Take a Breath

Phew! It feels like it's been ages (or at least, definitely, days) since I've paid a visit to my little blog and felt it time to check in. I'm not sure where my time has been flying to lately, but there's certainly been a current of frantic in the air around here. You'd think that all my buzzing around would result in some loss of poundage but alas ...

So let's see what I've been up to lately:

- I've got clubfoot on the brain, that's for sure. Still trying to find the right doctor for Grace and feeling rather stuck at the moment. We know for sure we want to find someone who follows the Ponseti Method, but good luck trying to find such a person in this densely packed state of NJ. I don't get it, really -- we're not a modern day Ingalls Family stuck on the big prairie, with only Doc Baker at our disposal. We're in NJ, for pete's sake! We did rule out one guy who, oddly enough, was highly recommended by Ponseti folks, but after hearing his game plan for our little girl, we decided to walk in the other direction ... quickly ... without looking back. A few days ago I actually emailed Dr. Ponseti himself, all the way in Iowa, to get his opinion on the matter. I'm awaiting his response and, hopefully, a good push in the right direction. Still waiting, still eyeing up that little foot which looks more and more like a fat banana each day, still trying not to panic as time ticks by ...

- Also trying to get my "new" kitchen back together. I am loving it, my friends -- the cool shade of silvery blue, the energy in the room, the spaciousness, the brightness, the LIGHT! Now we have to find a time to purchase a dishwasher (portable), see if we like the arrangement (photographs below), maybe move some things around (although we don't have much space to do much of that, really), and once we have the puzzle put together, hang an awesome old wooden, painted sign belonging to Don's grandfather, from his carpentry days. Then my kitchen will feel complete. Well, almost ... until we get a new floor and begin restoration on the little "desk" area in the hallway ... It's an ongoing project, to be sure.



- Speaking of the kitchen, had a fun Providential moment when we realized our large, rectangular table would not fit with a dishwasher in the mix as well. Suddenly, I received a phone call from my friend Jacie. "Guess what I have in my attic?" she said. So ... we are now the happy owners of a round table which fits perfectly in the new arrangement. And it was FREE! Thanks, Jacie! :)

- I thought about potty training Grace this morning. For about 5 minutes. She is so not ready.

- My son impaled himself on a dinosaur sprinkler on Sunday afternoon. At least I think they are dinosaurs. It was gruesome, but in a weird way because there was no blood. He tripped, fell right on top of a unicorn-like creature, whose horn-thing impaled Aidan right in the groin. He screamed, he looked terrified, I tried to brush it off (he's not the bravest of kids when it comes to injuries, having more mole hills than mountains). I took my time turning off the hose, moseyed back over to him ... but when he pulled down his swim suit and I saw the deep hole, with thick layers of skin and a subterranean view I had never seen before ... well, then I got on the ball. It was the strangest thing, this deep hole but lack of blood. We skipped a visit to the doctor, taped him up with some butterfly contraption of snipped up band-aids, and it looks OK. What a weird experience.

- Tried a few new recipes recently, one by way of a Gordon Ramsay podcast and the other from a GlobeTrekker special, featuring foods from Southern Spain and Italy. We had Ramsay's last night -- pasta with a sautéd mix of cherry tomatoes, black olives, red onion, fresh basil, garlic, capers, and anchovies. Woo-hoo! Have a hose ready, for while it was delicious, it was outrageously salty! Don's a salt guy, so it didn't bother him at all, but my goodness I downed about a gallon of water during the meal. Super tasty, though, so I'd make it again. The other dish was a Tuscan spin-off, featuring chicken (the dude used rabbit but ... ick) lightly coated in flour, sage, and thyme, then sautéd black olives, white wine, garlic, rosemary ... finishing up by braising the concoction for a while in the oven. Don added some cherry tomatoes to the mix and served it over rice. Good and quite easy, but also salty. Fun stuff.

- Trying to sneak in another trip to the shore before we find a doctor for Grace, who will indubitably start casting her right away. Once casted, no water. More planning ...

- Of course, I have the day to day craziness to deal with, all contributing to a whirling of the brain. Now it's time for lunch. with a special request from Aidan to make "Daddy's Special Sandwich." Hmmmm ... time to play chef for a while. Hopefully I'll get a deep breath in there somewhere.