Hot 102.3

Wanna see something pitiful?

Poor, poor little man.   The tear sitting on his cheek is what gets me.

Let me explain.

I knew it was going to be a rough day when little man woke up at 5:30 with a diaper malfunction.  

Nothing too terrible... he drank too much (milk) last night, and soaked through his diaper.  The gel stuff was all over his tummy, and he was plain ol' uncomfortable.

Or so I thought.

Luckily for me, today was a half day of parent teacher conferences.  So, my mom came over to our house to babysit the kids so we could spend time together when I got off early.  

I knew she was in for a treat.  Bubbe's report:  Jason was crabby.  Jason was whiny.  Jason wouldn't stop crying.  Jason ate (of course he ate), but had trouble with napping in his crib even though he was happy to pass out in the living room.

I got home and took the little man on my lap for some snuggles and TV.  After about a half hour of both of us dozing off, I felt this forehead.  

Hot.  

Uh-oh. 

Felt his stomach.  

Hot.  

Double uh-oh.

Took his temperature.

Hot 102.3.  

(which, by the way, used to be my favorite radio station back in high school.  It was a Lake County station and it was awesome.  I like the number on the radio much better than the one on the thermometer)

Time to call the doctor!  

I didn't want to take any chances of infection due to the little man's hand being in a hard cast, so off we went back to buffalo grove with yellow popsicle all over his face and tongue.  

Good news:

rapid strep test:  negative

flu test:  negative

ears:  all clear

nose:  all clear 

lungs:  all clear

The doctor gave us that tamaflu (sp?) stuff just in case because the fatigue and fever look like flu symptoms.  He also recommended that if Jason isn't feeling any better by tomorrow to take him to get the cast off just in case there's an infection, but we all doubt that that's the case.  

As of right now, Jason is pumped with prescriptions and tylenol.  He's woken up whining, but goes back to sleep on his own.   Hopefully he can do that all night.  I'm sure with a good night of sleep he'll be back to his usual self.

And luckily, we have two wonderful grandmothers to divide and conquer.... Kayla's having another sleepover over at Bubbe's so she doesn't catch whatever it is that Jason has or my cold.  

And Jason's going to get some Gramma love tomorrow.   And... I get an early dismissal day tomorrow because it's a teacher inservice day!  Let's hope everyone of us can get better so we can enjoy the weekend!

Oh... I never posted this picture... you've gotta see.

Kayla and her Daddy just hanging out... isn't she so big?!

i thought it would be better...

last year when i went back to school in march (after having the entire year off due to bed rest and maternity leave), i was able to sleep well the entire night before.  i had very little anxiety... jason was going to be taken care of by my mom and stepmom.  i only had to teach 3 months and it was summer.  life was good. 

for some reason, this year i'm having a much harder time going back.  i didn't sleep well the past two nights, plagued by the "back to school" bad dreams... my favorite/worst being my old (super hot) assistant principal walking into my classroom and realized i had no classroom management whatsoever, with kids hitting each other and no one listening to a word i had to say.  needless to say, i got fired.  and then, i woke up and got to see the clock change from 1:59 AM to 2:00 AM.  

i don't even know if school is the problem.  i'm used to being home.  although i have to get out of the house everyday, i love spending time with my little man and watching kayla grow.  i love being flexible in when i get things done.  i love that my house is clean(ish) enough for company to come over because i'm home every day to tidy.  i know i'm going to miss being with the little man a lot, and i'm sad i'll miss kayla's milestones... we're working on laughing and rolling over now.

i figure if i list out the anxiety here, i could eventually make a plan of attack to figure out how to get it all done:

1)  peter's really bad at making doctor's appointments, and i can't make them because i can't go.  i hate having to nag him to get kayla's 4 month wellness, jason's orthopedic, kayla's ent, another wellness for kayla and Jason's 18 month wellness, etc...

