Posted by: coolestever | February 8, 2010

Resurfacing

I take it back that I take it all back from the birthday post about the lumberjack man. I meant what I said in that moment, and you can’t change that. But as you all know, I am dealing with a major upheaval and that is nothing if not messy.

Right now I am focused on doing the best I possibly can to make the right decisions for the right reasons. That’s really all I can do. It is going to take time, patience and strength. Strength I’ve got; it’s the time and patience part that always get me.

Thank you, deeply and sincerely, to every one of you who supported me last week (and always!). I could not have gotten through it without you, I really couldn’t. There is no way I can explain how much it meant to me to have parents to take me in and take care of me, love and support and sympathy, shoulders to cry on, daily e-mails and phone calls just checking in to see how I was doing.

So please know that I am doing okay. I still need support and will for a long time, as I see this through to whatever outcome is meant to be. I just hope I haven’t exhausted everyone’s capacity or understanding. You all really do mean the world to me.

Posted by: coolestever | January 28, 2010

Blindsided

You know that post last week about the lumberjack man? I take it all back.

Posted by: coolestever | January 18, 2010

Emeril is my new hero

The family Christmas cookbook from Linda – “Emeril 20-40-60″ – got a test drive this weekend in our kitchen, and OMG. Can I just say? I’m on a total blissed-out-from-the-awesomeness dessert buzz right now.

But let me back up. Last night I made Chicken Patty Pockets with Minted Yogurt Sauce on p.144. These are ridiculously easy and SO GOOD. I ended up using ground turkey instead b/c the main store we go to doesn’t have ground chicken. Pretty sure I couldn’t tell any difference. They mixed up really fast, with cheap ingredients, and I got the Indian naan bread we like instead of the pita called for in the recipe. (Coriander is important, so make sure you have that.)

The patties broiled nicely and went perfectly with the naan and side stuff I put out – sliced tomato and avocado, lettuce, and lime for squeezing. We made little sandwiches, kind of. The best part though is the yogurt sauce – don’t skip it!! I used nonfat plain yogurt and it was amazing. Next time I might just make a batch of that and eat it by itself, seriously, it is that good. I didn’t have sweet paprika (or any paprika) so that was left out and not missed.

I also added a very easy chopped salad I’m obsessed with — basically rough-chopped veggies like cucumber, green peppers, a tiny bit of lettuce, and squash tossed in a little zesty Italian dressing and set to marinate in the fridge while I make the rest of dinner. So easy, super healthy and even the kids like it. It’s a nice change from the usual lettuce-based salad.

I got home from the store at 7 and we were eating by 8. He’s not kidding when he says it’s fast. Very impressive recipe!

Then tonight I made the Brown Sugar-Baked Bananas on p. 100. Hold on, I need to stop and remember the awesomeness. Ahhhh. Yum. Mmmmmm. OMG. LOL.

Everyone HAS to try this. The recipe is ridiculously easy and actually not that terrible for you — there’s only 1 TBS of butter in the sauce, and you get actual vitamins or whatever from the bananas and orange juice. (Not that I needed justification!) I put it over vanilla (lactose-free) ice cream, and it got all melty and amazing. At Chip’s request I added a few chocolate chips, which did indeed end up being a very nice touch but not necessary.

The blurb says this one is like Bananas Foster, only easier, and I 1000% percent agree. Bananas Foster is one of my very favorite desserts ever, partly because I had a religious experience with some when I was pregnant with Kaya and another in Florida at a restaurant where Chip and I went the week of our wedding. And this recipe? It’s pretty damn close and much easier to make.

Two big scores for Emeril and Linda!!

I have my eye on a bunch of the other recipes and will report out as we make them …

Posted by: coolestever | January 15, 2010

Happy birthday to the lumberjack man

It’s Chip’s birthday today! He’s the big 4-2, double the drinking age, which I think means he can drink twice as much, but we knew that already.

Anyway he’s not big on celebrations, so no big parties here. Just dinner at our regular sushi place (it’s our version of Cheers … everyone knows our name … I need to post about it sometime) with Calen and Ian. This weekend we’re kidless and will probably go to Cherry Street Wine Cellar, our favorite fancy restaurant in town. His mom gives him a big gift certificate there every year for his bday so we get a birthday date. Low-key and focused on food is how we roll.

For his bday I gave him a set of fire tools for the stove, like fireplace tools. A shovel, brush and giant heavy-ass tongs. So romantic, I know! But it’s what he really wanted. I had to go to four stores to find them, because apparently everyone else has discovered this thing they call “a furnace” and no longer need fireplace tools. The only ones available most places were the little crappy decorative ones people put near the fireplace to make it look like they use it. NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

At the place where I finally found some good tools, I also found a self-powered stove fan. It’s so cool! And I can’t believe I just said that! But it is … you put it on the stovetop and the heat creates electricity, which drives a silent fan to better circulate the warmth. He got all excited and set it up (by which I mean pulled it out of the box and set it on the stove), and it’s working! This is a major breakthrough, as we usually have to wait for the heat to slowly fill the basement and move up the stairs; the fan will circulate it much faster.

