Ultrasound pictures

Here are a few more pictures from my ultrasound this week. The first one is little Julie (yep, it's a girl!) arching her back, and the second is her foot, which I thought was way too cute not to share. Enjoy!

It's a ...

Today was the big day. We got to find out if MJ is Matthew or Julie. We thought it would be fun to let you all share in the experience and find out for yourselves. The video is about 3:15 long, and you will probably need to turn the volume up around 3 minutes.

Explanation of Life

This doesn't really explain the meaning of life (very little does), but it's amusing nonetheless. A friend of mine posted this on her MySpace, and I thought I'd share.

Before I do, however, I'd like to wish everyone a merry Christmas. I'll be at my in-laws for a few days, and the next post you read from me may not be until I get back. In fact, it may very well be when I let you know if I'm having a boy or girl.

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On the first day, God created the dog and said:

'Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.'

The dog said: 'That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?'

So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said:

'Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span.'

The monkey said: 'Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?'

And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said:

'You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years.'

The cow said: 'That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?'

And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said:

'Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years.'

But man said: 'Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten
the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?'

'Okay,' said God, 'You asked for it.'

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.

Pop quiz answers

To those of you that played my Christmas carol game, I'm glad you had fun. It's time to post the answers and see if you got them right! If you haven't played yet, and you want to, click here before reading any further in this post.

1. O Come All Ye Faithful
   
   
2. Deck the Halls
   
   
3. The Little Drummer Boy
   
   
4. I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
   
   
5. Silent Night
   
   
6. We Three Kings
   
   
7. The First Noel
   
   
8. Silver Bells
   
   
9. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
   
   
10. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
    
    
11. Let it Snow!
    
    
12. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
    
    
13. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
    
    
14. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
    
    
15. Walking in a Winter Wonderland
    
    
16. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
    
    
17. O Little Town of Bethlehem
    
    

The hardest one for me (even a year later after I already know them) is number 4, because the title is technically just "White Christmas," and that's how I've always known it. Trying to figure out the whole phrase from the wordy clue was difficult when the phrase isn't what I would have had in mind to begin with.

On a side note, to hear the most annoying (and pointless) Christmas song ever recorded, click here. But don't say I didn't warn you!

Kitchen substitution

A few months back, I bought a couple of pregnancy cookbooks (which I've used a grand total of once, I think). They have a lot of weird recipes, and a lot of fish recipes, but they have a LOT of useful information, which I have found so far to be the biggest benefit from them. Reading all the nutrition information and how to get what I need has been helpful in just trying to balance meals I already make.

One recipe I did use, however, had me make a substitute for sour cream (although it didn't say that's what it was). It's really good, really easy, high in protein and calcium, low in fat, and -- when mixed in with other stuff -- doesn't taste a whole lot different from sour cream.

1 cup cottage cheese or Ricotta cheese
1/3 cup plain nonfat yogurt

I haven't used Ricotta cheese -- I've only tried it with cottage cheese. You put the cheese in a food processor or blender, and blend until it's smooth, and there are no more chunks. Then add in the yogurt, and blend until they are well mixed and creamy.

Simple as that! Store it in a little tub in the fridge, make it as you need it, and it's so much better for you than sour cream!

Pregnancy woes

Everyone told me that they loved their second trimester. It was the best time of their pregnancy. They had more energy, more appetite, and could feel the baby moving. The finally started to look pregnant instead of just “filling out.” And so I looked forward to it, too.

I don’t like it. I had a fairly uneventful first trimester. I didn’t get sick once. I was exhausted many days, and had some nausea and food aversions, but that was about it. Now, however, I am dealing with constipation, gas, flatulence, burping (which I never did before I was pregnant), muscle aches and pains, headaches, acne, gagging on my toothbrush or phlegm in the morning, and in the last two days I have almost thrown up three times (or was at least closer to it than ever in my first trimester). Sure I can eat more than before, but only sort-of. In my first trimester, I had food aversions. I could smell something, and know that I shouldn’t eat it because it wouldn’t agree with me. Or sometimes, when I was eating, I’d be chewing a bite and just know it was my last bite. Now, I’m hungry much more frequently, but I have to eat much slower (I’m not sure why), and I don’t find out that a food doesn’t agree with me until after I’ve eaten it, and I don’t feel well. I know I’m supposed to be drinking more water, but I just can’t get it down.

I haven’t felt the baby move yet (that I know of), but I’m only 18 weeks. I find out on December 27th if it’s a boy or girl. I have lost about 15-20 pounds since I got pregnant, and now have to wear a belt with pants that have fit fine for over a year, but my shape is starting to change finally. The waistband on my underwear is feeling tighter (and starting to be uncomfortable), but they’re the same underwear I’ve been wearing with the pants that need a belt. I don’t get it. I can wear a few of my maternity tops at this point, but the pants all still feel and look huge on me.

I don’t normally like to complain. I used to, but then I learned that (1) it doesn’t do any good, and (2) it just annoys everyone around me. I just need to send this out there and let it be. I apologize if it’s way more information that any of you wanted to know. It’s just not been a good week. Monday I went home sick around lunchtime, and slept a good part of the afternoon. Yesterday I didn’t go to work at all. Today I’m at work, not feeling as miserable as I was yesterday, but still wishing I wasn’t here.

Literary musings

Today I'm inspired to share great quotes by famous authors, but not the quotes that most people know.

