My Guy

Today is my anniversary.  As of tomorrow I have loved this man for half of my life.  That’s pretty amazing.  We fell in love 18 years ago on May 17th. We got married 13 years ago today.  These days will always be special days for me.  I think way too often people bail on marriage.  Marriage is not simple.  It is not easy and it is no walk in the park.  You don’t like each other every day, you don’t have to, but you do have to love each other and respect each other.   I don’t like to hurt his feelings.  He is my best friend.  I have hurt his feelings and let me tell you, that sucks.  I do apologize and admit when I am wrong.  I have also learned through the years that no matter what you might hear, they don’t know what you’re thinking.  If I want something or want him to do something I have to ASK for it!  That one is especially hard for me.  I am so used to being independent that for a while I thought he should just “know” what I want or expect.  To be honest, he had no clue that something small was so important to me.

I love my husband.  I LIKE my husband.  He makes me laugh.  I love that we know each others thoughts (sometimes way too often).  I love that he can make me laugh without saying a word.  I love the way his eyes crinkle when he smiles and the mischievous look he gets in his eyes when he is up to no good.  I love that there is something wrong with a man that can look at me in the middle of the night when I am drooling on my pillow and tell me he loves me, just like he can’t go to bed without kissing his girlies goodnight.  God help me, but I sound like a teenager.   He still gives me butterflies, even when I want to PUNCH him in the FACE!

I just believe in being that rarity of a long term marriage.  I don’t believe in divorce, I might kill him, but no divorce, that’s for sure.  Hard times are a part of growing.  If we didn’t have them we probably wouldn’t be where we are now.

So, if you are married or planning to get married keep a few things in mind:

• DATE – dating doesn’t have to be dinner.  It can be curling up on the couch together to watch a movie while not doing anything else.  This is a special effort for me since I am usually working while watching just about anything.
• BE AFFECTIONATE – not all over each other, but kiss hello and goodbye and for no reason.  Say I love you often and for no reason.  Hold hands – this is quite intimate and can sometimes just bring you back to those dating days
• BE NICE – if you wouldn’t be ugly to a stranger or your kids, don’t say ugly things to your spouse.  I cringe when I hear spouses call each other “Stupid” or “Idiot” or “A-hole” . Don’t say “Shut Up” either – this is my pet peeve.  Be nice to each other.  Life is too short to be ugly.

I was blessed and found my soul mate when I was 18.  My sisters both found theirs at 15.  You never know when you will meet that one person you want to share your life with.  I found mine and boy, is he lucky!  LOL!

Thanks for letting me wax poetic about my guy.

Much Love,

Mrs. C

Salmon with Spinach Salad and Miso Vinaigrette

So, I love to cook.  Like, love-love-LOVE to cook.  I have too many cookbooks, and a stockpile of recipes found online, from friends, in magazines, and from the newspaper.  I cook dinner most every day.  Even back in the days of singledom, I always cooked for myself–much to the amazement of people I knew.  It never once occurred to me that people don’t cook.  Though my mother is one of those folks, so it really shouldn’t have been a big surprise.  Maybe it has something to do with my feelings that my family was so much different than others.  But that, my friends, is a story for another day.

I’ll share recipes around these parts from time to time, I’m sure.  Starting today, as you eagle-eyed observers have probably already ascertained.

Oh and hey–I forgot to mention before that I am gluten-free, so do not cook with or consume any products containing gluten.  I tend to eat pretty along the Primal/Paleo guidelines most of the time, but do stretch the limits a bit with occasional miso/soy products as well as beans and rice (rarely).  Just fyi.

I’ve made this recipe a couple times over the last few weeks–once with the called-for salmon, and once with a tamari-steamed tilapia.  My preference is the tilapia, as salmon and I have a tenuous relationship.  I love it grilled (seasoned with fresh lemon juice, rosemary and salt pre-grilling) with asparagus and baked sweet potatoes.  I also love it in it’s raw state when included in a Salmon Box at our favorite sushi spot.  I generally dislike it every single other way.

The salmon was fine, but I felt like it was just a wee bit of an over-powering taste with the spinach salad (which is spectacular).  So, fair warning for those that also have a so-so relationship with the fish.

That said, this is a pretty easy dish to assemble, and doesn’t take much longer than 15 minutes or so.  I cook a lot of Asian foods, so had most everything called for on-hand already.  (imagine pictures here–wordpress isn’t so much on board with me including them today, it seems)  Guess I’ll just get straight to the recipe, then.

(This recipe is from the May 2012 Cooking Light, and can be found here:  http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/509-Faircloth-St_Colfax_LA_71417_M76535-87132?source=web.  I’ve made a few minor changes to it, but at heart it is still the same recipe.)

Salmon with Spinach Salad and Miso Vinaigrette

2 tbsp grapeseed oil

2 (6 oz) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp miso paste (recipe calls for white, I’ve used regular each time)

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp sugar (I used truvia)

1 tsp sesame oil

1 1/2 cups shaved cucumber

9 oz fresh baby spinach

1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

2 lemons or limes

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

coarse salt

–Squeeze lemons/limes over salmon, top with coarse salt and rosemary.  Grill until done, and keep warm.  (hubby grilled while I made the salad)

Combine grapeseed oil, miso and next 4 ingredients (through sesame oil) in a small bowl; stir with whisk.

Place spinach and cucumber in a large bowl.  Top with vinaigrette; toss well.  Arrange 1 fillet and half salad on plate.  Sprinkle each serving with sesame seeds and serve.

Easy-peasy and YUMM.

It’s Almost Here….Shhh…Do You Hear It?

