Scooter's on his/her way!

I figured I might as well blog as I go even though I'm not ready to tell the world about this pregnancy yet. That's what they created time delay for right?

So yes, I'm pregnant and its finally starting to sink in. We had our second bloodtest on Monday (7/26) and the numbers were great, 2616 up from 71 10 days earlier, that's a doubling time of 46.1 hours. Which for the record, is great, they want you to double every 48-72 hours. I have my first ultrasound on Tuesday, 8/3. I'll be 6 weeks and 4 days along and hopefully we'll be able to see a heartbeat at that point

.As you can tell from the post title, we're calling the little one Scooter. We're planning on finding out and sharing the sex, assuming Scooter cooperates, but we're keeping the name to ourselves. The way I figure it there has to be some sort of surprise on the big day, you know? However, since my brother and sister in law just did the same thing, we learned that you have to call the baby something or else someone...like myself...ends up making up names for the baby. So scooter it is! For the record, I'm feeling boy but I've been known to be wrong, although don't tell my husband that.

I feel like things are going well though cause I have all sorts of fun symptoms. I am EXHAUSTED. I mean, I thought I knew tired before this, I was wrong. The struggle to stay conscious from 3:00 on is a very real thing. I truly hope I don't pass out at my desk. I get occasional nausea, but nothing unmanageable so far. And it shows up at all times of the day, mostly in the afternoon though. Triscuits are my new best friend. There are a few others but I'll spare you all the details :o) The biggest issue has been that I'm scared to death. This is all I've ever wanted for umm forever and having it so close to my grasps is a little daunting. I'm doing everything I can to make sure baby is healthy and I'm trying to remember that God's in control and I should just let go. Easy thing for a control freak like myself, ha!

More on Tuesday after the ultrasound.

How am I supposed to concentrate while this is going on?

It is GORGEOUS outside. Sunny, just a slight breeze and 72 degrees. This is the time of year when I lose all ability to concentrate on anything indoors. SPRING!!!! Please pray for me as I try to keep my job, since all I want to do is play. :o)

In other spring news, I have bulbs! Lots of bulbs! I'm so excited, it looks like tulips and daffodils but I guess I'll find out when they bloom. Its a lovely surprise, I was actually thinking of planting some when we first bought the house, now I am so glad I didn't.

SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No TV day 1

So I'm back from my vacation. It was so nice to have time alone with my Mom but I must say, I was a bit disappointed with the cruise. Just a bit, but still, its the mouse! I expected them to blow it out of the water. Figuratively of course :o) Perhaps I'll get into that at another date, but for now...

I had a great day! Holy snikes you can get a lot done when you're not stuck to the boob tube! I'm really enjoying this so far. My kitchen is sparkling, honestly I don't know if its ever been this clean. I took care of an errand for my cousin, took the dogs for a walk, weeded the garden, and made dinner. Honestly, if I wasn't TV free, I probably would have just vegged all day. This is much better! Now I just need to get my suitcase unpacked, I'm such a lazy bum.

Oh and the books! I've been a reading fiend for the past week and I LOVE IT. I forgot how wonderful it can be to lose yourself in a book. Now its off to bed to see what tomorrow brings. Ciao peeps!

Okay already, I get it!

Do you ever have times in your life where the same lesson keeps popping up over and over and over again? Lately God seems to be beating me about the head with something and it all finally crystallized for me last night.

Some background: I am a TV junkie. I don't even want to calculate how many hours I spend watching TV in a week because I very well could vomit when I see the number. But know this, I'm quite sure its horrifying. While I love great dramas, classics, documentaries, cooking shows, comedies; my favorite brand is reality TV. It started with american idol and went down hill from there. It just completely feeds into my need to know everything about everyone.

On Monday night I watched the Bachelor finale and while I don't think it tops Jason for smut, Jake certainly did his part to continue the long line of picking the pretty girl who is completely wrong for you (although calling Vienna pretty with that horrid blonde hair is a stretch, she should totally go with her natural color, it looked lovely from the roots and fits her complexion better) <<< See that? That snarkiness that quite literally just spilled from my fingers? This is why God is talking to me!

So anyway, last night for some reason instead of going straight to my list of recorded tv candy, I checked out the guide. Lo and behold, To Kill A Mockingbird is on. My favorite all time book, and a darn good movie! So cousin and I settle in to watch. WOW not a good moive, a great movie. Themes of love and family, understanding and the human condition. Of prejudice and pride, of sacrifice, of justice, of respect. The whole time I'm watching I'm thinking about how much more I am getting out of this experience compared to last night.

