Because I love lists, here are five things my family has done for me since I’ve been in CA:

1) Kept me out of Scott’s hair so he can focus on studying for the boards.

2) Showered Mackenzie with love, even though I had conveniently failed to mention that she spits like a geyser. (I didn’t want to run the risk of being un-invited. )

Mackenzie is as sweet and content as ever, but every time she opens her mouth to coo, yuck ensues. So, I guess you could say Mackenzie has done most of the showering. I’m hoping starting solids will stem the flow a bit, but until then… we just use towels as burp cloths and roll with it.

3) Informed me that my daughter has a tooth. Um, what? Yeah, thanks for being observant Liz. Because Mackenzie’s mama sure isn’t.

She has a beautiful tooth that has already come through right in the front on the bottom. It’s very cute! (Now that I know it’s there.)

4) Sympathized with me about the unfortunate Delta incident. My brother even blogged about it (and people actually read his blog).

5) Snapped some priceless photos of the wee one:

So, because I work directly with customers all day long, I’m probably more interested than most about how other businesses try to make their customers happy.

After my experience this morning, I’m forced to conclude that Delta Airlines doesn’t try.

Mackenzie, my four month old baby girl, and I woke up at 4:30 am to get all loaded into the car and drive to the airport in time for our 6 am flight. Our local airport, CMH, is fairly small and never all that busy, and I didn’t want to be waiting for an hour juggling a sleepy, hungry, Mackenzie with all our stuff. So I planned to arrive about 40 minutes prior to departure. Well, we ended up getting dropped off at the wrong end of the ticketing area, and after getting me all loaded up with Mackenzie, diaper bag, suitcase, etc. and making our way to the farthest counter… it was getting closer to 5:30. I pulled up to a kiosk, put everything but my baby down, swiped my credit card, and started punching in flight information. Four or five punches later, I was informed that I was 30 seconds too late to check a bag on my flight.

Apparently Delta has a hard-and-fast rule about checking bags 30 minutes prior to departure that I was unaware of. I had booked through Expedia and later looked everywhere I could think to look on their site and saw no mention of this rule.

I’m not a rebel. I’m not a rule-breaker. I’m just a young mom trying to get everything together to take her first cross-country trip with a baby. Also, I’m a bit sleep-deprived, but I don’t think that should count against me.

Ok, so Delta has a hard-and-fast rule. Bummer, right? Sorta, but here’s the biggest bummer of all:

They were downright rude to me. They treated me like I was an idiot for punching in the buttons at the kiosk 30 seconds too slowly, or taking an extra 30 seconds to extricate my sleepy baby from her car seat at the airport. As I stood there, nearly in tears, holding my baby at 5:31 am, not one person said they were sorry or even gave me a friendly glance.

I exaggerate. The other customers standing nearby gave me very sympathetic glances and a few (bless them) even shot the Delta agents dirty looks.

However, nobody from Delta appeared to be the least bit sorry for my trouble. In fact, after I waited in a line to see a rebooking agent, she smiled when she told me it was going to cost me $50 to get on another flight. No, I could not get on the plane and send my one suitcase with a later flight (security reasons, duh). No, I could not just hurry to the gate (there was no line at security) and promise never to be 30 seconds later again. No I could not get to CA that day without a 3 hour layover in Atlanta. No they couldn’t get me out of Columbus any sooner than 7 hours later. No they couldn’t treat me with respect. I was late! Yeesh, didn’t I know that being late came with a get-out-of-being-decent card?

So Mackenzie and I left. Me, holding back tears and $50 poorer for the experience, Mackenzie just beginning to realize she had been pulled out of bed much too early.

When I got home, I called Delta. I wanted to speak with someone who could restore my faith in humanity, or at least confirm to me that I had just encountered a few bad nuts and that the company as a whole wasn’t rude and uncaring. I got through to a supervisor in Atlanta named Hilda who informed me in no uncertain terms that this whole thing was my fault because I had been late. No joke. Here is almost word-for-word a particularly unbelievable part of our lengthy conversation:

Hilda: Ma’am, if this were our fault, maybe there would be something I could do. But it’s your fault because you were late.

Me: It’s my fault that your agents were downright rude to me?

Hilda: Ma’am, you were late for your flight. You can’t check bags 30 minutes prior to departure.

Me: I’m not asking you to refund my flight, I just want to let Delta know I was ill-treated by their employees.

Hilda: Ma’am, you really need to arrive for your flight at least an hour to an hour and a half prior to departure.