Summer….it’s almost here…be vewy vewy qwuiet.

I have mixed feelings about summer. First, disclaimer, I love my boys. With all my heart and soul. No one can conjure the range of emotions those two tiny humans elicit in me…but

summer is very long. Very, very long.

Homeschoolers, seriously, how do you do it? I’m just not cut out to be with ANYONE 24/7, whether or not I gave birth to them. I don’t want to be with my husband, best friends, sisters, or even my DOG for 24/7 straight. But during summer, that’s just what I am with my boys.

But, I love the little boogers. Since NOT ONE PERSON has come to look at the house that’s for sale, I’ve loosened up the “keep the house show clean” attitude. (not.one.showing.) Of course I have to clean (ugh) but it’ll just be normal clean and if and when someone FINALLY comes to look at the house, then I’ll commence the maniacal ‘show clean.’

So I am looking forward to some things this summer:

*Snowballs. Those are always a plus of summer. Chocolate, stuffed, with condensed milk on top. Or, Diabetes in a cup.

*Sleeping in. Okay, this one really never happens, but I don’t have to get up, get them on a bus, dressed, with a packed lunch. We can lounge in our PJs, watch obnoxious amounts of TV and be slothful in air conditioning.

*Swimming and sprinklers. We only have a little baby pool but have several friends/family members with ‘real’ pools, and our subdivision has a community pool that will hopefully be open. This will be the first year I can go to a ‘real’ pool with E and not worry TOO much, as long as I stay with him. He’s big enough for the shallow end, and doesn’t have to stay in a baby pool.

*Crafts and messes. Sure, I’m trying to sell a house and keep it clean, but I want to have some fun. The oldest, H, is not so much into crafty things but he does like to draw, so I’m hoping to encourage that. The 4 year old, E, is into playdoh right now. I may even again attempt to make my own Gluten Free Playdoh! Also, paper plates…seriously, a gazillion ways you can make fun things with those.

*Late sunsets. I do enjoy that. The sun doesn’t go down til well after 7, almost 8 pm at the peak of summer, and they can go on bike rides with Daddy, blow bubbles, and run around outside (covered in mosquito repellent) well past dinner.

*Did I mention snowballs?

*Watermelons, BBQs, and other fun summery activities. Sure, we drown in our own sweat here by 10 a.m, but summer in the South can be pretty awesome. And it’s common that everyone wears tank tops, shorts and flip flops, just about anywhere, because we’re all just trying not to die of heat exhaustion…so the relaxed dress code is nice! (however, everyone knows, keep a sweater in the car for those overly air conditioned buildings.)

So, although it’s hot as hell, I’ll go bat crazy with kids in my face all day, and every day we get no showing on our house I get a little more sad, I’m determined to have a great summer!!

For now, I’m going to relish the last 7 days of solitude I have….

~~Amy

Jazz Fest Freak, not this Chick!

In all honesty, I have never been to Jazz Fest.  It is just not something that has ever appealed to me.  I have a few issues with Jazz Fest:

• The bathroom situation – I work a LOT of festivals, and one thing they all have in common is a horrible bathroom situation and I have an issue with that, but if I am working I have to make due.  I HATE having to use porta potties, much less ones used by 10′s of thousands.  For Mardi Gras we bring our own potty.  I know I have issues.  All it took was one time to be traumatized at VOODOO and I was done.
• The inflated prices.  I understand that prices are inflated all over, but even a recent article showed how the ticket prices have just went up so exponentially.  It prices it out of my range just about every year – not to mention the prices for food and drink while at the festival.
• The crowds.  Being in such large crowds freaks me out incredibly!  I can’t stand to be pushed and pulled and crammed in with a lot of people, it is just not for me.

I love what Jazz Fest brings to our city.  People travel from all over the WORLD to enjoy our music, food and not to mention the millions it brings into our local economy.  Jazz Fest is wonderful for New Orleans, but it is just not for me – maybe my kids will prove me wrong one day and they can have it.  I’ll be happy to provide shuttle service, as long as I can go home and use my own potty!

Much Love,

C

Seven Days

It’s so strange to know, to the half-hour, the moment this baby will leave the warmth of my belly and take her first cold breath.  So strange to not be waiting for that first tug of labor, for the tide of it to carry us forward.

In one week, I will climb up on the table in the cold and bright lights of the operating room, and curve my bare back for the anesthesiologist.   He’ll count the notches in my spine to find the space between the vertebrae to slip his needle, and everything will start.

The strange, ascending numbness that rises to my collarbones, like my body filling with the cold weight of water.  The loss of control.

I’ve done this before.  Last time, the anesthesiologist pressed his hand to my shoulder and asked me to curve my back more.  Like a boiled shrimp, he said.  I smiled through the fog of fear and curled a little tighter around my huge belly.

Then I’ll lie down and someone will raise the surgical curtain just below my shoulders and my body will disappear.  The medicine and cold fluids make me shake, and E, in a paper gown, will hold my hands to keep them from skittering off the narrow table.  We’ve both been here before.

It will take only a few minutes to separate us – to cut through the layers of skin and fat and muscle and lift her into the light.  Dr G will hold her over the curtain so I can see her face, and he’ll sing Happy Birthday, like he did for M when M was born.

All these things I know.  It’s the moments beyond that – genetics and the NICU, testing, and waiting – that we can’t predict.  That our doctors can’t, and won’t predict.  Testing her strength and ours, one moment at a time.

All this in seven days.  Less.  Send love and light to this little face, to all of us.

I know ultrasounds are ridiculous, but I can see eyelashes.  Not a true picture, but a hint and a hope of what’s to come.