Category Archives for Friends

It’s Never Enough

We had a very productive weekend.  Ben got Aliya to her 7 a.m. soccer game on Saturday, and she also made it to her Brownie meeting thanks to the Pearce family.  Adlani had a playdate (thanks Yarmos!), and to appease Norah I took our  next-door neighbor to Mad Willies with her (our neighbor is in 6th grade so it was a pity playdate).  Ben and I cleaned the whole house, and made a great dinner for his mother, sister, aunt, and a family friend.  Today I spent most of the day trying to catch up on some work and simultaneously help Aliya with her research project for Sage.  I also did at least 8 loads of laundry, grocery shopped, and did a multitude of small tasks that I can’t think of right now.  I accomplished a lot.

BUT.  It’s never enough.  I can never do enough to dig myself out of the hole I’ve inadvertently created.  I finish 2 types of tasks – the ones that only take a few minutes, like responding to the easy emails, and the ones that are so close to the deadline (or beyond) that if I don’t do it RIGHT NOW I will get fired or someone will get kicked out of school.  The rest of the stuff, for the people who aren’t complaining, gets put off until it gets to that same critical point.  Right now I have 52 emails waiting, which will take me anywhere from 20 minutes to 5 hours each to address.  Tomorrow I will get about 100 more.  I’m not exagerrating.

So, if you’re not a squeaky wheel but you’re waiting for me to get back to you on something, your best bet is to start squeaking.  Am I the only one with this problem?  What am I doing wrong here???

And because you read through my entire pity-party post, I’ll share with you a funny moment from the weekend.  We were having dinner last night with Ben’s family, when Norah said to Ben’s mom, “DO YOU HAVE TEETH?!?!”  Norah had told me previously that “Hanna doesn’t have teeth,” and was shocked when she noticed that she was chewing her food.  Hanna showed Norah her teeth and Norah was puzzled.  She kept insisting on seeing them again.  After dinner she somehow realized that Hanna no longer had teeth, and when “Show me your teeth!” didn’t work she kept saying, “Show me your gums!”  It was so funny…we were all in tears.  That kid is trouble – very smart but with no filter.  Pray for us.

Here she is with all of her little leprechaun friends.  In Spanish the leprechaun is called a “duende,” which she thought was pretty funny since that’s her cousin’s name.

Return From Oz

Last weekend I escaped to Foxwoods with 4 foxy friends (Betsy is missing from the photo but if Pam sends me some of her pics I’ll add them).  When Lana asked me about it back in December, I didn’t care if we were going to the Holiday Inn in Worcester or if it cost $2000, I was IN!!

Luckily we didn’t go to Worcester and I didn’t have to spend the kids’ entire college savings.  We left on Friday afternoon and made the quick (1 1/2-hour drive) down to CT.  It was a gorgeous day and the snow everyone kept talking about hadn’t started yet.  I had never been to Foxwoods before and I swear it was just like being in Oz when the Emerald City loomed up out of the poppies, except this time it loomed up out of Uncasville.

I was surprised by how GIGANTIC the place was, and it’s actually really nice.  Lots of bars and restaurants, live music and comedy, a decent spa and a beautiful pool which unfortunately was inhabited by loud and splashy kids.  We had a nice dinner on Friday night at the Shrine, after drinks at various hot spots along the way (including FABULOUS espresso martinis and 2 scorpion bowls), then spent Saturday laying around relaxing and being pampered.  I got a haircut, which I needed badly, and then we went out to see the comedian Jo Koy, who was hilarious.  We had dinner at David Burke Prime which was really good.  I’m not a gambler but we watched Betsy play Let It Ride, and I think I could play that without embarrassing myself.  Maybe on my trip to Vegas next month.

Sunday morning we got up, cried, threw our crap in a bag, cried some more, and came home.  You would think that having a couple of days away would make me more tolerant of what was waiting for me at home, but it’s the exact opposite.  After two days of peace and quiet with nobody needing anything from me, each scream, whine, and screech doubled in volume.  I had to take a nap in the afternoon because I was so tired out from being home for 3 hours.  I’m back in the swing of things again, and all I have to show for my relaxing weekend is my haircut and my credit card bill.