She may as well have said “You were late, Lady. All bets are off.” I asked her if she cared that I had been treated poorly by Delta employees, and she said if I wanted someone to care, I should write to “corporate” and they were required by law to respond to me in 30 days or less.

Thank you, Hilda, for making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Thanks, Delta, for taking my $300 for flights, $50 for a change fee, and leaving me with a conviction to never ever use your “service” again. I’ll write to “corporate” and I’ll be sure to update you in 29 days or so on whether anyone there seems to care.

My experience this morning helped me realize just how much I value good customer service. Scott and I determined that it’s more important to us to use an airline that is always friendly and polite, even when situations aren’t going to work out the way that we would’ve liked, than it is to get the absolute cheapest price. I don’t think that we’re unique in this regard, and the customer responses that I get at work support this idea. I’m grateful to work for a company that has a habit of bending over backwards to make customers happy, and to know that my interactions with customers will never result in them shedding tears of frustration. In my book, that’s a very good thing.

P.S. Anyone had consistently great service from an airline? As it turns out, we’re looking for a new carrier.

I haven’t ever participated in a blogging carnival before, but this one over at Owlhaven caught my interest.

I consider myself frugal with regard to cooking, in that I tend to cook from scratch and comparison shop. However, our philosophies about food here in Beanland are a bit different than the norm, so I was very curious to see how our diet stood up to the frugal challenge.

First, a bit about our food philosophy:

- We believe that good, healthy food is an investment in our health and our future. So we are willing to pay more money when necessary to eat well. I shop around to find the best deal on what we eat. Not to eat the best deals I find. (I hope that makes sense.)

- We enjoy cooking, but convenience is also a factor because we are both very busy. Scott is in medical school and I am a work-at-home mom. I tend to cook three dinners a week and we eat leftovers the other nights and all lunches. I usually make breakfast (a smoothie or one of the recipes in this post) and we graze on fruits and veggies the rest of the day.

- We don’t eat meat. We rarely eat dairy (cheese, milk, eggs). We rarely eat anything processed (white flour, added sugar, etc.). Our goal, in a nutshell, is to eat “whole plant foods” as much as possible because we believe that they are healthiest. That means we cook with a lot of spices, rather than cream, butter, cheese, sausage, etc.

- We store oodles of food in our basement (grains, dried beans, canned tomatoes, etc.) , so our weekly or every-other-weekly shopping trips are mainly to pick up fresh stuff.

Without further ado….

The goal of the carnival was to shop for three days’ worth of food and post pictures, recipes and cost per person per meal. I cheated because we constantly “shop” out of our basement and because I wanted to participate without actually doing all the dirty work (sorry!). So I chose some recipes to share, priced them out, and took photos of the food we had on hand to make the recipes. This is a hypothetical 3 day plan. I chose recipes that I thought were among the less expensive of what we regularly eat. I know we could eat less expensively, but it was very helpful for me to price out our regular meals. Hopefully it helps someone else as well!

In case you are intimidated by trying to cook a meal with “complete protein” without meat or dairy… ask yourself how many people you know (in this country) who are suffering from protein deficiency. It’s just unheard of. Far and away, more people are suffering from obesity and not eating foods that nourish their bodies and fight disease. So shoot for simple, whole plants (don’t peel and fry your potatoes or peel and sugar your apples) and eat a variety and you’ll do just fine! It’s easier and yummier than you might think.

The Menu

Day 1
Breakfast: Oatmeal with apples, raisins, cinnamon, and pecans
Lunch: Black Bean Soup with blue corn tortilla chips
Dinner: Red Lentil Curry with brown rice
Snacks: Oranges, apples, sweet potato, raw carrots.

Day 2
Breakfast: Whole grain pancakes with homemade strawberry syrup
Lunch: Red Lentil Curry with brown rice (leftover)
Dinner: Split Pea Soup with homemade whole wheat bread
Snacks: Hot air popped popcorn, celery, pancakes w/syrup

Day 3
Breakfast: Oatmeal with three berries and flax
Lunch: Split Pea Soup with homemade whole wheat bread
Dinner: Red Lentil Curry with brown rice
Snacks: Sweet Potato, oranges, bread with applesauce

The Photos

Here are photos of the foods included in those meals (note that the amounts of food in the photos don’t match the meals, sorry! I left out olive oil and spices.) :

From leftish to rightish: raisins, pecans, buckwheat flour, blue corn tortilla chips, walnuts, oranges, unsweetened applesauce, apples, garlic, carrots, flaxseed meal, frozen triple berry blend, salsa, strawberries, veggie soup base, dried apples, celery, wheat, oats.

