Random

Our kid is 8 weeks old and we already like watching home videos of him. Our comments while watching them go like this:

"AWWWWW!!" "Look at how skinny he was!!" "Like a starving baby!" "AWWWW!!!" "Look how he can't control his hands!" "AWWWWW!!!!" "We made such a cute baby! Look C, look how cute you were!" "AWWWWW!!!"

Also, C's legs and arms are now too long for his 0-3 month clothes. I switched them out with the 3-6 month ones today... I must admit, I am very proud to be the sole source of my kid's chub. Pretty happy I've been the one to grow him from 1 cell to a 13-14 pound baby:)

I am also very glad we don't have to keep video-taping our pets. Seems a little more acceptable to have movies of your kid rather than your dog and cat. Oddly enough J did the pet videotaping and I do the C recording....

BTW, J and I discovered that we are too old and intellectual (code for stuck up) to listen to pop radio. Good thing we are NPR junkies since current music tends to inspire mucho mocking. We turned on the radio for C the other night in the car (he was screaming) and when he hushed, all you could hear was hubby and I mercilessly making fun of pop songs. So entertaining!!!

Baby is waking for his 10:27 PM meal, gotta go!

Alas, I Ate Your Beloved Dessert

I must think happy thoughts right now because J is a bit miffed at me for having eaten his last-Friday-dessert. I seriously somehow thought he didn't want it. I don't know how I came to that conclusion because I realized this evening HE VERY MUCH WANTED IT!! My best guess as to why I consumed it is: it was TIRAMISU (coffee!!). AND yesterday, while attempting not to fall asleep while tutoring, it was the only coffee available to me in 5 minutes between kids. Plus, it being almost a week old, I didn't even stop to think about it....

Enough airing of The Jarvis Marital Problems. We seem to fight over desserts a lot. Hehehe:)

Here are a few things that make me happy this week:

1. Lizzy and I eat a piece of zucchini carrot bread each evening.
2. I played my violin very well today while practicing and only slightly less well at my lesson.
3. My fingertips are getting calloused!!!
4. I have exercised 5 times in the past 7 days.
5. My house is clean!!!
6. Coming home tonight are: my mom. my sister. my brother. I get to see them all tomorrow afternoon, after work! Sadly, leaving on Saturday are: my sister. my sister. my brother-in-law. my nephew. my nephew. my delightful niece. Alas, I will not be able to borrow any children for 2 weeks:(
7. Lizzy goes home tonight! We will have the house to ourselves. Oh. My. Gosh. I am just about jumping with excitement!!!! J and I have remarked "This is how it will be when we have kids? We'll only be able to have face to face conversation after 10:00? We'll be exhausted and only want to clean the house and then sleep? AND SHE'S A GROWN KID. AND ONLY ONE KID." I'm a little disappointed in us already.
8. I went to the library on Monday. I got a ton of new books, 2 of which I've already read 4 days later. It had been 3 weeks since my last book and all the magazines I've been catching up on aren't as good as a book. What made me sad was my $5 fine for late books. Sigh.
9. J is wonderful:)
10. Spock hasn't gone to the bathroom on our carpet in weeks! J's idea of aluminum foil on places Spock especially loves seems to be working. Also, my efforts at cleaning carpet helped too. I have to think this because if they didn't, what was all that effort for?!?! 20 pounds of baking soda and a gallon of vinegar!!!!

That's all the happiness I can give you this week!!

Food and RANDOM

And I thought a calorie counter was cool. Well, I thought it was cool a month ago when I linked to it from something or other, wrote it down, and promptly forgot about it. I found it today and thought I'd check it out and lo and behold, IT GAVE ME GRADES ON WHAT I ATE!!! As an over-achiever, I love getting grades because I think I'm awesome at everything. Here's what I earned according to my grader: 

3 blueberry pancakes w/ maple syrup: B

2% milk: A-

1/2 cup almonds: B+

lots of water: A+ (there wasn't a grade for water, I gave it the A+)

PBJ (1 white, 1 whole wheat piece of bread, natural PB, blueberry jam): B+ (no grade, again, this is merely my prerogative)

Baked BBQ Lays: B- (never eat chips but they had them at my training, so I did)

Rice Krispies Treat: C+ (yeah, I had the munchies)

Mac and cheese (homemade w/ wheat pasta): A

Portabella mushroom w/ ricotta and tomatoes: A (again, my grade)

2% milk: A-

Green tea: A

I GOT ALL A'S AND B'S!!!!!! Score!!! BTW, I predicted what I would eat for dinner based on fridge contents. 

Here are some other cool thing is have discovered lately: 

