today i learned that my short haircut is perfect for driving on the highway with music blasting and all four windows down.
i also learned that when i have random papers on the floor of the back of my car, they will fly out all four of my down windows while i rock out to my music and enjoy not having to worry about having a hair tie stashed in the car.
oops.
seriously though, i haven't been able to do the windows-down hair test since i got it cut back in october. it was either too cold or too rainy or too full of mischa or too some other extenuating circumstance, so today was the first time i had all of my windows all the way down since the big chop.
it passed the test with flying colors, by the way. my hair would go in my face today, but there were no longer such crazy amounts of it that it rendered me unable to see the cars in front of me or in my peripherals. i can actually drive safely with my hair down, instead of realizing shortly after hitting the cruise control button at 65 mph that my massive amounts of hair are going to continue to whip me in the eyes and mouth, causing me to start the blind-one-hand search for the elusive hair tie that got to be too annoying to stay on my wrist. nope, instead i got to enjoy worry free summer time cruising.
just as i was getting used to my awesome new freedom from crazy wind-whipped hair, however, i noticed something white dancing around in my rearview. it flipped and turned and crinkled, and then it was gone. i watched it shrink as it sped away from me in the side view mirror. and before i had a chance to react, another one decided to follow suit. after the third piece of paper took off with reckless abandon from the floor behind my seat, i decided i had to put an end to my wonderfully breezy ride and roll up the back windows to avoid a large littering fine.
i cranked the music louder to compensate.
it was a good drive home.
4.30.2010
4.29.2010
the power of corn
today i learned that memories you didn't even remember having can surface at lightning speed after a trigger you would never expect.
actually, i probably half-knew this already, but i relearned it tonight, at the very least.
it was the simplest thing. i was getting dinner ready, cutting up my tomatoes and rocking out to kris allen with the windows open and feeling good and content with life. and then, i pulled the ears of corn out of the fridge to shuck them and get them ready for the grill.
it was like getting hit with a memory mack truck. i'm not sure if it was the sight of the corn, with their soft white silks hanging out the tops, or the way the leaves felt, cool and rough in my hands, but i'm guessing it was the way they smelled. you know that fresh corn-on-the-cob smell you get when you first pick an ear up and you catch a whiff? it's a sweet, juicy smell with a little soil and fresh air mixed in. heaven. and all of a sudden, all i could think of was summer evenings spent barefoot on the back porch with my mom, shucking ear after ear of corn for dinner and throwing the husks into brown paper bags (back when it wasn't a sin to ask for paper at the grocery store). and of course, murphy's law sped up the iPod and put on kris allen's slow and sweet song, and my evening of happy contentment turned into one of mellow reflection.
i've had several moments since the wedding where i realize all over again that i'm married and i really am a grown up now and the whole childhood thing is over. but as time went on, they became few and far between, and up until tonight, i was quite glad to be a grown up, living in a house that i bought with a husband i adore and a dog who makes our house feel full, and thoughts and hopes of things to come. not that i'm not still glad to have all of those things.
but that corn.
for the 10 minutes it took me to get it shucked and ready to go, i was transported back to the back porch with my mom, learning how to be a cook and a mother, a wife and a woman. and a few tears pushed their way out as i listened to kris allen singing his goodbyes to a lost love as i realized that that is a time in my life that's not coming back. it was almost like saying my final goodbyes to a part of myself that i can't bring back. i can remember, i can try to recreate, but i can never truly bring back the back porch moments. it's a beautiful, bittersweet thing to know that it's a part of my past, because i've been blessed with an amazing present, and hope for the future, but it still makes me ache a little bit. and i have a feeling this won't be the last time i remember without expecting, the last time i cry, or the last time i realize all over again that i'm done being a kid, and my job now is to make new back porch memories with the family i've created.
it's good to remember.
bring on the corn.
actually, i probably half-knew this already, but i relearned it tonight, at the very least.
it was the simplest thing. i was getting dinner ready, cutting up my tomatoes and rocking out to kris allen with the windows open and feeling good and content with life. and then, i pulled the ears of corn out of the fridge to shuck them and get them ready for the grill.
it was like getting hit with a memory mack truck. i'm not sure if it was the sight of the corn, with their soft white silks hanging out the tops, or the way the leaves felt, cool and rough in my hands, but i'm guessing it was the way they smelled. you know that fresh corn-on-the-cob smell you get when you first pick an ear up and you catch a whiff? it's a sweet, juicy smell with a little soil and fresh air mixed in. heaven. and all of a sudden, all i could think of was summer evenings spent barefoot on the back porch with my mom, shucking ear after ear of corn for dinner and throwing the husks into brown paper bags (back when it wasn't a sin to ask for paper at the grocery store). and of course, murphy's law sped up the iPod and put on kris allen's slow and sweet song, and my evening of happy contentment turned into one of mellow reflection.
i've had several moments since the wedding where i realize all over again that i'm married and i really am a grown up now and the whole childhood thing is over. but as time went on, they became few and far between, and up until tonight, i was quite glad to be a grown up, living in a house that i bought with a husband i adore and a dog who makes our house feel full, and thoughts and hopes of things to come. not that i'm not still glad to have all of those things.
but that corn.
for the 10 minutes it took me to get it shucked and ready to go, i was transported back to the back porch with my mom, learning how to be a cook and a mother, a wife and a woman. and a few tears pushed their way out as i listened to kris allen singing his goodbyes to a lost love as i realized that that is a time in my life that's not coming back. it was almost like saying my final goodbyes to a part of myself that i can't bring back. i can remember, i can try to recreate, but i can never truly bring back the back porch moments. it's a beautiful, bittersweet thing to know that it's a part of my past, because i've been blessed with an amazing present, and hope for the future, but it still makes me ache a little bit. and i have a feeling this won't be the last time i remember without expecting, the last time i cry, or the last time i realize all over again that i'm done being a kid, and my job now is to make new back porch memories with the family i've created.
it's good to remember.
bring on the corn.
4.28.2010
home plate
today i learned that a boring baseball game is boring no matter where you watch it from, even if it's from behind home plate.
long story short: sam's dad bought 3 reading phillies tickets for himself, sam, and sam's brother-in-law for monday night's game. but, if you were in reading on monday night, you know that it was pouring down rain ALL DAY, so the game was cancelled. the ticket holders were entitled to go to tonight's game, but with the change of date, sam's brother-in-law could no longer make it, so i was invited along. i haven't seen any baseball yet this season, and i needed some time out of the house in fresh air, so i of course accepted.
i knew it was going to be a chilly night, so i layered it up, and when we arrived, i followed my dad-in-law to our seats. i was quite excited when we plopped ourselves down just a few rows back from (and a few seats to the left of) home plate. it's not saying much at a reading phillies game, but that's the closest i've ever sat to the field at any game.
unfortunately, by the middle of the first inning, we were down 3 to nothing. and then 5 to nothing. and all those good seats did for me was help me to get a better view of all of the terrible pitches as they zoomed towards us. by the sixth inning, the score was 5-1 (whooooooo) and the only exciting thing that occurred was 2 of the outfielders running into each other because they couldn't listen to one another as they frantically yelled "got it" and waved their arms while their heads were cocked back at 90 degree angles to track the ball instead of each other. and the crazy hot dog vendor, of course. but it was nice to have some time out and about with the hubby and dad-in-law, so i'm not disappointed in the evening.
it's just good to know.
long story short: sam's dad bought 3 reading phillies tickets for himself, sam, and sam's brother-in-law for monday night's game. but, if you were in reading on monday night, you know that it was pouring down rain ALL DAY, so the game was cancelled. the ticket holders were entitled to go to tonight's game, but with the change of date, sam's brother-in-law could no longer make it, so i was invited along. i haven't seen any baseball yet this season, and i needed some time out of the house in fresh air, so i of course accepted.
i knew it was going to be a chilly night, so i layered it up, and when we arrived, i followed my dad-in-law to our seats. i was quite excited when we plopped ourselves down just a few rows back from (and a few seats to the left of) home plate. it's not saying much at a reading phillies game, but that's the closest i've ever sat to the field at any game.
unfortunately, by the middle of the first inning, we were down 3 to nothing. and then 5 to nothing. and all those good seats did for me was help me to get a better view of all of the terrible pitches as they zoomed towards us. by the sixth inning, the score was 5-1 (whooooooo) and the only exciting thing that occurred was 2 of the outfielders running into each other because they couldn't listen to one another as they frantically yelled "got it" and waved their arms while their heads were cocked back at 90 degree angles to track the ball instead of each other. and the crazy hot dog vendor, of course. but it was nice to have some time out and about with the hubby and dad-in-law, so i'm not disappointed in the evening.
it's just good to know.
4.26.2010
fashion is all about youth
today i learned that i fit into a youth xl sweatshirt.
the sleeves aren't quite as long as i'd like, but it'll do in a pinch.
i got into work this morning, and after a cold, rainy weekend, my classroom was damp and freeeeeeeeeeezing. and they shut our heat off back in march. and i left my sweater draped over one of the dining room chairs. and my fleece jacket just wasn't warm enough on its own. so i'm looking all over hoping that i left a sweater in the closet (which i hadn't) when i saw one of our spare sweatshirts we got for the kids in the event of an accident hanging out in the corner. it still had the sticker on it even. XL XL XL XL all down the front on this sticker. i'm pretty sure i got that little frowny "i'm thinking" face as my eyes landed on it. at first i thought there was no way it would fit me, but i was so cold i probably would have tried to squeeze into a newborn's onesie. so i pick it up and i do that shopping move you see all the time when women feel too lazy to take something to the dressing room and just hold it up to ourselves and wrap it around us to try and surreptitiously figure out if it's going to fit us. surprisingly, it seemed like it may just fit, so taking a quick look around to make sure i really was the only one there, i pulled it on over my head.
right when the waist band reached my belly button, i expected to run out of slack, but it kept on going. it hit right at my hips so that my collared t-shirt poked out the bottom the way all the cool girls do, and the collar popped right out and laid neatly on top. but the best part was that it was all soft and new and warm inside. exactly what i needed.
i wore it the rest of the day. in fact, i'm wearing it right now.
and i'm still warm.
the sleeves aren't quite as long as i'd like, but it'll do in a pinch.
i got into work this morning, and after a cold, rainy weekend, my classroom was damp and freeeeeeeeeeezing. and they shut our heat off back in march. and i left my sweater draped over one of the dining room chairs. and my fleece jacket just wasn't warm enough on its own. so i'm looking all over hoping that i left a sweater in the closet (which i hadn't) when i saw one of our spare sweatshirts we got for the kids in the event of an accident hanging out in the corner. it still had the sticker on it even. XL XL XL XL all down the front on this sticker. i'm pretty sure i got that little frowny "i'm thinking" face as my eyes landed on it. at first i thought there was no way it would fit me, but i was so cold i probably would have tried to squeeze into a newborn's onesie. so i pick it up and i do that shopping move you see all the time when women feel too lazy to take something to the dressing room and just hold it up to ourselves and wrap it around us to try and surreptitiously figure out if it's going to fit us. surprisingly, it seemed like it may just fit, so taking a quick look around to make sure i really was the only one there, i pulled it on over my head.
right when the waist band reached my belly button, i expected to run out of slack, but it kept on going. it hit right at my hips so that my collared t-shirt poked out the bottom the way all the cool girls do, and the collar popped right out and laid neatly on top. but the best part was that it was all soft and new and warm inside. exactly what i needed.
i wore it the rest of the day. in fact, i'm wearing it right now.
and i'm still warm.
