Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeme

Kristi tagged me with this meme WEEKS ago and I am finally getting to it. Here you go!

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

1998. That doesn't really feel like 10 years ago. already. Let's see. At this time 10 years ago, I was working at a summer camp, counseling random hooligans, falling in love with a boy (and it went really, really well, er, poorly), and becoming an archery expert.

2. What are 5 things on your “To Do” list?

Is this a to-do list....like a lifetime one or just for tomorrow? Let's go with 'lifetime' so we can stave off just a bit more dullness. Therefore, the following five items have been pulled up from my Lifetime To-Do List in no random order: 1) Have a nice, somewhat lengthy holiday in Ireland with Mr. J. and NO children (sorry, Little Goat - you can go to Grama and Grampa's); 2) Go back to our 'home' church in WA which we will get to do not just once but TWO TIMES this summer and we are so stinking excited we can hardly think straight!; 3) Win some sort of fabulous contest; 4) Build a guest cottage in our backyard (but not our backyard here....our backyard in some future house in a future town that we will actually WANT to love living in); and finally 5) Get a pedicure, during which I may have to be drunk or otherwise out of sound mind because my toenails are an embarrassment to humankind.

3. What are 5 snacks you enjoy? (In no specific order)

Cookies, anything with lime in it (except Tequila), anything with lemon in it, nachos, and anything with chocolate in it. <- Those were very non-specific and also in no specific order.

4. Name some things you would do if you were a millionaire.

Travel, buy a newer car that I wasn't paranoid was going to break down on a darkened highway in -50C weather, travel some more, move someplace we really wanted to live, and then, after we'd settled in, go travel some more. Oh, and maybe go for a camel ride.

5. Name some places where you’ve lived.

Manitoba (not that I don't love my Hometown, but I am particularly proud to have lived in The Niv for two whole school years, cause, you know, all the 'cool' people have lived in The Niv), Chelan, WA, Pateros, WA, and now here, Frozen Tundra, ME.

6. Name some bad habits you have.

Bad habits? Who, me? Well, fine. Hmph! I start things I never finish (hello scrapbook from Brit Tour 2000), I eat too many tasty things (but they're just so tasty!), and I nag. *sigh* Poor, poor me.

7. Name some jobs you’ve had.

Hot dog stand employee, grocery bagger, farmer's market clerk, janitor, camp counselor, security guard, library lackey (*shudder*), college canteen clerk, camp director, donut store clerk, church secretary....and that is all.

8. Name those whom you are tagging.

Brenda, Beth, and Erin K. - YOU'RE IT!

Strange but True

I feel like I haven't had enough time to blog lately. As I mentioned in a previous post, we've been working on a lot of painting and the Little Goat is getting ready to walk so her constant movement means less time to sit at the computer. It is also monsoon season here in Northern Maine. What? You didn't know we get a monsoon season up here? Well it's been raining every day for two weeks, so there! (Okay, all but one day.) Bah! The LG and I have been missing our daily walks. So much for my plan to walk two miles every day after the snow left.

Anyway, I now present to you some possibly strange but true facts. Hm. Maybe not so much strange as ridiculous or silly or revealing.

1) Wise brand cheese doodles are the "official" cheese doodle of the Boston Red Sox. Official! Cheese! Doodles! What the??

2) We now officially make our own yogurt. We do not have cows, but we make our own yogurt. It is cheap and fabulous and we are finding all sorts of new recipes that require yogurt and aren't we just the new poster children for digestive health?

3) Last Sunday, 22 June 2008, I shaved my legs for the first time since 05 May 2001. Yes, that's over seven years of hairiness. I'd been considering taking the plunge for a while and bought this "easy" and "gentle" waxing kit. On the advice of my best friend, I shaved the first time and will wax when there is enough growth. What's dumb about this is that 1) after seven years, I would've thought I could go at least a week before stubble showed up. Not so. Hmph! 2) I feel more self-conscious with shaved legs than hairy ones. My poor legs feel naked! Naked, I tell you!

I won't bother getting out my soapbox because I'm rather tired at the moment, but suffice to say, I don't think women ought to feel pressured to shave their legs. There are men out there (Mr. J. is evidence of this fact) that really, honestly, don't mind hairy legs. He has, in actual fact, been known to brag about it. I also won't bother posting pictures to show you the before and after. I could. But I won't.

