Tetris Heart Blanket

I'm in the planning stages of making a baby blanket.  It's going to be based on the famous Tetris heart cross stitch which looks like this:

Except I'm going to make it be one complete heart to snuggle up my baby in.  I'm choosing girly colors like pastel pink and lavender.  I need to take a field trip to Montgomery to look at yarn to pick out the best colors.  I'm using Caron Simply Soft as its inexpensive and 100% acrylic, which means it's machine washable and I believe is better for sensitive skin. I worry that since babies can't have honey or many other foods because of potential of allergies, it's best not to use animal fibers. Most baby yarns are expensive and consist of chenille or cotton, or even bamboo silk yarn.  Which is fine, just that cotton and bamboo don't stretch.  I want this blanket to be stretchy and snuggly.  Each pixel of the tetris pieces is going to be made of granny squares. I've been experimenting with square sizes and should have one picked out by tomorrow.

May be gay alien.

This was found on a bathroom wall. It answers basically every question I've had about Robert Pattinson.

Headphones!!

I did ask for headphones for my birthday. Not for me, but for my baby. I want them to like stretch over my belly to provide a surround sound experience for my baby. In the meantime, Mom gave me a pair of old airline headphones to try. Unfortunately one one ear works but I'm still using them until my birthday.

I decided that the first song I wanted my baby to hear would be "Major Tom" by Shiny Toy Guns. So I turned on my ipod and placed the one working ear to my belly. Upon hearing the music start, my baby's whole body shifted itself towards the music. It started moving and bubbling excitedly. When my baby moves or swims, it creates a bubbling sensation in my lower belly. If it gets too close to the surface, it will starting kicking or hitting, and it can hurt occasionally. Like Saturday when it kicked me in the lung. That hurt. Anyway when I played the music and a few more Shiny Toy Guns songs, I moved the headphone piece across my belly and each time the baby followed the music. Which makes me glad that it has such great taste in music and that it can hear well. I'm going to try a few more bands and see how it responds.

On another plus note, I have spent countless hours campaigning for a Disturbed Rock Band (or Guitar Hero, it really is the same company no matter how much the people on forums whine). Now a couple of their songs are available for download for the Rock band pack starting June 3. I believe that they are "Indestructible" and "Inside the Fire". Nice, but still waiting for "The Night" and plenty of other songs that showcase their talent. I can't think of a better way to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

Which brings me to my new dream of GUITAR HERO MUSE!!!!! The newer Guitar Heroes also have drums included, which would be perfect for Muse (or System of a Down, but they don't have enough songs to warrant their own video game. However, if I could just download "Question" I would be extremely happy). You can download "Hysteria" for Rock Band, but I've always enjoyed playing Guitar Hero more. Also you can download several of their songs already on Guitar Hero. Bonus: You can play as Matt on Guitar Hero 5!! Adorable!

Birmingham Sucks

I have been waiting to get my baby's heart checked out since March 2nd. The only notice I got was forwarded from a wrong address the day after the appointment. I don't understand why they didn't call me like a normal dr would. Today we left the house at 6:00 am to make it to Birmingham before 9:00, which was when my appointment was. All I got in the mail was an appointment card that said 1500 6th ave. That was it. So we drove around and found the 6th ave parking deck and walked into the hospital. We couldn't find the Women's Dept and we ran into a dr. She was very nice and called the women's dept to see where they were located. Turns out they were on the 10th floor of the new Women and Infant Center, and the dr. led us to it. It was so pristine and beautiful and it was amazing that anybody could afford to be treated there. So obviously I wasn't.

After traveling to the 10th floor, I was informed by a receptionist that the address on my card was wrong and was actually for a clinic 4 blocks away. And it wasn't called the Women's Dept. It was a research center for people with difficult pregnancies. Of course no one told me this either. So we went back down 10 floors to the street and walked 4 blocks down to a dirty overcrowded clinic. Out of 50 women there, I was the only married one. And I waited for 4 hours there until I was seen by a doctor for ten minutes. Only to be told that 16 weeks is too early to check the baby's heart and they needed to schedule a new appointment. Oh, they also said that the baby had 50% chance of inheriting my heart conditions. No shit! I could have figured that out. I have a heart defect. Brian does not. Ergo, 50% chance. Thanks, Genius Doctor.