4.25.2010
iron water
today i learned that if there is water in my iron from the last time i used it, it will spew water everywhere when i plug it in and turn it on.
literally spew water. all over the stuff i'm trying to iron. so that i have to move the iron back and forth over the same spot a hundred million times to get it to dry.
fortunately for me, i wasn't really ironing anything all that important, and there was no time crunch involved, so it's not like it was a huge deal. just a bit of a nuisance. when i decided that i couldn't stand the wrinkly duvet cover and curtains in the guest room a second longer and hauled them downstairs to make my grandmothers proud, i didn't count on having to wrestle with my iron just to prevent it from soaking my already sad looking bedding and window treatments.
it was a nice way to spend an hour though, standing at the ironing board watching friends with the late morning sun pouring in the back door as i watched the wrinkles disappear into smooth, beautiful linens. very therapeutic. and the guest room looks really fantastic now. the process was just a little more involved than i expected it to be. and i just realized that when i put the iron away, i forgot to drain the water.
oops.
literally spew water. all over the stuff i'm trying to iron. so that i have to move the iron back and forth over the same spot a hundred million times to get it to dry.
fortunately for me, i wasn't really ironing anything all that important, and there was no time crunch involved, so it's not like it was a huge deal. just a bit of a nuisance. when i decided that i couldn't stand the wrinkly duvet cover and curtains in the guest room a second longer and hauled them downstairs to make my grandmothers proud, i didn't count on having to wrestle with my iron just to prevent it from soaking my already sad looking bedding and window treatments.
it was a nice way to spend an hour though, standing at the ironing board watching friends with the late morning sun pouring in the back door as i watched the wrinkles disappear into smooth, beautiful linens. very therapeutic. and the guest room looks really fantastic now. the process was just a little more involved than i expected it to be. and i just realized that when i put the iron away, i forgot to drain the water.
oops.
4.24.2010
sam = bob vila. kinda.
today i learned that a great way to motivate my husband to paint our basement without recruiting my help is to get a couch delivered that actually fits into the house.
seriously, he's down there painting right this second. otherwise i'd have pictures to show you of couch #3.
when we moved into our house, our first order of business was to repaint our lavender basement. in an attempt to be trendy and current, we decided to do a green-grey color for the stairwell, laundry room, and back wall of the sitting area, and then a tan color for the other three walls of the sitting area. we loved the grey-green. we did not love the tan. it looked like poop. we hoped it would grow on us over time. it did not. we figured we would repaint it the grey-green color at some point, but never got around to it.
when we found this sofa last week (try #3 sofa), we thought maybe its color would help the tan wall color look better since we were slackers and still hadn't painted.
we were wrong.
don't tell sam, but i thought the color of the sofas with the walls just made our basement look like the inside of a diaper. hence why i was so, so excited when he went to see if we had enough of the paint left to redo those three horribly colored walls today. and luckily, we did. so he sent me out for more pads for the edger, and by the time i got back, he had the first coat on two of the walls already (with the exception of the edges, of course). already, it looked SO. MUCH. BETTER.
i'll post pictures once he's done. which, at this rate, will probably be in the next five minutes.
i <3 my hubby.
(and my basement)
seriously, he's down there painting right this second. otherwise i'd have pictures to show you of couch #3.
when we moved into our house, our first order of business was to repaint our lavender basement. in an attempt to be trendy and current, we decided to do a green-grey color for the stairwell, laundry room, and back wall of the sitting area, and then a tan color for the other three walls of the sitting area. we loved the grey-green. we did not love the tan. it looked like poop. we hoped it would grow on us over time. it did not. we figured we would repaint it the grey-green color at some point, but never got around to it.
when we found this sofa last week (try #3 sofa), we thought maybe its color would help the tan wall color look better since we were slackers and still hadn't painted.
we were wrong.
don't tell sam, but i thought the color of the sofas with the walls just made our basement look like the inside of a diaper. hence why i was so, so excited when he went to see if we had enough of the paint left to redo those three horribly colored walls today. and luckily, we did. so he sent me out for more pads for the edger, and by the time i got back, he had the first coat on two of the walls already (with the exception of the edges, of course). already, it looked SO. MUCH. BETTER.
i'll post pictures once he's done. which, at this rate, will probably be in the next five minutes.
i <3 my hubby.
(and my basement)
4.23.2010
brinner coma
today i learned that if, on a friday night of a very long week, i cook a huge dinner consisting strictly of breakfast foods, and then after eating i cuddle up with sam under my new t-shirt quilt while watching friends, i will fall asleep at 7:30 in the evening.
i think this one is pretty self-explanatory.
every friday night that we've been at home since we've been married, sam and i eat brinner together (breakfast for dinner). this week felt like it lasted eight years for both of us, so we were both pretty tired and ready for a night of nothing. we ate a lot of carb heavy foods (g-free blueberry pancakes with syrup much?) and then, instead of doing the dishes right away, we curled up under the biggest blanket we could find (hello t-shirt quilt!) and had a throwback to college by watching friends.
an hour later, i wake up with contacts that feel like they've been glued to my eye balls.
i dragged myself off the couch, threw the leftover pancakes in the freezer, hauled myself and the laptop upstairs, and got ready for bed. now, it's 9 o'clock on a friday night and my glasses are on, my teeth have been brushed AND flossed (cause the dentist told me on tuesday that if i don't floss, my teeth will fall out of my head), my face has been washed, my medicines have been taken, and i'm comfortably propped up in bed.
and friends is still on :-D
i think this one is pretty self-explanatory.
every friday night that we've been at home since we've been married, sam and i eat brinner together (breakfast for dinner). this week felt like it lasted eight years for both of us, so we were both pretty tired and ready for a night of nothing. we ate a lot of carb heavy foods (g-free blueberry pancakes with syrup much?) and then, instead of doing the dishes right away, we curled up under the biggest blanket we could find (hello t-shirt quilt!) and had a throwback to college by watching friends.
an hour later, i wake up with contacts that feel like they've been glued to my eye balls.
i dragged myself off the couch, threw the leftover pancakes in the freezer, hauled myself and the laptop upstairs, and got ready for bed. now, it's 9 o'clock on a friday night and my glasses are on, my teeth have been brushed AND flossed (cause the dentist told me on tuesday that if i don't floss, my teeth will fall out of my head), my face has been washed, my medicines have been taken, and i'm comfortably propped up in bed.
and friends is still on :-D
4.22.2010
yum yum yummy yum yum
I MISSED ANOTHER DAY. i hate that. just cause i'm busy doesn't mean i can't sit down and type meaningless drivel to a faceless audience that is most likely just killing time or avoiding work.
now that that's off of my chest.
today i learned that the "techniques" lady at wegman's makes a mean g-free pasta dish.
my wonderful mother heard about a "celiac awareness night" at the new wegman's in collegeville thanks to a well-placed flyer at her allergist's office. so, we decided to check it out. we were under the impression that we would get some recipes and such, which wasn't exactly true, but we did get to hear some interesting information that even my mom, after her many research frenzies, had not found. and at the end, they gave us a tour around the wegman's store, showing us where their gluten free stuff is (which i already knew about) and letting us taste some yummy yummy yummy food.
some lady named peg or pam or patti or something is stationed at an overtly obvious stand near the door under a sign reading "techniques" where she cooks food for people to try. i was so busy looking at the big skillet of gf pasta and veggies she was cooking that i didn't notice much else. i know she used "schar" pasta (which is probably what i will exclusively buy from now on), and she cut up tomatoes and onions in it, and then some asparagus too. she also GRILLED the asparagus (which is awesome, i'll be doing that too) and tossed it in using the "wegman's basting oil", which i would buy if i could afford it. and then they gave it to us in a tiny little cup and i practically ate it in one bite because it was so good, and i think i will be dreaming about it tonight.
mmm.
now that that's off of my chest.
today i learned that the "techniques" lady at wegman's makes a mean g-free pasta dish.
my wonderful mother heard about a "celiac awareness night" at the new wegman's in collegeville thanks to a well-placed flyer at her allergist's office. so, we decided to check it out. we were under the impression that we would get some recipes and such, which wasn't exactly true, but we did get to hear some interesting information that even my mom, after her many research frenzies, had not found. and at the end, they gave us a tour around the wegman's store, showing us where their gluten free stuff is (which i already knew about) and letting us taste some yummy yummy yummy food.
some lady named peg or pam or patti or something is stationed at an overtly obvious stand near the door under a sign reading "techniques" where she cooks food for people to try. i was so busy looking at the big skillet of gf pasta and veggies she was cooking that i didn't notice much else. i know she used "schar" pasta (which is probably what i will exclusively buy from now on), and she cut up tomatoes and onions in it, and then some asparagus too. she also GRILLED the asparagus (which is awesome, i'll be doing that too) and tossed it in using the "wegman's basting oil", which i would buy if i could afford it. and then they gave it to us in a tiny little cup and i practically ate it in one bite because it was so good, and i think i will be dreaming about it tonight.
mmm.
4.20.2010
minty fresh
today i learned how to make a mint chocolate milkshake using fresh mint.
let me preface this by saying: SO YUMMMMMMMMY.
when sam first moved in to our house back in august, we knew immediately that one of our first spring projects would be to tear up our back garden and re-plant some nice looking things in it. the rusty old tiki torches, the poorly kept easter lilies, and the beat up flag on a run down iron rod were not exactly our taste. so about a month or so ago, my wonderful father come over with his roto-tiller in tow and tore it up old school. it was beautiful. all the yucky nasties were gone, and we were left with a beautiful blank canvas of rich dark earth.
unfortunately, we were so indecisive on what to plant that by the time we had a general idea of what would look nice, we had already spent our garden fund on other things around the house. oops.
what's interesting is that where a perfectly empty flower bed once stood, there is now a big dug-up section of our yard that is overrun by- get this- mint. i wouldn't have known what it was either except that on one of our walk throughs before we bought the house, my mother in law spotted the little herb growing in a corner of the garden and asked if she could take some once we moved in. i wish she would take all of it. correction- i wish she COULD take all of it. this stuff multiplies faster than bunnies in the springtime. we tilled up that entire garden, and the only thing that survived the purge was the mint. it's like the cockroach of the weed world. i have no idea how it does it. but i knew i couldn't just let it go to waste.
so today, i bought some vanilla and chocolate ice cream to make my own mint chocolate milkshake. i plucked a big handful of the overzealous mint and threw it in my magic bullet (which i am so over, by the way. the thing wouldn't blend if you held a gun to it's head) and (attempted) to blend it to a mushy juicy pulp. then i threw in some milk and a bunch of ice cream and let loose. the result was a fresh, creamy, minty treat that was so yummy i'm thinking about going to make another one when i'm done typing this. there's just something about using things that you've "grown" yourself that makes everything taste that much better. i think sometime in the near future i'll be planting basil out there.
