The Teeth That Took My Sleep.

Rohan cut his first tooth when he was 4 months old. Since then, he's cut the two middle lower teeth, and all 4 upper middles.

That last upper middle, though? The one on the left? THAT one was an asshole. I swear it took WEEKS to even get to where it was showing under the gum (though I could feel it before then). This past week that damn tooth has been turning my nighttimes into night of the living dead. It's gone something like this: Put Rohan to bed. Go get him 1.5-2 hours later when he cries, and give him back his Boppy. Go back in when he cries hysterically an hour later, bring him downstairs to feed and change him. Back to bed (it's not usually about midnight). Up again for a Boppy at 2, then up at 3 or 4 with him crying inconsolably until I bring him into our bed and feed him and pat his back until he falls back asleep.

Did I mention my alarm goes off at 5:30 to start my day?

So then, if people who know me in real life have wondered where Katie's brain has been lately, there's your answer in that paragraph above. So when I misplace my keys (in my pocket), insist you said something you didn't (because you did in my dream), almost back out of the garage while the door is still closed, or get all the way to the gas station before realizing I am not wearing shoes - - - and I am on my way to work - - - you'll know why.

17/30

Please note further evidence of my sleep deprivation. This should be 18/30.

PlayDoh Burger: Eating on the Cheap Part 2.

Luca would like to add her suggestion to the mix.

The PlayDoh burger. At 4 cans for $2.54 it's cheap, and seeing as how it's not actually supposed to be consumed, it's diet friendly.





She says YOU ARE WELCOME.

17/30

Stuffed Tomatoes: Eating on the Cheap.

In the past few months we've been working on clearing out the excess in our pantry. Cooking at home is both cheaper and better for us, but with 2 kids and 2 working parents it's posed a bit of a challenge. Add to that my sheer lack of cooking expertise. It's not that I can't cook, it's that I generally do not enjoy following recipes and meal planning. I want to. I really want to be a domestic goddess who plans her weekly meals when the Wednesday ads come out, but I just don't have it in me. In fact, I tend to cook more from time tested 'recipes' with very few ingredients and instructions (Wash chicken, trim fat, season and roll in egg then flour, bake). Or, alternately, I make it up as I go along, which is exactly what I did tonight.

Before I share the details and pictures I should say two things:
1) I am not Pioneer Woman. She's faabulous. I cannot match her skills in cooking nor her skills in photography. Seriously, check out her blog and you will never be the same. But don't expect my pictures, taken in crappy lighting, to be as divine as hers.
2) Um, I got so distracted by Pioneer Woman's blog I forgot what 2 was.

So, without further ado: eating like you're on the dole even when you're not.

The ingredients and their cost:
- 2 chicken breasts (I used leftovers from BBQ on Sunday, boneless skinless) - $1.99/lb on sale, and I'll estimate it was 1.5 pounds
- 4 hot house (or some LARGE variety) tomatoes - $1.49/lb, est. 2 lb.
- Green peppers - free from inlaws' garden, but I routinely see green bell pepper for as cheap as 3/$1 at the store
- Rice - Bag is about $2, used 1 cup of it, est. 1/8 bag.
- 1 can black beans - $1.49?
- Shredded cheese - big bag was $4.99, but we just used a few small handfuls est. 1/10 of bag
- Salt and/or pepper to taste - I didn't use any, so free for me!

Total estimated cost: $8.46

Get Cookin'!

1. Enlist a helper. Preheat oven to 350.



2. Start by getting the rice going on the stove, since it takes 20 minutes. I made 3 cups (2 c. water, 1 c dry rice).
(I'll spare you the picture of rice simmering....)

3.. While rice is simmering, wash and finely chop the green peppers (I used 1 long one and 1 small one, but if you're doing a bell pepper, do 1 whole). Be sure you let your helper lick the peppers you are not using since she looks so cute doing so.





4. Chop the chicken into small pieces. (I suppose this is where the obvious aside gets added: mine was already cooked. If you need to cook yours please do so before chopping it and adding it to the mix. Because salmonella may help with weight loss, but it's probably expensive to treat.)



5. Drain the beans and rinse. Let them sit in colander in sink while you prep everything else.



6. The time consuming part: wash the tomatoes. Using a sharp knife, cut the top off each tomato (similar to how you cut a pumpkin to carve). Use the knife to cut loose the 'stuff' inside the tomato. Then use a spoon to scoop it out and into a bowl you set to the side. Do this with all 4, then use your hands, a spoon, or a knife to break up the tomato in the bowl.





7. Mix together rice (should be done by now), chicken, beans, peppers, and tomato 'stuff' in a large bowl. Place tomatoes in a baking dish, and fill each one with the ingredients in the bowl. I overfilled mine cuz I'm wild like that. And, thinking back on this I wish I'd had some corn to add to the mix. Next time.









