Sunday Night Chit Chat: Back Into The Deep Freeze

Howdy Humble Readers...

Whew, that was a rough week.  The crud that landed on my Beloved and I is finally starting to ease.  I can breath easily, but the cough still keeps me from getting a good night's sleep.  Thankfully, other than Pip getting a touch of the sniffles, the wee-lings have been relatively untouched this go round. 

Winter has decided that it's not done with the Shire, not by a long shot.  We have been under an extreme windchill warning for the last two days.  We haven't gotten much new snow at all since the beginning of January, but it's absolutely frigid out there.  We actually decided not to go to church this morning because, even though my Beloved and I are feeling moderately better, the prospect of bundling the wee-lings and ourselves up was just too daunting. 

I forgot to mention last week that Pippin's hearing test went really well.  He only missed one tone out of the whole test, and that was right at the beginning when he wasn't really sure what was going on.  We have his speech pathology assessment tomorrow morning, and I'm curious how they are going to help us help him.  I took Rain's advice and recorded Pip making many of his usual sounds to show the speech therapist. 

The wee-lings and I watched the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics, and I made a bit of a game out of it with Ginny.  She has a placemat with a map of the world on it, so during the parade of nations she would try to guess where they were from.  She only knows a few countries (we added Russia to the list this week), but we had fun and it was a great way for her to get engaged with the Olympics. 

I was feeling well enough on Friday to go out with the girls to celebrate JJ's birthday.  We went to a new-ish place in town (I had a really good burger), to a movie (the Monuments Men... wonderful movie!  Made me so thankful that I've been able to see so many great works of art in museums around the world), and then out for drinks at an Irish pub with a VERY loud band.  We had a lot of fun and laughed a lot.  I always love getting to spend time with them. 

Potty training is still an ongoing process with Ginny.  I think we had a minor victory today.  Ginny claims that she 'went stinky' in the potty.  I was in the living room, and my Beloved was putting Pip down for his nap, so we don't know for sure (if she did, she cleaned herself up really well).  She's gotten very independent about going.  She usually only needs assistance with dealing with buttons and zippers after she's done.  She hasn't had a wet accident in weeks now.  Of course, we are still using diapers at night and nap time, and Pull-ups when we go out. 

Enough rambling.  On to tonight's chit chat.  Here's what I'm...

Reading - My reading binge has come to an end.  I haven't been able to focus on reading hardly at all this week.  I'm still reading the trashy romance that I started a week ago.  Now that I'm beginning to feel better, I'm hoping to get back into reading more.  Next on the list is a biography from a woman who left one of the polygamist sects we hear so much about in the news. 

Watching - Other than my usual Sunday night trip to Downton Abbey, I've been watching a lot of the Olympics.  I particularly enjoy the hockey and figure skating, but I was thrilled with the gold and silver medals won by the Dufour-Lapointe sisters in women's moguls. 

Listening to - I can hear my Beloved taping Pippin's diaper.  Yes, we've had to go back to using packing tape to keep him from taking his diaper off and making a huge mess. 

Cooking/Baking - Tonight was coffee braised short ribs with garlic mashed potatoes, roasted green beans, and yorkies.  I'm trying a couple of new-to-me recipes this week... chicken Florentine penne, and chili garlic pork.  I have a special dinner planned for Valentine's day, although I still need to decide what I'm doing for dessert for that night.

Happy I Accomplished This Week - Ummm, the wee-lings were fed, read to, and bathed.  Oh, and I managed to run the vacuum.  That's about it. 

Looking Forward To Next Week - Getting back into a normal routine, Pip's appointment tomorrow, and celebrating Valentines Day with the wee-lings. 

Thankful For - Relative good health.  I am such a wimp when I get sick, but knowing that it will go away and I will feel better is such a blessing.

***Bonus Question*** What lesson did you learn this week?  Never trust that a toddler won't do something just because it seems unlikely.  Pip, even with packing tape or duct tape over the tabs on his diaper, has once or twice managed to take his diaper off.  And he's fast about it too.  I'll put him in the playpen while I go to the bathroom or into the kitchen to make lunch, and in just that short amount of time he'll have his pants and diaper off, and have managed to make a mess for me to clean up. 

*****
This was posted as a part of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat.  Pop over and check out what the others are chatting about tonight. 

Sunday Night Chit Chat... Sort Of...

Hey Humble Readers...

This won't be my usual recap of the week, or Sunday Night Chit Chat, as I am totally under the weather.  My Beloved brought home a wretched cold earlier this week, and it took up residence in my respiratory system a couple of days ago.  I'm a bit of a mess.  But all things considered, this is my first cold since October, so I'm thankful to have such a long stretch of relative good health. 