I started reading Dickens' A Christmas Carol this morning. It will be a quick read before the holidays and I can get another book in this month. And while I'm familiar with the story (who isn't, really?), I've never read the book. As I started it, I realized it's been awhile since I've read Dickens at all. In fact, I think the last time I read anything by him was also the first time -- Great Expectations my freshman year of high school. I really enjoyed that book. Anyway, I wasn't two paragraphs into the book today (literally), when I was laughing out loud. Let me share with you what I enjoyed:

Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

I'm not the only one who finds this amusing, am I? On that same note, am I the only one besides Dickens who actually thinks about things like that? I mean really, what is so dead about a door-nail? And all the other "similes" as he calls them, clichés as we call them...where do they get their origins? Throwing the baby out with the bath water? Who does that?

Okay, I'll calm down now. I have one other literary quote to share that had made me laugh out loud upon stumbling across it. This is from C.S. Lewis, in The Magician's Nephew. This one is funny because it is also -- unfortunately -- true. It's much shorter...here it is:

"... the trouble with trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed."

Now tell me that is neither funny nor true. You can't, because it is both. I've only read that book once, and it was a few years ago, but the moment I read that line, it became one of my favorite all-time quotes. It's very unique.

Do you have any favorite literary quotes or passages that are from well-known authors, but the words themselves are not so widely recognized? Please share.

Pop quiz!

I love Christmas music. I know everyone says that, but I really do. I like fun stuff, classic stuff, new stuff, original stuff, and hard-to-find stuff. Last year I came across a list of Christmas carols that had been "re-named" in technical legal-ese type language. It was a quiz to see how many you could figure out. It's not too hard, and it's fun. The list is re-printed below for your enjoyment. I'll post the answers toward the end of the week.

1. Move Hither the Entire Assembly of Those Who Are Loyal in Their Belief
   
   
2. Embellish Interior Passageways
   
   
3. Vertically Challenged Adolescent Percussionist
   
   
4. First Person Singular Experiencing An Hallucinatory Phenomenon of a Natal Celebration Devoid of Color
   
   
5. Soundless Nocturnal Period
   
   
6. Majestic Triplet Referred to in the First Person Plural
   
   
7. The Yuletide Occurrence Preceding All Others
   
   
8. Precious Metal Musical Devices
   
   
9. Omnipotent Supreme Being Elicit Respite to Ecstatic Distinguished Males
   
   
10. Caribou with Vermilion Olfactory Appendage
    
    
11. Allow Crystalline Formations to Descend
    
    
12. Jovial Yuletide Desired for the Second Person Singular or Plural by the First Person Plural
    
    
13. Commence Auditory Reception the Announcing Cherubs Vocalize
    
    
14. Kris Kringle Will Be Arriving in the City in the Not Too Distant Future
    
    
15. Bipedal Traveling Through an Amazing Acreage During the Period Between December 21st and March 21st in the Northern Hemisphere
    
    
16. Its Arrival Occurred at Twelve O'Clock During a Clement Nocturnal Period
    
    
17. Exclamatory Remark Concerning a Diminutive Municipality in Judea Southwest of Jerusalem
    
    
    

Good luck, and have fun!!

Say cheese!

I have to take a quick minute to publicly thank my grandmother. She reads this blog very regularly. I picked up the mail today and found a small package from her, about 7"x4"x4", wrapped in brown paper and a lot of tape. At first I thought it might be a Christmas gift, and I almost stuck it under our tree. On second thought, however, I occasionally get packages from Gra'ma without any particular occasion being involved. I decided to open it, and if it was a Christmas package, it would likely be wrapped in wrapping paper underneath, at which point I would stick it under the tree. I'm really glad I opened it. My grandma sent me a block of Tillamook cheese! (If you don't know why this would be significant, click here.) An 8 oz. block of Tillamook Medium Cheddar Cheese and a bag of pre-shredded 4-cheese Mexican blend. All I could do was laugh. I laughed for about a full minute. It was such a thoughtful gesture, and it completely made my day. Ben is camping with the Boy Scouts this weekend, and I always get bored and/or lonely when he's gone, so this really cheered up my day.

Thanks, Gra'ma!!

I love I love I love my calendar girl!

Every year, picking out a calendar seems like such a big deal to me. It shouldn't be -- it's just a calendar. But I have to life with whatever I pick for the rest of the year. Every day of the whole year, I'm going to see that calendar.

I ended up being very dissatisfied with my choice for 2007. I picked one that had black and white photographs of Paris. Sounds great, right? Well, the pictures were nothing really very spectacular, but it was the quality of the calendar itself that bugged me all year. See, I picked it up for $2.50 in the dollar section at the front of a Target store. I should have known better. Once I opened it up (thus making it unreturnable), I discovered that the pages were no thicker that those of a magazine -- no structure to them at all! When I wrote something on a date, it made a carbon-copy-like image on the next month or two, because it was so low quality. I was bummed out, and vowed I would never buy a super-cheap calendar again.

I am pleased with my purchase for 2008. It's a (higher quality) Norman Rockwell calendar.

When I was only five years old, my great-grandmother Dodo gave me a book called The Faith of America. It was about Norman Rockwell, and was illustrated by him. I have loved his art ever since. It's either happy, political, makes you laugh at it, or all of the above at the same time. Here is the official Norman Rockwell website: http://www.normanrockwell.com/.

Out of control

While there are a number of things about which I could blog this afternoon, I will choose only one of them at this moment. Okay, maybe two, but the first one is only to satisfy a brief need to vent.

I started a temp job last Thursday. Things are still in process to get me set up on the company network drives, and with usernames and passwords and appropriate user rights to the programs I need to use. This was all supposed to be done by Monday morning, so that I could be in full swing this week. We're still waiting for it. I'm having a hard time getting any real work done because I don't have access to the drives or programs I need. It's been really frustrating having nothing to do all day (hence I'm now blogging briefly while at work). My supervisor is off-site today, so she's not around to be able to light a fire under the Help Desk's rear end.

Okay, I'm done with that.

