Category: Random

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Travelogy

Well, we’re finally home after three weeks of being on the road. It’s so nice to be in my own bed again—I hope Hayden thinks so, too! And of course, it’s wonderful to be with Ryan again!

Here’s what we’ve been up to the last few weeks:

  • Ryan’s brother’s wedding in Louisville. Very fun, very event-filled. My parents & youngest sister drove out to visit with us (and help wrangle Hayden during the ceremony).
  • 10-hour car trek with an almost-18-month-old from Louisville to my parents’ house in North Carolina. Surprisingly, Hayden did very well on the car ride. He even fell asleep twice in the car (he hardly ever does that).
  • The museum we always went to when I was little. Hayden liked playing in one of the space ships—it had buttons that he could push. He also liked playing in the small children’s play area, but by the time we’d seen the baby bears playing, he was waaay ready to be home.
  • The lake we always went to when I was little. Mom said my first trip was when I was about Hayden’s age. I loved it. Hayden, not so much. We bought him a little floaty, but he was too scared to stay in it. However, by the time we left that night, he was completely fearless—and very frustrated when mean ol’ Mom wouldn’t put him down in water that was up to her chest.

    • Hayden on the carousel

  • The carousel at the mall. Hayden liked it for the first few turns—he even held on all by himself at his peak (and we even got a picture!)—but after that, he was too upset to even go near one of the horses. Much more interested in the gate around the carousel. But we did get him some cute flip flops.
  • Lots of family time. We had “casual” and “formal” family times—a big family dinner to just visiting and hanging out.
  • Sickness after sickness after sickness. Between Hayden and me, we had to go to Urgent Care three times and get four different prescriptions—in three days. Hayden had a double ear infection, then either a bad reaction to the infection or the medicine. The doctor didn’t know what was wrong with me, but gave me medicine anyway.

It was great to see my family and spend time with them—but I’m glad to be home with Ryan!

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The essential well-stocked kitchen supply list

I’ve been cooking for myself for a while now, but I still remember the feeling I had the first time I was able to make chocolate chip cookies without making a special trip to the store. I felt like a competent chef and housekeeper—I had flour, sugar and eggs on hand all at the same time, without even planning it! Of course I always had chocolate chips; duh.

I wanted to feel like a competent homemaker as often as possible. So once we were settled in our house, I compiled a list of the best things to always have on hand. Warning: it’s very long.

  • Baking powder (non aluminum)
  • Baking soda
  • Cocoa
  • Vinegars (rice, red, cider)
  • Flour
  • Cornmeal
  • Molasses (unsulfured)
  • Vanilla extract
  • Shortening
  • Sugar (white & brown)
  • Vegetable oil
  • Peppercorns for grinder
  • Ground nutmeg (or nutmeg nuts)
  • Garlic powder (or fresh garlic)
  • Rosemary
  • Bay leaves
  • Basil
  • Sage
  • Thyme
  • Ginger
  • Cloves
  • Curry powder
  • Sea salt
  • Pasta (lasagna, macaroni, spaghetti, linguine/fettucine)
  • Pasta sauces (spaghetti, alfredo)
  • Chicken broth
  • Beef broth
  • Chocolate chips!
  • Dessert mixes (cake/brownie)
  • Jiffy mixes (muffins & pizzas)
  • Crushed tomatoes
  • Diced tomatoes
  • Whole stewed tomatoes
  • Tomato paste
  • Pineapple
  • Applesauce (especially for Hayden!)
  • Black beans
  • Chili beans (though I usually just use black beans now)
  • Pickles (dill, sweet relish/cubes)
  • Evaporated milk
  • Enchilada sauce
  • Potatoes
  • Onions
  • Cereals
  • Bread (with one in the freezer)
  • Bisquick
  • Whole oats
  • Tortillas
  • Salsa
  • Soy sauce
  • Ketchup
  • Mustard (yellow, dijon)
  • Honey
  • Peanut butter
  • Macaroni & cheese
  • Syrup
  • Jams
  • Ranch dressing
  • Italian dressing
  • Mayonnaise
  • Lemon juice
  • Milk
  • Butter (unsalted)
  • Eggs
  • Cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, ricotta, American, Parmesan)
  • Lunchmeats
  • Veggies (lettuce, carrots, green onion, peppers)
  • Yogurt
  • Yeast
  • Chicken
  • Beef (ground, steak)
  • Bacon
  • Frozen veggies (broccoli, mixed, peas)
  • Frozen juices
  • Tuna
  • Corn
  • Green beans
  • Cream of chicken soup
  • Canned fruits (pears, peaches or salad)
  • Rice