And then all the conversations and readings from the recent past  just start flooding my brain

• The conversation with a co-worker about quality programming and how many truly great shows there are right now, and how I watch ALL of them and more
• The blog of a mother who almost lost her son and how she's choosing to focus on not just the good things in life, but the best things. The eternal things. 
• Story after story of folks who live their life without tv
• Prayers to God to show me how to better myself, how to make myself worthy to be called Mom 
• My desire to give up something for lent, but having no clue what to do 

I have better things to do with my short time on this earth. So dun dun dun dah! I've decided to give up TV for a month, starting when I get back from vacation. (I am considering an American idol exemption, its only on once!) And after that, I'm limiting myself to 14 hrs a week, and I'm going to try to only watch shows that make me better in some way.

I'm both scared and excited. A lot of the time Hubs and I spend together is in front of the tv, and I'm not sure how he's going to take to losing his tv buddy. I'm more excited than anything, cause think of all the time I'm freeing up! All the books I can read! My house will be so clean!

Honestly, I feel like God has spoken to me, and to not listen would be disobedient. So I'm doing this thing, regardless of my feelings and I'm sure its the right path. What do you guys think? Anyone have any sort of experience here? Great book suggestions? Want to do lunch? I'll have time...

Bringing you up to speed

In chronological order:

• We found a house
• We bought a house
• My cousin Morgan came to stay with us (initially while she looked for a place, but people who want to rent rooms are CREEPY, so she's here indefinitely)
• We moved into said house on Dec 5th, during which we got 5 inches of snow
• Moved in for two weeks when snowpocalypse hit, 18" of snow- I still thought snow was fun at this point
• My parents came in for Christmas AND we had all the family Christmas's at my house, in-laws, my fam, my mom's extended fam- all within a 24hr period. All having just moved in 3 weeks earlier. I've since recovered my brain cells and will not be doing that again.
• January is a blur, I did a lot of unpacking and decompressing from the homebuying experience. There was also more snow. 
• In early February snowmaggedon hit, dumping a full 2 ft of snow. Then three days later, 12 more inches. I think I left the house twice in a week. I still had to work from home. It was lame. I now break out into tears and hide in a corner whenever I see snow in the forecast.
• Hubs turned 34! I got a migraine and he spent all day taking care of me. (Boo to that) I tried to make it up to him by making red velvet cake from scratch. Epic fail. At least his sheperd's pie turned out well.
• Snow is melting, Kristen is happier.

I reserve the right to blog about any and all of these events in detail at a later date. I also have some new recipes to post,  which are bangin. We also found mold on our pantry ceiling, discovered the leak that was causing it and determined that we need a second heatpump put in to effectively heat and cool our home but I'm blocking the chronological order of these events cause they make my head hurt.

Also, my husband has decided to caulk everything in our house, which is great, except he refuses to learn the right way to apply it, so its messy. And he thinks rope caulk is God's gift, so he uses it almost everywhere. Including the baseboards. (This might not sound like a big deal, but let me explain. Rope caulk is like putty, which means its slightly tacky. We have four animals in our house. So I have a grey, messy, tacky line along the perimeter of every room that is now teeming with fur) Sigh. I love him. I love that he's trying to make things better. If anyone has any tips on how I can focus more on the effort he's making and not the hours of work that his "help" is making for me I would really appreciate it. I feel like this is a skill will become an acute need once motherhood comes calling.

Okay, I pinky swear to blog more often than once every 6 months. Next weekend I'm heading to the Carribean for a Disney cruise with my Mommy! We plan to dominate all Disney trivia competitions, get a tan, and majorly relax. Hopefully that will provide some good blog fodder :o) Until then peeps!

Househunting sucks or alternately titled Buyer's Market my foot

Hubs and I have embarked on the glorious journey that is buying your first home. As a military brat, I know a little bit about househunting or so I thought. I had been looking online for months and there were plenty of places that fit our price range and our area. So we went in bright eyed and bushy tailed, full of hopes that our experience would be different from all our friends. We would find the perfect place and find it easily.

WRONG.