Mmmm...new recipes. (And moving.)

So I'm still working on that meme and still working on painting (just the trim left - in the bathroom at least) and still trying to get the house (ridiculously) tidied. We were supposed to meet with the realtor this evening so we can get our house on the market ASAP, but we ended up all having some scheduling conflicts, so we are now meeting on Monday at 5pm.

I don't know why, but I'm nervous about the whole process of selling our house, due in part to having never been involved in actually selling a house, but also just the uncertainty of knowing where we'll end up next. Knowing that the orchestration of selling the house, moving, renting or buying again, finding the next 'dream' job, and keeping our sanity is more up to God than up to us, should be reassuring, but the more I think about it, the harder it is to let go and remember that we're not the ones in control of all that.

In some ways, I feel like we haven't really given Northern Maine a fair shake. We persevered (read: suffered!) through the worst winter on record since 1953, we still haven't made many friends here (not that opportunities abound any more than they did when we first arrived), and we haven't seen nearly as much of this area as we had hoped to. Still, this move is precipitated less by our loathing of the physicality of our surroundings as it is by the fact that we just can't afford to live here. Maine taxes Mainers nearly to death! Everywhere you turn, they make you pay for something and there is NO help for people like us who are riding the fence between getting by and not knowing how to pay the oil bill more often than we'd like. Not that we are in dire financial straits by any means, but it would be nice to be in a place where it isn't the norm to live from paycheck to paycheck, even if you're making twice as much as we are.

So, if you're the praying type, pray with us that God will direct us to a new place that will really feel like Home, whilst being cheap yet prosperous, closer to Manitoba, full of parks and libraries and public transit and private schools and good churches and friendly people and the perfect house (a girl can dream, right?). Also pray that we will be patient while we're waiting to see what comes next.

But hey, in the meantime, LET'S COOK! RA from Definitely RA and Nic from Not Perfect came up with this great idea to occupy some hours over the summer. And what better way to occupy hours than to experiment in the kitchen, right? So, behold:


Whip it Up runs from 6 July until 29 August and each week on Friday, RA or Nic will post a collection of the weeks recipes as submitted by us participants. For full challenge details, click here. I am SO excited about this so come join the fun, okay? It'll rock your pans off! (har!)

One.

Ah, Little Goat. You are one today. ONE! We can hardly believe it!

You are crawling, pulling up, and walking with help. You are curious and loud and babbling away - we are expecting your first word any day now. You have lots of hair (although a somewhat questionable hairline) and six teeth. You're learning how to give kisses and you love to sit and read on Dad's lap. You love chasing the cats and 'petting' them or disturbing their sleep. You get so excited when Dad gets home from work - you bang on the windows and kick your little feet! You even get excited when the garbage truck comes around and Ed the Garbage Truck Driverman waves to you and honks the garbage truck horn.

You like books and dominoes, toys that shake and rattle, playing with anything you find in the recycling pile, and playing with the computer and the telephone! You hurry over when you hear the phone ring probably because you hope it's Grama calling. You like bathtime a lot and snuggling in with (or...crawling all over) Mum & Dad on Sunday mornings before church...which you also love! Some of your favourite people are at church and you have endeared yourself to everyone there, especially the little old ladies who all agree you are the 'cutest, sweetest and most well behaved baby (they've) ever seen and (they) can hardly believe how good you are!'

You eat lots of foods (Cheerios!) and you even tried scalloped potatoes and baked beans at your birthday party last night. And even though we gave you one of the icky organic cupcakes, you ate it anyway - and with such relish! And your favourite birthday present? A big shiny balloon from your friends Les & Debbie at church.

You aren't always happy though - you don't like when we hold you back from pounding on the computer keys. You're not a big fan of diaper changes; you don't seem to like grass very much and you do not like waiting for your dinner. But you are smart and beautiful and sweet and our most perfect gift ever and we can hardly get enough of you!

We love you, Birthday Girl!

And Baby Makes...7

I've been slacking. Can you tell? I wish I could say it's just because it's been so nice outside and we've been out playing, but it's been alternately sunny and windy or stormy and rainy since Saturday. We HAVE been busy though.

