I'm Not Dead...

The hubster has been home for nearly two weeks now, so I'm attending to his every need (cooking, cleaning, and *ahem* everything else).

Speaking of cooking, have I mentioned that I am TWENTY-SEVEN pounds skinnier than when I started Weight Watchers four short months ago?? I am so sexy, I have to stop myself from making out with the mirror!! Bwa-ha-haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I still have more to go, but I am so happy with my progress!

I've also been busily crafting birthday presents for my niece and a friend's little boy. I can't wait to show you pictures! But, it will have to wait because I know my sis-in-law reads this blog and I don't want to ruin the surprise!

We've decided to grow a garden this year, so we've been working on designing the raised beds and containers. We ordered our seeds and plants and I can't wait to get them!! I just hope I don't kill nearly $100 worth of agriculture!

I've also been learning how to use my new camera, so you can look forward to many fantastic pictures!

For now--how about some Henry Wiener eye candy! Look at this gorgeous SOOC (straight out of camera--no editing) shot from my new camera!!

















For more great pet shots, visit

Green Bean

For more cuties in Green, visit

Just for S**ts and Giggles

Midget is such a chip off the old block. We both are quite good at entertaining ourselves!! You'll see why I chose the name for this post once you watch the first two seconds of the video...


It is so much fun listening to her sweet little giggle! The fact that she hams it up and fake laughs a bit here and there makes me laugh even more. She has brought so much joy and laughter to our lives!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

To see more "Finer Things" Visit Amy's blog for

The Best Hubby EVAH!

Have I mentioned I have the best hubby ever?

Before he left for Massachusettes last week, we had a conversation that went like this:

Hubby: I have an assignment for you this week.
Me: What? (rolling eyes)
Hubby: I want you to clean your closet out.
Me: Okay. I have an assignment for you this week.
Hubby: What's that?
Me: [expletive] off.

And.....SCENE.

I couldn't help it!! He totally set himself up for it! Don't freak out on me people--he knew it was a joke.

What on earth is wrong with my closet???

Who cares if I still have all my work suits hanging up, even though it's been a full YEAR since my last day at work. And who cares if my maternity clothes are laying all over the floor, even though I haven't worn them since before Midget was born nearly EIGHTEEN MONTHS ago. AND who cares if I have four out of the five laundry baskets in the house piled with said maternity clothes and dirty clothes to wash??

Errrr, maybe I ought to clean out my closet... But, just to be a rebel, I didn't do it last week while he was gone. " )

Fast forward to Tuesday morning, when Hubby was walking out the door to go to North Carolina.

Hubby: I have another assignment for you this week.
Me: Yeeeeeah, because last week's went so well, right?? (sarcastically, of course)
Hubby: I want you to blog this week.
Me: *gasp*

AAAAAAND--Scene!

So not only did he buy me a new camera, but he wants me to blog??


Hmmmmm, methinks he's going to ask for a new TV...

Crop City

This week's iHeartFaces contest is all about Creative Cropping. This picture immediately came to mind. I love the depth of the photo and Midget is SO beautiful in it! Plus, I am getting excited for summer to come. See, God had to taunt bless us with a 60 degree day last week and it reminded me of how ready I am to get outside! I don't mind Winter, but I'm ready to be done.















Here is the SOOC shot, before crop and photoshop. See that blue-gray peak with the little oval on the right hand side? That's my house. Yep, I know you're jealous! Who wouldn't want their subdivision pool right across the street!!!! Let's just say it completely ROCKS!!














For more creative cropping, visit

Ughhh and WOW!

It's official. I have my first cold in three years. I am lucky to have a pretty good immune system, but once it gets knocked down--it's down for the count. So what that means is I can expect at least two or three more colds in the next few months. I guess I should be thankful I didn't get sick a few months ago or I'd really be screwed.

