Nothing new

Nothing new or exciting happening around here. The weather has been completely uncooperative on the weekends meaning our yard work projects keep getting put on hold. Our grass is so tall right now I expect to see tigers lurking.

I did find an awesome patio set that we'll probably buy in the next few weeks in anticipation of the new deck, warm weather and weekend BBQs.

We head to Knoxville this weekend with mom and dad-in law to see Jeff Dunham and visit with MIL's BFF. I'm looking foward to it. Amy is house/animal sitting for us. Shadow got a bath and trim this past weekend so he is back to his handsome self.

Nothing new on the TTC front either.

Third time, will it be a charm?

I picked up my script for Clomid last night. After a mix up at the pharmacy in which I was given a new bottle of prenatals, which I did need, I left with 150mg of Clomid. I'm anticipating the side effects now and I told J he might want to consider a move to Siberia for the next 5 days but to be home by next Wednesday. Poor guy. Really hope this works because I'm not looking forward to being pushed, prodded, stabbed, and having dye shot into my tubes.

So not only are we on our last cycle of Clomid but if we are successful in our conception this imaginary, as yet to be conceived child would be due right around Christmas. Poor kid. I'm sorry in advance.

How far does one go to conceive? When do you just say to yourself....you know, I've had enough. I'm asking these questions already and we are just taking pills.

Meatloaf

I made this meatloaf last night and it was a big hit with the Hubs. I misread the recipe though and added 2 tablespoons of mustard vs 2 teaspoons. Oops but it still tasted delish.

From allrecipes.com; Cottage Meatloaf, courtesy of Melissa H.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup Worcestershire (original called for tomato juice but I did not have any on hand and in the comments someone suggested Worcestershire instead.
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (I used Italian style)
1/4 cup diced onion
2 teaspoons prepared mustard

1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
4 teaspoons brown sugar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine ground beef, 1/2 cup ketchup, tomato juice, salt, pepper, red pepper, eggs, bread crumbs, onion and 2 teaspoons mustard until well mixed. Line a 9x5 inch loaf pan with foil. Press meat mixture into pan.
In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup ketchup, 1 teaspoon mustard and brown sugar until smooth. Spread brown sugar mixture over meatloaf.
Bake in preheated oven 35 to 45 minutes, until no longer pink. Drain off fat. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Winter Storm 2008

Yes I'm calling it a winter storm. In fact, Friday evening I was standing outside with the dog and I saw and heard lightning & thunder, so there! I missed the majority of the snow Friday evening because I went to bed early. Apparently the snowfall really picked up about an hour after my head hit the pillow. J tried to wake me but I was dead to the world. Actually, I was playing possum. I was pretending to be asleep.

I woke up Saturday morning to this:

Shadow was itching to go outside because there's white stuff on the ground MOM! WHITE STUFF! We were both excited. I bundled myself up with a rarely worn hat and gloves.
Here is Shadow in action

The snow was short lived. By Saturday evening most of it had melted away. By Sunday night there were just small patches in shady areas and by Monday it was completely gone. Perhaps this is how Winter wanted to end as Spring arrives...on a bang. I'm happy to say Adieu Winter.

Feeling like a school kid

A winter storm is headed our way today. It was pouring rain this morning but by this afternoon we'll experience a rain/snow mix followed by all snow around 6pm or so!

I'm excited and I really hate snow!

I can't wait for enough to accumulate to let Shadow go crazy outside and throw snowballs up in the air for him to attempt to catch. Tonight and tomorrow morning should be fun! In Nashville we are expecting 3-5 inches which is more than we've had in the 27 months I've lived here! Even better I'll be cozy at home so I won't have to deal with the crazy drivers and Nashville has plenty of crazy drivers. Traffic was a nightmare coming in(and it was just drizzle) and will probably be a nightmare going home, especially if there is white stuff mixed in with that rain during the evening commute.

Oh and the crock pot dinner came out great! The house smelled yummy when I got home, Shadow did not decided he required a chicken-y snack and the chicken was super moist! I served it with broccoli.

