Regular kind of girl

Well, I've learned a valuable lesson. When inspired to eat healthier and include fiber in one's diet, don't do it all in one week.

After looking at these sweet pictures, I was inspired by the Raisin Bran cereal box. (Sorry, Mom. I wasn't inspired to give you grandbabies yet. Can't wait to meet Mariella, though!) Raisin Bran, I thought, What a great and tasty way to promote digestive health. So I had a bowl for breakfast on Sunday. And a bowl for breakfast on Monday. Monday night wasn't so much fun, digestively speaking. Lesson learned. Slow down there, little camper. Everything in moderation.

And speaking of food, I'm puzzled by my second banana bread attempt. Mind you, banana bread up north is a relatively easy, wonderful and delicious thing, saturating the air with its sweet aroma, beckoning you to have a thick slice with peanut butter. Mom's banana bread always has a dark brown crown for a crust, often with a split down the middle where you can see the light soft bread inside. But down south, the loaves rise like they should, only to sink once removed from the oven. In November or so I made two large loaves from some aging bananas-- same sweet aroma, great flavor, but canyon-like structure-- very disappointing. Maybe that's why I haven't tried again until now. I had some leftover sour cream, two aging bananas, and a little bit of extra energy, so I tried again. This time I tried to make five little mini loaves. Again, it's the Grand Canyon made of banana batter. The taste is great, and they're the usual 2.5 inches tall on the sides, but the center is all gooey and about 3/4 of an inch thick. They're dark brown on the top, so I don't think I should bake them longer, but maybe that's the problem? Being at sea level and living with ridiculous amounts of humidity really affect simple science, I'm finding. Have I told you about this? It's so interesting. Cookies get done about a minute before the minimum amount of time. Ice cubes melt much faster, even inside in air conditioning (no excuses about the heat outside). Bread grows mold in only a few days-- even preservative-laden Wonder Bread. Ground beef and fresh meats go bad in two days easy. Any explanations? Jamie, any suggestions?

Tomorrow is family night again. Last time, two weeks ago, was at Beth and Ricos and it was fantastic, except for the puffed up eye I got from dog allergies. Weirdest thing- I was never allergic to any living thing until I married Brad. Now I'm terribly allergic- sometimes more than Brad is- to cats and dogs. Rico and Beth's two dogs somehow got into my right eye and it puffed up and itched like a mother. One heavy dose of Claritin later and I was feeling fine, until I got home and was wired for a few hours. So this time we're back at our pet-free house. I planned to make Chef Boyardee pizza-- this was one of their family favorites growing up, and Brad says I make it as well as he remembers from his childhood! The family-size boxes make two jelly roll pans of very thin crust pizza, and Brad and I can easily split one pan in a sitting (verrry thin crust, only parmesan cheese, no heavy mozzarella), so figuring on eight adults, a few of whom are hearty eaters, and three kids, I made three boxes worth. I made the shells tonight since dinner's at 6:30 and I won't get home much before that. Just after I got all the dough mixed up Shelley called. Little Chase has pneumonia and they won't be coming over. I'm grateful for not getting us sick, but I'm sad to not get to see them, and now I have a boatload of pizza crusts. If you're free Friday night and want some pizza, come on over.

This weekend I'll be scratching my creative itch. Inspired by 1154 Lill, a design-your-own-purse store in Chicago, I'm going to go to the half-price-fabric sale at Joann fabrics and make me some summer purses. I've offered to make some for anyone needing a purse if they'll pay for their own fabric (about $15 or less), so if you're in need of a summer-looking bag, check out 1154 Lill and drop me a line.

On Saturday we'll be working on starting our housegroup-- small group from church. We were given the names of four couples, and then another couple was referred to us at church last Sunday. We also want to ask one other couple we know, bring the current potential population of our living room to 14 adults. We went out this week and wouldn't you know, Cost Plus World Market had floor cushions half price. Don't tell me God doesn't care about details. We bought four and now have almost enough seats. Anyone have suggestions about kids? Some of the couples have babies, some have kids up to age 6 I think. We're not exactly kid-friendly in this house, meaning we haven't kid-proofed anything. Suggestions solicited.

Oh, and one more thing. I was inducted on Tuesday into a special society-- Those Who Have Received A Speeding Ticket. I saw the unmarked Mustang up ahead-- he had just pulled someone over. I checked my speed- 47-- phew, just over the 45 limit. When I got closer he stepped into the middle of the road and waved me over. Apparently I was in a residential area and the speed limit is 30. Dur. I was on my way to the reprographics place to pick up some floorplans we were having reproduced, so I wasn't familiar with the area. Man, I just hate that. And really a warning would have done just fine. My perfect record should have meant something, dangit.

That's it for tonight. It's a late one and tomorrow I will conquer the world of builder's risk and liability insurance. It's a project I've been putting off, and I just need to do it. My boss will be out of town, so it will be quiet in the office.

Happy Thursday night to you. Sweet dreams.