Money Saving in the Dog Department

We've been getting really frustrated with Ariyah's sleeping arrangements.  She treats her beds like she treats stuffed animals: they must DIE.
First, she shows them who's boss.  Lays on them.  Rearranges them a little in her kennel.  Gives them a low grrrrrrowl or two.  As they start to fear her, she reassuringly licks them to draw them in and make them think she loves them and will never hurt them.  Then, when they are least expecting it, she really gives it to them.  This is the skinning process.  A little hole is chewed, an eyeball or other embellishment removed, and bit by bit ALL the stuffing MUST come out!  AS.AP.
The only way to keep a bed alive with her is to keep it out of her kennel.  Which defeats the whole purpose of a bed.  We've scolded.  We've punished.  We tried wrapping the last one in two old sheets to protect the layer before the stuffing, but it did nothing.  She ripped right through those sheets and every morning or time we came home to her, new amounts of stuffing would be scattered all over her kennel and bursting through the holes to the outside.
We are going out of town this weekend, and I was so embarrassed to show up at the kennel with her bedding in the condition it was.  We had to figure something out as buying her dog beds has proved to be worthless and expensive.
SO, we zoomed off to Discount Thrift USA - the classiest of all thrift stores, I must assure you - and found some blankets!  Nice big, ugly colored, slightly worn blankets.  For $2.52 each.  She will tear a little hole in blankets here and there, but doesn't have the drive to destroy them like stuffed beds.
We brought them home, threw out alllll of her old messy bedding and washed the new blankets in hot water with some bleach, just to kill any lurking little critters that might enjoy their new found home at our house.  Last night she slept just fine in her new nest, and doesn't seem to mind the change at all.

We also found this treasure, which the girls have been thoroughly enjoying, as I will let you see for yourself:

Domestic Goddess in Training

Since we are no longer a Dual Income Family and I am home most of the time, we are trying to save money on things we did a lot of last year.  Like eating out.  Oooooh the wonderful money we spent on that.  We are really good at eating out in this city and we love to do it.  I wish we could get paid to eat out - but we don't.  SO, in an attempt to save money we are cutting back.  And I am trying to become a cook.

You see, Scott and I are good partners.  I do the laundry, and he takes care of the odd and end jobs around the house.  He cooks and I do the dishes.  He loves to cook - it's his stress relief.  And he's really good at it.  I don't mind doing dishes, I'm good at it.  However, when he works a lot there isn't always the time or energy to cook - hence the reason we are so good at eating out.

Now that I'm home with school I have time to cook.  SO - a new resolution for me: Get good at Cooking and better at Baking.

Cooking has become daunting to me though, since I've gotten out of practice.  I'm having to relearn how to do it and become confident and creative with it, so that we can go beyond the three basics of Macaroni and Cheese, Spaghetti, and Tuna Fish sandwiches.  (Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with those, we just might get sick of them after a week)  For now, internet recipes are my best friend.

Earlier this week we made stuffed chicken breasts with spinach, sun dried tomato, asiago cheese, and onions, with a side of Quinoa, which I loved.  Last night I made a Chicken Pot Pie (can you tell we got the super save bag of frozen chicken breasts from Sams?).  I've never made that from scratch and it turned out awesome.  A real ego booster.  So awesome in fact that it "may be the best meal [I've] ever made."  Yesssss!

So, now I can handle five meals.  We'll see how the next few weeks go.  Feel free to send me your favorite recipes that aren't TOO complicated.  I'll do my best at them!  :)

The Latest

I know lots of you follow our blog to stay updated on Scott's status.  As some of you know, this week marks one year since he received his nice, big, tough man scar across his neck and got his Thyroid and lots of cancer ripped out.  We've had our ups and downs since then - our roughest time being July when we thought everything was growing again with a vengeance.  However, we are quite happy that the cancer has seemed to calm down since then.
Scott's latest rounds of scans found absolutely nothing and the best thing out of it all was that his Calcitonin levels finally dropped a little bit!  749 is the lowest they have been since July (when they jumped from 500 to over 800) and we are thrilled!  We are planning some great vacations in the next few weeks and happy to not be thinking as much about cancer right now.  Thanks to everyone for your prayers - for now life with his currently-napping cancer is just the norm.

