Excited and Scared

Some of you might be familiar with the musical "Into the Woods." Well, you see I played in the pit orchestra for that show in high school (which is as close as I ever got to the stage, sadly). The beauty of the pit orchestra is that you are able to memorize the entire musical and lip sync it in the pit (except when you're playing, of course). My favorite character in the play was Little Red Riding Hood, if only for her song "I Know Things Now" (which should actually be entitled "Excited and Scared" -- because that's the best part of the song). I actually just found it on youtube.

Anywho... I have a little announcement, and I thought I'd hide it in the middle of an incredibly boring blog to see who really reads. The Ericksons are pregnant. 15 weeks give or take a couple -- today, in fact. It hasn't been easy to not type every single solitary thing that's happened so far with this pregnancy to the world at large, but I didn't want to have to go through anything negative online, and so I waited (plus, we had to tell our family). So, just wait to catch-up on the last 10 weeks or so. :)

For those who are new to my blog, we'd been trying for almost two and a half years to get pregnant. No, we didn't do fertility or anything -- for those of you wondering. I knew that wasn't the route for us {aka, me}.

We are all very excited. Spencer is SURE it's a boy -- but he keeps calling the baby "her" (let's not pretend like the child is the master at pronouns though -- he is most definitely not). Conner has said he'd like a boy, but perhaps we should "try out a girl." I reminded him that this baby isn't returnable (except in the great state of Minnesota, or wherever that is where you can give your kids back up til' the age of 18). We don't know gender, even though my co-workers follow me around greedily wanting to strap me to the ultrasound table. Our official Kaiser ultrasound is scheduled for November 18th, and much like Red I am excited and scared for that too. I am also very scared. During those 2 1/2 years I got to worry that perhaps I wasn't ready. Perhaps I'd flip out with child #3. Perhaps I will. Only time will tell. Word on the street -- #3 is the straw that breaks the mom's back. {sigh}

There is a great line in the song that says "Isn't it great to know a lot ... and a little bit not." That's pretty much where I am. After almost 8 years of being in labor and delivery I know too much, perhaps. And since it took so long for this one to happen worrying that it won't end-up with a happy ending. I know millions of little things that can go wrong... but I'm trying not to think about those.

Anyway, there's our news. I thought it was perfect to share on Halloween since this day is all about kids for me. I love to see how excited they get. Word on the weather.com the rain should stop just as school is getting out. Spencer has been praying the past couple of days that it wouldn't rain while they trick or treat, and while I've prepared him for the fact that some farmers have been praying for rain for quite some time... it would be nice not to do it while dripping. Happy Halloween, only 4 more days (talk about excited and scared for that one!)!

My Love Hate Relationship With Yoga

When I started this whole glucose intolerance deali-o I decided I should do some yoga. They say that one of the reasons a person can have a high fasting glucose level is because of stress. Personally, I thrive on it. It's my life blood many days. It's nothing I'm proud of. However, I do need to eliminate some for health reasons.

So I got a yoga tape, one that the people who were new to Yoga on Amazon seemed to like. I have been doing it twice weekly for a few weeks now and I do see a difference. I am able to do poses better and I'm proud that my flexibility is growing.

However, I think someone needs to remind them that we're doing Yoga, not therapy, and if we wanted to do therapy we'd probably get a therapist. I love it when she says "just remember that each day is a different day." It makes me giggle every time. It takes a lot to make me giggle at 6:15 am.

With Yoga there are those long pauses when you're holding a stretch when you can think about the kind of mom you are, the kind of friend, nurse, daughter -- all that good stuff. I am always vowing to stop parenting from the couch or doing more service. I think I am finding myself doing better at those things as I promise myself twice a week in the mornings.

Anyway, I'm starting to like it. But I still hate down dog and chatteronga (sp?). HATE down dog, not sure when my body will ever be flexible enough not to do that from my tip-toes.

P.S. FIVE {clap} MORE {stomp} DAYS!!!!!! Can you believe it? BTW, who ever is president I am already SO tired of them... maybe they should throw us a party for having to look at them for the last 2+ years instead of an innauguration. :)

P.P.S. I have some VERY SCCCAAARRRYYY {ala cartoon voice} news tomorrow. Be sure to stay tuned.

