Adventures of a Domestic Goddess

Three (3!) Things Thursday

1. Today is the last day of my 8-week Leadership Foundations course I’ve been doing through work. It has been a pretty fantastic experience, actually, and I’m pleased that I had the opportunity to attend these all-day Thursday courses. I am a little sad that starting next week, I’ll have to get up at the normal time on Thursdays again instead of sleeping an extra 30 minutes! Boo! (I am excited, though, that I’ll be able to get actual work done on Thursdays and will no longer have to check in on Fridays to see what I’ve missed.) Since it’s the last day, our entire cohort has been broken into groups & we each have to give a presentation to all of our managers this afternoon. In honor of that, I thought maybe I would dress a little more nicely today. (Also, I am wearing awesome shoes. Yay!)

2. I handed in the final assignment (really just a capstone checkpoint, as I won’t actually finish until mid-February) last night. That means nothing new due until next year! I plan on spending the next couple of days lolling about indolently (and exercising, and hanging out with friends) before spending the rest of my break deep reading and finding at least 10 more valid references. LEISURE TIME! (Relatively speaking, of course.)

3. Tonight, I am having Brussels sprouts for dinner. I am very excited about this. My question, however, is what do I serve with said Brussels sprouts. When planning this week’s menus, I was having a vegetable craving, so my menu looks like: (a) roasted carrots, (b) salad, (c) something with butternut squash, (d) Brussels sprouts…..and no main dishes. So far, we’ve been able to come up with stuff fairly well: (a) quinoa with carmelized onions & roasted tomatoes, (b) pizza, (c) pasta with sage & brown butter sauce….but I’m stuck on tonight. Ideas?

Pictures 2 & 3 were located in a Flickr Search and have a Creative Commons license.

So tired I didn’t even notice there was no post title for almost 5 hours….

Dec 5th, 2011

by gazelle.

5 comments

Every 2-3 weeks, I get a few nights of weird insomnia. Last time, I was waking up in the middle of the night & being awake for 4-5 hours. This weekend, it was inability to fall asleep. Saturday night, I was up until nearly 6 am, then awake for a half hour from 8-3:30, and then asleep until just after 10. That did not so much make for a productive Sunday. I pushed myself to stay up all day Sunday, doing important things like “watching Netflix” and “reading” (and making dinner), but not getting anything I’d actually planned to do done. Then, last night, I went to bed at about 9, convinced that I was tired enough that I’d fall asleep instantly. Not so much. However, I did fall asleep right around midnight, so it wasn’t terrible. However, today is not so much an “awake” kind of day.

Friday & Saturday were pretty good days.

Friday morning, I met up with Emily for a Hatha 2 class. I felt pretty awesome about myself after finishing the class, since I haven’t been doing as much yoga the last 4 months or so. Until the teacher said he’d kept it at more of a 1.35 level.

After class, Emily & I continued our day of fun with a 3.5 mile hike in Forest Park – over 600 feet of elevation gain! Go us!

After finishing the hike, I headed out to meet another friend for Mexican lunch! YUM!

Check out these ginormous burritos:

Even as a ravening pregnant beast, I could barely get through half…it sure was delicious later, though!

Friday afternoon was spent working, then relaxing with the architect.

Saturday, I was pleasantly sore from Friday’s exercise. I got up, made pancakes (still obsessed – best meal ever!), did a little work, and then headed over to my friend Lisa’s so she could help me put my marathon shadowbox together. Yes, my marathon was, in fact, over two years ago. BUT – I am not this kind of crafty, and definitely needed help. I think it turned out pretty good! (Also, she & her husband gave me water and hot chocolate, and cheese and cookies! They are awesome.)

Now I just need to find a place to hang it so everyone who comes over knows how awesome I am.

Saturday night, the architect & I went to Laurelwood Brewing for our annual Vinter Varmer beer drinking! Vinter Varmer is my all-time favorite winter seasonal beer. I first had it with my friend Kim in 2006, and she & I did Vinter Varmer days until she left Portland. Now, I go with the architect, take a picture of the beer, and ~~taunt her with the pic of delicious beer~~ text her the photo as a sign of friendship.

The architect’s beer. Not as taunty this year, unfortunately.

Saturday night was the aforementioned not sleeping, and I honestly did not accomplish anything Sunday. Nada. Zip. I mean, I did make dinner, but it really didn’t turn out well (which is odd, for me – I am usually more than proficient in the kitchen).