Saturday we helped out with a yard/bake sale hosted by some friends from church to raise money to help send kids to camp. Camp is a place close to my heart so anything we can do to help send kids to a summer camp - I'm in. The sale raised just over $600 which is about enough to help out 6 kids.

We've also been busy standing at the window watching our new neighbours. We knew there was at least one woodchuck living under our shed out back and we had lovingly nicknamed him Hans. Well, it turns out we don't have a Hans, we have a Hanselina. And Hanselina has FIVE babies! FIVE! WOODCHUCKLETS! Oh my are they ever cute! They aren't very big yet, maybe the size of a 1/2-gallon jug of milk. There definitely seems to be one bully amongst them and s/he fell off the shed ramp twice the other morning whilst play-fighting with one of her/his siblings. The first time we saw them which was Saturday evening, we had taken a bunch of pictures and were getting ready to leave them alone when, in broad daylight, a fox snuck around the side of the shed! Good grief we should call our yard a wildlife refuge and charge admission! And of course we took pictures which I will try to post soon but they are still on the camera.

Speaking of cameras, our point 'n' shoot digital is officially useless. We can view the pictures that are already on the memory card, but can't take new pictures or video. Mr. J. has a digital SLR but it's complicated and doesn't do video and mostly I don't know how to use it. This would, of course, have to happen mere DAYS before the Little Goat's VERY FIRST BIRTHDAY. *shakes head, stomps foot* So today, on his way home from work, Mr. J. will visit our 'favourite' Walton's Mart and pick up a new camera - not an expense we'd planned for, but Mr. J. has been working lots of overtime lately and we can't live without a camera so that's our justification.

What else is new? Well, the LG seems to be trying to fit in as many more firsts as she can before her first birthday. Last Thursday she got a new tooth and another one on Sunday, which was the same day she pulled up on the coffee table for the first time. Yesterday, she gave her first official kisses and took her first official with-help steps! So you see, we've been busy.

I've also been doing a lot of painting in the last couple weeks and we finally called the realtor who is coming over to meet with us next week and ohmygoodness we have so much to do before then! Gack - the clutter! Gack - the boxes! Gack - the general messiness of things and painting that still needs to be finished! GACK!

Oh yeah, and Kristi from Idaho (do you read her blog? Go! Read! Laugh! She writes for Cracked Magazine!) tagged me for a meme, so I shall strive to post that sometime this weekend, in between cake-baking and painting and throwing out papers and cleaning clutter and moving boxes and barbecuing and watching woodchucks and....

Treats

Lately, I've been seeing a plethora of bloggers post lists of everything they hope to accomplish this summer and since I'm a lover of lists, this might be a good chance for me to publish a list and then of course, it's out there in cyberspace and I therefore become accountable to all of you.

Oh! Wait! Hah! Looks like I'll get out of posting that list today after all. Mr. J. just reminded me that I'm supposed to post pictures of this fabulous package I got in the mail the other day from the Little Goat's Auntie Tamra in South Korea. Without further adieu, I present:

Strange and Possibly Tasty Treats (or Not) from Korea

Noodles with instructions in Korean and "nonfrying" shrimp fries.

CANDY!! You see that container marked "Dream Cacao"? Um, yeah, they're little cubes of dark chocolate covered in...dark chocolate. And they are incredibly incredible.

The maybe not-so-tasty 'treats.' This package really scares me and
we're not really sure what to do with it. Any suggestions?

It's Already Wednesday

For (Nearly) Wordless Wednesday, because I am tired and cranky and full of allergies and the Little Goat is driving me around the bend with her obnoxious new 'style' of crying, which is a combination of crying, screaming, hollering, and dying pterodactyl noises; and also her new wake-up-early, no-nap habit. AUGHHHHH!

It's a good thing she has so many cute days.

Tea party with Penguin.

Getting greedy at the party.

Penguin: He likes his tea!

On the bench, in the yard.

Oui ou Non?

If only all arguments ended this way. This was one of the Little Goat's favourites this morning....

