Month: February 2013

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THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by… (Source)

Harold Fry is an old man.  He’s retired, without any hobbies, trapped in a marriage with a wife who seems to despise him.  Harold and Maureen haven’t spoken in years, except to exchange small talk and the occasional barb.  Then one day, out of the blue, a letter comes for Harold from an old colleague, Queenie Hennessey, who tells Harold that she is dying of cancer in a hospice some 600 miles away.  Harold dashes off a quick note in response and walks to the post box to send the letter.  When he gets to the box, he can’t seem to drop the letter in.  He walks to the next box, and the next, until an encounter with a young woman in a garage convinces him that he should walk all the way to the hospice to see Queenie in person.  Harold believes that all that Queenie needs to survive is someone to believe in her, and that if he keeps walking, Queenie will live.  And that’s how Harold’s journey begins – in a light jacket and a pair of yachting shoes, with an idea.

As Harold walks, he reflects back on his past – his love of and marriage to Maureen, his difficulty expressing the depth of his love for their son David, and Queenie, who once did him an incredible favor.  He doesn’t really believe that he can walk 600 miles, and he struggles on, knowing that no one else really believes it either, until he meets a young immigrant woman who helps him.  Over the course of the walk, he begins to face his own fears and to learn not to cut himself down:

Harold believed his journey was truly beginning. He had thought it started the moment he decided to walk to Berwick, but he saw now that he had been naive. Beginnings could happen more than once, or in different ways. You could think you were starting something afresh, when actually what you were doing was carrying on as before. He had faced his shortcomings and overcome them, and so the real business of walking was happening only now.

As Harold continues on his way, he encounters a cast of characters, each of whom shares his or her story, and some of whom start to walk with Harold.  Harold feels protective toward these people, wondering if they are able to share their broken selves with him because he is in and out of their lives.

He had learned that it was the smallness of people that filled him with wonder and tenderness, and the loneliness of that too. The world was made up of people putting one foot in front of the other; and a life might appear ordinary simply because the person living it had been doing so for a long time. Harold could no longer pass a stranger without acknowledging the truth that everyone was the same, and also unique, and that this was the dilemma of being human.
He walked so surely it was as if all his life he had been waiting to get up from his chair.

Harold slowly covers the English countryside and stops in familiar places – such as Bath, where he watches a homeless man dance outside the Abbey Church.  Meanwhile Maureen, left at home, at first schemes to bring Harold back without the neighbors finding out he ever went missing, but as his journey becomes national news she reflects on their broken marriage and the weight of the blame she has placed upon Harold.  And she begins to realize that there are depths in Harold that she has not yet reached, and that there was more to the story of their dysfunctional marriage than she had thought.

Amal recommended this book to me as a fellow Anglophile and Cotswold-appreciator, and I loved it.  I started reading for the descriptions of the English countryside and for the places that Harold visits which are familiar to me (Devon, where he starts his journey, Bath, the Cotswolds).  But I really loved this for the characters – the human, broken characters, each of whom Harold touches in some way on his journey.  The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry really speaks for the truth that there is something broken in everyone, and something fixable if we try – and that sometimes, the unexpected thing is the thing that will lead to the greatest happiness.

Buy The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce here (not an affiliate link).

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Surviving the NICU

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Now that Peanut is six months old, I have been finding it a little easier to think back on our NICU journey.  (Not easy, per se, but easier.  I don’t know if it will ever be easy or positive for me.)  While we were in the trenches, I found myself googling “NICU survival guide” almost every day, searching hungrily for tips that could make my experience even a little less painful.  At the time, I thought that I might write a post about the things that got me through the NICU experience, sometime when the memories weren’t quite so raw.  So, if you ever find yourself in the NICU – although I sincerely hope you don’t – here is some advice, one NICU parent to another, about how to cope.

 1.  Call.  Call the NICU anytime, day or night, whenever you’re not there and you want an update on your baby.  You will not be making a nuisance of yourself.  You’re the mom (or dad).  It’s their job to update you on your kid, and they really, sincerely do not mind.  There’s someone there 24 hours per day, and there’s always going to be a nurse on duty who is responsible for your baby and for answering your questions.  So even if it’s 3:00 a.m. and you just want to know if the baby pooped since you left, call.  They don’t mind.

 2.  Be vocal about your needs.  If your family or friends ask you how you can help, tell them.  And if someone does or says something that bugs you, tell them that.  For example, one thing that drove me nuts when we were in the NICU was the phrase, “Just take it one day at a time.”  No.  I don’t want to take it one day at a time.  My current reality is so terrible that if I just focus on today, I’ll lose my shizz.  I need to think long term.  I need to think about Peanut coming home, and her first walk in the stroller that’s ready and waiting for her, and about her first Christmas and her first vacation and about her playing in her room as a toddler.  I need to hope, because I have nothing else right now, and what you are saying to me is that I should stop focusing on the good things ahead and just think about the crummy, depressing situation I’m in right now.  So when people told me to take things “one day at a time,” I said, politely but firmly, “That phrase is really not comforting to me.  Please don’t repeat it.”  (However, everyone is different.  Hubby felt that he had to take things one day at a time.  His way of coping was to never look beyond the next feeding, the next diaper change.  And that’s okay too, because that’s what he needed.)  Don’t be afraid that people will judge you or think you’re rude for telling them what helps or comforts you and what doesn’t.  You’re going through what will probably be the most challenging experience of your life, and your family and true friends will understand.

