Sunday, August 30, 2009

One of my favorite things

FOOD!!!!


Ratatouille with our zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, tomatoes, parsley, and basil. Also, Uncle Mark's garlic. Store bought: onions, oil, and chicken broth.


With my extra time, I have been really enjoying cooking using produce from our garden and other local sources. I like cooking and experimenting and it is even fun to try and take pictures. The garden was not as easy as last year, probably mostly because of the weather, but I finally realized my tomatoes were salvagible. We are now getting all sorts of things from the garden and I hope to make use of it all. I am also planning lots more experimenting in the kitchen soon. I hope to work on some canning and bread making. Feel free to share your best recipes and tips! (For some reason blogger doesn't like my photography and keeps turning the photos . . . and I can't figure out how to fix it. Sorry.)


Almost all local kabobs. My zucchini, and red and green peppers; beef from Brad's uncle (we bought 1/2 a cow) and store bought onions. Next year I guess I need to work on onions!


Lots of tomato and cucumber salads! Yum!


Zucchini bread of course!



My new very favorite summer meal.
Homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese with tomato.


The tomatoes are so beautiful (well, the healthy ones!).

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Complaining, complaining, complaining

This past week has been a bit discouraging. Usually I post all the wonderful, happy, great things that happen in my life on this blog, but I think maybe it is time to round out this picture a little bit. Really I am mostly upset about #2 on the following list.


List of stupid, annoying crap that happened this week:

  • Got a speeding ticket. Another one. I am not a fast or unsafe driver. I am just flighty/ditsy and have a (bad) habit of not watching the signs carefully enough. (Obviously a habit I have to change.)
  • Almost got a new job that I think sounded pretty good (service coordinator at the local counseling service), but didn't ONLY because I have too many speeding tickets. URRRRRRRRRRHHH. Stupid. Driving is not an everyday part of the job and I drove one of their vans for an entire summer once. I drove for school as well. I have never had anything worse than a speeding ticket. There is a lower-level, lower-paying job they suggested . . . still think about it . . .
  • Spent THREE HOURS getting Joseph to take his nap on Wednesday.
  • Woke up to an unmistakable stench Thursday morning. Cat shit. Yup, Misha had peed and pooped right in our bed while we were sleeping in it. EWWWW.
  • Realized my garden is crap this year. The tomatoes have blight and slowly each and every beautiful green tomato is becoming covered in scabs . . .
  • Totally bailed on my diet due to discouragement.
  • Started getting another wisdom tooth and Joseph is getting three molars! (Not really that big of a deal, but annoying, so they fit on the list.)

Happy things that were lots of fun and cancel out the annoying crap: (mostly SWIMMING!!)

  • A morning at the lake with tons of kiddos (and mommies).
  • Swimming and playing at a beautiful new-to-me place on the river Friday with Courtney and family. Joseph is really getting used to that water. He knows how to kick his legs and seems to enjoy being in the water. Hopefully he will grow to love it as much as I do!
  • Fair all day Saturday with lots of family. Joseph LOVED it and went on each ride and the "scary house" about 20 times. He even liked the "scrambler" (a pretty scary ride for a two-year-old I think).
  • A short bit at the beach by myself today: lying in the sun, swimming, and knitting!
  • All Joseph's talking! He has so much to say these days and now I can understand most of it. He is like a big kid now with all sorts of ideas and the ability to communicate them.

Usually the happy list is longer than the annoying list. I guess that's why I feel so much like complaining this week! Of course, this is the way life goes and the counseling service jobwouldn't have been as perfect as it seems, now that I can't have it. So, I'll keep figuring things out and I know eventually I'll find a good job, but I'm still pissed at both myself and the regulations. Now, it's time to stop moping and move on with taking advantage of the extra time!

Lilypie Third Birthday tickers