Oh so wrong. When my SIL asked if I had cried yet, I thought she was exaggerating. Surely it couldn't be that bad. Oh it is. Why? Because sure, there are houses on the market but 95% are short sales and apparently no one realizes that a short sale actually benefits the seller by NOT making you go in foreclosure and ruining your credit for years! So people trash places and frankly, apparently a lot of people take pretty crappy care of their houses to begin with. Theresa on Real Housewives of New Jersey said on the show in explanation of why they were building "I just schkeev looking at other peoples houses". I thought she was a princess. I apologize Theresa, I totally get it now. People are gross.

The houses that are acceptable have multiple bidders before I can even call my realtor to look at them. Maybe in some parts of the country the buyer is king, but around DC my friend, that is a joke. I truly believe at this point that if (no, no positive thinking! When!) when we find our house it will proof of a loving God. Divine intervention is my last hope.

Crab-tastic

Crab is delicious. I would eat it everyday if I could. I got a great deal on some pasteurized crab meat so I bought 4 pounds. FYI, pasteurized crab lasts for like 8 months in the fridge so when it goes on sale I stock up.  I am a huge fan of Chicken of the Sea backfin. It has huge chunks of crab meat, is cheaper than jumbo lump and I have never found a shell. No, seriously, never. If you've ever dealt with fresh crab meat you know how crazy that is.

Anywho, I used the first pound to make crab cake benedict, which is one of my absolute favorite foods. (Picture eggs benedict, then swap the canadian bacon for a crab cake. Mmm hmmm, divine) I mean, crab covered in hollandaise? What could possibly be wrong with that?! Tonight I'm doing surf and turf cause we're having company for dinner. I use the same crab cake recipe for both meals.

Crab Cakes
1 lb fresh crabmeat (As I mentioned, I prefer backfin)
1/2 c mayo
2 Tbs Dijon mustard
1-2 tsp lemon juice (I'm sorry, I don't measure. Start with one and taste it, does it need more lemon? However, its hard to go overboard with lemon and crab)
1/2 tsp worstershire sauce
~1/2 tsp Old Bay (to taste, no substitutes here though!)
~1/2c bread crumbs (either panko or fresh that you dry out in a 200 degree oven for ~8 minutes)

Mix all ingredients but crab together in the bottom of a bowl. Drain and pick through crab removing any shells (if necessary, see Chicken of the Sea above :o) Gently fold crab meat and filling together, trying not break up the crab meat. It should hold together somewhat, if not, add a bit more mayo, like a tablespoon. Divide into four parts and form into crab cakes about an inch think.

Preheat a non-stick skillet to medium/ medium-high. Coat bottom of skillet in olive oil (~2-3 Tbs). Gently place in crab cakes and cook for 3-4 minutes per side. Bottom should be dark brown (Lift whole crab cake out of pan on slotted spatula and look under neath, don't try to lift up side to peek) Flip and cook 3 minutes on other side. Serve immediately.

If I'm going benedict style, I make a blender hollandaise.

Blender Hollandaise
3 egg yolks
1tsp lemon juice
pinch of cayenne pepper
large pinch of salt
1/2 c butter, melted and piping hot (I nuke for 1.5 to 2 minutes)

Add everything but butter to blender and blend for 30 seconds on whip setting (high). While blender is still on, add butter to blender. Mix for 15-20 seconds. Taste for seasoning. Add a bit of water if too thick. Serve immediately.



As much as I like crab cakes though, one of those pounds of crab meat absolutely has crab rangoon written allllll over it. I've been craving these lovelies for a hot minute now. When I first figured out the recipe (My bestie Wezi made them once and I had to figure out a recipe) my sister in law and I probably made it a dozen times between the two of us, in about the span of 3 months. It rocks. You bake the rangoons rather than fry them so you can feel less guilty as you shovel them into your face! Its a pretty easy recipe as far as difficulty, but it is labor intensive so if you've got a buddy to help, grab them. Don't worry, there's plenty to share.

Baked Crab Rangoon
8oz crabmeat (I use fresh, but canned would still be yummy)
8oz cream cheese (I use light)
2 Tbs mayo (I use light)
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp worstershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
5 scallions minced, white only
1 pkg wonton skins
1/4 c butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix together all ingredients but wonton skins and butter. Get a plate and a small bowl of water. Take one wonton skin and put about a teaspoon of the filling in the center. Dip your finger in water and wet the edges of the wonton. Pull the corners of the wonton to the center, sealing all edges together into a pyramid shape. (I'll get pictures up the next time I make this!) Place onto a cookie sheet and repeat until you use all filling. Using a pastry brush, brush butter on each wonton. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges are browned and crispy. Serve with duck sauce or just all by themselves.