What's the point of scented tampons? Anyone?
I ran to CVS the other day to pick up some tampons and somehow in my crampy, PMS-craving induced haze I accidentally picked up a box of "scented" tampons instead of the usual unscented variety. My mind was focused on locating some Kettle Corn, people, not spending time in the feminine hygenine aisle! This is not the first time. Does this happen to anyone else?
The problem is that all of the boxes, even across varying brands, are very similar in size, shape, and color. The only thing that differentiates the various choices of tampons is a tiny little colored swooshy ribbon thing that says, "regular" or "super" or "scented". Annoying.
So after locating the regulars apparently I just grabbed a box without examining the darn label with a mircoscope and accidentally picked up the scented variety.
Someone please explain to me why it is necessary to have tampons that smell of cheap, flowery perfume. There's no situation in which I want any part of my body smelling like that. It would be way cooler if there were options like vanilla chai scented tampons, or strawberries and champagne scented tampons.
But seriously, if you're in a situation where inserting scent into your lady bits is necessary it's probably something you should get looked at. I think it's fairly common knowledge now that scented tampons are even worse for your body than the regular variety. Let's campaign for companies to do away with them altogether so this sort of confusion doesn't have to happen, mmmkay?
For the record, I'm still going to be using them because I'm too cheap to throw out a perfectly good box of (stinky, perfume smelling) tampons, which have already been opened.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
A Better Way to Bacon
As mentioned previously, I despise cooking bacon. Grease gets everywhere, it takes forever, you have to babysit it the whole time, it often doesn't cook evenly, and it leaves a lingering grease smell that drives me nuts for days afterwards! Because of this, I rarely make it. This is good for my waistline, but bad for my taste buds! I would like to partake in bacon every now and again, but it usually has to be some sort of special occasion before I'll make it.
Well, I tried a new method for Father's Day brunch and it is SO MUCH EASIER! And I didn't get the lingering smell problem!
What did I do? I baked it in the oven!
Here's how:
- I lined a baking sheet (I guess you'd call it a jelly roll pan, the kind with sides) with foil.
- I arranged the bacon on the sheet (It's okay if the strips are touching or slightly overlapping as they'll shrink during the cooking process). I was able to get a full pound of center cut bacon on my large baking sheet.
- I popped the baking sheet into a preheated 375 degree oven and baked for 15 minutes. Then, I used tongs to flip over each piece of bacon and baked for another 15 minutes. (We like our bacon crispy, for less crisp I would suggest flipping after 10-12 minutes and only cooking another 10-12 minutes before pulling it.)
- Then, I pulled the baking sheet out of the oven and placed the pieces of bacon onto a plate layered with paper towels to drain as usual.
Clean up was a breeze! All I had to do was allow the baking sheet to cool and then I was able to crumble the foil up and throw it away. The bacon came out nice and crispy, evenly cooked, AND each piece was nice and straight and didn't get curled or bent like it sometimes does when fried in a pan! Not to mention it frees up your attention and pans to do other things.
Not only was this a lot easier and take a lot less time with better results, but since the grease was contained and smoke wasn't floating out into my kitchen there was no lingering, stale bacon smell for days afterwards!
Hallelujah! It's a revelation!
Oven fried bacon: good for my taste buds, bad for my arteries!
Well, I tried a new method for Father's Day brunch and it is SO MUCH EASIER! And I didn't get the lingering smell problem!
What did I do? I baked it in the oven!
Here's how:
- I lined a baking sheet (I guess you'd call it a jelly roll pan, the kind with sides) with foil.
- I arranged the bacon on the sheet (It's okay if the strips are touching or slightly overlapping as they'll shrink during the cooking process). I was able to get a full pound of center cut bacon on my large baking sheet.
- I popped the baking sheet into a preheated 375 degree oven and baked for 15 minutes. Then, I used tongs to flip over each piece of bacon and baked for another 15 minutes. (We like our bacon crispy, for less crisp I would suggest flipping after 10-12 minutes and only cooking another 10-12 minutes before pulling it.)
- Then, I pulled the baking sheet out of the oven and placed the pieces of bacon onto a plate layered with paper towels to drain as usual.
Clean up was a breeze! All I had to do was allow the baking sheet to cool and then I was able to crumble the foil up and throw it away. The bacon came out nice and crispy, evenly cooked, AND each piece was nice and straight and didn't get curled or bent like it sometimes does when fried in a pan! Not to mention it frees up your attention and pans to do other things.