A Good Site

Next time, you're considering an impulse buy:
http://spendster.org/
SO funny to see what other people bought and never use. And it reminds you of all the things YOU'VE bought and never use.
Smart to show we're all dumb and we all need to move on.

6 more days

6 more days!
6 more days!
6! {stomp}
more! {stomp}
days! {stomp}
{jazz hands in the air}
Go team. {sigh}
P.s. Bought more than shoes yesterday. Ross was one crowded store, with some decent sweaters. PLUS, my mom's here and she gets the senior discount. :) I single-handidly made the DOW go up, I'm just sure of it.

MY giant-huge-shout-out

HUGE shout out to my cousin Bryce who was the first one to figure out my little kiddos are Calvin and Hobbes. Although I think my photo processig made Conner's hair a bit more green than in real life, it does look fairly green, even though the can of hairspray we bought specifically said yellow. What can you do?

I have a whole song about how many days are left until the election. I'm practically giddy that it's only a week away. I have a funny feeling that even when that day comes and goes this whole Prop 8 thing won't be over, but I can still hope a lot -- can't I? I am torn between getting a new sign and putting something up that says tolerance should go both ways. It'd be interesting to see the ratio of yes to no signs stolen.

Thinking about buying some new shoes today. Honestly, I have very few shoes for a normal gal... many of them are YEARS old. I am currently wearing my doc martins that I bought before I got pregnant with Conner. Anyway, feeling the need to boost our economy just a bit (and I mean, only a bit).

How boring is this blog? Feel free to berate me in your comments.

Someone Stole Our Sign

Someone stole our Yes on 8 Sign.
So much for equal rights, people.
I think your karma will punish you enough.
Enjoy that.
BTW, it was there when I dropped off, and wasn't there when my mom and I came home from shopping after picking up C. Stolen in plain daylight.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Hints

So, just because there's a picture -- doesn't mean that you're all gonna figure it out. Reminder: They're cartoon characters, they go together, and Spencer is NOT Tigger (and I wouldn't recommend calling him tigger because he gets mildly bitter with you).

First one gets a lovely shout-out from me. :) And yes, a shout out is all the energy I have after a weekend full of halloween stuff.

Another little Halloween Hint

K, I think I might have led some people astray with the storybook character hint.
They are in BOOKS, but they're not storybooks. I would definately put them in the comics genre.
And, as far as I know that's where they've stayed -- no movies or TV shows that I'm aware of.
And now, for a little work.
And no, I didn't take any pictures of them last night at the school event. I did get some of other children for the yearbook -- how bad am I?

Crazy Halloween

I remember when my kids were tiny, how low-key Halloween was. It was cute and involved one, possibly two days with very few preparations.

Those days are over.

Having Conner in school changes everything. They have a Halloween carnival, the church has a party, and then there's the parades at school (one for Spencer this year too).

I'm sure many of you are waiting with baited breath as to what we are going to be this year for Halloween... you haven't heard me agonizing over the sewing machine or swearing about finding fabric.

That's because I have done neither.

You see, having boys is a tough situation. I am totally anti-scary-Halloween. I am entirely pro-creative-fun-happy-Halloween. Problem is, the world gives little boys the scary Halloween in almost everything they do. I told Conner that one of the ways we can be most creative and most fun is by picking a character out of a book. He loves Harry Potter, and so he considered that for a while (but was well aware of how well-used that costume is).

So, what are we gonna be?

Well, I'll give you a hint -- and hopefully there will be pictures to follow at some point.

• We are characters from a series of books.
• Conner's costume just took a trip to target to find the right shirt.
• Spencer will have an orange theme.
• Drew and I have to do nothing, and in fact the band kids said he already looked JUST LIKE this person.

Guess away. I was gonna sew Spencer's costume but ended-up finding one that was perfect for much cheaper than I could've made it anyway. BTW, buycostumes.com is an amazing store, they have great customer service. I would order again from them any day.

IT IS FINISHED

If there has ever been a time to break the word of wisdom it's today.
I'm DONE
DONE
DONE
DONE
D.O.N.E.
DONE
with my proposition 8 stuff.
HORRAY. So happy.
Also found Mr. Crazy today who said this was the "bill about the homos"... he was a piece of work. :)
But, he's not as happy as me.
Today's street was full of crazies. The other lady said "You don't need to talk to me, I know how to vote. And kept saying it over and over." Honestly, I wondered if she did know how to vote. :)

Those Crazy Mormons

Lately, I've been thinking about a comment a friend made at work when she found-out I was LDS.

