I'm not sure who sings it, but there is a song that was on a tape that I used to listen to as a kid. The song goes,
Well, I know it sounds funny, but it's true
I get so busy, I forget I'm in love with you
And every now and then
We need to get away to get close again
It is so true! Ben and I were talking last night and we both can't really figure out what we've been doing with our time. Sometimes we are just in our separate worlds. We are making it a point to make sure to spend actual time together on a regular basis. And I love it.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Busy Weekend!
This week/weekend while Ben was away, I was able to keep myself pretty busy.
Thursday night I went to poker. Not to play. But to eat. It was at James' house last week and he always has great food. This time was no exception. He made Japanese Fried Noodles outside on his propane wok.
Saturday I helped my friend Andrea move. And don't worry - no heavy lifting for me. I helped pick up the moving truck, disassemble furniture, empty the fridge... The best part was to see her new house. It's is very nice. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's not as close to me as her old place was. Oh, well. I'm still happy for her.
Saturday night I went to my sister's place to celebrate her husband's and step-daughter's birthdays. It feels like I haven't seen them forever, so it was nice to spend some time with them. Before they move to Chicago. Yep, they're moving. Their house will go on the market next Monday. I'm excited for them, but also sad... this will be the first time in my life that we won't be in the Minneapolis area together.
Sunday, a group of us girls headed out to Red Wing to visit a friend that moved to a farm out there. The drive was beautiful. And the lunch and conversation were fabulous! I had so much fun.
And today, Ben comes home! So excited.
Thursday night I went to poker. Not to play. But to eat. It was at James' house last week and he always has great food. This time was no exception. He made Japanese Fried Noodles outside on his propane wok.
Saturday I helped my friend Andrea move. And don't worry - no heavy lifting for me. I helped pick up the moving truck, disassemble furniture, empty the fridge... The best part was to see her new house. It's is very nice. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's not as close to me as her old place was. Oh, well. I'm still happy for her.
Saturday night I went to my sister's place to celebrate her husband's and step-daughter's birthdays. It feels like I haven't seen them forever, so it was nice to spend some time with them. Before they move to Chicago. Yep, they're moving. Their house will go on the market next Monday. I'm excited for them, but also sad... this will be the first time in my life that we won't be in the Minneapolis area together.
Sunday, a group of us girls headed out to Red Wing to visit a friend that moved to a farm out there. The drive was beautiful. And the lunch and conversation were fabulous! I had so much fun.
And today, Ben comes home! So excited.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Someone's in the Kitchen
Oats - A few weeks back, I finally got around to remember to put some steel-cut oats in the crock pot before I headed to bed. I was expecting a different texture, but the different taste kind of surprised me. But amazing things happen when you add chocolate chips...
Polenta - I decided to give polenta a try. I had a recipe where you cooked it with water and then added milk and cheese to it. For the most part we liked it. The cheese didn't fully melt down, so Ben wasn't thrilled with the globs. I would try it again without the cheese.
Polenta - I decided to give polenta a try. I had a recipe where you cooked it with water and then added milk and cheese to it. For the most part we liked it. The cheese didn't fully melt down, so Ben wasn't thrilled with the globs. I would try it again without the cheese.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Things That Make You Go Yum!
On Friday, I decided to make oatmeal for breakfast. Mainly because we were out of bread, so the usual eggs and toast or French toast was out. I made it on the stove with milk and strawberries. Before serving it, I pulled out some homemade whipped cream and put a dollop on top of the oatmeal. Yum!
Yesterday Ben and I caught the last half of "Everyday Food" on PBS. The one recipe looked pretty good and easy, so we went to the store to buy the ingredients. It was for Steak with Brussels Sprouts and Almonds. I will admit, this was the first time that I have made Brussels sprouts. Or eaten them. But the recipe was pretty good. **Note** Skirt steak may be folded in half. Check before you cook. - Yep, we didn't know. So we didn't check. So when Ben went to turn the steaks over, they fell into two pieces. Still worked just fine, but the cooking had to be changed up (shorter time, flip again to cook the uncooked exposed parts).
While putting the recipe card away for the above recipe, I came across Strawberry Shortcake. Hmmm... We have strawberries. We have some whipped cream leftover. Why not? But instead of following the recipe card, which calls for Bisquick, I found another one from scratch. Mainly because of our 1899 fetish, but also because we don't have any Bisquick on hand (because of our fetish). Ben was a little worried because he is very much attached to the way his mom makes shortcake. But it turned out great! He must have liked it since that's what he asked for for breakfast. :)
Yesterday Ben and I caught the last half of "Everyday Food" on PBS. The one recipe looked pretty good and easy, so we went to the store to buy the ingredients. It was for Steak with Brussels Sprouts and Almonds. I will admit, this was the first time that I have made Brussels sprouts. Or eaten them. But the recipe was pretty good. **Note** Skirt steak may be folded in half. Check before you cook. - Yep, we didn't know. So we didn't check. So when Ben went to turn the steaks over, they fell into two pieces. Still worked just fine, but the cooking had to be changed up (shorter time, flip again to cook the uncooked exposed parts).