Obviously, this list is suited to our tastes and our household. It’s designed to create a “home grocery store” (and/or a year’s supply) so that I can create most of our family’s favorite recipes at a moment’s notice (or, for slow cooker meals, several hours’ notice…)

What’s essential in your house?

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Web surfin’ meme

Be prepared to be amazed, disgusted and confused. MommyZabs tagged me for a meme about what sites I frequent on the Internet. (Okay, you probably won’t be disgusted, other than by the amount of time I must spend on the Internet.)

What websites do you check out almost everyday?

  • The usual housekeeping: Gmail, Google Reader, usually Facebook. Oh, and Google.
  • Blog stats: Google Analytics, HitTail, FeedBurner, Google Webmaster Central, MyBlogLog stats, Technorati stats
  • Work: Marketing Pilgrim (aka “work”), Search Engine Land, Search Engine Guide, Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Watch, SE Roundtable, ProBlogger, ChrisG, Google Blogoscoped, Daily Blog Tips, SEOmoz, and probably 20 more, but I’m sure you’re getting bored now.
  • “Personal”: Get Rich Slowly, Parent Hacks, MommyZabs, scribbit, Miscellaneous Adventures of an Australian Mum, eMoms at Home (though this might count as work), Homestar Runner (usually when Hayden’s tired of me being on the computer, and I hold him and show it to him).

What websites do you check out (at least) weekly? These may be ones that I subscribe to, but I’m pretty sure I click through to less than 5x/week.

  • Work: SEO Book, Successful Blog, Lorelle on WordPress.
  • “Personal”: Like a clear blue sky, Rocks in my Dryer, ~ The Art of Life ~, Leezy Lindsey, Knitting Daily.

What websites do you check out (at least) monthly?

  • Work: Business Week (usually).
  • “Personal”: The Year of Living Gramatically (SPOGG), Knitty, Mormanity, MySpace to see if any of my high school friends have resurfaced.

What blog do you consider essential reading?
It’s a toss up. Either Marketing Pilgrim or MamaBlogga.

NO! I’m kidding. Of course. If I couldn’t read any other blog, I’d read…. ….. I’d lose my job, actually. Y’know, I have more than 150 subscriptions (which publish up to 24 stories a day!), and though many of them are solely for work, I’m hard pressed to choose among them.

I choose you, Pikachu!
Now I’m supposed to tag three (preferably five) people.

Here’s the honest to goodness truth: I hate tagging people. I hate to choose among my friends. So tag amongst yourself. Er, volunteer to be tagged in the comments!

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Baby Safe Ant Control—kill ants, not your kids

It’s been over a month since our second annual ant infestation began. Last year, we tried to live with it. This year, I couldn’t stand it.

Can I tell you why I hate having ants? It makes me feel dirty. No matter how clean my house is, there are germ-bearing vermin infesting my carpet. To make matters worse, this year we had three different points of entry and possibly three different colonies: the fireplace, the side door and the back door. And to top it all off, it was apparent that the largest colony wasn’t invading from outside they were coming . . . from . . . inside . . . our . . . house! Just like the phone call in that campfire story! (You know the one, right?) To be technical, they lived underneath the house, in a rather inaccessible place, so there wasn’t really a way to go to the source to poison them.

I got suggestions from my friends and readers (thanks!) and family. I tried several before finding one that worked for me. Note: some methods don’t kill ants, they just try to keep them from coming into your house (here I’ve marked them as a “deterrent”).

    1. Windex (didn’t work for me this time around, but it worked for MommyZabs, who indicated it was a deterrent)
    2. Bay leaves. Didn’t work for me. (deterrent)
    3. Vinegar. Didn’t work for me, but it worked for my aunt. (Well, okay, if I drowned them in it, then it worked. I think it’s mostly a deterrent.)

