I cooked dinner!!

Now that I'm 12 weeks pregnant, I am starting to feel a little better. Weeks 7-12 were pretty dismal.

Because of exhaustion, nausea and food aversion/smell aversion I did not:
- clean anything
- cook anything
- be in a house where food was being cooked
- open the fridge

I'm not 100% and some days are better than others, but I opened the fridge, helped Jake clean out the fridge, and cooked dinner! And did a load of laundry!

I didn't get too carried away... Jake did all the smelly expired foods part (for the record, not grocery shopping or eating at home for a month or two means when we finished, our fridge was... Basically empty.)

And for dinner, I made chili, with a premade seasoning pack, instant rice, and mix cornbread....but I cooked. Jake was so excited that we weren't going out for fast food...

Today, cookies, muffins, and some crockpot spaghetti is the plan. :)

Just hope this little baby will keep letting me feel a little better.

Pregnancy Pillow: Stolen!

Record ID: 12345
Title: Robbery
Time: 9:51:00 AM
Division: Family Crimes
Location: Diva House
Summary: 12/07/2012 at about 9:51 AM, Officers responded to the Diva house for a report of a personal robbery. When Officers arrived they learned that the victim had recently purchased a pillow to help her sleep on her side now that she is pregnant. When the victim left for work, two canine suspects immediately stole her pillow and claimed it as their own. One of the suspects has refused to move since the initial theft and was still at the scene of the crime.  The suspects were last seen still sleeping inside of the pillow. Suspect one was described as a tall, thin beagle mix male with itchy skin. Suspect two was described as a shorter, fuzzy haired jack russell known for sneak attacking people's ears.

Adults Arrested: Tolpel and Jazz - they didn't seem very sorry

I'm expecting!

I haven't updated in a little while, and this is one of the reasons...

I'm about 2 months pregnant!  (Due early July) I've already got a handful of posts floating around in my head about these latest adventures, but no telling when I'll have enough energy to write them.  In the mean time, I wanted to at least update my blog with this exciting turn of events.

As you can see from the photo, the dogs are thrilled too.  Actually, I'm reasonably confident they do not understand why mommy and daddy have been keeping Jazz from prancing on my tummy, or why we've been trying to teach them not to bark when they wake up first thing... but they are eagerly waiting for something. :) (Probably food.)

Thankfulness.

This is from last year - but I thought it would be a good reminder as we come into the holiday season again. :)

November Facebook challenge: each day post something I am thankful for:)

Nov 1 is easy. I am thankful for the most patient and thoughtful husband Jacob C------.

Today for Nov 2 - I am thankful for health insurance which enables me to pay for silly doctor's appointments, medicines, etc.

For Nov 3, I am thankful that I live with with so many modern conveniences (like having 2 cars, the availability of ibuprofen, and the internet at my fingertips.)

Today, Nov 4, I am thankful for a great, fun, flexible job

Today, Nov 5, I am thankful for this time of life - time with just me and the hubby to do what we want, plenty of sister time (@Katie), slow Saturday mornings, and wedding showers (for Keerthi).

Today, Nov 6, I am thankful that I have so many wonderful (some old some new) friends sharing things that are different from my life (culture, different times in life.) Nothing gets you outta the blues better than getting out of yourself.

For Nov 7, I am thankful for weekends, adorable wake up calls from my dogs, and reading Spurgeon with my husband in the mornings.

Nov 8, I am thankful that Jake and I can read together for a few hours this morning before work. Even if we are reading different things ;)

Nov 9, I am thankful that I live where food, water, heat, clothes and even coffee are so readily available

Nov 10, I am thankful that God is so all knowing, and so all powerful, that sometimes it's not just that He gives us a yes or a no... but the timing of the answer is sometimes even greater than the answer itself. Thank you God that you love me enough to care about the details.

Nov 11, I am thankful for Katie. For her friendship, for her sharing in random youtube parties over the phone, for her strength, encouragement, and all around awesomeness. Katie, you are the best friend and sister a girl could ask for

Nov 12, I am thankful for my in-laws. No, really though. I am very lucky to have such loving family

Nov 13, I am thankful for such modern marvels as Airborne (and all the other crazy medicines I have in my house.) To ward off these colds Jake and I picked up.

Nov 14, I am thankful for Apple computers being coffee resistant. Jacob.

Nov 15, I am thankful for my loving husband again. He really is the smartest and most patient person I know

Nov 16, I am thankful for so many wonderful girlfriends. :)

Nov 17, I am thankful for humor and sarcasm and laughter.

Nov 18, I am thankful for my new computer (that is not here yet but will be soon!)

Nov 19, I am thankful that I'm "adult" enough to decide mac 'n cheese with bacon and a cup of coffee is a viable lunch item but not adult enough to decide it wasn't a *wise* option. Mmm bacon.

Nov 20, I am thankful for God's unfailing love.

