Where have you been?

I know that's what you're all thinking. Admit it. You've been checking in to see what's going on here in the T household.

Well, honestly, I had trouble keeping the happy going.

I got blindsided by another wave of the weepies that was lingering around, way down, from last month.

Sorry, folks. I couldn't even keep it going during the shortest month of the year!

I'm all cried out now though, I think, so there will be more posts coming. I'll also check through the February comments and announce the book winner (if there is one) in the next post.

And have I mentioned how supportive my hubby is? Somehow, he knows precisely when I need a hug...and he gives the best ones because he's nice and tall and I can wrap my arms around his waist. He really is amazing.

Really.

(That last one was for the anonymous commenter from the last post who I'm thinking may have been a member of Patrick's family.)

For now, I'll leave you with this question. It's no secret I'm a big fan of Ina Garten, aka Barefoot Contessa. She's elegant, yet down-to-earth. She likes Paris, flowers, and the color orange. I just love her.

(But not as much as I love Patrick.)

Anyway, I've found that even though I love her recipes, I rarely actually try them. I'd love to when I have more than 10 minutes to prep a meal, but I'm typically cooking dinner with PJ clinging to my pant legs, crying to be held. It doesn't make it easy to spend lots of time chopping or dicing, and I can't exactly hold him while working over a hot stove.

Still, I watch the show every day at 1:30. It's how I unwind while the boys are napping(ish).

It makes me wonder, do other people watch cooking shows for entertainment only? Is that weird? I guess it's like Patrick's watching home improvement/This Old House type shows, but not really having a house that needs a lot of repairs or renovations. (Thank God! Our home is only about 6 years old.)

Does anyone else find it relaxing to watch other people cook?

If only I could actually benefit from their cooking and get a day off from making dinner every once in a while...now that would be relaxing!

Happy Monday, folks!

Pet peeves

Everyone has them. Here are a few of mine:

First off, is there any TV show more annoying than Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee? It's what is inspiring this post. Why does she have to be right between Barefoot Contessa (swoon) and Paula Deen? I like both of these other ladies. I like that they come on right while Jack is sleeping, so I can put my feet up, rest a little bit and maybe get some dinner ideas while he's taking a nap, and to have to change the channel in between is such a pain. But her voice drives me so crazy that I can't get to the remote fast enough. The other day, she did a show featuring all lemon-flavored things, and every time she said the word "lemon" she held the "l" out so long that I was cringing after each one while searching for the remote that would make it stop (which reminds me, four remote controls is another pet peeve - it takes three just to put on a Baby Einstein DVD for Jack). "LLLLLLLemon chicken", "LLLLLLemonade", "LLLLLLLLLemon chiffon cake". Her outfits, the kitchen, her "tablescapes". Ugh - I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it...

Then there's driving across the painted lines in a parking lot. This has always bugged me. I mean, sure, if it's midnight and the lot is otherwise empty, go for it. Or, if you get the Drive-Through Bonus (DTB) - pulling into a spot to find that the spot across from it is empty too, enabling you to front-out instead of backing-out - then you drive right over that line between, no question! But yesterday I was leaving the grocery store with Jack, driving down my little aisle between the lines of parked cars, when this lady in an enormous SUV drives on an angle right across the lines and into my aisle in such a way that I have to slam on my brakes to accommodate her bigass car and to keep it from plowing right into the front right side of mine. Grrrr. Add that she was talking on her cell phone, and I was definitely getting pushed to my limit.

Finally, I'm definitely a stickler for grammar, and while I understand that our everyday spoken vernacular might not exactly be the place to hold someone to non-dangling participles or possessives before their gerunds, I think there is simply no excuse for bad grammar in advertisements. Apostrophe ses for plurals, it's versus its, there is just no excuse for not cleaning these things up before putting them out there for all the world to see - whether on TV or in print. There's one local commercial here that urges viewers at the end that they can "make a difference in you and your family's future!" Doesn't that just sound weird for the announcer to say? I don't know - maybe it's the teacher in me.

Ok, so what's your pet peeve? Come on, people. I can't be the only one who gets unreasonably annoyed at stupid things - and I promise I won't critique the grammar in your comment!

Starstruck

Do you ever watch celebrities on TV and feel that surely, if you had the chance to meet them in person, you'd be the absolute best of friends? For me, Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) is one such celeb. I saw her bio on Chefography on the Food Network the other day and am convinced that we'd just click. She likes food, I like food. She likes Paris, I like Paris. She pronounces "endive" in the French way (AHN-deev), I do too. She drives a Mercedes and lives in the Hamptons, I...well...so we're not EXACTLY alike - but that just means we'd compliment each other as friends that much more! I don't know why I'm so starstruck (starstricken?) by her, but I just am. Anyone else have someone unreachable like this they'd like to befriend?

We had a fun weekend. Jack is totally smitten with "Dada" right now. I think Patrick just plays with him in such a fun, silly way that only a daddy can. They both love it, and I love to watch them. The two of them had fun building a skyscraper of blocks.













































I start having OB appointments every two weeks after this week. They were once a month until now. This means we're entering the home stretch! The glucose test, the Rhogam shot (for those of us with the word "negative" after our blood type)...it won't be long now until we get to meet this new babe, and I'm so excited. She's been practicing her breakdancing skills for the last several days and my stomach's been visibly lurching all over the place. It's my favorite part about being pregnant. It makes the stretch marks, the achy pelvis and the heartburn totally worth it! And no, I wasn't dropping a hint there - just taking a cue from the poll. You seem to think it's going to be a girl. God help me.