Seven Quick Takes
1. Hat tip to Abigail for this one: Couples Who Share The Housework Are Actually More Likely To Get Divorced. As the article states, this likely has more to do with the opinions/ideals/lifestyles of people who take an egalitarian approach to household chores, rather than a prescription for a magic divorce bullet called “wimminfolk do the dishes.” In the same way, I often look suspiciously at the low, low, low divorce rates for couples that practice NFP, because I’m not sure that foregoing contraception per se will innoculate a family against strife. I think the statistics probably have more to do with the fact that people who are morally opposed to the use of birth control are probably also morally opposed to divorce and much less likely to say, “Screw it. Let’s just call this whole thing off.”
2. Following the directions in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, I made my first loaf of bread earlier this week, and I was amazed at how incredibly easy and quick it was. Mixing the dough took all of ten minutes (and most of that time was devoted to counting out half-cupfuls of flour and getting my water warm-but-not-too-hot. I let the dough rise for about three hours then popped it in the refrigerator. The next morning I had just enough time to cut off a hunk of dough, shape a loaf, let it rise and then bake it. I waited until evening to have a piece and letmetellyou it was HEAVENLY.
And then, every single time I tried to make ANOTHER loaf of bread for the next week, something weird happened that kept me from doing so, or that ruined the bread itself. By the sixth or seventh bread-baking attempt I was about ready to give up. Then the stars aligned and I FINALLY made another PERFECT loaf and that made up for everything.
Honestly, it’s amazing what simple carbs do for my emotional well-being.
3. Speaking of weird things that happened while attempting to bake bread, here’s some helpful advice for anyone who might consider using the methods in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: when the book says to put an empty broiler pan into the oven during pre-heat and then to pour hot water from the tap into the pan after you slide the bread onto the baking stone, it’s advisable to NOT use a glass pan and if you ARE going to use one, make sure that the water you pour into it REALLY IS HOT. Otherwise you will have an oven fun of glass shards, and you will scare the beejeezus out of your husband when the glass pan explodes in front of you and you shriek in terror. ASK ME HOW I KNOW.
4. Last night I went to a party at a neighbor’s house for a new direct-sales company that I hadn’t heard of before: Origami Owl. OH MY GOODNESS THIS STUFF IS SO CUTE. I’m probably going to have a party myself and buy a million of these darling little memory lockets for Christmas presents. And by Christmas presents, I mean FOR ME.
5. Only FOUR MORE DAYS until my ultrasound – and then we’ll (hopefully) know whether we’re having a boy or girl! Garrett keeps talking about a “baby sister” and part of me kind of hopes he’s right. I know my mother-in-law would like to have a little girl to spoil since she already has to boy grandbabies. My mom doesn’t care either way because she’s already got a bunch of boys AND girls to spoil already. For me, finding out the baby’s gender makes it easier for me to focus on preparing for his or her arrival. It seems more real, I guess? And it means we can get serious about picking out a name.
6. Although I should say that this pregnancy feels VERY real now that the little person is wiggling around so much. Garrett hardly EVER moved. In fact, there would be times when I hadn’t felt him for awhile so I would get worried and go lay down and poke my belly. Then he would poke back and wiggle a bit and I’d feel okay again. As it turned out, nothing was really wrong with Garrett, he was just an extremely chill kid – he’s only now becoming fairly curious and active. Already child #2 is showing me that YES, we did luck out with a freakishly laid back child the first time, and we’re probably going to have to put this little one on Ritalin before he/she is six months old. (Of course I’m exaggerating. Just trying to drive home the point that GEE WOW each little blessing is different. Please to not send me anti-pharmaceutical hate mail.)
7. Found this image on Facebook and LOVED IT:
Please Do Not Feed the Fears.
That’s all, folks! Go see Jen for more Quick Takes.