Time to schedule another getaway!  Who’s in???

OMG

My house looks like about 23 moms, 4 dads, and 33 kids came in, chowed down, hung out for a while, and left behind a couple of tall kitchen trash bags each.  Oh wait – that really happened!  Hopefully A&E isn’t roaming the neighborhood looking for candidates for the next episode of Hoarders, because I’d be a contender.

It was a great day, and once again I forgot to take photos because I was so busy sitting around chatting.  Aliya ran the check-in table and she was seriously a huge help.  We collected gifts for 61 kids!

I don’t know what I was thinking when I signed up (and pre-paid!) for a 1 1/2-hour Zumba class this afternoon, but I can’t move without groaning, so the clean-up will have to wait.  A lot of people wanted recipes for the brunch menu, so I’ve attached a pdf to this post that you should be able to download by clicking here.  These recipes were previously included in our “Family Food” cookbook, which is why they’re already so nicely formatted.  BTW…the photo below was on the cover of our 2005 Family Food submission, and it’s one of my all-time favorites.  Aliya got a little too close to Choco-Monster, but she was more acquiescent back then.  It wouldn’t go over so well today.

The soup has not yet been included in Family Food…it’s from the New England Soup Factory Cookbook, which I highly recommend.  If you haven’t been to the NESF, it’s in Needham near my office and we are frequent customers.  I was a little worried when I was making the soup because honestly, it doesn’t look that appetizing.  It was my first time making it and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to serve it but I just forged ahead.  I’m glad I did!

Cheddar-Corn Chowder with Bacon and Scallions

1 pound uncooked bacon, diced (I used turkey bacon.)
1 large Spanish onion, peeled and diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 medium red bliss potatoes, diced into 3/4-inch cubes
6 cups chicken stock (I used 8 cups because I didn’t want to throw it away.)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 cans (each 16 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained (I used frozen corn.)
2 cans (each 16 ounces) creamed corn
1 pound (16 ounces) sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups heavy cream
4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 bunches scallions, sliced

Heat stockpot over medium-high heat and add the bacon.  Cook the bacon until brown and crispy.  Remove the bacon from the pot and set aside on paper towels to drain.  Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings.  Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic to the drippings and sauté for 5 minutes.  Add the potatoes, stock, cayenne pepper, and coriander.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 35 minutes.  Add the whole kernel corn, creamed corn, cheese, and cream.  Simmer an additional 7 minutes.  Season with the Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.  Stir in the scallions and crispy bacon pieces.

Makes 10-12 servings (I used my crock pot to keep it hot, and one batch filled it to the rim.)

Weekend In Review

About a week ago, I found out that my stepfather, Keith, was planning to come for a visit this weekend.  A few days later, Josh, Rachael, and my baby niece Duende asked if they could come too.  By the time they mentioned that their friend Vanessa was visiting a friend nearby, I honestly said, “Bring her along…one more won’t have any effect on the chaos.”

Visitors are welcome here, as long as they’re willing to go with the flow and help themselves.  Those are basically the only rules.  Oh, and they’re not allowed to judge me.  I will cook for them (or order take-out), find a bed, couch, or air mattress for them to sleep on, and I’ll even scrape the top layer of grime off of everything and hide the worst of the mess, but they have to be able to handle being part of the family for the duration of their stay.

Our weekend plans included two soccer games and a chili cook-off, so we dragged some of the visitors along too.  The soccer games were very chilly, but both were wins.  Aliya’s team has actually moved to first place in their division.  There’s one more game for each team next weekend and then it’s on to ice skating season.

The chili cook-off at the Linders’ house was a lot of fun, and Luscious Lana took the Chili Cup for 1st place.  The multi-generational soccer game turned into a dance party after dark, and the s’mores were a big hit.  Everyone was tired out and even I went to bed early.  I turned the clock back before I went to bed, so I was in bed shortly after 9 and slept until around 7 a.m.!  Today it was yoga class, a few hours of hanging out with the extended family, soccer practice for Aliya, and some work.   I’m hoping to make it another early night.