"But you're SO normal, Hilary."

"Umm... thanks."

No, we don't braid our hair and make our own dresses (thank goodness, because the only one I've ever made is my princes Leia mu-mu) but we do have our own quirks. Just thought I'd share a few I have noticed lately.

1. Obama is not a terrorist or an inherently evil person. I can't even begin to count the # of emails I've gotten about Obama being an awful evil person. Let's face it, he's a Son of God. He's willing to serve the country. I think he really cares about the country and what's going to happen to it. He might not care about it the way you do, but God gave us options....

2. The Elder Packer email. I found it interesting, I didn't find it awe-inspiring. I do wonder why, when people find that it's not something that should be pushed around the church people forward it around. I found it to all be good advice, but I doubt he's loving that we're all reading it now. I was mostly shocked that his ward went to Nauvoo for youth conference. And yes, that's how my mind works. And we wonder why the 12 don't have their own blogs (ok, maybe we don't).

3. Prop 8. I hate to say it folks, but Conner has NEVER had a lesson about marriage and families in his whole 4 years in school. That's not to say that they haven't talked about our families and how much we love them, and what they do for us (I have had to have a lesson with him about how some people have two dads and some have two moms, but their parents love them and they consider themselves a family -- because we have friends of this nature -- and I wanted to be the one to introduce it and say it's not for us but perhaps it works for them). But I think it has stopped there. With no child left behind the teachers are awfully busy trying to get in a whole slew of other stuff. The temples will most likely remain as they are now (since they are not a public building). This isn't to say that I'm not doing my darndest to get it passed, but try and take a deep breath before you freak out about some things people.

Anyway, just some thoughts I've had lately. Take them for what they're worth.

JUST as facinating as the real housewives

Is the listing of who gave what to proposition 8. Now, don't all try and find my name, because we're not on there (I think in order for a small donor to be listed they needed to be more on their game and donate before the end of September).

But it does a heart good to see people who you darn well know could spend their money in other ways using it in this way.

Mormons are not rich folk (in general). Most of the women are stay at home moms (besides the particularly loser-ish in the bunch), many of the fathers pick home time over REALLY long hours, and we are as thrifty as most people can get -- and yet we're giving to this.

Personally, I've NEVER given to a campaign before. Will I again? Perhaps. It's nice to see myself take a stand on something that I believe in.

I really need to get out my voter info book. There are WAY too many propositions.

P.S. Guess whose mom is coming today. {insert ginormous smile}

P.P.S. Is it wrong to kind of hope a squirrel dies as he's hauling his WAY too big find from your garden up to its nest? Seriously, the cuumbers aren't worth it little beasts.

The "Real" Housewives

I remember what I thought was so awful about the TV I watched on Sunday -- the main of it being the Real Housewives of Atlanta. I had watched the Real Housewives of Orange County a bit when it came-out. I thought they were moderately normal people who were just well off -- but they sure hit the gold mine in Atlanta. These women are entirely all rich because of their sports-playing (or most likely mafia-related, in the case of the one white woman) husbands.
I'm shocked by how they live.
I'm shocked by how they act.
I'm shocked they put it on TV during a time when most people are cutting coupons and recycling.
Has anyone else seen this show? I wouldn't watch it on a normal day if you paid me -- but, you know, on a sick Sunday a gal gets desperate. I mostly ended-up feeling sad that any people live like that. I'm sad that they're so materialistic, sad that they spent 18k on their child's 10th birthday party, sad that they wonder why their children are so ungrateful.
HELLO LADIES, buy a mirror (I'm pretty sure you can afford it).

Sick and Tired

The allergies seem to have settled in my chest. My children tried to faux illness when Drew was trying to take them to church (by himself) yesterday so they stayed home. And they both ran through the house like banshees the whole time (with me hiding under my blanket trying to sniff the steam from my tea).

Then he came home and banished me to my room. I watched like 10 hours of random television. I should've gone out and gotten Beaches and Steel Magnolias but instead I just kept flipping. Amazing what kind of crap is on TV on a Sunday.

