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Hot for Spring - by newhaydens on Polyvore.com

Holy Heavens Can I Maybe Brush my Teeth Today?

What a long morning!

So, I've been slowly trying to get back into the groove of working from home again, which can be, ahem, challenging with a colicky baby. I woke up late this morning at 9:00 because I was trying to catch up from a very sleepless night last night (Matt was gone overnight because of this insurance training thing, I can't sleep without him, and apparently neither can Natalie). As soon as I get up Matt texts me to throw together a client invoice. Okay, easy peasy, as soon as I take the dog out to potty, go outside to find her because she ran off again and isn't coming when I call her (meanwhile nursing Natalie), then clean up the "present" Tink left in the bedroom dangerously close to my favorite shoes. Finish the invoice, text Matt, "Done.", he texts back, "K Dan's on his way to pick it up." Dan's one of our employees. On his way? He lives 15 minutes away, maybe I should put on a shirt and, if I'm lucky, a bra. Success! My top half is dressed by the time he arrives (yoga pants are sort of like being dressed...even if I slept in them...right?). I give him the invoice, he tells me Matt said he could pick up his paycheck. Oy, he didn't tell me! Dan's been with us four days, I don't have his W-4 yet, I don't know his withholding rate, I don't know what Matt agreed to pay him, man I don't even know his last name! I print the W-4 for him, throw in a load of laundry while he fills it out, roughly estimate his withholding and scribble out a check. Meanwhile Natalie is oh mama so STARVING! Please feed me now right now aaaaaaaa!!!!! Okay, Dan's figured out and he leaves, I feed my girl, and think, "Lord this payroll thing is something I could do without and that payroll service I talked to before wasn't that expensive." So, baby still latched on, I email my rep that I want to do the month trial. I go dress Natalie, think maybe I'll take a speed shower while waiting for the response email, but Tink has to potty again. I take her out, mother in law calls, says they're coming to stay with us next weekend, Tink wanders off again and I have to go collect her. Phone rings, it's Matt, he says he's sooo tired. We commiserate for a sec, as soon as we hang up my payroll rep calls (I was really banking on doing this via email...), I go back to the computer to fill out forms she's leading me through, Natalie wakes up and explosively poos through her outfit (and my pants), starts wailing, I rush through the last of the forms, rep says she can do the next section for me if I dictate, I change a megapoo while dictating the easy part, grab my diapered but otherwise naked baby and dig out my business checking info, federal EIN, etc. to give to the rep. Finish up, dress Natalie again, Matt calls and ask how much we should pay Dan for driving his own truck to work. Uh, people have to drive to work for free. Sorry. We're paying him well and we're giving him health benefits soon. Matt says well he already told him we'd give him some compensation. "What? No. Just buy the guys lunches when our projects are a long drive."
"Well I already buy them lunch every day."
"What? Baby, that's unnecessary. We're going to go broke being nice bosses."
"Well we need an employee handbook with all our policies."
"Yes, definitely."
"Can you do that today?"
"I'll work on it."

I take a look at my massive to do list that doesn't include any of this, and think screw it I'm going to blog about this (typing while nursing, of course)! So... she's awake again and is sick of sitting here in the office. My teeth are still unbrushed and I should probably eat before the sky falls again. ;-)

Natalie's Birth Story

Our little Natalie has arrived! It was a fantastic experience and one I'd like to share. Here's the story of our baby girl's birth:

Monday evening, Matt had been home from work for about 20 minutes when I suddenly felt a little rush of liquid, then another, and another. I walked into the living room, where Matt was lying on the couch, and told him, "Either my water broke, or I just wet my pants three times in five minutes." He looked utterly dumbfounded for a second, then broke into a huge grin and said, "You didn't pee your pants! We're going to have a baby!" We had invited over our childbirth class to barbecue, and they were set to arrive in an hour. Matt handed me my phone and told me to call everyone and cancel. I decided since I was having no contractions at all I'd actually love the distraction, the company of the great people in our class, and the food. :-) I was a distracted mess the whole time, of course, but we had a great night. My childbirth instructor and her sweet year and a half old daughter helped me make a batch of chocolate chip cookies and it made me so excited to have a little girl of my own!

