This and That

1.  So here's a perfect example of why you should read a recipe all the way through before starting it.  Today I was bound and determined to make the Homemade Franks & Beans recipe that I saw on Dinner: A Love Story a few weeks go.  I picked up the few ingredients that I didn't have at that store (why is maple syrup so expensive?), and decided that I'd get started after I put Charlie to bed.  Yeah, except that they take 6 hours.  So unless I am planning on setting a dinner alarm for like 3 a.m., I guess that one will have to wait until tomorrow.  Shoot.

2.  Um, let's talk for a hot second about how I'm 20 weeks pregnant, which means that I'm halfway through being pregnant with this delightful little spawn (and STILL don't know what it is, which is completely unacceptable, by the way).  More exciting than being halfway finished with this pregnancy is the knowledge that I'm 3/4 of the way finished being pregnant FOR LIFE*.  Eff yeah.  And I really can't wait for everyone else I know to be pregnant, and to hear their complaints and woes and joys about the experience, and to do all of that listening with a large glass of wine in my hand.  I'm a much better listener when I have a glass of wine.**

3.  I love flipping the calendar in my planner to a new month, partly because it's so clean and sparse and only has a few meetings written in.  Lately I've been getting bitter every single time I have to add a meeting to my calendar because, well, I hate meetings, but also because it makes my month look all cluttered and messy.

4.  Here's the problem with finishing Christmas shopping early: I want to keep buying stuff all month.  Really, it'd probably be most economical for our family if I just waited until Christmas Eve to do all of the shopping.  Charlie's only getting a few things from us (granted, they're really a few REALLY AWESOME things), but I keep finding more and more stuff to get for him.  He needs ALL THE PUZZLES and ALL THE PUPPETS and ALL THE CUTE PAJAMAS.  You know, except that he doesn't.  And really, he'd be happier with some dirty flip flops (which are apparently the tastiest thing ever to exist), the computer cord, and the tags from Mitch's collar.  Is it covered in dirt and germs and does it pose risk of death?  If so, it's Charlie's favorite thing ever.  He's been telling us lately that his name is not Charles Spencer, and that it is, instead, Charlie Danger.  Charles Danger Spencer.  Has a nice ring to it, no?

5.  Been making my own granola.  It's totes easy and way cheaper and super delicious.  I've been using Ina Garten's recipe but modifying it according to what I have and what I want at that exact moment.  And I always double the salt because I am an addict.

6.  Someone doesn't like green beans.

7.  Hilarious hand.  When speaking for young Charles now, Matt and I often describe things as being fabulous.***

8. Probably time to get an automatic focus 50 mm lens.  Lately too many of my pictures are looking like this.

*And, no, I will not be getting accidentally pregnant after #2 graces us with [let's face it] her presence.  There are ways not to get pregnant.  They work.  Don't even get me started on my rant about how if people would use birth control correctly, then it would work for them.  You don't hear me bitching about how advil doesn't work for my headache when I, oops, forget to take it, you know, ever.  Geesh.

**Also better at Spanish when wine is involved.

***And why is it so cute when Charlie's belly hangs over his diaper, but when my belly hangs out of my  pants in a similar way, it's gross and puts me at risk of ending up on one of those People of Wal-Mart emails?****

****Except that I would never be on one of those emails because I won't go to Wal-Mart.