Suggestions I didn’t try:

  1. Raid (“RAID?!”), cordoning off the area from baby.
  2. Grits (oh, that’s what they’re for! Yeah, I’m Southern but . . . yuck.) or cornmeal
  3. Borax syrup, though I can’t imagine that’s good for your child.
  4. Talcum powder (including baby powder) or chalk (mentioned by Millennium Mommy; deterrent)
  5. Honey or water traps (scroll down on the page)
  6. Soapy water in a spray bottle (deterrent, unless you drown them)
  7. Cucumber peels (deterrent)
  8. Cloves or mint leaves/tea (deterrent)
  9. Cayenne pepper (deterrent)
  10. Citrus oil (deterrent)
  11. Lemon juice (deterrent)
  12. Cinnamon (deterrent)
  13. Coffee grounds (deterrent)
  14. Garlic (deterrent) (#9-17 source)
  15. Yeast, mixed with sugar to form pellets
  16. Mint (even in toothpaste; deterrent)
  17. I was once told that a big pile of sugar will kill ants for some reason, too. Definitely didn’t try that one. WikiHow says that you can kill them with a mixture of salt and sugar.
  18. Finally, our method: buy poisonous ant bait (the kind they carry back to the nest) and set it out at night. Put the ant bait out of reach during the day and keep baby, cat, etc. away from the area for a day or two afterwards. For us, this killed the ants after one night!

What else have you tried that helped get rid of your ant problem?

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Who, Me?

I’ve been tagged! I’m supposed to share eight things about myself (and I suppose they should be things you didn’t already know).

  1. I love writing. Wait, had you already guessed that? When I was in college, I went in to declare my second major and my advisor gave me this “Are you an idiot?” look. (What? Linguistics and American Studies both lead to very lucrative careers, Mrs. Humanities Advisor.) She asked me what I wanted to do. (Like at least 75% of the female student body at that school, I was really shooting for motherhood.) I told her I wanted to be a writer. She gave me a “No, really, are you an idiot?” look and told me I should take a career explorations course.

    GUESS WHO’S WRITING PROFESSIONALLY NOW, LADY. Pfft. She advises Humanities students; obviously no one in that department is realistically looking for a job. 😉

  2. I have trouble letting go of the past. See the very long story for #1. I spend probably at least an hour every day just reliving the past—reviewing, digesting, analyzing.
  3. I like to have a lot of balls in the air at once, but I am easily stressed and frustrated. Probably a side effect of overachieving in school—seven classes a day, two-three after school activities a week for four years will get you into the habit of “I need to be working on five things at once.” I’m afraid Hayden will inherit my poor coping skills, and I’m constantly taking his toddlerhood tantrums as signs of that.
  4. I like “murder shows” and old music. Like the Beatles and the Monkees (I actually own every episode of The Monkees), and CSI: and Law & Order.
  5. I graduated from college with two majors and two minors. I wasn’t kidding when I said overachiever (although there were a lot of cross-counted classes in there).
  6. I’ll have been married for three years on Saturday. I’ve got my gift—do you have yours, my love?
  7. I have the same birthday as my boss. It rules. We rule. Only I’m younger. I think I forgot to tell you all how old I am. I’m 24 (that can be 7B).
  8. I have never seen Titanic or read Harry Potter. Titanic is a matter of principle—it came out in when I was in high school and I just didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing. Harry Potter is a touch of that (although I’ve seen all the movies—yes, I’ve already seen #5), and also a touch of laziness.
  9. Oh, I’m done?

I like the part of the meme where I get to talk about myself. But . . . I don’t like the part where I have to tag people. I’ve got two: Brooke and like a clear blue sky. I’d love to see either of you come up with eight things that I don’t already know about you. Other than boring things like, “Today I got up at 8:52 and ate a soda cracker.” Anybody else want to talk about themselves? Volunteer to be tagged in the comments!

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How embarrassing!

If you’ve attempted to request my personal blog consulting services this week, let me apologize—the contact form was not working properly. And, to be honest, it was my fault.

Please resubmit your requests!

Thank you; back to your regularly scheduled MamaBlogga.