A letter to my ladies -

To all of my beloved Lamaze & Natural Childbirth Patients:

I am a nurse who completely understands where you're coming from when you say you want to do childbirth without pain medicine or an epidural.  I dig it, really I do.  I'm right there with you when you say you want intermittent monitoring, a hep-lock, and the freedom to sway, walk, and do your labor dance.  I am so happy when you come in and I can be your nurse.  I love to go above and beyond just my normal nursing responsibilities - to support you, to be your cheerleader, to whisper soothing words in your ears, and rub your back as you muddle through labor.  I'll be your advocate, support your family as they support you, and reinforce what you already know - that you are strong, and that you can do this.  The truth is though, that sometimes after I care for the few patients like you, who don't want the drugs as soon as they are told they're being admitted for labor (and usually even before that), I go home feeling just a tad guilty.  I leave feeling as though I didn't do a good enough job for you and it kills me.  Those evenings, I think about you on my drive home and as I fall asleep.

You see, as I care for you my day gets busy.  I get another patient, I get behind on my charting, I have doctors who need assistance, and emergencies happen on the unit that draw me away from the sanctuary of your room.  These things start going down and I cannot be the intensely involved nurse that I want to be.  While I am away, I see you get exhausted, your husband/boyfriend gets weary, and then you decide to get an epidural or pain medicine.

Now, this is not all bad.  Drugs are freaking awesome at times.  Most of you still feel pretty dang proud of how far you got, how little intervention you really did need, and you should feel that way!  You got further than most chics do these days!

But, in some of you I see the twinge of disappointment in your eyes before that sweet, sweet relief hits.  I see the remorse I sometimes feel - that you didn't do as much as you possibly could have.  Maybe this isn't always true - I've been known to read into some things a little too deeply.  SO, I've come up with a plan to help avoid this situation.

From now on let's make an effort to change things.  Please, if you are dead serious about wanting to do this whole labor dealio without pain medicine, get ready for it!  Psych yourself up. Psych your baby's daddy up.  Read every book you can. Take a class. Talk to your doctor early in your pregnancy. Not all doctors are into medicine free labor.  That's fine - change doctors.  Find a midwife.  Exercise throughout your pregnancy. Eat well. Take your vitamins.  Pray. Know that things, especially labor, will not go exactly the way you plan it, so be ready to just ride it out. And, most importantly, bring backup.

Don't say all you need is your husband or boyfriend with you.  You will usually need more than that. And please don't bring just anyone with you.  Bring a doula.  A good one that you like and trust, with good recommendations.  This doesn't mean you have to hire one.  A doula is a women's helper.  Bring women with you who have been there and done that.  A woman who has been part of a completely natural labor and can support you with your husband - especially when he and YOU start to get tired and panic, and this goes beyond what you think is normal.

As your nurse, I want to do everything I can for you, but we have got to start working better as a team.  We have to make it so that at the end of the day, when all is said and done, we both feel that sense of accomplishment and no guilt.

Best wishes, your labor-loving RN.

P.S. Most of these things go right out the window if you have to be induced.  At that point, we play a different game - but I'll still be your cheerleader :)

School

Starts tomorrow for me!!!!  I've bought my books, scribbled all over my planner, joined my study groups, and even looked at the syllabuses.  Some of my classmates have been really eager and even started reading and working on the assignments ahead of time!  I, however, have resisted the urge to become an over-achiever and have reveled in my last free weekend without work or school hanging over my head.   Scott and I have slept in late, laid around watching football, played with the dogs, mourned the Saints loss, and even made it to Port of Call with some friends last night for dinner after the game. I've been working hard on getting over my nasty cold by slamming gallons of hot tea and eating oranges with every meal, along with lots of vitamins, naps, and lemon honey water.  Today I am finally starting to feel better, which makes the thought of school not seem as daunting. I'm excited for everything I'm going to be learning about, and rest assured, you will be hearing lots more about it as the weeks go on.
Good luck to everyone else who starts classes tomorrow as well!  Yay for being students!

Epiphany

We celebrated by taking down the Christmas tree and our lights out front.  I'm in the process of organizing and boxing everything up for next year.  Now all that's needed is a King's Cake and then it's time to start getting excited for Mardi Gras!

Northern Christmas

We had a great time in Wisconsin!  Since we had five whole days there we got to catch up with almost everyone who I've been craving.  Plenty of family time and plenty of play time with friends.  Here's some pics from the last week...

Christmas at my parents and cooking with Grandma Knapp

Opening presents!  My parents & us

More presents!

Both of my Grandma's were there and it made me so happy to get to spend so much time with them

New Year's Eve Party with the girls

While the boys were busy playing games

Coffee with college roomies I haven't seen in far too long

Then on Sunday we headed to Chicago for almost two days and got to see more family! 