pesto, anyone?
let me preface this by saying: SO YUMMMMMMMMY.
when sam first moved in to our house back in august, we knew immediately that one of our first spring projects would be to tear up our back garden and re-plant some nice looking things in it. the rusty old tiki torches, the poorly kept easter lilies, and the beat up flag on a run down iron rod were not exactly our taste. so about a month or so ago, my wonderful father come over with his roto-tiller in tow and tore it up old school. it was beautiful. all the yucky nasties were gone, and we were left with a beautiful blank canvas of rich dark earth.
unfortunately, we were so indecisive on what to plant that by the time we had a general idea of what would look nice, we had already spent our garden fund on other things around the house. oops.
what's interesting is that where a perfectly empty flower bed once stood, there is now a big dug-up section of our yard that is overrun by- get this- mint. i wouldn't have known what it was either except that on one of our walk throughs before we bought the house, my mother in law spotted the little herb growing in a corner of the garden and asked if she could take some once we moved in. i wish she would take all of it. correction- i wish she COULD take all of it. this stuff multiplies faster than bunnies in the springtime. we tilled up that entire garden, and the only thing that survived the purge was the mint. it's like the cockroach of the weed world. i have no idea how it does it. but i knew i couldn't just let it go to waste.
so today, i bought some vanilla and chocolate ice cream to make my own mint chocolate milkshake. i plucked a big handful of the overzealous mint and threw it in my magic bullet (which i am so over, by the way. the thing wouldn't blend if you held a gun to it's head) and (attempted) to blend it to a mushy juicy pulp. then i threw in some milk and a bunch of ice cream and let loose. the result was a fresh, creamy, minty treat that was so yummy i'm thinking about going to make another one when i'm done typing this. there's just something about using things that you've "grown" yourself that makes everything taste that much better. i think sometime in the near future i'll be planting basil out there.
pesto, anyone?
4.19.2010
picture time
today i learned how to add a picture to the header of my blog!
it took a lot of trial and error, but with the help of my much more computer savvy hubby, i got-r-done. i'm very excited. the biggest hurdle was getting it to the right size. i had no problem getting it into the header, but it kept taking up the entire screen when i loaded the web page (very annoying). my initial solution was to reduce the file size, which didn't work at all. so sam reminded me that the file size is only related to quality, not image size, at which point i began messing with the pixel size until i got it to the dimensions i wanted. being my anal-retentive self (and having my anal-retentive husband helping me) i had to get it perfectly positioned inside the little yellow box. 30 re-sizes later, i got it to the perfect size and shape. and now there are pretty tulips smiling at you every time you load up my blog.
awesome!
it took a lot of trial and error, but with the help of my much more computer savvy hubby, i got-r-done. i'm very excited. the biggest hurdle was getting it to the right size. i had no problem getting it into the header, but it kept taking up the entire screen when i loaded the web page (very annoying). my initial solution was to reduce the file size, which didn't work at all. so sam reminded me that the file size is only related to quality, not image size, at which point i began messing with the pixel size until i got it to the dimensions i wanted. being my anal-retentive self (and having my anal-retentive husband helping me) i had to get it perfectly positioned inside the little yellow box. 30 re-sizes later, i got it to the perfect size and shape. and now there are pretty tulips smiling at you every time you load up my blog.
awesome!
4.18.2010
feeding the washer
today i learned that our washer likes to eat my beautiful placemats.
after our spring break cleaning raid of the house, i had a big pile of laundry sitting in the corner waiting to be washed. it was mostly dish towels and wash cloths, mop pads and guest sheets. but i also threw in 2 of these beautiful placemats that my mom got me for christmas. i have a set of 6 or 8 or something, and 2 of them had been hanging out on the kitchen table for awhile collecting crumbs. in my purge of all things dirty, they got tossed into the mix without a second thought or glance.
earlier this week, i finally got a chance to get them into the washer- i really hate laundry and avoid it like the plague. i promptly forgot about it, and waited until the next afternoon to hastily move the grab bag load into the dryer so i could start a load of my clothes that had been piling up for weeks. since it was my "no-dry" load- i hate shrinkage as much as i hate laundry- i didn't need to use the dryer again, and forgot about the load with my placemats sitting innocently inside.
but, when sam went to do his laundry today, he very kindly took out my abandoned laundry and began to fold. i had no idea he was doing it since i was upstairs watching friends and vegging out, and so my week-old load of random laundry remained blissfully absent from my head. and then, he came upstairs with a teetering pile of folded dish towels, wash cloths, mop pads, and guest sheets, and suddenly one of the placemats lands face down in my lap. perplexed, i turn it over and let out a strangled gasp.
right down it's beautiful middle was a big, giant rip. actually, two giant rips. and the edges were frayed and raveled and very clearly ruined. it was a very sad moment for me and my placemat. i hugged it. i felt the ripped seam, looking for any possible way to fix it (there is none). and finally, i asked sam to throw it out for me. and now i have an odd number of placemats, which just won't do.
time to go shopping :-D
ps- i didn't post yesterday (my first missed post). in a nutshell, i learned that a certain sofa absolutely will not fit into our basement no matter how hard we try. after dealing with that and the following let down, i had no energy left for blogging. hopefully the sofa we picked out today WILL fit when it comes next week!
after our spring break cleaning raid of the house, i had a big pile of laundry sitting in the corner waiting to be washed. it was mostly dish towels and wash cloths, mop pads and guest sheets. but i also threw in 2 of these beautiful placemats that my mom got me for christmas. i have a set of 6 or 8 or something, and 2 of them had been hanging out on the kitchen table for awhile collecting crumbs. in my purge of all things dirty, they got tossed into the mix without a second thought or glance.
earlier this week, i finally got a chance to get them into the washer- i really hate laundry and avoid it like the plague. i promptly forgot about it, and waited until the next afternoon to hastily move the grab bag load into the dryer so i could start a load of my clothes that had been piling up for weeks. since it was my "no-dry" load- i hate shrinkage as much as i hate laundry- i didn't need to use the dryer again, and forgot about the load with my placemats sitting innocently inside.
but, when sam went to do his laundry today, he very kindly took out my abandoned laundry and began to fold. i had no idea he was doing it since i was upstairs watching friends and vegging out, and so my week-old load of random laundry remained blissfully absent from my head. and then, he came upstairs with a teetering pile of folded dish towels, wash cloths, mop pads, and guest sheets, and suddenly one of the placemats lands face down in my lap. perplexed, i turn it over and let out a strangled gasp.
right down it's beautiful middle was a big, giant rip. actually, two giant rips. and the edges were frayed and raveled and very clearly ruined. it was a very sad moment for me and my placemat. i hugged it. i felt the ripped seam, looking for any possible way to fix it (there is none). and finally, i asked sam to throw it out for me. and now i have an odd number of placemats, which just won't do.
time to go shopping :-D
ps- i didn't post yesterday (my first missed post). in a nutshell, i learned that a certain sofa absolutely will not fit into our basement no matter how hard we try. after dealing with that and the following let down, i had no energy left for blogging. hopefully the sofa we picked out today WILL fit when it comes next week!
4.16.2010
wicked cool
today i learned that if you put a raw egg (still in the shell) in the palm of your hand, wrap your fingers around it, and squeeze, it will not break.
i have yet to try it. but i'm going to. watching someone else do it blew my mind, i can't wait to do it myself.
nature does the cleverest things.
i have yet to try it. but i'm going to. watching someone else do it blew my mind, i can't wait to do it myself.
nature does the cleverest things.
4.15.2010
please press the garlic
today, i learned how to press FRESH garlic instead of using the powdered stuff.
it was SO STINKING YUMMY.
the last time sam and i were over at our friends' house, they decided to cook dinner for us. being the southern-raised girl that i am, i of course had to offer to help, and while i was chopping and sauteing, etc etc, i saw my friend whip out this thing that looked like a can opener without the opener part. not wanting to seem ignorant of all the fun kitchen gadgets in the world, i just watched out of the corner of my eye as she yanked a clove of garlic off a half-used bulb, popped the peel off like rachel ray, and stuck it in the not-can-opener. catching on that it was clearly for garlic, i honed my peripheral spying skills and watched curiously for what happened next. she squeezed the two handles together and slowly, the not-can-opener produced what looked like a play-doh workshop version of garlic. i was amazed. giving up on acting like i knew what was going on, i commented on how cool that thinger was; she said "oh yeah, i couldn't live without my garlic press". at which point we began a rather lengthy conversation on the benefits of using fresh garlic as opposed to the powdered garlic i used all the time to season my food. i was intrigued. so, when i got home, i began my quest for a garlic press.
4 weeks later, i finally found one i was willing to spend the money on (thank you target!) and on my next shopping run, i picked up a few bulbs of garlic.
tonight was my first opportunity to use it. i was very excited to pop some fresh garlic into my taco meat- it was going to make taco night that much more awesome. so i pulled the bulb out of the pantry and took a look. and i looked. and i turned. and i looked. and i felt. and i scratched my head. how was i supposed to actually get to the cloves? should i cut it? peel it? pull? i looked up a totally unhelpful video online and decided, like any good cook would do, to just go for it. i pulled off the outer layers like an onion, and voila! a clove popped off in my hand. and then another. and one more for good luck. thinking back to what i had seen my talented friend do (and what i've seen on my beloved food network), i pulled out my biggest knife, put the flat side against the garlic, and banged. and it actually popped out of the peel, just like i've seen other people do. it was pretty cool. so then, it was into the garlic press. it was harder to squeeze than i expected, but it came right on out, and every time i squeezed, i would scrape the garlic off into the pan and then turn the clove and squeeze again. you can get a surprising amount of stuff out of one clove of garlic, including juice.
i used 3 cloves of garlic total for all of our taco meat, and the result was amazing. the whole meal just tasted so fresh and yummy and amazing. even my husband noticed how tasty the whole thing was. and it made me feel like a real cook when i was using it, too.
i'm officially a fresh garlic convert :-)
it was SO STINKING YUMMY.
the last time sam and i were over at our friends' house, they decided to cook dinner for us. being the southern-raised girl that i am, i of course had to offer to help, and while i was chopping and sauteing, etc etc, i saw my friend whip out this thing that looked like a can opener without the opener part. not wanting to seem ignorant of all the fun kitchen gadgets in the world, i just watched out of the corner of my eye as she yanked a clove of garlic off a half-used bulb, popped the peel off like rachel ray, and stuck it in the not-can-opener. catching on that it was clearly for garlic, i honed my peripheral spying skills and watched curiously for what happened next. she squeezed the two handles together and slowly, the not-can-opener produced what looked like a play-doh workshop version of garlic. i was amazed. giving up on acting like i knew what was going on, i commented on how cool that thinger was; she said "oh yeah, i couldn't live without my garlic press". at which point we began a rather lengthy conversation on the benefits of using fresh garlic as opposed to the powdered garlic i used all the time to season my food. i was intrigued. so, when i got home, i began my quest for a garlic press.
