July 2010

I haven't been posting too much lately...summer has been a whirlwind! Work is keeping me busy and active. I just hired my first (unrelated) employee to work for me and I have been training her. So far, so good! My clients love her and I love having someone responsible to rely on.
Not much has changed with Gia. She's still active and kicking up a storm in there. She had the hiccups for the first time last week. It was very cute. Gene didn't believe me. Then the next day he read it in a magazine that the baby can get hiccups at this point, and he believed the magazine. I love how he never thinks I am right! For once, I was :) I took some more belly pics at 29 weeks, but there is not much of a difference from the previous month. My doctor says my belly has grown 2 cm, which isn't much. Of course my butt and thighs have probably grown a few inches! I've gained about 25 pounds now. It is hard to believe since I can still fit in most of my clothes. Not comfortably, but I fit, and I am too cheap to buy a whole new wardrobe for the couple months of what is left of summer!
Our pool party at the end of the month was fun! It was nice to get together with friends we don't get to see often enough. I was sick with a bad cold (which lasted the entire month of July) but I still managed to have a great time--tissue box close at hand.

Grandma's Cheese Pound Cake

Here is the "secret family recipe" that is too good not to be shared! I promise to bake one soon and add a picture!

Grandma's Cheese Pound Cake

6 eggs, separated
1/2 lb. unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 lb. cream cheese, softened (one 8 oz. and one 3 oz. package)
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups Presto cake flour, sifted

Beat egg whites until stiff (about 10 minutes) and set in refrigerator.
In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar and cream cheese with beaters on low speed until smooth.
Add vanilla to egg yolks and lightly mix.
Add egg yolk mixture to cream cheese mixture and beat until light and creamy.
Add Presto cake flour, 1/3 at a time and beat until smooth.
Fold in egg whites. Pour into a greased and floured 10 inch tube (bundt) pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
Let cool, then dust with confectioner's sugar or frost with icing before serving.
Store in refrigerator.

R.I.P. Grandma

My Grandma passed away on Tuesday, at the age of 93. I can only hope to live that many years and to be half the woman that she was! She was a wonderful Grandma and role model. I hope to think that my hard-working nature and maybe my green thumb came from her. And my love of baking! In honor of her life and all my fond memories of her, here are some of my favorite "Grandma" moments from my life:

Playing card games with her and my sister at her house. Our favorites were Old Maid and Go Fish. She always ended up being the "old maid." I wonder if she let us win all those times :)

Eating cream cheese and crackers in front of her tv, watching Golden Girls and Married with Children.

Being scared out of my mind watching Michael Jackson's Thriller video for the first time at her house. I would run into the bedroom screaming!

Sleepovers! My Care Bears sleeping bag, the mickey mouse radio that played "it's a small world", my hello kitty toothbrush. Staying up "late" and waking up early to play.

Her baking, especially her cream cheese pound cake. I would specially request it for my birthday and it would never disappoint!

Her greeting cards: She would always label the girl on the card "Lauren" and the dog "Hercules."

Always having leftovers from her house. We would joke about her wrapping techniques: rubber bands, toothpicks, an entire roll of saran wrap....but nothing tasted better the next day after excavating the food from its wrapping!

Her tomato plants and garden. When I smell the vine of a tomato, it brings me right back to Grandma's backyard.

Gossip! We could always count on Grandma to tell us all the neighborhood goings-on. She loved to talk and tell stories!

Easter: she would hide chocolates (I think she made them) all over her house and my sister and I would go on a scavenger hunt to find them.

Halloween: Trick-or-Treating on her street after school

Thanksgiving: Always catching Santa Claus at the end of the Macy's Parade on her TV before starting our big feast!

Pets: She reluctantly pet-sit for our guinea pig, Tara, who she called a "rat." But boy did she love her "grandson" Hercules! And he loved her. She would always give him treats and he knew how to get more out of her. He would recognize her street at we pulled in and get so excited to see his "great grandma."

There are so many more wonderful memories that will make her live on in my heart forever. Rest in peace, Grandma, and watch over all of us. We'll never forget you.

Watermelon Crab Salad

Here is my recipe adapted from my recent trip to Novelli in Wayne:

Watermelon Crab Salad



1 package cubed seedless watermelon
1 package crabmeat (or surimi/imitation crab)
1 carton of cherry or grape tomatoes
1 small red onion, sliced
1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
2 tbs. white balsamic vinegar
salt

Pour watermelon chunks in a glass bowl/container.
Slice tomatoes in half. Slice onion in half and into thin strips. Chop basil. Cut or tear crabmeat into small chunks. Toss tomatoes, onion, basil and crab with watermelon. Lightly salt with sea salt or kosher salt. Top with balsamic vinegar (add more if desired). Serve cold. You can add lettuce to the bottom to make it more of a green salad.