We spent Monday at the Museum of Science & Industry and had a blast!  Hopefully we'll be getting to go back soon and spend more time with them.

Best Decision of the Day:

A fast paced 30min walk at 5pm with the dogs and their crazy selves.  They have been snoring at my feet ever since.  Well, Lucy more snoring and Ariyah more running in place and fidgeting with her silly dreams.  Please note the time.  I am in heaven and afraid to move from this computer, lest I break the spell and wake them from their unusual response to exercise (usually it breeds more hyperactivity for at least an hour or two before they take a quick nap and then wake up and forgot they got exercise in the first place and think they need more).

I'm a ...clinic nurse?

Last I checked gas, indigestion, and one or two little squirts of diarrhea eight hours ago are not medical emergencies my dearest pregnant lovelies.  They do not require an ambulance ride to the hospital.  And they really don't even require a visit to the hospital.  We're ok with you having gas.  I really am just so sorry you gorged yourselves so heavily yesterday that you caused these problems which you expect us to magically fix immediately, but really.  I just don't think I could be happier to be done with you and your fragrant behinds and home with my exhausted husband.
Who is in the bathtub.
Watching How I Met Your Mother.
Because he is just that cool and only has 12 more hours of work before his torturous sentence is over.   

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas....

Only four more days until we fly to Wisconsin and get one!  Until then you can find us at the hospital, performing Christmas miracles and delivering Christmas babies.  Hoping everyone has a safe and joyous weekend!

Just call me little Susie Homemaker

How I spent today:

Rolling out Oreo balls for Truffles, which lead to this:

After cleaning up that mess I dipped all that chocolatey goodness into more chocolately goodness to make these....

and these...

Then I took a break from the candy and loaded the crock pot with this - 

and let that simmer away for the afternoon while I made these

Too many of those.  But they're one of my favorites, so I just had to.  And then finally, I foolishly dove into making a double recipe of these:

The delicious smelling dinner that was waiting for me once all that was finished was pretty much the most amazing thing ever.  Now, who wants to come and deal with this mess???  I will pay you well with goodies :)

This last week has been a busy one, and once again I'm behind on posting so - here ya go!

• We still have two dogs.  No one came and took them.  They did not actually destroy any presents - just all my wrapping.  
• It has been a year now since we got Scott's cancer diagnosis.  Wahoo
• Lucy had her uterus extracted on Monday.  We have been having some aggression issues lately with her and getting her spayed was the first thing all experts suggested.  She was rather mean and cranky for that first 30 hours or so after she came home, but has settled down now.  She has actually been the most playful and loving dog I've ever seen her to be these last two days now though.  I walked into the kitchen on Friday to find Ariyah sprawled out on the floor with Lucy standing over her gently licking her face, and her ears, and her neck just oh so lovingly.  It was a little awkward, but goes to show that they are quite happy with each other again.
• Scott's parents and sister came for four days and we celebrated Christmas.  By laying tile.  And eating out for almost every meal (which isn't bad at all in our city).  All of the linoleum came up in the kitchen and laundry room, we pulled all of the appliances out (including the water heater, which was a beast), and spent two whole days after that laying and grouting tile.  180 square feet of it.  And then we put all the appliances back in and hooked them back up.  We were beat by Wednesday night.  Absolutely exhausted.  I have not been as sore as I was on Thursday in forever.  My legs were killing me all day at work from squatting and kneeling so much.  Bah.  BUT!  We have recovered and the floor looks awesome!!!  We never could have done it without their help and I am so glad they were up for it!  Even aside from the work it was just so nice to have them here with us and I'm so glad they could come.  Now Scott and I just need to seal the grout and put the thresholds back in and we will be alllll done.    
• Scott is on his 32nd hour of work since Friday, as I type.  Only about 88 more hours to go between now and next Monday and then we will be headed to Wisconsin to celebrate a white Christmas!  Can't wait to see everyone!

Me? Be naughty? Neeever

Free Dogs to a good or bad home:

I just spent the last hour carefully wrapping all of the Christmas presents and placing them under the tree in preparation for Mackey Christmas this coming week.  I went in the bathroom for a few minutes to put on makeup and get myself presentable to the world, only to come out and find the gifts UNWRAPPED and strewn throughout the house with bits of wrapping paper and gifts bags everywhere!!!!
Anyone who wants these mutts is welcome to come and get them.  Now.  They're locked in the laundry room waiting for you.

We're ready!

Today I dragged Scott, and his sick self (he has a nasty cold and has been a miserable snotty fountain all weekend), off the couch and outside to help me with the lights.  The house is now decorated and we are ready for Christmas!  Well, except for all the gifts and cooking and parties and traveling we still have to do....

