So about my mom

At Ignite Bend my lovely friend Kate posed the question "Who blogs anymore?" and then I got to thinking ... oh crap! I haven't blogged in over a month. My last post was about lack of time in my life but then I got to thinking that maybe I shouldn't say that and be more positive. Maybe I should have a "I CAN DO IT ALL" attitude?

Where was I? Oh yes, my lack of blogging and my new attitude. I CAN DO IT. So, I was talking to my husband and after 10 years of doing the internet thing, I've register a domain name and take this up a notch since I have plenty of time on my hands, ya know (really, I don't).

And then I remembered that next month was National Blog Post Month. Maybe this is my opportunity to get back in the game and writing away?

I started thinking about my goal a few years ago to write something about being a motherless daughter. I got discouraged because the person who wanted to edit made some negative comments about the first two posts so I abandoned that idea. I'm pretty sure I can fill 30 days with content about my mom or just memories in general of growing up. It can be something Ben and maybe my neices and nephews could look at and get some insight on how I (or my brothers) grew up.

Wish me luck. (gulp)

The resident chicken hater

My husband, for some reason, doesn't like chicken. I think it might have something to do with getting food poisoning from a chicken dish (not made by me, of course). Getting him to be ok with making chicken dishes has taken some time over the past six years but recently, I made one that he exclaimed "THIS IS THE BEST CHICKEN DISH EVER." I whole heartedly give Martha Stewart props for this tasty chicken dish which is super easy to make. It also includes items from my CSA as well.

Ingredients

Serves 4

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Coarse salt and ground pepper

4 fresh whole sage leaves, plus 4 minced leaves

4 (6 to 8 ounces each) chicken cutlets

4 slices (3 ounces) thinly sliced prosciutto

4 teaspoons olive oil

3/4 cup dry white wine

1/3 cup reduced-sodium canned chicken broth

1 tablespoon cold butter

Directions

In a shallow bowl, stir together flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

Lay 1 sage leaf lengthwise on each cutlet, then wrap a prosciutto slice around middle of each cutlet, encasing sage. Flatten with the palm of your hand to help prosciutto adhere to the chicken. Dredge cutlets in seasoned flour; tap off excess.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high heat. Cook 2 cutlets until golden brown and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove cutlets, and keep warm. Repeat with remaining 2 teaspoons oil and 2 cutlets.

Add wine and broth to skillet; cook over high heat until reduced by three-quarters, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; let cool 1 minute. Add butter and minced sage; stir until butter is melted, about 30 seconds. Spoon sauce onto plates; top with cutlets. Serve immediately.

Chicken with Prosciutto and Sage

Ingredients Serves 4

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Coarse salt and ground pepper

4 fresh whole sage leaves, plus 4 minced leaves

4 (6 to 8 ounces each) chicken cutlets

4 slices (3 ounces) thinly sliced prosciutto

4 teaspoons olive oil

3/4 cup dry white wine

1/3 cup reduced-sodium canned chicken broth

1 tablespoon cold butter

Directions

In a shallow bowl, stir together flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

Lay 1 sage leaf lengthwise on each cutlet, then wrap a prosciutto slice around middle of each cutlet, encasing sage. Flatten with the palm of your hand to help prosciutto adhere to the chicken. Dredge cutlets in seasoned flour; tap off excess.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high heat. Cook 2 cutlets until golden brown and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove cutlets, and keep warm. Repeat with remaining 2 teaspoons oil and 2 cutlets.

Add wine and broth to skillet; cook over high heat until reduced by three-quarters, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; let cool 1 minute. Add butter and minced sage; stir until butter is melted, about 30 seconds. Spoon sauce onto plates; top with cutlets. Serve immediately.

Easily entertained

Lil B can do this for about 30 minutes at time. When Brian first told me about Lil B's new trick, I thought he was telling a tall tale. I had to see if for myself and in deed, I was amused for 20 minutes. Then after that, it got a little annoying.

Hooray for stay-at-home dads

[caption id="attachment_24" align="alignright" width="180" caption="Having a hands on dad is pretty cool"][/caption]

Last Friday, I met my husband and son in downtown Bend for lunch. I walked into the burger joint in a rush, texting on my Blackberry with a million things on my mind. I sat down, took a deep breath and enjoyed the fact I was not in the office and enjoying some time away with my toddler, who's learning more and more everyday and having lunch with my husband.

My husband is currently laid off. He'd love to be working for someone right now, but he's moonlighting as a multi-talented marketing professional. He dabbles in marketing strategy,  designs ads, logos and websites, dabbles in videography and is a whiz at social media. Anyone would be lucky to have his talents on their team but alas, there are no jobs currently open in Bend. With that, we're making do.

I won't lie, living on one income really isn't ideally how we'd like to be living and it has tested our marriage but the silver lining is my husband is spending a lot of time being a dad. He knows when Benjamin needs to go down for a nap. He has him on a schedule and he takes him everywhere in his Kelty Kids Backpack. I'm counting my lucky stars Lil B has the best hands on dad in the world.

As we ate our lunch, the waitress came by to bus our table. "Ma'am, you're so lucky to have such a hands on husband. In my day, husbands just went to work and came home and expected dinner."

I'm grateful for everything you do, Brian. You're the best dad, husband a wife could ask for.