The next morning I woke up and called my midwife to give her a heads up. She told me I should have called her as soon as it happened. I could hear in her voice she was irritated. Apparently if you haven't gone into active labor within 24 hours of your water breaking it's a huge infection risk and they're required to induce labor. For some reason I thought I had 48 hours. Shoot. So the midwife told me to cook some castor oil into eggs and eat it to try to kick-start things. Ugh. This was the worst part of the experience! Eating it wasn't so bad, but the stomach upset it caused was awful! We spent the day trying everything I could to get the labor going. No dice. The midwife told me there was nothing else we could do and I'd have to transfer to the hospital and induce labor with pitocin. I was so angry and discouraged! I wanted so badly to give birth with no interventions whatsoever, and was concerned that with pitocin I'd fall into the "cascade of interventions". My mom's water had broken for almost two days before her labor started - why couldn't I have the same luxury of time? Our local hospital has a 65% C section rate, and I just simply would not go there. The midwife coordinated a transfer to the Group Health hospital in Seattle that has a midwife that would be noninvasive and respectful. Thank God! She was fantastic.

We checked into the hospital, then they started my pitocin IV at 12:20 am. Our nurse was wonderful and attentive, but let me do my own thing and respected my choices. Our hospital midwife arrived and actually READ my birth plan carefully and discussed it with me. I could tell right away she'd do everything she could to help me. My mom, Dani (my best friend/certified doula), and Matt were there to support me.

Dani in all her awesome doula-ness, and me in my birth necklace my friends made me at my Blessingway.

I'd barely slept the night before because of the excitement of my water breaking, and had such a long frustrating day that they suggested I rest while waiting for the pitocin to kick in. I gladly grabbed the opportunity! After a couple hours I could feel it taking effect. My mom rubbed my legs while Matt and Dani slept, preparing for what we expected would be a long night. It was so wonderful to wake up to my mom, still lovingly doting on me after 25 years. At about 3:30am my labor began in earnest, and everyone woke up and started helping me through the contractions. I sat on the birth ball, walked the halls, tried laboring on my side, then they asked me if I wanted to sit in the jacuzzi. You're not supposed to get in the tub until you're about 6 cm, but they assured me I was ready. I was thrilled by the idea that I was already at that point! I had asked to only have my dilation checked when I wanted to push, so I had no idea what phase I was at. The jacuzzi was wonderful, and I entered into transition while in there, which had sounded so intense when we'd learned about it in class that Matt and I didn't believe the nurse when she said I was in it! She asked a few times if I felt "pushy" yet. I didn't but when she had me get out of the tub suddenly I had the infamous urge to poo feeling, and so second stage had begun!

Just getting back from walking the halls. One of the more intense moments, but Matt was an amazing support.

The midwife came and checked me for the first and only time- only 7 cm? I was surprised because now I had the irresistible urge to push and couldn't fight it. She told me to go with it. I kept asking, "Are you sure it's okay to push?" She said it was, so I did! I was convinced I'd fall off the hospital bed if I did hands and knees or squatting position up there, so they laid out a mattress for me on the floor, and that's where I gave birth to Natalie, in "classic position" (leaning back slightly, knees bent), stark naked on the floor. Didn't seem odd to me at the time. :-) They set up a mirror for me so I could see her being born. At first I was too focused on pushing, but suddenly I looked down and realized, "Holy heavens my daughter's head is coming out of my body! There's really a baby and I'm giving birth to it oh my God!"Until this point I still had a strange subconscious feeling of disbelief about there actually being a baby. If you watch the birth video carefully you can spot this moment. :-) In less than an hour Natalie was born!

Her cord was only 12 inches long, so they had to cut it before it was done pulsating. Natalie looked "stunned", so when they put her on my chest they rubbed the vernix off vigorously to get her to cry. Finally she let out a good scream! No one had said, "It's a girl!" because we had an ultrasound so everyone knew it'd be a girl, but I still had to ask, "Is it really a girl?" I guess the Hollywood image of birth was in my mind - someone has to shout the baby's sex! ;-)

She was born at 7:34 am, which was convenient because breakfast magically appeared at 8:00am. ;-) Matt fed me honeydew melon and pancakes soaked in butter and maple syrup while I nursed and snuggled our sweet new baby girl. Pancakes have never tasted so good! It was the most enchanted breakfast I've ever experienced.