Hidden in the dark, dark photo you might find onions, sweet potatoes, split peas, dried black beans, lentils, canned tomatoes, brown rice, and popping corn.

The Recipes and $$$

Day 1 Breakfast - $0.43/person
Oatmeal - 2 c. rolled oats $0.20, 2 c. water free, 1/2 c. dehydrated apple slices $0.24, 1/4 raisins $0.13, 1/4 c. broken pecans $0.28, 2 tsp cinnamon. Cook on stovetop for a few minutes until thick.

Day 1 Lunch - $0.72/person
Black Bean Soup - 2 cans (or 3 1/2 c. if you pressure cook your own) black beans, rinsed and drained ($0.34), 1 c. salsa ($0.65), 1 1/2 c. veggie broth ($0.10), 1 tsp cumin. Food process or use blender and then heat and serve with 2 c. blue corn tortilla chips ($0.35)

Day 1 Dinner - $1.32/person (lasts two dinners + 1 lunch)
Brown rice: 2 c. with 2 3/4 c. water in rice cooker ($0.53)
Red Lentil Curry:

2 cups lentils ($0.31)
1 large onion, diced ($0.33)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil ($0.05)
2-4 tablespoons red thai curry paste ($0.10)
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon minced garlic ($0.03)
1 teaspoon ginger root, minced ($0.05)
1 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes, or crushed tomatoes ($0.99)
1-2 8 oz cans tomato sauce (add this to make the curry go farther, so it’s thinner and easier to serve over rice, or if it’s too spicy for you without it) ($0.24)

DIRECTIONS

1. Wash the lentils in cold water until the water runs clear (this is very important or the lentils will get “scummy”), put the lentils in a pot with water to cover and simmer covered until lentils tender (add more water if necessary).
2. While the lentils are cooking: In a large skillet or saucepan, caramelize the onions in vegetable oil.
3. While the onions are cooking, combine the curry paste, curry powder, turmeric, cumin, chili powder, salt, sugar, garlic, and ginger in a mixing bowl. Mix well. When the onions are cooked, add the curry mixture to the onions and cook over a high heat stirring constantly for 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the tomato puree and reduce heat, allow the curry base to simmer until the lentils are ready.
5. When the lentils are tender drain them briefly (they should have absorbed most of the water but you don’t want the curry to be too sloppy). Mix the curry base into the lentils and serve immediately over rice.

Day 1 Snacks - $1.15/person
Oranges ($0.66)
Apples ($0.80)
Sweet Potato ($0.44) - Wash, don’t peel. Prick with a fork and microwave for 5 minutes or until soft all the way through. Yum!
Carrots ($0.40)

Day 2 Breakfast - $0.87/person with enough leftover for snack
Wholegrain Pancakes:
3/4 cup buckwheat flour ($0.27)
1 cup whole wheat flour ($0.06)
1/4 cup rolled oats ($0.05)
1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped ($0.30)
1 T Flaxseed meal ($0.03)
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 TBS orange zest (free! I keep it in the freezer and refill when I eat an orange.)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce ($0.2
2 cups water (I added an extra 1/4 c. or so to thin it out further)

Mix all dry ingredients in a medium bowl until evenly blended. Add liquids and mix as little as possible to make batter. Small lumps are OK, they’ll disappear in cooking. Over-mixing will make pancakes flat and heavy.

Spoon the batter onto a hot, nonstick griddle.

Strawberry Syrup:
2 c. frozen strawberries, covered and heated in the microwave until piping hot. Smash them with a fork. ($0.74)

Day 2 Lunch - free!
Leftover Red Lentil Curry with brown rice.

Day 2 Dinner - $1.37/person with enough for 2 dinners
Homemade Whole Wheat bread ($0.52)

Split Pea Soup
1 TBS olive oil ($0.07)
2 onions, chopped ($0.66)
2 rib celery, sliced thinly ($0.20)
4 medium carrots, sliced thinly ($0.25)
2 cup split peas, rinsed and drained ($0.52)
8 cups veggie broth ($0.52)
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
2 TBS fresh parsley, chopped (or 1 1/2 tsp. dried)

Cook onion in olive oil for a couple of minutes until softened , then add celery and carrots and cook for 3 more minutes. Add everything else and cook on LOW for 50-60 minutes (30 will work in a pinch). Pull out 4 cups and blend it until smooth and return it to the pot. Add salt and pepper and enjoy!

Day 2 Snacks
Hot air popped popcorn - $0.15
celery - $0.20
pancakes w/syrup - free!