 3.  Be an advocate for your child.  Hubby and I are not confrontational people (funny that we’re two lawyers, huh?) and we were generally happy with our NICU, but we did run into problems from time to time.  Some of the problems were big, and some were small, but no matter what, if there was something we were unhappy about we were not shy about voicing our concerns to the Charge Nurse, the Nurse Manager or our baby’s doctor.  While we might not have complained on our own behalf, when it came to our kid we expected perfection from the NICU, and when we were not satisfied we insisted that they make things right.  And I know we weren’t the only parents who were willing to complain if the care didn’t meet their standards.  We didn’t care if we were “those parents” or if we annoyed the NICU administration.  Demanding perfection from the NICU was one way we could help our baby, and as her parents we were her voice.  In the end, no one is going to advocate for your baby the way you will.

 4.  Make a statement of your faith in your baby.  I was lucky in that the vast majority of the people in my life were very positive, and if they had any doubts that Peanut would come home whole and healthy, they didn’t express them to me.  But I did encounter the occasional doubter, and while I tried my best to ignore the naysayers, I found it helped me to make a statement of my own convictions that Peanut would be a healthy, normal kid.  For me, that took the shape of a sweater.  I got out an old pattern (a baby sweater I’d knitted for a friend’s little girl back in 2007) and lost myself in cables and button bands and increases and decreases.  With each stitch I knit, I thought about all of my hopes and dreams for my little girl.  I poured all of my love for my baby, my frustration with the NICU process, my anger at the few people in my life who didn’t seem to believe as hard as I did, and my conviction that Peanut would come home, into that little sweater.  And she did come home – in fact, she came home before the sweater was done.  I kept knitting on it all through the fall, and I gave it to her for Christmas as a special gift from Mommy.  (Starting a tradition, I hope, of knitting her a sweater every Christmas.)  It was my way of saying to Peanut, “I believe in you.”

christmas sweater

 5.  Do something for you.  The nurses and doctors and our parents encouraged hubby and me to take a little time “off” from the NICU – leave early, go to dinner, be a couple, etc.  We didn’t like leaving early, but we did try to go out once or twice while Peanut was in the NICU, and keep up with our own interests, which was easier.  When Peanut was first born, I found it hard to concentrate on a book.  I was just too frazzled (and hormonal) to focus on anything other than the NICU, and wonder whether we’d be having a good day or a bad day.  But my emotional state improved noticably when I went back to reading.  I’ve always read through the tough times,. and the NICU was no exception.  I carted a book with me everywhere I went and read in the car on the way to and from the hospital, in the pump room, by Peanut’s bedside if I wasn’t busy taking care of her, and in the evenings at home.  I’ve always loved to escape via a good book, and reading was a huge part of what got me through.

 6.  Stay healthy.  Eat well, and do what exercise you can with your doctor’s approval (I had a C-section, so for me that meant nothing more than light walking for basically all of Peanut’s NICU stay – but it did make me feel better to just move my legs a little, once I was past the pain of surgery).  And do whatever you need to do to avoid getting sick!  It will be hard to get sick with all the scrubbing you’re doing, but it’s not impossible, and the last thing you need is to be quarantined and unable to see your baby for a few days.  Plus, you’ll feel like you’re doing something by googling “natural cold prevention” and buying all the shiitake mushrooms and oranges in the grocery store.  So chow down on that vitamin C like it’s your job.

 7.  Hang on tight.  Anyone who has been through the NICU fire will tell you that it’s a roller coaster.  You’ll be up on top of a mountain, and you’ll be down so deep you’ll feel like you have the bends.  Know that those highs are coming, and so are the lows, and you’re not going to be on an even emotional keel for awhile yet.  Hang on tight to your partner, or your mom, or whoever you lean on for support.  You’re going to need them for awhile.  And then one day, things will get better.  They really will get better.

 8.  Remember: it doesn’t last forever.  My seven weeks in the NICU felt like an eternity.  In my haze of new mom hormones, I was convinced that Peanut would be there at least until her freshman year at Cornell.  And I was also convinced that the doctors and nurses were trying to steal my baby.  (They weren’t, but that discharge sure did seem slow in coming.)  Yes, it’s completely irrational, but there will come a time when you’ll think “This is going to last forever, and we’re never getting out of here, and THEY’RE DOING IT ON PURPOSE.”  It’s okay to feel that way, and it’s okay to be angry that you’re in the NICU to begin with (goodness knows I was; I was furious).  But I promise: they’re not actually trying to steal your baby; they’re trying to get your baby home.  And they will.

 9.  Build a NICU community.  Hubby and I were lucky to have the support of several NICU alums, including Amal, who gave virtual hugs and encouragement, a sorority sister who sent diapers and shared her own NICU journey, and my boss’s wife, who came to visit us at the NICU, shared her own story and let me cry on her shoulder.  And then there were the moms I met in the pump room.  We shared delivery horror stories, joked about how we knew so many medical terms that we could probably pass as nurses, and planned playdates for the hazy future when our kids would be healthy and home.  It wasn’t easy for me to make those friends – I’m not someone who connects easily to new people, and I was stressed out, on edge, and hidden behind a lot of walls.  But there were moms who reached out to me despite my perma-scowl, and now we share a bond that I could never have imagined.  We exchange pictures of our little ones and squeal over the babies’ adorable traits, and it’s even more special because we each know what the other went through to get to this point.  And finally, there is one special nurse who I still email.  She took care of our whole family when Peanut was at her most vulnerable, and she’ll be a special part of Peanut’s life forever.

10.  Take care of the baby.  Most NICUs consider parents to be part of the care team, and they’ll let you do basic care tasks, like changing the baby’s diaper and taking her temperature.  Our NICU even let me bathe Peanut.  The nurses were always happy to take a moment to teach me how to do something, and they LOVE parents who want to help, because it takes a little bit of work off of their very full plates.  But taking care of the baby doesn’t have to stop when you walk out of the NICU doors at night.  Every evening, when we got home, hubby and I would ask each other, “What can we do to help Peanut tonight?”  (We’d use her real name, though.)  Every night, we tried to do something for her – it might take the shape of knitting her sweater (see #4), working on her nursery, doing her laundry, writing thank you notes, or something else, but it made us feel good to know that we were doing things for Peanut even when we weren’t with her.

