Human Race 10K

Well, I really didn't think when I signed up for this race several months ago because now it's here, I am fourteen weeks pregnant and we are expecting a hurricane that same weekend (possibly, too early still to tell where it's going though). I signed up for the race the day before I found out I was pregnant. Talk about timing! So I think we are going to head to Austin but for completely different reasons. I may go and cheer the girls on and pick up my t-shirt (for the race I didn't run HA) So what was a girls weekend may turn into a family evacuation plan with E and Maggie. But those are my holiday plans for the weekend.

The race isn't until Sunday night but it will be nice to spend the weekend in Austin. We went this time last year to visit with my grade school best friend and her family but we haven't been back since. What a mistake! There are so many cool things to do and see there! Maybe I will go to California Pizza Kitchen...ahhhh...I feel the cravings already!! If their Jamaician Jerk Chicken Pizza was large enough I would move into it!!

Political Science for Dummies

If you don't know me, one thing is for sure...I am a pretty big conservative. Not as big and out politically as some people (E, my husband, or Ashley at the Linares Family) but nonetheless I like a little political humor once in a while...There were actually LOTS MORE examples but I chose only the funniest ones.

Political Science for Dummies

DEMOCRATIC
You have two cows.

Your neighbor has none.

You feel guilty for being successful.

Barbara Streisand sings for you.

REPUBLICAN
You have two cows.

Your neighbor has none.

So?

SOCIALIST
You have two cows.

The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.

You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

COMMUNIST
You have two cows.

The government seizes both and provides you with milk.

You wait in line for hours to get it.

It is expensive and sour.

AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.

You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.

You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows.

You are surprised when one cow drops dead.

You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.

Your stock goes up.

FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.

You go on strike because you want three cows.

You go to lunch and drink wine.

Life is good.

GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.

You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour.

Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don't know where they are.

While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman.

You break for lunch.

Life is good.

RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.

You have some vodka.

You count them and learn you have five cows.

You have some more vodka.

You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.

The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan , which are two.

You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts.

You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.

IRAQI CORPORATION
You have two cows.

They go into hiding.

They send radio tapes of their mooing.

FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow.

Everyone votes for the best looking one.

Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one.

Some people vote for both.

Some people vote for neither.

Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.

Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow.

CALIFORNIA CORPORATION
You have millions of cows.

They make real California cheese.

Only five speak English.

Most are illegals.

Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.

Eekkkk! It's Getting a Little Too Close!!

My stomach has started churning with every weather update throughout the day. Every time I look, the cone of hurricane uncertainty seems to be broadening closer to my house...and I am supposed to go out of town for a girl's weekend/10K race (don't worry, I am not actually running it, just walking it slowly with a full Camelbak)!! So I am really nervous! The university and the military are already starting to make plans so that means that I have to start making plans too. I just think it's too early still. Seriously, it's not supposed to hit until Monday. Oh well, I guess time will tell. It's much scarier now that I actually own a house. The last few we have been through, it was no big deal because we rented the house and all of our other stuff was covered through renter's insurance. I guess it's time to grow up!! Hello Gustav! (yeah, about 5 of those lines are headed my direction!) If you want to see where I watch (intently) the weather, go to www.kwtacts.com. It's a website we used for work when I lived in Key West.

I Think I Have a Problem!

Well, yesterday during lunch, I decided to stay in and eat since I had brought my lunch and my lunch bunch is out of town. So I ended up looking at more prints. BAD IDEA!! I ended up buying five more.

This one is from Julia B. Hebner's Shop...oh, and I got a B, not an A.

This one is from Lily and Coco.

This one (Too Hard, Too Soft, Just Right) is from Sarah Jane Studios.

This one (Warm Me Up Coffee Cup) is from Charlie Motel.

This one is from NestaHome. I will have extras of these too if you want one. Leave me a comment and let me know and I will email you back and send it your way.

New Stuff

Well, I really want a small wall of little prints for my office once it's finished. I have collected a few so far and found a few more that I really wanted today but was able to withhold myself and only buy one instead of 12. Maybe I will buy another one next month. But this is the one I bought...with one exception, it has three tea cups instead of one of each.