Ben made bread this morning, with some dough I had previously made and frozen. He packed my lunch (as usual), and I went on my merry way to work (where I would sit around and do nothing for a good part of the day). We are apparantly out of lunch meat, so --thinking ahead -- Ben pulled some frozen turkey breast out of the freezer last night. Well, I've not done great with homemade bread since becoming pregnant, but it's previously been because I've have a pregnancy-related aversion to wheat. Now the bread is just too dense for me to deal with very well. It takes far too much effort to eat and it's not satisfying because it takes too much work. Also, as previously mentioned, I don't like turkey. I can usually deal with turkey deli meat in sandwiches, but not 1/4-inch thick slices right off the breast. That's what Ben put in my sandwiches. Turkey, cheese, and lettuce, in between the bread I'm having a hard time swallowing (literally). I just couldn't eat it.

I got emotional thinking about the money I would waste buying lunch when Ben had taken the time to pack my lunch for me. I wiped my tears away, and walked down the hall to the in-house mini-deli that we have here at work. They only had one salad left (which didn't look very good), so I ordered a cup of chili and a bag of Fritos (to mix in the chili). The lady rang me up, and I pulled out my credit card. She said cash only. I thought I was going to lose it. I could feel the lump rising in my throat, and the tears springing to my eyes. I usually don't carry cash with me, and today is no exception. Well, there was a woman next to me in line who works a couple cubicles down from me, whose name I barely know (Michele). She knows I’m pregnant and thinks it’s the greatest thing, especially since it’s my first and I’m going to stay home after the birth (she did for 10 years). She piped up and asked the cashier to put it on a tab for me to pay tomorrow. The cashier looked dubious, so Michele said to put it on her tab, and I'd pay it off tomorrow.

I was so grateful. I only had 10 minutes left in my lunch break, it's snowing outside, and I really didn't want to deal with going out to get lunch (especially since another co-worker had already gone out to get lunch, and offered to pick something up for me).

Although if I had gone out, it would have been to Chipotle, which I absolutely love.

I'm totally over it now (I was over it by the time I finished my chili). I think it's funny, in fact. One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given was this: If you're going to laugh about it in 20 years, why not laugh now?

Mmmm...cheese!

If you've ever lived in the Pacific Northwest, or even as far east as Utah, you may be familiar with Tillamook cheese. If you've ever lived in Oregon, there's a good chance you've toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I have lived in Oregon, and have toured the factory many times. Somehow, I always ended up being there when the machines weren't actually going, so I just got to see the place and sample the cheeses. Oh, and the ice cream! Since leaving the west coast, I've missed Tillamook cheese, and most places I've lived since Oregon, no one has even heard of it.

Well, I found it on Monday.

That's right, I found Tillamook cheese at Giant Eagle on Monday while I was doing my grocery shopping. It was fun to be able to find it. What wasn't fun was to turn it over and find a sticker on the back labeling it $10.99/lb. The tiny 8 oz. block I was holding in my hand was over $6! See, I was looking in the special cheese section for a specific kind of cheese for a recipe I have (I didn't find that cheese, by the way -- who can find Mexican cheeses in Ohio?).

But it was great to find it and see it again. I miss Tillamook cheese (and ice cream).

Tuuuurrrrrkkkkeeeeyyyy!!!!!!!!

Sorry to Gra'ma and to Sara, and to my two other readers who may have been waiting to see pictures of my Thanksgiving dinner. My computer has been doing strange and funny things since Saturday morning. Also, to those of you who read here, I am currently kind-of "stuck" when it comes to email. If you send something to me at ladynutter@roadrunner.com (my normal email address), I may not respond for several days. I can access messages and read them, but Microsoft Outlook decided to stop working and freeze our computer every time we try to open it.

Anywho, I have been able to upload my Thanksgiving photos, and I will share a few of them here. Here we go!

It's scary-looking, isn't it? Mom was right, though. She said that it seems a lot scarier than it actually is.


I find humor in a picture like this (hence, I took it), but you may not. I'm looking down what my mom might refer to as "the Alice hole" for the stuff I need to pull out. This part I've done before. This wasn't the scariest part, and luckily my bird was completely thawed. I've tried to pull the neck out before when it wasn't thawed all the way. That's hard, and it hurts because it's so stinkin' cold! Here's all the good stuff:

Neck, heart, liver, and gizzards. I didn't take the time to chop them up and put them in the stuffing or gravy, but I did simmer them for an hour and a half with some herbs and spices, and used the broth from it to make the gravy. I thought it was pretty good for my first time making gravy in my life!

I am not a big stuffing fan. I've had one stuffing in my life that I remember really enjoying, and that was while I was on my mission. We had Thanksgiving dinner one year with two sisters from Colombia, and they stuff the bird with rice. I don't know what recipe they used (if any), what kind of rice or what herbs and spices, but it was so good. So I went in search of a rice stuffing recipe online. Most of what I found was with wild rice. I found one that sounded reasonably simple, yet still tasty. This was what was still left after I stuffed the turkey:

I thought it turned out absolutely disgusting, and Ben didn't like it either. My guests thought it was good, though, and they took home all the leftovers. I certainly won't be using that recipe ever again!

