yummy soap

To thank you all for stopping by, I'm having a giveaway.

Up for grabs is bar of some locally made soap. I really love this stuff! It's gentle for people like me with sensitive skin, it cleans well and leaves your hands silky smooth. I had trouble picking a fragrance, so I decided on "Pacific Northwest Rain" since I live in the PNW.

To win this, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post.

I'll randomly pick a winner Monday night.

I loathe my ovaries - tmi warning

Some of you may already know, but I have Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, commonly known as PCOS. I was diagnosed with it when I was 15. I have had two surgeries to remove cysts and tumors from previous PCOS complications. Otherwise, the "side effects" have become the norm to me and I just keep trucking along. These past 4 months I have been having some problems with a certain side effect. I had an ultrasound yesterday, and it appears I once again have a dermoid cyst.

What's a dermoid cyst? According to Wikipedia:

A dermoid cyst is a cystic teratoma that contains developmentally mature skin complete with hair follicles and sweat glands, sometimes luxuriant clumps of long hair, and often pockets of sebum, blood, fat, bone, nails, teeth, eyes, cartilage, and thyroid tissue. Because it contains mature tissue, a dermoid cyst is almost always benign.

Gross.

Now I am waiting for a coordinator to call me to make an appointment to see what the next step is.

Ovaries, you get a thumbs down from me.

black bean brownies

I found this recipe the other day and thought it sounded interesting. One of those things where either I'd love it or hate it. It turns out that they are pretty tasty! I didn't tell Nick what they were made of until after he'd had a couple brownies and told me he liked them. Truly, you'd never know they're made of beans!

Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoon instant coffee (optional) - I used!
  
• 2/3 cup milk chocolate chips (or any other type of chips) - I used Heath Toffee Chips
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.
2. Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, and instant coffee in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.
   

whew, tgif

It seems like when ever I have a 4 day work week due to a federal holiday, things get extra crazy at work. Thank goodness it's Friday folks! I don't know if I could have done another day and still stay sane (ah, the irony).
Tonight we are going out with some friends to a Teppanyaki restaurant. This will be a nice way to wind down the week.
One thing that has made this week better than it could have been is the traffic. Months before the Olympics, local radio and news anchors have made comments on how traffic on the interstate going to Canada would be horrible. Everyday Nick and I have a 74.88 mile commute round trip, 39.40 miles of this commute is on said interstate. Much to our surprise the Olympic games haven't cause complete chaos.
It's the little things that makes life easier that I really appreciate on weeks such as these.

recap

This past week has been busy.

Last Wednesday I took the day off to clean our horrendously unorganized garage. Instead, I involuntarily had an emotional melt down. A good friend came down and had lunch at our place. That helped turn things around. On Nick's way home from work, he picked up Chinese takeout for dinner. Little did I know there is a new pet store right next door. We have a bad track record with pet stores (some of you may remember Chuck the hamster - rip) but he went in anyway. He debated bringing home a 3 month old minpin/dingo mix puppy. In the end he didn't.

Friday on our way home nick mentioned that we were driving past the pet store, so we went in so I could see how cute she was. I had no intention of buying. We went in and sure enough, she was adorable! Not only that, when I put her down and started walking away, she looked so sad and was jumping and watching me. I melted of course! So after some debate, we decided to buy her. I've always wanted a small dog and we would like to get James another playmate before Chewie dies. No, he's not dying now, he's just getting older and is a VERY large dog.

We brought the dog home and James, our smaller but incredibly emotional dog, didn't want ANYTHING to do with the new puppy - whom I named Bella. This went on all Friday and Saturday. Bella was such a sweet and loving puppy, but it wasn't fair to put James through the emotional trauma he was clearly displaying. We knew things wouldn't work out, so on Saturday we found Bella a new home. I think she'll be very happy there.

Sunday we did nothing. We stayed at home, watched "The Invention of Lying", and just vegged around the house. It was nice after the emotional evening due to giving away my puppy the night before.

Monday I had the day off. I love when Federal holidays come around! Nick had to work, so I decided to start working on our garage. It's probably 1/3 done, but I was working the ENTIRE day. Luckily I belong to our local Freecycle group, so I was able to get rid of nearly everything I wanted gone.

Yesterday I had a dentist appointment and later in the day, a doctor appointment. In between those, I was able to squeeze in some work. My doctor appointment went very well. I feel like she has the same concerns that I do regarding an issue I have, and I'm finally getting it tested tomorrow. That will take a load off my mind... once we know one way or another. On our way home our car acted up yet again, so our wonderful friend Luke, who is a mechanic, is going to try to figure out what's wrong. I think that Nick & Luke think it's just me and not the car... I can't help it if it hates me!

Only three more work days, then the weekend!

Nothing new on both adoptions...

Meds and more

I have been collecting items to donate to Acres Of Hope for their orphanage and humanitarian work. In the next few days I will be sending our first shipment of two boxes. They will be filled with medications, crib sheets, baby carriers, vegetable seeds, and more.