These were the ones I wanted REALLY bad!

And I thought this one was quite humorous!

If you like these and want some of your own, check out The Poster List. Most of their prints are 12x18 but you can also get a pack of 6 postcards too for the same price as the poster. By the way, my postcard pack comes as a set of 6 so I five to give out if you are interested. Just leave me a comment letting me know and I will send you an email and get your info.

Empanada Update

So I finally found the recipe. You will have to forgive me...there was an advertisement at the top of the page for Martha Stewart ... so naturally, that's where I thought I got the recipe. Turns out, it was a Paula Deen recipe minus the 12 pounds of butter. Oh, and by the way, I tried making them a little bigger and flakier with puff pasty instead of pie crust last night and it worked beautifully!! I will use puff pastry every time now. I also rolled them a little thinner so that I could fit more filling inside of them because I felt like I was overwhelmed with crust while eating the first batch. I highly recommend puff pastry instead of pie crust. Cook it an extra 3 minutes or so and try dipping it in salsa (E dipped his in Ranch dressing...Blah..I guess to each thier own). Mmmmm. Here's Paula's picture. Oh yeah...you can make them ahead of time and freeze them for a month too. That a major plus!!

Chicken Empanadas

School Days are Over

Well, E finished his next to last class last night. Ahhhh...(that was my sigh of relief). I have really needed a break lately. When E is in school, I take on everything (except for mowing the lawn) so that he can focus soley on school work. But being pregnant, exhausted and sick at the same time made things...well...interesting. Our house has been is such disarray for such a long time. Luckily, I finally got some energy back last week and decided to actually keep house again. But the laundry, cooking, the yard, the errands, Maggie and the housework take a toll on me and by the time he is done with school and finally gets a break, I am ready for one too. Only one more class to go and then we are home free. No more school bills, no more waking up at 2 inthe morning when he finally crawls into bed, no more weekend exhaustion...I will actually get my husband back...and just in time to start doing some work around the house before the baby comes. We have so many projects that we wanted to finish this year and I am starting to see the year get away from us with no hope for those projects in site.

On the baby note...E took a belly picture this weekend for me. It didn't turn out so well so I will retake again soon and post it then. Don't worry though. You aren't missing anything. I just look like I normally do when I don't exercise. Nothing significant popping out yet!

Chicken Empanadas and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well, feeling a surge of energy this weekend, Thank God!!, I decided to make a go at cooking for a few days. I made some Hawaian Salmon, Grilled Shrimp, a German Apple Pancakes, and Chicken Empanadas. The empanadas was great. I don't think I will use pie crust for the dough again...just a personal preference because I really don't like pie crust...I had some filling left over so I thawed a puff pastry last night and will try making the recipe with that dough tonight. I have scoured the internet this morning looking for the site I got this recipe from with no luck. But as soon as I find it, I will pass it on. And I will let you know how the puff pastry goes tonight.

However, one night E was upset because I didn't buy any cookies at the store. I remembered that I had a bag of chocolate chips in the pantry so I pulled them out to see if I had all of the ingrediants to make the recipe on tha back. Turns out I did and I also found a favorite new chocolate chip cookie recipe. Normally, we would have bought the premade ones and threw them on a pan...but no more...these were awesome. You must try...if you already haven't. If you are at the store, grab a bag of Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips and the recipe is on the back. Or you can check the recipe here on their website.

Creature Quilt

There was this bedroom that I loved in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog and I was trying to show my mom. Well, I can't find the catalog now and I can't even find the picture on the website now. Oh well. But now that I think I may be having a boy, I guess that room wouldn't work as well. So I found a room in Land of Nod that I like. I really like the quilt and the argyle bedding more than anything else.

How cute is that!!

The Results Are In!!