11.  Kangaroo.  If your NICU supports Kangaroo Care, do it as much as possible.  It’s good for the baby, encourages growth, and it helps Mom (or Dad) too.  We did so much Kangaroo Care I considered changing Peanut’s name to Joey.

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 12.  Laugh.  I know, you’re going through a crummy situation right now.  Believe me, I was in as bad of an emotional state as anyone else – but even I found things to laugh at.  I laughed at the baby when she did funny things (for instance, she used to hold her hands up hear her face and spread her fingers; we called it “daisy pose” – her little fingers were like petals – and we giggled at it and even imitated it) or made silly facial expressions, which she did a LOT – Peanut has always been an expressive kid.  And I read a funny book – Freddy and Fredericka had me in stitches – and when we really needed to check out, we’d watch old episodes of “Friends” in the evening and chuckle the entire time at the characters’ antics.  Laughing felt good, and it let me forget – just for a moment – about all the stress.

 13.  Celebrate.  You had a baby!  A beautiful, sweet, wonderful little miracle baby.  It’s easy to get caught up in medical charts and pumping and tracking weight gain and all that clinical stuff, but don’t forget: you deserve to celebrate your baby just as much as the mom who gave birth to a healthy baby at term and got to leave the hospital, kid in tow, the next day.  Your baby is still a baby.  She’s still here, and special, and worthy of celebration.  So don’t let people focus you on the bad news.  Hubby and I called our parents every day on our way home from the NICU and gave them the scoop on our day, and we took tons of pictures, and we ate up every compliment we got on our gorgeous little girl.  She might be in the NICU, but she’s still a new baby who is worthy of all kinds of joy.  You’ll find that the people who really love you, and your baby, will look past the wires and tubes and see the beautiful little life you’ve created.  So go ahead, Mom and Dad.  You made a gorgeous, special, unique baby.  Brag.

 If you’ve been in the NICU and you’re out of it now, fist bumps to you.  What got you through?  If you’re walking through the fire right now, you have my love and support and all the virtual hugs you need.  Feel free to ask me any questions, or just vent if you want – I’ll always listen and support a fellow NICU parent.

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Peanut: Six Months

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I heard you had PRESENTS for me? PRESENTS?!?!?!

Half a year.  Half.  A.  Year.  Half a year?!  How has this tiny little sprite been with us for half a year?  In some ways, I feel as though she’s still brand new (and she pretty much is).  In other ways, I feel as though she’s been here forever (I can’t really remember life before her, after all).

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This is my college ID picture. Animal prints are fashun.

Aside from the mind-blowing fact that Peanut is six months old, this month has been pretty peaceful.  She continues to grow and change at staggering speeds.  Watching her play has been the best part of my month, because you can really see her little baby brain at work these days.  Play has become much more intentional as she uses all of her senses to explore and learn.  She’ll hold up her blanket, study it, put it down, taste it, rub it on her face, and the cycle will start all over again.  I’d love to know what kind of conclusions she’s drawing when she does this.  She behaves the same way with her favorite toys: alternates between studying them very methodically and jamming them in her mouth.  It’s adorable, and it’s also just really, really fascinating to watch her learn and explore.  So interesting to think about the fact that we all learned to interact with our world in this way.

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If I stare at this lamb long enough, it will turn into candy.

I also think – and this might just be wishful thinking, but I believe it’s for real – that she’s already becoming a tiny reader.  She shows amazing patience for books and will happily sit in the Boppy lounger through quite a few stories, especially if she has a toy to gnaw on at the same time.  She’ll look very intently at the book while I read – especially if there are illustrations of babies or children in it.  My Reading Mom heart sings, and I hope she continues to love story time as much as I do!

Mommy, put the camera away. We were just getting to the good part.

Mommy, put the camera away. We were just getting to the good part.

As for our baby care arrangements, we’re still SO happy to have Auntie Em caring for Peanut while I’m at work.  Peanut is madly in love with her aunt, and the feeling is mutual (no surprises there).  I’ll admit, I was a little nervous about the idea of introducing a third adult into the house – no matter who it was.  It’s not an in-law thing; I have great relationships with all of my in-laws, and E is someone with whom I would want to be friends even if I wasn’t married to her brother.  But hubby and I both have the tendency to be recluses, especially when it comes to our house – we like to escape the rest of the world and we are both quite protective of our space and privacy.  I often run out of patience with “hostessing” when we have houseguests – even close friends or family members, no matter how much I love them.  Eventually, entertaining takes it out of me and I crave alone time.  So I did wonder whether I would be able to deal with having another person around all the time, and I’m SO glad to report that it’s been much easier than I could ever have foreseen.  E has slipped right into our lives and after six weeks it almost feels as if she’s always lived with us.  She’s an easy roommate – eats whatever I put in front of her, helps with cooking and cleaning (even though I wouldn’t ask her to do so – she’s just considerate that way), picks up my books from the library if she happens to be going there anyway, and is happy to do her own thing in the evenings or on weekends, both to let us have family time and – I think – for her own sanity’s sake as well.  She went out of town to visit some friends last weekend and it felt strange to be without her for a few days.  On top of just enjoying E’s company, it means so much to me that Peanut is getting this special bonding time with her aunt.  I really believe that they will always have an extra-special relationship, which will in large part be due to the fact that they’ve been able to spend so much time together during Peanut’s early life.  We’re so lucky!

Does this shirt make me look adorable? It does, right?