4 weeks later, i finally found one i was willing to spend the money on (thank you target!) and on my next shopping run, i picked up a few bulbs of garlic.
tonight was my first opportunity to use it. i was very excited to pop some fresh garlic into my taco meat- it was going to make taco night that much more awesome. so i pulled the bulb out of the pantry and took a look. and i looked. and i turned. and i looked. and i felt. and i scratched my head. how was i supposed to actually get to the cloves? should i cut it? peel it? pull? i looked up a totally unhelpful video online and decided, like any good cook would do, to just go for it. i pulled off the outer layers like an onion, and voila! a clove popped off in my hand. and then another. and one more for good luck. thinking back to what i had seen my talented friend do (and what i've seen on my beloved food network), i pulled out my biggest knife, put the flat side against the garlic, and banged. and it actually popped out of the peel, just like i've seen other people do. it was pretty cool. so then, it was into the garlic press. it was harder to squeeze than i expected, but it came right on out, and every time i squeezed, i would scrape the garlic off into the pan and then turn the clove and squeeze again. you can get a surprising amount of stuff out of one clove of garlic, including juice.
i used 3 cloves of garlic total for all of our taco meat, and the result was amazing. the whole meal just tasted so fresh and yummy and amazing. even my husband noticed how tasty the whole thing was. and it made me feel like a real cook when i was using it, too.
i'm officially a fresh garlic convert :-)
4.14.2010
oh my.
update: i just learned that when your tax form says multiply by 1%, it is NOT the same as multiplying by 1.
yes, i was a math minor. no, i don't want to hear it.
taxes blow.
yes, i was a math minor. no, i don't want to hear it.
taxes blow.
read all about it
i learned a lot of stuff today. i learned how to get to work using 724 east thanks to a massive accident that caused 422 east to get shut down. i learned that there is a goddard school in the annie sez shopping center across from the mcdonalds in collegeville. i learned that there are these purses that you buy the purse and then you buy interchangeable 'shells' so that you can change the look of your purse without changing your purse. i learned that the reason little liliana hates going outside so much is that we go right before lunch and she gets very cranky when hungry.
most importantly though, i learned that the library is a great place to go when you have the itch to go shopping but you know it would be irresponsible to spend any money.
my entire drive home from work this afternoon, i kept trying to think of a good reason to go shopping- what did we really need that i just HAD to stop and buy? of course, nothing worthwhile actually crossed my mind, but i tried to convince myself that i couldn't live without that lightbulb for the basement or packets of seeds for my class to plant. if i had in fact stopped for either of those things, i'm sure i would have spent upwards of $50 on lord-knows-what kind of stuff. but instead, i remembered that i semi joined my mom's book club last weekend and was supposed to be reading 'my sister's keeper', so i stopped by the library instead. first, i applied for my card (i filled out the application and when i handed it in, the lady said "nice job". what?) and then i browsed the shelves looking for the book. by about halfway down the second row, i remembered that books are arranged alphabetically by AUTHOR at the library (it's been awhile), not title, at which point i realized that i didn't know the author's name. (that reminds me, i also learned that jodi picoult wrote 'my sister's keeper', although i learned that after i left the library). abandoning any attempt at finding the book, i started looking for my favorite go-to authors. the selection is shockingly thin at this library considering its size (either that or lots of people love steinbeck and bradbury as much as me) but i still ended up with this little stack to take home:
i like the second photo better. more interesting. anyway.
after i found these three, i was getting ready to check out when a short little book entitled "life on the refrigerator door" caught my eye. juggling my giant purse, my keys, and my 3 already selected books, i reached down and pulled it off the shelf to check it out. the concept intrigued me- it was entirely written in the format of little notes a single mother and her 15 year old daughter wrote to each other and left on the fridge because their busy lives so rarely crossed paths. tired of trying to hold all my other junk while looking at this one, i plopped myself down at one of the many tables and began to read. one hour, and many held-back tears, later, the story came to a close and i realized that i was still sitting in the library and hadn't been home to walk or feed my poor, hungry, full-bladdered dog. i returned the little book to its shelf and left with my books and not one trace of shopping desire left in me.
it was an hour well spent.
most importantly though, i learned that the library is a great place to go when you have the itch to go shopping but you know it would be irresponsible to spend any money.
my entire drive home from work this afternoon, i kept trying to think of a good reason to go shopping- what did we really need that i just HAD to stop and buy? of course, nothing worthwhile actually crossed my mind, but i tried to convince myself that i couldn't live without that lightbulb for the basement or packets of seeds for my class to plant. if i had in fact stopped for either of those things, i'm sure i would have spent upwards of $50 on lord-knows-what kind of stuff. but instead, i remembered that i semi joined my mom's book club last weekend and was supposed to be reading 'my sister's keeper', so i stopped by the library instead. first, i applied for my card (i filled out the application and when i handed it in, the lady said "nice job". what?) and then i browsed the shelves looking for the book. by about halfway down the second row, i remembered that books are arranged alphabetically by AUTHOR at the library (it's been awhile), not title, at which point i realized that i didn't know the author's name. (that reminds me, i also learned that jodi picoult wrote 'my sister's keeper', although i learned that after i left the library). abandoning any attempt at finding the book, i started looking for my favorite go-to authors. the selection is shockingly thin at this library considering its size (either that or lots of people love steinbeck and bradbury as much as me) but i still ended up with this little stack to take home:
i like the second photo better. more interesting. anyway.
after i found these three, i was getting ready to check out when a short little book entitled "life on the refrigerator door" caught my eye. juggling my giant purse, my keys, and my 3 already selected books, i reached down and pulled it off the shelf to check it out. the concept intrigued me- it was entirely written in the format of little notes a single mother and her 15 year old daughter wrote to each other and left on the fridge because their busy lives so rarely crossed paths. tired of trying to hold all my other junk while looking at this one, i plopped myself down at one of the many tables and began to read. one hour, and many held-back tears, later, the story came to a close and i realized that i was still sitting in the library and hadn't been home to walk or feed my poor, hungry, full-bladdered dog. i returned the little book to its shelf and left with my books and not one trace of shopping desire left in me.
it was an hour well spent.
4.13.2010
wait. what?
today i learned that i dissolve into tears while on the phone with student loan customer service representatives.
i called for some explanation on a letter i received in the mail saying that i was no longer eligible for a 2% reduction of my interest in a year because three of my recent payments had been "delinquent". i've always been extremely careful about making sure that all my payments are very much the opposite of "delinquent", so you can understand why i very much wanted someone to tell me what i had done to become a "delinquent" despite my best efforts.
it didn't help that the customer service lady who got stuck with my call sounded exactly like a woman who has treated me with nothing but scorn and disrespect and has utterly ruined my reputation. the moment customer service lady started talking, i felt myself tense up and get all anxious and defensive. the sad thing is, she was really quite nice, just a little difficult to understand and not extremely well-versed in the english language, which made it kind of hard for her to try and explain what was going on, and made me feel even more tense, anxious, and defensive.
the worst part, though, is that the reason my payments were "delinquent" is because i paid them too early.
yup.
i was being so proactive that i gave them their money sooner than they wanted it. has anyone ever said, 'oh really, don't worry about it, i don't want $225 of your hard earned money yet, please give it to me in a week or two'. if you're thinking no, i agree. i almost wanted to ask for it back. sorry i was prompt in paying you back, aes, next time i'll hold on to my cash a little longer and make you sweat. it was all too much for my tense, anxious, and defensive (not to mention hungry, tired, and hormonal) self to handle. i felt the tears coming as they welled up in my eyes and my throat began to close as i resisted acting like i had left my big girl panties upstairs in my dresser this morning. i took deep breaths. i prayed for patience, understanding, and maturity. i pressed my fingers to my eyes. i cried anyway. and the lady knew it. unfortunately, customer service lady's unnecessary words of apology were lost on ears that kept associating her with someone who would never apologize to me in a million years. it was all too familiar, except customer service lady was taking my money along with my dignity, which made it feel a hundred times worse.
such is life.
i called for some explanation on a letter i received in the mail saying that i was no longer eligible for a 2% reduction of my interest in a year because three of my recent payments had been "delinquent". i've always been extremely careful about making sure that all my payments are very much the opposite of "delinquent", so you can understand why i very much wanted someone to tell me what i had done to become a "delinquent" despite my best efforts.
it didn't help that the customer service lady who got stuck with my call sounded exactly like a woman who has treated me with nothing but scorn and disrespect and has utterly ruined my reputation. the moment customer service lady started talking, i felt myself tense up and get all anxious and defensive. the sad thing is, she was really quite nice, just a little difficult to understand and not extremely well-versed in the english language, which made it kind of hard for her to try and explain what was going on, and made me feel even more tense, anxious, and defensive.
the worst part, though, is that the reason my payments were "delinquent" is because i paid them too early.
yup.
i was being so proactive that i gave them their money sooner than they wanted it. has anyone ever said, 'oh really, don't worry about it, i don't want $225 of your hard earned money yet, please give it to me in a week or two'. if you're thinking no, i agree. i almost wanted to ask for it back. sorry i was prompt in paying you back, aes, next time i'll hold on to my cash a little longer and make you sweat. it was all too much for my tense, anxious, and defensive (not to mention hungry, tired, and hormonal) self to handle. i felt the tears coming as they welled up in my eyes and my throat began to close as i resisted acting like i had left my big girl panties upstairs in my dresser this morning. i took deep breaths. i prayed for patience, understanding, and maturity. i pressed my fingers to my eyes. i cried anyway. and the lady knew it. unfortunately, customer service lady's unnecessary words of apology were lost on ears that kept associating her with someone who would never apologize to me in a million years. it was all too familiar, except customer service lady was taking my money along with my dignity, which made it feel a hundred times worse.
such is life.
