Frump House Randoms

My bloggy chica Gretchen over at Jewels in My Crown recently posted an interview with yours truly if you'd care to read it.

Her interview questions are always so good (in all her interviews) that it makes me question if she's truly the SAHM blogger that she claims to be, and is instead actually a TV personality that is making a foray into the blog world incognito... ;)

Seriously, Gretchen...you got skillz!

:: :: :: ::

In our household it's been part of a long-standing after bathtime routine that we twirl a cotton swab in our boys ears.

Thanks to our first pediatrician who looked for "bunnies" with that funnel-ear-gadget, we've always said to the boys, "Gotta get the bunnies out of your ears" as we do this. (Of course Jericho is way past this stage now, lol.)

A few nights ago Judah was fighting sleep lying in bed when he noticed that something in his ear was kind of bugging him.

"Mama? Can you get the bunnies out of my ear?" he called out.

And yes, throughout most of the rest of the world little children delay bedtime with requests for drinks of water or bedtime stories, but here in Frump House, we are a little different that way.

I came in with a q-tip to do the honors.

Afterwards, he looked at the q-tip and then up at me kind of puzzled, "How did da bunnies get into my bed and in my eaows?"

Apparently there has been a little confusion about what, exactly, bunnies are.

This was no doubt complicated by his newfound knowledge that the fuzzballs that collect on our wood floors are called "dust bunnies", and that Thumper is that cute little "bunny" rabbit from Bambi. I'm pretty sure he was wondering how the q-tips fit into that scenario, lol.

:: :: :: ::

The diet is going tolerably well, considering I have the worlds most sluggish metabolism.

I've lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks and didn't feel hungry once. And we even indulged in a Valentine's dessert. It tasted WAY sweeter than I remembered, but then, so do cherry tomatoes.

I still crave things, but it's not out of hunger...more because they were on my "foods to avoid" list, and because lettuce begins to get a little bit old with nearly every meal.

Tonight...I passed up Oreo's and Dorito's without a problem. But if someone had passed a freshly baked loaf of whole wheat bread under my nose, I might have been tempted to sell my birthright for it. (Figuratively speaking, you understand.)

Meanwhile, Jeff of the super-fast metabolism lost 16 pounds to my 8.

SO. not. fair...considering that I'm the one who had to be strong to keep us from even thinking about cheating on the diet. "Oh, no...we're not ruining 2 weeks of Sunday-dinner food preparation on a Snickers bar!" and "Look away. You do NOT want that lovely platter of Mexican food."

Grrr. And how unfair is it that it's immediately noticable on him, to the point of having to tighten his belt a couple of notches, but on me nothin'? Nothin!

:: :: :: ::

I haven't forgotten about the room reveals.

Work on the house slowed considerably these past few weeks with my babysitting full-time and the extra funds having pretty much dried up.

However, this past weekend, we saw one major improvement.

Our kitchen sink area previously looked like this:



But after a little of this (okay, so a LOT of this and a gash on his forehead for all his trouble)

It now looks like this (except not blurry, lol):



It was our joint 'valentine'.

I never thought I'd see the day where I'd be beyond thrilled to get a new kitchen faucet for Valentine's day, but now every time I go to the kitchen sink I feel positively giddy.

And I pat it and hug it and kiss it and squeeze it...because it's the most beautiful, functional and best-working kitchen faucet I've ever had.

I can't tell you how nice it is to have a spray nozzle feature that actually works and shuts off automatically and holds itself in place exactly where you want it to.

Sheer bliss, I tell you. This thing is only one step removed from actually doing the dishes on it's own.

Oh, and in other home-related news, I also found some FAB frugal deals for the kitchen/dining areas while antiquing and thrift store shopping this past week. Here is my $27 worth of loot.



Faux milk glass (which, if broken by boisterous boys won't hurt quite so much as the real thing, especially since it was purchased on 1/2 price day at the Salvation Army), a silver-plated basket, a fun working clock which I knew Judah would enjoy, and from the antique store the deep enamel roaster with a lid that will fit two chickens or a ginormous lasagna in it. (One day when I can make lasagna again, that is.)

