The Apple That Falls

No, this apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Ooh, I smell chocolate!

How do I get in there?

Okay, that was too tough. I'm gonna try this one.

Two great tastes that taste great together...if only I could get past the packaging!

Maybe if I attack all of them at the same time?

Mama put a bib on me...that must mean I'm gonna eat something soon!!

I'm not ashamed of drooling on my bib.

I've seen Mama lean over to eat something, I'll try that.

Dadgum wrapper.

I think I've almost got it. I'll just stick the whole thing in my mouth again.

Candy makes me hap-hap-happy!

If I could read, I'd see all the good stuff this candy is made of.

Aw, heck. I know I can at least get my feet in my mouth!

Please note that no candy was consumed by anyone under the age of 30-something during the making of this post.

Pop Quiz

Today in Mookieland, we're having a pop quiz! Are you ready for it? Here we go:

1. Baby has:

Please pick the most correct answer of the following choices:
(a) a tooth
(b) rolled under the bed
(c) a cold
(d) none of the above
(e) a and c
(f) a, b, and c
(g) all of the above

(didn't you just hate it when an instructor did that on a quiz or test? sheesh!)

2. Mama has:

Please pick the most correct answer of the following choices:

(a) flour on her jeans
(b) a cold
(c) a dirty kitchen
(d) not seen an ant in her kitchen in almost a whole day
(e) a napping baby
(f) all of the above
(g) none of the above

Okay! Let's see how you did!

Did you answer F to both questions? Then you get 100%!! Yay!

Here are a few descriptive photos:

I'm making Raspberry Almond bars for my Moms group tomorrow.

I really don't like to cook. REALLY! I find very little enjoyment in the whole process.

I like the results... :o)

See the lovely green blanket on the floor on the right?

See the baby under the bed on the left?

Said baby was in the middle of the blanket when I went around the corner to use the bathroom.

I promise I wasn't gone that long!

I think she would have rolled all the way down the hall if the bed hadn't stopped her!

I'm working on getting a good Halloween photo of Mookie. Most are almost good enough.

I'm not done trying!

So, yes, in summary. Mookie's first tooth busted through late Saturday morning. We were manning our booth at the base yard sale, and she was kinda fussy, and then she got REALLY REALLY fussy. So fussy that a lady manning a booth across the way came over and asked if she could do anything to help! I didn't realize Mookie was cutting her fist tooth, I thought she was just really tired. :-( Poor kid! Later in the day, she put my finger in her mouth, and I felt the sharp-roughness of her first little toofer. And, yes, I have noticed it when she's nursing -- but only if she doesn't unlatch right. When she's nursing, it's fine.

And we both have colds. Hers isn't as bad as mine, thank God!! She does not like The Mama to come at her little piggie snout with a Kleenex. It started out for me on Friday, and then I noticed that she was extra snotty on Sunday morning. I don't want to jinx it, but I do think we are both getting better.

And we still do have ants, but I think maybe I've saturated their entrance point with enough chemical goop to stop them from coming back? I found some gel stuff in a syringe, and you squirt it at the baseboards behind the appliances. I thought that might be safe because Mookie doesn't get behind the appliances. (at least there aren't any she can roll under!) :o) And the first evening I did that, I saw a bunch of ants on the kitchen counter, but when I looked at where I had squirted the gel, it was completed covered with dead ant carcasses. I tried sprinkling Borax around the foundation of the house like embee suggested, but these California ants must be tougher than the rest because they just walked over it like it was nothing new. I even tried wetting it down, thinking it needed to be wet to affect them...but, no. So...that's all to say that I dream of ants in my sleep now, and I'm really really hoping for a break in this still hot weather so maybe they'll go away for a while!

And I am making some more of the Pacifinders. I don't know that I'll open an Etsy shop or if I'll just be lazy and only offer them to folks that either read my blog and/or know me personally. One reason I don't want to put them on Etsy is because I don't know how much to charge. The cost isn't that high...but I'm not the best seamstress, so it takes me longer than it would take most people. (I'm ssslllooowww.)

Here's my latest one. I like it a lot more in person than in this picture, though!

Oh, Lanna. I did extend the pacifier ribbon, it's now 6" on each side...but I think I'm going to go for 8" next time.

By the way, I nosed around at Target the other day, and I do believe that this Pacifinder will safely and securely hold every kind of pacifier on the market. It will even hold the MAM pacifiers if you buy the little loop attachment (the Target brand works). It will also hold the Soothie pacifiers if you thread the ribbon through the teeny little holes and tie it on the other side.

And since this Mama doesn't like to have one thing do only one thing, here are some other ideas for the Pacifinder...it could be used to hold a teething ring (or Mama's pretty green bracelet that Baby likes to gnaw on...ahem). It could be used to hold just to snuggle with at night or naptime. It can be tied onto the carseat or stroller so the baby can't fling it out onto the floor as you are racing through the airport (or mall).

Uh oh, she's chirping. Gotta go! Hope you have a great week!

Flashback: Adventures in the UK - Part 2

SHE IS DOMESTIC

Originally emailed on October 26, 2004. I had been in the UK for about a week and a half. I will put new comments in [brackets] to fill in some gaps. Enjoy this flashback! :o) I'll also include some photos.
Also, you can find Flashback #1 here.

Well, what's new around here? It has been a very eventful week!

