in the mail...

to whomever wanted to bless the socks off my husband... you succeeded. just joining us? here's the story...

for many months now bryan's been very vocal about the gear he wants:

a hardshell. goretex. taped seams. "general awesomeness." in other words... the arcteryx theta ar.

great honey. when i have 350 spare bucks, i'll totally do that for you.

oh and a wool base layer. to keep away the stink under the theta ar while scaling the heights of... rainer, shasta, adams, whichever i choose.

so in an anonymous package (someone has a very sick sense of humor. which we adore.) is the aforementioned items. oh the joy. we were smiling for an hour straight. the gift i wanted to give him but couldn't. thank you, Jesus. (and whoever let Him move through them.) happy birthday.

the only improvement would be a wintery mix background. we'll see about that in a few weeks. sierra nevadas hoooooooooo!

McReflections

I went to McDonald's for the first time in... ("a presence I've not felt since...")

Well, it's been like, forever.

You know what my favorite part about McDonald's is? Apart from its long-enduring iconic American presence?

The straws.

Bryan noted the maximum suckage capacity. I noted the colored stripes. Our drink was gone quickly. Is this to make us buy bigger drinks? Cause the small one that came with the $3 meal, truly is the smallest of all fast food restaurants. (Okay, so I only go to Jack-in-the-Box and In-n-Out. I have an affinity for hyphens. And $1 huge cheeseburgers. And cow that tastes like cow.)

One must assume that every centimeter of McDonald's and its products is brilliant marketing designed to make you want to buy more of their crappy food. It's the only way they've survived. The red and yellow and arches? They have magical powers.

Another fave of mine is the McJargon. We parked and ate rather close to the drive-thru. (Please be aware that I know this is spelled wrong. But drive-through looks heinously incorrect, yes?) These folks are die-hard McFans. What struck me was the utter seriousness of their use of "Mc" everything. While I asked for "the cheap chicken sandwhich and the double cheeseburger $3 meal thing", dudes talk very matter-of-factly into the intercom with a secret language. "I'll have a McChicken, McNuggets, Big Mac (apparently, according to the Tartans, Mc and Mac are interchangeable. Good for MacDonalds. I thought someone overlooked a major faux pas.) and a McDrink..." Okay I don't know about the McDrink. But you see my wonder.

i'd like to be where that guy is

Peekaboo peak

A man walks on top of Mount Saentis - 8,209 feet above sea level - near Schwaegalp in the eastern Swiss Alps, on Oct. 15. A large part of Switzerland was hit by a cold wave with snow and temperatures below zero.

Photo by Christian Hartmann from msnbc's week in pictures

think pink

let's consider the brilliant marketing that is think pink. how did they do it? someone should study that marketing model. then write a book. and give the proceeds to susan b. komen for the cure

has anyone noticed how susan b. komen is like, a household thing now?

i think about breast cancer when i eat yoplait yogurt.

i think about breast cancer when i watch football.

i think about breast cancer when i shop at macys

i think about breast cancer when i read cooking light.

i think about breast cancer when i buy riesling from cost plus world market.

i think about breast cancer when i drive down church creek (how did they get the traffic signs to say "think pink?")

i think about breast cancer when i use the toilet. (it's on the tp packaging)

i think about breast cancer when i when i walk at the river.

they meet

great grandma meets the little one...

there are three

last friday night was fun.
fun in the i'm-glad-this-pregnancy-thing-is-finally-over-but-i'm-not-sure-about-the-pain-level, sense.
suffice it to say the 30 minute drive south in a jeep in need of new shocks on a construction-hacked interstate 5 going 80 miles and hour while in transition was one of the most interesting moments of my life. the good news? i had no idea what was going on. the bad news? the nurse checking me in was skeptical about the stage of my labor. please stand on this scale (?!). please pee in this cup (?!). please place this glam tube top over yr belly (?! uh. no. i refuse.) i guess first time moms generally overreact? didn't have time to.
but really. i was fine. i felt much better than in the jeep. in fact. the contractions were quite doable by then.
oh. that's because i'm done. as in. get this girl into the l&d room now.
so much for the midwife. the birthing tub (rather filthy sounding, yes?). the 3 to 5 minute contractions lasting over a minute for an hour (the classic 3-1-1 was not heeded in any way.) the doctor. calling anyone but mom. time to get a handle on things in general.
very soon after i had a warm wet baby girl on my tummy. she smelled nice. and looked happy to be out.
nuts.
just nuts.
God is so good. we are so in love.

quality literature by a. a. milne

Ernest was an elephant, a great big fellow,
Leonard was a lion with a six foot tail,
George was a goat, and his beard was yellow,
And James was a very small snail.

Leonard had a stall, and a great big strong one,
Earnest had a manger, and its walls were thick,
George found a pen, but I think it was the wrong one,
And James sat down on a brick

Earnest started trumpeting, and cracked his manger,
Leonard started roaring, and shivered his stall,
James gave a huffle of a snail in danger
And nobody heard him at all.

Earnest started trumpeting and raised such a rumpus,
Leonard started roaring and trying to kick,
James went on a journey with the goats new compass
And he reached the end of his brick.

