Seven years ago today....

Those who were there remember this well. Why couldn't anyone properly hold up MY chair during the Hava Nagila?













A close up of the sheer terror I was feeling just before they dropped me.






Just Married!















Me and my maids!
Heather, Allison, me, Christy, Liz, Kimberly.
Sarah, Allison, and Melissa Fuhrman

new 'do

Excerpt from "Skinny Bitch"

from pages 44-45:

"Of the ten billion animals slaughtered each year in America for human consumption, the vast majority of them come from factory farms. Factory farms that raise cattle, pigs, chickens, egg-laying hens, veal calves, or dairy cows have an enormous amount of animals in a very small space. There are no vast meadows or lush, green pastures. The animals are confined inside buildings, where they are literally packed in on top of each other. Egg-laying hens are crammed into cages so small that they are unable to open their wings, and their mangled feet actually grow around the wire mesh floors. This overcrowded, stressful environment causes chickens to peck at each other and factory farm workers, so the ends of their beaks are seared off their faces using a hot knife. Pigs and cows are imprisoned in stalls so small, they are unable to turn around or lie down comfortably. Cattle are subject to third-degree branding burns and having their testicles and horns ripped out. Pigs also suffer from branding and castrations, in addition to the mutilation of their ears, tails, and teeth. They all live in the filth of their own urine, feces, and vomit with infected, festering sores and wounds. To keep animals alive in these unsanitary conditions, farmers must give them regular doses of antibiotics."

Honestly, this all makes me want to cry. I've not been ignorant to such appalling things, but I guess I've just chosen not to let it get to me. Until now. This REALLY bothers me. For a long time I've bought organic things, eggs from free-range chickens, tofu, etc....and I don't think I eat a ton of meat, period. But I love a good cheeseburger every once in a while. I have one friend in particular who has had a discussion or two on this with me---and he is a firm believer in the food chain and basically believes that if we didn't eat these animals, other animals would eat them anyway. To me that doesn't seem to be a good enough reason for me to continue eating meat/animal products.. Does it have to be all or nothing? I don't know. I also don't know where to begin as far as nutritional needs and making sure I get enough protein and iron, etc. from sources other than poultry, fish, and beef. And what about my kids? I feel they're too young to push them down the vegetarian route---Dan won't hear of it.

If you are reading this and have some thoughts, I would love to hear them....

feeling like it's time for a change

I am reading a new book called, "Skinny Bitch," by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. I am only on page 44, but am starting to feel like some change is in order. I am going to try and start with baby steps like eliminating diet coke and coffee (I don't drink a ton of either, but usually have 1 diet coke or 1 small cup of coffee each day) and reducing my intake of meats.

I will try to post some excerpts later that have really moved me. I want to be greener and healthier, and this book is explaining to me how things really work and what I am doing to my body on a daily basis by not thinking about what I'm putting in my mouth (and my kids' mouths).....

stay tuned....

we have cabinets!

this is our closet...

and the kitchen with an island in the middle. all the cabinets haven't been installed yet, but they were all delivered to the house last week...at one end of the kitchen island is a wine rack, and at the other end are some shelves for cookbooks...

feeling nostalgic

I'm feeling terribly nostalgic as the girls' third birthday rapidly approaches. I cannot believe the passage of time....each day seems incredibly slow, yet when I turn and look over my shoulder nearly 3 years have passed by.

This is what life was like for me about this time in 2005:

I was swimming in these maternity pants, but I couldn't find anything to fit my waist and my legs simultaneously. Everything was cutting off my circulation under my giant belly. Shirts were all too short. My feet were almost a full size larger than normal. My face was puffy. I don't miss that, but I do miss feeling them move inside of me, kicking me, having the hiccups...I miss the nightly belly watch, where Dan and I would sit on the sofa laughing as my belly jumped around.

i am a dolt

I don't know why I never thought of it before, but Monica and Christy pointed out to me that you can buy lots of cool stuff on Etsy.com, including reusable produce bags to bring to the grocery store. So I just ordered these:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=mt&listing_id=17261412

