Baby brain

Okay, so I admit it -- my memory sucks; occasionally. Okay, a lot. I have baby brain...or at least that's what I blame it on. But Adrien's been sleeping through the night now for quite a few months. So can I honestly still use that as an excuse. Of course I can!

This morning around 10:15ish I decided it was high time to make my way to the store for baby wipes. I had -- amazingly enough -- made it through the morning without Adrien pooping. That was a good thing since we were out of wipes. I had them all rationed out until pay day -- 3 wipes for one poop per day, and we'd use wash cloths and lots of powder otherwise for any wets that may occur. My 3 wipe a day rationing system was completely debunked when he pooped three times yesterday. Three times. Must be all the beans; we've eaten them at nearly every meal (save breakfast) since I cooked them the other day. Waste not, want not. So, needless to say, at 10am after breakfast and snack time were both settled, I bolted at my moment to make it to the store and back before his bowel movement came and I was forced to use wet paper towels.

Wet paper towels chafe.

I plunked Adrien and Monkey in the car seat, got my keys, pulled my sunglasses down, backed up; and here came Aunt Shirley. She haphazardly waved me down as I was backing out of my garage and had sort of a puzzled look on her face. I had a puzzled look on my face too, I'm sure. My memory jolted back to my conversation with her a few days ago ("So is 10:30 Friday okay?") and I looked at the clock -- 10:16. I rolled down the window, smiled, and said, "Ohmigoodness! I thought I could go to the store and get back before you got here. Look at you, you're early!" So I told her to jump in. We were, after all, racing against the bowels of a 16 month old.

The truth? I'd forgotten about Aunt Shirley. The horror.

Aunt Shirley is not an aunt at all...rather Andi's second cousin, I believe. But the day went on as planned, and Shirley even joined Adrien and I for lunch with Andi and two of his co-workers at Fuddrucker's. Adrien still hasn't pooped.

I can't believe I forgot. Oh yes I can -- I've got baby brain, remember?

And so there's not much else going on. Andi gets off early today, and it is a three day weekend. Then we get vacation the week after next (I can't wait!). I've got some great ideas for my new blog. I think I'll jump start it with some good ol' fashioned camp-fire cuisine. Maybe with some survival food thrown in (New Survivorman tonight!). Since we're heading out to Arkansas for vacation soon, I figure I can safely go that route. It'll give me ample time for research and then I can emerge from the wilderness with pictures and tales of campfire creations galore. Yum, yum. I can hardly wait! I really do need to secure my URL for it. Something good. Something hearty.

I will update with the link to the site. [Now updated] Visit The Curious Culinarian.

Currently accepting applications for co-contributors! Email me and let me know! Bryanyd@hotmail.com

Meet Monkey

Ohmigoodness! Who would have thought that spinning in circles could be so entertaining? I've just taught Adrien to play Ring Around the Rosie. And although he doesn't quite grasp the concept of "we all fall down," He's got the ringing down perfectly. Besides, after he plays for long enough he falls down anyway. I taught him to play it with Monkey.

Have I not introduced Monkey yet? Well, how rude of me. Monkey is a stuffed animal (Ty) with silky soft fur. A friend of mine gave it to me in high school. I have no use for it, and subsequently found it stashed away in a close a few weeks ago. I thought Adrien would get more use out of it than me. Monkey was lying on the floor in Adrien's play room (with every other toy he owns). About a week ago, Adrien stumbled off into his play room alone...only to return about 10 minutes later clutching Monkey. He must have carried Monkey around for about 30 minutes or so, all the while stroking his head. He hasn't let go for long since. Adrien tries to feed Monkey and becomes quite upset when he pushes the Cheerio into Monkey's mouth only to have it fall to the ground. Many a night have been spent trying to get Adrien to calm down after he gets frustrated that Monkey cannot take (or hold) his binky.