So, things are coming along...slowly but surely.

Hope to have a kitchen reveal up in a couple of weeks.

:: :: :: ::

Last Tuesday evening we were up late putting the finishing touches on Jericho's science project.

I wonder if I should worry that our explosive weekend in the desert left such an impression on him?



Especially since he's wearing clothing that resembles the Unabomber?

Because his (carefully supervised) science project consisted of building his own explosive device potato cannon and testing which 'flammable liquid' would propel the potato the farthest.

His testing concluded that WD-40 was the hands-down winner.

However, the next day he came home from school after having turned the whole project in and said in disgust, "Mr. O wouldn't accept my project because I forgot the bibliography."

Thinking all that hard work had been for naught, I freaked out, "What?! No way. We You worked way too hard on that project for him to not accept it over a missing bibiliography."

Then I suddenly remembered reading his instruction manual and said, "Wait a minute...there was no mention in that packet about needing a bibliography."

"Gotcha mom!" Jericho said and ran off laughing.

The whole thing had been devised on his way home from school as a good way to pull one over on good old mom.

Punk kid. Starting to pull fast ones on me now is he?

Someone came very close to having to eat fish for dinner that night.

:: :: :: ::

Tonight on the way home from church, Judah asked once again, "Do da dino's live in Cabazon?"

I absently replied, "Yes...remember we saw them there?"

He asked, "Can dey get us in da van?"

And suddenly, I was in the moment. I swerved wildly (yet safely) and yelled, "The dino's are getting us!"

When I was done, I glanced over my shoulder and saw the wide-eyed expression on his face and asked, "You mean like that?"

He said, "Yeah! Do dat again!"

Yep, just doing my part to develop a lively imagination in the boy, lol.

A similar and yet related technique works especially well on days when little boys don't cooperate with going down for their naps. You just say as you're tucking them into bed, "We've got to tuck you in snug as a bug so the pteradactyl's can't get you."

Or so I've heard. That's also supposed to develop a really good imagination.

:: :: :: ::

This was going to be THE year.

We were going to knuckle down and finally take a daycation to San Juan Capistrano on St. Patty's day for the return of the swallows sparrows the birds that always come back to the Mission there. It was supposed to happen like clockwork...birds flying in en masse on their migration route home for the spring and summer nesting season.

Well, a retiree we know that lives there was visiting his granddaughter at our church a couple of weeks ago, and he told us that very few birds come back to the Mission anymore and haven't for a few years. Too noisy for nesting. The best place to look for them now is in the delivery alleyway behind the local Target. It's quieter there and more suited to nesting.

*sigh*

Guess I can replace that item on my bucket list. If I want to see a bunch of birds in an alleyway, I can do that just as well here and save the trip.

Just so the tourists don't go and chase off the elephant seals that live near Hearst Castle.

:: :: :: ::

We've been having a lot of discussions with our older son these days about purity. About modesty and respect and avoiding even the appearance of evil.

The other day while we were out and about just the two of us, we happened to see a very, um, busty woman. With ample cleavage exposed for the world to see.

Now mind you, I know from experience that clothing manufacturers make these ridiculously low scoop necks and v-necks on large sized women's clothing, which makes it very difficult to find modest coverage, but it was apparent by other things this woman was wearing that modesty was not a huge concern for her.

Jericho looked away, appalled, and said discreetly when we'd passed, "She shouldn't be showing off her leverage like that."

Bwahahaha~! Yes, I think he's hit on something there.

Dieting Woes

Jeff and I recently went on a very strict, self-imposed diet.

It a low-carb, high-protein, low-sugar, low-dairy diet consisting of mostly veggies, meats, eggs, a little bit of cheese and scant amounts of other dairy products, eliminating all bad fats entirely.

It's intended to be kind of a 'detox' program, helping to bring all our 'numbers' into healthy ranges while helping eliminate some of the foods that can worsen asthma symptoms, all while losing weight

I now bemoan the fact I ever laid eyes on that Costco sized can of Almond Roca over the Holidays.

