Home and Reunion

I always love going  "home".  South D. will always be "home" for me, just as much as my own Chicago house is home.  Home in this instance is the South D. variety.   I especially enjoy road-tripping to get home.  There is something about driving across the prairie that I couldn't appreciate when I was younger that now grips me with excitement, fills me with peace, and brings a wide toothy smile to my heart.  It's 365 miles of prairie from Sioux Falls to Rapid City.  They are tortuously long, all to familiar, but very, very welcome.  We look forward to the major stops along the way, trying to remember which one is next.  Mitchell, Chamberlain, Presho, Murdo, Kadoka, Wall, then HOME!!! 

When we arrived, everyone was running out the door.. Ok, Mom and Liam were running out the door to Baseball practice.  Quick hugs were exchanged and mom said to come visit her if we got bored.  We brought our stuff inside and Megan, Patrick, Glenn and I hopped on our bikes after a quick hello to dad and biked down to where the kids were practicing about half a mile away.  I always feel like a kid at my parent's house.  Carefree with not a worry in the world.  On the way back up to the house, I was reminded I wasn't a kid anymore.  I couldn't even pedal my bike up the hill to our house.  Man, I remember when I was younger and biked around all day like it was nothing.  <sigh>

We were in Rapid City for a week this time, and since it's been a while, I can't remember all of the details of everything we did (which you, reader are most likely thankful for)  but I will mention a few highlights of our Hills Visit 2011

1. Mom (with some help from dad and the neighbor) remodeled the upstairs bathroom.  I wish I had before and after pictures, because it looks wonderful!  Nice job Mom!!

2. Meggie was home.  :)  big smiles all around.  We hardly get to see Meggie anymore with her being away at school and us living in Chicago.   3 cheers for Megan!

3. The Wakley family,  -Adam (sad face),  stayed with us, and we had a wonderful time visiting and hanging out.  What a fun group of people you are!  We were blessed to see you and spend time in your company again :)

4. Many nights on the back deck.  Glenn loves the back deck, and when I see him enjoying it, I add that to my list of future home 'requirements'.  The other thing we love about the back deck is that we can hang out to all hours of the night with whatever company shows up.  Usually Fr. Tyler, and occasionally Matt Sullivan.  Other visitors during our stay included Linda Hofer, and Sr. Nekopoia and another visiting sister.  Among our favorite deck activities, smoking the hookah or Cigars, whichever you prefer, sipping on Mom's diving Cherry-cello, and playing cards until everyone is on the verge of nodding off in the warm summer night air.  <long sigh>

5. Good Will. 'Nuf said.

6. The Firehouse with the Trask clan, workers, the Wakley's and Kelley.  Yay!  We finally got to see Kelley!  The Trasks are always such a fun group of people to hang around.  Personable, welcoming, warm and generous to anyone and everyone.  Thank you for everything!

7. The Kositzky Klan Family Reunion.  It was wonderful, and awkward.  HA.  Wonderful to see all the relatives again, and awkward because everyone has grown so much that I couldn't say who was who.  After the initial chaos and embarrassment of trying to figure out who belonged to whom and all that good stuff, we had a great time.   My personal highlights from the reunion are Aunt Kora's distinct cackle laugh, unmistakable and heartwarming, seeing Milton's boys all grown up, meeting all the new cooing, smiling additions to the family, and of course, Uncle Cliff drinking his apple juice out of the pee sample cup and making jokes and smiling about it the whole time.    We love you all, and it was great to see you again.  We hope to see you all again real soon!

8.  Hangin' out with this guy:

 and enjoying the All-you-can-eat Cowboy Pancakes for  $0.99.  That's right.  Cents!  Pennies!  And thanks to Patrick, we got the family discount... so it was LESS than that.  If there's anything we love more than good food, it's a good deal!

9. Dinner with grandma and grandpa (even though it was stifling hot) and 5th and Broadway.  Liam was a super-star, and our Priests did not disappoint either.  A wonderful time had by all.  Grandma and Grandpa, our doors are still open to you and we hope you come and visit soon!

We had a wonderful time in South D.  Thanks mom and dad for your unending generosity and hospitality.  For always making us feel welcome at at "home".  Liam, it was great to hang out with you kid.  We should do it more often.  Ditto Patrick, Kell, and Megs.  To all our friends and loved ones there, we miss you and hope to see you again soon!

