda felt like a creep peeping in on this "couples" party that Stephanie was hosting this evening, but I really needed to see the products in action before deciding to sell them. They are amazing. Seriously. Stephanie says (and so did the speaker at the meeting) that people do decide to become consultants without ever having been to a party. So I'm not a total nut job for wanting to jump right in right?
I don't think so. And here's why:
The Norwex mission is to improve quality of life by radically reducing the use of chemicals in personal care and cleaning.
This mission statement really states what I want to see in my life going forward for myself and my child. I'm pretty obsessive compulsive about cleanliness so I simply cannot ignore an opportunity to equip my home with the proper tools to clean it while still keeping it safe from germs, bacteria, dust, etc. And it's all eco-friendly!!!!! I have been wanting so badly to incorporate more "green" practices into my every day life. This is a perfect way AND I can make money on the side. I do like my full-time job as a framer, but I don't see it supporting me the way I need it to in the long-term so I need to be thinking ahead. The thought of stepping away from a full-time job with benefits to work for a company I know very little about is flabbergasting at the moment. But it's not completely out of the question. For example, Stephanie is a stay at home mom (of 5!). She averages 2-3 parties per week and makes about $20,000 per year from Norwex. Plus she gets tons of incentive gifts and products. If I were to achieve a level of success that I could potentially be a stay at home mom that does parties on nights and weekends, I would definitely utilize the home time artistically. I do still want my artistic practice to be a primary aspect in my life.
I feel like I've sort of had to talk myself into this in a way. There's always going to be a portion of myself with doubts. I think my doubts in this situation are sort of silly and the fact is they're not. It's normal to doubt the unknown. I hate the saying "if it seems to good to be true, then it probably is" because it can be shockingly true. However, I think that my decision to join the Norwex family can't be a reflection of that statement. Some good things are truly good. And nothing good comes without at least a little hard work. I'm pretty sure that if I can get hit the ground running, I can really make something amazing happen for my life.
Whew...
I just read back over that...It may not sound like I'm convinced. But I am. I spoke with Stephanie this evening as the party was wrapping and March 5th is going to be my official signup day. I do have to do $2000 in sales in the first 3 months otherwise I will have to pay for my start-up kit. So, I'm going to do a little homework for myself. I'm going to make a little post about each product so I can start familiarizing myself with them all the items Norwex has to offer. That way I can start to put feelers out to my network of folks to get some parties booked ASAP. I think, no, I will make this happen for myself. It's not a question of if, it's a matter of when.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
My Funny Valentine
I try not to get down around Valentine's Day anymore since I've spent so many alone. And since DJ and I are not going to work out, I would not consider him to be my valentine (though last year he did get me a fabulous prenatal massage). But my sweet baby Skylar is now and forever will be my funny valentine.
This morning before breakfast I snapped this picture of her blowing raspberries:
This morning before breakfast I snapped this picture of her blowing raspberries:
My funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable
Unphotographable
Yet you're my favourite work of art
Is your figure less than greek
Is your mouth a little weak
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?
But don't change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little valentine stay
Each day is valentines day
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable
Unphotographable
Yet you're my favourite work of art
Is your figure less than greek
Is your mouth a little weak
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?
But don't change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little valentine stay
Each day is valentines day
The Story of Us
So, I ended up sleeping for about 11 hours last night but I've finally shaken the nausea from yesterday morning (that lingered ALL DAY). Good deal. Though I had planned on blogging a bit last night, I went to bed shortly after Sky... I have yet to hear her this morning so in honor of the holiday I've decided to share a little about what happened with "Mr. Nice" as I referred to him in pre-baby posts, or DJ as I'll be referring to him going forward:
Well, going back a little before I stopped blogging, I met DJ through some mutual friends the day before my niece Sammie's birthday, June 12, 2011. We quite obviously got pretty hot and heavy quickly considering I found out I was pregnant around August 6th. If you recall, when DJ and I first started dating, he was living an hour away in his home town. He worked as a welder for a large truck manufacturing company. Once we found out I was expecting, he planned on staying put until about a month before I was due and then moving here and finding a place with me. Unfortunately, he got himself fired from that position abruptly around early September. While he could have found a temporary job there, he decided to move here right away instead of waiting.
===>Sky's awake now so the posting will be much slower now, but I'll finish the story eventually<===
So, without discussing it with me (or Justin for that matter), DJ started moving his stuff in with me into my small rented room in Justin's basement. I was kind of irritated at the time, but I let it slide since we were planning on living together eventually anyways. Historically speaking in terms of boyfriends, I have lived with several but only in 4-6 week stints. So after about that much time in close proximity with DJ combined with my fluctuating pregnancy emotions, I started to think we were making a mistake. But I just thought it was because we were living in such small quarters and sharing the rest of the house with 2 other people; I thought we just needed to get out into a place of our own. In order to do that, we needed money. I was hardly making any at my 2 part-time jobs. DJ bounced through 4 jobs in his field before he finally found something he was willing to settle into. That didn't happen until after New Years 2012. Then we started looking for our own apartment. We looked at a bunch of places that weren't happening, others we got turned away from because of poor credit and his history. We finally found this great place that was (relatively) affordable that his dad co-signed for us to get into. It really is a nice place, and I'll miss it after I move out.
At any rate, we signed a 1 year lease on March 1st. I was due March 30th, so we were closing in on our big arrival. Our relationship at that time was rocky at best and I don't know why we thought that the baby would make things different for the better. After Skylar was born April 7th, I immediately saw a loving father in DJ. He genuinely loves her to pieces. For the most part he does what is best for her in terms of health and care. As far as our relationship goes, we lost all intimacy after the baby was born. Partially because I had to heal from the trauma of childbirth of course. But even after that, it was pretty clear to me we were growing apart romantically.
Around the end of last summer, I caught DJ up in a conversation about our future. I told him I didn't see one if things didn't change. I was fed up with being expected to all the housework while he feigned being too tired from work or the baby. We worked the same number of hours, did the same amount of parenting and up until shortly after Christmas, I was still nursing...so with his logic, why shouldn't I be "too tired" to keep the house livable and clean too? I was also disappointed in the loss of intimacy. What kind of relationship was that for either of us? Where's the draw? Well he got emotional and told me he didn't want me to leave so we both decided to make more of an effort to make it work.