While putting the recipe card away for the above recipe, I came across Strawberry Shortcake. Hmmm... We have strawberries. We have some whipped cream leftover. Why not? But instead of following the recipe card, which calls for Bisquick, I found another one from scratch. Mainly because of our 1899 fetish, but also because we don't have any Bisquick on hand (because of our fetish). Ben was a little worried because he is very much attached to the way his mom makes shortcake. But it turned out great! He must have liked it since that's what he asked for for breakfast. :)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
V Day, Then and Now
One of our first Valentine’s Days together there was really bad weather. When Ben was bringing me home we did a 180 on Highway 7 due to the ice on the road. That was pretty exciting. This Valentine’s Day the weather was bad again. On the way to dinner we saw an SUV on its side and several cars in the ditches. But unlike the days of old, we didn’t have any excitement in the car.
We started off the day making breakfast together. The plan was to make waffles with strawberries, whipped cream and some hash browns. Our waffle maker had other plans. The first waffle stuck so badly, that we couldn’t get it out to try again. So we made pancakes instead. Still very tasty.
Since it’s our last Valentine’s Day sans kids, we decided to go out. Ben wanted to try an organic or locally sourced place, so I picked out Brasa Rotisserie in Minneapolis. They happened to have a V-Day special so we went with that. We had guacamole with veggies and chips, shrimp and smoked trout for our appetizer. For our meats we picked pork and beef. Both were so tender and tasty. We both liked the pork the best. We got to pick three sides so we picked collard greens, fried plantains and rice and beans. I wasn’t crazy about the greens, but the other sides were fantastic. We ended our dining experience with dessert… raspberry cheesecake, truffles and lavender caramel. The caramel was interesting. Better than I would have thought. I would recommend Brasa!
All in all, it was a great day. I’m so thankful for my Valentine.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Recap
Wow. It's been a while since I posted anything. Quick recap in order of events: Ben came home, Zoey ate a stick of butter, we went to maternity leave Q&A at work, I'm an aunt again, we had our first appointment at the new clinic. Whew. And of course, those are just the things that popped into my head.
When Ben went to India he had asked if there was anything I wanted him to buy for me. Since I've been there several times myself, I couldn't really think of anything. He bought me something anyway. He is so sweet! He bought two cute outfits... a baby boy and a baby girl outfit. They are so cute! The little girl outfit even came with a little scarf. How cute is that?!
It still amazes me what Zoey can eat with no effect on her system. At least nothing obvious. The other day she had a stick of butter. I think if I ate a whole stick I would be sick. Not Zoey. Everything was normal. But, if you give her a taco from Taco Bell, that's another story. We'll be weighing her this weekend to see what her weight looks like.
The maternity Q&A was interesting. I got to find out how much paid time I get once our baby comes. Too bad it's only 6 weeks. I would LOVE for it to be longer. I'm trying to extend my leave. We'll see how that goes.
Yesterday, Simon James was born to John and Sara. He is so cute from the one picture Ben was sent of him. We're planning on going to visit the new little guy either the last weekend in March or first in April. We can't wait!
Yesterday was also our first appointment at the new clinic. The only thing I didn't like about it is that the elevators are SO SLOW!! And there aren't stairs, except for emergency stairs. But anyway. The clinic seemed very nice. It's a new building, so it wasn't very clinic feeling. And one of the reasons I picked it (aside from delivering at the new hospital) is that it not only has OB, but also pediatrics, so I won't have to find another clinic for the baby. The way they work is that for my appointments I can either see the WHNP every time (unless there are complications), pick a doctor to see, or rotate doctors (there are 4). The nice thing about being able to rotate is that then I will have at least met the doctor once that will deliver my baby. That's another reason why I picked this clinic versus a big one (because then it would be a random doctor to deliver). And unfortunately, they weren't able to get us in for an ultrasound until 2/22, so it's a bit longer before we can get a visual on our little person.
When Ben went to India he had asked if there was anything I wanted him to buy for me. Since I've been there several times myself, I couldn't really think of anything. He bought me something anyway. He is so sweet! He bought two cute outfits... a baby boy and a baby girl outfit. They are so cute! The little girl outfit even came with a little scarf. How cute is that?!
It still amazes me what Zoey can eat with no effect on her system. At least nothing obvious. The other day she had a stick of butter. I think if I ate a whole stick I would be sick. Not Zoey. Everything was normal. But, if you give her a taco from Taco Bell, that's another story. We'll be weighing her this weekend to see what her weight looks like.
The maternity Q&A was interesting. I got to find out how much paid time I get once our baby comes. Too bad it's only 6 weeks. I would LOVE for it to be longer. I'm trying to extend my leave. We'll see how that goes.
Yesterday, Simon James was born to John and Sara. He is so cute from the one picture Ben was sent of him. We're planning on going to visit the new little guy either the last weekend in March or first in April. We can't wait!