Nov 21, soooo thankful that I only work 2 days this week. Now to get enough finished that they let me take it! ;)

Nov 22, I am thankful that I know so many nerdy/geeky people. A quick perusal of fb this morning found grammar jokes, Dr. Who references, computer articles, and a Star Trek quote. Thank you friends.

Nov 23, I am so thankful for vacation days! Today I slept in an extra 2 hours, now to make some Christmas presents!

Nov 24. It's Thanksgiving! I am thankful that we have so much food, religious freedom, and that I get to spend today with my wonderful family with Katie M---- and 6 others.

I have developed a skill.

It's sort of a weird skill, but being at the age where I throw quirky parties and baby showers... I think it's a good skill to have.

I make cute food.

I've been thinking about this Halloween party a lot and I realized that I've done this enough times now, I feel like I can consider it a skill set.

Dog food cake for Tolpel and Jazz's birthday party

Baby Owls for Amy's Owl themed baby shower

Baby Sheepies for Anne's "UNC Ram/baby lamb" theme Baby Shower

Noah's Ark punch for Bess' Baby shower

Settlers of Catan cakes I made for Jacob's 25th Birthday

2 Halloweens ago - there are Oreo spiders, Witches' hats, Breadstick fingers and mummies in a blanket:

And of course, last Halloween:

Yay Internetz! Without you, I wouldn't have known such things existed!

Fall is here! (And so is Halloween!)

Fall is my most favoritest season.  It's starting to get crisp, there are apples and cider and fireplaces. Mmmm.  And, my most favorite holiday party is here. Halloween.

This is the 4th annual halloween party and costume contest I've thrown, and I need to start figuring out what is going to go on my spooky table...  Last year, I impressed myself with this spooky zombie cheese head as the focus.

Recipe from the not martha blog.

(Also, candy, cookies, mulled cider and my very favorite mummies in a blanket)

But what on earth to make this year...............

The smell of spice in the air.......

Today I am identifying with this webcomic.  (It's called Wasted Talent and it's an autobiographical comic about a Canadian Mechanical Engineer named "Jam" and her boyfriend Trevor and you should totes read it cause it's awesome...)

When You Cannot Possibly Eat Another TV Dinner

Sometimes my life gets crazy. I have a work deadline, and Jake's school semester just started... and I have another life saving product which no one is compensating me to promote. Kraft Fresh Takes. 

Could I buy and mix my own breadcrumbs,  spices and cheese for a fraction of the cost? Probably. But let's face it. Sometimes even that is too much work. So for days like that, I chop some chicken, dip it in egg and then throw it into a fresh take bag and shake it and bake it.

And that's how divas survive sometimes.

33:17

33:17. That was my time at my 3rd ever 5k yesterday. I was aiming for under 33 minutes but it was still almost 2 minutes off my last time so I was extremely happy!!

Jake grabbed a shot of me finishing (and looking for him, hehe) and a friend snagged a shot of a sweaty and tired me and my supportive scholar.  It was a great day!

Another kitchen tip

Whenever I make cupcakes they come out uneven. Some are tiny, some are huge, and no matter how many cupcakes the recipe claims to make, I end up with a different number.

Then I read about measuring with the ice cream scoop. Perfect measure, easy to get into the cupcake pan and MAGIC! I ended up with 12 cupcakes!!

How do people think of these things?  Ice cream scoops: making you look like you know how to make cupcakes.

Cleaning my house. In sprints. With Cookies.

This week, I stumbled upon a tumblr account that really appealed to my "Not Martha" style blog... only with an exorbitant amount of cursing.  :( It's called "Unfilth Your Habitat".  I'll boil it down for you:

1. You have a job, a family, roommates, homework, pets, and/or some other reason why traditional "Housekeeping" information seems outdated/ impractical/ stupid.
2. Your house/apartment/room is getting embarrassingly bad.
3. Stop whining, and spend 20 minutes intensely cleaning something, and then give yourself a 10 minute break. (To watch tv, or read, or surf the internet. I make cookies to reward myself for all my hard work!)
4. Vinegar and Mr. Clean's Magic Erasers are the most amazing cleaners on the planet.

So, taking this advice to heart... Here's what has happened in my house in the last 2 days! This 20 minute intense cleaning... with a 10 minute reward... I have to say - it's becoming addictive. Domestic Diva is cleaning this place!  Taking the before and after pictures are AMAZING motivation too!

The Bathroom Scale

I did something crazy.  I hid my bathroom scale under the bed.  Its been about a month and I think it was the best decision I could have made.  Lemme 'splain.

This year I decided to get healthy. After fad diets, diet pills, low carb, cheating on low carb, and then poorly following pretty much every diet on the planet, I started running.  And then doing some free weights. (I can do a pushup! A real one!)  And although my calories have been reasonable and I lost a percent of body fat, the scale did not move for 6 months.  Well actually, it did. It went up.

I know I know. "Muscle weighs more than fat." "Calorie deficit is how you lose weight" "Make better snack choices" "Don't eat after 5pm" "Eat breakfast". I. KNOW.

