The After-Christmas Clean Freak

I am a freak. My family has been saying it for years, and most of the time I just brushed it off. Freak? Me? No. I just like things how I like them. This year, I realized that they are right.

I am not the bearded lady, or the elephant man. I have no serious mental disorders (that we know of :P) and no urges to do things that most people don't have as well. Except for my cleaning binges. Those enable me to proudly let my freak flag fly.

Christmas this year was great. Monkey was enamored with the tree, and the presents, although I'm sure he thought we were crazy when we encouraged him to rip the paper off them. Although breakfast was late, it was good...homemade espresso cinnamon rolls. Then nap...yay for naptime!

Ben and Monkey had a great afternoon of playtime and snuggles. Me? I was in the kitchen. All. Freaking. Afternoon. Ben wanted Boeuf Bourguignon, and I refuse to make that without homemade bread as well. The Bourguignon takes, on average, 4-5 hours to make. The bread takes about 3.5 hours. Both need the oven. Timing is crucial.

So I didn't fully clean that night. All the wrapping paper, ribbons, boxes and bows were either saved or thrown away, needles from the tree swept up (don't need Monkey choking on those!) and dishes were in the sink, if not clean.

Needless to say, the day after Christmas, I went full on freak. The kitchen was cleaned (because it desperately needed it), and then I thought "I'll just do the floors." That turned into me on my hands and knees for an hour, scrubbing all baseboards, moving furniture, sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping. In the process (which needs to be done on a fairly regular basis due to having 2 shedding dogs) one of our speakers fell off it's shelf and hit me square on in the back of the head. What did I do? Said "ow," held frozen veggies to the quickly-forming lump on my head, and then got back to work. Seriously. Who does that?

Did I stop there, even though I felt nauseated for the rest of the day? Nope. Played with Monkey, worked on laundry, and worked some more on the needlepoint for Monkey's quilt (that I meant to have finished before he was born. Oops).

Oh well...it's all worth it. I'll leave you with a few pics from Christmas (that don't show our faces, sorry. I'm paranoid.)


I have to go attack the baseboards in the Master Suite.

Watching Daddy put the
 tree on the car

Before opening presents

Is all this for me?

Monkey's "Haul"

Time to play!

Merry Christmas!

Although we weren't able to go home to be with the extended family this year, we're having a wonderful time! Our cozy Christmas is involving WAY too many toys, Espresso Cinnamon Rolls, Boeuf Bourguignon, Homemade Garlic Parmesan Bread, playtime, family time, and of course:

Happy Holidays!

The Teething Continues.

Monkey is now cutting his THIRD tooth in two weeks (or so). This one's an upper front, and the poor child got my big chompers. Here I was thinking he had a cold, but it's just congestion from teething (I'm pretty sure).

I'm still not in love with the amount of snot I'm having to deal with. I was kind of hoping it wouldn't hit until he could understand when I asked him to blow into a tissue. He does, however, think his battery operated aspirator (or, as it's more lovingly known in our house, electric snot sucker) is a toy. He walks around holding it, pressing the button to make it run.

And yes, I said WALK...he's WALKING everywhere! It started a week before he turned 10 months. Our lives as we know them are over.

My Problem With Couponing

I love a good deal. I love saving us money, especially because finding work has been a challenge for me. But I have a serious problem when it comes to couponing: I refuse to feed my family nothing but processed fat lard chemicals crap food. I insist, for the most part, on making things from wholesome, fresh ingredients, and make things from scratch whenever possible (I just need that dang pasta maker attachment for my Kitchenaid, then we'll really be going strong).

I watch these shows like Extreme Couponing on TLC, and while it's amazing that they can do that well with couponing, I don't see a whole lot of fruits and vegetables going into those carts. What do I see? Microwave dinners. Candy. TONS of cereal (and we're not talking organic granola). Soda, toothpaste, laundry detergent...that's all in there. Fruits? Veggies? Fresh meat? Nah.