I went back to the receptionist and she said she will mail me an appointment card. I told her the whole problem began because they mailed it to the wrong address. But she still insisted on mailing it. Which means I won't get it. But I have a real ultrasound coming up and a prenatal visit with my real Dr. So I am definitely not going back to Birmingham for any prenatal care.

Puerto Rico enters statehood - possibly 2011

     Last week me and Brian were discussing what it would be like to have 51 states in our union.  First off, we would have to change our flags and it would look uneven.  But the real question is can we afford another state?  This question has come to my mind after reading a CNN report Monday morning after the US's impending purchase of Puerto Rico.  Not only that, they are comtemplating renaming the territory after our president in honor of his recent Nobel Prize win.  So if the territory of Puerto Rico does enter statehood, it will be renamed Obamaland.  This decision was not taken lightly and was not meant to detract from the rich Hispanic heritage of the island, it is simply meant as a welcoming gesture from the United States and to begin to assimilate them into a more English-oriented society.
     The main reason we are adding Puerto Rico as a state is because the citizens already enjoy many of the benefits.  For example, they get Social Security, the US military protection, US control of commerce and transportation.  They do not pay the same taxes and do not vote yet receive many of the benefits hard-working tax-paying Americans get.  So it is only fair.  Another great reason to include Puerto Rico into the statehood is because we will get a lot of money in return.  Not only does Puerto Rico have a bustling rum business and tourist industry, we will see a great deal of benefit by adding 3.96 million taxpayers to our country.  The more I think about it, the more I can see that adding Puerto Rico as a state is very beneficial, for ourselves and for our economy.  Here is the link to the CNN reports concerning Puerto Rico/Obamaland's bid for statehood: CNN Report

Where is the mountain?

Today was the most beautiful day. It was 70 degrees and the daffodils and pear trees were blooming.  We were still doing what hopefully was our last weekend route and all was quiet until my husband yelled "Where is the mountain?" "What mountain?" I asked. "The mountain! I didn't think there were any mountains this far south and I don't see any mountains!" This continued for 10 minutes until I finally told him I had no idea what he was talking about. "Don't you see the sign? It says Mt. Zion. I don't see any mountains around here." I had to tell him that Mt. Zion is a common name for a church and not an actual mountain. And sure enough, we soon passed by a church called Mt. Zion Church.  "Why would they name a church after a mountain?" "Because Mt. Zion is a Jewish holy place." He just stared at me blankly.  "Do you remember in The Matrix that their sacred city was called Zion?" "oh yeah!!" he said.  "Well that's why they named the church Zion too." "Oh I get it now." My husband is special but I love him.

Yesterday I was panicking because I've been bleeding quite a bit so we called the Dr and she said to come in as soon as possible. Unfortunately I was stuck in the middle of nowhere while Brian did his route and I had no way of getting to the dr.  We didn't even make it to Auburn until after 5:00.  So we went first thing this morning. I just had a exam with a different dr because Dr O wasn't there. But the nurse who's been with me since my last pregnancy was there and told me what to do.  I had a quick ultrasound to make sure the baby was okay, and not only is it okay, but it is huge! There is no more flipping around for it; it looked stuck. It's at least twice as big as the last ultrasound. I could even see its heart beating through its chest. However, I am forbidden from travelling, walking long distances and lifting anything. 

MLIA sucks

I didn't think a website could fail at life. However, mylifeisaverage.com, known as MLIA, most certainly does. I realized this last night while reading it. A certain post caught my eye:

today, after a long battle with Nerve Attenuation Syndrome (NAS), a condition that causes severe seizures, my younger brother died last night. This is his favorite website and he could never get a post o it. Here's to you, Luke Andrews.

Awww, isn't that sweet? You want a tribute to your brother, huh? But wait! Is...Isn't NAS the same disease from Johnny Mnemonic starring Keanu Reeves? Why yes it is! Nerve Attenuation Syndrome (NAS) is a FICTIONAL DISEASE FROM A MOVIE!!!