So today, it was only fitting that after I'd tired from spinning round and round I wanted to include Monkey in the fun. I did it once to show Adrien, and from there on, Adrien went to spinning round and round, Monkey's two little paws in Adrien's. He just giggles up a storm...shrieking with delight.

I hope Monkey doesn't get motion sickness.

Hmmm, anyhow -- after Adrien and I went for a stroll through the neighborhood this morning (with Monkey, of course) we came in and I made pinto and cheese quesadillas from some of the leftover beans. They were so good! Adrien really enjoyed the little bowl of sour cream I gave him to dip the quesadillas in...in fact, I'm betting that it was his favorite part. He's one of those "dip and suck" kids. He uses the food as a mere vessel for whatever condiment I've got in front of him. Oddly enough, I think his favorite vessel/condiment pair up is green beans and ketchup. Ugh. Only a kid, I know.

Speaking of beans, dinner turned out great. I wish I could have made the beans a bit more spicy, but I always make things more bland nowadays because I don't want to burn Adrien's little palette. He really loves spicy food though -- I should be more adventurous with him. But [lack of] spiciness aside, dinner was awesome! I made some fry bread and some corn bread. I realized just after I'd plopped the batter into the muffin pan, that I'd forgotten to mix any sugar in to the corn bread batter. It was still good, although not quite as sweet as usual. The fry bread was decent, but it was different than my Mom's. Due to time constraints and lack of ingredients (according the Navajo recipe, you need powdered milk?) I made the Chickasaw version. It was tasty, but the texture was a bit off of what I'm used to. Want some quick fry bread? Most times my Mom buys frozen yeast rolls, thaws them and let's them rest before shaping and frying. I topped my bowl of beans off with some Woody's Smokehouse Five Amigos Fire Roasted Pepper Salsa. So good. My camera batteries need charging and I can't find the charger, so as soon as I do, I'll try to set up a picture [Which you can see I've taken care of].


Speaking of food, I had an idea for a blog...yes another. Since I'm food-obsessed, and really into the obscure histories of various artifacts, I was thinking earlier about a blog dedicated to showcasing different types of foods and its respective origin and history. For instance, I would showcase Southwestern and Native American foods for a few weeks. I would (to the joy of my husband, I'm sure) cook those respective foods and endeavor into new culinary territory, all the while blogging my way through it. Each dish would have some back ground info and of course, a great recipe -- with my own personal touch, of course. It would also be great to have some fellow contributors, so if you're interested, please let me know.

So I guess I'm off to make some coffee. I really do need to clean the kitchen -- yet again -- but I don't feel like it. I hope the next two and half hours fly by -- then Andi can get off work and come home.

Tah!

Meager Meals

So I'm feeling slightly better today...sans enormous headache [insert minor one]. Thanks to everyone for your nice commenting. I know I really should see a doctor, but it's such a hassle and I've already got so many bills. I would go to see my internist, but (however great of a doc she may be) she intimidates me. I feel like she ridicules everything I say -- but for the best. I mean, she's just one of those people with a strong presence...and I tend to cower in that presence. As for my OB, well we know the story with him. He's a great doctor as well, but he's overworked...so I'm sure my suspicion of some rare illness is nothing he feels like investigating. I'm tempted to go to Adrien's doctor. She's an osteopathic family doctor, and we think on the same wavelength. She prefers homeopathy to prescriptions any day and highly recommends not immunizing. She will, however, write prescriptions when it is warranted. I would like to report that since seeing her (starting when Adrien was 9 months old) he's only had one ear infection that cleared up without antibiotics...of course that's not counting the ear infection that prompted me to switch from his original pediatrician in the first place (long story). Prior to seeing her, he'd had 6 ear infections in his short little life. Anyway, I would LOVE to switch to her, however I hate the whole process of going to a new doctor. And even though I'm familiar with her (and I'm sure she'd remember me because of Adrien), I hate the whole filling out medical history, blah blah blah part. I hate it.

