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prego saucy: November 30 - December 6, 2006
November 30, 2006
Now that Thanksgiving is over, I have a month to figure out what to cook for Xmas dinner. I want to avoid Turkey Dinner Redux; I want ham and goose at Xmas. Of course, we did ham and goose last year and I don't want to do an exact repeat of last year's Xmas dinner either…
So this morning I decided to poke about online to find new and interesting side dish ideas and on "about.com" I came across this line, prefacing a salad recipe:
"If you've never had spinach salad before, you are in for a treat."
If you've never had spinach
salad before.
I'm thinking that about.com is the last place I should be looking for side dish ideas. I'll just go thru my stack of Cooks Illustrated when I get home…
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Here is my list for Xmas dinner, mostly taken from the New Glorious American Food cookbook:
Bourbon glazed smoked ham (JB does the smokin')
Smoked goose / geese (1 was not enough last year)
Chipotle mashed sweet potatoes (my recipe)
Hoppin' John (traditionally a New Year dish, but let uss make an exception)
Collards
Something else – I'll let a guest bring something
Blue cornbread dressing (my recipe)
Pecan pie (my recipe)
Pound cake with hot curried fruit
Trappist Monks fruitcake, fudge, and cheese
Martinelli's sparkly juice for the prego lady and the abstainers / kiddoes
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People need to stop referring to the unborn baby as "your little miracle." If we have 4 billion living miracles on earth, it devalues the concept.
December 1, 2006
I have been following the Delta Airlines onboard breastfeeding brouhaha, mostly on momsrising.org. Recently, a letter from a cranky granny was posted calling moms who breastfeed without a blanket stifling their kiddo "sluts or exhibitionist(s)." Also, K from next door mentioned that friends of hers were chastised here in liberal-by-Arizona-standards Tucson for nursing in public.
What is with these people? I think the problem is they've never had spinach salad before.
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The diaper bag I want. I am justified in my wanting, since I asked JB if the great and super functional Tom Bihn café bag I have could work as a diaper bag. No doing he says – it needs more compartments, stretchy thingies to hold bottles (even if you're going with boobies), a place to store wipies, on and on and on.
December 4, 2006
The dreams I've been having lately are growing more vivid and intense, yet at the same time have become much more normal and even banal. No more shapeshifting and changing location or storyline midstream; I stay put in the dreams and focus intently on one thing. Saturday night I dreamt about plotting a trip and the majority of the dream was spent pouring over a map of Southern California, deciding which familiar places I'd like to revisit (Hwy. 86 south of Indio for date shakes) and which places I wanted to see for the first time. The only weird part is that it wasn't a map of the actual Southern California.
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On Sunday morning we met JB's prep school buddies and their wives for dim sum at Golden Buddha in Phoenix (we spent Saturday evening in a free room at a resort in Scottsdale). I hadn't had dim sum in ages – the last time was with a Chinese coworker in Foster City, CA in late July 2003. She did all the ordering, and it was the best. Golden Buddha was pretty tasty and fresh – the lo mai gai especially, and the sesame buns which were crispy – considering it was in Phoenix and I'm generally unimpressed with Phoenix.
The visit gave JB the opportunity to show off his handiwork to his childless buddies and pronounce me the "cutest pregnant lady you've ever seen." Awww. We capped off dim sum with a visit to the Ranch 99 for weird drinks and giant almond cookies.
One of the many things I love about JB is that he never makes disparaging remarks about my occasional indulgences. In fact, a good portion of the time, he will be the one to initiate a round of indulgence. The other night, I was getting ready for bed and he comes into the bedroom with a cashew hot fudge sundae for me – with whipped cream on top. What a guy.
Anyway, on the way home, we stopped at the Ikea along the freeway and purchased a giant bookshelf / media centre thingie that just fit into the xBox.* (While at Ikea, we also scoped out the kids' section for ideas: lots of little hidey-holes and bed tents and cool storage systems. I have no problem buying a cheapo shelf at Ikea, but I'll pass on the cheapo crib.)
After dinner, the reconfiguration of the house began. The small back tv room is turning into the office so that the computer can be removed from the bedroom (where it had no business being, but that was before my time) to make way for the crib and changing table. (Ok, ok: poopy diapers in the bedroom / computer in the bedroom. Tough call, I admit.)