No episiotomy or tears, no medication other than the required pitocin, no screaming, no "I can't do it" moments. It was a phenomenal birth and I feel so blessed with how it all worked out and all the wonderful support I had. It was all so beautiful!

We did it!!!
Our precious girl, still covered in vernix. Such a proud daddy!
And an ecstatically proud grandma!

Where the heck have I been?

See how mysterious and elusive I've been? ;-)

Okay, I'm back! All of you probably know this already, but I'm now nine months pregnant (Only 4 weeks to go! Yes, there are 10 months in pregnancy. Why in the world does everyone talk about nine months?)! I've been pretty busy working part time at the Restoration Hardware outlet (but I left them last month), continuing to run the business, and, well, napping and eating nonstop. ;-) Now that I'm back to running the business from home again, I have lots of important things to work on, which means I'm spending lots of time procrastinating and goofing off! So... the blog will be updated on a regular basis again. At least until my little one gets here. Then I'm sure the blog will become babytastic once I get the hang of nursing while typing.

Great Site for Guy Gifts

Matt's birthday is coming up (and Christmas behind it...), and I don't know about you guys but my husband is the most impossible person to shop for! The only things he ever mentions wanting are outlandishly expensive (such as welding equipment, a helicopter, boat, Lamborghini, and heavy machinery for our business... oh gosh babe I'll have to save up for a while!). So I have been watching him like a hawk for gift ideas (and making notes), but today I stumbled upon this blog all about great gift ideas for guys, and they have some really creative ideas. Thought I'd pass the link on in case anyone else is hurting for gift ideas for those with a Y chromosome.

http://rarebirdfinds.typepad.com/rare_bird_finds/cool_guy_things/index.html

Happy Birthday, Tinkerbell!

Yes, I had to wish my pup a happy birthday, too. She probably doesn't read my blog, but the more love you put out the better, right?

She's the world's greatest snuggler.

She is absolutely honest in her affection. If she doesn't love you, you know it, but if she does love you holy geez look out 'cause she'll be in your face (literally) the second she sees you.

She makes hilarious "conversational" noises.

She is an excellent "mother" to our kitty.

She knows she's pretty and poses. She also crosses her ankles like a lady.

She loooooves babies.

Happy (belated) Birthday, Dan!

Happy birthday, Dan!

He's a little crazy. We like crazy.

He tells obtuse jokes.


He's always concerned about the comfort of others.

He always checks with me to see if the restaurant we're going to will have something for lil' vegetarian me to eat.

He has lots of wild hair, which he passed on to Matt, meaning my husband will never be bald. I really appreciate that.

He's incredibly smart, and has to be as he's one of the very few medical report editors in the world (only about 1000 in the entire world).

Happy (belated) Birthday, Lisa!

Lisa is a very attentive, wonderful mother.

She's a fantastic dancer.

She's a sweet soul with greater strength than you'd expect.

She's open to new experiences.

She's the most phenomenal artist in the universe. Seriously.

Happy (belated) Birthday, Kristi!

She sets a pretty table.

She's passionate about her faith.

She makes people feel welcome in her home.

She is loyal.


She's a very dedicated grandma.

Happy (very belated) Birthday, Dani!

This birthday post is so very late, and I'm sorry!

What I love about Dani:

She is always up for fun.

She makes fabulous babies (the new baby isn't here yet, but I know s/he'll be fabulous).

She laughs at all my jokes.

She's very intelligent.

She's a hard worker.

She gives great compliments (even if sometimes she does it because she wants something, haha!).

She doesn't use words she doesn't understand.

She's unpredictable (except when she says, "Let's watch a movie", which translates into "come sit by me while I fall asleep").

She's a people magnet.

She doesn't gossip.

She's my "twin" and understands me.

Fashion Designers are Making Me Cry

Okay, I read this article about this Fall's fashion trends, and I'm afraid I simply cannot comply. Leggings? Ankle boots? Bubble skirts? Skinny ankle jeans? SERIOUSLY? I had sincerely hoped we would not be seeing stirrup pants again, either. So... that's given me a bit of a quarter-life crisis. When current trends make you nostalgic, does that mean you've become - gasp - no longer the young, up-to-the-minute hot thing and have crossed the line into shopping in the misses department, among the embroidered sweatshirts and I-don't-give-a-damn-how-this-looks-it's-comfy selections therein? Oh Lord in Heaven what's a girl to do? I'm only 24, and I tend not to be a huge trend chaser, but I noticed an older woman wearing tapered pants outside Rite-Aid today and I looked down at my boot-leg jeans and thought, dammit is she trendier than me? Because a few months ago her pants were laughable. So, that said, I'm moving to a nudist camp tomorrow. I will come back when they stop trying to sell us jeans that will make our butts look gigantic.