1. The new Zumba dance moves I learned yesterday made my neck muscles and my head sore. Wierdest thing ever.
2. Whilst I may be turning 28 in 17 days, my real age is only 23.5!! Score again!!!
3. I am doing very well on being green. 9 out of 10 accomplished and in place and we are hanging a clothes line soon (hopefully this actually happens, we've had it for over a year!! Slackers, I know!)
4. I am really trying to enjoy my food. J and I were listening to NPR and heard a story about food. Ever been so focused on reading or watching TV while eating that you forget to taste your food? Today I really enjoyed the aforementioned Rice Krispies Treat. It had such a lovely crunch. 
5. MEDITATION!!!! Not the new age kind, but just sitting and breathing to clear my brain before sleeping. I only tried this on Monday but I did get high on air. Free substance abuse!!! I realized after a while that I was feeling dizzy, similiar to the way I feel when blowing up many balloons too fast. I considered this and realized maybe I was getting too in to meditation. My first try was fun though. I think funny words while breathing. Like 'yaw' and 'weeeeeee' and 'heeeeee'. Fun:)
6. MY COMPOST WORMS SURVIVED A WINTER IN THE GARAGE!!!! I checked on them yesterday and they are frantically slithering to the surface in search of food. Poor frozen  and deprived worms. Animal abuse from the vegetarian who hates killing animals.
7. I really LOVE red bell peppers. Being a vegetarian has made me incredibly unpicky. Hasn't erased all remnants of my former picky self but I am breaking down quite a few walls. I love grilled bell peppers and mushrooms SO MUCH. 
8. I was at literacy training today at the administration building. Pedometer registers only 2,000 steps!!! GEEZ OH PETE. I am going on a long walk w/ Sadie at 5:00. 
9. I am considering setting a no shopping goal. Wondering if this is attainable for me. Wondering what I would do w/ my personal money if I didn't shop? Some big purchase for myself in 6 months? Or maybe limiting myself to 1 shirt, bottoms, shoes each month? Hmmm, more thought is required.
10. Can't end w/o a 10. That would leave us on an odd number and that would bother the OCD part or me. Oh, here: my sick sis sent me a link to a new blog (as if I need to add more blogs to Google Reader!!!): Making It Lovely. Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful?

PS- I had 19 spelling errors in this tiny post. Oh no, an odd number!!! I am able to blame some of the many mistakes on my terrible typing skills and not just my spelling skills. 

My Pets and Marriage

Spock and Sadie watch J on my computer. 

Spock thinks the  kitchen table (and now the  cabinet tops) are his personal space.

Sadie loves smooshing down pillows and sleeping for hours.

I love my pets:) Spock is right now sitting on the back of the green couch across from me, dozing regally. Sadie is curled beside me, luxuriating in the warmth from my legs that makes her conk out. Spock has been greatly helping us de-clutter the house  lately (yeah, the de-clutter queen apparently has met her match). He recently realized he has the ability to jump on high pieces of furniture, such as bookshelves, kitchen counters, cabinets, and refrigerators. I assume this is his way of telling us we have too many pretty things (by knocking them from great heights and breaking them naturally). Now our house has fewer items in it, greatly pleasing our cat. 

It's been raining all day. Sometimes very fast and hard, mostly steady-straight-down-hard-working rain. Such a change of pace to see rain on a bright green lawn and to hear thunder. It has been fairly warm here for a month yet I still cannot stop myself from thinking it will end soon, that winter will be any moment. Actually, winter will be back tomorrow and Tuesday but that's okay. I'll cover my little Japanese Maple and maybe a few plants with old sheets and pillowcases and then we'll return to growing green on Wednesday. I'm planning on borrowing my mom's rototiller when we go to her house for Easter so I can till in some compost and fertilizer to my vegetable garden. J says w/the size of my garden, I don't have to worry about letting the carbon trapped in the soil out. Still, maybe someday I'll be a no till lady:) No letting that bad trapped carbon out to our world!! Stay in the soil!!!

My sister-in-law got engaged yesterday! How exciting for her!!! I haven't actually talked to her about it (facebook doesn't count!) but according to the fam, she's very happy! She and her fiance have been together for a few years and really seem to have a wonderful connection and love. Wedding won't be for a year or two since she wants to finish college first but hopefully I'll be able to help her with the wedding if she needs it. I love planning parties! 

Ahhh, weddings and marriage. J and I will  celebrate our 2 year anniversary in about 3 months. Wow. Time flies. Remember as a kid how all you wanted was to make time pass faster so you could grow up? Now it is actually doing that! I'll be 28 this month but don't really feel that age. Seemingly I would be a lot wiser and controlled if I were 28. Of course by the time I'm 30 I'll be exceedingly mature and not self centered at all!! But really, everything goes so fast now! Each school year is over before I know it. Right now I've only got 8 weeks until these 4th graders are officially 5th graders. Crazy!!

Anyway, about marriage. Really, it is THE hardest thing I've ever ever done. EVER. I remember people asking me in the weeks before we got married "Are you nervous about the wedding or marriage?" I always said, "NO, just excited!!!!" And I was! So excited and happy to start! Now I know marriage is great but keeping it that way sure is a lot of work! A lot of good, honest, wrench-your-guts-and-heart-out work. And if we slack off for a week, then we suffer through a few grouchy days trying to make up for a week of lazy communication. Ever vigilant against the terrors of a grouchy marriage we must be.  Do or do not, there is no try. Yoda told me that:)

Anyway, here's to a good week!

Random

Here's a pic of my niece for Random Day.

One month until my 28th birthday and I already have my birthday list made. My family likes to have birthday lists to assist in birthday gift shopping and usually I can't think of what I would like. Topping my list this year are barrels and 4 wooden pallets. These will help me in my 2008 goals of collecting rainwater from my gutters and building a better compost bin. I'm hoping some family member will help me out here cause I'm too lazy to raid the pallets behind a store and really can't find barrels anywhere. 

Random Day: My cat is long haired and is starting spring shedding. Fun. Billows of hair everywhere. 

The average person drinks 20 gallons of milk. J. and I each drink 30 gallons a year. I calculated. 

I took Sadie for a walk and listened to Dave Ramsey on Henry, my i-pod. 

J. and I had a terrifically grouchy night last night. I mean, seriously, anyone want to take lessons to hone their crabbiness skills? Come visit us after we've had a busy week. J. just got home. Wish us happy luck!!!

Dog Names

So here are two names you should not name your dog: Axel and Venus. I found both those names in ONE day!!! A friend was thinking about using one name and I heard the other on a commercial. You should see if they sound inappropriate by yelling them and having someone listen from a distance.What good old fashioned fun for a cold winter day!

Love, Your Friendly Neighborhood Sarah