And then there were Four....

So here I am, late as usual to give my 2 cents about this week's Bachelor. Let me just mention here that my baby has refused to sleep all week and we had each child get the stomach flu one right after another...so this makes night one-million without any sleep for me. Everyone take a moment of silence for my lost sleep. Thank you.

Well, this week did not pass by without any drama, that's for sure. Let's start with the one on one date he had with Britney. I know Brad was being honest with Brit that he has no attraction to her, but it seemed a bit cold hearted to send her packing right there at dinner. He could have waited for the date to be over, no? Or even pretended to mull it over and send her home at the rose ceremony? I know he thought he was being kind, but I felt like it was almost worse to send her away like he couldn't stand to spend ONE MORE MINUTE with her. And...what was that welcoming committee back at the house? Everyone jumping for joy to see Brit return from her date? That was bizarre...she is dating YOUR man, ladies!

The other one one one dates (with Emily and Shantelle) seemed to go well, although I LOVE Emily, I am not seeing much of a spark between them. I can see why he likes her, but is there really any connection there? I felt like his connection with Shantelle was much more obvious. She seemed really fun loving and genuine on their date, I like her even more now.

The horribly awkward group date was about as distasterous as you can get. I am not sure how Brad expected the other girls to react when he was getting it on with Michelle in front of them. I am not sure how I expected them to react....I mean, I knew they would be mad, but they acted like they were about 2 years old. Especially Ashley- "Don't send me home! I am so scared!" It was so uncomfortable to watch, I felt like an idiot for her. Then Chontelle started up with the tears, and if I were Brad I would have plunged myself over the cliff into the water just to get away from those babies. I love how Michelle was SO angry and wouldn't even look at him after he gave Ashley the rose....

What will we do now that Michelle is gone? She was what brought the crazy to the show...that crazy we hate but can't stop watching. At this point I feel like it's anyone's game....

Edit:

I can't believe I forgot to mention Michelle's vow of silence as she left! What was THAT??? Week after week of not listening to the verbal vomit that refused to be silenced and then....crickets. Hmmmm......

No More.

Michelle.

Needs.

To.

Stop.

Talking.

Please.

Make it stop.

I had to look away. I couldn't even watch her awkwardness. One 'hola' and my skin went clammy and the complete psychoness of it all nearly put me over the edge...and yet....he KEPT her.

WHAT???

Okay, so all the girls were SO quick on the uptake that 'someone' had talked to Brad before the rose ceremony. Does anyone else feel like that was completely ridiculous? I mean, puh-lease, there is no way a producer didn't put that bug in their ear. And, as much as Michelle freaked me out, WHY does she have to tell them ANYTHING about it? I didn't really understand that. I actually liked when she said, "I'm not apologizing, I'm just keeping it real." I'm glad she didn't apologize to them...she shouldn't have even had to have told them. (Yes, I know I sound like I am team Michelle, but at that moment I kind of was. Probably because I can't stand Chontelle.)

Nope, Chontelle is bothering me a lot. I don't know why she rubs me the wrong way....although it was genius timing of her to tell him she loves him when she had nothing to gain. VERY smart move.

Glad that Alli left, although she was cute I think it was a good choice, but I was surprised that Jackie had to hit the road. Thought the blonde girl was going to get the axe. Apparently I was wrong!

How much longer do you think Michelle has? Next week? More?

Everything Tragic Seems Trivial.

*Edit at bottom.

This past week has been a stressful one:

Cleaning, Listing, and Selling a home.

Offers. Counter Offers.

Buying a home.

Figuring out how I want my business to go this year.

How many sessions to take?

Babysitters? Nanny?

Home studio, perhaps?

Baby Weight. How to lose it when I can barely open my eyes, let alone get on the treadmill.

Money? Budgeting?

Can I learn to use my Cricut Cake in time for V-day?

How many days of preschool next year?

So many things I have agonized over this week.

Today I read THIS. I watched THIS.

I read one of the comments:

Reading your blog has made everything tragic in my life seem trivial.

I could not agree more.

EDIT: Since I wrote this post, her husband passed away. My heart breaks for them.

Super. Cute.

I don't want to ruin the surprise...but....I am DEFINITELY having my girls make these to hand out to their class for Valentine's Day!

My SISTER passed along this DARLING SITE to me and it is full of cute Valentine's day ideas.

Those are GUMBALLS! I mean, really, could that be any cuter? The only thing is...will the boys in the class appreciate them? I am trying to think of something masculine I can make with the gumballs.....

Another darling idea, and runner up if the gumball thing falls through, are these Sweety Pies from Our Best Bites. Absolutely adorable!!!

What are your kids bringing to school for Valentine's day?

Ice-pocolypse.

It's the storm of the century here in the Midwest, and since my lights have been flickering for the past few hours I figured I should post now if I am ever going to because once we loose power, who knows when it will return. And you know I can't go all week without posting about the Bachelor, right? Or, as it seems lately, food.

Let's start with the Bachelor:

First off, WHO paid for that shopping spree for Shantell? Seriously? Who? How is that even close to the realm of 'reality' of a life with her and Brad. I mean, okay, helicopter rides and private concerts with Train aren't really reality either, I realize this, but walking into Fendi and buying whatever the heck you want? Really? She definitely got the BEST date. Anyway, besides being insanely jealous (like the other women in the house) I like this girl. She reminds me a bit of Hillary Swank. Anyone?

