Quick and random

• Thank you to everyone for the sweet and encouraging comments on "doing it all." I feel lifted up by those of you who have journeyed this path of motherhood before me, and I feel refreshed by the perspective of those who are on a different path altogether. Thank God we're not all on the same path at the same time, or chaos and panic would reign, eh? I do believe this is why God intended a sisterhood of women, for this very encouragement and refreshment that I've felt from you all. Thanks again, my lovelies! I'm going to write a few follow-up posts as I continue to juggle my responsibilities and improve(?) in my efforts. Of course, I'm sitting here in my pj's and a bathrobe at nearly 5 p.m., but at least the kitchen is clean and dinner is planned for the evening. Baby steps!!!
• I just saw a picture on a blog of a mama kitty nursing several baby kittens. I'm not a cat person, but this picture brought tears to my eyes. Nursing is such a gift (for all us mammals!), and I have been so thankful for the opportunity to nurse my son. We supplement with formula so Daddy can take a feeding and so Will's tummy can get full (more on that coming in his 3-month post), but I intend to keep breastfeeding for another few months at least, not just for the health benefits for me and for William, but also because it's such a unique and beautiful way to bond with another human being. Will takes bottles with gusto, but he always wears a different expression when I'm breastfeeding him, and I will be truly sad when I wean him and I'll no longer see the look of absolute peace and contentment on his face when we're cuddled up in the glider and he's nursing. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by the beauty of it, because it's one of those things I really gave up on ever getting the chance to experience. God is so good!
• Snickers ice cream bars may very well be my Favorite. Food. Ever.
• Who else is totally geeked about THIS tonight???

Random thoughts

Well, maybe "thoughts" is going too far. I don't do much thinking these days, what with the 4-5 hours of very interrupted sleep I get per night. Thank God for Marty, who lets me catch up on weekends and the occasional weeknight. I've always been a champion sleeper, and now my little Champion is not a sleeper -- either there's an irony there or I'm so tired I think there's an irony there. :)

Anyway, here's the random stuff floating in my head:

• I'm so flipping STOKED for the new season of Project Runway to premiere this Thursday. Who knew that Lifetime, of all networks, would save one of the best shows ever from cancellation? Lifetime: Television for Women -- and Cool People!

Of course I have to mention again that when we were in New York in November, we walked right past THE building and I was so tempted to go in and find me some Tim Gunn!

• I am enjoying my new favorite fragrance -- "Beachy" from Lilly Pulitzer. We picked this up when we were in Indiana -- Marty and Will and I had a fabulous time shopping at Von Maur (Daddy let Mama get some fun treats!) And I have to confess I didn't even know about Lilly Pulitzer until I moved to the South. If you don't know who and what I'm talking about, go here and here to read!
• Right now I have a baby sleeping on my chest, yet I'm typing. How is this magic achieved, you ask? With the help of my new favorite possession, a Baby Bjorn!

p.s. -- did they purposely get an Angelina Jolie lookalike for this ad? Is she the face of modern motherhood, I wonder?

• Since the thought of reading anything of substance only makes me more tired, I'm delving into the lighter reading/chick-lit section of the stack of books I bought to read while on maternity leave (what was I thinking?). I'm currently reading this and, of course, shamelessly loving it.
• Finally, my friend Kristen called me this morning to tell me she's expecting a baby GIRL. This is quite the news, as she's had a "decade of boy" now (she has two sons) and didn't dare hope for a girl. But the ultrasound this morning revealed a dream come true! I have to say, I can't wait to have a girl. Okay, yes I can wait. For awhile. Until the stretch marks from my pregnancy with Will fade a tad, at least! But I would L-O-V-E to have a daughter, and I'm so excited that Kristen is getting her baby girl. She's getting a chandelier for her nursery! How chic is that? Congrats again, my Kristen!