It's Tuesday and I've spent the day in Guildford again...which is to say that we still don't have Internet access at the house, yet. Hopefully before next Tuesday! :) The town of Guildford has a lot of character, though, and I enjoy spending the day in town. Half of the fun is just watching all the people!! :-)

It's hard to believe that it was 2 full months ago that we packed up the computer and put it in a box to ship it here! SOOOOOOOO much has changed and happened and come together in the last two months! Wow, time flies!

Back at home, things are slowly becoming normal. Last week I walked down to the local Craft Centre, which includes the craft store, the tea shop, and the stamp-emboss-cut-trim-embellish-create-your-own-card shop known as Paper Perfection...my new favorite place! (I didn't earn the title of Paper Snob without reason!) I had my first official pot of tea and slice of cake as I parused the local "Parish News" telling me all
about everything going on in our little valley. That tea shop is a hopping little joint! :0) When you come visit, we'll have to walk down to have some tea and cake (I didn't see any crumpets!). I know I complain about how expensive things are, and that is true...everywhere except the tea shop! That is worth every pence, and then some!!

Speaking of tea...when I unpacked my Mr. Coffee Iced Tea maker, one of the movers looked at it as though it brewed venom! I tried to explain to him that just as he likes his tea hot, I like my tea cold, but I didn't get the impression that he would like a glass! :) So then it just had to sit for a while because the amount of electricity that comes through the outlet is different here...so I was not about to plug in my tea maker to have it pop and sizzle and fry the innards! I had to wait for a transformer. Dave brought one home on Friday, so I got to make a pitcher....ah, the sweet nectar of the Lipton flower! Whoever put ice, sugar, and lemon in tea was BRILLIANT!! [Over the 3 years there, whenever I would bring iced tea to work for the day, or have it as a refreshing beverage in my own home, people mistook my innocent drink as Pimm's or whiskey...or even a really bad urine sample! They just never seemed to get used to it! And it brought the much amusement!]

Notice the large glass of iced tea here. :o)

Speaking of "brilliant"...that is a largely overused word here, I think. Last week I decided to give up the wait and actually call the Internet company and sign up for Internet over the phone rather than online. They really encourage you to sign up for Internet online...which seems to be a bit of a problem for those who are not actually online! After talking with the staff member at Wanadoo, though, I completely understand why they want you to sign up online! She was not the brightest lightbulb on the Christmas tree! She had a really hard time spelling mountain (as in my e-mail address). She kept transposing the "a" and the "i" -- which was very frustrating! She would say "That's Brilliant." after everything I said...for instance, I spelled Melissa, and she said "That's Brilliant."... it's been a really long time since anyone told me I was brilliant for spelling my name right! Maybe I just don't understand their meaning of brilliant? :) So, after all that, I hope she got everything right and that one day within the next week or so, we'll have Internet at home...yay!

Alley doesn't seem to be going up and down the stairs as much as I and her belly hoped she would...I think the novelty of stairs has worn off...too bad. Daisy is SO funny coming down the stairs, though. She kinda skis down. It's so cute! She puts her front paws out straight, then just pushes off with her back paws and ... skis down. She cracks me up! I am SO very thankful that we brought them. It would be terribly lonely all day without them! Alley and I have been having some good conversations, although she tends to say the same thing over and over...and we get into pretty heated debates when it comes to feeding frequency and
quantity! But bringing them was worth every bit of effort, every dollar, and every tear. They really keep us going. :0)

I've been working harder at cooking dinner...although I'm still a bit foggy on how the oven works. Sadly, it's not the first time...The post-dinner challenge, though, is that we are supposed to compost all of our kitchen waste (meaning leftover food and potato peelings, etc.). There is this big blue cone out in the back yard that I think I am supposed to dump the food into every day...I totally understand the science of composting, and I completely agree with the environmental conservativism of composting...but it's still kinda ookey! [I pretty much gave up on composting once winter hit. It was about 30 feet out back, through the wet grass and I was forever stepping on snails. Or slugs. Or other icky stuff. So I quit composting in the green cone. After that, if I had vegetable waste, I would chuck it over the back fence (into a very wooded and uninhabited area).]

A green cone, though not the one from our garden.

 We found out last week that we can borrow a dryer from the military base (the house came with a washer, but no dryer), so I'm kinda excited about that. Up to this point, we have been drying the clothes on the radiators...which is all well and good, except I wouldn't want to have company on laundry day! And the radiators don't really leave the clothes Snuggle Bear Soft! :0) There is, however, a clothes line in the back
yard for non-radiator clothes-drying days! I guess you use the clothes line when it's sunny...which is sometime in June? I think? Wow, if I had to wait till June to dry my clothes that would be a whole lot of
accumulated laundry!! :0)

 And even though the house is still a wreck as I'm trying to put everything away (I've got a few rooms done), I have discovered one handy cleaning tip that I thought I would share with all of you...being the domestic godess that I am... Here's a simple math problem for you: 2 cats + hardwood floors = ?? Dust bunnies galore! So, what to do? Well, I discovered that if you go to the cabinet, chair or corner, aim the hair dryer at the area, and give it a little Revlon PowerShot 2000, those dust bunnies will go scrambling! :0) (That's your Healthy Home Tip for the day!) :0) hee hee!