Bedtime Stories

Well since I already spent my last post whining about how sick we are and I don't feel like rehashing the tale that is The Night from SHEOL (suffice it to say, the Little Goat not only fell off her changing table but didn't go to sleep until 4 AM!), I think I will resist the urge to cop out with a "Wordless Wednesday" picture post and regale you with a delightfully ridiculous bedtime story Mr. J. heard at work today. It goes a little something like this:

So this coworker of Mr. J.'s, when she was a girl, lived in this big old house (this would've been about 50 years ago) with an attic that had attic access through her bedroom (a door with steps). With surprisingly regularity she heard noises. Her parents repeatedly reassured her saying "Don't worry! It's just rats!"

However, this one night, she heard quite the hullaballoo in the attic so her Dad came running upstairs with a baseball bat. He climbed up into the attic and minutes later came out, dragging behind him



A HOBO.




Yes, true. A bona fide hobo. Living in their attic!!

So then another of Mr. J.'s coworkers asked her if she was scared of sleeping in her room ever again and she said "What? Why? It was just a hobo."


Just.

A.

Hobo.

Woe is Me.

To ring in her 11 month, the Little Goat decided it was time for the allergies to appear. Her nose has been running more than the leaky tap in our bathtub and of course, wouldn't YOU enjoy having your snot sucked out by a freaky blue rubber thing? *shudder*

On top of that, I am also feeling abominable. My head refuses to cease its pounding and my entire digestive system is threatening to stage a mutiny; it is telling me it is disgruntled at the very least. To top it all off, the milk factory is experiencing technical difficulties just when demand has risen to help the LG through this rough patch, and every time she eats, I feel nauseous as all get out (and no, it's not because of That. I've checked.).

Mr. J. got a late start this morning and has things to do after work today which means he will be getting home later than usual and tomorrow he is working a double, from 7am until 11pm and I can only hope that I am feeling better by then. I am BAD company for a Curious Crawler in my present state.

So woe is me...whine, whine, whine....I want my Mom and I wish she wasn't presently on the other side of the continent, not that being her usual half-way across the continent is very helpful either, but it would be better than nothing and she would be near her free long distance plan.

Boo for sickness! Does anybody know any good home allergy remedies that are safe for little goats?

To the Desert, to the Ocean and Back.

Up until about two o'clock last Thursday afternoon, I was living the delusion that it was actually Wednesday and I had a full day plus an evening to get ready to go camping on Friday morning. I'm sure you can imagine the chaos that ensued upon my realization that I had, in fact, only about four hours of daylight left to get things ready. Ack! If you assumed that we got leaving rather late on Friday morning, well, you would have assumed correctly. It was a quick weekend but a fun one.

We stayed two nights at the KOA in Freeport/Durham and went 'cheater' camping. I say 'cheater' because we didn't actually stay in a tent (we haven't got one big enough for both of us and our stuff, nevermind adding a baby and all of HER stuff!); we stayed in a 'Kamping Kabin' which came complete with a heater, a mini fridge (that proved quite handy) and a microwave. We didn't actually use the microwave but it was nice to know that if the weather had turned sour (as it is wont to do on the Maine coast) we could've nuked our hotdogs instead of roasting them.

On Saturday, our first stop was the Desert of Maine. Oi. The people were really nice - no complaints there, but the tour seemed....silly. They have the actual 'desert' area fenced in so of course you can't see it which is good because if you saw it, you would've seen almost all of it and there would be no reason to pay. Mr. J. still has all the pictures on his camera to be downloaded later today so when they're in the computer they'll be up on the blog. Anyway, the desert is billed as 'Maine's I-can't-remember-the-adjective natural phenomenon!' The problem is, according to the explanation we were given, the whole pile 'o' sand came about as the result of poor farming practices. So...natural phenomenon my foot!

The rest of our day was spent doing a little shopping. Our lucky Little Goat (or should we just call her Miss Moneybags?) got some new bits and pieces of summer wardrobe and a brand new Radio Flyer Walker Wagon. The latter we picked up for a steal at the LL Bean outlet where I also - moment of silence, please - lost my sunglasses. I'm almost sure it was some manifestation of one of Murphy's Laws since just two weekends ago, Erin K and I were having a discussion about sunglasses, wherein I explained that I inherited my sunglasses from Mr. J. right before our trip to Hawaii several years ago. I had been searching around for a pair and Mr. J. kept finding ones he liked so we finally bought him news one and I took over the old pair. In the interim, I found a pair of sweet shades at Costco that were on sale. So they've been my backup pair, until Saturday when it became apparent that after checking back three times with various LL Bean employees my best sunglasses ever have gone AWOL and of course, now I can't find my backup pair either.