I guess neither one of us was all that invested in making it work considering it never got better; it just slowly got worse and worse. My grievances with him usually tend to be housekeeping related. He is messy and careless which can be dangerous with an infant. Apparently, he was never taught how to clean up after himself. LAME. I'll admit, I can be an OCD bitch about keeping things the way I think that they should be but some things are just common sense (ie not leaving garbage and choking hazards on the floor or anywhere within the baby's reach).
It's pretty clear to me that we've stayed together thus far purely for the baby. If she weren't in the picture we'd have long since ended the relationship. We've gotten to the point where I sit and 'uh-huh' through his boring stories about the same topic and he either interrupts me or gets up and leaves when I talk about something he's not interested in. We had a massive fight right after Christmas which resulted in my resound decision to move out. We are OBVIOUSLY not right for each other. It just sucks that we're stuck living together until our lease is up at the end of February. I've maintained for quite some time now that he's a great father but a crappy boyfriend. So, we're planning on sharing custody. This is fine with me as long as he can keep the apartment in a safe state of cleanliness for our little girl.
So there's the brief story of us. And it only took 3 hours to finish!
Well, going back a little before I stopped blogging, I met DJ through some mutual friends the day before my niece Sammie's birthday, June 12, 2011. We quite obviously got pretty hot and heavy quickly considering I found out I was pregnant around August 6th. If you recall, when DJ and I first started dating, he was living an hour away in his home town. He worked as a welder for a large truck manufacturing company. Once we found out I was expecting, he planned on staying put until about a month before I was due and then moving here and finding a place with me. Unfortunately, he got himself fired from that position abruptly around early September. While he could have found a temporary job there, he decided to move here right away instead of waiting.
===>Sky's awake now so the posting will be much slower now, but I'll finish the story eventually<===
So, without discussing it with me (or Justin for that matter), DJ started moving his stuff in with me into my small rented room in Justin's basement. I was kind of irritated at the time, but I let it slide since we were planning on living together eventually anyways. Historically speaking in terms of boyfriends, I have lived with several but only in 4-6 week stints. So after about that much time in close proximity with DJ combined with my fluctuating pregnancy emotions, I started to think we were making a mistake. But I just thought it was because we were living in such small quarters and sharing the rest of the house with 2 other people; I thought we just needed to get out into a place of our own. In order to do that, we needed money. I was hardly making any at my 2 part-time jobs. DJ bounced through 4 jobs in his field before he finally found something he was willing to settle into. That didn't happen until after New Years 2012. Then we started looking for our own apartment. We looked at a bunch of places that weren't happening, others we got turned away from because of poor credit and his history. We finally found this great place that was (relatively) affordable that his dad co-signed for us to get into. It really is a nice place, and I'll miss it after I move out.
 |
| Easter 2012 |
Around the end of last summer, I caught DJ up in a conversation about our future. I told him I didn't see one if things didn't change. I was fed up with being expected to all the housework while he feigned being too tired from work or the baby. We worked the same number of hours, did the same amount of parenting and up until shortly after Christmas, I was still nursing...so with his logic, why shouldn't I be "too tired" to keep the house livable and clean too? I was also disappointed in the loss of intimacy. What kind of relationship was that for either of us? Where's the draw? Well he got emotional and told me he didn't want me to leave so we both decided to make more of an effort to make it work.
 |
| Thanksgiving 2012 |
It's pretty clear to me that we've stayed together thus far purely for the baby. If she weren't in the picture we'd have long since ended the relationship. We've gotten to the point where I sit and 'uh-huh' through his boring stories about the same topic and he either interrupts me or gets up and leaves when I talk about something he's not interested in. We had a massive fight right after Christmas which resulted in my resound decision to move out. We are OBVIOUSLY not right for each other. It just sucks that we're stuck living together until our lease is up at the end of February. I've maintained for quite some time now that he's a great father but a crappy boyfriend. So, we're planning on sharing custody. This is fine with me as long as he can keep the apartment in a safe state of cleanliness for our little girl.
So there's the brief story of us. And it only took 3 hours to finish!
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Mardi Gras my foot!
I suggested we order a pizza last night for Fat Tuesday and of course DJ had to choose the worst toppings for us. Before I could pull Sky out of her crib this morning, I had a pregnancy flashback when I gagged on my toothbrush and proceeded to ralph up last night's gross dinner. I don't think I'll be ordering Pizza Hut again for A LONG TIME!
I'm just getting ready for the last day in my 6 day stretch...I've got the next 2 days off to hang with my baby love so 5:30 can't come quickly enough!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Blue Sky's smiling at me!
I just finished some template changes here on ma blog...thanks blogger for making it easier than I remember to make it work! I was realizing the other night as I read back over past posts how difficult it was to read my blog with my drawing in the background. I was not willing to lose it as my blog wallpaper but now it should be much easier on the eyes.
Anywhooo, I suppose I should get back to the updating since I've been off the blogger grid for so long...k, so I hate to say I'm one of those moms, but I'm definitely one of those moms who just can't stop talking about her kid. She's the best, for serious...but before talking about how awesome she is, I'll give y'all a recap of her life in utero...
 |
| First Pic Inside |
I didn't really have much for maternity clothing since I pretty much just gained baby weight; I wore a lot of long tops with leggings, and jeans 3 sizes bigger than my usual size for work at JJs (even did delivery driving up till about 7 1/2 months!). If I'd had a full-time job at the time, I would have worked full-time all the way through. However, I did work my 2 part-timers up until the day I went into labor...and she was born 8 days late! I only encountered swollen feet once or twice after some pretty long work days. My biggest complaint from my whole pregnancy was the nightly heartburn...I propped my pillows waaaay up, had a body pillow behind me and a throw pillow between my knees every single night at yet still most nights I had to take more Tums when I'd get up to pee.
My favorite part of my pregnancy was feeling her move. The first time was pretty magical...it felt like popcorn popping in my belly when I leaned forward one night at around 18 weeks. From then on she was almost constantly on the move. So much so that when I started showing more, people could see her movements even through my shirt from across the room.
