Monday

I have been avidly reading the Hunger Games - I think its the next Twilight.  Can't wait to see the movie.  The plot is very similar to The Running Man which is a sci-fi favorite of mine.  I'm going to try to tuck myself into bed early so I can finish it.

We also received a produce delivery today with tons of new veggies to try - purple kale, celery root, parsnips, and chestnuts!  (Not to mention the more common fruits/veggies such as onion, apple, orange, mango, dates, and banana.)

AND my new Fendi purse came!

I'll try to update with some pics as I cook up my spoils and take my purse out on the town.

Reading is Fun: Operating Instructions

Not a page turner, perhaps because I can't quite relate?  My favorite parts were all the 80's references that aren't quite as relevant today.

The most honest, wildly enjoyable book written about motherhood is surely Anne Lamott's account of her son Sam's first year. A gifted writer and teacher, Lamott is a single mother and ex-alcoholic with a pleasingly warped social circle and a remarkably tolerant religion to lean on. She responds to the changes, exhaustion, and love Sam brings with aplomb or outright insanity. The book rocks from hilarious to unbearably poignant when Sam's burgeoning life is played out against a very close friend's illness. No saccharine paean to becoming a parent, this touches on the rage and befuddlement that dog sweeter emotions during this sea change in one's life.

SURGERY UPDATE: 4 week rotation = 28 days.  4 days off = 24 days.  3 days down = 21 days left!

MELISSA UPDATE: Pampered myself this afternoon with an hour long massage followed by a facial followed by raisin bread toast, warm coffee, house mittens, and knitting.

FELIPE UPDATE:  I must post pictures of his mustache.  He's participating in Movember.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Despite having to crawl out of bed at 5am I had a rather lovely Thanksgiving.  I was released from work before Felipe even got up, he quickly showered and drove in to work while I was headed home.  That way, when I got here I had a nice quiet house to relax and unwind.  After a several hour knitting/tv/online shopping marathon (which I didn't only splurge on myself, I did also purchase 2 christmas gifts) we headed to my MIL's for a delicious turkey dinner.  This evening we watched Super 8 (a darker mix of Goonies w/ ET) and are getting ready to watch Horrible Bosses.

I wanted to share this crazy beauty tip I just learned:

How to Be a Girl: Cat Eyes By Magic! from The Hairpin on Vimeo.

Splurges

I made a small splurge these past few days on Ebay - - - -

A nice L.A.M.B handbag, my first designer handbag.  One of the other Uro wives has a L.A.M.B bag.  Keeping up with the Windspergers. . . .good thing I don't know the Kardashians.

stockings & starker's

I finished up my knitting project this evening - - -

It's huge in person, can't wait to see what Santa fills it up with!  Maybe some tiger balm for my sore fingers?  

I've already started my next project, a felted birdhouse.  New technique: circular cast-on.

Grandma - once again, thank you SO much for this blanket.  All four of us fight over it daily and most evenings you can find all 4 of us cuddled up with it!

My next dream blanket - a Pendleton throw.  If anyone happens to come across one at a thrifty, garage sale, or auction please pick it up on my behalf.

Reading is Fun: The Adventures of Huck Finn

This one took a little longer to get through - it was printed in the most itsy-bitsy font, which made the smallish book rather deceiving.

I was amazed at how relevant this book is to today's culture and how controversial it remains.  Teachers are still attempting to banish it from schools and libraries despite the notice put forth by the author at the beginning of the tome.

NOTICE

PERSONS attempting to find a motive in this narra- tive will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.

BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR,
Per G.G., Chief of Ordnance.

And the man himself, 

Silent film footage taken in 1909 by Thomas Edison at Stormfield (CT) at Mark Twain's estate.

Belleville revisited

My project is going splendidly.  Each evening after finishing up in clinic I come back to the house, put on my pj's, grab a snack, and camp out in front of the television with my knitting.  I'm getting a blister on my index finger, have some pain in my joints, and a tight muscle in my shoulder - - -this knitting stuff isn't as easy as it looks!  But then again, I've pretty much made a part-time job of it.  I think I logged 4 hours today. 

 I'm trying to treat this like a mini-vacay - no bills to pay, no bathrooms to clean, no dishes to wash, no groceries to buy.  Pretty nice!  A little bird told me that when I get home Friday night my frig is going to be stocked with Trader Joe yummies.  And while out here I picked up this awesome crockpot cookbook mag.  Can't wait to share some new recipes when I get back.  

In the meantime I've been scoping out some vintage purses, check out  a few of my faves.  Meet Gucci, Fendi, and Louis.  I think this sugar mama has earned herself a little treat!  Makes me feel so Sex & the City.

More Adventures in Knitting

I've been knitting for almost 5 years now - and like any relationship we've gone through our high's and low's.  Currently I am absolutely infatuated.  I decided to take a risk and teach myself 2 new techniques - continental style (where you hold the yarn in your left hand rather than right) and stranding (where you knit with two colors).  I've knit until my fingers hurt and I think I may be getting a blister.  Next week I'm hoping to finish this project.  Any guesses as to what it might be?

Greetings from Belleville

I made it to Belleville last night without incident.  The only incident arose after I arrived at twilight and none of the houses had numbers on the front.  I went from driveway to driveway, getting up to the front door to look for a house number.  Since everyone here leaves their house unlocked I just knew a family would come home to find me camped out in their living room thinking it was the Holt's house!  And since everyone here seems to own guns. . . .luckily I didn't need my bullet proof vest.  After three tries, I found the Holt's house (with their name written on a cute little scarecrow by the front door.)

Favorite things:

1. I've gotten to see patients in the hospital, clinic, AND nursing home already today.
2. Free drug-rep lunch.  You know, these things aren't all bad.  I'm so out of the loop when it comes to new medications.  But if you want something off the $4 list, I'm your doc.

