Seven Quick Takes Friday: Rants and Raves

Yes, I realize it is late Friday evening, but better late than never, right? So here are seven things I'm currently ranting or raving about:

1.  Rave. This year marks my first official Mother's Day! I'm excited!!! The paychecks from Adam's new job haven't quite kicked in, so we'll be celebrating on the cheap, but if I just get out of doing dishes for the day, I'll be happy. :-D

2. Rave. Our three-year wedding anniversary is coming up! From what I've read, the traditional three-year gift is leather. So what would be a good leather gift item? So far, I can't think past buying him an actual cow.

The joke may be cheesy, but I'm going to milk it for all it's worth

3. Rant. We have absolutely idiotic cats. For whatever reason, one of them (or maybe even both of them-- I can't pinpoint the exact criminal) has started peeing in various places on our brand-new carpet. I don't know when this occurred, because I never noticed any wet spots on the carpet, and only discovered this a few days ago when it started to smell! Okay, now that I've ensured that nobody will ever want to visit our house, I'm asking you if you know of any good way to get that smell out of the rug! I'm more interested in ideas for room-wide treatment as opposed to spot-cleaning, but I'll try anything as long as it works.

Meanwhile, it's PUNISHMENT TIME.

4. Rant. Have you heard of that flats-and-handwashing cloth diaper challenge happening at the end of May? It's a week-long event the cloth diapering community is doing in response to a news report about babies in desperately poor families getting infections from sitting in diapers too long or reusing disposables. You may be surprised to learn that I am NOT participating. In fact, I'm really not thrilled with this at all. Don't get me wrong; I am absolutely convinced that cloth diapers save a lot of money, and during my handwashing days, I was SO thankful to not have to worry about buying diapers, when we were having difficulty just affording groceries. My main problem is this: most people who don't cloth diaper choose not to because, well, they just don't want to, and they probably won't give a hoot about this event. As for the impoverished folks who DO want to use cloth diapers? They would be benefitting a lot more from this challenge if the CD community were taking that money they're spending on special five-gallon drums and plungers and rubber gloves- and flats for THEMSELVES!!!- and donating it to something like the Cloth Diaper Foundation instead. You know, so that the struggling families who actually DO want to use cloth diapers can get access to them? I don't know; call me an evil, joy-sucking curmudgeon, but to someone who has been in a situation of need before, the whole thing sounds more like a cloth diaper activist crusade than a real effort to improve people's lives. Hopefully I'm missing some key point and someone will set me straight. :-P


5. Rave. Okay, before I get labeled a heretic, here's a real good case for cloth diaper advocacy:

As you can see, we're all ready for that cow.

I've been waiting forever to unpack the props!

Just try to tell me these are not the cutest pictures you've seen today. :-)

6. Rave. Make It and Love It, one of my favorite crafting sites, just published a list of things you can do with fabric scraps! This is very good news, because, well... let's just pray that Adam never finds out how many boxes of fabric we brought in the move.

7. Rant. The price of gas. Oh. Em. Gee. Last I looked, it was $4.05 per gallon here! Chalk another one up for the cow gift idea...

Cowabunga, man!

What is the price of gas in your area?

For more (and much more lucid) Seven Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary!

Seven Quick Takes

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post that was bit of a downer. Okay, I'll just come right out and say it was whiny. :-P. So to mix things up, I'm going to write about a few things that I'm thankful for!

~*~

1. We have a date for Adam's return! He is planning on leaving Virginia on Monday, and ending up here in Oklahoma by Tuesday-- making it exactly five weeks that he's been gone. (Dramatic pause for your gasp) I have infinitely more appreciation for military moms after this month! Adam's kind of worried that Baby D won't remember him, but I keep saying that even if he doesn't, Adam will be his BFF in like five minutes anyway. That kid is a daddy's boy!

We do what we can with substitute father figures.

2. And he's bringing help! Adam will most likely be bringing his sister to help us move. This is very good news, because I just realized yesterday that I have a week to get everything done (our lease is up on the 31st). Eep!