I've been reading a lot again this week.  I finished Blood by Lawrence Hill, and it was AWESOME!!  I loved it, and I so rarely read non-fiction.  I want to put some more thoughts together on it, and give you the full run down.  Then I went on to read The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.  It was a very good story, although I thought that the actual writing was a bit weak.  Set in the late 1700, the primary character is a little Irish girl who loses both parents on the voyage to America, so the captain of the ship takes her to his plantation as an indentured servant. She's given to Belle, the slave who runs the kitchen house, and is raised by the slaves who work in the big house.  It follows Lavinia, the little girl, as she grows up trying to walk the line between the black family she loves and the white world where opportunities lie.  As I said, it was a good story, but I had some issues with the actual writing (choppy, repetitive in places, a lot of showing rather than telling).  Next, I'm onto a rather trashy romance novel, but it's light and entertaining. 

Well, that's about all I have the wherewithal to write tonight, Humble Readers.  I'm going to watch Downton and then head to bed.  Hopefully, I will sleep well tonight and feel a bit better in the morning. 

Sunday Night Chit Chat: Spring Dreaming

Good Evening Humble Readers...

I hope that you all have had a great week.  It was sort of a sluggish week around the hobbit hole, with a serious lack of anything significant being accomplished. 

The weather this past week has been astounding.  We have been having a prolonged January thaw, punctuated by several chinooks.  It was so warm toward the end of the week that I was able to have the windows open in the afternoon to allow fresh air to fill the hobbit hole.  It felt so nice!  As of today, we are back into seasonal temperatures (well below freezing).  While there is still no shortage of snow (if only you could see the mountains of snow in all the parking lots around town), we have actually had a very dry month. 

You can actually see a bit of grass under the trees!

I'm in no way thinking that winter is waning, because I know for a fact that we will likely still get our heaviest snows of the season in February and March.  We still have a good three months of snow left to go.  Heck, we've had snow in May in the last several years. 

Even knowing that winter is far from over, I'm starting to itch to plant things in the pots on our balcony.  I want to expand our container garden this year to include a few vegetables, and I want to include the wee-lings in the planting and maintaining of our little garden.  Do any of you have any experience or tips for container gardens? 

My sad little flower pots right now.

I know I want to attempt to replicate the success I had last year with basil and thyme, and I'm hopeful that at least one of my lavender plants will come back after the winter.  I'm thinking of getting Ginny to plant some chives (for quick gratification... it grows so fast), and she's very excited to grow some carrots.  I'm going to attempt to grow tomatoes again, although I think I might stick to cherry tomatoes.  Any other suggestions? 

The main hurdle for container gardens is that they dry out much quicker than a traditional garden, but I have a plan to help combat this (going to try the pop-bottle trick).  My only concern is our planned week away in June.  Perhaps I'll see if I can get a friend to stop by to water the plants for us. 

***Ugh.  Just had to spend more than an hour cleaning in the wee-lings' room.  Pip has taken to removing his diaper again, and I forgot to tape the tabs down before naptime.  I walked in to get them up from their naps and found him naked from the waist down, and the entire crib, inside and out, covered in poop.  I know that Ginny was in on it, because it was in places that he couldn't reach and of course she had poop all over her hands.  I don't want to rush them growing up, but I'm sure looking forward to the end of this phase.***

On to this week's chit chat.  Here's what I'm...

Reading - Oh my, I have been reading up a storm this week.  I finished Plantation by Dorothea Benton Frank (meh, I didn't like the main character... she was very wishy washy, whining about her lack of attention from her mom one moment, and then treating her sister-in-law like total crap).  Then I read the newest Stuart McLean, The Vinyl Café Story Exchange.  Love, love, loved it!  It's a collection of stories submitted from people all across Canada.  They were funny, poignant, and sweet.  Wonderful read!  And now I'm reading Lawrence Hill's new book, from the CBC Massey Lecture Series, called Blood: The Stuff of Life.  I love this book so much that I'm planning an entire post about it.  It's all about the politics of blood... race, gender, religion, how blood figures in our language, in our culture.  It's awesome!  Next book on the list is The Kitchen House by Grissom.  Oh, and I discovered an awesome website this past week, www.goodreads.com.  You put in titles you've read and it makes recommendations on what you might like to read next.  I love it.

Watching - It's Sunday, so that means Downton!  I recorded it earlier this evening, so I'm planning on pouring myself a glass of wine as soon as I'm done this post, and curl up on the couch with the Crawleys. 

Listening to - My first ever episode of Modern Family.  I understand why I don't watch this show.  I really don't like half the actors. 