Life is back to "normal" today. Nothing more fun than parenting while coughing and wheezing. I have conned Drew into picking C up today, so that's a happy thought. I think I need to make another cup of tea.

In other news, I thought Sarah Palin on SNL was "pale-in'" in her performance. HELLO -- she could've had actual lines, she could've been ACTUALLY funny. Instead she kinda stood around while everyone else either helped her make jokes, or made jokes about her. And I thought the rest of SNL was awful -- except for the Suze Orman part, I thought that was pretty funny.

Good Deals at Safeway *Friday Only*

Well, actually, the only thing that's good for just Friday are the 1# bags of shrimp for 5.00 -- which is an OK price, but the shrimp looks really good and I like that it's in a smaller back than usual.
Here's the other deal on Frosted Mini Wheats (flavored variety only -- you can't buy the regular frosted mini wheats):
Go to Coupons.com (I hear they got pulled from coupons.com -- you can get them here) -- print out 6 coupons (or 3 -- depending on if you want to buy 6 or 3). For a dollar off one box. There are a LOT of different Kellogs coupons on this site right now, and you can print 2 of each. I actually now print my coupons from my points -- but that's a whole other bag of chips. :)
This cereal is on sale for 2.50/box
Buy in multiples of 3 because if you buy 3 you'll get 3 dollars back on your next purchase.
Here's how it works out
3 Boxes of shredded mini wheats (my kids really like the strawberry kind) for 7.50
3 coupons for 1 dollar off each (these are also available at the Safeway.com website if they give you any grief) -- bringing it to 4.50
AND get 3 dollars off your next order.
It's like getting them for 1.50.
I split my order into 3 transactions today.
3 boxes of SMW
3 boxes of SMW (used first 3$ coupon from first order)
4 bags of shrimp and my regular groceries (used 2nd 3$ off coupon).
Feel the joy.

Just call me the plumber

You know what we do for fun on a Thursday night? Watch Project Runway on our DVR? No. (that was earlier).

We stick our chapstick cap down the drain and then start crying and saying it's an accident even though there's chapstick ALL over the sink and you had to pull out the stopper in order to get the cap down the drain.

In addition to that, we steal mom's protein bars (which are the ONLY thing she can just throw in her purse to eat anymore), we steal candy and leave the wrappers out just to drive mom a little more insane and we say our homework's done even when it's not.

Mom needs a timeout. I had to count to 10 before I could deal with him on this one. His lack of brain power lately is overwhelming me. What on earth happened to the still small voice? {sigh}

And why does stuff like that ALWAYS happen when Drew has a concert?

Tomorrow night's fantastic Friday and I'm pretty much as excited for it as I was my own wedding. Yeesh, I really need to get out and be with my peeps. Peeps who can make smart decisions with their chapstick.

P.S. What do you guys do when your kids do something like this? Besides yell and cry? I just told him to shut his mouth and go to bed. He was lucky it ended at that.

Allergies

My goodness, my allergies have been crazy lately. I woke-up at 4:30 wanting to scratch my eyes out (and didn't get back to sleep, even after hunting for my Visine AC and finding relief).
I'm gonna go back to Claritin, and see if it helps (I've been using Zyrtec)... {sigh} -- just so tired of thinking my eyes look like they're swollen shut.
Anyone else been having it bad? Did I get a bad batch of meds? Perhaps it's all my proposition 8 walks.

Breaking up my monotony today

Today I decided to clean my showers and snake their drains.
Monotonous, it was not.
Fulfilling, perhaps.
Fun. no.
Clean (now) yes.
Seriously, no clue what the kids shoved down their drain.
And I think I have more hair in my drain in 6 months than I have on my head.

M&M's (mealtime and monotony)

While this is NOT turning into a proposition 8 blog (although I've considered instead of having a header, having a countdown to how many days til' the election... sigh) my friend Lara sent me this interesting blog. It's a totally rational viewpoint of it. I think Mormons tend to get our panties (or G's) in a bunch over the issue -- but this guy's got a really rational viewpoint. WARNING, it's freakishly long.

