NICU Twist to Sandy

New York University Hospital Langone Medical Center relied on generators to keep the power going to sustain the 200+ patients they were caring for during Hurricane Sandy.  When these generators started to fail, the staff needed to get the patients out to hospitals unaffected by the power outtage.

These patients included 20 NICU babies, several on machine-run respirators.

The valiant NICU nurses unplugged the babies, grabbed manual breathing masks and physically breathed for the babies while they evacuated.  The nurses jumped on a stretcher and cradled the babies while pumping oxygen into their undeveloped lungs while being wheeled to safety.

The very thought of that brings tears to my eyes.  Then I saw this picture.

And the tears were no longer in my eyes.  This may be one of the most moving pictures I've ever seen.  There are no words. 

Wanna Be My BFF?

How do you meet friends when you're new in a city, stay at home with your young child and don't really know anyone but your neighbors?  I've been to some meetup.com groups and didn't meet anyone worth the effort of extroverting myself for (yes, I verbed extrovert).  I met a few people on BabyCenter and one was absolutely fabulous (!!) but then her husband just HAD to take a better job in Ohio.

There are women in my neighborhood I see taking walks with their children roughly Munchkin's age but unless we all show up to a neighborhood event, how do I invite someone to a playdate without seeming like a completely creepy stalker-mom?

For example, Munchkin and I are sitting in the living room playing with stickers and I see a mom stroll by with her little one.  How do I approach her?  I think tearing out my front door chasing after them yelling "do you want to hang out?!?!" is probably out of the question.

And when I pass one on a walk when we're on a walk?  How do I just stop her cold in her tracks and ask them over without her thinking "wow, this woman is desperate"?

Le sigh.

Do you want to be my friend? :)

It Is NOT The Same

There are posts on message boards all over the internet touting applesauce used in place of oil when baking doesn't change consistency or taste in said baked goods.

I'm here to tell you that's a freakin' lie.  I used applesauce in brownies instead of oil and.....dear god, the brownies turned out disgusting.  Mealy with almost a gelatin consistency after you start to eat it.

I'll take my brownies full of fat, like God intended, thankyouverymuch.

Fall Wreath

I've been feeling craftier lately.  I love to craft but haven't been able to really undertake any projects in the last two years.  I've been a tad, ahem, busy.

However, I would like to change this so Hubs watches Munchkin so I can have some time to do some things I love.  And we really needed a Fall Season wreath for our front door to spruce things up a little, so I did some research and came up with this. (Keep in mind this is my first attempt and I think it's a work in progress.  I'll post an update if I change it.)