Day 3 Breakfast - $0.48/person
Oatmeal - 2 c. rolled oats $0.20, 2 c. water free, 1 c. frozen triple berry blend $0.63, 1/4 c. flaxseed meal $0.12 . Cook oats and water on stovetop for a few minutes until thick. Add berries, microwave and smush. Sprinkle on flaxseed meal.

Day 3 Lunch - free!
Split Pea Soup with homemade whole wheat bread

Day 3 Dinner - free!
Red Lentil Curry with brown rice

Day 3 Snacks - $0.83/person
Sweet Potato ($0.44) - Wash, don’t peel. Prick with a fork and microwave for 5 minutes or until soft all the way through. Yum!
Oranges ($0.66)
Homemade whole wheat bread (free) with unsweetened applesauce on top ($0.56)

Not counting spices, which we buy in bulk here, this hypothetical and delicious and healthy three day meal plan came to $7.35/person. In reality, we tend to go down on the pricier fresh fruit and veggies (frozen berries, fresh melon, leafy greens) far more than what I incorporated into the meal plan, so I think this dollar amount is low for our typical diet.

This exercise was really eye-opening for me, but because I work and stay very busy… time is money and I probably will not do this again anytime soon!

Cost Basis

The following things from the 3-day plan I buy from my church’s cannery:
dried black beans ($0.69/lb), rolled oats ($0.57/lb), dehydrated apple slices ($3.82/lb), wheat ($0.19/lb).

The following I buy at Costco:
Pecans ($8.99/2 lb package), Raisins ($6.69/2, 2.5 lb packages), Frozen Triple Berry Blend ($8.99/4 lb), Walnuts ($14.49/3 lb), Frozen strawberries ($6.99/6 lb) , onions ($3.99/10 lb), sweet potatoes ($6.99/10 lb), Salsa ($4.65/jug), Blue corn tortilla chips ($4.49/huge bag), oranges ($0.33/each), apples ($0.40/each), olive oil ($23.99/5 q.)

The following I buy at regular grocery stores, and I’m giving prices here from memory (sorry!):
flaxmeal (~$2/lb), buckwheat flour (~$1.80/5 c. package), unsweetened applesauce (~$1.67/6 c. jar), celery and carrots (~$1.50/3 lb package), veggie base (~$2.50/38 c.), lentils ($0.55/package), split peas ($0.65/package), diced tomatoes ($.99/28 oz can), brown rice (~$2/3 lb)

Dear Mackenzie,

You are getting cuter by the day.

Your favorite foods continue to be milk and your own fists.

You love to play with Daddy.

You are learning to grab things and spend a good part of your day trying to grab your best friend, “Foxy”.

Every time we put you on your stomach now, you roll right onto your back. And you always look surprised.

You are a sweet, happy baby who loves to smile, laugh and “sing”. I shouldn’t put that word in quotes because you already sing better than your mama.

I often look up from work and see you grinning at me. It’s a wonder I get any work done at all.

I no longer take many photos of you sleeping because last time I did, the flash woke you up and I felt terrible.

Love,

Your mama

We frequently refer to Mackenzie as our “Wee One”. Sometimes she just gets this wide-eyed expression on her face, that is just so “wee” that it can’t be described any other way.

I love love waking her up in the morning. The other day, I caught her sleepiness on camera:

A particularly “wee” look:

We swaddle her arms at night, and let her legs go free. Good thing, too, because her Seussy little feet in the “feetie jams” are pretty darn cute:

As I watched, she even crossed her legs:

We’ve been reading a Dr. Seuss book to Mackenzie every day (at least every day that I remember). She’s becoming quite proficient on the story lines, characters, etc. I grew up with Dr. Seuss myself and I love sharing this tradition with Mackenzie.

I keep stumbling across lines that are so good they must be shared. So I took one bit of each Seuss story that we own, and I decided to give my blog readers a test. Probably only my family will find it enjoyable, but maybe there are other Seuss fans out there as well?

The Rules

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to name that Dr. Seuss story. We’ll start with the Easy Quiz. It includes the 23 most well-known (in my opinion) Seuss stories that we own. Then, if you’re brave enough, tackle the More Tricky Quiz, which consists of the 23 less well-known (in my opinion) Seuss stories that we own.