Okay, enough rhapsodizing.  It’s been an amazing month, but we’ve had our share of challenges, too.  For one thing, I’m still adjusting to being back at work.  It’s nice to see my colleagues again, to contribute to the family income again, and to wear earrings again, but the missing-the-baby thing hasn’t really improved.  The biggest challenge, however, continues to be bedtime.  We’re still plodding along with the pediatrician-prescribed 7:00 p.m. bedtime, and Peanut absolutely hates it.  She’ll happily eat her bedtime bottle, but when the lights go off and the cuddling begins, she immediately screws up her little face into a pout, and the situation rapidly deteriorates from there.  Many nights, we BOTH end up in tears.  Once she finally falls asleep, she’s good about staying asleep (most of the time), but the process of getting there is extremely trying.  Hubby is in favor of throwing the routine out the window, because it seems to be an exercise in frustration for all of us.  We’ve had some limited success with tag-teaming her in the evenings, but it’s an exhausting routine and no one ends up happy at the end of the night.  And then there are the nights where she drops off easily, without a single complaint, leading us to believe she’s taunting us the rest of the time.  (I kid, I kid, I know she’s not trying to mess with us.  But it IS difficult to carry a 12-pound baby up and down the upstairs foyer for two hours while she screams in your ear, especially when you know she’s perfectly capable of soothing and going to sleep.)  We’ll be talking to the pediatrician at her next appointment about whether there are any changes we can make to the routine to make it less painful for all three of us.

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I thought we discussed this bedtime idea you had and decided it was stupid.

And that’s our month in a nutshell.  A few bedtime meltdowns, but WAY more fun, stories, playtime and cuddles.  I can’t complain.

Peanut at 6 Months:

Adjusted Age: 4 months.

Weight: 12 lbs, 3.5 oz

Height: ~23 in

Clothing Size: 6 months, as soon as everyone’s had the chance to see her in their favorite 3 month outfit one last time.

Sleep: Once she goes down for the night, she’s usually good about sleeping until her 1:00 bottle, and then again until her 6:00 bottle – although lately I’ve gone in her room a little bit early in the morning, only to discover her quietly playing in her crib, which tells me that she’s working hard on the art of self-soothing.  (Yay!)  There have been a few instances in which she’s called for a parent to comfort her in the middle of the night (or to play – girlfriend is already hosting slumber parties) but she’s usually an angel once she’s actually asleep.  Bedtime itself is an epic struggle – see above – and we just try to hang on tight each evening until we can fall onto the pillow ourselves.

Likes: Story time with Mommy, Daddy or Auntie Em; gnawing on Sophie the Giraffe (those ears are a particular delicacy); the jangling pig dangling from her bouncy seat; her own hands, especially her left thumb, which is extra delicious; playing Peek-a-Boo with Mommy and Daddy; singing along to Pooh songs with Mommy (cutest thing ever).

Dislikes: Bedtime.  Oh, that nasty bedtime.

Confusing: After six weeks of living with him, Peanut has only recently realized that Auntie Em has a dog.  Ezra has loved Peanut since the beginning, but she didn’t register his existence until now.  When she does take notice of him, which isn’t often, it’s usually to give Auntie Em a look that plainly says, “Did you know this got in the house?”

Favorite Toys: Her Madeline rag doll, who is getting a yarny rat’s nest on top of her head from having her hair sucked and chewed; Sophie the Giraffe; Bright Starts elephant (crinkly ears are too cool for words).

Milestones: Her latest skill is razzing, or “motorboating,” as Auntie Em calls it.  (She does sound like a little outboard motor.)  We’re excited, because it’s an important step toward verbalization, and it’s also freaking adorable.  And juicy.  Especially when she does it with a mouthful of formula.  We’ve all been sprayed in the face several times.

Quirks: This kid has a set of lungs that you wouldn’t believe.  (You’re welcome for the betamethasone, Peanut.)  Recently, she discovered that she can shriek and she gleefully added that skill to her verbal repertoire.  They’re not shrieks of distress, just particularly loud, high-pitched vocalizations that she likes to sprinkle into the little baby conversations she conducts all day long (with herself, Mommy, Daddy, Auntie Em, her toys, her blankets, the ceiling grate, etc.) and they are SO. FREAKING. LOUD.  Especially when you get blasted right in the eardrum.  It’s too cute to complain about, though, even when you go temporarily deaf.

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I have places to go. Just you wait…

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Cover Stories

There’s been quite a lot of book news this past week or so.  Some big-deal news items, like the US Department of Justice’s approval of the proposed merger between Random House and Penguin (I’ll have more to say about that on Wednesday), some infuriating, like the best-selling author who panned the concept of libraries and inspired passionate defenses of libraries by other authors (who happen to be much more famous – Neil Gaiman and Joanne Harris, wut wut), some charming, like the NYC public school that was remamed the “Maurice Sendak Community School.”
 
And then there are two news stories about books that got cover remodels, and all the folks who have opinions, yo.
 
First up, how do you like this new look for Anne of Green Gables?
 
Anne of Green Gables BLONDE (Source)
 
I am feeling many things.  Devastated, confused, rage-stabby, nauseous.  Obviously, someone got horribly mixed up here.  Anne Shirley is not a buxom blonde.  She is a skinny twelve-year-old redhead.  And she doesn’t wear flannel shirts, not even when helping Matthew in the barn, because it’s the 1800s, OMG.  There’s so much wrong here, I’d like to talk more about it but I’m starting to feel ill again.  (And so are lots of other people.  I think this cover must be responsible for the most negative Amazon reviews the universally beloved L.M. Montgomery has ever gotten, all along the lines of ANNE’S HAIR IS RED WHYYYYYY WHYYYYYY WHYYYYYY CANNOT UNSEE EW EW EW EW EW, which is pretty much how I feel about this too.)
 
