Are Libraries Cooler Than Cupcakes?

I say, "Yes," and you know I love cupcakes, so that's a big deal.

I've posted before about how I do so love Children's Librarians. Then, today, a (librarian) friend shared this and so I feel compelled to do the same.

Why The Next Big Pop-Culture Wave After Cupcakes Might Be Libraries

I don't know about you, but I would find a way to watch a reality show about our local librarians. That would be some interesting stuff.

Rules that only morons need to hear: What Cannot Be Unseen

Have you ever had to explain something to someone which really should be common sense, but for some reason, it wasn't for that particular person?

Don't speak loudly and in great detail at the gym about the best blow job you ever gave, particularly when there are elderly ladies on the treadmill next to you is one such rule.

I came across another one last weekend that needs sharing: While at a restaurant, do not EVER speak of anything you have seen on a television segment titled anything remotely similar to, "What Cannot Be Unseen."

This should be common sense, but it wasn't to the group of ladies a few tables down from us at a restaurant. After hearing about one such segment (again, in great detail), I had to put down my food because I had lost my appetite. Now, I don't have a weak stomach, so if even I was grossed out, you can rest assured what you just discussed (LOUDLY AND IN GREAT DETAIL) was completely inappropriate in an establishment where eating takes place (or at least DID before you grossed people out).

So, what other rules have you felt compelled to clarify for the morons?

Coconut Oil and Randomness

Tropical Traditions sent me a jar of their Certified Organic Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil last fall. I was just stomping through my archives and realized I never posted my review. Ack!

As luck would have it, I'm STILL discovering new uses for the stuff.

First and foremost, I cooked with it. It tastes absolutely amazing with sweet onions and tilapia. It adds just a hint of sweetness which makes for a much richer flavor then olive oil.

I tried baking a chocolate cake with it, but it wasn't quite my favorite. First and foremost, I need to say that I don't like the taste of coconut. When baked, it has that flavor. So it wasn't quite my style. Although, oddly enough, when I ate some cake the next day (after it was refrigerated, I liked it much better. The coconut flavor wasn't as strong the next day.

So, even if you don't particularly like coconut flavor, you may find that, like me, you really enjoy this with meat or vegetables.

I found the most random uses in addition to eating it. With the oil, Tropical Traditions included a little booklet that had lots of information and included some alternative uses.

One idea mentioned was using it as a moisturizer. I found this coconut oil was the only thing that worked to get rid of TheBaby's cradle cap. I rubbed it on her scalp and the next day, the flaky dry skin was gone.

I also made the most wonderful exfoliating concoction. I added used coffee grinds to coconut oil and kept it in a little container in the shower. I used it in the mornings. The smell was great and my skin felt very soft. I have oily skin, but using the oil on my face didn't cause any problems.

Unlike most other oils, this coconut oil is a solid at room temperature. So, you can add "Prop in a science lesson" to its resume'. This has proven to be endlessly fascinating to my kids.

Our vet recommended giving the cats some oil to help prevent hairballs, but we've never had any luck getting the cats to actually eat oil, though. The booklet mentioned that some pet owners just put a small scoop on their pets' food. Sure enough, we put a scoop in their food and one of our cats loved it. I must admit, one wouldn't touch it, but neither of these cats would eat any other type of oil. Our fuzzy boy happily licked this up right away.

Last weekend, I found the most bizarre use for this coconut oil. Would you believe it works wonderfully to cover scratches in hardwood flooring? Well, it DOES. Moving furniture left us with a big scratch on our floor. After panicking momentarily, I remembered reading that walnut oil was supposed to be good for such scratches. We didn't have any (and we had company coming very soon), but I did have a little bit of this coconut oil left. So I put some in the crack and rubbed it in. The kids and I were all shocked when we realized you couldn't see the scratch at all. I then cleaned the floor as usual with hardwood floor polish. A week has gone by and it still looks great.

The price on the oil seems a bit steep to me, but they have sales all the time--really good sales. If you sign up for their newsletter, they'll let you know what sales are happening and they link you directly to them. I've found that very helpful. They also list sales and blog giveaways via twitter.