Here’s how the scoring works: You get two points on the Easy Quiz if you can name the story without consulting the list of stories (in other words, you pull the title out of your head). One point if you get it after consulting the list. You get 3 points on the More Tricky Quiz if you can name the story without consulting the list of stories, and one point if you use the list. And you lose a billion points if you cheat and use google or wikipedia. Leave your score in the comments, if you want. Don’t worry, we can still be friends if you don’t know your Seuss backwards and forwards. Just not BEST friends.

Random Information

Oh and because I know you’re wondering, here are the stories we don’t have here in Columbus (we may have a few still at my parents’ house in CA):
The Seven Ladies Godiva (a bit scandalous and more than a bit funny)
The Cat in the Hat Songbook (does anyone own this?)
My book about ME (hmm never had even heard of this one)
I Can Draw it Myself (I’ll have to look into this one. If it teaches you how to draw Seuss feet, I’m game.)
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? (Oh my, how come we don’t have this one?!)
Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now (Another classic)
The Shape of Me and Other Stuff (I’ve gotta say, the title isn’t too compelling)
There’s a Wocket in My Pocket (I think we have this one actually, just can’t lay my finger on it)
The Cat’s Quizzer (eh?)
I am NOT Going to Get Up Today (Woah, I hope we have this somewhere. Another classic.)
My Many Colored Days (published posthumously, never had heard of it)
Gerald McBoing-Boing (ditto. Though, the title is promising.)

Without further ado…

The Easy Quiz

1:
The kingdom was a low one; the sea was a high one…

2:
So I’d open each cage. I’d unlock every pen,
Let the animals go, and start over again.

3:
A person’s a person, no matter how small.

4:
Then, of course, those with stars all got frightfully mad.
To be wearing a star now was frightfully bad.

5:
Won’t look like rain. Won’t look like snow.
Won’t look like fog. That’s all we know.

6:
And he ordered the Boys in the Back Room to figger
how to build me some sort of a triple-sling jigger.

7:
And at that very moment, we heard a loud whack!
From outside the fields came a sickening smack
of an axe on a tree. Then we heard the tree fall.
The very last Truffula Tree of them all!

8:
They would feast on Who-pudding, and rare Who-roast-beast

9:
This throne that I sit on is too, too low down.
It ought be higher! he said with a frown.

10:
“I wish she’d come back
‘Cause I’m cold and I’m wet.
I hope that Mayzie bird doesn’t forget.”

11:
“If that’s your hat in your hand,” demanded the King, “what’s that on your head?”

12:
You couldn’t say “Skat!” ’cause that wouldn’t be right.
You couldn’t shout “Scram!” ’cause that isn’t polite.
A host has to put up with all kinds of pests,
For a host, above all, must be nice to his guests.

13:
I might catch some sort of a fast-moving bloke
Who zips through the waves with an over-arm stroke!
(I might and I may and that’s really no joke!)

14:
And FLOOB is for Floob-Boober-Bab-Boober-Bubs
Who bounce in the water like blubbery tubs

15:
… A Chinese man Who eats with sticks…
A big Magician Doing tricks…
A ten-foot beard that needs a comb…
No time for more, I’m almost home.

16:
Not on a train! Not in a tree!
Not in a car! Sam! Let me be!

17:
This one has a little star.
This one has a little car.
Say! what a lot of fish there are.

18:
PAT
CAT
Pat sat on cat.

19:
Now we come to
ticks and tocks , sir.
Try to say this
Mr. Knox, sir…

20:
These Things will not bite you.
They want to have fun.
Then, out of the box
Came Thing Two and Thing One!

21:
You’ll see Drum Major Sneelock fling-flang his baton
And my Organ-McOrgan-McGurkus come on

22:
It mentions right here they can grow in a pot.
But mention the head of a girl, it does not!

23:
Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

The More Tricky Quiz

24:
A yawn is quite catching, you see. Like a cough.
It just takes one yawn to start other yawns off.

25:
And it happened that both of them came to a place
Where they bumped. There they stood.
Foot to foot. Face to face.

26:
I put my arm around their waist
And sat right down beside them.
I calmed them down.
Poor empty pants
With nobody inside them.

27:
And how fortunate you’re not Professor de Breeze
who has spent the last thirty-two years, if you please,
trying to teach Irish ducks how to read Jivvanese.

28:
“Tut tut!” said the doctor. “Such talk! How absurd!
Your tail is just right for your kind of bird.”

29:
“And I kept right on looking and looking until
I’d looked ’round the world and right back to this hill!”

30:
I can read in bed.
And in purple.
And in brown.
I can read in a circle and upside down!

31:
LOOK!
Dr. Derring’s Singing Herrings!
Derring’s Singing, Spelling Herrings!
See what Derring’s Herrings do!
They sing and spell it! All for you!