Next, the two-on-one date...cold hearted, very cold hearted to stick the Ashleys who love each other on the two-on-one date. It would have made for much better television if we had actually SEEN how good of friends they were before this episode, but whatever. I can't say that I was super surprised that he chose to send the younger, more southern Ashley home, but only because she was matched against the hot dentist Ashley. If that situation hadn't occurred, I would have been much more shocked, like if he had sent her home at the rose ceremony. I felt bad for the poor girl, bawling her eyes out. Even the camera guy had to give up on her ever looking up and repositioned the camera to film her sobbing into her lap.

Emily's date...Oops, I mean, the group date was kind of a bust. Poor Emily having to pretend to have a good time, and I thought she was pretty gracious about the whole situation but I do have to say that I did feel a bit bad for the other girls having to sit around and watch the two of them all night. Although Alli's comments in the hot tub were seriously stupid, I wanted to reach through the TV and smack her face. Insensitive much?

Michelle makes me cringe. Her alone time with Brad in the hotel room had me literally sticking my face into a pillow. Make it stop! Why is she so awkward?? I am SO glad Brad calls her out soon. All she does is tell him how wrong the other girls are for him...um, how can she judge that? Finally Brad points that out. I think she gets cut after that.

Other than that I don't have much to say. I think his cuts were appropriate this week (although I wouldn't have minded to see Michelle go), and the scenes from the rest of the season have me pumped!!!!

Onto food: Still diligently trying to lose the pounds by March. Any low calorie treat ideas would be greatly appreciated! I am down 10 lbs from when I was 2 months post partum, 10 more would be FABULOUS.

A Fail....and then a BIG Win!

Hello there, I'll bet you wondered if I was going to post this week. I can't believe it's Saturday and the week got away from me without posting about the Bachelor...and to be honest, this post isn't totally about that. (skip to the end if you want to read my short thoughts on this week's episode.) It's about...you guessed it, diet food!

In my quest to loose about 50 pounds before March (that's a joke, people) I have been scouring the internet for good diet options, ones I can actually follow, because, as I pointed out before, I can barely stand up during the day, let alone get on a treadmill (baby wakes up about 5 times a night.) Anyway, I ran across the Hungry Girl website. I thought I was so clever finding this site and then the next day I turned on The View and she was their guest. Whatever. Anyway, she had a low calorie cake recipe, mixing a cake mix (any flavor) with a can of diet soda (any flavor). I decided to give it a whirl, but when I went on her website to get the baking instructions, I saw that she also suggested a can of pumpkin. Genius! A can of pumpkin is so good mixed with a spice cake mix for pumpkin cookies...it MUST be just as good with a chocolate cake mix, right?? Right?? WRONG.

Big. Fat. Fail.

If you are even considering mixing a chocolate cake mix with a can of pumpkin in an effort to cut calories, STOP RIGHT THERE! Back away from the cake mix. Put the pumpkin DOWN!!!!

Instead, do what I did (after throwing out the entire batch of moist yet disgusting pumpkin/chocolate cake) and buy a Devils food cake and mix it with Greek Yogurt. Yes, this was another suggestion on her site, and it sounded much tastier to me, so I went with it and it was a big WIN! Delicious! The best part is that a 'serving' of this is double what is considered a serving on the box normally (1/12 of the cake instead of 1/24). So you get double the cake for a lot fewer calories, and it is Yum, yum, yummmmmmy!

Okay, now I will say a few words about the Bachelor this week. Let me start by saying that my DVR failed me so I missed most of his first date with Chantel, but I caught the end and they looked nice enough together, and I really didn't mind her...until it was time for Michelle's date and she was so rude to her! Okay, listen. I get it. Michelle is obnoxious. She can whine and be annoying and yes, overconfident, and completely ridiculous with her sense of entitlement. But do you know what I hate even more than that? A bully. And I really felt like Chantel was completely stirring the pot with Michelle when she was waiting for her time with Brad. It was unnecessary, and to me that shows a HUGE amount of immaturity. It takes a much bigger woman to be able to let things go, and to not have to jab, jab, jab at someone. I lose a lot of respect for that.

Anyway. Moving on...the group date was a bit ridiculous with the hot Dentist, she needs to get some self confidence quickly or I fear she will find herself packing soon. Why can't she pull her head out of her bottom and see that he is going above and beyond to prove his love for her??

Michelle, well, I have to admit it felt sorry for her and her repelling date. My WORST NIGHTMARE right there, people. I have an insane fear of heights, and I would not have been able to do it. She rocked in that moment. Don't worry, I am definitely not rooting for her, but as she was dangling off that ridiculously high building, I was on her side for just a moment.

Next week....really?? Taking Emily to the races, huh? ANY CLASS AT ALL, ABC????

Surprisingly Good!

So, in an effort to blog about something OTHER than the Bachelor, I wanted to pop on here and share my new find. You may know that I am feverishly trying to loose weight via diet alone right now. We are off to the Bahamas next month and I want to try to look halfway decent...as decent as you can look being 3 months post partum. Anyway, since my baby insists on waking up every 2-3 hours throughout the night, I am not even close to being able to hop on the treadmill (I wade through my days bleary-eyed, sipping the life back into myself one diet coke at a time...), hence the 'diet only' weight loss strategy...mostly calorie counting.

ANYWAY. I decided to try the new Lean Cuisine steambag meals...and they are actually really good! So far I have tried the Shrimp Scampi and the Chicken Alfredo, and both were tasty, and both were portioned really well. So if you have been wondering if you should try them out, go for it! I am excited to try the other flavors.