Stuffed, closed, brushed, salted, and peppered, ready to go in the oven...soon to be the greatest accomplishment of my culinary life to date:

I had planned to be able to eat around 3:30, and I knew it needed to be in the oven between 10:30 and 11:00 that morning. I put it in at 10:29 exactly. I was so pleased with myself. However, by 3:15, the pop-out timer I was depending on still hadn't popped out (I was hoping to pull the turkey out of the oven around 3:00). So we pulled it out and checked it for doneness...this was where Ben's kitchen help came in handy:

As you can see from the second picture, it wasn't quite done yet. Another 15 minutes did the trick, though. It didn't take long. Here are the "pride and joy" pictures:

I have never really enjoyed eating turkey, unless it's in a soup or a sandwich, or something like that. I usually only take very small portions at Thanksgiving and Christmas, preferring instead to stock up on yummy side dishes. As such, I hardly tasted my turkey, but I'm told it was very good, which made me happy. The little that I did eat wasn't too bad, as turkey goes. We did have plenty of side dishes, though. With two other couples over for dinner, we had plenty to go around. Here is our full spread:

Starting at the top left and going row by row, we had sweet potato casserole, Jell-o salad, rolls, stuffing, cranberry sauce, peas, corn, mashed potatoes (so good -- thanks Jason!), gravy, onion pie, turkey, and pumpkin bread.

Finally, the best part of my day was that I didn't have to clean up one single fork or dish:

Thanks, Ben! You were great that day, and every day. I love you!

An almost update

I did my very first Thanksgiving dinner today -- I made the turkey! I took pictures along the way, and I'll post them along with adventures in the next day or two.

New Pictures of MJ

If there's anyone out there still reading this blog, you know that it's been awhile since I've posted anything. I wish I had a good excuse. It's not that I've been too busy -- on the contrary, I've had too much time on my hands and can't figure out what to do with all of it.

I had another doctor's appointment last week and got to hear MJ's heartbeat for the first time (I was 13 1/2 weeks at the time of the visit). The heartbeat was surprisingly rhythmic for that early in my pregnancy. That same afternoon, I had another ultrasound. This one was a little more involved than the first one, as they were measuring the thickness of MJ's neck as part of a Down's syndrome screening. (Everything turned out fine with that screening, by the way.) I got to see a close-up of the head, and could pick out facial features clearly, such as a nose and mouth. Here's that picture, although it's pretty blurry and kind-of hard to see since it's so close-up. MJ is facing upward, with the top of the head on the left, the chin on the right.

MJ kept moving his/her fist toward and away from his/her mouth during the ultrasound. In the picture above, the fist is at the very top of the picture, right about at thumb-sucking level with the mouth. I also have a couple other pictures that are clearer. I couldn't believe how much MJ had grown since the last ultrasound four weeks ago. Here are the more recent pictures:


I also think these ones are a little bit easier to read (than the first one was) for people who aren't familiar with ultrasound pictures.

I have another regular appointment in about 3 weeks, and my doctor said that we'll schedule the full anatomy ultrasound for a couple of weeks after that, which is when we'll find out of MJ is a boy of a girl. That should be around the beginning of the year -- maybe the last week of December.

Carving Jack: Part III of III

When you have cut an entire piece and are ready to remove it, put your hand inside Jack and gently push the piece out from the inside. It may not be completely detached, so you may have to carefully cut it at the corners. Larger pieces – such as the mouth – will be harder to push out and may actually require both hands. When all your pieces are pulled out, get right down on Jack's level and check to make sure that none of the slimy pulp is hanging in view. It's tacky to look like he has goop in his eyes as if he just woke up or snot in his nose or as if he needs to brush his teeth. Clean him up on the inside – inner beauty is important.

Take a paper towel and wipe off the outside of Jack and his top. They will probably be wet and slimy from having guts all over them.

Take a small, unscented votive candle and place it in a candleholder in the bottom of the pumpkin. Put Jack's lid on him. Inserting a long match through Jack's mouth, light the candle. You now have a completely Jack-O-Lantern. Place him on your doorstep to greet trick-or-treaters. While Jack may be hurt inside because of your supposed friendship then betrayal, it won't show since he has a permanent smile on.

A week later you will begin to smell Jack and realize you need to get rid of him, since he has wilted and rotted. As you hold him over the trash can, you will look back fondly over the time you spent together and all the work you put into the big orange squash you are now about to send tot he city dump.

Carving Jack: Part II of III

Draw a circle around the stem of the pumpkin. If you make it a perfect circle, be sure to leave notches in it so that you know exactly how to position it when you re-place it. Be sure that your circle is large enough that you can fit your fist inside of it. Take the paring knife and puncture the surface of Jack, somewhere along the line you have drawn. The skin will be tough, as Jack is trying not to cry. Gently push the knife all the way through the skin. Wiggle it back and forth in an attempt to make the cut wider (not longer). Pull the paring knife out and insert the special pumpkin-carving knife. Finish cutting the lid. To take the top off of Jack, you may need to pull hard, as the inside of it will be entangled with the rest of the stringy sliminess not visible from the outside. Using your paring knife, slice all the pulp off the top, and create a somewhat smooth surface. Set the top aside.

Put your hand inside Jack and begin gutting him. You will pull out mainly handfuls of seeds at first, which should be deposited in the cereal bowl. As you pull out the slimy insides, just place them on the newspaper until you are done. Be prepared to get stuff under your fingernails. When you have pulled out all you can with your hands, insert the metal spoon into Jack and begin scraping the walls. While this won't completely detach all the strings, it will weaken them enough to be able to then pull the rest off with your hands. Continue scraping and pulling until you can pull out no more. Be as thorough as possible, as you do not want a sloppy appearance at the end of your carving quest.

When you are finished scraping the insides of Jack, take the seeds to the sink and rinse them in a colander. Try to get all of the pulp off of them, so that you just have pure seed left. Shake handfuls of seeds off at a time and absorb the rest of the water with paper towels. Spread the seeds out on a cookie sheet, making sure there is only one layer of seed. Salt them generously. Bake them at 350^o for 10 minutes. After the buzzer goes off, flip the seeds over (as well as possible – it's difficult) with a spatula and salt the other side. Place them back in the oven for 5-8 minutes. When they are done, they can be eaten right away, and are best when toasty right out of the oven.

