To Do:Organize, Organize, Organize!

I wouldn't go so far as calling myself OCD, not even close, but I do like thing to be in it's proper place, categorized, and in order. So yesterday I was signed up for a 5 hour volunteer gig (well, it was called volunteer, but more like a selfish gig) and I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. Besides it being a little cruel on my feet, it was the perfect gig for me.

Imagine this: You decide to have a garage sale and depart with your children's clothes, toys, books, equipment, et. But, you want to make sure the sale is a success so you invite some of your friends to bring their stuff over too. It's hard to decide which friends to invite so let's just invite all 1,205 of your girlfriends to bring over their goodies to your garage. But wait--that ends up being 95,000 items that are tagged, bagged, and ready for resale. Better rent out the empty department store! Now, let's put all the bottles together (organized by brand), then put boys clothes on one side and girls on another, with each rack only holding a specific size. Wow--that's a lot of work--let's get some volunteers! And thus, that's the story of where I was yesterday. Volunteering/organizing at Little Rock's Rhea Lana's consignment sale.

I first learned about these enormous consignment sales when I moved to South Carolina. The therapists I worked with would go and rack up great deals on toys. When I was an Early Interventionist there, I would play with the same toys over and over and over again...trying to be excited with each new kid when really I had dressed the wooden bear 8 times already that week! But guess what, now I know that I want my kiddo to have good, educational toys. I wouldn't be surprised to find that darn wooden bear in my shopping cart one day!

So for my time yesterday, I get early dibs on the shopping tomorrow. Those who worked over 8 hours get to go in two hours before me. And those that brought items to sell will invade an hour after I'm let in. The general public sale starts the next day. As you can imagine, Matt can hardly wait for this bonding/shopping experience! Not that we have anything specific in mind to shop for. Unfortunately not knowing the gender of the kiddo yet stops of from buying too much, but the good news is that there are several other competing consignment events and all are twice a year.

But before I leave you, let me just give you a little tour so you can see how my organization skills were fully utilized and why my mind was blown away!

And this was only a few sections! Oh, if only I had thought of this!

To Do: Dream About Fall

We are just never happy! In a snowstorm, all we think about is hanging out at the pool. And now, I'm just dreaming about the upcoming fall. I've always loved fall--it's definitely my favorite season! But it's pretty sad that it isn't even August yet and I am so ready to be done with summer. This all got in my head the other night becuase Matt and I somehow got to talking about how we couldn't wait for fall. Here's just a few reasons I love it!

Baking

I am going to brag--I make a pretty mean apple pie. I don't know if it's the smell of it baking or the taste that I like more. And if I can go to the orchard to get the apples, that's a double bonus!

Decor

If I could go out to the country and visit farms like this every day, I probably would. I love it! The mums, the variety of pumpkins, gourds, Halloween decorations...etc. It's all so colorful and easy to make it look good.

Candy Corn

I'm not going to lie. I saw it and I drooled. But I resisted the urge. Yes, Walgreens already has candy corn (and candy pumpkins--my ultimate favorite) on the shelves.

Smores

Speaking of food since you might notice a common theme here...I'm anxious to whip up some good ole' Girl Scout smores over the fire pit. In fact, I've already purchased a package of those new square marshmallows made just for smores. Now, we just have to wait for the burn ban here to be lifted. Though that is not looking promising any time soon.

Warm Clothes

Yes, I'm known to be dressed in several layers in about any season, but I especially love being able to wear jeans and scarves in the fall without looking silly. This outfit below is my ultimate favorite--jeans, white t-shirt, + scarf. (Along with knee high socks and cuddleduds). I wonder if they make maternity cuddleduds? Hum, that may be something I need to look into!

Pansies

I never grew pansies until I moved to the South, but they have since become one of my favorite flowers. Probably because they are purple and oh, also that they are easy! I plant them in the fall and with very little care, they last until I get ready to plant my summer flowers. This photo is my actual container taken in March.

Football--Razorback Football

Considering I grew up in a school with no high school football team (until we consolidated my senior year) and suffering through some horrible college games, I never would imagine I would understand or even like football. But it will probably bring a tear to some of my AR friends' eyes to know that I'm anxiously awaiting the Razorback football season. I watched nearly every game last year and will even admit that I enjoyed it. I even know that WPS stands for Woo Pig Sooie! I've heard that they are expecting a good season--not something I ever recall hearing about the Illini. But even though I'm still an Illini fan deep down, I'm ready to experience another Razorback game. Maybe after this year I will even have "calling the hogs" down pat!

To Do: Make Peach Cobbler Cupcakes

Ever heard of the website Pinterest? It's like a secret addiction on the internet for those of us who are jealous of everyone else's creativity, talents, and maybe time. It's literally hundreds of photos, that once clicked on, link you to the directions or blog. Thanks to my niece, Katie, I got hooked.

One day I saw a recipe for Peach Cobbler Cupcakes. This time of year, I'm willing to try about anything made with fresh peaches. Thank you to South Carolina for my new love of peaches. (I just learned learned in Southern Living that SC produces more peaches than GA!). It was at a small farmer's market in Fountain Inn, SC (shout out to Stacy--Fountain Inn's royalty), that I was introduced to white peaches. Let me just advice you to never pass up a white peach.