Random thoughts and April showers

Marty and I closed out the month of March in the most apt way possible, given the difficulty of the month for us: sick from a virus! March just refused to go out on a whimper. But we are starting April feeling somewhat better...I actually have a clear head today, something I haven't had in a couple days, but apparently not clear enough for a cohesive post, so here are my quite random thoughts today:

• I want rain boots. Galoshes? I don't care what they're called, I just want 'em. I know SteinMart sells really cute ones for pretty cheap, so I think I'll be paying them a visit. Isn't the pair shown above especially darling? How cute would they be with a spring-ish petal pink 3/4-length sweater and your favorite jeans? We had a terrific thunderstorm last night that woke me up with rain pounding against our windows, and it tends to stay pretty wet and misty in the mountains this time of year, so I think I can certainly consider rain boots a "need"??? :)
• Notice my pregnancy ticker? Yeah, I'm down to the double digits. Just 99 days to go. It feels I've arrived at this point rather quickly and too slow, simultaneously. And what a dose of reality -- that's just a tad over 3 months! We are going to start stocking up on diapers this weekend. I've read on another pregnant girl's blog where moms gave diaper recommendations, but I'd certainly welcome those here, too!
• I've seen my baby shower invitation. My sister sent a scan to me as a sneak preview and I burst into joyful, amazed tears. My sisters are awesome and know me so well. And it's just so...William. I love it, love it, love it. Once the invitations have been sent out, I'll post it here.
• Please read this blog post about feeling anxiety in these uncertain times facing our country...it really encouraged me.
• I finally finished the Twilight series of books. (And yes, I stood in line at Wal-Mart at midnight on the 20th/21st when the DVD came out -- boy, was that a hoot. Marty and I felt nearly geriatric compared to most of the other people waiting in that line! And yes, I loved the movie, but yes, I can see where, if you haven't read the books, you might sense gaps in the story/plot/character development. So yes, read the books!) I loved this series, but Stephenie Meyer (the author) really slowed down in the middle of Book 4. Or my interest started to lag...I can't decide which. However, she picked it back up just in time to end the story well! I can't wait for the next movie.
• Once again, I need book recommendations. We're going on a Barnes & Noble date tonight, and I've been perusing the store online, looking for something to catch my interest. I'm definitely wanting something a little more grown-up and intellectual, but it doesn't have to be non-fiction or history, like I normally read after I've read an "indulgence" book (usually chick lit, or in this most recent case, adolescent literature!). Any recommendations?

Well, we're supposed to have April showers nearly all weekend, so I'm definitely thinking of picking up those rain boots, buying a new book, and maybe going to the movies with my hubby. Should be a good weekend, but I'm hoping this is one of the very last in which I'm doing cozy, indoor activities! Sunshine, please come to Tennessee!!!

thoughts on parenting

As my belly gets bigger and the countdown tally of days gets smaller, my thoughts are turning more and more often to parenting. Probably a good thing, right? I find that I'm very interested in how others choose to parent their children, but I also find myself feeling more and more critical of the choices that some people make for their children (observations from blogs, TV, real-life, etc.). My critical thoughts are seeming to boil down to one issue: how much control parents exert on their children.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about discipline here -- Marty and I already have pretty solid ideas on discipline and those are basically a merging of how he and I were disciplined as children by our parents. For example, my parents chose different methods of discipline for each child; spankings didn't really work on me, but sticking me in a corner for 10 minutes of absolute silence was pure torture for me and the lesson came through loud and clear each time I was disciplined this way. But I digress. What I'm talking about it is more along the line of personal, private time and the ability to make personal, private choices. For example, my sisters and I were taken to the library about once a week or every other week, but my parents never screened or censored the books we checked out. They let us explore our own interests and didn't obsess over illustrations, word choice, content, etc. Of course, an attempt to check out a dirty novel would have been immediately halted, but that never happened and that's not really my point here. I guess it just irks me deep inside knowing that some parents feel the need to screen and censor every little image or sound or word or thought or feeling that occurs in their children! Not to mention the need that I see some parents displaying to control every moment of their children's lives. Some of my most cherished time as a teenager was spent in my own room in privacy, listening to music I chose, reading books I chose, talking on the phone with friends I chose, and dreaming dreams that were all my own. This is where a person finds her own identity! I see the job of parents to guide their children toward good and beautiful things. I remember being encouraged to go read a book under a tree in the summer. I remember books being read to us; my mom read us Little Women after dinner and my dad read me Cinderella before bed (he does a great Fairy Godmother voice, by the way..."bippity-boppity-boo!"). Plus all those library trips! So is it any wonder that I and my sisters grew up to be voracious readers? But here's the real beauty of it...my sister Sarah reads science fiction (Michael Crichton) and disaster books (Isaac's Storm and The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald). My sister Katie devours history books (biographies of presidents, the Civil War) and can't get enough of art and art history books. Of course, I read lots of fiction and anything I can get my hands on relating to British history. Sarah has a degree in Biology, Katie in Art History, and I have my degree in English. We are such different people with very different interests, but I have to thank my parents again and again for letting us choose who we wanted to be, not some cookie-cutter version of themselves or what they thought the model child should look like.