My weekly weight loss update (a few days late and a few pounds short)

Sorry I'm late with my posting this week. With Pesach and the news about my friend's mom, I've been so busy.

This week, I was 140.8. I have now lost 10% of my starting body weight. My goal was to be under 140 by Wednesday and maybe, just maybe, that will actually happen. I'm not sure, though, because that weight was at the end of the week, not my usual mid-week weigh-in. Plus I've splurged a little bit since then. I'm going to get lots of walking in tomorrow and Tuesday and then we shall see where that takes me.

The weather is so gorgeous lately. I'm going to grab the opportunity to be out in the sun as much as possible. I'm hoping I can start working in the garden soon. I'm not much of a gardener, but it's great exercise plus then we can grow our own healthy pesticide-free veggies. Plus it's always a homeschool lesson for the kids.

Tomorrow is another big meal night, but we're keeping it simple (fish, green beans [yes, we eat kitiniyot. Dh and I are Ashekenazi, but I'm Sephardic too, so Passover is the one time of year I pretend that other side doesn't exist] and mushrooms) and we'll have a little K for P wine.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can hit that weight goal by Wednesday. Of course, I have a scheduled lunch date with friends that day. We're going out for Chinese to celebrate the end of Pesach and the return of chametz. It's not even bread I'm craving (I'm actually hoping to stay pretty low-carb even after Pesach has "passed over"). It's the sushi and soy sauce. Yum!

Feeling Defeated Until My Pants Start To Fall Down

I haven't lost as much as I had hoped and I've been feeling pretty let down about the whole thing lately. I was considering canceling my Weight Watchers online subscription and throwing in the weight loss towel.

Then I got dressed yesterday. The awesome super cute Target capris I got on sale were very loose--too loose to wear. So I put on a pair of jeans--real jeans, not the elastic waisted maternity ones. They were too big. *Gasp* Today, I put on the pair of jeans I wore to my oldest daughters' birthday party. Back then, I had to use my "sucker-inner" shapewear just to get them closed and even then, I had to hold my breath and lie down. Today, they closed without a problem and I was even able to get them down without unzipping or even unbuttoning them. *Double gasp*

I'm still heavier than I'd like, but this is the first time I'm actually seeing a difference in my body. I think this is the perfect motivation to keep going.

This week, I was down another pound. I'm just over 2 lbs away from having lost 10% of my starting body weight.

Pesach (Passover) starts soon. That's going to make doing WW kind of tricky (I can't find any Kosher for Passover WW foods) on one hand (counting points), but I usually lose a few pounds during Pesach just because my carbs are so limited.

I know it's going to be a stretch, but my goal is going to be 140 or less (I'm 143.6) by the time Pesach ends. Let's see how close I can get.

Weight Loss and Bad Guys With Tasty Ears

In health news, I'm officially down just over another pound. Well, I was when I weighed myself for my official weigh-in and when I weighed myself again today, I was down another pound from there.

My next goal was to be under 145 and I've made it. As a young teen, I hit 145 and for the first time ever, had high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I lost some weight, got everything back in check and swore I would never be 145 again. I have further to go, but I'm thrilled to have gotten here.

I've been playing around and managed to create a hamentashen recipe that's 0 points per serving. It's not fabulous, but not bad. It'll do. I'm going to try to play around with it some more, but it will have to be after Shabbat.

Purim starts very soon and I'm super excited. We're going to the Purim dinner after Havdallah on Saturday and the pancake breakfast on Sunday morning, so I'm going to need to plan accordingly.

The kids look adorable in their costumes. I think I look okay in mine. I didn't cringe when I saw pictures of myself in my dress, so that's a start.

Hopping Back on the Wagon of Weight Loss

I'm back on wagon that is weight loss and I'm feeling invigorated. I'm 146 which is a total of 10.8 lbs from when I started WW. I'm making myself exercise. I'm sore and I'm loving it. I love it when I hurt because it reminds me that I actually do have muscles in there plus I'm more likely to work out again when I'm sore because I know continuing to work out is the best way to ease the pain.