On a much more exciting note, hubby surprised me with a present when he arrived home on Saturday. A NEW CAMERA!! Now it isn't a fancy DSLR like I was looking at, but it is a high end point and shoot and is a solid camera that many professionals carry when they don't want to lug around their heavy duty equipment. Take a look at this sexy beast!













I'm really looking forward to learning the ins and outs of this camera and maybe by the time the Black Tie warranty runs out in four years, I'll have learned how to shoot in manual mode. Then I'll consider getting a DSLR. I like the fact that it takes great pics but doesn't weigh 30 pounds and if I hand the camera to Grandma and ask her to take a picture she won't faint from confusion.

I took a few pictures of me today with my new camera so you could see just how crappy I'm feeling. BUT I nearly had a hernia when I looked at how good of pictures my new camera took!!! Trust me y'all. You would be scared...

My ABC's

I am such a slacker these days! It seems like I always have a million other things to do besides write a post. But, my BBF (Bestest Bloggy Friend) Deanna did this fun ABC thing and I figured it was quick enough for me to do and not lose too much sleep!

So here we go!!

A - Age: 33 and 3/4. My birthday is July 2nd. I'm giving you plenty of advance warning to get me the perfect gift!!

B - Bed size: King. And I am spoiled FOREVER now! I love my husband, but I am not a snuggler. All I want when I sleep is my own personal space. He still doesn't quite get it after almost 12 years of being married to me.

C - Chore you hate: All of them. Seriously. But toilets are the worst! BLECH

D - Dad's Name: William

E - Essential start your day item: Coffee. Buckets of it.

F - Favorite tv show?: Big Love. If you don't watch it, you need to! It is SO good!

G - Gold or Silver: I don't care if it's out of fashion--I love Yellow Gold. Always have.

H - Height: YOU NEVER ASK A LADY'S HEIGHT! What? Oh... I'm 5'5.

I - Instruments you play(ed): Violin and piano with proficiency, but in college I had to learn how to play every single instrument in order to get my Bachelor of Music. Marimba, clarinet, trumpet (which I really sucked at, but my teacher told me not to feel bad--I have a faulty embouchure), trap set (which I sucked at even worse than trumpet and I didn't have an anatomical flaw)--you name it--I learned how to play it!

J - Job title: Domestic Diva, Houseblogger, and Midget's Mom

K - Kid(s): Midget and the Wieners

L- Living arrangement: Have I told you I love my house? I love it so much! It has an open floor plan on the ground floor and small rooms upstairs (except the Master), so both hubby and I were pleased.

M - Mom's name: Same as my real name.

N - Nicknames: Carrie, Care, Care-bear, The Ice Queen, and Mouth.

O - Overnight hospital stays other than birth: None yet.

P - Pet Peeve: People who always need some sort of fake crisis going on in their lives to feel alive. I can't stand the drama!!

Q - Quotes you like: "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." Thomas Jefferson Quite timely, eh??

R - Right or left handed: Right handed. A violin teacher of mine once told me to do everyday things with your non-dominant hand to help improve your dexterity. I still brush my teeth with my left hand!

S - Siblings: Three sisters and one brother--all over the country! One sister is in Houston, TX, another sister is in Helena, MT, and one sister is in Denver, CO. My younger brother is in Oklahoma City, OK.

T - Time you wake up: Whenever my screaming alarm clock named Midget wails loud enough to drag my sorry a** out of bed. Usually between 7:30 or 8:30.

U- Ultimate Dessert: I'm not a big dessert eater, though you wouldn't know it by looking at me. In fact, I can't really think of anything I really love. Do Swedish Fish count??

V - Vegetable you dislike: I don't like bell peppers or tomatoes very much, but I eat them. The only vegetable I refuse to eat is Beet Greens. GROSS!!

W - Ways you run late: Pretty much all ways and always. I am always at least 10 minutes late to everything and if I tell someone I am always 10 minutes late, then I'm 10 minutes late past the 10 minutes late I was already going to be! Speaking of late, I still haven't sent out the interview questions to the people who said "interview me." I haven't forgotten--I'm just doing it on "Carrie" Time.

