Uninvited guests

Yes, this is a HUGE writhing mass of bees in our backyard tree. I don't think I need to say anything else about it....

Pardon my little rant, but...

The past week or so, on two separate occasions, my family members have told me I look huge. This was not the "Wow, your bum looks like a big huge drum, mom" that I hear from Emily on a fairly regular basis. This was from actual adults. All I have to say is, THANK YOU!

I realize that I am probably in the minority in feeling this way, but I am seven months pregnant. I have added almost 30% of my body weight to my frame, and more than doubled in width. I feel like it is impossible for me to get any bigger than this, but know I will--significantly, in fact. I know that people are trying to be kind when they say I look "fake pregnant" or like I have "half a cantaloupe stuck under my shirt", but to me it just feels a little invalidating. This is my fourth baby--I know what to expect, and have never held the delusion that I would go through pregnancy not looking--shocker coming here--pregnant! I'm supposed to get fat--there's nothing unusual or wrong with that now.

The next time you see me, tell me I look like I have the body of a wildebeast, or some other huge mammal of your liking. It will make my day.

Break-up

It has been less than 24 hours and I am feeling empty. We have officially shut off our cable. Since I cannot fill my evenings with my commercial-free DVR-ed shows I have come to know and love over the past year, I am writing this blog in hopes of finding closure.

Goodbye, Discovery channel. Without you I would never have known how to avoid flesh-eating ant swarms, or that a hippo can crush a zebra in its mouth.

Au revoir to the Home and Garden and Food networks for giving me the hopes of "sometime I'll do that in my own life" without the guilt-trip because we both know I never will.

Goodbye to you, Bravo. I have laughed with your obsessive-compulsive real estate flippers, and cried at the horrible drag queen outfits your contestants have produced.

Farewell to you, CNN. I never knew you well, but you brought me the comfort of knowing that I had the option of watching something that was relevant to real life.

I am done with all the mindless TV watching! I don't need you! I'm going to do something productive and character building with you out of my life!

I wonder if there's anything interesting on YouTube....

Here you go, Jaylee...

Ten years ago I was....
1. Moving into my first apartment
2. Working graveyard shift at Denny's
3. Missing Joe
4. Bailing my mom out of jail (lol...I wish that wasn't true...)
5. REALLY into music

Five things on my to-do list...
1. Clean my house (this is perpetually on my list and usually ignored)
2. Preschool policy committee meeting
3. OB appointment
4. Get ready for trip to Utah
5. Summer plans

Five snacks I enjoy...
Nothing right now, but usually I like
1. Cereal
2. Salad with Italian dressing
3. French fries
4. Pretzels with cream cheese
5. Sundae cones

Five foods I love...
1. Spaghetti with tangy red sauce and fresh veggies
2. Seven-layer bean dip (with real guacamole, not the nasty stuff made out of Crisco)
3. Steak with A-1 sauce
4. Broccoli cheese soup
5. A sub with spicy Italian meats and provolone, marinated peppers, and pepperoncinis on a baguette


What I would do if I became a billionaire...
1. Buy a small tropical island and build a vacation home on it
2. Hire daily maid service
3. Hire a personal chef
4. Travel
5. Design/decorate our house

Favorite family recipe...
Preheat oven to 400. Place pizza directly on oven rack (remember to remove plastic wrapper). Cook for 24-26 minutes.

We also like this broccoli-cheese soup:

10 oz frozen chopped broccoli
10.5 oz can condensed chicken soup with rice
1 1/4 c low-sodium chicken broth
4 oz Velveeta or American cheese (you can use any kind of cheese, but it doesn't work quite as well as Velveeta), cubed or shredded

Add chicken soup, broth, and broccoli to pan and heat on med-high until it boils, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and puree in a blender in batches. (I think it tastes better if you leave some of the broccoli in bigger chunks). Return the pureed soup to the pan and stir in cheese, place pan on med heat until the cheese melts.

Five places I have lived...
1. Keene, New Hampshire
2. Phoenix
3. Tempe
4. Surprise
5. Glendale
Woo hoo! That's half the valley!

Favorite quote of the day...
The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.

