One Word Wednesday - Preschool

On September 11, 2001

I was getting ready for work, watching the Today show.  The clips of Matt and Katie that have been replayed ad nauseam since that day were happening in real time.  I just started freaking out and yelling 'Oh My God' at the TV all by myself in my little one bedroom apartment on Halsted.  I called my husband (then boyfriend) and jarred him and his roommates from bed.  At that point, everyone thought it was an accident, so pried myself away from the TV and  headed to work.

On the EL, it was all people were talking about and as we chugged towards the Loop.  The smattering of people with cell phones (yes, not everyone had a cell back then) were getting more and more grim information: it wasn't an accident, there's a second plane, they were commercial jets, something happened at the Pentagon.  When I overheard that last bit, I thought people were starting crazy rumors.  How I wish that was the case.  I got to work just in time to be turned around and sent back home.  Being right next to the tallest building in the US and in one of the largest cities in the world, we were all frightened.  Back home, I just sat and cleaned my apartment all day - crying and watching tv.  My hands are shaking right now, thinking about that time. 

So many things have changed since that day and so many lives, really ALL of our lives, have been shaped by what happened.  By no means am I saying that there was a reason for any of it to happen; and I really have no forgiveness in my heart for the people that committed those crimes. But, to make sense of the horrific and bad in my life, I have to believe that this is the life I was meant to live.  This is the road I'm supposed to go down.

Pretty soon after, my boyfriend of barely eight months proposed.  Many people came out of that time with a feeling of carpe diem, and that's not a bad thing, right?  The day after I got engaged, in late October, I was laid off from the job I loved, at the company I loved with a great salary.  After a few months of unemployment, I ended up working at company that I really rather hated.  Which led to an easy separation when we had the opportunity to move to Seattle.  And what an opportunity it has been.  So many little things I'm thankful for that spiraled from those horrible events that put us where we are now.  

It's been 11 years, but I can so easily transport myself back to that time and those feelings.  The memories are so fresh, not only because of the horror, but because it was during some of the best times of my life.  We were all in our late 20s: friends were getting married, we still went OUT all the time, it was the last gasp of the dot com days (we even had a friend with a boat named Dot Yacht) and we were all DINKS with money to spend and time on our hands.  It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times.  For better or worse, I'll never forget.

I'll also never forget watching this show and it's worth revisiting - "the recovery is a dream realized."  Pic and video here.

This Week's Eats

I apologize in advance, but I must gloat today because I saved $55 on my trip to the Safeway this week!  Or more importantly, 32% of my bill.  I always try to get near 20% if I can and that's been pretty easy with the new Safeway Just for U program (where you log on and add coupons right on to your card).  I'm not a total crazy couponing lady or anything, but I always go through the Red Plum flyer that comes in the mail every week and the online Safeway ones - even if I only save a few bucks, it's like earning a free latte, right? 

Anyways, the new Safeway program not only has the coupons that regularly come in the mail and special Just for U ones that you can only use with the program, they do specialized coupons tailored to your shopping habits.  Example: my daughter eats the Hormel Natural Choice deli turkey nearly every day; nope, not on a sandwich...  juuuust plain old turkey.  The stuff can get expensive and the program must've picked up on the fact that I stock up when it's on sale, so today I got a 'personalized deal' on top of the online only coupon.  A package of turkey that normally costs me $5 cost $1.  I picked up three.  Plus they have coupons for a free product now and again.  I tried the latest offering from Planters for free:

I'm a huge fan of nut butters and this was pretty tasty!  So, if you ever shop at Safeway (or, Dominick's for those back home) I'd highly recommend checking out this program.  Oh, and for the record, no one from Safeway asked me to write anything - just wanted to share in the excitement.

• Monday - Pizza!
• Tuesday - basil pesto tilapia filets from Costco with twice baked cauliflower
• Wednesday - baked chicken taquitos
• Thursday - alpine chicken casserole (chicken breasts topped with swiss cheese, cream of mushroom soup thinned out with water/a little white wine if ya want and topped with cubed stuffing that's been tossed with a little butter. Bake at 350 for an hour, covered with foil for the first half hour. mmmm, cheesy baked goodness.)
• Friday - penne with vodka sauce
• Saturday - Anniversary dinner *
• Sunday - risotto with sausage and spinach (gonna try a recipe I found on pinterest)

* We're celebrating 10 years a few weeks early because of my girls trip for my 20 year high school reunion being the actual weekend of our anniversary and the babysitter's schedule.  We have reservations for a fancier place, but we're actually toying with the idea of going out for Tex-Mex and margaritas because that just really sounds the most fun to us right now...  Hmmmm.  Decisions, decisions....

Friday Things

I've been a little bit behind on getting my Labor Day 4 Miler recap done (spoiler: my time was 32:09), and blogging in general, but it's been a crazy week.  Monday was the race, Tuesday was 'meet the teacher and ice cream social' day at big brother's elementary school, Wednesday was the first day of Kindergarten, and last night was a fun little Oiselle get together:

 

Pic stolen from @Oiselle_Sally's Twitter Feed

 

 

I am overwhelmed with gratitude and awe for all of these women, near and far that I call teammates.  It was SO wonderful to get to spend more time with them and get to know them better, especially whilst drinking beers.  I am also enjoying Christmas in September because I picked up my fall team kit:

 

 





Jacket, long sleeve 'big run' tee (with thumb holes!) and Lesley knickers in indigo!