I am super excited! I can't wait to use them!

house!

the house is coming along so quickly we can't believe it. i don't have photos to post today, but hopefully this weekend. it was already getting dark when i was over there earlier.

first, the cabinets were delivered! this is super exciting because they weren't supposed to even be ready until the week of Thanksgiving. half of them are already installed. and the fireplaces in the living room and the family room are in as well. the molding/baseboards are finished, and closets are done, too. the "real" stairs are in and the handrails (no spindles yet, however).

anyway, stay tuned for pics. i can't contain myself!!! woohoo!

green

I've neglected the green stuff for a long time. I think I started out too ambitious and thought I could change our habits in a week. I was wrong.

Things I have stuck with:
1. BYOB (bringing my own bags) to the grocery store, Target, etc. I confess to forgetting them a few times, and I feel badly when I do. I always recycle the ones I end up taking home, but I know that just taking the bags in the first place is the problem.

2. milk in glass bottles or cardboard cartons. I prefer the glass bottles because not only does it taste truly amazing, but there's no trash with it at all. It is more expensive than buying milk in other containers, however. I occasionally buy milk in cardboard cartons, but we are still mostly drinking Shatto milk.

3. no more bottled water. We bought a Brita pitcher and although the filters are not yet recycle- able, it's still better than all those little individual bottles. unfortunately, we sometimes buy some vitamin water, which, as far as i know, only comes in individual plastic bottles. we don't buy it often, but....ugh.

4. i am using biodegradable detergents and hand soaps. it recently occurred to me that if we switched to all bar soaps we'd be using fewer plastics, too. but i do buy a lot of the Method hand soap refills, which is better than buying a whole new bottle of soap.

5. we participated in our local CSA, which just recently ended for the season. and we do buy a fair amount of organic/local foods & produce.

6. Potty trained those kiddos over the summer so we're only using diapers at night---and only 1 diaper each night because Abby is dry all night long.

Things I'd like to work on more:
1. not using the fruit/veggie plastic bags in the produce section at the grocery store. but how to get around this, especially on a big shopping trip when i have lots of varieties, and several of each thing?

2. stop using plastic wrap and use only foil. but plastic wrap is just better for some things. argh.

3. stop using ziploc bags. i'm an addict. i do re-use when i can, but i am not great about it.


I wish I was better about this stuff. I need to quit being so lazy.

fun in leaves

the girls "helped" me rake up more leaves in the side yard yesterday before the rain began...the piles were so deep they came up almost to their waists...

I suck.

Sort of a long explanation that I don't feel like typing out at this moment, but basically I backed into Dan's car today. Fortunately it wasn't the Porsche. But he is not very happy with me and insists that the repairs will cost "thousands of dollars." I am hesitant to buy into this, but then again I don't have much experience with car parts/repairs/prices. I was backing out of the garage at the time, and his car was in the driveway directly behind me. So it wasn't as if I was going even 10 mph at the time. There are some dented spots that I think could be popped out, but there is a tiny scratch that went through the paint. So D says the whole door will have to be repainted/replaced.

I feel like shit even though this is really payback of sorts. When we lived in NOLA several years ago, HE backed into MY car, which was parked just behind his in the driveway. We took it over to one of those X-A-Dent places and they popped it out, and it wasn't a big deal at all. I suppose this is different, but nevertheless proves that accidents do happen and my number was up.....it just f##$ing sucks.

To add insult to injury, our handyman never showed up this weekend to help with fall leaf cleanup (we have to do a really big cleanup 2-3 times each fall season and sometimes enlist the help of others b/c with 5 large oaks and a big yard, it's a BIG job). The yard was out of control and I really didn't want to let it go any more, and it's supposed to start raining tomorrow. So I went out there and raked about 30 bags of leaves over 2 hours (55-gallon bags). I am paying for it now with blisters on my palms and aching shoulders and back. Penance for my transgression earlier today, I suppose. Anyway, you can't even tell I did much unless you see the 30 bags of trash at the curb. My garbage men will be thrilled on Wednesday.

