Feeling Hungry?

I finally got my appetite back once that stupid fever went away last week, and on Sunday we went grocery shopping.  And for once, guess what we didn't buy?  Junk food!  The Man is more than mildly shocked, I think.  heehee  Nope, I had the urge for produce, produce, produce.

I even came up with my own recipe that, when I tried it for lunch yesterday, was mighty darn tasty.  Don't laugh, I know it's pretty basic and obvious, but I'm no cook, okay?

What you need:

whole-wheat tortilla (I got the soft taco size, I think they are 8")

cream cheese

bell peppers (I sliced up green, red and yellow in advance)

black olives (slice them in quarters so you can lay them out)

a serving of super-thin deli sliced turkey (we got Carl Buddig buy 1, get 1 free...woohoo!)

What to do:

Smooth a serving of cream cheese over the tortilla.  Layer the turkey across the middle, from one side to the other.  Lay bell pepper slices and olive pieces on top.  Roll up and use a toothpick to keep it closed.  (I broke mine in half so I could slice the roll-up diagonally down the middle and still hold it closed.  Made it much easier to pick up and eat, that's for sure.)

Serve with a glass of nonfat milk and some carrot sticks and you've got a good, healthy meal.  I figured I got a serving of dairy, a serving of whole grain, a serving of protein/meat, and a good 2 servings of veggies between the peppers, olives, and carrot sticks.  (You could even put shredded carrots, avocado slices, and tomato slices on there and really beef up your veggies for the day.)  And of course, the cream cheese is a fat (I hesitate to call it dairy, honestly).  Just don't go overboard with the cream cheese and you're fine!

Do You Spank?

If so, stay out of California.  According to this WorldNetDaily report, a childless legislator in the fine state of Cali has introduced a plan that will mean jail time and a record for parents who issue a swat on the tuckus for misbehavior.  She claims it'll prevent abuse and beatings.

Hmmmmm.

Good News!!!

I officially have an appointment to go close on the House That Won't Go Away (aka The House With the Soaking Tub that I Miss a LOT Lately).  The new lender got all the documents finished up on Friday and sent them over to escrow.  The escrow gal called me this afternoon to set up the appointment for tomorrow.  We are meeting tomorrow at a spot about halfway (thus saving me the hour drive each way, not even counting traffic on the way home).

Conveniently enough, the spot she chose is in the same plaza as Babies R Us. 

If I wasn't already pregnant, I would think she was in cahoots with the Man trying to tempt me into pregnanthood.

Neener neener, too late.

Oh, and I spotted, out of the corner of my eye, a totally KICK BUTT dresser at Costco the other day.  It is a 6-drawer low boy that comes with a small 3-drawer storage cubby for the top, which is removable.  It would make the perfect changing table/dresser that will age just great.  And it is a gorgeous shade of dark blue (one of the Man's favorite colors).  So y'all keep hopin' for Y chromosomes, because despite the Man's protestations that a blue dresser is fine for a girl too, I ain't buyin' it lessen this youngen is a BOY.

Cuz it'll match perfectly with the nursery design I have in mind.  Cuz I so rocked the boy nursery idea and the Little turned out to be a girl.  Which is fine, cuz I wanted a girl, but I SO want to use my super-duper beyond cool nursery idea for a boy.  muahaha

Why Do They Do These Things?

This is what happens when my Daddy isn't home to protect me from Momma and the Little:

AHHHHHHHHHHHchoo!

I hab a code in my node.  I dond wike id.  I dond wike it one bid, honestwy.  *sigh*

Whining aside, I was really hoping that the Man had "just" a sinus infection last week, not a cold, which would then be contagious.  In other words, I really, really, really hoped that I wouldn't end up sick too. 

Bleah.

But on the upside, I heard from the buyer (he called me, not me having to call him, which is a positive) on Tuesday afternoon and he had just braved the roads in his Beemer (say it with me now, Awwwwwwwww) to deliver more paperwork to the new lender, who was going to work on docs and would "hopefully" be ready by the end of the week.

Which is tomorrow.  So I am really, really, really hoping that I'll get a loverly little phone call this afternoon or tomorrow saying they've taken the docs to the escrow lady and when do I want to go sign?  Because I will pack up my tissues and shag my tired old tuckus an hour north (each way) at whatever hour the escrow lady is willing to be there to get this deal DONE.

Oh, and the next OB appointment is next week, which also reminds me that I need to call the ultrasound folks and get an appointment made for February.  Everybody think "close on Friday and healthy Y chromosomes", okay?

Cross Your Fingers...

