lightening and tightening

I know all I seem to do now is complain about my huge belly, thighs and F. F. S. (Fat Face Syndrome) but it's not like I am really knocking myself out to do anything about it. Sure, I make sure I get my fiber and healthy foods in every day but the main culprit in my weight gain is things like this:


(These are white-chocolate covered brownie snowmen that my sister Beth sent to us - extremely Yummiliscious!!)
(Christmas cookies, using my Grandmother's Sugar Cookie recipe. YUM!)

At this point, I am going to eat what I want, as long as I eat the good stuff too, and enjoy it while I can because once this baby is here,(12 days and counting!!) I am back to eating like a human again.

Really I am.
Stop laughing.

And Merry Christmas!!!

things i love right now

* Winter Chex Mix - Cocoa. Sweet and salty and YUM!

*Pink Grapefruit Juice - this has replaced my lemonade addiction. So refreshing and it makes Kumar DANCE!

* Dresses in December. Because even the new (and gigantic) maternity pants I bought are getting snug.

* The Ped Egg. It really works and it's an adventure to look inside after you are done and see how much skin you sloughed off. Gross but Fun!

*The Chuckit - because Chewy likes nothing more than chasing the ball in the park. And mama is having some problems with the bending over thing right now.

*Slurpees. Because YUM!

*The new Ikea commercials. Is the old lady supposed to be some sort of a ghost? An imaginary friend? Either way, I love her voice and the commercials are so well done, they actually keep me from fast-forwarding through things I Tivo. That says a lot.

*Snickerdoodles. Take the Slurpee comment and quadrupl-y triple it.

*The Daily Show with John Stewart - Because there's nothing like some cynical laughter right before bed.

I know there are many many more I could think of but I am a bit distracted. It seems that Kumar has "dropped" and we have 25 days left til my C-section and I'm hoping he got the memo because I am now obsessed with the thought that I will go into labor early. I see a definite downward slope this week. What do you think?

Last week
This week

one way to deal with the economic crisis

(click on photo to enlarge)

hmmmm...

A little while ago, I opened the front door to find a gigantic box on the doorstep.

This is what I found inside the box:

In case you can't tell from the picture, it is a 6-foot tall giraffe!

The only problem is, there was no note in the box, not even a packing slip, so I have no idea who sent this awesome gift. Any ideas?

As much as I love the idea of a mystery gift, I would like to be able to properly thank whoever sent this. I'm sure The "Mar is going to love it!

Chewy, however, is not sure what to make of it.

gross joke of the day

"You hear the one about the constipated accountant? Worked it out with a pencil."

75 days to go!

This Sunday is my baby shower in NJ!
My awesome sisters are throwing it for me and I am really excited to see my friends and family for the last time before I am a mother.

........I'm just going to sit here for a minute and let that sink in...............

Today I went through all my clothes and tried to put together enough outfits to wear for three days in NJ and one day in Atlanta.(I am flying to NJ tomorrow morning and then Monday night I am flying to ATL to work for a maternity magazine on Tuesday. Yay for more work!) The packing was not as much fun as you might think. See, I live in Miami where I still can wear Summer dresses and flip flops most days. This is the last time I will be going anywhere cold until I have this baby, so I just can't bring myself to buy cold-weather maternity clothes for one weekend so I had to get a little creative with what I already own.

Here's a bit of what I came up with:






And just for fun:
(not-so pregnant)

(totally and hugely pregnant)

not to be worn with mandals at any time

Now, I am all for people expressing themselves but this is something that I just cannot get on board with.

Manytyhose.

As a girl, I remember looking forward to being old enough to be allowed to wear pantyhose because it felt so grown up to do, but it didn't take long to realize how horribly uncomfortable the stuff is. I cannot imagine why anyone, man or woman, would be all excited about this but, to each his own I guess.

Check it out here.

*************************************************************************************

For the curious, mandals can be explained here.