Before you tear out your eyeballs (I know, I wanted to as well, a thousand apologies, okay?), I have another new cover to show you, and you might like this one better.  (I said might.)
 
new HP (Source)
 
This is the new cover for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, unveiled in honor of the series’ fifteenth anniversary.  (The rest of the books are getting new duds too – all in the paperback editions.)
 
So, I have feelings about this, too (so many feelings today) but they’re more complicated.  Here, in no particular order, are my thoughts:
 
1) How has this series been around for fifteen years?  I’m old.  #needwinenow
2) I like the Diagon Alley background.
3) This is wrong.  Only the original US and UK illustrations are permitted.
4) Hedwig is so pretty.
5) This is clearly Lord Voldemort’s doing.
6) I like the colors.
7) I need a nap.
 
So, as you can see, I haven’t decided how I feel about the new HP cover art.  It’s kind of irrelevant because I already have all of the books and wasn’t planning to buy them again anytime soon (maybe someday, way down the line, if Peanut wants her own copies).  I like the new covers and I think that Scholastic did a great job with them, but I’m not sold on change in general when it comes to my favorite books, and the HP series is up there with my favorite books so I’m thinking maybe the cover art should remain inviolate.  I don’t know, guys, my head is spinning.  Maybe I should use Peanut’s method for deciding if she likes something.  #chewonit
 
Are you totally judging the new Anne of Green Gables cover too?  And what do you think about HP?  Like, dislike, confused, scared?
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Fish Stew with Curried Coconut Broth

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for the past month.  Lately I’m loving the following things: (1) one-pot meals with tons of veggies; (2) frozen fish fillets from Costco; (3) dinners that come together quickly.  This dinner fills all three categories.  It pulls together without a lot of work (just a little chopping, but I like a little chopping at the end of the day – it helps me wind down from work and get into the evening frame of mind), and it’s a great way to use a few fish fillets without roasting or sauteeing them – my go-tos, but it’s good to mix things up.  We’ve been eating a lot of stew lately – lentil-vegetable; chicken and herb; or fish.  It’s nice healthy comfort food that I can whip up quickly so that the adults in the house can all eat a home-cooked meal before we begin the bedtime dance with Peanut.

Ingredients

1 tbsp cocnut oil
1 onion, large dice
1 sweet potato, large dice
kosher salt
1 bunch broccoli, large dice
1 can coconut milk
1 can diced tomatoes in juice
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
dash crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
2 tilapia filets, large dice

Method

  • In a Dutch oven or heavy saucepan, heat coconut oil over medium-high burner until oil has liquified.
  • Add diced onion and sweet potato to oil, season generously with kosher salt and saute until vegetables are beginning to brown, then add coconut milk and diced tomatoes.
  • Add spices and season again with another pinch of kosher salt.  Stir to combine well.  Replace lid and turn heat down to medium.  Allow to simmer for approximately 10 minutes, until sweet potatoes are half cooked.
  • Add corn, broccoli and tilapia, replace lid and simmer for another 10 minutes until fish is cooked through and all vegetables are done.  Serve immediately or turn heat to low and simmer for another 10 minutes (not necessary, but will help the flavors to marry).

Yield: Serves 4.

Source: Covered In Flour

(Nota Baker: You don’t have to precisely follow this recipe.  Use the veggies and the protein you happen to have lying around.  If you have chicken instead of tilapia, or zucchini instead of broccoli, that’s totally cool.  This is more of a formula than a recipe that you must follow to the letter.  And if you’re not interested in the coconut-curry flavor, use olive oil and broth, and herbs instead of the curry and spices.  It’s all about what sounds good to you in the moment.  Low-maintenance cooking win!)

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31 Things: Update 1

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Uhhhhhhhh, so.  It’s four months into my year (how’d that happen?).  I’ve been cracking away at my list of 31 things to do before I turn 32, and I’m having so much fun with it.  Here’s my progress so far:
 
1. Spend lots of time snuggling and loving Peanut while she’s still tiny.  Most important thing on my list!  Progress: We get in cuddle time every day!  I feed her in the morning and snuggle her for awhile before heading off to work, and when I get home, my time is hers and we spend the couple of hours before bedtime reading, playing, and cuddling (in between making dinner for the family, that is).  And on the weekends, we make up for lost weekday time with lots of cuddle time, family walks, and more reading and playing.  My house isn’t as neat as it was pre-Peanut, but I don’t care!  I’d rather soak up all the time with her that I can.
 
 
2. Get into the habit of better skin care.  Progress: Working on this, but not much to report just yet.  I am pretty good about taking my multivitamin and drinking lots of water, so that’s a start.
 
 
3. Read the Lord of the Rings trilogy (long overdue).  Progress: It’s happening!  I read The Fellowship of the Ring in January and will finish The Two Towers today.  One more to go…
 
 
4. Run the GW Parkway Classic 2013.  Progress (sort of): I revised this goal to run a 10k instead – I’m sure I have it in me to train for and run a 10-miler, but I’d want to do the thing properly and I just don’t want to spend that much time away from Peanut.  (I’ve run a 10-miler and a half marathon in the past, and I know what a time commitment it is to really train.)  But I’m working on building back my cardiovascular fitness and I’ve picked a 10k to run in late April.  Yay!
 
 
5. Take plenty of family hikes with hubby and the little miss.  Progress: We went for our first family walk on the Mount Vernon Trail, but other than that we’re sticking to short walks in our neighborhood and Old Town (which hubby calls “Bouncy Town” because of the way the BOB bounces down the brick sidewalks) until the weather warms up.  But when it does, I can’t wait to hit some real trails with Peanut!  I’ll probably put her in the Baby Bjorn for hikes when she’s small, except for really flat trails – then we’ll use the BOB.  I’m SO excited for spring and summer family hikes – neighborhood strolls are great, but they’re not going to tide me over much longer.
 
