My 2010 Glasses

One of my friends updated her Facebook status with a statement that really stuck with me,

"2009 holds so many things I wouldn't want to do over, but I can honestly say I've learned and progressed from it. Here's hoping we'll all be up to the challenges facing us in 2010 and that they'll serve to make us all better people in the end. My 2010 glasses aren't rose-colored, but I look forward to great lessons and blessings ahead!"

I'm still trying to learn and progress from things that happened in the latter half of 2009, but I'm hoping things take a turn for the positive.

Who knows what 2010 will bring?

Snowed in...

DOUG IS OFFICIALLY HOME! Yay!!!!

This last weekend, the east coast got quite the storm. Doug and I came home late Friday night from a Christmas party at my parents' ward and went to bed early. The next morning, we woke up with several inches of snow on the ground. That in itself would have been exciting because it was the first snow to really stick this season... But it CONTINUED to snow for the rest of the day, pretty heavily at times. I heard somewhere that we accumulated 30 inches of snow, but I personally did not measure it.

Winter Wonderland! The view when we opened the garage for the first time.

 
Saturday afternoon, they canceled school for Monday and Tuesday, so it meant that there would be no more school before winter break!! Good thing I gave my kiddos all of their homework in advance, just in case the storm was bad! ;) Church was canceled on Sunday, so we basically stayed in and hung out all day. We barely ran out of milk the day before, so everything I cooked over the weekend needed to use powdered milk. Yuck! (I grew up on the stuff, so it brought me back...) Luckily, we had plenty of TP and other essentials to get us through the big storm.

The best sledding hill in the neighborhood is right next to our house. We 

could hear kids screaming as they went down it the whole day.

I was hoping the Doug would get the day off on Monday, but when he called the hotline it was an optional vacation day or something like that which basically meant he didn't need to go in, but he would have to take a vacation day if he didn't. He wanted to use his vacation days for later, so we managed for get him out the door before the sun rises as usual. He drove regular the hour and a half to work and told me later that the roads weren't all that bad and traffic was light. A lot of people took the day off, so he was able to get more projects... which is a good thing because the newbies don't get to do interesting things very often.

Monday and Tuesday I was home alone, with not much to do. The roads are/were yuck and it takes like 3 tries to back out of the garage with the piles of snow on either side, so I opted to stay in. So far I've watched about 24 episodes of Gilmore Girls, organized all of the baby clothes that my sister gave me (just to get rid of mind you, I'm not announcing anything :P), cleaned the house, and then decided to wash the cats (never a good idea). So, basically I haven't left the house since Friday night and it is now Tuesday evening...

Darwin looking oh so thrilled after me giving him a bath and then blow drying him to make sure he didn't get too cold.

The kitties keeping me company while I organize the baby clothes.

An aerial shot of all of the Tupperware containers full of baby clothes that my sister has sent my way. I guess I'll be able to use it all one day (unless I have all boys or something...)

Back in the Routine of Things

I'm starting back into the routine of my Facebook and blog checking. It was really hard to get online for a while after Daisy's death. I'm really thankful that the holidays were right afterward because I needed time to heal.

One of my best friends that I grew up with died in a car accident the end of October. I hadn't seen her since our sophomore year in high school when she transferred to a different school, but we had reconnected through Facebook in the last year. She was teaching English in middle school and had a little boy starting kindergarten. It was really great to exchange silly little memories of us as kids. Her death was sudden and hit me pretty hard. It happened over a weekend so luckily Doug was there to comfort me as I bawled. I went to her viewing and was rocked by the reality of death for the first time in my life.

Jenn's death caused a lot of thinking on my part. I was having a hard time coping the sadness, but Doug called me with a surprise that next weekend and we adopted Daisy. Lucky and Darwin are great, but they've never really been lap cats. Daisy was an absolute joy in my life from the moment we got her. She would follow me around the house, sleep with me every night, wake me up in the middle of the night licking my face, sit in my lap as I worked, watched TV, ate dinner. She was my constant purring companion.

The day that Daisy died, I had been planning to sneak her up to see Doug in Annapolis. We decided that morning on the phone that I should just stay home because Doug was going to be home early for the Thanksgiving holiday and I would see him in three short days. My mom was in Boston at a conference and my dad and siblings were going to pick up Liza from college for the Thanksgiving holiday. They were trying to find a place to Johnny, my little brother, and I offered to take him for the day.