Just once, I would like to see a cart filled with real ingredients for a healthy balanced meal. That won't happen though. Why? Because those things don't have coupons. And they're not exactly cheap people! To eat healthy you get punished in the price. That just plain sucks. America has a weight problem for a reason: we're obsessed with the easy way out. The fast, instantly gratifying way that clogs our arteries and makes our fat cells expand like Violet Beauregard's after eating Willy Wonka's gum that is a three course dinner. No wonder our butts are the size of the death star...all we eat is processed carbs and sugar!

OK, OK, I'll step off my soap box now. But seriously, why can't a couponer's shopping cart look like this:

Instead of the reality, which is this: 

Oh, and can we throw in the 97-120% savings as well? Thanks so much.

Good Deeds

I really want to do more good deeds this holiday season. Having Monkey when I was told I probably wouldn't be able to have children has made me so incredibly grateful, and I really want to do something for others. The problem? Monkey is here, Ben works, and we don't want to pay a babysitter. So I've been looking around online to see if there's anything I can do for others that I am capable of (i.e. not volunteering time, or having to go anywhere crazy to complete it....Monkey is still learning that he can't always be the center of attention).

What have I found? That I can crochet/craft for others. I'm always working on something, but I don't want it all around my house. Plus I can do this while interacting with Monkey, or when he's napping. It's on my time, my way. And the best part? I can do these things year round.

If you haven't seen my craft blog, please check it out. It's called Creations A La Mode and it's just a log of the crafts I make...some I sell, some I'm just plain proud of, and there are some tutorials.

Here are a couple of organizations I have found that I'm going to try to contribute to:

Mitten Commitment: This is a project hoping to help those who do not have warm clothing, specifically mittens, for the winter. It's super easy to become a participant! You make mittens (crochet, knit, sewn, whatever) and send them in. Any style, any size! This is great for me because it gives me a way to try new things (I've only made one pair of mittens for a friend, but I would love to try more!)

Project Linus: This organization accepts blankets for children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need. They have chapters all over the US that you can donate items to, all you have to do is make a blanket (any style, any size), find a local chapter, and donate!

The Hat Box Foundation: Once again, very easy. This organization accepts knit and crocheted hats of all shapes and sizes for cancer survivors and patients across the country. You make them and send them in...that's it! I love this one especially since my grandmother is a breast cancer survivor.

There are a TON of great craft charities out there, you just have to look!  I look for national ones, or at least organizations that almost always have a chapter in multiple locations in multiple states, since we move so much. I would hate to become attached to a charity and then move somewhere that I couldn't contribute anymore!

I think this would be a great way for me to consistently give back as well...if I could do one or two things a month, I would be happy. It would probably be more if I only did hats, but if I want to do blankets as well then I have to keep it realistic!

Oh Surprise Your Name is Tooth

Honestly, I was getting a little frantic insane agitated zonkers concerned that Monkey hadn't started teething yet. I mean, I know it's normal for babies to start teething anywhere from 6-12 months, but to a mom who's baby isn't teething yet, it feels like everyone else's baby gets theirs before yours does.

Now that's a good looking tooth!

Plus, Monkey drools. He has since 3 months, so for him drooling isn't a sign of teething. No excessive fussiness, no fever, no weird poops, nothing. Monkey is just, well, Monkey. Today, on a whim, I ran a finger over his lower gums, and THERE IT WAS! His first tooth, the top of which is just barely breaking through. I wanted to run, jump, and call every member of the family. But I have already talked to them today. For a day that wasn't going great due to the crud that I have (sore throat, coughing, achy, headache) this was the best news ever. Even better news? Monkey doesn't seem to mind at all. He doesn't even seem to notice.

Happiness, your name is "Happily Teething Baby."

This is How I Sound Lately

I have had a sore throat lately. It's pretty much gone, but my voice has gone with it!