But it was still so discouraging. I couldn't be happy for the progress I had made. And then my friend somewhat offhandedly said, "You know I didn't even grow up with a bathroom scale. Not that I never had body image issues, but they were with the mirror, not that number."

Can I just tell you what a relief that has been for me? I still catch myself doing the mirror evaluation and I'm still keeping an eye on calories ... but that magical scale number has been out of my life for 4 weeks now!

I'm not dumb. I know when my workout hasn't happened in a week or that I ate a chocolate chip cookie (or 3... with ice cream...) today.  But I'm so sick of that number on the scale being an all consuming force in my life.  I have plenty of other things to worry about.

And I want to be healthy diva in body and mind.

How to Throw a Birthday Party for your Dog

So here you are, looking for information on how to throw a party for your four-legged child, aka your dog.

First, Acknowledge.
It is important to recognize that you are crazy.  Awesome, creative, and loving... but crazy.  Don't worry, no judgement here.  Just acknowledge where you are. In crazy town.

Second, cake.  
I found a lot of recipes online for cake that could be consumed by dogs and humans (usually something like "peanut butter carrot cake".)  That sounded disgusting to me.  Instead I went the route of "making my guests uncomfortable because my cake just *looks* like something dogs eat." aka, dog food cake.  It's Reese's cereal and it looks pretty gross! It was chocolate cake underneath, which you should definitely not share with your birthday children.

"Dog food Cake" for people!

And then of course, you need cake for the guests of honor.  It's important to remember that your guests of honor might need a couple extra bathroom breaks after the party, since you gave them filet mignon dog food which they are not quite used to eating, but thought was delicious.

"Cake" for dogs!

"Nom nom we love cake"

Third, presents.
Dogs may not know how to open presents, but if you loosely tape them and put food inside, they will figure it out pretty quickly.

"Oh, we get it!"

Finally: hats!
And then the most important element of doggy birthdays. Dogs in hats!  AAahhhh!!

"Why do you do this to us, mom?"

 Make sure you take several pictures as quickly as you can, because dogs don't seem to like hats nearly as much as you do.

Happy 1st birthday to Jazz and 5th birthday to Tolpel! :) And thanks to my family (husband, parents, sister, and brother in law) for attending my ridiculous party.

Staycation Day 1

Jake and I had a fantastic time at the Durham Bulls tonight! This was my first Bulls game since... I learned the rules of baseball.  We had first row seats behind right field, and Jake got a great deal... $4.50 a ticket! Add in a delicious dinner at a Cuban restaurant, and it was a really delightful evening!

I also decided I wanted to learn how to score a game, so Jake taught me. I loved that. Also, my very favorite part of baseball is a pickle, so I excitedly added my own notation when one occurred tonight. (If you can't tell, I drew a pickle which I'm told is not official notation. Hehe.)

Such fun times.

Mister Candy Bar

Don't you judge me, Mister Candy Bar.  I've been dieting for months.  I run.  I cut out sugar, soda, and most refined grains. I drink protein shakes for breakfast. I even joined a gym.  I take my lunch. I eat kale.  Kale!

So if I want to gobble up an American, milk chocolate, low quality, trapped in a vending machine, stale, overpriced 3 Musketeer Bar, then by golly I will.  And not apologize to anyone. So there.

Frozen Red grapes

Dear Internet,

Thank you thank you for this recipe.

Red grapes
Sugar free jello mix (watermelon tastes like sour patch kids, but I got raspberry.)

Wash grapes. Place in bag. Add jello mix. Place in freezer. Wait many hours. Nom nom nom.

SOOOOO good and great for the summer heat.

And apparently green grapes don't freeze well.

Dinner on the cheap

Yesterday, I was at Lowes Foods picking up a couple things when I passed by the new Velveeta Helper display. $1.50. Add 1 lb of ground beef.  "Hmm. I have ground beef. Thawed. But Jake and I aren't big on boxed dinners."
Then I saw the attached coupon.  $0.55 off. "Ok. For $0.95, I will try this."
At the self checkout, I got flagged and the shopper assistant had to come over. "They're scared of coupon fraud." He said apologizing.
I checked my receipt afterwards. They doubled it, that's why it got flagged!  This box dinner was only $0.40!
Was it amazing? No. But was it cheap and easy and pretty darn good? Indeed.

Ninja Challenge

The Ninja Challenge 5k.  The name alone should make you want to do this.

I really thought about it this year, but chickened out due to the price ($65!!) and the fact that it looked hard.  But some people I know did it, and shared this video on facebook of the obstacles...


Hmmm... Maybe next year....

Southwestern Couscous!

I've been trying to bring my lunch more, and I found this great recipe for a couscous salad.  Couscous is yummy and can be served cold.  I made four portions and took them on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... and then not again until Monday.  The first three were AWESOME, but by the second Monday, the couscous had gotten mushy. Not so good.


My sister in law, Melissa, tells me I could substitute quinoa for the couscous and get more protein, so I may try that for the next batch!

