I get tired of waking up at 6am,
Yet I never tire of watching my little man as we walk back to mommy's bed after getting his milk

I get tired of 'picking up'
Yet I never tire of finding the little treasures Elliot leaves behind, like a car at the bottom of his laundry basket or a truck in the tupperware drawer

I get tired of the long trek back and forth to school & work
Yet I never tire of listening to my bear talk about all the trains, planes and garbage trucks he wants to see along the way

I get tired of rushing to get dinner on the table
Yet I never tire of sitting, eating, talking with my dear husband and watching Elliot chew so deliberately

I get tired, but it's the good kind of tired...

There are two sure fire ways to Anglo-Americanize any ethnic food...a casserole or a salad! Seriously. I really can't think of any food more American then a casserole. Sure hamburger, hot dogs, apple pie, but that's what we want people to think. The truth is Americans love their casseroles and what better way to sample the fare of our neighbors then by way of a safe and comforting casserole. And in recent years salads have followed suit. Taco Casserole and Chinese Chicken Salad, enough said.

Labels: Deep Thoughts, Food

Seriously. What was I saying? It feels like a lifetime ago that I sat and wrote anything. 2009 was a wild year. And I am pretty confident 2010 will be too! Like feels pretty great right now. We are settling into our new home, our new routines, our new community. It feels pretty darn good. I've missed writing the occasional post, sharing my thoughts and opinions...just not sure how to do it within the 2 waking hours that I am not at work or spending time with Elliot. I don't know how the rest of the blogging world does it...but, now that we are not packing, moving, living in a hotel, unpacking, surviving the holiday madness, I think I will find some more time. I am hoping that just writing this post with get me into the groove again.

Labels: Deep Thoughts

Recently we decided to take the plunge (second time around) and buy a house. We have a townhouse now, and it has served us well, but it's time to move on (maybe). We do need a wee bit more space on one level. We found a house but we lost it - oh well. There were a few needling things about it, so it was not meant to be. Of course, we still talk about it fondly. I digress. We decided to sell our home and now we live in a model home. Our Realtor came in and re-arranged our furniture, had us pack up our clutter, brought in some of their own accents, and now we live in a model home. In the morning we make sure our pajamas are neatly tucked away, our bed gets made (this used to never happen unless guests were coming over), close the lid to our toilets, put all dishes in the dishwasher, close every door to every closet, tuck all the toys away (poor Elliot has trouble finding anything), pull up the blinds, open the widows, etc., etc., etc. Essentially, pretend like you don't live here. I am starting to wish we didn't, yet it does look so good that sometimes we think about buying it.

Labels: Deep Thoughts

Did you have one as a child? I did. Maybe you have one now. I would get so excited when I would see the rapid-winged little guys outside fluttering away while sucking down some sugar H20. As I was browsing on Flickr, I came across this great photo of a hummingbird and a feeder. It brought back such fond memories (I think ours was just like this one!), so I decided I must have a feeder for myself to enjoy (Dale & Elliot can enjoy it too, of course!). So I 'did a Yahoo' (my attempt at supporting the company that helps to support my family) and could not believe how many hummingbird feeders there are out there for sale! Who knew there was such a market for these things?! Needless to say, I got overwhelmed by the choices and decided I would look into it another time.

Labels: Random Thoughts

Years ago when we were living in San Mateo I threw a surprise party for my husband's birthday (then boyfriend). I had been pretty last minute about the food and had planned to make a taco-spread - tortillas, guac, sour cream, beans, and chicken...luckily some friends were there to help me out! One friend quickly realized that I had no idea what to do with the chicken so she jumped in started throwing stuff in a pot and at the end was this delicious shredded chicken in a tomato sauce. I have never forgotten this chicken, it was amazing! It was reminiscent of this chicken they used to have at our college taqueria. I was never really able to replicate it, so I stopped trying and it has just lived in my fond-food memory bank ever since.

Recently when I was getting my hair cut (when I do all of my magazine reading) I stumbled upon this recipe in Cooking Light, Chicken Thighs with Olives and Tomato Sauce. Now this particular recipe does not dish up a fiesta, it's more of a Mediterranean dish, but it is saucy-shredded-goodness nonetheless. I used 1 1/2 lbs of chicken thighs and 1 1/2 lbs of breasts to reduce the fat (& 4 lbs seemed a bit much). I used some chicken broth instead of wine as I didn't have any white on hand. And go easy on the red pepper flakes if you have a little one around. We served it over rice and I even threw some in a high-fiber tortilla along with some spinach for a tasty lunch. This will be in our family recipe book for years to come, in fact we made it again yesterday!

Labels: Food