Chicklette Pix

Could you not just EAT those cheeks? Nom, nom! Chica is settling into a nice routine. Chicklette is only waking up twice per night. Mr. Chica is a totally hands-on daddy, so they are splitting the feedings. Lucky Chica! LOVE!

One Clever Tuna

Z and Q were in the bath. Z was playing an elaborate game of pretend involving a pet fish. She looked up at me and said, "This is my little pet fish. His name is Sushi."

Chicklette is Here!

After seven long years, Chica has a baby. Chicklette* made for the very most thankful of Thanksgivings. She arrived on Thanksgiving night weighing in at six pounds, eleven ounces and measuring 20 inches. (Coincidentally, exactly the same size as Z! Or, as T would say, a fine trout.) They brought her home on Sunday and have settled seamlessly into parenthood.

In the lament of type A mothers everywhere, Chica said, "But I wasn't ready! This wasn't how I planned it." Welcome to the club, my friend. Welcome to the club.

*If Chica says it is okay, I will post a picture of Chicklette tomorrow!

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

This is why we loathe our pool. It is a leaf MAGNET. I think it imports leaves from other counties. HATE. Check the emerald green water. Nice, huh?

They Win

The prize for the first holiday card of the year goes to my cousin and his wife from west Texas. Their card arrived on December 1. They must have sent it the day after Thanksgiving. Which means they were thinking about Christmas cards before Thanksgiving when I was all, "Christmas cards? Huh?" More power to them! Their children are gorgeous! A nice kick off to the Christmas card season!

Worst. Wife. Ever.

So for Thanksgiving I tootled of to south Texas, leaving T behind secure in the knowledge that come Turkey Day, he would be celebrating with fellow law enforcement officer Auntie M, who also got the shaft had to work on Thanksgiving. Well, long story short, Auntie M had a change of plans that made it impossible for her to do turkey dinner with T. So as I was sitting down to delicious desserts with family and friends, he was headed home to have his solitary Thanksgiving, er, burrito.

Oh, the guilt! I had intended to buy him an old fashioned turkey T.V. dinner with all the sides carefully segregated as kind of a joke, but I managed to drop even that pathetic ball. (I didn't do the laundry before I left, either. There. My list of wifely sins is complete.)

For his part, T was remarkably cheerful in the face of both working and not getting to gorge on gourmet goodies on Thanksgiving. He did, however, request that I make him a pie upon my return. "No problem!" I said, and set to work as soon as I got back to Small Town.

I may have mentioned it a time or two, but I am not a domestic diva. I am the kind of homemaker that lets eggs spoil in the refrigerator. So lately I have been purchasing Eggbeaters (egg substitute) instead. But I even managed to let homogenized egg-like liquid spoil in the fridge, so the last time I bought some I carefully froze it into cubes. By my measurement, three cubes should have been the equivalent on one egg.

So I whipped up a pecan pie right quick, using nine egg cubes in place of the three eggs the recipe calls for. Everything looked fine, so I put the pie in the oven and never gave it another thought until the timer went off an hour later. Imagine my surprise to find all of my carefully arranged pecans standing up on edge a la Jiffy Pop because the custard portion of the pie had expanded like a souffle? The custard was a pale yellow color instead of the more standard caramel-y color pecan pies usually are, so I put it back in the oven for 10 more minutes. When I took it out, the custard/souffle started to compress, so I just nudged the pecans back into position and hoped for the best.

Fast forward to dessert time: I cut into the pie... and the custard is runny. Blarg! So I decide to cook it for a little longer. And a little longer. And a little longer. Finally, after 30 more minutes, I was afraid that I had created a confection capable of pulling teeth, so I took it out. The custard was still light, but seemed a bit more normal.

The pie's innards, while tasty, were still pretty runny and slightly oily. The pecans around the edge were bordering on burned and would yank your crowns if you weren't careful. You would never know that I had pulled off an entire Thanksgiving meal just days previously. Of course, my dad made the pecan pie.

T said it was the thought that counts - through teeth glued together by overcooked Karo. Sigh.

Crusty Chuckledoodle*

For a dose of silliness, follow the instructions to find your new name. (The following is excerpted from a children's book, Captain Underpants And the Perilous Plot Professor Poopypants, by Dav Pilkey, in which the evil Professor forces everyone to assume new names.)

1. Use the third letter of your first name to ; determine your New first name:
a = snickle; b = doombah; c = goober; d = cheesey; e = crusty; f = greasy; g = dumbo; h = farcus; i = dorky; j = doofus; k = funky; l = clicky ; m = sleezy; n = sloopy; o = fluffy; p = stinky; q = slimy; r = dorfus; s = snooty; t = tootsie; u = dipsy; v = sneezy; w = liver; x = skippy; y = dinky; z = zippy

2. Use the second letter of your last name to determine the first half of your new last name:
a = dippin; b = feather; c = batty; d = burger; e = chicken; f = barffy; g = lizard; h = waffle; i = farkle; j = monkey; k = bouncy; l = chicken; m = bubble; n = rhino; o = potty; p = hamster; q = buckle; r = gizzard; s = lickin; t = snickle; u = chuckle; v = pickle; w = hubble; x = dingle; y = gorilla; z = girdle

3. Use the third letter of your last name to determine the second half of your new last name:
a = glop; b = star; c = face; d = nose; e = hump; f = breath; g = pants; h = shorts; i = lips; j = honker; k = head ; l = tush; m = chunks ; n = dunkin; o = brains; p = biscuits; q = toes; r = doodle; s = fanny; t = sniffer; u = sprinkles; v = frack; w = squirt; x = humperdinck; y = hiney; z = juice

Feel free to share your silly pseudonyms in the comments!

*Thanks to high school BFF, Gren, for sending this to me!