Not only was this a lot easier and take a lot less time with better results, but since the grease was contained and smoke wasn't floating out into my kitchen there was no lingering, stale bacon smell for days afterwards!
Hallelujah! It's a revelation!
Oven fried bacon: good for my taste buds, bad for my arteries!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Happy Father's Day!
Or... week : )
I didn't get around to posting ON Father's Day as we were busy per usual! We celebrated with brunch made lovingly by me - breakfast casserole (I even cooked bacon, which I loathe, but it wasn't so bad this time. More on this later!), toast, and mimosas! And I gave this picture to Mark, framed for his desk at work:
Isn't he cute?! Jack was a great model and it only took a 1/2 hour and probably 50 shots to get something useable since Little Man only wants to wiggle around now, kicking his feet at lightning speed and flailing his arms like a drowning man! But he was a good sport as you can see. I did have to turn to YouTube to figure out how to knot a tie and as you can see it's not perfect, but all in all I think we did a pretty good job!
So, happy Father's Day to the best daddy and husband there is!
A hands-on dad who changed diapers in the hospital before I did. Patiently nursed me back to health after an unplanned c-section all while taking the lion's share responsibility for caring for our newborn when I couldn't. Someone who learned about breastfeeding along with me in the hospital and helped me try to succeed; standing over Jack and I, helping to adjust a latch or keeping our days old baby awake and interested in suckling, and researching nursing problems when we encountered them.
A daddy who never complains about giving baths, changing diapers, putting baby to bed, or getting up during the night for a feeding. A husband who has taken
A father who knows how hard it is to care for an infant because he shares in the responsibility and joys alongside me.
A provider who goes out everyday even when I know he's tired or frustrated with work so that he can earn money to take care of the necessities while I stay home and care for our little boy.
Thank you for being the best dad and husband, which encourages me to be a better mother to this precious gift you have given me: our son.
We love you!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Temporary Insanity: RAGE!
Let me set the scene for you:
11:45am. Jack is fussy because he's ready for a nap. I'm checking the clock and mentally calculating that if I can get him down for a nap soon he can sleep for about an hour before we have to leave the house to go to the park to meet a friend.
As Jack slowly drifts off to sleep while I'm rocking him my mind is already racing with all the tasks I will fit in to the hour that he's sleeping. I will eat lunch with two hands! Put in a 2nd load of laundry. Stuff the diapers that have been sitting in the dryer for 2 days and now have relocated to a laundry basket. Brush my teeth. Get the diaper bag ready to go. Get me ready to go. And maybe even have time to check my email.
Right at the point where I think Jack might be asleep enough so that I can put him down, the dog barks. Not just a little bark. A loud, continuous, going ballistic kind of bark.
Surely she's barking because our house is being broken into and she's trying to save our lives. At the very least a stranger must be approaching the house! No. No, she's barking because she's a barky dog and has a squirrel in her sights that's frolicking in our front yard.
At that moment, I buy into the concept of temporary insanity. If I wasn't holding a now awake, crying baby I might just cross the room to kill the dog at this point.
Now, of course I would never harm my animal, but I must admit at moments like this I do have images of wringing her neck cartoon-style so that we can finally have some peace and quiet! Grrr!
Honestly, I don't think there's a jury of my peers (SAHMs of infants with barky dogs <-- we should have a club) in the world who would convict me.
Funny thing, I am now beginning to understand why my own mother was never a fan of our family dog while I was growing up. However, it should be noted that Beau (a black lab that we had from the time he was a puppy til he had to be put down at the age of 13) was MUCH more well behaved than my beast of a mutt.
11:45am. Jack is fussy because he's ready for a nap. I'm checking the clock and mentally calculating that if I can get him down for a nap soon he can sleep for about an hour before we have to leave the house to go to the park to meet a friend.
As Jack slowly drifts off to sleep while I'm rocking him my mind is already racing with all the tasks I will fit in to the hour that he's sleeping. I will eat lunch with two hands! Put in a 2nd load of laundry. Stuff the diapers that have been sitting in the dryer for 2 days and now have relocated to a laundry basket. Brush my teeth. Get the diaper bag ready to go. Get me ready to go. And maybe even have time to check my email.
Right at the point where I think Jack might be asleep enough so that I can put him down, the dog barks. Not just a little bark. A loud, continuous, going ballistic kind of bark.