The tv is being moved into the living room. Blech. After the Ikea shelf ("Lack") was assembled and the media blitz installed upon it, I configured some theatre curtains to hang in front of the tube. I think if I move all my art books to one of the shelves it may counteract the blechiness of the tv.
I'm looking forward to my month off before delivery – it's going to be a month of cleaning and purging and possibly a yard sale. So, everyone come to my house and relieve me of my stuff, please. Thank you.
* xBox = Scion xB, my vehicle:
Do I have skills with Microsoft Paint, or what?
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Today I am 26 weeks pregnant, so I had my glucose screening (for gestational diabetes) at the Birth Centre this morning. While I was waiting, I looked down as the right side of my tummy popped out with one of Scooter's jumpings…boing! Here is a roundup of my current state:
- very happy in general – feel like "normal" me, like nothing's different
- occasional weepiness brought on by sentimental thoughts (like the thought of seeing Scoot for the first time) or sappy scenes in movies
- swollen feet and ankles (my only comfy shoes are Birkenstocks and the pink suede flippers I just bought at Target – hardly appropriate for a law firm)
- gums bleed easily despite regular flossing
- occasional jumpy right leg at night before falling asleep (but not if I take my prenatal or a multivitamin later in the day)
- some difficulty bending over – now I have to sit down to put on my undies
- tummy is getting dry and flakey – using lots of coconut oil on it, also CocoCare cocoa butter, which JB says makes me smell like cake
- regular Scooter jumpings
- green apples and manchego rock
- I like a cookie or two in the afternoon: Walker's shortbread usually
- still eating lots of soup
- still sleeping a lot
- need to wake up twice a night to pee, and to drink lots of water; I get dry at night, even though we put a humidifier for the room
- have not experienced: worry, dread, panic, constipation, acid reflux, back aches, crankiness / moodiness, ridiculous cravings (no Krispy Kreme runs)
- I am not dreading labour; I know that it will be hard work, and it will hurt but I'm actually looking forward to the experience
While I was sitting in the Birth Centre waiting room, a grandma walked in and announced that her daughter had given birth two hours ago and that it was a really neat and amazing experience. It was her third baby, but her first natural birth – and she already felt much better and recovered than she had with the first two epidural births. She had the baby in the birthing tub.
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More on music for kiddoes. The November 25 NYTimes profiled Rockabye Baby records – lullabye versions of the Cure, Metallica, Floyd, Coldplay… Apparently the parents who purchase the records think the music is "hilarious."
Hardy-har, lullabye version of Boys Don't Cry. I don't get it. I think sometimes I'm missing the Gen X irony gene.
A quote from the article went along the lines of, the quickest way to turn your kid into a Republican is to put him in a Ramones onesie. Heh, heh…now, that's funny!
Anyway, why not just play the regular version of the Cure for the kid? Or Leonard Cohen, Mazzy Star, Tarnation, Cat Power, Cowboy Junkies if you're looking for sleepytime music…
December 6, 2006
I want a Camelbak water reservoir for bedtime. Maybe I could install it in a Domokun or throw pillow to camouflage it. I just want to reach for the extra long straw lying next to me on my pillow and drink without having to haul myself up and reach over for the glass of water, and also to not have to refill the glass of water halfway through the night. Pregnant ladies need lots of hydration and dislike getting out of bed more times than they have to.
While I'm compiling a wishlist, I also want portability with my software. For example, if I copy a Dreamweaver file to my jump drive and I plug it into my work or library computer that does not have Dreamweaver on it, I want to be able to edit that file regardless. The technology could be called "Doppleganger" or "Tagalong" and you could pay a little extra ($10 – 25) for it to be a feature on the software you buy.
There you go, free ideas. Someone realize them now and give them to me for free.
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The black beret, wrap dress (today in quinacridone pink), and pink suede flippers combo is a winning prego outfit. Many comments on how cute I look. Although the amount of gushing comments I'm getting is a little embarrassing. Really, it's not like someone's going to go up to a pregnant lady and say, "Dammit woman, you look awful."
I purchased a ceramic parabolic heater to go under my desk and keep my nekkid tootsies warm, so I may be able to get away with wearing my flippers and Birks (and Doc Martens on Fridays) to work for the next 7 weeks…especially if I keep my coworkers distracted by all the above-ankle cuteness I apparently have going on.
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Molly, evening of December
6 2006; Tucson, AZ. Cankle-licious!
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