faux friday

this week is one of those weeks.
the end of it just could not come soon enough. i am literally counting down the hours to home time.
not that there is anything new, different or exciting about home time today... i just want to be at home.

my super exciting after work schedule will be as follows:

drive home trying to avoid road rage. (this shouldn't be too horrible since i'll be done at 3:30)
get home and have a nap
make dinner
eat dinner (this gets an extra line in the schedule because i am the slowest eater ever)
watch some mind numbing tv while thinking about the things i don't have the energy to do.
kick fernando when he creeps over to my side of the couch leaving me and the 2 dogs less than one cushion to share amongst ourselves
go to bed.

the rest of the weekend will be much more productive.
fridays are normally my "zombie night" and i am a slug all night, go to bed early then wake up and get shit done.
since this weekend is one of the long variety that means i get an extra day to "get shit done"
yay!
at least one day will be dedicated to sorting through the black hole. aka under the basement steps. there are things under there that i don't even recognize (thanks fernando) because fernando someone liked to "clean the basement by shoving everything, and i mean EVERYTHING either under the bed (which will be gone soon..... so you had better get anything out from under there that you might not want me to see) or under the stairs.
since i'm losing my sewing room i am going to be moving my sewing table to the basement where the bed used to be and moving the futon down there as extra seating and as an unwelcoming guest bed.... making room for the new baby's room upstairs.
well i'm not going to actually move anything... the men in my life will be doing the actual heavy lifting.
i thank them in advance for the use of their strong backs.

bump day - week 23

belly's growing...




before i got ready for work... 





because clothes really seem to make it look bigger!

not the greatest lighting today for some reason... but i'm not feeling like taking any more pictures to try and make it better.

feeling more and more movement... the sea monkey has been swimming up a storm the last little while!!

i'm starting to make some BIG to-do lists... look out fernando - yours will be ready soon!

i think i will easily be able to get most of the stuff done that i need to do in the next 2 months and wrap up the loose ends in september. my goal is to be ready (as ready as we'll ever be) by the beginning of october.

the first huge project will be moving all of my sewing and craft stuff out of the sewing room because it is becoming the baby's room.

i still haven't decided on a crib but i have the dresser and chest of drawers and hopefully the rocking chair so once the baby's room is empty of crafty things i am going to start buying some of the other things that we'll need like the stroller and car seat.

since my last doctor's appointment i haven't gained much weight - 1 lb according to the scale this morning. my belly (and boobs) have certainly grown since then... so i don't know where its coming from! my next doctor's appointment is July 8th so we'll see what i'm at by then. last visit she told me that i should be glad i'm not gaining lots of weight so i'm just going to go with it.

tasty tuesday

well today's post is not something difficult, and not even really a recipe.
if you can follow the 3 step directions on the box of cake mix then you will do very well at this.

i haven't made these yet this summer (for some reason i only ever make them in the summer) but once i manage to scarf down all the goodies i baked this past weekend i will get right on it.

the hardest thing about this is choosing the flavor of cake mix to use.

what could possibly be so awesome that involves a cake mix? well other than these freakin awesome cookies here?

i'll tell you.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes!!

how can you not fall in love with these??

they're really easy. they don't keep for long because the cones get soggy, but i never had them last that long to find out.

here's what you'll need to do:

pre-heat the oven to 350
make the cake mix according to the directions
fill the cones 3/4 full
bake for 15-20 minutes

if you have to do 2 batches like i do because they can't all fit in the oven at once, make sure you don't fill the second tray of cones until you're going to put them in the oven. they get soggy and are not as good.

makes 18-24 (depending on how big the cones are)
sometimes i make a pan of normal cupcakes and 12 cones... depending on what i'm making them for. i don't want to have too many extra cones because they'll get soggy.

decorating... once they're COMPLETELY cooled and not a moment sooner...
the sky is the limit! a fun thing i like to do is ice them and then gently roll them in sprinkles or chopped peanuts.
when i've been feeling really ambitious i have tossed them in the freezer for a bit, and then dipped them in chocolate and then rolled them in sprinkles/nuts like a fancy ice cream cone. that time i made banana cake and with the chocolate and peanuts they were SO tasty.

here's my secret... because i am totally klutzy and am almost positive there is NO possible way i could get these into the oven or back out again without knocking at least half of them over i have a little trick. buy a couple of big foil roasting pans (they were 2 for $1 last time i bought them at the dollar store) and flip them upside down on jellyroll pans (i like the sides because then i can't push the roaster off the cookie sheet and dump them all)
then comes the fun stabbing part.
take a knife and cut an X for each cone. put the cone in and you can fill them, bake them, decorate them and transport them without casualties!