I should also make it clear that my parents were very discerning about what children they let me play with, but they were also very generous once they made those decisions. I went to countless slumber parties as a child and had many of my own. I was also not allowed to date until I was 17, but my parents didn't balk (although my dad might have had a small heart attack) when I brought home the boy with an earring and a definite smell of cigarette smoke on his clothes. (I made increasingly better and better choices from then on...)

I guess my point is this, I think parents should provide all kinds of direction and guidance, but at the end of the day, let their children be who they are. Let them make their own choices, even if those choices are mistakes. Supervise, but don't control! If my life is any indication, this method has the best results. My sisters and I are extremely close to our parents and we all thoroughly enjoy the adult friendships that we now share with them.

Of course, I wonder how I'll feel when I have my own child? I already think I might not let her out the door for kindergarten... :)

trying to focus

A coworker wrote me this morning and said, "Today just feels like a Monday. Blah." I wrote her back and said, "It's a Monday in January no less. Double-blah." The sky is gray and the landscape is bleak. I feel just as gray and bleak inside! I simply hate this time of year. My precious Dr. Records in Indiana diagnosed me many moons ago as having a moderate case of seasonal anxiety disorder and gave me some tips for dealing, but honestly, the only cure for SAD is straight-up sunshine. And there's precious little of it in east Tennessee right now. Sigh.

So I'm trying to focus on other things, at least for this moment in time. First of all, while my Marty and I were doing serious damage at Wal-Mart on Saturday, we passed the refrigerator of flowers and he just insisted on buying me a dozen pink-and-white tulips. God bless this man, for he knows me well. They have opened so prettily, and they are certainly cheering me today:

When I look at them, I ponder that only the marvelous Creator of the universe could have concocted that shade of green. It just breathes life into your eyes, doesn't it?

I'm also dreaming about the decorating I'm going to do in our apartment in Indiana when we get there...our master has a sink/vanity area in the bedroom, in addition to the sink/vanity in the bathroom. Guess who gets the former vanity??? And you better believe I'm going to girl-ify it and French-ify it within an inch of its life. Okay, that expression makes no sense in that context, but you get my drift. Anyway, we're doing our master bed and bath in shades of soft blue, ivory, sunshine yellow, and chocolate brown. In digging through items in the evil storage room, I found a couple of things that I'm ecstatic about using!

The little sign was given to me a few years ago by my BF, Kate. God bless her, for she knows me well. Little did she know how handy it would be a few years down the road! The jar I found a few months ago at TJ Maxx (my marked-down retail lover) for I think 7-8 dollars, and it had to be mine, of course, since it so merrily sports a fleur-de-lis.

In light of the mental nesting going on, I plucked this from my bookshelf for another flip-through:

Sadly, I can't remember for the life of me if Kate or Kristen gave this to me. Either one of you want to claim the gifting of it? In any case, I love this book. It's fun and full of good tips, as well as great quotes, and I can't resist posting some here:

"Adornment is never anything except a reflection of the heart." ~Coco Chanel

"Although I look like a drag queen's Christmas tree on the outside, I am at heart a simple country woman." ~Dolly Parton

"I'm obsessed with having the perfect linens. I sleep a lot. My bed's like a big hug." ~Reese Witherspoon

"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck." ~Emma Goldman

Aren't those great? Especially Reese's quote. Yes, we'd be BFFs if only she knew I existed. A woman who declares her love for sleep with such passion could only be a true kindred spirit of mine.

Before I go (and because I'm hungry and craving Spaghettio's -- I know, I know, YUCK -- but this baby hearts them so being the good mama I am, I shall appease her), I wanted to leave y'all with an amazing recipe that I tried last night and both of us loved, and it was ridiculously easy. So far, so good on keeping to meal planning and prep this week, yay for me!

