5 Favorites Tiiiime

I think this link-up is a secret ploy by Hallie to make me people more positive...although if someone came up with a "five things that pissed me off this week" link-up, I think it'd be VERY popular (albeit non-holiness-producing). 

Oh - this week it's hosted by Grace. Go see her and laugh laugh laugh.

-1-

I hate to admit it, but this puzzle mat is coming in handy these days: 

Babykins can practice going from sitting to crawling position and I don't worry if she goes in head first. Usually our tile floors (yeah, tile - in the ENTIRE HOUSE, welcome to SW Florida) prevent a whole lot of time on the floor, because no carpet can make up for the cold unforgiving 16-inch tile. Enter in this hideous mat which announces to all and sundry "OUR LIVES HAVE BEEN TAKEN OVER BY A BABY. WE NO LONGER CARE ABOUT TASTEFUL FURNISHINGS." 

But hey - it makes life easy. And it doubles as a yoga mat.

-2-

These two posts by Dwija and Jen, respectively. 

I don't know either of them IRL (although I did meet Jen at an apologetics conference down here...but she met a lot of people, sooo I don't think I'm super special), I'm amazed at how close the blogosphere can make you feel to people you've never met. I am unreasonably excited about Dwija's pregnancy...and more than a little jealous, to be sure. And I'm proud that Jen articulated that a huge part of being Catholic is just saying, well we'll see what the future brings - not making any drastic decisions. 

-3-

This Chai tea: 

I looove chai tea lattes, but cannot stomach spending $4 on a drink without alcohol in it. So then I started buying the pre-made chai tea mix, only to discover it has sugar in it like everything. So then I thought, could I make my own? 

Yes, yes I can. 

For a little over $2 a box, I have infinite amounts of lattes at my disposal, that I can make using agave instead of whatever crazy preservative/fake sugar they use in the other ones. Just brew the tea with a 3:1 ratio of water to milk/cream/dairy substitute and add sweetner. Lovely!  

-4-

No, not Mr. Rogers - my neighbors!! 

We REALLY lucked out in the neighbor department and this was made infinitely more clear to me today. The lot at the end of the street is being cleared because someone bought it and is building on it. 'Cleared' down here means, as one neighbor girl put it, 'deforestation!' But that also means...free mulch! 

So my neighbors, knowing that I was inside with a baby I was trying to get to sleep, brought over some of this lovely free pine mulch and spread it in my side yard, where I had mentioned I wanted it. 

This is after they took care of Mr. O and I during our encounter with the plague, and oh yeah, cleaned OUR WHOLE HOUSE when we left for the birth center to have Zuzu. 

Really really really really reeeeeeheeeheeeheeally good neighbors!! 

-5-

Though I am loathe to admit it, I might need a wee bit of help getting the last of this baby/law school/lazy weight off...enter in myfitnesspal.com. Wow, talk about an eye opener - never knew rice could pack that many calories! 

In order to be more mindful about my eating and activity levels, I downloaded the app on my phone and use it on my computer too. It's been a great way for me to bring more intentionality to my eating - instead of my usual, oh my gosh the baby is asleep and I can eat with two hands so watch as I gorge myself habit. Ew. 

Hope your week is going as well as mine, but with more sleep!

7 Quick Takes: Vol. Unknowable

Another Friday, another 7 quick takes with Jen and ze gang!

-1-

Had the lovely occasion today to lunch with the inimitable Calah (pronounced Kayla). It was really great to chat with her and enjoy her energetic little ones. Plus drop some moolah in the bookstore...I can never pass up a good book despite the bajillion that are pushing us out of our own living space. 

-2-

Started reading Meg Meeker's The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Reclaiming Our Passion, Purpose, and Sanity. Despite really hating the title, I wanted to see what she had to say - and I'm glad I did. Although not all of the chapters are must-reads, several of them are very VERY good - really moving, actually. Although I firmly believe motherhood is not something that can be learned from a book, I think this book provides some great wisdom. 

