Archive for Other Stuff
Help me with my kitchen!
Posted by: | CommentsWe just were given a kitchen nook like this one, and moving everything around to fit it in has inspired me to de-clutter and actually DECORATE for the first time since we bought the house in 2003! I’ve been putting it off because the whole thing really needs to be gutted and completely re-designed, but we just don’t have the funds for that at all. So I just want to put in some curtains, rip down the wallpaper, paint, repaint the cabinets (they are just awful, I’ll post pics tomorrow), and really spruce it up so we enjoy sitting around in there. Here’s my idea:
IKEA Alvine inspired kitchen design
Start with this collection for inspiration (click the ‘ALVINE Vintage’ tab).
These curtains (perhaps re-cut into this style?)Â (you can look at the detail of the fabric in the collection link above, click on the ALVINE Vintage tab, then the center pic in the second row)
 Alvine Blom duvet cover for cushion covers. Again, you can see the detail so much better in the first link, under the ALVINE Vintage tab, then the first pic in the second row). Maybe the throw pillows for accent – although they will probably just get in the way and get spilled on.
So, questions – what the heck should I paint the kitchen to go with all this floral? Should I paint the cabinets white or navy or red?  White with navy and red accents? Our linoleum is hopeless, it’s just gonna have to clash. Any and all suggestions are welcomed!!!
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New mommy ‘do
Posted by: | CommentsIt was definitely time for a change. I haven’t had a haircut in a while, and it was falling into the Mommy Mullet by default — YIKES! So, I convinced Squid I needed some time out of the house after his two marathon work days. I was going for an inverted bob, but still had a few too many layers left so next haircut it will look a little more like what I wanted. But my bangs are no longer down to my nose and the mullet is gone!!!
Andrea — I tried to put this in my profile, but it won’t upload. I know you’re busy, no big deal, just wanted to let you know.
Happy Belated Thanksgiving
Posted by: | CommentsStill no baby news. Officially, her due date isn’t until the 27th (yeah, I have the 30th on my sidebar. I was wrong and I’m too lazy to change it now). Since we didn’t know what was going to happen yesterday, we just planned a quiet day at home. Good thing, too, since Squid ended up not only working his scheduled 3am-noon shift, but an extra shift til 6pm! It was a little bit rough for me — we were all a little stir-crazy, especially Monkey Boy — but overall a nice day. I made a turkey, with stuffing (boxed from Aldi), mashed potatoes (instant from Aldi) with gravy (homemade), green bean casserole, and a pumpkin pie (yep, made that too). I totally forgot the cranberry sauce til today!!! Still yummy with leftovers. I was having a bit of a pity party yesterday because Squid was gone all day, we had no friends over, the baby hadn’t come yet, and the kids were getting on my nerves. But a new day, a new perspective. He made GREAT money with holiday pay and overtime, and has another long day today as well. The kids are all healthy, Fiona is fine even if still inside, I’m healthy, my hubby loves me, lots of things to be thankful for. Even if it is a day late.
No Black Friday shopping for us — it’s way to crazy out there, even if I weren’t 39 weeks pregnant right now. I’m sure there’s some great deals out there, but who in Michigan has any extra income to spare anyway?
So, I hope you all had a great day yesterday. Things are going fine here. I will, of course, update any baby news!!!
Andrea’s sinful brownies
Posted by: | CommentsI was craving something sweet, so after 1o pm this evening decided to make these brownies. I didn’t even wait to get the dishes done and clear the counter, just jumped in and started stirring. Oh. My. Gosh. Only the threat of massive 3rd-trimester heartburn is keeping me from finishing off the pan. And then, it’s really, really close! Wowza!!!
(Andrea, I borrowed your picture too. Did I do it right?)