Her official due date was March 30, 2012 but I like to say she decided to get a little payback for Grandma Nancy for the hell I put her through. I was nearly 18 days late, so it's only natural that she should be late too, right? I didn't have even one contraction (not even braxton hicks!) through my entire pregnancy. I started having labor contractions at work at 41 weeks; she finally decided to make her debut (on her own!). My whole labor and delivery story is better suited for another post, another night, so I'll just leave it at, I did it au naturale (with minimal iv pain meds). After nearly 19 hours of labor, Skylar Helen was born at 5:23 on Saturday morning April 7th, the day before Easter. I was told amid all the pushing that she was a red-head...sure enough I've got the most beautiful little ginger girl ever. She tipped the scales at 9 lbs 2 oz, and measured 20 inches long. She wasn't as big as either myself or her dad (who was there with me the whole time; not super helpful in terms of pain management though definitely a necessary support at the time).
 |
| First Pic Outside |
We took her home to our new apartment the following Monday; we had moved March 1st (that's right folks, I was 8 months prego) from Justin's house, where I'd been living when I was last posting. I had already decided to breast feed her, which was incredibly difficult at first. Despite all our issues, I loved our special nursing bond and I wish we could have shared it longer. I'm sure I'll end up posting all about our nursing woes at some point.
Skylar has been the sweetest, most amazing baby; I couldn't have dreamed of having a better child. I took her in for her 10 month checkup last week. The doctor asked me how she sleeps at night; when I told her 'all through the night, every night since she was 6 weeks old' she told me not to tell other moms that! I just laughed...she's just that awesome. Currently she's tipping those scales again at a crazy 24 lbs 5 oz...98th percentile. She's also in the 95th percentile for height at just under 30 inches. Her daily accomplishments never cease to amaze me and I still can't believe how adorable she is. I'll get more into her development in later posts since I'm losing steam and it's nearly bedtime for me. So for now I'll leave you with this, my newest favorite pic of my "lil punkinhead" taken last week...
Monday, February 11, 2013
The Prodigal Blogger Returns
The other night I was thinking: I wonder why the hell I ever stopped blogging.....then I snapped back to reality where I'm a mom now! The last time I posted was waaaaay back when I first found out I was preggers with my sweet baby love Skylar Helen. Um, she's 10 months old now...it's time to get back to it. Obviously my life has changed dramastically (to quote a new fav TV show, see below) and it's gonna take more than just one post to update. However, I've been reading back over some of my previous posts from 2009-2011 and just happened upon this gem from November 19, 2010. I figured I'd just re-answer the questions as a mini recap of my last 20 months...
Here goes:
1. What time did you get up this morning?
- 7 am (work at 9...and I actually had to wake Skylar up right before I took her to daycare; strange since she's usually up before me)
2. How do you like your steak?
- medium to medium rare
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
- Ted, when it first came out I saw it with DJ...it was one of our first times together away from baby Sky and she was almost 3 months at the time
4. What is your favorite TV show?
- it changes frequently but right now it's Raising Hope
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
-I said Florence or Amsterdam last time I did this, which is still true but I've also got a yearning to live closer to my bestie Holly and she's back in the City of Angels with Kelly (her hubby!!! more on that later...)
6. What did you have for breakfast?
- coffee (naughty that I've fallen off the breakfast train...I gotta get back into that)
7. What is your favorite cuisine?
-still true: the all-inclusive and vague, Asian...especially sushi, Mongolian beef, crab rangoon, etc
8. What foods do you dislike?
-broccoli. oh yea and those wafer cookies that come in vanilla, strawberry and chocolate: BARF
9. Favorite Place to Eat?
-I said Zoni Kitchen last time, which would still be true except that they closed down last summer :( So now I would say definitely Buffalo Wild Wings as far as frequency but I LOVE LOVE LOVE me some Granite City or Braccos
10. Favorite dressing?
-balsamic vinaigrette, still
11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
-a blue 1995 Chevy Corsica...I call it Dimples the Chevy Storm due to the hail damaged hood. She's not pretty but she still gets me where I need to go
12. What are your favorite clothes?
-my maternity tank tops...the ruche side seams and extra length make these "wife-beaters" hella comfy
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
-as aforementioned, my Holly is in Cali, so to Cali I would go
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
-full most of the time
15. Where would you want to retire?
-the beach
16. Favorite time of day?
-morning
17. What is your favorite sport to watch?
-I don't like to watch sports. And you can't make me... The Super Bowl was last Sunday and I didn't even watch the commercials.
18-20. totally irrelevant: SKIP!
21. Bird watcher?
-sure, if I see one I like
22. Do you consider yourself attractive?
-most of the time
23. Pets?
-I'm still an avid fish owner only now I'm down to just 1 of my Chicago fish my standard koi, Nathan, who is waaaay too large for his 55 gallon home at a whopping 15 inches long. I also have 1 betta right now named Fletcher I got last fall(I got one named Stanley at the same time but he died after just a few days)
24. Any new and exciting news that you'd like to share?
- I will be moving out of my apartment in less than 3 weeks which will mark the official "callin-it-quits" date for DJ and I...more on that subject to come
25. What did you want to be when you were little?
-an astronaut, a veterinarian, and a cake decorator...simultaneously
26. What is your best childhood memory?
-basking in the dining room patches of sun with my dog Baxter as my pillow and a good book in hand
27. Are you a cat or dog person?
-I'd say dogs, since I'm slightly allergic to cats (though I still like em)
28. Are you married?
-no, and won't be for the foreseeable future
29. Always wear your seat belt?
-yep
30. Been in a car accident?
-a few actually...nothing too serious though and all when I was in high school
31. Any pet peeves?
-Everything about my current living situation EXCEPT my darling Sky
32. Favorite pizza topping?
-I'm a big fan of variety these days...I love concocting my own delicious homemade pies anymore, but when I'm out-n-about I love a good buffalo chicken pizza
33. Favorite Flower?
-irises
34. Favorite ice cream?
-anything with heath bites or chocolate covered peanut butter in it
35. Favorite fast food?
-The BK Lounge...but I love me some Culvers cheese curds
36. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
-I passed on the first try
37. From whom did you get your last email?
-the last time I checked it would have been from google help since my endeavors last night to restart blogging was hindered by the red tape of account fraud protection (I started this blog using an email addy that doesn't exist anymore and couldn't remember my password. Also I already have a google account with my yahoo addy so I couldn't change the primary addy in the old account...with a lil smarts I got it to work, though I'm stuck with 2 google accounts now and no way to link them)
38. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
-either Blick or Utrecht... and I know now I could definitely max out at Michaels
39. Do anything spontaneous lately?
-not especially (which sucks, I should change that!)