The great Minnesota neighborhood exploratory misson with a side of much needed family time

As most of you know, Glenn and I are planning to move out of Chicago, eventually.  It was initially within our 5 year plan, and maybe it still is. All we need is for the economy to turn around a bit... ok, a lot:  <ahem> job market, housing market <ahem>.   In the meantime, I have taken to dreaming.  Dreaming about a house with a yard.  In Minnesota...or South Dakota. Either way, away from condo living and absurd taxes in Chicago.  I have done my research.  I have been looking at my "dream houses" in Minnesota, mapping them out and looking into neighborhood churches and Catholic schools.  This summer, as we made our way back to South D. for a family reunion, we decided to detour in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.  This works out well for us, because we have family there and it's a good midway point between Chicago and Rapid City (also part of the reason it's at the top of our list for possible re-location places).  This time, Paul and Taryn were gone for a wedding the entire day the Saturday we were going to stop through.  They graciously offered their house anyway, but said we would have to amuse ourselves... and that we did.  We went exploring!  We started our exploratory mission with my brother showing us around Mendota Heights the morning before he left.  Mendota heights is beautiful and very close to where they live... Bonus points there.   It is also semi-wooded... also a bonus.  From there we started to follow them to Little Falls, where we had seen a beautifully preserved Dutch Colonial advertised for a steal..  and when we got there, we understood why it was such a steal.  Don't get me wrong.  Little Falls is not without its charm.  It is also not without it's "Little".   We went into the downtown antique store and got all of the town gossip from the lady who ran the joint... including all the information on who was selling the house we had come to see, what changes had been made to the place, the occupation of the owner and his wife, etc. etc.  We also got to see pictures of the architectural work her son had done in Boston.  She was so proud.  As we left she wished us good luck and told us she hoped we'd soon be a part of the Little Falls community.  We had just confirmed we would NOT be.  We like our privacy a bit more than what poor Little Falls was likely to allow.  With that, we turned around and drove back toward the cities, not forgetting to stop at the Treasure Trove on the side of the road for any souvenir our heart could desire, from anywhere in the country mind you. 

From there, our next stop was Stillwater.  Paul had recommended we stop there because it's a stopping place of theirs when they boat on the river.  And stop we did.  Stillwater was quaint.  The downtown area was filled with restaurants and shops, rather touristy, but upscale.  There were loads of antique stores, which I am always a sucker for, and endless dinner options.  We settled on a bar offering BBQ and left quite satisfied.  From there, we took a walk up the long staircase that separated downtown from the residential area.
  At the top were two gorgeous old mansions standing guard on either side, overlooking the river.  What a gorgeous view.  About a block up the road we met a lady doing yard work and inquired about the neighborhood and life in Stillwater.  After a nice chat, she recommended we walk up about 4 blocks because there were several homes for sale... just until we got to Nelson's Ice Cream Parlour, and that would be far enough.  We took that walk and wound up at Nelson's.  There was a line out the door and around the front of the store.  Glenn and I decided that there must be something worth waiting for inside and took our place in line. And boy, was there ever.  Nelson's had about 35 different flavors of ice cream to choose from, and the "Child's" ice cream at $3 was the size of a large or extra large anywhere else.  It was easily a full pint. AND, it was Delicious!!!  A perfect end to our Saturday.

Ok, now I have to backtrack.

We arrived in West St. Paul on Friday night.  My brother, who was supposed to be at a family reunion, stayed behind to welcome us (thank you Taryn!).  When we got there, he had beers waiting, and we were informed Aaron TenEyck was joining us for dinner, which was going to be "Hangover Burgers"... if that was ok.  It was.  Paul had had them at a restaurant and decided we needed to have them too.  The "Hangover Burger" is made of a ground beef patty grilled to perfection, a fried egg with runny yolk, topped with bacon and hot sauce on whatever kind of bun you prefer.  Oh, my, goodness.  They were AMAZING :)   After that, we headed out for a couple rounds of Frisbee golf. Backwoods cigars were provided for our round of back woods Frisbee golf, bets were made on who would lose and have to buy the next pack, and fun was had by all.  After golf we headed to the gas station to stock up on more cigars and headed back home for darts, smoking and drinking in the garage.  Do you think we're in college?  We're not.   Good times indeed. Saturday morning arrived and Paul agreed to take us to some garage sales and show us around their area.  We stumbled upon an estate sale... YAY! where I got a cake stand and Glenn got a fancy Christmas decoration of some kind.  He was excited.  I was excited.  Paul was in a hurry to get home because Taryn was picking him up any second for the wedding they were attending, in Little Falls... and that brings us full circle back to Sunday.  Glenn and I got up early and walked to mass Sunday morning.  By the time we got back, Paul and Taryn were also back, and Paul had breakfast making by the time we got home.  Eggs, bacon, coffee and hash browns.  Paul is a master of breakfast and his hash browns are fantastic. We were lucky enough to be there for a personal performance of the newly formed "Oak Ribbons" band...but not before an excited Ben purchased a beautiful guitar he had stumbled upon at a garage sale on the way over.  We all wanted to tag along with him, and that he did.  The guitar was indeed a beauty, and Taryn even found a rosary at the sale.  When the seller saw she was with Ben, he threw in the rosary for free.  A great afternoon for all :) When we returned,  Taryn and Ben practiced their line-up for Monday night's show while we enjoyed our private show.  If you live in Minnesota and can ever get to one of their shows, I HIGHLY recommend them.   They are both very talented and you'll be in for a treat.  I was amazed that two people could make so much music together.  Incredible.