Sunday there was a big event at the local church. Every village, pretty much, has a Church of England church. This week they combined the services with 3 other villages around, so it was "big" (maybe 100 people?) And, as expected, there was only one other "young" couple there. (Young meaning under the age of 60!!) Hee hee!! But we figured that it was the best time to go, make ourselves known, meet the rest of the village, (pretty much), and go for a free lunch (of course!!). It was so funny, though, I felt like we were sitting in a movie scene! Like "Four Weddings and a Funeral" Where everyone is talking funny and singing funny
songs and looking funny! It was very surreal! :-) We enjoyed it, though, and it wasn't entirely foreign to me because in college I went to the Episcopal church, so this was fairly close. Dave did fine, too. At the lunch afterwards, we were very busy talking and meeting and greeting...we didn't get much of that free lunch, but you gotta love it when you go to a church lunch and the first thing they do is ask if you would like red or white wine!! Dave met someone (Will) who is going to show him a way to bike to school without getting on the major roadways, and I met a nice lady from Massachusetts who is going to help me adjust to living in the UK, and help me translate things. It's so funny, though, because they find out we're from the US and say things like "Oh, yes, I'm going to Texas soon." To which I want to reply "Oh, I'm so sorry for you."...but I know they don't know any better, so I just let them think that it will be nice weather, and beautiful, and other lies!! But I guess it's like any foreigner...everywhere in their country is the same - Colorado, Texas, California, Georgia -- it's all the same! :) Can't blame them, though, I'm the same way! So that was our first church event in England -- funny and good. [At the time, there wasn't a rector (chief pastor) assigned to our little church, so even though Dave and I attended a few times, it was rather fragmented and confusing. And although the congregation was incredibly nice and warm and welcoming and friendly and loving and everything you would want the parishoners of a little village church to be, we decided to visit other churches starting in December. We eventually went to a small Baptist church in Guildford for about a year, then moved to a larger Baptist church for the duration of our time in Guildford.]

The Seale Village Church from the up the lane.

The stained glass window from inside the church.

 But I think the biggest excitement of the week was Dave retrieving the Miata...poor guy has been so lonely without her! :) So, Friday he drove to one base to get it, then on Saturday had to return the rental car to another base 3 hours away. That's when the real excitement came! I had to drive!! Be thankful that you are an entire hemisphere away!! It was pretty scary! And not just for me...for the other drivers on the road, too! :) No, it was fine. I had some great advantages. First, it was pretty early on Saturday morning, so most folks were still in bed. Second, I drove the Miata, so I didn't have to fuss with driving a right-hand-drive car, and third, the areas that I drove were fairly remote. Plus, I got to follow Dave, so I didn't have to figure out where I was going at the same time as trying to actually get there! Honestly, the journey started in a rural area, and then I got on the equivolent of an interstate, and just stayed in the left lane (which is where slow, inexperienced, scared drivers are supposed to stay). We got to the rental car place, dropped of the rental, and then spent the rest of the day buying necessities at the commissary and BX (it was a very tight squeeze

in the Miata!). Again, I am so thankful we have that advantage. Things are SO much cheaper there than out "on-the-economy."

Well, I think that's the most of my update for the week! Dave and I are talking about going to spend some time in London this weekend...so that should make for a lively update next week! We hope all is well with

you.

Much love,

Dave and Melissa

Extinction...

...slowly becomes "gradual extinction."

Which quickly becomes "controlled crying."

Which immediately becomes "get the child to sleep by whatever means necessary and try again tomorrow."

Training a baby how to sleep on her own blows.

Is all I'm sayin'.

Dear Mookie: Month Five

Dear Mookie,

This has been a fun month! You are doing so many new things, and seem to be enjoying yourself while you are doing them! It's really a joy to watch you discover and explore and learn about this crazy world around you.

Even though you aren't quite sitting up on your own, you are so much stronger now! And I can tell that you are excited to be sitting up, and putting weight on your legs when I hold you to "stand." Yesterday we danced in front of the bathroom mirror -- me holding your upper body, and you stomping your feet on the counter. You were pretty proud of yourself! And so was I. We practice sitting up, and then standing, every time I pick you up, and you seem to be getting more comfortable with it, and more confident. You even sat in your Bumbo chair and didn't look like a bobble-head doll! Good for you!

Ooh, Grandma Bear, you tell the BEST stories.

You are starting to get a lot more mobile in your crib at night. Sometimes you get turned around. Sometimes you work your way out of your swaddle blanket. Sometimes to scoot to the other side of the crib. And just the other night, you got yourself rolled over from the peaceful, sleep-inducing position on your back to the annoying, scream-inducing position on your tummy. Poor baby. I know you don't like tummy time when I'm right there with you, encouraging you to roll over, but it must be scary to accidentally get rolled over and wake up on your tummy. Plus, I know you have a hard time rolling over when you are tired, so that can't help much in the middle of the night. Only, if you don't mind...could we cut the frequency down a bit? I don't mind coming to rescue you, but could we try to keep it to just once a night? For a while at least? Till you figure out how to right yourself on your own? Please?

To tell the truth, your new found mobility isn't limited to your crib. You are moving all over the place! You've figured out that if you arch your back and roll to your side, that you can turn just a little. And if you lift your legs and roll to your side, you can turn a lot! Who knew a baby on her back to squirm her way around the room! :o) I know all too soon I will be fondly remembering these days of having a "captive" baby...but I'm sure enjoying watching you grow and explore right now.

Look at my long legs! Grandma Bear's legs aren't as long as mine are.

