and other times

About two weeks ago, I found out that another one of my friends is pregnant. This brings the total number of pregnant friends up to six.

SIX.

What the hell is going on? That’s a whole lot of pregnant friends. My two best friends in Chicago are due a month apart. Their bellies are slowly expanding, and that beautiful pregnant glow seems to be increasing by the minute. It’s lovely to watch, and sometimes, when I actually think about it, I miss being pregnant.

Then reality punches me in the mouth and I realize that I’M SO GLAD IT’S NOT ME.

I am so happy to be a mom. I love Jude so, so, so much, but I do not want another child. The though of trying to care for two children scares the bejesus out of me. No sir, more kids for me. I am a proud member of the One and Done Club.

So, from here on out, it’s bottled water only for this gal. From this mama’s point of view, it seems that “pregnant” is indeed contagious

Tags:   Daily LifeNo Comments.

Last Friday, my grandfather turned 80 years old. My mother had a dinner for him at her place on Saturday. I was really sorry to miss it.

This is a picture of my Pop from 1954. At that time, he was serving in the Army Signal Repair Depot in Berlin’s Andrews Barracks.

This is a picture of Pop from sometime over the summer. Handsome devil, isn’t he?

I had a hard time getting Jude to stay still and look at the camera that day. This is the best shot of him and Pop that I got.

I miss my grandpa terribly, and I know Josh and Jude do too. Luckily, Pop is quite computer savvy, so in addition to our weekly phone calls, we often chat online at night while I nurse the baby down. Pop is also my most loyal blog-follower.

So, here’s to you, Pop. Happy 80th birthday…a bit belated. We love you and miss you and hope we can convince you to visit us…soon.

Tags:   Daily Life1 Comment

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I’m only trying one new dish this week. Right now, for the sake of time and money, simpler is better. So, without further adieu, here’s what’s cookin’ this week:

Breakfast
Oatmeal or Arrowhead Mills 4 Grain Plus Flax Hot Cereal with Raisins, Cinnamon, and Honey; Toast or Bagels; Greek Yogurt

Lunch/Dinner
ALTs with Hummus
Spicy Black Bean Chili and Whole Wheat Rolls
Minestrone Soup and Whole Wheat Rolls
Rice and (Refried) Bean Burritos and Chips and Salsa
Scrambled Eggs with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Parmesan
Whole Wheat Pasta with Tomatoes and Basil and Steamed Vegetables

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No time to ready my witty and enlightening commentary? Here’s a list of the sites I’m talking about today:

Orangette
Cook, Sister!
Closet Cooking

Yes, I realize that I’m highlighting three foodie blogs again, but hey! I love food!

Orangette is written by a woman named Molly. She only updates her blog about once a week, but her posts are all about quality. Molly has a fantastic writing style, takes amazing photos, and cooks fantastic dishes. I recently tried her recipe for Rice-Stuffed Tomatoes, and oh my word, they were to die for. Take a few minutes and check out her site. You won’t be disappointed. Promise.

Cook, Sister! is authored by Jeanne, a South African woman who currently lives in London. Jeanne’s blog, like Molly’s, is incredibly well-written and features amazing photos and recipes. Last week I made Jeanne’s Ratatouille Bake with Feta and impressed my husband, son, and friend Scott with my mad cooking skillz. This is one recipe everyone (yes, everyone!) should try. Yum!

Kevin in Toronto pens Closet Cooking. Like the authors featured today, Kevin is not only an incredible cook, but he’s also a fantastic photographer. His photos make me want to reach my hand through my monitor and grab whatever it is he has recently made (even the meaty stuff!). I haven’t tried and of Kevin’s recipes yet, but look forward to trying my hand at some of his dishes in the near future.

So, there you go. Three wonderful foodie blogs for you to check out. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

Tags:   Sunday Drive2 Comments

One day, there were three tomatoes walking down the street, a mama tomato, a daddy tomato and a baby tomato. The baby tomato was walking too slow, so the daddy tomato went back, stepped on him and said, “Ketchup!”

I’ve got nearly a week of catch-up posts ready to go. Stay tuned!

Tags:   Daily LifeNo Comments.

I remember the good ol’ days… Once a year, the clocks got turned back, and in turn (haha!), I gained an extra hour of sleep that night. Up until recently, that day has been my favorite day of the year: better than my birthday and Christmas combined.

