As autumn kicks into full gear and an annoying cold has settled into my system, it seems like the perfect time to break out soup. It's warm and soothing, plus I can make it in my slow cooker (the most awesome home appliance anywhere).
I'm making veggie soup for dinner tonight and am planning on potato soup for Sunday. Tuesday night we had tomato soup and I include the recipe here (partially for any random readers and mostly for myself so that I don't forget what I did!):
Coarsely chop 4-5 fresh tomatoes - place in the bottom of slow cooker.
Add: 1 beef bouillon cube, 1 chopped onion, 1/2 cup water, 1 eight oz. can of tomato sauce and spices to taste (I used black pepper, oregano, fresh basil and thyme).
Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
Add 1/2 cup milk - cook an additional 30 minutes.
Yummy served with fresh warm bread or biscuits for dunking!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
I'm an Idiot
Well, my husband says I'm not, so maybe I'll believe him. Anyway, I lost my engagement ring. Hence the fact that I am an idiot. I know it was an accident, but it is still gnawing at me like crazy. I keep hoping someone will call and say "I found it!" but each hour that passes diminishes that hope. And I know... "the best things in life aren't things." But this is an irreplaceable thing. My grandfather gave this ring to my grandmother who shared it with me and Sam. It's a symbol of our promise to each other... and I know I still have my wedding band. But still. Driving me nuts!!!
Also, and this is totally a vanity point, I liked having all the shine going on at my ring finger. Technically, the really important symbol (wedding band) is still there. But the glitz is gone. So it's an emotional wrench coupled with a (less but still present) desire to have my ring back to show off.
I still have my husband, my baby, my home, my grandma, my parents and siblings and all the other blessings life has brought me. I just wish I still had that shiny little piece of metal around my finger too.
Also, and this is totally a vanity point, I liked having all the shine going on at my ring finger. Technically, the really important symbol (wedding band) is still there. But the glitz is gone. So it's an emotional wrench coupled with a (less but still present) desire to have my ring back to show off.
I still have my husband, my baby, my home, my grandma, my parents and siblings and all the other blessings life has brought me. I just wish I still had that shiny little piece of metal around my finger too.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
New areas of expertise
Before you have a baby, people (all kinds of people!) find it necessary to tell you helpful things like "this will totally change your life" and "you have no idea what this will really be like" and "it's such a magical experience." I don't know about any magic, but I do know that having a kid changes you in many ways... let's focus on one today, shall we? I'll call it "new areas of expertise."
As a non-parenting child-free adult, you certainly have areas of expertise. They may be related to your job, your hobbies, what have you. As a parent, you somehow become immediately fluent on all kinds of unlikely topics. Here's a sampler:
1. Baby poop
2. The breast vs. bottle debate
3. The "cry it out" question
4. Solid food time lines and recipes
5. Vaccines and their link to autism
6. Baby sign language
7. Teething
8. Crawling and cruising
9. The best brands of teething biscuits
10. "Green" baby options
And on and on...
And lots more... I reflect on this right now because I just got back from the park. Elizabeth and I were walking with two other mom-baby pairs. And as I think back over our conversation (the moms', not the babies'), I realize that all three of us had taken on the air of "one who knows." There was quoting of experts, mentions of books we'd read and websites we'd used, an extensive dissection of the various pediatricians at our group practice and how we found them in relation to several of the topics listed above. It's bizarre. And sometimes stifling, because I fear that I might be running out of "non baby" things to discuss with others.
No matter. I need to go check in on my favorite baby food website and see where I'm going next with my daughter's food plan. Rock on weaning.
As a non-parenting child-free adult, you certainly have areas of expertise. They may be related to your job, your hobbies, what have you. As a parent, you somehow become immediately fluent on all kinds of unlikely topics. Here's a sampler:
1. Baby poop
2. The breast vs. bottle debate
3. The "cry it out" question
4. Solid food time lines and recipes
5. Vaccines and their link to autism
6. Baby sign language
7. Teething
8. Crawling and cruising
9. The best brands of teething biscuits
10. "Green" baby options
And on and on...
And lots more... I reflect on this right now because I just got back from the park. Elizabeth and I were walking with two other mom-baby pairs. And as I think back over our conversation (the moms', not the babies'), I realize that all three of us had taken on the air of "one who knows." There was quoting of experts, mentions of books we'd read and websites we'd used, an extensive dissection of the various pediatricians at our group practice and how we found them in relation to several of the topics listed above. It's bizarre. And sometimes stifling, because I fear that I might be running out of "non baby" things to discuss with others.