~*~

3. The beginning of a new life for us. I've noticed that when people stay in one place for too long, they tend to get entrenched in stupid habits or acquiesce to substandard elements in their lives. About a day after Adam landed in D.C., he told me, "Oh Maria, this is where we need to be!" Since we got the ball rolling for the move, many things have happened to infuse some freshness back into my life-- and I'm not even out of Oklahoma yet! I'm very much looking forward to the better things to come- a washing machine in the apartment (!!!), a car that is not a death trap, proximity to relatives... just those things that I gave up on in Oklahoma.

~*~

4. The end of an era for Baby D. In a few days, we will have had seven successful months of exclusive breastfeeding! I meant to delay starting him on solids until we got to Virginia, but Baby D was recently very sneaky. The other day, when I let him taste the banana I was eating, he instantly bit off a big chunk, gummed it up, and swallowed it right there! Looks like someone is raring to go on those solids! ;-) So, to go along with this growing up thing, I've decided to start calling him by his real name on the blog. I realized the other day that he's not going to be a baby forever, and it might get kind of weird when he's twelve and I'm still calling him Baby D! :-P

Evidently, our ghetto playpen is delicious!

5. Diaper providence. I had been squeezing... Oscar into too-small diapers for a month, until two exciting things happened. First, we got a much larger tax refund than we were expecting. Adam allotted me an exorbitant sum to spend on cloth diapers, but being the die-hard penny-pincher, I just bought the bare minimum needed (and they were one-size diapers-- after going through two sets of diapers in six months, I've learned my lesson). Now for the second exciting thing! I have been entering online diaper giveaways for at least eight months without winning a single thing. However, this past month- hold onto your seat!- I won not one... but four diapers!!! Something tells me that a Higher Power was tweaking random.org. :-P

~*~

6. My friend Marie. Marie, whom I've known since freshman year at college, has always been a great friend, but since Adam left, she's been a downright lifesaver! Car rides, meals, Oscar relief, company for some of those lonely days-- she has been a tremendous blessing. Of all the things I'll miss in Oklahoma, she will top the list!

Here's an OLD picture (2004) from a college "Roommate Date" event,
where a person asks someone out on behalf of their roommate.
Marie eventually married some other guy at the event who was
NOT her date, and my date turned out to be extremely creepy.
Just in case you were wondering.

Spring break 2005-- on the train at Disney World
with some of my my favorite ladies!
Marie is on the far left.

~*~

7. Purging. Packing is taking me forever because I'm asking, "Do we really need this?" for every item. It is wonderful to see all the clutter melt away! It is not-so-wonderful to realize that I've been hanging onto some of this stuff for three years, so it has been a good wake-up call about taking inventory of what I allow to take precious square footage in my house. I've thrown out or craigslisted most of the furniture-- including a bookshelf to a Scentsy saleswoman. Why oh why did I not think of asking her to pay in Scentsy products? ;-)


There is a lot of exciting stuff going on around here! To read other's 7QT, head on over to Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes Friday

1. My house currently looks like I'm getting ready to set up a bar. Liquor boxes everywhere!!! But they are truly wonderful for packing heavy objects, since they're made for transporting booze. Their smaller size also makes them ideal for sorting clothes! Hopefully, it will be many years before Baby D figures out that "XX" is, in fact, not his clothes size.


2. Can anyone recommend a good (or cheap :-D) Mac-compatible webcam? After nearly two weeks of separation, my hubby is getting rather antsy to see his wife and child!


3. Baby D turned six months last week! In one way, it doesn't even seem possible he's been around that long, but in another way, I kind of see my entire past life through a Baby D lens now, like he has been there all along, and my life was just waiting for him to appear at some point. Are there any other moms who know what I'm talking about, or am I just batty?


4. I have been fantasizing about making a back carrier like a mei tai or onbuhimo for... oh, six months now. :-D All the tutorials I've seen on the web are TERRIBLE, so I'm just going to have to muddle my way through and make a better one for y'all. :-D Have you tried a mei tai or onbu? Which do you like better?


