Mascara: 3,743,275 Mo: 1, but this is a last goal wins type game.

Since I got a shout out on my BFF BNJ's blog yesterday, I feel bold enough to share my latest fashion discovery here. 

I exclusively use non-waterproof mascara because it drives me bonkers how difficult it is get mascara (of all kinds) off my lashes. Is it just me or does the mascara stick to your lashes too and only release its death grip over several days of making your under eyes look like they are chimney sweeps? Just me? I hope so for your sake.

I only wear makeup to work (or if Adam and I go out somewhere nice on the weekends, but that hasn't happened more than once since Eleanor) because as much as I think it makes my face look better and more mature and I don't mind putting it on, I HATE removing it. (Or not removing the mascara as the case is.)

I've tried various makeup wipes and removers ranging from cheapest to slightly expensive because this drives me so crazy. I especially hate the oily removers which don't seem to remove anything, but I can feel my pores slamming shut as I grab the bottle off the shelf. 

However, you know what works? Huggies Natural Care Baby Wipes. Thank you Eleanor. One wipe to swipe my eyes, then wash my face with some Dial and a little extra swipe beneath my eyes post face wash and I look like a human the following morning. 

Singing for the Sand Man

I know she's not always going to need me like this. And that's both comforting and heart breaking. Someday she's going to have wants that I can't or won't meet, but for now she only had needs and I can fulfill those needs in ways that no one else can.

I enjoy swaying her to sleep at night and the feeling of her big baby head pressed against my shoulder. I love the evenness of her breathing when she has finally succumbed to the Sand Man.

She is the only person in the world who takes pleasure in my singing. However, for as tone deaf as I am, I've always been a decent dancer. I guess I feel music better than I hear it and she enjoys dancing with me to church songs and Edelweiss, one I remember my mom singing to us as kids too.

Someday she is going to realize I can't sing and want to read before bed and put herself to sleep, so I will cherish these moments and her quiet breath on my chest.

Good night, sweet baby. I love you.

Rusty Brewing Company

President, CEO, and Taste Tester Extraordinaire on the left with his trusty Brew Consultant, A, on the right

For Father's Day we purchased my dad a home brewing kit. A has been brewing for a few years now and my dad loves beer more than anyone I've even known, so it seemed a good fit. It took us a while to make time to actually do some brewing, but sometime in October they started the first batch. I believe it is an Irish Red Ale and there was concern about the dedication of the yeasts in this batch. The beer is supposed to start bubbling due to the yeast eating the sugar (the fermentation process) a few days after it goes into the fermentation bucket. However, the bubbles were suspiciously absent over the month we let it ferment. When we opened it Friday night it looked and smelled as it should, so we went ahead and bottled it. Dad left Saturday for Europe for two weeks for work and is excited to come home to his own batch of beer! Crossing our fingers that it tastes delicious when he gets home!

The (Mad? jk) Capper of Rusty Brewing

Christmas & a Puppy

We have an 85+ pound, 11 month old puppy. I say 85+ because I am not strong enough to lift him and he and my husband, A, max out the bathroom scale. So we guess. On Monday, A, Friday the puppy, and I went to a tree farm about 10 minutes from our house to pick out our first Christmas tree. A grew up with an artificial tree and our marriage was continent upon his agreement to real trees for Christmas. It is just not Christmas until the whole house smells of pine.

Friday Puppy

Friday was pretty ambivalent about the tree until we decorated last night. He doesn't lift his leg yet and he seemed to just accept we brought a 10' tree into the living room and displaced his bed. However, now there are all these balls and sparkly toys on it! We are watching him like a hawk.

Look how beautiful the tree is! You can almost smell it through the screen!

We also had to move the Nativity set off the coffee table to the dining room table because he thought one of the lambs looked tasty. Luckily, we caught him right away and the little lamb is traumatized, but otherwise no worse for the wear. A threatened him that if he ate baby Jesus he would go straight to puppy hell. Now, my childhood tells me that All Dogs Go To Heaven, but if there is a puppy hell I imagine it is full of nail clipping and squirrels and cats that can't be chased.

The four little lambs are safe and sound!