Max and Lucian were pretty enthralled too.  Max was intent on dancing with mommy, and Lucian had climbed up on a chair and was eating cheerios while quietly taking it all in.   We always have such fun when we visit.  That evening was Mexican food for dinner and home for some more chatting and then to bed early.  We left early Monday morning to continue our journey toward the hills.   Every time we visit Minnesota, I am always certain that we could be very happy living there.   Here's hoping!

Thanks for all of your hospitality Paul, Taryn, Max and Lucian.  We can't wait until we see you again!



Baking Escapades

First  of all, I want to acknowledge that consistent blogging is apparently a  struggle for me.  Also, thank you to those of you who still check back every now and then, just in case... and my apologies.

So, since I last wrote, waaaay back in April,  much has transpired.  First, I will share with you the yummies I have been baking :)

Glenn's birthday was May 29th.  Since gift giving is a challenge to both of us, we generally go out to dinner and/or bake a cake for each other.  (Well, Glenn doesn't bake, but rather makes the drive to Baker's Square every year for my favorite cherry pie!) This year was no different.  I got my cherry pie, and Glenn got a birthday cake. And not just any birthday cake... no, no.  He got a chocolate hazelnut layer cake with hazelnut mousse and homemade chocolate curls on top!  His new favorite.  (I stole the recipe from Erica's Sweet Tooth... thanks Erica, whoever you are!) 

At first, I was feeling really guilty for only  baking a cake.  What kind of a wife doesn't get her husband a present for his birthday?  I started planning on making a really nice card for him and surprising him with a nice dinner and birthday cake for dessert.  Ok, that sounds a little better.  So, I woke up the morning of the 29th, wished my dear husband a happy birthday and sent him off  to work for the day.   I set out to the grocery store to buy the missing ingredients to make the best birthday cake in the world for the best husband in the world.   When I got home ( now about 1 in the afternoon... I know, I had a slow start..)   I started organizing myself in the kitchen.  Apron on, check.  Mixer ready, check.  Ingredients collected from all corners and placed neatly on the counter, check.  2 cake pans prepped and ready, check. (At this point, I will pause to note that if you haven't heard of lining the bottom of your cake pan with parchment paper, it's a nifty trick that can save lots of aggravation when it comes to getting the cake out of the pan.  A step I skipped this time around...)  I began stirring, mixing, pouring, baking, whipping and started to feel like a pro.  Things were coming together nicely and in plenty of time for me to work on the card I was planning to make.  I pulled the cakes out of the oven, and they looked fantastic.  I made the hazelnut mousse while the cakes were cooling, still feeling quite proud of myself, I wondered "why do people think this is so difficult? This is easy and FUN!"  Yay for cake.
And then when I turned out the cake, this happened:

                                                                                 And This :

And all of the sudden, it was 4 o'clock, I didn't have a card, my husband was going to be home in an hour, and baking was not fun anymore.  I did the only thing one can do, when it's your husbands' birthday and you don't have a cake.  I started over.  Thankfully, I had enough ingredients and didn't have to go back to the store.. that could have been a complete disaster.  As it was, I thought "well, at least I have the mousse made, and I've done this already and I should be able to get this done before he comes home.  Wrong!!  One hour is not enough time to put a cake together, even if you have the mousse made.  And so, my darling husband came home on his birthday to find the kitchen an absolute pigsty.  Dishes were piled high in the sink, chocolate and egg whites dripping onto the counter and stove, cocoa, flour and cake crumbs fallen onto the floor, and a sweaty, flustered, dirty wife trying to force a welcoming smile.  I explained to him that I was trying to surprise him.  Surprise! there's no dinner!  Surprise! there's no present! Surprise! there's no cake...  yet!    He graciously smiled, gave me a kiss, nibbled on the collapsed heap of chocolate mess that still lay cooling on the counter.. "Oh my gosh, this is AWESOME.  I think this is the best cake EVER!  If you made all your cakes like this, I would be a happy man!"  he declared.  How kind.   He went to settle himself down after work, and I scrambled to try to assemble my second cake. 

