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What is going on?

It's so quiet around here, y'all! Does everyone have bloggy ennui? Everyone busy?? Blah. Oh, and fair warning, this is going to be a rambly, incoherent sort of post.

I'm doing the single mommy thing 'til Sat. morning when Matt gets back from TN. This will, apparently, include taking Tabby with me to my company's quarterly early morning breakfast meeting since her sitter doesn't start work 'til 7. It was my boss's idea. Hehe.

I saw these things on LJC's site. I think what I like most about them is that I can toss them in the dishwasher to get clean. Easy like paper towels, but reusable. That's pretty great. Now I just have to make a trip to Wild Oats (like Whole Foods, but smaller) to pick some of them up. Along with s'more almond milk and some organic frozen squash. I have many lists.

I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my second honorary nephew, the son of our best friends. He is due to be born sometime t'day by cesarean. Now I am just hoping that 230985 emergency C-sections don't crop up last minute. Tabby and I are going down there after work.

Continue reading “What is going on?”

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Sleep in Heavenly Peace

After a long, heroically fought battle, Matt's grandma, the irrepressible MamaNick, passed away early Tuesday. She was an amazing woman who I had the privelege of knowing for just a few short years. But she always impressed me as very strong, mind, body, and spirit and incredibly devoted to her family. She is survived by four sons, 12 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. She will be missed sorely by her family and many friends.

This photo is one of the only ones we have of her with Tabby, from our first visit to Nashville after Tabby was born, back in May. It is sad that Tabby will not get a chance to get to know this very special great grandma. But we are lucky to have photos, memories, and great stories.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace, MamaNick.

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Perhaps She's In the Wrong Field?

We went in to see the doc yesterday with Tabby. She was scheduled for a consult with the pediatric urologist. No biggie. So we got there at 2:50 and checked in for our 3:00 appointment and went upstairs and sat in the waiting room and played with toys and such. We met another mom all set to see the same doc as us with a 3:15 appointment. By 3:25 we were all getting a bit antsy. Then they called the other mom and her kids. And we got confused. I said to Matt that maybe we had our appointment time wrong. He decided we had better check and make sure. We've waited (in the pharmacy in paticular) for over 45 minutes and when we finally went to ask, we'd been forgotten or whatever. So he went up to ask. He made an inquiry with the receptionist who then went to get the nurse.

All the way across the large waiting room, I heard the nurse's rather rude answer. Basically the jist was that we may have gotten there at 2:50 but our appointment wasn't until 3:30 and how dare we even THINK to question this. When Matt came back I commented to him about how rude she had been. And I didn't bother to lower my voice because I didn't paticularly care if she heard me or not.

A couple of minutes later, she came out and called us. I walked over and she started in on us again. Just because we arrived early didn't mean that we could get into see the doctor any earlier. Very rude again. I told her in the politest way I could that we had simply had a misunderstanding about our appointment time and we were just trying to make certain we'd not been forgotten as we had been before and cited the incident at the pharmacy. “We've learned to ask rather than assume.” She curtly informed me that they were not the pharmacy that they were a surgical department who ran on schedule, blah blah blah, which was still clearly untrue because they were still 10 minutes late for OUR appointment (not that I care, but don't lecture me about your precise time tables when you're 10 minutes late, lady). I didn't bother to argue with her.

I didn't bring it up, but the doc did end up apologizing for her behavior, which I appreciate. It would have meant more if she had apologized, but whatever. This paticular appointment, it didn't really matter, but I think back to my first perinatologist appointment last October when the slightest anything would have sent me into hysterics because I was so upset already at having to be there and you just wonder if she shouldn't think about a new career. Possibly one with less people interaction.

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The Sun's Out


It was a nice weekend, but very rainy. Our weekend plans of hiking and going to the zoo were sort of abbreviated, but we had a nice time anyhow. I did quite a bit of cooking, including Baked Winter Squash and Pine Nut Lasagna (sounds weird, but was *very* good) and Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken, which Matt loved (small wonder).

Anyhoo, this AM when we got up and it was sunny out, I wanted to go for a walk. There is this lovely path that goes through a bunch of neighborhoods and then eventually behind a school where there is a natural area. The photo above was taken there this morning. It is beautiful year round, but especially lovely in the fall. I take the kids here every Monday (there is a park just beyond the school) and occasionally get over there another time during the week. So Matt was game and we had a nice hour+ walk this morning. Such a nice start to the day.

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Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken

from:

Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
10 oz dry lasagna noodles, cooked al dente (about 12 noodles)
10 oz cooked winter squash, thawed if frozen
1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
3/4 cup golden seedless raisins
2 Tbsp pine nuts, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place flour in a small saucepan and very gradually whisk in milk and garlic. Warm over low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce simmers and is thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Spread 1/4 cup of cheese sauce over bottom of a 9 X 13-inch glass or metal pan and cover with 3 lasagna noodles; top with 1/3 of squash and 1/2 cup of cheese sauce. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of raisins. Cover with 3 more lasagna noodles and spread with 1/3 of remaining squash and 1/2 cup of cheese sauce; sprinkle with 1/4 cup of raisins. Cover with 3 more lasagna noodles and top with remaining squash and raisins; cover with last 3 lasagna noodles, pressing sheets firmly down. Top with remaining cheese sauce; sprinkle with pine nuts and remaining mozzarella cheese

Bake until lasagna bubbles around edges and is browned on top, about 30 minutes. Slice into 8 pieces and serve.

from:

Ingredients
1 sprays cooking spray
2/3 cup lite honey mustard dressing
1/8 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tsp dill, freshly chopped
1 medium scallion(s), finely sliced
1 cup cornflake crumbs
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, four 4 oz pieces

Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat a shallow pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine honey mustard dressing, salt, pepper, dill and scallions; remove 1/3 cup and set aside.

