Morning Miracles

I'm not really sure what happened this week but I suddenly got the urge to quickly sew things in the morning before I left for work. Yes, I know, I don't understand it either, but each time I felt, "Hey, you know, I bet I could sew (insert item here) really quickly before I leave."

This also produced one of what I am now calling a "morning miracle". A morning miracle is one of those times where you're trying to get ready for work and you realize all or most of the following things are true: a) you need to do some serious laundry and most of your stuff is in that pile b) you've "outgrown" a good percentage of the clothes in your closet c) you can't dress like a total schlub at work but most of what you own is pretty schlubby d) you do own some new pants but you've not gotten around to hemming them because you've been avoiding the sewing machine after a few years of forcing yourself to sew too often. So, on Thursday morning I found that all of those options were true and I was feeling some stress. I suddenly got the urge to hem a pair of brown corduroy pants I've had for a while that I haven't worn. Then I searched around for something to wear with it...digging through the drawers...and I found a brown frilly shirt...and then a green cardigan...and suddenly I had a morning miracle - an outfit that somehow looked really nice for work and came together as though an angel was over me helping me through the morning panic. Ahhh...I love when that happens.

Dinner with Heids and Brenna

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of dinner out with two of my favorite pals - Heidi and Brenna. I suddenly decided that Ethiopian was the exotic choice for the middle of a dreary winter and we wound up at Ethiopian Diamond near my house. The food was fun and tasty and the coffee was even tastier. I had a great birthday dinner out with my friends. :)

My Birthday Weekend

My parents came up last weekend to celebrate my birthday with us and the boys. We had a great time eating at Fat Willy's, Kitsch n', going to the Field Museum, playing Wii together and just having fun. We had a great time!

Thinking of Colleen

This weekend my parents told me some very sad news. Colleen Z., a friend of mine from grade school, had passed away recently. I met Colleen when she transferred to our school in 5th grade. She had the most enviable hair on the planet - this thick, red, curly mane that was so cool to a thin, brown, straight haired girl. We had slumber parties, were in youth group together and even stood around in the freezing cold parking lot at recess together. Colleen was honestly one of the nicest people I had ever met in a school where a good majority of my class was pretty mean and cliquish. Colleen always made me laugh, she thought of others before herself and had a great heart.

In that 5th grade class Colleen also met Mary who was also in youth group. They became great friends and kept in touch after Colleen's family moved away. After college Colleen moved back and became roommates and, eventually, were married a few years ago. They actually were great friends of my college pal Mark...such a small world. When they came up to Chicago a few years back we all met up for dinner and they were so much like I remembered them to be: dry sense of humor, great laugh, still so involved in the church and active in fun things like square dancing.

I'm very sad that we've lost a warm and wonderful Colleen. To Mary, Mark and all of their friends and families I send my thoughts.

She will be greatly missed.

Attached are two scans from my "Young Years Diary" in grade school. One is our 5th grade class photo. (Yes, my hair is horrific but it was my stylist's idea.) The other was one of the sections from the book where I filled out Colleen as one of my favorite people.

Happy Birthday to ME!

So, it's the first anniversary of the blog and, more importantly, my birthday. Here's to new beauty and new growth in the coming year.

She's a real talent

Happy Valentine's Day from her to you!

Sledding

Here we are sledding this weekend. We had a blast! I can't wait to go back again soon!

MMMMMac N' Cheese

Sunday's frigid temperatures inspired me to make an warming favorite, mac n' cheese. I've sort of made up some recipes now and then and made a version with my sister-in-law once but yesterday I tried my hand at the Alton Brown recipe I found. I did have to make some changes, of course. 1) No onion. I figure I'll try the onion step sometime on my own, maybe, but I thought the kids would be seriously less inclined to eat it if they saw I really messed with their favorite that much. 2) My dry mustard was pretty old and smelled a little sketchy so I threw in a bit of dijon mustard. I think it was a better choice. 3) I didn't use as much cheese on the topping as he did purely because I spaced out and forgot. 4) I altered up the topping by using only one slice of bread for crumbs and added in crushed Cheez-its into the mix. I thought that was pretty delicious and so did the kids. It's thicker than what Henry's used to from the box but once he understood that different can be good too he ate the whole brick! Add a glass of sweet tea into the mix and you've made me cozier than a bug in a rug.

The photo is from the re-heated sections we had again for dinner!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings


1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.
Remember to save leftovers for fried Macaroni and Cheese.

And all that snow

Here's what my street has looked like for several days now.

We're supposed to have more of it tomorrow!! WHY? WHY? WHY?

My head in Play Doh

This weekend Declan surprised me with a homage to my head made from Play Doh. :)

Ok, I'm not 11 but...

I can't help but totally adore this new They Might Be Giants kid's video for "One Dozen Monkeys"!!!! They've been doing Friday podcasts for kids so that's what the talking John and John puppets are rapping about in the beginning.

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