And then, this happened:

Ok, ok .  It wasn't that bad, but it added to the drama of an already chaotic cake baking experience.

With my husbands enduring patients,  I was able to assemble a somewhat presentable, but far from perfect birthday cake (I still can't cut straight layers) by about 8:30 or 9 pm.  Don't ask me what took so long, or how baking a cake took 9 hours, but somehow, it did.  But, the silver lining is that it really was delicious, and who doesn't want cake for dinner?  He even made me save the scraps from the first cake which we froze and enjoyed a week later.

Happy Birthday my sweet! I love you.

A quiet walk and reflection

I had some free time last week due to "Spring Break".  I spent some time at the DMV and office of Social Security officially changing my name, and lots of time at choir rehearsal for all of the Easter Triduum masses.  On Holy Thursday however, I found some time to go out and go thrift store shopping and relax a bit.  One of the thrift stores I frequent has only metered parking around the building, so I usually drive around the block and walk through the cemetery parking lot which lets out right across the street from the thrift store.  I have done this several times and thought that I should take a walk around the cemetery, but didn't... that is until Thursday.  St. Boniface cemetery is full of beautiful grave stones, the kind you just don't see anymore.  As I was walking around I couldn't help but be struck by the beautiful sculptures and by the images of hope and faith they portray.  Walking around the cemetery surrounded by life-size statues of saints and angels, I couldn't help but think of Heaven-- All of the Angels and Saints gathered around the throne of God with all the faithful.   In some ways, it is a comfort to know that we all die - Comfort in knowing that death is not the end.  Reflecting on life after death was a reminder of how we are called to live in this life.  It is precious, and not to be wasted, but it is only the beginning.  The cemetery was especially striking during Holy Week, with all of the crucifixes as a reminder of Christ's death and of how we are united with Christ through His death and Resurrection, and that we too will rise to new life in Him. If you haven't walked through a cemetery lately, I highly recommend it.  I wanted to share some of the beautiful sculptures I came across with you.  Hopefully they will strike you as they did me.



My personal favorite. I want to always cling to the cross, as it is through the cross the my salvation has been won.

-May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Birthday Celebration

We celebrated my mother-in-law's 76th birthday this past weekend.  Her birthday was on Friday and we had all the Chicago family over to celebrate.  I used it as an opportunity to bake a cake from scratch.  I think I have done that one other time in my life, and I wanted to see if I could do it.  I found a recipe online for a black forest cake.  Yum.  We had a jar of cherries that we bought in Door County on our mini-moon and I used those for the filling.   The recipe said to mix 40 oz. of cherries with 1/4c. of corn starch and 1/2 c. sugar, heat it over low heat stirring constantly until thickened.  Well, I didn't have 40 oz of cherries, the jar was only 32 oz, but I figured that would be enough.  So I did everything it said, stirring for about 20 minutes, but it didn't thicken like I expected.  It actually turned out pretty stretchy and more runny than I would expect I tried turning up the heat and stirring, and there was no change, so I let it cool and resolved that I would use it anyway and pray that the cake would cover up the starchy flavor.  One thing that the recipe said to do that worked out nicely was to grease and flower the cake pan, and then line the bottom with wax paper.  I didn't have wax paper either, so I used parchment paper.  When I turned the cake out of the pan, the bottom came out beautifully. I didn't know that trick, but I think it's one I will use from now on.   Cutting the layers in half was also a challenge.  It said to use a long serrated knife, and I used the longest brad knife I had, but it wasn't long enough to cut through the layer without having to cut around the cake, so needless to say, the halves didn't turn out perfectly even.  Maybe there is a long knife made for cake cutting out there somewhere?  Also, when decorating the cake with whipped cream frosting, I was wishing for a fancy decorating bag with the special tips, but instead I used a plastic baggie and cut off the tip.  It turned out alright, but not very even... I think that was probably my fault. And, the recipe said to crumble up one of the cake layers and save it to decorate the sides of the cake.  I had the cake decorated and the crumbs ready but I couldn't figure out how to get the crumbs from the bowl onto the cake.  It wasn't exactly as if I could pick up the cake and roll it around in the crumbs, and I thought if I picked them up in my hands and tried to press the crumbs on it would wreck the frosting and make it worse. So, I left it as it was.  It didn't look like the picture,  BUT, for all the little issues, the cake actually turned out pretty good.  It tasted wonderful, and it looked alright.  I am anxious to have an excuse to bake a cake again!

Happy Birthday Ruth!