Well, not really, but in our minds, they are. We went and had an ultrasound done yesterday at the Dr. office. The ultrasound tech started moving her wand over my belly and said "did you just have something to eat?" I snickered a little inside...because at no point during the day is that question invalid...however...I had just eaten an orange in the waiting room. She said that she could tell because the baby was going nuts. Every time she swept the wand across my belly, the baby was in a different position...on it's back, on it's belly, on it's back, upside down...it was crazy to watch. Heart rate was good, and beby seems to be a week ahead of schedule in size. She couldn't tell was the sex of the baby was though...we weren't really expecting her to be able to since it's so early but we still had to ask. However, the baby finally calmed down a little bit and she was able to get a good look at it's hind quarters. She said that at first she thought it was a girl, but now she is seeing a boy so she didn't want to call it yet. Me and E both think we saw a boy and that's what I have thought I was having all along so for now on...I will be calling it...a he.

He was stretching and kicking and crossing his arms and putting his hands over his face. It's was so funny. But 10 fingers and 10 toes are all we can hope for at this point and we saw those on the monitor yesterday. She says that he seems to be plenty healthy from what she can tell.

I know that we all have boundary issues at times and this just so happens to be one of mine...putting a giant picture of the inside of my uterus front and center on my blog. Yeah, I know...it's a picture of the baby...so if you want to see the pictures Click HERE for the first one and click HERE for second one. they are both little profile pictures that she gave us. If only we had a movie of what all he was up in there!!

12 Weeks

Here we are. I never thought I would make it. I still don't think I can make it through the week to finally see the light at the end of the "first trimester" tunnel. It has been a LONG few weeks. Just when I think things are looking up, something throws me on my back again.

Something about work changes my health during the day. If I am at home, I am fine until the afternoon. But if it's a weekday, HOLD ON TIGHT!!! It going to be a rough day!! Oh the nausea and headaches until lunch time. Luckily the nausea goes away after lunch which makes the all day headache a little more bearable!! thank goodness my office is in the back and no one ever stops by because most of the morning is spent taking deep breaths and trying to stay upright. I can't afford to use anymore sick days.

My appetite is back in full force. Still watching my portions so I am not miserable. I just can't get used to making a full meal for me and E at dinner time and then 2.5 hours later, I am ready to eat again but I don't want what we just had for dinner and I also don't want to have to clean the kitchen again...so I have resorted to tomato sandwiches and bowls of cereal for the past few days.

But the fun part was yesterday, when I had a doctors appointment. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. It was 164 beats per minute which ...is good...I am told! The new doctor was great. Yeah, we knew him from a neighborhood BBQ but I am really glad we chose him. He is going to work out great! He's not creepy at all!! Nice guy, former military, very personable. But my 12 week Dr. appt went good and all is well!! We have a sonogram next week so maybe I will have a picture to share next week (not that the untrained eye can actually decypher those images).

My Flair

Some friends of mine have sent me some "Pieces of Flair" on Facebook. (reference to the movie "Office Space") I know that alot of you don't do facebook and I actually barely do Facebook but these buttons were so cute I had to share them with you all.

1000 Miles Yard Sale

Sounds weird right? I agree! But my grandparents, parents and my sister swear by it. Let me preface this post by saying that my family member are a bunch of yard saling ANIMALS!!! They do this stuff on a serious weekly scale. I have never really enjoyed going with them. Me and E went yard saling one day here in town and found nothing, although on the way home from the farmer's market one day, I stopped at one in our neighborhood and bought 2 chairs. Let me breakdown the yard sale finds for you by person:

Nanny: she is looking for anything that will help celebrate any and all holidays, clothes, chairs (because everytime we go home for the holidays one of us is getting married or having a kid meaning one more seat at the Thanksgiving table), unique gift items and now baby stuff.

Papa: I think he goes for moral support for Nanny, however he finds books and little trinkets for his tools and office

Mom: She really looking for furniture and picture frames, mostly things she can spray paint, refinish, reupolster, or reuse in a completely new way.

Dad: He goes to help her decide what's junk, he seems to find trinkets for his office and always seems to be drawn to the things that remind him of his childhood and anything leather (not clothing though)

Blake (sister): She is there for it all!!! She gets some of the weirdest things there and makes them work. She has some really cool clothes and they all come from yard sales and the thrift store. Why? I don't know. She has a really good job and so does her husband but it's the thrill of the chase for her, I guess!!