Speaking of growing, you are right on schedule. We are using up the last of your Size 1 diapers this week. The 2s seem SO big on you, but I know you'll grow into them in no time. Your pediatrician says the goal is for you to double your birth-weight (6 pounds, 8 ounces) by your 6th month, and you are really close to that. Today you weighed 12 pounds, 9 ounces, and are 25 1/2 inches long. It still amazes me that you are growing about an inch a month. I'm not so amazed and surprised at your weight gain...just how you keep getting longer and longer. Or maybe it's just that your pajama's are getting shorter and shorter? 

Grandma Bear's toes are fuzzy.

I guess the good thing about your footed-pajamas no longer fitting you is that now you have free access to your little tootsies. You are loving your feet right now! Every chance you get, you've got one (or both) in your hands, or in your mouth. I hope you grow out of this before you start walking! :o)   But you are still wearing mostly 3 month clothes, and some of the brands are 3/6 months. I think there are one or two dresses that are still 0/3 months. But your little box of "outgrown" clothes is filling up fast! Not that you need more clothes to fill the gap, though. Nope. You've got SO many clothes! I'm glad the weather here is mild so you will be able to wear all your clothes without worrying about them being out-of-season.

Grandma Bear, I am SO much bigger than you now!

We are still going for walks pretty much every day, but now that you are bigger, I'm putting you in the stroller without the carseat, so now you get to face OUT and look at the bright, noisy, invigorating world in front of you! I miss being able to see your sweet face when we do it, though. :-(

You are exploring more of your voice these days, too. You still squeal, and warble like a whale, but you are laughing more frequently -- and at the strangest things, too! Like when I say "boo" to you, you laugh. It's supposed to be scary, not funny! I guess Mama's not a very scary person?  But when you do cry, you've started putting your tongue between your lips, to make a little razzing sound. And then you seem entertained by it, so you cry-razz some more. It's so hard not to laugh at you when you are doing this. I know it frustrates you even more -- Mama laughing when you are crying, how rude -- but you are just so darn cute that I can't help it.

You and me haven't quite figured out how to get you to sleep longer during naptime (sigh), but I guess that's okay for now because when you are awake, you are very alert, and curious, and watching absolutely everything with wide open, beautiful blue eyes. You've always been alert like this, but I'm just starting to figure out that it means you are getting enough sleep and are a contented baby. And maybe I just need to manage my 30 minutes of baby-is-napping time a little better. :o)

The best is when I got into your room after you have just woken up, and you have this huge smile on your face when you see me. And you lift your feet up into the air, and you bring your hands to your face...like you are surprised and elated to see me. Please, pretty please, promise me that you will always be this excited to see me. :o) Another thing you've started to do is reach up to me when you want me to pick you up. You know Mama can't resist that!

You had your first (little) diaper rash this past month. Not big, but I felt so bad for you. No one wants a sore rumpus. Poor girl. And you are starting to get two little tooth buds on your bottom jaw. I can tell they are making you a bit uncomfortable because you are putting everything in your mouth! My fingers, Papa's fingers, burp cloths, toys. Yesterday Alley the Cat walked a little too closely, and you almost got her tail in your mouth! Almost. Mama and Kitty were quicker than Baby. This time. :o)

You and Papa are enjoying watching the University of Michigan rebuild their football team this year (ahem). Papa is SO stinkin' excited because he gets to actually go to a game this Saturday! He's sad because he won't get to spend the day with you, but he says he'll bring a hot dog back for you.

It seems like there is oh so much more I want to capture about this last month and tell you. I wish I had a Mama-cam so I could record every moment we have together. For one, so I don't forget, but also because I want you to know what an adorable, funny, smart, addictive, light-hearted little girl you are! The way you giggle when we dance around the room. And the face you make! For you, Mama will do ballet, or the two-step, or the waltz, or the Charleston, or whatever makes you laugh. And the day you got to sit in your tubby like a big girl (instead of the sling over top of the tub), and you kicked your legs and slapped the water with your hands, and had a grand old time. Oh, or the face you make that instant before you latch-on to nurse. :o)  Aww, and the way you suck half of your bottom lip in when you are sleeping. Or the way you "help" me when it's time to change your diaper by lifting up your bottom. Such a good little helper. :o) 

I don't ever want to forget these moments. I know they are going by too fast already. And I know I'm forgetting more than I am capturing. And that makes me a little sad. And to think that 5 short months ago, my days (and nights) were different than what they will ever be again. Then, there was a place in my day that was silent, but now you fill it with laughter. There was a place in my heart that was lonely, but now you fill it with your love. There was a place in my life that was empty, but now you fill it up with you. You are amazing. You inspire me to be a better person. Because of you, I care more about the future. Because of you, I laugh more openly. I love more deeply. I am more silly. Because of you, I spend more time talking to God. Because of you, I spend more time seeing His work in my life. Because of you, I am becoming the child God wants me to be. I know that I am whole only because of God's grace and mercy and love and forgiveness.

But because of you, I am no longer empty.

I love you, sweet baby girl. Forever and ever and always.

Love,
Mama

Flashback: Adventures in the UK - Part 1

SHE LANDS

Originally emailed on October 19, 2004. I had been in the UK for about 3 days at this point. It is hard to believe it's been 4 years! It's SO funny to look back on and read about my first few days. My, how things (and feelings) changed!  If only I'd known about blogs... :o)I will put new comments in [brackets] to fill in some gaps. Enjoy this flashback! :o)  I'll also include some photos.

