I Confess

I confess

...that I eat really unhealthily when I'm down and out with a cold. I don't know what it is, but only salt and chocolate appeal to me in those times. The kids and I mowed down a box of Dunkin Donuts munchkins the other day.

...that I'm about to go a little stir crazy because our plans for this past weekend were once again cancelled/ postponed due to sickness. We're talking 4 weekends in a row here. Yikes, 2014. Way to keep us on our toes.

...that I am a real wimp when it comes to the cold this year. But it has been really cold, right? I live in fleeces and layers, and not even my neck has seen the light of day in weeks. Sorry, husband.

...that because of the aforementioned cold, I take steaming hot showers and stand by the wood stove constantly even though I know it's horrible for my skin (dryness). I'm willing to pay the price!

...that texting with good friends of mine have been one of the reasons I've survived the last few week or so of sickness and not going anywhere. I can't fathom being a rural stay at home mom before the advent of the internet and texting. Between the two, I have lifelines and never feel alone.

Meal Planning

Meal planning used to stress me out.

Every weekend I'd sit there with my pen, paper and the Big Y flier in front of me and think: "What are we going to have for dinners this week? Chili? No, just had it last week. Pot roast? No, it's not on sale."

Then I had the idea to make a list of all the different dinners we made. I typed them all as they came to mind, then separated them into categories- Seafood, Beef, Chicken, Vegetarian, Breakfast, etc. All of a sudden, meal planning got much easier. Every week I make a note by each meal we're having, so that way when I go to meal plan the next time, I'll know which meals we had least recently.

It's worked very well. Last time I counted, I had 50 meals on that list. 7 days in a week, therefore we have an 8 week meal rotation! Not bad! Not all is dictated by "the list"- what's on sale has a big impact on my shopping, too. For example, this week pork butt was finally on sale for $1.99/lb. It meant I could make BBQ shredded pork in the crock pot, something that had been out of our rotation for months simply because it wasn't on sale. (The best way to eat BBQ shredded pork, by the way, is with coleslaw for a topping, in a bulkie roll. Yum).

What doesn't get eaten that night, gets eaten as leftovers for lunch. There is little to no waste in our house. I buy for the week, within budget, and that's it. Our fridge looks almost completely empty by Sunday (I go shopping on Monday). I cringe when I think of how much food I wasted before I planned meals properly. I would buy veggies and fruit I didn't really care for, thinking that somehow they'd get eaten. They didn't, and that's mainly because I bought a lot of junk in addition. When I got serious about losing weight two years ago, I knew I simply couldn't have cookies or sweets in the house. They tempt me too much! I bought my dark chocolate, and that's it. It has worked. Thus why I like this:

Meal planning doesn't have to be stressful. As soon as I stopped making it a guessing game, and really thought about the food I bought, life got a lot easier.

Observations on Parenthood

1. I never thought I'd be jealous of my dog until I got up for the baby for the 4th time that night and saw him sleeping so soundly and peacefully.



2. I always thought kids who screamed or cried in the supermarket were brats. Turns out, their parents are probably the ones not giving in to whatever ridiculous request has been made. The quiet ones often have iPhones and cookies in their hands (I am not against a small snack in the grocery store, in particular. I live 25 minutes away and need groceries).



3. I never thought eating in front of the TV would feel like such a luxury until we instituted the everyone-sits-around-the-table-for-every-meal rule a few years ago. Now that the kids are older, we have the occasional pizza party or lunch in the living room and have a blast.



4. I always thought "You'll never see my kid do that", until I had a kid and realized her personality was entirely hers, not created by me. I'm pretty sure everything I had judged in the past has happened at least once between my two kids, including handing over the iPod during the 15 minute wait at the deli line last weekend. Desperate times call for desperate measures.



5. I never thought browsing or lingering in stores was so wonderful until I became unable to do it. At this point, it's hard to remember weekends of having nothing better to do but walk around in stores, grab a lunch and go to a movie. Those were the days...but not really, because...



6. I always thought my life felt a little empty before kids. I had Steve, I had family and friends, but something was missing- a deeper purpose. I found that purpose when I became a mother. I feel complete.

That Time of Year

I heard the unmistakable sound of the plow going by as I ended the prayer and stroked Rosie's forehead and flushed cheeks. Her eyes, partially closed, were glassy. Poor thing has been sick with a rotten cold these past few days. I turned off the light and crept away, hoping sleep would come to her soon before another coughing fit did.

It's that time of year. Sickness abounds.

You could almost set a clock by how regularly we get sick in January. Two years ago it was an awful stomach bug, last year it was pink eye and severe head colds. This year, we appear to have lucked out so far with "just" the head cold. Just enough to make little people miserable.