It's so nice to finally have something *work* in the kitchen!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-and-couscous-salad/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=southwest%20cous%20cous&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe

Being a Grownup

Dear 15 year old MB,

Know how you cannot wait to be a grownup out of school and able to do whatever you want? Yeah, you are right. It IS totally awesome.

You have a car, money, free time ... and you are the boss of you. You CAN have ice cream when ever you want. You can go to any social event you want. You can throw parties. Even on a weeknight. You can have that expensive makeup AND that shirt.

Now, it's not totally for free. You do have these nasty responsibilities ... you will get a migraine if you stay up past 3am, they will kick you out of your house if you don't save enough money to pay your bills and you have to go to work every morning. Oh. And ice cream for breakfast makes you fat now. Stupid slowing metabolism. And you have to make good decisions cause its way more embarrassing to call Mom and Dad when you were supposed to be being a grownup.

But all in all, being a grownup is pretty cool. You can pretty much do whatever you want. And responsibility isn't so bad. I even put on sunscreen without being forced to and now I don't feel like a cranky lobster.  You should try it.

Love,
25 year old MB

Dehydrated Bananas

Over the weekend I was encouraged to get back into a health kick. Jake and I talked about how much money we are wasting on junk food and eating out as well as how unhealthy it is.....

Last year I bought a dehydrator after reading about the differences in commercial dehydration (which sometimes also adds ingredients) and home dehydration.  Obviously the bananas are less good for me than say... a real banana. But more good for me than cookies!

I dehydrated 4 bananas overnight with cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. We each took a half banana as snack.  (The trick is to not eat too much!)

The verdict for a portioned snack that's cheap, sweet, and slightly more healthy than cookies? A+

Recreating Applebees for dinner!

I recently purchased this "Top Secret Restaurant Recipes" book (see it on amazon) to help encourage me to cook at home when I was really wanting to go out.  Unfortunately, it's a lot of soups.  But, it also has some of my very favorite foods (like the bread from Outback! I'm totally trying that one next!)

Last night I tried to make Applebees Fiesta Lime Chicken.  It was delicious!  And, since I was making it myself, I added a little less sauce to mine, and a little less cheese and ate it with beans instead of rice - making it... somewhat reasonably calories too!

Here's the recipe:


Marinade
1 c water
1/3 c teriyaki sauce
2tbsp lime juice
2tsp minced garlic
1tsp liquid smoke (mesquite or hickory)
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp tequila

Sauce
1/4 c mayo
1/4 c sour cream
1 tbsp milk
2 tsp minced tomato
1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp minced jalepenos (canned/jar)
1 tsp minced onion
1/4 tsp dries parsley
1/4 tsp tobasco
1/8 tsp dill
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp chili powder
Dash garlic powder
Dash black powder

Other

1 c shredded cheddar/ monterey jack
2 c crumbled tortilla chips
4 chicken breasts

Steps:

1. Marinade the chicken for several hours
2. Make the sauce (put it in the fridge for a few minutes)
3. Broil chicken 3-5 minutes
4. Take the chicken out of the oven and spread some sauce on each piece of chicken (you'll have lots of leftover sauce so you can make this again!) and then top with some cheese. Recipe says 1/4 a cup per 4 oz of chicken, but I used a lot less.
5. Broil an additional 2-3 minutes
6. Top with fresh salsa or pico de gallo. Serve over tortilla crumbs, with rice or black beans

I still hate microwaves

As I've previously mentioned on this blog, I hate microwaved food.  Hate it.  So imagine my delight (read: shock and horror) to find the following book: Adventures in Microwave Cooking.

There's a used bookstore in town that has 25 cent books outside.  Some friends of ours started playing a game to see who could come up with the best book, and Jake and I have started playing the last few times we were there.  And that's what I came up with.

I cannot imagine an entire cookbook teaching you to use the microwave, but maybe this is what I need.  The few occasions where I do use a microwave (aka queso, popcorn, melting butter, and heating water) I never know how long to use it for. ("Honey, how long should I heat this bowl of queso? 4 minutes?")

I also looked up microwave cooking on HowStuffWorks.com and it was pretty interesting.  Stuff about exciting molecules instead of heating them, and why pastries come with little cardboard sleeves (to make crust.)

I didn't buy the book.  I couldn't bring myself to even pay 25 cents to learn how to heat things up in the microwave.  Food, my friends, should be prepared. And never ever "nuked."

Dog Hair

A few days ago, a friend of mine (who recently adopted a beautiful lab!) wrote on fb:  "I am a believer!! We got our "furminator" in the mail today.....I spent 10 minutes of Brownie letting me brush her while she was trying to play. I got a plastic grocery bag almost full with her undercoat hair that was brushed out. She is so shiny now!"

I did some quick research online about this dog grooming tool (Furminator), and discovered that it gets rave reviews on amazon and many other sites.  I went to Target today though, and they didn't have one.  What they did have was a FurGOPet.