2)  i have 2 pairs of pants that (almost) fit, and i tried to glue the hem up on the pair i'm wearing today.  Fail.  I hope i can staple them without people noticing. 

3)  i need to weight watch and excersise.  i showed peter the couch to 5k regimine i want to try... my school district is hosting a family fun run/5k on may 1, and i want to be able to slowly jog it.  according to this website, i need to start training today.  umm... when?

4)  i'm worried that my household duties are going to fall wayside... why should i clean up the living room/clean bathrooms/kitchen/do laundry when i only get to see my children for 3 hours a day?

5)  i'm worried that my students at school are going to not get everything they can from me... my priority ladder is different, but they deserve a good part of my attention too.  i'm just hoping i can figure out how to keep work at work... but that's not very likely.  teachers can't do that.

6)  the one that my heart is most worried about (even though i know that people do it all the time and it's not a logical fear):  jason and i have grown really close.  what if he doesn't need me/want me now that i'll not be with him all the time?  what if kayla stops smiling at me when she sees me because i'm not with her all day?  trust me, i logically understand that what i'm saying is stupid.  i know what i would say to any of my friends if they told me this fear.  however, i'm having a hard time getting over it.

we'll see how today, this week, this month goes.  at least spring break is at the end...

oh yeah, the day i go back to school after spring break?  i turn 30.  oy.

old fashioned shenanigans

Auntie The Julie came over today.

And things got ridiculous.  Laugh out loud so hard you almost pee your pants ridiculous.

When planning for our meal tonight, both of us complained about the fact that we have 2 (and maybe really only 1) pair of professional pants to wear to work that fit. 

(yeah... I'm starting work again in a week.  

The scale tells me I'm back to what I was pre-Jason, but things just aren't fitting right.  

Oh dear.)

Whatever.  We wanted to eat.  Tomorrow is Monday, and Mondays are always fresh starts.  

Do you see the justification?

Tonight was all about biscuits and cookies.

First on the menu for Bubbe and Jason... Meatball Bubble Biscuits.  This is an old favorite of Peter's and mine.  Be careful to not overcook the meatballs.  They get hard, and bounce off of the Julie really easy.

Julie had tried a Gorgonzola cheese/bacon monkey bread at a bar near her house earlier in the week, and it had me craving it immediately.  I knew I wanted it, but also knew I couldn't make it to the city this week.  So, I searched and searched the internets for a recipe, but only came up with Gorgonzola monkey bread OR bacon monkey bread.  So... when the powers combined, I am Captain Planet!  we created a fabulous new savory monkey bread recipe.  My mom (who says she doesn't like bacon or gorgonzola) loved it.  Julie and I liked it so much that we posted it on allrecipes.com.  

Feel free to check it out over there :)

Then, for dessert, we made one of the easiest cookies of all time.  It took two ingredients.  Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and 1 egg.  The picture is from (and the recipe can be found at www.picky-palate.com)

Now that that's over, something. must. be. done.  Two pairs of pants is not enough.  So, you know how there's a recipe tab at the top of the blog?  I'm adding another tab tomorrow.  That tab is going to be an online journal for the good things I'm doing for myself, including exercise, good food, Points consumed, mental health breaks, etc.  Hopefully, writing them down will help motivate me.  Lord knows my waistline I need motivating.  Is it summer yet?  How about spring?

you said three weeks, right?

It started out as a lovely day.

A play date with Miss Maddie and Ike was on the agenda... we'd have lunch, kids would nap, and then we'd have a very special cake (which has not been cut into yet... I'll post a pic tomorrow).

Lunch happened.  Play happened.  Naps happened (2 hours for both Maddie and Jason!).

Then there was trouble.

Paulina heard Jason on the baby monitor and told me he was up.  I opened the door and walked in to a smiley happy baby.  I go to unzip his sleepsack and get him up for a diaper change.  After I easily pulled his hands out, I realized there was a problem.

I easily pulled his hands out.  There were two hands showing.