Please join me in prayer

I have a friend who needs our prayers.  She is trying to decide if she should carry her child to term or have an abortion.  If you could join me in immediate prayer for her and her child, I would be truly greatful.

 

PRAYER FOR THE UNBORN CHILD

Almighty God, our Father,
you who have given us life 
and intended us to have it forever, 
grant us your blessings. 
Enlighten our minds to an awareness 
and to a renewed conviction 
that all human life is sacred 
because it is created 
in your image and likeness.  
Help us to teach by word 
and the example of our lives 
that life occupies the first place, 
that human life is precious 
because it is the gift of God 
whose love is infinite.  
Give us the strength to defend human life 
against every influence 
or action that threatens or weakens it, 
as well as the strength 
to make every life more human 
in all its aspects.  

Give us the grace...

When the sacredness of life 
before birth is attacked, 
to stand up and proclaim 
that no one ever has the authority 
to destroy unborn life.

When a child is described as a burden 
or is looked upon only as a means 
to satisfy an emotional need, 
to stand up 
and insist that every child is a unique 
and unrepeatable gift of God, 
a gift of God 
with a right to a loving 
and united family.

When the institution of marriage 
is abandoned to human selfishness 
or reduced to a temporary conditional arrangement 
that can easily be terminated, 
to stand up and affirm 
the indissolubility of the marriage bond.

When the value of the family is threatened 
because of social and economic pressure, 
to stand up and reaffirm 
that the family is necessary 
not only for the private good of every person, 
but also for the common good of every society, 
nation and state.

When freedom is used to dominate the weak, 
to squander natural resources and energy, 
to deny basic necessities to people, 
to stand up and affirm 
the demands of justice and social love.

Almighty Father, 
give us courage to proclaim the supreme dignity 
of all human life and to demand 
that society itself give its protection.  
We ask this in your name, 
through the redemptive act 
of your Son and in the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

(Adapted from Pope John Paul II's homily of October 7, 1979.)

Dreaming

I have been thinking a lot about the value of being more self-sufficient. Recently I have been trying to teach myself how to crochet.  I started last year around Christmas, and taught myself how to make hats.  Since then I have been trying to learn more stitches, but have yet to complete any other project...but I'm working on it.  As I crochet away, I think to myself  "how cool would it be if I could make my own yarn and I could make something from start to finish.  I would need a little bit of land and a couple of sheep, some sheep shears, and a spinning wheel.  I would probably also want dye of some kind.  I could make my own dye if I grew things that produced vibrant colors.. maybe beets.  I could research what other things dye could be made of.  Then I would have to sheer, wash spin, dye de-tangle, and wind the yarn into skeins.  It sounds like a log of work, but completely do-able.  But would it save money?  I have to buy the land, feed the sheep, invest in a spinning wheel, and put lots of man-hours into the labor.  I don't know if it would be cheaper, but what a sense of accomplishment.  On that tangent, I thought I could raise a few chickens also.  I heard on the news that there is an urban chickens movement where people are raising their own chickens in big cities and in small spaces.  We could totally raise a few chickens and have fresh eggs every day.  And if we already had some land, we might as well grow our own vegetables.  We have already talked about canning and preserving our own vegetables and have that equipment readily accessible.  How much electricity could we create for ourselves if we had a windmill?  Could we power our own house?  Maybe we could get some solar panels to help out.  Could we go off the grid completely?  Probably not. But, if we got a group of people together with different skills, could we start a little self-sufficient off-the-grid village?"  Now I am starting to sound Amish. But there is a lot to be said for simplicity and knowing how to do things for yourself.  And, in today's economy there are added benefits.  If you can't afford your own food, you have chickens and vegetables.  If you can't afford your electric bill, you have a windmill.  If you can't afford clothes, you have your sheep and your spinning wheel and can make a few things for yourself.  Not that it's easier, but it does seem somehow better.  When you can't rely on your government or your economy, you can rely on yourself and your friends.. and practice your religion... (more on that later) Who's with me?

Random act of . . .??

I noticed this little sticky note stuck on the door to our condo building as I left the house this morning.  I read it, and then thought to myself : ok, that's random.  And then took a picture, you know, because it was random. 



I started walking across the street to my car, and I noticed that ours  was not the only door that had been stickied, and also, that it was not only doors that had been stuck.

Fence posts, the handicapped parking signs and lamp posts were also plastered.   As I drove down the street on my way to work I wondered how far this went.  Only to the next block.  So, it looks like just our block stretch need the encouragement. 

I came home from work and some were still up, so I took some more pictures so that you also couldexperience our neighborhoods random act. 

I am wondering if someone is watching people walk down the street reading them perched somewhere in a high-up window and smiling.