5. I'm also supposed to sew a sling and nursing cover for a friend who's TTC-- she will buy the materials, and I will do the sewing! I'm eager to see what materials she chooses, because I know her sense of style. FYI, this is what I like to tell people choosing a sling fabric: many women like to choose colors based on the gender of their baby, or the colors of their nursery, but I recommend that you take inventory of your wardrobe and choose a color/pattern that complements what YOU usually wear. When you wear a sling, it's like wearing another piece of clothing, so you want something that matches the rest of your outfit!

I have since redone the shoulder seam, but here's my sling.
A friend actually recently recognized me solely from the sling. Ha!

6. I have actually thought of making up business cards for my sling-making, because I get TONS of comments on my sling at the supermarket. Would you be weirded out if you struck up a conversation about a stranger's sling and got offered a business card?

I've put this picture up before, but I could stare at those pleats forever.
That sling was a bugger to make!!

7. It looks like I have let sling talk hijack this Seven Quick Takes. Whoops! One more quick tip: if you are looking to make your own, do NOT use the tutorial that the Maya Wrap store provides. You'd think a sling store of all places would give a good pattern, right? WRONG! It gave instructions for a really funky, uncomfortable shoulder; I eventually ripped mine out and started over with a much more comfortable "floating rings" style.

I got a lot of ideas for constructing my sling from Jan Andrea's site, which also has tutorials for a zillion other baby carriers. Well, I think this has sufficiently taken care of my baby carrier itch for a while! ;-)


This post is linked up to Conversion Diary's Seven Quick Takes, which are actually happening at Betty Beguiles this week!

Seven Quick Takes Friday: All About Food

1-- I have done some deep rethinking of our meal schedule around here. Since Adam works late, we go to bed and wake up much, much later than the average person-- and this completely interferes with trying to eat on a normal person's schedule. We don't really have a lunch because we've usually just had breakfast. In the evenings, when Adam's gone, I don't like cooking dinner for just little ol' me, and Adam doesn't like spending his earnings on dinner. So, we do a lot of mindless whatever, whenever eating-- NOT GOOD!


2-- So, we're going to go all Spaniard around here and eat dinner, as a family, when Adam gets home- usually around 9- and adjust the rest of the mealtimes accordingly. We'll try it for a week and see how it works!


3-- My first month of Sugarless 2011 is coming to a close, and it's been a great success so far! It really feels like a lifestyle now. It was a little difficult in the beginning to remember, but Adam saved the day on several occasions by saying, "Um, what about your resolution?" when I'd mindlessly accept a sweet treat offered by friends.


4-- Something funny happened a couple weeks into this month, though. One night, I ate baked potatoes. Not a big deal to a person eating a normal diet with sugar, but I discovered about .4875 seconds after that particular meal that eating big, starchy potatoes is like eating crack. I had intense cravings for all sorts of sugary pastries for the rest of the day! Who woulda thunk.


5-- I am sometimes possessed of the irrational fear that the world's supply of cheesecake will be exhausted by January 1, 2012.


6-- Adam's been a champ. Besides helping me be more mindful, he actually does the no-sugar thing with me-- when he can. He does work in a bakery, after all, and therein lies temptation that no mortal could withstand.


7-- And, of course, the token Baby D take, which has nothing to do with food.

Already showing some musical aptitude?

Tonight is the second night since Tuesday that I laid him down fully awake for bed, turned off the lights, and found him sound asleep in a couple minutes! I am discovering that sleep is yet another thing that humans grow into-- I don't think it necessarily has to be an either/or situation (either let him cry it out or nurse him to sleep till the end of time). It's nice to have all this extra time in the evening, but just between you and me, I'm going to miss our snuggly bedtime.



And that's it for my seven quick takes! If you want to join in the fun, head on over to Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes Friday: the SCAAARY Edition!

It seems that I've seen an awful lot of spooks around lately! What's up with that? I've never been one for scary things, but in the spirit of the holiday, let me tell you about a few of my scariest experiences:

1. Cleaning out my fridge. This is the stuff of horror films, and an ongoing fright. The worst one was finally cleaning it after a trimester... or two... after the morning sickness set in and kept me out of the kitchen for months. I could have sold my fridge to the local university biology department!

