Dairy Free Fettucine Alfredo

I love pasta, especially the cheesy kinds like mac&cheese and fettucine alfredo that I can't have due to my dairy allergy.  Amy's Kitchen makes a mac&cheese microwavable dinner that is dairy free, but it costs an arm and a leg for one dinner and isn't quite like the real thing.  I found a recipe online for dairy free fettucine alfredo and gave it a whirl last night.  It was fairly easy to make, even for me, who doesn't do a whole lot in the kitchen.  One part of the recipe threw me, though - the recipe (and I double checked a couple other recipes to verify) called for 3 Tbsp of nutritional yeast.  I did not realize there is a difference between nutritional yeast and active yeast, so I picked up the active yeast and put 3 Tbsp in my one serving of alfredo sauce!  As you might imagine, it turned out to be a LOT of yeast...  I don't know what this has done to me.  I feel fine...   Also I talked with the nurse at my doctor's office and she said not to worry.  Whew!  The fettucine alfredo was not 100% delicious, but I'm willing to try again - maybe nutritional yeast will do the trick.  More garlic, too.

Amtrak Travel

Over the weekend, the NYT Travel Section featured a story about transportation via Amtrak.  I've been wanting to travel somewhere by train - lo and behold, Amtrak's "Cardinal Route" stops at both the Cincinnati and Charlottesville stations!  I looked into train travel from Louisville to Charlottesville once before, but the only option was the Amtrak BUS.  (No thank you, I'll drive.) 

The trip from Louisville to Charlottesville is approximately 7.5 hours.  Very drivable.  But the trip from Louisville to Cincinnati to catch the train is only 1 hour!  

Before I get too wound up, let me lay it out for you:

The Pros:

• Cheaper than flying
  
• Appears to have fewer restrictions than flying
  
• Saves gas
  
• Keeps the miles down on  your car
  
• You can get up to walk around
  
• Sleeper cars!
  
• Dining cars!!
  
• Downtime to do plenty of reading, taxes, solitaire, etc.
  
• Children under 2 ride for free; children 2-15 are 50% off
• AAA discount for adults
• For children, the AAA discount adds another 10% off to the 50% off!  (aka 60% off!)
• The train actually goes to Charlottesville and not to Louisville.  We need to take the train just so Amtrak thinks this is a high demand destination and keeps it on their route.
  

The Cons:

• 11 hours travel time (plus an hour to get to Cincy)
  
• Train seemingly always leaves Cincy at 3am
  
• Train seemingly always arrives in Cincy at 1am
  
• Sleeper cars are $200 extra :(
  
• Could get BORING if you travel alone

This is just a rough list of my first thoughts on the subject.  Maybe we'll try it once?

Ecuador: MIA

This morning on my way to work, I heard a story on NPR about geography textbooks that had a slight error:  there were 2 Paraguays and no Ecuador!  I checked out the story, and sure enough, Brazil's 6th graders will have trouble locating their South American neighbors.  Funny story!  Bolivia made the cut, but no country was luckier than Paraguay, the country that gained a lot of territory without much effort!  "[This] is something that even Paraguay's military generals could not accomplish during their 1864-1870 war against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in which historians say landlocked Paraguay dreamed of capturing a slice of Brazil's coastline."

Who made this map??  Paraguay, after the whole war thing didn't work out?  It seems to me that these countries been in their current locations for awhile - at least since the last textbooks were printed...

When a Christian becomes a Baptist

Shelby and I decided to join a Baptist church.  We've felt right at home among the congregation, beginning the very first Sunday we worshipped there.  We think it's a good fit for our growing family.  To join the church, we had to submit a statement of faith or be baptized by immersion.  I chose option #2, although I have been baptized before.  I used to be Baptist a long time ago, so I wasn't baptized as a baby.  Instead, I was baptized (aka "sprinkled") as a Presbyterian at the unusual age of nine.  Most Presbyterians are baptized as babies, so my shy, nine-year-old self was terribly embarrassed to be so OLD...  I chose to declare my faith in Christ 15 years ago, with my Presbyterian sprinkle.  But as a continuing testimony that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, I did it again, pulling out all the stops.  And it will be very exciting to tell Josie that she was with me when I was baptized!

ONE HUNDRED

Welcome to the 100th post on Wealthy in the Commonwealth!

To mark this occasion, I decided to start using labels on all future (and previous!) posts.  I figure if I had gone too much longer without ever using labels, it would be too time consuming to ever go back and label everything.  So there you have it - a little bit of organization.  

Check out the list of labels at the bottom right hand side of the page...

The Virginian

We went to a birthday party on Saturday night, and I was enlisted to help pick out Shelby's outfit for the occasion.  On a hunch that I might find another VA/KY transplant, I decided he should wear his t-shirt from The Virginian, the restaurant/pub on the Corner in Charlottesville, as bait to lure in other Virginians out there.  Sure enough, a girl from Waynesboro approached us at the party and commented on his shirt!  She moved to Kentucky 12 years ago when her dad was relocated for his job.  We were fast friends.  It turned out to be a good party - not only did I find another Virginian, but there was another pregnant girl there, too.  No t-shirt logo needed for the expectant mothers to find each other in a crowd... :)

Getting ready

TGIF!!