But I digress. The camping weekend was fun; we headed home on Sunday morning after stopping to pick up the best cinnamon buns we've ever eaten (May is turning out to be a good month for trying 'new' food!) and playing at the beach just a little. We also stopped to eat, for Mother's Day dinner out, at Texas Roadhouse where there are giant barrels of peanuts to munch while you're waiting to get seated and you are allowed, nay, expected, to throw your peanut shells on the floor. It was tasty and fun but I couldn't stop thinking about the mess and how much I wanted to come back with my vacuum!

Anyway, here are more pictures from our Quebec City trip. I need to get the camping pictures ready to go. Maybe tomorrow.

Fog.

Old (original?) city gate.

My next bike.

The city at night. All the people that would normally
be there were probably at the club next door to our hostel.
It was SOOOOO loud on Fri/Sat nights. I still can't figure out
how nobody else heard it on Friday night. I'm not crazy! I'm not!!

Old armory.

Don't mess with my baby, yo.

The end, or 'fin' as they say en Francais.

This Just In!

Well I was all set to tell you about our camping weekend and post more pictures of our Quebec City trip when this happened (please ignore the sounds of giddy parents...good grief we sound like morons!):

Trippy

So this past weekend, you'll recall that we went up to Quebec City with Erin K. and Co. We had an amazing weekend! It rained on Saturday and Sunday and was pretty cold, but we stayed warm and relatively dry and all was well. Our kids got along just swimmingly - they slept well, played well, ate well....as did we, the adults. We enjoyed trying on hats, visiting some crazy medieval shops, riding the funicular (okay, I enjoyed this slightly less than everybody else, darn leeriness of heights!), exploring a museum, and cramming as much tasty food down our gullets as is possible in four days. Oh boy! So many choices of places to eat and we didn't choose badly even once! Tasty Moroccan food on Friday night, a ridiculously good burger and microbrew on Saturday, a chocolate museum and store on Sunday and some delightful crepes on Monday. In the quest to fill the afternoon pain au chocolate (chocolate wrapped in pastry, basically) fix on Sunday, we stumbled across this bakery which we almost left because we didn't see any of the pastries in the case....well then we spotted then and ate THE BEST chocolate/almond pastry Erin and I have ever tasted in our collective existences! Oh my goodness! That served (quite nicely) as my birthday cake. Oh yes! And they all sung Happy Birthday to me en Francais!

All the while, Erin and I discussed our dream of opening a bakery together - not so much bread (although I did just pull some out of the oven...mmm....), just fancy, tasty pastries and desserts. Wouldn't that be amazing? We just have to work out how to move back to Canada and find a job for Mr. J. and then we can get started! Hopefully this dream will not fall as quickly to the wayside as our last goal which Erin plans to blog about someday. (Ahem...)

It was also nice to be able to explore a city with friends who are working with the same challenge we are - namely, trying to get in and around with a stroller and an occasionally fidgety youngun in tow. Public bathrooms with changing tables are surprisingly few and far between in QC. Without further adieu, here's our weekend in pictures - Part One - because, my goodness Mr. J. took a lot of pictures!

We stopped for a picnic on the way.

Crossing the bridge into Quebec City.

Exploring on Friday night.

The Funicular.

We were just in time to see the Bride & Groom walk out of this church
(the name of which escapes me just now). Aren't they adorable?

Quebec City, home of the largest woodpecker we've ever seen....

...and the scariest Hen in a Kettle we've ever seen.

Random building.

The Little Goat getting ready to go out.

Our kidlets, fast asleep in their almost-matching strollers.

Statue outside the Chateau Frontenac.
I think she's proclaiming to the world how much she loves breast-feeding. har!

Strange French wantons are available for purchase here.

We're Outta Here!

Well, it's Friday and Mr. J. has today and Monday off and we're on our way to meet Erin K. and her Music Man and Monkey in Quebec City for the weekend! We haven't seen them since Christmas and we are SO EXCITED! Hopefully I'll have lots of pictures to post when we get back.

