Turkey Stock

For Christmas, JM wanted a big turkey dinner. Since he would be the one to cook the bird, I agreed. We had a delicious dinner that night and I decided to try my hand at making homemade turkey stock. I figured it couldn't be that hard, just throw the bones in with some veggies and water and let it cook all day.

Well, up to that point, it was pretty straight forward. It was after that it got to be a little more work. I strained everything from the liquid and let it cool. After leaving it in the fridge overnight, I scrapped off the fat (eww) and poured it into containers. Any one step wasn't too difficult but when you are dealing with such huge pots of often hot liquid, it was hard work. I'm not sure if it was worth it. I got 6.5 quarts of turkey stock that I put in the freezer for later use. We use chicken stock quite a bit, so we'll see how this compares. At the very least I learned something new!

Nursery Reveal

We got the nursery painted and all the furniture put together. We don't have bedding yet (that's Grandma's job) but I wanted to show the pictures of what we have done. We re-painted everything and it was a lot of work to get the three tone done. I have decided that I won't paint base boards again until they are being replaced.

I'm thrilled with how the room turned out. JM likes it too. Sometimes I like to just sit in there. It's so peaceful and quiet right now. It holds all the promise of a new little life just waiting to arrive.

I still want to get some decorations to go in there, but that will come. Once we decide on a name (we haven't yet) I want to put that in vinyl on the top chocolate part. There is only the tiniest part of me that is concerned that we painted the nursery pink. What if it turns out Blanche is a boy? I guess I'll have to send JM home from the hospital to buy blue paint and get to work.

One Month and Counting

Last night we had a conversation that went like this.

JM: Are you ready to have the baby?
Me: For the rest of the child's life, I would not want a Christmas baby, but today, I'd be happy with it.

In honor of such a conversation, I offer you a list of things of things to know you are ready for the baby, Redneck style. (IE- You might be a redneck if...)

You might be ready to have the baby if:

• A regular size bath towel no longer fits around you.
• The doctors at your office are now on their second round of commenting "You sure are getting big."
• You are disappointed every morning to wake up to a dry bed and no contractions.
• Counting down to the due date is more exciting than the countdown to Christmas.
• You are looking forward to working out to get your pre-pregnancy body back.
• Dropping something on the floor means it's going to stay there.
• You can no longer reach across your own body to buckle your seat belt.
• You can't hold your toddler on your lap because it's full of baby.

I'm to the point of being tired of being pregnant. I am not actually ready to have the baby yet - there is still a long to-do list. But being pregnant has lost it's fun.

Sugar Induced Coma

I get excited about Christmas. I love all the stuff going on and the baking. This year the plan was to go light on the neighbor gifts to make my life easier. Instead, I ended up making multiple treats and packing them into cute little boxes. It took me two days to make all the "simple" treats. Granted, each one was fairly easy, but the time commitment adds up when you have a list of 5 treats. I made:

1. Oreo Balls
2. Peppermint Brownies
3. Mini-turtles
4. Carmel & chocolate dipped pretzels sticks
5. Chocolate dipped pretzels

I thought about doing chocolate dipped candy canes too, but I never made it that far. That's ok. It was a bit much for me anyway. JM kept coming into the kitchen and was bewildered by all the treats. He asked if I was trying to share Christmas cheer or induce diabetes for our neighbors. But don't those little boxes look so cute with all the variety!

After making the boxes, there was some leftovers. I ate WAY too many sweets and ended up feeling sick. Good thing there is still more for tomorrow!

He's Baaaaaa-ack

Remember how I had a dream that involved the impressive anatomy of Barack Obama? Well, he appeared again in my dreams the other night. Well, the promise of him anyway.

I dreamt that I was hosting an important diplomat dinner. I have no idea why or how it would come about that I would be hosting such a thing, but in dreams, details like that are irrelevant. I was all kinds of stressed out because everything was taking longer to prepare than I planned. My dad, who was supposed to be grilling the meat was taking a leisurely attitude about starting it. I kept running around telling my family "Barack Obama will be at this dinner!" to stress the importance. No one seemed to appreciate why that should encourage a timely meal preparation. At one point I realized that I hadn't arranged for servers and was mortified that we would have to pass food around the table instead of having a plated meal.

I woke up in the middle of the night feeling really stressed out and had to remind myself that I am not hosting the president in my home anytime soon. When I told JM about the dream, he asked if I knew who the other "diplomats" were that were attending my dinner. I didn't know anyone else, just the president. What exactly does this say about me?

Friday Fragments

Getting kicked from the inside hurts. It hurts even worse when you are getting kicked in the cervix. Ouch!

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BG has started using the word "impressive". It is not uncommon to hear her declare "I am impressive!"

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Do you realize that Christmas is less than two weeks away? I have offically given up on doing Christmas cards this year. I'll just send out a new baby announcement next year and call it good. Neighbor gifts are the next thing to go.

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I don't like the cold. With the weekly highs being in the 20s, it has not been a good week. The worst part is that I can't even make use of my flannel lined pants from last winter. Darn this pregnancy.

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Ever since we told BG about the pregnancy and that Mommy has a baby in her tummy, BG has had a doggie in her tummy. Over the months it has grown to multiple doggies and kitties. A few weeks ago frogs got thrown into this mix. This morning she told there were elephants in her tummy, but just little ones. Should I be concerned about her birthing a zoo one of these days?

One is the lonliness number

Is it just me or do us girls make things too difficult? Like getting together with friends. Why is that if I want a girls night out it requires multiple conversations, emails, and phone calls with a booking many weeks out? When JM wants a night with the guys it involves a 2 text conversation and happens in two days. I may be a little jealous of that.

After a conversation last night that went something like this, it got me to thinking.
JM: Are we doing anything Thursday?
Me: I don't think so. Why?
JM: John invited me over to his house. You ok if I go?
Me: Aren't you guys getting together on Saturday night too?
JM: Yeah, but he lives close and we were going to watch a movie.

Perhaps it's wrong, but this conversation left me a bit miffed. Why isn't it so easy for me to get together with my friends? Are we really that much busier? Do we just make it too hard? Do I just not have good enough friends to have a casual get together on a few days notice? I'm not sure what the reason it, but it's bugging me. It's making me ponder on the effort involved in maintaining a relationship. I think it's important to have girlfriends, but I know those relationships frequently slip down the priority list at an alarming rate. So this is me stating I am going to make a better effort. I am going to work harder to get together with the girls. I am going to try and make new friends. After all, I need some time away too. (If you are in need of another friend, please let me know! I need more too.)

Birth Day

Some women seem to know if their baby will arrive early, late, or right on cue. With BG I had no idea. This time around, I think Blanche might come early. I have been having contractions for several weeks now. My contractions are neither regular nor frequent, but I get them a few times a week. My mom says that means my labor will go quickly. I keep telling Blanche that she cannot come until after the new year.

I have another Dr appointment tomorrow. With this one I will start going every two weeks instead of monthly. When I told JM last night I was excited to go to the doctor this week, he laughed and told me it sounded strange. I do find going comforting. I like hearing her heartbeat and being reassured that everything is going smoothly. I tend to worry otherwise (even without cause).