Something's not right.

I searched the crib, and smooshed into a corner was Jason's soft cast.

"Paulina!!!!  I need you!!!!"

I knew I needed to call the orthopedic surgeon right away, because he told me that if (or when) the cast came off, we shouldn't go to the emergency room, but to make sure the area was covered and safe from germs, and to go to the office.  His suggestion for covering the area?  A maxipad and duct tape.  

It was 3:00 on a Friday.  I knew there was limited time.

I called the office in Park Ridge, and they transferred me to the office in Fox River Grove, and Dr. Simmons was luckily still there.  He was packing up and ready to go, but said he'd wait until we got there.

Scramble.  Throw stuff in the diaper bag.  Figure out how to dress J's wound... no maxipad here, just gauze and tape.  The only time Jason cried was (once again) because he was hungry.  He usually gets a snack when he wakes up... not today!  Say goodbye to friends.  (THANK YOU RACHELLE!!  THANK YOU PAULINA!!  THANK YOU MOM!) Nearly take off the side view mirror as I pull out of the driveway.  Get to the office in an astonishing 30 minutes.

Dr. Simmons takes one look at Jason, and laughs.  He said he'd see me in three weeks.  It was 54 hours.

I love Dr. Simmons.  I'm so happy we've gotten to know him, because we all know that someone else is going to break a bone sometime.  :)  I ask if it's normal for a kid to break out of his soft cast.  He told me that chubby kids like Jason wiggle out faster than skinny kids.  My son has a lot of squish on his arm, providing more wiggle room.  If the doctor made it too tight, it would cut off circulation.  So... it was easy to break out of.

We decided to go with a hard cast, above the elbow, waterproof and in blue.  It took less than 10 minutes, and the wonderful doctor had Jason smiling and laughing the whole time.  I asked if he ever had a kid bust out of the above the elbow kind.  Yup.  However, he'd never had a kid bust out of the above the elbow waterproof kind, so if Jason does it, it'll be a first.

I hoping we don't get that honor.  :)

Anyway, Jason's adjusting well.  Hopefully, this will be a better match for us.  And, I was able to get a sneak peek at his hand.  He's doing awesome... his hand is swollen, but it looks normal!!!  I'm so excited to see it in a few weeks.

 just because i have a cast doesn't mean i won't cause trouble

 the waterproof insides aren't as interesting as the old cotton ones... 

and not nearly as easy to pick and eat!

 what did i do?  i'm an angel!

check out my blue appendage!

hey!  i look like super grover!

Have you missed hearing about Kayla?  Yeah, me too.  

Did you know she's officially 3 months old today?  

I have a post semi-written about her about how different she is from Jason in my head, 

and I was going to write it today, but Jason stole all the attention.  

Hopefully I'll be able to get it written out one of these days.

2nd child syndrome is way hard, man.  

(so not) prepared

I knew that motherhood would be an adventure.  However, I thought I was prepared.  At least a little bit. 

I was prepared for ear infections and copious amounts of the pink bubblegum medicine.  I was prepared for the random broken bone.  I was prepared for check ups at doctor's offices and dentists.  I was prepared for the laundry.  I was prepared for fights over not wanting to eat things, not wanting to wear things, or just wanting something so much and throwing a tantrum over it in public.  I was prepared for late night talks with Peter over Jason wanting a car and Kayla wanting to pierce her ears. 

This week has shown me that I'm really not prepared.  At all.

Let's start with Kayla first.

At Kayla's three month wellness check up yesterday, she weighed 13 lb 3 oz and measured 25".  Amazing.  Last month at this time we were so worried that she wouldn't gain weight because of the laryngomalagia... but she gained a few pounds and grew an inch or so, putting her at the 75% for weight and 90% for height.   That's my girl.  Her breathing has been quieting, and she's been able to eat 8 oz for her morning bottle.  A month and a half ago, we'd have to force her to eat 2 oz a time, so that's been great progress.