Cooking

I've become obsessed with my kitchen. I love cooking. Ha! I never thought I would say/type that. After spending another small fortune at the grocery store last night, I came home and made something simple...it was getting late after all. We had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

Last night I decided to try out one of the gazillion crock pot recipes I've received from a friend and the numerous ones I've collected from the net. I prepped the ingredients last night so I could remove it from the fridge this morning, turn on the pot, and leave for work. I'm hoping the house does not burn down in the process. I'm also hoping Shadow does not decide he requires a snack and knock the crock off the top of the range. I don't want to come home to find dinner devoured or to find puke and poo all over the house-although hardwood floors means much easier clean-up. I received this crock pot the Christmas before last from my mother-in-law and this is the first time in use. I'll come home to find one of the following:

~raw chicken-the low setting is way too low
~burned chicken-the low setting cooks way faster than anticipated
~the dog has ate every last bite and has now regurgitated it throughout the floors of the house
~or(and this is the one I'm hoping for) a perfect meal, ready to dish out and consume.

I've got ingredients to make the following this weekend:

Meatloaf
London Broil in the crock pot
Indonesian Chicken

I'm making the London Broil Saturday. Amy is coming over and she's providing desert. She's going to make warm brownie cups. She's bringing her Kitchen Aid stand mixer with her. It may not leave my house(insert evil laugh here). If I have not procured one of these by Christmas you can be sure it will be on my Christmas list.

The horrors of remodeling

Saturday morning I was doing my usual weekend cleaning routine. I was vacuuming the living room floor and had a moment of divine inspiration. Why don't we just rip up the carpet now. We have hardwood under that nasty, cheap, apartment carpeting left here by the previous owners. I mentioned my disgust of the carpet to Jason. He gave me that look. It is not quite an eyeroll but close. It screams the question, "What now WOMAN?"

We have already removed the carpet in the office/3rd bedroom and the hallway. The office floor was not that bad. Obviously the room was not used very often. The hallway was a different story. We assume the previous owners walked dripping wet from the hall bath into the master bedroom. We had lovely black, sticky stuff on the hardwood. 50 years of dirt, dust, wet, and icky padding. We scraped and scraped and used a myriad of different solutions to remove the discoloration but nothing worked quite right. We decided to leave it until we were ready to refinish all the hardwood in the house at a later date.

Back to Saturday. I cajoled Jason into just ripping up the dining room carpet. It was not pretty at all. The majority of the floor in that area was covered in that black stuff. As our scraper was busted during the great kitchen demolition of 2007 we had to purchase a new one from Lowes.

We came home to scrape and scrape and removed the ick but of course that ick has stained the floor, just like in the hallway.

As we moved the table back in, repositioned on a different angle this time for kicks and giggles, Jason glanced down at the living room carpet. "F it," he says. "Let's rip up the living room carpet too!" I was more than happy to accomodate his whim so I happily began packing up the mismatch of crap in the room and relocating it to other parts of the house. Jason filled up the recycle bin with all manner of items(some of which I'm not positive is accepted from the curb) and finally the room was clear.

Um, the living room was bad. See above. I think it may be worse than the dining room. You can tell the foot traffic pattern exactly. We just need some Matchbox cars and we could build our own little Matchbox city in that room.

We were going to rip the master bedroom carpet on Sunday after I accidentally locked the cat in our bedroom and he pulled up the carpet in front of the door so much we could not open the door Saturday night without brute force. However, we both had blisters from the work on Saturday we put off that little adventure until this coming weekend.

Once again we’ve(scratch that) I’ve started a project before another is completed. This is how I roll. ;)

Shiny, Happy People

Sunday we purchased a new refrigerator. The old one was fine...sort of. The thermostat was not working as well as it should and food was spoiling much faster than it should...even in our household. To say we are both in love with this fridge is an understatment! The shiny, newness draws us in and we stare enraptured. I also seem to have a ton more space than my previous side by side. The new and old are the same size. 25 cu. ft but my shelves look so empty. Everything fits nicely on the doors, including the required 1-Gallon pitcher of sweet tea and J's beer.

Yes, we still need a floor. Decisions, decisions.

Progesterone levels

A whopping 0.7. Doc is upping my dosage to 150mg for next cycle. :(