Spa

My wonderful sister-in-law invited me to the spa downtown. (www.elmwoodspa.com)

Had a pregnancy massage. Water therapies. And a fancy lunch. It was heavenly.

Benjamin got is first professional haircut. He was sooooo good. He doesn't look like a baby anymore though...

Cleaned half the livingroom today.

Hubby took sirloin steak out of the freezer. It's not raining. Looking forward to BBQing it and eating it.

Back to cleaning.

Sorrow drowning completed

Well...not exactly completed. But I did have the latte. A GRANDE, not some wimpy tall one.

Glanced at the magazines. There was a fascinating picture of Katie with Suri. Apparently they decided to write about what it's like "inside Katie's prison".

Didn't pick it up though.

Seems Jen has a new man.

Didn't pick that up either.

Her hair hasn't changed in years.

Walked through the gadget section. Got bored.

Glanced at the parenting section. Bored.

Left.

Still bored.

And hungry.

Blah.

Sorrow drowning

Right now the only thing I want to do is go to Starbucks, order a tall latte, and drown my sorrows.

I want to read all about how superwoman Angelina can do it all (having $ helps).
I want to read all about why so-and-so is wearing their hair this way this week.
I want to look at expensive gadgets that beautiful homes need to display (not mine).
I want to sit and feel sorry for myself.

Hubby is pissed off at me. He says I need to find a way to make an income so we can get ahead. He's pissed off at me because some chick called me during my flu days and left a message about how I'm a good fit as a Quality Assurance Proofreader.

Took me till middle of last week just to get myself back on track with my health, then the rest of the week to clean up the house that has severely suffered neglect during my illness. My health is almost back to normal but I'm suffering from pregnancy-related discomforts (mostly nausea) so I've been procrastinating. The house is only half cleaned up. Most of the laundry is done though....check that.

Then "he" was sick and hovering around me, picking at me to call her back. Made me irritated.

Then there was the 2-year old who was just so happy to have his mommy back on the floor surrounded by lego. After abandoning him to grandma's house for a weekend, how can I neglect him further?

I'm tired.

Blah.

Alive

Finally over the flu.

Ever had a flu that completely incapacitates you? Along with a 2-year old in the house? During March break (no school)? And a husband who works irregular hours?

How about all of the above AND you're pregnant so you can't take a thing to help relieve the symptoms?

Mom was around for some of the time....otherwise I would be dead and buried by now.

...

Sick.

The effects of non-organic meat on toddler poop

Disclaimer: If the mention of poop offends you, stop reading now.


We buy most of our meat from a reputable butcher. He gets his meat from farms who treat their animals the traditional way. Chickens from the Mennonites, beef from a farmer who is letting his cattle graze on pastures, no additives, antibiotics, etc.

Meat doesn't have to be certified organic to be good for you.

Did you know that a single pound of pre-packaged ground beef, purchased at a local supermarket, is made from up to 200 cows? I recall mention of this in Fast Food Nation, a book that describes in excrutiating detail the mistreatment and complete disrespect of animals grown to feed the North American public. (note: this is not a direct quote, only a vague recollection)

They combine beef from hundreds of animals and grind it together to make ground beef which is then packaged and sold at grocery stores, or shipped to places like McDonalds.

The traditional way of making ground beef is to go to a butcher, ask for ground beef, and the butcher then selects an apropriate slab of meat and places it into the grinder. One piece of meat (from one cow) becomes purer ground beef.

So.

The other day, we purchased ground beef from the grocery store. We just haven't had time to go to our favorite butcher.

I made chili and spaghetti sauce.

Both of which my toddler likes.

Then, he developed diaper rash.

He never has diaper rash.

He's never had diaper rash.

I blame the ground beef. I truly believe that this is true.

Ben pooped twice that morning, within 20 minutes, and I was barely able to clean him up from all that sticky, smelly mess. He didn't let me either, and once I saw the rash I realized why. All that rubbing must have hurt him.

So I threw him in the shower. The lukewarm water on his bum was tolerated better, and I was able to wash with soap, and rise off directly with the detachable showerhead.

Then I applied a thick coat of baby bum lotion (Gerber I think) to prevent further discomfort.

It just makes me so sad that our respect for the food on our table has become practically non-existant.

Rüeblitorte (Swiss Carrotcake)

Today I baked a Swiss style carrotcake.

What's different about this type of carrot cake compared to the North American ones is that
a) there is much less sugar and icing involved, and
b) there is very little flour included in the ingredient list.

The cake consists mostly of carrots, almonds and eggs. It's very moist and flavourful, and preferable without icing, or with just a touch of lemony icing sugar poured over it.

And, it tastes better the next day.

For details, recipe and conversions (grams to cups) see my food blog Quick Slow Food.

The challenge today was to let Benjamin help without causing me too much of a mess and grief. He's been a little on the rambunctious side, and after his little friend Sebastian was over for a visit, not exactly docile. In fact, the way Benjamin acts at home with visitors is the complete opposite of how he behaves when he's visiting other people. At home, he's rough, hyper, overly excited and not always nice to the other kid(s).