Decorating

Scott surprised me when I got home from work yesterday with a Christmas tree set up and lit up in our living room!  Today I've been trying to decorate it, along with some of the rest of the house.  I have a feeling this may be a long season for the ornaments if it continues this way....

From now on Lucy doesn't get unsupervised time in front of the tree I guess.  She's just like having a toddler around!

Give Thanks

Due to our work schedules this year, Scott and I had to stay in town for the holiday, and celebrated away from family.  We didn't have much time to mope around about that though because our buddies, the Crouches, flew in from Oklahoma for the weekend to see us!   

Esther, Anna, & Mark

They flew in on Wednesday afternoon, just in time for our big Thanksgiving Dinner that we hosted.  Several of our other resident friends and significant others also had to stay in town due to work, so we decided to have a big Friend Thanksgiving.

Scott got a 20lb turkey and we soaked it overnight on Tuesday in a homemade Bourbon Maple Syrup brine.  Then we dried it and rubbed it down with a salt/spice mix we made and stuck an opened 40oz beer with onions and garlic up it's booty, before smoking it for the afternoon before our big dinner.  

Scott getting the turkey ready for the smoker

Rubbed down and ready to smoke!

Our delicious turkey waiting patiently to be carved up by the boys

Everyone else brought sides and deserts and we feasted the evening away.  It was AMAZING.  

Our feast - which included, but was not limited to Baked Brie, Turkey, Green Bean casserole, mashed smoked sweet potatoes, homemade biscuits, toasted cheesey bread, Southern Cabbage, Beets, Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, Apple Pie and Chocolate Turtle Cake.

The Thanksgiving Crew

All in all it was a fabulous evening and we're so thankful to have such good friends here to share our holiday with.  I worked on Thanksgiving afternoon/evening and Scott had to go into work this afternoon.  In between those work hours though, we've spent lots of time wandering the city with the Crouches, eating tons of good food, listening to live music and exploring plenty of fun little shops together.  We've also had some good relaxation time (having a toddler around makes you take time for afternoon naps - which is great!) and we're sad to see our mini stay-cation coming to an end as the Crouches fly home to Tulsa tonight.

I am finally starting to get excited for the holidays.  All it took was purchasing a three pack of various 'Holiday Candles' yesterday and I'm there.  We have Peppermint Something-or-other burning right now, filling our noses with little tastes of heaven.  It makes me so happy!!  I am amazed at how just a scent can take me to a completely different place and change my entire mood.  It's made me realize how quickly everything is sneaking up on me.  Thanksgiving is next week already!  Only 11 days away to be exact.  Christmas is right around the corner.  We have big meals to prepare for, company to get excited about, and lots of gifts to start buying.  Guess I'll be making a giant To-Do list, and burning lots of candles in an attempt to not get crabby while working on it.

Foodie Day

I once heard that New Orleans has more Festival days than they do days of the year.  I believe it.  This weekend was the Po-Boy Festival.  It was fabulous!!!  For those who don't know, a Po-Boy (Poor boy) is the local sandwich of choice here in Louisiana.  They're the best, most original Subway sandwiches you'll ever eat.  And today we saw more varieties of them than I've ever seen before. We went this afternoon with a few friends and ate to our hearts delight.  About a mile of Oak Street was lined with tents from various restaurants and shops around town selling their signature versions of the sandwich.  There were plenty of delicious Po-Boys with every type of meat from deep fried oysters, deep fried or BBQ shrimp and hot sausage, to Root Beer glazed ham, slow roasted duck, prime beef debris, and tempura soft shell crab.  I LOVE the food in this city and it's days like today that make me want to live here forever and ever and ever and ever.

Dog days of...Fall?

Today, while all my lovies up north are reveling in their first winter storm warnings and accumulating ten inches of snow, we are LOVING fall.  This is one of the best times of year here in New Orleans.  All the windows and doors are open and we're soaking up as much warmth as we can before it gets cold.  The dogs love this especially, because we just leave the back door open and they run in and out all day.  Lucy decided it was warm enough that she needed her pool filled and sat in it staring at me until I finally went and got the hose for her.  Here is what has ensued since:

She's been out there for the last hour now, running in and out of her pool, digging at the sidewalls, creating splashes to bite at, and is probably getting quite pruney.
Meanwhile, Ariyah has been steering clear of any possible splashes, happy with just enjoying the sunshine and her sticks with a little tastey dirt.