Before you begin to cut a face in Jack, design his demeanor on a sheet of paper. Try several possibilities and pick your favorite. Draw the selected face on the clean side of the pumpkin. When you begin to cut it, you will use both knives. The paring knife will work better for small detail, whereas the special pumpkin knife will give you the security of not having to worry about slipping and messing up the face. When using the paring knife, be careful not to let this happen – it can slide through the skin easily and may slip past the point that you want it to stop.

Carving Jack: Part I of III

Some years ago, I was taking a writing class at a community college. One of my assignments was to write a process paper -- as "how-to" on anything I wanted. Not thinking of myself as very talented, or particularly specialized in anything, I was at a loss with this paper. The assignment was given in the fall, and it suddenly occurred to me one day that I could write (since the instructor said "about anything") a how-to piece on carving a Jack-o-lantern. Well, I did. I got an A on the paper, and it remains to this day one of my favorite pieces I have ever written. I share it here in three installments over the next week, in celebration of Halloween. It is called Carving Jack.

*****************************************************************

Creating a jack-o-lantern is much more than simply sticking a knife into the side of an orange squash. When you stand at the entrance to a pumpkin patch, you have only just begun the process. First you must comb the entire patch searching for the "perfect" pumpkin. It must have just the right shade of orange, and needs to be big enough to display a face on one side of it. Try not to pick a pumpkin with dirt crusted all over it, as that will diminish from the appearance of the final product. Make sure there is at least one side of the pumpkin that is clear and free of blemishes, as they will also detract from the expression of Jack at the end.

Once you have selected and purchased your pumpkin, take it home with you and begin the bonding process. You must befriend your pumpkin and become one with it. Set it on the dinner table and let it eat with you. (The idea here is not to make it think you're going to destroy it in a few days.) Set it out on your doorstep to greet your visitors. It will soon feel like a part of your family.

When you have decided that you are ready to carve the squash, bring it into the house and set it on the kitchen table or counter. Spread sheets of newspaper out so that the pumpkin guts don't get all over the place. Place Jack on the newspaper. He may be getting a little nervous at this point, so you might want to position him on some comics to put his mind at ease.

Now you'll want to gather your materials. You will need a pencil for designing, and two knives. Use a paring knife to make initial cuts through the tough outer layer. A plastic-handled childproof pumpkin-carving knife should be used for the majority of the cutting. You will also need a large metal spoon for scraping the inside of Jack. A cereal bowl will also be needed to separate the seeds into.

Quick note about music

For those of you who wanted to put a music player on your blog, or who wanted more info about mine, this post is for you. If you scroll down my page a little and look on the right, you'll see a little box entitled "My Current Favorite Songs" in which you will see a music player. The address where you can build your own such music player is http://www.projectplaylist.com/. You can search for music by title, by artist, even by album if you want. Set up a username and password, and create your own playlist(s). To add them to Blogger, simply go to the "Template" tab on your own blog, then click on "Add a page element." The element that you want to add is the one called "HTML/JavaScript." When you open that up, paste the HTML code that Project Music Playlist generates for you into that field, and it will come out looking like mine. Feel free to email me (or comment) with any questions.

Where to go?

I just have a quickie today. For those of you in the Cleveland area, I haven't yet gotten a pumpkin to carve! It's not like me to wait this long. Ben and I would like to go to a pumpkin patch this Saturday, if it's not too rainy, but we don't know where to go. Any suggestions nearby? Thanks!

New Recipe

I tried a new recipe for dinner last night. It was sooo good! It was really easy, but it looked great and tasted wonderful. My mom had given me a Kraft calendar from 2005 or so, that had a recipe and picture for each month. I found the recipe there, and couldn't resist when I saw the picture:


I had to share the recipe with you, because it's too easy and too good to keep to myself.

Hearty Turkey Sandwich

1 round loaf bread (1 lb.)
1/4 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
9 oz. shaved oven-roasted turkey breast
3/4 cup spinach leaves
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced, separated into rings, and cooked until golden brown
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, combined

Preheat oven to 400. Cut a 1/2-inch-thick slice from top of bread loaf; remove center of loaf, leaving 1-inch-thick shell. Reserve removed bread for another use.Spread inside of bread shell and cut-side of top of loaf with dressing and mustard. Fill bread shell with layers of turkey, spinach, onions, and cheese; cover with top of bread loaf. Wrap in aluminum foil. Bake 30 minutes of until cheese is melted and sandwich is heated through. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into 4 wedges with serrated knife. Serve warm.

That's it! That's all there is to it! It's pictured above with pumpernickel bread, but I used a loaf of Italian bread. Also, I don't like mustard, so instead I used 2 tbsp of Italian dressing, mixed it with the mayonnaise, and then spread the mixture on the insides of the bread. I am normally not a turkey person. I prefer ham on my sandwiches. But when I saw the picture and read the recipe, I knew I would love it, and I did. I actually didn't use the full 9 oz of turkey, because it didn't seem like it would all fit inside the loaf. However, when you put the cooked onions in on top of the spinach (and I sautéed my onions in a little bit of butter), they weigh it down enough that you can fit everything in. Overall, the onions were definitely my favorite part.

She's crafty!

Friday night was the Shaker Heights Ward Fall Freaky Friday activity. Every year we have a craft night a few months before Christmas. Actually, it's usually a Super Saturday where we're all at the church doing our thing all morning long. We couldn't do that this year due to a building conflict, so we were there until midnight or later on Friday. I only signed up for two of the projects, and I'm glad, because I got to spend my time on them, instead of only being able to do half of each of six different projects.