I spoke to the buyer today and he has a new preapproval letter from the new lender, as opposed to the one who screwed everybody at the last minute by yanking their approval that was WAITING TO GO TO CLOSING.  (Yes, I am sitting here with that "Scream" look on my face just thinking of that one.)  So anywhooo, apparently the new deal is going through underwriting today/tomorrow and he expects it to be finished up by end of business tomorrow.  Which means that probably early next week the escrow lady (who is in the same building as this other lender) should have the files she needs. 

I was thinking, perfect, they can walk it across the hall to her first thing Monday morning, but it just occured to me that Monday is a blinkin stinkin holiday AGAIN.  No offense to the honorable Martin Luther King, but this year I could really do without offices and banks and such being closed in his honor.  But that's just cranky old get this deal off my plate and my shoulders before I a) scream b) shoot someone or c) both of the above me.

Don't worry, I won't really shoot anyone.  At least not right this minute.  I'm unarmed.  For the moment.  muahahahaha

EASY Music Appreciation at Home

Melissa Wiley (whose ClubMom blog, The Lilting House, is absolutely inspirational if you're interested in Charlotte Mason or similar types of homeschooling/education methodologies) posted a really neat piece about music appreciation today.  Her main point is to send you to a good resource for composer study, but I loved (as you'll see from my comment there, actually) what she had to say about how easy it is to encourage music appreciation in the home(school). 

Now if only I hadn't mentioned "Bohemian Rhapsody" in my comment to her.  It's stuck in my head now, dagblame it!  (Speaking of music history, go read that Wikipedia link I put in there.  You'll seriously learn a LOT.  Enjoy, Ma.)

Borders, Books, and Blah Blah Blah

So Friday I took the Little up to see her father.  Come to find out he's got a new girlfriend (imagine that) and wanted her to meet us.  Ah well, much as I want to warn her to run for her life, at least she has the common decency to meet his ex-wife, and to even *gasp* smile and say, "Nice to meet you."  Uh, yeah...the bar wench he was with for the past two years-ish NEVER got out of her vehicle and refused to meet me or his other ex-wife, who is pretty far removed from the situation and certainly wouldn't have been jealous of the, uh, well, I won't go there with what I want to call her.  heehee.  Anywho...this should be interesting.  More drama, more drama.  Forgive me while I try to psychically send "run, girl, run!" thoughts to this new gal of his though.  (Carrie, I'll have to call you sometime on this one.  It's HILARIOUS.)

Okay, I'm back.  muahaha

So after I dropped the Little off I headed over to Borders with my gift card from my in-laws (THANK YOU!!!) and I actually bought stuff for myself.  *gasp*  Okay, well, mostly for myself.  I finally found the paperback version of W.E.B. Griffin's The Hostage, which I've been waiting for around, oh, a year.  Needless to say, I snatched that up and would have beaten anyone who tried to take it from me.  Other than the cashier...I kinda had to give it to her.  And I found a prenatal yoga DVD that looks pretty good; we'll see.  It's not one I'm familiar with, but it's also not the one I've checked out at the library a bunch of times that is neat, but the instructor kinda freaks me out.  So...yeah.  We'll see.  If it sucketh, I shall inform ye.

Then it was on to the education section.  I had the bright idea the other night of picking up E.D. Hirsch's Core Knowledge books.  (Unfortunately years ago I had the entire series, but got rid of 'em.  *sigh*  Oh well.  C'est la vie.)  So I got What Your First Grader Needs to Know, then decided that I should also get What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know.  In general, the Little is working at a first grade level, but there's art and geography stuff in the K level book that I'd like her to know prior to starting the first grade one.  Basically I'm just not super thrilled with the way the Oak Meadow customer service crap went down (um, can you say there wasn't any?) and I've only heard about more lousy customer service since making that OM1 purchase.  Their curriculum is really, really neat, but for a Waldorf company, you'd think they'd pay a heck of a lot more attention to customers.  Parents are buying their product, but they'll stop (or buy it used from other parents) if they can't get responses and answers.  Sheesh.  So anyway, I think I'll be reselling my OM1 stuff like these other parents and going it alone once more.  I MAY consider sticking with their craft supply kits, but we'll see.  I'm fascinated by their catalog, but I'm more than dismayed with the overall experience I had ordering from them and I'm still irked by it.  Obviously.

Anywho, as I was wandering away from that aisle and looked for a CD I wanted (which they didn't have, which is fine, because Borders seems to be overpriced on their DVDs and CDs anyway), I spotted a My Little Pony Valentine's book for the Little and picked it up.  One less thing to think about next month, right?  And I spotted the new issue of Pregnancy & Newborn, which is a new preggo mag.