They literally are more white than yellow on the inside and are very sweet. This variety is often difficult to find, but I rejoiced when I saw them at Kroger last week. Yes, it's the simple things in life that entertain me now days.

I whipped up a batch for our weekend in Illinois. They were super moist and not as sweet as I expected, but still quite yummy. Just a little something different.

Peach Cobbler Cupcakes:

Yield: 16-18 cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups flour


• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder


• 1/4 tsp baking soda


• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature


• 3/4 cup brown sugar


• 1/4 cup sugar


• 2 eggs


• 1/2 cup sour cream


• 1 tsp vanilla extract


• 1 1/4 cups peaches, roughly chopped (about 2 medium sized peaches)

1. With a fork, whisk flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.

2. Beat butter and sugars in a large bowl for 1 minute until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract until blended.

4. Mix in flour mixture.

5. Fold in peaches.



6. Fill cupcake lines 1/2 to 3/4 full. Batter will be lumpy as shown.



7. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the cupcake clean.

8. Once cooled, I topped with buttercream frosting!

To Do: Blog!

I think I should have named my blog something like "Awhile Back" or "Last Week". I don't know how these super bloggers do it, but I have a hard time thinking, capturing, downloading, and writing all within days. So maybe this week I'll do a little catching up, then I'll try to be better about not writing about things that happened awhile back.

We've had trips to the beach, visitors from St. Louis, a quick weekend in Illinois, and just everyday life here as a Housewife of Little Rock!

Ready, set, here I go!

Do To: Maternity shopping

Never in my life have I wanted to gain weight. But without much appetite and only having gained 1.5 lbs at my last doctor appointment, I get worried. I'm a worry-wart I know. The doctor told me I was fine and before long I would be gaining 3 lbs a week. Many moms have told me that they didn't start wearing maternity clothes till they were about 5 months. So I'm not super eager to wear those flattering clothes, but I do keep my eye out because that 5 month mark will be here before I know it.

Today I purchased my first maternity shirt.
Watch out--it's not even a solid! But the best part, thanks to my 30% off coupon at Kohl's, this shirt was only $5. I figured it wouldn't hurt to have.

But doing a little online shopping, I've come across a few more shirts that I might want to invest in down the line.

I can't remember what the small writing says, but the point is, I don't want people man-handling my belly. That's just weird!

Matt would wear this if he could! There is a good chance this baby won't be a 2011 tax write off. Let's hope that it is!

This shirt is kind of dorky, but I do think it's quite creative!

And the best for last--This shirt just makes me laugh out loud for 2 reasons. First of all, last year's Girl Scout campaign slogan was "What did you do today?" And secondly, this would make me feel better on those days when I only get 2 things accomplished all day!

Oh, which to buy?

To Do: Pee in a cup

Pee in a cup. Simple. That's all I had to do today (well after giving blood, which I can now ace, thank you very much).

But no, it did not go so well. Let me just tell you. So I had an appointment at 10:30 for a physical, as Matt (our financial planner) wanted to up the life insurance on me. Note: Yes, my value has increased as a housewife.

You should also know that peeing constantly has already hit this pregnant lady. Every 1.5-2 hours for sure! (TMI I know, but it helps you understand the story). So when I was about to bust this morning at 9am, I decided that if I drank some water, I should be okay to pee in the cup at 10:30. I'm a pro now--do it at every doctor appointment!

Luckily, I did not hold my 9am pee, because the nurse lady did everything else first. I'm sure I would have been dying! But then came the time when she handed me the tiny dixie cup and asked me to fill it past the line. I can do this. I'm a pro remember. But, what felt like 30 seconds later to me, I hear "Miss Ervin, are you okay?" Give me a minute lady! She tells me to come fill out some papers then drink a cup of water and we'll try again in a few minutes. The only part that kept me from being totally embarrassed at this point is that the other lady in the waiting room had told me when I arrived that she had dropped her cup in the toilet after peeing, so now she had to drink up and try again. So here we both were, just waiting for our pee to arrive.

I think they gave me like 10 minutes and it was time to try again. I knew my shy bladder was not ready. But I had to try. Result: 3 drops. Failure!

So the nurse lady, Billy, told me to go get a bite to eat and drink more water and come back when I was ready. Great! I was going to wait until I was about to bust. I went to T.J. Maxx and walked around. No pee. I went to grab lunch and drank more water. No pee. I went to Target and walked around. No pee. Okay, it had been 1.5 hours by now. Surely I could do it. I figured Billy was probably wondering what happened to me! So back I went. Of course, Billy was at lunch. Another nurse gave me a cup and I was determined I wasn't coming out until I had success. Finally--Pee!! But...not enough to make it to the line.

I told her to call me if it wasn't enough. I still had perishables to buy at Target so back there I went. As I'm checking out, a strange phone number calls. OMG! It was Billy. Good news was that I did pee enough. Bad news was: I had to sign off on my pee. Back I went again. 3 hours later I was on my way home.

So if anyone would like to help me, I think it's time we as women put our heads together and make an invention to make peeing in a cup easier! I know I have a shy bladder, but seriously, trying to pee while squatting with your legs apart holding a cup (that you hope not to drop) and you hope you don't get pee on your hands, is not an easy feat. You must agree? This invention could keep me as a housewife for years to come!

Needless to say, my next ob appointment is at 10:30 and I now know that no matter what, I am not peeing that morning before I go! I learned my lesson!