I have so much to share with y’all but I’ve been kind of distracted lately. I did promise to share my hcg quant counts, so here they are:

7/2: 9984

7/7: 17671

7/9: 22392

Apparently the numbers are supposed to double every 72 hours with a healthy, viable pregnancy. They aren’t doing that. So, though the doctor seems relaxed about it, I’m not completely. I know it’s just a waiting game, but it’s frustrating. I’m ok with the outcome either way… I AM! But I just don’t understant why, if this babe isn’t going to happen, WHY does it take so long for the pregnancy to end? I’m not assuming the worst. I’m just sayin. I don’t know what I’m sayin. I guess I’d be happy if I had some nausea. Some vomiting. Some sore boobs. Some doubling numbers. Some something. Throw me a friggin’ bone here!

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In other news, do you remember the comforter drama I had earlier this year? Here’s a recap if you wanted one. Long story short, I lost money/battled with the eBay seller/spit and cursed at PayPal… and… finally… had to humble myself. I went and bought an ugly comforter at WalMart. But it worked and went alright with the colors in my rug and wall pictures. Well guess what!?

I took the fargin’ comforter to the laundry mat the other day. I wash it once a month. Then I bring the wet comforter home and hang it on my clothesline. Anyhooo, I dropped the comforter off, took the kids to McDonalds for lunch, came back to get the comforter an hour later, and… low and behold… some asswipe stole my wet ugly ass WalMart comforter right from out of the machine! Who would do that!? That’s some ghetto shit for ya! I mean, I’m glad it wasn’t expensive or anything. But still. It was MINE, ugly or not. Jeremy said he was glad someone took it because it was so fug. Guess he won’t mind me dippin’ into that paycheck next week to buy something non-fug? I like shopping.

I think I have bad comforter karma though. Wouldn’t you agree?

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I can’t get an Obama bumper sticker for my car anywhere. I could order one online but I’m just too impatient. So I took that big ol’ Expedition to the car wash and cleaned her up. Then I painted on her! So, in case you were wondering… I’m voting for Obama! I get lots of happy beeps and waves while driving my Obama Mama Gas Guzzlin’ Wagon. Who knew a bit of window paint would make people so friendly?

Bad news is? My car broke down at the park (25 miles from my house AND my mechanic) today. So, I’m hoping that the same hoodlum that stole my blanket isn’t Anti-Obama (not that anyone is; how could you not like the guy?). Otherwise I might find my car vandalized on top of having my blanket stolen! I can’t get my car towed until tomorrow and the windows won’t roll up. Makes it kind of easy for a vandal or theif, huh? I just hope they steal the fargin’ thing and drive it into the river. I’ve put more money into that gas guzzlin’ lemon than I’d even want to admit.

Someone send me a Toyota Prius Angel. PLEASE?

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Want some good news though? We went to the Albuquerque Zoo over the weekend and had a BLAST! I’ll have to share more pictures and tales in my next post though, it’s time for me to make dinner. But, Bella got Llama kisses and Nooskers and I got to ride a camel! How awesome is that!? The Llama, Angel, was sweet enough to squeeze! And the look on Noah’s face in that camel picture is PRICELESS! Full of the most intense joy! Maybe I should trade the Expedition for a camel?

More to come… And I promise I won’t be whining in the next post!

Above is an earthship picture I found while searching for images on Google. It’s not at all what I imagine our home looking like (I can do without the space look. I’m a shabby chic girl), but I just love the concept of a home that is self sustainable, and an earthship is just that.

One of my more recent interests is buying some dessert property near my home. It’s a great time to buy and it’s always super cheap to buy dessert property anyways. I want Jeremy and I to have the option of retiring at 55, and that may not be as possible if we’re still chipping away at this 30 year mortgage (28.5 years now–YAYYY!) and IF we don’t have to refi at any point. Our Earthship would be more of a “hobby” of sorts for us– something we could spend weekends building– we could use extra money here and there to do different stages of building, rather than taking out a big loan– we could build it OURSELVES, and out of recycled and cheap materials– we could take 10 years to build it, if need be, because we wouldn’t be in a hurry to live in it– It would be a bonding family project! When it’s all done, whether 5 or 10 years, we could move in and have absolutely NO expenses! No electricity bills, no gas bills, no nada.

