Highlight of the day

Waking up to two tiny hands lying softly on your face, and thinking "Oh, how sweet! My baby loves me..."

Then, opening your eyes to see a big, drooly, toothless mouth about to bite your nose.

Yeah, your baby loves you. Because you taste good, or something.

Yarn and hooks: first projects

 Everytime I start a new hobby, I give it my all for a while and then, suddenly, forget about it. At first, I feared it would be the same with crochet, but it's started stronger than usual, so I'm not so sure anymore.

I started learning one night on mid-August, when I asked my grandma to teach me. I don't know why, but it was easier than I thought and I was instantly in love. Thinking of all the possibilities made me giddy! All the hats I could do, all the socks and bags... Oh, the hours of fun that awaited me with a hook in one hand and a skein of yarn by my side.

And you know what? It was true. Even if I forget about it now, it has given me hours of fun already, and some useful things to boot, so it's been a win-win. Also, it is relaxing: falling on the couch, exhausted, at the end of the day, taking the project I'm working on and crocheting stitch after stitch... Some may say it's boring, I say it's kind of zen.

These photos are what I've done so far: a frog hat and a pair of leg warmers for Oath, a bag (about 17cm / 6.7 inches from top to bottom) for me for an upcoming LARP (the small black flower you can hardly see works as a button to fasten the flap!) and the tiny Cthulhu you can see at beginning of this post (around 7.5cm / 3 inches tall).

I don't know what to do next... A zebra hat? Another frog one for a friend? Or, even... for me? Can I get away with that?

Oath's Mom

(I used no patterns, except for the Cthulhu, the leaf and the white flower on the bag)

Menu plan for one and a half

Our "trying to plan for a diet menu but not completely" did not work out, so things have changed around here. Partner will do the full diet and I will menu plan for me. Except when what I've planned is suitable to his diet parameters, or is easily adapted. Why? For a couple of reasons:

 

1. Because I hate to cook only for one, so the less I have to do it the better.
2. Because cooking two different dishes each meal is too much for me right now.
3. Because I can't follow the same diet as him, as I am on the verge of underweight (I am healthy, as all the tests from childhood to now after birth confirm, it's just that I am very thin) and breastfeeding, so I need all the carbs I can get my hands on. So my diet has to have carbs, which is what his is cutting out, mostly.
4. Because I want to support him, and eating a bunch of pasta in front of him every day (just an example, I do not actually eat pasta every day) when I know he will crave it... well, it does not sound supportive to me.

So I've tried to find a middle ground. After all, I can eat even more carbs when he's working, so it's not going to hurt me avoiding them in the main meals.

Monday

• Lunch: Ground beef with pisto
• Dinner: Monkfish with salad

Tuesday

• Lunch: Pasta with tuna (just me)
• Dinner: Chicken Strogonoff (just me or adapted for Partner)

Wednesday

• Lunch:  Hamburguers
• Dinner: Roasted peppers pizza (just me)

Thursday

• Lunch: Rice "a la cubana" (just me)
• Dinner: Soup (?)

Friday

• Lunch: Vegetables cream
• Dinner: Stuffed baked potatoes (just me)

Saturday

• Lunch: Spaghetti carbonara (just me)
• Dinner: Scrambled eggs frutti di mare

Sunday

• Lunch: Leftovers
• Dinner: Leftovers

I hope it works this time!

Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Oath's Mom

What have I done this week? (again)

In twenty minutes, Sunday will be over and a new week will start (for us, Monday is the first day of the week... I get so lost on calendars that start on Sunday!). This past week has been tiring and a bit off routine, what with Oath waking up crying in the middle of the night just because and me being sleepy all day. I thing I'm starting to really form some habits, because when I do not do some of things I am supposed to be doing, I get uneasy and cranky. Next step is to get up and actually do them, but baby-steps will take me there.

This week I have:

• Made the bed every day until Thursday. Then, no more. Now it's a complete mess. UGH.
• Changed the bed linens
• Cleaned our bedroom
• Done three loads of laundry (and there's a fourth and a fifth waiting for me in their hampers)
• Cleaned both bathrooms
• Cleaned the kitchen
• Kind of tidied up the living room.
• Vacuumed the entire house twice

And that's it. No meal planning, no grocery shopping (Partner bought some things, but not many; we mostly raided the pantry). I've kept crocheting and I have two legwarmers for Oath to show for it. I've helped Partner with his project and... well, I can't remember anything else.

Here's hope that next week will be better!

Oath's Mom

A friendly reminder to myself

Dear Oath's Mom,

You said you were back into your routine, don't you remember?

