Blog Revival + Makeover

Ahoj! Now that I am nearly finished with my MBA (one final class; the Master's equivalent of a capstone), I have time to actually do what I want to do (and if the list includes my ex-boyfriend, that's my bidness, not yours. ha... I joke!). Aside from a 15 page paper, in which I will have to fabricate certain parts of it (might blog about that one later on, IDK what I was thinking), I have no more required writing assignments... and thus, have time to write for fun again. Yay!

I'm not even sure where to start! So much has happened, and I've been gone for so long... I'm getting a divorce (may as well start with the happiest news first, eh?) finally. It's been a long time coming, but those of you who know me outside this blog already knew that. And, for those who don't know me, well... let me just say it was bad. And not bad as in good, but bad as in I'd rather spork out my own eyes than live with the guy. Enough about him.

The most exciting things which have happened to me lately are MBA related. First, I somehow managed a 4.0 for my last class, which was Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis (and boy was it a doozy!). I had to learn to use a stats program called SPSS, in addition to writing a 20+ page qualitative study. And, of course, the text book for SPSS was not overly helpful. But, I had an excellent instructor, and that kind of made up for the crappy textbook. The class was, in my opinion, misnamed. It really should have been called simply "Quantitative Analysis", since I learned little about qualitative analysis through homework and reading assignments... but, again, having an excellent instructor made up for it (apparently, since I rec'd a 96 on my final paper).

Second, I spent 9 days in Western Europe - Prague and Brno, Czech Republic and Vienna, Austria - and fell in love... I would move somewhere near Brno, CZ in a heartbeat. The trip was a requirement of my MBA (called a "global experience"). It was pretty darn expensive, but well worth it. Yes, my new goal is to find a decent job in the Czech Republic, and though I wouldn't mind living in Austria, the cost of living is pretty high in Vienna... I first need to learn another language, and brush up my French, at least.

And, last but not least, I have been making soap for the past two years... I finally made a facebook page for it: http://www.facebook.com/soapsbycamille Be sure to like my soap's page! Pics of Europe & kiddo updates will be posted very soon... it's time for a blog makeover, first though! Ciao!

I Kill Flowers/Plants

Not on purpose! It just happens. I either underwater them, overwater and drown them, or I look at them wrong and they shrivel up and die. I've always had a problem keeping flowers and houseplants alive.

Ex-bf revisited planted some sunflowers for me in April (my b-day; sunflowers are my favorite). There were five of them, with a fake sunflower in the middle. Within a week, all five sunflower plants were dead. I didn't take pics of them, or I would post them, but trust me when I say I have a black thumb.

After they died (the pot makes a good ashtray!):

Another example of my gardening follies: The husband and I have been "working things out", and a few weeks ago he bought me some garden mums. They also died shortly after that.

Dead/dying Mums:

Fake flowers are the only kind I can keep alive!!!

The Bah Feels Better, Other Good News, and a Complaint.

Well, the vinegar water mixture worked. Thrush is gone, thankfully. I was almost to the point of weaning because of it. It's all better now!

In other news, I finally got a job! I had an interview Friday and was hired on the spot. Granted, it's fast food, but we already spoke about working my way up in the company, since I have a degree in Business Administration... he was all for it. I have orientation Tuesday morning.

Complaint/whine: The transmission in my van went out Wednesday. This means I'm stuck with no vehicle until I get my student loan refund, which will take a couple of weeks. While Walmart is within walking distance of my apartment, it will be a giant pita to walk there with three kids and only a cheap umbrella stroller. I need a stroller with a basket!

DD1's self pic, too hilarious not to post:

The two younger kids were being so good
while I worked on homework last night:

The baby being silly (big sis took this pic):

Oh My!

I did it again! I let my real life interrupt my blogging. Darn it all. I've been very busy. I still can't find a job. Because of this, I am in the JET program, which requires 40 hours a week of job search. Add in that I'm in week 3 of a 6 week MBA class (the first of many), and I barely have time to sleep.

I can't believe I'm actually a graduate student! I also realized, as I was reading over my transcript from Ferris that I graduated 'cum laude'! I had no clue. The Master's program I just started at Cornerstone University is all online, and every class is accelerated (6 weeks per class). Whew. A lot of work in a little amount of time.

The kids are doing well. My oldest started 7th grade. While she doesn't hate school, she doesn't love it, either. The boy started kindergarten. He loved it the first two weeks. Lately he's been whining about wanting to stay home. As a result, I have been enforcing a strict 8:30pm bedtime and may end up backing it up to 8:00 if I need to. The baby is still nursing, and will turn 19 months on the 9th (two more days!). I can't believe it.

I had my first ever breastfeeding issue this week (aside from the sore/cracked nipples in the first few weeks of nursing my older two), which isn't bad considering I've breastfed about 3 years between all three kids. I have thrush.


TMI for some to follow; scroll past if you are offended by talk of breasts.

I'm lazy, so I will C&P my thrush story from where I posted it:

"For the past three or so days, nursing off my right side (which is a cup smaller than the left and not the "preferred side") has been painful. Yesterday, the left side joined the right. It even hurts when Anne stops sucking and is falling asleep at the breast with my nipple in her mouth.

The pain starts in my nipple and radiates into what I can only describe as a chest pain (sharp and stabbing), but only in my whole breast. It makes me want to crawl out of my skin. Normally I sleep through night feedings. Not so last night. I woke up the minute she latched on, and then laid there in pain until she broke her latch and rolled over.

