More Updates

I missed my deadline for #6, which was baby M's first birthday in September. What's particularly patethic about missing that deadline is that I started that gift at her mama's baby shower, in the late summer of 2007. Mama A suggested that our close group of girlfriends have a small baby shower with us and our moms (her SIL threw a huge shower for her several weeks earlier), and one of the things we wanted to do at the shower was have everyone write down a funny Mama A story or baby advice, or a nice memory, and make a little booklet for baby M. Except that two of the moms and one of the gals couldn't be there due to last minute emergencies, so we were down to four girls and three moms. Only Mama A's mom brought a note, which she read at the shower. It was a sweet and wonderful message to her only daughter about the upcoming birth of her daughter, and I think everyone else at the party got intimidated. No one else wrote down a message. Well, knowing my friends, I knew I'd need some time to harrass them and nag them until they finished their messages. I'm still missing messages from two of the gals and all of the other moms. I'm thinking about just framing the Grandma A message with a photo for little baby M and calling this one DONE. I'll have to check with the other gals, first, of course.

I've done a great job of using my grocery sacks and cute lunch bag, so I'm glad I was able to cross those items off already.

I am behind on cooking dinner with sides at least once a week, on a weekday! (#9) I should be a lot closer to 50. But, cooking a full dinner during the week just doesn't always happen. I am getting better about planning ahead when I go to the grocery store, so I'm hopeful that by early 2009, I'll be knocking this one out of the park on a regular basis. I've cooked three dinners since I last updated, and I'll add the newest recipe once I retrace my steps and find the link again. I think that I'll stop blogging about every meal I cook, and only blog about the new recipes.

My pile of loose recipes grows. (#10) I have a lot of recipes that are only saved in my computer, so those aren't really an issue. The problem is everything I tear out of Cooking Light, Real Simple, etc. I'm thinking about going with a big binder & clear plastice sleeves for those. I also really need to cull through them and take out the ones I'm really just never going to make.

I can't bring myself to bake bread or yeasty goodies (#11) during the summer--too hot. I'm really intimidated by kneading, though. I saw a tasty-sounding recipe for beer/cheese bread the other day, so I might start out with that option and see if I can baby-step my way toward this goal.

Summer is also too hot to grill (#12). Well, it's too hot for ME to use the grill, because I don't want to have to stand there and feeling like I'm broiling while I wait for my meat to finish. Right now, the weather is ideal for hanging around outside, though. Maybe I'll actually use the grill in 2008! If not, we're definitely looking for a new house to have an awesome outdoor area where I won't mind grilling in, say, December. Or March.

Monday Good Things:

*Sent flowers to a friend whose day need some brightness.

*Wearing the new red panties for the first time, giggling.