I bought one.  And I ADORE IT!  Not to mention, so do the dogs!  The idea is you gently brush your dog and it combs out all the hair that is already broken and loose and about to end up on your couch and all over everything you own.


Now those of you who have been to my house know that we have a dog hair problem.  Okay, honestly, it's really embarrassing (so thank you for not saying anything.) But really. It's EVERYWHERE. And I always vacuum before people come over. And it's still always everywhere.  


And there is just no way to describe the carnage of fur that was covering my yard today in big clumps - I couldn't fit it all into a picture! The best I could do was to explain that there were over 100 of these in my yard:

And the dogs seemed to love it!  They were nervous at first, but after a few brushes, they laid down and let me have at it! Tölpel even rolled over so I could make sure I didn't miss his belly.  This afternoon, both dogs have been incredibly happy - they seem so much more comfortable.


So, I guess I'm a believer too!

Official 5k time!

No official race photos from my 5k at the beginning of the month, but the official race times are in!

Time	0:36:20
Gun Time	0:36:20
Overall	288 (out of 440 total finishers)
Gender rank (F)	166 / 284
F25-29 rank	42 / 61
F20-29 rank	70 / 95

Jasmine's New Trick

This morning, while getting dressed, I was walking to my dresser and I saw Jazz had a little accident in my room.  Actually it was a big accident and it looked weird.  This was pre-contacts, so I bent down to examine it, and make sure she wasn't sick......... and it had an eyeball.  And legs.

"JACOB THERE'S A MOUSE THERE'S A DEAD MOUSE IN OUR ROOM JACOB THERE IS A DEAD MOUSE NEXT TO THE BED JAZZ KILLED A MOUSE JAKE JAKE JAKE!"

By this point, I realized I had jumped on the bed and was clinging to one of the posts like my life depended on it.  Jake calmly and rationally (and wonderfully) told me to get Jasmine away from her new toy and went to get something to clean it up with.  I reluctantly let go of the bed post and forced myself down onto the floor and picked up Jazz, trying not to think too hard and Jake took care of things.

As it turns out, this is something I should continue to expect..........
HELP!! Jack Russell - caught mouse (forum)
"Dogs of the terrier group have in common the proclivity to kill rodents and vermin" (Animal Planet)

If the Internet has taught me anything, its that I can do anything!

Perhaps I should be more specific.  It was pinterest that convinced me, and I'm pretty sure it's not just me.

Ladies of the world, what are we doing to ourselves?  At every party I've been to recently, at least one person brought a (ridiculously amazing) recipe they found on pinterest.  A friend once said that the biggest compliment she'd recieved was when someone walked in and said, "Your house looks like my pinterst boards!"

Don't misunderstand, I am not mocking. I was completely jealous when she told me that.  I too have shared my pinterest recipes and homemade laundry detergent tricks. What began as a craft box is now a room with piles of fabric and half started crafts.  And for some reason, I thought making a slipcover, as a beginner seamstress, without a pattern, would be easy.

I'm about 6 hours into this slipcover project, and the most important lesson I've learned is to stop and put it away when I start to get frustrated.  This, I'm sure, has saved me from throwing fabric and/or scissors out a window... If I can ever finish it, I'm going to feel like the Domestic Queen.  But for now, I'm going to carefully put this fabric away and back away from the sewing machine.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos!

I haven't been very domestic lately, but I'm always a dramatic diva!

So, I thought I was going to get laid off this week... (I didn't, everything's fine.) In panic, I turned the AC off, turned every electrical device off, lit a candle, and looked for cheap recipes for dinner. Seriously. By candlelight.

This is the delicious recipe I made - and with ingredients I already had in the kitchen!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

~2 lbs of chicken
1 pkg of fajita seasoning
~16 oz of salsa
~1/8 cup of lime juice (or 1 lime juiced)
black beans or kidney beans (to stretch the recipe - and I had both)
tortilla shells
taco cheese

Put the fajita seasoning in the lime juice and mix up. Put everything in crockpot. Add some water. Cook on low for 10 hours.

Shred chicken. Serve in shells with cheese. mmmmm.

Then turn the AC back on and take one day at a time.

Ask The Duck

Do you know why everyone loves the show House? Because he's a smart aleck? Because people love medical dramas? Because it's never cancer? Ok. Maybe all of these reasons. But do you know why I love House? Because it's about problem solving. And I LOVE problem solving.

I love that House thinks of answers while he's fulfilling his forced clinic duty. Or trying to date his boss. Or stealing candy from a baby. I love that I totally connect with him when this happens.

I read a story recently here that reminded me of this whole problem solving concept called Ask The Duck.

Bob pointed into a corner of the office. "Over there," he said, "is a duck. I want you to ask that duck your question."

I looked at the duck. It was, in fact, stuffed, and very dead. Even if it had not been dead, it probably would not have been a good source of design information. I looked at Bob. Bob was dead serious. He was also my superior, and I wanted to keep my job.

