7 Quick Tuesday Takes

It's November 8 and I haven't yet posted this month. I hate being so busy that I don't have time to sit down and write out the posts that stew in my head every day. But I do love being busy, so I really just have to work at finding a better balance.

But onto today's 7 items:

1. I keep seeing posts (usually on design blogs) about Advent calendars. Now, I grew up in a Christian home (Lutheran) and I love Christmas but I do not recall ever having an Advent calendar. In fact, I don't even understand what it is. After I post this, I'll probably go Google, "What is an advent calendar?" and then decide Nate needs one in a year or two.

2. It's a celebratory week at the Bookish Penguin household. Sunday was Buster's birthday; he turned two years old. Apparently that's some magic age for terriers and they're supposed to become significantly better behaved around then. He's better, but I don't see magic just yet. But I have hope. Tomorrow is the hubby's birthday; he'll be 32. And Thursday is Nate's half birthday; he'll be one and a half. (And next week is our third wedding anniversary. Lots to be joyous about in November.)

3. Nate sailed through Daylight Saving Time with no issues. Phew. I was seriously worried he'd be waking up at 5:30am for a week, but he hasn't seemed to notice a change. I swear, he's the best child on the planet and I thank my lucky stars for him every day.

4. Speaking of Nate, I never wrote about Halloween since I haven't written since then. Nate was a monkey (picture to follow in his 18 month post on Thursday) and charmed everyone at my dad's job, the hubby's job, my job, and my sister's in-law's house. He didn't ever say trick-or-treat, but that's okay by me. He doesn't really need to be begging for candy at one.

5. I was in a big funk on Halloween, depressed about how Nate didn't get to participate in the Halloween parade at daycare because he's not in daycare anymore and how I feel like I screw up every normal parenting experience that comes my way. Later in the day, I was met with a mom whose son was also a monkey, but she dressed up as a safari guide to match. I felt crappy because it never occurred to me to dress up at all, much less coordinate with Nate. I wonder if this is because my parents never dressed up? I've never really liked Halloween anyway. Dressing up always feels like a chore because it's not easy to find good costumes when you're overweight. There are only so many times you can hide yourself under a big black dress and call yourself a witch. So I was cranky, but Nate's cheery attitude throughout the day totally picked me up. It's right what "they" say about kids: they really can renew holidays for you. By the time we went home later, I had nearly forgotten what I was cranky about.

6. Speaking of things that make me cranky, the list of things in my life that need a serious cleaning is getting long. In size order: my dogs (both need a grooming), my car (needs a wash), my kitchen floor (is terrifying), my dining room floor (equally terrifying), my bedroom carpet (dustbunny colonies)... I'm sure there's more but that's about all my head can hold at once.

7. Sometimes I think it's a good thing that there's no Pinterest app for the iPad... or I'd probably forget to take time to breathe... but actually, Pinterest, if you're listening - iPad app, PLEASE. *twitch twitch* For me, Pinterest feels like YouTube. One day it didn't exist, then one day it did and now I can't imagine life without it.

So... how're you all? I hope you're finding the sunshine in your days.

7 Quick Tuesday Takes - looking toward autumn edition

I know, I know, we're only barely about to breech August, but people on fashion blogs are already writing about how they're thinking about their fall wardrobes so here, smack dab in the almost-middle of summer, here are seven things I'm looking forward to for fall.

1. Socks. As every summer progresses, I begin to miss wearing socks. (Then, mid-winter or so, I get tired of socks and long for ballet flats and no socks.)

2. Soup. I know, you can eat soup in the summer... but to me, it's never the same. I don't look forward to a big pot or slow cooker full of soup the same way in the summer as I do in the fall or winter.

3. Jackets/Coats. Sure, right now I love being able to run out of the house without having to put on another layer, but I do love that jackets and coats are like a big accessory and can also be so cozy. (And, bonus, they give you more pockets, which I always need.)

