Against the Grain

Things to be happy about

* Despite an all-cookies, all-the-time diet lately, I hit my goal weight the other day and my five-day average weight is within a pound of the goal.  Dan guesses that Leo's weaning might be making a bigger difference than the cookies.  He last nursed Nov. 30th.

* Dan's dad left a snowblower in our garage today.

* I got to make lefse and cookies with Dan's fantastic family today.

* I had a great time at Peter's class on Wednesday.  I'll write that up eventually because it was really interesting.

* Leo likes to come into our bed in the middle of the night, snuggle in next to me, and fall asleep immediately.  No screaming to nurse.  It's very sweet.

*I'm working my way through my planned sewing and knitting Christmas projects much more easily than expected.  Only one present left to buy and it'll be super-easy.

* Taking care of N. is going really well, although she still goes to the door and cries sometimes.  Related good note -- three carseats do fit in my Civic.

* Dan and Peter are now off until January 5th.

* If I can stomach it, I can work a million hours over the next week.

* Gas is still cheap.  We don't seem to need to buy much food.  I stretched a chicken into 3.5 dinners this week.  How is that possible?

* Mangled peanut brittle still tastes good.

* A bunch of really nice yarn arrived in the mail this week, paid for long ago.

* Christmas is coming and the boys seem to be focused on the parts that matter.

Frustrated

I had a plumber come this morning to take out our broken-since-September basement toilet, put the upstairs toilet down there, put a cool new low-flow toilet upstairs, unclog our takes-four-hours-to-drain-post-shower tub, and add a shut-off valve to our front spigot outside.  Five hours and $1500 later, it's all fixed.  But I feel like crap because I thought it would cost 1/3 that much (he gave me the correct estimate before he started working, but once he was in the house, I wasn't about to call around to see if he was gouging me).  I should have gotten a ballpark estimate from them on the phone, but they made a point of how they would give a complete estimate at the house and I wasn't thinking.  We have the money to pay for it, but I really thought we'd be able to pay off a big chunk of the student loan this month and now it'll be much less.  We're also getting the timing belt and water pump replaced on my car and that's going to be at least $700 (and I did call around for that).  We already had $450 in car repairs for Dan's car a couple weeks ago.  I'm tired of everything costing more than I expect it too.  I'm just tired.

Christmas Cookies 2008

Mostly so I can remember for future use:
Ginger snaps
Almond bars
Mrs. Sigg's Snickerdoodles
Hershey's Peanut Butter Blossoms-2 batches
Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cookies
Coconut Macaroons-2 batches
Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies
Mangled Peanut Brittle
Candy Cane cookies
White chocolate haystacks

We haven't managed to save any long enough to last to Christmas, but whatever.  Some went to a MOMS Club cookie exchange, so I had a bigger variety than I listed.  Friday is Dan's family's lefse-making day, so the boys and I will get in on that.  We'll probably make and decorate sugar cookies, spritz, and gingerbread men there, too.

Post-Christmas note -- Some did last until Christmas, but not too many.   I'll have to attempt peanut brittle again, but after breaking two candy thermometers, I decided not to try again.  The White Chocolate Haystacks and Coconut Macaroons were winners for fast, tasty, and impossible to screw up.  Candy cane cookies were the least favorite because Dan's didn't like mint in cookies.  I'm a sucker for a peanut butter and chocolate combination.  I didn't average a dozen eaten per day, but I easily put away half a dozen on many days, so really it's best that the Christmas Octave is done and I don't have the excuse to have cookies around any more.  It made the December grocery budget tight, too.  The boys love being my Pouring Man and Mixing Man and actually do help out.  They even know that they only get to lick the spoon if there aren't eggs. 

Hopefully the last of the dental news

Thank goodness, this is ending on a good note.

We got the explanation of benefits from Leo's surgery over the weekend and it's a bit cryptic, but I think we don't owe them any more money.  At the worst, it might be $120.  I need to call the dentist and have them clarify it.  I was expecting to owe a few hundred so yay!  Then today I had my semi-annual check with full x-rays.  No cavities and my gums are in great shape.  Whoo-hoo!  I had an evening appointment with a new-to-me dentist, which was far more convenient than driving across town and needing a babysitter.  Peter will have his first full appointment (with Leo's pediatric dentist) during Christmas week, so we'll see whether we'll be getting through 2008 without any more dental bills.

The evolution of Leo's look:
The morning of the surgery, in his surgical jammies.

Evening of the surgery, apparently still a bit out of it.

A week later, after Dan buzzed his hair.  I'm still mourning the loss of his baby mouth.  His teeth look so weird to me, especially the remaining front capped one, which is a lot bigger and sticks out more.  Only 4 years until it falls out, I suppose.

Today, hanging out in the fort/observatory/apartment complex/recycling center he and Peter created using the couch, all the Joann's flannel I bought on Black Friday, every puzzle piece and many books left in their room after my purge, and all the living room blankets.  At least they were entertained for quite some time.

Some cute kid comments from the past 24 hours:

Leo, on the way to pick up Peter: "Does Mrs. W (Peter's class aide) wear pants or skirts?"  "Can I be barefoot?  No?  How about Thursdays?  Fridays?"

Peter, after Dan mentioned the little girl I'll be taking care of 2 days a week: "No Daddy, Mama's not taking care of her, we ALL are."  So far Peter and 16 month old N. have really hit it off, but we'll see how long it lasts when she's at our house all day.