Johnny was upstairs on my computer and I was watching TV when I heard a board fall down in the basement. The cats are always knocking things down in the house, but I had a feeling and went to check right away. What I found when I went down the stairs was terrible. Daisy was laying on the floor with a board laying on top of her head.  She was bleeding out of her mouth and ear and was jerking violently.  Her eyes were unfocused, but she still looked afraid and in pain.  I knew that there was nothing I would be able to do, so I just picked her up and held her up to me to comfort her.  I rushed her upstairs dripping blood all over the carpet and floor until I was able to lay her in the kitchen sink and call the vet.  I remember screaming at Johnny to grab a towel while he just stood there and stared at me in shock.  Johnny held her in a towel while I drove frantically the 20 minutes to the vet.  I remember a mother and younger daughter being there holding open the door for me as I ran in.  I don't remember what I was wearing or if my hair was brushed, I just remember crying and begging them to fix her or to at least make it so that she wouldn't feel pain anymore.  They gave her pain medication immediately and then did x-rays to see if there was any hope. The x-rays confirmed what I feared I already knew... there was nothing that they could do for our little Daisy.  She had lost so much blood that it was taking them forever to even find a vein to euthanize her.  Once they did, I held her as she slipped away.

Johnny was with me the whole time helping the best he could through the panic. I felt really bad that he had to be there for the whole thing, but in the end, I'm glad that there was someone else there with me. My dad came later that night, picked up Johnny, and helped clean things up. Doug came as soon as he could the next day and came home the rest of the week instead of going to the apartment. We buried her at my parents' house the next day.

The first couple of days were hard, very hard. I had told my students all about getting Daisy and naming her. They had been asking for daily updates about her. I was terrified that they would ask me how she was doing and that I would just break down. I even met with the school's guidance counselor in the morning before school started with a system to have a student bring a note down to her if they brought up Daisy. Luckily, I was able to dodge any questions about her.

I was really saddened by the loss of Daisy, but had the most difficulty with flashbacks of the experience. My family helped out a lot by talking to me during my commute so I wouldn't have time to think about it. Luckily, with time, comes healing. I guess sometimes things in life just suck.

I hope that there is a kitty celestial kingdom (heaven) because Daisy definitely would have made it.

I took this picture the morning of the day that Daisy died. The cats don't like it when I get out of bed in the morning, so they lay on me and look all cute. Daisy always slept with me... Darwin was just being jealous.

Daisy died tonight. It really hurts. I wish Doug was here.

Crazy Cat Lady

So, I just added the picture of Daisy to my sidebar of the blog. I think I picked the third one for those of you that voted. I realized that I have now become a crazy cat lady. We were only going to be a two cat family and now we are a three cat family. We are officially outnumbered by our pets. I guess that means we need to balance it out now with more people!

Potato Soup... from SCRATCH!

So I've been trying to try some new things specifically with cooking. I got the idea to try this fun meal from a friend's blog here. She has links to other blogs with the actual recipes. I actually made this the night of Halloween, which I wouldn't recommend because it is very time intensive. We really liked the soup and it was EXCELLENT for leftovers. (I really HATE leftovers so this is quite the accomplishment.) The bread bowls weren't really worth the time, but I always find making bread so interesting (the whole 3 times that I've done it).

Recipe for the Potato Soup:

Ingredients:
-4 large baking potatoes
-2/3 cup butter
-2/3 cup flour
-6 cups milk
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon pepper
-1 1/2 (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
(I usually add more because I love cheese)
-12 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled and divided
-4 green onions, chopped and divided
-1 (8 ounce) carton sour cream

Instructions:
Wash potatoes; prick several times with a fork. Bake at 400 degrees for one hour or until done; cool. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp and reserve. Discard shells. Use a potato masher to mash the potato so it isn't so chunky.

Melt butter in a big pot over low heat; add flour stirring until smooth. Cook one minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk; cook over medium to medium heat high; stirring constantly until thick and bubbly (at least 30 minutes).