2. Being stalked by a cougar... almost. I was twelve and out camping with another family. I was walking out to my tent at night when I heard a low, menacing growl. I froze in my tracks, but the growling continued. All I could think was, Oh my gosh, it's a cougar, I'm going to DIE!!!! A half hour later, still petrified to the spot, I suddenly realized that the growling was from the other family's dad-- SNORING at a zillion decibels.

3. Dreaming that I died. You know how usually, when you have a nightmare, you wake up right before you die? I dreamed right through my death once, and it was weird.

4. Watching the Borgs from Star Trek: Next Generation. I was exposed a very young age to those scary cyber-beings that killed and assimilated everything in their path. They were scary then, but after seeing a feature full-length film all about Borgs at the ago of twelve, I had nightmares and stupid real-life fears about them all the way into college-- until Adam made me watch THE MOVIE again. And you know what? They are a lot less scary to a 21-year-old than to an 8-year-old. Go figure.

5. Finding half a fly in my macaroni and cheese. Even worse, I never found the other half. I took me a looooong time to eat mac and cheese again, and even now, I will give my macaroni a few stirs to check for, um, extra ingredients.

6. Getting a little too close to a mouse. Once again, I was twelve. Wow, that year is turning out to be a little more traumatic than I remembered! I was sitting on the floor, reading, when my cat came crashing wildly into the room. Before I knew what was happening, the mouse that she was chasing dove for the nearest hiding place-- up my pant leg. I was instantly on my feet, screeching and shaking like a madman until the mouse came flying out of my pants. Okay, that one was actually more funny than scary at the time, but I'm sure that the mouse was plenty traumatized.

7. Watching those stupid internet movies. You know, the ones that force you to turn up the volume and concentrate on the screen really intently for several minutes, and then flash a horrific picture and blast a blood-curdling scream! The first time I saw one, I just about destroyed my dorm desk and brought half the wing running to investigate the screaming-- from me, not the computer. Here it is, in case you were wondering:

And that finishes up my Seven Quick Takes! Here's hoping you all have a safe, fun, and fear-free Halloween!

Seven Quick Takes Friday: The Little Stinker Edition

I have been slack in my blogging as of late. You will be happy to know that it's because I've actually been busy doing real domestic things in real life. However, I can only wash so many dishes before it gets boring, so it's time to sit a spell and do some internet housekeeping.

Hold onto your bassinettes, because this Seven Quick Takes, hosted by Conversion Diary, will be about all things BABY!

1.

This is called The Little Stinker Edition, because that is now my midwife's official name for the baby. From the heartbeat scare to the difficult Doppler day to the ultrasound in which s/he did a faceplant in my back and refused to let the sonographer see its face, this child is exactly that: one heck of little stinker!!! Today, at the midwife appointment, we had more Doppler fun. I had just gotten through discussing how Baby D has been pretty inactive lately, and I was a little concerned. The midwife felt around for the baby, turned on the Doppler... and chaos broke loose! I couldn't see anything, but Adam tells me that my whole belly was rolling and twisting. That baby was NOT going to let the midwife get a heartbeat! After all was said and done, the baby had completely rotated in the womb, and the midwife had to get the heart rate from the cord. What a contrary baby! And s/he's been moving like crazy all day ever since.

2.

My first Craigslist transaction happened today! So far, it's been pretty positive. Within twelve hours of initiating communication, I am now the proud owner of a barely-used Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper-- for a third of the price! I'm quite stoked about rearranging the bedroom and setting that puppy up!

3.

I also recently took the plunge and bought a small stash of diapers-- 12 infant chinese prefolds, 12 birdseye flats, and a few diaper covers. Now to wash them- and wash- and wash again! If any of you out there have experience with cloth diapering a newborn, I'm all ears!

4.

And, of course, there's the belly picture. Today is the twenty-five week mark:

5.

