http://quietdowncobwebs.blogspot.com

I just uploaded blog posts here as a “backup” meausure until I can figure out how the heck to do it so I don’t lose everything …

My skinny-leg Levi’s fit (for the first time in over a year), Phoebe was an angel, I had a hair appointment and my hair turned out great (as usual – Lacey is a miracle worker) and everything just worked out.

Oh, and, I got permission to make 4 purchases off Etsy, which probably made me happier than the skinny jeans fitting. On a sidenote, please check out this shop which recently made my list of “I’d like one of each of everything in your store, please”.

A lot of that buzz of yesterday is still here with me this morning. Phoebe woke up at 6 to eat so I fed her and we played and “talked” for awhile (she’s starting to make the funniest sounds — Geoff says “She’s going to be a talker” with a fear in his voice not unlike when he told me Tony Romo broke his pinkie finger and would be out for 3 games).

The sunrise this morning is great. I had coffee in the pot already from yesterday so I didn’t need to go through the hassle of brewing more, and I’m going to be eating a trough of Basque food tonight.

Also, I’m proud to report, I’ve eaten vegetables with every dinner (and some lunches) this week. As the skinny jeans can attest, I think it’s doing what it’s supposed to do. As long as I eat veggies tonight, I will have gone 7 days which was my original commitment.

It’s going to be a great weekend.

When you do that (if you don’t already know), the blogger gets a notification about who is now following the blog and the instinct (um, of course) is to click that person’s profile and find their blog to see what that person is all about.

I’m just going to guess it was not a coincidence that the day after I started following this blog, she posted this.

Wow. What. An. Original. Idea.

Especially from someone who is obviously paid for blogging while I am givin’ it away free.

Internet, what are your thoughts?

I’m not sure if I should be flattered or annoyed that — at minimum — I did not get a shout-out. On the other hand, it’s not like I invented the phrase. It’s just a funny … um … coincidence?

Right now I’m smiling, but in a pursed lip sort of way. It’s funny. Yes, I’m flattered. And maybe I’m taking credit for this prematurely. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

Nobody likes wearing the same dress to the prom. Especially if you showed up first.

But –if I do say so myself– it does feel really good when that dress looks a lot better on you.

And, you know what? I’m looking forward to it.

Basque food, my Favorite Aunt Elaine AND brand-new 8 month old cousin Brockton (wait a minute — he’s 8 months already?) and showing off Phoebe to the family who haven’t met her yet.

I. Can’t. Wait.

But in the meantime … Geoff thought he was getting sick (actually he came home from work at noon, which he never does) so I fixed a pot o’ chicken noodle soup for him (the real kind, not the ghetto kind) and he DEVOURED a huge bowl of it and he’s lookin’ better already.

I have a hair appointment tomorrow to get a trim and my hair darkened again (I may even ask her to go darker … put some blue in it to give the illusion of black … we’ll see … I’m feeling zesty). Hair appointments, for me, are second only to facials when it comes to pampering. And my hair is looking particularly pathetic due to it FALLING OUT (it’s from post-pregnancy hormone stuff, NOT from all the hair dye, oddly enough) AND — AND — my decision at the last trim appointment to tell her “I HATE LAYERS — Let’s grow them out!” and so now my hair — without layers — looks like a giant poofball. I am an idiot.

So tomorrow I’m going to be feeling good, looking good and packing everything for our trip to the “big city”.

Now if I could just lose 10 lbs before then everything would be PERFECT ….

Phoebe is in her carseat in the kitchen, Geoff is in his recliner watching a violent Irish gangster movie (no, not the Departed), and Lola is whining to be let outside.

Pretty good October night if you ask me.

I think I need to crack open a bottle of wine, you know, to kill any cold germs that Geoff *might* have given me …

And that is because he weighed approximately 47 lbs when he was born. I am not kidding.

We started out as siblenemies and later became friends in a way that scared every boyfriend I ever had (except Geoff who probably just didn’t pay attention). And this is because we have our own language.

Yes. Be prepared to be jealous starting … well, like 10 years ago.

When Kyle started high school, he followed in my footsteps by taking French. And at the same time, Beavis and Butthead was becoming really popular. Now, our mom wouldn’t allow us to call each other Butthead (mean, I know) so we started calling each other Beavis.

Beavis became Beav, which became
The Beav, which became
Wally and the Beav, which became
Wally, which became
Walter, which became
Walt R., which became
Walt E. (because his middle name starts with R and mine with E — get it? GET IT?!)
And all of that at some point became (probably due to a text or instant messaging typo)
Watler

So my brother and I call each other variations of that name pretty much exclusively.

And, occasionally, variations of the theme of:

Fart knocker
Fart smoker
Fart face
Poop face
Poop shoe (thanks to Kyle stepping in poop and going into my car at one point)
Poop smoker
Fart pooper
Poop farter
Smoke farter
etc

Now the French classes are key in this equation (of awesomeness) because my mom took German in high school, so she had no idea how to say or understand anything in French. And because I took French for all 4 years of high school I knew quite a bit (but not nearly enough to, you know, actually apply it to anything pertinent like communicating with other French-speaking people).

