A Very Vegetal Mother's Day

I had many surprises on Mother's Day. The first was actually the day before Mother's Day. A. had brought most of the children to fish at a lake about an hour away. As they were driving through town to the lake, they came upon a small backyard plant nursery and, of course, stopped in. 

So when they got home, I was brought outside to see the "magnificent Mother's Day present" they had bought me.

Behold, the Pink Peace rose bathed in celestial glory.

A. was very excited by this rose because he had just the day before created a new garden bed outside our front door. Knowing we have a lot of bulbs that need to be separated and re-planted in the fall, I chose a spot for a new bed and A. outlined it with rock, dug it all out, and added many wheelbarrow-loads of manure from the horse pen.

The new garden bed is flanked by two posts, so A. wanted to get a wisteria--a climbing vine--for one post and a climbing rose for the other. This is why he considered it divine intervention that the very day after he had made this flower bed for which we had no flowers, he literally just happened upon a nursery that had a giant climbing rose for sale.

Coming soon to the other post: wisteria.

It was very appropriate that A. should bring me home a giant live plant rather than a dozen roses from a store or something. He knows me well. As does the son who brought these flowers home for me.

It's wildflower season, hooray.

And the daughter who made me this:

Also salad season, more hooray.

Poppy always (since last year) has made me what she calls my "summer salad." She forages in the garden for the ingredients, then makes ranch dressing for it. Last year's first attempt at making the dressing--which much be done in secret, so she's totally on her own--was pretty good, although she forgot the garlic powder and mayonnaise. This year she remembered all of that, and then she found lettuce, asparagus, a radish, and some green onion in the garden. She also added some grape tomatoes that were not from the garden.

This was my morning salad. I got another one in the afternoon, along with other gifts. The younger children got all whispery and secretive, insisting that I not come in the kitchen, so I knew something was up. After a few minutes, they called me in to this:

A Mother's Day table.

Another salad contributed by Poppy, who also made that drawing, plus a little bowl made by the youngest boy--that's the little object above the salad--and a frame of flowers courtesy of the older boy. I was very touched.

I was also impressed by Poppy's drawing after she showed me its secret.

Backlighting reveals hidden hearts.

I'm not sure how she discovered that trick, but I thought it was pretty cool.

I was also the recipient of a motivational bracelet that was given to the middle son during basketball last year. I guess he figured I could use the motivation more than him now.

A good reminder.

The best part of this day was that my family knows what I like--plants and salad, obviously--and gave it to me. Feeling seen and known is an important part of feeling loved, and that is exactly what they did.

Snapshots: A Mom's Life

We had a remarkably rainy start to the week. It was pouring when we left for school on Monday, and had been most of the night.

Not much a view from the school bus window.

Lawn-lake at school.

And the lake by the track.

Given the weather, there was most certainly not going to be recess outside. Indoor recess in the old, echo-y gym is a real drag for the staff on duty (me). It was further complicated by the fact that graduation had been in the gym on Saturday, and there were still podiums, tables, etc. around the walls. Not so great when there are 30 kids racing around with basketballs.

Luckily, all the balloons from graduation were still there, too, so I banned the basketballs, but put balloons out for everyone to play with instead.

Recess equipment.

There had actually been two big balloon arches at graduation, and the balloons from those lasted all the way to Wednesday recesses. When we were still in the gym.

It was also Teacher and Staff Appreciation week, so on Monday, the front office was pretty much a staff snack bar.

Too bad I was still not really eating on Monday to enjoy any of this. Although I did have two seltzers, which was a nice treat.

I made the trek to Walmart on Thursday and, as is my habit, stopped at the old church in this town for their noon Mass after I was done shopping.

I love this vestibule that's to one side of the church.

And the absolutely giant organ. One of these days I'll have to get here for a Mass at which this is played. 

Incidentally, I first learned about our new Pope at this Mass, which seemed a very fitting way to hear that news.

Relatedly, we continue to burn the old Paschal candle at home. This week's flowers on the table with it were courtesy of the exploratory walk one son took far afield. He returned with a large handful of wildflowers for me.

Candle bouquet.

I put them there because I already had something on the dining room table.