Yesterday, a friend said, "Your double chin is gone." I could have kissed her. I had been feeling kind of low since I didn't lose last week and I wasn't as consistent as I wanted to be with my exercise, but her comment was exactly what I needed. It motivated me not only to work out last night, but to exercise longer than I had planned. I only worked out 3 times last week, but I did it, I'm feeling the results and I'm going to keep doing it.

We have family coming out to visit in less than 2 weeks. I really wanted to be down below 140 by then, but I've had to adjust my goals since my weight loss slowed. So, now, the goal is to be at 143 by the time we have visitors. It's going to take some adjusting to keep the weight down because we usually eat out quite a bit when we have visitors. So I'm going to make a point of cooking home for everyone. I figure I can use some Weight Watchers crockpot recipes along with cooking larger portions of the healthier recipes we like.

Purim is only 10 days away. I LOVE Purim. It's one of my favorite holidays. Along with Purim, though, come hamentashen. Those cookies are my favorite Jewish food. The Apricot ones are my absolute favorite. Last year, I couldn't have them because I was pregnant and avoiding carbs. This year, I am so tempted to have a bunch, but I need to remember to do it in moderation. I want to see how much I can tweak the recipes to make them more WW friendly. The ones available at shul during the Purim carnival, though, are sure to be high in fat and calories (and yummy goodness. Yummmmmm. Pardon me while I drool).

So that will be my next challenge.

It's the Most Wonderful Time Of the Year.

Valentine's Day is almost over. Do you know what that means? It's almost time for my favorite holiday of the year.

Happy half-price chocolate day, everyone.

Run, don't walk, to the nearest store to take part in this most wonderful of days. For those of us trying to lose weight, maybe we'll skip the chocolate this year. Then again, maybe we'll buy a giant box for a friend who is NOT trying to lose weight and who we know will be willing to share a piece or two.

Tomorrow also begins the wonderfully festive Stock Up For the Daughters' Birthday season. I love to grab the Valentine's Day leftovers to use as decorations and goody bag filler for the upcoming birthdays. I also love grabbing discounted Valentine's Day decor for the twins' bedroom. I saw some uber cute things this year that I'm hoping to be able to grab tomorrow.

I am seriously excited about this. I can't wait to head out tomorrow to see what treasures we'll find. I'll be sure to report back tomorrow. You be sure to pretend that you care. If you don't, well, I'll just talk to myself. That's nothing new.

When Clouds Hand You SnowMake Snow Frappacinos

Last night, we made snow ice cream with the kids. While enjoying it, I thought, "This is the same consistency as a Frappacino." Then a light bulb went off in my head. That light bulb was behind a sign that looked something like this:

I then made some coffee-flavored ice cream which could easily be turned into a Frappacino (just let it melt for a few minutes).

Here's what I'd suggest:

In a bowl, mix coffee the way you like it and add some milk. You can play around with this. I added some 1% milk in addition to the usual amount of flavored creamer. I suggest that if you use sugar, you add a bit more than you usually would with your coffee. If you want it sweeter, stick closer to the amount of sugar called for in the snow ice cream recipe (With liquid Stevia, I found the usual amount I used in my coffee worked, but with sugar, sticking closer to the snow ice cream amount worked well).

Mix it all together first in the bowl. I added bits individually and it didn't blend well. So mix coffee, sugar/sweetener (artificial sweeteners may not lend themselves well to this), creamer and milk together. Then get fresh snow and add and mix little bits at a time. You'll probably find you can add much more snow then you originally thought. For snow ice cream, we used two large sized pitchers full of snow. For my Frap, though, I used 1 and 1/4 pitchers. It depends on how much liquid you use.

Put it in a cup and depending on whether you have absolutely no patience or if you can wait a few minutes, you'll either have coffee-flavored snow ice cream or a super cheap Frappacino (for a fraction of the WW points that are in the Starbuck's version--a grande no whip Mocha Frappachino is 5 points. Mine came out to less than 1 point per serving when I used Stevia in place of sugar).

Gooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!

Today, I hit my first weight loss goal. I'm 148.8 lbs. My first goal was to be under 150 and I did it. Yay!