I awkwardly went to stand next to the duck and bent my head, as if in prayer, to commune with this duck. "What," Bob demanded, "are you doing?"

"I'm asking my question of the duck," I said.

One of Bob's superintendants was in his office. "Andy," he said, "I don't want you to pray to the duck. I want you to ask the duck your question."

I licked my lips. "Out loud?" I said.

"Out loud," Bob said firmly.

I cleared my throat. "Duck," I began.

"Its name is Bob Junior," Bob's superintendant supplied. I shot him a dirty look.

"Duck," I continued, "I want to know, when you use a clevis hanger, what keeps the sprinkler pipe from jumping out of the clevis when the head discharges, causing the pipe to..."

In the middle of asking the duck my question, the answer hit me. The clevis hanger is suspended from the structure above by a length of all-thread rod. If the pipe-fitter cuts the all-thread rod such that it butts up against the top of the pipe, it essentially will hold the pipe in the hanger and keep it from bucking.

I turned to look at Bob. Bob was nodding. "You know, don't you," he said.

"You run the all-thread rod to the top of the pipe," I said.

"That's right," said Bob. "Next time you have a question, I want you to come in here and ask the duck, not me. Ask it out loud. If you still don't know the answer, then you can ask me."

"Okay," I said, and got back to work.

My first 5k!!

"Good morning Mary Beth. The time is 5:45am. You have 2 unread email messages...." my alarm said to me this morning.

It was the big day.  I had dreamed of it all night, talked about it all week... and now it was time to get ready for my first 5k.

Let me start at the beginning. About... a month and a half ago, my friend Scott said we should think about this 5k. He was doing the half marathon and wouldn't it be awesome to run the 5k. So after only a month into the Couch to 5k, I ran my first 5k. And I actually ran most of it! So did 5 of my friends. There were 3 more of us planning to, but child care, sprained ankles, and sun poison got in the way... and one more friend signed up for a race that fits her schedule better in 2 weeks. Pretty impressive!

It will be a few days before the official times are posted but I couldn't have been more proud of myself. This is just the beginning.

Other lessons from today:
1. YOU can finish a 5k. We cheered the last 5 people to finish the race because you know what? They finished it.
2. If you are freezing before the race, this is a good sign that you're still gonna be really hot while running.
3. I am totally doing this again. It's almost 12 hours later and I'm still feeling high as a kite and immensely proud of myself.

Email 2012

It's called "Inbox Zero". I already did some of these things before this year, but i actually watched this on January 1 this year and decided to try it. Now, 3 months in, i've figured out how to make it work for me... and I have to say, I highly recommend it. This is the one new years resolution that actually stuck!

Watch the video on youtube

If you have email - especially in a work environment - but really any email, I highly recommend this. The first 30 minutes is a great lecture. The second half is question and answers. He does pretty well, until the question about the "wait game". Don't laugh, this is totally how my work functions. :)

Divas Like Rubies

So this is a bit of a divergence from my normal blog type, so sorry to everyone, but I decided I needed to write an actual technical blog post, to be found by the googles. No bread making recipes here today.

I decided to learn Ruby on Rails over Memorial Day weekend last year. Now, we had some interruptions, what with the power going out, my house getting soaked, and the tornado repairs being set back, but even still I made some great progress. I thought I would document all the resources that I used to get going.

If you can program, but know nothing about Ruby (like me!), follow these steps, as this how I got up to speed.

Learn Ruby and Ruby on Rails:

• http://tryruby.org/ - A really easy tutorial to get you started with Ruby programming.
• http://railsforzombies.org/ - A great tutorial about Rails (web application framework), with short lectures, and assignments with instant feedback. And Zombies!
• http://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started.html - Great step by step getting started guide to get your database and server running

Write an amazing Ruby Website:

• ActiveScaffold - My coworker Ryan suggested I look at ActiveScaffold as well.

• Getting Started info: http://www.ultrasaurus.com/sarahblog/2009/07/getting-started-with-activescaffold/
• IBM tutorial with activescaffold: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-activescaffold/

Almost a year later, I'm still learning, but this Diva LOVES Ruby on Rails. :)

Curtains!

I used to have this beautiful makeshift slipcover which I made with the help of the ever creative Amanda.

Slipcover:













Amanda:










but then I got a jack russell terrier named Jazz and she puked on it and the ripped it up. :(

Jazz not noticing how sad she made me:










So I am attempting to make a new slipcover, but in the mean time, I salvaged what I could of the fabric, plus the scraps I had leftover initially and I made curtains! (and maybe pillows!)

Here are the finished curtains:









The curtains were really easy. I had the clips, so I just sewed one very large rectangle. (I actually wish I had just a tiny bit more fabric so I could have made them more bunchy, but you gotta live with what you've got.)

Garden, Year 3!

We got started on our garden a bit early this year, and it's going great! These seeds were all planted around the beginning of last month. (So early Feb) and we transplanted the peas and cucumbers into the bigger pots about 2 weeks ago.


