Check This Out

A few weeks ago my buds and I went to Cowan Lake about 45 minutes North of Cincinnati for a little hiking, cooking, and girl time. It was actually the first time in Ya Ya history that bottles of wine were not only not finished, but several were not even opened. Heavy sigh. Two of us were out of commission with babies on board, and one of us has become an anti-sugar Nazi, but we still love her. Anyway, they designed this really cool mandala patterned Henna on my big ole belly, and it lasted about a week. I was a big hit at my ob-gyn visit on Monday morning! As you can see, I am large and in charge. Hopefully, they sent some female energy my way...

Enough Said

Tasty Turkey Leftovers

I made this yummy soup tonight with my turkey leftovers, adding some vegetables and noodles. It was a great variation on chicken noodle. Although my children were with me in the kitchen and helped chop vegetables, add seasoning, and asked lots of questions about what was going into the soup, they were reluctant to gobble up very much of it. Here's my "recipe." Use what you've got.

Turkey Noodle Soup
1 tbs. chopped garlic
3/4 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped celery
3/4 c. chopped carrots
1/2 c. chopped mushrooms
3/4 c. sweet potatoes--cut into small cubes
leftover turkey slices chopped into soup size bites
3tbs. butter
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
dash of sherry
6-8 cups of chicken stock/broth or water (I used 3 bouillon cubes with water)
1 c. noodles (I used ramen, but egg noodles would probably be better)

Saute all the chopped vegetables in butter until the onions are clear. Add the rosemary, salt and pepper, bay leaf and sherry. Continue to saute about 5 minutes, then add stock and turkey pieces. Bring everything to a gentle boil, toss in the noodles then simmer about 10 min. Remove the bay leaf before serving. Makes enough to feed an army.

Two Weeks and Counting

Well, two weeks and 4 days until "D-day"- literally, my due date is on December 7th. But who's counting? Okay, I am...desperately. John took this picture of me on Halloween day just before the kids went out. Overall I've felt really good. I've had lots of energy especially since the weather finally cooled down in mid-October. Even now, a 60 degree day gives me hot flashes at night. Between the constant urge to go to the bathroom, the feeling that something enormous has landed on my stomach and has me trapped, and the overheatedness, I'm not getting great sleep these days. I guess it is nature's way of getting me ready for no sleep.

But I think we're "ready." The tiny baby clothes are washed and folded, and thanks to many friends and family members, we've just about restocked on all necessary newborn items from bassinets to diapers and wipes. My mom and dad visited last week and brought beautiful gender neutral cuddly one piece outfits and gowns that look so tiny, but you know will swallow up a newborn. The kids are fascinated by the miniature diapers and tiny little baby undershirts. Julia has willingly cleared out a drawer in her dresser to make way for baby things until we figure out a more permanent landing spot for this new person. But in spite of having diapers and car seats ready to go, I'm terribly worried that I've forgotten everything. How will I manage all the activity in our lives and keep another person alive with my body? Will I be able to chill? Will my children love this new family member or will there be tears and jealousy and complete and utter chaos? (Yes and no to all of the above).

Well I'm off to get a child from the bus. Just thinking how this will work in a few weeks with a newborn to take with me to the bus stop. C'est la vie!

When the Levy Fails

It is a sad, sad day when you listen to reports about defense contractors being paid twice for the same services, being overpaid, and the outrageous expense that this insane war is costing us as a nation, but many of our public schools do not have enough money to operate. In Cincinnati we've just failed to pass a critical levy that would boost our schools budgets just enough to keep doors open at some buildings, and to help with hiring enough teachers at others. Just last week my daughter's teacher sent home a note saying that she didn't have enough "copy clicks" left to send homework so we would be having longer projects every two weeks (we are now building a diorama of early settlement life in Ohio-can you say stick an ice pick in your forehead...).

And we banked on our city, on the belief that our public schools could again be thriving. When all evidence suggested that we bail on the city, and buy a house in the suburbs like every other middle class couple, we chose to stick it out, and buy our old dream house in the city with ancient windows and old plumbing. And I'm just so angry at our school board, at the idiot decisions that are made, and that the district has chosen to alienate families like ours who care about their kids' education.

I hope we see some change in '08.