Even though he is Amish and therefore banned by the Torah from reading blogs, which means he won’t see this, I just wanted to say happy birthday to him Officially On The Internet.

Chip is so quiet and humble, so most people never see the side of him I do. He’s exceedingly patient and kind, funny, dedicated to his family, loving, and cool. He’s a talented editor with a sharp, witty mind for words, and he’s an amazing self-taught guitarist. He loves the simple things in life — Hillbilly Hill, the dogs, grilling on the deck, sledding down the driveway, good red wine, hiking in our woods — and almost never complains about anything. Our 5th anniversary is coming up in February and I can’t believe how ridiculously lucky I am to have found him. He’s been amazing to me, giving me the love, patience and stability I desperately needed and standing by me through all kinds of craziness (and I do mean crazy). I don’t want this to sound cliche, but I truly am a better person because of him — a healthier, more stable, happier person. We balance each other in a lot of ways, and I hope it stays that way forever.

Okay now that I wrote all that I might have to make him read it. I need to go find a loophole in the Torah.

Posted by: coolestever | January 13, 2010

New Year’s resolutions

These are my personal resolution-ish goals … assuming of course that family (as in paying attention to) and work (as in being grateful for and not getting fired from) are always my top priorities.

1. Hold my ground at the gym while all these New Year’s resolutions people temporarily take over the machines. No treadmills available today – what? Where were all you people the entire month of December? I’m glad you’re exercising, really I am, but can we do this on an installment plan so some of you will get suddenly motivated in March or August instead of January 1? Because I don’t have cable at home and need the TVs on the treadmills to keep up with the Kardashians. Khloe might be pregnant and it’s really important that I know what happens. Thanks.

2. Write more. Even though I read/write all day, it’s about insurance, which by nature doesn’t have a whole lot of emotional depth. I’ve been writing a lot more since last summer (oh and wrote a book too!), so it’s more a matter of continuing than it is starting. Poems, stories, essays on tap.

3. Let other people read what I write. I haven’t done this in, oh, 10 years, since college writing workshops. (Not counting work and the book, of course.) Grad school will force me to do this whether I want to or not. I’ve also recently started submitting to literary journals, which is the writer equivalent of insisting someone tell you your baby is ugly, and even paying the return postage for the insulting letter. In other words I’m not expecting much but it’s a good motivator because if I did get a poem published somewhere it would make me happy for about 100,000 years.

4. Pay off my debt. HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahahhahaHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Sorry, just had to say that because it’s required by law to include it in all NY resolution lists. But so funny, no? I mean, not usually something one says in the same year one starts grad school.

5. Be grateful every day. 2009 made me kind of crazy with stress, and I had a lot of bad I’m-not-grateful-for-anything-so-take-THAT kind of days. Things are better now, SO unbelievably much better. And I’m really trying to spend more time being grateful for my incredible goofy beautiful kids, awesome lumberjack (slightly Amish) husband, super supportive family, great job with the best people, dance, gym, and even Hillbilly Hill. Everyone’s healthy, we have everything we need and a lot more, I don’t work in a coal mine. Life is good.

Belated happy new year everybody! Any of our two or three loyal readers have resolutions or goals for the year?? Fess up!

Posted by: coolestever | January 8, 2010

Frozen

When I signed up to live in Missouri, why did no one mention that it occasionally turns into Canada?

It’s so cold …

  • frost on the inside of the windows is becoming a daily thing.
  • Hazel is living in the doggie igloo on our deck surrounded by a huge mound of fleece, dog beds, and an electric blanket. (She also has a crash pad in the insulated garage with a space heater.)
  • Chip is now chopping wood pretty much non-stop. Out there at 6:30 a.m. and a dozen times throughout the day and evening, trying to keep up. Our new stove is much more efficient than the old one but DAMN it’s zero degrees and that pulls heat right out of the house.
  • the only place in the house warm enough to hang out is the basement, next to the wood stove.
  • in a desperate attempt to keep my feet toasty I parked my Uggs next to said stove (as I’ve done daily for at least a month) and the infernal thing (ha ha) melted the soles! MELTED my SOLES. It’s so biblical. Now I’m Uggless and not happy about it — those things are expensive and mine were in awesome shape. Simultaneous yay and boo for the stove.
  • after three straight weeks of very dedicated gym attendance — we’re talking 5-6 times/week! — I just missed four days in a row. This is not purely the fault of the cold; I had two evening work events, kids, and cold on top of it all.
  • the only things I feel like consuming are soup, hot chocolate, pancakes (?) and pineapple (?). And chicken. I didn’t say it would make sense, but somehow those are total deep-winter food craves.
  • Chip is cooking on the wood stove. We have a real stove, I promise we do, but in true Hillbilly Hill fashion he has a Dutch oven perched on the wood stove cooking meat for Hazel. Here I sit, warm by the fire, trying to fantasize about pancakes dipped in hot chocolate coated in butter and marshmallows and stuff, and the smell of MEAT won’t leave me alone. I live in an Amish meat locker. And I don’t even have Uggs anymore. Sad face.

