1. Thou shall giveth everything to me.
2. Thou shall not taketh (it) back from me.
3. I shall throweth wherever I wanteth.
4. Thou shall not covet my stuff.
5. Thou shall feed me.
6. Thou shall clean me (even my poopy bottom.)
7. If you will – I won’t.
8. If you won’t – I will.
9. If you insist – hell will be the abode.
10. The night is mine, the day is mine, you are at the servitude.

So mote it be.

Possibly one of the greatest inventions ever, gotta keep ‘em under control donchaknow!

Kidding aside, this is a pretty cool item, definitely worth $70. Damian really wants to help mommy pack, but he just does not understand that pulling everything out of the boxes and crawling away with things is a little counterproductive to the moving effort. (We will be moving to a house in March!)

So enter the Superyard Xt Gate. I am normally not easily impressed with baby items (I feel they are overpriced and for the most part totally unnecessary) but I love this thing. It collapses and has a carrying strap so you can take it with you (to the beach, to a friends house, out in your yard etc.) It sizes down easily to 4 panels, and apparently you can buy a 2 panel extension kit for it. Damian can stand up inside and not tip it over. I can easily step over it which is a great plus (granted I have long legs.)

It is really wonderful indoors now to keep him away from the boxes while we pack… and away from the baseboard heater covers which he has learned to pull off. I think this will be fantastic in the yard. I can have him near, but don’t have to worry about him wrecking havoc while I garden or worry about him crawling off (or under) the deck. He is not in it all the time as I think exploration is important too but when I want him near but need to work on another project this is definitely an enormous help.

Or at least, I pull everything out of the boxes when she is not watching and flip them over…

Neither cats are being terribly photogenic lately, this tickles the sophomorish part of my sense of humor though…

For the curious, Windigo has always had the kink in his tail. Supposable it is not an uncommon birth defect in Siamese, which he is part according to the vet.

(if you have ever wondered what little witches are up to nowadays…)

He demands your allegiance.

My Auntie Andrea made this for me. I love it!

My hands are stained red, the cutting board and knife drip crimson, chunks of scarlet bubble away in the crockpot, anything that didn’t fit in there is in the freezer, for future use…

Bwahahahahahahaha!

*Cough* Um, this isn’t the start of a B-flick! I just finished processing a bushel of pluots! I also have most of the latest ripe (and a few green just to experiment) tomatoes from Shannon’s garden in my dehydrator. Can you believe I filled 8 square feet of space and still have a few pounds to go?

I still have a bushel of apples to either freeze or dry, as well as more summer squash. Thank goodness I love zucchini (I made relish with the last batch.) I also roasted a chicken and made an apple pie from scratch today. My pie crust was a little chewy (hey I am a bread maker, it feels weird not to work my dough) but got the Michael seal of approval, which is good enough for me. I have some sage and oregano to jar and label before bed still.

Oh Eternal Spirits of the Harvest, how I love this Autumn bounty! But if I see one more pluot… Oh wait, I still have 20 on the table. *Horror-movie-esque scream*

Has the LHC destroyed the world yet?

If you follow me on twitter then you know about the imminent destruction of the Earth, due to today’s testing of the Large Hadron Collider. So I want to suggest that everyone take these last hours to appreciate our world that is about to be replaced by a black hole. Perhaps indulge in a geeky drinking game with End of the World Chocolate Cakes^[1]

If our planet doesn’t become to the newest celestial address for a black hole and aliens don’t destroy us for threatening the balance in the universe, I can only hope that we open a dimension to where everything is made of chocolate (rather then something only Bruce Campbell can save us from.)

Oh ya, and don’t forget the music!

Update: The Earth has been destroyed.

I am sure there are more motherhood revelations to come, but that’s what I got so far… and Damian is only been 5 1/2 weeks old!

• My problem with poo? Totally gone.
• “I’ve worn this skirt once already” has become “Hey this is still clean!”
• Being afraid of dropping the baby has turned into balancing him on my shoulder while burping him while bouncing him while I complete various tasks.
• There is no such thing as too busy to grab a nap.
• The pursuit if spiritual enlightenment now only requires looking at my baby (awwww.)
• I use to be the slowest eater in the world, now I eat even faster then Michael, probably even faster then my brother.
• I could never eat soggy cereal before without gagging, now even after it has turned to mush it tastes fine… It is quick, pretty healthy and still edible, therefor I eat it.
• In fact I can eat while I change a diaper.
• Quiet mediation time has turned into funny faces at baby time.
• As has meal time and bath time and…
• Breastfeeding Baby + Cloth Prefold Diaper = Table. Just toss that prefold over his body and you can totally rest your journal and pen there… or your bowl of cereal.
• Exercise has now become wearing the baby in a sling while cleaning (which is surprisingly calorie intensive.)
• Breastmilk stains no longer bother me (nor does spit up.)
• Spit is seriously the best cleaner ever, someone should market it.
• Seriously I think it could cure cancer or something.

One egg has 13 essential nutrients packed into 75 little calories. It is a super food little power pack. Ignore that whole cholesterol concern, eggs have the good kind.

Eggs are fantastic for you if you are pregnant. To start, they are an excellent source of choline, an essential nutrient that helps in fetal brain development and in the prevention of birth defects. Two whole eggs contain approximately 250 milligrams of choline, this is about half the recommended daily amount.

One egg also contains 7 grams of protein, which is essential for fetal growth (a cooked egg has almost twice as much absorbable protein as a raw one you know?) Eggs also contain a particular type of B vitamin which is important for the development of nerve tissue as well as a form of iron that is particularly easy to absorb, reducing your risk of anemia.

It is a super food I tell ya!

One problem though… I hate eggs.

Unless they are sunny side up or soft boiled (and I mean almost raw soft boiled) they are vile nasty things. Grossest texture ever! Still they are so good for me right now that I eat them anyways. There are very few ways I am able to do this, one seems to be working out particularly well though, if somewhat disturbing (according to a coworker…)

Jaspenelle’s Method of Eating Two Eggs a Day

- Hard boil them.
- Draw faces on the shells.
- Vent pregnancy frustration by smashing their faces to bits, peeling their faces off, pouring salt in their wounds and eating them.
- (I usually get hiccups at this point for some reason and I know I am not eating them too fast…)

Disturbing? Maaaaybe, but hey, it gets me to eat those two little power packs and feel better all at the same time.

How do you eat your eggs?

while mom’s (and dad) away.

I went to my prenatal appointment with Michael today and forgot to shut my laptop. When I came home it appeared the kitties had been typing. If you look close enough at what it says, it appears they were looking up porno…

I am amused.