My ever-expanding waistline

Last week I officially removed my belly button ring after having worn this particular one since my wedding day (it was my "something blue") and having had it pierced for 12 years. I don't recognize my belly button. I liked having it covered up! But now it is even more unattractive than usual because it has popped, like the timer in a turkey. It will pop even more as time goes on, but as you can see, my ring is pretty much standing at attention if I try to wear it. Hopefully I can go back to wearing it after the birth because I really don't like belly buttons especially my own.

Here are also some more pictures taken at what I believe is the beginning of week 24. I still can't figure out what week or month I am in. I think it is week 24 and somewhere around the beginning of month 6.



We can now see Gia moving around from the outside. Pretty cool stuff. We'll be watching TV at night and I find I've missed most of the show because I am just staring at my belly. Or my dog. Both which I selfishly proclaim are the cutest things ever.

The accident

Yesterday afternoon, I was involved in a car accident. I was driving home from Lake Hopatcong (totally out of my way, but once in a while I take care of my ex-neighbor's dogs because she and they are so nice and I don't mind going out of my way for them) at around 4:30. It is a 2 lane road on both sides. I was in the left lane, going about 35 mph. I had actually just checked the speed limit and my speed, plus there was someone riding my tail who passed me, so I definitely wasn't going too fast. As I was driving along, minding my own business, I saw out of the corner of my right eye, a blue car gunning it out of a parking lot of a restaurant. I could see the car heading straight into my passenger side. Without any time to react, I tried to turn my wheel to avoid him without swinging my car into the oncoming traffic. He didn't even brake and at full acceleration hit the back side of my car. My car proceeded to spin out of control, through the two lanes of oncoming traffic (which had cleared at precisely the right time) and continued to spin into the exit driveway of a Dunkin Donuts. I was trying to turn the car out of the spin and brake and the car finally stopped a few inches short of a metal gate separating the DD from another parking lot. I remember putting the car in park and then looking out onto the road to see where the other car was through my rearview mirror. There was all this debris in the road and I thought for sure the entire side of my car must have fallen off. Usually after an accident I will grab my phone, or jump out of the car to assess the damage. This time, I just sat there in shock holding my belly. There were people gathering all over both sides of the street, like onlookers of a parade. A woman and a man ran over to my car and told me not to move until the paramedics came...which made me cry, because why would they tell me that unless it was really bad. The woman happened to be an off-duty nurse and she stayed there with me and did wonders calming me down until the ambulance got there. I was really lightheaded and shaken up but other than that I felt okay. First time ever in an ambulance! They checked me out on the scene and I turned down their offer to take me to the hospital (there were visions of medical bills dancing in my head). The police were nice enough to put my donut wheel on my car and when I was clear-headed enough to look at the damage I couldn't believe it wasn't worse. The other car needed to be towed and all the street debris was from his car, not mine.
My car needs to get fixed (hopefully it is not totaled). I don't even care about any of that. I am unscathed, the baby is fine and I was able to go home and sleep in my own bed. I have been effected by how lucky I really was. There were no cars in that other lane, there were no cars exiting the Dunkin Donuts, there were no pedestrians walking on the street or in the parking lot. There was no telephone pole in my way...there was a clearing that let my car spin and stop without hitting a thing.
Last night when I tried to sleep it was hard to get the vision out of my head. My mind blocked out a good part of what it had really felt like but when I closed my eyes last night I kept reliving it over and over.
I'm glad I have some guardian angels looking out for me.

Here's the kicker

This week I saw my doctor for my official weigh-in. I am not sure I go there for any other reason. I refuse to weigh myself at home on our scale. This time, the nurse had to move the slider on the scale up one more notch. Is there anything more frightening than seeing the slider go all the way to the end and the bar doesn't move down one bit?! So onto the next notch we go, on the scale and on my belt loop. My doctor remarked "Oh my God, you had a growth spurt!" I tried to explain it away that we went on vacation...but really I have been eating an awful lot of ice cream. :)
Baby G has been kicking up a storm. This past week the little flutters have become full on kicks! Each time it happens, I jump! It is startling! I think she has also had the hiccups a couple times, which is a more rhythmic thumping.
Tomorrow my mom and I are going to Babies R Us to start my registry. I invited Gene but he is trying to get out of it :) I don't blame him. I feel a little overwhelmed with all we have to buy.
Summer is almost here! My first attempt at making pickles (or is it called pickling cucumbers?) was a success. I made 3 jars and have polished off almost 2 already. So the next time I make them I will try to make a pickle tutorial on here. It is easy and fun and they are ready in three days!
Here are some recent pictures. My niece Arianna who fell asleep on me while we were listening to someone play guitar (music is so soothing for dogs and babies!) and then of course, the latest belly pic. My doctor says my belly is "perfectly round." If you are going to call me round, it most better be preceded by "perfectly."