Now, I have to beat my body and make it my slave...and it's hard work...torture, in fact, trying to bring my unwieldy eating habits into line again.

Because suddenly, I'm seeing food everywhere. Billboards, blogs, magazines, commercials, Sunday School donuts & coffee time...even logos of fast food places I've long avoided as disgusting make me drool with longing as we pass them.

Which is silly, because the diet food is all very delicious and satisfying.

I think it has a lot to do with the prep work that goes into making each meal and snack. It's caused me to feel as though I spend waaay too much time obsessing over food.

Part of the effectiveness of this plan is that you really have to WORK for what you eat. Each meal involves a lot of prep-work, and you don't dare cheat on it, because it means that all your previous work was for naught.

I suppose it's also intended to get you to stop and think about the kinds of things you put into your body instead of just mindlessly consuming things that are fast or convenient and usually loaded with bad fats, sugars and simple carbs.

It's about re-training yourself to eat good, nutritious foods while replacing unhealthy habits with healthy ones.

The shopping to prepare for this diet was ridiculous. Removing one item from my fridge now is like playing a game of Jenga. Kind of precarious in there and you really have to watch your toes whenever you open the door.

And the dishes! 2 and 3 loads a day!

I'm using my food processor more than I ever have, and still have multiple additional steps to make each meal.

It's been ages since I've cooked like that. It's like putting out a Sunday dinner for nearly every meal.

There's no one-skillet or crock-pot dinners here. Oh no...you want food, it's gonna take some time and energy to make it.

I poured Judah a bowl of Cheerio's for breakfast the other day, and must've been looking longingly at the milk as I was putting it back, because he said, "Why can't you have da meowk, mama?"

"Because I'm on a diet."

He hadn't heard the "t" sound at the end of diet, and kind of rolled his eyes, "Yeow not gonna DIE, mama!"

"No son, that would be Di-ET", I replied, enunciating.

Even if it does feel like I'm dying. I'll be honest, I'm pining away here! Longing for things simply because I know they're on my "foods to avoid" list.

And it's not on the things I might have expected. I could care less about ice-cream or chocolate or cheesecake or pie. Even candy or rich pasta sauces.

No, it's berries and fruit and a bowl of oatmeal that sounds good to me now. Sweet potatoes, for goodness sake. Right now I'm longing for a crust of homemade whole wheat bread, and I'd even eat it dry!

**sigh**

I miss you, my carb-laden whole wheat bread. You, too, my buckwheat pancakes and sweet potatoe casserole. And you, my sweet Vermont maple syrup-and-real butter oatmeal...I will never take you for granted again!

Ahem. Did I just say that aloud?

Such is my life of late.

You know you're going through withdrawls when even animated food looks good to you.

French food prepared by a Rat, no less!

I don't even know what Ratatouille is but it sounds and looks wonderful.

Somehow, Gazpacho and steamed cauliflower 'mashed potatoes' just don't sound quite so appetizing in comparison.

But it's working. Slowly but surely. And I've felt my energy level increase, in spite of all the sickness we've had around here of late. My hair is growing super-fast, too, which is nice because I've been wanting to grow it out again.

Even if we wanted to, there is no way we can stop now.

Nope. That's because Jericho has been watching us like a hawk.

He saw all the planning and the shopping that went into getting ready for the diet.

He saw the flurry of activity each day as we prepared the meals.

He even ate most of the meals with us and proclaimed them to delicious.

There were a couple of fish nights which we knew would not fly with him. On the night we had Mahi-Mahi, he said, "I feel kind of bad eating this in front of you", and guiltily squirrled his cheeseburger away to his bedroom to eat it away from the eyes of his drooling parents.

It is a heavy load to bear when your child is watching you, and you know you must model good, prudent and ethical behavior.

Especially when he announces at dinner on your 8th day in, "I'm so proud of you guys, sticking with this diet! I didn't think you'd last a week!"

Oh, man...there's no quitting now!

Darn kids, thinking they have to be your second conscience!

Yes, I miss you, too, homemade Baked Ziti. I'm sorry...we cannot see each other again. Not for a long, long time.