Life Imitates Art

Sara's beloved Puppy needed a "bath" the other day, so I snuck it into the washer. She noticed it was missing, and went looking for it. It felt like I was living Knuffle Bunny, which happens to be Sara's favorite book at the moment. Only I did not open the washer and pull out the sopping wet animal--I told her Puppy was staying in there and snapped this picture.

An ordinary trip to the zoo...

So today we decided to take advantage of a rare afternoon off and go to the zoo. It started off a pretty normal family outing... we saw stingrays, we climbed the giraffe tower, Emily was scared during both of these experiences... and we also discovered the prophetically named (by Emily) "ninja birds". They are the ordinary smallish crow-looking birds with extraordinary powers to stealthily swoop in and steal your sandwich scraps.

And then the fun started. While playing on the playground Caitie stepped on a toothpick-sized splinter. "Mom, it's going to hurt when you pull that out," she said to me (duh). I pulled it out...she totally fainted.

I had no idea that real-life people actually passed out over minor injuries. The family drama-queen gene has apparently not skipped over Cait, as we had previously imagined. Another not-so-typical-typical day for the Buhanans.

And I was worried I'd have nothing to write about....

My Soundtrack

For years I've joked that precious memory space in my brain has been taken up with song lyrics...many of these songs are inextricably (I would never actually speak that word in real life; it's funny how it just pops out like nothing else while I'm typing...) linked to memories of important events/times in my life. So in place of a journal (which I have been shamefully bad at keeping) I decided to compile the "soundtrack" of my life. It's a slightly self-indulgent and rather cryptic way to be self-revealing, but I've gotta start somewhere, right?

If you haven't heard some of these songs, give them a listen. I think they're great. And if you were a part of any of these memories, thanks.



Johnny--Jacek Zakrzewski
We are the World--Various
So Long, Farewell--Sound of Music
Love Can Build a Bridge--The Judds
Forever Young--Rod Stewart
The Wind Beneath My Wings--Bette Midler
I Will Always Love You--Whitney Houston
In the Still of the Night--Boyz II Men
Mr. Jones--Counting Crows
Glorified G--Pearl Jam
Across the Universe--The Beatles
On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men
Love, Me--Colin Raye
Heartreak Hotel--Elvis Presley
Foolish Games--Jewel
Kiss Off--Violent Femmes
Elsewhere--Sarah McLachlan
Independence Day--Ani DiFranco
Daddy--Jewel
Do What You Have to Do--Sarah McLachlan
Kissing You--Des'ree
Sunday Morning--No Doubt
20,000 Seconds--K's Choice
Blood and Fire--Indigo Girls
Semi-Charmed Life--Third Eye Blind
Let's Hear it for the Boy--Denise Williams
Swan Dive--Ani DiFranco
Two Sparrows in a Hurricane--Tanya Tucker
Glory Box--Portishead
Angry Anymore--Ani Di Franco
The River--Garth Brooks
It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday--Boyz II Men
Hour Follows Hour--Ani DiFranco
Answer--Sarah McLachlan
Sympathize--Amos Lee
Anyway--Martina McBride

Here I go....

I have been on the fence about blogging for a while now, and about a week ago I decided to start. It has taken me this long to come up with this title for my blog. It was well worth the effort.... (How do I convey sarcasm in print?) I can only hope that the actual posting will turn out better--with less time.

I came up with a lot of titles that were already taken, and realized something. I considered using some self-effacing "I'm doing this but I'm not taking it seriously" kind of titles, but all of my other choices ended up being used by people who stopped blogging sometime during the years of 2001-2004. Am I that outside the realm of current culture? (Not-so-coincidentally, the birth of my first child was in 2002, so that is probably, in fact, the case. Ouch).

I am still feeling ambivalent about doing this. I wonder if there is anything SOO interesting about my life that people are wanting to read about it. And I have a terrible habit of opening my mouth and inserting my foot. Statements made in writing are way harder to fix than things that just pop out of your mouth. But I LOVE reading my friends' and family's blogs, so here I go...I hope that it's a good way to keep everyone posted on what's going on in my day-to-day life.

And I apologize in advance for any untintentionally insensitive remarks. (Insert sheepish grin here).