Friday, March 16, 2007

when it rains, it hails.

we've had a pretty dry rainy season this spring (at least that's what they tell me), so 6 days of rain with hail in the middle was actually not the worst thing in the world according to the farmers around here. For the guys wanting to play hockey and the antsy puppy, however, it was a pretty long week. You wanna know what my first thought was? It looked like someone's washing machine exploded in my back yard. Took me several minutes to recognize that it was hail. Man, I've been away from WNY far too long!



































ps: i know, you're sick of pictures of the back yard. house tour was going to happen this week, but then life got in the way. 9 pounds, 8 ounces of life, to be exact. =D i'll post a pic or two as soon as i take more or the originals get emailed to me, whichever comes first.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Tim's Book Recommendation


Tim read this for school (Mrs. Z, for those of you who would know her) and says everyone should read it. Yes, everyone. I guess it is riveting. No, I haven't read it yet but it is on my list now.
And, you know the house rule. Don't even ask to see the movie (due later this year) if you haven't read the book.
from wikipedia:
The Kite Runner is the first novel by Afghan American author Khaled Hosseini. Published in 2003, it is the first novel published in English by an Afghan.

Monday, March 12, 2007

I'm so blue I don't know what to do




Hello. I'm 8 months old today.











hey, check out my new longies courtesy of my aunt via my mother! While you're admiring, I'll be going after that nalgene over there. if I could only figure out this locomotion business...




Well, these taggies are way more interesting anyway.









chewing is such hard work.










what a blanket hog. Oh well, at least she's soft.










you can have the blanket (and the nalgene), I've moved on to greener pastures.








tastier, too.














editor's note: of course the ONLY stripe that didn't line up perfectly is on prominent display in the above photos. I have got to remember not to get distracted by silly things like babies while I'm sewing!!

Sunday, March 11, 2007

What the XY has been doing with his time

Playing hockey!!



of course I had to buy some equipment.

(the bench is now doubling as a febreeze/pad dry-out location)





I got the jersey used from ebay. It has some pilling on it, so I have a question for B. Can I cut the pills off or will that eventually make the whole jersey unravel? It is 100% polyester.









The wife models the helmet quite nicely eh?


I swear, she loves it when I take pictures of her, almost as much as the dog...

definitely doing this

not a big fan of coffee-table books, but THIS I would leave on my coffee table for bored guests or children to browse. Because of all the things that should be immortalized, my blather is most certainly one of them...if only so EP et. al. know exactly which embarrassing stories and pictures were shared with not only his loved ones but also with the internet world-at-large. Besides, it looks so much easier than scrapbooking (which still is in my to-do list, but pretty far down on said list). Good idea, yeah?!

Saturday, March 10, 2007

just how busy

It was suggested to me recently that I am not busy enough, and that this blog's greedy constituents would be very "interested" in daily verbiage from me. Well, like I told her, not gonna happen. I do, however, feel that this past thursday is a great example of "just how busy" one baby, one puppy, only two arms and approximately 14 hours in the day can keep me. Get ready, this one's long.

preface: Thursdays are babysitting for the PWOC (protestant women of the chapel) while they have a breakfast and Bible study day, and since I'm on base anyway, Thursdays are also get-everything-you-can-possibly-get-done-on-base-done day. I've driven the last few times so that I can run errands and grocery shop in the afternoon. This thursday, however, I found a ride with one of the other babysitters, so mr. waaz informed his posse that he would be driving the carpool to work. Well, Wed. night my ride called to say that she was riding with someone else and so I was out of luck. hmm.... Fortunately, I remembered that one of my other friends often went to this particular PWOC event, and so I gave her a ring. She was going but had to take her son to an appointment in the early pm, so we wouldn't be going home right away. Perfect, I can visit the thrift store and look at every.single.rack. without mr. waaz poking me and jerking his chin towards the door every two minutes.