4. The crunch of leaves under my feet as I walk.

5. That wonderful back-to-school feeling I get in my gut every September, when I remember how it felt to have the promise of new wardrobe items possibly making me feel like a new person.

6. Anticipating the wonderful progression from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas, my favorite time of year.

7. Turning off the air conditioners and opening the windows, not yet having to turn on the heat.

And now we return to your regular summer programming.

Splish splash, adorable chubby toddler feet in the grass

7 Quick Tuesday Takes

1. Watching the dance numbers from the Tony's, I decided once and for all that dancers have the best legs. They just really do. I want dancers' legs. Guess I better get dancin'.

2. I realized that I haven't updated a few Pioneer Woman recipes I made! I am still slowly eeking my way through her cookbook. Two weekends ago I made her Basic Breakfast Potatoes and Huevos Hyacinth. Both were delicious, although the Huevos Hyacinth were far too liquidly - I'm not sure if I didn't cook the eggs long enough or if the juice came from the tomatoes. Either way, it was on the border of unappetizing so if I made them again, I'll have to play around with the broiling time.

This past weekend, I made her Blackberry Cobbler, but with blueberries. Blueberries are in season and are just SO good right now - so juicy and sweet. The cobbler was delicious. I made one for my in-laws and one for myself. (Ha!)  I've been eating it by the spoonful with some whipped cream on top. Not good for my pants size in the slightest, but soooo tasty. Next time I would make it with more of the cake part, though. It came out really thin; it was still really good, but I'd like to try it in a more cake-y ratio.

3. Speaking of sweet things I shouldn't eat, my brain is obsessed with Joy the Baker's Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread. I mean, have you looked at it? Are you not convinced you could eat the whole loaf by yourself?  Hence why I haven't made it yet. (Well, that and the whole dough needing to rise thing. I don't have the patience for that. Eventually the recipe will break me down and win, though, and I'll be making this. For sure. She recently said it's her most popular post... and it's so obvious why.)

4. Eating a slice of pizza doesn't negate the positive effects of eating something sold as a "low carb salad," right? I'm not asking for me. I'm asking for yesterday's lunch.

5. I love that I started this list talking about how I want to have dancer's legs and then go on to talk about a whole bunch of things that are part of why my legs look the way they do. (nom nom nom)

6. I'm going out to lunch with my boss today. I'm hoping for a raise and a promotion. I will probably just get a sandwich. (Aaaand, still talking about food.)

7. Is it Friday yet?

7 Quick Tuesday Takes - Nate, t-1 and counting

Nate's birthday is one week from today.  Oh. My. Goodness. When I say that, my brain doesn't compute it. "Oh yeah, Nate's going to be one" sounds like "ish kabibble hoobity doo" to my brain. It means nothing, like I can't wrap my brain around the concept of having a one year old. I can barely handle calling myself a mom still. (I'm kind of slow sometimes, what can I say.)

So today, one week out from Nate's 1st birthday (what??), here are seven things about my Peanut that I don't know if I've mentioned before.

1 - I love to watch Dancing with the Stars with him and dance around the living room with him. It's usually with him in my arms, but now sometimes we hold hands and do some deep knee bends (you've gotta love that baby dancing). The day he was born was the season finale of DWTS for that season, so I like to joke that he's been watching it his whole life. It's kind of true (I did watch the finale in the hospital that night).

2 - While he's a very happy and relatively secure baby, he's doesn't seem to attach to things. He never wanted a pacifier, hasn't ever had a blanket or toy that he was extremely attached to, or doesn't need a particular object in order to fall asleep. He isn't even crazy about his bottle. He likes his bottle, sure, and his sippy cup, too. But I can't think of anything in his life that we could take away that would wreak havoc. If my niece lost her little pink monkey, there'd be hell to pay. (My sister actually has a back up one at the ready in case that ever happens.) And my nephew remembers not just everything he owns, but who gave it to him. Crazy. Nate? Just not that kind of kid, I guess. Sometimes I worry about it (because I worry about everything) but at least we don't have to go crazy fearing the loss of a favorite object.