Oh boy! And guess what else is happening this weekend! Nope, we're not investing in a yacht (no flooding right in our town, thank God!) and nope, we're not getting camels. Sunday is my birthday! I know, I know, things end up heavily in my favour for three weeks starting in April: an anniversary on the 27th, my birthday a week later and Mother's Day the week after that. Har! Someday when we're rich, maybe we'll just take a whole month off and go somewhere. But for now: Happy Birthday to me! AND to Brenda, my cyberttwin over at The Ones with the Baby. Make sure you head over there on Sunday and wish her a Happy Birthday. We're about to embark on our last year of Twentysomethingness. Ack!

And on the birthday note, here's a picture of the annivesary cake I made and a cupcake in the same style. I'm not entirely happy with the pictures because they're blurry, but you can get the general idea. The cake was plain white with a touch of rum and fresh strawberries, lime curd filling and lime-infused icing. Go ahead, drool, it was FABULOUS and yes, it looks like a hat!

Have a great weekend!

Yummy cake.

Best cupcake EVER!

Obviously, Mr. Rogers Rocks.

Good grief! 175 entries! Imagine that! Have you people nothing better to do with your time than enter contests? Kidding, kidding...it was a busy Bloggy Giveaway week last week and the moment you've all been waiting for is here: EG from Stuff Growing is the winner! Go check out her blog; in addition to claiming she never wins anything, she's got some very cute pictures of her very own little Lands' End model posted.

Just in case you're wondering, and I know you are, Mr. J. helped me tally the results of the contest question. The question asked who you would rather serve your star cupcakes to and the choices were the Pope, Mr. Rogers, or Queen Elizabeth II. Give or take a couple people who didn't answer the question properly (ahem....), this is how the 'poll' breaks down:

The Pope: 13 votes
The Queen: 37 votes
Mr. Rogers: 115 votes

I have to say, my personal choice would've been the Queen. Hands down. It would possibly mean a trip to England, and of course a new dress. Plus, I'd actually have an excuse to buy a fancy hat. I don't know how it happened, but I look good in hats. When do I ever have a reason to wear a hat though, much less buy one? In addition, if I met the Queen and she saw how cute the Little Goat is, maybe we could broker some sort of arranged-marriage deal between the LG and a future royal grandchild thus ensuring our wealth for generations to come. Or not.

The Pope? Well, I'm not Catholic either and while it would be interesting to meet him (he would be Mr. J.'s first choice) I don't think I'd have a clue what to say to him and even though he speaks English, I have a hard time understanding him.

Lastly, but not leastly, there's Mr. Rogers. I don't know....I grew up in Canada and I don't remember seeing him on TV that much. Mr. Dressup sure, but not Mr. Rogers, and I like cardigans and trolleys and all, but I don't fancy having to bring along snazzy indoor shoes.

ON THE OTHER HAND, if the cupcake serving meant having to host one of those people in my one home.....my choice just might be Mr. Rogers after all. He might even pet our fat furry cats!

Anyway, thanks to everyone that entered my first Bloggy Giveaway. I had fun and I've got some ideas to improve things next time (July). If you're a new, post-giveaway reader, welcome here! It's always fun getting to know new friends in Bloggityville. I'm looking forward to spending some time over the next month visiting all the blogs of those who entered the giveaway.

In other news, this past weekend the lovely and handsome Mr. J. and I celebrated our sixth anniversary. We dropped the LG off to spend the afternoon with friends and we checked out a new restaurant in town where I enjoyed THE BEST grilled ham and cheese (with red onions and mango chutney) panini I've ever eaten (ever!), mixed greens with vinaigrette, cranberries and gorgonzola, and some tasty chickpea salad. Then we wandered around downtown and checked out a few shops we've been wanting to visit for a while. Then we went to the local dairy bar that just opened for the season and enjoyed - what else - lemonade! I had a hankering for lemonade and had already made a fancy anniversary cake so no ice cream for us. It wasn't an elaborate celebration but it was sweet and nice and we enjoyed being 'childless' for an afternoon (although we felt slightly naked).

We picked the Little Goat up three hours later - she hardly seemed to miss us - harumph! She had gone for a walk, had a trip to Walmart and a few other stores, AND got a new toy so she was doing just fine.

Oh, I took a couple pictures of the cake but haven't got them uploaded yet but as soon as I do I'll post them. I better skeedaddle though...it's naptime!

Look, Mom! I Did It!