Upon examining my nipples this morning, I noticed tiny red bumps on them. They look similar to small pimples, but aren't white.





Sometime this afternoon, they started burning and itching.


So... first I tried yogurt (plain, unsweetened, all natural). Because it was cold and I literally dipped my nipple in a spoonful of it, it felt good... til it dried! I put a nursing pad on and checked them about 20 minutes later. It had dried on and resembled a yogurt covered pretzel, except it was a nipple.

I wiped off the dried yogurt with my nursing pad as Anne Marie watched intently. She very loudly exclaimed, "EWWW!" I asked her if she wanted bah, secretly hoping she'd decline, which she did with a very loud "No!" and a shake of her head.

Then, I tried white vinegar. 1 TBS mixed in 1 C water, dabbed on with a q-tip. Let nipples air dry. It stunk (I hate the smell of vinegar), but I feel a bit better.


Tomorrow, I plan on buying some probiotics at the healthfood store nearby. I'm just glad my little princess has no visible signs of thrush in her mouth. I did start her on yogurt; she likes the stuff anyhow. "


Now, a recent pic of the "No!" girl:



A few other pics. None of my kids really want to have their pics taken anymore. I have to practically beg the boy to let me take his pic!

Random Kid Pics!

Only because I'm too lazy to type anything, or too tired, or something, I will just share some pics taken in the past few weeks. Took the kids to the lake:

Then to a pool party:

You sure they're empty?

Some random ones:

Downward dog?

No pictures please!

The boy being silly!

Doesn't she look so grown up?

My Kids Agree

I recently discovered that banana bread made with gluten free flour is every bit as good as "regular" banana bread. I had to threaten the kiddos with being taped to the ceiling fan so they would save me the last two pieces. ;-) (keep in mind that I don't have a ceiling fan)

For some reason, the kids aren't eating bananas like they usually do:

Watery, eh?

My favorite loaf pan:

Baked:

Sliced:

Buttered:

The baby got the second taste:

Not sure about this look, but she really did like it!

And, my tween eating a piece:

The boy was not interested in being in my blog, therefore, there are no pics of him eating his four pieces of banana bread. :-( He's been such a stinker lately!!!

And, finally, an lolbaby:

Oh nos! I calledz China!

Another Gluten Free Experiment

So far, all of the GF foods I've tried have been pretty good. I still haven't found any gf bread (and I will probably have to drive about 40 miles away to find any, evidence that small town life, while more relaxing, can be a PITA), so no sammiches for me! (I miss grilled cheese sandwhiches the most!)

I tried Ivory Teff wraps.

DO NOT eat them cold or at room temp. They are very dry when cold, and remind me of paper. They are, however, very good warmed up with hot fillings (beans, ground beef, cheese) and cold salsa, pico, and sour cream slathered on the top, a la burrito style.

Yum!

Adventures in Eating Gluten Free

I won't bring up my bowels again while discussing why I went gluten free a month or so ago... but, I will tell you that I use way less toilet paper now than I did before. ^_~

I gave up pasta, breads, cookies, and cake, and didn't replace them with anything else. So, I've lost a little weight (about ten pounds), which is good, but I found myself craving sandwiches and pasta, especially spaghetti. When I was at Mejer a week or so ago, I discovered their little section of gluten free products. Spaghetti noodles were "on sale" $3 for a 10oz box. So, I bought two. I also bought Ivory Teff wraps in the hopes that I could satisfy my sandwich craving.

$3 spaghetti noodles:

Last week, the kids (younger two, as the oldest was visiting her father) and I tried spaghetti made with organic brown rice. It was different, but very good!

It cooked much like regular spaghetti:

Well, except the water became rather milky (I wonder if this is how rice milk is made?):




Drain just like regular pasta:





Interesting milky stuff in the bottom of the sink:




Looks like regular past:




Holds sauce well like regular pasta:




The kids agree, it's good stuff!

Mystery Meat

I can't believe I forgot to post this!!! I took pictures for the express purpose of posting them on this blog! I guess I've been a little busy lately. Anyhow, on to the story of the "mystery meat".

Back in April, I ordered an Angel Food package. Generally, I just order the signature box. Most items in the signature box are pretty basic: meat, veggies, pasta, a 32oz container of shelf stable milk (which the boy absoulutely loves and will drink an entire container, room temperature, by himself), and other "normal" foods. This time, I decided, what the heck, to go ahead and order the "mother's Sunday dinner" box in addition to the signature box. It included a beef roast, a pork roast, and something called a "beef and vegetable loaf"! Umm, okay. So, once the other meat was gone, I thawed out the mystery loaf.

Still in the package:

I almost feel, IDK, almost blasphemous cooking this stuff in my pampered chef stoneware pan:

A closeup of the texture (you can see "vegetable" pieces, I think they were peppers):

Here it is cooked:

And plated up:

Overall, it wasn't horrible. It was salty and processed tasting. The texture was a bit odd, like everything had been pulverized before being smashed together into a brick. The baby really liked it, but she'll eat just about anything that doesn't have to be chewed, so I won't base its tastiness on her opinion. She still eats baby banana oatmeal mixed with vanilla yobaby, for goodness sake! It tasted best on whole wheat bread, with a slice of cheese, and slathered with ketchup. I wouldn't intentionally order it again.

And of course, I couldn't help but question why it was included in a box called "Mother's Sunday Dinner". What mother serves mystery loaf on Sunday? Peggy Bundy?