Surely she's barking because our house is being broken into and she's trying to save our lives. At the very least a stranger must be approaching the house! No. No, she's barking because she's a barky dog and has a squirrel in her sights that's frolicking in our front yard.
At that moment, I buy into the concept of temporary insanity. If I wasn't holding a now awake, crying baby I might just cross the room to kill the dog at this point.
Now, of course I would never harm my animal, but I must admit at moments like this I do have images of wringing her neck cartoon-style so that we can finally have some peace and quiet! Grrr!
Honestly, I don't think there's a jury of my peers (SAHMs of infants with barky dogs <-- we should have a club) in the world who would convict me.
Funny thing, I am now beginning to understand why my own mother was never a fan of our family dog while I was growing up. However, it should be noted that Beau (a black lab that we had from the time he was a puppy til he had to be put down at the age of 13) was MUCH more well behaved than my beast of a mutt.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Lookie!
I added a "contact me" button beneath my picture! Not that anyone particularly needs or necessarily WANTS to contact me, but I love to have the option when I visit other blogs so I figured it would be nice to add to my own! It took me some playing around (admittedly I'm not very tech-savvy), but it's there now! Feel free to try it out : )
And also, I added a little "follow me on Twitter" button a while back. I just signed up for Twitter a few weeks ago after a long time of not understanding the hype. Well, I still don't get the hype, but again I like to see posts from bloggers I like so I wanted to give that option. I can't say that I have anything interesting to post on Twitter though. At least not until I really figure out the point of it!
And also, I added a little "follow me on Twitter" button a while back. I just signed up for Twitter a few weeks ago after a long time of not understanding the hype. Well, I still don't get the hype, but again I like to see posts from bloggers I like so I wanted to give that option. I can't say that I have anything interesting to post on Twitter though. At least not until I really figure out the point of it!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
A Hidden Cost of Parenthood
When I was pregnant people had lots of warnings to share with me. I heard all about the horrors of parenthood: sleepless nights, crying baby, loveless marriages, the end of your life. It's actually amazing anyone voluntarily has kids with all the negative stuff people were intent on preaching to me about! Can we say scary?!
Let me just debunk the aforementioned rumors while I'm here - parenthood is a privilege. Minus the first 2 weeks which were very life altering and a challenge to get through, I have nothing negative to report. I know that I'm lucky in that, but I can't help but feel that people often over exaggerate while lamenting on the horrors of parenthood.
Now, something that would have been nice to hear, but was never told to me: batteries. They are expensive and they are a necessity! EVERYTHING takes batteries. You know how some people stockpile diapers while pregnant in preparation for baby? I say no! Walk past the aisles of diapers and get thee straight to the electronics department to buy stock in batteries!
Again, while pregnant I heard parents bemoan about the cost of diapers, clothes, formula, and all the other "necessities" when you have a child. But no one mentioned the cost of batteries! Or the fact that they die quickly!
The most important thing in our house right now is Jack's swing. Since he was about 2 weeks old he has been sleeping in his swing which flattens out into somewhat of a bassinet. This thing has been a savior. And as long as he's happy sleeping in it, I'm fine with it! However, that thing eats batteries like nothing I've never seen before!
The swing takes (4) D-batteries at a time. To run it about 3 - 4 hours a day we drain the batteries about every 2 weeks. This adds up to a cost of approximately $16 - $18 per month. Of course this doesn't break the bank, but when you look at it over the course of a year it adds up to $192 - $216. That's quite a chunk of money. And add to that all the other batteries you need for the baby monitor, the bouncy seat, the flashy-singing thing on the play gym/mat, etc. It really starts to add up to be a hidden expense!
I've thought about purchasing rechargeable batteries, but they're more expensive, I'm not sure that they even make them in D's, and I've heard negative things about them no longer holding a charge if you have to recharge them frequently. So I guess we'll have to stick with buying new batteries every 2 weeks for now!
Next time I go to a baby shower and I want to gift something useful I'm including some packs of batteries. The momma to be will surely thank me later!
Let me just debunk the aforementioned rumors while I'm here - parenthood is a privilege. Minus the first 2 weeks which were very life altering and a challenge to get through, I have nothing negative to report. I know that I'm lucky in that, but I can't help but feel that people often over exaggerate while lamenting on the horrors of parenthood.
Now, something that would have been nice to hear, but was never told to me: batteries. They are expensive and they are a necessity! EVERYTHING takes batteries. You know how some people stockpile diapers while pregnant in preparation for baby? I say no! Walk past the aisles of diapers and get thee straight to the electronics department to buy stock in batteries!