40. Like your job?
-definitely...though obviously retail can really suck too. For the record, I am back with Michaels (since about the end of my 1st trimester). I worked there and at Jimmy Johns, both part-time, thru the duration of my pregnancy. After my ridiculously short maternity leave (12 days), I was able to go back to work at Michaels part-time for about a week before being promoted to full-time framer in early May last year. Our department manager Linda finally made the move to Arizona as she'd been talking about for ages, opening up her position for Angela and Angela's position for me. It's nice to finally have a full-time job with benefits (though I waited 6 months for them!)
41. What was your favorite vacation?
-still gonna be my road trip in May 2009 from LA to Chi with my Holly
42. How about who's your favorite actor/actress?
-Johnny Depp/Angelica Huston
43. Last person you went out to dinner with?
-no dinners lately but I had breakfast with my mom and baby on Saturday; oh and lunch with my sister, her kiddo and mine last Thursday
44. What are you listening to right now?
-the burbling water of the fishtank
45. What is your favorite color?
-yellow
46. How many tattoos do you have?
-still 5, but I've got idears wiggling around upstairs that will come to fruition with the onset of some extra cash
47. Coffee drinker?
-an avid one...but I have to limit myself to just a cup or 2 in the morning
48. How many children do you have?
-one, Skylar Helen is my heart.
Here goes:
1. What time did you get up this morning?
- 7 am (work at 9...and I actually had to wake Skylar up right before I took her to daycare; strange since she's usually up before me)
2. How do you like your steak?
- medium to medium rare
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
- Ted, when it first came out I saw it with DJ...it was one of our first times together away from baby Sky and she was almost 3 months at the time
4. What is your favorite TV show?
- it changes frequently but right now it's Raising Hope
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
-I said Florence or Amsterdam last time I did this, which is still true but I've also got a yearning to live closer to my bestie Holly and she's back in the City of Angels with Kelly (her hubby!!! more on that later...)
6. What did you have for breakfast?
- coffee (naughty that I've fallen off the breakfast train...I gotta get back into that)
7. What is your favorite cuisine?
-still true: the all-inclusive and vague, Asian...especially sushi, Mongolian beef, crab rangoon, etc
8. What foods do you dislike?
-broccoli. oh yea and those wafer cookies that come in vanilla, strawberry and chocolate: BARF
9. Favorite Place to Eat?
-I said Zoni Kitchen last time, which would still be true except that they closed down last summer :( So now I would say definitely Buffalo Wild Wings as far as frequency but I LOVE LOVE LOVE me some Granite City or Braccos
10. Favorite dressing?
-balsamic vinaigrette, still
11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
-a blue 1995 Chevy Corsica...I call it Dimples the Chevy Storm due to the hail damaged hood. She's not pretty but she still gets me where I need to go
12. What are your favorite clothes?
-my maternity tank tops...the ruche side seams and extra length make these "wife-beaters" hella comfy
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
-as aforementioned, my Holly is in Cali, so to Cali I would go
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
-full most of the time
15. Where would you want to retire?
-the beach
16. Favorite time of day?
-morning
17. What is your favorite sport to watch?
-I don't like to watch sports. And you can't make me... The Super Bowl was last Sunday and I didn't even watch the commercials.
18-20. totally irrelevant: SKIP!
21. Bird watcher?
-sure, if I see one I like
22. Do you consider yourself attractive?
-most of the time
23. Pets?
-I'm still an avid fish owner only now I'm down to just 1 of my Chicago fish my standard koi, Nathan, who is waaaay too large for his 55 gallon home at a whopping 15 inches long. I also have 1 betta right now named Fletcher I got last fall(I got one named Stanley at the same time but he died after just a few days)
24. Any new and exciting news that you'd like to share?
- I will be moving out of my apartment in less than 3 weeks which will mark the official "callin-it-quits" date for DJ and I...more on that subject to come
25. What did you want to be when you were little?
-an astronaut, a veterinarian, and a cake decorator...simultaneously
26. What is your best childhood memory?
27. Are you a cat or dog person?
-I'd say dogs, since I'm slightly allergic to cats (though I still like em)
28. Are you married?
-no, and won't be for the foreseeable future
29. Always wear your seat belt?
-yep
30. Been in a car accident?
-a few actually...nothing too serious though and all when I was in high school
31. Any pet peeves?
-Everything about my current living situation EXCEPT my darling Sky
32. Favorite pizza topping?
-I'm a big fan of variety these days...I love concocting my own delicious homemade pies anymore, but when I'm out-n-about I love a good buffalo chicken pizza33. Favorite Flower?
-irises
34. Favorite ice cream?
-anything with heath bites or chocolate covered peanut butter in it
35. Favorite fast food?
-The BK Lounge...but I love me some Culvers cheese curds
36. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
-I passed on the first try
37. From whom did you get your last email?
-the last time I checked it would have been from google help since my endeavors last night to restart blogging was hindered by the red tape of account fraud protection (I started this blog using an email addy that doesn't exist anymore and couldn't remember my password. Also I already have a google account with my yahoo addy so I couldn't change the primary addy in the old account...with a lil smarts I got it to work, though I'm stuck with 2 google accounts now and no way to link them)
38. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
-either Blick or Utrecht... and I know now I could definitely max out at Michaels
39. Do anything spontaneous lately?
-not especially (which sucks, I should change that!)
40. Like your job?
-definitely...though obviously retail can really suck too. For the record, I am back with Michaels (since about the end of my 1st trimester). I worked there and at Jimmy Johns, both part-time, thru the duration of my pregnancy. After my ridiculously short maternity leave (12 days), I was able to go back to work at Michaels part-time for about a week before being promoted to full-time framer in early May last year. Our department manager Linda finally made the move to Arizona as she'd been talking about for ages, opening up her position for Angela and Angela's position for me. It's nice to finally have a full-time job with benefits (though I waited 6 months for them!)
41. What was your favorite vacation?
-still gonna be my road trip in May 2009 from LA to Chi with my Holly
42. How about who's your favorite actor/actress?
-Johnny Depp/Angelica Huston
43. Last person you went out to dinner with?
-no dinners lately but I had breakfast with my mom and baby on Saturday; oh and lunch with my sister, her kiddo and mine last Thursday
44. What are you listening to right now?
-the burbling water of the fishtank
45. What is your favorite color?
-yellow
46. How many tattoos do you have?
-still 5, but I've got idears wiggling around upstairs that will come to fruition with the onset of some extra cash
47. Coffee drinker?
-an avid one...but I have to limit myself to just a cup or 2 in the morning
48. How many children do you have?
-one, Skylar Helen is my heart.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
It's about damn time, right?