I then brought up to the doctor that about a month and a half ago, I noticed this small little flap of skin on the inside of her cheek, really close to her lips.  It didn't seem like a big deal last month... breathing and eating took precedence... but I wanted to point it out this time.  He opened her mouth, and oh my goodness.  I felt like a terrible mother. The little flap of skin was the size of a pencil eraser, and looked like a balloon full of bright red fluid. 

My little girl has a cyst.  In her mouth.  And the doctor was worried that it could blow up to 5 times the size of a pencil eraser and burst. In her mouth. Ew.

Luckily, an ENT is who you'd go to to fix it, and we already have one!  So, even though the cyst burst sometime between last night and this morning and drained a bit, I took Kayla back to see the ENT today.  He confirmed the diagnosis, and told me that the only way it would not grow back is to have surgery.  And they'd have to put her to sleep with anesthesia, cut it out, and put disovlable stiches in her mouth.  Oh, and while she's asleep, they could look in her throat even more to see what's going on.  Oh, and while they're looking, they could easily do a small procedure to help her breathe better, and that would require her to stay overnight in the hospital.

The saving grace:  this is in no way life threatening.  It can be done sometime in the next few months, not the next few days.  As long as it doesn't get HUGE, get in her way of eating, or cause her pain, I'm hoping to wait until she's at least 6 months old, and the pediatrician agrees.  And that other procedure to help her breathe better?  As long as her breathing doesn't get more labored, it won't be necessary.

On to Jason.

Tomorrow is the day.  We knew this day was coming since the moment he was born.  Tomorrow is more of a milestone than his first birthday or his first step.  Tomorrow, my little man will only have 10 fingers.

Jason was born with an extra thumb on his right hand.  It grew along with his hand, and had a bone in it and a nail on it, but it couldn't move.  It started off really helping him.  When he was an infant and just learning how to get his hands to his mouth, he'd drag that finger across his mouth and get it stuck in the corner of his lips and sucked on it. Hooray!  Built in pacifer!  But really, since then, he's never used it for any purpose.  I know that he rubs his eye differently with his right hand... if he rubbed it the same as his left, he'd poke himself in the eye with his extra finger.  It's been hard to hold his hand when he's walking... I hold it at the wrist.  It's been hard putting long sleeved shirts on him because the finger drags.  But other than those small inconvienences, it's never been a big deal.

Lately, when we've been at places with other kids, 2 and 3  year olds have come up and started talking to Jason.  He doesn't reply, but he's usually the same height as them, so I get why they're confused when he doesn't talk.  Summer is quickly approaching, and I don't want children his age or a bit older to notice.  It's weird.  Yeah, yeah, I'm his mama, and I'm not supposed to talk like that, but it is.  And, I'm getting tired of explaining it to people.  I don't want Jason to be labeled as "different" because of it. 

So, tomorrow at 6:15 AM, we'll be at the hospital, getting ready for Jason's surgery at 7:45.  We've packed loose fitting clothes, a sippy cup, his glow worm, and a few other favorite toys.  The surgery itself should be between a half hour to an hour.  Then, one of us gets to be with him during phase 1 of recovery... when he's still all hooked up and stuff and just waking up.  Peter and I decided it would be me... I've been home a lot, and he's become very attached.  Peter asked if I was ready for it... I said yes.  Internally, I might be a bit of a mess, but not bad enough that I couldn't handle it.  Then, when he's awake, Peter will join us in phase 2 of recovery in a different room until they tell us we all can go home... where 6 new DVDs (sesame street, yo gaba gaba and tom and jerry), popsicles, jello, and a few new toys await.   I can't wait to love on him and give him cuddles.

