Month: October 2009

pumpkin beanie

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crochet pumpkin hat

This was such a quick and gratifying project. Too bad it is too small for Laura! But no worries — it should be the perfect size for my newborn niece, who is due in early November. I think pumpkins are acceptable until shortly after Thanksgiving 🙂 I’ll make another larger hat for Laura and for her cousin Jillie. I offered to make one for Noah, but I think he’s outgrown the age of fruit-inspired hats. He thought I was a little crazy.

Pattern: Baby Pumpkin Crochet Beanie
Yarn: Vanna’s Choice in terracotta and olive (this is soooo soft for an acrylic — I really like working with it!)
Time: Less than two hours total

MFA or MBA or…

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Twelve years ago I fully intended that by this point in my life I’d have an MFA in creative writing and ideally be teaching somewhere, or running workshops, or something like that. Obviously that never happened. Things change, life happens and before you know it you’re almost 34, married, with three kids! Funny how that works, LOL. Right now I’m very happy with my little place in the world. I do just enough freelance writing to keep me happy and feel like I’m contributing something to the family income, but at some point I imagine I’ll want to go back to work full-time. Or, at least more part-time that I am now.

So that begs the question… should I consider grad school at some point to put me in a better position? I’m not sure if at this point I really want to go for the MFA. I would like to start taking writing-related classes at some point, but I don’t know if the degree really matters that much anymore. An MBA would be useful, but honestly… I’m not sure it appeals to me. I started wondering if I should look into other online masters programs and discovered Gonzaga University’s Masters in Communication & Leadership Studies. It’s designed for people coming from backgrounds in PR, advertising, media criticism, and other communications-oriented fields. Hey, that’s me!

They also offer a Masters in Organizational Leadership program, which is a good alternative for people interested in Organizational Development programs. The Leadership program actually seems to cover extra material, which give you more options — always a good thing. If I had been working all this time, I think I’d be interested in something like this to help me spring to the next level, whether I wanted to start doing my own consulting work or go after a higher management position. It’s definitely interesting, and to be able to do the coursework at home is a bonus.

Right now I’ll concern myself with the kids’ college funds, but someday if I have the time and money, one of these types of programs would be awfully attractive to me.

menu plan monday

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mpmfall1

After a week where I was flying by the seat of my pants, I’m looking forward to a little more structure. I did not create a meal plan last week since for most of the week I wasn’t eating anything besides Jell-O, clear and smooth soups, yogurt, and various other types of mush. Then Jake got sick for much of the week, so there was a lot of quick and easy “no-brainer” kind of meals. He started to feel better over the weekend and Saturday I made a meatloaf, mom-style. That is, no ketchup and no bacon. Until post-college, I didn’t even realize that people did that to meatloaf. No, mom and I make it Italian-style using a mixture of ground beef, ground veal, and ground pork; diced green peppers and onions; Italian spices; and tomato sauce. The boys weren’t exactly thrilled with it, but in order to get to the apple crisp I’d made for dessert, they had to eat their dinner. And they did, however begrudgingly. Last night for a treat we ordered pizza and everyone obviously enjoyed that!

Here’s what I’m thinking about for this week:

Monday: Split pea soup, salad, beer bread
Tuesday: Chicken piccata, pasta salad, steamed squash
Wednesday: Cheese tortellini with ham and peas, arugula salad
Thursday: Turkey burgers, fries, cole slaw
Friday: Chicken fajitas with fresh pico de gallo, black beans and rice
Saturday: Pizza (maybe I’ll try this dough for a change) and wings, salad

I also have a recipe for pumpkin-ginger scones that I’m thinking about making. I’ll let you know if I do and how they turn out!

For more meal plan ideas, visit Organizing Junkie.

saturday chit-chat

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Yawn… Is it bedtime yet? It’s been a long day. Trying to convince Jake to take it easy, even though he generally feels well is not easy. I had to scold the boys repeatedly for spinning around on the computer chair. I really don’t need them cracking their heads on office furniture. The rain didn’t help matters, either.

I did get a little bit of sewing done. Not much, but it was nice to do something creative for a short while. Otherwise I’m not even sure how I spent the day, LOL! All I know is that it was long. I’m thinking that maybe I’ll sneak one more helping of apple crisp and try to find something to watch online. Yup. Sounds good to me.

brrr…

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I just can’t seem to warm up today. I’ve had about four mugs of tea, but it’s not helping. I feel very unmotivated today. I need a kick in the pants, I think! At any rate, at least my mouth is doing better. I’m back to eating normal foods again, though I’m still staying away from chips, popcorn, and tiny pastas. The hole on my right side seems well-healed already, but on my left side it’s still pretty obvious. That’s the side with the hooked root. Still, it ain’t so bad.

Jake ended up going to school this morning. He was thrilled — yesterday he cried because we wouldn’t let him go. He still has the cough but is otherwise fine. So I gave him some long-lasting cough medicine before school, armed him with throat lozenges and hoped for the best. I’ve not received a call to pick him up so hopefully that means he’s still doing well. I know a cough can be distracting, but… sometimes a cough can linger for weeks. What can you do, you know?

