Wednesday, February 20, 2013

I squeezed the Charmin.

Obligatory cuteness. She just gets more beautiful every day.
I'm so sorry for absence y'all. I don't know what came over me. It'll never happen again. Ok, let's be real. It will happen and happen frequently. It's a busy life I lead, and alas, blogging isn't even near the top of the list. True fact. I first typed "It's a busy lie I lead." And while I feel like that may be true some days, (Hah! They're gonna give me a shiny fancy degree and declare to the world that I am a trained scientist. I sure have them fooled.) I thought y'all might get the wrong idea here and I fixed it. You're welcome.

Back to the title of this post though... It's true. I squeezed it, I tugged it, I ripped it. I did other unspeakable things to it, but I'm sure you'd rather not hear about that. Jeremiah is good at being a man. He is expert at man-looking (the croutons were RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM), man-colds (him: I'm dying. I love you. Send word to my parents. Me: It's a cold. You'll live. Him: Would you make me some chocolate milk before I die?) and now, man-shopping. We were almost out of TP. Aside: Any house I live in needs to never ACTUALLY run out of TP. There are few things more nightmare inducing for a woman in her prime than running out of TP without warning. It ranks as a necessity right up there with coffee, chocolate, diapers, and baby formula. End aside. However, instead of our regular stuff, he brought home a large package of Charmin. I had a minor moment at the idea of something DIFFERENT. To his credit, it works. It is soft, and it does its job. After careful consideration of the merits of Charmin, I concede that while it may be a bit cushier and more comfortable for blowing my nose in, I prefer my Angel .... um... Angel Soft? What is the name of that stuff? Apparently I'm not as attached to it as I thought I was. Moving on.


Beautiful place.
Thank goodness there was a cheery fire.
In other, less bathroom-related news, I made my very first visit to a winery this past weekend to Chateau Morrisette in beautiful Floyd VA. It was cold but very dry in Blacksburg before we left, but was briskly snowing by the time we got up there. They had a fire going right behind the tasting bench, and it was really quite warming. The wine was quite tasty and we merrily worked our way through the list. From whites to reds to semi-sweets to very sweet. I'm a light and sweet type, myself. They did have a couple of reds that weren't bad, but there were a couple I took one swig from and poured out the rest of my tasting to Jeremiah.

Our partners in chocolate! They are brave to bring us along.
In the end though, it was all delicious. We were there specifically for the chocolate-and-wine pairing that they were doing for Valentines day. I sat down to an array of wine glasses and 5 delectable-looking fine chocolates. One was black walnut and orange-peel in white chocolate, one was jalapeno and chili in mexican semi-sweet, one was raspberry jam in dark chocolate, one was espresso, and the last was chocolate-covered coconut. We went through and made notes about how the wines and the chocolate paired together. And then, since we're rebels. (And they suggested it.) We started mixing up the chocolates and the wines. The hands-down best combination was the chocolate-covered coconut with the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a pair made in heaven, and not one that they had suggested.
We went with our great friends Will and Amanda. They are so much fun to be around and come up with these awesome ideas for fun things to do. Plus Lois loves her Aunty Amanda.
Chocolate Rose!





Happy Valentine's Day, sweetie!






Gifts for attending the event included these amazing chocolate roses. There were 3 on the tables, one for each couple. We got the pink one,  but there was also one in orange and one in white. I haven't eaten it yet, but I expect it to be delicious.



After the tasting and the pairing, we went for a tour of the winery. It was blustery cold outside, so we ducked inside really fast. Look at all that happy aging wine! The wine barrels all have this adorable dog paw print on them. Turns out, once they are done aging wine in them, you can buy them for about $75. I see where some of our tables once we settle and get a real home will come from! Can't you just see one of these, with a big glass tabletop on it? Perfect place to sip wine and eat cheese or chocolate, no?
 Once you get inside the doors, you look up and this is what you see While the cast-iron chandelier is very beautiful, I was astonished by the wood. It's reclaimed wood from the west coast and is absolutely amazing. The grain and color are rich and they add a lot of character to the building. It was constructed using dowel fasteners instead of nails, and the work really is quite amazing. I should be so lucky to have wood like that in our future house.
Rebel!




