A Bit of This and a Bit of That

Right now it seems like my life is just insane and that the insanity will never end. The past week has been spent packing up out of our previous apartment in preparation for a move to temporary housing until our new apartment is finished being painted. We got all moved in on Sunday evening.

I feel like I'm always moving.

In almost four years of marriage, Shannon and I have lived in 8-10 (10 if you count anything two weeks or longer that wasn't vacation) different apartments/houses in two countries and four states. We have had the majority of our belongings packed in suitcases/boxes/trunks and have been living out of a select few of those for 22 months. That's almost half of our marriage, and Lane's entire life. I am SO ready to unpack. Next week. I can't wait.

This is the kind of stuff Lane does when we're busy packing. The stroller is FOLDED UP for crying out loud, and she's still climbing on it!

I have been a royal klutz over the past couple of days. On Sunday before we moved I scraped my arm across a chair, leaving a lovely red mark all the way down my forearm. While moving I banged my knee up so badly that the bruise was black within a couple of hours. Today I sloshed soup all over the kitchen floor, and tonight I banged my head on the rack hanging inside the shower. What on earth is wrong with me? And don't say, "You're pregnant," because I think that "pregnancy clumsiness" thing is...a bunch of bull.

This salad is TO DIE FOR.

Meet the new love of my life (food-wise): homemade...Southwestern Salad? In an effort to eat more protein and leafy greens I created this salad last week out of leftover Mexican food. I love it. Shannon deemed it so good its new name was "Not A Salad." Try it for yourself and see.

Ingredients (to taste...my measurements are strictly estimates):

*2-3 cups leaf lettuce (none of that iceberg crap that has zero nutritional value)

*2 tablespoons homemade pico or diced tomatoes

*1/2 cooked chicken breast, shredded and warmed

*6 or so tortilla chips, broken

*1/4 cup black beans, warmed

*1/4 cup Mexican Rice, or brown rice, but Mexican is better

*a bit of shredded cheese

*1 1/2 boiled eggs, chopped

*2-3 tablespoons ranch dressing

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; toss well. Serve. Eat. Compliment me on my fantastic idea.

At my doctor's appointment last week I was told that I'm actually too thin to be three months pregnant and that I really need to try to gain some weight. In my defense, I've always had a weight range of about 10 pounds, and if I'm in that range I never worry about my weight. I don't own a scale, never have, and only weigh myself when at the doctor's office or at a friend's house. I was about two pounds under the low end of "normal" for me.

Now, I agree, I shouldn't be pushing the envelope when it comes to my weight, especially being pregnant. But it's hard for me to gain weight here. I dropped the remaining 5-6 pounds of baby weight from Lane within a week of moving here. I walk a lot, and there's no way to avoid it. I mean, I had to walk 25 minutes to get to the doctor's office! Anyways, now that I'm out of the First Trimester Black Hole I have been better at menu planning and actually cooking, and have been trying to eat more protein, more dairy, more leafy greens (hard when they're not really available here right now), and well, just more period. It should be easier to pack on a few pounds now that a) I don't feel like throwing up everything I eat, and b) I have more energy to prepare good, nutritious meals. Oh, and c) I'm not hoofing it all over the city looking for an apartment and furniture. Been there, done that.

Lane. 17 months old. Loves to get. into. everything.

Today I took Lane outside to play. You know what she did? Laid down on the ground. On her belly. Slithered around on the sidewalk. Tried to eat snails. Climbed up and down the stairs a million times, using her hands on the next step to help her up (instead of the, oh, handrail that we've taught her to hold onto). We came inside and washed her hands. While I was in the kitchen, she climbed onto the table to get the ice out of my drink, spilling the entire cup of water. We got cleaned up and sat down to eat. She promptly dumped her milk right onto her front. New outfit for her after lunch. Later I caught her fishing in my tea for ice (what is WITH that child and ice?!?). She played with the toilet brush and dumped the water from the bowl (have I ever mentioned how disgusting I think toilets and toilet brushes are?) on the floor (not on my watch, that was daddy). She peed all over the floor immediately after removing her diaper to give her a bath. Today I was oh-so-relieved when it was bedtime.

And I think that's enough randomness for today. This is proof that I do think of you all. I do have things to write. I'm eagerly anticipating the day when I have somewhat of a schedule to my life again instead of a hodgepodge of moving/packing/cooking/learning a language/setting up utilities/cleaning/parenting/wife-ing that is my current life. I've been doing this randomness thing for too long and I'm ready for some routine in my life!