Okay enough cold talk. Over it.

So, anyway, sorry about the blog. I know it’s been a month or so. I’ve been lame, I know. We had a good Christmas though:

Santa came, everyone was happy, lots of time off work and school, a great weekend with Gaga and Papa in the Lou, tons of gadgets and new toys to play with. Happiness all around!

New Year’s Eve was mellow here by most standards. We had the three youngest plus Kaya’s friend Maggie. They missed the NYC ball drop b/c they were out sledding in the dark, and then our lame local stations switched to the news at 11:30 instead of showing countdowns! Lame! We counted down by the phones, which were all different, and then Chip and I promptly fell asleep at 12:30 because WE are lame. Buster went to bed too. Other kids stayed up until 4:30. Such is life.

More updates to come … need to catch up!

Posted by: coolestever | December 23, 2009

Hillbilly Christmas

On a lighter note – somehow it’s already December 22 and Christmas is just three days away. I have to admit I am just barely starting to get in the spirit … is that wrong? Some years the whole month of December feels Christmas-y, but this one has been weird and dramatic enough to be distracting. Kaya and Buster have also been with their dad for the past three weekends in a row (not normal), so I’m really glad they’ll be home tomorrow for Christmas.

They did have fun picking out the tree a couple weeks ago:

And not cooperating with my picture-taking, clearly. This was two Sundays ago, and we had gone all the way down to the tree farm south of Columbia where we’ve gone every Christmas for the past four or five years, only to find it closed and for sale. The nice old man there sent us off in search of another (supposedly) nearby tree farm, which we couldn’t find, so we gave up and hitting a tree lot a few miles from our house. (By hitting I don’t mean “knocking over” or “looting.” Just visiting.)

Bonus: The tree lot had hot chocolate! The tree farm only used to have cider, so Buster thought this was a major upgrade.

Kaya was also happy walking through the big tent full of dark green healthy trees … the smell was awesome!

They’re getting so big! They were at our house last night and we watched a movie, me in the middle of the couch and them draped all over me. CLICHE WARNING: It seems like yesterday they were sweet/fussy/warm/wailing/snuggly little babies. Now they’re big kids I could barely pick up if I tried. Not trying to be melancholy – it’s actually really cool to watch them grow up!

Anyway.

We got the tree on a Sunday and decorated on Monday. Buster actually did most of it himself while I was busy doing something and Kaya worked on homework. We were all going to do it together but he couldn’t wait for us to start, so he did about 70% of it before we started helping. He did a great job!

There’s a chance of snow here between now and Friday, so fingers crossed for a white Christmas! Dad will be happy to hear I managed to download the entire Messiah after many hours of waiting (43 songs!!). I’ll make sure it’s the soundtrack for at least part of Christmas Eve/morning, even if I have to alternate it with Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas to keep the kids happy.

Hope M&D are having a great time in LA – I’m sure you’re soaking up the sun while you can. We’ll see you this weekend!

Merry Christmas in advance to everyone else – we miss you guys! I hope you all have a nice quiet week and a great Christmas! I hope they don’t rescind my journalism degree for using this many exclamation points in one post!

Posted by: coolestever | December 19, 2009

RIP Bagel

Sad, sad week at Hillbilly Hill.

Our dog Bagel, the smaller male dog, Hazel’s brother and best buddy, was killed Tuesday night by the neighbor’s pit bull.

That’s Bagel last spring. And in case there’s any doubt whose brother he is … here’s Hazel!

Tuesday night my kids were with Jay, and the rest of us were at Calen’s choir concert and then dinner, so we missed the attack. But we know which dog did it — the same big black pit bull with a red collar came over last Saturday and attacked Bagel in front of Chip, who chased it off with an ax, only to have it circle back and try to attack Chip. We’ve lived here six years and never had a problem with neighborhood dogs or fights until now; the chances some other random dog attacked Bagel seem negligible.

We didn’t see the dogs when we came home around 9:30 or 10, but they run in the woods a lot so that didn’t seem out of the ordinary. Then we awoke to Hazel whining loudly at 2 a.m. (out of character for her) so Chip went outside to check it out. Didn’t see Bagel and started to get worried.

He and the kids left before dawn in the morning so they weren’t able to go looking for him, but when I got up and looked out the window, I saw him lying in the leaves in the backyard. I pulled on my boots and coat and walked out to find a grisly, sad scene. The dog had mauled him to death. His worst wounds were in the exact place where the pit bull tried to attack him before.