I know we're doing the right thing.  The finger serves no purpose, and he would face constant questioning.  I'm a teacher.  I see how cruel kids can be.  (I've also seen how wonderful kids can be...  an old student of mine totally defended Jason and made another kid see that just because he was born with something weird doesn't mean that JASON is weird...  MC will be one of the students that I'll remember for a life time.)  Right now though, the thought of my little man being hooked up to IV's and going into surgery and being totally knocked out is making me feel like garbage.  I'm hoping tomorrow when he wakes up and sees me that I can give him comfort, and he won't hate me for it.

When I was pregnant with Jason, I thought I was prepared.  I never thought I'd deal with premature deliveries, extra digits, laryngomalagia, or oral cysts.

I've learned that although I'm not prepared, it doesn't mean I can't handle it with grace.  It doesn't mean I'm a bad mama. 

I also wasn't prepared for the intense love that I feel for my children... how I'm willing, ready, and able to do everything I can to make them happy and safe, and feel loved.  How I love being needed by them, love knowing that I bring them comfort and joy.

I'm sure that there will be more surprises, good and bad, as my little ones grow and grow.  I can try to prepare, but I know I won't be able to.  Sometimes, the surprises are fun... and they come right when you need them most, like this one:

31,000 +

Photos.

Currently, in my iPhoto library, I have 31,744 photos.  Over 14,000 of them have happened since Jason was born.  16 months ago.

Oh dear.

The hard drive on my beloved Mac is getting full.  Between the home movies and pictures (especially since I got my fancy pants camera) and the 12,000+ songs in my iTunes library, I'm running really low.

So... here's my plan for the safe storage of our photos:

As of right now, we use Time Machine to an external hard drive for all pics and music.

We have another external hard drive available.

I just bought a professional membership at flickr.com for $25 a year that will allow me unlimited downloads to "the cloud."  That way, I can always access pictures from yesteryear really easy.

I'm planning on burning multiple sets of DVD's full of pictures.  Double sets for me (i'm notorious for losing the important things), a set for Mom, and a set for Debbie.  That way, if the cloud evaporates and our house catches on fire, two other people will have all our memories.

Do you have any tricks or tips for saving that many photos?!

As I'm sitting here typing this (and uploading pics of a trip to visit Julie in Baltimore),  I'm thinking all the work going into this is crazy.  However, what could possibly be more important than our memories?

Speaking of, I have 4 photo books coming to me from MyPublisher tomorrow - Happy Valentine's Day to me! 

And here are my three children, happy as can be on a sunny February day:

 Basia dog playing in the snow

 Kayla with her valentine from Gramma and Grampa...

I'm so not over the fact that there's pink.  I just love it.

Jason delighting us all by smashing his valentine's day cookie in his hair.

after that, he ate it.  lovely.

immediately following... bath time.

silly love songs, the morning after.

so... since no one ate nearly enough last night, Jason had to resort to eating 2 different kinds of cupcakes this morning. 

really?  really mama?  

i can have funfetti for breakfast?!

and an organic cupcake from whole foods?

best day ever.

No.  I'm not that terrible of a mother.  He did eat parts of two cupcakes, but then Peter made us a pre-Valentine's breakfast.  I love that poke a hole in the bread and drop the egg in stuff, so I asked for that this morning.  Peter took it a step further and the hole was a heart.  J love it.  So did I.  :)

I'm not sure with Jason's surgery this week if we'll be making anything new, so I wanted to share the recipes from last night with you.  It was so simple, cheap for feeding as many as it could, and we have so many leftovers.  Best part, the soup was made the night before, and the beef was prepared early in the morning, so the only cooking Peter had to do when we had 10 adults over was shred the beef.   Since our guests brought appetizers and desserts, it was one of the easiest parties ever.