Ernest was an elephant and very well intentioned,
Leonard was a lion with a brave new tail,
George was a goat, as I think I have mentioned,
but James was only a snail.

cyclobenzaprine, acetaminophine, the pool, and me

chronic muscle and joint pain meet your nemesis. the dynamic trio, so to speak, has been found. 'cause apparently gaining a pound a week affects your joint somehow... it's like ultra-light backpacking your way through every moment of life. even the die hards get to take the pack off when they rest. and they get to carry it on their back. mine's right in the gut.
i've found the secret to sound sleep in the third trimester of summer pregnancy. it's not a/c. weird? it's a walk in the pool, 20 mg of flexeril, and 650 mg of tylenol. just wanted to share the wealth.

winter dish for summer

so here's a scrumptious little dish for the summer. summer 'cause it tastes good cold. and who wants hot food in the summer? not i, said the girl in redding.
first, a word on wheat berries. if you grind them, you get flour. per 1/4 cup: cal 160, fat 1g, carbs 35g, fiber 6g, protein 5g. okay. that's the word. (i hate it when people say, "first a word on..." and then they go on for eons about the subject.)
ingredients:
2 cups soft wheat berries, rinsed (you can also use barley, in a pinch, or i've used quinoa, as well. very yummy.)
6 cups water
2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste freshly ground black pepper to taste Citrus Dressing grated zest & juice of 1 orange
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced shallot (or 3-4 chopped green onions)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 generous handfuls of spinach leaves, stemmed and rinsed
1 cup toasted pine nuts 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (or any crumbled goat cheese)
how to:
put wheat berries in the water with the 2 teaspoons of salt, bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for about an hour (they should be plump and chewy... al dente, so to speak). drain. season with more salt, if needed. to make the dressing, combine the zest, juices and onions. (if you don't have the citrus, just add oj. i made it with orange mango juice and it was very awesome. would've been even better with chunks of mango in it!)
whisk olive oil and a pinch of salt & pepper. toss in with wheat berries, pine nuts and cheese. eat.
you can do this with any vinaigrette and nut really, (cranberry with walnuts, pear with pecans) and even basil dressing with tomatoes and corn in the summer. it's really versatile. and hearty. and yummy. pretty much like all the recipes in this hippy fun book. i highly recommend it. but watch out. it may educate you. you may actually change the way you eat and look at food... not a bad thing, right?
from this awesome book i highly recommend! Super Natural Cooking: Five Delicious Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Foods Into Your Cooking by Heidi Swanson

catholic angst

so, dane cook may have quite possibly the filthiest mouth and mind on the planet... but this is quite fun.

oh the propaganda

but seriously. have you seen young mothers these days? those poor souls. their poor backs. dragging the baby carrier everywhere. do the kids get bed sores?

apparently, they've invented a strap to drag around your baby carrier/car seat with. now you can have the 30 pounds in the shape of sharp-edged plastic smash against yr hip instead of yr knees. thanks ingenuity. yr on yr way up.

so on this blog i just read (this thingamajig guy is alright) he mentions that when you see this strap being used (you should check out the photo, it's pretty funny) there are two responses;

"Hmm, that’s really interesting."
The other group is looking at that photo and thinking, "What the hell is wrong with our society?"

basically yes, i'm the latter. and maybe it's 'cause i have a tweaked back and angry joints. but it just seems like lot of extra manual labor for an already taxing job (Lord love the little munchkin). why carry more than you have to? i know, i know, i'll just wait and see until my little one is sleeping and i don't want to awaken the quiet...
whatev. i'll let you know when i get there. but i'm going sling on y'all. AND i live in redding. bring it on. the heat, i mean... of an extra body. (it's only like, 110 ten here folks. it could be fallujah) at least i won't be retaining as much water at that point. oh sorry, was that too graphic? i'll refrain.
back to the subject line. many are very convinced they need like, thousands of bucks worth of baby crap. (target being some of them). oh i said crap. i'm going to give myself a timed test. in one minute, here are the things i can think of:
swing, table-top chair, booster seat, high-chair, pack-n-play, bouncer, walker, hangy-from-the-threshold-of-the-door-bouncer-thingy, crib, bassinet, jogger stroller, umbrella stroller, moses basket... okay time's up. (i'm a slow typer. i blame the hyphens.)
uh yeah. i don't have room for but 3 of those items. so i choose... crib, swing, and booster seat. ooooh and i can keep the umbrella stroller in the car. sweet! seriously. where am i gonna put all this? maybe i don't need a couch... Bryan will fight that one.



this if from the super cool national geographic website. i could spend hours there...

i fear me [subtitle: is this pregnancy?]

it's a sorrowful turn of events when one fears themself.
i made a soft boiled egg in the microwave. it exploded. twice. i swear it was only in there for less than 30 seconds.
to round out the protein i grab the juice and shake as settling may have occurred. the contents ended up occurring all over the counter, me, and the floor. one hasn't cleaned til they've enjoyed cleaning pineapple/apple/mango juice up from a porous floor.
i open my prenatal vitamins. cause i'm so healthy like that. how it fell out of my hand i'll never know. the pills flew in the wet sink, on the counter, on the ground. good thing they're cheap(?).
while attempting to butter bread the tupperware flew out of my hand and we all know butter never ends right side up.
i really considered not taking the freeway to work today. can you blame me?
i think i need a pet cricket. it worked for mulan.

are you kidding me?