 
6. Overcome my fear of baking bread.
 
 
7. See Book of Mormon at the Kennedy Center, summer 2013.
 
 
8. Give Peanut a magical first Christmas!  (I can’t wait to be Santa.)  Done!  Read all about Peanut’s first Christmas here.  We had a wonderful, special day celebrating together as a family of three.
 
 
9. Finish reading Miss Read’s Fairacre series.  Progress: Just finished Village Centenary this month.  Fifteen down, five to go.
 
 
10. Buy myself a Longchamp bag and a new wallet.  Progress: Hubby got me a wallet for my birthday (it’s printed with a map of the Tube).  Still on the lookout for the bag.  I’d like to get a good deal, but I’ve been wanting one since college and I work hard, so why not?
 
 
11. Plant a successful herb garden.
 
 
12. Read Winnie-the-Pooh to Peanut.  Progress: We’re a few chapters in.
 
 
13. Take up Zumba.
 
 
14. Knit a sweater for Peanut and a hat for myself.  Progress: The sweater is done (I made her a blue cable-knit cardigan and gave it to her as a special Christmas gift from Mommy).  I’m about to cast on a second Peanut sweater (Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Baby Surprise jacket) and then will turn my attention to the hat for Mom part of this goal.  Still looking for the perfect pattern.  I’d like to make a floppy tam, with DK weight yarn and a modern lacy kind of pattern (maybe a spiral or sunburst sort of thing), and I’d love it if there was a matching mitten or fingerless glove pattern to go along with it.  Anyone know of anything?
 
 
15.  Toss or donate the clothes that I don’t like but that are still hanging in my closet.
 
 
16. Attend Potomac Paddle 2013.
 
 
17. Reconnect with an old friend.
 
 
18. Have a playdate with NICU mom friends.
 
 
19. Paint my bedroom purple.
 
 
20. Break in and wear my silver ballet flats.
 
 
21. Re-read the Anne of Green Gables series.
 
 
22. Climb Old Rag.  (This one: maybe not so realistic.  I’d need to train a lot and find a babysitter.)
 
 
23. Knit another pair of socks.
 
 
24. Buy a fabulous pair of shoes at a great price.
 
 
25. Bake a pumpkin spice cake.
 
 
26. Take Peanut to the beach.  Progress: Potential trip to the Outer Banks with my fam on the horizon!  I can’t wait to see Peanut sitting in the sand in a little swimsuit and sun hat.  Too cute.
 
 
27. Get to know the women in my neighborhood better.  Progress: After plenty of spontaneous chats while out with the stroller this fall, I feel like I’m on my way.  I’d love to get up some kind of walking group with a few ladies who also have young kids, but I haven’t taken any steps toward that idea as of yet.
 
 
28. Get back into a regular yoga practice.  Progress: I’ve been to a few yoga classes at my local studio, and practiced at home a few times.  I need to do more, but it’s a start.
 
 
29. Start a baby box for Peanut.  Progress: I have one!  So far, I’ve packed up and saved her going-home outfit, tutu from her first Halloween costume, dress from first Thanksgiving, dress from Christmas pictures, first Christmas morning outfit, a bunch of little things from the NICU (vital stats card, cross from the chaplain, baby blood pressure cuff, and my NICU parent ID bracelet), the sign one of the nurses made for her isolette, and bundled together all of the cards we got when she was first born.  I’ve also been religiously filling in her baby book with all of her milestones and pictures from her first three months (I’m going by her adjusted age).  My mom says that the box I’m using is nowhere near big enough (it’s a clear file box with Gerber daisies printed on it) but I’ll upgrade when I need to.  Sometimes I just flip through the baby book or look at the preemie and newborn clothes in the baby box and marvel at how much she’s grown.
 
 
30. Create a frame wall in my foyer.
 
 
31. Lots and lots and lots of family time with hubby and Peanut!  Progress: I’m spending as much time as possible with my two favorites and loving it.  Can’t wait until the weather warms up and Peanut completes her series of shots, so we can spend more time going on adventures and enjoying the outdoors together as a family!
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Literary Places in a Literate City

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This may be old news to some, but to those who haven’t yet heard, permit me to brag a bit: for the THIRD year in a row, Washington, D.C. is the most literate city in the US!  (The study, of cities with 250,000+ residents, is conducted annually and looks at variables such as number of bookstores, newspaper circulation, and internet resources, among others.)  Fellow Washingtonians, we should be very proud.

Last year when we won, I tossed up a quick celebratory post. This year, though, I think more of a party is in order. Because… Three years running. That’s good stuff. And what better way to toast my town than with a literary crawl of Washington, D.C.?  This is a town that’s full of history and promise alike, and amply blessed with things to see, places to eat, and literary gems.  So, here are ten D.C. attractions, places to read nearby, and books to check out that celebrate, portray, or speak to our nation’s very literate capital.

10.  Mount Vernon

George Washington’s estate sits on the banks of the Potomac, looking from Virginia to Maryland.  You can stroll through history here, walk in the footsteps of Presidents on the well-trod floors of the Mansion, feed heirloom sheep, marvel at Farmer George’s ingenious barn, and wander amongst cherry trees in the nursery.  And you can wonder at the spirit of a small band of rebels who dared to take on an Empire, and at their leader who could switch from drawing up battle plans to instructing Martha on what curtains to purchase for the new dining room in the blink of an eye.

What to Read:  1776, by David McCullough.
Where to Read: the Mount Vernon Inn, over a steaming bowl of “pretty terrific” peanut and chestnut soup.

9.  Old Town Alexandria

It’s older than America!  In GW’s day, Old Town was… well… not that old, and it was a thriving small city south of the wetlands that would one day become Washington, D.C.  The Potomac was a thoroughfare and all kinds of travelers passed through on their way to and from Mount Vernon, or to stay.

