It was your typical Wednesday evening except for the fact that the back of my throat felt a little scratchy. It was nothing to be alarmed about though, it was just a little dry I thought. And then about midnight, Ellie woke up crying really hard with a stuffed up nose and some hard coughing. I sat with her on the chair for a few hours until she drifted off back into a deep sleep and brought her into our bed with us. As she twisted and turned, whimpered and whined for the rest of the night I felt bad because my little girl was without a doubt sick. And then when morning officially came, I was officially sick. The little light scratchy throat was now an intense sore throat. My head was throbbing, my nose was all plugged up, and we both had fevers. Ellie and I were both sick.
CRISIS!
As my two year anniversary of being a stay-at-home parent approaches, I realized I have learned many things. I’ve stepped up to the plate and tackled the nitty gritty household chores of cleaning, grocery shopping (with coupons), and laundry. I’ve duked it out in the kitchen preparing meals every day for my family. I’ve faced my insecurities to take Ellie to storytime, Japanese school, museums, and the zoo. And in the process, my confidence has soared leaving me to believe I can and will face any situation without fear or uncertainty. But there comes a day when something takes you by surprise and knocks you off the horse making you wonder, “Do I really have what it takes?” Well that day arrived for me. We ran out of toilet paper.
CAKEBALLS!
When I started thinking about my Holiday baking this year, I kept hearing about cake pops. I really didn’t know too much about them or how they were made. But when a friend informed me of a cakepop maker on sale (one day only!) at Macy’s for $17.99 (regularly $39.99) I jumped at the chance to be a part of the cakepop scene.
LET THE BEETINGS BEGIN!
We like beets in our house. I realize that most people have a strong opinion of them. I’ve never met anyone who was on the fence about them. You either love them, or you hate them. I happen to love them. Aya never liked them until I made my homemade pickled beets. She liked them so much she let me make a four course beet meal. Yes, beets! And it was beet-tastically delicious, and even ended with a chocolate beet cake!
SEARCH AND RESCUE
We recently finished a major renovation on our bedroom. I say finished loosely because it’s not quite finished yet. And just like many other home projects, it’s always those small little details that get lost in the shuffle. So it’s no surprise that I still need to refinish the vent cover for the air supply into the room. Right now it’s just a big open hole. Knowing how many Matchbox cars I lost as a kid, I knew it was just a matter of time before Ellie dropped something in.