X - X-rays you've had: In 8th grade, I broke my collarbone skiing. That's the only X-ray I've ever had.

Y - Yummy food you make: I love to cook, so I make lots of good stuff!

Z - Zoo Animal: Have you ever watched the seals snort? It's terrifically entertaining!


Okay, so now it's your turn to do your ABC's!! Play along if you want--I won't break your knuckles if you don't.

Sloppy S'ketti

Spaghetti is so messy that I rarely find the courage to feed it to the Midget! I stripped her down and covered her up and fed it to her the other night.

She really liked it and picked out all the spaghetti, leaving the meat, zucchini, and mushrooms behind.















It was really messy!















But when all the spaghetti was gone, she was NOT happy!!















Until chocolate pudding fixed it all!!!

Messy Bessy

Here is my beginner entry for this week's iheartfaces competition.

CRITIQUE AWAY!! Just don't call my kid ugly or I'll whoop your behind!! haha














See the rest of the pictures from the Midget's sloppy spaghetti dinner here. For more messy beginners, amateurs, and pros go to

I'm So Boring...

Gah...

I've been racking my brain to come up with something interesting for y'all to read, but I've come up dry.

I haven't cooked or baked anything interesting lately.

I haven't sewn anything lately.

I haven't canned anything lately.

I haven't done anything new to my house lately.

I haven't done any exciting crafts with or without the Midget lately.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've been quite boring lately.

Basically this is what I've been doing lately.

Midget's Moves

This girl has got some mad skills, yo!



You have to love how children dance like no one's watching. I love to dance and need to imbibe quite a few before I don't care that other people are looking at me. I can say that I don't quite look like a full-body dry heave set to music.

And I LOVE this picture of us taken at the dance!











In other news...

I have taken a new lover. Shhhhhhhhh... I get some loving every morning AND my husband doesn't mind. In fact, he even gets in on the loving when he's here. Kinky, huh??


You can find it online here or at your local Trader Joe's. It is coffee and ground pine nuts. It has an amazing flavor!










To see more "Finer Things" Visit Amy's blog for

Wonder

Even though I wasn't going to enter this week's contest at i*heart*faces, I found the perfect picture for their theme this week--Wonder.














This picture was taken at South Haven Beach, Michigan. Midget was watching a HUGE Sailboat crossing the horizon. The whole day was one discovery after another: crawling around the sand; waves crashing up on her toes; touching seashells. I can't wait to take her back to the beach this year!

To see more "Wonder," go visit

Late Night with Lula!

***Sorry to those of you who hate word verification, but I got 33 spam comments yesterday. I'll turn it off in a few days***

Have y'all met Lula yet?? If not, you need to go visit her. I promise, you'll be happy you did! I always get a good giggle out of her and her Jason Statham obsession. Do you think she'd disown me if she knew that I'd never heard of him until I starting reading her blog? And that I still haven't seen any of his movies??

When she offered to interview me, I jumped at the chance to answer her questions!!

Except that she sent me the questions two weeks ago. But that's just how I work people. Have I ever mentioned that I'm pretty much always ten minutes late for everything?

So to avoid further delays, I'd better get started and just answer the dang questions before I find another excuse to put it off!

Everyone is blessed with a talent of some sort. How are you gifted, and do you use your talent often?

Gee, I don't know! There's so many things I'm good at! **Name that movie**

God gave me one of my talents--singing. I tried to find a way to actually upload some of my singing from back in the day, but I don't own a VCR or a cassette player. It's only been ten years since I've had any recordings done, but the technology is so outdated! Someday, I'll figure it out and get some put up for those of you who've asked.

I only sing for fun these days. I sang 24/7 in college and then spent five years as a Church Choir Conductor and Director of Music. I also sang in three different choirs during that same five years. Quite frankly, I'm glad to be away from all the drama that always seems to accompany singing.