Or, maybe it was completely random? Who knows, but it was definitely the most interesting thing that happened in my day.

 

 



Emotional Eaters Anonymous

I think I have a problem.  I love food.  I enjoy eating. That is not the problem.  The problem is, when I am sad, or angry, or having a bad day, I eat because it makes me feel better.  In one instant all the days problems melt away with sweet chocolate, warm bread, french fries, you name it (normally not all at once...). I haven't figured out if I just enjoy eating and that after a bad day I want to do something I enjoy, or if it's the opposite.  Either way, I know I have to watch it, practice self-control regularly and of course exercise. The last few weeks however have been pretty rough at work.  I have found myself digging into leftover Christmas or Valentines day candy  at least twice every afternoon.  It's not a lot, but enough to pause, take a moment, and breathe as I quickly chew and swallow.  Today was an exceptionally frustrating day, and after work on the drive home I started thinking about all the things I would like to go home and bake.  One of them is my Aunt's beer bread, and the other is blueberry scones.  So, I stopped off at the grocery store hoping for a great sale on blueberries, but alas, no such luck.  As I was walking around our corner market I happened to remember that they have a new-ish pastry isle with fresh pastries for sale.  I walked over to look at the selection and saw something I had never seen there before.

Now, for those of you who know how much I like food, you will also know that I love to try foods that I haven't had before.  After all, I may be missing out on the very best thing ever.  So, I bought it.  I knew it had to be some kind of pastry.  When I picked it up it must have weighed at least half a pound.  When I cut it open I discovered that it was absolutely filled with ... something, custard maybe?  Nope. It was like a cheesecake pastry!  I can't say for sure if it actually was cheesecake, but I can say for sure it was delicious!  And, it was only $0.91. Yeah.  The cheapest cheesecake I have ever had.  Maybe not the best, but good enough.   I don't think this is the discovery of the century, but it's definitely the discovery of the day.  Thank you Devon Market for your freshly baked isle, and for being just a few short blocks from home.  The rest of the evening is looking up :)

Perspective

Was it a good day, or a bad day? I guess that depends on your perspective. If you were a student in our pre-k class, you probably had a great day.  You played with play dough and made an awesome garden.  You ran around the classroom pretending to be on safari, whooping and hollering, climbing up mountains and fighting  jungle monsters. You built a city, made cards, pretended to be dogs, lions, ninjas and explorers.  You helped your friend learn a new game on the computer and you got to show the principal your masterpiece.  If you are the teacher, it was one of the worst days ever. You were a fish in a fishbowl. The principal was in the classroom for you bi-annual evaluation, watching every move, judging your classroom management styles, seeing how you manage to run a small group and teach a high-level math concept to 4-5-year-olds while trying to maintain peace in the classroom.  The students were yelling at each other across the room, refusing to sit down or settle down.  The noise level was out of control. You had to stop what you were doing to try to explain once again how to use inside voices in the classroom.  When you went back to the lesson, the principal was taking over, changing the lesson and trying to make it even more advanced. 

During clean-up time, a group of kids suddenly forgot how to clean up and put the blocks away as the principal was closely scrutinizing skills you had taught them. One child wandered around the classroom at will and refused to do anything you asked.  When the principal left the room, it took everything inside of you to not curl up in a ball and cry or scream at the children in your craziest wild banshee imitation.  I don't know about you, but given the choice, I think I would rather be the student on a day like today.  

Day Off?

Today was a much needed day off, thanks to George Washington, and the other presidents.  I had imagined that my day off would include a trip to a few of my favorite second-hand stores, a few hours of crocheting, a few hours of reading, and maybe a few hours napping/watching a movie.  But instead, I woke up with pain in my right ear for the second day in a row and decided on a trip to the suburbs to see the doc.  When I got there, the place was in chaos. All of the computers had gone down and we had to fill out loads of forms by hand.  The doctor saw me quickly and confirmed that I had an ear infection and prescribed an anti-biotic.  Then, I stopped by to see my mother-in-law and had a lovely visit.  She served lunch for me- ham and bean soup and a sausage and pepper sandwich followed with a cup of coffee and chocolate cupcake.  Yum.  After that delightful respite, I proceeded to Wal-Mart to pick up my prescription.  There were a lot of people there.  After driving around the parking lot for about 10 minutes, I resigned to park in never-never land and walk.  I ordered my meds, and they told me it would be an hour.  I live about 45 minutes from the Wal-mart, so I walked to a bookstore nearby, and then to Michaels, picked out some yarn and headed back to Wal-mart. There were about 3 people ahead of me in line to pick up the prescription, and it took about 40 minutes until I was walking away from the counter with my prescription.  Ugh. Then, I drove home, fighting traffic all the way and just got in the door at 5pm.  I was away from home more than I am on a regular work day.  :(  Aside from the nice chat with my mother-in-law, I don't feel like this was much of a day off.   Ah well. At least I didn't have to use a sick day for the doctor visit.