No matter. I need to go check in on my favorite baby food website and see where I'm going next with my daughter's food plan. Rock on weaning.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Blast from the Past
I just read the one and only post I've previously made to this blog and it was like visiting an old friend or, perhaps more accurately, a crazy long-lost relative. That sad voice is ME. Reading that post, I remember how it felt "back in the day" (not even a year ago!) when la bebe was just a few weeks old. Since that posting, life, the babe, and I have all changed - and I'm going to go out on a limb here - for the better.
True to what I said, I did find some mom groups online and they were a spring board to finding other, more local playgroups. In those early months, "playgroup" meant "sanity" for me. Getting out of the house, having a destination where I knew I would find other women going through the same emotional roller coaster was huge. And then, that step out of the house led to other changes.
Elizabeth began to sleep through the night. Her feedings became more spaced out and now include consumables other than breast milk. I took on some part-time work. I learned how to bake bread. My mother-in-law moved back to PA. I started bowling again. Life has taken on a routine that is fluid, but predictable. I curl up with my husband in bed at night and feel grateful for this time with my family, knowing this past year has been the most difficult of my life but also the most rewarding.
I kind of hope that no one I know would ever read this blog. I kind of hope that everyone I know would read this blog. I find it difficult to articulate how much has happened since that November day when I sat on this same chair, typing on this same computer. Being a mother, having a baby, it changes you - DUH. But like any pain, your mind dulls the memory of it, so that you can keep going on, maybe even try again the thing that has hurt you. Hearing that little voice from my past, my voice, I want so much to tell myself - hey, you'll get through it. Here I am! Just fine (neurotic as ever, maybe more so, but fine) and proud of all that this year has wrought.
Just a brief summary of how this year has been so pivotal in the way Sam and I live our life - Elizabeth arrives and I stop working full time. We have less money as a family than we ever have. Sam begins to explore "green" options for our home. I begin to explore "frugal" options as part of my stay at home duties. We notice that green and frugal converge in many ways. Furthermore, we see that green and frugal also jive with the way we want to raise our child(ren). Then Obama arrives on the scene and shakes everything up like mad.
2008 has been a wild year for our family.
But I believe that history will look back and see it as a wild, pivotal, important moment for our country and planet as well.
Whew - from my personal journey to a statement about our global heritage. Take that, six degrees of Kevin Bacon!
True to what I said, I did find some mom groups online and they were a spring board to finding other, more local playgroups. In those early months, "playgroup" meant "sanity" for me. Getting out of the house, having a destination where I knew I would find other women going through the same emotional roller coaster was huge. And then, that step out of the house led to other changes.
Elizabeth began to sleep through the night. Her feedings became more spaced out and now include consumables other than breast milk. I took on some part-time work. I learned how to bake bread. My mother-in-law moved back to PA. I started bowling again. Life has taken on a routine that is fluid, but predictable. I curl up with my husband in bed at night and feel grateful for this time with my family, knowing this past year has been the most difficult of my life but also the most rewarding.
I kind of hope that no one I know would ever read this blog. I kind of hope that everyone I know would read this blog. I find it difficult to articulate how much has happened since that November day when I sat on this same chair, typing on this same computer. Being a mother, having a baby, it changes you - DUH. But like any pain, your mind dulls the memory of it, so that you can keep going on, maybe even try again the thing that has hurt you. Hearing that little voice from my past, my voice, I want so much to tell myself - hey, you'll get through it. Here I am! Just fine (neurotic as ever, maybe more so, but fine) and proud of all that this year has wrought.
Just a brief summary of how this year has been so pivotal in the way Sam and I live our life - Elizabeth arrives and I stop working full time. We have less money as a family than we ever have. Sam begins to explore "green" options for our home. I begin to explore "frugal" options as part of my stay at home duties. We notice that green and frugal converge in many ways. Furthermore, we see that green and frugal also jive with the way we want to raise our child(ren). Then Obama arrives on the scene and shakes everything up like mad.
2008 has been a wild year for our family.
But I believe that history will look back and see it as a wild, pivotal, important moment for our country and planet as well.
Whew - from my personal journey to a statement about our global heritage. Take that, six degrees of Kevin Bacon!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)