So I've been thinking about posting for a really long time. Life's been crazy busy and surprising. I know it's been over 2 months since my last post and that's because of a few things. I went back and read that I had updated about my 2 new jobs. Well, I kept all 4 jobs until the end of August. I even ended up working 22 days in a row without even 1 day off. I ended up quitting the lowest paying job (Michaels) despite it being one of the more relevant ones to my field of study. However, I was in a financial pickle after letting the situation at my brother's go on for so long. So now, I work still at the Washington Pavilion from time to time and then part-time at JJs and part-time in direct sales for a local cable company.
I'm still seeing Mr. Nice, much more seriously now. For awhile I was attributing my prolonged fatigue to the fact that I was juggling 4 jobs and a boyfriend. Come to find out (about 6 weeks ago) that I'm pregnant with his oopsy baby. SURPRISE! Now obviously that was pretty unexpected and definitely not planned. However, our relationship is going really well as is the pregnancy. By my calculations, I'm 12 weeks along which was confirmed by my doctor on Thursday at my first ultrasound. The difference between this one and the one I had last year was night and day. I got to see my baby moving around there, active and healthy and normal! I wish my guy could have been there but he still lives an hour away and the scheduling just didn't work. He is making plans to save money and move here whenever it works best. Until then I still get to see him every weekend. Actually I've been at his place this whole weekend. He still does the night shift while I do the day so he's still sleeping now while I'm wide awake. I don't usually have any problem staying asleep late with him but I did take a little nap last night while he was playing his video game. Plus I was getting really hungry so I made some sticky buns. He's gonna have to get up soon if he wants some... :P Side effects of this bun in my oven is the overwhelming urge to eat far more often than I've ever felt before. I've had some nausea and dizzy spells. Morning sickness hasn't affected me as much in the way of barfing all the time as just generally feeling crappy for days on end. This week's had some crazy temperature and weather changes and I've been sick because of it all week. I thought it started out as a sinus thing but now my symptoms are more like the bronchitis that Terri was sporting last week. Or maybe it's just a 'faux sickness' like my friend Jessica said. Whatever it is, I'm hoping it'll be gone very very soon. I've gotta catch up on some work this week. I think I'll at least have some more energy now that I'm almost out of the first trimester. It's been terribly hard not to always give in to the incredible urge to sleep between jobs. That's when I don't get nearly as much done in the day.
I've been wanting my artistic release back, wanting to do something for art's sake (to borrow a phrase). So the title of this post is multipurpose then. I received some unbelievably sad news last Sunday that my dear friend and neighbor from college Will passed away. I wept for the world's loss of a beautiful soul and a talented individual who simply didn't understand his true worth in life. The loss of someone so great makes me feel like time really is short and I have to make the most of what I've got. I have to be able to find a balance between the busy of life and family and maintaining the art that is my true life-blood. I decided to start organizing my collection of items and bits from college. I found a lot of things that reminded me of Will and our group of friends and all the great times we had together. And not just in the college partying friends way; also the way that we were fellow artists working side by side and together in this world to make a mark. I don't want to lose what I've worked for so I've made a command decision to make art a part of every single day. I ended up stopping by my aunt Jen's house on Tuesday this week. She's always been one of my biggest creative inspirations. I stopped by because I saw her outside and because I was RSVPing to a jewelry party invite for Thursday. We talked for almost 2 hours and in that time she managed to inspire me yet again. She showed me a wonderful little scrapbook she'd made completely by hand. It, to me, was much more like an artist book than some scrapbook. It was beautifully crafted with delicate details and features like pockets and inserts. And the basic structure of the book was paper lunch sacks. She is planning on helping me get started on a book of my own. It seemed so perfectly synchronized that I should be organizing the items I want to put into a variety of artist's books the 2 nights prior to my aunt offering to help me get started on them. I always curse myself for not taking that book-making class in college. I should have realized that a lot of my art is better in book format. At any rate, I got some supplies at Michaels the other night when I went in to show some of my old coworkers my ultrasound pictures. I spent more than I should have but I got a couple of nice frames for Aaron and Terri. I had promised birthday presents to them months ago when I was much more broke. I finally got what I'd planned to awhile ago. Now I just need to sew Z's little baby romper to a nice fitted piece of matboard and put it in the 12" x 16" black shadowbox I got for Terri and give Aaron the black shot glass collector case I got for him. I've also been crocheting and knitting a little more here and there. I want to get my baby hat inventory up for this winter. So in the past week, my artistic spirit has been soooooooaring. I hope the baby can feel the arty energy.
Speaking of arty energy, I think I may put something on the tv and crochet, but first...another sticky bun, and maybe a quick cleanup. This man has a serious bachelor pad. I actually really want to post again soon. Maybe it'll be good for the arting to keep posting. And so I shall.
I'm still seeing Mr. Nice, much more seriously now. For awhile I was attributing my prolonged fatigue to the fact that I was juggling 4 jobs and a boyfriend. Come to find out (about 6 weeks ago) that I'm pregnant with his oopsy baby. SURPRISE! Now obviously that was pretty unexpected and definitely not planned. However, our relationship is going really well as is the pregnancy. By my calculations, I'm 12 weeks along which was confirmed by my doctor on Thursday at my first ultrasound. The difference between this one and the one I had last year was night and day. I got to see my baby moving around there, active and healthy and normal! I wish my guy could have been there but he still lives an hour away and the scheduling just didn't work. He is making plans to save money and move here whenever it works best. Until then I still get to see him every weekend. Actually I've been at his place this whole weekend. He still does the night shift while I do the day so he's still sleeping now while I'm wide awake. I don't usually have any problem staying asleep late with him but I did take a little nap last night while he was playing his video game. Plus I was getting really hungry so I made some sticky buns. He's gonna have to get up soon if he wants some... :P Side effects of this bun in my oven is the overwhelming urge to eat far more often than I've ever felt before. I've had some nausea and dizzy spells. Morning sickness hasn't affected me as much in the way of barfing all the time as just generally feeling crappy for days on end. This week's had some crazy temperature and weather changes and I've been sick because of it all week. I thought it started out as a sinus thing but now my symptoms are more like the bronchitis that Terri was sporting last week. Or maybe it's just a 'faux sickness' like my friend Jessica said. Whatever it is, I'm hoping it'll be gone very very soon. I've gotta catch up on some work this week. I think I'll at least have some more energy now that I'm almost out of the first trimester. It's been terribly hard not to always give in to the incredible urge to sleep between jobs. That's when I don't get nearly as much done in the day.