My parents are coming to visit next weekend, so I have exactly one week to get everything ready for our guests.  Shelby is busy with the last minute home improvements, and I am putting the finishing touches on the guest bedroom and bathroom to make their stay oh-so-very comfortable.  I'm also planning our social agenda:   not only is next Saturday is my mom's birthday, but we always like to show them something new around Kentucky each time they visit.

The calendar is filling up, mainly due to the reason for their visit on this particular weekend:  3 baby showers!!  It is already apparent that our little girl will not want for much.  What a blessing to have 3 different people want to host showers for us!  I hope we play the "what's in the diaper" game.  So gross, but so funny!  Better get a laugh out of poopy diapers now, right?  More thoughts on showers later...

This will also be my parents last visit to KY before Josie arrives...  Crazy, but true!  I have a feeling we will spend some of the weekend getting things ready for June, like setting up the crib and planning for their next (super big) trip.  All very exciting, but exciting for the most part juts to see my mom & dad.  Hooray!!

Purse Burglar Caught!

The Purse Burglar has been caught!!  A bit of trivia:

• He is known to have spent over an hour in houses when the homeowners were sleeping.
• Purses were not all that he fancied; he ordered pay-per-view adult movies while he hung out.
• He is being charged with 61 burglaries, among other things.  (Hasn't he been busy!)
• Using the burglarized home's address, he would call for a cab to make his escape.  If the cab didn't pan out, he would take the homeowner's car to get away.
• He confessed!

Detectives say he had "plagued" the East End of Louisville.  One story said the suspect had a death wish.  I'm not sure I buy that one - don't you think if he had a death wish, he would have done something more daring?  Or gone down with something more than purses?  Seems fairly tame to fulfill a death wish, but what do I know!  

Off to watch the 12 o'clock news for more info...

Not to Offend - but you're dumb! PART 2

Re: my previous post - the Winston Man died of cancer last week.  (!!!!)

Not to offend - but you're dumb!

I started seeing a new hairstylist, and over the course of my first h/c with her, I told the entire salon that no one under 60 should smoke.  It occurred to me later that I might have offended the 20- and 30-somethings who were also getting their hair cut, dying for a cigarette break.  But who are we if we don't have opinions?  I'm sticking by it - if you're over 60, you are exempt because you might have been smoking before everyone knew how bad it really is, and you have a 45 year addiction.  It might be hard to quit.  But under 60, well, you know the risks and chose to put your life on the line.  Seriously!

Now I read about college students who have taken up pipe smoking, and I think, "do they think they're cool?"  Not fooling me, Joe Camel.  Smoking is not for me.  In fact, it's not for anyone, unless you have a death wish.  Maybe that is harsh.  But so is smoking, on your lungs (apparently not pipe smoking, but whatever), gums, teeth, throat, etc etc etc etc.  Gross, and dangerous!  

WMST post-graduate work

Liberal Arts degree in Women's Studies.  That's me.  I get funny looks and many comments about how I won't ever do anything with it.  Sorry, folks, wrong.  I use my degree EVERY DAY.  First of all, I am better at my job for going to college in general.  I can research, write, and edit better than a lot of people.  Probably better than anyone who has held my position previously.  (Thanks Mom & Dad.)  Also, the subject I primarily deal with daily is legal protections for women and children, whether it focuses on women in the military, women in relationships, women's health, or women in the workplace.  All the time, I'm telling you!

So I get excited about all things Women's Studies daily.  And I always love to learn about women that I wasn't exposed to during undergrad.  Yesterday, I was drawn to the obituary of Conchita Cintron, expert horsewoman and bullfighting goddess.  What an incredible lady!  I encourage you to read up about her.  A degree in Women's Studies is never complete - there are too many amazing women to ever "graduate."

George Strait sings about it

Most of the pictures I've taken recently have been from the shoulders down - aka a belly pic.  Of course I see my face in the mirror every day, but nothing could have prepared me for head shots taken 6 months into pregnancy.  I just don't look so great.  Not like I used to, anyway.  (Haha.)  It's apparent from the picture that:

- I don't sleep.

- I gave up wearing earrings several months ago.

- My posture has been compromised by my ever-growing midsection.

- I did not get the long, flowing pregnancy locks that everyone dreams about.

Cue the music:  All I can think about now is George Strait's song, "She Let Herself Go."  It's playing on repeat in my head.  Is this what motherhood will bring?  A constant disheveled look for the rest of my life?  What's a pregnant girl to do?  Some ideas:

- Not a lot I can do about the sleep deprivation.  I already feel lazy enough.  But what about concealer to hide those pesky dark circles under my eyes?

- Unless the holes have closed up (doubtful), I should really make an effort to throw on some earrings every once in awhile.  Especially for special occasions (as was the occasion for the above-mentioned picture taking).

- Slug every person who says, "You don't even look pregnant!"  This comment is the only comment I get as a pregnant woman, and it's really starting to get to me.  What do these people expect?  I do look pregnant - my appearance has definitely changed to pregnant-mode!!  1) belly, 2) slouching, 3) never standing for extended periods of time, 4) weight gain, 5) waddle, 6) boobs - come on, it's Obvious.

- Maybe I should switch shampoo.  Haircut is coming next week.