32:
Small feet
Big feet
Here come pig feet.

33:
Goat
girl
googoo goggles

34:
“The greener green grapes are,
the keener keen apes are
to gobble green grape cakes.”

35:
Wake every person,
pig and pup,
till EVERYONE
on Earth is up!

36:
And left!
Think of Left!
And think about BEFT.
Why is it that beft
always go to the left?

37:
“Oh, wall spots!” he laughed.
“Let me tell you some news.
To take spots off a wall,
All I need is two shoes!”

38:
Often she wishes that, when they were born,
She had named one of them Bodkin Van Horn

39:
You! In the front row.
You’re excused! You may go.
Your fingernails aren’t very clean.

40:
Poor Zooie got so awfully mad
So mad he could have spit.
But he did a far, far braver thing…
He simply yelled, “I QUIT!”

41:
“I’m here to stay forever
In your lovely, lovely home.
And now, with your permission, dear,
I’ll use your tele-foam.

42:
Instead of the city, we ran into trouble.
Our camel got sick and he started to bubble.

43:
And today was quite an awful day
for me and my poor pup.
My trouble was I had a mind.
But I couldn’t make it up.

44:
But I didn’t stop then, ’cause I knew of some ducks
By the name of the Single-File Zummzian Zuks
Who stroll, single file, through the mountains of Zumms
Quite oddly enough, with their eggs on their thumbs

45:
Norval won’t bring you
much comfort, you know.
But he’s quite sympathetic
as Clinic Fish go.

46:
Miss Loon is our librarian,
She hides behind the shelves,
And often cries out, “LOUDER!”
When we’re reading to ourselves.

The Easy Quiz Titles (in no particular order)

A) The Cat in the Hat
B) If I Ran the Zoo
C) Daisy-Head Mayzie
D) One fish two fish red fish blue fish
E) How the Grinch Stole Christmas
F) Horton Hears a Who
G) Horton Hatches the Egg
H) The Sneetches
I) The King’s Stilts
J) Thidwick - The Big-Hearted Moose
K) Yertle the Turtle
L) The Butter Battle Book
M) The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
N) Bartholomew and the Oobleck
O) And To Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street
P) The Lorax
Q) Hop on Pop
R) Green Eggs and Ham
S) If I ran the Circus
T) McElligot’s Pool
U) On Beyond Zebra
V) Fox in Socks
W) Oh the Places You’ll Go!

The More Tricky Quiz titles (in no particular order)

AA) What was I Scared of?
AB) Dr. Seuss’s ABC
AC) Great Day for UP
AD) Oh the Thinks You Can Think!
AE) Happy Birthday To You!
AF) I Had Trouble in getting to Solla Sollew
AG) Scrambled Eggs Super
AH) I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!
AI) I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today!
AJ) The Foot Book
AK) The Zax
AL) Too Many Daves
AM) The Cat in the Hat Comes Back
AN) Oh Say Can You Say?
AO) Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky you are?
AP) Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book
AQ) You’re only Old Once
AR) King Looie Katz
AS) The Big Brag
AT) Gertrude McFuzz
AU) The Glunk that was Thunk
AV) Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!
AW) Hunches in Bunches

Answers:
1I 2B 3F 4H 5N 6L 7P 8E 9K 10G 11M 12J 13T 14U 15O 16R 17D 18Q 19V 20A 21S 22C 23W 24AP 25AK 26AA 27AO 28AT 29AS 30AH 31AE 32AJ 33AB 34AN 35AC 36AD 37AM 38AL 39AI 40AR 41AU 42AF 43AW 44AG 45AQ 46AV

Cheesy Scoring Profiles

80-115 You are a Seuss aficionado and I bow to your great knowledge. You know your Sneetches and empty breeches and you probably even know Seuss’s first name was Theodore.

60-80 You are confident about your Seuss knowledge, as well you should be. You probably scored better than I would have unless I had created the quiz myself.

30-60 You read these books as a child, and have a fairly keen memory. However you could stand to brush up on your Bartholomew. There may even be some stories you have yet to discover. Dust off your books and get reading!

10-30 You are a nice person, and I’m glad you took the quiz. It is commendable that you’ve read some of these stories, but you could use another trip to Sollaw Sollew.

0-10 You just wasted your time, I’m afraid. In the time it took you to take this quiz, you could have read a Seuss book - a much more worthwhile endeavor. I recommend On Beyond Zebra to broaden your horizons.

Yesterday, I ate more cold cereal than vegetables.

