Now We're Cooking!

I don't know if it's my pregnancy nestiness or hormone-induced domesticity or my holiday happiness or what, but I have been inclined to cook twice in the past three days now. This is unique and rare, so I'm going with the flow.

On Tuesday evening, before my in-laws arrived from Rochester on the late flight, I made a cheese and spinach strata. For real! I saw a recipe on one of the blogs I read, Smitten Kitchen, and I actually made it that very same night. I even added bacon and kale, for extra flavor and nutrition! And it was pretty tasty the next morning for my mother- and father-in-law's breakfast. Even Jon declared it a success, which is a rarity indeed.

And tonight, I plan to make a lasagne. I know, right? What the hell is up with me? I don't know, but like I said, I'm just going with it. And I plan to add bacon and kale again, because it sounds good to me just now.

In closing, check out this video message from Santa that I did online. My sister found it and made them for her own girls and sent it on to me -- it's fast, free and really great for kids who still believe in ol' Santy Pants. Finn was really tickled by it. If you have kids or know kids or know someone who thinks like a kid, I recommend putting your own video message together -- it takes about 10 minutes:

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/313be18be5cf61f6c2e801e6a813b42d

Happy holidays to each and every one. Even the grumpy ones.

Update: VW vs. Angry Pregnant Chick (1, 0)

VW of America responded to my complaint about the Jetta we bought and then had to drop $300 into 5 days later as well as the lack of concern or response from the dealership. They said they had contacted the dealership and that I should expect a reply ASAP. And here's what I got from the dealership:

I believe you have been trying to get hold of someone at the dealership.I apologize that know body has got back to you. Obviously we don't like problems occurring with a car at anytime.However this was one of our budget cars and I cannot contribute to your repair bill.

M*thereffer. Just as I expected -- a big fat load of nobody gives a damn. He couldn't even be bothered to spell correctly. So I wrote back:

That's fine, I understand you cannot contribute to the bill -- it has long since been taken care of, anyway. The issue is the dealership's deplorable customer service. All you or [the other &*^#@#@^%] had to do was let me know in a timely fashion that you were not able to assist me. After several emails back and forth over two months' time, I was simply ignored, not only by him but by yourself.
We are planning to trade in our current SUV and purchase a new vehicle in 2010 and I can guarantee it will not be from your dealership. I am also sending copies of all the emails to the heads of your dealership -- as a family-owned business, they should be aware of how their clients are treated, no matter the cost or state of the vehicle.

I'm not done yet. VW of America emailed again this morning to ask if I had received a satisfactory response from the dealership. Well, I am not satisfied. I am highly dissatisfied and significantly pissed off.

I have the energy for one final attack and then I'm out. Will keep you posted.

Oh Baby...

We had our ultrasound this morning -- Jon and Finn both came with me. And...

It's a boy! Finn gets his wish for a brother! ("Because girls can't play baseball," he said, to which both the ultrasound tech and I chided, "That's not true!")


Look at that sweet little face... and all that other weird junk in there....

Happy happy. My little harem now includes one husband, two sons and two boy cats. All is how it should be.

Christmas Stalemate

My list is long and my desire to cross stuff off the list is waning.

Not even an icy cold Coca-Cola can renew my interest in, oh, cleaning out the bathroom closet, hanging strings of lights, reengaging in battle with the post office (closed? honestly? today?), wrapping gifts, blah blah blah...

My tummy feels extra huge today, even though just yesterday someone told me I don't look pregnant at all. Well, I am. And I feel it today.

And then two holiday parties later this afternoon.

Tired.

I know what will help: "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle alllll the wayyyy! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh -- hey!" Hmmm... it seems to have worked! OK, back to it. Let the wrapping, cleaning and decorating commence. Again.

Food Update

Breakfast: 2 squares of cold pizza and prenatal vitamins

Lunch: fajitas and a Coca-Cola

Mid-afternoon snack: chocolate, cookies, candy. Love the holidays.

Dinner: Not sure yet... we're taking Finn out after his basketball game (his team is called the Dragons, but per Jon, they should be called The Kittens Who Will Not Be Herded), so I imagine dinner will involve a place with a kids' menu that features mac and cheese or corn dogs. I'm thinking salad for Mommy. Seriously. It's been a rough week, what with all the bacon, chocolate and other stuff.