I am still tired today, and am having trouble being productive at work. I have meetings from 1-4 this afternoon, and then am packing it up and heading home.

Tonight’s strategy for sleep: Get on the bike trainer for 45 minutes when I get home. Do upper arms weights for 15 minutes. Make dinner. Eat. Homework until 9:00. Warm Shower. Bed with “Men in Tights” on our new bedroom TV (it’s one of my “fall asleep movies”). I was thinking of trying herbal tea with bedtime, but (a) I hate tea and (b) Beverages and bedtime do not equal a nice long sleep.

(Pregnancy-safe) Suggestions for getting to sleep at night? I am definitely open to trying new things, here.

Happy week!

December 2011 Goals

Dec 1st, 2011

by gazelle.

2 comments

As always, we start with the recap.

November 2011 Goals

Survive the first 4.5 weeks of my terminal project without going crazy. – SUCCESS! I totally feel not crazy yet! Although definitely getting there. I might be crazy after today, but I made it to December! WOO!
Make lefse! With her! We will have so much fun. – SUCCESS! More or less. We did hang out. And we talked about lefse. And we both made lefse. Just not together.
For reals, get the garlic in the ground & build the cloche – FAIL! So many things; the garden has really taken a back seat. Boo! It’s supposed to be nice this weekend, so I will plant my garlic then (I have garlic! It just needs to be in the ground, now.)
Visit the daycare that looked awesome on paper (or, the computer screen, rather) and beg them to take my as-yet-unborn child – SUCCESS! We visited the daycare. It was just as awesome in real life as on the internets. We are on the waiting list for September 2012 (i.e. 2.5 months AFTER we need care, but whatevs….next steps – find bridge care for Alvie Bean.)
List one thing I am thankful for every day (thanks for the inspiration, Alisa!) – SUCCESS! If you look at yesterday’s post, you’ll see my 30 days of thanks. I didn’t post every day, but I sure did have 30 things I was grateful for!

November 2011 Training Goals

Since I am pregnant, this is harder than usual, but my goal is to work out a minimum of 3 times/week; 30 minutes/time. I had a decent start last night with a trainer ride, although I wasn’t able to hit 30 minutes due to the extreme discomfort of my bike shorts which apparently are not baby bump accommodating. (Why do I never spell accommodating right on the first try? WHY?!?) Any suggestions for bike short comfort? I really don’t want to shell out bike short money for something that I’ll wear for a maximum of 5ish months (I’m pretty sure that biking will not be the first exercise I’ll get back to after giving birth…just a feeling I have). (Also, 5 months? Seriously? That’s it? ACK!)

I already have a swim date for Wednesday evening, and yoga plans for Friday afternoon, and will try to run on Thursday and/or Sunday…I am hoping to convince the architect to start doing weekly long walks with me on a weekend day. I’m pretty sure I’ll be mostly walking my half marathon, and want to start getting some serious distance on my feet.

Well – semi success. I definitely exercised more in November than I have since July (i.e. before I was/knew I was pregnant). I didn’t hit my non-written goal of 15 hours of exercise for November, but I did hit my written (above) goal of an average of 3 times/week, 30 minutes/session. In fact, I hit just over 10 hours of exercise, which ends up being an average of ~21 minutes per day!

December 2011 Goals

Finish the first half of my capstone STRONG!
Find a daycare for Alvie Bean starting in July!
Enjoy the holidays with a minimum of stress and a maximum of fun! (So many exciting things coming up!)
Purchase and install shelves/storage for Alvie Bean’s room.
Clean out the office and make it more office-y, and less “place where junk goes to die”

December 2011 Training Goals

Fifteen hours of exercise-related activity.
A minimum of five yoga classes
Finish my December race. That’s all I want. A finish time.
Fifty miles on the bike (again, minimum)
Convince Alvie Bean that we really do like swimming. (I actually can’t tell if he hates it, or likes it so much that he tries to swim along…either way, it is not the awesome pregnancy workout that I would prefer)

Happy 12th month, y’all! Can you believe it? DECEMBER! Where did 2011 go?

So long, long weekend….

Nov 27th, 2011

by gazelle.