Decorative alliums and apricot branches.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Happy Mother's Day to my fellow moms. I hope you have a lovely day.

Friday Food: Who Needs the Name Brand?

Friday 

Short version: Pre-made jambalaya

Long version: It was very handy that I had that jambalaya I had made the day before that no one ate. I ended up being away from home during our usual dinner time with one child, so A. just heated up the jambalaya and everyone ate before we got home.

Saturday

Short version: Potato and ham gratin, still-frozen green beans, asparagus

Long version: I had frozen some of the ham from Easter, which I used to make Julia Child's gratin. Except I didn't really follow the recipe very closely, one big change being that I never have Swiss cheese, so I used cheddar. It's a good recipe, though. The worst part is grating the potatoes. I used my food processor, so that I could then use it to puree green garlic, which also went in the gratin. Or maybe the worst part is wringing the liquid out of the potatoes in a dish towel. Little shreds everywhere.

Anyway! A good final product.

Asparagus from the garden? But of course.

Sunday

Short version: Pork ribs, garlic bread, Poppy's salad, pots de creme with cream

Long version: I had two racks of spareribs that had been in the freezer for awhile, so I pulled those out to cook on a cool day when the heat from the oven would be helpful rather than punishing. I was also baking bread this day, hence the garlic bread.

I felt okay in the morning, but by afternoon, my upset stomach was making me not happy, so I turned over the salad making to Poppy. I already had washed lettuce--from the garden, yay!--in the refrigerator, cherry tomatoes, and already-made vinaigrette on the counter. So all she had to do was tear up the lettuce, cut the tomatoes in half, shake the dressing, drizzle it on, and mix.

She was very proud of her salad and served it to everyone herself. A. served everything else.

Thankfully, the pots de creme had been made in the morning when I was feeling okay, so everyone could just pull their own little bowl of it out of the refrigerator and add cream. This self-serve situation meant that some had as much cream as pots de creme, but whatever. Life is for living, right?

Monday

Short version: Cinco de Mayo chips and salsa, leftovers

Long version: This is definitely the lamest way I have ever "celebrated" Cinco de Mayo, but it was a work day. I did have some tortilla chips on hand, which is unusual, so I put those out before dinner with some salsa and wished everyone Feliz Cinco de Mayo.

And then I heated up ribs, the ham and potato gratin, and jambalaya so everyone could choose their own dinner of leftovers.

Tuesday

Short version: Ham and rice skillet, some ribs

Long version: I ended up subbing at school this day, so for dinner, I diced the last of the ham and made a skillet of food with that, leftover rice, already-cooked onion, and frozen green peas. 

There were a few ribs left, which had gotten kind of dry with re-heating, so I made a barbecue sauce for them with ketchup, mustard, maple syrup, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce.

Wednesday

Short version: Toasted burritos

Long version: Yet another work night, and no more leftovers. I took some ground elk out of the freezer and made lazy taco meat when I got home. This means I don't chop onion or garlic. Instead I dump in salsa and spices. 

This time I had some pureed green garlic in the refrigerator, so I used some of that, which gave some good flavor. And then I used that meat, plus cheese and canned black beans, to make toasted burritos in flour tortillas.

No vegetable. I just didn't.

Thursday

Short version: Archery snacks, clam chowder, rotisserie chicken, Twist and Shouts

Long version: One of the boys has been doing archery with his class all year, and they had an archery party after school so the families could all see what they've been doing, and also try shooting the bows. They had some snacks out--cheese and deli meat, crackers, chips, vegetables and fruit--which the three children with me availed themselves of quite freely.

A. made some Snow's clam chowder when we got home for himself and anyone else who wanted it, which was pretty much all of the kids. 

I had bought a rotisserie chicken when I was at Walmart earlier, and some people had some of that. I had also bought the Walmart store-brand version of Oreos--named, unfortunately, Twist and Shout--to try. They are literally half the price of Oreos, so they would have had to be significantly different to justify buying the name brand cookies. And they weren't. Different, I mean. Except for the fact that the cookies themselves were somewhat smaller than Oreos, I really couldn't tell a difference. Good to know.