So embarrassing

This is what happens when you put me on the spot.  I shake my hair and make faces at the camera.  I don't wear make-up, but I do wear my Jayhawk pride.  Think they'll disown me?

trabalenguas

trabalenguas = tongue twisters

My journey into espanol has been muy dificil.  I made it all the through the first 2 levels (12 lessions/level) before I realized I was a big cheater.  You see, I would get through a lesson, bomb the test, and then retake it with my personal tutor.  This wasn't making me any smarter or any better at spanish, it was merely getting me to the next level.  I finally realized I was in over my head.  So I decided to start over and do it right.  Today I completed level 1, lesson 2.  Anyways, at the end of some of the lessons there are tongue twisters to help with pronunciation.  Today's was so cute I had to share it.  Now, the translation doesn't exactly make sense but that's beside the point.

¿Qué te pasa, calabaza?

Nada, nada, limonada.

And a bit more spanish - Feliz cumpleaños

Coconut IceCream

A few weeks ago I bought 2 pints of whipping cream - one for tomato soup (that recipe is a keeper!) and one for  pumpkin pie (also a keeper - this is the first pumpkin pie recipe that I haven't needed to tweak the spices.)  Felipe gobbled down the pumpkin pie so quickly, I didn't get a chance to whip up the second pint.  

As it has gotten closer and closer to the expiration date my anxiety has been building.  What am I going to do with this pint of whipping cream?  I think there should be a law that whipping cream never go to waste.  

www.AllRecipes.com has this great feature where you can search by ingredient.  After flipping through recipes for fudge and other delightful treats I came across this recipe for coconut icecream.  For some strange reason I happened to have a can of coconut cream in my pantry, so I decided it was fate.  To kick this rich and creamy treat up another notch I threw in a handful of chocolate chips to recreate one of Fel's favorite candy bars - Mounds icecream!

Happy Hump Day

Halfway through the week!


Good things that have happened to me thus far:

1. Sunday: We got to meet the Schumacher's new baby daughter, Lucy.  We took them a dozen-and-a-half donuts from Lamars.  Felipe is still polishing off the leftovers, which makes him happy.
2. Monday: Daphne was looking good and ready to come home.  She looks just like the day I got her.  Initially I thought I was going to get by paying just one deductible, but they gave me a call today and I was politely asked to pay the second.
3. Tuesday: I ate a delicious meal at Nica's cafe.  I started with a delightful fall cocktail called a Brown-Eyed Girl which was a very sippable combination of whiskey, amaretto, and rose water.  After that came family-style macaroni and cheese followed by a green salad and a delicious sandwich called the "Mad Hatter".   The Mad Hatter: Portabella mushrooms drizzled with strawberry balsamic, caramelized onions, figs, spinach, dill-havarti.  Dessert was a chocolate-hazelnut beignet.
4. Wednesday: That's today.  I got to do a lot of teaching at work which is something I really enjoy.  In the morning I got to work with third-year medical students in the Family Med Clinic and in the afternoon I got to lead a small group with the first-year medical students.  My new Sorel snow boots also came in (a fashion tidbit which might actually be more exciting for the menfolk)I think the highlight was cuddling on the couch with Felipe eating caramel apples and watching Green Lantern.
5. Coming up:  I get to sleep in both days this weekend.  Next week will be spent moonlighting in Belleville.  The best part is the hours are Mon-Fri, which means I get to trade my everyday job for this new adventure!

Happy Weekend

Nothing new to report since my last post - which is just fine with me.  Between all the drama with the furnace and my car getting side-swiped its nice to report on nothing.


I wore several fun outfits this week, but by the time Fel and I carpooled home neither of us were in the mood for pictures.  My outfit always manages to look rather disheveled or wrinkled by the end of the day and I usually end up with some lunch or coffee dripped on the front.  I'll try to have some new outfit posts this week.


I did score some awesome things from target online.  All clothes and accessories are BOGO 50% off with an extra $5 off.  I think the yellow dress will be cheerful on a dreary fall day, especially with some warm tights.  And I'm in need of a longer black skirt, accidently shrunk my current one in the wash  - - - or maybe my legs have gotten longer???


For cooking I tried my hand at french onion soup which was fair.  Next time I'll save the effort and go to Panera.  I did pick up some cranberries and as soon as I get the time and energy I'm going to make some cranberry salad.  I need to expand my cranberry salad repertoire and find something that takes less than 3 days and hours of chopping. . . . . any suggestions?

Pumpkins

Sunday I had plans with the ladies to carve pumpkins and hang out.  I waited until the last minute to purchase a pumpkin, and drove around town for almost 2 hours before heading home in a grump.  What kind of places run out of pumpkins the day before Halloween?

Despite missing pumpkin carving with the ladies all was not lost.  Fel stepped up to the plate and carved pumpkins with me.  He even ate all of the seeds I roasted.  Unfortunately the pumpkins ended up being a midnight snack for the squirrels - not much of a trick;)

And one more Halloween night pic out with my girl Jen.

Rice Pudding

One of my favorite comfort foods is rice pudding -- warm, creamy, and full of delicious carbs.  As soon as the cooler weather hits I've got to make a batch and eat it up lickity split.  Warm off the stove or cold from the frig I just can't get enough.

Here's my fave recipe which is beyond easy to whip up in a flash -

• 4c milk
• 1 pkg (4-serving) cook&serve vanilla pudding
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1c instant rice, uncooked
• dried fruit: raisins, craisins, etc
• spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, etc

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan.  Cook and stir over medium heat until comes to a boil.  Remove from heat, cool,  enjoy!