Hi Everyone!

We are here, we are safe, we are enjoying everything so far! Things are different...for sure! I haven't driven...I'm still getting used to sitting on the wrong side of the car...don't make me drive yet! Forget every nice thing you have ever heard about UK drivers!!! What's that? You've never heard anything nice? Well, consider what you heard 'nice' and bring it down a few notches...these guys are aggressive, psycho, nutso, speedy...[I got used to them, and found them to actually be more considerate than many US drivers. Shocking, I know.]

(I'm sitting at the University borrowing an internet connection because we don't have it at the house yet, and the computer keyboards are a little funky...like the @ symbol is transposed with the " key...and other keys are moved on me, too...so if I spell soemtnhig wnrog, or there is a random \\\\\\\\\\, just blame it on the keyboard -- not me!!)

So let's see...what do you want to know? :0)

Well, first, the dog and cats arrived safely. They did not enjoy the plane ride over, but were very glad to see Dave and he said Daisy rode in his lap the whole way home from the airport! [You haven't seen any references to Daisy because she passed away in Sepember 2006]. The cats have been very busy exploring the new house...they've never lived in a 2-story house before, so they are going up and down the stairs like they are a novel thing! Dave said the first day Alley would slowly creep up the stairs, get to the top and start meowing like she needed rescuing, so he'd walk up, pick her up, bring her back down, and she'd turn around and creep up again! Now she's up and down all the time...it's Alley's little workout plan! She'll work off all that baby fat one of these days!

Then a few days later, I arrived safely, but later than we expected by about 5 hours. Bummer. We didn't get to do all the Saturday stuff we had planned. Oh well, we'll get it all done eventually!!

And...our stuff arrived safely on Monday (yay!!) They just kept bringing box after box after box in and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I uncover a few boxes that don't actually belong to us! :o) I didn't find all the bedding, but I found enough to make the bed (using 5 different sheet sets!), and it was nice to sleep on the bed again...especially for Dave, who has been camping on the air mattress for the last month! Poor guy! He deserves a back rub for that! I could not have survived!

I haven't found all the dishes, so I haven't done much cooking...and, in that regard, there's no real hurry, right? At least not for me! :0)

We both really love the house. No offense, but Kathrin [the owner], I really hope you don't come back to Surrey for 3 years! :0) It is more eclectic than you would expect looking at the outside, and there is a lot of yellow for decoration (which I love), and it's a very bright, open, warm house. [I continued to love that house, even after Max and Kathrin returned after only one year and gave us the ole' heave-ho. I would gladly live there again.]  I just hope our stuff can do it justice! :0) I'm still adjusting to the UKness of it...light switches go down to turn the light on, not up. There are no outlets in the bathrooms (but at least there is heat!). I don't really know how to work the oven (see above, shouldn't really be a problem for me!) The yard (a.k.a. "garden") is really neat. Daisy likes it a lot, although she can squeeze through the slats on the gate and get to the front yard easily...a little chicken wire will fix that! There are still flowers blooming...some roses, and some other things I have no idea what they are! But the smell outside the house is just so fresh! I guess it is the dampness on the soil, and the grass, and the flowers blooming, all combined into one yummy smell. I wish I could bottle the smell and send it to everyone!

(the house)

(Daisy in the garden)

We took a little hike Sunday near our house around the "North Downs Way". Daisy got tired fairly quickly into it...I got tired about halfway - but there are no options when you are in the woods halfway from home! :) There are many more hikes around that we'll take. I met one of the neighbors, she seems nice enough. She seemed extra glad to meet me when I told here we were generally quiet people and wouldn't cause problems! (except the moving trucks...those weren't a big hit with her!) All in all, it will be great to live here for as long as we can!

(the hike)

We went to the closest supermarket last night...kinda neat...kinda different! They have really nice looking produce, but I think it will take me a while to translate the regular food items into my language! :o) [And spent 3 years still trying!] Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the prices are hugaceous!! It's like getting half the stuff at twice the price! Thank God we can shop at the commissary!!! For instance, a 2-liter jug of milk (roughly 1/2 gallon), cost $1.45 at the commissary, but it was £1.61 at the supermarket in town (and the current conversion rate would make that $2.90 (Yipes!!) The meat selection wasn't that great at the commissary that we went to, but there is another one up the road about 2 hours (yes, 2 hours!) and it is much bigger, so we should have a better selection. This country is not for the faint-of-gastrointestinal-systems, though!! The cheeses are Y-ummy! And the chocolate is better than any I've had in many years....you've heard of Cadbury (right, "Bok, bok, thanks Easter Bunny!")...the Cadbury here is just scrumdileyicious!! (Way better than Cadbury in the US. One person compared it to Hershey's...he just doesn't know his chocolate!) One might wonder, though...with this great of chocolate, why are dentists so few and far between?

I haven't found a job, yet (I've only been here 2 days!), but my first priority is to get the house in livable order! Then I'll pound the pavement. There are quite a few temporary agencies in Guildford, and if I can't find anything permanent, hopefully they can at least keep me out of trouble!! If I can't get a job, then we'll need for me to not have a car...otherwise I'll do stuff like come into town and shop! Danger! Danger!