*************************************************************************************

And for the record, Kumar will not be able to wear either until he is old enough to buy his own.

the calm

This was such a nice relaxing weekend. Chris was kind enough to walk Chewy both mornings which may not seem like a big deal but it is a nice feeling to be able to roll over and go back to sleep in the morning without the guilt of knowing that Chewy is patiently waiting for me to take him out.

Also, we did something we always talk about but never seem to do and that is go to the beach. We actually went both Saturday and Sunday and bought a beach umbrella so we will go more often and stay longer. For those of you in the northern regions of the country, it may be hard to imagine but it is still incredibly hot here most days and sitting in the sun for more that 10 minutes or so is just way too much, even when you are not 7 months pregnant, but when you are, it is unbearable. So the umbrella was very very important. Also, I have really started liking being in the water and floating around and swimming a little so it was nice to be able to do that in the ocean instead of the over-chlorinated pool.

On the Chewy front, he is feeling better. We still haven't taken him to the park but he is back on the long-walk schedule and he hasn't shown any more signs of pain so hopefully in a couple of days he can go back to the park and run around like I know he is dying to do. Because nobody likes to chase a ball more than Chewy.

ending the week with some rainbows

zzzzzzzz

I have been incredibly tired the last couple of days and the hours are just flying by without anything getting accomplished and this day was no different. I leave you with a little something to make you scratch your head:

blown up and plastered

Well then. That was quite a downer.
We move on!

Last week a friend of mine called to tell me that she had just seen me in Coral Gables. I was home and had been home all day so I told her it must have been someone else who looks like me.

No, she said. You are plastered all over Miracle Mile!

So I went yesterday to check it out. And this is what I found:











This goes on for blocks in downtown Coral Gables and I found it quite scary to see myself in so many places at once but that did not stop me from wandering around in the FL heat and take pictures of every single one I found. It will be fun to show Kumar one day.

captain wetbeard has been replaced

Chewy is a very well-behaved dog and from the day he was given free reign of the house, he has only chewed up 3 or 4 things and has never really ruined anything of value.( Except for both the shoes and the bra that I wore when I got married. I have no explanation for this)
Nobody is perfect however, and every once in a while he has a small setback.
Yesterday was one of those days:



Let me give you a closer look:

The good news is, he was kind enough to keep every spot of ink on his bed and off the carpet. The bad news is, Chewy's nickname is now Captain BlueBeard.

AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH MATEY. IF YOU TRY TO WASH THE INK OFF ME BEARD YOU'LL BE WALKING THE PLANK!!

wordless tuesday

life: the good the bad and the nerdy

Well, Ike turned out to be friendly to us here in S. Florida and I am very very grateful. Cuba, however is getting the full extent of Ike's wrath right now and who knows what he is going to do in the Gulf later on this week, but I am happy to report that we just have some high winds (not even Tropical Storm-strength) and perhaps some rain tonight. Whew.

There is another storm brewing right now in my life that I cannot discuss at the moment but will disclose completely by the end of the week when I will have come out the other side, hopefully in a much better place. You have to break some eggs to make an omelet and all that, so I do not expect it to be completely pain-free but it is something I have been contemplating for almost a year and have finally been compelled to do and I am kind of excited about it all.

Have I confused you enough?
Good.

This weekend we finished watching Dexter Season 2 and I am going to go crazy waiting until September 28th when season 3 begins. Oh yes. We finally broke down and got Showtime so we can watch the new season because it is just too good to miss.