Kyle, of course, did not know very much because he had just begun.

So what happened was: we started making stuff up.

And it drove my mom crazy.

And therefore it stuck.

So over the past few years what was once done merely to annoy my mom is now the way we communicate.

It’s sort of a mix of French/Spanish/Backwards/Madeup words. And I know I don’t notice it most of the time until someone points it out and says “Um, were you speaking French with your brother?” and I’m like “Um, sorta.”

The good news is that because it’s not authentic, we can talk about French-speaking people behind their backs and they’ll never know.

We also, for some reason, started flipping each other off, which Kyle once did to someone in his high school gym class as a way of saying “That was awesome” because that’s what it means when *we* do it, but it was not interpreted that way by his classmate.

Further proof that being a big sister rules. your. vie.

So today he is 26 and not a whole lot stronger than he was when he was first born, but muscles tend to atrophy when you only use them to flip other people off.

My favorite part about this day is that he is now closer to 30 than 20. And that means he’s *almost* an adult.

So to all the tuls, fart smokers, and people named Watler out there … if aujourd’hui is votre anniversaire, peut etre vous rule vies plus que les autres personnes dans le monde. And, comme toujours, je vt dite la gd verite.

I’ve only been doing this for a few weeks and it works out really well so far — I can make calls and send emails while Phoebe sleeps during the day, and I get (amazing) health insurance and some extra cash for Etsy and wine and what-not. And my boss is amazing. The entire time I was pregnant he would tell me “You know we could just set up a crib right here” (indicating the area behind my desk).

While I wish I had more time to just blog or bake, so far it doesn’t seem to be interrupting my life too much. And things are going well.

What’s happened, though, is I notice every minute of the day so much more clearly. Do I make a phone call? Or go play with Phoebe for a few minutes? Do I read her a Shel Silverstein poem (yes, she loves them – better than any other book/story I’ve read her so far) or do I send that quick email.

What is the priority? What can wait?

And it usually makes me stop for a minute, walk away from the laptop, and go play with my baby.

Everyone I talk to on the phone while trying to make sales is afraid of the economy. They don’t want to invest in software because they don’t want to spend money. They are worried about keeping their jobs. They go home, watch the news and wait for an answer. Just like all of us.

Geoff comes home around 5:30 every day and he changes the channel (usually from Food Network) to watch the news. And it’s always so negative. “Look what’s going wrong today”.

But when Geoff comes home, all I can think is “Yay! Our family is together — look at how great things are for us, here, right now!” And I pour us a glass of cheap wine and we relax and play with our baby and take joy in the simple pleasures of our life.

Do I wish we weren’t stuck in this condo indefinitely thanks to the real estate crash? Yes. Am I thankful we have a roof over our heads? Of course.

Do I wish we could go out and eat sushi and buy name-brand laundry detergent and do I wish I wouldn’t see the stress on Geoff’s face when he comes home from work?

Of course.

But I don’t think that way all the time. Geoff isn’t always stressed out. Sometimes we can buy fake sushi at Costco and, really, name brand detergent doesn’t really work better, does it? No, seriously, does it? Because I hope not.

What happens most of the time is I try to really be aware of what we have: our family, our baby, our dog. There is so much joy in the simplicity of our life. And I like that a lot.

It’s important — especially now with so much uncertainty — to pay close attention to the things you value. And I mean the things which you, personally, are accountable for. Like, for example, ending sentences in prepositions.

What I think is amazing is that when you don’t have the money to spend to go out and distract yourself from the “guts” of your life, you start to really pay attention to how that life is going. You focus on the relationships more. You start to see how short life is, and how little time we all have, and how you just don’t know how long that time will last. At least, that’s what has happened to me. And I’m starting to really like being more in touch with the things that matter.

Tonight on CNN, Glenn Beck interviewed a woman who beat cancer 3 times. She started a webpage selling T-shirts with sarcastic jibes at cancer and donates a portion of the money to cancer research.

She said she named her company “So Much More” because there’s so much more to her than cancer.

There is so much more to all of us than the bills we’re trying to pay, the worry we have about keeping our jobs and the insecurity we feel not knowing what will happen with the upcoming election. Can you feel it? I think everyone does. There’s this air of nervousness and waiting for direction. But there’s also this air of wanting to be hopeful, of wanting to live life, to be carefree again.

At least, that’s how I feel.

I think the solution for our country is to take stock in the things in life that will always hold true: we’ll always have our family, our friends, our willingness to persevere. We’ll always have our hopes and our ability to evolve and change when circumstances warrant. We’ll always have really cheap wine, even when times are hard.

It’s time to be optimistic again.

What I am planning to do is eat at least ONE vegetable with every dinner this week.