That meant my points were re-evaluated. I'm down to 25 points a day (I had 26). That's okay. Lately, I'm eating much less meat, so I've had an easier time staying within my points.

I still haven't gotten back on the Wii Fit (I really should, though. The last time I used it, I was pregnant and about 15 lbs heavier. I'd love to hear that little scale congratulate me for being down. Yes, I really do care what that stupid little scale says.). I haven't exercised as much as I'd like, but I've done something and my food choices have gotten better (and easier). So that's good.

My weight loss is slowing a bit, but that's to be expected. So I'm not heartbroken.

My next goal is to lose 10% of my starting body weight. That will be when I hit 136 lbs and that's only a few pounds away from my goal (I'd love to get down to 125, but I'll settle for 130. When I was at my lowest, when my twins were toddlers, I was 107 lbs. I was also in my 20s, though. I'm not as young as I was then, so I don't know if my body will let me get anywhere near there).

I'm happy. We've been able to balance eating out on occasion and still lose weight.

This week, I discovered that friends are a great resource for recipe ideas. Social networking is a huge help with that.

So, now, what on earth should I do as a reward for reaching my first goal? I have no ideas at all. I'm open to ideas, so suggest away.

Dinner in a flash.

TwitterMoms and Samsung asked for at least 3 tips for getting dinner ready in a flash. I may be the last person you want to ask about that. I CAN cook, but I'd rather not. I figure, I'm not alone, though, so here are what works for me.


1. Have your husband cook. Who cares if it's done quickly? You don't have to do it. Feel free to do whatever else needs to be done while your oh so adorable and oh so skillful husband whips up a delicious dinner in the comfort of your own kitchen. I lucked out. My husband is a fantastic cook and doesn't mind (or at least doesn't complain) cooking in the evening.

2. Use the crockpot. It doesn't seem quick since it takes all day, but you can throw everything in in the morning and come home to an already cooked meal--no prep time necessary. This is great for me because it also eliminates my cravings for eating out. If I know dinner is ready at home, I'm less likely to suggest going out.

3. Hit the local farmers' market. I realize this won't work for everyone in every climate (at least not year round), but we've found that having fresh (and gorgeous) produce available helps make for a quick meal. I'm far more likely to be willing to cook (see #1) when we have fresh produce on hand.

4. Tilapia Tilapia Tilapia. I LOVE tilapia and it's pretty quick and easy to prepare. Keep some on hand. You can buy a good-size frozen bag (we get 4 lbs) at a decent price. Then, just sautee some onions and throw some tilapia in the pan. It's quick and easy.

5. Eggs. Eggs. Eggs. That's our go-to staple when we're in a hurry and have no idea what to make. Scrambled eggs are super quick and can be altered depending on what you add.

6. Anywhere other than here. When in doubt, go out. I like to go out even when not in doubt. :-) Go somewhere else and let THEM cook for you. Then it doesn't matter how long it takes because, once again, you don't have to cook it.

Food, Glorious Food

Twitter Moms, along with Horizon Little Blends have asked how we parents sneak fruits and veggies into their kids' diets.

I don't.

I was raised hating fruits and veggies. If it was healthy, I wanted to run far and fast. The closest my snacks came to healthy was the name "Fruit" followed by "Roll-ups." In my adulthood, I realized I actually like a wide variety of fruits and veggies that were either never offered, or never cooked in a way I liked (i.e. broccoli was always cooked until it was mush and slathered in butter).

So with our kids, we have always made a point of offering a wide variety of fruits and veggies prepared in a number of different ways. We keep apples, bananas, nuts (plain or lightly salted), whole grain cereal, sliced peppers, carrots, raisins, plums, peaches and grapes in the kids' reach. And you know what? They actually eat them--happily. We never started them on the sweet sugary snack thing, so they don't miss them. We don't have to argue with them.

After a brief interview, here are my kids' favorite foods:

Girl1: Sushi
Girl2: Apples
TheBoy: Bananas

My biggest tip on food is simply--don't start down the slippery slope of mount sugar. You never have to break the habit if you never start it.