Here's the first one. I sanded down the board, painted it, let is dry, then pressed on two layers of acrylic lettering. The acrylic thing has become really popular in Utah in the last few years, and people make signs like this, or it can be pressed directly onto the wall, so that it looks like custom painting.


I'm not sure where exactly to put it, because the color won't work very well in our living room, which is another taupe-ish sort of color. In the picture above, it's set against the beautiful dark red walls of our dining room, but Ben and I both think it's a little weird to put a name sign like that up in...the dining room. So we're looking for a plan B.

I also made some magnets. Right now, the magnets on our fridge consist of tiny poetry pieces from Ben's bachelor apartment, miscellaneous lesson handouts from Relief Society, and Lexapro handouts from drug reps at my last job. The little magnetic poetry pieces will have to come down when MJ is big enough to get to them, and we don't really have any decent-looking magnets. Plus, these were fun to make.

So I just wanted to share.

TGIF

Good morning!

Ben and I got the house fairly well cleaned up on Wednesday night. By fairly well, I mean we sorted the laundry, washed one load, and at least moved the rest of it the the laundry room in the basement so it's out of our way. Oh, an cleaned the kitchen, living room, dining room, and bathroom, too. And I got the beans on to soak, and the vegetables chopped to put in the slow cooker the next morning. And it's a good thing, too -- that evening we got a call from the missionaries confirming the dinner appointment I had signed up for long before we ever went out of town. I had completely forgotten, and I'm not sure I ever told Ben in the first place.

So the house is more bearable. And we'll do a little more tomorrow. In the meantime, it's a good morning today because the Red Sox won last night in a key playoff game, and now they're heading back to Boston to finish out the ALCS. Josh Beckett is the man!

Not keeping up

Today has been a frustrating day, and it’s only half over by now. We were on vacation for a week, and before leaving, I only did the laundry we needed for the trip (no time to do more). We still have laundry needing to be done. Plus, we came home and each went straight back to work as soon as we got home. Ben was camping with the Boy Scouts this past weekend, and I slept a good portion of the weekend. We are still not unpacked, and I can currently hardly find my bedroom floor. It's a good thing I haven't needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night because I’d trip and fall on my face at least twice before I could even get to the door.

So I need to unpack us, sort the laundry, wash it (including sheets and towels). I need to clean the whole house, and finish unpacking buckets from moving in. I’m not sure if I’m at my point where it’s just too much that even I (the complete non-neat-freak) am completely fed up, or if I’m starting to nest. I know that “nesting” generally happens towards the end of one’s pregnancy, but I really feel compelled to clean the house. I almost didn’t come to work today because I’m just so frustrated with the house. I feel like I need to take off an entire day just to be able to get it done.

On top of that, I had wanted to make a bean stew for dinner tonight, but it gets cooked in the slow cooker, and the beans need to soak overnight before I can even put them in the crock pot. I also have to chop the carrots, celery, yellow squash, onions, and press the garlic, not to mention cut the stewed tomatoes into reasonably bite-sized pieces. I usually do all the veggies the night before and the tomatoes in the morning. I completely spaced out last night on doing the vegetables or putting the beans on to soak. And that was the second night in a row that I forgot to do that.

So basically I’m just really frustrated with myself right now. Apparently the hormones are setting in, because I had a great day yesterday, and today I’m just upset. But I get to have Boston Market soup for lunch.

Happy day, all is well

I had my first prenatal OB visit today. All the fun stuff, including bloodwork and an ultrasound. I got my first look at the baby, and got to see its heart beating. That was a little relieving. Not that I was worried or having any troublesome symptoms, but it's just kind-of there, in the back of your mind...what if things aren't working the way they're supposed to?

So here's a picture of little MJ:


Oh, I guess I should maybe explain "MJ" to you. Until I get the ultrasound at 20 weeks that tells me if I'm having a boy or a girl, the baby will be known as MJ. At that point in time, I will learn if I'm having a Matthew or a Julie. So until then, MJ it is.

Announcement

Now that I've told family and a few close friends, I guess I can let it out publicly.

I'm pregnant! Here's the proof:



Neither picture came out as good as I'd hoped, but here there are.

I'll see my doctor for the first time this week, and he'll probably tell me that my due date is May 18th. According to dates and everything, I'm nine weeks pregnant today.

Yes, I will be posting in this blog periodically updates and pictures. I'm not showing yet. I only have the weight that I'd already put on last year due to the birth control I was taking. I've had a hard time getting it to come off, but I've actually -- strangely -- lost about five pounds in the last 2-3 weeks. Here is a picture of me taken while Ben and I were dating:


I like it -- I look really skinny. Here's another one...this is Ben and I on our 1st anniversary:


Yeah, not so flattering. I've gone down about 10 pounds from that, but I'm still much bigger than I'd like to be. So the point of that was to say that other than the extra weight I've been carrying around for a year already, I've not gained any pregnancy weight yet. But I will share pictures as I do.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

This past weekend I was visiting my in-laws for a birthday and baptism celebration. In preparation for a cookout with about 40 people, Darcy (my mother-in-law) had wanted to make a nice lemon poppyseed Bundt cake. (Side note: every time I think of or see or say the words "Bundt cake" I think of that scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the Greek mom can't pronounce the word "Bundt.")