Lasagna Toss

1 pound lean ground beef
2 green peppers, chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic*
1 jar spaghetti sauce**
1/4 cup Italian dressing
12 lasagna noodles, broken into quarters***
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese****
2 cups water

Saute green peppers in a bit of olive oil for 2-4 minutes; add ground beef and brown. Add garlic, spaghetti sauce, water, and dressing; bring to boil. Stir in noodles; reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese; let stand 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

*I used only a sprinkle or two of garlic salt because I was out of garlic, but the flavor was great as-is, so I don't know how much garlic I'd use. I guess it depends on how much you like garlic flavor.
**Please give Bertolli marinara with Burgundy wine a try. It's the best jar sauce I've ever had.
***Some of my lasagna noodles cracked into smaller pieces than this, but that's okay. It was good to have some bite-sized pieces and some pieces that required a cut.
****We used half a block of mozzarella cheese, I think it was 8 ounces! My husband really loves cheese, and it was so yummy with the extra. I guess use the recipe as a minimum, but add liberally as you wish!

One final note, I would love to hear what my readers like to focus on when the weather is so blah and there seems to be nothing to look forward to...

My blog friend Sarah gave me this award! (Thank you, Sarah!) Here are the rules:

*Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.
* Show the 7 winners names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with "Honest Scrap." Well, there's no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.
* List at least 10 honest things about yourself. (Sarah only did 7, so I'm only going to do 7 because believe it or not, it's hard to write random things about yourself!)

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1. I love to cook things in the Crock-pot. Right now I'm making Slow Cooker Corn Chowder (link will take you to the recipe on AllRecipes.com). In fact, I love AllRecipes.com. My best friend Kate got me onto it and it's completely addictive. My favorite feature is the ingredient search, where you can plug in a few ingredients you have on hand and feel like making a meal out of, and the search engine does its magic and offers you a selection of recipes to try! Anyway, back to my love of the Crock-pot...1) I love that your meal-in-the-making also makes your house smell so warm and inviting, 2) I love that you can do the dishes after the prep work and the kitchen is already clean by the time dinner is served, and 3) I love that cooking in the Crock-pot is almost fool-proof -- it's pretty hard to mess up a slow-cooker recipe.

2. I hate to clean toilets. I realize most people share in this hatred, but mine is to the level of detestation. The worst part is the snakey-coiled-undercarriage of the darn thing; it collects dust (and other things) and you have to bend your body in ungodly ways to run a sponge over it. I don't mind bathtubs and sinks, but if you're going to do a really good job, you're going to get really soaked in the process. Which limits when you can do it. I would love to have a maid just for cleaning bathrooms. In fact, Marty has said that as long as I'm a working mom (which I plan to be until baby #2 comes along), that he's entirely supportive of me spending some money on this. Actually, in another life, I did pay for housecleaning a few times...and it was awesome. I'd feel a little guilty indulging just now, since I work from home, but once I have a baby and I'm being a full-time stay-at-home mom in addition to being a full-time stay-at-home medical editor, I'll let myself off the hook of being a full-time stay-at-home housekeeper!

3. I'm still having a hard time believing I'm pregnant and that everything is going well. When you've waited and dreamed and hoped for as long as I have, I'm sure this is a normal reaction. Without the nausea and fatigue, sometimes I even forget that I'm pregnant and then the realization comes back to me, and my inner response is always something like, "Really???" I couldn't even look at the monitor during the first ultrasound because I was so convinced something would be wrong, until my doctor and my husband started carrying on a conversation about the beating heart! I can't help but feel incredulous and astounded. And I sure hope it goes away sometime soon, for the reality keeps getting bigger every day and will be here before I know it!

4. I love fresh flowers. In that past life I mentioned earlier, I had space carved out in my budget for fresh flowers every week. Every Friday afternoon I'd stop at McNamara florist on my way home, bop into the refrigerator room, and pick up some purple tulips or two-toned roses or something fun and cheerful to enjoy for the whole weekend. Nothing makes a room feel more pleasant or complete than a vase full of blooming flowers. I need to re-adopt my habit of weekly fresh flowers! (Can you tell I have expensive taste?)

