Wednesday, November 30, 2011

A Day in the Life - Part 2

It's been over a week since I meant to finish this, but eh, perfect example of my current life.  Most days, things don't go exactly as planned.  Now where did we leave off?

1:10 p.m. - We arrive home from our walk and I lug a still sleeping Sammy into his bedroom where it's dark and quiet.  I quickly check my e-mail and blogs.

1:20 - Friends are stopping by tomorrow so I do a chore usually reserved for Tuesdays - sweeping and washing the living room and hallway floors.  I missed doing this last week anyway - oops.

1:50 - A friend recently had a baby, so I want to make her some pasta sauce.  A family friend did this for me after I had Sammy, and it was so great to be able to just heat up some homemade sauce when we were in the mood for a quick pasta dinner.  In this case, I am making Jamie Oliver's seven-vegetable tomato sauce.  I know, I know - it's from Parenting magazine.  Next I'll be making rice krispie treats in the shape of pumpkins (um, which I did actually do).

Anyway, I've made this sauce before and it's absolutely delicious.  And ridiculously healthy.  There are something like three servings of your daily vegetable allotment in every one serving of sauce.

2:28 - I just finished chopping up a crapload of vegetables.


I sneak down the hall to make sure Sammy is still breathing.  He is.

2:36 - I have no idea how all these veggies will cook in one pot.  I have actually doubled the recipe so as to make enough sauce for my friend AND for us.  Perhaps this was not the best idea....  Then I remember my stock pot!


2:43 - A few days ago, I bought kuri squash, which I've never used before, thinking I'd make Dorie Greenspan's kuri squash soup.



All squash-souped out, I decide to use it in the sauce, which calls for butternut squash anyway.  However, I have no idea how to treat it.  I pull out my go-to book when I have a food question, Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.



The book is not too helpful as it only talks about winter squash in a general manner.  Regardless, I treat it as such, peel it, and then pull out the seeds.  Doesn't it look like a mango once peeled?


The recipe calls for grated squash, but I'm tired of grating, and hope small chopping will be suffice.

By now, the veggies smell delicious, and I start to doubt that my small-chopped squash will soften enough.  Oh well.

Also, a weird crackly orange coat has developed on my hand from holding the squash.  It will not come off with soap and water.  Hmm.

 
3:05 - Waiting for the squash to cook a little.  It's 3:00, which means it's time for tea.  My Capresso electric tea kettle is perhaps among my top three favorite appliances.  I absolutely love it.  And this is my favorite Christmas-time mug, which I got from Starbucks a few years ago.  It most likely was a gift from my mom.


I check on Sammy again.  He's now been asleep for two hours, and considering the fact that he didn't nap earlier, I could potentially get another hour out of him.  This could work in my favor as my sauce needs to simmer for another 30 minutes.


3:19 - My tea is ready, and today is special as we have a leftover s'mores cupcake that James and I got at a bakery the day before.  I'll try to only eat half.


3:20 - I'm enjoying my tea and flip on 90210, which is on the Soap Network.  I try not to watch TV during the day, especially with Sammy around, but occasionally I sneak in a few minutes.  I remain hopelessly addicted to 90210 reruns even though I've seen every episode at least 10 times.


(In this episode, Donna is being stalked by a California University camera man.  A classic episode.)

3:25 - Aforementioned only-eat-half-the-cupcake attempt is a fail.  I check on Sammy again.

3:54 - One more check on a still sleeping Sammy before using the immersion blender on my sauce.


4:02 - The sauce tastes pretty good, but I need to let it cool before I know for sure.  Decide three hours is long enough for Sammy to nap and go wake him up.  As I'm about to do so, he starts making peeps anyway.  Good timing!

4:12 - One poopy diaper later (I'll spare you the picture), it's time for his next bottle.  But first, a quick pic.  My boy can sit on the couch unassisted!


4:27 - We're done with the bottle.  Sammy spits up on the couch.  (Thank goodness for an easy-to-clean fabric.)  We move on to his bedroom to play.  I have him practice sitting up with the Boppy and he does great!  We call Queenie to let her know.  She's excited!


4:43 - After an exhaustive sitting workout, Sammy has moved on to laying on his back and sucking on his fingers while talking to me.


It's a little difficult to comprehend every word he says due to the fingers being in his mouth, but I think it has something to do with Mommy being the prettiest girl in the world.

4:53 - We go back to our new daily activity - rolling.  We practice rolling to the right side, but to little avail.  To the left it is.

5:05 - Daddy is home!


James takes Sammy for a bit while I portion out the sauce.  (It's still delicious.)


5:30 - Sammy jumps in his jumperoo (a la Flashdance style) while James and I discuss our days (and I show him via photo).


5:38 - I boil some pasta and remember the laundry that has been neglected since earlier in the day while James cheers on a happy, jumping Sammy.

5:45 - Sammy is finally done jumping.  What a workout this kid got!

6:00 - I scarf down dinner while Sammy goes back to his activity mat.  I finish my bowl in about two minutes flat.


James leaves for basketball, which is every Monday evening.  Sometimes it makes for a long day, but thankfully, Sammy napped well so I'm not as eager to pass him off as I sometimes am.  (Only sometimes.)

Sammy becomes unhappy on his mat.  I don't blame him!  He's been on it a lot today.  I take his pants and socks off.  Oddly enough, playing with less layers sometimes keeps him occupied a bit longer.

6:11 - We move to the couch.  I put on the news and begin folding our clothes while Sammy sits in the corner.  Sans pants still.


Sammy kicks and plays with his hands while I narrate every piece of clothing that is being folded - an effort to keep him further occupied.

6:20 - It's bath time!


I then dry Sammy off, apply lotion, and we play on his changing table for a few minutes.  Lately with his new love of rolling, I can't look the other way for a second!

We then attempt to do some reading, but after two books, Sammy is clearly not into it.  We skip ahead to his last bottle of the night.



7:08 - Sammy is down for the count a bit early tonight.


7:15 - I put comfortable clothes on and settle onto the couch with my laptop and Extra on in the background.  I'm ready to relax and start drafting Part 1 of this blog entry.

8:00 - Continue with blogging.  Flip to a rerun of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

9:00 - Ditto.  By now, James is home.

9:45 - Am finally done with blog entry and switch my concentration to the new Real Housewives of Beverly Hills episode.  It's been a great, full day.

3 comments:

  1. I just printed out the recipe for the spaghetti sauce...although I'm thinking it might be impossible without an immersion blender... squeeze one of those chubby cheeks for me on the samwich! xoxo

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  2. I haven't tried that sauce yet either--even WITH an immersion blender in the house! Those little fingers are a constant 'companion'! Great job with the sitting--he's a strong little boy!

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  3. Whew! I'm exhausted just reading about your day! LOVE love love the football socks and hat!

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