I have never been hugely domestic. It's not that I'm incapable of it, just that there are a lot of things I get more pleasure out of than preparing extravagant meals and trying to bake the perfect pie. I admire women who do these things with enthusiasm, though, and I have moments when I try to become one of them.
I had one of those moments today.
A good friend of ours is having back surgery soon. While he is recovering, his six-month-pregnant wife will be solely responsible for taking care of him and their other two boys, ages three and one. This is a lot for one woman to handle, and to top it all off, she has a job! I wanted to help them out, as the coming months are going to be hard on them. And it occurred to me that, if this incident were occurring on TV or in a movie, the friends would be dropping by with casseroles. So today, I decided to cook.
Now, let me repeat that I am not a gourmet chef. I am capable of following a recipe and making a nice meal, but my experience is lacking and therefore most of what I make is experimental. But one thing that I know for sure will turn out right are my mother-in-law's enchiladas.
If I can go off topic for just a moment, I'd just like to note that the day Karla gave me the recipe for her enchiladas (which I'd been eating with uninhibited enthusiasm for years) was the day I truly felt I'd become part of the Eames family.
I've made these in my own kitchen a couple time since then, and, while my dish never comes out quite like hers, the recipe is really no-fail. So this is what I decided to make for our friends. I cooked the meat, filled the shells, and laid my creations beautifully in their pan. Then I stirred the sauce and shredded the cheese. When I was done, I had created a perfect ready-to-bake meal. All my friend has to do is turn on her oven and let the enchiladas heat up.
When I dropped the dish off at her house this evening and she thanked me for saving her children from eight weeks of chicken nuggets and mac-n-cheese, I felt like quite the kitchen superstar.
Slowly, but with enthusiasm, I am becoming a domestic goddess!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Day 325: One Hot Date
As the school year winds down, things at Grandview get wound up for a little bit. I'm sure that happens at every school, especially those that teach kids between ages three and 18. Grandview hosts a graduations for kindergarten, fifth grade, eighth grade, and, of course, high school. During the day, we have end-of-the-year meetings, and in the evenings, we have other end-of-the-year events. We have a few more lessons to teach, finals to give and to grade, and final report cards to send out. We have to clean our rooms, and we have to complete a checklist. (Yes, I have turned in my computer. Yes, I have filled out my supply request form. And on and on and on.)
After a very long and challenging eight month span, I was already exhausted. But this ninth month is going to wear me right down to the core.
And so, I relish weekends. I absolutely love my job, but from Monday to Friday, I wake up dreaming of sleeping in till it's afternoon and spending all day having nothing to do. In fact, that is what I planned to do today - nothing.
When I got home from school last night, Brandon asked me what I'd like to do this weekend. I replied that I just wanted to relax, stay in my PJs and attempt not to leave my house. He said ok, but then he woke me up early this morning saying he was motivated to start the landscaping. I said, "That's excellent...I can't wait to see how much you get done today!" and tried to roll over and go back to sleep.
Ten minutes later, I was on my way to Home Depot with him. We bought potting soil, a variety of flowers, big colorful pots, and even some new palm trees. We spent a couple hours and a couple hundred dollars, and by the time this was all paid for and loaded into the truck, I was ready for an afternoon nap. Too bad it was only 10 in the morning.
And Brandon had other plans anyway. We worked until 4 pm. I got into the project after a while, but I did whine a few times - once when a friend called to invite me to a movie and I had to decline because I was covered in dirt, once when I had gone unfed for far too long, and just once each and every time a drop of sweat rolled down my face.
It's May 21 in Florida, but it might as well be August in hell, it was so hot today! And there I stood, for hours, potting plants and just looking at the pool. I've never been so ready to just jump into the deep end with my clothes on, but Brandon told me not to get dirt in the pool. So I just stared at the cool, inviting water, while I shoveled dirt into one pot after another. This was not what I had in mind for the weekend,and it's certainly not how I would have chosen to spend my every other Saturday with my husband.
But it had to be done, and now that it is, I'm happy with it. The backyard has never looked so good. And looking out on it now, it's nice to know that Brandon and I did that together. And, despite the weather and the whiny wife, we did it well. We make a good team.
After a very long and challenging eight month span, I was already exhausted. But this ninth month is going to wear me right down to the core.
And so, I relish weekends. I absolutely love my job, but from Monday to Friday, I wake up dreaming of sleeping in till it's afternoon and spending all day having nothing to do. In fact, that is what I planned to do today - nothing.
When I got home from school last night, Brandon asked me what I'd like to do this weekend. I replied that I just wanted to relax, stay in my PJs and attempt not to leave my house. He said ok, but then he woke me up early this morning saying he was motivated to start the landscaping. I said, "That's excellent...I can't wait to see how much you get done today!" and tried to roll over and go back to sleep.
Ten minutes later, I was on my way to Home Depot with him. We bought potting soil, a variety of flowers, big colorful pots, and even some new palm trees. We spent a couple hours and a couple hundred dollars, and by the time this was all paid for and loaded into the truck, I was ready for an afternoon nap. Too bad it was only 10 in the morning.
And Brandon had other plans anyway. We worked until 4 pm. I got into the project after a while, but I did whine a few times - once when a friend called to invite me to a movie and I had to decline because I was covered in dirt, once when I had gone unfed for far too long, and just once each and every time a drop of sweat rolled down my face.