A little more than 17 months ago I gave birth to a beautiful, wonderful, amazing baby boy. Generally speaking, Jude is a thoughtful little guy. He gives me kisses and hugs and will cuddle with me when I’m feeling down. However, my very perceptive and attentive child somehow missed out on the Daylight Savings Time Memo, and failed to sleep in on Sunday. Actually, he has been getting up earlier than normal for about a week now. So, unlike years past when, during the month of October, I would gain a glorious hour of sleep, this year, it was a wash, at best. Because of this, I am sad.

Sooner or later,  Jude will get himself straightened out and get back to sleeping past 5:30am; I just know it! Until then, I fear I’m going to be little more than a walking zombie…a foggy-headed mama with an hankering for brains.

Tags:   Daily Life · Jude2 Comments

A few weeks ago, well, maybe it was just last week, I started playing some VeggieTales videos for Jude when he would get up from his afternoon nap. I won’t lie; I did it because it allowed me 10 extra minutes to lay in bed. He seemed to enjoy it, so I figured, why not?

I’ll tell you why not. Now, every time my boy sees my laptop, he wants to watch videos. I can’t just show him one 3-minute “Silly Song with Larry…” he cries and cries for more. *sigh* I’ve already started to cut down on how much he watches. One of the reasons we got rid of our TVs was so that we (read: me) wouldn’t learn to rely on it for Jude’s entertainment. Breaking this habit is going to be tough… Jude loves the Song of the Cebu.

In other news, I have 1604 words of my NaNoWriMo novel written. I’m hoping to write another thousand before bed. Wish me luck!

Tags:   Daily Life · Jude · NaNoWriMoNo Comments.

My digital camera keeps punking out on me. Josh has to keep reformatting the memory card for me because it keeps insisting it’s at capacity when I’ve only actually taken three or four pictures.

*sigh*

I’m not an artsy person. My stick figure are indistinguishable as such. Despite this sad fact, I’m desperate to hone the creativity I just don’t have (hence, NaNoWriMo). I’ve pretty much given up on drawing, but I would love to write (well!) or take amazing photos.

I’m going to scratch my writing itch during the month of November, and I’ve been trying to take a lot of photos, hoping that I’ll eventually develop (hah!) an eye for photography. However, due to the aforementioned punk’d-out camera, I’ve been on a picture-taking hiatus. So, instead of doing the financially smart thing (buy a new memory card for the camera I have), I’ve decided that I want a super fancy digital camera with manual settings. I mean, yeah, they cost near, or more than, a grand, but hey, what’s another thousand dollars of debt if it helps me explore my creativity?

*sigh x2*

In truth, I do want a fancy camera. I want to learn the ins and outs of photography, and if nothing else, document Jude’s life with mediocre-good quality photos (and this blog!). But, BUT, I won’t go (further) into debt just for the sake of instant gratification. After all the bills are paid off, I’ll save my pennies, and eventually, I’ll be able to afford a really sweet camera.

Until then… well, I suppose I could have Josh teach me how to reformat our memory card, eh?

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In an effort to get our grocery bill down a bit (okay, a lot), Josh and I have decided to scale back on the number of interesting and yummy dishes we eat each week. So, you’ll notice a lot of ‘rice and beans’ and ‘rice and bean burritos’ on this week’s menu and on menus to come. So, here’s what the Frank family is eating this week.

Breakfast
Oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, and honey

Lunch/Dinner
Rice and Bean Burritos
Eggs and Bagels
Chili
Minestrone Soup
ALTs with Hummus on Spelt Bread
Vegetable Stir-Fry over Rice

Here’s a question for those of you who follow my weekly menu. Do you prefer a day-by-day, meal-by-meal account of what we’re eating each week, or does a list of lunches/dinners do it for you?

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Tags:   What's for Dinner?No Comments.

Last night, after hours of deliberation, I decided to jump on the NaNoWriMo bandwagon.

If the Naked Readhead is willing to give it a shot, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t.

Unless, of course, you consider not having the time to shower on a daily basis a reason not to give it a shot. Whatev… here goes nothing!

Oh-I’d like to take this opportunity to call out Demery and Louise. Hey! Demery and Louise! You two should totally do this! Come on! Sign up!

Tags:   NaNoWriMo1 Comment