3 - That said, he's clearly attached to us, the hubby and I. If he wakes up in his crib, he wakes up crying. If he wakes up next to us, he smiles as soon as he opens his eyes and starts babbling happily. When Kate came over the other day, he took a few looks at her and started crying; my only guess is that he thought she was there to babysit and that we were leaving. (I'll be happy when separation anxiety is over.)

4 - For some reason, Nate loves to put himself in downward-facing dog position.

(That's a veggie crunchie, not a Cheeto, on the carpet. I promise.)

He does this a hundred times a day and I don't know where he gets it from. He's never seen anyone do yoga or a somersault, so it's just something he decided to do one day and finds funny. Fine by me since I find it funny, too.

5. Nate takes 4-5 steps now on occasion and takes 2-3 steps many times a day, but I don't consider him "walking" yet. Is that right? I feel like he needs to be just walking around all the time to be walking.

6. Nate's favorite characters are Mickey Mouse (which is on a blanket our friend John gave him for Christmas), The Wonder Pets, and Moose A. Moose (the latter two from Nick Jr.). He'll say "Uckey" or "McGee" for Mickey and every night we read a Wonder Pets book at bedtime. He knows that when the credits roll on a Nick Jr. show, Moose is about to come on so he speedily crawls over to the television and waits. He also speeds over if he hears the Wonder Pets.

7. Saturday night we went out to dinner. The hubby told Nate he had to eat more chicken before he could have more apple juice, at which point Nate picked up three handfuls of chicken, dropped them on the bench next to him, and then grinned and clapped his hands. Can that be a coincidence? Did he really just try and pull one over on us?? Either way, we were hysterical.

7 Quick Tuesday Takes

1 - I finally recorded my video for class last night and posted the whole assignment around 1:30am. I haaaate watching myself on video. I always want to say, "Really? Why doesn't anyone stop me from making those faces?" But, funny enough, I noticed that I talk more like my brother than I realized. Watching myself talk on the video was really like watching him talk at times, as far as facial expressions and gestures are concerned. It was an interesting realization for me.

2 - Someone I know posted on Facebook about how she hopes Katherine Middleton wears a wedding dress with sleeves because the whole strapless wedding dress style is overdone and boring and frustrating to those "who can't wear" that style. I find this exasperating because saying the style is overdone is like saying blue jeans are overdone. Sure, they're everywhere, but they're a part of life. If religious restrictions don't require sleeves on a dress, I don't see a problem with strapless.

And part two of my exasperation is people who won't wear sleeveless things because of their arms. JUST WEAR THE SLEEVELESS TOP ALREADY. Truly, no one will care. Most likely, your arms aren't the largest they've seen AND you're not fooling anyone by wearing sleeves. I still know what size your arms are. Get over it already. (The whole "I can't wear sleeveless" is one of my biggest pet peeves.)

3 - I got TWO wall decorations put up yesterday! Hurrah! I got the hubby to hang up Nate's name sign (a photograph of a "Nathaniel Ave" sign) and I hung up a wall decal in his room that has a yellow sun and says, "You are my sunshine" above his crib. I can't sing the song without crying, but I love it anyway.

4. Last night I made Picky Palate's Chicken and Black Bean Green Enchilada Rice Bake - except I used red enchilada sauce instead of green, brown rice instead of white, Rotel instead of plain canned diced tomatoes, omitted the olives (yech) and added a layer of corn (yummm). It was totally scrumptious.

5. Speaking of Picky Palate (so in love with her), why haven't I made her Bacon and Cheese Egg "McMuffin" Cups yet???

6. Nate's birthday is two weeks from today. Oh. My. God. How is my little man already turning a year old??? I want to cry.

7. I'm thinking about hiring a professional cleaner to clean our house before his party. Then I think, "Wow, that really speaks to my failure as a cleaner." Also probably shouldn't spend the money - should just buckle down and get scrubbing.

Happy Tuesday!