A Weekend without Christian

Christian spent the weekend with my parents so J and I could attend his cousin's wedding and so Christian could have some fun without his parents.

The wedding was so cute. It wasn't huge like ours, but it wasn't too small. She is from Hawaii and he's Hispanic so they had Mariachis and Hula dancers. So much fun.



But we missed this little guy.



Tomorrow we're spending our Labor Day at the zoo!

Update on us!

I had an interview the first week in August for a 4th grade teaching position and I got it. Since that day, I've been working my booty off to prepare for the school year. So things are great for us.

Christian is doing good. He's growing like a weed. Right now however, Christian is a bit under the weather with a fever. We think he picked up something at daycare.

Mission: To get Christian to eat healthier

Solution: SuperFoods by Annabel Karmel

Yesterday, I made two of the recipes in her book: Tiny pasta with swiss cheese, spinach and corn and Finger-picking chicken balls. They were delicious. The pasta you couldn't even taste the spinach. (Even my picky husband likes the recipes.) Unfortunately Christian didn't get a chance to taste them because he's been very sick and feverish the past day or so and he doesn't want to eat. They are in the refrigerator waiting for him to feel better.

Tiny pasta with Swiss cheese, spinach, and corn

-3 tablespoons orzo or other small pasta
-1 tablespoon unsalted butter
-1 tablespoon all purpose flour
-1/2 cup milk
-1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
-2 cups fresh spinach, stems removed
-2/3 cup cooked frozen corn

Directions: Wash spinach and put in saucepan with a sprinkle of water. Cook until tender (3 min). Squeeze out all water and put spinach aside. Cook the pasta according to the package. Melt butter, stir in the flour and cook 30 sec. Gradually whisk in the milk to make a smooth white sauce. Bring to boil and let simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese until melted. Combine spinach and cheese sauce and puree in food processor. Stir in the coked pasta and corn. Enjoy. This can be frozen for later use.

Finger-picking chicken balls

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 1 chicken bouillon cube, crumbled
• all-purpose flour for coating
• vegetable oil for frying

Directions: Before starting to cook, prepare all ingredients and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a pan and saute half the onion and the carrots for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Useing your hands, squeeze out excess liquid from grated apple. Mix together grated apple, chicken, sauteed onion and carrot along with raw onion, parsley, bread crumbs, bouillon cube and chop in a food processor for a few seconds. With hands, form the mixture into about 20 balls, roll in flour and fry with a little oil until golden and cooked through (6 minutes to be safe). Can be frozen for later.

Good news!

I have a job interview next Tuesday. Woo hoo!

100 Books

The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here.

Instructions: Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.


1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling - X
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - x
6 The Bible -
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

total: 2

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott - x
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy –
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller -
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare -
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier -
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien -
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk -
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger -
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger - X
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot -

Total: 2

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell -
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald -
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens -
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy -
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky -
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck - x
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll -
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame -

Total: 1

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy -
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens -
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis -
34 Emma - Jane Austen -
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen -
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis -
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini -
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres -
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - X
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne -

Total: 1

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell -
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - x
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez -
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving -
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins -
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery -
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy -
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood -x
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding -
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan -

Total: 2

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel -
52 Dune - Frank Herbert -
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons -
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen -
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth -
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon -
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens -
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley -
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon -
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez -

Total: 0

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - x
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov -
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt -
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold -x
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas-
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac -
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy -
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding -x
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie –
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville -

Total: 3

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens -
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker -
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett -
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson -
75 Ulysses - James Joyce -
76 The Inferno – Dante -
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome -
78 Germinal - Emile Zola -
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray -
80 Possession - AS Byatt –

Total: 0

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens -
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell -
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker -
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro -
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert -
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry -
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White - x
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom -
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton -

Total: 1

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad -
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery -
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks -
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams -
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole -
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute -
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas -
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare - x
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - x
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo -
Total:2

Grand Total: 14

Don't give up on me!

I know it's been a long time since I last blogged. Things have been up in the air for us for so long. And I don't see an end in sight. We're not having marital problems or anything like that. We just picked up and moved our lives here to San Antonio and things are crazy. I don't have a job and I don't think I'm going to find one. Because I was the one making the bigger income, it's going to hurt us. Hopefully, things will get better soon. For the time being, I've been hanging out with my baby who's not so much of a baby anymore. He's more of a big boy.

I'm hoping to start blogging more as things get better for us. Please send me some positive thoughts that I get a job soon. Otherwise, I'm going to totally stress myself out. Thanks!

Lifetime Fitness

J and I signed up for Lifetime Fitness yesterday. It was long overdue. We both need to do something to get ourselves in better shape. I'm looking forward to using all the facilities that they have to offer, especially the child care facility.

Last night, I worked out for 40 minutes. 20 minutes on the elliptical and 20 minutes on a treadmill. Great start for me!

Today Christian and I will be going to Toddler Time at the Library and then afterwards I'll be heading to the gym and Christian will be headed to the child care center.