Things to do in Seattle

I've started a new blog about things to do in Seattle and the area, and I hope you guys find it useful! I'll update it as frequently as I can. It's so easy to get into a boring pattern of doing the same thing every weekend (or accidentally letting your weekend slip through your fingers, having done nothing exciting), so this little blog is my effort to make all of us have more fun!

http://allaboardthecrazytrain.blogspot.com/

BTW, Matt came up with the name. I don't know why it's the crazy train, but apparently it is. ;-)

This and That

While searching for women's networking groups today, I ran across some great clubs:

Soroptimists

WomenSucceedwithEase.com

LadiesWhoLaunch.com

http://www.seattleccd.com/wbcmain/

Toastmasters

WomenBusinessOwners.org

http://home.earthlink.net/~everettbpw/index.html

Blogs:

http://fempower.typepad.com/powerplay/

http://everydaycourage.typepad.com/everyday_courage/


And products from woman-owned businesses:

Blankets with positive affirmations printed on them

Comfortqueen.com

I'll add more as I find them. :-)

100th Post - 100 Things Most People Don't Know About Me

Apparently it is a blogging tradition that your 100th post should be 100 things that people don't know about you. So, here's my list! :-)

1. As a (tiny, pink-loving girly-girl) child, my favorite animal was the tyrannosaurus rex.
2. I have a compulsion of adding up numbers I see to determine if they are a multiple of 3 (and if they aren't, I move the lines in my mind to make them into numbers that are a multiple of 3).
3. My favorite number is 9.
4. I sleep with my eyes partly open.
5. I have two tattoos, and plan on a third (a phoenix on my right back ribs).
   
6. I have ADD but won't take medication.
7. My husband was my first boyfriend.
8. I knew the instant I met him that I'd marry him but I told myself to stop being silly. Now I know!
9. I first tried to be a vegetarian when I was nine.
10. I really really wish I could have a buzzcut without looking strange. Matt always tells me to go for it. Uh... not today!
    
11. I have an R shaped birthmark on my knee.
12. At one point I had a C shaped scar on my calf and a Y shaped scar on my thigh, so all I needed was an A and L to spell out my name on my leg (the C and Y have since faded away).
    
13. My eyes change color, as do Matt's (and they always change to the same color when we're together! Mysterious...).
14. My full name means strong womanly fairy heathen. :-D
    
15. I was a raver as a teen, and I nearly threw a huge free rave with my best friend. Fell apart towards the end, but almost worked!
    
16. I wiggle my feet when I think.
    
17. I tend to find really deep meaning in silly things, like children's songs.
18. I was Buddhist for a couple of years.
19. I taught (Christian) Sunday school for four years, and still fill in sometimes.
20. My cat was orphaned when he was three days old so we helped bottle fed him (along with his six brothers). He is totally in love with us for this.
21. I sleep with Matt wrapped around my back, Tink against my stomach, and Lucky on my neck. Every time I roll over I wake up the whole "family" and they all groan.
22. I have the wildest dreams of anyone I know.
23. I can lucid dream (where you realize you're dreaming and take control of the dream).
24. I have recurring dreams where I'm trying to save everyone from immediately impending disaster (everything from monsters to earthquakes).
25. I only like colors that I would eat.
    
26. I drink pickle juice. Often.
27. I hear this is why mosquitoes never bite me.
    
28. I partly dread Christmas because I'm afraid I won't like half of what I get and then I'll have to get rid of it and feel guilty.
29. Every time I get a knick-knack as a gift I immediately consider "accidentally" breaking it.
    
30. My middle fingers are curved toward my pinkies.
31. I'm certified to teach prenatal yoga but haven't gathered up the courage to start a class yet! (Just do it, Carly!)
32. I carry a huge purse with very little in it so I can put things in it when I need to.
33. I have crazy messy handwriting.
34. I cry at just about any movie.
    