We need to transplant those little ones probably this weekend. It's musclin (lettuce mix) and spinach (in the container where everything is falling over due to the last watering), two types of tomatoes that are coming up nicely, and Serrano and bell peppers - but for some reason the bell peppers haven't sprouted at all.

We also have a container with basil, oregano and thyme, but that's barely sprouted as well.

We're certainly getting a better feel for how to plant, how to water, what to do to care for them early - what we actually want to eat!

It's been a mild winter, so I'm not craving spring like I normally am, but boy I could go for some garden fresh produce!

German Quiz answers!

Did you take my German Quiz last week? (I was actually surprised how many people did in the comments here and on facebook! A lot of people know German!)

Well, here are the answers.

1. Wie heissen Sie?
What are you called/ what is your name?
2. Wo wohnen Sie?
Where do you live?
3. Der Vater arbeitet für Cisco.
The father works for Cisco.
4. Herr Clark ist hungrig.
Mr. Clark is hungry.
5. Die Kinder lernen Deutsch
The children learn German.
6. Das Haus ist schön und bequem.
The house is beautiful and comfortable.
7. Er will Deutschland besuchen.
He wants to visit Germany.
8. Herr Clark ist intellegent und flussing.
Mr. Clark is intelligent and industrious/hardworking.
9. Wie sagt man das auf Deutsch?
How does one say that in German?
10. Wie gehts?
How's it going?

11. We speak.
Wir sprechen.
12. I answer.
Ich antworte.
13. They talk.
Sie reden.
14. We buy.
Wir kaufen.
15. She learns.
Sie lernt.

P.S. sagen is to say, sprechen is to speak and reden is to talk. :)

Food Lion doubling coupons!

As an update to Erika's coupon post, I wanted to inform everyone in the Triangle area, Food Lion is going to be doubling coupons this week only (starting TODAY!) This is a very big deal to me, as I shop at Food Lion probably more than I shop anywhere else and I will probably do this, this week.

I'm not a very good couponer - it's hard for me to be consistent.... but this is absolutely worth it!

Details on Food Lion Doubling via Centsible Saver

In which the internet helps me finish my weird song.

From Dad To Me Subject Blood RH Factor?
Are you plus or minus?

Sent from my smartphone
------------------
From Me To Dad Subject RE: Blood RH Factor?
Negative Why?
------------------
From Me To Dad Subject RE: Blood RH Factor?
it's the zombie apocalypse isn't it? You're planning to sacrifice me first since my blood is so delicious? Oh wait, that's the vampire apocalypse. All this time spent preparing for the zombies and in the end, it's the vampires who destroy us all. Unfortunate, indeed.
------------------
From Dad To Me Subject RE: RE: Blood RH Factor?
Just curious.

Sent from my smartphone
------------------
From Me To Dad Subject RE: RE: RE: Blood RH Factor?
you were just driving home and were suddenly struck by an unquenchable curiosity to know what my RH factor was? What were you listening to the radio and they sang "I'd love you even if your RH Factor were negative, but I positively love that your heart beats positive"?
------------------

Ok, clearly, internets... this is a good [read: horrendous] lyric. Unfortunately [read: fortunately?] I'm pretty bad at biology sooo...

I'd love you even if your RH Factor were negative,
but I positively love that your heart beats positive.

......... take it away! ;)

German Quiz?

I have now had 6 weeks of German Conversation I. That's the halfway point. We had a popquiz this week.... Can you translate? (I'll post the answers later, but I would love to see your best guesses in the comments. No cheating!). I knew almost all of them!

Translate the following:
(and note that number 9 says "man das" not "mandas")

German Composition

This is my German composition for this week (pre-grading/corrections)

Mein mann, Jacob, liebt zu lernen. Er liebt zu Sprachen lernen. Und er will Deutschland wohnen. Ich liebe mein Mann, damit ich lerne Deutsche. Meine Lehrerin sagt um Fasching. Deutschland hört sich gut!

The House is Done!

We finished it! The house is done!

Some of you may remember that we had some damage from the tornado last April.

The house has been *almost* done since before Thanksgiving. Jacob and our friends and family worked so hard to replace a roof, and one side siding, plus a lot of fence repairs.


But the last couple screws, an electrical box cover, and some shutter painting - we just kept putting it off. We finally got the last bit of work done this weekend and wow it is such a weight off my shoulders.

Oh dear friends and family, who worked, prayed, encouraged, loved and got us through these repairs. And still came and visited us when our house was in shambles.


But most especially to all the people who got out on a ladder in the sun. We are so loved and supported.

German I: Week 2

So, German class is still awesome! Starting this week, part of our homework is to write a short German composition. This is, unfortunately, the extent of what I know how to say in German... but after only 2 classes... yay!

Ich heisse Mary Beth. Mein Nachname ist -----. Ich wohne in NC und ich komme aus NC. Ich arbeite für IBM. Ich bin Programmierer (?). Mine Mann heisst Jacob. Tschau!