What to Read: March, by Geraldine Brooks.
Where to Read: Misha’s Coffeehouse, with a cup of something hot, or The Grape and Bean.

8.  The Library of Congress

It’s America’s Library, so you know I’m all over this.  I used to work near the LOC and I’d walk over there on my lunch break just to marvel at the domed ceiling and the public exhibits.  I can’t imagine a better shrine to books and words.

What to Read: The Portable Thomas Jefferson, by Thomas Jefferson (Merrill Peterson, Ed.).
Where to Read: Mitsitam Restaurant at the National Museum of the American Indian – yum.

7.  The Supreme Court

The highest court in the land, and a temple for those of us who stammered our way through moot court competitions.  You can catch an argument there – they’re open to the public and only the most contentious cases fill the court gallery.  Or you can just goggle at the crisp white shrine to justice and recite Article III of the Constitution in your mind.  (Just me?)

What to Read: The Nine, by Jeffrey Toobin (obviously!).
Where to Read: Walk over to Eastern Market and plop down at Market Lunch.  Have pancakes.

6.  The Capitol

It’s where the people’s work gets done… or not, depending.  (Mostly not.)  You can watch floor debates from the gallery or get a tour if you contact your Representative ahead of time (or if you know someone inside, as most Washingtonians do… there are almost as many Hill staffers as there are K Street lawyers in this town), or you can just pose for a snapshot and admire the iconic dome.

What to Read: The Partly Cloudy Patriot, by Sarah Vowell (Americans should be informed!).
Where to Read: Over a beer at Hawk and Dove, rubbing elbows with Dem staffers from the House.

5.  The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. is the most famous address in the United States.  And whether you like the current resident or not, it’s probably the coolest photo op in D.C.

What to Read: Murder in the White House, by Margaret Truman (yes, President Truman’s daughter).
Where to Read: Breadline, where the staffers get their sandwiches and cookies, or the Hay-Adams Hotel if you’re fawncy.

4.  The National Archives

The most famous, important, heart-stirring documents from our nation’s history are here, and you can see them for free!  If you want to get up close and personal with the Declaration of Independence, this is the place to do so (but hands off, Nicholas Cage!).  Or you can be like me – bypass the Declaration and make straight for the Constitution.  I like to have a moment with Article III and the First Amendment.  What?  You totally have favorite parts of the Constitution, too.

What to Read: Common Sense, by Thomas Paine (another important historical document!)
Where to Read: Pop over to the National Gallery of Art and grab a gelato from the Cascade Cafe while you read.

3.  Kramerbooks

It’s part bookstore, part cafe (with an emphasis on pie… mmmm, pie) and that’s reason enough to visit this D.C. institution just north of Dupont Circle.  But it also has the dubious honor of being a favorite hangout spot for Monica Lewinsky (remember her?).  So you can shop for books, have a slice of their amazing blueberry pie, and indulge your secret love of scandal, all in one spot.  Best bang for the buck in D.C., and that’s even if you buy lunch and a book.

What to Read: A Vast Conspiracy, by Jeffrey Toobin, or anything from the shelves – support indie bookstores!
Where to Read: Afterwords, the attached cafe and bakery – have the crab and avocado salad, and a slice of pie.

2.  The Watergate

Oooooh, more scandal!  (Like it or not, there’s plenty of it to go around inside the Beltway.)  This upscale apartment building and hotel is the scene of the famous Watergate break-in that ultimately brought down a President (and that also caused us to add -gate to the end of every scandal that followed).  The apartments are popular with Washington bigwigs (when I first moved to D.C., I lived two blocks away on New Hampshire Avenue and used to go to the Watergate for Chinese food all the time; once hubby and I were mistaken for staffers and almost charged $75 for Condi’s order – then we fainted, because we were poor, yo) and – bonus – you’re just across the street from the Kennedy Center, if you fancy a musical interlude.

What to Read: All the President’s Men, by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (what else?!).
Where to Read: Grab a table at Chen’s and have the eggplant in spicy sauce.

1.  Georgetown

One of my favorite haunts, this upscale neighborhood that grew up around the intersections of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, N.W. has shops, restaurants, and history in abundance.  Jackie Kennedy once walked these brick sidewalks.  And The Old Stone House, the only surviving pre-Revolution structure in the District, still stands here (and freaks out the more nervous among us after dark – it’s said to be haunted by the ghost of a murderous misogynist).

What to Read: Katharine Graham’s Washington, by Katharine Graham.
Where to Read: At the Haagen-Dasz shop, where you can nurse a shake and check out the Georgetown map mural.

Have you been to D.C.?  Do you have favorite literary haunts, or Washington-inspired reads?

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Tea Stash Tour, Part II: Work

Ummmmm, so.  Back in… er… 2011, I gave you a tour of my ridiculous tea cabinet at home and embarrassed myself by telling you that I sometimes perch on the kitchen island and gaze lovingly at my tea (and R’s tea) in the evenings.  (I don’t really do that anymore.  It’s still good entertainment but it’s not really conducive to sprinting up the stairs every ten minutes to soothe a fussy infant.)  And then I told you to “stay tuned,” because Part II was coming up and I was going to show you around my work stash.  And then I… didn’t.

Oops.  Sorry about that.  Only eighteen months later, if you haven’t tuned away, here’s my current work stash.  It’s different from what it was in 2011 when I promised this post, obviously, since some new friends have come in and I’ve worked my way through other tins.  So, here’s what I see now when I open my top desk drawer:

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That’s actually pretty reasonable for me.  It’s not overflowing or blocking my access to my stapler or anything.  Here are a few detailed views:

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Bunch o’ bags.  Twinings English Breakfast tea, gigantic box purchased while pregnant (before hot beverages became odious to me and I had to give up caffeine anyway on account o’ the IUGR); Tazo Om for afternoon zen; Tazo Wild Sweet Orange (a gift from sis-in-law G some years ago, and I loved it so I just kept buying it); Republic of Tea Good Hope Vanilla, also purchased while pregnant because rooibos was supposed to be good for lil baking peanuts (again, before hot beverages became odious to me and rooibos tea in particular killed my soul).