Oh yum, we're having pinto beans and corn bread for dinner tonight. I can't wait. I've just started the beans soaking. I love this meal. Meager meals make me happy. A few months back (maybe 2 months) when we visited Andi's Mom, she cooked up some beans she'd purchased from a road-side stand. They were fresh and wonderful. She made corn bread and we feasted on cucumbers in vinegar, fried green tomatoes, and toasted squash. It was amazing. I love those little pulled together meals. Maybe I will make fry bread...I love it. My Mom grew up in the Southwest, so we always had {Navajo} fry bread with beans. I have no vinegar at the moment, or I'd make some pickled onions. But I'll probably just stick to sweet corn bread because my husband loves it...but maybe I will sneak in some fry bread for me. My Mom always made the bread with yeast though. It lends it a slightly chewier consistency. But ya, I find those little meals just dreamy. It always makes me feel as if I'm living on a farm somewhere and just surviving off the land.

Speaking of surviving -- I've become addicted to Survivorman (thanks, Kelly!). Really, I think it's awesome. Some of the situations he comes out of are just crazy! And I know it's a controlled crazy (he's got a back-up rescue team), but it's still astounding nonetheless.

And randomly, the two phrases typed into search engines that bring the most traffic to my blog are:

"red dots on top of mouth and throat"
and, get this:
"allergic to curly fries"

The first one, I get. I have a whole blog about my rash/mouth sore incident. But allergic to curly fries? That one cracks me up. My husband put me on Google Analytics so I can see who/what/where is viewing my blog. I see you, Kansas. Speak up! Leave a comment, dude.

In other blogging gaga, I stumbled upon this blog. Would You Please Date My Friend is a strange, but funny (although possibly offensive to uber-femmes) chronicle at a dating experiment. Seriously, It's like a soap opera/blind date show for the bloghopper. So enjoy!

Other than that, I don't know if I have much to blog about. Boring, I know...but so goes life. Oh -- one last thing. I was thinking earlier, and I believe I had an epiphany of sorts. I don't believe I've done anything to grow further as a person or spiritually in the couple of years. I really don't. That's sort of sad.

Hypochondriac V.1.2 beta

I'm absolutely sure I'm imagining all of this.

I'm absolutely sure I'm sick -- in one way or another.

I'm absolutely sure that I feel like I'm dying right now (of course, those wackos could argue that we've been dying since we were born)...

However, I am absolutely sure that I am merely being a hypochondriac. Or am I?

I constantly feel sick. I constantly have horrible fatigue. No matter how much I sleep, I always need more. My head feels like it's going to explode. My stomach is always upset. I'll go a few weeks feeling decent; I'll go a few weeks feeling like crap. It's a vicious cycle. I feel like my body is so polluted from everything -- the food I eat, the things I drink, all the caffeine I ingest.

My muscles feel like rocks; my head like a grenade with the pin pulled -- waiting to explode. My vision got all blurry for a little while off and on at the play date today. I think my body is trying to tell me something.

Remember a while back when I had the rash/mouth sore outbreak? That was just before I found out I was miscarrying...actually it was probably the event that triggered it. I looked up my symptoms (current and recurring) online and all signs pointed to lupus (possibly). My grandmother's (maternally) sister's daughter had it, so I know that it's a possibility that it's inherited. But when I asked my OB about testing for it (maybe as a possible cause of the miscarriage), he passed it off as "hard to diagnose with tests" (which it is, but) and not likely; what he really meant was that I'm loony or that he doesn't have time or energy to put into it. And I most likely do sound loony.

But something is wrong. I just know it. I hate going to the doctors because I feel like they're always questioning you anyway -- are these real symptoms or imagined?

So for now, I've almost developed a phobia of putting anything into or onto my body. I feel as if that will only further pollute me. I tried to eat earlier -- it's not working. Nothing tastes good. Nothing sounds good.

Nothing is good.

The next Jane Goodall

Am I callous? According to a recent rash of comments, quite possibly. But if you're my friend, chances are that's why you love me so. I would not be me if it weren't for my dry sense of humor and quick wit. My tongue can be sharp sometimes, as well...however I call it as I see it.