8. Bake for about 15 minutes (your guess on exact time's as good as mine...I didn't watch the clock). Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheese, and return to oven. When the tomatoes are soft and the cheese is melted, switch your oven from 'bake' to 'broil' to brown the cheese. Remove when cheese is browned and serve warm.



It should be noted this made more filling than necessary, so Darrick took the excess, added Gunslinger and Green Tabasco and ate it with a spoon. He claimed it was 'like gumbo' which he promises was a compliment. You could probably also make it into a burrito or just make less filling. Your call. It would be great as a side dish or served over a bed of greens, but I made it my main dish and it was perfect!

16/30

10 in 6, week 1.

Week 1 was a success, and all it took was a conscious effort to eat at home, eat less, and ban snacks from the office.

I lost either 1.2 or 2.8, depending which scale reading you use. I'm splitting the difference and calling it 2 pounds even.

8 more to goooooo!


15/30

The Zoo on a Perfect Fall Day.

It rained on us as we unloaded the car Saturday morning. Not a harsh rain, nor the typical fat raindrops that smell like dust which we tend get in Arizona. But a cool air, misty whisper of rain. Luca giggled like a maniac, apparently made giddy by cool wet weather just like her Mama. Rohan was strapped into the stroller with a red hoodie and a soft green blanket, content and warm from the nap he'd taken on the drive over.



Mornings like this, you almost forget that living in Arizona is like living at the crossing of hellhole and shit-dump for at least 5 months of the year.

The zoo was pretty crowded this weekend, overrun with little girls in blue and green and brown vests, treasure-like maps with clues about where to go next spelled out in riddle. They had knapsacks slung over shoulders, weary pack-moms tagging after them. Ocassionally we'd see a crew led by a chipper young thing in hiking boots and a perky ponytail, no doubt the mom who gave up her usual Saturday morning of elliptical at the gym or hiking outdoors to schlep her little Princess and the Princess's Troup-mates up and down the hills and to every corner to the zoo. Luca was fascinated with these older girls, skipping around giggling and laughing at the rhino as it pooped for an audience. She was simply enamored with them, and everytime we'd come across of crowd of them, she would lean out the side of the wagon and stare wide-eyed, smiling on reflex when she saw them smile and letting out a giggle when a cluster of them would walk by laughing. I watched them too, all too aware that someday in the not-too-distant future that will be her, jumping in some other mom's mini-van to go explore the furthest reaches of the zoo with her friends and not with us. :::Lump in throat:::



But in the meantime, in the present day which I've promised myself I will live to its fullest, it WAS us she wanted to be with. It was her Daddy's shoulders she sat on, high above the heads of all those bigger girls, smug in the confidence that she's HIS and he is HERS. It was my hand she kept reaching for, asking me to hold onto hers while I pushed the stroller and walked next to her wagon. It was me she laughed at and called "MAMA-MISA!", a nickname she came up with all on her own.



And we had a blast together, the four of us. And I think the giraffes liked us too.

















14/30

Walk Out, Walk On.

I was struck recently by something a woman said at an event we hosted for work. We invited an author, public speaker, and community change organizer to try to inspire people in the non-profit world, government, and those who just plain care to come together and work for change.

And one of her main points was this: You have to be doing what you are called to do. If it's not working, walk out and walk on.

Walk Out, Walk On.

And so I've been thinking a lot about what that means to me, personally and professionally. I've been thinking about the things in life I feel called to and the things in life that have become more of a drain than a joy. I've been working to be nicer to my husband and more patient with my kids because they are the center of my crazy world. I've been making an effort to be more understanding of people I don't agree with and to ask questions and LISTEN to the answers rather than answering for people in my own head. And I've been thinking a lot about that which calls to me, professionally and personally.

And I think personally THE single biggest thing I've Walked Out on and Walked On from in life was the fear. I used to be much more afraid to just BE and let people deal. I still want everyone to like me, and I still don't want to offend. But motherhood has done something extraordinary for me: it helped me find my voice. I Walked Out on that girl (wife...friend...daughter in law...stranger with the baby) who never wanted to offend and never stood up for herself. I Walked On to become a mother who's still learning and feeling things out, but who is sure in who she is. I may stumble around like I'm blind, bumping into walls and feeling lost and frustrated sometimes. But I am sure in my footing because I am listening to the voice inside me which tells me mothering is best led with the heart. And so I've silenced the voices of advice...of criticism...of doubt...of questioning. I've learned more about who I am, about the true weight of my convictions and what matters most to me from being a Mom than from anything else thus far in my life.

To those ends, I'm also contemplating some changes in my professional world. Some small (maybe teaching a class here and there), some very personal (taking more time for the creative outlets I enjoy, one of which in my dream of dream worlds might someday be a profession of sorts), and some I'm not ready to open up to the world about just yet, but which could lead me to Walk Out and Walk On in a whole new very scary and very exciting way.

I'm not Walking Out on anything just yet, but the door is open and I'm letting the new possibilities Walk In. That may not be something our esteemed scholar suggested, but it's what works for me right now.

13/30