In the tour of the winery, we found this very helpful sign by the bottling room. Jeremiah, being the rebel that he is, had to hop on the other side of it and show off. I made all sorts of frowny faces of disapproval, but only because he thought of it first.
Lush!

I peeped through a window and found these really neat corks in a box. They made a great picture, and I really wish I'd gone through and picked one up. I love that pattern.

This wasn't what I had in mind.


Final rating on the winery? 8/10, would visit again.
Final rating on the wine? 10/10 would drink again.


Then we went home and passed out. The next day, we went and obtained a new couch. Our couch was well past it's prime and had long since passed from "comfortable" to "butt-sucking" in terms of sitability. We again recruited our friends for some help.  The first half of the couch (A sleeper! We can have people VISIT now!) made it into the apartment without any real trouble. When the reclining half was due to come in, there was apparently a slight detour.

I AM THIS BIG!
It did finally make it into the house and is just as comfortable as promised. Jeremiah and I have agreed that we are a comfortable couple since we have now progressed to buying furniture together.

And finally: More baby. She says HI MOMMY! PICK ME UP!

Sunday, February 10, 2013

True Conversations in our house:

I brought us both glasses of water. As we began to drink it, we had this little conversation:

Jeremiah: You didn't put any poison in this, did you?
Me: Just the usual one.
Jeremiah: ... the usual one?
Me: Yes. The usual one. Iocane powder. I've been building up your tolerance to it bit by bit. You're welcome.
Jeremiah: ... You are such a dork.

In other news, this happened:


Om nom foot.

And I've been making progress on the quilt. From the pile of squares it used to be, it now features some completed strips!

 These are some of the easier ones to piece together. just one, two, or three seams. Easy. Wonderful. Fast.  I really like how they're coming together too, and the purple shows up really well here. The contrast is good too, since it'll be really clear when it's done. The second photo is one of the inner pieces, where I am assembling the triangles I made out of all those squares. These strips are going to take a lot longer to put together. I'm still debating the green I used here. I think a much lighter green would have been better, but it's a little late to change it now.


Keep Scrolling




A little more ...



If I crouch, she can't see me.


BAM! Sudden topic change!

Here we witness a Sunday afternoon in the wild. We are lazing about on the couch, complete with cat sleeping and baby slouching. Chester is of the opinion that he needs to be protected from the caustic baby drool that so often pollutes his fur. (Not really.) See how Chester has cleverly employed a BabyShield? He says it is the perfect protector against a baby who will eat anything.
Om nom blanket.





PROOF! Here she is, trying to eat a blanket! RUN, BLANKET! RUN!! She says the blanket fuzzies are like the bonus marshmallows in your hot chocolate. Except they taste less better. And more fuzzy. And ew, what is that in my mouth? Did *I* do that? On purpose? What was I thinking. EW MOM COME AND SAVE ME FROM THE EBIL BLANKET!





Eat feet instead. More toes. Less fuzz.



Friday, February 8, 2013

Growing! She's GROWING!

Hello world.
Today was Lois' 6 month checkup. When she was born, she was so little and awake. This picture was taken right after she was born. Well, not RIGHT* after. They'd had time to clean her up and check her out and feed her a little bit. I have diabetes and when she was born her blood sugar was a little low, so they boosted it quickly with a little formula. *I* hadn't even seen her yet at this point, other than the peek over the curtain that I got during the c-section. She was squalling and covered in ick. I'll spare you THAT photo, but we do have it.
A bath? Now? But I JUST got my hair perfect!