Yesterday was also our first appointment at the new clinic. The only thing I didn't like about it is that the elevators are SO SLOW!! And there aren't stairs, except for emergency stairs. But anyway. The clinic seemed very nice. It's a new building, so it wasn't very clinic feeling. And one of the reasons I picked it (aside from delivering at the new hospital) is that it not only has OB, but also pediatrics, so I won't have to find another clinic for the baby. The way they work is that for my appointments I can either see the WHNP every time (unless there are complications), pick a doctor to see, or rotate doctors (there are 4). The nice thing about being able to rotate is that then I will have at least met the doctor once that will deliver my baby. That's another reason why I picked this clinic versus a big one (because then it would be a random doctor to deliver). And unfortunately, they weren't able to get us in for an ultrasound until 2/22, so it's a bit longer before we can get a visual on our little person.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
On My Own
Ben left Thursday for India. He'll be back next Sunday. So far, I have been keeping reasonably busy.
Thursday night I was going to poker (just to socialize, not play) but Zoey got sick again, so I decided to stay home.
Friday after work I took a nap and then went out to dinner with some friends. I had so much fun. And I laughed so much. We went to Pop restaurant in Minneapolis. The waiter brought us much amusement. When he came to the table he informed us that there was only one bowl of soup left and only one glass of a certain wine left. Ok. Seemed strange since it was still early for a Friday night, but whatever. After he took our order he came back a few minutes later to tell me that they only had one order of flautas left (I ordered two since it was an appetizer and he said it was small). So I changed my order to one order of flautas and one order of empanadas. A few minutes after that he came back to verify Heidi and Katie's orders. When the food arrived he discovered that he forgot to put Alyssa's order in. He told us he would treat us to dessert. I should also mention that he decided to speak Spanish to me... because I ordered Mexican food?!? Then he brought the dessert menus. We asked what he would recommend and he said the sampler. But since that was the most expensive dessert he told us he would chip in $5. Ok. I guess he didn't really mean that he was going to treat us to dessert. Whatever. But despite all that, we had a great time there. Actually, some of our laughs were around our waiter, so maybe without him it wouldn't have been so fun.
Saturday Zoey and I slept in until 7:30. We made some banana bread (ok, I made that) and I also cooked her some rice and chicken. Friday she only ate 1 cup of food instead of her normal 3 cups. When I got home from my dinner, she was more interested in sleeping than eating even though her stomach was growling like crazy. I figured maybe her stomach needed some easy food. She loved her breakfast. She kept asking for more. After that I met my mom at the mall to do some maternity shopping. I was only going to get a couple of pairs of work pants... but the sales lady and my mom got me to try on a whole bunch of stuff. I ended up with a bunch of clothes. But they should last until the baby comes. Hopefully Ben won't freak out too much when he sees the bill...
Sunday so far has been spent cleaning the kitchen. I washed dishes and cleaned off the counters. I washed all the cupboards, cleaned all the appliances and swept and mopped the floor. It looks nice. When I talked to Ben I told him he better be impressed. :) Now I'm trying to figure out what to eat this week so I can go to the grocery store.
Thursday night I was going to poker (just to socialize, not play) but Zoey got sick again, so I decided to stay home.
Friday after work I took a nap and then went out to dinner with some friends. I had so much fun. And I laughed so much. We went to Pop restaurant in Minneapolis. The waiter brought us much amusement. When he came to the table he informed us that there was only one bowl of soup left and only one glass of a certain wine left. Ok. Seemed strange since it was still early for a Friday night, but whatever. After he took our order he came back a few minutes later to tell me that they only had one order of flautas left (I ordered two since it was an appetizer and he said it was small). So I changed my order to one order of flautas and one order of empanadas. A few minutes after that he came back to verify Heidi and Katie's orders. When the food arrived he discovered that he forgot to put Alyssa's order in. He told us he would treat us to dessert. I should also mention that he decided to speak Spanish to me... because I ordered Mexican food?!? Then he brought the dessert menus. We asked what he would recommend and he said the sampler. But since that was the most expensive dessert he told us he would chip in $5. Ok. I guess he didn't really mean that he was going to treat us to dessert. Whatever. But despite all that, we had a great time there. Actually, some of our laughs were around our waiter, so maybe without him it wouldn't have been so fun.
Saturday Zoey and I slept in until 7:30. We made some banana bread (ok, I made that) and I also cooked her some rice and chicken. Friday she only ate 1 cup of food instead of her normal 3 cups. When I got home from my dinner, she was more interested in sleeping than eating even though her stomach was growling like crazy. I figured maybe her stomach needed some easy food. She loved her breakfast. She kept asking for more. After that I met my mom at the mall to do some maternity shopping. I was only going to get a couple of pairs of work pants... but the sales lady and my mom got me to try on a whole bunch of stuff. I ended up with a bunch of clothes. But they should last until the baby comes. Hopefully Ben won't freak out too much when he sees the bill...
Sunday so far has been spent cleaning the kitchen. I washed dishes and cleaned off the counters. I washed all the cupboards, cleaned all the appliances and swept and mopped the floor. It looks nice. When I talked to Ben I told him he better be impressed. :) Now I'm trying to figure out what to eat this week so I can go to the grocery store.
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