Maybe someday I'll get Mr. O to review Dr. Meeker's other book, Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know  - but that would mean he would have to read it (I got it for him as a gift many moons ago...it's still gathering dust on his dresser).

-3-
Also in my book-buying binge was Dr. Popcak's Beyond the Birds and the Bees - about talking to your kids about sex and raising them to have healthy attitudes towards their bodies and sexuality. I realize that this is jumping the gun a little bit, but what is beginning to hit me is that parents convey attitudes about these things to their children long before they have 'the talk.' How do you tell your child to put on clothes or to stop touching themselves? What do you call their 'bathing suit' areas - how do you talk to them about looking at their siblings' nakedness - or yours, or your spouse's? I think the way parents react to all these normal-family-life situations put a message out there, and I want to make sure I'm putting out a good and healthy one.
I'll let you know if this book is a keeper.

-4-
Summer is back around here and so my husband just reminded me of the best thing ever about summer:
FREEZY POPS.

So few calories, I just count each one as zero and call it a day. 

(everyone knows green is the best...sometimes blue. never orange or yellow or pink)

-5-

I wonder when the 'glow' will wear off - when I'll stop feeling this rush of joy and love when I look at my baby and my husband. Granted, it's not always that way when I look at Mr. O...(haha, love you bear!) - but most of the time it is. I have a husband and a baby. Shallow as this might sound, it is really what I've wanted my whole life. Well...that and more babies. *grin* 

-6-

Nope, not pregnant. 

-7-

I make chocolate coconut cranberry cookies last night and wanted to take some to Calah's today, but we ate THEM ALL last night. ALL OF THEM. 

So now I have no dessert tonight and I feel a bit bummed. Not going to lie.

(I  may or may not be sending my husband on a dessert-related errand as we speak)

Welcome Back, SAHM

Now that I'm not working as the pastor's assistant, it's been a bit of an adjustment this week, getting used to not being in semi-panic mode at every moment. (did I do everything? how many phone messages do I have? I wonder how many people emailed me...did Father just call? I wonder if I ticked him off...if I wear a veil, will people judge me - will women think Father wants them to wear veils? oh no, I forgot to call someone back! etc etc etc)

It's been a transition for my mind, and although I really believe it's going to be good for me, right now, I'm struggling to find a new groove again. Since my husband and I choose to only have one car, it means that when he goes into work, I have to take him - unless I am okay being carless for the day. That's a good deal of planning ahead...how long does he need to go in, what do I need to get done, what time should I pick him up - all coordinated around my little darling's nap schedule. 

I have started to get better about many things (meal planning, gardening, and keeping a family calendar - courtesy of Martha Stewart via Staples), but I'm still working on others (keeping house tidy, sticking to my self-imposed grocery shopping budget, making a cleaning schedule). I had a great talk with Mr. O last night about the life I've chosen - how I could work and make work a bigger focus. Like all SAHM (Stay At Home Moms), I have at times felt the urge to justify my decision. 

But I suppose, as always, there is already a gallant English gentleman who has done it for me: 

"How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe?

How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No. A woman's function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness."

-G.K. Chesterton

In my way I am striving to be comfortable in my new role and to feel no need to defend it. There should not be any logical disconnect between the two facts that I have a brain and I am choosing to stay at home; otherwise, we might as well say it is useless to educate a woman - because, after all, her main job will only be tending the children. As if children are so unimportant and simple that anyone might look after them. 

It is a good occupation - one to keep me humble because the world does not esteem it, but still idealistic in my Anne-girl-way, because God certainly esteems it a great deal. It is hard, but sweet. I do think it shall suit me just fine.

Five Favorites!

I know it's mind-boggling that I could have a different favorite five things every week, but my life is a fast-paced (n)ever-changing thrill ride, so you should just get used to it! 

Linking up with Hallie again...

-1-

This man: 

My husband. This is the photo that comes up when you google image search his name (at least, it's the first one that's actually him). 