2 comments

Even though I only worked a half day on Wednesday, I felt like there wasn’t too much of a break this weekend. Wednesday afternoon was spent yoga-ing, and having pancakes, and oohing & aahing over my neighbors’ new baby. Wednesday evening was some preparatory dinner prep and the 5th annual Thanksgiving Eve dinner at the local McMenamin’s. (On our first annual Thanksgiving Eve McMenamin’s dinner, there was an older [read: 60s] woman who’d been celebrating the season a bit too much. There was also an adjacent parking lot with lots of signs saying “do not park here for McMenamins.” And signs at McMenamin’s saying the same thing. And a couple of announcements to that effect. SO – when the McMenamin’s staff announced that cars were being towed from the lot, you’d think that wouldn’t effect anyone in the bar. But, alas! The lady’s car was towed, and fortunately she was not the actual driver off the car. Her husband rushed off to try to save the car, and she started yelling at the bartender. She threatened to sue him, his family, and everyone who ever was associated with McMenamin’s. When he (very politely) asked her to leave, she told him he couldn’t make her leave and she was going to call the cops. He seemed okay with this. Unfortunately, before the police could be called, her husband showed up, greatly embarrassed, and hauled her away. Ever since then, we’ve gone back every year hoping for a repeat performance.)

Longest parenthetical ever? Yes.

ANYWAYS – Wednesday = busy. Thursday = busy. Friday = busy (school work, all day). Saturday = nothing planned! So, naturally, we worked on the bathroom all afternoon. We are so very close to being done. All that’s left is to build/install the built-ins, seal the grout, and add the wainscot trim. SO CLOSE!

And it is looking so good. And now, the long weekend is winding to a close, and I’m wishing that I didn’t have to go make money to pay for the mortgage (and food! I love food!), and could stay home baking, and painting, and rearranging the nursery, and exercising….

I hope you had a great weekend, too! More tomorrow (including a recipe for cookies that may actually turn into crack when dipped in coffee! YAY!

Gratitude Journal

November 27, 2011: I am grateful that I have access to a bike trainer which allows me to get my 45 minutes of cardio in this afternoon without having to go outside in the rain.

November 26, 2011: I am grateful that we’re almost (so close!) done with our bathroom remodel. I am really looking forward to showering upstairs again.

November 25, 2011: I am grateful that I had so many delicious leftovers. I looooooooooove open faced turkey sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy.

November 24, 2011:I am grateful that I was able to have a family Thanksgiving this year! It may have just been me, the architect, my cousin & her father, but it was a fun family gathering. And I’m pretty sure no one went home hungry.

November 23, 2011: I am grateful for the architect (I know he’s been mentioned a couple of times already, but I am really grateful for him). He is so patient with me when I’m being ridiculous and emotional; and he will fetch the ice cream out of the basement freezer so I don’t have to go down the stairs. Really, a wonderful man.

November 22, 2011: I am grateful that I have such excellent furry foot warmers who like to curl up by me when I sleeping and steal the covers. Well, maybe not that last part, but I do love my cats!

November 21, 2011: I am grateful for my excellent co-workers that make my days much less crappy (and more productive).

November 20, 2011: I am grateful for my beer theater. It is close to my house, has $4 first-run movies before 6 pm, serves decent pizza, and has beer and wine. Also, it has bottle water, which is what I had today.

November 19, 2011: I am grateful for random port-o-potties on my running route.

November 18, 2011: I am grateful that I have a connection to bits of my cultural heritage; I can’t imagine a world without lefse, and am so pleased that I have learned how to do it and have a skill I can pass on to Alvie Bean.

November 17, 2011: I am grateful for coffee. I know it seems like I mentioned it yesterday, but yesterday I only said I was grateful for the coffee maker (in a list of other things). But I really wanted to draw attention to coffee as deserving of its own special day. Coffee is the best beverage ever invented. I don’t understand how I got through so many years never drinking it and thinking it really wasn’t that great. Mmmmmm……coffee.

November 16, 2011: I am grateful for all the little luxuries I have that I often take for granted…my car, my phone, the coffee maker (so very grateful for my coffee maker). It’s so easy to caught up in the things I don’t have that I occasionally forget how very lucky I am. My life is so freaking awesome.

November 15, 2011: I am grateful that I have the kind of job/life/etc. that allows me to afford pretty shoes, and the level-headedness that keeps me from buying (very many) shoes that wouldn’t be practical.

November 14, 2011: I am grateful that I work in a place with lots of little food nooks. It’s always an easy walk to grab more food. Which I do more often than ever, lately.

November 13, 2011: I am grateful for streaming Netflix (and Hulu Plus!). Also, I am grateful for John Barrowman. And my new found love of Torchwood.