Stir in potato, salt, pepper, 1 cup cheese (I just do a big handful which is probably more than one cup), 1/2 cup bacon, and 2 tablespoons green onions. Cook until heated.

Stir in sour cream; cook just until heated (don't boil). Sprinkle servings with remaining cheese, bacon and onion and enjoy!


Recipe for Pumpkin Shaped Bread Bowls:

Ingredients:
-1/4 cup warm water
-1 cup tepid water
-1 teaspoon kosher salt
-1 package yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
-3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
-1 beaten egg white

Instructions:
Pour the yeast in the 1/4 cup of warm water. Let it sit for a few minutes to activate the yeast. Once the top is foamy with bubbles, pour the yeast mixture into your mixing bowl. Also add the other cup of water and the salt. Mix this together. Add some drops of food coloring to color the water a nice orange color. I used liquid food coloring and put about 4 drops of red and 6 drops of yellow.

Next, attach the dough hook to the mixer. Add the flour a little bit at a time. Keep kneading the dough for another 2 minutes after all the flour is in. You’ll see a soft, slightly sticky dough.

Spray a large bowl with oil. Place dough into the oiled bowl and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Place in a warm place and let rise for 1 hour. It should double in size.

Flour your surface and rolling pin. Punch down the dough and remove it from the bowl. Remove a small handful of dough and add some green food coloring to it. Knead the dough to mix the color as thoroughly as possible and set aside. Knead the rest of your orange dough. Separate into 5 small round balls (for kid sized bread bowls) or make 4 round balls for a larger bread bowl.

Set your round dough balls on a greased cookie sheet. Take the green dough and make 4 or 5 small stems by making little round balls. Place the stems on the top and middle of your orange dough balls. Cover it again with oiled plastic wrap and let it rise for another 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. When the dough is ready, beat the egg white and brush the top of the dough.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. When you tap it, it should sound hollow. Allow it to cool before slicing. Slice the top of the pumpkin bowl off and hollow out the inside of the pumpkin to make a hole for your soup to sit in. Now, fill with your favorite soup!

Here are some pictures from my cooking experience!






I've actually made the potato soup again since we tried it the first time. I got a potato masher instead of bending up my wire whisk again. I'm trying to find an easier way to mash up the potatoes. It takes an hour in the oven before I can even start skinning and mashing. Does anyone know if you can do this process in the microwave faster without losing quality?

Halloween?!?

Wait, wasn't that two weeks ago?? I'm a little behind on my blogging. I posted some pictures of Daisy yesterday and it got me back into the blogging spirit I guess.

So for Halloween, I was once again the Princess Pea from the book, The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo who happens to be one of my favorite children's book authors! There were some pretty awesome and creative costumes in my class. Here is a collage I made in Picasa with some of my favorites + a class picture!




Doug and I also carved pumpkins and did all of that jazz, which reminds me that I probably should collect the water soaked, probably half rotten pumpkins from our front door. Doug carved the spider one on the left and I carved the amazingly terrified pumpkins on the right. No amazing creativity on our part, we just taped the patterns from the little 99 cent book we bought on clearance last year.

New Addition!

Doug's dad was visiting this last weekend and they decided to go to visit grandma for the weekend. While they were out on a walk, they saw a man walking his dog being followed by a kitten. When Doug and his dad remarked on how funny it was that the cat followed him while he walked the dog, the man told him that he didn't know who the cat belonged to. It turns out that the county/city where grandma lives has a rule that if you feed an animal it becomes yours. So... no one was feeding this poor kitten and it was running alongside a busy road. Doug and his dad decided to take it home to save it from being roadkill. I got a call Sunday afternoon... and well the rest is history.

Doug named her Daisy. The name isn't sticking with me quite yet, but I think it will in time. She's very dainty and she purrs as soon as you pick her up. Her purr is so loud that you can hear it across the room easily. When she chases the blanket monster, (a favorite activity for all of our cats) she actually bites the blanket and gets fuzz in her mouth. She's really quite cute!

Darwin and Lucky took some time to get used to her. Lucky has found a permanent hiding place in the laundry room and Darwin and Daisy have been running around the house like crazies all evening. I followed them around for a while with my camera trying to get some shots where they weren't all blurry.

Which one should I put in my sidebar as a picture of Daisy?