Sorry I know this isn't something that improves your life or a product that will magically make you look like an 18-yr old Swiss bikini model, but he makes my life roses and makes me feel pretty. My knee pain has gotten pretty bad so between that and a no-sleep baby last night, I was pretty frazzled when 10pm rolled around. My beloved volunteered to sleep in the guest room so I could have the bed to myself, to use 10 gazillion pillows to prop up my knee into a semi-comfy position and not have to sleep on the postage stamp of space that Zuzu usually leaves me. 

Blessing, I tell you, blessing! 

-2- 

This recipe for chicken tikka masala. (from the Pioneer Woman)

If any of you love Indian food like I do, this recipe will satisfy your craving for all the exotic goodness you're too cheap to pay $23 in a restaurant. The recipe is pretty simple and uses mostly ingredients I already have, the only thing I have to remember to buy for it is garam masala (a spice which I should really buy in bulk) and sometimes Greek yogurt. 

-3-

Kenra Platinum Blow-Dry Spray 3.4 oz.

If you have hair that takes forever to blow-dry, I find this stuff does help. I can't rant and rave about how it cuts my blow drying time in half (that's only possible if I majorly thin my hair), but it does shave off some time and it smells great. Right now it's the only product I use in my hair, and I find it also works to smooth my hair out. I think that makes it worth the price, since it's the only thing I use outside of shampoo and conditioner (plus I bought it with a coupon).

-4-

The Catholic Prayer Book

My mom got me this book in 2005, before either of us was Catholic, but when I was in RCIA. I really love sitting down with this book, and praying a litany or two, plus some prayers for families, while Zuzu is napping.

My favorite prayer from this book is entitled "A Prayer of an Indian Christian":

O tree of Calvary,

send your roots deep down 

into my heart.

Gather together the soil of my heart, 

the sands of my fickleness, 

the mud of my desires. 

Bind them all together, 

O tree of Calvary, 

interlace them with thy strong roots, 

entwine them with the network 

of thy love. 

-5-

Delicious (almost) Guilt-Free Treats from Epiphany Gluten-Free Bakery

Epiphany is owned by a friend of mine, Ruth, and is a local business. Ruth is a mom to three precious kiddos and found a GF-diet to be most beneficial to her health. She sells paleo bread, Bodacious Brownies (shown above), carrot-ginger sweet bread, and tons of other amazing treats! They are all G-free and usually made with better sweetners, like honey or agave. If you're in the area, be sure to check her out !

That's all I have here on this rainy day. Oram out!

Because You Asked...

Since all one of you asked, here are the much coveted pics of my front door and shutter re-do...

Front door

Shutters to the left of front door

The front door was this horrid maroon that appalled me beyond measure. I just decided I couldn't take it anymore...and faded/chipped/rusted faux-gold hardware? Eau neaux! 

Another (decidedly more crooked) view of the shutters

The new hardware (brushed nickel, much more my taste) 

Also, in case you too wrestle with vinyl in your life, be assured - you can paint it! It will definitely peel off if you scratch at it, but y'know what my solution is? DON'T SCRATCH AT IT. It even maintained the fake wood grain look, in case you were worried about losing that...

See? Can you see the beautiful fake wood grain?? Amazing! 

And in case you wanted to see another little project I'm working on, here's my wee succulent pot...and the two smallest one are transplants my neighbor Denise so lovingly let me pick! I think they're taking off and I'm VERY excited.

Succulents. Not to be confused with a succubus (really sorry for that link). 

And as of today, I should have a lot more time for these little projects because, well, today was my last real day at my job! My transition out has been gradual and mutual, and I can honestly say I'm leaving with no hard feelings. Mostly I had to stop working because Zuzu is getting to be quite the handful and Tom and I remain open to giving her siblings in God's timing. We're still really proud to be a part of SJE, and I'm glad to be able to get Zuz on a bit more of a regular schedule! 

Stay tuned for more home improvement fun...