My Mom makes THE BEST strawberry jam ON EARTH. (And don't anybody dispute my cause we may just have to meet Out Back if you know what I mean.) Every time we visit my parents, at the top of my To-Do List is: "Raid Shelves for Fresh S-berry Jam." (My brother, he asks for perogies...I ask for strawberry jam...um...among other things.) Similarly, when my parents come here to visit, Mom always brings along several jars of tasty tasty jam.

Alas, about three weeks ago, we ran out. The last jar in our stash finally ran dry. No more jam. I thought I could hang on until the next time we saw each other but when it actually sunk in that that wouldn't be until sometime this fall, Mr. J. and I swallowed our pride and *gasp* bought strawberry jam. Of course, since we're doing this (retarded) refined sugar fast for April (which ends tomorrow - THANK. GOODNESS.), we thought we should be 'good' and buy the 1/3 less sugar jam.

What were we thinking?! Ugh. It reminds me of jello with fruit in it and neither of us like jello with fruit in it.

Then it finally occurred to both of us that hey, we keep buying all these strawberries to eat fresh, why not try making our own jam? Duh. So, Mom, I did it. I made strawberry jam. And true to the culinary genes I've inherited, my jam is, I think, nearly perfect. Look!

Now, Mom, don't go getting any ideas. This doesn't mean that you can stop bringing me jam. It was probably just beginners luck or a fluke or something. Really. And yes, I will save you a jar. Hopefully. You better get here quick!

I also made some lime curd (hooray for long naps!) using a lemon curd recipe from Martha Stewart. I added a couple drops of green food colouring to make it look a little more limey and it is FANTASTIC. I could sit and eat it by the spoonful, but I'm saving it to use as the filling for our anniversary cake which I will create tonight and tomorrow for our 6th anniversary on Sunday.

Oh, and for good measure, I'm throwing in a picture of the Little Goat (because goodness knows it's probably been, like, two whole posts since you saw her last) who is now a pro at eating Cheerios on her own. Indeed, she is perfect and cute and Cheerios might just be her new favourite food. She's also waking up. See you all later!(Ignore the Home Clothes - we don't actually take her out looking quite so mismatched.)

There's a First Time for Everything

Contest is now closed.

Thanks for stopping by!

Okay, well last time I spent altogether too much time entering giveaways and not hosting one of my own so this time, I'm in.

I'll post a picture tomorrow of The Prize but I will tell you now that it is a Wilton silicone 6-star pan. Which basically (oh why am I too lazy to get a picture up tonight?) means it's a pan that has six star-shaped receptacles for cake batter. Also, I'm throwing in a couple of decorating items as you will see in said forthcoming picture. Edit: The end of laziness! Here are the pictures! (Sorry the second one is blurry...I'm sure you get the idea.)



But wait! You know I have to make you work for it so in your comment (only one per person, please), tell me who you'd rather serve your star cupcakes to and why. Would it be:
a) The Pope?
b) Mr. Rogers?
or
c) Queen Elizabeth II?*

Contest will be closing at midnight (EST) on...let's see....Saturday. The winner will be chosen at random by our 10 month-old Little Goat and hopefully we will see who the winner is before she eats the paper with the name written on it. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

Oh, and if you have say....three or four hours to kill entering giveaways/contests, click here for The List.

The Fine Print: This contest is open to anybody in Canada or the US. If you aren't a blogger, please leave a way to contact you if you're the winner. Oh, and if you don't answer the question, no entry for you - sorry!


*And yes, I know that Mr. Rogers isn't alive anymore...this is hypothetical, my friends....

Go Buy This Book, Okay?

Okay, I don't push too many 'products' (okay, none that I can recall) on this blog, but a friend of mine from college just published her first children's book and you all should head out and buy it. Particularly those of you of the Canadian persuasion....because her book takes place in the most important Province in the universe!! (Sorry, Beck...but if you're as far north as I think you are, you can loop yourself in with us. :) )

Check out her book blog here: Mary's Atlas by Gwen Smid

1-0

So today marks the Little Goat's 10-month birthday. "And how are you celebrating?" you might ask.