Anyway, Darcy had baked the cake, and as she turned it out of the pan, it broke! All over the countertop. She was really bummed out. We (and by we, I mean she) quickly started brainstorming what to do with it now, as she had only purchased one lemon cake mix. She decided to attempt a lemon version of "Death by Chocolate." I ended up making it. Newly dubbed "Death by Lemon," here it is:


Let's start with ingredients.
(1) Broken lemon poppyseed cake (let it cool completely first, then crumble it into pieces)
(2) Lemon Jell-o (quick-set with ice due to our time constraints).
(3) 2 packages of lemon instant pudding
(4) Whipped cream topping
(5) Crushed Lemonhead candies (or something like that)
(6) Lemon slice for garnish


Next, ordering of layers: I put a layer of Cool Whip on the bottom of the trifle bowl to begin with, to kind-of hold everything in place. Then a layer of crumbled pieces of the cake. On top of that went the Jell-o, which was a little tricky to "spread" but it worked. I mostly wanted the Jell-o for the brightness of color it would provide, but it added a lot of flavor, too. Then a layer of pudding, then Cool Whip, and repeat.

Somewhere in there you can add the crushed candies -- I did them on top of the cake before the Jell-o. I also sprinkled them on top as a garnish with the lemon slice:


As I ate the dessert, I had forgotten that the candy pieces were in there, and I was momentarily startled as I crunched down on them, until I remembered. I'm not sure what the other guests thought of them. I might not use them again in the future, except as garnish on top.

The final product...DEATH BY LEMON!!!


I thought of the many colorful possibilities that this adaptation provides, and could be used for different holidays. If you look carefully, you can find lime cake mix, and you could do a Death by Lime (for St. Patrick's Day?). I don't know that you could find a mix, but strawberry cake isn't all that difficult to make -- and wouldn't this be pretty for Valentine's day in red and pink?

Busy busy

I was out of town all weekend visiting with Ben's family. His younger brother Eli was turning eight years old, so we went for his baptism, and to spend the weekend. It was a lot of fun. I'll have a few pictures that I'll try to get up tonight.

Meanwhile, I'm busy doing laundry and packing for my trip to California. I leave on Thursday (yes, the day after tomorrow) and come back home the following Wednesday (a week form tomorrow). I'm going out there to attend the wedding of Ben's oldest brother Shawn, as well as visiting family and attending Lenny's funeral. I'll be busy. I intend to take lots of pictures to share.

But don't be surprised if I'm quiet for awhile.

Would a Heloise by any other name smell as sweet?

I've been reminded by my mom that Mother Haldeman's name was Myrtle. Appropriate, I think, for someone born around the turn of the 20th century.

In Loving Memory

I have been blessed in my life to have known most of my great-grandparents, and even one great-great-grandmother. And not just at an age of a few months to a year. I remember them all vividly. I would like to share some memories of them here.

First, on my mom's side, there was Bobbo (get used to funny-sounding names). She's the one on the right:

Bobbo was my mother's mother's mother. Her real name was Beatrice Bunch Olden. She only lived in two houses her entire life: her father's house growing up, and her husband's house until the day she died. I was there when she did. I was eight years old. I remember her vividly. She could never say my sister's name right. "Candice" always came out "Canada," "Kansas," or something in between. I used to help her put on her stockings and shoes in the morning. She was a truly great lady. She died at the age of 94, after a long decline.

Another photo of Bobbo:

This is a four-generation photo: Bobbo, me (just barely a year old), Gra'ma (Mom's mom), and Mom.

Next comes Bobo (not to be confused with Bobbo). Bobo is pronounced just like Bobo the Clown. She's on the far left holding me (just over two years old), making the funny face:

Bobo was my father's mother's mother. Her name was Louise Leverton. She was a firecracker. She smoked two packs a day for who knows how many years, had a heart attack, and kept on smoking. I remember something that my dad said to/about her once -- it was either at Candice's or Clayton's baby blessing. He wanted to make sure that she knew that he always listened to and carefully considered the advice that she gave him (which was apparently ample), though he didn't always follow it. Bobo would often babysit me when my parents would go away for a weekend together. She stayed with me when they took their week-long vacation to Hawaii in 1987. She died of a brain tumor in January 1997.

Moving on to my great-great-grandmother, Mother Haldeman:

This is her holding me the day before my first birthday. While I do remember Mother Haldeman (MH), the images are vague. I don't know her real name. I know that she was my father's father's mother's husband's mother. (My dad's dad's mom was married to her first husband briefly -- I don't know if they were divorced, or if he died or what, but her second husband, to whom she was married for many many decades, is not a blood relative, although that in no way diminshes any of the relationships built). I don't know how old MH was when she died, but on the back of this photo, my mom wrote "MH with Janelle at birthday party, 80 years old." I think I was in 1st grade when she passed. Two things that I have left from her: a fabric doll made of blue and white gingham that she made, appropriately named "Baby Blue-and-White;" and an afghan that she knitted in pink, red, and white.

Finally, Lenny and Dodo (pronounced like the dodo bird):

This was taken the same day as the above picture. Lenny (Leonard Haldeman) was MH's son. Dodo (Rhea Haldeman) was my father's father's mother. She died a few years ago after a long battle with Alzheimer's. I was looking at a picture of myself the other day (I think it was my Maine driver's license), and I realized that it looked a little like some of Dodo's pictures. She had the round shaped upper cheeks that formed defined circles on either side when she smiled for pictures. I have that same characteristic in my driver's license photo. Lenny was a WWII vet. He was in Japan. He was also an avid golfer. He used to get up at 5:00 every morning, Monday through Friday, and go play 18 holes before breakfast. He had three plaques or certificates up on his wall that I remember, acknowledging his holes-in-one. Earlier this year, Lenny began to go into kidney failure. He was put on dialysis three times a week, and my Aunt Kim (bless her heart) became his primary caregiver, as she had for both Bobo and Dodo as they declined. On Sunday, while she was not at the hospital, Lenny was declared brain dead, and was resuscitated while the doctors waited for family to arrive. He died this morning.

Gone is a great era in my family. Two years ago I lost my first grandparent, though I expect that the others will be around for a few years still. I am 26 years old. I have been so blessed in my life to have a relationship with each of these wonderful people.