I have a headache. I think tonight calls for an early bedtime.

Please pray that my husband's estimate on the car repairs is wrong. We may not know for a while as we're not in a hurry to fix it....

baking cookies

Baking oatmeal raisin cookies today with my two little helpers!

feeling lucky

i haven't posted anything worthwhile/meaningful in a while, and it seems like life is getting busier and busier. i'm not great at budgeting my time or multitasking. at any rate, this is something that happened today.

after i dropped the girls off at school, i headed over to Jazzercise. on my way, i passed a neutral ground (median to those who aren't native new orleanians). there sat a man and a woman huddled close together with their dog. it was freezing outside and very windy. their clothes were dirty and worn and my heart was breaking as i passed by. i don't always stop for homeless people, but sometimes i just have to. it hurts my heart so much and makes me hate myself for taking the things that i have for granted on a daily basis. i think it's also the advent of the cold weather--seeing them shivering and trying to sit close together to conserve body heat...i drove past (it was a busy street and no real place to pull over) and quickly found a way to circle back around. i pulled over for a minute and rooted through my baby bag (which is always in my car, fully stocked with odds and ends, snacks, extra clothes, wipes, motrin, etc.) and found a few granola bars and packs of peanut butter crackers. i had $20 in my wallet and took it out. i drove back over to where they were and pulled over as best i could. i got out and brought them the snacks and the money and my voice cracked as i choked out something i can't even remember.

i was in tears once i got back into the car. it's just not fair.

i complain too much. i take things and people for granted. i yell at my kids. i am selfish. i whine about my thyroid issues. i often feel overwhelmed and exhausted. but my petty stuff is nothing compared to what some people are going through. what if i didn't have a home? what if i didn't have a place to take a shower, or any clean clothes to wear? what if i lived exposed to the elements?

things like this put it all in perspective. i am lucky. i need to be more thankful each and every day for what i have (and i don't mean just material things, either).

Super Slug and Misc.

This tree is our favorite every fall. This picture doesn't do a justice, however. Yesterday was also a very grey day, which didn't help.








































The leaves are coming down in droves.













This is our side yard. Yes, there is grass under there somewhere.












Super slug. My hand is there so you get an idea of how large it really was. Gross!

Damn squirrels

various tidbits

So, I continued with Jazzercise this week and went 5 times. I skipped Wednesday and today (Sunday). I feel a real difference in my body, but can't see anything yet. I know it's too soon. Just trying to keep on keepin' on. Stick with it. Get somewhere. Change my body. But I also know I need to stop eating crap, like my daughters' Halloween candy. Ugh!

The walls are all in/done at the new house. Hardwoods will be installed late this week in conjunction with the trim carpenters' work on crown molding, shelves, etc....and we've been experimenting with paint colors. Dan threw many colors up on the walls in several rooms. It's so crazy how a color swatch looks one way, but when you put it up on a wall in a house, it can be completely different----and then different again depending on the light (or lack thereof) in the room. Very frustrating at times. Ultimately we're going to put some colors in a few rooms (living room, dining room, girls' room, and maybe ours) and then the rest of the house will be a very neutral color. We can always repaint later. Too much to do each room a different color, and we want the house to flow since it's got a very open feel to it.

Halloween was fun and the girls had a blast trick-or-treating. Well, Abby got crabby towards the end, but that was no surprise. Izzy was too cute....we'd go to the door and when someone opened it, I'd prompt her a bit and she'd yell, " HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" Everyone laughed, and then I'd whisper to her, "No, you're supposed to say 'trick or treat', silly!" The girls fought over who got to ring the doorbell at every house. They were exhausted when we got home. Much to my surprise & delight, they wore their hats for a while that night (at a previous Halloween party they wore the dresses but refused to don their hats). Izzy made friends with Howie, the schnoodle who lives next door. It was hard to get her to leave!

Halloween

Izzy the good witch.

Abby the semi-good witch.

The witch sisters prepare to depart on their quest for candy.