At their house, he's a model child. Go figure.

Note to self: find a way to positively reinforce good behaviour when he gets out of control.

Courtesy Flush

Ok look.

Perhaps I will never understand this need that men have to sit, with piles of literature, in a small room filled with vile odours.

But for crying out loud, if you've got other people living with you, and some of said people have a heightened sense of smell even when they are not pregnant, why would you not flush it down immediately, before resuming other activities involving toilet paper and aforementioned stack of literature??

HUH?

Sheesh.

PS I added the label "Toilet training" to this post even though we're not taking about the toddler.

History lesson

I never really liked history, truth be told. The way they taught Canadian history in highschool didn't exactly evoke the kind of thirst for more knowledge that is supposed to be happening. Although it is questionable if any public school system these days evokes thirst for knowledge...but that's another day's rant.

Then one day, I saw this book on a library shelf:











This book is fantastic! It is, in a sense, a book about Canadian history, but it focuses on the culinary aspects of the early settlers who came from everywhere, particularly Europe. It talks about the customs that people were used to, the pioneering adjustments that were inevitable due to the completely different nature of the environment, and many other interesting tidbits.

There is a mention of several cookbooks that I would love to get my hands on one day. Perhaps one day I will search for this book and buy it to add to my library.

If anyone is interested in food, and/or in Canadian history, this is a highly recommended reading pleasure.

For other books of interest, visit My Book List blog.

List continued

My to do list which I started yesterday continues here:


Repeat of rules for self:

1. I reserve the right to add to the list at will.
2. I reserve the right to cross off items that have been successfully completed.
3. I reserve the right to ignore the list but recommend I do not do that.
4. I will start right now:

To do list for the remainder of this week:

• Plan shopping list for supper and cake on Sun, and include other groceries to last us through to next Friday Check 1:01 Fri
• Follow up with Brian about Ministry of Health contract job Check 12:41 Thurs
• Tidy up crap in living room In progress 1:01 Fri
• Replace microwave into its rightful spot and start using it. Check 12:17 Thurs (If microwave fails, take it out and throw it on the front lawn where someone will pick it up. Then write a nasty letter to Sears and Kenmore.)
• Finish letter for Muschi; she's desperately waiting for the photos
• Dust bedroom, and tidy crap on shelves in there
• Get clothes and toys ready to bring to Once Upon a Child next month for sale Check 1:01 Fri
• Finish DotMom query and send it already
• Dust Billy Bookcase
• Organize paperwork for taxes
• Take soup bones out of freezer and make the friggin' soup already
• Reduce coffee consumption Working on it
• Follow up with Dr. E's office for test confirmation Check. It's official. 1:01 Fri.
• new Remove hooks on doors, fill in with polyfilla, replace hooks on thicker part of doors
• new Paint doors
• new Organize backdoor shelves
• new Plan new menu for Sun, as additional family member is now coming
• TBA

Lists

I used to make lists. I love lists.

Then I stopped.

It seems that there are just too many pieces of free floating papers flying around this place.

Just yesterday, while in semi-slumber, I woke up in a panic that I may have misplaced the little piece of paper my doctor gave me with her pager number on it, in case she needs to arrange a rhogam shot for me. Found it, and stapled it to my calendar.

There are piles of paper that need to be sorted to the left of me right now, and to the right of me as well.

My mom, with her good intentions, keeps certain pieces of junk mail, German newspapers, or clippings of interest for me which then take up residence in my already paper filled home, to be read at some point.

I do get around to reading it sooner or later. Usually later.

But enough already.

Every single moment I take a walk through my house these days I see a bunch of stuff that needs my immediate, or sometimes not so immediate attention.

I plan in my head to get to it during daycare, nap time, etc, but it doesn't happen.

Like for example, Benjamin is in daycare right now and I don't have to leave for another 20 minutes to pick him up.

But am I currently sorting through pieces of paper? Or making lists?

No.

I'm blogging instead.

So, in order not to discredit the time it takes to write and post this blog, I'm going to publish my list in here.

Rules for self:

1. I reserve the right to add to the list at will.
2. I reserve the right to cross off items that have been successfully completed.
3. I reserve the right to ignore the list but recommend I do not do that.
4. I will start right now:

To do list for the remainder of this week:

• Plan shopping list for supper and cake on Sun, and include other groceries to last us through to next Friday
• Follow up with Brian about Ministry of Health contract job Check 12:41
• Tidy up crap in living room
• Replace microwave into its rightful spot and start using it. Check 12:17 (If microwave fails, take it out and throw it on the front lawn where someone will pick it up. Then write a nasty letter to Sears and Kenmore.)
• Finish letter for Muschi; she's desperately waiting for the photos
• Dust bedroom, and tidy crap on shelves in there
• Get clothes and toys ready to bring to Once Upon a Child next month for sale
• Finish DotMom query and send it already
• Dust Billy Bookcase
• Organize paperwork for taxes
• Take soup bones out of freezer and make the friggin' soup already
• Reduce coffee consumption
• Follow up with Dr. E's office for test confirmation