I know it sounds simple. At least it was simple when I was 30 lbs. lighter, living alone and able to run to the grocery store (literally — I’d walk there!) in a moment’s notice.

Now … it’s complicated. I gotta pack up the baby (is her diaper changed? is she hungry? is she sleeping?) and I gotta get myself together (did I brush my teeth? what about hair? when was the last time I showered?) and to get everything to align all at the same time is not easy.

So usually … I settle for starch and protein. And I miss vegetables. I love them!

And I really really want to lose this baby weight.

So starting this week: a vegetable with every dinner. Starchy vegetables like corn don’t count. Much to Geoff’s chagrin.

Last night: broccoli. Tonight: butternut squash.

I don’t know where I’m going from there, but I have a goal. And I’m starting small.

Next week: a salad and a vegetable with every dinner.

Period.

Geoff said “Salad AND vegetables?”

Yes. Next Sunday we begin salad and vegetables.

I did a lowcarb diet back in 2001 and lost 30 lbs in 2 months. Yes. Insane, I know. And I didn’t do some crazy version of lowcarb wherein you eat only meat, cheese and bacon, etc. I ate vegetables. Lots of them. In fact, I ate carbs — every night, usually. After I’d had a salad, then a dinner of mostly vegetables and a bit o’ protein.

I can’t really do that again as I’m breastfeeding and I need to make sure there’s enough nutrition to sustain me AND Phoebe, but I can up the vegetables.

And that’s what I’m gonna do.

I’m really curious to see if I drop any weight this week.

I think I can
I think I can
I think I can

Well, more accurately it smells like boiling beans. But that smells like refried beans.

And I can’t wait for dinner tonight.

I was going to make carnitas, but salmon was on sale at Albertson’s, so we’re having that tonight and carnitas tomorrow. But I had a raging craving for refried beans.

Here’s what you do:

Take bag of pinto beans and pick out any rocks/icky stuff. Throw the beans into a large pot of water, enough to cover 2″ above the beans. Add 1 bay leaf, and 1/2 cup lard. Yes, that’s right. Manteca. Don’t question me on this. Add 1/2 a chopped white onion (if you like).

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, stirring now and then.

Drain beans (but not all the way – save about 1 cup of liquid), mash with potato masher, heat another 1/2 cup manteca in a pan, add other 1/2 chopped white onion (if you want), beans, and salt to taste (lots) and simmer for 10-15 minutes. (I added some garlic powder, too, and I highly recommend doing this).

D.e.v.o.u.r.

I washed the straps (we got a great deal on a bunch of baby furniture before Phoebe was born, so it is second-hand and was, naturally, chock full o’ what I hope was food particles) and put in the baby.

At first she was unsure, but I gave her the burp cloth for “comfort” and she seemed to like it.

Here are some pics …

And she also tried out the Johnny Jump Up, but was TOTALLY not at ALL into that …

… maybe next week we’ll try again.

NO LIMIT!

I wish I would have been charging by touch for some items …

But after waking up at 6 (and starting Bailey’s in our decaf coffees at 7:30 — which, by the way, Geoff did not realize was decaf), I am happy to report that Geoff and I made $250 at the yard sale.

And our garage is SO CLEAN I can’t believe it.

We got rid of:

-computer
-tv
-tv stand
-papasan chair
-2 wine picnic backpacks
-weight set (that we bought at a yard sale last year and never used)
-tarp
-coffee table
-microwave
-side table
-computer chair
-computer monitor
-printer

And several miscellaneous other items here and there. Let me tell you: it feels good.

We feel like we accomplished something today. I absolutely love to purge, so this is not a new feeling for me, but Geoff seems invigorated, too. He let go of a lot of things he wanted to hold onto (like his computer chair). And he let me hold onto a lot of things I didn’t want to let go (like the super cool vintage dishes that were his parents way back when that I just found out about today).

And we got to hang out together, drinking Bailey’s and then screwdrivers and then laughing at our neighbors, our customers and our crazy dog and sweet, gentle red-cheeked baby.

The baby was listed at $5, but nobody was buyin’ …

It was a great day.

Our neighbors across the way from us (aka “the good side” of the neighborhood) came over at the end of the day with some of his freshly-grilled HOMEMADE SAUSAGE. And I’m not sure if you know this, but I love sausage. And his are really really good — natural casings and everything.

And — did I mention — $250!

And I get to buy paint to paint Phoebe’s room (YAY!).

And I found my martini glasses I thought were lost forever.

And I found the recipe for “Bea’s Casserole” that a long-time-ago ex-boyfriend’s mother had given me and — I am not kidding you — I wanted that recipe so badly I ALMOST emailed him for it. As recently as yesterday. And we haven’t talked in at least 4 years.

Yes, Bea’s Casserole is that good.

And we found out that we can (still) spend the entire day not getting on each others’ nerves and just laughing and being best friends. Even when it’s early and cold and we moved furniture and picked through dusty boxes and one of us hadn’t showered since Wednesday.

I am not saying which one.