MLIA, you fail because you are gullible enough to post anything, and you are too lazy to fact-check. Now as how 90% of the posts consist of "I love Harry Potter and my boyfriend built me a blanket fort" it makes me realize that the entire site is comprised of 11 year olds. I realize that I am simply too old for that ridiculous site.

ps. Happy Birthday Codi!!

Sonagram of the baby - 10 weeks

I went to Dr. O's for a routine checkup and my 10-week ultrasound.  I already had an ultrasound at 6 weeks, but at the time it was the size of a grain of rice. Today we could clearly see the baby's body flipping around. It would not stay still long enough for a photo.  The pics were taken while it was in mid-flip. I also had blood drawn for genetic testing and the nurse asked if I was going to have twins. I told her that I only saw one baby in there so I don't think so.

Wedding Photos

Here are some wedding photos. I will be married one year on November 23rd.

Next Iron Chef

Today’s challenge is simplicity. The chefs scrambled to get a traditional cooking dish, such as a bamboo steamer or a hot pot, and they had to make a simple family dish. It was intense! I personally would have chosen the bamboo steamer and would have made Shumai Wontons. I’ve played enough Cooking Mama to be confident in my Japanese cooking ability.  I totally got 100 points on that level.

The face of the day was Freitag’s dish. Another chef called it bland! HA haha ha! Then she shot back at that chef by saying her dish was overpowering. Chef Mehta was voted the best simple dish. He made curry and rice. You can’t get much simpler than that.

Next, the chefs were split up into groups of Greek, Italian, and French cuisine.  We’re excited about the guy making dolmas.  It’s one of dh’s favorite foods and I would love to learn how to make. Unfortunately, it’s going to be his interpretation of the dish and it may be nothing like the original dish.

And the loser of the night is...

Nobel Prize Rant

I can't believe Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize! He hasn't done anything yet! Sure, he has great promises - better health care and an end to war, but he hasn't accomplished either one yet. If I was to stand on the street corner and promise everyone better care and happiness, "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage", they would call me a nutball. But the Nobel Prize committee said Obama's promises were too good to ignore.

Well, at least he isn’t like Wangari Maathi, who won the award in 2004 and then later stated that HIV was created by white scientists in order to eradicate the black population. Now that’s batshit crazy.  And then Al Gore won the prize in 2007 for his work raising awareness about global warming. This isn’t about me not believing in global warming. Cause I don’t. It’s the fact that his Tennessee mansion burned through 22,619 kilowatts in one month – that’s more than most people use in a year!

In 1994, the prize was awarded jointly to Yassar Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin.  Peres was responsible for developing Israel’s nuclear weapons arsenal, Rabin had some very questionable actions during his term as Defense Minister, and one of the Nobel committee members resigned in protest of award a known terrorist, Arafat, the peace prize. Ironically, Gandhi was nominated several times but never won once.

So, just because someone wins the Nobel Peace Prize doesn’t mean shit.

Next Iron Chef premieres tonight!

Today is the premiere of Next Iron Chef. We are diligently watching for the downfall of Amanda Freitag, who constantly puts contestants down on Chopped because their food is either too spicy or too strange. Hopefully the criticism from fellow chefs will finally force her to eat humble pie (even if it is spicy).

First challenge was a compelling icebreaker featuring each of the chef’s memory foods. In other words, a particular food item that touches the chef’s heart in some way.

The next challenge was weird food items. Cockscombs, grasshoppers, and jellyfish were just a few of the bizarre food items. Garces (the winner of the first challenge and who had cockscombs) got to choose two chefs to switch ingredients. He decided to give the stinky tofu to his biggest rival, Seamus. According to him, it smelled like a dirty diaper! Of course he added bacon to it. You can never go wrong when you add bacon.

The chef from Maryland had to work with jellyfish. I’ve actually always wanted to try jellyfish. She mixed it into a coconut soup, which totally grossed my husband out. He hates coconut with a passion. Surprisingly, the durian (which grosses me out because of its rancid smell), chicken feet, and grasshoppers don’t disgust him, but coconut does. And oh no! The guy making unlaid eggs totally broke the pasta maker and the stand mixer. He appears to be an absolute klutz.