I have some sewing that I’d really like to get to today. Unfortunately I’m not sure I will. Boo for that. I also really want to finish the Attic24 bag before Rhinebeck. It’s frustrating that even though I often have the time, I don’t have the extra arms. I can’t do these things while holding a baby at the same time, LOL.

Noah went apple picking with his nursery school this morning and came home with a bag of apples, so we’ll be making apple crisp this weekend. I am pretty sure I’ve shared my recipe before but I’ll share it again once I make it. I love apple crisp and will pick it over pie any day! Drew also brought home a pumpkin from the farm where they went, and Noah found a really nice feather. I think it might be from a hawk. I’ll have to ask my Dad. He knows all about those kinds of things 😉

no, i won’t eat that

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The last few days I’ve seen lists on people’s blogs of things they do not like to eat. (See Lisanne, Cady, and Shanny.) I thought it would be fun to add my two cents on this topic. I’ve found everyone’s lists interesting and I’m so surprised at what people won’t eat! (LOL, you’d think that people would need to search for term life insurance rates online the way they think they’ll die from eating raw fish!) Of course, I have my own quirks. Truthfully, I’ll eat most things if they are put in front of me. A lot of the things I don’t like… it’s more like I don’t care much for them such as eggplant. I’ll eat it, but prefer not to. But here is a short list of things that I really, truly do not like:

  • Offal: just the smell of organ meats cooking makes me ill. I guess the exception is high-quality foie gras, prepared the right way. Otherwise, that is pretty disgusting too.
  • Beets: I’ve tried, I really have. I want to like them, but I can’t get past the earthy (read: dirt) flavor of them. I’ll bake them into a spice cake, but that’s about it.
  • Bok choy
  • Tat soi
  • Collard greens
  • Venison: It’s been a long time since I’ve had it and I’d be willing to try it again
  • Corned beef: This is something that I really hate. Just the sight is unappetizing to me, forget the flavor
  • New England Boiled Dinner: Ham, potatoes, cabbage and carrots boiled for like 8 hours in a pot? No. I’d cry when my mom made this.
  • Grits
  • Green salads where the only dressing is mayo: I see this in cooking mags like “Taste of Home” — I think it’s a southern/midwestern thing. Usually they are layered salads. I have eaten them before but really — yuck.
  • Tofu dogs: I like tofu. I like hot dogs. But this is a combo that just doesn’t work for me.

That’s really all I can think of for foods I downright dislike. What about you?

a nip in the air

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goldenrod

Another chilly one out there today. I kept Jake home from school one more day to make sure he’s feeling better. I think he is, but the extra rest couldn’t hurt. Seems there is something going around the school. His Cub Scout meeting scheduled for tonight got postponed until next week since the den mother is sick, too and she told me that quite a few of the scouts are ill, so it’s probably best that the meeting was rescheduled.

In other news… it’s October! I was planning to have a little announcement tomorrow, but because Jake’s been sick this week I haven’t had the time to finish things up. So I’ll keep you wondering and waiting 😉 It’s nothing all that exciting, don’t worry!

October is a big crafty month here in the Hudson Valley. There is lots going on! This weekend there’s Crafts at Rhinebeck. I’m not sure if I’m going to go or not, but it’s there if I need something to do. Next weekend is the Dutchess Heritage Quilt Show. And the weekend after that is the NY Sheep and Wool Festival! It’s commonly referred to simply as “Rhinebeck,” but since I live outside the town, I say “I’m going to Rhinebeck” for just about everything.

Other exciting things (for me) include getting to meet Liz and her lovely family (during the big Sheep & Wool weekend), the release of a new Morphine two-disk set containing previously unreleased material, and… I’ll be turning 34 (yikes). I’m hoping to fit apple and pumpkin picking in there somewhere, too. Maybe I’ll pick up some delicious cider donuts at Atkins the weekend I plan to be up in WMass. So yes, there is a lot going on this month! I feel like I have to cram in as much as I can before winter rears its ugly head!

CSA 2009: Tenth Share

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CSA 2009: Tenth Share

It became apparent to me on Tuesday that winter is on the way. Yes, I know that fall just started, but already it feels blustery. As I was picking the tomatillos, I was actually shivering — my light sweater was not cutting it. I think we probably have two more bi-weekly shares left.

Nevertheless, a great farm share this week: one head of lettuce, 1.25 lbs of greens (I split them between chard and arugula), a head of cabbage, 1.25 lbs. of onions, a head of garlic, a bunch of turnips, a bunch of radishes, two eggplants, three summer squash, as many cukes as you wanted (they were considered “seconds” but looked great to me), and PYO tomatillos. I skipped the PYO basil because I was too lazy to walk to the other field and the PYO flowers were looking sad. I’m thinking of using the chard tomorrow to make Dara’s Pan-Fried Gnocchi with Chard and Onions. I also plan on making some salsa verde this weekend with the tomatillos. Such a treat! Maybe I’ll do some quick freezer pickles with the extra cukes. Jake has been sick this week so he hasn’t been eating them like he usually does. We’ll see.