4.12.2010
mother of vinegar
today i learned that if your vinegar has nasty, clumpy stuff in it and won't pour out of the bottle, it hasn't gone bad, but has formed "mother of vinegar", the stuff that you use to make more vinegar with. it's like a huge, gross, globular, boogery vinegar seed floating in your deliciously flavorful, not disgusting vinegar.
unfortunately, i learned this about an hour after i discovered my vinegar had spontaneously sprouted a mother (although at that point it was still an unknown entity) and dumped it vigorously down the drain without abandon.
i was minding my own business, getting ready to marinate my steaks in a yummy olive oil and balsamic vinegar marinade i was going to make from scratch, when i discovered that my vinegar did not want to part company with its bottle. there was the olive oil in the pyrex cooking dish, patiently awaiting its savory companion, and there i was, fighting with the fancy vinegar bottle we got from bed bath and beyond, trying desperately to just get it out. after only getting half of what i needed, i decided my fancy bottle may not be as fancy as i thought, and popped the lid off to try pouring it without the spout.
i wish the problem had been the bottle.
i'm standing there in my kitchen shaking and shaking this bottle and repressing a swear word or two because even with an open topped bottle, my vinegar still won't come out, which is just plain weird. and then, with one particularly violent and anger-induced shake of the bottle, out pops what can only be described as a large, balsamic booger, all up into my deliciously un-mothered olive oil. later, during my research of what the heck was going on with my vinegar, i read someone else describe their mother of vinegar as jellyfish-like, which i think is a fair representation. it was slimy, globby, chunky, slippy, slidey, mushy, boogery, and most of all, yucky. and it was sitting in my olive oil, thinking i was going to make it into marinade anyway. my immediate reaction was "wait. does vinegar even go bad?" and then "ew, get it off my counter". at which point i washed my half-made marinade, and the remaining contents of the bottle down. the. drain. it was difficult considering how big that mother was. she took up most of the remaining vinegar in the bottle. it was like she thought she owned the place.
if i had known what she was, however, the whole thing may have turned into a little science experiment. i could have thrown that mother into a jar, added some wine, and ended up with my own vinegar without having to buy any new stuff. cool, huh?
word to your mother.
unfortunately, i learned this about an hour after i discovered my vinegar had spontaneously sprouted a mother (although at that point it was still an unknown entity) and dumped it vigorously down the drain without abandon.
i was minding my own business, getting ready to marinate my steaks in a yummy olive oil and balsamic vinegar marinade i was going to make from scratch, when i discovered that my vinegar did not want to part company with its bottle. there was the olive oil in the pyrex cooking dish, patiently awaiting its savory companion, and there i was, fighting with the fancy vinegar bottle we got from bed bath and beyond, trying desperately to just get it out. after only getting half of what i needed, i decided my fancy bottle may not be as fancy as i thought, and popped the lid off to try pouring it without the spout.
i wish the problem had been the bottle.
i'm standing there in my kitchen shaking and shaking this bottle and repressing a swear word or two because even with an open topped bottle, my vinegar still won't come out, which is just plain weird. and then, with one particularly violent and anger-induced shake of the bottle, out pops what can only be described as a large, balsamic booger, all up into my deliciously un-mothered olive oil. later, during my research of what the heck was going on with my vinegar, i read someone else describe their mother of vinegar as jellyfish-like, which i think is a fair representation. it was slimy, globby, chunky, slippy, slidey, mushy, boogery, and most of all, yucky. and it was sitting in my olive oil, thinking i was going to make it into marinade anyway. my immediate reaction was "wait. does vinegar even go bad?" and then "ew, get it off my counter". at which point i washed my half-made marinade, and the remaining contents of the bottle down. the. drain. it was difficult considering how big that mother was. she took up most of the remaining vinegar in the bottle. it was like she thought she owned the place.
if i had known what she was, however, the whole thing may have turned into a little science experiment. i could have thrown that mother into a jar, added some wine, and ended up with my own vinegar without having to buy any new stuff. cool, huh?
word to your mother.
4.11.2010
got milk?
today, i learned that before the king of prussia mall was built, that area was occupied by a dairy farm.
okay, so really i learned this yesterday, but in the hustle and bustle of the conference and trying to get on the right train, it didn't really sink in until today.
i'll be honest, my reaction was one of genuine surprise when one of my co-workers shared this over our rushed, mid-conference lunch at a large table covered over with a cheap and crumb-coated table cloth. apparently she is old enough to be my grandmother, having graduated from high school in '58 (i had no idea she was almost 70!?!?!). she grew up next to, and would get her milk from, this dairy farm as a child, and she was able to describe the beginnings of the mall with startling matter-of-factness and a level of detail that you would think 52 years of mall existence, changes, and upgrades would erase. but (being a teacher, heh heh), she has maintained an impressive level of mental dexterity and specific memories that she lavishes upon others when the right opportunity presents itself.
as i mulled this new tidbit of information over throughout the day today, i began to realize that in all honesty, it shouldn't surprise me. when we first moved to the audubon/valley forge/king of prussia area when i was only 5, it was pretty much our neighborhood, 2 neighborhoods down opposite directions of the road, and lots and lots of fields and farms. everywhere you turned there were fields and farms. you couldn't spit without it landing on some kind of field. and as i grew up, so did our little suburban community. one neighborhood sprung up, and then another, and then another, like giant patches of dandelions after an extra rainy spring and plenty of neglectful weeding. i was accustomed to the idea of suburban sprawl; in fact, it was a concept that was entirely NOT new to me. suburban sprawl has been my life and my reality.
but when i think if king of prussia, i can't help but think of the mall. it's always been there. i was pretty sure that it was one of the things God made on the 5th day. it was part of my home's identity, and the thought that it hadn't always existed was- is!- hard for me to wrap my brain around. it was one of those things that i just assumed had always been, like cockroaches or the sun. and as i realized this about myself- that i was disbelieving that king of prussia could have ever been anything other than what it is right now at this moment- i began to feel very narrow minded. OF COURSE it wasn't always the second biggest mall in the country. OF COURSE people didn't always flock there for great shopping and yummy food. i just don't know how else to think of it. lots of people and full parking lots and awesome shopping and great restaurants are what spring to mind when i think of that place, and it's hard for me to roll my brain back in time and think of that place as rolling farm land where a little girl would stroll down the road in the morning to pick up the family's milk.
don't get me wrong, i have always been fascinated by the history of places- by how things used to be and the way life was once lived. i love driving by old homes and the cabins in valley forge and seeing pictures of european castles and imagining what used to be, the things that used to happen in those beautiful places that i can still see and experience. but this one was just so... personal. and abstract. king of prussia was always just such a given; when you hear those three words, you automatically think "mall". it was a weekend activity when i was little, a landmark when i learned to drive, a place to work when i had college summers off. understanding that this place used to be something in every way different and opposite of how i identify it now was difficult. it has started to change my perspective of the world around me. it's taught me to look deeper at the things i drive past rather than just thinking of them as i see them now, and it's made history and change and progress and development more real and meaningful to me.
i think i could open several more cans of worms with today's lesson, but my head is starting to hurt. it's not even really that big a deal, and i'm guessing many of you are shaking your heads at me. but the more i thought about what this woman told me, the more it shook my world. i wasn't upset that the mall used to be a dairy farm, it was that i was SO surprised to hear it. i should have said, 'oh cool!' and moved on. but instead i spent a full 24 hours rolling it around in my head and trying to make it concrete and tangible in my head. i think i may be talking in circles at this point.
just like you drive around in circles at the king of prussia mall looking for a parking spot.
52 years ago, you would have just been driving through a dairy farm.
got milk?
okay, so really i learned this yesterday, but in the hustle and bustle of the conference and trying to get on the right train, it didn't really sink in until today.
i'll be honest, my reaction was one of genuine surprise when one of my co-workers shared this over our rushed, mid-conference lunch at a large table covered over with a cheap and crumb-coated table cloth. apparently she is old enough to be my grandmother, having graduated from high school in '58 (i had no idea she was almost 70!?!?!). she grew up next to, and would get her milk from, this dairy farm as a child, and she was able to describe the beginnings of the mall with startling matter-of-factness and a level of detail that you would think 52 years of mall existence, changes, and upgrades would erase. but (being a teacher, heh heh), she has maintained an impressive level of mental dexterity and specific memories that she lavishes upon others when the right opportunity presents itself.
as i mulled this new tidbit of information over throughout the day today, i began to realize that in all honesty, it shouldn't surprise me. when we first moved to the audubon/valley forge/king of prussia area when i was only 5, it was pretty much our neighborhood, 2 neighborhoods down opposite directions of the road, and lots and lots of fields and farms. everywhere you turned there were fields and farms. you couldn't spit without it landing on some kind of field. and as i grew up, so did our little suburban community. one neighborhood sprung up, and then another, and then another, like giant patches of dandelions after an extra rainy spring and plenty of neglectful weeding. i was accustomed to the idea of suburban sprawl; in fact, it was a concept that was entirely NOT new to me. suburban sprawl has been my life and my reality.
but when i think if king of prussia, i can't help but think of the mall. it's always been there. i was pretty sure that it was one of the things God made on the 5th day. it was part of my home's identity, and the thought that it hadn't always existed was- is!- hard for me to wrap my brain around. it was one of those things that i just assumed had always been, like cockroaches or the sun. and as i realized this about myself- that i was disbelieving that king of prussia could have ever been anything other than what it is right now at this moment- i began to feel very narrow minded. OF COURSE it wasn't always the second biggest mall in the country. OF COURSE people didn't always flock there for great shopping and yummy food. i just don't know how else to think of it. lots of people and full parking lots and awesome shopping and great restaurants are what spring to mind when i think of that place, and it's hard for me to roll my brain back in time and think of that place as rolling farm land where a little girl would stroll down the road in the morning to pick up the family's milk.
don't get me wrong, i have always been fascinated by the history of places- by how things used to be and the way life was once lived. i love driving by old homes and the cabins in valley forge and seeing pictures of european castles and imagining what used to be, the things that used to happen in those beautiful places that i can still see and experience. but this one was just so... personal. and abstract. king of prussia was always just such a given; when you hear those three words, you automatically think "mall". it was a weekend activity when i was little, a landmark when i learned to drive, a place to work when i had college summers off. understanding that this place used to be something in every way different and opposite of how i identify it now was difficult. it has started to change my perspective of the world around me. it's taught me to look deeper at the things i drive past rather than just thinking of them as i see them now, and it's made history and change and progress and development more real and meaningful to me.
i think i could open several more cans of worms with today's lesson, but my head is starting to hurt. it's not even really that big a deal, and i'm guessing many of you are shaking your heads at me. but the more i thought about what this woman told me, the more it shook my world. i wasn't upset that the mall used to be a dairy farm, it was that i was SO surprised to hear it. i should have said, 'oh cool!' and moved on. but instead i spent a full 24 hours rolling it around in my head and trying to make it concrete and tangible in my head. i think i may be talking in circles at this point.
just like you drive around in circles at the king of prussia mall looking for a parking spot.
52 years ago, you would have just been driving through a dairy farm.
got milk?
4.10.2010
worn. out.
today i learned that when i wake up at 5:15 am to go into the city for a conference for the second day in a row, i am too tired to really care about writing a decent blog post later on that night.
all i want to do right now is curl up in bed next to my hubby.
so that's what i'm gonna do :-)
all i want to do right now is curl up in bed next to my hubby.
so that's what i'm gonna do :-)
4.09.2010
butter burns
today, i learned that if you heat a tablespoon or two of butter in the microwave for thirty seconds, it will burn your tongue when you dip your bread in it and then eat it right away.
i think this one is pretty self explanatory. first, i was really, really hungry. second, i decided to eat the rest of my gf bread from easter with some butter. then i realized that there was no softened butter that wasn't contaminated with gluten at my parents' house. to solve this problem, i next decided to take 2 (ish) tablespoons of stick butter and melt it in a little bowl in the microwave for dipping. then, out of my extreme hunger, i dipped my bread right in the hot butter and took a bite. finally, i burned my tongue.
it still hurts, by the way, which is making me sad.
but what's really sad is that after spending all day in philly at an early childhood conference, this is still the most interesting and relevant thing i learned today.
hopefully tomorrow's post will be more informative- for everyone involved.
i think this one is pretty self explanatory. first, i was really, really hungry. second, i decided to eat the rest of my gf bread from easter with some butter. then i realized that there was no softened butter that wasn't contaminated with gluten at my parents' house. to solve this problem, i next decided to take 2 (ish) tablespoons of stick butter and melt it in a little bowl in the microwave for dipping. then, out of my extreme hunger, i dipped my bread right in the hot butter and took a bite. finally, i burned my tongue.
it still hurts, by the way, which is making me sad.
but what's really sad is that after spending all day in philly at an early childhood conference, this is still the most interesting and relevant thing i learned today.
hopefully tomorrow's post will be more informative- for everyone involved.