Refrigerator check:

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

An Annoying Truth

Remember that little throwaway line I had a couple of weeks or so ago when I mentioned my hands and feet were slightly swollen and painful, so that's why I wasn't running? This caused some concern among the parents--as in, mine and A.'s--because that can be a symptom of some more-serious problems.

What was actually happening was that mostly my hands were tingly and going numb overnight, which was annoying because then I would wake up and have to massage one or the other of my hands back to life. They sort of hurt, too, as did my feet a bit. 

I otherwise felt okay, though, so I did what I typically do with random symptoms like that: I monitored myself--paying attention to my heart rate, energy level, mobility, etc.--and waited to see what would happen, meanwhile mulling over possible causes and ways I could make it better.

One of the things I did was ask A. to massage my hands and feet. You should know that this was a great act of bravery on my part, because A. has incredibly strong hands, and his sort of massage is more like deep-tissue massage than a gentle rub. It is undeniably effective, however, so I gritted my teeth and presented myself for treatment.

Although he did massage my hands and feet, he also moved on from there to my arms, calves, etc. And that is when he found something very interesting: I had bands of muscle reaching from my pectoral muscles--in my chest--to my fingers, and also from my lower back to my toes, that were so tight, he could barely touch them without extreme pain on my part. 

The diagnosis from A. was that stress was causing me to constantly hunch in on myself, curving my shoulders down and shortening the muscles so much that those muscles were pulling painfully all the way to my hands. 

Bad posture also had a bad effect on my lower back, which was tightening the muscles all the way down to my feet, but I think that tightness was more caused by the fact that I hadn't been running. And when I am not running, I am sitting more, which is very bad for my hips, legs, etc.

It had been at least a month since I had been running--or even walking--regularly, thanks to a cold that then turned into a persistent cough. After about two weeks of that, I was definitely out of the habit of running. And once I get out of the habit, it's very easy to make excuses to not go. 

I am not someone who exercises because I love it. But I am, clearly, someone who exercises because I need to do it to be mobile and functional.

And so, knowing that it would be Not Fun to get back into the running groove, I put on my purple shoes and started again last week.

Although they look less purple and more gray here.

That first run was . . . slow. I think the best word to use for it would be "ponderous." The second run wasn't much better. But my body? It is much, much better. About a week of A.'s authoritative massage, consciously straightening myself up and stretching out, and starting to move again has completely fixed the tingly hands and feet.

Running can be painful, yes, but not as painful as not running. So annoying. But true.

Snapshots: Garden, Books, and Candle

Last Sunday, I asked our priest what I should do with the remainder of the Paschal candle that we replaced this Easter. This candle had been blessed, and blessed items can't just be thrown away. They're usually burned or buried. He told me some people take the candle home and finish burning it there. Poppy happened to be with me to overhear this, and she was all about it. Which is why we now have a home altar in our living room.

The flowers were Poppy's touch. Her mother's daughter, that one.

I am now in Watering Season.

Flooding the collard greens.

Odin kept a close eye on me through the gate.

I am also now in Salad Season. Hooray!

Featuring lettuce, arugula, green onion, and asparagus from the garden. And an egg from the chickens. Plus some other things from the store.

Too bad I've had a touchy stomach for a few days that would not be happy with this much roughage. Oh well. Soon.

We are now six for six on voracious readers in the house. The younger children typically read on the couch, which is why the couch usually looks like this.

Literary clutter.

And last, I finally made it to a track meet last week, only for it to be canceled because of lightning after about an hour.

Very dramatic view from the track for that hour, though. Also, very windy and cold.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Re-imagined Food

Friday 

Short version: Sonic on the road, toasted bean burritos at home

Long version: I was gone until about dinnertime with one kid in town. He got Sonic before we started our drive home. A. used canned refried beans, cheese, and flour tortillas to make toasted burritos for the kids at home.

Saturday

Short version: Pizzas, carrot sticks with ranch dip

Long version: I hadn't made pizza in awhile, but I had a giant blocks of asadero cheese (my mozzarella substitute) in the refrigerator that needed to be shredded and frozen, plus I had dough on hand for baking bread. Sounds like pizza time to me. I even found the very last bag of roasted tomato sauce from last year that had gotten to the bottom of the freezer. To that I added frozen pesto cubes to make the sauce.