I called Chip and then Animal Control, who have been understanding but can’t put the pit bull down because none of us witnessed the second attack. After suspecting that it lived down the street on the other side of the woods, we discovered that it lives right next door. Right next door. Animal Control came over again today because the people weren’t home the first time. I wish they could do something about it, but all they can is talk to the owners about keeping the dogs contained.

Anyway, we’re missing Bagel, Hazel more than anyone. She’s clearly grieving — it’s amazing the depth of emotion dogs can have. Bagel was a goofy dog and barked at every squirrel that ever dared set foot in our yard, which drove us crazy at 3 a.m., but he was also sweet and good-natured and loved getting attention when Hazel wasn’t hogging it. They were good together and played like puppies every day. They slept together curled up in their doggie apartment (the garage) or sprawled in the sunny yard. We know she misses him.

The kids have been sad but are handling it well. It helps that they’re old enough to understand what happened and ask questions. Chip buried bagel in the back yard by the woods, next to Sunny, his golden retriever who died of old age a few years ago. We’ll probably make Bagel a nice grave marker too, and plant flowers down there in spring.

Life lessons, right?

Update: Chip just talked to Animal Control – they took the black pit bull and a puppy pit bull that had been coming over here too. No one was home when AC got there, but the two dogs were running loose and the puppy was aggressive toward them. The black one had scars all over it like it had seen its share of fights. So they confiscated both dogs and they’re charging the people with animal neglect and something about owning a vicious animal.

If they want them back they have to go to court and Chip would have the opportunity to testify against them. They’re renters though, and the landlord (who knows about what happened) doesn’t want the dogs back on the property. If they don’t get the dogs back they will be put down. Sad all around, but at least we feel safer now about Hazel and the kids being outside.

Posted by: coolestever | December 1, 2009

Kids these days

Preface to this quote of the day: I’m having a lot of neck/back trouble right now and going to the chiropractor constantly. The kids have been with me before and seen me get adjustments, though not recently, and Kaya has been once herself after her backpack tweaked her neck.

When the chiro adjusts my mid-back, I lay on my side on the table and pull my top knee up in a bent position. He leans his knee on mine and then pushes my shoulder back to create a deep twist adjustment. Basically, it’s awesome.

The kids and I were in the van on the way back from Target last night and the chiro subject came up.

Joshua: I think it’s gross when he puts his leg over you.

Me: First of all, he’s not putting his leg over me, just leaning on my leg with his knee. And it’s not gross!

Joshua: Yes it is!

Me: It’s not like that … it’s just how he fixes my back. It’s not like he’s throwing his leg over me and saying “heyyyy baby.”

Joshua: But I bet he’s thinking it in his head.

Posted by: coolestever | November 22, 2009

The comedy channel strikes again

Wow, it’s been a long time! I’m sure all three of you have been diligently checking the blog every day, then crying in disappointment that I haven’t posted in so long. Sorry about that. Been hiding out a bit, trying to recharge after this insane 18 months at work, but also reading obsessively and working on the last chapter of the Suhaila book. Almost done!

So Chip and I were watching the news on the comedy channel last night (our local NBC affiliate run by the journalism school at MU, for anyone who might not remember what I’m talking about). We haven’t had the TV on, except for movies, more than two or three times in the past couple of months. We’re just off it completely, and the comedy channel is all we get (still), so it’s not worth turning on most of the time anyway.

We were watching last night so he could get highlights from the MU game. The weekend newscast crew is often even more entertaining than usual, because the professionals get the night off and basically that means the monkeys are running the zoo. Crazy swings of the camera, bizarre weather forecasts, awkward pauses and glances off-screen, WAY over-enthusiastic sports reports, off-center camera angles, etc.

Here’s what kept us captivated through the entire broadcast. This feels a little mean, but come on! It’s hard to believe they let this poor girl on camera wearing this … this … this THING.

It was like a reverse mullet, long in front and short in back. Underneath she appeared to be wearing JEANS, which I can’t say I’ve ever seen a weather person wear. These kind of long-flounces-in-front sweaters are in style right now, and they are cool when worn appropriately. But BELTED? And over jeans on TV? Even these two Hillbilly Hill rednecks know that ain’t right.

In other news, I rode the new zipline today! You have to climb up into a hunting stand Chip installed in a giant tree over between the garage and the lagoon, and brave certain death to climb on the little seat, and brave death again to leap into the air and trust that wire will hold. I did it, after sitting up on the hunting stand for a good long while complaining about being dizzy and saying I couldn’t do it.

Chip convinced me to try and I’m glad I did! It’s fun but will be a lot more fun when there’s a way to get down that doesn’t involve a stepladder in the grass and sliding down a rope.

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