All posts by Nichole

blessings

Love Thursday: Remembering to smile

Rockford’s sister Phoebe gave me a handmade book for Christmas, and I’ve been trying to decide what to do with it. I’ve never been very good about consistently keeping a journal — although I suppose this site would count as a journal, and I’ve been pretty consistent with it lately. But anyway …

I wasn’t sure what to do with my new book. So it sat on our dining room table for a few days. Then it moved over to the kitchen counter. And then someone insinuated that I’ve been a big ol’ complainer lately. My first reaction was to cry. This particular person means an awful lot to me, and it made me feel like he wasn’t enjoying my company. And that hurt. A lot.

After the crying, I thought about what he said. And I guess I have been complaining a lot. About not being in Columbia anymore. About not meeting anyone here. About living so far away from everything.

So I decided to try to be more positive about where we are.

Now my Christmas book sits next to my bed, and every night before I go to sleep, I write down a few things that made me happy that day. And every night, I’ve gone to sleep content.

So here it is, my very first Love Thursday entry.

January 4

  • Poppy’s post-bath curls
  • Poppy’s smiles as “Your Personal Penguin” starts to play
  • An extravagant number of marshmallows in my Lucky Charms
  • “Born to Run” on the shuffle as I’m finishing my running stint for the day

January 5

January 6

  • The gleeful look on Rockford’s face when he watches the “Dad got hosed” ad
  • Having a few hours to myself
  • Poppy’s laughs when Rockford sings “Do the Rubber Duck” at bathtime

January 7

  • Playing “Get Mommy” with Poppy
  • Rockford telling me I’m beautiful
  • the talent scene in “Little Miss Sunshine”

January 8

  • Building Rockford’s new “closet” (a free-standing garment rack)
  • Going out to take pictures with Poppy. Her smile when I turn on the camera.

January 9

  • Lunch with Rockford at PF Changs
  • Poppy loving her dinner (mac ‘n’ cheese … “noodle? noodle?”)
  • The puff pastry on sweet potato pot pies actually puffing
  • Minute 24 of my work-out … almost done 🙂
  • The day’s last glow on Poppy’s hair
  • A nice comment on my “Rust” photo

January 10

  • Rockford telling me my hair looked nice
  • Poppy’s long post-nap hug
  • A nice, long chat with Laura
  • Very kind comments on the Web site*
  • Rockford: ” ‘D‘ is for something that you play with steaks. Whump whump.”
  • Target
  • Our futile search for a Wii

*I wasn’t really fishing for compliments on that last post. I was just wondering how you found this site. But I appreciate them nevertheless. Thank you!

. . . . . the end . . . . .

Flotsam / Jetsam

Talk to me


I know a few things about the people who stumble onto this site. I know, for one thing, that you’re an elite crew.* I know that most of you are from the United States. And that every now and then someone from Spain or Australia or the Philippines or the UK drops by. I know that some of you come here looking for sweet potato recipes or for Rockford or for Rockford’s sisters or for book reports. I even know some of you in real life.

But I’d like to know more about you.

Who are you? What brought you here? What was the best book you read in 2006?** The best movie?** Do you have a blog? Where is it? Do you like ice cream? (I do.)

It’s National Delurking Week***. Give me a little shout out, will ya?

*that’s just a nice way of saying I don’t get much traffic
**stolen directly and without shame from Sweetney.com
***a thing I saw at Paper Napkin

Eating

A whole lotta food

When Rockford and I were newlyweds, my dinnertime culinary repertoire consisted of the following:

  • Many thrilling varieties of Chicken Voila
  • Grilled chicken (George Foreman style)
  • An exciting array of Rice-a-Roni rices
  • Macaroni and cheese sometimes with frozen broccoli

I’m sure it was a shocking blow to Rockford. His mother is a terrific cook, and he grew up eating a fresh, home-cooked meal almost every night. He really shouldn’t have been too surprised, though, considering the first meal I made for him. It was a chicken and broccoli disaster. He and my brother did their best to pretend it was edible, but I knew better. Because I have tastebuds, too.

I think my cooking skills have improved. At the very least, I no longer rely exclusively on boxed or frozen goods when it’s time for dinner. I like to cook. And I generally have plenty of time to cook, too. But it’s nice sometimes just to pull something out of the freezer and, Voila!, it’s dinner.

A few months before Poppy was born, I decided to try a once-a-month-cooking plan. The idea, as the name suggests, is that you cook once and then have meals in your freezer for quick, easy and delicious dinners all month long.

So I bought tons of ground beef and chicken and seasonings and onions (oh, so many onions), and I followed one of the plans outlined in a popular book that shall remain nameless. And I did fill the freezer with homemade meals, but it would be a stretch to call them “delicious.” Most of them were, at least, edible. But it put me off the OAMC movement.

It was nice to have ready-to-go food in the freezer, though.

This is all to say that I’ve tried it again. Sort of. I don’t have the freezer space now that I had then, so I couldn’t do the OAMC thing, gross recipes or not. But then I found the “Once-a-Week Cooking Plan” cookbook. Rockford took Poppy out for a few hours this morning, and now, in the freezer, we have:

  • 1 Cheesehead Chipotle Frittata
  • 4 Chicken Papaya Quesadillas
  • 2 pieces of Macadamia-Crusted Chicken
  • 1 Mexican Chicken Lasagna
  • and the makings for 1 Pesto Pepper Chicken Pizza

The only trouble I had with this more manageable plan was the “quick cooling.” I was able to use the sink (filled with ice water) to quick-cool some of the meals, but the frittata wouldn’t fit in the sink. Good thing Rockford was back by then. It never would have occurred to me to cool the dishes in the bathtub.

. . . . . the end . . . . .