Enjoy!

socks.

i hate socks.

let me clarify.  i do the laundry in our house.

i don't mind the washing, drying, hanging, 

or choosing which laundry detergent matches the laundry 

(right rachelle?)

i just hate folding socks. 

it's not their fault.  i loved me some toe socks in college.  

i also loved using socks to wrap presents because i never had any wrapping paper 

(right julie?)

i just hate matching them up.  

peter knows this.  he knows this very well.

so he says he'll fold the socks.  

i do the laundry during the day, and put everything away but the socks.

socks go on his side of the bed.

poor socks.  they end up on the floor. 

most likely to be washed again because 

peter's lazy and 

i. hate. folding. socks. 

tonight, however, i'm stuffing them into peter's pillow.

he never reads the blog.  he won't know.

hehehehehehe.  :)

did you have the one chore you hated when you were growing up?

and you couldn't wait to have kids

so you wouldn't have to do them anymore?

mine was the dishwasher.  i hated emptying the dishwasher.

i'll be more than happy to empty the dishwasher every day...

jason just needs to grow up so he can fold the socks.

and then kayla needs to grow up so she can empty the dishwasher.

isn't that what two kids are for?  :)

Tonight's dinner was a yummy 5pp black bean soup.  

We have tons of recipes for it because we love black bean soup.

The surprise ingredient here?  Brown sugar.

Enjoy!

kayla's spring wardrobe wish list

Earlier today, Rachelle and I went to Gurnee Mills to walk intstead of to our usual Hawthorn. 

Gurnee Mills is awesome because it's huge and fabulous for mall walking, not too crowded on a weekday morning, a nice Starbucks that will give you free warm water for bottle making, and has a free aquarium in Bass Pro so Jason and Ike can be entertained by fish!  I wish I took out my camera.  That part was cute.

The problem about Gurnee Mills is there's really no shops I want things for myself in (unlike Hawthorn, where I keep reminding myself that spring is coming and I want to be a few sizes down, and therefore won't buy anything), there are a gazillion shops for babies.  All in the same area. 

Pow!  There's Carters!  Thwap!  Gymboree Outlet!  Zonk!  Gap Outlet!  Kazowie!  Disney Store!

I only bought a few things today... I bought a gift for a birthday party on Sunday, and a dress that was on sale for Kayla's first Valentine's day.  She had a sleeper with hearts, but Rachelle deemed it "suggestive" to wear a sleeper, and I wholeheartedly agree.  And the dress was $7.  And super cute. 

However, if I could have, I would have spent over $400 in a blink of an eye on Kayla's summer wardrobe.  Isn't that one of the fun parts of having a girl?  I can dress her in whatever I like until she gets older, right?  She's like my little doll and I can play dress up.  Too bad the clothes cost money...

Have you ever noticed that if you click on a bunch of items to put in your online cart it almost feels as good as shopping?  I didn't do that today.  I didn't want to know what my grand total was. 

However:

if money grew on trees

if babies didn't grow so fast

if babies didn't spit up 

if babies didn't have big brothers who get into everything

if I knew how to get every kind of stain out

if if if...

this is what Kayla's spring/summer wardrobe would look like.  

At least for this month.  

Next month, the stores will have all new things.  And I'll probably do this again.

Baby Gap:

 Carters:

 Gymboree:

 Old Navy

I stopped there, but I know I'd find even more at JC Penny's and Kohls.  Oy.

quite delicious... and then a waste of time.

After being stuck home all day, I decided it was necessary to FINALLY try out those homemade chicken nuggets I've been talking about.  I found the recipe for Carrot, Apple and Oat Chicken Nuggets on my friend Jey's website "The Jey of Cooking."  Jey is the mama to an adorable baby boy a few months older than Jason, and when she mentioned her son, the Fruitaholic, loved these, I had to give them a try. 

This is her picture.  Mine were not as neat.  Nor pretty.  I was getting impatient by the end, mostly due to the fact that the Little Man was screaming whining begging to be picked up when my hands were covered in egg. 

Let me just say... they were awesome!!  I don't think kids would be necessary for this recipe... the first thing that Peter said was that with a little bit of our favorite Asian Zing sauce from Buffalo Wild Wings for us, and some Asian sweet sauce for the little man, they would be completely fabulous!  Why Asian?  The sweetness from the apple and carrot just call for it.