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today, Glenn and I were in Minneapolis, MN awaiting Lucian's Baptism. One year ago today, I was oblivious to what was to come, enjoying the company of my family, and looking forward to sledding with my nephews. One year ago today, Glenn was sweating bullets and wondering how he was going to get me away from my family long enough to "pop the question".  What a difference a year makes!   It's hard to believe that my new baby nephew has teeth and is/will shortly be walking.  It's a miracle that in a year, we planned a long distance wedding (with the help of a wonderful supportive team of South Dakotans!) got married, squeezed in a mini-honeymoon and a honeymoon...and filed jointly on our tax returns (of course all this was in addition to a whole host of other, more normal things that happen in a year).  So, being the good Catholics that we are, this day called for a celebration... and celebrate we did.

Beef ribs slow roasting away in the window

We decided that we would go see a movie (in the theatre!) downtown and go out for dinner.  We opted to see The Kings Speech. If you haven't seen it, it really is a delightful movie, and I highly recommend it (not for young ears due to some profanity). Afterwords we walked the 5 blocks to  Fogo de Chao and arrived only a bit early for our dinner reservation  Oh... my sweet carnivorian heaven!  The meal at this restaurant is a fixed price.  Everyone pays the same amount, and you get the unlimited salad bar and meat selections (15 different kinds-and mostly all steaks!) and because it was "restaurant week" the meal was $5 off and included dessert.  Let me tell you about the salad bar. I know what you're thinking...big whoop. Salad Bar.  I'm here for the meat.  Yeah, I thought that too, until I saw it.  The salad bar was beautiful.. and not like any salad bar I had ever seen.  It was filled with trays of marinated mushrooms, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, peppers, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and asparagus spears all beautifully arranged on oval trays.  In addition to the marinated goodies, there were about 5 different kinds of cheeses, generously sliced and several different kinds of cured meets including bacon, prosciutto and smoked salmon.  Then of course there was the lettuce...no ice-berg in sight!  Just beautiful piles of spinach, butter lettuce and romaine, and there were a couple of pre-made diced vegetable salads of the cucumber tomato pepper and onion variety...all superb and very fresh.  What a treat.  And then, there was the meat.  When you were ready for your meat, you flipped over the coaster at your table from the red side to the green side and servers came over to your table with huge skewers of meat. They brought rib eye, prime sirloin, top sirloin, bottom sirloin (my favorite), fillet minion, leg of lamb, lamb chops (Glenn's fav), pork ribs, bacon wrapped chicken, pork loin, pork sausage and garlic beef. 

Glenn's lamb chops

And you could eat as much as you wanted. When you wanted a rest, or to take another trip back to the salad bar, flip your coaster to the red side until you wanted more.  Only when we were stuffed to the brim did our server clear away our plates and offer dessert. For dessert they offered two different kinds of cheese cake, a chocolate lava cake, something with ice cream, i can't remember, flan, tres leches and papaya or strawberry creme.  We are both huge fans of tres leches cake (if you haven't tried it, you should) and opted for that as our selection.  For those of you who may not know what tres leches is, it is a dense, semi-dry vanilla cake that is soaked in a blend of 3 milks: heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. MMMM, MMMMM, MMMMM! 

And this one did not disappoint.  It was one of, if not the very best tres leches I have ever had. Needless to say, we waddled/rolled away from dinner with happy contented smiles on our faces repeating "wow, that was sooo  good" to each other as we slowly made our way back down the street to the El.   We went straight to bed at 7:00 due to food coma.  Definitely night everyone should experience at least once!  Happy  1 year engagement anniversary honey! Looking forward to many more!

Valentine's Day, Delicious!

This Valentine's day, I was inspired by a picture in my Martha Stewart Living magazine.  (Thanks again Kell for the awesome Christmas gift!).  I decided to make Martha's darling peanut butter and jelly cookies for friends and co-workers.  They turned out wonderfully and were as cute as can be.  The process was a little more involved than your run-of-the-mill peanut butter cookie (Each cookie had to be rolled into a ball, flattened into a circle, and indented with the shape of a heart- then, refrigerated for 20 min. before baking. Once in the oven, they had to be removed after 12 minutes so that the heart indentation could be re-shaped and filled with jam, and baked for 8 more minutes).  All in all, however, I enjoyed baking them and had something cute to give out on V-day.