Thursday morning dawned a bit cloudy, but I changed and fed EP, started a load of diapers and dishes (not in the same machines), and made it out the door just as my ride was pulling up. we drove a new (to me) way to base and managed to avoid most of the caribineri potholes and I made it to the nursery only a few minutes late. The kids were great, and the thrift store was even better (three dozen prefolds, a stoneware bread pan, a glass container for my brown sugar, 2 juice glasses, a baby toy, summery clothes for me, etc.) I was VERY glad I'd remembered to pack my sling since EP got hungry while I was shopping and my hands were pretty full on my way to the hospital. Did I mention it was sprinkling by then?
I left my bags under N's tire well and went to the front desk at the hospital to see if I could locate her and her keys. Except I could only remember her first name and the approximate time of her son's appointments. When a search by the receptionist of each clinic's appointment list yielded no results, and she was not in either of the waiting rooms, it was suggested that "maybe you don't know your friend very well." Ah, italian wit. Not willing to wait around, I left a note under N's windshield wiper asking her not to run my bags over and went on to the MWR (morale, welfare, and recreation) office to ask about a ticket for the chocolate factory tour. sold out, which means my other friend K, who's 9.5 months pregnant, had to go alone. oops.
Back to the Commissary (in the drizzle) to grab some chocolate covered almonds and raisins, share some zucchini bread and cream cheese with EP, change and feed him for real (bread just didn't cut it) in the NEX's oh-so-comfy living room furniture area, and then it was time to return to the hospital to meet up with N and go home wait some more. Approximately two hours later a freshly immunized and stickered 3 year old, his mother, my boy, and I headed back to the Commissary for one loaf of bread and some juice and to the NEX to inquire about new lenses for little D, and then to the food court to pick up the conciliatory burger and fries and head home in the rain. I think next time I'll take the bus.
I put the dog outside and left the house at 8:30 a.m., and as I opened the front door at 5:30 p.m., it hit me that I hadn't put the dog's crate out with her that morning. Poor Puzza was curled up on a chair watching the back yard turn into a swimming pool. Bad mom moment number 8 or so (seven was when the boy ended up his face on the tile in the middle of the night last week). About two minutes after I walked in the door, mr. waaz called. Turns out he hadn't thought I'd be gone all day either, and had begun to wonder when I didn't pick up the phone several times in a row. I informed him that he was on his own for dinner, he informed me he was stopping by the NEX to pick up a phone to replace his buddy's that went through our washing machine, and that a much awaited PACKAGE from my mother was in his possession. Hooray!! Just enough impetus to bake a loaf of zucchini bread for N who hadn't ever had any and turn over the laundry and look at the dishes in the dishwasher.
When it came time for Bible study two hours later, I left the dog inside but not in the dreaded crate, marveled at the state of my living room, and situated the boy in the sling yet again for the trip down to the community center/chapel. another two hours later, I walked back in the door and went straight to the little cardboard box that had eluded me for weeks on end. What a great way to end the day. Too bad I couldn't even appreciate everything until the next day because I had to find something to eat, change and feed the baby and read him one of his new books, kiss the H and go to sleep. phew.


Friday was much more relaxed. I washed my new wool (!), admired my presents, and found out some very interesting information to be shared at a later date (no I'm not pregnant), and had steak, salad, and potatoes with some spectacular wine for dinner. Have to celebrate 3 days with the H somehow :)

2 picture post



even though it looks like this outside















I am still doing this.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Look what I did

so our roller hockey goalie is moving, headed back to the states to be an instructor. This is sad because now we have no goalie, but the wife is happy because she got some stuff out of the deal:







namely rose bushes

















for free










and I planted them for her



(she did the cement bricks though, and eventually the ledge will go across the whole back)

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

I saw this on a board

and figured someone would appreciate it.

Toilet Cleaning Instructions:

1. Put both lids of the toilet up and add 1/8 cup of pet shampoo to the water in the bowl.

2. Pick up the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.

3. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids.

You may need to stand on the lid.

4. The cat will self-agitate and make ample suds. Never mind the noises that come from the toilet; the cat is actually enjoying this.

5. Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides a "power-wash and rinse".

6. Have someone open the front door of your home. Be sure that there are no people between the bathroom and the front door.

7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can and quickly lift both lids.

8. The cat will rocket out of the toilet, streak through the bathroom and run outside where he will dry himself off.

9. Both the commode and the cat will be sparkling clean.















Sincerely,
The Dog

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

sick, sick, SICK

that's how sick we are. mr. waaz got it first, probably from peering inside other people's cars and getting breathed on. We had chicken noodle soup and went to bed early. Then ep picked up the bug and people at church heard him cry for the first time ever. He ate some chicken and dumplings and snot and slept an amazing 6 hours in a row two nights ago and seems to be much more cheerful today (the diaper this morning, however, was NOT cheerful. more like green and lumpy. eww).
Once ep was over the hump, my body decided it'd had enough and so just when the babe was snoozing the aforementioned 6 hours(count em), I couldn't sleep for fear snot would clog my sore throat and nose and I would suffocate. That's right, I was up until 2, folks. No, i did not get up at 4:30 that morning to make mr. waaz some lunch. I accomplished nothing yesterday except to give ep a bath and do three loads of laundry and a lot of moaning and groaning and drinking of steamy beverages. mr. waaz said I looked terrible. Or was it horrible? In any case, it was a no good, very bad day. Even worse than Sunday, when we left the dog for two hours in the BRAND NEW crate and she chewed the metal off the side and crawled through a 4" gap and left smears of poop everywhere. yeah, that's what I said.