5. I have crazy hair. Some people like to call it "naturally wavy" but I call it "naturally confused." Honestly, it can't decide if it wants to go straight or curly, so it does this in-between nonsense that is wretched to look at (and even worse to wear). I never let my hair air-dry and I never leave the house until it's been curled or straightened -- it needs to be encouraged along one line or the other!

6. I am really coming to appreciate delayed gratification. If you've followed my blog for the last few months, you know that Marty and I have been saving for some king-size mattresses for quite a while. Well, it took (seemingly) forever, but we saved long enough and hard enough that we actually had a surplus when we went furniture-shopping, enough to buy the mattresses and the two nightstands in our bedroom set! When the sales guy asked us how we'd like to pay, it was enormously satisfying to say "Cash." It would have been so easy to swipe a card, but it's going to be much easier on us in the long-run when we continue to make our way in the world credit card-free. (Of course, we have credit cards and always will, but they are allocated for emergencies and such things, not for day-to-day purchasing or financing large items!) It's so tough sometimes to stick to a rule, but discipline is really a beautiful thing.

7. Very random items: I hate regular M&Ms but I love peanut M&Ms. Especially by the bowlful and with a big glass of milk. I love chapstick; Burt's Bees is my favorite. I love the smell of eucalyptus, especially when it's fresh. Let's see...when I feel overwhelmed, I make lists. It's instant sanity on a piece of paper! I still haven't ordered the large prints and frames of my wedding pictures, and we've been married for 6 months! (In my defense, I've been pregnant almost 4 of those months...) I have to fold laundry directly from the dryer, ie, hot and wrinkle-less. If clothes have sat in the basket and are cold, I'll stick 'em back in the dryer for reheating before drying. If they've sat LONG enough, I'll re-wash them! I'm weird like that. Well, that's all I can think of for now!

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The bloggers I'd like to honor are (although I doubt some of them will participate because they are busy, busy mommies!): Elisabeth, Kate, Ashley (mama-to-be!), Aimee, Emily (brand-new mom!), Lauren, and Liz (mama to a crazy couch-eating dog).

pregnant ramblings

So tomorrow I'll be 15 weeks pregnant. I maintain this is one of the hardest stages in pregnancy...I'm out of the evil first trimester when fatigue and nausea ruled my life (I really don't remember very many specific days, it's all kind of a blur!) and I'm coasting through the second trimester, which is a good thing, but it has its drawbacks. I've commented to several people that, at least during the first trimester, you have daily, if not moment-to-moment, reminders that you're pregnant and definitely growing a baby. Once you've hit second trimester and all the nastiness fades away, though, you begin eagerly awaiting all the kicking that will be your comfort and joy (and reassurance) until the end. However, even though I've seen the baby kicking on ultrasound (more on that in a minute), I have yet to feel it. Okay, I've had a few sensations but I can't convince my mind that it was the baby! Anyway, it feels like the limbo stage of pregnancy, and well, I don't like it. I like reassurance. I'm a sucker for reassurance, especially when it comes to this much-desired child.

Speaking of which, I did indeed get an ultrasound on my birthday. It was not scheduled, but let's just say my doctor was amenable to, uh, circumventing the strict schedule, especially after he heard it was my birthday! Oh yes, I used all my ammunition to get that ultrasound, and thank goodness I have the world's most pleasant and jovial OB/GYN, who thinks I'm just a hoot! Another point of gratitude was that this ultrasound was performed on top of my belly and not the other kind -- I was really OVER those. Anyway, so I got smeared with the goo and the doc hit the lights and my baby became star of the show once more. And once again, we were just awestruck at this beautiful child of ours...we saw her (for the sake of convenience, and also beause I have a feeling, I'm using "her") perfectly shaped head, spinal cord, even toes. I was blown away by those baby toes. I had an overpowering urge to somehow get to those toes and start smooching on them! We watched her wiggle around and I saw definite signs of "leave me alone, I was napping" from her! She had her little legs crossed at the ankles in a reclining position (a family trait!) and after continued pressure from the ultrasound wand, she kicked off and squirmed away, trying to nestle down and go night-night again. Oh, soooooooo like her mother. Anyway, I so deeply wish I could share a picture, but the ones that came out, well, they didn't really come out. My doctor said, "some women just don't transmit ultrasound waves very well, and seems you're one of them." Great. He did tell me that our 20-week ultrasound when we find out the sex (and OF COURSE we are) will be performed at another location, and that the machines are a lot more high-tech and will get me a great picture, regardless. Whew. At least we saw her clear as day on the monitor! I'm trying to make the memories last until the end of February, but like I said, without any kicking and squirming that I can feel, it's a bit tough.