The other thing that we get from Showtime is Big Brother After Dark. I have watched every season of Big Brother since it started (oh about 9-10 years ago) through the good seasons and the bad. (The bad meaning the ill-advised Winter season this past year when they really took it off the rails)
This season I took some time to warm up but I am now very into it and there is only 2 weeks left which is when the shows get more exciting but also when I break down and start looking at the message boards that give the spoilers from the live feeds that CBS offers (where you can actually watch online every single thing that goes on in the house, 24/7. ) and when Big Brother After Dark is incredibly boring so I haven't even been Tivo-ing it. The good news is that once Big Brother is over, the two best shows on TV begin again, Survivor and The Amazing Race. Chris and I actually thought about applying to the Amazing Race a few years ago but didn't and now it looks like we will have to wait to do the Family Edition in 10 years or so when Kumar is old enough to go with us. Until then, we can live vicariously through these people who get to take a trip of a lifetime while competing against other teams in an incredible journey around the world and back again. Yeah, I'm a little bit of a fan. And a huge nerd. Whatever.

dexter next door

Chris and I spent the weekend watching the second season of Dexter on DVD. For those of you who are not familiar with Dexter, it is a series on Showtime, which we do not have (though I have debated getting it just because of this show) so we have to wait for the seasons to come out on DVD which is sort of torturous but so worth the wait. I have not been so hooked on a one-hour series since the Sopranos and I don't know what secret cable channels have but they really know how to put on a show.

We started watching season 2 on Friday night and after waiting 5-6 months for this season to come out on DVD, we kind of got carried away and are already half way through the season. I was sad to notice this morning that we only have 5 episodes left to watch but when it is midnight and an episode ends, we both look at each other and say, "One more and we can go to sleep." because we just have to know what happened..... (Really you should go out and get season one and tell me after 3 episodes if you are not totally hooked.)

Anyway, Dexter is a guy who lives in Miami and works for the fictitious Miami Metro Police Department as a blood spatter expert. The twist is that Dexter uses his inside info. at the MMPD to find out who is suspected of murder but for what ever reason, were able to beat the rap and Dexter takes justice into his own hands and kills them himself. And he doesn't just kill them, he does it in a very careful, methodical way. Somehow, you really find yourself liking Dexter despite this small quirk he has, and that is part of the magic.

Perhaps it was with a few hours of Dexter in my mind that I was coming home from my morning walk with Chewy and saw one of my neighbors who is usually very friendly and normal but was looking a little odd. He had just come out of the stairwell that leads into the garage, and was just sort of looking around with a perplexed look on his face.

Me- "Hi. How're you doing?"

Him-"What's going on?"

Me-" uhhhh... What do you mean?"

Him-(looking at me for the first time) " Well if you don't know I can't tell you."

Me-"What do you mean? What's happening?"

Him-" There was a murder."

Me-".........."

Him- " ...in the master bedroom."

Me-(having not had more than a thimble full of caffeine in my body for almost 6 months and being completely shocked and did I mention it was 10AM on a Sunday and I was up late watching Dexter??) "What master bedroom?"

Him-(walking away) "I can't tell you."

I ran up the stairs and as I walked past the elevator, I heard another neighbor who may or may not be the lead troublemaker/steroid abuser/loudmouth in the building say,

"Murder? In this building? No, I don't think so man." and get into the elevator.

Whaaaaaaaaaatttttt?!?!?!?!?

I go into the apartment and tell Chris everything that was said and that this guy is really giving me the willies and we decide that either:
1)He is really really messed up on drugs and totally hallucinating
2)Perhaps he stayed up late playing Clue and has gotten really carried away, in which case I should have asked him if he used the candlestick or the rope?
3)He was sleepwalking
or, the most likely to me,
4)He killed his live-in boyfriend and lost his mind a little bit and we are about to be living an episode of CSI Miami very shortly.

As I write this, it is Tuesday morning and have not seen that guy or his boyfriend again and they only live down the hall and I usually see one or the other at least once a day. Also, their hurricane shutters have been closed all weekend, though that is not completely unusual for some people in this building who close their shutters whenever we get a strong gust and there was a hurricane within 500 miles of us this weekend but I will not be convinced there isn't something going on until I see one or both of them again.
Chris wants to see him just so he can ask him why he felt the need to say something like that and scare his pregnant wife but I just want to know that we are not living two doors down from our very own Dexter. How long does it take til we can smell a dead body? Can I Google that?

don't tell chris, but apparently i am a superior housewife!

