26 weeks

Well, we're heading into the third trimester - I hit 26 weeks today. I feel a lot more pregnant than that, though. My hips are sore, my tailbone is KILLING me, I wake up two or three times a night because there's a head squishing my bladder, I barely have an appetite, and my feet look like balloons most days.

I can't even imagine what it's going to be like come late November, as I head into the last couple of weeks!

But I'm not complaining, really! Things are still going well. Compared to a lot of women I know, my pregnancy is a breeze. It's the weirdest thing, watching her kick me (my whole belly jumps sometimes), feeling her spin around, randomly losing my breath as she smashes my lungs. Utterly fascinating.

Declutterng - week one

I've decided to look at this decluttering thing more as seven things a week than one thing a day. And at this point, it's a lot more about cleaning up than about getting rid of actual stuff - we're not so good at, say, taking the recycling out of the bathroom on a regular basis. So maybe this will help!

Anyway, last week I either gave away, tossed, or added to the Goodwill box (which will someday make it to Goodwill):

1. Five boxes to a friend that's moving
2. bubble and foam wrap to the same friend
3. two old light fixtures
4. four pairs of unworn underwear that will never fit me (washed them before I tried them so I couldn't return them, darn it all!)
5. a book I finished with and will never read again
6. a pile of toothpaste boxes off the bathroom counter
7. some perfectly good skin care products that I will never use

All in all, a good first week!

365 days of decluttering

Just ran across this blog posting, and I'm taking the challenge!



That's right. Starting today, for the next 365 days, I'm going to donate, recycle, or toss one unused thing from my house. Granted, I may take a few weeks off in, oh, December or so, but I'll have to get rid of multiple stuff (like that box of stuff to go to Goodwill that's been sitting by the front door for weeks) on other days to make up for it!

Today, I started with the alumni magazines I know I'll never read...

Cheddar-Bacon Muffins

I haven't posted a recipe for a while, and Amy's been going through withdrawals, so here's one I made today. Even hubby likes these, and he doesn't like muffins. They'd be perfect with a big bowl of potato soup on a cold winter's night (yes, I know it's 80 degrees outside - a girl can dream, can't she???).

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup shredded cheddar (medium works just fine, but sharp gives it that extra zip)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (gives it a little heat, but not too much)
1 tbsp. dried minced onion
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cooked, crumbled bacon (sometimes I cook up some bacon and keep it in the freezer for this, other times I just use bacon bits (the real stuff, not the Bacos).

In a large bowl, combine first 8 ingredients. Add eggs, milk and oil all at once, stir just to combine. Mix in bacon. Spoon into greased muffin tins (about 2/3 full or so), and bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

You can also make this into squares by pouring into a greased 9x12 pan and baking for 35 minutes or so, until your toothpick comes out clean.

I always store these in the fridge - I don't know if that's necessary or not, but leaving something with cheese and bacon out on the counter gives me the heebeejeebees!

Enjoy!