Our House in the Middle of Our Street

Stefan finally found something at the library! (I know...he only has about a million choices!) He has been reading a policing-exam book all night which has given me room to read/check over the following: Valentines : Ted Kooser (former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner--he works at my old university!) Fix-It-and-Forget-It: crock-pot recipes for lazy me! Martha Stewart: Living (don't.) Book #5, Prude : Carol Platt Liebau Weren't you glad you asked?

I always love free stuff--who doesn't? This entire pile (minus the phone in the background) was free of charge, from Pampers.com for doing this small step everytime (must create a free account first to sign in) I purchased a bag of diapers. I love P. diapers because they seem to be the only ones that truly stand up to the 'keep it in your pants' test. Enough about that--onto the free stuff! Pampers has an online section called "Gifts to Grow" and inside every package is a code that you enter in to gain 'reward points'. It's just a small step you can do while checking your e-mail; doesn't take long at all. Once you have enough points you can choose from a rewards catalog the item you want. Most are baby toys or board books, or if you save up close to 500 (the people who actually get this must have triplets or something!) you can even get a trike! However, they do have a few "Mom & Dad" options, and that's what we wanted. We alrea...

Through InterLibraryLoan I was able to snag a copy of Unprotected from the Omaha Public Library system. It's 151 pages of statistics and well researched motives for the current "Women's Health" crises facing today's college campus health centers today. The author, Anonymous, M.D. is a clinician at a large, well-known college who, because of the 'politically correct' laws and regulations for medical centers, is finding that she is unable to help the majority of clients who walk in the doors. Almost 70% of the people who visit M.D.'s (she's a counselor) office are women who she feels she is unable to help because of questions she is not allowed to ask. To understand what I mean by this, here's a quote from the Introduction section of her book, "You probably didn't know what some insider psychologists are now revealing: that "psychology, psychiatry, and social work has been captured by an ultraliberal agenda" and that there are...

This is the pup Lukka gets his nickname from. When we got Arjax home at 8 weeks old (Best Surprise EVER, hus!) he gradually started to answer to anything I would call him, from "Teddy Bear" to "Teddy" to just "Bear" and then again--"Jax-y". He sometimes doesn't answer to his real name, Arjax. He turned two on Christmas Day, and I'll have a big headshot of the other dog, Atreyu up soon. It will be so fun taking Bear and Trey (Atreyu) to the ocean--us throwing a stick way out in the sea and them paddling like mad to get it, and then Trey so happy she runs around like a crazy fool!

Here are our house updates, as for the interior goes, we are done! (except, for you homeowners, you know you're never really done) Stefan just has to replace grout in 3 places, but we're back to using our bathroom! Double staircase hallway (finally) painted "Babbling Brook". Cute, huh? Love that green shag, that, unfortunately won't be replaced anytime soon. However, can I draw your attention to the all original (1915) crown moulding? Lovely! Second story hallway--cute cupboard built into the wall 1920's style. Original knobs with a fiesty rug from Pier One on the floor. Tried to show double staircase...failed. Our new bathroom! Sea foam colored tiles replaced nasty vinyl and deep brown replaced boring white. It is SO cozy in there! The color didn't turn out the best, it's actually quite dulled in the picture.

In June of 2005, I was diagnosed with celiac disease , an autoimmune disease that is best summed up by saying that if I eat gluten (found in wheat, barley, and rye), I get sick as the lining in my small intestine gradually is eaten away. Gross, I know. When I got pregnant with Lukka , I stayed away from gluten...mostly. (No wheat means pretty much everything with no flour: bread, pasta, cookies, dognuts, cake, etc.) Once I had him, I ate a little....at first, and then a lot, and never got sick! I thought this must be a 'pregnant' thing--I've heard of straight-haired women not being able to control the curls of post-partum. Bizarre that the body will change so drastically with a bun in the oven... No pun intended! I ate bread on a daily basis (even having four pieces of toast throughout the day today) and never got sick, except once, twice, and then again today. Well, it was fun while it lasted, but I think I need to jump back on the wagon, for my intestinal purposes... th...

Whew! One thing is for certain---I hate painting. I say this with a loathing not suitable for a housewife. But I do. Love watercolors, love oil, love artsy-fartsy paintin', HATE HATE HATE painting walls with a roller and brush. This week is the last week of our painting extravaganza, where we finished one massive hallway and one smaller one, and the bathroom. The colors turned out magnificant, and all of our guests in the previous year and a half would think so, too, as now the 'blue stripe' in our living room (the rest of the wall was white, it was pitiful) is fully blended with the rest of the wall. Hurray! I will post pictures after everything is cleaned up and put back in its proper place. Just so you don't forget, I hate painting, but on a good note, my husband loves it. (This is what he does and I don't, I mow and he doesn't...odd trade-off, but it works!)