Cooking/Baking - Tonight was garlic and herb pot roast, mashed taters, steamed vegetables, and yorkies.  I found a recipe for a copy cat version of the Starbucks chocolate cinnamon bread that I want to try.

Happy I Accomplished This Week - All that reading.  I'm so excited by it. 

Looking Forward To Next Week - Pip's hearing test on Tuesday.  I'm 97.6% certain that there's nothing wrong with his hearing, but I'm glad we're going ahead with the test. 

Thankful For - That AF finally showed up.  She was a full week late, and I was not only pms-ing beyond belief, but I was also starting to freak out a bit.  I know it's extremely unlikely that I could get pregnant, but the fear of facing it again was starting to creep in. 

***Bonus Question*** Do you have any phobias?  Other than getting pregnant again?  Well, birds.  Yes, I'm ornithophobic.  Any thing with feathers and anything that flies creeps me out beyond belief. 

*****
This was posted as a part of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat. Click over and check out what others are chatting about tonight. 

Sunday Night Chit Chat: Best Laid Plans

Hey Humble Readers...

How is it Sunday again already??  Where did this week go?

It was a pretty busy one for all of the Gamgees.  My Beloved didn't have to work overtime this week, but likely will next week.  I ended up at the walk-in clinic, thinking I had an ear infection.  Thankfully that wasn't the case, but I had some pretty odd pressure in my ear, and a lot of headaches from that.  The doctor was sure it was just a bit of a blockage, and whatever it was it's cleared up now. 

I got to hang out with my friends, Sira and JJ, and we did our Christmas gift exchange.  My plan this year for the girls was to do homemade gourmet gift baskets.  I included some of the plum jam I made in the fall, some orange and grapefruit marmalade that I made this past week, a bottle of wine each, some crackers, and honey.  I also wanted to include some homemade goat cheese.  It looked so easy to make... whole goats milk, lemon juice, and a bit of salt.  I was so excited and so hopeful... I had visions of making goat cheese a couple of times a month, never having to buy those expensive little blocks again.  HA HA!  It TOTALLY DIDN'T WORK!  After doing some further reading, it turns out that the milk I used was too pasteurized.  Bah.  So I bought little blocks of goat cheese for their baskets.  LOL.  At least I tried.

I have never been this close at a hockey game before.  It was awesome!!!

Friday night was a date night that didn't go exactly as planned.  There's a new-ish irish pub in town, and my Beloved and I were going to go there before the hockey game (tickets were a gift from the wee-lings to my Beloved for Christmas).  The place was crazy busy, and we ended up eating at a pretty blah pub (too loud, bland food) down the street.  The hockey game was fun, even though our local team was thoroughly trounced.  Our seats were right at ice level, next to the penalty box.  I spent the entire first period twitching and flinching every time the puck came near us or someone was checked into the boards in front of us. 

A hot chocolate junkie!

Yesterday brought a busy morning, with a trip to the blood donor clinic (my iron was high enough to donate! Yay!) and the grocery store.  And then Ginny and I had a date.  I took her for a haircut, did some window shopping, and her first St.arbu.cks treat.  She had hot chocolate, which ended up dribbled down her front, and she was thrilled. 

Ok, onto tonight's chit chat.  Here's what I'm...

Reading - Finished 'Year of Wonders' last night.  I really enjoyed it, although the epilogue seemed a little out of place to me.  Didn't go anywhere close to what I was expecting.  But the book as a whole was great.  Now, I'm reading a book called 'Plantation' by Dorothea Benton Frank (or something like that).  Very different direction than my last read, this one being in the present day American South.  I'm only a couple of chapters in, so not really sure about it yet. 

Watching - Downton Abbey once the wee-lings are in bed.  And I'm recording the season premiere of Sherlock.  Don't think I'll watch it tonight though, as I'm pretty beat. 

Listening To - Pippin sucking back his milk.

Cooking/Baking - Tonight was an experiment in pork... a parmesan balsamic ranch pork roast.  Turned out really yummy.  Also, I have 100% perfected my Yorkshire puddings.  They come out huge, puffy, and hollow every time now.  Just the way I like them.  Yay!  We had mashed potatoes, gravy, and roasted acorn squash along side tonight. 

Happy I Accomplished This Week - Sent a ton of stuff to the thrift store.  Purged our cd collection, from nine boxes down to four (and they aren't full).  Got rid of all my size 20 and higher pants, jeans, and capris. 

Looking Forward To Next Week -  This is going to sound ridiculous, but I am looking forward to AF's arrival.  I have had particularly bad PMS this past week, and I'm feeling bad about how lousy my mood has been.  She's due any time. 

Thankful For - Pippin's most amazing hugs.  Seriously, he gives the best hugs ever. 