BOYCOTT QUECHUP! (Try Cre8buzz)
Posted by: | CommentsI’m joining in with Phat Mommy on this one. Basically, they are sneaky jerks who trick you into spamming everyone in your address book! I would like to apologize to everyone I spammed this past week — and everyone else who got spammed by any of my contacts who joined as well. Besides, it’s a really crappy social networking site. If you want in on a good one starting up, I have 5 invites to Cre8buzz, which is in beta right now. Neat communities, NO SPAM! Leave me a comment if you want to join.
What is my problem?
Posted by: | CommentsI sit down at the computer, or at Squid’s laptop and think about logging into HSJ to blog. Then I decide to read blogs instead. After I’ve read my entire Google Reader list, then I go over to GCM or WAH and catch up there, then play some games or surf at BlogSoldiers or BlogExplosion. Sigh. It’s like I’m stalling or something! I need to do at least 3 movie reviews, one book review, and just generally catch you up on my life. Which is interesting, to say the least.
First and foremost, the pregnancy is going great. I over the worst part of morning sickness and exhaustion, although I will say that pregnancy at 39 is WAY more tiring than at 29. I would sleep 8 hrs and take a 2 hr nap daily if I could! Sometimes I even get to. We had our ultrasound in June, which I mentioned briefly here, but I haven’t been able to get the pics scanned. It’s a girl! Her name is Fiona Colleen, but I’ll have to pick a suitable web identity for her here on the blog. I -think- my OB will do a 3-D ultrasound a bit later since it was too early to do one at that time. Those are so fun!!! I’ll find a way to scan that one for sure. I’m doing a lot of reading on midwife births and trying to develop some kind of plan that my OB will go along with. I am finding Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth indispensable at this point. It’s amazing after giving birth to three children what I did not know about it all!!!
Squid’s got a lot going on right now — some stuff I can’t talk about yet. Please keep our future in your prayers. LOTS of decisions to be made which can take our lives in very interesting directions! His job at the TV station is holding steady right now, but with streaming video getting better and better, the day is looming when his technician position could be done by any jerk with computer savvy. Union contract negotiations are going on as we speak, it doesn’t look so good for editors/technicians. He’s trying to make himself as useful as possible — right now he can shoot, edit, work receive, and coordinate the newscast. Not too shabby. AND his boss seems to like him. But that can all go away in a flash with per diem status. So we’ll see. Other fires in the iron, like I said, are not to be shared at this time. Not trying to be mysterious, just prudent. (Did I just type prudent? Why do I hear Dana Carvey in my head?!)
Pink Pixie went to church camp the first of this month and came home with a note of apology from her counselor — a girl from her cabin went home the first day with chicken pox. No big deal, I thought, she’s had the vaccine AND a very light case of chicken pox. WRONG!!! Exactly 14 days later (the incubation period for CP), she had a sore throat, upset tummy and . . . spots! So far, no one else has gotten it, including Turkey Butt who spends 3-5 days a week here and the 11-month-old cutie I babysit as well. We’re just about out of the woods for their incubation period. Get this — TB’s great-aunt who just got home from a round of chemo AND has had shingles before was upset that his mom wanted to me to watch him instead of his going over there for a couple of days a week while Pink Pixie was spotty, then for the extra two weeks incubation!!! ‘Milinda‘ was just floored that they thought she was keeping him from them — me too!!! You just can’t tell some people anything.
Well, I think I’ll end this post for now and get to work on those movie reviews. You know, deep thoughts on Hanna Montana, High School Musical, and Beatrix Potter are just churning around in here waiting to be put on paper. NOT!
Question
Posted by: | CommentsIs it weird or wrong to take a werewolf/vampire novel to church to read in your off time from Vacation Bible School snacks? Yeah, ’cause I’m going to.
Great Giveaways!
Posted by: | Comments
5 Minutes for Mom is the best site for giveaways! They’ve got a whole slew of them for Mothers’ Day and you should click right over to get in on them. Mei-Tai’s (the carrier, not the drink), ipods, jewelry, you name it and they’ve got it. Hop on over, because it will all be over on Mothers’ Day!