Also, my salad contribution went over well - here's the recipe:

Ingredients

3/4 C. dry quinoa

1 1/2 C. vegetable broth

1 can garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)

1 c. cherry tomatoes cut in half

2 avocados diced

2 C. spinach

1 bunch cilantro

1/4 C. onion

2 small cloves garlic

For the dressing:

Juice of 2 lemons

zest of 1 lemon

2 tsp. dijon mustard

2 tsp. olive oil

1 tsp. honey

1/2 tsp. cumin

dash of salt and pepper

Directions

Make quinoa according to package directions with vegetable broth in lieu of water. You don't want it completely dried out, so when there is just a TINY amount of liquid left in the pot, remove it from heat and put a lid on it. Set it aside, and make the rest of the salad by chopping up the rest of the veggies ( finely chop the spinach/cilantro/onion/garlic in a food processor) and combing dressing ingredients.

I wasn't particularly inspired by any song this week, so I'll break out a favorite oldie to add to the list.  Happy weekend!

Paul Oakenfold, Starry Eyed Surprise

 

Space Invaders by Mark Norman (8/31/12)
Beautiful People - Chris Brown feat. Benny Benassi (8/23/12)
Ass Back Home - Gym Class Heroes (8/23/12)
The Veldt - Cover Pop tribute to Deadmau5 & Chris James (8/23/12)
Without You - David Guetta feat. Usher (8/23/12)
Good Time - Owl City feat. Carly Rae Jepsen (8/17/12)
Addiction - Medina (8/3/12)
We Run the Night - Havana Brown feat. Pitbull (7/27/12)
The Night Out - Martin Solveig (7/20/12)
Tell 'Em - Sleigh Bells (7/13/12)
Sun is Up - Two Times (7/06/12)
Steam Machine - Daft Punk (6/29/12)
Arguru - Deadmau5 (6/22/12)
Now or Never - Outasight (6/15/12)
Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns Remix (6/08/12)
Young Blood - The Naked and Famous remixed by Tiesto (5/18/12)
Call me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen (4/6/12) 

Books I read in August

August was spent watching waaaay too much Olympic coverage and also following the goings-on of Walter White: the most masterful character ever written and acted on television.  Hands down.  No question. OMG.  Bryan Cranston should just take his Emmy right now.  Just... Damn.  And Aaron Paul is nuthin' to sneeze at, making me ADORE Jesse Pinkman: drug dealer.  Consider that my mini review of Breaking Bad and if you haven't been sucked in, well, you should.

OK, on to the books:

Between the Lines by Samantha VanLeer (with her MOTHER, Jodi Picoult)

It was fun to read a totally different style of book from Jodi Picoult, well, I suppose it was written by her daughter.  I can't help think that in doing so, she was indulging her a wee bit... It was on the cheesy and predictable side. It's not a 'crossover' kind of novel, I'd put it firmly in the YA category.  Good for 12 year olds, truly, and not really for adults that love YA fiction.

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

I always enjoy a good coming of age story and Julia's awkward junior high narrative was heartbreaking and identifiable to me. And the setting of the book, during a time when the earth literally begins to stop spinning, was really intriguing. I like a good sci-fi yarn, but I feel like she was just setting a scene (with some really creative and beautiful details of the most mundane, yet fascinating things that might happen if the world would cease to spin) and never brought any plot points to a conclusion.  I don't enjoy that. 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

OK, so everyone has already been told to read this book, yes?  If not, I will tell you now: READ THIS BOOK.  Definitely on my best of the year list.  Wow. Just, wow. I haven't been riveted by a book like this in awhile. I'm not really a fan of thrillers, but this is not like any I've ever read before. It reminded me of when I was reading Room, by Emma Donoghue. It gave me that same 'oh my God, I have to know what happens next' syndrome.  I love when an author uses more than one character's voice to tell the story, and the way this unfolded was jaw dropping, literally, for me.  The suspense just builds and builds.  Gillian Flynn is a genius at crafting a thriller and I've added Dark Places to my reading list.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Yes, I like to read a LOT of YA dystopian literature.  This was on a lot of 'best of' lists and I enjoyed the story and the question of whether love could be considered a disease.  Although, maybe I've read too much of this genre, because I saw a LOT of Matched, Divergent, Across the Universe, and of course The Giver in the themes of the book.  But, she gave it a different spin and I hate not know how something ends (OF COURSE it ends on a cliffhanger),  so I've put the second book on hold in what is probably going to be a trilogy.  Sigh.

One Word Wednesday - Kindergarten

(a belated) This Week's Eats

I was a wee bit busy yesterday running the Labor Day 4 Miler, drinking beers and commiserating with fellow Oiselle teammates over some good grub at Redhook.  Since it's a holiday week, I'm going to pretend today is Monday!  We ended up getting take out for dinner last night, as the morning took quite a bit out of me and I just didn't feel like cooking.  Love having an excuse for some Pad Thai.

• Tuesday - Angel Hair with Pomodoro sauce (saute garlic and onion with olive oil in a large pan, add a 28oz can of whole san marzano tomatoes and mash with a potato masher, season w/salt, pepper and crushed red pepper, cook about 15 minutes/until it thickens and add LOTS of fresh basil and fresh grated Parmesan cheese to finish)
• Wednesday - Out for pizza to celebrate big brother's first day of Kindergarten!
• Thursday - goin' to a little Oiselle potluck party, and I'm thinking about bringing the very popular quinoa salad
• Friday - enchiladas with Frontera Grill red enchilada sauce (We tried the fajita sauce and it was gooooood! Now we're working our way through the others.)
• Saturday - Beer braised beef with marsala mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes
• Sunday - Cobb salad (chicken, bacon, egg, red onion, avocado and blue cheese with homemade dijon vinaigrette: olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, salt and pepper)