I can also spell. I got a "Very Good" this week after spelling my very long name and my very long city. I practiced the alphabet really hard. No one is going to catch me off guard with a "Buchstabieren Sie, bitte?"

German Breakthrough and Memory work

Today I had a major breakthrough. After halfheartedly trying to expose myself to German for about a year, I saw a German sentence that didn't look completely foreign. In fact, I thought I could translate it. And with a little help from google translate, I discovered I could! This is the first time that German hasn't looked completely unapproachable to me!

I've also been reading the German Way - a website for expats in German culture. Today I read a post of tips for suriviving the metric system (with a much more thorough explanation for each) I'm trying to memorize as much as possible before I go. The more I learn now, the easier the transition should be, right?

So things I'm trying to memorize this week:

1. Celsius * 2 + 30 = Fahrenheit
2. Kilometers * .6 = Miles
3. Meters * 3 + 10% of meters = feet
4. Liters / 4 = gallons
5. Liters = 1.05 quarts (A liter bit more)
6. Kilos * 2 + 10% of kilos = pounds
7. 5 cm = 2 inches
8. Liters /100 km -> mpg? You're just out of luck.

wohnen (to live)

ich	wohne	wir	wohnen
du	wohnst	ihr	wohnt
er/sie/es	wohnt	Sie	wohnen

heissen (to be named)

ich	heisse	wir	heissen
du	heisst	ihr	heisst
er/sie/es	heisst	Sie	heissen

sein (to be)

ich	bin	wir	sind
du	bist	ihr	seid
er/sie/es	ist	Sie	sind

Drinking from the Fire Hose

I have often wondered if I should carefully keep this blog about my domestic endeavors, or if it's okay for my personal life to trickle in? Well, I have hit a brick wall in my brain, so here comes the personal stuff.

Jacob and I never do change halfheartedly. 3 years ago, it was "Graduate, start a new job, move, get married, adopt a dog." And while I think that time of life will be hard to top, we are certainly coming close right now.

In the last month Jacob and I have changed churches (which was difficult, complicated, and emotional...) and I started a new job. So by day, I'm absorbing training materials and shadowing sessions until my brain is about to explode... and then at night we're learning -either in a Membership class at church, in our new German class, in our new small group at our new church...

Forget domestic diva - I'm never home to domestic ANYTHING! Right now it's a bit more of drowning diva. And as much as I am loving my new job and my new church, it will truly be a wonder if I survive the next few weeks.

German!

Jake and I took our very first German class last night. The professor is absolutely delightful and aside from learning a smattering of German culture - I can now say all the letters in the alphabet (for spelling outloud), pronounce their sounds, and I can say: Ich heisse Mary Beth. Ich wohne in die USA.

Whee!!

Looking Forward

My very wise mother always tells me that everything in life is a tradeoff.

I chose to get married young, which means I get to "grow up" with my husband. But at the same time I miss being a young single professional woman in her 20's. I'm not saying one of these is better or worse, they're just different. And you always have to choose something.

Previously in my life, all goodbyes have been looking forward. I said goodbye to high school friends because I was looking forward to college. I graduated from college and said goodbye as I was looking forward to entering the professional world and getting married. But today, for the first time, the goodbye was bittersweet.

While I am looking forward to my new job, today I left an entire team of wonderful, smart, and fun coworkers and friends who I will deeply miss.

I will miss our silly lunch conversations. I will miss the absurdity and the geekiness. I will miss the love and the care. I will miss seeing them each day. I will miss their collaboration. I will miss their support.

And while I am looking forward to the new opportunity that life has presented me, I am also keenly aware that I am leaving behind something wonderful.

Christmas Gifts Part 2: Aprons

The other craft I attempted to do for Christmas this year was this "One Hour Apron".

One hour my foot.

I have attempted to sew in the past. My mom has taught me enough that i could sew a button back on by hand... and I made a dress in High School...

Here are the things I learned

1. Patterns written by people who know how to sew, are usually written FOR people who know how to sew. Not being one of these people proved to be a problem.

2. Pinning is your friend. Pin EVERYTHING. Thoroughly. I pulled apart these aprons dozens of times, because fabric slipped, bunched, or otherwise moved while sewing.

3. Sewing is the smallest part of sewing. Most of it is cutting, ironing, pinning, scratching your head, ironing again, re-pinning... all for a glorious 15 seconds of pushing the pedal on the sewing machine. Then you're back to the squinting, scratching, pinning and ironing again.

4. Don't be fooled by the above fact. Go slow for all that is good and right in this world and do all the ironing and pinning and squinting, and even basting before you stitch. Or else, you too can pull everything out over and over and over and over again.

In the end, I learned a lot, and I still have to finish one stinking stitch on my sister's apron. (Mom has had me pull that single stitch out at least 10 times.) But I ended up with 3 nice looking aprons and I might even attempt to sew something again in the future. Well... maybe.