Menu Plan Monday
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So, what’s for dinner? I am so NOT a hyper-organized person, but I do get inspiration every now and then from those who are. I’m an Organizing Junkie usually makes me feel inadequate and a huge slob, but then again — in this area I am! I get great ideas over there, so I felt quite proud of myself when reading her MPM posts and thought I’d jump in.
I’ve been using Menus4Moms for about a year now and it really helps me keep the grocery bills under control, so menu planning isn’t new to me. Menus4Moms lists a weekly menu plan for dinners only, one week at a time, with an optional e-mail list so you can get the menus right in your mailbox. They’re all simple, tried-and-true, down-to-earth, kid-friendly recipes for 4-5 people. They feed my family just fine, especially since I’ve been paring down Squid’s and my portions down from way too huge! I usually tweak the menus here and there to fit our tastes, but there are archives to look at to so I never run out of ideas. For instance, if you look at this week on my sidebar, we’re having French Fry Casserole on Friday. Usually Friday is pizza day on M4M, so I buy lots of pizza stuff and have it on hand. This casserole is not our favorite (just can’t reconcile french fries with spaghetti sauce), so we’ll just default to pizza again. Oh, and Squid does NOT do lima beans. Ever. Other than that, it’s basically the same list:
Monday
Swiss Chicken
Lima BeansCarrots with Honey and Butter
Salad
Dinner Rolls (maybe not since it’s 2:18 and I haven’t started bread dough yet)
Tuesday
Baked Penne Pasta
Green Beans
Italian Bread
Fruit of Your Choice
Wednesday
Crockpot White Chicken Chili
Cornbread
Thursday
Tacos
Refried Beans
Mexican Corn
Friday
French Fry CasseroleHomemade Pizza
Salad
Homemade Strawberry Lemonade(just don’t feel like messing with it)
There you go, tweaked and ready to go. I keep the M4M menus in my sidebar, so if you’re reading blogs and need an idea, there it is!
–can’t get mr linky to work!–
(I’ve never done Mr. Linky before, let’s see if this works!)
Better late than never!
Posted by: | Comments
Apron Power voting began on Friday, and somehow I missed it!!! Anyway, go on over and vote (I’m #5 – hint, hint)!
Happy Holidays!
Posted by: | CommentsWell, it’s getting down to crazy time — rehearsal tomorrow am, in-laws flying in noonish, spend the afternoon with them, then Sunday morning church, Sunday afternoon gift opening here, Sunday night Christmas Eve Service (Both Squid and I, and the kids are performing), then up to Richmond, MI for the night so we can open presents from Santa there with the rest of the in-laws. So, if I don’t make it back here before Monday, Merry Christmas!!! And if I have any Jewish readers, I hope your Hannukah ROCKED!
Christmas and Capitalism
Posted by: | CommentsWhatever else, this will make you think and feel. It made me feel a little defensive, a little guilty, and a little sick at the way we try to spend at Christmas. It also made me think that these boys are obviously scripted — but who cares! They’re so cute! (watch for the nose-picker!)
Reviews, reviews, reviews
Posted by: | CommentsI really do have some other stuff to post, but I need to get some business done — for some reason, these folks want links before Christmas! I wonder why? 
(Barnyard was provided to me free of charge by Special Ops Media for the purpose of review.)
Watching the trailers, I wasn’t that impressed — it just wasn’t a movie I thought I’d want to go see. It looked like just another anthromorphic movie, and fart-joking animals just aren’t my thing. Plus, being raised in Kansas, the whole male-cattle-with-udders thing hit me wrong right off the bat. But, I thought I’d see what the kids thought and offered to watch and review it.