These days she's looking more like this. Here we're having an in-depth conversation on the subject of diapers, baths, and bedtimes. Her point was punctuated by vigorous foot-flailing, and she was making a sweeping gesture with her left hand. Her other appendages didn't have an opinion. The hair was all for it.
Fun fact we've learned over the past few days: She is sensitive to the Pampers Sensitive Diapers. Put the regular baby-dry or the swaddlers on her? No problems. But the ones for sensitive skin broke her out into some diaper rash. This is SO definitely my baby.
Back to what I started out with... she's 6 months old! And today was her 6-month checkup. She is doing perfectly. She's long and skinny, 27.5 inches long, 15 pounds and 5 ounces. That's the 87% for height, and 33% for weight. The doctor is very happy with how she's developing and says to keep on with what we're doing.
This was right before the power went out.

Look at the cute baby bear! LOOK AT HER!

Ahem. I mean, isn't that little snow suit warm-looking? And what about the handsome man holding her? That is daddy. He is most wonderful, the source of tickling, funny noises, dinner, and cuddles. She loves her daddy. So do I. He's wrapped firmly around her finger, and he takes marvelous care of her. She makes it easy by being such a good baby.

Now, about that bear suit. She likes it. It tends to produce an instant nap in her, which I like. It's warm and cozy and makes her look like a little pink bear. Win-win-win.

And now I've introduced you to one more of the characters in my day-to-day life, my wonderful Jeremiah. He is totally awesome.
Not as awesome as this toe. Om nom toe.

*EDIT: Apparently she hadn't been fed yet. Just cleaned up and already being showered with daddy's love. I was shivering in a recovery room while they made sure I was okay after the c-section. They have these awesome pre-warmed blankets they give you in there. I think I had like 5 of them.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Hello World.

Welcome to my new blog!

Om nom monkies.
 In this delightful installment, you shall learn a bit about me and my obsessions hobbies, my minions family, and what I do when I'm trying to avoid work.

 To start off with, I am a graduate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. It sounds all impressive when I say it like that, so I try to say that at least once a day just to impress myself. Sometimes it even totally works. Everyone else in the world calls
It Begins. Can my desk get any MORE cluttered??
it Virginia Tech. There to the right you'll find my most precious daughter, Lois. She will feature prominently in this blog. I know you're jealous. Oh, and, just to finalize all the impressive stuff, I'm getting  Phd in Materials Science and Engineering. I've also got a certificate in Nuclear Engineering, and just to prove it's not all it's cracked up to be, I'm going to go ahead and use the wrong "your" here. Your right, it is a lot of work.

Feel better now?

In my hahaha, I crack myself up spare time, I quilt! And play with the baby. And snuggle with my sweetie. I just launched into a new quilting project, the beginning of which can be seen to the left there. That's the pile if 4 5/8" squares that will eventually become the complex number you can see in the pickture. (See! I can hardly spell! Don't be too impressed!) This pattern is called Labyrinth.
The fabric for the next stages, all cut out and organized.
The colors for this one are yellow, green, and purple, and I picked a charming pansy pattern to feature prominently in it. I do love pansies. They are such a happy flower. My favorite flower is a cyclamen though. It's an UPSIDE DOWN FLOWER! How cool is THAT?!
I can't wait to get sewing on this. Maybe I'll get to do some tonight! But not if I blog long enough that I have to work until midnight to make up the time. Boo. Hiss.

Not. Sleepy. NOT!



 This adorableness is just another picture of my adorable daughter. I did warn you that she's going to feature prominently. She does such adorable things. This version of red-faced adorable was provoked by me taking at least 30 seconds too long to deliver the bottle to the sleepy baby. She says she is NOT SLEEPY MAMA AND I DON'T NEED A NAP. She is quite earnest. She is also quite wrong.

What a marvelous tail.
And the last character I will be introducing today is this feline sanguinity known as Chester. Chester enjoys sleeping, sleeping, eating, sleeping, and catnip. He thanks you for the opportunity to sleep on the internet.

The other characters I will be introducing you to are Jeremiah my wonderful half, and Colette. Colette is Chester's littermate and is a bit camera-shy. She had a bad experience with a flash once.

At any rate, nice to meet you. Carry on. Enjoy your day. Try the veal. Tip your servers. Wear a coat. Don't swim for an hour after you eat.