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Some of my beloved loose tea makes an appearance, finally!  We’ve got Ginger Black and Lavender Earl Grey from Old Town Coffee, Tea & Spice in Alexandria (that store is like a rabbit hole, you fall in and you ain’t coming out again); Celestial Seasonings fruit tea sampler purchased because my Target stopped carrying True Blueberry and this was the only way I could scratch the itch; Wissotsky rosehip and hibiscus tea, which is the closest thing I can get here to the rosehip and hibiscus tea from the German store in Buffalo; Celestial Seasonings Tummy Mint (I’m a litigator, I need this stuff); and Guyaki Yerba Mate in both the canister and the yellow-and-green bag.

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Finally, my good stuff.  I don’t keep much really nice tea at work because I like to save my best stuff to enjoy with a book at home.  But I have a little bit on hand for nice morning treats.  Kusmi Strawberry Green, Vanilla Bourbon and decaf Earl Grey, all purchased in NYC while preggers, but after the hot beverage aversion had started to wear off a bit; Teaism sweetened matcha powder for mixing into green tea (I’ll probably take this home and use it for smoothies); Teaism Chai, Golden Monkey, Jasmine and World Peace – some of my favorites.  I have to have World Peace whenever I need it, so I keep a bag at home and a bag at work.  It’s that good.

So, there you go, my promised work stash tour, only a year and a half later.  I’ve made a concerted effort not to bring much tea into work until I drink down some of what I have, so this is really not too ridiculous of a stash.  Certainly better than my home stash, which is just silly.

Are you a tea drinker?  Do you have a giant stash, or are you a reasonable, responsible adult about your tea drinking?

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Peanut’s Picks: HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON

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Hi, adults!  That’s right, it’s me!  I’m back!  First of all, you might notice that I have a different picture.  Even though my mom says that my last picture was beautiful too and if anyone ever tells me otherwise, I should wet burp on them.  You have been warned, Nana.

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett…

Here is a book that Santa brought me.  It is about a boy, Harold, who only has one crayon because his mom took all of his other crayons away and put them on a high shelf or something or maybe his Auntie Em broke them, I don’t know.  So Harold takes his one measly crayon and he draws himself a whole big purple adventure.  There is a dragon and a boat and a moose and some pies and a city and a bunch of other stuff, only it’s all purple.  (My mom likes purple, but I’m partial to pink.)  And then he realizes that he is lost in his purple adventure and he has to try to draw himself home.  I won’t tell you how it turns out, except that it’s a good thing Harold’s home is purple too.  My room is yellow, so a purple crayon wouldn’t do me much good, now would it?

My mom says that this book is supposed to encourage children to be creative and use their imaginations.  But I think this book is supposed to encourage parents to give their children ALL THE CRAYONS.  Not just one.  Hear that, Mommy?  ALL THE CRAYONS.  Or if not, can I at least have pink?

Lesson for parents: You want creativity?  Give me ALL THE CRAYONS.  Your bedroom walls could use some flair.

Mom says you can encourage creativity by buying Harold and the Purple Crayon here, or go to your local bookstore.  Whatever blows your purple hair back.

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The Essential Healthy Kitchen, Part IV: Cook’s Tools

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(Well, this concludes my series on kitchen essentials for the healthy lifestyle!  If you’re just catching up, read about my favorite ingredients from the pantry, fridge and freezer.)

I’ve been a home cooking enthusiast for several years now, and I’ve accumulated quite a collection of tools of the trade in that time.  And while I love my pie plates and cookie cutters, I find myself reaching far more often for the tools that make it a little easier for me to prepare healthy meals for hubby and me.  Some are pricey and others are cheap, but they’ve all been invaluable to me.

Citrus Press.  This is my favorite low-budget kitchen tool.  I asked Santa for one a few Christmases ago and I’ve used it at least three times a week – and usually more – since I got it.  I have this one from Williams-Sonoma, and it’s an amazing item.  Great quality and incredibly well-made, it squeezes half a lemon, lime or orange with next to no effort on my part, is dishwasher safe, and looks as good as the day I unwrapped it.  If you only buy one non-essential kitchen gadget, make it this one!

Microplane.  I think this is the best zester on the market.  I have a couple including this rasp, which I use for grating Parmesan and citrus, as well as a citrus-specific rasp.  I don’t use it as much as the citrus press above, but I do my fair share of zesting and this baby has seen a lot of action.

Oil Mister.  I got this from Santa too, and it’s wonderful for spraying just a fine mist of olive oil.  I can sometimes have a heavy hand with oil, so this keeps me honest.

Vitamix.  Okay, this isn’t exactly a budget item, but if you have been saving your pennies for a new blender, I can’t say enough good things about my Vitamix.  Before I got it, I had a regular blender which worked okay, but the Vitamix makes all other blenders look like dinosaurs.  It whips me up a smoothie in mere moments, and there are no chunks of ice to contend with.  It also makes a perfectly velvety pureed soup.  I can’t remember how I lived without my Vita.

Measuring Cups and Spoons.  If you’re practicing portion control, then measuring cups and spoons are absolutely essential.  Before I started measuring portions, I really had no idea what an appropriate serving size looked like.  But a cup of pasta or a teaspoon of oil are no-brainers with the right measuring devices.  I love these All-Clad cups and spoons, because they look like miniature pots.  Heh, fun.

What cook’s tools do you use to support your healthy lifestyle?