It's May 21 in Florida, but it might as well be August in hell, it was so hot today! And there I stood, for hours, potting plants and just looking at the pool. I've never been so ready to just jump into the deep end with my clothes on, but Brandon told me not to get dirt in the pool. So I just stared at the cool, inviting water, while I shoveled dirt into one pot after another. This was not what I had in mind for the weekend,and it's certainly not how I would have chosen to spend my every other Saturday with my husband.
But it had to be done, and now that it is, I'm happy with it. The backyard has never looked so good. And looking out on it now, it's nice to know that Brandon and I did that together. And, despite the weather and the whiny wife, we did it well. We make a good team.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Day 311: Siete de Mayo (We Didn't Make This Up!)
Cinco de Mayo is truly one of my favorite days of the year. I know it is not any kind of important holiday (not here, and not in Mexico either), but it's a great excuse to let loose, let go, and let tacos and tequila do the jobs for which they were intended.
This year in particular I need an excuse to let loose and let go, and so I began planning a Cinco de Mayo party several weeks ago. That was before I realized that May 5 was a Thursday. And Friday - even when it's Friday, May 6! - is a work day for everyone I know.
Which is why Brandon and I took it upon ourselves to alter the holiday slightly. And so today, we celebrated Siete de Mayo - the seventh of May!
If you've ever done any research on this supposedly Mexican holiday, you will probably know that Americans are the only ones who celebrate it, probably for those reasons listed above. So, since it appears to be a holiday that Americans celebrate for no good reason at all, we figured, why not move it a couple days? Siete de Mayo is still a great excuse to let loose, let go, and let tacos and tequila do the jobs for which they were intended.
I went all out, and I went crazy at Party City. I put up decorations of Mexican flags, sombreros, and maracas. I got a load of ground beef and a ton of taco seasoning. I filled up the cooler with Corona and went on a Jose Cuervo run. The house was full of bright colors, delicious smells, and happy people. Because really, there is just nothing better than tacos and tequila. And there is no better day to celebrate the existence of these things than today, the seventh of May.
Happy Siete de Mayo!
This year in particular I need an excuse to let loose and let go, and so I began planning a Cinco de Mayo party several weeks ago. That was before I realized that May 5 was a Thursday. And Friday - even when it's Friday, May 6! - is a work day for everyone I know.
Which is why Brandon and I took it upon ourselves to alter the holiday slightly. And so today, we celebrated Siete de Mayo - the seventh of May!
If you've ever done any research on this supposedly Mexican holiday, you will probably know that Americans are the only ones who celebrate it, probably for those reasons listed above. So, since it appears to be a holiday that Americans celebrate for no good reason at all, we figured, why not move it a couple days? Siete de Mayo is still a great excuse to let loose, let go, and let tacos and tequila do the jobs for which they were intended.
I went all out, and I went crazy at Party City. I put up decorations of Mexican flags, sombreros, and maracas. I got a load of ground beef and a ton of taco seasoning. I filled up the cooler with Corona and went on a Jose Cuervo run. The house was full of bright colors, delicious smells, and happy people. Because really, there is just nothing better than tacos and tequila. And there is no better day to celebrate the existence of these things than today, the seventh of May.
Happy Siete de Mayo!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Day 305: 2 Months of Newlywed Bliss Left
It is May 1, and we are once again marking our time as newlyweds. We have been married for 10 months, and it has gone by fast. But the next two months are sure to go by even faster.
The end of the school year is quickly approaching, and my work world is even more of a whirlwind of activity and appointments than usual. There is always somewhere to be, something to do, someone to see. Brandon is biding his time, waiting for summer and the peace that will come into our household with my ability to finally sit down and relax for a few minutes.
I'm looking forward to the end, just one month away now. But I also realize that, as these next few days and weeks pass us by, so too does our time as newlyweds. The clock is ticking away, and the countdown we started on July 1, 2010, is nearing its end.
Now, I know that the simple turning of the calendar to July 1, 2011, will not alter my relationship with my husband or my happiness in being married to him. But I'll no longer be able to tell people that we are newlyweds, and, as silly as it may be, I really, really love that! Brandon and I have been together for a long, long time; but being able to say that we are just recently married has made it all feel so new and fresh again. And it's just a little sad to think that, two months from now, I will never be a newlywed again.
But I will still have a fantastic husband who makes me incredibly happy. And together, we will have the precious memories of a wonderful - if chaotic - first year of marriage. And then together, we will begin making more. And as we celebrate our second, fifth, tenth, twentieth, and fiftieth year of marriage, the newlywed part may be gone, but the bliss part will remain.
The end of the school year is quickly approaching, and my work world is even more of a whirlwind of activity and appointments than usual. There is always somewhere to be, something to do, someone to see. Brandon is biding his time, waiting for summer and the peace that will come into our household with my ability to finally sit down and relax for a few minutes.
I'm looking forward to the end, just one month away now. But I also realize that, as these next few days and weeks pass us by, so too does our time as newlyweds. The clock is ticking away, and the countdown we started on July 1, 2010, is nearing its end.
Now, I know that the simple turning of the calendar to July 1, 2011, will not alter my relationship with my husband or my happiness in being married to him. But I'll no longer be able to tell people that we are newlyweds, and, as silly as it may be, I really, really love that! Brandon and I have been together for a long, long time; but being able to say that we are just recently married has made it all feel so new and fresh again. And it's just a little sad to think that, two months from now, I will never be a newlywed again.
But I will still have a fantastic husband who makes me incredibly happy. And together, we will have the precious memories of a wonderful - if chaotic - first year of marriage. And then together, we will begin making more. And as we celebrate our second, fifth, tenth, twentieth, and fiftieth year of marriage, the newlywed part may be gone, but the bliss part will remain.
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