4.08.2010
i need a coconut, stat
today i learned that during WWII, the water from young coconuts was used in the pacific as a substitute for blood plasma.
weird, right?
instead of going home to our house in reading today, i had to instead head on over to audubon, where i will be spending the next two nights with my very accommodating parents so that i have easier access to philly, where i will be attending a conference on friday and saturday. this is relevant because as i was sitting on the sofa finishing up my internet rounds (including a few emails and a facebook post) i wondered out loud what i had learned today as i mentally prepped myself for this entry. before i had a chance to form any kind of intelligent thought about the matter, my little bro piped up. "i learned two cool things today- want to hear them?" he says. of course i said yes, i like learning weird new facts. first he throws at me is the '"the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" has every letter in the alphabet' fact. i've known that since first grade. but then he whips out this little gem- "young coconut milk can be used a substitute for blood plasma". so of course, i ask what his source is. ever heard of cha-cha? you can text them any question at all (for free), and someone will reply with an answer (usually correct). so, out of boredom, he asked them "tell me the most interesting fact in the world" (twice). and those are the answers he got.
personally, i think the coconut thing is more interesting than the alphabet thing. but anyway.
i was intrigued. time for google to shed some light. after conducting a few differently phrased searches, i learned that the water from a young coconut (not coconut "milk", which is made from the ground up flesh of the coconut) was in fact used as a substitute for blood for wounded soldiers during WWII when blood supplies were few and far between. it worked well for this purpose because of it's level of electrolytes and it's sterility, and the fact that it doesn't destroy red blood cells. it's not ideal, for sure, but it will work. i also read that it's great for rehydration, and, if one of your teeth falls out, it will help keep it from rotting away as you rush to the dentist.
so the next time i go to a blood drive and my iron is too low, i'm going to give them a coconut and my apologies. maybe i'll start a trend.
weird, right?
instead of going home to our house in reading today, i had to instead head on over to audubon, where i will be spending the next two nights with my very accommodating parents so that i have easier access to philly, where i will be attending a conference on friday and saturday. this is relevant because as i was sitting on the sofa finishing up my internet rounds (including a few emails and a facebook post) i wondered out loud what i had learned today as i mentally prepped myself for this entry. before i had a chance to form any kind of intelligent thought about the matter, my little bro piped up. "i learned two cool things today- want to hear them?" he says. of course i said yes, i like learning weird new facts. first he throws at me is the '"the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" has every letter in the alphabet' fact. i've known that since first grade. but then he whips out this little gem- "young coconut milk can be used a substitute for blood plasma". so of course, i ask what his source is. ever heard of cha-cha? you can text them any question at all (for free), and someone will reply with an answer (usually correct). so, out of boredom, he asked them "tell me the most interesting fact in the world" (twice). and those are the answers he got.
personally, i think the coconut thing is more interesting than the alphabet thing. but anyway.
i was intrigued. time for google to shed some light. after conducting a few differently phrased searches, i learned that the water from a young coconut (not coconut "milk", which is made from the ground up flesh of the coconut) was in fact used as a substitute for blood for wounded soldiers during WWII when blood supplies were few and far between. it worked well for this purpose because of it's level of electrolytes and it's sterility, and the fact that it doesn't destroy red blood cells. it's not ideal, for sure, but it will work. i also read that it's great for rehydration, and, if one of your teeth falls out, it will help keep it from rotting away as you rush to the dentist.
so the next time i go to a blood drive and my iron is too low, i'm going to give them a coconut and my apologies. maybe i'll start a trend.
4.07.2010
flower power
today i learned that a flower that has lost it's petals is enough to distract a 4 year old from the ever-present danger of insects on the playground.
this one needs some background, so- i make it a point to take my kids at school outside for at least 15 minutes a day as long as it's not raining. it gives them a chance to run, breathe some fresh air, get out of each other's space, and yell. a lot. without giving me a headache. it is the most beautiful time of day, for all of us.
except poor, sweet lilianna. if only i could post a picture for you to see, i swear this child needs to model for gap kids or something. she has transparently pale skin, piercingly blue eyes, and long, white-blond hair that ripples and waves as she runs. The sunlight practically reflects off of her hair strongly enough to grab a magnifying glass and burn some ants, i'm telling you. she is exceedingly bright (honestly, she's probably the smartest one in my class, and the youngest to boot) and happy all. the. time. in the morning she'll run full speed into the classroom and say things like "i'm beautiful today miss liz!" and "do you just love my new shoes miss liz?" and "my cat's name is dusty and he's a cat miss liz!". but the most important thing to note about lilianna is that her flair for the dramatic may be the only thing about her that exceeds her intelligence. with lilianna, everything is either something to rejoice about with a hallelujah choir, or something to hold a 15 minute, very loud, very tear-filled vigil over. and nothing inspires a lilianna-vigil like our daily trip to the playground. the second we step foot onto that mulch filled haven for any normal pre-schooler and i lock the gate, little lily attacks it with surprising strength and vigor and begs to go inside. it's usually either too hot or too cold or too windy or too bright (or so she claims). but no matter what, she always, always, always says there are too many bugs. a gnat could fly past her 5 feet to her left and she will scream as though she is breathing her last and i will be showered again with sleeve tugs and desperate requests to return to the classroom. "but the bugs miss liz!" she beseeches me, "there are so many bugs out here!" and i can hear her voice steadily rising to a high pitched yell as though she has turned into a little blond teapot, and i know that she will be attached to my leg for the next 30 minutes, screaming and crying about the bugs the whole time.
but not today. today, we took a short nature walk to see what is happening to the trees now that spring is upon us. even lilianna was enjoying herself from the safety of the line, shouting to me about the leaves and the dandelions and the green grass. to show them that flowers can grow in the ground AND on trees, i decided to take them beyond the confines of our regular walking route and head over to the hawthorn tree that is covered in hundreds of beautiful white blooms. the second they spotted it, i heard shrieks of delight and 18 pairs of curious feet hurried over to the base of the tree to touch, smell, observe, and, of course, pluck. after several minutes of discussing and enjoying, we reformed our line, blossoms in hand, and headed over to the playground. when we arrived, 17 of my little darlings forgot all about their flowers, either shoving them in their pockets for safe keeping or abandoning them by the gate, more focused on the important matters at hand, like getting a swing or beating the others down the slide.
but not lilianna. she loved her flower more than mothers love their babies. she stood quietly by the fence as she smelled, caressed, looked, and adored, and every now and then brought it over to me to remind me of its beauty, and more importantly, her possession of it. and i thought, for about 3 shining minutes, that maybe today's outside time would pass in relative happiness and, consequently, silence.
and then it happened.
as she so lovingly stroked the tiny flower's delicate petals, one of them fell off. and then another. and another.
at first, i thought someone had fallen off of the slide and obtained a compound fracture. but no. it was lilianna, loudly and dramatically mourning the loss of her perfect flower. and as she saw me look up in alarm, she must have assumed i was as distraught over the circumstances as she, because she rushed over to me, arm extended, flower in hand, and yelled through her tears "it's broken miss liz, my white flower is RUINED!" at which point she dissolved into even louder tears and insisted on holding onto my leg. if only that had been the end of it. not with lilianna. every two minutes or so, my devastated, heart broken lily would look up at me with her tear filled baby blues and say "it's still ruined miss liz. my white flower is still ruined." and these proclamations were always followed by me vainly trying to explain that it was not going to ever be fixed, because once a flower loses it's petals, it cannot get them back again, it is ruined forever. i would say that the only way to have a perfect white flower again would be to go get a new one. unfortunately, these words of explanation that i spoke (with less and less patience, i might add) were always followed by a moment or two of contemplative silence on lily's part, followed by renewed tears and sobs. until, right at the end of our time outside, i tried one last time to help her understand that she need not cling to the stem of her broken flower, but instead put her energy into finding a new one. after hearing these words, she gulped her tears into silence, took a great breath, and said, with the absolute seriousness and dramatic effect of rose at the end of titanic, "never, ever again, miss liz."
stifling a laugh, i decided that was my cue to take the kids back in, lilianna crying all the way.
but she never once mentioned the bugs.
this one needs some background, so- i make it a point to take my kids at school outside for at least 15 minutes a day as long as it's not raining. it gives them a chance to run, breathe some fresh air, get out of each other's space, and yell. a lot. without giving me a headache. it is the most beautiful time of day, for all of us.
except poor, sweet lilianna. if only i could post a picture for you to see, i swear this child needs to model for gap kids or something. she has transparently pale skin, piercingly blue eyes, and long, white-blond hair that ripples and waves as she runs. The sunlight practically reflects off of her hair strongly enough to grab a magnifying glass and burn some ants, i'm telling you. she is exceedingly bright (honestly, she's probably the smartest one in my class, and the youngest to boot) and happy all. the. time. in the morning she'll run full speed into the classroom and say things like "i'm beautiful today miss liz!" and "do you just love my new shoes miss liz?" and "my cat's name is dusty and he's a cat miss liz!". but the most important thing to note about lilianna is that her flair for the dramatic may be the only thing about her that exceeds her intelligence. with lilianna, everything is either something to rejoice about with a hallelujah choir, or something to hold a 15 minute, very loud, very tear-filled vigil over. and nothing inspires a lilianna-vigil like our daily trip to the playground. the second we step foot onto that mulch filled haven for any normal pre-schooler and i lock the gate, little lily attacks it with surprising strength and vigor and begs to go inside. it's usually either too hot or too cold or too windy or too bright (or so she claims). but no matter what, she always, always, always says there are too many bugs. a gnat could fly past her 5 feet to her left and she will scream as though she is breathing her last and i will be showered again with sleeve tugs and desperate requests to return to the classroom. "but the bugs miss liz!" she beseeches me, "there are so many bugs out here!" and i can hear her voice steadily rising to a high pitched yell as though she has turned into a little blond teapot, and i know that she will be attached to my leg for the next 30 minutes, screaming and crying about the bugs the whole time.
but not today. today, we took a short nature walk to see what is happening to the trees now that spring is upon us. even lilianna was enjoying herself from the safety of the line, shouting to me about the leaves and the dandelions and the green grass. to show them that flowers can grow in the ground AND on trees, i decided to take them beyond the confines of our regular walking route and head over to the hawthorn tree that is covered in hundreds of beautiful white blooms. the second they spotted it, i heard shrieks of delight and 18 pairs of curious feet hurried over to the base of the tree to touch, smell, observe, and, of course, pluck. after several minutes of discussing and enjoying, we reformed our line, blossoms in hand, and headed over to the playground. when we arrived, 17 of my little darlings forgot all about their flowers, either shoving them in their pockets for safe keeping or abandoning them by the gate, more focused on the important matters at hand, like getting a swing or beating the others down the slide.
but not lilianna. she loved her flower more than mothers love their babies. she stood quietly by the fence as she smelled, caressed, looked, and adored, and every now and then brought it over to me to remind me of its beauty, and more importantly, her possession of it. and i thought, for about 3 shining minutes, that maybe today's outside time would pass in relative happiness and, consequently, silence.
and then it happened.
as she so lovingly stroked the tiny flower's delicate petals, one of them fell off. and then another. and another.
at first, i thought someone had fallen off of the slide and obtained a compound fracture. but no. it was lilianna, loudly and dramatically mourning the loss of her perfect flower. and as she saw me look up in alarm, she must have assumed i was as distraught over the circumstances as she, because she rushed over to me, arm extended, flower in hand, and yelled through her tears "it's broken miss liz, my white flower is RUINED!" at which point she dissolved into even louder tears and insisted on holding onto my leg. if only that had been the end of it. not with lilianna. every two minutes or so, my devastated, heart broken lily would look up at me with her tear filled baby blues and say "it's still ruined miss liz. my white flower is still ruined." and these proclamations were always followed by me vainly trying to explain that it was not going to ever be fixed, because once a flower loses it's petals, it cannot get them back again, it is ruined forever. i would say that the only way to have a perfect white flower again would be to go get a new one. unfortunately, these words of explanation that i spoke (with less and less patience, i might add) were always followed by a moment or two of contemplative silence on lily's part, followed by renewed tears and sobs. until, right at the end of our time outside, i tried one last time to help her understand that she need not cling to the stem of her broken flower, but instead put her energy into finding a new one. after hearing these words, she gulped her tears into silence, took a great breath, and said, with the absolute seriousness and dramatic effect of rose at the end of titanic, "never, ever again, miss liz."
stifling a laugh, i decided that was my cue to take the kids back in, lilianna crying all the way.
but she never once mentioned the bugs.