In other news I was talking with a friend at work the other day. Both of us are in the posh situation to only work once or twice a week and play stay at home mom the rest of the days. We were commiserating about how lucky we are and how MONOTONOUS our jobs at home can become. Every day it's the same thing, you definitely can't say that about our paid work. I've been thinking about this. I think I've become better at breaking-up my monotony with a little TV time, or some projects I work on to break up the day. I am also so thankful for friends who get me out for playgroup or lunch sometimes. Last night during FHE I just lost it. The entire meal was "please sit on your bottom" to both kids, "use your fork" to both kids. I mean, it's a constant and it's driving me INSANE. Conner also does this thing where he breaks his food apart into tiny little pieces and then eats it with his hands (like with a sandwich or a cookie) and it drives me insane to see him touch EVERY SINGLE BITE OF HIS FOOD WITH HIS HANDS. Me, knowing those hands are rarely washed very well. {big sigh}

Anyway, it's obviously a sign that I need some more "breaking up" of my day. How do you break up the monotony of it all?

Mean

Well, I did my Prop 8 walk on Saturday and it was AWFUL. I went about 2 streets away from where our house and suddenly I was in a world of hurt. Psycho people, one lady was speaking to me from the shadows (she also had about 80 wind chimes on my walk up to her house). SO many people telling me it was NONE of my business. I mean, I get saying that they'd prefer not to share (and I had one lady sweetly tell me that) but man... There are also a TON of people who are OBVIOUSLY home but won't answer. I mean, how threatening can a 30-something woman and 2 little kids be?

In my head I'm trying to think what I've done when people have come by with information in the past. I usually have said I haven't made-up my mind (which is totally true) and I take their info, and read it. Sometimes they tell me an extra good point about their candidate or position, and I appreciate that. Often I vote for that person just because I can't make up my mind and I appreciate that someone has people's support enough that they'll go walk for them.

{sigh}

But, I'll do it again today. The worst part is that my children are DEATHLY afraid of dogs, and if they even hear a close-to-a-bark coming from within they both bolt as far away as humanly possible. I keep telling them to run somewhere together but I swear they run in separate directions, leaving me looking for them as the person answers the door. Perhaps we need to work on our Godly fear, rather than our dogly fear.

The Fun Begins

Today is the official busting out of marching band season. Drew got-up at 6:30, left around 7 and will return around midnight. He will be tired and it will be an endlessly long day of him taking care of a bunch of high school students, but I won't care because I will be so tired of our children tomorrow I will lay in bed and suck my thumb.

Well, at least this is how it usually goes. :)

I read on a friend's blog about how she made a plan with her little girl getting in some things that they each wanted to do, so I'm going to have a meeting around here at 8 am where we can all plan out our day. So often I plan little surprises for the kids on days like this that don't go over as I had planned. We get a movie, we go to see dad -- and that's not really what the kids wanted at all -- and that doesn't turn out particularly fancy for any of us. BTW, the day WILL have a trip to Safeway included in it -- gotta get me some Classico -- I'm thinking 10 jars total, possibly 14...

I remember my first few marching band seasons, just SO tired and not dealing well at all with them, but I am slowly growing into it. Realizing I can't work millions of hours and still make it work for our family. Realizing that I do need to plan something for the day otherwise I have a lot of whiny children. Realizing that I can be a soccer mom on my own (I still do not love this -- I barely tolerate it). Anyway, it gets better every year -- and I know it's coming. Deep breathing.

Namaste.

Simple Concepts

Since I can remember the LDS church has said "don't go into debt." Yes, they made allowances for a home, and education when necessary.

Simple concepts -- which, if everyone followed we wouldn't be in this mess.

Isn't it amazing that it's the simple things that keep the world from trouble.

Did anyone watch Oprah 2 days ago when she did a show on being thrifty? It seemed like such an unusual depature for her. Instead of her favorite things being thousands of dollars, they were friends who swapped couches so they could each have a new look in their house.

However, it's stuff like this that we need on TV right now. Showing people things that I've learned all my life. Reusing, ignoring the things you don't REALLY need, and using your money wisely.

If only people had listened a century ago.

My only question -- do you think it will work? WILL people be able to go without the things they want "right now"? I think the credit crunch is what is causing them to not be able to get them. It will be interesting to see what happens to suicide rates, and depression rates when people have these props taken away. I think what was so great about her show was showing that you can still have things, you'll just have to go about it in a new way.

I did get hamburger on a sweet markdown today at Lucky.

Lucky me.

Prop 8 walk

I must admit that cleaning out the freezer was a much more painful procedure than doing my prop 8 walk. We finished our road and did another one.
Yippie.