The weather was gorgeous yesterday for the movers! It didn't even think about raining! And it really hasn't rained on me at all. It was spitting a little when we went hiking, and it was spitting a little on me today as I was out shopping, but nothing that would drench a person (just ruin a good-hair-day, that's all). Which, by the way, I'm trying to figure out. I see all these snoochy hair-design places (Toni and Guy, etc.) ...but you go outside and it's windy and cold and the sky is spitting...why would anyone pay to have their hair styled when it's largely fruitless to do anything to your hair anyways???? (Which might explain the lack of power outlets in the bathroom...right?) And if you look around, all the women have disheveled hairstyles anyways! But maybe that's what they are paying for? I'm so confused! I've never been a fashion-maven!

And of course an immediate priority is getting the guest rooms ready for you! So far, the first week in April is booked...and I think we've got a couple of feelers out for June...so...start looking at your calendars and looking for good plane fares! [Obviously I was fishing for some visitors!]

So far, I'm having a lot of fun. Oh, and Dave is too :o) He has started his research, and likes the people he's working with. We expect he'll be busy, but not too busy to enjoy this opportunity. [ummmm, yeah.]

Well, that's it for my report after my first two days...we love you all!

Dave and Melissa

Look for our next flashback on October 26th.

Phunny Photos

...at least I find them funny. :o)

Mama, can you find a Gene Simmons wig for Halloween?

Sumpin stinks, Mama.

I'm keeping my eye on you, Mama.

What?? No! I don't believe it!

I've got a head growing out of my big toe.

(this would have been much funnier if I had thought to stage the shot as if the bonnet was on her toe!)

:o)

Have a great weekend!

Where's That Dadgum Pacifier?

Does your baby use a pacifier? Or, shall I say "Does your baby lose a pacifier?"

My little angel dream doesn't take a pacifier. Hasn't ever. I've tried just about every brand, and the game we play is pretty fun. Or not.

Wah wah wah. I push the pacifier in. Wah wah wah. She spits it out. Wah wah wah. I push it in, she spits it out. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out.

Big fun. Uh huh.

Well, on an entirely separate note...

Remember how I made some baby blankets for babies in the NICU? If you've ever made those tie-a-knot blankets, then you know that one of the first steps is to cut a four-inch square off of each corner. Which left me with 16 four-inch squares. Never one to throw away perfectly good scraps of fabric (ahem), I was trying to figure out how to use them when a little light flashed above my head.

My beloved little angel child is going through a phase where she likes to put things in her mouth. (Please note, I understand that this "phase" will go on for many, many moons.) So I thought I would piece the blocks together to make a little stroller snuggly for Mookie. I was going to use the scraps from the pink and brown Scotty Dog blanket for her. Pink and brown is a good color combination for her. :o)

But then another little light flashed above my head. What if I embellish it with ribbon loops around the outside? That way (a) she would have something to tug on and play with, and (b) I could link it to her stroller so she couldn't accidentally kick it out as we walk. (Brilliant, I know!)

And, yet again, another little light flashed above my head. A young couple in our church just had a baby, and I was making other things for her baby shower, and I thought maybe I should make a stroller snuggly for Baby Judah! And, lucky for me, I had more masculine scraps to use.

But wait, there's more! (And here's where the two stories converge) I thought I'd heard Emily mention that Judah used a pacifier, so I thought I would make it possible to tie the pacifier onto the snuggly.

I don't know this personally, but I can only imagine how frustrating it is for a parent to be driving down the road with a happily pacified baby in the backseat, and phbt. Out goes the pacifier. And up goes the volume of wailing in the car. The parent is frantically fumbling around in the carseat trying to find the pacifier while also trying to safely continue driving, and the baby's cries are starting to crescendo to a level that would make the hairs on the nape of your neck stand up. And then, miraculously, the pacifier is found, and placed back in the baby's mouth. And we have a few minutes of peace before phbt. Out goes the pacifier, and we start this dance all over again.

Or, what about in the middle of the night? Do you Pacifier Parents ever have to get up in the dark to replace the pacifier that the baby has spit out and you don't want to turn on the light, but you still have to find the pacifier? As far as I know, they don't glow in the dark, right? :o)

And so, behold the birth of The Pacifinder. (clever name, right?)

(see the pacifier tied onto the corner there?)

This one is 10"x10", and the front and back are mostly identical (made of blocks of coordinating fabric).

See, even though Mookie doesn't like pacifiers, I still imagine that it would be a ton easier to find a fleece snuggly in the carseat (or, heaven forbid, on the floor) than an itsy bitsy pacifier. Or a fleece snuggly in the crib in the middle of the night. And, gosh, now that I think about it...the baby couldn't even spit the whole thing very far because the snuggly weighs more than the pacifier. So, I guess you wouldn't have to worry as much about the pacifier being spit onto the floor. Or sidewalk. Or whatever.

Anyways. This was all fig newtons of my imagination until yesterday when Emily came up to me and said how much she LOVES the Pacifinder, and she wants me to make one for her nephew because he's a pacifier junkie and her sister is forever having to pull the car off the road to find his pacifier.

Yay! Doncha love it when an idea comes to fruition? And when scraps get used? AND when it's helpful to people who are already pretty sleep-deprived?

Speaking of sleep deprivation...good night!

Oh, but first. What do you think? How can I improve it? Do you want one? Lemme know, I'll see what I can do.

Now. Good night.

See You in the Blink of an Eye

It's hard to believe that it's been one year since we moved back to America. What a blur! And it's even harder to believe that it's been 4 years since I got on that plane and moved to the other side of the planet in the first place.

