Bedtime Stories

Last night was a "last supper" of sorts, since my gestational diabetes test is tomorrow I have a whacked out idea that if I avoid sugaring-it-up for 24 hours or so I might have a chance of passing. By all accounts my eating patterns today wouldn't really change anything, if I have GD I have it (and a 12 lb baby to look forward to) but if it makes me feel better, we'll go with it. While I've managed to blissfully cope with the idea of labor (mostly through denial) the thought of a strict bland diet for the next 3 months sends me fully over the edge into despair.



For my "last supper" hubby and I went with apple crisp. Not for dessert, just apple crisp for dinner. With vanilla Hagen Daz ice cream. Actually, its probably more healthy than my McDonald's lunch was (banner day, in retrospect - where do I get my mommy of the year award?), what with all the fruit & calcium and lack of deep frying...And in an interesting twist of fate, the apple crisp didn't result in any heart burn. Could that mean a full night of sleep???



Um, no, of course not. First there was the midnight potty break (and cursing myself for not turning on the heat once again, since I was perfectly cozy under my blankets, but the thought of leaving them for the chilly night air was not appealing). Then there was the 4am bloody nose, and the resulting quest for Kleenex, made all the more sporting by my reluctance to turn on a light and not being conscious enough to find my glasses. Pretty sure I let the dog out around that time too, and hopped around freezing on the porch until he was done sniffing the perimeter of the fence before heading back to bed. Exhausted. And that's about when the aching in my hips reached epic proportions so that I was flopping from one side to the other about every 30 minutes. Till I overslept. And thus today I feel like I got hit by a truck.



I'm ready for my happily ever after now!

The glass is half full...of milk...with a Tums chaser :)

Things I did wrong this weekend:



- thought a few dips of cheese bread in pizza sauce couldn't possibly give me raging heartburn...till I was up from midnight - 4am praying for a quick death.

- assumed the pizza sauce was the culprit of said heartburn disaster, and there was no harm in finishing the cheesebread by itself the next day...turns out, the garlic alone is perfectly capable of causing great pain. If this keeps up, I fully expect my child to look like Rapunzel.

- figured that with my new pregnancy blood volume (150% of a normal person) and the space heater growing in my belly, I'd be plenty warm on a 39 degree evening without the heat on. And then I woke up shivering violently at 4am, contemplating any and all alternatives to leaving my blankets for a potty break.

Funny how they all result in a significant lack of sleep :) Oh well, guess if I can wean myself off of needing rest now, it'll all be easier later, right?!?!

And now that the negatives are out of the way, can I please get one of these:



Actually, I might need five or six of them, because there were a helluva lotta things I did RIGHT this weekend too! WHOO HOO! Namely:

- Finally returned leftover invitation materials to Michael's...after driving them around in my car for a month!

- Battled the "free sample Saturday" crowd at Costco to scoop up the savory dips for my party (lobster spread and spinach dip, yum!), as well as Christmas gifts for all the nieces - double "to do list" success!

- Made a list of all the serving utensils & dishes I need for the Halloween party and borrowed most of it from my mother (I love that she has a whole drawer of ladles. And another one of trays. And a whole cupboard for chafing dishes).

- Stopped by Cajun Potluck to put a down payment on the Cajun catering, as well as snag some Cajun BBQ sauce and Cajun seasoning for other dishes I'm making.

- Threw a Mardi Gras parade in my living room. 9 1/2 hours of work and the decorating is *mostly* done...in that first room. As usual, my plan was much more time consuming than I had thought, but it's off to a good start. Now if only I had a few more weekends...and could still take ibuprofen for my aching back...

I'm realistic in doubting I'll get much accomplished this evening, in general Mondays are just about survival for me right now :) But with only one more weekend to actually work (and one of those days already tied up) I'll have to push through some of these evenings and pick up the pace. Only 12 days left!!!!

EDIT:

I totally forgot to mention I solved 1/2 of my costume crisis! Goodwill to the rescue once again, I scooped up a $20 ballgown, grabbed some accessories at Party City, and I'm on my way to a classic Mardi Gras Ball outfit :) Whoo hoo!