My Least Favorite Job

I am doing my least favorite job right now. At least I THOUGHT it was my least favorite, but I must admit I've been putting off finishing my door to do for proposition 8 pretty handily as well. If only ground beef going on sale gave me such gumption to get THAT done.
But I digress.
I hate defrosting my freezer, does anyone have any tips?

Frankly, Proposition Eight is also killing me. The church had a broadcast last night and while I was only able to hear a few minutes of it I keep having these thoughts run through my head. I thought I'd share. It won't be my usual prop 8 blog.

1. I'm tired of people in Utah sitting back and telling us to get out there and fix it (and I am NOT talking about the general authorities). They're not going door to door to their neighbors who most likely don't agree with them and will tell them to their face (unlike in Utah where they'd just talk bad about them behind their backs). I know -- a complete over generalization... but it does get tiring that the church is placing SO much of a load on us. I realize it's our job. Just tired, I suppose. Hopefully we will reap blessings from it as well

2. I'm just taking a stand. If I was so set on having proposition 7 pass (which I think is about green energy, although I'm not quite sure because their ads are so confusing), do you think people would leave hate messages on my blog. Do you think I'd be afraid to talk about it in the workplace? It's the same thing. I'm going to vote yes, I think other people should too. Barack Obama thinks we should vote for him, so he wants other people to as well.

3. BTW, I am SO tired of this election. SO, SO, SO tired of it. I'm not gonna vote for McCain because I am SO TIRED OF HIM. I mean, I change my mind about 12 times a day about which one I'm gonna vote for but as of right now I am SO TIRED of Mr. Negative, and his little partner in crime. I'm sorry but she's turning into the caddy soccer (or hockey) mom who I'd be afraid to talk to.

4. Am I ready to lose friends because I am taking this stand. I suppose so. It's likely. I keep worrying that our gay/lesbian friends will find out about our "stand." I hope they understand how much we love them and it's just a stand. It doesn't change our feelings for them (even if I fear it will change their feelings for us).

5. Who hates our ads? I think I heard a new one this morning, but the one with Gavin Newson just stinks. Show families -- families who love each other with a mom and a dad. Remind people how they grew up and ask them if they want that for their children. Don't have him keep saying "it's coming..." It's making me nauseated.

6. Lastly, my fellow Californians -- look into your hearts.

• Do you think that children raised in a household with a mother and a father have a better start than those that don't?
• Do you think that the word marriage could be reserved for just men and women, and perhaps gay/lesbians could find their own term? I agree that civil unions doesn't show the love they have for each other -- but since they are unable to bear children together, I think that another term would be in order.
• Do you honestly feel that constitutional rights are violated just because they can't say they're married?

For me -- it's a no on all three -- hence my thoughts today.

6. Did I mention I'll be happy when this election is over with? I think Thanksgiving will be a time to just be glad it's over. :)

Sweet Deal at Safeway

Just giving everyone a heads-up about Safeway's good deals this week.

Besides their good Saturday sale (I think I'm gonna clean-out my freezer while S is at preschool tomorrow so I can assess how much more it can be packed -- the ground beef is a very good price), they have buy 2 classico spaghetti sauces (I'm pretty sure it's just the larger jars, not pesto) for 4 dollars (a good price), get 2 boxes of pasta for free. Hence, you'll have an entire meal for 2 dollars (throw in an extra dollar for some veggies, and that's still pretty amazing).
Also, if you spend 30 dollars or more on this promotion they'll donate 5 dollars to breast cancer research, and that can't be a bad thing. I am most likely going to be buying 16 jars (you have to do it in an even number).
I have NO idea where I'm gonna put all that pasta, but it's such great food storage, it's hard to beat.
Now I just need to figure out a way to work some protein into this. I'm thinking chicken, perhaps.

And That's the Way It Is

So, recently I have been diagnosed with glucose intolerance. Fasting glucose intolerance that is. They just called me yesterday to give me that happy news. I had a high glucose level a couple of years ago which is what sparked the whole working/out losing weight phenomenon. It has actually improved since then, but Kaiser is having a dietician call me on Thursday to go over ways I can eat better to improve this issue.
My doctor told me one of the things I should do is have several small meals throughout the day which include both protein and carbs.
So, I thought -- what's protein-y that I like?