4.06.2010
too much of a good thing
today, i learned that if my dog breaks into the kitchen while i'm at work and tears into the turkey carcass in the garbage, then she'll puke (a lot), go #2 on the hardwood, and then not eat her actual food that i try to give her.
which is weird, because usually she eats anything that smells like it even might be food. and even though she pukes all the time, she only ever does it once, not four times all over the carpet. what's even more weird is that she's acting really spunky and excited. maybe the turkey (and the bones) repaired her digestive system.
or, i'll be taking her to the vet tomorrow.
just to set the record straight, i don't usually leave a turkey carcass in our kitchen trash for two days, but yesterday we were so busy trying to get our mattress home that i didn't even think to take the trash down to the dumpster. and i was so concerned with setting up the fan and putting mischa's water bowl out so she wouldn't overheat in the house as it heated up to 86 degrees outside today that i didn't even consider that she may knock down the baby gate to get to that turkey.
now i know. no more turkey carcasses in the kitchen trash.
which is weird, because usually she eats anything that smells like it even might be food. and even though she pukes all the time, she only ever does it once, not four times all over the carpet. what's even more weird is that she's acting really spunky and excited. maybe the turkey (and the bones) repaired her digestive system.
or, i'll be taking her to the vet tomorrow.
just to set the record straight, i don't usually leave a turkey carcass in our kitchen trash for two days, but yesterday we were so busy trying to get our mattress home that i didn't even think to take the trash down to the dumpster. and i was so concerned with setting up the fan and putting mischa's water bowl out so she wouldn't overheat in the house as it heated up to 86 degrees outside today that i didn't even consider that she may knock down the baby gate to get to that turkey.
now i know. no more turkey carcasses in the kitchen trash.
4.05.2010
measuring up
today, i learned that a queen sized mattress and box spring set does not fit into the back of my parents' truck when it has the cap on.
which helped me learn that it's really, really important to measure things before you drive 30 miles to pick up a gas-guzzling vehicle to drive the gas-guzzler 30 miles back only to discover that it was a moot point. and then have to drive it 30 miles back (in horrible traffic) and then, as if this wasn't enough, drive 30 more miles to get home again.
there's a very long, very mundane story attached to this, but i just don't have the energy to re-tell it. in short: great deal on amazingly comfortable mattress, decision to borrow parents' truck instead of get it delivered, discovering mattress won't fit in truck, thinking we may have to cancel our order on the great deal, husband saving the day due to quick last minute thinking and a wonderful friend, driving truck back while husband tries picking mattress up in new truck, hanging out with parents to let ridiculous traffic clear, getting home to discover new mattress + box spring combo in our bed frame comes up to my waist, loving it anyway, typing up blog on it.
phew. on the plus side, it is literally the most comfortable bed i have ever laid on. it's like a cloud in our bedroom.
good night :-)
which helped me learn that it's really, really important to measure things before you drive 30 miles to pick up a gas-guzzling vehicle to drive the gas-guzzler 30 miles back only to discover that it was a moot point. and then have to drive it 30 miles back (in horrible traffic) and then, as if this wasn't enough, drive 30 more miles to get home again.
there's a very long, very mundane story attached to this, but i just don't have the energy to re-tell it. in short: great deal on amazingly comfortable mattress, decision to borrow parents' truck instead of get it delivered, discovering mattress won't fit in truck, thinking we may have to cancel our order on the great deal, husband saving the day due to quick last minute thinking and a wonderful friend, driving truck back while husband tries picking mattress up in new truck, hanging out with parents to let ridiculous traffic clear, getting home to discover new mattress + box spring combo in our bed frame comes up to my waist, loving it anyway, typing up blog on it.
phew. on the plus side, it is literally the most comfortable bed i have ever laid on. it's like a cloud in our bedroom.
good night :-)
4.04.2010
degroff, party of 9
today i learned that hosting 9 people for easter dinner is a lot of work.
but it was so worth it. i could think of no better way to spend the day that we celebrate the resurrection of our lord and savior Jesus Christ.
we woke up early, got dressed in our "sunday best" (i got to wear my new dress!), and went to church with my in-laws. it was a beautiful, uplifting service with incredible worship and an awesome message. then my in-laws took us out for a quick brunch (my favorite meal to eat out), and after a gorgeous, windows-down drive through west reading, we arrived home around 11:30.
which is when the real work began. even though i spent a good part of yesterday getting some of the prep work out of the way, including shoving the leaves in our dining room table, hard boiling the eggs, chopping the veggies, and making the bruschetta, there was a lot left to do. my saint of a husband began cleaning right away as i started my gf bread in the bread machine, deviled the eggs, scrubbed and chopped the potatoes, unloaded the dishwasher, etc etc etc. i was rolling along, right on schedule, things were great.
and then it was turkey time. i have to say, it actually went surprisingly smoothly. i pulled that 17 pound bird out of the fridge and plopped it right in the freshly rinsed sink. after reading the on-the-label instructions for the 23rd time (just to make sure), i pulled the trash can over and proceeded to unwrap it. i found the neck inside first, and then searched all over the place for the giblets. i even stuck my hand inside that sucker and felt around before i figured out that they were at the other end of him. ew. i know you can use them to make soup or other... things... but for me, the only place they belonged was the garbage. the next step was to rinse, at which point i felt like i was bathing one very large, very grotesque infant, but i did it anyway, and then plopped it right on down in the roaster. i put some water in the bottom of the pan, slathered him up with butter, tented him with foil, and popped him right on in the oven.
and from then on, it was smooth sailing. the turkey came out brown and crispy outside, juicy and tender inside, the mashed potatoes were flavorful, and even the crescent rolls i did for my hubby (the only non gluten free item) came out golden brown and soft (and luckily, got eaten all up so i didn't have to worry about storing them). i did, however, begin to feel very anxious, shaky, and light headed while i was rolling them out because all i could think of was that my hands were covered in bread dough, a psychological reaction that thoroughly surprised me. after getting them in the oven and washing my hands about 18 times, however, i was good to go. and even though i didn't sit down for more than 10 minutes to eat my own dinner, i couldn't have been happier. i was surrounded by the people i love, and who loved me enough to make yummy noises from the time they walked in ("wow it smells great in here!") to the time they left, my husband couldn't get enough (which i love), and everyone seemed to have a genuinely good time.
so with a heating pad on my very sore back, and sam on my very swollen feet, i am announcing that my first holiday dinner was a success.
the next one will have to wait for a year, until i regain my energy.
*sidenote: today, i also learned that you can control the color of your hydrangeas by changing the acidity of your soil. there's just no good story to go with it. i'm considering planting some hydrangeas behind our deck now, although hopefully tomorrow i will learn how to go about changing the acidity of my soil so i actually can control their color.
but it was so worth it. i could think of no better way to spend the day that we celebrate the resurrection of our lord and savior Jesus Christ.
we woke up early, got dressed in our "sunday best" (i got to wear my new dress!), and went to church with my in-laws. it was a beautiful, uplifting service with incredible worship and an awesome message. then my in-laws took us out for a quick brunch (my favorite meal to eat out), and after a gorgeous, windows-down drive through west reading, we arrived home around 11:30.
which is when the real work began. even though i spent a good part of yesterday getting some of the prep work out of the way, including shoving the leaves in our dining room table, hard boiling the eggs, chopping the veggies, and making the bruschetta, there was a lot left to do. my saint of a husband began cleaning right away as i started my gf bread in the bread machine, deviled the eggs, scrubbed and chopped the potatoes, unloaded the dishwasher, etc etc etc. i was rolling along, right on schedule, things were great.
and then it was turkey time. i have to say, it actually went surprisingly smoothly. i pulled that 17 pound bird out of the fridge and plopped it right in the freshly rinsed sink. after reading the on-the-label instructions for the 23rd time (just to make sure), i pulled the trash can over and proceeded to unwrap it. i found the neck inside first, and then searched all over the place for the giblets. i even stuck my hand inside that sucker and felt around before i figured out that they were at the other end of him. ew. i know you can use them to make soup or other... things... but for me, the only place they belonged was the garbage. the next step was to rinse, at which point i felt like i was bathing one very large, very grotesque infant, but i did it anyway, and then plopped it right on down in the roaster. i put some water in the bottom of the pan, slathered him up with butter, tented him with foil, and popped him right on in the oven.
and from then on, it was smooth sailing. the turkey came out brown and crispy outside, juicy and tender inside, the mashed potatoes were flavorful, and even the crescent rolls i did for my hubby (the only non gluten free item) came out golden brown and soft (and luckily, got eaten all up so i didn't have to worry about storing them). i did, however, begin to feel very anxious, shaky, and light headed while i was rolling them out because all i could think of was that my hands were covered in bread dough, a psychological reaction that thoroughly surprised me. after getting them in the oven and washing my hands about 18 times, however, i was good to go. and even though i didn't sit down for more than 10 minutes to eat my own dinner, i couldn't have been happier. i was surrounded by the people i love, and who loved me enough to make yummy noises from the time they walked in ("wow it smells great in here!") to the time they left, my husband couldn't get enough (which i love), and everyone seemed to have a genuinely good time.
so with a heating pad on my very sore back, and sam on my very swollen feet, i am announcing that my first holiday dinner was a success.
the next one will have to wait for a year, until i regain my energy.
*sidenote: today, i also learned that you can control the color of your hydrangeas by changing the acidity of your soil. there's just no good story to go with it. i'm considering planting some hydrangeas behind our deck now, although hopefully tomorrow i will learn how to go about changing the acidity of my soil so i actually can control their color.
