Entering Week 30

As of the most recent check up, all is well and going according to plan. Yay. I need to get on the ball about finding a pediatrician. I was so grateful to get the "inside scoop" from the Nurse Practitioner. She was great: "this one's crazy, never heard of this one, this one's really earthy..." We really love her, she's so down to earth.

Yesterday, I was reminded that I work with the greatest bunch of people ever. We had a shower. Technically, it was for me and the baby... but I know we all love an excuse to have a get together with great food and conversation for once in awhile. We're a small staff, but we don't often see everyone during the day. I brought my world-famous fruit pizza, which was a hit (no leftovers to take home--easy peesy recipe below).
In addition to bibs and gift cards that will be put to good use we received some of the funniest and most charming gifts. A coworker got Johnny an AASU onsie--so he can be a pirate where ever fate takes us in the coming year. Imported from Canada, we received Rich approved hockey themed pee pee teepees. Everyone commented on how we're not sure they'll do the job, but we all had a good laugh. The flaming puck print makes them exceptionally adorable. The highlight gift was a "survival kit for new parents" featuring worry beads, a bottle of wine, pain reliever, no-doze and ear plugs. Also included was an emergency stash of chocolate (a 1 lb Hershey bar) inside a red box with a clear laminated window labeled "In case of emergency, break plastic.



Easy Peesy Fruit Pizza Recipe
(also decent recipe to get kids into the kitchen)
1 batch sugar cookie dough (for the quickest method, premade tube o'cookie dough from the refrigerated section is fine--I've used homemade in the past, but premade is the easiest for those "Stink, I forgot I was going to make something for tomorrow moments"). Cookie dough must be chilled for rolling out to work without being a sticky mess--hence I usually opt for the squishing into place method--opt for a little flour on your hands to decrease some of the stickyness. For pizza look, use a pizza pan--I usually just use a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan because it travels easier. Bake at 350 till slightly golden (somewhere in the 15-20 minute range). Let cool.

Frosting: Mix 1 box cream cheese (fat free, full fat, whatever suits you), 1/3 cup sugar and a splash of vanilla. Spread over cooled cookie crust. (I think some recipes call for cool whip too, but I don't find it a necessity. If it seems to thick, a splash of milk will thin it out just fine.)

Top: (This is the fun part). Top with an assortment of clean/sliced fruit and berries... (strawberries, halved grapes, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, kiwi, Mandarin oranges,....whatever's in season/ whatever you like). You could get artsy at this point and make some sort of design, but it all tastes the same. (Some people make a simple glaze at this point to make the desert more "tart-like" but I think it's A) more work and B) more sugar than you actually need.) Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Hockey in Savannah

Do you have any idea how hard it is to learn hockey while living in Savannah? I took up hockey a few months ago--just as something to do. Something I knew I could get Rich outdoors for. (It's hard to find motivation to leave the air conditioning during a 110% humidity Savannah Summer.) It started innocently enough--we just passed a hockey ball back and forth and tried to avoid Roz. I used Rich's regular stick, while he used the sacred stick he used to score his goal while playing on real ice. When we realized that, unlike Rich, I am not a right handed hockey player who can use a left-handed stick, we decided it was time to upgrade.

Finding a hockey stick in Savannah is a trick. About the only place with any is Play it Again Sports. There located in the back corner. There isn't much selection, so you've got to be lucky to find what you need. Rich must be lucky, because he found a basic street hockey stick (no frills plastic blade and all) for a right-handed player about my height. Truth be told--he didn't know my exact height and just bought the shortest stick they had. It fits perfectly.

We'd practice shots after work and I started getting respectable. However, just because I could clear the tennis court net did not mean I could aim. Rich decided we needed a net. Do you know how hard it is to find a hockey net in Savannah? Sure you can get a regulation size (4 x 6 foot) net meant for soccer, but they are flimsy and the holes in the net are too large for a hockey ball.
Rich decided to construct the frame from PVC pipe bought at the Home Depot.

Finding the net itself was another challenge. Apparently netting is harder to come by than you'd think, especially in Savannah. We searched high and low for an adequate material and finally settled on mesh laundry bags--you know, the sort that are on sale everywhere in August for the college bound.

The top tier of the net is one bag cut open on both the left and right side. The bottom tier consists of three bags, each split open on one side and the bottom. They are sewed side by side, with the aid of some extra-wide bias tape that was on clearance. The two layers were then stitched together, again using extra wide bias tape. My basic Singer sewing machine was not pleased with this project; it took an hour before I started my next project to return settings to normal cotton sewing mode.As you've guessed it, the net is attached to the frame with my own version of duct tape--cable ties.

The down side of our masterpiece? We can no longer play hockey on the tennis court. The management of our apartment has decried the court strictly for tennis. All other forms of recreation are strictly prohibited. Not that many people in the appartment complex actually play tennis. Guess they have to keep one thing about the place look nice and not outdated.