***Bonus Question*** What colours of clothing do you tend to gravitate towards?  Reds and purples.  I look better in deep reds, with a hint of purple in them, like burgundy.  For a long time there was a lot of grey in my wardrobe, but I've slowly been weeding that out, as it doesn't make me feel that great.  I definitely stay away from yellows and oranges.  They make me look ill. 




*****
This was posted as a part of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat.  Click over and check out what the others are chatting about tonight. 

Sunday Night Chit Chat: Best Intentions

Hey Humble Readers...

Several times this week I intended to sit down and talk to you folks, and repeatedly I got distracted.  It's been a long week. 

Tucking in all her babies.

All tuckered out

Both Ginny and Pip have been just generally fussy and uncooperative.  At least five days this week began with full on tantrums from both of them.  The smallest thing can bring on a meltdown from Ginny these days, and I think Pippin is starting to really feel the frustration of his inability to communicate.  Top the week off with our first ever bona fide tummy ache for Ginny last night, and a tantrum from Pip this morning because we gave him Chee.rios rather than toast for breakfast, and you can see it's been a doozy. 

My Beloved is totally swamped at work, and has had to work overtime five of the last seven weeknights (he goes back in to the office after the wee-lings are in bed for 2-3 hours, after he's already worked a full day), and is currently at the office putting in more hours.  I'm more than a bit irked with his boss, who implied on the phone yesterday that my Beloved isn't putting in enough time (you know, he did take the whole day off yesterday.  How lazy, right? Gah!).  And given his boss' attitude, my Beloved will likely be working overtime for the next few days at least.  We are hoping that boss-man will at least approve my Beloved's time-off request for mid February.  My Beloved hasn't had a real vacation in more than a year, and with his course work on top of everything else, he's approaching burnout. 

The hobbit-hole is a mess, I've been eating a bunch of crap that I totally shouldn't be, and I'm generally feeling gross.  I've gotten myself into that wretched cycle of feeling like crap because I'm not taking care of myself and not taking care of myself because I feel like crap.  What bothers me even more, is that I KNOW WHAT I NEED TO BE DOING, and yet I'm not doing it.  About the only success this week was that I got in four workouts.  I need to go see Dr. B in the next week or so to get a refill on my prescriptions, so I need to have my ducks in a row by then. 

I really don't want to whine, it's just been a particularly challenging week. 

A few good things... Pippin has recently begun to really show affection.  He gives the best hugs I've ever gotten.  He also has begun to mimic a few different gestures, like putting his hands together when we say grace at the table or bedtime prayers.  Ginny, who has always been a bit standoffish when it comes to cuddles, has been wanting to spend a lot of time with me, reading or cuddled under a cozy blanket.  It's also been much warmer for the past few days and is due to continue for the foreseeable future, with temps almost at the freezing mark.  Thank the good Lord above for a January thaw!

On to this week's chit chat.  Here's what I'm...

Reading - Finally finished The Emperor of Paris.  It was a good story, I loved how the author wove together the stories of Octavio (an illiterate baker who collects books), his father (the thinnest baker in Paris), and Isabeau (a young art restorer at the Louvre with a tragic history).  A lovely book.  Now I'm onto Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks.  So far, I'm enjoying it very much. 

Watching - Right now, 101 Dalmatians with the wee-lings (it's the Disney movie this week).  Later on, DOWNTON! 

Listening to - The roar of the furnace, and Ginny saying 'peeka-peeka boo' over and over again. 

Cooking/Baking - Tonight is a roasted chicken with lemon and garlic.  Last night was baked beef, bean and cheese burritos with black bean salad. 

Happy I Accomplished This Week - The aforementioned four workouts.  That's four more than I've done in a good while.  Hoping to get that up to five this week. 

Looking Forward to Next Week - I have a couple of fun projects to do this week.  I hope they turn out for a multitude of reasons, but I do want to share them with you all if they turn out well.  I'm also getting together with the girls later this week to do our Christmas gift exchange (it's always too busy in December to get together), and a date with my Beloved on Friday (going out for dinner and to a WHL hockey game). 

Thankful For - For loving children, a husband who works hard, and a life that isn't always tidy. 

***Bonus Question*** If you could choose any time period to live in, what would you choose? I've always believed that I was born 100 years too late.  I don't have any illusions, if I had in fact been born in the 1870s rather than the 1970s, I wouldn't likely have been in the upper classes.  If anything I would have been someone like Daisy (Downton)... a lowly scullery maid or a washer woman.  But I do so love the clothes, and the etiquette. 

*****
This was posted as a part of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat.  Please pop over and check out what others are chatting about tonight.