Again, while pregnant I heard parents bemoan about the cost of diapers, clothes, formula, and all the other "necessities" when you have a child. But no one mentioned the cost of batteries! Or the fact that they die quickly!
The most important thing in our house right now is Jack's swing. Since he was about 2 weeks old he has been sleeping in his swing which flattens out into somewhat of a bassinet. This thing has been a savior. And as long as he's happy sleeping in it, I'm fine with it! However, that thing eats batteries like nothing I've never seen before!
The swing takes (4) D-batteries at a time. To run it about 3 - 4 hours a day we drain the batteries about every 2 weeks. This adds up to a cost of approximately $16 - $18 per month. Of course this doesn't break the bank, but when you look at it over the course of a year it adds up to $192 - $216. That's quite a chunk of money. And add to that all the other batteries you need for the baby monitor, the bouncy seat, the flashy-singing thing on the play gym/mat, etc. It really starts to add up to be a hidden expense!
I've thought about purchasing rechargeable batteries, but they're more expensive, I'm not sure that they even make them in D's, and I've heard negative things about them no longer holding a charge if you have to recharge them frequently. So I guess we'll have to stick with buying new batteries every 2 weeks for now!
Next time I go to a baby shower and I want to gift something useful I'm including some packs of batteries. The momma to be will surely thank me later!
Friday, June 4, 2010
3 Months!
I can't believe Jack is already 3 months old! Well, he's actually 3 months and 1 week old now, but you get the point! Here are a few pics I snapped:
Happy Friday!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
::Quickly Taps out Blog Post::
I've been trying to find a minute to update the blog. It has been so busy lately! I feel like time is just flying by. I mean, it's JUNE already! How did that sneak up on us?
I have so many updates!
First, Jack is now grabbing for things on his own! I put him under his playmat/gym thing the other day and I looked down to see him holding on to one of the toys. At first I thought he probably just accidentally ended up with it in his hand, but then he let go and reached for something else! My little guy is growing up!
Here's a pic that I just have to share because it makes me giggle every time!
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That's a newborn-sized hat on his little peanut head! He'll probably grow into it when he's about 3!
And tonight... tonight I hardly want to even talk about. My baby boy rolled over. Not once, but THREE times! I don't think it was a fluke! Not only that, but he was laying on his tummy calmly holding himself up with his head steady for long periods of time. I'm beyond proud of him, but where did my tiny baby go that couldn't even hold his head up on his own? He's growing up far too quickly and I'm not ready for this! I'll have to get some rolling footage to share : )
Mark and I spent quite a bit of time over the long Memorial Day weekend eating with family and friends (one of my favorite things for sure!) and getting our yard in order for the season. We planted lots of flowers and a few veggies. I had a garden last year but it didn't do too well, so I paired it down a lot this year in hopes that the few plants that we do have will be healthy and fruitful! We also moved the bed to a different part of the yard in hopes of the garden getting more sun.
The plants are already looking great! They're grown a lot in just a week. I have 5 tomato plants (3 different varieties) and 3 zucchini plants. They look so healthy, I imagine that I'll definitely get some good veggies this year!
Mark put up my clothesline
My mother's day gift (my request!). Don't the cloth diapers look so colorful and pretty hanging on the line?
And we planted lots of flowers!
And the mommy car... I have a new car.
It's a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. I'm sad that my Mustang has to go, but I am excited about some things namely not having to climb into the tiniest backseat in the world in order to transport my kid around and the added bonus of NO MORE CAR PAYMENTS! Woot! It's actually a really nice car. Way nicer inside than my Mustang. It has all the bells and whistles including leather seats and a sunroof and it drives really nicely! I think I'll be happy with this.
No pictures to go along with this, but last night we had our first tornado drill of the season. We got to pile into the bathroom tub along with Jack as the tornado sirens wailed. It was not fun. Thankfully, we didn't get hit with anything too bad, but we did end up losing power from about 8PM Wednesday through 10.30AM Thursday. Mark was in electronic withdraw. after the battery on his Droid finally died and took his access to the interwebz along with it. I, on the other hand, quite enjoyed the quiet. I was worried about all the meat I have in the freezer that I have been trying to buy on sale. Thank goodness the power came back on before everything thawed out!
I think that's all the updates I have for now. That's pretty much an overview of what we've been doing for the last week or so!
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