I've been wanting my artistic release back, wanting to do something for art's sake (to borrow a phrase). So the title of this post is multipurpose then. I received some unbelievably sad news last Sunday that my dear friend and neighbor from college Will passed away. I wept for the world's loss of a beautiful soul and a talented individual who simply didn't understand his true worth in life. The loss of someone so great makes me feel like time really is short and I have to make the most of what I've got. I have to be able to find a balance between the busy of life and family and maintaining the art that is my true life-blood. I decided to start organizing my collection of items and bits from college. I found a lot of things that reminded me of Will and our group of friends and all the great times we had together. And not just in the college partying friends way; also the way that we were fellow artists working side by side and together in this world to make a mark. I don't want to lose what I've worked for so I've made a command decision to make art a part of every single day. I ended up stopping by my aunt Jen's house on Tuesday this week. She's always been one of my biggest creative inspirations. I stopped by because I saw her outside and because I was RSVPing to a jewelry party invite for Thursday. We talked for almost 2 hours and in that time she managed to inspire me yet again. She showed me a wonderful little scrapbook she'd made completely by hand. It, to me, was much more like an artist book than some scrapbook. It was beautifully crafted with delicate details and features like pockets and inserts. And the basic structure of the book was paper lunch sacks. She is planning on helping me get started on a book of my own. It seemed so perfectly synchronized that I should be organizing the items I want to put into a variety of artist's books the 2 nights prior to my aunt offering to help me get started on them. I always curse myself for not taking that book-making class in college. I should have realized that a lot of my art is better in book format. At any rate, I got some supplies at Michaels the other night when I went in to show some of my old coworkers my ultrasound pictures. I spent more than I should have but I got a couple of nice frames for Aaron and Terri. I had promised birthday presents to them months ago when I was much more broke. I finally got what I'd planned to awhile ago. Now I just need to sew Z's little baby romper to a nice fitted piece of matboard and put it in the 12" x 16" black shadowbox I got for Terri and give Aaron the black shot glass collector case I got for him. I've also been crocheting and knitting a little more here and there. I want to get my baby hat inventory up for this winter. So in the past week, my artistic spirit has been soooooooaring. I hope the baby can feel the arty energy.
Speaking of arty energy, I think I may put something on the tv and crochet, but first...another sticky bun, and maybe a quick cleanup. This man has a serious bachelor pad. I actually really want to post again soon. Maybe it'll be good for the arting to keep posting. And so I shall.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Quick Update
So I'm done watching Z and I moved out of my brother's place on the 1st and where I'm living now we don't have internet yet. I got 2 more jobs and I've been working a ton. I also have still been seeing Mr. Nice every weekend. I even went to visit him in his hometown for the 4th of July (I met one of his sisters and his parents!!!!). I've been going to the library for web access but I'm seriously hoping to get it going at the new place ASAP. One of my new jobs is at the nearby JJ's...I thought it would suck going back but it's fun and easy and there's plenty of opportunity to move up. The other job I start training at next week since this week I was booked solid. I really don't know when my next day off will be but I'll still be seeing Mr. Nice this weekend. I'll try to update again the next time I'm on the net...but I won't make any promises (seeing as it's been almost a month since my last post). That's all for now.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Another Awesome
Ok, it's pretty much a done deal. I'm smitten like a kitten! Mr. Nice and I have hung out the last 2 nights and I already want to see him again. Unfortunately (but not really since I need money) I started my second class at the pavilion this morning so we weren't able to hang out today too. And I already want to see him again. He's going to a show tonight but I work at Michaels tonight so the odds of me going are pretty slim. He says he's looking for jobs in SooFoo cuz he's tired of living an hour away from his friends and the 'city' and wants to move back. That would make things sooooo much easier and we could spend time during the week getting to know each other. I have to say that so far, he hasn't done or said even one thing that's made me uneasy or unsure about him. I really think that this could definitely go somewhere. I got the words straight from the horse's mouth that Mr. Nice is beyond the 'one-night-stand' phase and that monogamy is a must for him (like it is for me). I can still hardly believe how lucky I was to meet him...the universe sure has a strange sense of time and humor but hey, I'll take it!
Omg, I could stay on here and gush for hours but I've got packing to do. Moving out by the end of the month...another AWESOME for ASHLEY. YES!
Omg, I could stay on here and gush for hours but I've got packing to do. Moving out by the end of the month...another AWESOME for ASHLEY. YES!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Butterflies
I got 'em...there, I said it. Mr. Nice and I are going out tomorrow and I'm really excited. We've only talked once since last weekend but we've texted back and forth throughout the whole week and I know he's looking forward to it too. I had an extremely crappy afternoon with Z and just the thought of tomorrow made me smile. It still does. Though I'm kinda being a nut job a little. By this I mean I've been cleaning and packing and whatnot for the last few nights on the off chance that he comes here tomorrow. I'm less that 2 weeks away from moving so obviously packing is a good idea at this point. However, the vigorous cleaning and packing away of things is because I'm definitely not ready to reveal all my crazy on the first real date. I really like him so I don't wanna scare him away right away. I say this slightly in jest but also seriously. I don't know why I haven't had any decent luck keeping a man in my life so far. Looking back now at 25, my longest relationship ever was only 8 months...and that was a stretch, believe me. That relationship was doomed after 5 months, even 4 maybe. So, my nerves about blowing things with Mr. Nice too soon are understandable. At least I'm not carrying any baggage from my past...I'm sure that should be at least a little bit of a plus for him. I've been single pretty much steady for close to 3 years so I think it's about time something good happened for me. Curse these wretched nerves! haha The cool part is that I'm totally enjoying all the funky feelings that are the resulting feelings from a mutual like interest. I suppose after this ramble I can't really say 'I won't say much' but I will say that I have every intention of keeping the real details to myself. Secrets like that are the best because you're the only one that knows them. I would, however, like to sum up that I have overall been very happy and excited all week all because of Mr. Nice. Preparations for my folks' anniversary luau coming up tomorrow has been a great distraction so far to keep me from metaphorically grasping for tomorrow night desperately. I really am more of a romantic than a cynic so I'll end with the cliche: I just can't wait! :D
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
News-full June
I know it's been a couple weeks since my last few posts...life gets crazy sometimes:
I didn't completely stop doing my food diary. I did, however, stop being so diligent with the calorie counting. I have every intention of returning to the habit a little more resolutely come July. But with all that's going on and will go on by then who knows what will happen? For the record though, the calorie counting does work...I lost 7 lbs during the month of May making my grand total since New Years 18 lbs. Go me! Now I've stayed the same for the past 3 weeks, which is good considering all of the occasions...I do plan on getting back into my exercising and workout plan, which has been on hold because of all the craziness.