Yesterday, I did not exercise.

Yesterday, I didn’t even step foot out of my house except for maybe to chuck a diaper in the outside trash.

That’s probably a good thing because yesterday I did not shower.

Yesterday, I did a load of laundry and worked every minute I could manage, but I ended up further behind in both areas than I was when I started the day.

Yesterday, Scott came home to a wailing baby who had her own booger stuck to her ear.*

Yesterday, instead of sending Scott back to campus with a warm dinner in his belly, I handed him a banana and a date nut bar.

Yesterday, I started the day in an over-sized sweatshirt and jeans and ended the day in an over-sized sweatshirt and jeans covered in spit-up and damp with baby tears.

Yesterday, Mackenzie was sick.** She was miserable when I held her, but completely fell apart if I didn’t.

Yesterday, I ran my cool hands over my baby’s hot, sticky forehead over and over again to help her fall asleep. But she only managed one short nap, all day long.

Yesterday, I sang my baby lullabies while she coughed and whimpered in her hoarse little voice and spit up all over both of us.

And yesterday, approximately five minutes after she fell asleep for the night in her crib, completely worn out and breathing noisily in and out… I already missed her.

Motherhood is a trip.

My sick (and sweet) baby girl:

*Don’t ask.
**The Grandma Update: She’s still sick but today was better than yesterday and we both bathed so things are looking up!

I’ve been asked the following questions recently, and I’m sure many of you have the same concerns but were too polite to vocalize them. So as a public service, I will answer them here:

Question: Could you dress Mackenzie in any more pink?

Answer:

Probably not. But we were given (generously) nearly everything she wears and besides, it compliments her skin tone.

Ok, ok.. the real reason for all the pink is that last time I dressed her in jeans and a non-pink tshirt, someone said “he looks just like his daddy!”

We can’t have that.

Question: How come you call your daughter a worm? That’s not very nice.

Answer: Technically we call her “a bit wormy” and we mean it in the cutest way possible. It all started when Scott caught the following on camera at our church’s annual chili/chocolate cook-off/pinewood derby:

Our dear girl has 3, possibly 4 chins. Who knew? As if that weren’t enough… the other day I was talking on the phone and I glanced behind me to check on Kenzie and she was lying 180 degrees opposite of how I’d put her down. I watched in amazement as she methodically lifted her bum in the air and flung out her legs, thus “inching” her way around in a full circle. Now, a week later, she is an accomplished inch worm and will lie on her back and happily scootch backwards.

Question: Don’t you think it was a poor decision to put Scott in charge of layering the ratatouille you made for dinner? I mean, he is picky about how towels and socks are folded. One might even call him “fastidious”.
Answer: Well, dinner was a bit late that night, but it brought him such joy.

Note: This is not an ordinary sized pan. This is a Bean-sized pan. As in, enough of a pan to feed a large family for a week. This particular ratatouille is so yummy that we demolished it in two days, however.

We based it on this recipe but we improvised a lot, using however many of the called-for veggies we had on hand. We served it over whole wheat couscous. It’s super simple (unless you are Scott and you worry about the alignment of eggplant relative to zucchini).

Question: Doesn’t Mackenzie sometimes object to all these photos being taken?

Answer:

Question: Are you just making up questions as an excuse to post more pictures?

Answer:

Did I mention the delicious spicy peanut and eggplant stew Scott whipped up last week, from Veganomicon?

Err… I mean “Scott”.

We had a great day yesterday, celebrating both Easter and Scott’s birthday. He woke up to a nice pile of presents on the table with a special Big Boggle Birthday Game created by yours truly. I “boggled” words to describe Scott with the first letters spelling out H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y S-C-O-T-T and he had to find them (and other words) to rack up points before being allowed to open his presents.

In case you don’t know Scott, let me reassure you that this was fun for him. A word game first thing in the morning is a treat, not torture. Just thought I’d clear that up.

We also had a fun easter dinner with friends. We ate Hawaiian haystacks plus the homemade roasted garlic hummus and whole wheat pita (pitas? pitae?) Scott and I brought. The pita were easy to make and I was thrilled with the results. They were only 3/4 whole wheat this time so I’ll doctor the recipe and post it when I can pull off 100% whole wheat. But, I digress… back to Scott’s birthday.

In honor of this special day, I hereby present: Five Facts about Scott Bean!

1) He gives me French pedicures (including on the night before we got married!):

2) He and I share a love for chemistry, and spent many wonderful romantic moments hours years studying chemistry together at BYU:

(Photo from when we were in Dover, England. They call pharmacists “chemists” there.)