Remember Mommy Group 101? If not, let's review.

Now then...It has been brought to my attention that this person I was speaking of previously really is trying to take over things. There was a brief moment in time when I thought -- oh gee, maybe I'm wrong -- but now it's been made blatant that I was not. Maybe it's my astounding clairvoyant abilities, or maybe it's just my pessimistic attitude seeking out the worst in people. Either way, I was correct in my presumption that this person would want to be center of all things play-group oriented.

Quick to offer help in any situation, this specific person is starting to drive the organizer and me a bit batty. Her help is now starting to come off as a passive-aggressive path to power in our play group. She constantly compares the organizer and me to her previous play group in San Diego. She is constantly suggesting things that might make our job a little easier.

The straw that breaks the camel's back -- or so I hear -- was the pot luck play date today. I did not attend, however I do hear that she made quite the spectacle of herself by ensuring everyone knew she was the first there (to help the hostess set up, of course) and that she was the one helping to pick up. That was just the straw that broke the camel's back...but then there's the icing on the cake. The perpetual icing is a tiny event that may not stand out in anyone else's mind -- but it is etched into my temporal lobe permanently. We have children's birthdays posted on our group's calendar. The other day was a child's birthday -- a child that (to my recollection) I have never met. That means that the birthday was posted a while back, but the mother has since become inactive in the group...we just never erased the birthday from the message board. In any case, the power hungry mommy I'm blogging about posted a "Happy Birthday E----!" with a little Pooh E-Card. I mean, great gesture...but really (in mommy group speak) this is saying to everyone that the organizers are not thoughtful enough to do it, so she is doing it.

Do you see where this is going?

Mommy groups have a language of their own. If one mom suggests an idea to the organizer, what they're really saying is , "It's cute that you're trying, but this is the correct way." It's like a warning to us that they do not approve of (nor appreciate) the job we're doing. Now when a mommy starts to spam the organizers via email with "ideas", that's when (as an organizer) you have to start to worry. Whereas one suggestion may be a friendly warning, multiple suggestions may be a passive aggressive attempt to set up a play-group overthrow. What you may have brewing is a coup d'etat.

Just like the last Russian Czars and Czarinas, you do not want to find yourself being taken out to a field, executed, and buried by your Mommy group members. Not to mention all the care the Bolsheviks did to get rid of the bodies via acid and bone grinding. NO! As an organizer you do not want this to happen.

So what does an organizer of a volatile mommy group do in this situation? Do you just ignore the pathetic attempts of someone with too much time to pass? Do you ignore it? Do you confront the situation head on? Well, the last person who tried to dethrone our mighty play group figure-head was booted out so quickly she didn't know what hit her -- literally. She still doesn't understand why she was kicked out. Sad, really. And in the end, it's all working itself out. She wanted power -- she got; she started her own play group. Now she can have all the power she wants.

So what's the point of this melodramatic post? To show the intricacies of the relationship between Mother and Mother; Organizer and Mommy group member. Really -- It's got to be the worst thing since women first started to meet in social circles. Mommy groups are a perfect microcosm for political modeling. It goes in tides, and just as it is said that all great things must come to an end, I wonder what the eventual end of our group will be? Will it be like the fall of Rome? Or will it be more like Russia and the last Czars and Czarinas? Will it be more of a gradual disintegration or violent take over?

Who knows -- who cares?

If nothing else, being a part of this group has definitely given me a chance to do some real study in human behavior. I feel like Jane Goodall at times -- watching the chimps and how they act. Becoming a fixture in their world in order to study behavior; only to be accused of becoming too emotionally attached later.

Maybe I will be the one who cares after all.

Salutations

Hello, Ralph.

Welcome to my blog.

I'm glad you created a piece of artwork that resembles my tum.

Everyone look! It's awesome ceramics and textiles.