PEOPLE's Halloween Inspiration Photos

I somehow ended up browsing People Magazine online this week, and thought I'd cross link to a couple of their fun Halloween photo albums that were pretty fun:

Celebs in their Halloween best

Everyday Joes dressed in their CELEBRITY best

One step forward, two steps back...

That sounds more melancholy than I actually feel right now, but it's still true. Last night things were accomplished, then other things were dis-accomplished. Unaccomplished. Moved back onto the "to do" list. Drat!

Good news first:

- assembled two big wire shelving units for the laundry room



- moved the giant pile of clean blankets, sheets, tablecloths, and pillowcases off the bar, where they've been living for far too long to their new home on the laundry room shelves

- washed 2 loads of laundry, put away 4

- took down the blacklights from last year's party, the remaining 3M hooks, and replaced the ceiling tiles in the basement - so it's ready to decorate for this year!

- replaced all lights around the bar with red bulbs

- ate a few cheeseburgers

...and then I decided to try on my costume.

...and it wasn't very cute. Definitely not cute enough. Hmmmm.

...so while I was thinking of it, I had hubby try on his costume...which didn't fit.

AT ALL. He couldn't even get into it, let alone zip it up.

So...there was definitely progress made, after which I was feeling pretty proud of myself, and even the things that ended up undone (back to the drawing board on costumes) were better discovered at this point than in the hours just before the party. Guess I have some more shopping to do!

Preliminary Menu Sneak Peek: The "real" food

Can I get a drumroll? Or maybe a first line jazz parade? (I'm not really sure what that is, but I saw it on one of the few episodes of "Treme" I watched, so I know it's something N'awlins related). After much hard work and deliberation, I think I've finally narrowed down my menu, and assuming that it all works and I can stay awake long enough to pull it off, here are my preliminary plans for the "real" food (sweets sneak peek still to come) :



Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya

Crawfish Gumbo

Cajun pork sandwiches

Hush puppies

Cajun potato wedges*

Confetti rice*

Cheddar biscuits*

Veggies & creole mustard dip*

*denotes vegetarian dish

What do you think? It will be partially catered, and partially prepped by my loving hands, and of course subject to vetoes and adjustments as the party nears, but I think I have a pretty good spread going! Two things I've tried to improve on each year are:

#1 focusing more on food than sweets, though everyone loves the sweets and I feel more confident making them, it's the non-sugary dishes that really go first,

and

#2 really spending time crafting the menu according to the theme. This was a little scary with Cajun cuisine, which I don't think I've ever tasted, but I think this could work! And I even managed to find some good vegetarian options for my meat-challenged friends! :)

Check another big item off my planning list!

Reminder to self:

...remember this post. Surround yourself with things/people who make you happy. Don't waste time on those who don't - you have no obligations to such people. Life is too short. Spend as much of it laughing as you can.

Edit: Just decided to catch up on "This American Life", how hilarious is it that this is the most recent podcast?

Sweet Thoughts

I just drank a big gulp of expired milk, but I'm willing to look past it because I'm munching another one of these:




Mmmmm, monster cookie.

I'm in a particularly cheerful (and uncharacteristic) mood today, most likely because I slept for 14 hours last night. I will eventually regret that move and begin to stress double time about everything I'm behind on and should have been doing, i.e. I had hoped to have my menu nailed down yesterday and that is not quite the truth. Food has basically been my nemesis for 6+ months now, so I'm finding it hard to take joy in the planning. Also complicating factors is my inner Martha wanting to make adorable theme-related Cajun dishes, and my outward picky eater knowing I won't actually eat any of them :) Ahh, dilemma...

Luckily Cajun DESSERTS seem to pass my muster just fine, I'm currently contemplating these fine treats:

Pralines
Crockpot Bananas Foster
Beignets
Mardi Gras Cupcakes

(Cupcakes had to be in there somewhere, I can't resist. And luckily, neither can most of my guests!)

This is just the tip of the iceberg, of course, but hopefully it's a little something to look forward to - in just 18 days! Eek!