35. I walked REALLY fast down the aisle at my wedding. I was so excited to see Matt! I'm still pretty embarrassed about that, though.
36. I'm immune to onions - they don't make my eyes water when I chop them.
37. I caught a fish with my bare hands once. I put it back.
    
38. Most of you know this already, but my best friend and I have the same birthday but she's one year younger - we've been friends since her birth. We have a very strong and creepy connection, mind reading and everything.
    
39. I have a history of yelling at police/security guards when drunk.
    
40. I don't remember most of my bachelorette party, but I hear I did #39 at this party.
41. I never play video games but I go into geek-mode watching Matt play complex role-playing games, like God of War, Resident Evil, or Fable. "It says here if you push O repeatedly you can rip Medusa's head off!!!"
    
42. I have very dexterous toes.
43. I love mermaids. If I could be a fairy tale creature I would definitely be a mermaid. ;-)
44. I NEED to see a body of water every few days or I feel unbalanced.
45. I idolize surfers, but I'm a bad swimmer and I'm afraid of sea creatures... I hope someday to try it, though.
46. I hate hate hate when spaghetti is cut up or broken.
    
47. I'm a visual eater and don't like to eat anything "ugly".
    
48. I don't like to be touched when I'm eating.
49. Unless it is truly delicious and beautiful food, I generally find eating inconvenient and troublesome, except for cheese. I love cheese.
50. And salsa. I eat a half gallon of medium salsa every month.
    
51. I make great mixed CDs.
52. I love the library more than anything!
53. Once when I was small my dad filled the bed of his pickup truck with water and let me swim in it. Then I got in the cab and we drove around and watched it splash out everywhere.
    
54. My mom used to let me play hooky one day every spring so we could go buy all the plants and flowers for summer.
    
55. I have 7 aunts and uncles on my mom's side, all of whom are married with children. Our Christmas parties are massive.
    
56. I saw a ghost when I was very small.
57. Things I wanted to be "when I grow up": ballerina, farmer, actress, U.S. president, archaeologist, advertising exec, fashion designer, magazine editor, cafe owner, children's book author, audio engineer, music exec, nightclub owner, nutritionist, wedding/event planner, and now interior designer/ contractor/ house stager.
58. What I have been so far: receptionist at Vern Fonk Insurance, telemarketer, hostess at Outback Steakhouse, supervisor at a party rental store, cubicle drone at medical equipment corporation, personal organizer, senior design consultant at Closet Factory, co-owner of general contracting company (and considering starting a side business staging houses for sale). Told ya I had ADD.
    
59. I went to my first concert at 3 years old - it was CSN.
60. At a concert, I grabbed Chino Moreno's butt (lead singer of the Deftones) - after holding his hand for a few seconds.
61. I was OBSESSED with Chino in high school, so that moment was HUGE.
62. I have met Jeff Healey, Taproot, Orgy, the Crystal Method, The Living End (the people at the 180 booth told me they'd give me 2 cases of their energy drink if I got them an autograph, so I did), Black Eyed Peas...and others I can't think of right now...
    
63. I can hold my own in a mosh pit, despite being only 5'2 3/4" when I stand up really straight.
    
64. I wrote a rap once.
65. I started drinking coffee when I was nine - I just stopped drinking it on a regular basis, but I still love it like an old friend.
66. I suspect caffeine did stunt my growth.
67. I started driving very young and first drove alone (on a private runway) when I was ten. A plane nearly landed on me!
    
68. I'm very tactile. I must touch everything. I recently reached into a museum exhibit to stroke an ancient Egyptian statue when the security guard looked away. It just looked so smooooth, how could I resist?
69. They say it's impossible to lick your elbow but I can.
70. Eleven years ago I was an only child with single divorced parents - now I have 3 sets of parents, a half brother, two stepbrothers, a stepsister-in-law, a sister-in-law, and a brother-in-law, equaling a current count of three moms, three dads, four brothers, and two sisters! (Of course, sooner or later I will have two more sisters...)
71. When my little brother was born I started replacing swear words with other words because I wanted to be a good influence - now he's ten and he says sh*t all the time and I say weird stuff like poop or holy cheese or aye aye aye. So much for role modeling, haha!
    