But back to the 1000 mile yard sale...it's a big event for the state of Alabama and my family goes every year. This year they went with baby stuff in mind for me. Evidently me and E got more stuff for the baby than anyone else got for themselves. I know that from their yard saling adventures, so far, they have bought us a snugli, a swing, baby monitors, some maternity clothes, a mission style baby bed and mattress and a sandwich maker...well, that one's not really for the baby!! I am pumped!!! Now, we may have to rent a uhaul to get it all home when we visit for the holidays.

Shabby Chic

So Friday was my last "Friday off" until next summer (or until the baby comes) so I treated myself to some discount furniture shopping. My mother and grandmother would be proud!!!

I hit this crappy furniture place I have been wanting to visit for months and was finally able to catch them on a day they were open. It was JAM PACKED full of furniture, so much so, that you could only get through one or two of the aisles.

But I did find these 2 pieces that I am looking forward to refinishing and putting in the house.

The first one is a round coffee table. I have had my eye out for one of these for a while. And this one will suffice. It is 100% oak and I plan on sanding it down and staining it a dark walnut color.

This one is a little iron ottoman that I found in the corner. The iron work needs a fresh coat of paint and I will definately be exchanging the ratly old upholstery for something a little more fresh and modern.

**Please pardon the crappy pictures from my garage.

Hurricane Edouard

Well, here we go again. At least it hasn't been bad yet. Both of the storms we have had were category 1 or only a tropical storm. We were really expecting alot more wind and rain. So much so that E had me unload the garage so we could actually fit our cars inside. Now my house looks SO CLUTTERED with bikes and leaf blowers and weed eaters everywhere. Yes, we have a 2 car garage, but it only fits 2 cars and nothing else.

Where are we located again? Locate the eye of the storm!! There we are!!

Back to Edouard...the rain and wind started about 3am and at 7am when I got up (yes, we were both exempt from work yesterday) the eye of the storm was only minutes away. About that time we lost power for about an hour. We ate a bowl of cereal and played games on our phones and Nintendo DS consoles until the power came back on. The rest of the afternoon, it sprinkled and the wind didn't blow too hard. We got a hard rain again about 4:30pm and lost power again for about 30 minutes. And that was the end.

All that unloading in the garage for nothing!!!

Life's Good Stuff!

There are so few genuinely "good things" in our lives these days. In the midst of work (blah!), a hurricane, pregnancy sickness and exhaustion, and no electricity... I was super glad that Pam and Dennis (E's parents) had stopped by for a visit and dropped off some presents...4 of them to be exact!!!

Me and E dream about this ice cream! Don't get me wrong, Blue Bell is good and I wouldn't dare fight any Texan on that issue, but Mayfield is where it's at!!! They came out with Snow Cream when we were in college. Pam used to fill her freezer up with it and on Sunday, E and I would visit so E could do his laundry and we would always sit and eat ice cream while we waited for everything to dry. We couldn't get it in Florida when we lived there and now we still can't find it. So Pam bought us 4 tubs of it and threw it in a cooler with some dry ice and then they made their way to our house this weekend.

Ahhh...Pam, just so you know, I have had a mug full every night since you left!! Thank you!! we are going to go through that ice cream so fast!

Maggie and Bob

Pam and Dennis (E's parents) came to visit this weekend and brought Bob with them. Bob is their very tiny miniture Yorkie!! He is so tiny and so terrified of Maggie (for obvious reasons-Maggie is at least 25 times his size).

But as soon as Maggie laid down and rolled over, the game was on. So we made Maggie lay down and keep still and Bob finally warmed up to her, so much so that he felt gutsy enough to take her ball away from her the day they left. She didn't care though. She thought they were going to play chase with it. Boy was she wrong! He just wanted the ball!! So in retaliation, Maggie went back to his bed and took some of his toys. It's so weird how closely related kids and dogs are!

And then, evidently, she felt comfortable enough to jump into Pam's lap to watch TV with her before they left.