Place cornflake crumbs in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken into dressing mixture and then cornflake crumbs; place in prepared pan.

Bake until chicken is golden and no longer pink in center, about 15 minutes.

Drizzle remaining dressing mixture (the 1/3 cup that was set aside) over chicken breasts and serve. Yields 1 piece of chicken and about 1 1/3 tablespoons of dressing per serving.

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Baked Winter Squash, Raisin and Pine Nut Lasagna

from:

Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
10 oz dry lasagna noodles, cooked al dente (about 12 noodles)
10 oz cooked winter squash, thawed if frozen
1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
3/4 cup golden seedless raisins
2 Tbsp pine nuts, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place flour in a small saucepan and very gradually whisk in milk and garlic. Warm over low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce simmers and is thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Spread 1/4 cup of cheese sauce over bottom of a 9 X 13-inch glass or metal pan and cover with 3 lasagna noodles; top with 1/3 of squash and 1/2 cup of cheese sauce. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of raisins. Cover with 3 more lasagna noodles and spread with 1/3 of remaining squash and 1/2 cup of cheese sauce; sprinkle with 1/4 cup of raisins. Cover with 3 more lasagna noodles and top with remaining squash and raisins; cover with last 3 lasagna noodles, pressing sheets firmly down. Top with remaining cheese sauce; sprinkle with pine nuts and remaining mozzarella cheese

Bake until lasagna bubbles around edges and is browned on top, about 30 minutes. Slice into 8 pieces and serve.

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So this is what Having Twins Would Be Like

Somewhat against my better judgement, we bought a baby monitor. I admit, it's been nice here and there, but our house isn't big and I really have no doubts that I could hear her, plus I think it sometimes encourages parents to hover over every little sound and murmur. Just my opinion. But I've got a nervous dad on my hands, so we bought one. It's done very well for the most part, though I constantly have to make Matt turn the volume down so I can sleep. “Sweetie, if the volume of her music is louder in here than it is in her room, I think that's too loud.” Tinny classical at 10 dB is not paticularly relaxing.

Anyhoo, for the past two nights, we've been getting interference on our receivers. Sounded mostly like fuzz the night before last, but last night, we distinctly heard a baby crying. And not a 7 month old baby and not OUR baby. This sounds like a little little baby. But it wakes us up … and for a second, we were *very* confused. Miss Tabby, however, was peacefully asleep in her crib (not having a receiver installed in her room), if rotated 90 degrees clockwise from when we put her to sleep.

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Halloween and Other Things

What're y'all doing for Halloween? Tabby has some hand-me-down Halloween costumes … a black cat, I think, and maybe something else (I've got to look thru boxes). But I'm still not sure what we want to do about a costume for her. Part of me wants to mark the event (her first Halloween) with a cool costume, and part of me goes “$17(-$25) for something she's only going to wear for *maybe* 2 hours?!? Crazy!!” But I did see a really cute monkey costume @ Old Navy and a Pumpkin Faerie costume @ Target, both of which I really liked. And I'm also tempted to dress her up as Maggie (from The Simpsons) since she's so in love with her binky (though where can I find that hair?!?).

And of course, we need to carve pumpkins. Matt LOVES to carve pumpkins. I just saw a really great post about that too … ah yes, here it is. It's funny, I remember Halloween vividly last year, lying on the couch, eating pizza and watching that horrible Herbie movie (the one with Lindsay Lohan) and feeling Ms. Tabby kick me … hehe. Continue reading “Halloween and Other Things”

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Jesser the Clumsy

I think I shall go down in history as Jesser the Clumsy. No “the great” or the “nerdy” even, for me. Clumsiness seems to define my existance lately. As I look at the back of my hands, while typing, I can see no less than 6 scratches/abrasions. There are more if I turn them over. And sadly, I only know how I got about half of them.

A brief recap of my recent clumsiness:
* reached up into our upper cabinet to get the huge bottle of oil for some baking; finger got cut on said bottle's plastic seam on the bottom
* jar of cherry preserves fell out of the refrigerator, bounced up and hit me on my ankle bone; swore like a sailor
* scraped the back of my hand against the door frame when leaving tabby's room
* knicked my finger on a food processor blade (barely even noticed this, but now it stings a lot)
* two large abrasions on my legs still not gone from going tubing and hitting rocks at the beginning of august
… and the piece d'resistance ….
* while in Nashville, pulled a glass door open over my foot and cut my foot deeply in two spots; bled so much i dripped blood all over the bathroom floor and stained my flipflop; rode around in the car with my foot in a plastic bag so i wouldn't stain matt's car's interior

Maybe I need more sleep. Or more time so I'm not always rushing around.