My other talent came from my Daddy--my rapier wit and wicked sarcasm. A HA HA HAAAA

And that, my friends, I use pretty much every day.

Here's my favorite picture in the whole world of my Dad. Make sure you click on the picture to enlarge it. You need to see the look on his face in detail.


I'd never seen it until after he died in 2004 and we were looking through pictures for the photo boards. I laughed and cried and laughed and cried some more. The world became a less funny place when he died...



You have an entire day to do whatever you'd like, by yourself. Explain your perfect day scenario.

First of all, can I pleeeeeease just hang out with someone?? I get enough alone time as it is and I am a major extrovert. You're surprised that I'm an extrovert, aren't you? There. I've used my sarcasm for today.


So that being said, I would grab my brother Rusty and head down to Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH. He's the only other person I know that loves roller coasters as much as I do and they have SO many great coasters! We'd ride the roller coasters all day long and eat disgustingly delicious fattening food. Then we'd meet back up with our families and our other siblings and Mom (because in a perfect day scenario gathering people from all over the country is easy) and have dinner and stay up late talking and laughing.



Name three people, living or dead, you'd love to invite to a dinner party at your home, as well as what you'd serve for the meal.

That's easy. Jesus, Ronald Reagan, and Bette Midler. I think those three would make for some lively debates and lots of giggles!


Do I really need to explain why I'd invite Jesus? He's, by far, the most influential person that has ever lived. EVER! I'd love to learn from him firsthand! Not to mention, through his death, I will achieve everlasting life! What a cool guy!!










Oh Ronnie, what happened to good old conservatives like you? All we're left with are RINO's and whiners. You are, and always will be, my political hero.










What can I say about Bette? She's an amazing singer and a fantastic actress. Plus, I'm pretty sure she's loads of fun! I'm willing to risk one of my choices to find out!

For dinner, I suppose I'd need to study up and make some crazy Jewish food since Bette and the J-Man are Jewish and I'm not sure if either keep kosher. For Ronnie, I'd be sure to have some Jelly Bellies handy, but I'm pretty sure he'd eat whatever I made for him. He's just sweet that way!



You've been given a time machine, specifically for the purpose of going back and talking to yourself at the age of eighteen. What would you say to yourself? What advice would you dispense?

You really should flaunt your body a little bit more. I know you think you're pudgy, but you aren't. It's the last time you're going to be skinny for ten-plus years. And that's about it...

Share your favorite childhood memory.

Have I ever told you about the joke we played on my brother when I was six or seven?

My sister, Ellie, had a friend over and we concocted a plan to scare my brother.
Ellie and I pretended we were fighting and she threw me over the stairs. Her friend caught me just a few steps down, but I rolled down the stairs and pretended like I fell all the way down.

Then I played dead. I was a fantastic actress, you know! Just like Bette!!

Ellie called my brother over and told him she'd killed me and we needed to have a funeral before Mom and Dad got home or they'd be mad. My brother was only five at the time, so he was devastated and scared about getting in trouble.

Ellie and her friend picked me up and we all went into the chapel. Yes, it was connected to my home and yes, there were caskets in my basement, just like in the movie My Girl.

They laid me on a casket holder and covered me up with artificial grass carpet (not sure why we had that in particular, but that's what they used).

Ellie stood up at the podium and said a few brief words. "God, we're so sorry we killed Carrie." She went back and got Rusty to bring him up to say goodbye to me. She also told him that he had to kiss me goodbye, which he didn't want to do.

When he leaned over to kiss me, I jumped up and screamed! I've never seen my brother run so fast! He went up and locked himself in our parent's room until we could convince him that it all was a joke.

He probably still has issues from that incident, but it was so funny!

And that pretty much sums up the world of children that grow up living in a funeral home...


Sooooooooo...Want to be interviewed by me??