I took textile classes in college (a whole shit load) and wasn't interested enough to make my own. I can barely knit one, perl two...let alone have an entire collection of textiles. So, here's to you, no profile Ralph! Ode to textiles.

Nothing Exciting

Nothing really exciting going on here. I haven't done much the past few days. There was a "family night" that turned out to be "two family night" yesterday evening. We had originally planned to go Joe's Crabshack, since they were supposedly offering 99 cent kid's meals on Tuesday nights. Also, their playground is great and it's a fun atmosphere. Anyway, the organizer called to see if we'd need a reservation for -- what was supposed to be -- approximately 24 adults plus at least 12 kids. She also asked about the 99 cent meals. Guess what? They are no more. They stopped them in July but informed no one, apparently. When asked what the manager could do to accomodate us since we had such a large group expecting the 99 cent meals, he replied with a "What do you want me to do?" attitude. Needless to say, since the guy was such an ass, we decided to change our plans rather last minute. Well, 3 hours before the event. That should be enough time, right? An email was even sent out. We figured Chik-Fil-A would be the next best thing because they actually have free kid's meals on Tuesday nights plus a craft and play area. Three hours later, the event had dropped to only a few "yes" RSVPs, and only two of us showed up -- the organizer and I. Well, someone else went, but they did so blindly without checking the site first...or their email. She had gone to Joe's anyway and reserved a table for 20 people..and sat there...and sat there...and finally ate...and left. Then she returned home and posted a thread on our playgroup's message board entitled "So Joe Blows" or some such nonsense. She said something about not realizing she needed to check the board 20 minutes before leaving for last minute changes. Well, guess what, we're sorry! We really tried to do what was best for our group. I guess you can not make everyone happy. I understand her frustration...but really. Don't inform the entire group that we suck at organizing and ruined your evening. Tell us that directly -- please?

Speaking of understanding other's unhappiness, I think I may have rained on my husband's parade this morning...when I said I didn't feel like having sex with him. I mean, he really had a sad look on his face haha. I'm sorry, honey, but you can't expect to wake me up from a dead sleep and expect me to wanna go right at it when I haven't had any coffee...not to mention the fact that I know it's going to be a quickie because you're actually supposed to be leaving for work in ten minutes! I know that the frumpy night shirt I'm wearing may not bother you, but it really does nothing for me...and neither do either of our morning breaths. So, yes, sweetie -- I know you like morning sex...but start the touchy-feely in the p.m. and you might get better results. I understand your pain, I really do; Understand my need for caffeine and lingerie.

Adrien and I have been playing outside in the back yard quite a bit the last few days. He plays with the water hose, stomps through his baby pool, and eats dirt while I sunbathe.

I wonder if that small, low-flying plane overhead can tell that I'm topless...

Andi and I are trying to get together our plans for his upcoming vacation. I think we've decided on heading out do some camping in Arkansas. I can't wait. We've never gone camping together before. We're planning on doing some hiking, kayaking, site-seeing, and general touristy things. I can't wait to get to cook over the camp fire. I'm already planning out my campfire cuisine. Yum.

Making bitchy headlines of the year is -- drumroll! -- my sister in law; AGAIN! Imagine that. She changed her myspace name from "I'M PREGNANT" to "Pray for a healthy baby!" What a bimbo. She is either, 1) dumb enough not to realize this might bother my husband and I, or 2) she realizes it and doesn't care, or 3) She did it just to rub it in my face that she's having a healthy child and can shoot kids out of her vagina like popcorn from a movie theater. I dunno, in any event, Andi finally allowed me to message her and ask to her to please change her name. I think I was nice enough in the message. I even said please. I'm about 5 seconds from hitting "delete from friends" because I see that she's logged on today -- she even went as far as to send out a few of those stupid chain bulletins -- but her name remains the same...and she didn't even reply to me to inform me she would be keeping her thoughtless display name.

Well I'm off to forage for some food in my barren kitchen. Then maybe some solo sunbathing. Cha Cha Cha.