23 weeks - still a papaya??

apparently there are 2 weeks of papaya on the fruit chart.
interesting.
i guess that since papayas can be a range of sizes i will let it go.
too bad i wasted all my papaya facts last week... looks like you'll be stuck with just my crazy ramblings today. lucky you!

the sea monkey now weighs a little over one pound/ 500 grams and measures about 11.4 inches/ 29 centimetres from crown to heel.
hearing is well established and she/he can make out a distorted version of my voice, the beating of my heart,  my stomach rumblings, and the dogs barking. maybe getting used to the dogs barking now will mean sleeping through that later? wishful thinking?

i have been feeling pretty great. i really have nothing to complain about. i sleep more than i used to and i get tired quickly if i try and over do it but that is expected. i just have to pace myself. growing a sea monkey is hard work! i think the worst thing right now is that if i fall asleep in the wrong positing i will stay like that all night and wake up with achy ribs. i'm so glad i decided to "train" myself to start sleeping on my side before i actually had to because as a strictly stomach sleeper it would have been really hard to just switch when i had to. this way i was already fairly comfortable on my side hanging onto my body pillow like a koala bear. i need to hang on tightly to my pillow or it gets claimed by one of the dogs and sometimes even fernando will try and steal it. since he comes to bed around the same time as i get up its not that big of a deal that he steals it... but when my zoo takes over my pillow while i'm trying to sleep i don't appreciate it.

i'm feeling lots of movement but still not strong enough for other people to feel (other than poor draco) so far but i don't exactly let people touch me so other than fernando nobody really gets to try.

another thing... i've been on a mad baking spree. i don't know if its the gloomy weather we've had lately or if this is me beginning to nest.... i have been cleaning while i bake. i usually read while my goodies are cooking...
not lately.
yesterday i accomplished a LOT. i also finally tried the blueberry lime muffins from here http://kabukikreations.blogspot.com/2011/05/tasty-tuesday-stolen-recipe.html

they turned out deliciously but i may or may not have been in a hurry to get them out of the pan and wrecked a few because they were too hot to take out the pan. i love the silicone muffin pans, but when making muffins with fruit in them they need to sit and cool for a bit or they lose their bottoms.
don't worry.
i ate the decapitated muffins to hide this tactical error.

as requested...

it is not tuesday therefore i am messing up my schedule... i'm walking on the wild side today. posting a recipe on a day other than tasty tuesday... OH MY!

Rhubarb Cake

what you'll need:

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup margerine
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 stp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup scalded milk
2 cups rhubarb


what you'll need to do:

cream together brown sugar, eggs, margerine and vanilla
add dry ingredients alternately with milk (i dump everything together at the same time... i'm impatient. you get a bit of a cloud when you start mixing but it has never made the cake turn out differently)
add 2 cups rhubarb to batter
pour onto jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides)
sprinkle with 1/2 cup white sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon (yes this cake needed more sugar) its delicious. don't skip this in an attempt to make the cake healthier. its cake. its not supposed to be healthy. there is fruit in it. that is enough healthy.
it should make you feel guilty when you sit and eat half of it because you just can't stop. might i remind you...its cake!!
bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

ENJOY!

PS. this cake is also very delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.



old vs new

as a previously small boobed A cup girl the idea of a D cup bra was unfathomable to me. well maybe as a hat...  i just thought that a D would be WAY too big for me... well sea monkey has other plans for me i guess.
now that i've got them, a D cup doesn't seem that massive... well, actually they do seem massive... its like looking down a stranger's shirt.
now the real question is what will happen later? fingers crossed that gravity doesn't hate me and they either stay big or go back to somewhat normal. i would be happy to land somewhere in the middle of the before and after... a B or C would be nice... but i guess i'll just have to wait and find out. and rest a bit easier knowing that no matter what happens even if its not pretty (i'm picturing tube socks here) it can be fixed if i decide thats what i want.



comparing an old bra to a new bra i think the old bra could be swallowed whole by the new bra



my summer bucket list...

inspired by my lovely friend here i would like to present you with my summer bucket list.

this is our last summer as a couple of two. next summer will be our first summer as a family of 3.
exciting, YES!
a little scary... YES!
how will we adjust? only time will tell.

sooooo.... what would i like to do this summer....

• go to drumheller. i am a geek. drumheller has been one of my favorite places to visit since i was a kid. GEEK HEAVEN! so many fun things to do! and there's Old Grouch's Cozy Café... we started going there as kids and the place is still there and serving delicious homemade food. i give it 5 stars.
• win the battle with my half dead front yard and end the summer with a green lawn.
• go swimming. its been ages!
• go to the mountains i haven't been to the mountains for 7 years. they're not even that far. i have no excuse for it. just a day trip is fine. i don't need to stay... just pop by for a look.
• get everything ready for the sea monkey. i want the house to actually be totally ready and not be scrambling last minute to get things done.
• get maternity photos done
• take baxter swimming. i want to know if he can. i am positive the pug will sink like a rock but i have high hopes for baxter!

i am sure that i could sit here and write this list all day but i am going to stop now because if i make my list too long i won't stand a chance of actually completing it.