4.03.2010
NOW it's spring
today i learned that first year bulbs (bulbs that have sprouted off of already planted bulbs) typically do not flower in their first year as independent bulbs.
which explains why i have a lot of daffodil leaves, and no daffodils.
not that i mind, the bulbs were free from a friend, and the leaves are better than plain old mulch, but it would have been nice to know what to expect. as the weather got warmer and warmer and i saw my little guys start to sprout, i had visions in my head of a stunning front garden full of colorful, aromatic blooms that even martha stewart would envy. and as the neighbors' gardens filled up with gorgeous blooms, my anticipation of my own daffodils and tulips smiling up at me as i pulled into the garage everyday after work heightened. but day after day passed, and i didn't even have a bud. nothing.
when i mentioned this to my mom the other night, she said offhand that it's probably because its the first time i've planted them. so this morning as i sipped my coffee and finished off the last of our eggs, i looked it up. and it's true- first time bulbs really do take an extra year to flower, and since my friend gave me the bulbs she had left over from thinning out her own garden, i figured they must all just be first year daffodils. it could be worse, i thought. at least the flower bed is tidy and full of green, and next year will almost certainly be abundant with blooms. and so, with my new bulb related knowledge tucked into the back of my brain, i left for the grocery store to stock up on eggs with more realistic expectations for my garden. i backed out of the garage in my little red yaris rocking out to some early morning motion city soundtrack when i saw this:
oh. my. goodness. i nearly flipped my lid.
most first year bulbs need a year in the ground before they bloom.
but some of them don't :-)
which explains why i have a lot of daffodil leaves, and no daffodils.
not that i mind, the bulbs were free from a friend, and the leaves are better than plain old mulch, but it would have been nice to know what to expect. as the weather got warmer and warmer and i saw my little guys start to sprout, i had visions in my head of a stunning front garden full of colorful, aromatic blooms that even martha stewart would envy. and as the neighbors' gardens filled up with gorgeous blooms, my anticipation of my own daffodils and tulips smiling up at me as i pulled into the garage everyday after work heightened. but day after day passed, and i didn't even have a bud. nothing.
when i mentioned this to my mom the other night, she said offhand that it's probably because its the first time i've planted them. so this morning as i sipped my coffee and finished off the last of our eggs, i looked it up. and it's true- first time bulbs really do take an extra year to flower, and since my friend gave me the bulbs she had left over from thinning out her own garden, i figured they must all just be first year daffodils. it could be worse, i thought. at least the flower bed is tidy and full of green, and next year will almost certainly be abundant with blooms. and so, with my new bulb related knowledge tucked into the back of my brain, i left for the grocery store to stock up on eggs with more realistic expectations for my garden. i backed out of the garage in my little red yaris rocking out to some early morning motion city soundtrack when i saw this:
oh. my. goodness. i nearly flipped my lid.
most first year bulbs need a year in the ground before they bloom.
but some of them don't :-)
4.02.2010
mischa and me
today i learned that i take my dog's presence for granted.
even when she's annoying the living daylights out of me.
i'm going to keep this short because some of my dinner got cross-contaminated and i'm feeling pretty ill. in a nutshell, after visiting my parents today with husband and dog in tow, my parents requested that we leave mischa (dog, not husband) with them for the weekend to help socialize their new puppy. my immediate reaction? TAKE HER! that's two mornings in a row- count them, 2!- that i won't have to wake up to take her out in my jammies and goulashes. and, two full days without having to feed her and then wonder if she was going to toss her cookies in some remote corner of the house (she has some digestive troubles). i gave her an extra pet and a hug on our way out, and that was that.
the ride home was wonderfully quiet and drool free. ahhh. and then we walked in the house. no one followed me upstairs. no one laid by the bed while i put on my pj's and brushed my teeth. no one walked over after i laid down to make sure i was hunkered in. and there's no soft snoring coming from the floor as i type this.
i miss my dog.
and i know when she comes back on sunday, tail wagging and barking all the way, i'll love her and hug on her and treat her all special for an hour or two, and then life will be back to normal. i'll get annoyed when she follows me. the drooling will drive me nuts. the barking will be endless.
but she will be here loving us. and i'll be loving her too.
even when she's annoying the living daylights out of me.
i'm going to keep this short because some of my dinner got cross-contaminated and i'm feeling pretty ill. in a nutshell, after visiting my parents today with husband and dog in tow, my parents requested that we leave mischa (dog, not husband) with them for the weekend to help socialize their new puppy. my immediate reaction? TAKE HER! that's two mornings in a row- count them, 2!- that i won't have to wake up to take her out in my jammies and goulashes. and, two full days without having to feed her and then wonder if she was going to toss her cookies in some remote corner of the house (she has some digestive troubles). i gave her an extra pet and a hug on our way out, and that was that.
the ride home was wonderfully quiet and drool free. ahhh. and then we walked in the house. no one followed me upstairs. no one laid by the bed while i put on my pj's and brushed my teeth. no one walked over after i laid down to make sure i was hunkered in. and there's no soft snoring coming from the floor as i type this.
i miss my dog.
and i know when she comes back on sunday, tail wagging and barking all the way, i'll love her and hug on her and treat her all special for an hour or two, and then life will be back to normal. i'll get annoyed when she follows me. the drooling will drive me nuts. the barking will be endless.
but she will be here loving us. and i'll be loving her too.
4.01.2010
turkey roasting 101
today i learned that there are about 800,000 recommended ways to roast a turkey.
i also learned that every time i try to type the word "turkey", it comes out "turkery", and i have to back-track. watch for it in case i miss one.
my husband and i are both big family people. we love our own families, and each other's families, and we try to find lots of time to spend with them. when we started dating, it was tough for us to decide how to split up holidays, but somehow we made it work (with a lot of miles put onto our cars and long days usually consisting of two amazingly yummy meals). but when we got married back in october, i knew i didn't want every holiday to turn into a marathon of driving, eating, and hurried hugs, so i promised myself that we would host thanksgiving at our new house. this way, everyone could see the place, and they could be the ones doing the driving instead of us. so we hoarded our giant bonus points like any good lower middle class couple just starting out would do and got ourselves a wildly large 17 pound turkey for free (just the way i like them).
and then, i wussed out.
i was still a novice at gluten free cooking. i had never cooked for more than 5 people before. but to cook a turkey, and a conglomerate of other high-profile holiday dishes while maintaining their gluten free status was unthinkable, especially one short month after getting married and moving into our new home. so after several apologies and two very forgiving mothers, we spent our first married thanksgiving like the 5 years before- eating, driving, and falling into two separate turkey induced food comas. don't get me wrong, it was a wonderful thanksgiving, but not what i had envisioned. and the worst part?
we were stuck with a 17 pound turkey in our freezer.
so as spring rolled around, i decided to give the whole "hosting a holiday" thing a second shot. i'm much more adept at the g-free thing now, and cooking large quantities doesn't intimidate me quite as much. and, since easter is the next holiday to come up on the roster, it was the lucky winner. i've spent the last week and a half or so deciding what i want to make, checking and double checking that i have what i need to make it fabulous, and reminding myself that even if it's not perfect, no one will care (or, at the very least, they'll keep their mouths shut). and then, this morning, as i was devoutly avoiding refinishing our last deck chair, it occurred to me that i have absolutely no idea how to roast a turkey other than what i've seen my mother do (and all that really comes to mind as i rack my memory is basting).
enter: google. after clicking on the first three hits and realizing that every single one of them was in every possible way different (aside from the "put it in the oven" part), i knew i was in trouble. i kept clicking. different, different, different. what. the. heck. even cooking times were inconsistent. and unfortunately, i have no real closure for this post. like i said, i learned that there are lots of different recommended ways to roast a turkey. i didn't say i learned how to roast a turkey. the true test will come on sunday when i pop that sucker (slathered in butter) in to a 325 degree oven for four hours in a roasting pan that has a half inch of water in it and pop a little foil tent over top since my roaster has no lid and start to baste every 45 minutes. i don't even care that i just used a ridiculous run-on sentence. this turkey roasting business is one giant run-on sentence just waiting to be written. all i can do is cross my fingers and hope that i did a satisfactory job combining the litany of information i had thrown at me after typing "roasting a turkey" into that little search bar, and that my easter turkey comes out crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside.
i can't wait to see what sunday teaches me.
i also learned that every time i try to type the word "turkey", it comes out "turkery", and i have to back-track. watch for it in case i miss one.
my husband and i are both big family people. we love our own families, and each other's families, and we try to find lots of time to spend with them. when we started dating, it was tough for us to decide how to split up holidays, but somehow we made it work (with a lot of miles put onto our cars and long days usually consisting of two amazingly yummy meals). but when we got married back in october, i knew i didn't want every holiday to turn into a marathon of driving, eating, and hurried hugs, so i promised myself that we would host thanksgiving at our new house. this way, everyone could see the place, and they could be the ones doing the driving instead of us. so we hoarded our giant bonus points like any good lower middle class couple just starting out would do and got ourselves a wildly large 17 pound turkey for free (just the way i like them).
and then, i wussed out.
i was still a novice at gluten free cooking. i had never cooked for more than 5 people before. but to cook a turkey, and a conglomerate of other high-profile holiday dishes while maintaining their gluten free status was unthinkable, especially one short month after getting married and moving into our new home. so after several apologies and two very forgiving mothers, we spent our first married thanksgiving like the 5 years before- eating, driving, and falling into two separate turkey induced food comas. don't get me wrong, it was a wonderful thanksgiving, but not what i had envisioned. and the worst part?
we were stuck with a 17 pound turkey in our freezer.
so as spring rolled around, i decided to give the whole "hosting a holiday" thing a second shot. i'm much more adept at the g-free thing now, and cooking large quantities doesn't intimidate me quite as much. and, since easter is the next holiday to come up on the roster, it was the lucky winner. i've spent the last week and a half or so deciding what i want to make, checking and double checking that i have what i need to make it fabulous, and reminding myself that even if it's not perfect, no one will care (or, at the very least, they'll keep their mouths shut). and then, this morning, as i was devoutly avoiding refinishing our last deck chair, it occurred to me that i have absolutely no idea how to roast a turkey other than what i've seen my mother do (and all that really comes to mind as i rack my memory is basting).
enter: google. after clicking on the first three hits and realizing that every single one of them was in every possible way different (aside from the "put it in the oven" part), i knew i was in trouble. i kept clicking. different, different, different. what. the. heck. even cooking times were inconsistent. and unfortunately, i have no real closure for this post. like i said, i learned that there are lots of different recommended ways to roast a turkey. i didn't say i learned how to roast a turkey. the true test will come on sunday when i pop that sucker (slathered in butter) in to a 325 degree oven for four hours in a roasting pan that has a half inch of water in it and pop a little foil tent over top since my roaster has no lid and start to baste every 45 minutes. i don't even care that i just used a ridiculous run-on sentence. this turkey roasting business is one giant run-on sentence just waiting to be written. all i can do is cross my fingers and hope that i did a satisfactory job combining the litany of information i had thrown at me after typing "roasting a turkey" into that little search bar, and that my easter turkey comes out crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside.
i can't wait to see what sunday teaches me.
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