The move, the Harriet, and dark chocolate

We had some really exciting news yesterday regarding our move to Nebraska: Steve was offered a job back at BD, five days a week, 3-11pm.  And our benefits package (which was excellent, by the way) would begin immediately.  This is such a blessing for the obvious reason of not having to find a job upon landing in Nebraska, but also because this is a half-way decent shift.  He'll be able to be at church consistently, and I won't have to be home alone at night.  Eeee!  Of course, there are lots of details to be worked out (he has to be all official and re-apply, do a background check, and finalize a start date) and we're praying that those details will work themselves out smoothly.  Sometimes it's hard for me to get excited about circumstances because I worry that those circumstances will be short-lived.  I don't want to be disappointed again.  But why not be happy instead of stressed?  It's a lot easier and doesn't waste so much energy.

We don't have a moving date set in stone yet.  We thought we were going to Atlanta next weekend, but now that is off, so we may be able to move sooner.  My mom is considering driving the fambly's Suburban out here so that we can tow a small Uhaul trailer.  It seems stupid to rent an entire truck ($$$) when the only large piece of furniture is our bed.  I need to start a moving list and getting things into boxes.  Didn't I just do this?

And then we come to Harriet.  I think her new teeth must be bothering her still because she has been cranky. Because she hasn't been eating as much solid food as usual, she has been nursing more.  That's all fine and dandy (I mean, I want her to keep nursing for as long as she needs to and she needs to keep getting sufficient sustenance with the drop off of solid foods), but she gets so frustrated with who-knows-what that she has been biting so crazy hard.  My initial reaction is to yank her off and say NO in my firmest Mommy voice.  But then she gets a sneaky grin on her face and does it all again.  Grrr.  And OUCH.  My dearly beloveded mother who has breastfed five babies with a variety of temperaments and in an abundance of situations told me to pop Harriet off immediately, sit her down on the floor, and walk away.  Without saying a word.  That is hard for me, since I want to explain away the situation, but it seems to be working.  She wails for a while because her ego has been deflated, but then we reconcile and nursing is better.

Sometimes I worry that we are not eating healthily enough.  I mean, I can't afford organic food, and we don't use coconut oil, and sometimes we eat ice cream or syrup or pizza from Pizza Hut.  But I went grocery shopping yesterday and when I was standing in line I compared the items in my cart to the ones in the cart of the woman behind me.  The thing that struck me was that every single thing in her cart was white: ice cream, white bread, ramen noodles, donuts, chips, frosted flakes etc.  No vegetables or fruit or anything that wasn't processed.  No wonder people have a hard time weaning themselves from processed food to healthier choices!  Even though my food wasn't entirely organic, at least I had a cart full of vegetables and whole grains.    I want to be constantly improving in our food choices, but I guess we are still doing a pretty good job of putting healthy things into our bodies.

And in light of that discussion, I will now talk about chocolate.  Ha.  But really, Clara shared this idea with me and it actually is good for you.  Just melt dark chocolate chips and add whole almonds (or whatever kind of nut you like) plus a bit of crushed toffee (okay, this part isn't good for you - it's just good).  Spread it out on waxed paper and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.  Let it set and voila!  The Most Delicious Thing on the Planet. And as long as you don't gorge yourself on mounds of the stuff, you can feel pretty good about eating it.

Steve is off fixing a roof for an older couple from work and I'm off to St. Louis for a grand day out with Jenna.  We're going to check out some of the free stuff, drive through Forest Park, eat at Whole Foods, and just have a good time.  Yay!