My midwife called me a few weeks ago to let me know that she and the other midwife in her practice are closing down the birth center that we had planned on giving birth in. GRRRRRR. So now we have to decide if we want to try an apartment home birth or go to the hospital. I'm all for trying the apartment birth, but Adam is not quite sure what the heck he wants. For the most part, I think he's upset that we chose these midwives mainly because they offered birth center services, and now he feels like they're cheating us somehow. I'm like, "Hey, they charge the same fee no matter where the birth happens, and I love the quality of care. I'm cool," and since I'm the one popping out the baby, I'm sure that Adam will give me the final decision... but I really want us to be in agreement about it.

6.

Now that an apartment birth is a definite possibility, I've been looking for a place to board my other babies (the cats) for a few days during and after the birth. Oh my word, have you seen some of these cat places?? They can get ridiculously posh! One site I looked at offered custom catnip blends, prime viewing windows to see the birds outside, TV's with cat videos, and a kitty mint on their pillows every night. This makes the treatment my kitties get at home look Spartan. They may never want to come back!

7.

Anyone seen the movie Babies yet? How did you like it? So far, I've heard that it has babies and cultural nudity. Nothing really about how good the movie itself is. So, tell me: is it worth my hard-earned $1.50 when it comes to the dollar theater?

Seven Quick Takes

1. I am staring my third week of unemployment in the face. Ouch. I'm just happy that God is watching out for us, because otherwise, I'd be a ball of nerves! More on job things in a couple takes.

2. After a half-hearted attempt in high school (that ended after failure at turning on the typewriter. A technologist, I am not), I am making myself learn to type correctly, mainly using http://www.freetypinggame.net/. Anything with the word, "game," will usually do the trick. Oh, the joys and woes! The joy of earning 2347894 points in Alien Blast! The woe of the computer numbing my brain with nonexistent word after word (jaka... dfjk... jss;a... klls...), and then taunting me with, "You only type 19 wpm, you loser! HA HA HA HA." Okay, maybe not like that exactly. But that's when I go play Alien Blast again.

3. I have wanted to audition for the city opera chorus for a very long time, but I kept chickening out. In fact, I didn't call last month when they were holding auditions. But, this week, I started feeling convicted about letting my God-given talent go to waste, so on Tuesday, I sent a rather dubious email tasking if they were all full yet. I got a reply in seven minutes that said, "Come and sing tomorrow." Whoa! I'm thinking Someone upstairs was behind this. So I went and auditioned, and the director told me right there that he'd find a spot for me in at least one opera. Woohoo! That's a start! 

4. But, of course, you know what they tell all musicians: "Don't quit your day job!" Of course, the trick is having a day job in the first place! I am currently experiencing much angst (I just love that word) in my job hunt. First off, potential employers who require inquiries by email either a) never reply back-- not even a "Sorry, but you're not the one we're looking for." They just remain stony and silent, or b) they send an automated message directing me to an application site that asks what my SSN is and whether I'm interested in getting educational literature. Shaaady.

5. Also, it's a little frustrating being a recent college graduate, not having had much time in which to cram things that look impressive on a resume. I have the skills to excel in whatever a job can throw at me--- just *standing on a chair and singing musical-style* pleeeeeeeease give me a chaaaaaaaaance! In the meantime, I'm trying to learn new things (such as typing like a human being) and grow as a person so I'll be all ready for that perfect job.

6. The other day, I finally bit the bullet and inventoried the fridge/freezer. Now I'm wondering, why didn't I do this sooner? I actually know what I need to use up soon, and don't even get me started about all the treasures I found hidden in the freezer that I totally forgot were there. We won't have to buy much groceries for a while! Hooray!

7. My trials with the kitties are diminishing. We even named two of them. One is called Minion, because he's kind of evil, or at least as evil as a cute kitten can get. The other, his polar opposite, is named Mel, because he's so mellow. The other two are impossible to distinguish from one another, so we're not even trying to name them.. It's interesting to see how treating some kittens as individuals as opposed to others is really changing how the cats interact with us! Mel and Minion are extremely friendly, while the other two kind of slink away when Adam or I come near. I wonder if this is applicable in any way to humans.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out other people giving their Seven Quick Takes at Conversion Diary!