Through the Twitter Mom contest, I found another great link on Getting Kids to Eat Healthy & I must share. She has some fantastic points. Have I mentioned that my children (particularly Girl1) like jalapenos? Hey, you never know unless you try.

Yet another fortune cookie of abstinence (aka: The Chinese Place Hates Me)

In addition to exclusively breastfeeding, we are now using condoms AND I'm temping in the morning in an effort to prevent pregnancy. Why are we going through all this trouble when getting pregnant has never been easy for us? Because a fortune cookie scared my husband. It could have been warning of a lottery-ticket-bearing Oompa Loompa*, but no, my husband feared it referred to a baby.

If you recall, there was a night last month (which turned into a whole freaking week because it terrified my husband so) where I didn't get any because of a stupid fortune cookie. At the time, I grumbled a little bit, but mostly laughed. Ha ha. That's funny how that can be interpreted to fit our current situation. By the end of that week, though, I wasn't laughing quite as loudly. It's just a freaking cookie. Get the hell over here!

A few days ago, we went to the same Chinese place and once again, we got fortunes. Girl1 and I both eyed the same fortune cookie, but she got it first. When she read the fortune out loud, my husband said, "Oh no. That one was meant for you."




Oh hell! So now, I'm beginning to seriously wonder if that restaurant has it out for me. Dude, WTF? And no, my husband has not touched me since that fortune.

Then, this morning, we opened the front door to find a box. It's yet another great big box o'WTF from my mom (see #9). It's a package, for my daughter--the one who actually opened that fortune cookie. Never in my life have I been so thrilled to get a random box of insane stuff that we neither want nor need. I don't know if that package will prove lucky for my daughter, but hopefully, it will for me. A big box of useless unnecessary stuff has fulfilled the pastry prophecy therefore leaving us free to enjoy some indoor sports. Game on!

*I'm borrowing the lottery-ticket-holding Oompa Loompa from someone on twitter, but I can't remember who said it. If you know, please post her name in the comments.

I'm not getting any and it's all a fortune cookie's fault.

We went for Chinese tonight and, as is common in Chinese restaurants, we each got fortune cookies. I don't really like the taste of fortune cookies, but I do so love the fortune. I love everything about them. When my daughters each read their first ones by themselves, I took great delight. The ones that really resonate with me are kept and displayed. I got one in December that said, "Remember three months from this date. Good things are in store for you." My youngest daughter was born exactly 3 months and 1 day later. Sometimes they have bits of wisdom. Sometimes they're funny given current circumstances. Sometimes, they're freakishly true.

Today, my husband got this fortune:

Upon reading that, he screwed up his face, said, "Oh hell no," and then added, "I'm not touching you tonight."

Oh joy! I got a side order of abstinence with my moo goo gai pan. Dude, that was NOT on the menu.

Happy Mothers' Day

I hope all my mommy follower had a happy Mothers' Day. For any followers dealing with infertility who are not yet mommies, know you're in my thoughts and prayers.

This morning, the family brought me breakfast in bed--real breakfast cooked by the husband. So I was able to avoid the joy that is burnt toast. :-) Dh bought me the 7th season of Gilmore Girls. Yay. The absence of Gilmore Girly Goodness in my life has been very apparent recently. I miss the wit and wisdom shared by Rory and Lorelai (and the occasional great lines thrown in by others in Stars Hollow). There were a few episodes I missed, so I'm thrilled to get the DVD's. We went out to lunch and then got coffee.

I'm glad I have this blog, because it allowed me to take a walk down memory lane with the ghost of Mothers' Days past. Oh, I am SO glad that this year has been very different. Bigger kids (and a complete set of kids which I didn't know if we'd have back then), a husband who is not deployed, and sleep--GLORIOUS sleep.

"You ought to be happy a whole heaping lot for the places and people you're lucky you're not." Yeah, we're the same people, but I'm thrilled we're not in the same position.

Despite some frightening health issues, my mother is still with us. Bubbe's Alzheimers has worsened, but physically, she's healthy. Plus, I hear that now, she smiles all the time. She has moments where her old self shines through, but overall, she can no longer remember the past, which for her, means she no longer lives with her fear from Germany. This is a blessing.