As far as other pregnancy things go...we've picked out names. And they're set in stone. I'm still debating sharing them here, even though we don't mind sharing and our families have been told. I guess I'm just wary of the oddball bit of criticism, because I honestly love these names and love their significance to us. I've also started looking at baby bedding and nursery items, and saw on another girl's blog a suggestion to visit Serena and Lily. Um, gorgeous bedding, but totally un-gorgeous prices. I have definite ideas for a girl's nursery, which will be in raspberry and a fresh green color (it's impossible to explain the green; it's not apple, lime, or sage...it's just meadow-fresh-looking). And here's the place where readers tell me where to go shopping for inexpensive bedding in just those colors! Seriously, I'd love some suggestions. (By the way, I really appreciated the suggestions on pregnancy books; I'm glad to hear that everyone and her sister HATES "What to Expect..." because I really didn't like it myself).

Well, that's it for now! More on non-pregnancy-related life later...

the November list

What I'm reading: Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge. There's a post about this book in comparison with another book brewing in my head...

What we're spending on: I'm trying to get a couple new items for my wardrobe so I'm sufficiently stylin' in NYC in a couple weeks!

What we're saving for: king-size mattresses. STILL. It's just not incredibly easy to set aside $2,000+. Even when you piece-meal it. Can you tell we want to pay cash for everything? We paid for our wedding with cash, and it's so clear to us that this is the way to go for any large purchase.

What I need to do: send the rest of the wedding thank-you notes. STILL. I got the first half of the thank-you notes done, but that little victory became a little excuse to procrastinate doing the rest of them. Get some Christmas shopping done, at least on paper (who gets what, budgets, stores, coupon codes for online shopping, etc).

What I'm thinking about: a couple of really intense things, and also a couple of really non-intense things, like the spaghetti sauce bubbling in the crockpot right now. It is calling my name! Do you ever feel like your brain is layered, and it's easier to stay on the surface and think about the mostly trivial, because sometimes it's so exhausting to dig -- and think -- deeper?

What I'm working on: daily upkeep of the house. I hate how a couple days of neglect is so visible in our home! I'm not talking dishes or anything, just the general whatnot that accumulates: mail, sweaters, books, magazines, gym bags, shoes, borrowed items to be returned, items just-bought that need homes, etc. Clutter makes me crazy!

What I'm happy about: going to NYC for Thanksgiving, then the almost 2 weeks I have off around Christmas to spend in Indiana and Michigan. I love travel, I love time with family, and (usually) I love the holidays! I can't believe it's the middle of November and we're so very close to shutting down 2008 forever. It boggles my mind to think of how drastically (and quickly!) my life has changed in a year. This time last year, I was single, living in Indiana, working a job I didn't like, commuting sometimes 2 hours a day, and long-distance dating Marty. Now I'm happily married, I work from home at a job I mostly enjoy, I live in Tennessee, and I get to see my beloved every day! God amazes me at how He makes my dreams come true.

Random thoughts, round 2

I haven't posted in a little while and that's mostly because I haven't felt well this week. I think I'm battling strep throat and I really need to suck it up and find a local doctor. I don't really want to because I adore my doctor back home in Indiana, who has been my doctor since I was 5 years old! Anyhoo, just wanted to jot down some thoughts rolling around in my head, from the extremely trivial to varying levels of higher importance.