• Cheese (yum)
• Beef Jerky
• umm.... other kinds of cheese?

You see -- I'm a cheese fanatic. It's like my own crystal meth.

So I've just been watching what food shows are cooking, and what my friends are eating. I've come up with some ideas of things that I both like, and combine carbs and protein:

• Cottage cheese with tomatoes (and possibly a cracker)
• Pistachios (these are great because while you're cracking them it takes a while to eat them)
• and I've recently become a fan of hummus.

So, yesterday I made my first batch of hummus.
I used this recipe as my beginning point. Then I'd talked with a few friends about how they made their hummus better.

I used just one can of garbonzo beans, 4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic), probably around 2 tsp of olive oil, a couple shakes of cumin, 3 or 4 shakes of cayenne pepper (I like things with a little kick), a couple of squirts of lemon juice, 1'ish tsp. of tahini sauce. Frankly -- I think that was too much -- I am NOT a fan of this stuff, but I do think it needs a very small amount to make it take hummus-y. Also, I reserved some of the liquid from the beans to use to thin out the hummus (it makes it a little creamer than just water, or so I hear).

Anyway, so I had that with some veggies yesterday. I went to Trader Joe's and bought some whole wheat naam (I think that's how you spell it -- it's Indian flat bread, kinda like a rectangular pita) that has lots of fiber. So far, so good.
I like how hummus is so easily altered to your tastes, and I see so many yummy looking recipes out there.
Anyway, do you have a favorite snack that involves both carbs and protein (and his hopefully lower in fat than the cheese quesadilla I had considered making)? Do you make hummus?
Really, I'm gonna be healthy if I have to die trying. :)

Conference, the Mormon Holiday

Have you ever been jealous of all the super-religions and their fancy work-free holidays? I mean, you never see a Mormon kid getting out of school to celebrate Joseph Smith's birthday, and I don't even get to take work off for the glorious pioneer day (in fact, even when we were in UT I don't believe it was even considered a holiday at my workplace -- but that's what you get for working in a nursing home where your checks bounced).

But what we can do is watch conference. I just decided -- conference weekend is OUR holiday -- it's our Rosh Hoshanna... or however your spell it. Free from nylons, free, from the strife of trying to make our kids sit on the bench and look tolerant of being bored, free from not being able to eat the whole 3 hours. Ahhh... it's really the good life.

The talks were amazing, as always.

But, I must admit the food, the family, the togetherness, the laying on the couch -- that's what a holiday is for me. So happy conference weekend everyone -- see you in 6 months. I do feel rejuvinated after this holiday. Go team.

Bakin'

During General Conference (Mormon thing) we always get doughnuts on Saturday, and I make Cinnamon rolls on Sunday. My friend calls it cardiac weekend, because most moms tend to round-off the morning with sausage and cheese filled eggs, juice, a big ol' bowl of lard. And heck, I wouldn't want my family to feel left out.
Really, it's a day of rest people, and today we don't even have to get Sunday clothes on.
Feel the joy.
And the angina.

Money, Money, Money

I balance our checkbook EVERY Saturday. If I work Saturday I do it on Friday night. I am OBSESSIVE about it. I also take that chance to pay our bills, cry over how our IRA's are doing and take a financial snapshot of how we are doing.

Right now I am creeped out.

Not about my IRA, although I very well should be. I figure that's a long-term investment as I am not retiring for basically forever. I hear my dad talking to me when I look at our losses.... He's a smart dude.

I'm creeped out because we have nothing that we're currently saving for. Forever it's been a house, a car, a trombone and while we have plenty that we'd like to buy -- I'm totally in a wait and see mode. The economy is obviously sucking it up. If I were to save, it'd be for new couch -- that's for dang sure.

My friend Lara gave me the smart plan to have an emergency fund. That way when we have an unexpected doctor bill, or something that takes us out of our usual budget we dip into that to pay for it (and then build it back up as we continue to save). I have decided to raise the limit on this little fund, as we never have a clue when I'm going to work and I'd like to have a little more reserve in there. The key to this is only allowing yourself to do it in an emergency. Usually I confer with Drew before I dip. Like, sometimes our doctor copays could total 45 for a visit (we have outrageous prescription coverage -- don't get me going) -- it's not realistic for us to not eat for the week, so we have to dip. Our dips are rare though. Hopefully, if the copay is only 15 I can eat it from the week and stay on track.