This Mothers' Day, I'm thankful for the little things; hand-made cards and kisses and I'm thankful for the big things; health, memory, and home.

Another side effect of the bad economy

You all know my mom lost her job. It's only now that we're realizing one of the negative side effects.

Every year, one of the companies she dealt with would send her a package of kosher for Passover candy. She would send that on to us.

This year, no job means no K for P chocolate.

Pardon me while I pout like a 3-year-old.

Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh mannnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

The few. The proud. The Jewish. The chocolate.

My kids don't eat chocolate. For the longest time, they never even tasted chocolate. The girls are wonderful about it. The staff at Sunday school likes to give out chocolate for snacks or rewards, but the big kids always tell their teachers they can't have chocolate and they help find a healthier alternative. I've been so proud of how they handle it.

As the kids have got older, we relented and agreed they could have chocolate for two occasions, Chanukah (because the gelt was overwhelming. There was no way to avoid it) and then we added Purim (because, well, I really like Purim).

Well, now we're about to add one more holiday to the mix. Next week, there's a chocolate seder at shul. Last year, we just skipped Sunday school that day. This year, though, the whole family is invited to stay. Family events are near and dear to my heart. So we'll all be going and yes, the children will get to consume chocolate.

And so, our children are thrilled to be Jewish because if not, they'd never get chocolate. :-)

Monsters peeing on cheese

Tonight, before bed, my son confessed to my husband that he had a nightmare about a monster peeing on cheese.

I have no clue how to interpret that other than the fact that it's pretty damn funny!

Resolutions

I swore I wasn't going to make a resolution. I hate them. I think you're setting yourself up to fail.

That being said, I recently came across the Modern Mom Challenge. I kind of tagged along to a chat and then decided to sign up. Through that chat, I got some great suggestions from some fine folks about exercise ideas. You may remember that I was quite the gym rat not too long ago. Since then, my membership lapsed and then I finally got pregnant again. The sheer exhaustion from the first trimester completely ruled out signing a contract at a new gym. Now, we want to focus our finances on preparing for the future, so my 2 hour sessions at the gym are a distant memory.

Still, nutrition is particularly important during this pregnancy. I've never exercised in my pregnancies and I've always regretted that. So this time, I've been making a point of exercising. It's only 1/2 an hour of light exercise (a far cry from my hour of cardio and hour of weights every day), but it's something and it's helping.

For a while, I fell out of the habit of exercising and my diet has not been the best since the holidays. So I want to use the challenge as my inspiration to change that.

I've been feeling so very positive lately about this birth and I need to do everything I can to make sure it's a healthy one. So I'm resolving to be better about my nutrition and certainly my exercise.

Although, I'm not abandoning my standard resolution: I resolve NOT to win the lottery. Thus far, it's been one resolution I've been able to keep year after year. :-)

Thursday Thirteen: Halloween Candy

Thirteen Things to do with Halloween Candy 1.... Eat all the chocolate when the kids aren't looking. 2....Save the maltballs 'cause you don't really like them, but when all the other chocolate is gone, eat them too. 3....Let the kids have a few lollipops (suckers to some of you) and Starbursts. 4....Search through the bags again in an attempt to find any hidden chocolate. If you find some, see #1. If not, move along. 5....Pick up the Almond Joy, consider it, then put it back down and decide it's not worth it. 6....Repeat #5 at least two more times. 7....Use the bag of candy as a threat when the kids don't clean up. 8....Let them have some runts and that Hannah Montana candy bracelet. 9....Stash a few lollipops in your purse/diaper bag for a rainy day (or a cranky child). 10...Repeat #4. 11...Open every single pack of Starburst in an attempt to find pink (or your particular favorite). 12...Wind up with only 2 pinks (which you eat) and a huge pile of red and yellow Starbursts (which you hate). Build a wall with them. Stack them up to form various farm animals. Then give up and put them back in the bag for the kids. 13...Donate everything else to care packages for our troops overseas and stay far away from the scale for a few days.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants