Rock To Wind A String Around

Exciting times here in casa Cowtown.  I’ve been unloading our excess for the past two days, and it feels great.  The trash bin is full, there are a half dozen boxes in the garage for Goodwill.  It feels very freeing.

After our wild ride to Goodwill, we’re off to Sherwin Williams to pick out a wallpaper border for the bathroom (the counter top we ordered came with a teeny back splash.  It doesn’t cover as much as the previous back splash so there is a line in the paint and the wall isn’t as tidy.  Wallpaper border is never my first choice, but this seemed to be the best way to rectify the situation).  After that, we’re off to Macy’s to pick!  up!  Albert’s pants!!!  Can you imagine a more exciting life?  If we’re all very lucky, there may be a stop at Sephora too to exchange my moisturizer.

Cling to the edge of your seat a little longer–I’ll be sure to fill in all the points you miss later on!

Okay, a quick question…

I’ve noticed that a number of you have posted recent pictures of yourselves at home.  You all look charming, let me assure you.  You also look woefully under-dressed.   You have short sleeves on, your children are barefoot, or nakey.  I am bundled in a long sleeve shirt and a heavy sweater and it’s still pretty cool in here.  How are you keeping warm?  Is your heat set on 80?  Is it just more efficient than mine?  Maybe your blood is thicker than ours? Cause it’s not just me–we’re all chilly here.

Tell me your secrets, warm ones!

And now, some joy to warm your hearts (cause I may be cold, but I’m also sappy)

One of the clear benefits to life in the suburbs is knowing the neighbors.  I have plenty of babysitters to choose from,  people keep an eye on things when we go away,  and neighbors stand at the ready when a disaster strikes.  Today, I tried to clear the copious mounds of snow from my walks and driveway–some kind soul had already cleared the common sidewalk with a snow blower, but the enormous driveway and walkway to the front door were waiting for my shovel.  Once AM was napping, I bundled up, pulled on Albert’s snow boots and started digging out.  I could only throw the fluffy stuff–there’s a layer of ice trapping additional snow and I didn’t begin to clear that today.  I finished the walk in less than 20 minutes and started on the drive when kindly neighbor D opened his own garage across the street.  He was on his way out the door, noticed my efforts and disappeared, only to come back out five minutes later, snow clothes on, pushing the world’s largest snow blower.  I choose not to own a snow blower–so unkind to the earth (much like the leaf blower Albert bought in the fall) but am more than willing to allow nice neighbors to clear my drive with theirs, especially when they can do it so much faster than I can with the shovel.  Hmm,  feeling a little lot hypocritical about using something I refuse to own, but I’m LOVING my neighbor.

Tomorrow I’ll use my big machinery to benefit him–I’m baking some cookies to send across the street.

Snow seems to be today’s theme.  Last night, our 35 minute commute from choir took almost 90 minutes but we made it back before the ice began to fall.  I’ve never heard a louder snow storm–it sounded like pencils hitting the roof for simply hours.  Sometime in the wee hours the ice turned back to snow and it just keeps coming.  Although we should do a ton of schoolwork today to make up for last week’s convalescence, I think we’ll take a snow say like the rest of Cowtown.  We have all sorts of Valentine projects waiting, and we never did watch a Christmas Story during the holidays.  It’s waiting for us on the dvr–maybe Elliott and I will cozy up during Astrid Meklit’s nap and have a puff party.  A puff party (for those not from Waltham Massachusetts–hi Miss Kerry!) is a snuggle session on the couch under a big fluffy comforter, popcorn optional.  We never seem to take the time for one any more, despite our mutual love of both puffs and parties, so here’s our chance.

Thanks for listening to me whine and sweetly supporting me.  This role is no different than any of the others that keep Albert out of town, it was just unanticipated.  We are terribly grateful for continued employment, a chance to visit DC frequently, and work Albert enjoys.  The freedom to hog the garage all week is a fringe benefit too

Maybe a wordless post later after we: clean the basement, paint a picture, make some banana bread, and conduct the longed for puff party.

Don’t shoot your eye out!!!

Thank goodness that’s over with.  There was a chance, a pretty sizable chance mind you, that Albert would work in town for the next few years.  It’s been on the wind for about 6 months now, so we’ve had our fingers crossed that this role would be Albert’s for the next 18-24 months.  Today, Albert started his new role– you know, the one in DC, (um, where we don’t live). For 6 months I fretted that I’d be forced to see my husband every day.  Whew! I am so glad I’m not faced with 18-24 months of nightly family dinners.  I’m also glad that there’s no need to share evening parenting–bedtime, bath time, toy cleanup, laundry—all mine!  Hooray for a bed to myself, an empty couch, and evening phone calls.  Thank you Albert’s job for providing so amply and for reliably keeping Albert all to yourself each week, year after year.

Peaches and sunshine back tomorrow…

Mainly today is delicious because Albert is back home for the weekend, my children are healthy, and my new president has beautiful hands a vision for a brighter tomorrow. I do have a recipe to share, although it is the simplest dish ever.  More a non-recipe really.  As much as I love to cook, I rarely experiment with the creation of my own dishes.  I’ll tamper with someone else’s recipe, but I leave recipe creation to others.  Today is different though.

Today, a new dish is born!

Sweet potatoes with caramelized pear

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Add 2 T of olive oil and a teaspoon of chopped garlic to a large baking dish (at least 9 by 13)

Wash and coarsely chop a large pear and add to dish, coat pieces of pear in oil.

Put into oven for 10-15 minutes while you peel and chop 2 large sweet potatoes.

Add the sweet potatoes to the baking dish, making sure to combine the pears with the potatoes

Place in oven for 45minutes to 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so.

A sprinkling of rosemary (preferably fresh) should be added in the last 15 minutes of baking.

See, a total non recipe, which I would normally refuse to share except that it was so divine.  The pears add just enough sweetness to the potatoes without turning this into some sort of marshmallow-topped candy-coated side dish.  Everything was brown and delicious when this came out of the oven–the caramelized pears were the making of the dish.  I served these with black-eyed peas, turnip greens, and a grits soufflé late last week, pretending once more that growing up in the Florida means, ‘being from the south.’

Enjoy your sweet potatoes, y’all!

Following emergency surgery, it’s best to allow the patient to:

a.  regain lost computer priveleges

b.  make otherwise unreasonable requests about food and beverage selection

c. visit thrift stores

d.  attend choir practice

e.  all of the above

Let’s hear it for e.   Honestly, the boy is the picture of health.  Although a little more fatigued than usual and a little tender, he’s otherwise fine.  Pops (who hopped into the car mere minutes after our initial call to drive from FL to OH for the week) provides all the sweet elixir needed to promote health and wellness in the newly appendix-less. Elliott won’t be cleared for physical activity anytime soon, so no homeschool gym or tennis (or dishwasher duties) but everything else is good to go.

Feeling optimistic today about the health of my boy, the health of my nation…

Don’t know about you, but personally, I was not planning to spend my weekend in the Children’s Hospital. We had a family movie night planned, and a trip to the library planned, but not a single plan that included a family trip to the hospital. Luckily, Elliott’s appendix knew just what we needed to make the weekend festive and we zipped off to urgent care yesterday afternoon. That boy is a lucky duck. Less than 10 hours from his first twinge, and he was an organ lighter.

He and Albert actually went rock climbing just an hour before the infection flared and initially, we thought he might have pulled something. Although Elliott is not a stoic about illness and injury (in fact, he really likes to tell ya how he feels) this situation seemed a little more urgent than most of his complaints so we called the doctor who promptly sent us off to urgent care. By the time we got there, Elliott couldn’t walk–he became the most pitiful little lump on the  cholera-laden floor.  Urgent care looked at him for 3 seconds and sent us off to the hospital.  He got sicker and sicker as his fever spiked. but at least he was lying in a bed instead of on the floor.  With the help of our heroic babysitter, Astrid got to bed at a decent hour and we were both at the hospital during the surgery, which went splendidly.

Super-sitter  Angela returns in a minute so Astrid can finish napping while I go back to pick up Albert and the boy.  Elliott is aglow with good health, and good bingo winnings.  This hospital stay has been so pleasant, he may wish he had another organ to spare.

As for me, I can’t believe how calm I’ve been through the whole shebang.  I wasn’t even nervous when they wheeled him back for surgery.  Although I’d have preferred a library trip, I’ll take major illnesses like these anytime..