Almost all the rules go out the window when sickness comes to visit. The TV, usually only turned on a few times a day, stays on the entire day through. Food, usually only eaten at the table, gets eaten on the couch in whatever small amounts they're willing to eat. Same goes with drinks. Redbox gets a lot of business from us, and the parents of the house are glad to have each other in times of such miserableness.

It could always be worse. But little kids who are sick; it's no fun for anyone involved.

But we will get through as we always do, and sometime in June we'll laugh at all the weekends we stayed cooped up in the house, on the mend. It's so unlike the rest of the year when we're on the go every weekend to a different place. This time of year? There's a lot of couch sitting, standing by the wood stove, reading and watching movies.

If not for the sickness part, this time of year isn't so bad!

Friday Five: New Favorite Recipes

With the start of the new year, I decided to try at least one new recipe a week. The results have been promising! Here are some of my new favorites:

1. Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers. My, my, my. These were nothing short of amazing. Just the mushrooms and onion caramelizing in the skillet in the first step is enough to make your mouth water. Highly recommend!

2. Ranch Pesto Rigatoni Bake. A very simple, flavorful pasta dish that the whole family loved. Can't go wrong with that!

3. Turkey Wrap with Cucumber and Laughing Cow Cheese. The link will lead you to a Rachel Ray recipe calling for cream cheese. Forget that- do yourself a favor and use garlic & herb Laughing Cow cheese, instead! This is definitely my new favorite lunch, which is great, because I had recently found myself in a lunch rut.

4. Crock pot Black Beans & Rice (Burrito filling). I had always wanted to try making burritos at home, but had never found a good recipe. This very simple one that cooks in the crock pot for 3 hours was just the ticket! Once it was done, we put it in tortillas and added Mexican cheese and sour cream. Perfect dinner!

5. Homemade Clam Chowder. This is a recipe that Steve has made twice, very successfully. It's rich and hearty, everything you'd want a winter soup to be.

Do you have any new favorite recipes? Please share!

Right Now

Among other things, this blog is a record of my life as it is right now. These are some things I want to remember:

1. Rosie coming downstairs, seeing the sheets on the drying racks, turning to me with a knowing smile, arms crossed, saying: "You were playing tents, weren't you, mama?" (I love that she thinks of me as "playing" when she's upstairs, sleeping).

2. Buddy hoarding everything in sight. Magnetic letters off the fridge, stuffed into a pretend pocketbook. Trains and princesses stuffed into everyone's boots. My favorite- the doctor kit case, that he fills with items of particular interest and places beside his crib before he takes a nap.

3. Rosie taking my great grandmother's hand mirror off of my bureau and saying: "Mama, this is the mirror you look in while you brush your hair." Haha. I think Disney Princess movies have given her unrealistic ideas of how I spend my time grooming.

4. The way Buddy still loves to snuggle. He's such an affectionate love.

5. Buddy's cute little voice saying " Pleese" (Please), "Thank", "Book! Book!", "Truck!", "Dwink" (drink), among other things.

6. The way the two of them play so well together right now. I don't know what switch has flipped, and when it will flip back to fighting, but in general, they have a blast together lately, more than usual. Rosie still regularly thanks God for Buddy at the end of her day, and Buddy will just plop down to play wherever Rosie is. I love to watch them together.

Life's thrown a few curve balls at us this month (when doesn't it?), but things are good. Really good.

Every Mile

Yesterday was my day to visit a friend who lives in Williamstown. Lucky for me, it had snowed the day before, and the snow clinging to every branch made for a very pretty drive. Lucky for me, this drive happens to be the same exact one I used to take to get to college. A trip down memory lane, if you will.

I took Church Street, the one that goes by the first dorm I stayed in. For the first time in years, I scanned the windows of the 6th floor, remembering the people who had lived in each of those rooms. Most all of the shades were pulled tight; hardly surprising at 9am Sunday on a college campus.

I passed the gates that I had walked through as a naïve freshman and as a seasoned senior. I drove alongside the sidewalk that I had walked hundreds of times, with friends and with Steve. I saw the bench on which I had confessed a secret to my then-best friend, and I passed the pizzeria where the lady knew what Steve and I wanted as soon as walked in. (Mozzarella sticks and two hot ham & cheese grinders, please).

It was all the same but all very different.

On my way home from Williamstown, I took the street that goes by the other part of campus. I spied a snow covered slipper on the lawn of one of the off campus houses and was reassured that things hadn't changed that much in eight years.

No, make that nine. Almost nine years exactly since we had graduated from this place. The realization hit me that, however way you spin in, it's been almost a decade. Then I thought of my husband and two kids at home, and thought that maybe nine years sounded about right. Life's changed a bit.

I enjoyed that drive so much yesterday. Every mile brought a buried memory to the surface. Lucky for me, I live relatively close-by and can come visit this place most any time I'd like. Lucky for me, I met the love of my life there, and he proposed to me there, so few places will ever hold a spot so close to my heart.