Fluffhead

My brain has a mind of its own these days. I am a pregnant mess -- I forget stuff, I am redundant, I delete stuff by accident, I leave stuff in weird places, I forget stuff, I am hypersensitive and I cry a lot. Silly Baby, give me back my-- my--- shoot, my whatchoocallit, my... conscientiousness. Is that even a word? I have no idea. Just give it back, whatever it is.


* So, first, thanks to Brandy and Bridget for leaving comments about my last post. I enjoyed them so much that I promptly deleted them. Whoopsie.

* Sorry to my brother for getting snippy about kids' holiday gifts. But can I still blame it on the other brother? Thanks.

* If I leave my purse at work, 25 miles from my home, once more this week, I am going to go completely mad. It is saving me from needless stops at McDonald's, though, so that's a plus.

* Why? Why did I put the TV remote control in a kitchen drawer? Maybe Baby is trying to tell me that we watch too much television.

* Thanks to Jon for letting me cry on him while he sleeps. I can cry at just about anything these days and it's nice to have a solid, warm, snoring person to snot all over.

* I give thanks for the New Seasons Market mere blocks from my house, so when I'm making cookies at 9 p.m. and I realize I've forgotten the key ingredient even though it was the first item on my grocery list, I can zip down there and back in 15 minutes.

* Hang on while I go have a little cry... OK, I'm back. I feel better.

* That's all I've got.

Mind Wanderings...

My head is all over the place today, flitting from one topic to -- hey, did I ever tell you about -- so there you go.

* The house I grew up in was built by my great-great grandparents in the 1850s and it's been occupied by one generation of ancestors after another. My sister and her family lives there now. Many births and deaths have occurred inside its walls, which leads to the inevitable: ghosts. I myself don't seem to be open to seeing spirits, which is how I like it. Many others, however, have seen interesting stuff in our house. Usually it's my Great-Great-Grandmother, going about her business and generally leaving well enough alone (except that time when she kept kissing my nephew when all he wanted to do was take a nap). But this morning, something weird happened -- my brother-in-law was up early at 5:30am and he saw my sister come through the office, stop in front of the TV, look him straight in the eye and leave. Except my sister was snuggled up warm in bed the whole time. So weird! She swears she wasn't sleepwalking. Weird weird weird.

* Tomorrow is our office cookie exchange and this year's theme is BACON. Yeahhhhh. I'm going to attempt to adapt a receipt for oatmeal-caramel bars with the addition of tiny bits of bacon inside. They will either kick ass or suck it. Excuse me for my potty mouth. I will let you know how they turn out.

* I am in the midst of a passive-agressive battle with the VW dealership from which I bought my latest Jetta. Long story short, I was unhappy with the customer service, then had to put $300 into the car for a repair 5 days after purchase, so I filled out a survey VW sent me about my concerns. The dealership sales manager called me that day to ask what they could do to help out, I suggested they help defray the cost of the repair, he said "we'll see what we can do" and that is basically the last I heard from him, despite repeated emails. That was one month ago. So I went straight to the top -- I just filled out a customer service survey with Volkswagen of America and I am taking no prisoners. Do not mess with a pregnant chick, yo. We'll see what happens. I am imagining a big fat load of nothing will happen, but we'll see.

* This weekend will be spent decorating, cleaning and decorating. My most-excellent in-laws are headed our way for two whole weeks, after just having to put down their most-excellent dog due to age-related health issues. So I want their time here to be a relaxing and enjoyable vacation away from home for the holidays. Even with a 5-year-old around.

* Speaking of dogs, on a lighter note, many years ago, a co-worker mailed out holiday cards of her husband, herself and their dog -- a touching holiday scene, no? Except that the dog's, er, situation was front and center, if you know what I mean. It was impossible to miss. And I'm pretty sure the humans were wearing Christmas sweaters, too, without a stitch of irony.

* Finn's latest obsession is a show called "Ninja Warrior," a Japanese gameshow about contestants managing an obstacle course. When asked recently who his favorite athlete is, he answered, "Shingo Yamamoto." Forget Donovan McNabb or Ryan Howard -- it's all about the ninja warriors now.