Then, we have our more long term savings. This of course, I have very lofty goals for. I am a saver, I truly enjoy seeing those accounts go up and up (even if it's only by a few dollars each month). This isn't for retirement, it is for emergencies but "real" emergencies -- not just an errant bill here or there.

But, I thought I would share what our monthly budget is. So many people wonder how we make it in this fine valley. I won't go into our mortgage payment, etc. But these are our monthly "real" expenses (I have also taken out our bills -- because it's embarassing how much we pay for cable and internet -- but since we live away from family I call this a necessity -- I would guess for "bills" -- which would include cable, internet, cell phones, gas, electric, etc -- we pay around 350 -- YIPES, I know)

• We get $80 dollars/week to live on. This is for groceries, going out to eat -- anything not covered by the other items. I would guess that groceries usually takes around 40-50 of this, depending on the sales. I get this out in cash each week at the grocery store -- and we spend cash the rest of the week on these types of items. This is down from 100 when I did a budget re-check last year. 80 is tight. I will admit, and we rarely go out to eat anymore. But I'm finding ways to make it work. The kids are getting used to splitting burgers with us, etc. Honestly, I haven't noticed THAT big of a change -- and we're saving almost 100 dollars/month. You also need to remind yourself that every 100 counts -- if you can save that for a rainy day.
• Costco budget of $100 -- this used to be larger, but I cut back last year when I wasn't working as much. I'd like to keep it at 100 for right now, it's doable-ish. Also I am getting a lot of the things I used to get at Costco at Walgreens for cheaper at this point -- so some of that is coming out of our 80 dollar budget.
• Gas $200 (a complete guess -- we don't drive a ton, but our cars aren't the most fuel efficient)
• Dating $100 (this includes 1 date with the kids that costs 20$ and then 80$ for us to use for babysitters and whatever we spend on our dates -- so much cheaper than a lawyer, don't you think?) I also found that I had to budget money for this, otherwise it was never going to happen, I'd always find a new place to use that money, when it really should be going here.
• Clothing/Household $50 total (25 for each is supposed to go into this -- this is to buy like lawn fertilizer, clothes for the kids or myself -- it's supposed to help me from dipping into that emergency fund -- it's not realistic for me to throw 20 dollars of lawn fertilizer into the 80 dollar budget, but it's a need so I made room for it here)
• Own Money $80 (Drew and I each get 40 dollars of our own money to spend during the month -- mine goes mostly to going out to eat with friends, and his goes to Dr. Pepper and perhaps a teacher lunch, MP3's and bouquets of flowers for me -- in my dreams).

On top of those, of course we have our mortgage and car insurance, and life insurance but I didn't want to bore you with all of those. I thought I'd give our real world budget. It's actually working for us. I've used this system for the past 4 years or so. Prior to that I had never found a system that worked. I needed very definitive small categories and the weekly allowance thing has helped a ton. Thankfully, we've had our "own money" funds since I graduated from college. It's been huge for us to each have $$ the other person can't judge (and yes, I am the judger).

And there you have it. I'd love to hear how you guys budget. It's a really personal thing -- but I think in times like this it's important to share what's working for your family (and perhaps re-evaluate what isn't).

Sometimes you worry...

Sometimes I worry that my kids are on the wrong path...
And then you read a story like this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27005221/

Interesting....
And sad, super sad.

Prep

Now that my work life is settling down {phewsh} I am really trying to get my act together around here. Not that things have been slacking, but that I'd like to be more on top of it all.
ANYWAY. I'm trying to do some pre-prep in the kitchen to save us both time and money. So far I've cooked 85 meatballs. I found a great deal on ground beef at Lucky's on Monday so I cooked-up a bunch of meatballs to use in recipes. This morning I finally pulled out the bag of carrots I got super cheap and turned 1/2 of it into carrot sticks for lunches, etc.

Both of these things will save time and money, and I'd like to do stuff like this more often. Some other thoughts I've had is pre-packing crackers, etc. for school lunches or snacks.

What do you guys do as a pre-prep to save time/money? It seems like I have days with a little extra time that I'd like to get something like this done, for the days when we're super busy (aka, soccer days).