November 12, 2011: I am grateful for my awesome friends! I got so much good quality friend-time this weekend! Walks & cocoa & thrifting with her! Ornament painting and dinner and movies with Alisa, Jen, Lisa & Sarah! Cocoa and a chat with her! (I should maybe also mention that I’m grateful for hot cocoa.)

November 11, 2011: I am grateful for laid back evenings at home with the architect.

November 10, 2011: I am grateful to live in Portland, Oregon. It is so beautiful here. I love that we have four seasons, and I especially love autumn.

November 9, 2011: I am grateful for modern medical conveniences that help eliminate unnecessary surprises from my life. Yay for ultrasounds!

November 8, 2011: I am grateful for my brand-new employee who started today, who I am hoping will help take some of the financial reporting burden off my plate & allow me to do a better job on the more big-picture things.

November 7, 2011: I am grateful for weekends and the opportunity to relax and recharge.

November 6, 2011: I am grateful for running – and grateful that I am still able to run. I am also grateful for my proximity to the most awesome running park in the history of the world: Forest Park.

November 5, 2011:I am grateful that I was able to discover enough courage to join Toastmasters. I know this sounds super cheesy, but it’s really made a HUGE difference in my life.

November 4, 2011: I am grateful for the internet, which gives me the ability to work from home, in my pajamas, this morning.

November 3, 2011: I am grateful that I have a good job that is challenging & interesting, if not necessarily catering to my life interests.

November 2, 2011: I am grateful for the architect, who is simply wonderful. He picks up the household slack when I’m busy with schoolwork, brings me chicken fingers on his way home from work, and is simply the most wonderful husband I could ask for…

November 1, 2011: I am grateful for my (so far, knock on wood) easy and wonderful pregnancy.

Better late than never?

Nov 21st, 2011

by gazelle.

4 comments

My weekend report (I know it’s been killing you all day that I haven’t told you what I did when I wasn’t regaling you with my life stories):

Thursday night: book club! And science lesson! It was pretty awesome. Even though I hadn’t read the book (for shame!), I felt extremely well educated by the end of the evening. Thanks, Mr. Pi for the free, impromptu science lesson!

Friday: I worked in the morning, started my lefse, and watched eleventy hundred episodes of Torchwood. I feel like I must have done something else productive that day, but I couldn’t tell you what. I know that I certainly didn’t leave the house.

Saturday: I went for a run/walk, discovered that all the park bathrooms are padlocked for the season, and then spent the afternoon making lefse! YUM! I also did some cleaning & cleaned out my entire dresser! YAY!

Saturday night, even though I was exhausted, apparently I wan’t exhausted enough. I woke up about 1:30 am and was awake until about 5. Needless to say, I was a cheery, cheery beacon of fun Sunday morning.

Sunday morning was spent cleaning out the fridge (I am slowly but surely making my house clean….of course, by the time I get to the last room, I’m pretty sure that the first room will be completely filthy again; of course also by then, I can make dusting a mandatory chore for my pre-teen). Sunday afternoon, I went swimming with the Ambitious One, and then headed to my favorite theater to see Breaking Dawn.

It was just as insane as I expected. No – it was more insane than I expected. I especially enjoyed the wedding night sex bits. Valuable lessons: sex is truly terrifying, it might kill you, and when you wake up covered in bruises the shape of your husband’s hands, you should definitely reassure him that a) it’s okay; b) he didn’t mean to; and c) you liked it, really. Great message for our teen girls! Although since pregnancy and childbirth involve a lot of broken bones, blood (both for drinking and for making messes of) and emaciation, perhaps it’s a really great way to keep the kids from getting it on. (A well-placed message about birth control wouldn’t have gone amiss, either.)

ANYWAYS – I thoroughly enjoyed the shitstorm, giggled through most of it, and had a great time with some super fun ~~girls~~ women. My only real complaint (because my issues with how sex & violence were handled are not real) is that Jacob only takes his shirt off once, and that was in the opening scene. What good are sexy teen wolves if they’re always clothed? I’ve read the books, and I believe there was supposed to be lot more nudity. WHERE IS YOUR ARTISTIC INTEGRITY?

This is why I enjoyed the previous movies:

Gratitude Journal

November 21, 2011: I am grateful for my excellent co-workers that make my days much less crappy (and more productive).

November 19, 2011: I am grateful for random port-o-potties on my running route.

November 15, 2011: I am grateful that I have the kind of job/life/etc. that allows me to afford pretty shoes, and the level-headedness that keeps me from buying (very many) shoes that wouldn’t be practical.