Four years!! Gosh. :o)  (Look for some flashback posts starting in a few days.)

When we first moved to England, I was emailing my insights and observations to family and friends. Long. Emails. That took me hours to write. Ugh, what a burden! Which could explain why I eventually stopped sending them! That, and the newness kinda wore off. :o)  If only I'd known about blogging way back then! If only.

Tonight I got to be a part of putting some friends on a plane to the other side of the planet. My friend Jen, her husband, and daughter are on a plane at this very moment on their way to Wellington, New Zealand for an adventure all their own. Her husband is going there to work for a year, and Jen and Maddy are just going to live it up and explore and experience Wellington, and New Zealand for all it's worth!

Kelly and I were hoping to see them one last time before they left. I've had so much fun these last few months, out on our "play dates." Picnicking with the mowers in the background. :o)  But, alas, things didn't work out as we had all planned (ahem), and Kelly couldn't go to meet them, so it was just Mookie and me. After a few, um, detours we all got to the same place, and Jen and I got a few extra minutes to hang out

There's quite a lot about my Big Move four years ago that I don't remember, but what I do remember is (some of) the many times I completely freaked out. And my complete lack of grace, and poise, and composure when I was dealing with anything move related. I was a real nut job!

But Jen? Uh uh. She was a cool cucumber. Even in the midst of leaping over hurdle, after hurdle, after even bigger hurdle, she was very composed. :o) I'm sure she's disagreeing with me right now...but from where I sat, she really had it all together.

Her behavior and composure gently reminded me of how we are called to be. In the midst of trials, we are to call on God, and trust completely in Him to take care of everything. And she was doing that. And God was just working things out for her left, right, and center. God really is amazing. :o)  I am SO incredibly prone to freak out in the first instance, and then think about my actions, and asking for help from that mighty God we serve. You've seen that adage that says "When all else fails, pray"? Yeah. That seems to be my creed. 

But not Jen.

I wish her joy and peace and wonder and excitement and awe and fantabulous memories made as she and her family experience life in New Zealand. I will miss her, and Miss Maddy Sweet Cheeks.  But over this next year, I hope I look back on this day and remember her character most of all. And maybe, just maybe, when she moves back, I can be a little more like her.

May God bless you richly, my friend. We'll see you soon!

Blankets for Brady

A few weeks ago, I saw a post on 5 Minutes For Mom asking readers to contribute a small thing to a small charity in order to make a big impact.

The charity (Brady's Smile) asks folks to either donate money, or donate blankets that they then give to babies in the NICUs around their town. The blankets are the fleece tie-blankets that came into popularity about 5 years ago, only these are cut in half so they fit better into a hospital bassinet. Two yards of fleece (one yard each of coordinating fabric) makes two baby blankets.

I knew that I wanted to help, and since I already had some fleece, I knew it would be an easy project. (Not that I don't have enough craft projects on the go right now! I think my last count was somewhere near 15 different projects! Yipes!)  See, traditionally I'm a craft-starter, not always a craft-finisher, but I knew I could actually finish this one so I picked up a few more yards of fleece to coordinate with what I already had, and began cutting and tying to my wrist's content. :o)

Befores...

And Afters...

I really liked these finished blankets, and was very very tempted to...sshhh...keep one for Mookie. :o) But I didn't. I was a good crafter/donater. Plus, Mookie has a gillion blankets already, and this would just be one more thing she'd want to put into her mouth. So, we sent them 6 "Brady Blankets."

I'm curious to see how many the Blanket Drive by 5 Minutes for Mom has generated! :o)  It's great to be a small part of a group doing something big. Especially for babies in need.

(and coming soon, a little post about one of my ongoing craft projects that I made out of scraps from my Brady Blankets! Trust me, you'll want one for every pacified baby you know...)

I Hate 'Em

Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em.

(alternative post title: The Great Ant Massacre of 2008)

Seriously, folks.

I.

Hate.

Ants.

Especially when they're in my house.  Ask Dave. The only thing I hate worse in my house is mice. And roaches. Spiders are okay. Ants, mice and roaches are definitely NOT okay.

Maybe it's the heat, maybe it's the drought, but the ants in the neighborhood seem to think that they need to be inside my house. I've seen one here and one there for about a week, but last night they invaded, and were intent to conquer the cats' food bowl...so I mounted an all-out assault.  Except for the fact that I didn't have a can of Raid ammunition. When we moved into this house, I was already pregnant, and while I don't mind what the toxic chemicals do to ants and other insects, I'm not too excited about what they might do to my child. So, I never bought any. And here I am, being invaded. Unarmed.

So I did what anyone else would have done.

I put the baby in her swing, and I got down on my hands and knees and started squishing the ants one by one. I smooshed all the ones in the kitchen, then got a flashlight and smooshed the ones in the carpet. I then tried to try to find their pathway to the kitchen, through the carpeted living room. Which, by the way, is not a very easy task. And I never actually found their pathway...sneaky critters. I did, however, find out that there were hundreds right outside our patio door (that I could see). So, I shut the door again. :o)

And after I felt I had killed all the ones in the house (for now), I got online to find a "green" way to kill ants. Or, at least, prevent them from entering my house.

Suggestion #1: Put a line of chalk in front of the door where they enter. To test this, I took my trusty piece of chalk and drew a circle around a lonely looking ant on the patio. You should have heard him laugh at me as he breezed across that chalk line.