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." Make sure I have your email address!!
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Come on! Give me a chance to grill you!!! I'm pretty sure you'll have at least two weeks to prepare. hehe

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's a cupcake from us to you! Enjoy your time with your Valentines!!

My Favorite Part of My Kitchen

This is the door to my pantry. I've always been a spice hoor and it's quite difficult to fit this many spices in a rack or on a shelf! With about $30 worth of wire shelves, we were able to use wasted space to hold all of these spices and keep them neat and organized.


















As for the pantry--it isn't ready for its closeup, Mr. DeMille...

To see what everyone else is talking about this week, go visit The Lazy Organizer's Talk About Tuesday.

Yesterday...

marked an important anniversary for me. February 5th, 2008 was the day I made the decision to quit my job and stay at home with the midget.

I loved my job! I made a handsome salary. I enjoyed dealing with customers (most of them, anyway). I had a handpicked team that did their jobs well. I was constantly challenged. I was an officer of one of the country's largest banks. I had made great friends at my company and was well respected by colleagues. I had made amazing connections with senior managers in a very large bank. And to toot my own horn, I was pretty damned good at my job.

But...

I was not the kind of mom I'd always wanted to be. Midget was spending 11 hours in daycare Monday-Friday. I could only sneak in one pumping session a day, if I was lucky, and I wouldn't be able to continue doing that much longer. When I was at work, all I could think about was how I was neglecting my daughter. When I was at home, all I could think about was how much stuff I had to do at work.

I remember how terrified I was when we first starting talking about me staying at home. Terrified I would go stir-crazy at home. Terrified I wouldn't have any friends. Terrified we were going to be broke. Terrified that I was going to be the one cleaning the house, not the cleaning lady. Terrified that my life was never going to be the same.

I look at my daughter every day and thank the Lord for blessing me with her presence; for allowing me to be her teacher; for bringing my husband and I together to create such a perfect little miracle; for giving us the wisdom to make the right decision about me working.

Here's one shot from each month that I would have missed.

March








April








May








June








July








August








September










October








November










December










January










February

Lowfat Banana Bread

ATTENTION KMART SHOPPERS!!

This is NOT your Grandmother's Banana Bread! First of all, it isn't made with cups and cups of oil and butter. In fact, it doesn't have oil or butter in it AT ALL! Secondly, each slice is packed with FIVE WHOLE GRAMS OF FIBER! Yes, you heard me correctly!

A few weeks ago, I found some Fiber-Sure marked down at my local Kroger's. Apparently, the name is going to change to Metamucil Clear & Natural, so they are selling the old bottles at 1/2 price. Fiber-Sure (an all natural vegetable fiber called inulin) is clear, tasteless, can be used in recipes without altering the ingredients, and is a fantastic way to add fiber to your diet!

I found this recipe at the Fiber-sure website and couldn't wait to try it! I had frozen some ripe bananas a while ago, so I had everything I needed for this recipe on hand. By the way, when there is a great sale on nuts, I stock up like crazy and put them in my freezer. So to answer your question, yes, I freeze my nuts.

By the way, this is not a paid endorsement (as evidenced by my previous sentence regarding nuts).

The bread turned out nice and moist and quite tasty. Next time I make it, I think I'll eliminate the nuts and use the saved point to put a little reduced fat cheddar cheese on top of each slice. Yes, I'm completely weird that way. I have this thing with banana bread and cheddar cheese. Can't explain it. There's no excuse for it. Been eating it that way since I can remember making my own food. I have some other weird food combos that I'll have to tell you about some other time.

Without further ado...

Lowfat Banana Bread

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Fibersure
1/2 cup sugar (I used Splenda for baking)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium)
1/3 cup fruit-based substitute for fat or unsweetened applesauce
2 large egg whites (I used 1/4 cup of egg substitute)
1 large egg (I used 1/4 cup of egg substitute here also)
1/4 cup pecans, chopped

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9" by 5" metal loaf pan. In large bowl, combine flour, Fibersure, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In medium bowl, with fork, mix bananas, fat substitute, egg whites, and egg until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture just until flour mixture is moistened.