All in all, I guess technically about half my stuff was really mine.  But it was fun to have a day to myself, especially because I then took my wonderful new copy of The Hostage to the mall with me, and after I bought shoes for the Little, I sat down with some lunch and began devouring the new book.  Then drove home and read for a couple more hours.  Then the Man took the Little to a Daddy-Daughter Dance at work (sorry, can't share pictures as they all show their faces...but he DID honor my request to get a professional photo of the two of them, which turned out great, especially since he hates having his picture taken!) and I, uh, yeah -- I read while they were gone too.

Then read some more the next night and finished the 748 page book by Saturday night.

And it was GOOD.

Now the wait begins for the new one (just released in hardback) to arrive in paper.  Yay.

Almost Forgot!

No, the house STILL hasn't closed.  I called the escrow lady on Thursday and also emailed her, because even with the extension, we were SUPPOSED to close on Friday, the 29th.  So she called back and said she wouldn't have the documents until Friday or early the next week. 

Of course, I assumed they'd be closed Monday for the holiday and Tuesday for President Ford's day of mourning (after all, if the banks and post office are closed, I'm betting anybody that can will close up shop).  So I waited til 1130 this morning and called her.  She said my file was in another lady's office, and that lady was doing a signing, so she'd grab it and call me back in a few minutes.

It is now 1341, which is TWO HOURS later, and the phone ain't rung.  I'm about to blow a freaking gasket, and it doesn't help that the contractors showed up to start working on the outside of our building and the unit next door and they are using what sounds like a freaking jack hammer right in front of the front door.

Calgon, take me away.

Wanna hear the total crappy part?  I've now received an email and a phone call from folks who want to see the house.  Which is in ESCROW and was supposed to be CLOSED by now.  What do I do?  I don't know the legalities of it all just yet, but if we don't sign by THIS Friday I'm telling the buyer to KMA.  If'n you know what I mean.

Playing Catch-Up

WOW...the past week or so have flown by.  It just occured to me that I didn't even remember what (or when) I had blogged last.  Yikes!  Needless to say, I had to go back in and re-read what I'd posted.  heehee  Of course, the Man will attest that I would have to do that lately anyway, as I've had a pretty serious case of pregnant brain lately.  We are talking baaaad, people. 

The upside of it is that I finally have gotten a few energy bursts.  So far only one a week, but yesterday I got a ton of stuff done.  It kinda helped that I slept like crap the prior night, so I woke up all pissed off (which my Ma will verify is a great way for me to get things done around the house -- y'all shoulda seen how clean my house was two years ago when the Ex wrecked his work bike and I found out for sure about his, ah, "more-significant-than-his-then-wife other").  Anywho, Melly-Mel was cranky and finally got some stuff done, including two loads of laundry (washed, dried, and folded, thanks); Christmas tree down and ornaments away; dishwasher loaded, done, unloaded; sink and dog bowls scrubbed; and hall pantry cleaned out and mostly re-organized.  Oh and I also made two trays of lasagna -- one for us and one for a gal in the MOMS Club who had a baby recently. 

Of course, the Man got a good chuckle because I kept forgetting what I was doing while I was doing it.  But I felt a bit better when he went to the PX to return some stuff and buy me some disposable lasagna pans (one less thing for the other gal to keep track of, if she can just throw the tray OUT); my studly manly Man came home with two movies for the family and a pack of meatsticks.

But no lasagna pans. 

I felt WAY better then, until I looked up and realized (when he got back again) that I was out of spaghetti sauce.  People, I am NEVER out of spaghetti sauce.  It's like, a travesty of justice.  I was, frankly, SHOCKED.  So guess who got the last laugh as he drove up to the corner store and bought his tearful, muddled wife several jars of Ragu?  Chuh.

So things may finally get finished up around here, we'll see.  So far I've gone through almost 200 emails today since I haven't even had energy to come online.  Bleah. 

One other upside: I was incredibly tired (aka lazy in the Man's mind) on Sunday, and he was working on one of his own projects he wanted to hit hard, so the Little and I were laying in the big bed flipping channels and came across Discovery's "Man vs. Wild".  People, that show is freaking ADDICTIVE.  I now have a new favorite show, which is seriously saying something.  The Little and I actually laid in bed for FIVE HOURS watching this marathon of Man vs. Wild.  That is how incredibly, completely, utterly fascinating the bloody show is.  When a five-year-old runs to the bathroom during commercials so she doesn't miss anything and asks for days afterward when it'll be back on (which I need to go to their site and find out), you know you've got a winner.  We were both peeved we missed the end of the Moab, UT, episode.  I wonder if they are out on DVD?  Hmmmm.