getting closer to a house tour...we have a shelf now and two more pictures hung, yay! My house was SO clean a week ago... not anymore!


and because someone mentioned something about whether or not I still sling the boy, here he is a couple of days ago right after eating and before falling asleep. Usually he's up on my hip with his legs sticking out (like when we go for walks), but this "carry" is way more conducive to hands free nursing. did you notice that he was on my back in the valentine's day post? that was so we could cart the dresser etc. home from down the street.
Oh, and in the first pic can you see the red boppy in the background and not curled around ep's butt like it was 5 minutes prior to taking the pic? yeah, he's started scooting a bit, especially towards the mirror, which is now on its side to prevent mishap.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Thursday, February 15, 2007

take II* (click on each pic to enlarge)

first, a couple from monday morning (going through the 9-12m box!) and monday afternoon (check out the teeth!):


and my version of yesterday:

a trip to the thrift store: $7 (inc. the pink shirt I'm wearing and missing a pair of brown fleece pants with monkey embroidery for EP)

a trip to the flower department: $15 (roses-with roots!)
a trip down the street wherein the H comes ] [ this close to trashpicking (the owners are PCS-ing-to Norfolk, no less- and since we actually talked to them I cannot call this part of the post by its' alternate title of Productive Constitutional part three)



this totally counts as a "good" V-day, especially with 3" thick lasagna and chocolate bomb cake (recipe courtesy of a fellow chocoholic) for dinner. Too bad I (xx) had to do the cooking and the dishes.

*11 pictures, that is. again, email me if you want the originals to print off.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

it was a productive valentine's day

Guess what I got today?

I'll give you a hint:



















it came with a bunch of stuff

















we love the finish on the sides
















we also love looking up music. too bad most of the sites are being shut down due to "copyright infringement."










part 2 will be what else we did
xy

Monday, February 05, 2007

Sailor Dog!

Hooray! another picture post.

Puzza has officially been sworn in:



















I don't think she is enjoying her time in the service. She is looking for her chance to go AWOL.












I am pretty sure she hates us for this.

While the H is away the H will play

My tax return came in while I was at work. I made some purchases:
(real pictures to come later when items arrive)

Taylor guitar:


very nice, definitely not $12





















assorted other accessories (i.e. humidifier, picks, strings and whatnot also more than $12) hmm, there goes that refund =/ At least my guitars are replaced now.

And I hear some one wanted a dog to person comparison shot:














that's about all for now. Sailor dog pics upcoming.
XY

Saturday, February 03, 2007

chocolate orange muffins

So when you buy multiple pounds of blood oranges, it is nearly impossible for two people to finish them before they go bad. We're doing well so far, thanks to refrigerating the first half and sucking down two a day right after we bought them, but there are still about a dozen left, and they're getting a bit soft. I found this recipe on the net, and modified it into a scrumptious treat that's pretty healthy to boot. Too bad AC's not accepting new recipes for the mountain cookbook anymore! I know these are a lot like the sweet potato muffins I posted awhile ago, but hey, what can I say, muffins are great.

cream 2 T butter and 1/2 c sugar.
add 4 T applesauce and two eggs, one at a time.
sift in and mix just until combined:
3/4 c white flour (have to make sure they're not too healthy so mr. waaz will still eat them, lol)
3/4 c oat flour (ground up oatmeal)
1/2 c whole wheat flour
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
add and mix just until combined:
up to 4 oz grated chocolate (or you can use cocoa powder if you want)
2 T fresh orange zest
1/4 c OJ
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 c yogurt and 1/4 c milk (probably could use all yogurt)
1/2 c or so craisins (I used orange flavored)

bake at 375 degrees farenheit for 15-20 minutes (until tops are golden and toothpick comes out clean). let cool a few minutes before removing to a rack (or just tipping them all on their sides in the pan like my mother does)

serve with a cup of cappuccino made with your very own espresso maker.














ps: Sicily's in the news
pps: notice that my last christmas presents finally arrived and I'm even putting them to good use!

Thursday, February 01, 2007

life in 5 minute increments

We took almost 2 hours of footage, which I narrowed down to three 8-9 minute clips. While uploading them to Photobucket, I realized that this particular video host has decided the average attention span is only five minutes long, and as a result truncates every video to that length. Since I believe that you, my loyal audience, have longer attention spans than the average, I now present part one and two of the clip from last week. (of course, I won't know it was worth it unless you comment, especially you lurkers. Yeah, that's right, I see you out there.)