Call Me Judgemental...

...but when a guy tells me he doesn't eat carbs I think of him as less masculine.

Natural Solution for Teething

It feels totally weird to offer a child care tip for Works for me Wednesday considering I don't have any kids, but I thought of this idea when my eleven month old niece was visiting a couple of weeks ago.

Her mom forgot to bring her teething ring, but I wanted her to have some relief for her sore little gums. My quick, easy, free solution was to simply freeze some water in popsicle molds and then give them to her. Because it was a whole popsicle, it didn't present a choking hazard (we were supervising her though) and because it was just water it didn't stain anything as it melted (an important factor in my non-childproofed home.)

Chatty Strangers and Other Random Things

1. I ate lunch at Dupont Circle today and a man came up and hit on me. It was glorious. I can't tell you the last time someone hit on me. He also couldn't believe I was 31. He was a big time boost to my ego. (Don't worry. I told him I was married. He took off not long after that.)

2. A couple of LDS missionaries also approached me at lunch today. Here's the thing: I don't know how to make it clear to them that I don't want to hear their pitch while at the same time being polite. I get that they're passionate their religion and they think they're being helpful by sharing it with me but I'm totally not interested. I have some LDS friends, for whom I have tremendous respect, so perhaps that's why I'm not good with setting my boundaries, but I've researched their religion and it's not for me. I respect their beliefs but I think they should respect my beliefs too, by not making me listen to their spiel. Tell me what to say to them next time so they don't waste five minutes and one of their pamphlets on me.

3. After my suitor and the missionaries, I got approached by a lady offering to do a tarot card reading for me for $1. I must have had an "APPROACH ME STRANGERS" sign on my back today.

4. Yesterday, a flea jumped on my forehead while I was on the bus. It was both gross and confusing. Since when do fleas ride the bus?

5. Last night, I had an idea about upcycling an old cookie container into a planter and Chuk (jokingly) called me a hoarder. I love that show, by the way.

6. I still haven't bought plane tickets to California for Thanksgiving yet. It's making me nervous. It's probably going to cost me a fortune now.

Things that Suck

1. Getting up while it's still dark outside. (Soon it's not only going to be dark when I get up, but also dark when I leave work and that's THE WORST.)

2. Headaches.

Confession

Chuk was away this weekend helping his dad move. I spent all day Saturday (and most of the day Sunday) in my pajamas. It was awesome. I watched tv, got a little caught up on blogs, read, and played Facebook games.

Pajama parties for one? Yes please!

31

Today's my birthday. I'm in Chicago.

Cheap Autumn Decor

I used to budget about $10/week on flowers for the table. I've cut that back significantly as we've tightened our belts, but I still want to have something pretty to look at while I eat (besides Chuk).

I bought a bunch of gourds and mini pumpkins at the farmers' market and grocery store. They were 3 for $2. I threw them in a jar I already had and voila...decor that will last me through October and November for less than $10.

P.S. It looks better in person. I had to turn on the hideous overhead light which made the colors look weird, but you get the gist.

Creating More Storage Under the Sink

The petal on our garbage can broke. Chuk tried to fix it, but couldn't. To buy another garbage can like it would cost $40. I decided to make due with what I had instead: an open trash can that I used for recycling when we had parties. It would have to go under the kitchen sink, but there wasn't any room.

Before. Blah.

Five minutes of organization later, I was able to fit the can under the sink. All it took was moving the garbage bags to the utility closet and straightening everything else up.

I think what really made this such an easy job was that I use plate shelves to organize under all my sinks. It is such a simple solution that allows me to take advantage of the vertical space under the sink. My plate shelves are just cheap ones from Ikea, but they work wonderfully.

After. Awesome.

I know it doesn't look like the Container Store, but 99% of the time it's only me or Chuk who see it. Besides, I'm ok with function taking precedence over beauty under my kitchen sink. Now I have a neat, functional space that cost $0 (my favorite price) and 5 minutes.

There Are Two Types of People in the World, Part 3

Those who wear thongs and those who don't.

For me, I've tried it and decided it wasn't worth it, but I have friends who swear that for them, thongs are more comfortable than, shall we say, fuller types of underwear.

Columbus Day

I celebrated Columbus Day by sailing the high seas.

(By "sailing" I mean kayaking and by "high seas" I mean the Potomac river.)

The Best Saturday Ever

A morning spent at the farmers' market.

An afternoon picnic in the most perfect weather imaginable.

Then a couple of games of bocce ball with friends. (If you live in the DC metro area, I think Garfield Park is one of the best around. It has lots of grassy areas, picnic tables, tennis courts, a volleyball court, a horseshoe pit, two bocce courts, a skateboard park and two playgrounds.

In the evening, I got to meet a friend's sweet new baby. He's not yet three weeks.

Let's Make a Deal

Years ago, my brother got me an as seen on tv Ronco Food Dehydrator. While the infomercial is one of my all-time favorites, I have no actual need for a food dehydrator and have never used it.

It's just taking up space in my pantry (I don't like small appliances out on the counter) when someone else could be making good use of it.

While I don't want a dehydrator what I do want is to read The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I've been on the library's waiting list for months and frankly, I'm tired of waiting.

What I propose is a trade. I'll send you my brand new food dehydrator and you send me your used copies of the Steig Larsson books. To make the trade even sweeter, I promise I'll mail the books back to you once I finish them but you can keep the dehydrator.

Sound like a deal? Anyone?

There Are Two Types of People in the World, Part 2

Those who like cilantro, and those who don't.

Where do you stand on this hot button issue?

There Are Two Types of People in the World, Part 1

Those who like exercise and get a "high" or "rush" from it, and those who don't.

(I don't.)

My Hair (and Other Deep Thoughts)

My hair has been doing this weird thing lately whenever I put it in a ponytail. It kind of bugs me, but not enough to start actually styling it rather than just throwing it into a messy ponytail. Also, even though ponytails have been my default “do” for 30 years, they have recently started to give me headaches. Does this happen to anyone else?

In other important hair news, I’ve finally decided to acknowledge that my hair looks about a thousand times better when I blow dry it rather than let it air dry. But, oh it feels like such a hassle to blow dry it! I really must be the laziest person on earth.

Deciding whether or not to blow dry brings up a larger issue that I struggle with though. Should I put time, energy and effort into my appearance knowing that it reflects upon how other perceive me, or should I put more time, energy and effort into other endeavors because I believe that it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

As I’m getting older there seems to be less and less middle ground to this question. I want to look nice, but not really enough to work at it. This is a slippery slope because as I get older, it takes more work to look good.

I feel okay about aging; in fact, I’m probably more comfortable with it now than I ever have been, but I have also noticed that I’m getting to the age where people are making more assumptions about me on the basis of how I look, and I’m not okay with that. I still want to be perceived as competent, pulled-together, responsible, and, if I’m being 100% honest, attractive.

It’s difficult to admit that in reality, my life and lifestyle have changed. I am no longer a rising young professional, dating and going out on the town. I am a chronically under-employed wife whose husband prefers me to look “relaxed”.

I don’t have resolution to any of these thoughts. I just wish concealer wouldn’t cake into the wrinkles under my eyes and that my hair wasn’t so frizzy all the darn time.