I really hope this works out for us.

Update on everything

Moving
We moved all of our stuff May 22nd up to San Antonio. The stuff that we don't need immediately is all stuffed into our storage unit. The rest of our belonging are here at my ILs house. We've moved into the upstairs on their house. We took over 2 rooms that are connected with a bathroom. Hopefully, we'll be here for about a year and then start looking to buy a home.

Old Job
My last work day was June 5th. I got a great goodbye gift (a snowglobe and a pen). It was really hard to say goodbye to my coworkers, but hopefully I'm on to bigger and better things.

New Job?
I've started the hunt for a new job in San Antonio. I've applied at a school district and yesterday there was a job fair for that district. And it was awful. There must have been at least 300 people and only about 20 available jobs. Hopeless. I really don't know what I'm gonna do.

Baby
Christian is wonderful. I've been enjoying the past few days that we've spent with each other. He's such a ham. So dramatic.

Hubby
Today is J and my 2nd anniversary. It's been a great two years and I'm so happy to be able to spend today with him, especially after living apart for 3 1/2 months. I've missed him. But that's all behind us now. Thank goodness.


Coming up: Cooking School!

Moving day

We've been working on loading everything up since about 8 am. We were packed and ready to go at 4 pm. We're currently en route to San Antonio. It's been a really long day.

Moving Updates

Closing was moved from Wednesday to Friday (tomorrow) due to J not being able to be here Wednesday night. So we're closing bright and early tomorrow morning. I'm resting my hand tonight because I'm sure I'll have to sign my name at least 50 times tomorrow.

The past few days I've been having issues with the fridge. It wasn't cooling or staying cold. I called J about it and he didn't really believe me. I really wouldn't care so much since we are moving, but the fridge is staying and I don't want the new homeowners getting pissed cause it's broken. So I convince J to call someone to come out and look. It turns out our fancy-schmancy refrigerator is run by a computer. And the computer board went out and needed to be replaced. $250 later, it's fixed.

Tonight the new owners are coming to inspect the house to make sure we have everything fixed up. Hopefully everything will be to their satisfaction.

We've got a UHaul for tomorrow and we should start our journey sometime around mid-afternoon. Then I've got a long day of unpacking to do.

I'm ready.

Wordless Wednesday

Closing in 7 days

We should be closing on our house next Wednesday and moving out next Friday/Saturday. It's crunch time and I'm getting really nervous. I'm just so scared that I'm going to get a phone call saying they are backing out.

On the other hand, I'm so excited. In about a week, we'll no longer have a mortgage to worry about and electricity bill, water bill, etc. This is gonna save us about $1,400 a month since we'll be staying with J's parents. We'll be paying off some credit cards and saving for a down payment for a new house in San Antonio.

We've been packing for about 2 weeks already and there is still much to do. Wish us luck!

First Haircut

Look at those curls! They're gone now. Sniff, sniff.




Well, not totally gone. But Christian did get a much needed haircut last Saturday before his birthday party. He was really good during the haircut until a teenage girl walked in and then he started "flirting" and trying to get to her. So I only have pictures from before she walked in. After I was too busy holding him still to get any pictures. He just got a very minor trim. I love his curls too much to do anything drastic.

Broken Windows: Rowdy neighbors or a botched break-in?

So I was out of my house all last week from May 1st through May 8th. We came home last Friday. I got to the house first since we were in separate cars.

As I walked in from the garage, the first thing I felt was a spider web in my face. Yuck! I wondered how on earth that got there, but quickly dismissed it and went on with unpacking and waiting for my boys. Then I noticed that the AC was running which was odd because when I left it set for 95 degrees. But I didn't think about that too much.

About 20 minutes later, the boys walk in and start unloading J's car. It's already late about 9:30 and we hear the neighbors having a party outside. Christian is wired from sitting in a car for 4 hours so we let him wander around the house while we finish unloading. Once everything is settled down, J notices that part of our crown molding in the kitchen is falling (just barely). We figure that it's just the house settling. So we decide to turn on our soaker hoses for the night to moisten the ground.

As J's walking outside and I'm at the dining room tables inside, I noticed there's a piece of glass on the floor near the table. I scooped up Christian and yelled for J. We both noticed it at the same time. There was a hole in our double paned windows.

J called the cops and kept inspecting the gash. And then used a flashlight to check out the rest of the backyard. There were fast food wrappers all over and our patio chairs were strewn out the yard. We immediately suspected our neighbors kids.

We've always had issues with our neighbors. They are constantly throwing crap into our back yard. (I remember when I was a million months pregnant and I was outside picking up chicken wing bones and beer cans so the dogs wouldn't get them.) They've wrapped our house, etc, etc, etc. They are awful.

The cops arrives. We tell him what we know and he's off next door to ask them some questions. The cop come back and agrees with us. The neighbors are admitting to their kids being in our backyard with some of their friends a couple evenings, but not to breaking the windows. We have no proof but the cops really thinks it's probably them. We get a police report for our insurance and off he goes. We taped it up and have plans to get it fixed this week.