Rest in peace, Lenny. Your spirit is free from the pains and malfunctions of your imperfect body, and you are again reunited with your Love.

I love you all so much.

The Makings of a Housewife

My dad came to visit last night. Yay! It was great to have him here. He got the full tour of the house, plus he got to see a little bit of Shaker Heights when I sent him and Benjamin to the store for eggs and stewed tomatoes.

Mom sent a bunch of stuff with him for me -- a volume of my scrapbook that she still had, a few old afghans made by various relatives, as well as a rather large and cumbersome item:

What, oh what could it be??


It's....


A sewing machine!! Yay!!! Okay, so I knew that Mom was sending this to me. She told me a month or so ago that someone in her ward was getting rid of it (for some reason unrelated to the functionality of the machine -- it apparently works fine), and so Mom had it cleaned and oiled (thanks Karla!!) and sent it to me with Dad. Dad carried it with great trepidation and more than a little unease, hoping that it would make it to me in once piece. Fortunately, it did. Mom packed the afghans around it, and the machine somehow survived the sketchy service known as airport baggage handling.

Now, if only I could figure out how to use it...

Good thing it came with a manual!


(Okay, I'm not THAT bad...I know the basics. I just need to figure out the buttons and knobs on this particular model, as it's different from my mom's, my mother-in-law's, and probably from those I used in my 7th grade sewing class, which I don't remember anyway!)

Waiting...

I had a job interview yesterday. It's for a student services secretary position at the high school in the school district I've been temping in for the past month. I interviewed with three people, and I've already worked somewhat closely with one of them, and I know that he would really like to see me in the position, but I'm still waiting. Hopefully I'll find out tomorrow. They're narrowing it down to two choices, which they will present to the superintendent. He will then either interview those two, or just pick one based on the recommendations.

On a different waiting note, my dad is coming to visit tomorrow. Yay!! He has business in Cleveland that he has to travel for every now and then. This is his first trip out here since our move. I'm excited for him to come.

Funky Chicken

Okay, so I know this really isn't very appetizing, but I find humor in the kitchen, so I had to share. I made barbecue chicken calzones last night, and one of my chicken breasts had a hole in it!

I swear I didn't put it there myself. Kinda weird, huh?

As I pulled back the flap over it with the tongs, I found even more hole! Holy cow! Er, uh, chicken, I guess...

Sundry-isms

For as long and slow as each day this week has been, the week itself has actually gone by pretty quickly, which is strange.

Ben will be gone this weekend from early Saturday morning to sometime Sunday evening at a Boy Scout campout (which he is really excited about), so I’ll be by myself. I’m going to have a small Girl’s Night at my house on Saturday. I think it should be fun.

I have plain white (very plain) cupboards in my kitchen, and they’re kind-of boring and very sterile-looking. My mother-in-law suggested I paint something on it to liven things up a little. I thought, “That’s great, but what? I’m not artistic.” I was at Joann’s the other day (we have a Joann’s superstore here – it’s huge) and I found a couple of really cute stencils, so I picked them up with a small bottle of black acrylic paint. I tried to find a red that would match the stuff I have, and that wouldn’t clash with the dark red in my dining room, but couldn’t fund one. Then it occurred to me that I have a can of red paint in the basement leftover from the dining room (courtesy of the previous owners of my house). So I’ve got to make a design plan and then start painting my cupboards. Should be fun.

My dad’s coming to visit next week! I’m really excited. He has to travel to Cleveland from time to time on business, and this is the first time he’s coming since Ben and I moved out here. So he’ll get to see my house, and I get to make dinner for him. I’m excited.

I started this blog with great intentions, but I unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) don’t have a very exciting life at the moment, so I don’t find myself having a lot to write about. I’ll keep at it though. what I find myself wanting to write about most is cooking, but it’s probably boring to most people.

More when I think of it.

Chicken, Hominy, and Cilantro Chili

I made a fabulous meal last night. It was quite possibly the tastiest meal I have ever made in my life. It also took longer than any other meal I've ever made. Never having de-boned cooked chicken before, I was in for a surprise with the 12 thighs I had to pull apart.

I won't post the recipe here, as it is from the Williams-Sonoma Chicken cookbook, and is copyrighted, but if you want it, you can email me. Here's a picture of what it is 'supposed' to look like:

So I actually started taking pictures with these two. I thought it looked like a Mexican fiesta in my stock pot. (The Mexican flag is red, white, and green, and everything they decorate with is also those colors). Peppers, onions, and jalapeños...yummm!



I've cooked with wine before. Only white wine. It adds nice flavor, and everything I've put it in so far cooks for long enough that I don't worry about the alcohol content. This recipe, however, called for a cup of lager beer. If it had been a tablespoon, I wouldn't have worried about it -- I'd've just left it out. Ben was adamant that I not add beer to the recipe, regardless of how long it cooked. (When he was in high school, he was a foreign exchange student in Germany for a few months, where he had a taste of non-alcoholic beer. It apparently left an impression on him, and not a good one). I knew I couldn't just substitute water, because that would change the flavor, with the amount it was calling for. So I got online (Mom wasn't home, so I couldn't ask her). I found a great chart with all sorts of alcohol cooking substitutions. So I decided to try ginger ale.


Like I said, the flavor of the chili was great. Unfortunately, ginger ale doesn't have the same fermenting properties that beer has, which would help the cornmeal thicken up (because of the yeast in the beer). But there was so much other stuff in the chili that it was plenty thick.


How does my final product compare to the original photo? It was pretty darn good. I really am disappointed that it was so time-consuming and tedious to make. It's so good. I told Ben that it will be a special occasion meal -- birthdays, etc.