new chicks

wednesday night. that means the older boys are with will at scouts, and the little boys are up at cheryl's. so it's just clayton and me, and his book report that's due on friday. fun fun.

i think i have (what the radio refers to as) the mid-winter blues. (mid??? come on- seriously?) or spring fever- whatever you call it. i'm so anxious for the cold weather to go away i can hardly stand it! i've planned out my garden. (not to mention i have basil growing next to my computer.) will and i have tried planning out our entire summer. we're ordering more bee hives- since cheri's died anyway. i've been turning the heat up in the house so i can wear short sleeved shirts. pathetic? i'm just r.e.a.d.y. for spring.

so today- we went to ifa and purchased 12 new baby chicks. i called every day for the past week waiting for their araucanas to come in. (the breed that lays the blue-green eggs.) we got four of them, four silver-laced wyandottes, (brown eggs) one golden-laced wyandottes, (brown eggs) two golden campines (white eggs) and one black austerlorpe (brown eggs). not that the breeds mean anything to anyone else- but the campines are super cool looking. i'll post photos.

they're not all ours. some will be going to my parents- though i'm not sure how many. we currently get plenty of eggs, more than plenty, but the rule of thumb is to add new chicks each spring to an existing flock so you always have a new batch of egg layers. and it makes it feel more like spring is coming because i can hear these girls chirping nonstop. i was so tempted to buy a mini-lop today as well. if will hadn't been there- we'd have one. i've always loved bunnies- no idea why.

the first phase of the diet is over- and i'm almost struggling more with this second phase. the problem? i can't seem to figure out HOW to eat 1500+ calories in a day! seriously. if i could eat starches and sugars it would be no problem, but without them??? today i only got in about 1100 and i'm so sickly full i couldn't possibly eat anything else. this diet is lame. it's tricky- and inconsistent as well. plus, i'm bitter because i lost so much less than most people. and now i've got to figure out how to keep it off while forcing myself to eat at least 1500 calories. (because you'll be in trouble later on if you don't- and yet you don't want to gain any weight.) see? tricky! anyway- my two favorite things so far? cheese. and peanut butter. i buy the organic kind which is nothing but dry roasted nuts and salt. it used to taste a little gross to me- now i love it. amazing what 7 weeks of no fat will do to your taste buds. :)

i've had a rough few days. will left for florida on monday night. didn't sleep hardly at all that night. yesterday clayton had to come home from school because of a fever and headache. found out today two kids in the 4th grade have come down with the chicken pox. (clayton has had the vaccination, against will's wishes, but so had the other kids at his school.) so i took him to the doctor today to have him checked out. he has strep. and hopefully not the chicken pox. but the next two days should tell. didn't sleep last night because of clayton and trying to keep him comfortable, not to mention linc and quince back in my bed. (because will's gone.) oh- and i've lost NOTHING over the past three days. not fun. really, really not fun.

i (sadly) don't enjoy life without will. he makes the biggest difference around here. he's stuck going to lavish dinner parties where absolutely everyone around him is drinking- and i'm stuck here watching lost, alone! (don't even know what to say about that show.) i miss him. badly. he comes home saturday. we have a valentine's dinner that night at a friend's house, and i'm wishing we had declined so we could just go out alone. plus- i can't eat anything anyway- and that's going to be awkward. oh well.

i took a picture of the pretzels i made the other day. they were fun and much easier than i had imagined.

and this is something i've enjoyed lately. rather than eating chicken and steamed cabbage on a plate- i've combined them in a soup. it's just chicken, water, cabbage, and seasonings. but it actually tastes good.

if you can't join 'em, bake for 'em

so i've discovered a new way to deal with my food withdrawls. i've been cooking and baking like a mad woman! it seems that if i bake something, or try a new elaborate recipe- i feel more connected with food- even though i'm not able to eat any of it. it's working out really good for our family. i get to bake- they get to eat. it's not the healthiest of plans for the rest of them, but they don't really seem to care at all. i've made (incredible smelling) lemon cupcakes, a fancy chocolate cake, (which they all really loved) chocolate chip blondie bars, (gone in one day) stuffed blueberry-pecan french toast (which was probably the most tempting to me) breakfast burritos and vegetarian burritos, (that i froze for before and after school treats) indian curry, gourmet mac-n-cheese with tomato and parmesan- and my list for the next two weeks keeps getting longer and longer. today i'm either doing a chocolate cookie type of recipe, or homemade soft pretzels. my boys would probably prefer the cookies.

in the mean time- i'm enjoying my chicken & cabbage, or shrimp & onions. (not really) i did, however, add eggs into my diet. (they're allowed for vegetarians doing this diet.) so every three days or so, i get to have an egg and two egg whites. fantastic!! only a few weeks left, so i shouldn't complain.

otherwise, life is moving along as normal. linc has a bday coming up in a week or so. then clayton in march, preston in april, (that's a big one. we're trying to come up with what we'll do for his big 16.) spencer in may, quince in june and brig in july. preston is in a really difficult spot right now trying to decide which school to go to next year. he can either go to herriman high, the new school out here, or a school called itineris early college. if he chooses itineris, he'll likely graduate his senior year with an associate degree from salt lake community college. (costing almost nothing!) the school specializes in science and math, specifically biotechnology. it's sort of full of 'nerdy' kids. the smart ones, willing to give up their high school experience to get a head start in college. i know preston is tempted, because he feels like it's a smart thing to do. but he's having such a hard time deciding because ALL of his friends will be at herriman, and he's a very social kid. (too social.) will is pushing for itineris- big time. i'm not pushing at all. i think that it has to be 100% preston's choice. he has to decide within the next couple of weeks. ugh! he's getting too old!