Chef Amanda Freitag is known for blasting the chefs on Chopped for not cleaning out their meats. But on this challenge she left several bones in her eel! HA HA HA HA! And combining it with polenta was not only super safe and not creative. I hate polenta. It rhymes with placenta. So there.

Chef Appleman, with his unlaid eggs, won the challenge. The guy who had grasshoppers got kicked off, but Freitag is still in the running! We will see how long she hangs on next time on Next Iron Chef!!!

Sorry I haven't posted what I learned each day. I did manage to learn new things, however I was stuck in backwoods Alabama, the land that time and hygiene forgot. So I never got a chance to post. But I'm back and I'm here to review Guitar Hero 5. It has 85 songs!! But is it worth it?


First of all Kings of Leon haven't been around long enough to deserve to be in any video game. The simple fact that they are over-commercialized by MTV means I will never buy any of their albums. HA! And there's only one Muse song? WTF?

I'm still trying to figure out how to make page jumps.

Meteors

Well todays learning experience was a failure. I tried to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower from 3:30 to 4:00 am today but it was very cloudy. The shower is supposed to remain active until the 24th so I will try again hopefully on a clear night.

Purple Sweet Potatoes

More fun than Fried Green Tomatoes - it's Purple Sweet Potatoes! I first learned about this food on Sunday. Their offical name is the Hawaiian Purple Sweet Potato, and they are known as 'uala in the native language. A purple sweet potato is great in desserts as well as side dishes. They are naturally creamy and sweet and can be prepared like any other potato - fried, mashed, baked, etc. They are very good for you. Rich in antioxidants and fat-free, they are especially good for people with diabetes.

A New Beginning

The galaxy constantly has new things to discover. That is why I have decided to learn something new every day this year. There will be a new post every day at 9:00 am detailing what I discovered the previous day. This is very exciting!

Puppies

After watching "Whale Wars", I've decided to look for a slightly more "normal" environmental group to join. It's proven really hard since nothing is available close by. There's not even an Audubon Society within 100 miles of here. I'll have to keep trying.

Dh and I spent all weekend housesitting at his parent's house. Roo, the Australian Shepherd was sleeping in the laundry room at night. Then at 2:30 in the morning, I heard what sounded like a cat shrieking. I woke up and went straight to the laundry room. There, on the floor, was a tiny black and white puppy moving around and shrieking. I ran back to the bedroom to wake DH up. He stayed with Roo throughout the night and she ended up having seven puppies. We have been promised one as a gift.

FailMOM: Kate Gosselin

Reality Shows are a way to learn the proper way not to act. When I become a mom, I hope I never turn out to be like Kate Gosselin. She is the ultimate FailMom. Almost as bad as OctoMom, whom we hate so much we won't call her by her real name. Kate came looong before her. Kate had more kids than she could handle, her fertility treatments were paid by the state, she had plastic surgery, and then demanded a reality show. Long before Octomom.

Her father's church parishioners donated six cribs for her sextuplets, which she reportedly threw out because they "didn't match". Her family lives in a 1.3 million dollar mansion. Her TV show makes up to $75,000 an episode, in which she spends the whole time complaining. I feel so sorry for Jon and I hope he can find someone who can make him happy.

On the show's previews, she states, "Everything is falling apart...I will not give up. I will not lay down and die." No, she will not give up. She will continually exploit her children and abuse her husband to keep up her millionaire lifestyle.





(Huge Thanks to Vancouver Sun and US Weekly for dirt to show how much I hate Kate Gosselin.)

Dream List

First of all, I'd like to thank my dad for buying me concert tickets. I appreciate it.

Here's my and my husband's dream list:
1. My husband and I would like to take a cruise to Alaska.
2. We would like to finish school.
3. We would like an oven. Which looks like this only a lot more modern.


4. I'd like to backpack across Iceland.
5. Fix up my video site because youtube is way too corporate. Youtube is nothing but political ads and mtv videos. Not like when I joined when it first started. Way to be loyal to your original members, assholes.
6. Become a ninja.
7. Make more music videos and hopefully win the national title.
8. Go to a Red Hot Chili Peppers Concert.
9. Grow an herb and flower garden in our backyard. with hot peppers too.
10. Go snow tubing.