ponderings, musings, etc.

[mamajoan]

I have enough points saved up at http://www.mypoints.com to get a reward. I can get a $25 gift card for Target or Old Navy or Toys-R-Us, or a $25 "webcertificate" which is basically like a credit card, so you can use it anywhere that takes credit cards. I am pondering what to do with this. The Toys-R-Us near me is closing, so that doesn't sound as attractive as it might have a few months ago. Of course, we still have a Babies-R-Us and maybe I'll need baby stuff. But then I can also get that stuff at Target, with the added benefit of also having other stuff. Or maybe I should get the webcertificate, except then I can only shop online...ahh, decisions.

(The MyPoints program is pretty neat overall, although I'm a little annoyed that they recently discontinued the option to receive text-only email. The webmail program I use for that email account will only deign to display images from HTML email about once a week, so the MyPoints emails tend to pile up in my inbox. But aside from that complaint, it's a nice program. You just click the links in the emails to get points; and you can get more points by shopping through the site or signing up for mailing lists or what have you. If you decide to join, don't forget to put me in as the person who referred you! ;) )

I'm also pondering the microwave question. It has been suggested to me that I should ask for a microwave as a birthday/baby/whatever gift. Yes, it is true, it's the year 2006 and I live in America and have a child and don't have a microwave. No particular reason really, just inertia. Well, and lack of counter space. I'm not really sure where I'd put a microwave if I got one; I'd want it to be pretty small. I'm torn though. I definitely think it would be useful, but I've gone so long without it, it would feel weird to have one. Is that silly? OK, it's silly, you can say it. I can take it.

Something I really need to stop "pondering" and take actual action on, is getting a new bed for Isaac. I really would like to get him a new bed and get it into our apartment and at least start transitioning him into it, well before the baby arrives, so he won't associate the new baby with getting "kicked out" of his bed -- even though I don't really expect Cosmo to spend much time in the crib for the first while. Anyway, I am highly dubious about whether a twin bed will fit into that room along with the crib, but I want to at least start looking into it. I think Isaac is going to be resistant at first, so I better get crackin'.

Comments

[abbylee]

If you got through baby years with Issac without thinking you needed a microwave, and you're not sure you'd find the room, then I say don't bother getting one. Or keep it off your list so that if you do end up decided that you need one, you can buy exactly what you want then.

I lived by myself quite happily without a microwave. My mom bought me one as a present when she saw a nice one on sale. I use it only to heat up wax; otherwise it just takes up space.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, about 90% of the time I'm in the "I've lived without it this long so I don't really need it" camp. But then occasionally I see how convenient it is (at the office, or a friend's house) or I have a frustrating dinner-prep experience that highlights how much a microwave could have helped, or whatever. And then I start thinking, "geez, the things aren't even that expensive any more, maybe I should just get one already."

[opadit.livejournal.com]

I've gone without a microwave for almost two years now, since I split from my ex-husband. Since I don't eat meat, I never encounter, say, a hunk of roast that failed to thaw during the day. The only time I miss it is when I need to melt butter for baking, but even then I just kind of go "old school" and melt it in a saucepan, like in the olden days. Or when I need to reheat some leftovers, and using the oven or a saucepan, or making the leftovers into soup, just won't work.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we don't eat meat so I never have that issue either. My main thing right now is that we get home from work/daycare at 6:45 or 7, and I have to start bedtime stuff at 8:15 or 8:30, so I have a very limited amount of time in which to: prepare dinner, cook dinner, eat dinner, and then ideally spend some actual quality time with Isaac as well. And some of the parts of preparing and cooking dinner that take the longest, might take a lot less time if I had a microwave. And I feel, without any real actual evidence, that this is going to become even more of an issue once I have two kids. I could be wrong about that, but who knows?

[kenboy.livejournal.com]

I think I use mine most often for thawing things -- almost always a tupperware (or repurposed plastic packaging from a container of something from a store) container full of sauce or chili or something like that -- the big pot full of stuff I tend to make on Saturday or Sunday and then freeze.

Aside from that, I melt butter in it, which is nice because I can do it in a small bowl instead of getting a small saucepan dirty... I sometimes thaw frozen uncooked meat, which I know isn't an issue for you, but just for the sake of completeness, I'll mention it -- I'll sometimes thaw ground meat in it, and very occasionally chicken, or sausage, but very rarely anything else, because it usually starts to cook when I only wanted it to thaw.

Oh, and things like frozen bagels or english muffins -- 30 seconds in the microwave, and them into the toaster oven. Or heating up takeout food that cooled off too much in the car.

And also, Nathaniel likes those Quaker instant oatmeals. I just put the pouch full of pseudo-oatmeal into a bowl, add half a cup of water, and nuke for a minute.

So I keep thinking of more uses, which means it's definitely convenient, but it's not really a lifesaver. For me, at least.

[sophie-spence.livejournal.com]

I use my microwave a lot.

I mainly use it to reheat (as opposed to cook) main dishes. I especially like it for solo lunches or dinners because you can reheat a single serving of spaghetti or whatever on a plate and there's no pan or skillet to wash. It's really handy for steaming fresh or frozen veggies if dinner looks a little skimpy at the last minute. I also use it to soften butter (for recipes and for toast in the summertime when we store butter in the refrigerator) and to melt chocolate to make a quickie chocolate sauce for ice cream.

I used to use it a lot for middle-of-the-night hot chocolate or hot milk or tea when I was walking the floor with a teething baby or feverish toddler. MUCH faster than stovetop, easy to do with one hand, and, again, no pan, just the mug to wash. I remember what late pregnancy/early baby is like and you have all my sympathies.

My single neighbor cooks "serves six" or "serves eight" recipes on weekends when his daughter is visiting, and freezes the leftovers in single-serving containers to thaw and reheat in the microwave after work. He says he likes the variety better than eating the same soup or whatever three nights in a row. My older daughter has Lean Cuisine-type dinners on nights when she can't eat with the family and I think we'll see more and more of that as time goes on.

Downsides (1) at first you have to be careful about the bowls/plates/containers you cook and reheat in - not everything is microwave-safe. (2) we have a lot of dinners where everyone is eating something different, because the microwave makes it so easy - a bowl of soup for me, oatmeal for my youngest, etc. (3) it takes a little trial and error to figure out times and power levels and it is SO frustrating when you melt the butter you were trying to soften or steam the carrots into mush.