72. I love to do art projects with unusual mediums - like bleach or candy wrappers or roofing nails (haven't done the roofing nail one yet, but I have a great plan...).
73. I am a black-belt shopper who is learning to use her powers for good rather than evil.
74. I consider giving someone carnations to be on par with taking your date to McDonald's - why even bother?
75. I've always wanted wild hippy hair, exactly like this little girl has! So jealous!
76. I'm drawn to people from other countries - I've had friends from Russia, Romania, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, England, Korea, Turkey, Australia, Canada, Serbo-Croatia, ...
77. I sincerely appreciate 3/4 length sleeves - warm but out of the way and ready for action!
78. I'm constantly cleaning up after my messy... self. Nope, can't blame my husband. I clean the house all the time, and then I go along behind myself, creating disasters as I go. Eeek! This is one of the reasons I'm obsessed with learning to keep a minimalist house - less to put away!
79. I'm extremely ticklish.
    
80. I find the Batman concept incredibly sexy (and Christian Bale is the ONLY actor who's made a good batman AND Bruce Wayne). On the same note, I think there is nothing more boring than Superman.
    
81. Also the Jack Bauer character on 24 - badass rule-breaking good guy. Yessss!
    
82. I'm on a perpetual quest for the perfect purse (lots of pockets, big enough for my knitting), water bottle (blue, fits in a cupholder, with a spout, doesn't leak), and adhesive.
83. I hoard shipping boxes.
84. I'm a music glutton.
85. I'm incapable of only doing one thing at a time.
86. Unless I'm in a hurry I always take the scenic route. In every sense.
    
87. I'm fascinated by cryptozoology.
    
88. When I was little I did not want just any old pony, I wanted a Pegasus unicorn, and was convinced that I would in fact get one some day.
89. When I watch a predator hunting its prey on nature TV shows I always root for the predator (does that make me a bad vegetarian? lol).
    
90. I change my clothes about three times a day (not including PJ's).
91. I scowl when I read. I love to read, so I don't know why...
    
92. I have trouble controlling the volume of my voice.
93. I have a whacked sense of time.
94. I'm uncomfortable sitting with both feet on the floor, and prefer to sit on my feet, even in a restaurant.
    
95. I'm an unconvincing liar.
96. As a child I kissed Santa Claus on the cheek at a Christmas party because I thought it'd be funny.
    
97. I stare at roadkill as I drive by.
98. I haaaaate goats.
99. During stressful times, I take comfort in celebrity gossip. My stress is usually because of major life decisions or problems. Nothing matters less than Hollywood drama, so it's really relaxing to indulge in something that just doesn't matter.
100. I'm curious to the point that (as a teen, totally sober) I once touched a burner, knowing that it was hot, just so I could see HOW hot. And now I know.

So, you guys all knew I was weird before, but now you know how weird. ;-)

Great Recipe Website

I ran across this website when I was looking for new recipes, and they have tons of healthy recipes that look delicious. Just had to share it, hope you guys like it! :-)

http://www.wildoats.com/u/recipemain/

Batgirl!

I ran across this pic and had to toss it in here. I secretly love superheroes, especially superheroines.

Personality Quiz

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. In love, you tend to have high (and often unrealistic) standards. You are very sensitive. You tend to have intense feelings. At work, you need to do something that expresses your personal values. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. How you see yourself: Unselfish, empathetic, and spiritual When other people don't get you, they see you as: Unrealistic, naive, and weak

What's Your Personality Type?

Healthyish Muffin Recipe

I stole a recipe off the Malt-O-Meal box and changed it around a bit, and I loved the results! It sorta tastes like a mix between cornbread and banana bread, but different. They're not low-fat but very high in nutrients if you use the flax seeds and oil, and Malt-O-Meal/ Cream of Wheat is superhigh in iron, folic acid, and B vitamins, and cinnamon is high in iron and reduces your risk of cancer. They have a slightly buttery taste, and I think even those that don't like Cream of Wheat would like these muffins.

1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Ground Flax Seed
3/4 cup Malt-O-Meal or Cream of Wheat, uncooked
1/2 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Milk
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil ( I used flax)
1 Egg
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 Banana (puree it first)
3/4 cup Walnuts

Preheat oven to 400F. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl until moistened (don't overstir). Pour into greased or paper-lined muffin pan, filling 3/4 full. Bake 18-20 minutes (it only took 15 in my gas oven, so keep an eye on it) or until center is firm to the touch.

Yields 12 muffins.