But the story gets more complicated.... That all happened Friday night. Well, on Saturday my dad and J are working on the house and yard while my mom and I and baby are getting ready for a Mother's Day bbq. While J is outside, our neighbor on the other side comes by and to let us know that she was broken into the previous Saturday. Someone threw a piece of concrete into her sliding glass door and took her TVs, lap tops, stereo, and jewelry.

Did someone break into her house and then try to come for ours? We know that nothing was stolen from our home. Our computer, TVs, video game systems, etc are all accounted for. I have no jewelry of value other than my engagement ring and wedding rings which I always have on. So we don't think anyone was in our home. There was glass on the ledge of the window which wouldn't have been there is someone had crawled through. The blinds weren't messed up which they wouldn't been if someone crawled in, etc.

We don't know what happened.

Swine flu vacation

We're still in San Antonio. Hopefully, we'll be here until Friday and then head back to the Valley.

I'm getting a glimpse of what my life will be like in about a month when we are here permanently. Christian is adjusting well. He's sleeping awesome and taking good naps. My only concern is his eating, but it seems like he's coming around.

I've decided that I need to get some sort of schedule for the summer. Not like a rigid, official schedule. but some sort of balance.

Like today he got up around 8 and ate breakfast. Then by 9, we were out and about. We ended up shopping and looking around until 11:30. Once we were back, Christian ate a good lunch and went right to sleep. He's been sleeping since about 12:30 and it's already 1:30. I'm hoping he'll stay down until 2:30 and then we'll just play here until J gets home at 4:15.

By the time I move here for good, J will be on an extended schedule which will mean he works until 6, but he'll only work 3 days a week and on Saturdays.

I'm starting to really look forward to this summer. Now if only I could find a job for the fall then I'd really be able to have a relaxing summer.

Swine flu sucks...

This blows. My school district just closed down starting tomorrow and will supposedly be closed until Tuesday, May 11th. That means 6 days out.

I'm sure we are going to have to extend our school year an extra week or so to cover the time lost.

This whole situation sucks because we're closing on our house May 20 and moving out the 23rd and I was going to have to stay with my grandma until school got out the 5th of June. Now I'll probably have to be with her for 3 weeks.

The upside of this mess is that I'm going to San Antonio and spend the week with my husband. And also I don't have to take my darling child back home on a plane. Ahhh, the small things...

I must be crazy

Christian and I are flying to Houston tonight. We have scheduled Christian's party for tomorrow afternoon and I volunteered to fly instead of drive so I could help out my parent's with the preparations tonight. The last time I flew was in December and Christian was a terror. Now I know that tonight is going to be much worse. I just know. He's going to be antsy and wanted to be put down the whole time. Not fun. Thankfully, it's only an hour flight. Wish us luck!

Stats: Then and Now

April 29th, 2008:
Height: 20 3/4 inches
Weight: 8 lbs, 6oz

April 29th, 2009:
Height: 28 1/2 inches
Weight 20 lbs, 14 oz

What a difference a year makes!

I hate my ped

Yesterday was Christian's 12 month appointment. The appointment was scheduled for 5 pm.

I decided to arrive early at 4:30 because I had new insurance and wanted to give them time to process. Christian and I went to sit in the waiting area.

As soon as we sit down and Christian starts exploring, another woman in the waiting area lets me know that a kid JUST threw up on the floor where we were sitting. I immediately swoop baby up. And guess what happens when you pick up and newly walking toddler and want to carry him? Yep, the hysterics begin. He's crying and kicking and scratching.

That lasted for 30 minutes when they finally called me back at 5:00. We head back to the weighing room (stats later). After being weighed and measured, we go to another little sitting room and wait for an exam room.

Five minutes later another mother and toddler come in. He's a sick toddler. His mother just puts him down and he wanders to the play area and starts playing with all the toys where Christian was!!! WTF? I swoop him up again and hysterics start again! But I wasn't having Christian play in the same area where the other kid was playing. Seriously, that mother should have been carrying her son or containing him in some way. Don't just let him wonder over to my healthy child.

So I'm holding him...and holding him...and holding him....and holding him....until 6:05. By this point, I'm exhausted (I've already had a horrible day.) and my back is hurt and I'm just pissed. On a normal night, Christian would be eating dinner and settling down to some quiet playtime before bath. Not screaming in the doctor's office.

Finally, I just reached my breaking point. I walked out. At the front, the office manager (who happens to be the ped's wife), she asks me if everything's okay. I tell her no. I've been waiting for over an hour. I want another appointment where I won't have to go through this again. She offers no apologizes and no explanations. So we're scheduled for sometime next week. I'm not even sure what day. I already lost the appointment card. I'll just have to call them next week.

Seriously. Is this the way other peds operate? Thank goodness I'm moving and will be finding another ped. Next week's appt will be Christian's last with him.

Happy 1st Birthday!

A year ago today, I became a Mommy and my life changed dramatically.


Happy Birthday, Goobie!! You are the light of my life.


(Pictures to come this weekend. We're partying it up on Saturday.)