Well, the LG is sleeping the sleep of the medicated, she being in the process of cutting her other top middle tooth over these last few days. Mr. J. and I are exhausted having been fully immersed in the process (hellish chore?) of moving a friend of ours. Don't get me wrong, she's a sweet girl, it's just...well...it's kind of how I imagine it might be if we were moving an 80-year-old woman who had lived in the same house for 60 years and never thrown ANYTHING away.

I'm not so sure you'd call any of that celebrating...but we're too tired and in pain anyway.

Oh! Oh! I am almost ecstatic to report that our driveway is 95% snow-free! Our lawn? Not so much...but it has been above zero (Celsius, people, Celsius) and sunny for four days in a row now and we are LOVING IT. I've even been outside without a jacket on TWICE in the last couple days. To add to my amazement, on Saturday morning I woke up to that sweet sweet sound of Spring. Yes, mine eyes hath seen, mine ears hath heard...

ROBINS!!

Hooray!

Week Two

Well, the Little Goat had her first misadventure yesterday. I was in the kitchen making biscuits and she was sitting on the couch with Mr. J. Well I guess she got a little excited about her fake credit card she was playing with and started rocking back and forth with a little too much vigour and "flew off" the couch into the coffee table. Argh. There's just a mark on her forehead now - no bruise and no big bump. Phew!

I contemplated staying home from my La Leche League meeting, or at least leaving the LG at home because I felt like such a bad parent, but guess what? There were four kids there including the LG. Johnny, the youngest isn't sitting on his own yet. That leaves the other two girls, BOTH of whom made significant contact with...THE COFFEE TABLE! Hah! I mean, okay, it wasn't funny really at the time, but it was a little coincidental, don't you think? At least I felt better.

Anyway, it's been just over a week since I last posted and in that post I told you about our plans for a refined-sugar 'fast' for the month of April. Okay, not all of April, just until the 27th (I'm not giving up sugar on our Anniversary thank you very much.)

Things have been going okay so far. I thought I would take a minute to clarify what's still on the menu versus what's been taken off. I already mentioned pretty much what's been taken off: cookies, pies, cakes - desserts in general; pop (which we don't drink much of anyway), and candy. Still on the list: certain cereals that aren't blatantly full of sugar like say, Fruit Loops, muffins (the recipe I usually make has about 1/3 cup of sugar in the whole batch), and a reasonable amount of sweetener in coffee or tea. Honey, in small quantities, is also allowed since it's unrefined. Mr. J. is also allowing himself the occasional graham cracker.

As with any adjustment in eating, one must take the good with the bad. As in, my cravings for sweets are BAD, but overall (the GOOD), I'm feeling a lot...healthier already. NoMo asked in the comments if I could document my weightloss, but we very intentionally, do not own a scale. Wait. No, we do, but it can only weigh up to one pound and it's the scale Mr. J. uses to weigh out coffee beans before roasting. (Yes, he roasts his own coffee, my Renaissance Man.) I can tell you though, that last time we did this, the results must have been noticeable because after just one month, people started to comment. And of course, I'll let you know if my jeans feel any looser. (I also found out at my doctors appointment last week that I've lost five pounds since I was there last. I kept asking if it was a mistake and finally stopped when the nurse looked like she might slap me if I asked again. That in itself is a little bittersweet - could I have lost more if I'd actually been trying?)

Jenn asked what I find hardest to stay away from. There's not one specific food item that I find hard to stay away from....we do still have candy in the house, but as mentioned in the last post, it's 'hidden' away in the back of the freezer. Generally for me, if it's out of sight, it's out of mind. And if I know I can't have it and other people are going to be checking on me, I find it pretty easy to avoid. It becomes almost like a game. I am definitely most tempted in the afternoon though. I hate not having something sweet to finish off my lunch so when I made muffins the other day, I made some mini ones that are about two-bites-big so it's just enough sweet to make me feel satisfied.

So far, my most exciting accomplishment on this fast is an apple tart I made last week with apples, walnuts and honey...and it was wonderful!

It is now nearly naptime. The LG and I are off to visit Mr. J. at work today. He, or a 'volunteer' from his department is going to watch the LG while I go and get bloodwork done, have some x-rays and an ultrasound (which is not in ANY WAY PREGNANCY-RELATED). Yippee!! See you later!

P.S. How's everybody's Spring coming along? It has been sunny here for three days in a row and *GASP* the snow has begun to melt!