2. Pour batter into prepared pan; sprinkle with chopped pecans. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Makes 1 loaf, 16 slices.

Each slice: About 119 calories (15 percent calories from fat), 3g protein, 23g carbohydrate, 2g total fat (0g saturated), 13mg cholesterol, 155mg sodium, 4g fiber.

To see more "Finer Things" Visit Amy's blog for

This is What I'd Do...

...if I knew how to hack.

Oh man, I've been laughing about this for at least an hour!

Henry Wiener

After three weeks of viewing all the beautiful photos at

I have come to the realization that I am a sucky photographer. But, no matter! I will let it serve as inspiration for my skills I have yet to learn! I like to teach myself things, so someday, I may be half as good as one of the top ten finishers. Maybe...

So even though my photography skills are lacking, I just can't let this contest go!!! It's all about pets, and you KNOW how much I *heart* my Wieners! My father-in-law says Henry Wiener has very "intoxicating" eyes. I think his eyes have more soul than B.B. King...

Hot Stuff

Yesterday, in addition to massive PMS, I was having some cravings for SPICY food. Is there such a thing as cold flashes?? If so, I guess I was having one.

I decided that I needed some hot & spicy food and started looking for easy recipes that were low-fat, low-cal, and high fiber. Have I told you all how much I love doing Weight Watchers Online? The resources and tracking system are simply amazing!

Both of these recipes were found on Weight Watchers and I'm going to share my modified versions with you! These two recipes certainly spiced things up in my household!


These poppers were AWESOME!! Spicy, cheesy, and super-crunchy!










Crunchy Baked Jalapeno Poppers

Non-stick Cooking spray
1 1/2 oz light cream cheese
1/4 cup(s) low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons fat-free mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 jalapeno peppers
1/4 cup fat-free egg substitute
1/2 cup cornflake crumbs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a bowl, combine cream cheese, cheddar cheese, salt, and mayonnaise; mix well and set aside. Halve jalapenos lengthwise and remove seeds. You may want to wear gloves! Stuff jalapeno halves with cream cheese mixture (about 1 teaspoon per half-pepper).

Place egg substitute in a shallow dish. Place cornflake crumbs in a separate shallow dish. Dip stuffed jalapeno halves into egg substitute and then roll in cornflake crumbs to coat.

Transfer jalapenos to prepared baking sheet and coat with cooking spray.

Bake until filling is bubbly, about 30 minutes. Serve hot. Yields 2 poppers per serving. WW Points--3 per serving. Makes 5 servings.



This Chicken Stew is filling and delicious! It wasn't very hot at all--just a nice mild jalapeno flavor in the background. Next time, I'll skip browning the chicken and just let it simmer for the 20-30 minutes at the end and then shred it. That way, even less oil is used and the texture would be better.



Hearty Jalapeno Chicken Stew

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
Non-stick cooking spray
5 baby carrots, sliced
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
15 oz can of cannellini beans
14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes and jalapenos, with juice
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups non-fat chicken broth
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon Cilantro puree (fresh cilantro if you have it)
Plain Nonfat Yogurt (optional)

Instructions

Heat a stockpot over medium-high heat. Add oil and turn to coat. Add chicken and brown on both sides; remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Coat the same pan with cooking spray and sautee carrot and onion until soft. Add remaining ingredients (except the chicken) and stir to combine.

Chop chicken into bite-size pieces and return to pan. Bring to soft boil over medium-high heat; then turn heat down and simmer for 20-30 minutes until flavors have combined well. If desired, serve with 1 teaspoon plain nonfat yogurt. Yields 2 cups per serving. WW Points--5 per serving. Makes 4 servings.