If I do it again, I want to build from the ground up– a home that is perfect for us and our needs. That’s why I was excited to hear about the House Plans from houseplansandmore.com. You can find the perfect house plan to suit your needs. An Earthship is what I had in mind for us, but if I were looking for a more traditional home I could find an endless resource for lovely homes through houseplansandmore.com!

Their site claims, “Our goal at House Plans and More is to help you find your dream home plan that incorporates every architectural design feature you need to make your new home highly functional for your lifestyle.” You can search for that perfect home by square footage, number of bed/bath rooms, price, etc., and find a variety of home building resources and helpful tools all in one convenient website organized to make your home plan search simple and easy.

Whether you are interested in house styles such as Southern Plantation, Log home plans, Santa Fe, Rustic, Cabins, or Ranch style homes, you will undoubtedly find what you are looking in Home Plans at houseplansandmore.com. If you aren’t interested in finding house plans, you can also use the site to find shed, garage, and backyard project plans! But you don’t have to take my word for it, waste no time and visit houseplansandmore.com for yourself!

Yesterday was Noah’s 2nd birthday and we spent the whole day celebrating him. Celebrating the amazing, gorgeous, funny, silly, sweet, crazy boy that he is. So much personality… and spunk… and fun… and, hello?!!! GORGEOUSNESS! All wrapped up into one human being!? Proof enough that there’s a God and that he loves me something fierce!

As we made our way through the day, I took my time. I observed every little thing he did. I made sure to hold my breath after every little nasally giggle, every little spontaneous kiss, every time he mimicked the sound of a car, every enunciation, every glance that he sent my way, the way his slobbery cool-aid moustached lips moved when he said my name. It’s all a blessing. It’s over so quickly too. I want to clench his littleness, squeeze it, hold it still. I want him always to fit in my arms, even if he always wriggles and works to run free and wild. Oh, how I love him, from the depths of my being. He is my heart. My baby. My sweet Noah Quincy.

Summer 2006

Birthday boy 2007

Noah and his best friend, Ben, summer 2006

Noah and Ben, summer 2008

Happy 2nd Birthday, Nooskers!

Day 2 on the Chicken & Cabbage soup diet is down. It’s terribly easy! I have lost 2 pounds, but am happy with that result since I have altered the recipe by adding chicken breast. I did a fantastic job of seasoning, so I think that is what helps. I actually look forward to getting hungry so that I can eat some more!

I got to have a baked potato with a bit of butter tonight, which was wonderful. Tomorrow I can have fruits again, so I’m happy about that. I got some cherries, apples, and grapes– yumm. I’m not hungry at all and haven’t had a bit of weakness, stomach troubles, or anything. And have I mentioned how much I LOVE CABBAGE!?

I’m thinking I might not quit the diet after 1 week. I think I’d gain all the weight back if I did. The diet recommends only doing it for 1 week and then breaking for a week. But I think that adding the chicken diminishes any nutritional concerns about doing the diet for longer than a week. We’ll see though. I might have to change the recipe quite a bit to stomach eating soup for another week. And it’s all easy to speculate about since I’m only on day 2. After another 5 days of cabbage soup (even with chicken) I may want to puke at the thought of eating cabbage ever again.

It all boils down to one thing: Diets are impossible. You have to change your habits. Diets can be unhealthy if you aren’t mindful. And eating the same thing for longer than a few days is tough. But I try to remember that there are hungry people all over the world who would LOVE to eat my cabbage chicken soup for a few weeks. People less fortunate than I are eating much less agreeable things. Being a spoiled American might make this type of diet hard– goodness knows I love me some Twinkies and Raspberry filled Donuts. But this diet is certainly not going to be the challenge of my lifetime.

And lastly, it’s kind of fun knowing there’s someone out there that I know that’s doing the diet (or lifestyle change) too. My friend Sophia is going to give it a go starting next week. Maybe we can encourage one another along! Good luck, Sophia! I forgot to mention that adding 1 package of dried onion soup mix, a cup of salsa, a tad bit of red peps (for the spicey taste), rosemary, and 2 bay leaves made the soup the BOMB DIGGITY!

I let out a few cabbage poots today. It’s inevitable when you eat cabbage. Farts are funny. At least my farts are funny, I don’t know about yours.
Jeremy’s reaction when he walked into the room I passed gas in?

“Dang! Women aren’t supposed to smell like that! You smell like the ass end of a cabbage monster.”

Funny! I guess next time I’ll aim for smelling more feminine when I toot.