Some "Before" Photos of Our House

Let's start by saying I absolutely love my house and I know that it was the best investment out of all the houses in the price range AND we were planning on dealing with a fixer upper, which this isn't. It's a fix-the-mistakes-er. The bad "improvements" probably wouldn't aggravate someone less persnickety than Matt and I as much, but man oh man it's just a little overwhelming to me right now. We still haven't slept there because the blotchy paint jobs, scary color choices, and general badness won't let us rest. Soon all the rooms will be painted, the light fixtures will be changed, we'll have our way with the house, and prettiness will prevail, but until then it makes me tired just thinking about it!

I think the exterior of our house is kinda cute. The only exterior improvements we're planning now is some landscaping, possibly terracing or leveling the huge (but sloping) yard, building a dog run, changing the light fixtures, and a deck (hopefully this Summer, maybe next). Thankfully, the exterior is neutral and unassuming. Not the color I would have chosen, but it's not offensive so it stays for now. However, next to my car you see a clump of juniper and rhododendrons, which are two of my least favorite plants. That will be dealt with, sooner or later.

Sorry about the blurry photo, but this is our dining room. It was the height of bad taste. Wood-look linoleum tiles (that they installed RECENTLY, God save us all), gold trim, bad blinds, and possibly the most horrifying chandelier in history.

See what I mean? Yikes! Hard to see in the the photo, but there are also tiny hand-painted pink and blue flowers all over the ceramic parts.

And then there's the paint job.... gold poorly rag-rolled over army green, accented by grape leaf chair rail spray-painted gold (and installed like they were using a butter knife to cut it - jagged ends, not mitered at the outside corners, and a big obvious seam right in the middle of the wall) and it was SCREWED ON. Finish nails! Please! Notice how the heavy rag rolling was meant to stop at the chair rail and somehow ends up all over the place. The last owner had no eye for detail, because big lazy mistakes are everywhere in my house!

Hallelujah! Walls are primered and scary chandelier is never to be seen again.

The kitchen has a great layout and adequate storage for my excess of kitchen stuff (where does it all come from? Oh yeah, the wedding...haha!). The kitchen cabinets aren't a bad color, but the stain is applied blotchily and haphazard (lots where it doesn't belong, lots missing where it should be - again, a little more detail oriented would've been nice), and the backsplash is bad news altogether. You have to see it to really understand how lazily it was installed. Then they added that sheet of metal behind the stove - why? Did they really think it looked good? Did they just run out of tile and they had a hunk of metal laying around? Anyhoo, don't let it keep you up at night, it will all be fixed. ;-)

Ohhh... the camo room... It's already been repainted, so let's pretend it never happened. ;-)

So, yesterday I bought a case of Red Bull, I have Mom and Matt helping me at night, and I have two rooms almost entirely finished. The ugliness is going down! Take that, bad taste!!! POW!

We Moved In!

We started moving into our house on Friday! We actually signed escrow papers on my birthday, so now Matt's joking, "What do I get for my birthday?" Hmm, a first home is a tough gift to beat! ;-)

We've been working like maniacs scrubbing the house down (it was filthy!), priming over very strange and poorly executed paint colors, adding an architectural detail to the living room, calling an exterminator (carpenter ants! Eek!), changing out most of the light fixtures... We've got our work cut out for us! It's not a "fixer-upper" but the previous owner's taste was...unusual... and apparently they were do-it-yourselfers who didn't take the time to find out how to do it right, so I have to strip down the kitchen cabinets they restained poorly and the tile backsplash that is installed so badly it's shocking. Basically, we have to redo everything they did to "improve" the home. >:-/ Matt took "before" photos for you guys to see but they didn't really turn out - today I'll take progress photos to show what we're working on.

Ohh... am I ranting? About our wonderful new home that we're so grateful to have? I'm a bad person, I'm sorry. I'm just a tiny bit frustrated with the previous owners. I implore all do-it-yourselfers, please oh please get online and read how to properly do a project before you do it! Or ask me and I'll tell you. :-)

So, that said, I can't wait to see you guys at the housewarming party on July 14th! I'll send out invitations soon. Hopefully the house will be 80% up to our standards by then, but keep in mind, anything that's ugly is not our fault, haha! ;-)

Oh, and if anyone needs an amazing mortgage broker, I'll give you his number. He worked sooooo hard for us and we love him for it.