Suggestion #2: Sprinkle baby powder in front of the door, or in their path. To test this, I found some more ants, and liberally buried covered a few to see what happened. Within one second, they all marched out from the mountain of baby powder. White, but alive.

Suggestion #3: Put grits in their colony. Great idea...if I could actually find said colony.

Suggestion #4: Spray a solution of bleach and water along their path. Fine, except I don't particularly want a striped carpet. :o) And I'm pretty sure the owners of our house wouldn't appreciate it, either!

Suggestion #5: Sprinkle a liberal amount of table salt along the entry point. Following my circle-with-chalk idea, I salted a circle around a wee ant. It looked more like a bundt cake of salt around the ant. Who, incidentally, crawled right over it.

(sigh)

I tried again, looking this time for a natural ant killing spray. Because I need to be able to kill them when and where I see them, not just decorate my patio with the contents of my kitchen cabinets.

Spray Suggestion #1: 50/50 mixture of Pine-sol and water. Good. I can live with that. Except I don't have any Pine-sol.

Spray Suggestion #2: Green Works Natural cleaning spray from Clorox. Again, good. Again, I don't have any. :o)

What would you do? Me too. I got in the car, and went to the over-priced grocery store down the street and bought some Green Works.

Oh, and a can of Raid for the patio and yard. And a bag of tortilla chips because they were on sale. Hey, a girl needs sustenance when she's waging war on insects!

And today, I've only seen 3 ants. 3 lonely, measly ants. Who have probably been in my house since yesterday, but got lost somehow and just found their way back to the original trail. And, as it happens, found their way to their demise.

I know I'll see more before they are gone for the winter, but I'm ready. With my bottle of Green Works in one hand, and my squishing finger on the other.

Bbbbbbbbbburning Up

Have I mentioned that it's hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhot here lately?

(sigh)

Apparently, Mother Nature didn't get my memo last week.

Because of all the hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheat, I got to witness a drama unfold yesterday that I've never seen in real life before. And it was exciting!

I was on my way to church for an outreach thing, and I had to stop at the grocery store on my way. As Mookie and I were leaving the store, I smelled smoke, but it didn't smell like trash burning or a car or a house, but I couldn't see the smoke, so I forgot about it and drove on up the hill.  As I was driving, I saw a very strange-looking yellow plane flying west, and rather close to the ground. It looked like a glider to me, based on the shape of the body, but I couldn't figure out where it would be gliding to considering that I was about a mile from the Pacific Ocean. I thought maybe it was going to circle back and land...somewhere, I didn't know where, but I didn't think I was close to any airports or landing strips. Not knowing much (obviously), I put it out of my head and made the final turn to church. 

As I crested the hill, I saw a commotion across the street from our church -- and then I saw the smoke. Our church is across a small street from a big field. And part of that field was aflame (not the church, though, thank God). And not only has it been hhhhhhhhhhhhot lately, it's also been very dry. There were 3 fire trucks, and I could hear a helicopter overhead. I saw some of the church staff standing outside watching what was the very beginning of a California brush fire being fought by firefighters. I parked the car and heard the VERY loud rumble of airplane propellors, and I craned my neck to see what was making all that ruckus, and it turned out to be the yellow plane from before! And from my parking-spot-vantage-point, I saw it drop water on the fire! That was very cool. Very cool, indeed. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera out and ready when that happened. I did, however, take a few photos from inside the car.

Immediately after the yellow plane dropped the water, a small fire truck drove up the hill, and then returned a few minutes later. I guess he was going to see if it was still burning, and it was.

I don't know anything about brush fires, or how they get fought, so I gathered up my stuff and my baby, and went inside. I had only been in about 30 seconds when I heard the loud rumble of the yellow plane again, and I was SO disappointed that I missed it -- AGAIN!!! Ugh!!  Just then, the pastor came through saying he was going back out to take some pictures, and I asked if he thought the plane would come by again, and he said it would, once it reloaded. (No, I hadn't clued in, yet)

So I left Mookie with some lovely church ladies, grabbed my wee Canon and went to get some more pictures. Once outside, I saw that there were two helicopters, and there were some firefighters walking up the hill. You can see how dry the hill is.

We kept watching, and waiting. And we saw that the fire kept burning. (Note: I didn't actually see the flames, but I did see black and white smoke).

After a couple of minutes, I saw one of the helicopters drop water on the fire! I was totally shocked about that! I wouldn't think a helicopter could hold enough water to do much damage, but it turns out that it dropped water ahead of the fire, to wet the brush.

After a few more minutes, the fire-fighters-on-foot came back down the hill, and it seemed quiet for a little while. I was about to give up on seeing the yellow plane again, and was missing my sweet (and tired) baby. I was just sure she was making a lot of noise, so I was about to hand my camera over to another lady and go to the baby, when I heard that characteristic rumble again. Yay!  I also heard the pastor say that the church camera's battery was dead. I am glad I had my camera out, and ready!

So I set the camera for continuous shoot, and started shooting. I got about 10 good shots, but I'm only going to post a couple. Turns out the big yellow plane is a "scoop plane" or a "water bomber." That's why it was flying so low, so close to the ocean...it was scooping water to come and dump it on our little fire! (I know. I'm quick like a bunny.)

                                     

Anyways, they completely contained the fire within a couple of hours, and there's nothing left but ash and memories.

And as far as California wildfires go, I hope this is the only one I ever witness.