seven quick takes - ed. 29

1. I'm probably the last person to jump on this boat, but I've been trying One-Pot Meals lately, and they are AWESOME. (In case you've been living under a rock even more than I have, one-pot meals are just that... dinners that are all cooked completely in one pot, including the pasta/rice/whatever.) We just tried this one last night, and we all devoured it: Spicy Lemon Chicken Pasta with Tomatoes. Soooo yummy. (The commissary was out of grape and cherry tomatoes this week, so I just used a can of diced tomatoes. Worked fine.)

2. The definition of terrible: going to Guam's Department of Vital Statistics and Social Security Office... in the same day... with a 4-year-old, a 23-month-old, and a newborn... and waiting for 4 hours in total. I may have PTSD. I'll let you know.

3. In case you missed it, I'm sharing a free printable baby book with you. (I posted about it here.) Share with anyone who might enjoy!

4. It's a bit of a long read, but this article does a terrific job outlining the history of medical training and summarizing why it's so messed up. I'm sure the book that the article cites does an even better job... but I haven't read it. So I can't say.

Training Young Doctors: The Current Crisis

5. This video made me laugh. A lot. It's only 15 seconds, so you should watch it too.

6. This is really cool: Step Into a Van Gogh with a Virtual Reality Tribute to his Famous Paintings

7. Finally, here, have a picture of an adorable one-month-old boy-child. Enjoy.

Head over to link up with Kelly at This Ain't The Lyceum and read more quick takes!

not dead, news, and a present for you

So, not that many people noticed my absence (that's what I get for being an intermittent blogger), but I'm back! And not dead! And decidedly less pregnant!

Meet sweet baby Jackson, born Monday, April 27 at 5:59pm. He's pretty cute. I think we'll keep him.

AND! I have a gift for you, which I meant to share months ago but didn't get around to until now. I was hunting around the internet for a printable baby book (preferably free, because, y'know... free). But I didn't really love any of the options I found. So I decided to make my own. And then I figured, with all that effort put into it, why should I be the only one who gets to enjoy it?

Click to view and download, and please tell me if you have trouble: Woodland Boy Baby Book.

I made it using PicMonkey and this user's fabulous digital scrapbook pack "In The Woods." (Don't worry, according to her terms of use, it's okay to share projects created with her stuff.) And I guess it could work for a baby girl too, if you don't mind a lot of blues and greens. I inserted the pages into sheet protectors and used a 3-ring binder (which I plan on cute-i-fying at some point).

The thing I love about printables for things like this is you can pick and choose which pages you want. I did design it so that, if all the pages are used in the order given, opposing pages will match or coordinate, but it's all from the same scrapbook pack, so it all coordinates, really. So if you rearrange things, it won't make much difference in aesthetics.

So if you or anyone you know is in the market for a free baby book, please share!