3) He is the most fun person to be around. Ever. This is the time I got beached on a fountain in London, and we were both laughing so hard it took him a good long while before he hauled me up to sit next to him:

4) He is very driven. My first indication of this was the fact that he had to ask me out on three separate occasions before I finally said yes. My second indication was that on our first date, he wooed me with abandon. He showed up in a tux and took me to the nicest restaurant in Provo (and ate whole wheat tortillas and salsa as his only means of sustenance for like a month in order to afford it):

5) He owns a particular outfit that he knows I love on him, and he also knows I love it when he gels his hair. So when he showed up for class one morning when we were at BYU wearing this outfit, with his hair gelled and a huge grin on his face… I *knew* that he was going to propose that day. I dropped over $50 worth of glassware in my Organic chemistry lab because I kept looking over at him and getting all jittery.

When I was in labor with Mackenzie, he had to run home for a bit and he came back with his hair gelled, wearing my favorite outfit. Just to give me a boost. How thoughtful is that?

So if you see him wearing that outfit one day, you can be sure he’s making me smile. Actually, that’s a pretty safe bet any day of the year. Scott is always concerned about my happiness, and I love that he’s also a great father, son, brother, friend, etc. Happy Birthday Babe!

Alternate title for this post: “Lots of photos of Mackenzie. Because she’s pretty stinkin’ cute. And because I haven’t posted enough photos of late, according to some doting relatives.”

That would be a very long title. So, “New Things” it is.

Bumbo! A fun baby seat given to us by my co-worker (in “Smuggy green” of course). Mackenzie loves to watch me work, fold clothes, cook dinner, etc. So this little seat will be perfect.

Look closely and you will see a laptop cord and a Qtip for Kenzie. So you might say this photo represents my life: juggling work and a baby. Yeah. I could probably end the post right there, but there are more photos new things, so moving right along…

Mackenzie’s first luau. She is fond of new faces and fortunately I have lots of friends who are fond of babies!

Her first bath. Ok, no not really… but it *was* the first time we’d taken photos of her after a bath. So that’s a new thing, right? Right?

Giving our awesome double (long story) jogging stroller a spin.

Our walk was not without its mishaps.

Notice how there is no front wheel in that photo? Before going on our second walk in the stroller, I keenly observed that all three wheels were flat.

I know what you’re thinking, but the answer is no. The gas station air pump won’t work. Even though it very nearly works, that doesn’t count. (Apparently).

No worries, though… Daddy to the rescue.

And finally, yet another “new thing” made blogworthy because of the cute baby featured in the photo. A hat from Great Aunt Robin!

Because I know you are wondering: Although people DO steal stuff from the Speedway down the block and on occasion are hunted down by searchlight in the middle of the night…. fortunately, people do NOT steal your double (long story) jog stroller if you are a complete space-case and leave it outside on your front walkway all night until kind neighbors point it out the next morning store the stroller outside.

Latkes are traditionally made of shredded potato. But Scott Bean likes to take things up a notch.

He made us latkes from beets, sweet potatoes and carrots and he topped them with a horseradish and dill “cream” made from silken tofu. (Recipes from Veganomicon.)

They were delish!

Now, Scott used to hate beets with a passion. So the real story here is that we have slain another hated vegetable. Granted, these little latkes are fried so it probably wasn’t the healthiest way to go about it. But the beet has now gone the way of kale (made tasty in enchiladas), cooked spinach (an essential component of my potato curry), cooked broccoli (yummy in stir fry), and brussel sprouts (a perfect pair with pine nuts over pasta).

Guess what’s on the menu this week at the Bean house? Avocado*, turnip greens, beet greens, chard, and radish greens. Wish us luck!

*Scott cut one up just now and commented, “I don’t know why I was so scared of cutting into an avocado. It’s like being scared of walking”. Hehe.

Verdict: Latkes were a tasty way to tackle beets, but too fried for normal consumption. The horseradish dill “cream” was fabulous and also tasted great on the buckwheat blinis we made for dinner the night after the latkes. The blinis called for garbanzo bean flour, which gave me a reason to use my grinder for something other than wheat(!), but were pretty much glorified yeasty pancakes and weren’t quite as yummy as my normal pancakes.

We’re having a good time playing in the kitchen. (Can you tell? ) It gives me and Scott a chance to relax and talk and Mackenzie is usually highly entertained by dinner preparations. I often let her smell and visually inspect ingredients. After all, she’ll get them for breakfast (sorta).