Oh, you do, you say? Then what are you doing sitting on the sofa when you should be starting a load of laundry, folding the dry clothes on the clothesline (they've been waiting for you for three days! Give thanks that it's an indoor one, or they'd be soaked again with dirty city rain...), making the bed (bad OM, bad! You hadn't fallen off the bed-making wagon for weeks!), thinking about dinner (so late? Did you expect for it to cook itself?) and possibly starting it before Partner comes home (which will be way late, we all know, but anyway... no excuses, lady!), tidying up the living room...

Yes, I know, Oath woke up like four hours before his usual wake up time (less than three hours after you went to bed, yes. This is what happens when you stay up late!) and did not want to sleep until more than an hour later... and he slept baaaaaadly after that. Tossing and turning and moaning in his co-sleeper (oh, joy!), kicking and scratching you (in the face, mainly) when you tried to soothe him back to sleep. I know, I know. You are tired, because he DID. NOT. want to nap today.

Welcome to motherhood.

 

But I'm not asking you to do all that you were supposed to do today, am I? You've spent the day moaning and complaining about lack of sleep (yours and the baby's), so now that he is (finally!) down for the night you could get up from the coach and do something productive...

Even if it's just putting the dirty lunch plates away.

Please?

Love,

Oath's Mom (yup, yourself)

What have I done this (last) week?

Getting back into routine has been easier than expected. I have to admit, though, that having Partner home while I tidy up, clean or organize is quite unnerving.

I have:

• Made the bed every day
• Changed the bed linens
• Cleaned our bedroom
• Done three loads of laundry
• Cleaned both bathrooms
• Cleaned the kitchen
• Cleaned the living room
• Kind of cleaned the guest bedroom
• Vacuumed the entire house I don't know how many times
• Meal planned
• Went grocery shopping

In my free time I have also crocheted a hat, did some work that needed to be done on a site we (Partner and I) own, baked an decorated a batch of cupcakes, and turned one year older! The only thing I haven't done much is blogging (bad me!). But, you see, getting older is exhausting...
 

Now I should get back to being productive before Oath wakes up from his nap!

 

Oath's Mom

Hooked

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Because I needed something else to occupy my time on (no, not really), I've started a new hobby: crochet.

It all started on our vacation, when I saw my grandma crocheting some can tabs purses that looked so great I wanted to try. Grandma, in between some laughing at my sudden and voracious interest, taught me, and now I'm hooked (ha! see what I did there? "Hooked"! Bad pun, I know).

I tried to get my hands on some of my great-grand aunt's hooks, but all we found were very thin, for making intricate lace doilies... and I'm not ready for that yet. I took them with me, though: I like to have some family mementos (specially if they are useful, too!), and that great-grand aunt is nearly 103 years old already! I will miss her when she's gone, and it'll be nice to have something tangible to remember her by.

Anyway, back to crochet.

 As soon as we got home and I got our daily routine mostly going (more about our back-from-vacation routine in another post), I went to buy some more hooks and yarn with a big project on my mind: cute hats for Oath. Because I have no baby winter hats, and I am afraid that when I get the hand-me-downs from Oath's cousin they will be all baby blue and frilly, lacy and such, and I want no more baby blue, frills or lacy clothing home.

The first one on the list? A frog beanie. I have one eye and most of the beanie already crocheted (though I messed up and it looks a bit weird, but hey! it's my first hat ever, it couldn't be perfect, could it?), I hope to have it finished by this weekend.

Go cute hats, go!

(Wish me luck!)

 Oath's Mom

PD: I should start using my own photos, I know.

After vacation menu plan

After all those weeks not thinking (much) about menus, it has been a bit harder to plan this one. If you add that Partner has decided to start a pseudo-diet today (which includes more meat and less carbs, and tries to remove most carbs from dinner), I am a bit insecure of how this week will work out.

But we have to try, right?

Right.

Monday

• Lunch: Sausages with mashed potatoes, topped with cheese
• Dinner: Soup

Tuesday

• Lunch: Chicken strogonoff
• Dinner: Ham and cheese omelettes

Wednesday

• Lunch:  Spaghetti carbonara
• Dinner: Vegetable cream

Thursday

• Lunch: Lentil soup
• Dinner: Hamburguers

Friday

• Lunch: Rice "a la cubana"
• Dinner: Scallops and squid

Saturday

• Lunch: Lunch with inlaws
• Dinner: Mini pizzas

Sunday

• Lunch: Pasta bolognesa
• Dinner: Fish with shrimps and caramelized onions

I've never planned a "diet" menu before, have you? Was it easier or harder? Any tips you can share?

Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Oath's Mom

Back from vacation!

We're back from vacation as of the 30th. So, I'll be blogging again.

I'm still getting the hang of being back home, so bear with me. Probably the few next posts will be about this, getting back into a routine and all that.

I hope you had a great summer (we sure did)!

Oath's Mom