All you need is ground chicken, an apple, a few carrots, oatmeal, 2 eggs, and bread crumbs.  Click on her link to see the full recipe.  What would I change?  I think I'd squeeze the excess moisture out of the apple and carrot with a paper towel, and I'd try panko bread crumbs (seasoned, if I can find them) instead of the regular bread crumbs for a crispier texture. 

And now... for the waste of time.

I spent about an hour and a half today uploading pictures to RitzPix so I could take advantage of my free photo book.  Remember those camera classes I've been going to?  Well, the fancy pants camera Peter got me also came with a free 12 page photo book, and for $5, you could get a 20 page book!  20 pages for me is pretty small, so I figured I'd make a Snowmaggedon 2011 book.  I really liked their book builder, and was impressed with the backgrounds and borders that were offered. 

I go to check out, and it said that I couldn't pay for it in the store.  I'd have to pay online.  Oh dear.  I'm not paying $30 for a book I'm supposed to pay $5 for.  I called the local Wolf Camera, and they told me sorry!  You have to make the book in the store.  Argh.

So, I took screen shots of my book, and hopefully I'll be able to recreate it on Saturday when we go for our lighting class.  If not, then I'll be angry.

I said I'd post some pictures from Snowmaggedon.   Here they are!

 Mama?  Why is there this white stuff outside our front door?  I'll taste it to find out what it is...

 Gotta pee... gotta pee... where do i go?

 the drift outside our garage door once peter shoveled it out

 yeah... he's amazing.  took him 2 1/2 hours.

 playing on the drifts the plows left

Smiley, Sweet Baby K

She didn't like the snow, but LOVED her snowman dress!

my own version of pie vs. shorts...

A few days ago, Rachelle wrote about pie vs. shorts.   You all know what I'm talking about.  The choice.  Do I eat pie/cake/chocolate/pasta/butter/anything that's bad for me but tastes soooooo good, or do I remember that I want to look good in that great pair of shorts/dress/bathing suit?

This time, I didn't choose.  Mother Nature did.

Here's probably a bit of TMI... I got my period this morning for the first time since Barak Obama was sworn into office.  (considering the only man who probably reads this blog is John, not Peter, but John, I'm not too worried.  In fact, I bet John totally gets it.  And would have probably accompanied me to Jewel tonight if he knew.)

It actually made me feel a little better despite the inconvenience...   no wonder I felt bloated and irritable.  And the cravings hit me like a truck.  First I wanted salt.  Then sweet.  Then salt.  Then sweet.  It was is terrible.

Today, screw the shorts/dress/bathing suit.  Today, screw the fact that I have 30 days left until I need to fit back into pants at work.  Today, I needed chocolate.

So, after bath time, I took my bloated/irriatble/craving self to Jewel, where I was on a mission for chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  I ended up with a delightful concoction called "triple chocolate tiger baby cake."  Sounds strange... tastes soooooo good.  And it was a baby cake, so it was a perfect size for Peter and me.  I'm not taking a picture, for I feel if I take a picture then the calories will count.  :)

I was on my way to check out, and then I saw the cookie aisle.  Out of the blue, I was struck with the urge for:

Pinwheels.

I'm proud to say I saved $1.42 by buying the Jewel brand instead of the Nabisco. 

I'm not proud to say that I opened the box as soon as I got in my car and ate 1 2 3 on my way home. And I'm eating one right now. 

However, dear reader, I don't care that Peter never had a recipe week.  Apparently, he can't be trusted.  So, expect a full week of new Weight Watchers approved recipes from me this coming week. 

And Rachelle, please, please, please, let's mall walk our little hearts out next week.  I have a feeling that all the Spring window displays are going to make me nauseous about the amount of calories I've eaten this week.  But not nauseous enough to make me stop eating tonight :)