• I feel a rant coming on toward legalistic Christians. I grew up going to a very strict private Baptist school, and I experienced legalism in just about every form imaginable. I must state that my parents were not among this crowd; they sent us to the school so we could get a top-notch education, which we did. What they didn't bargain for was all the irrational spiritual "sludge" (my term) that would be crammed into our minds along with our A-B-C's. Anyway, for most of my adult life, I've attended non-denominational churches and more recently, a Lutheran church (which is truly my church "home" -- they are ALL ABOUT grace!). However, I still read lots and lots online about current thinking in the modern-day church, and lately, what I'm reading is scaring me. It's scaring me because it's so deeply familiar. For example, practicing yoga is a sin? Er...WHAT??? Seriously, people, let's get back to the basics of Christianity. Love God and love your neighbor. This is the message that Jesus preached to us over and over and over again. Why? Because that's the heart of Christianity, not spending all our time worrying over sin. We've been freed from the law!!! Let's live in GRACE. Like my pastor says, "Live in the gift." I could go on and on, but that's a good summary for now. I've a feeling I'll be revisiting this topic again soon, though. Stay tuned. For more ranting.
• And on to a completely different topic...how many of you ladies use Oil of Olay? I'm 31 years old, and suffice it to say, I've had pretty crappy skin for oh, 17 years? I've tried everything on the market to help with acne and dryness, and I mean everything: Proactiv Solution (which works until I break out into hives), all the over-the-counter products, several expensive salon products, even the prescription drug, Accutane (which you can NOT be on if you're sexually active...even with the required 2 forms of birth control, the possible birth defects are truly scary). Anyway, I don't recall how I got the idea to moisturize my skin to the nth degree, but last week I bought Oil of Olay day cream and night cream. And holy cow, kids, it works!!! My skin is not only soft and smooth, it's CLEAR. It's like a drugstore miracle. Maybe my skin was just starved for moisture all these years? Typical of me...struggle for years with something only to find a very simple solution.
• This weekend, Marty and I will be continuing our search for economical but high-quality king-size mattresses. People who know me personally, know that I'm a champion sleeper. Seriously, I have the equivalent of a black-belt or a gold medal or an Oscar in sleeping. I'm that good at it, and enjoy it that much! So I can't stress enough the importance of a good mattress to my championship sleeping...yet in my old age, I'm becoming something of a penny-pincher. Does anyone have any good recommendations on where we should be looking for mattresses? The next decade of my sleeping quality depends on what you say...so no pressure.
• It's official...we're going to NYC for Thanksgiving weekend! We'll be flying out Thanksgiving morning and then making our way to Long Island, where Marty's Aunt Becky lives. We'll be staying until the next Tuesday, so there will be plenty of time with the Fam PLUS time by ourselves in the great city! Yes, it won't be long until I can personally say...

Random thoughts

• I'm really irritated at the ending of Project Runway. Kenley was my favorite, and she didn't have an attitude, she was just...emotional. Yeah, that's it. (Okay, she had an attitude. But even though Kenley snapped at him, the great Tim Gunn forgave and called her "sweetheart.") Anyway, I loved her Bryant Park collection, especially this dress. Leanne's collection was just...blah. Yeah, the petals are a cool feature and all, but the colors? Yawn. The styles? I wouldn't wear 'em.
• I just found a new show. Well, it's new to me. Has anyone watched "Samantha Who?" It's an adorable comedy featuring Christina Applegate. I watched a couple episodes online here.
• I've re-fallen in love with Real Simple magazine. I had a subscription for a few years and let it lapse when...well, when normal life lapsed for awhile. In unpacking all my things, I found about 3 years' worth of old issues and I've discovered (again) that these magazines are worth their weight in gold, with all the fun recipes, advice, tips, and heartwarming stories. Real Simple, I shall never leave thee again.
• I can't wait to move out of this apartment. (But wait, Becky, didn't you just move in? Yes, we did. Keep reading.) Our lease will be up in May, and when the time comes, we're going to find a great place to rent (hopefully even a house) where I can a) paint the walls (I'm sick to my soul of cream-colored walls) and b) get a puppy. I work from home and I need a little friend to have with me for the 10+ hours that Marty is gone. I think I want a yellow lab. Marty and I are still debating the gender. (I want a boy dog, and I want to name him Pilot. Oh yes, like Mr. Rochester's dog in Jane Eyre. Marty wants a girl dog because he thinks a boy dog, especially one who spends all day with me, wouldn't feel much loyalty for the man of the house. We watch a lot of Dog Whisperer, and I have to admit, Marty has a point, being the alpha male of the pack and all that.)
• I found an absolutely lovely blog called this is glamorous. On it, I found this picture, which screams Becky at the top of its lungs:

• And that's it for now! Everyone have a great weekend!