First on the list of crazy things: I'm finally moving out of my brother and sister-in-law's basement. I'll be moving in with Matt's cousin Justin. He's 21, just bought his first house. He's got money, but not a clue. So Angela and I have taken it upon ourselves to take charge of the house before I move in to get it in order and make it a little more like a home and a little less like a dumpy bachelor pad. We've spent a fair amount of time over there cleaning and whatnot. We (as in Angela and me) will be picking paint (which Justin's going to buy) and painting the whole place soon. I plan on being totally moved in there by July 1st. Lucky for me he's pretty flexible about when I move in and when I pay rent which will be affordable as soon as I get a better job. I've been looking for awhile now and have had a couple responses.
The main reason I don't already have a new job is because June is the month of my summer classes at the Washington Pavilion. I had my Canvas Creations painting class last week and have my Art Explorers class next week. Last week was insane having my class every afternoon still watching Z on three of the days and working at Michaels on two of the nights. Also, Wednesday was my 25th birthday. Wooty woot! It was Terri's birthday too, and Thursday was Aaron's birthday. We had a family cookout on Tuesday night. Dad made ribs on the grill; Mom made homemade mashed potatoes, her tasty coleslaw salad. We had fruit and chocolate ice cream cake and everyone was there. On my actual b-day Matt and Angela took me out to Bracco's for half-off drinks. We splurged on some "Jamaican-me-crazy"s, nachos and a Bob Marley-tini. We also stopped off at Woody's for another drink. I didn't feel that great during class the next day but I had a great time.
The birthday celebrating continued on into the weekend when Marcy went into labor on Saturday night. Samantha Cadence Seaman, daughter of Jon and Marcella Seaman, was born Sunday at 12:34 in the afternoon; 6 lb 2 oz and 19 in long. I was working at the time and though the new parents were accepting visitors that night, most of the family waited to go up to the hospital until yesterday before lunch. She's beautiful and tiny. I'm so excited to be an auntie again! 1 nephew and now 3 nieces!!!
And now, as if all of this excitement wasn't enough, something else incredible happened to me on Saturday: I met someone. I don't want to jinx it or anything so I'm not going to get into a lot of details (ie his name). I'm gonna play it like Carrie on Sex in the City when she's writing her column; you don't really know Mr. Big's real name is John until the last episode. So I'm going to call this guy Mr. Nice. I will say that I'm really glad that I went out on Saturday night. I had gone painting at Jon and Marcy's in the morning (completely unsuspecting that she'd be popping in less that 24 hours!), and worked the rest of the day at Michaels. Angela called before my shift was over and said that Sara's new beau had a guy friend that I should meet and that they were going out for drinks that night. Lucky for me I had my flip-flops and a different shirt in my car. AND despite being unshowered, with grody failing make-up, my huge work pants and a baggy, rather unflattering top on, I'm fairly certain that Mr. Nice is genuinely into me. I guess it's just my charming personality (haha). I'd say that considering all I knew about him before meeting him was his name and all he knew was my name and that I'm kinda chatty, we hit it off like most people wish their fix-ups between friends would go. I know I said I wouldn't get into much detail so I'll just say that Mr. Nice lives about an hour away from here meaning he'll be mostly available to see on the weekends when he quite frequently comes to SooFoo to hang with friends. This is actually perfect for me the relationship-tard...It means we've got time to get to know each other without being too serious about it right away and that I'll still have time to do all the crap that I already have to do. That's one thing about relationships that I haven't figured out since I haven't had anything even close to one in over 3 years. How do you have time to do everything? I guess that sounds kinda bad: it's not that I don't want to see Mr. Nice until next weekend. However, I've been in a fantastic mood since we met and just the few sweet texts he's sent have been enough to make me all fluttery inside. There's no need to rush the good feelings that come with something new and exciting. I'm really looking forward to seeing him again this weekend...
Though I can't image he'll be down for coming to my parents' (6-months-early) 30th wedding anniversary Tahitian luau which is Saturday night. It would be amazing if he did, but I hardly expect something like that from a guy I just met especially considering I've never actually introduced my folks to anyone I've dated before. I'm pretty confident I'll be seeing him again this weekend, we'll just have to wait and see when. At any rate...GO ME! While for right now, financially, I'm fucked, I at least have a lot of great things in my life to keep me happy through the struggle...I'll try not to wait so long til my next post but I can't guarantee anything. ;)
I didn't completely stop doing my food diary. I did, however, stop being so diligent with the calorie counting. I have every intention of returning to the habit a little more resolutely come July. But with all that's going on and will go on by then who knows what will happen? For the record though, the calorie counting does work...I lost 7 lbs during the month of May making my grand total since New Years 18 lbs. Go me! Now I've stayed the same for the past 3 weeks, which is good considering all of the occasions...I do plan on getting back into my exercising and workout plan, which has been on hold because of all the craziness.
First on the list of crazy things: I'm finally moving out of my brother and sister-in-law's basement. I'll be moving in with Matt's cousin Justin. He's 21, just bought his first house. He's got money, but not a clue. So Angela and I have taken it upon ourselves to take charge of the house before I move in to get it in order and make it a little more like a home and a little less like a dumpy bachelor pad. We've spent a fair amount of time over there cleaning and whatnot. We (as in Angela and me) will be picking paint (which Justin's going to buy) and painting the whole place soon. I plan on being totally moved in there by July 1st. Lucky for me he's pretty flexible about when I move in and when I pay rent which will be affordable as soon as I get a better job. I've been looking for awhile now and have had a couple responses.