I had some pepperoni in the freezer, too, as well as the chopped bell pepper from when my friend had given us salad ingredients. I had frozen the bell pepper for something later. So one pizza was pepperoni, bell pepper, and pickled onion, and one was just cheese.

Pizza time.

Sunday

Short version: Roasted chickens, baked potatoes, asparagus, frozen corn, brownie sundaes

Long version: I got these whole chickens from extra commodities food that was left at school. They were already seasoned, so all I did was drizzle on some olive oil and roast them.

Everything else went in the oven with them, too, which is the easiest way to make dinner.

I totally forgot I was planning on making brownies until about ten minutes before we ate. Luckily, that's about how long it takes to get these brownies in the oven. Then I just delayed dessert long enough for them to cool down a bit before I served them with ice cream and the chocolate syrup I almost always have in the refrigerator.

Monday

Short version: Chicken paprikash, mashed potatoes, Holy's cabbage or sauerkraut

Long version: I had made two chickens specifically to have leftovers. And then I used the leftover chicken to make chicken paprikash. That used up the paprika sludge from dying Easter eggs, plus leftover chicken, onions, garlic, and a bunch of sour cream. 

The mashed potatoes I made with all the leftover baked potatoes, scooped out, re-heated, and pureed.

And the cabbage came from the freezer. Very handy to have. I can actually just microwave it right in the bag for thirty seconds so I can get it out of the bag, then dump it into a bowl and microwave a few more minutes until it's hot. One kid doesn't like it, so he had some of the raw sauerkraut that's been in a jar in the refrigerator since last summer.

Tuesday

Short version: Leftovers

Long version: I went to the last track meet of the year, leaving a list on the refrigerator of all the available food for dinner. The kids all got their own dinners--mostly mashed potatoes and cheese, but at least one had pizza--and then A. and I finished the pizza when I got home. The trackster ate a green chile cheeseburger, french fries, and a milkshake with his team before we left town.

Wednesday

Short version: Smoked sausage, garlic bread, leftover vegetables

Long version: This particular sausage is some kind of Walmart brand. Not Great Value--some "fancier" brand that's still made by Walmart. It's actually pretty good.

Two packages fit perfectly in a 12-inch skillet.

I had made the garlic bread when I was baking bread a few days earlier, and there was leftover corn and cabbage. This made for an easy after-work meal.

One child had been sick, so for him I made rice in chicken stock and he had a small bowl of that. The one who doesn't like sausage had the rest of the chicken paprikash with the rice.

Thursday

Short version: Not jambalaya or cookies

Long version: I had a lot of rice left, four sausages, and some chicken and chicken stock I had made with the chicken carcasses. Sounds like jambalaya to me. 

I cooked onion, garlic, and celery, then added the jambalaya spices--cumin, chili powder, paprika, a bit of cayenne, Worcestershire sauce--and some tomato sauce before dumping in the diced meats, rice, and just a little stock. Easy and good.

I had made the cookies earlier in the day: chocolate chip with peanut butter added. I didn't make cookies during Lent, and the children are very happy now that I'm making them regularly again. Easter is a joyous season, indeed.

And then no one ate any of it because A. had taken the elementary school on a field trip at which they had pizza. The extra pizza came back to the school, one of the boys snagged an entire pizza, and then the older two boys ate the entire thing on their way home. Poppy had one piece, too. A. had eaten at a Chinese buffet while he was waiting for the children to finish at the museum. So no one was hungry and I saved the jambalaya for the next day.

Well, I ate a scoop of it in chicken stock as a soup, but there's still plenty left.

Refrigerator check:

Jambalaya in the red pot, ready for tomorrow.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

The Countdown Begins

Many years ago--seven years ago, to be precise--I came up with the idea of counting down to the last day of school with a piece of candy for each child each day as they get on the bus. It was an idea born of desperation to get small children on the bus with a minimum of drama.

I started this tradition when I only had two children in school. We were living in New York at the time, which has school until agonizingly late in the month of June. Now we live in New Mexico where we get out of school in mid-May, and I have four children getting on the bus every day. None of them are very small anymore, either.

But still, every year when we have twelve days left of school, the egg cartons come out and the candy goes in.

Ready for the countdown. 

Come on, summer.