Once I watched it, my opinion didn’t change much. The udder thing still bothered me. Really, if you’re going to do a movie about animals, research the subject animal thoroughly! The kids, being Detroiters, however never even noticed or commented on it. City kids, what do they know?! The music was rockin’. Monkey boy rarely sat down the entire time, either dancing on a chair or rocking around the room. Ben’s rendition of “I Won’t Back Down” worked very well in his coyote fighting scenes and I liked the repeat of it when Otis finally grows a backbone.
The message that you have to grow up sometime — and if you don’t something bad could happen — is one that I think kids need to hear. I’m not sure if this really was the vehicle for that message. The movie bounced back and forth between fart jokes and nearly maudlin introspective scenes much too quickly, leaving one with a bit of mental whiplash. The movie is rated PG, and rightfully so. Some PG movies my 6 and 8 year olds — and even the 3 year old — can handle just fine. The girls were fine with it, although Pink Pixie turned her back on the coyote scenes. They were NOT too scary, mind you, she just “didn’t like them”. Monkey Boy (3) found it a little too scary. Other than that, I thought there were just a few too many jokes with innuendo for my kids’ ages. Most of it went over their heads, but in my opinion what goes over their heads often still goes into their subconscious and they just don’t need that in the back of their minds. Also, the bonus features are not rated — nothing horribly inappropriate, I just think the image of a pig with a bottle of BBQ sauce stuck in its butt is an image they didn’t need burned into their brains.
Overall, there were cute moments — but they didn’t square with the overall tone of the movie which was geared to older kids. Conversely, older kids may have found the cute bits boring and the message a bit preachy. It wasn’t bad to watch for free, but I wouldn’t have paid for it.
Say What?!
Posted by: | CommentsMy friend Tammy over at What Was I Thinking? had a funny post about her favorite Thanksgiving. She tells about what can only be describe as a surreal ER visit — one doctor tells her friend that she’s not skinny enough to have ulcerative colitis and maybe it’s just her period. If that weren’t strange enough, another doctor tells her she must have been evil in a former life and needs to set a doomed animal free!!! Yes, this was in a state hospital, not in some third-world shaman’s hut.
What’s with doctors who say whatever is on their minds? Yes, they are experts in certain areas, but really, could medical schools start teaching tact? You’d think with so many years of school, they’d be nice and socialized! I was trying to think if I have had a doctor say anything strange to me. The only time I can think of, I wasn’t the patient. Jasmine was a newborn, and I was discussing breastfeeding with her pediatrician. He had come recommended highly by my sister-in-law, and I loved how the kids in the office ran to him and hugged him while I was waiting for our turn. He was old-school, though. I forget exactly what we were talking about, I think it may have been about how long to breastfeed. He told me “Babies don’t need to breastfeed longer than a year. Most women who do it longer than that don’t do it for the baby — they just like to have their nipples sucked.” The weirdest thing — I didn’t read ANY sexual connotation into that at all at the time!!! He was serious, not leering, not being suggestive at all. I just nodded and we moved on to another topic. I didn’t think anything of it until I was telling someone else, laughing at how ignorant so many doctors are about breastfeeding. They didn’t laugh along and just stared at me in shock. That’s when it hit me how odd that was to say. We still went to that pediatrician until we moved Downriver. He never said anything that weird again!
So, what weird doctor sayings have you heard?
I Hate Jurassic Park
Posted by: | Comments . . .the movie, that is. I enjoy Michael Crichton’s writing, but I just cannot stand the movies. Unfortunately, any of the three happen to be on Squid’s list of Movies He Must Watch Any Time The Clicker Flicks Past Them (which also includes The Hunt for Red October, any Bond movie, any Star Trek movie, MIB, among others). Some on the list I actually enjoy watching with them — just not Jurassic Park. So of course as I’m sitting here vegging blogging, JP is on and he . . . must . . . watch. I did, however, find a quote that I shall adopt for my own. The one redeeming quality of Jurassic Park.
Dr. Ian Malcolm: God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs…
Dr. Ellie Sattler: Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth…