It's the most wonderful day of the year

Happy Halloween!!! The night I live for, the night of holiday without gifts, no pretenses, and tons of dressing up.

Ruffle socks with peep toe wedding shoes do nothing for my calves.

Dorothy and the Wicked Witch get along very well in this family!

Surprise! The Cowardly Lion showed up!

I told Scott I couldn't wait until we had a kid I could dress up. As if that wasn't already not in our immediate future, it's now in our super not immediate future. Whatevs, I have Oliver acting as my Toto today.

Burn Victim

Well that might be a bit over dramatic.

However my kitchen safety does need some improvement.

Two years ago I burned myself on the oven in our apartment and earned myself a "10" from the upper grid irons on my elbow. Since then there have been a dozen other incidents involving the oven, stove, bbq-you name it.

The worst by far was a few weeks ago when I took a shortcut (first no-no) in making bacon in the microwave. (Sidenote-I really hate the grease from making it on the stove and didn't feel like turning on the oven. Plus I hate the smell of a home post-bacon. Strange, I know.) As I took the bacon out of the microwave, my force was that of superhuman strength and the grease from the plate splashed onto my bosom. It took every ounce of energy in me not to throw the plate across the room (fearing the mess I'd have to clean up later-I already had the grease spill on and around me contained).

That bacon grease went through my shirt AND my bra to emblazon the very delicate skin with a scarlet splotch. This was one bad burn. I tended it as best I could and a few days in finally called the hospital nurse's line to confirm it sounded like it was actually healing and not staying forever. Thankfully about 12 days later it's healed and only a slight scar on my body that is full of them.

Because of this experience I figured it was high time to buy a First Aid kit. I'm slightly embarassed that we didn't have it before and might just start giving it as a wedding gift now. Good thing I did because last night I gave myself another oven burn tattoo. I realize I also need to buy elbow length oven mitts since that along with my hands seem to be the most common victim.

Thus, always remember safety first, kids (and almost 30-year-old adults).

A First Time for Everything: Acupuncture

The couple that experiences Eastern medicine together, stays together.

Saturday morning Scott and I went in for our first accupuncture appointment together...or so we thought. It actually turned out to be a 1.5 hour consultation complete with a dianostic analysis of our respective bodies. Turns out I am close to obese. Now while I know I can stand to lose a few pounds, I didn't think it was as serious as being close to obesity. It put a damper on my Saturday and of course made me consider eating spinach and carrot sticks morning, noon, and night. Scott on the other hand is a perfect specimen and if anything underweight, which is not surprising to anyone.

After we determined this was indeed a self-esteem ruining meeting, we made appointments for the real deal, and today I went.

I wish I could have taken photos but, I was covered in 22 needles and I didn't need the world to see my lumpy-nearly-obese-self anyways.

The experience began with 15 minutes with my "pain therapist." I think this might be a term that is lost in translation as it really felt like a deep tissue massage without the ambiance of a regular massage. Lots of kneading, reminders of tightness, relax, relax, knead more. Lights switched on. (If I do a Yelp review, I will suggest a dimmer.)

Following my mini massage with the pain therapist, we began the acupuncture. Dr. Kim put 22 needles on me while I laid on my back: one in between my eyebrows, five on my head like a stegosaurus, one behind and on each ear, one on the fleshy part of each hand, four on my abs, two above each knee, two on top of each foot below the toes, and one I cannot recall.

None of the pricking was painful except for the feet. She pulled in a heat lamp to radiate on my abs for the obesity and I was told to relax and encouraged to sleep for the next 30 minutes. I was not uncomfortable but as my legs were propped up on a triangular pillow, I had some discomfort in my ankles, and when you are fixated on a problem you can't do anything about, sleep doesn't really happen. I did sit up to at least have a visual of the experience and when I raised my arms it felt a little weird, as well as my legs from (the fat) moving around the needle.

Following my 30 minute warm up, the needles were removed and we went into the doctor's office for more "therapy." Dr. Kim speaks very good English, however I have a difficult time understanding accents, so I'm fairly sure the four Chinese seeds she pushed into my left ear and covered with a bandage are for combating headaches, tension, and my appetite. She then pricked my ear for reasons I do not know.