I found this test on another blog and thought I would give it a try. The questions alone are enough to make you laugh. (My favorite is the use of the term "marital congress". 'Scuse me?)There's also questions to see what kind of 1930's husband you would make.
Let's see how you measure up!

64 As a 1930s wife, I am Superior Take the test!

wordless thursday

, originally uploaded by buki-rama.

wordless wednesday*

*every Wednesday I will post a picture from the past that I think is interesting. This was taken in Vietnam, on the Mekong Delta, December 2000.

just wondering....

Does anyone know where squirrels poop?

Everyone knows someone who has been pooped on by a bird. I have never heard of anyone being pooped on by a squirrel, and they spend just as much time in trees overhead, right? So where do they go? Are they just really considerate of people? Or is there something I am missing here?

Discuss.

good stuff - august version

Things I really love right now:

*Burt's Bees Tomato Garden Complexion Soap. Until about a week ago, I was using a cleanser that I got from the dermatologist, but started feeling guilty about all the chemicals I was putting on my skin at a time I'm trying to be as healthy as possible, so I heard about this and thought I would give it a try. So far so good.

**Lemonade. I make it myself and drink it every day now. I cannot tolerate the really sweet version, but a nice, tart, non-pink lemonade is like a dream. Guess Kumar enjoys the sour stuff because I am drinking it like it's going out of style.

**Coca-cola cake! Trust me when I say that this is the best thing you will ever put in your mouth! I bought the ingredients weeks ago and finally broke down and made it Friday night. After taking a few bites, I told Chris that if he woke up in the night and I wasn't in bed, to please come in the kitchen and remove my face from the cake pan. Because it's that good!

**Chipotle Mexican Grill. I had a burrito here when we were in Santa Barbara and fell instantly in love. I have since found out that there are 2 or 3 within driving distance of the house. Something tells me I will be eating another one before the sun sets today.

*Tone Tahitian Vanilla and Orchid Shower gel. It may sound really flowery, but it smells more fruity and refreshing.

**The Olympics! This opening ceremony was the most incredible thing I have ever seen. Click on the link for some great pictures, but to get the full effect, you really had to see it live. This is the first time I really sat and watched every minute of any Olympics opening ceremony but I couldn't help myself!

**Gap Maternity. They have been having some great sales so on top of their already reasonable prices, I have been able to find some good things for a song. I have been trying to save money because besides having a baby on the way (and I hear those little buggers ain't cheap) I haven't really worked since the spring and so far have nothing definite lined up, so after 1 more check from my Miami agency, there won't be any income coming from my end until I book some maternity jobs. Luckily my belly is starting to cooperate and I should be able to look pregnant enough soon. Then I can really do some shopping!

** Curel Life's Stages nurturing comfort cream. Since I found out I am allergic to cocoa butter and since almost every cream that is meant to prevent stretch marks has cocoa butter, I have been desperately searching for something non-cocoa but still good and I finally found it. Also, the scent is very light and it feels really nice on the belly. Now, does it really prevent stretch marks? Only time will tell but godihopesopleaseworkthankyou.

**Panang Curry and Thom Kha Gai soup. Both are just spicy enough and oh-so-yummy-licious.

**Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Almonds with turbinado and sea salt. If you have a Trader Joe's anywhere near you, run out right now and get these. Perfect combination of the salty and the sweet. I stocked up on these when I was in CA and have been rationing them ever since. I may have to hide the last box from Chris for awhile to ensure we don't run out before one of us gets to NY and can stock up again.
(Yes, I am a freak about rationing food, I am aware of the problem and am working on it. Don't ask about my reaction when Chris ate the last 3 Girl Scout cookies. It wasn't pretty.