The main reason I don't already have a new job is because June is the month of my summer classes at the Washington Pavilion. I had my Canvas Creations painting class last week and have my Art Explorers class next week. Last week was insane having my class every afternoon still watching Z on three of the days and working at Michaels on two of the nights. Also, Wednesday was my 25th birthday. Wooty woot! It was Terri's birthday too, and Thursday was Aaron's birthday. We had a family cookout on Tuesday night. Dad made ribs on the grill; Mom made homemade mashed potatoes, her tasty coleslaw salad. We had fruit and chocolate ice cream cake and everyone was there. On my actual b-day Matt and Angela took me out to Bracco's for half-off drinks. We splurged on some "Jamaican-me-crazy"s, nachos and a Bob Marley-tini. We also stopped off at Woody's for another drink. I didn't feel that great during class the next day but I had a great time.
The birthday celebrating continued on into the weekend when Marcy went into labor on Saturday night. Samantha Cadence Seaman, daughter of Jon and Marcella Seaman, was born Sunday at 12:34 in the afternoon; 6 lb 2 oz and 19 in long. I was working at the time and though the new parents were accepting visitors that night, most of the family waited to go up to the hospital until yesterday before lunch. She's beautiful and tiny. I'm so excited to be an auntie again! 1 nephew and now 3 nieces!!!
And now, as if all of this excitement wasn't enough, something else incredible happened to me on Saturday: I met someone. I don't want to jinx it or anything so I'm not going to get into a lot of details (ie his name). I'm gonna play it like Carrie on Sex in the City when she's writing her column; you don't really know Mr. Big's real name is John until the last episode. So I'm going to call this guy Mr. Nice. I will say that I'm really glad that I went out on Saturday night. I had gone painting at Jon and Marcy's in the morning (completely unsuspecting that she'd be popping in less that 24 hours!), and worked the rest of the day at Michaels. Angela called before my shift was over and said that Sara's new beau had a guy friend that I should meet and that they were going out for drinks that night. Lucky for me I had my flip-flops and a different shirt in my car. AND despite being unshowered, with grody failing make-up, my huge work pants and a baggy, rather unflattering top on, I'm fairly certain that Mr. Nice is genuinely into me. I guess it's just my charming personality (haha). I'd say that considering all I knew about him before meeting him was his name and all he knew was my name and that I'm kinda chatty, we hit it off like most people wish their fix-ups between friends would go. I know I said I wouldn't get into much detail so I'll just say that Mr. Nice lives about an hour away from here meaning he'll be mostly available to see on the weekends when he quite frequently comes to SooFoo to hang with friends. This is actually perfect for me the relationship-tard...It means we've got time to get to know each other without being too serious about it right away and that I'll still have time to do all the crap that I already have to do. That's one thing about relationships that I haven't figured out since I haven't had anything even close to one in over 3 years. How do you have time to do everything? I guess that sounds kinda bad: it's not that I don't want to see Mr. Nice until next weekend. However, I've been in a fantastic mood since we met and just the few sweet texts he's sent have been enough to make me all fluttery inside. There's no need to rush the good feelings that come with something new and exciting. I'm really looking forward to seeing him again this weekend...
Though I can't image he'll be down for coming to my parents' (6-months-early) 30th wedding anniversary Tahitian luau which is Saturday night. It would be amazing if he did, but I hardly expect something like that from a guy I just met especially considering I've never actually introduced my folks to anyone I've dated before. I'm pretty confident I'll be seeing him again this weekend, we'll just have to wait and see when. At any rate...GO ME! While for right now, financially, I'm fucked, I at least have a lot of great things in my life to keep me happy through the struggle...I'll try not to wait so long til my next post but I can't guarantee anything. ;)
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
A Food Journal: Day 31
Breakfast: (180)
Special K cereal with 1/2 cup skim milk (150)
coffee with cream and Truvia (30)
Lunch: (325)
whole wheat pita pepperoni pizza (150+15+60+100)
diet coke
Dinner: (565)
sesame chicken with carrots, green beans, broccoli (90+200+25)
white rice (160)
1 cup skim milk (90)
Snacks: (360)
string cheese (80)
coleslaw/ramen salad (150)
Cheese-it pack (100)
Workout:
Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred: Level 1 (25 min)
weights (10 min)
(1400)
Special K cereal with 1/2 cup skim milk (150)
coffee with cream and Truvia (30)
Lunch: (325)
whole wheat pita pepperoni pizza (150+15+60+100)
diet coke
Dinner: (565)
sesame chicken with carrots, green beans, broccoli (90+200+25)
white rice (160)
1 cup skim milk (90)
Snacks: (360)
string cheese (80)
coleslaw/ramen salad (150)
Cheese-it pack (100)
Workout:
Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred: Level 1 (25 min)
weights (10 min)
(1400)
A Food Journal: Day 30
Breakfast: (130)
homemade wheat banana bread (100)
coffee with cream and Truvia (30)
Lunch: (815)
cheeseburger with ketchup and mayo (330+110+60+15+30)
Multi-grain Pringles (70)
coleslaw/ramen salad (100)
rhubarb crisp (100)
diet pepsi
Dinner: (280)
whole wheat pita with homemade hummus (150+50)
string cheese (80)
Snacks: (80)
string cheese (80)
(1305)
homemade wheat banana bread (100)
coffee with cream and Truvia (30)
Lunch: (815)
cheeseburger with ketchup and mayo (330+110+60+15+30)
Multi-grain Pringles (70)
coleslaw/ramen salad (100)
rhubarb crisp (100)
diet pepsi
Dinner: (280)
whole wheat pita with homemade hummus (150+50)
string cheese (80)
Snacks: (80)
string cheese (80)
(1305)
A Food Journal: Day 29
Breakfast: (150)
Special K cereal with 1/2 cup skim milk (150)
diet coke
Lunch: (345)
pear (85)
2 string cheese (160)
Cheese-it pack (100)
Dinner: (350)
Michelina's Lean Gourmet Shrimp Scampi (290)
1 slice of American cheese (60)
Snacks: (300)
2 slices of homemade wheat banana bread (200)
cookie pack (100)
(1145)
Special K cereal with 1/2 cup skim milk (150)
diet coke
Lunch: (345)
pear (85)
2 string cheese (160)
Cheese-it pack (100)
Dinner: (350)
Michelina's Lean Gourmet Shrimp Scampi (290)
1 slice of American cheese (60)
Snacks: (300)
2 slices of homemade wheat banana bread (200)
cookie pack (100)
(1145)
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