My homework is to push the Chinese seeds into my ear five times a day for the next three days. Some of them are pretty painful and feel like I've got a new piercing.

If Scott and I keep up the recommended plan it's going to cost us about $1200. This may be my only acupuncture experience and thus I will continue down the slippery slope of obesity and join the local Weight Watchers.

Progress Report-Part II

The bathroom is about 80% done. And my visits to the gym to shower are looking to be a thing of the past. All that is left on the to-do list is ripping up the awful linoleum and putting in a pedestal sink. The public lavatory model kills me.

The wallpaper tearing down process:


A previous owner actually used hot glue to seal the top and bottom of the wallpaper likely when it started to curl from moisture in the bathroom. I'd like to have a few words with the other person who slopped paint on the kitchen cabinetry, but that must wait for another day.

I hated those stupid moonbeams.


I am actually thankful in terms of wallpaper removal for this home-this was it, a border. Granted it had hot glue that had to be scraped off, but at least it wasn't rooms and rooms of it.

When my parents remodeled their house a few years ago, I earned my wings scraping wall paper down from every nook and cranny it seemed. Layers on layers of wallpaper. I shudder at the memory.


Finally gone.

First off-the grout lines in the tile are wider than we would like. However, being our first time dealing with tile (though we didn't lay it) we went with a recommendation. It's grown on me with the darker paint and accents as well.

The paint choice leans more towards the feminine side, but I'm trying to balance it with the black and gray accents. Scott is manly enough to handle it though.



The two white spots in the above picture are waiting for a new set of hooks to go up.

I have to say I love it more than the hippie version that preceded it. And it's another lesson in the dramatic difference paint makes.

A Mustache Baby Bash

I'm not sure how people did parties in my office suite before I came along. Seriously, they must have been lucky if it was ice cream cake day. Let me say the Party Planning Committee brought it on at Virginia and Shawn's "Mustache Baby Bash."

Guests of honor:

We asked guests for a baby photo and added some of our own creative touches.




We kept theme beyond mustaches, bow ties, and monocles to graphic prints in primary colors.



Since baby showers are much more guy friendly these days we opted for games that appealed to a variety of ages and both men and women. Guess the 'Stache (my game, thus no word bank. My dear coworker did the next. She's a lover of the word bank.)

a. Ned Flanders

b. Ron Burgundy/Will Farrell

c. Adolph Hitler

d. Tom Selleck

e. Clark Gable

f. Albert Einstein

g. Captain Hook/Dustin Hoffman

h. Geraldo Rivera

I. (the husband/baby daddy)

j. Hulk Hogan

k. Rollie Fingers (Oakland A's pitcher)

L. Charlie Chaplin

and Who's that Baby.


Food included manwiches, bow tie pasta with dill, homemade pizza, green salad, fruit, quinoa and black bean salad, stuffed mushrooms, and real cookie ice cream sandwiches. Seriously, this suite brings it when I ask.






Guests made onesies for the baby boy to be.





Presents were received and joy abounded.




Twins!

Oh dear.

I, for one, am a Target girl. As you may recall I gave it up for Lent. In many parts of the US, another discount giant is beloved by many. Around here, I give it the stank eye. Especially when I see* my alma mater's apparel inside. Oh my.

*I obviously don't go to Wal-Mart. This was emailed by a former Saxon who desperately needed paper clips.

Cooking for Kings

I joked on Twitter that it's awesome to be married to me due to the dinners I make. All joking aside, it's still true.

We've had two pretty darn tasty dinners so far this week-the Pioneer Woman's perfect pot roast (no pictures, it was consumed too quickly) on Sunday, and yesterday, Ina's mussels with basil breadcrumbs. Oh em gee, I felt like Ina, in a French bistro enjoying our cuisine with Chardonnay, the only difference is we sported our our finest gym clothes. It's great dining fine at home.

Both nights I used my Dutch oven as well-one pot meals are the best.