What about blogs?

Last night at Ignite Bend my lovely friend Kate posed the question "Who blogs anymore?" and then I got to thinking ... oh crap! I haven't blogged in over a month. My last post was about lack of time in my life but then I got to thinking that maybe I shouldn't say that and be more positive. Maybe I should have a "I CAN DO IT ALL" attitude?


Where was I? Oh yes, my lack of blogging and my new attitude. I CAN DO IT. So, I was talking to my husband and after 10 years of doing the internet thing, I'm thinking I might register a domain name and take this up a notch since I have plenty of time on my hands, ya know.

And then I remembered that next month was National Novel Writing Month. Maybe this is my opportunity to get back in the game and writing away? Maybe this is the time that my husband should get cracking on my website? (hint, hint)

I started thinking about my goal a few years ago to write something about being a motherless daughter. I got discouraged because the person who wanted to edit made some negative comments about the first two posts so I abandoned that idea. I'm pretty sure I can fill 30 days with content about my mom or just memories in general of growing up. It can be something Ben and maybe my neices and nephews could look at and get some insight on how I (or my brothers) grew up.

Wish me luck. (gulp)

Guilt

The other day, someone asked me "what do you do for fun?" Chase a toddler? Yes, seriously, that was my answer. I went on and on about the things that used to be my hobby but really I said chase a toddler. Then I started thinking "crap, I really don't have a hobby anymore." That's what happens when you have a child. You selflessly give up everything to take care of that kid and your husband.

I met my girlfriend out for drinks last week. We'd planned this for about 2 weeks and my husband graciously, without complaining, moved his band practice so I could go. I never seem to get girl time unless I'm at work and it's usually just small talk. We met around 7:30 which is close to Ben's bedtime.

A few weeks ago, I made an appointment to get my haircut and colored. I have decided I'm done dying my hair and fighting the grey so I called my lovely hairstylist, Laura Belle and told her dye me back to my natural color. Grey is coming out of the woodwork. I blame this on everyone. I have named a few after my husband, co-workers -- you get the point. I pull them out. I've decided pulling them has become too exhausting. Day of the appointment, I started to fret. I was only going to see Benjamin maybe an hour that day. And I started to feel guilty. I spent all afternoon feeling guilty about being away from him and jealous of my husband who is home taking care of him. In reality, I have not had a haircut since May so I should not have been feeling so guilty. But I did.

I don't have a hobby unless you count my failed FarmTown farm or the countless hours I spend facebooking. I do walk a few days a week but that's hardly a happy. Maybe my hobby is how much I love to cook? Maybe I should go back to roller derby? That's a healthy hobby? I worry a lot? Can that be my hobby?

So, one year after returning to work, I'm feeling guilty of being a working mom. I often think maybe I would be selfish if I had another child. The one child I have doesn't get that much time with me so maybe it's not fair to Benjamin if I have another?

This is what it's like in my head.

As for Benjamin, he got his his hair chopped.



Yesterday, he grabbbed my cooking magazine and was looking at it. The problem -- I needed it to make dinner. So I did the switcheroo -- gave him a toy and took my magazine. That is he exclaimed "NO! Mine!"

He new favorite thing is brushing his teeth. When I ask him to do it, he'll run down to the bathroom and try to grab his toothbrush. He loves it! He'll also quack like a duck when you say duck. It's hilarious.

Where has the time gone? Has it really been over a month since I last blogs? Why yes, it has been over a month. Things have been hectic and we’ve been enjoying lazy summer days and the joys of a 15 month old.
Here are the highlights of stuff over the past month:
• Brian is still looking for a job. He is doing some freelance work but he’s staying home with Ben three days week.
• I’ve been crazy uber busy at work. Three events we sponsor happen within a three week span of each other. My boss got a new job with another company. I’m the lone pigeon in our department. I am a little lonely but I’m also super busy so it doesn’t leave me time to think about being all by myself.
• I have mysteriously lost weight. I think the bullet above has something to do with it.
• My in-laws visited and we had a staycation. We went to Crater Lake, Odell – Cascade Lakes Highway and bummed around Bend. I wish we lived closer to the Arizona in-laws or they would just buy a summer home and come here.
• Pre-molars are hell. During our staycation, I couldn’t figure out why Ben was so crabby and waking up at night and then as I noticed his top pre-molars were coming in. The bottom pre-molars are coming in as we speak. The past two nights he’s awoken screaming. He won’t take ibuprofen so we have to trick him by eating yogurt. It’s fun to do this at 2 a.m. I advise you to try it.
• My baby is not a baby – he’s a little boy. Though he hasn’t started running yet, Benjamin is fast and into everything and more and more curious as the days go on. He knows what things mean like “hey, time to brush your teeth,” – he runs to the bathroom and points to the brush. He lets you know if he wants juice or milk or a cookie but standing by the refrig or the cabinet the cookies are located. He has a favorite tv show – Yo Gabba Gabba.
• He talks. Ben’s words include banana (meaning food), dada, mama, thank you and he often tries to mimic what we say.
• He loves going outside. He sees the park and gets excited.
• He throws tantrums. He’ll let you know if he’s not done with taking a bath, swimming, not ready to go home from the park or come back in from being outside.

Overall, things are good. And with that, I leave you with my little boy who loves to swing!