Glenn's grilled masterpiece!

For ourselves, Glenn and I decided to make our own special V-day dinner at home  on the 13th rather than fight the crowds out at a restaurant.  We decided on bone-in Rib Eye on the grill for dinner (it was close to 50 degrees...in February... we had to take advantage!) and commenced shopping.  While we were out, we also found 1in. think pork chops on sale for $2.99/lb and couldn't pass those up, so we grabbed those and proceeded to the next grocery store looking for a sale on Rib Eye. Jackpot!  Delmonico cuts (boneless) were listed for $4.99 each, and when we went back to the meat section, there were bone-in rib eye there too at the same price!!!  So, we quickly snatched up the last 2 and went to check out.  $22.00 was the total.  Wait, what?  "Excuse me, miss, these are on sale for $4.99" to which she replied "no, not those ones" "Well, could you kindly show us the ones that are on sale?  These were the ones that were next to the sale sign".  Glenn followed the check-out clerk to the back and returned 5 minutes later with a triumphant look on his face "It was the managers mistake.  He put the wrong ones out and said we could have them for the listed price!"  We totally lucked out.  We also ended up catching a sale on asparagus, and headed home to do some grilling.

And, who can grill without beer?  My brother Paul is dabbling a bit in beer brewing and had brought us up a bottle to try out. We were saving it for a special occasion and decided that this was it.  I couldn't tell you what kind of beer it was, but within a matter of an hour, it was gone.  My hats off to you bro... the beer was AMAZING! 

Of course, I had to contribute something to the table, so I decided to make a cherry pie.  We bought a pie filling when we were on our mini-moon in Door County this past fall, so it's not a made-from-scratch pie, but I think making the crust from scratch should be what matters most... and that, I did.  I just learned how to make pie crust this summer.  We made 100 rhubarb pies for a fundraiser. That'll teach anyone! However, since then, I have made 3 pies on my own, and the crust has always turned out too thin, too though, or too sticky.  The first time I rolled out a crust onto our counter top I couldn't get it off.  I destroyed it 3 times before bursting into tears and a string of near-profanity. That pie crust was too tough in the end because instead of throwing it away after re-rolling and flowering about 4 times (a serious no-no, I know) I used it anyway and patched it together.  Not my best work, I must say.  The second time, instead of rolling the crust out on the counter-top, I rolled it out on plastic wrap so it could be easily lifted and transferred.  (If you don't know this trick, you should... worked wonders for me!)  But (and there is always a but with crusts) it was much too thin.  I couldn't get it to fit over the entire pie without rolling it almost paper thin, so of course, it tore and once again I was frustrated and angry.  For this valentines day pie crust, I decided to use a recipe given to me as a shower gift from Annie. 

Using all of the tricks I learned and a different pie crust recipe, I only had to roll the dough out once, and it only split after it was baked... It was the best one yet, but still not perfect (looking that is... the crust was delicious!)  The next one will be perfect... right?  So, I guess you could say we had a pretty wonderful day shopping, grilling, baking and of course EATING!  Happy Valentine's day one and all.  I hope your day was as delicious as ours!

A reflection on mothers from a mother "wanna-be"

In college one of my professors gave me praise over a book report I wrote.  I was the only one who followed the directions and therefore the only one to receive and A on the paper.  As he was complimenting me, he asked what I planned to do with the rest of my life.  I told him that I wanted to be a housewife, and that barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen suited me just fine.  He was appalled. He couldn't believe I wanted to "waste" my life like that.  How could I, such a bright young pupil have no aspirations for my life?  Excuse me? No aspirations?  Have you been a wife or a mother lately?  As a professor, I would assume you could see some small impact you may have on the lives of some of your students.  How much more influence does a mother have over her own children?  I argued that by educating myself and being the best I could be, I could drastically impact my own children and be the best mother I could be.  Motherhood seems to be so undervalued in society. Why? What happened?  Since when did motherhood become a "lesser" vocation for the uneducated and unable?  A mother is so many things.  A teacher, nurse, chef, interior designer, accountant, actor, storyteller, singer,  judge, seamstress, magician, counsellor, manager, boss, and friend...just to name a few.  It seems to me that mothers have chosen the most difficult job of all.  The one that requires you to be everything to everyone. A mother is continually evolving, improving, and adjusting, while still managing to provide stability, comfort and familiarity in the home.  And you thought your job was something to aspire to?  I'm sorry to disappoint, but I think if I want to be challenged, I'll try motherhood.  If I want to put my gifts to good use, there will be no shortage of uses for them as a mother.  Thank you mom, and all the moms out there who have been an inspiring witness to the beauty and gift that is motherhood!