I just finished reading and really enjoyed Jamie’s If We Were Having Coffee post. I have wanted to get more personal in my blogging while still remaining mostly a book blogger and I think I managed that in my It’s Monday and I’ve Got Nothing Bookish to Talk About post so I hope to do this sort of post on a semi-regular basis. And I promise I will not sugarcoat my life. Because, as you will read, I can be a real dummy sometimes.
One thing I had hoped to start doing more this year was cooking. In my last life update, I excitedly told you how I had successfully made a delicious and easy beef stir fry and couldn’t wait to try it again. Well, I did try the stir fry again last week. And I almost burned my kitchen down. The last time I’d made the stir fry was my first time using a cast iron pan and my husband told me I could warm it up a little before starting the stir fry. He did this part for me and I guess I didn’t notice he put the burner on super low and added the oil, too. So this time, I tried warming up the pan beforehand and set the burner on medium and after it got good and hot poured the oil it. It immediately started smoking and then burst into flames. I panicked and could not remember how to put out a grease fire (I could remember how not to put out a grease fire, so at least I didn’t pour water on it) and my husband came in to help and the flames were huge and threatening to catch things on the counter. So I grabbed the fire extinguisher and husband put out the fire with that. There was tons and tons of smoke and tons and tons of mess from the fire extinguisher. It took my husband and me around 8 hours and the help of my mom to clean everything up. Let’s just say, this has made me a little shy about trying any new recipes at the moment. I’ve been sticking to frozen ravioli this week.
Another thing I had been hoping to do more this year is exercise and I’m happy to say that this has been going rather well. I have made it to Saturday morning yoga every weekend this month! I would like to add in a second yoga class per week, but am having trouble finding a weeknight class time that doesn’t mean getting home after the baby is already in bed. I haven’t given myself permission to miss that evening time together yet. I don’t know that I ever will.
Speaking of the baby, Lydia turned 11 months old yesterday! She cut her first tooth and wasn’t even a drama queen about it. She has been really into rolling and scooting these days and likes it when you help her stand holding onto a table. She “talks” a lot and has recently started saying “bye bye, ” though very selectively. She loves taking baths and is really mischievous in the tub, scooting all around, grabbing anything in sight, and pulling the plug so the water starts draining out. She also likes to eat her solid foods and is way more into the jarred baby food than the homemade stuff. But really, I can’t figure out how to puree chicken into a texture that isn’t gross or how to effectively hide peas in carrots, so I don’t really blame her. I am sure toddlerhood is right around the corner, but I am really enjoying these last few months (weeks?) of babyhood.
And finally, the husband and I went on a lovely date last weekend for Valentine’s Day and ventured down to Dallas proper and had dinner and went to a concert. Dinner was awesome because we happened upon a restaurant that serves spiedies, a delicious food native to my hometown in upstate New York and not really found anywhere else. And the concert was Neutral Milk Hotel, a band my husband introduced me to when we first met, so it has some real sentimental value for me. We saw NMH last year, too, when the tour was a man+guitar acoustic set and it was brilliant and intimate and really awesome. This time, they had the full band and it was much more loud and energetic and maybe even joyful. The diversity of instruments they used was cool. I have never seen someone play a saw before and that was interesting to see/hear. There were a few rude concert-goers at the show this time around and it dampened my enjoyment, but still, it was a good show.
What have you all been up to? Got any fun plans for the upcoming weekend?
Don't Take My Books Away 