It happens pretty rarely; a perfect storm of silly and surreal that can spin a normal day into one that leaves you giggling. It is the type of day that convinces me that the great creator has a sense of humor. It is the type of morning that amazes me that human beings are at the top of the food chain. It is the type of moment that leaves me looking for the hidden cameras.
This morning, on my way to sign my daughter up for preschool (at the crack of dawn on a Saturday I must add) I was left laughing and scratching my head in puzzlement.
First there was the woman walking her dog. The lady was a trooper to be sure given the 6 inches of snow on the ground and the bitterly cold winds. Her fluffy white dog, a little less than a trooper I guess. That is why her “walking” the dog meant carrying the dog down the street while she walked her self. Maybe the woman was scared to lose her little white fluff-ball in all of that snow, but she was the only one getting any exercise.
I turned the corner and slowly made my was to Starbucks when I saw the second surreal sight of the day. At first I thought it was a small child walking with his dad. As I pulled to the stop sign I realized that it was no child… It was a great dane, in a coat and hat. To be more clear, a matching coat and hat with his owner. To be EVEN more clear, a knitted red and white hat with a huge red pom pom on top for both of them and blue puffy nylon coat… for both of them.
Just when I thought it could not get any more odd in the world of dogs and men I saw the icing on the cake. A woman driving down the road with her chihuahua perched like a princess in the back windshield on a pink pillow… with a feather boa wrapped around her. The dog had the boa, not the woman. I am not sure which is weirder… but I have to respect the need for some marabou-feathery goodness on a cold Saturday morning.
All of this happened before I made it the half a mile to my local Starbucks, my caffeine haven. By the time I got there I ordered an extra shot of espresso, because obviously I had not left the world of dreams.
I don’t know what the rest of the day has in store for me, but it has got to be good! With a start like this, how could it go wrong? I have a new theory… pink marabou-ed chihuahuas, red hatted great danes or pampered white snowballs who can’t walk in the snow must be good luck. It is like the opposite of a black cat crossing your path. Maybe I will buy a lottery ticket.
So I have been missing from this blog for a little while and I am not really sure why. In fact, I am not sure what I have been doing with my time for the past couple of weeks. I guess that is the bliss of a break from school, you can waste time doing absolutely nothing. That is also the bummer of it, after a few weeks off from school I have nothing to show for it.
Well, not nothing exactly… I managed to beat the Legend of Zelda game that I borrowed from a friend. I know that killed some time. And, as an added bonus, if weird lizard-like monsters ever attack Castlewood I know exactly how to defeat them.
I think I spent the bulk of my time hibernating in my house, away from the snow and cold. That is the best part about winter, hiding from it under warm blankets with hot cocoa. It is also the perfect time for comfort food, the type that makes the whole house smell yummy. Last night I experimented with a new recipe, one that I call Chicken and Dumplings for Cheaters. It is pretty easy since the dumplings are made from refrigerated biscuit dough.
Chicken and Dumplings for Cheaters:
Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons of flour
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into chunks
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup of dry white wine
1 box of chicken broth (32oz.)
1 package of bacon bits
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
3 cups half-and-half
1 package of refrigerated biscuit dough
Directions
Sauté potatoes, onions, garlic and carrots in butter for 10 minutes until onions are translucent. Add flour and mix thoroughly, coating the vegetables until there are no lumps. Add the chicken, wine and chicken broth with poultry seasoning and simmer for 30 minutes. The broth should thicken and the alcohol will cook off in this time. Add half and half and bacon bits and simmer for an additional ten minutes. Tear the biscuits in half and drop into pot; be careful not to crowd the dumplings, they will expand as they cook. Too many dumplings in the pot and they won’t cook properly. Cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes, uncover and cook for another 15 minutes until the dumplings are cooked all the way through.
This recipe can also work in the crock-pot. Dump all of the ingredients in the crockpot except the half-and-half, bacon and dumplings. Cook on low all day and add the final three ingredients in the last 30 minutes of cooking.
Either way, try not to stir the mixture after the dumplings go in the pot or they will tear and break up. I recommend eating this in an old pair of sweatpants and a big pair of slipper socks. Comfy clothes always make comfort food taste a little bit better.
I am writing this post on a brand new laptop, which seems like good news. The circumstances that required the purchase of said laptop were less than ideal, however. Last Tuesday I had a bad day of epic proportions.
The day started innocently enough, Starbucks and school, a typical running-around morning. After preschool I walked into the house to discover the back door standing wide open. My beagle, demon that he is, managed to jiggle the lock and worm his way inside. Once inside he managed to tip over the trash can and help himself to rancid ravioli. He also spread coffee grounds all over the kitchen. How fun.
I started to clean the mess up and heard an awful sound from the office. The sound of sick beagle… on my brand new carpet. I think I moved in hyper-speed to the other room just in time to see my adorable dog soil my brand-spanking-new floor.
Madison, curious to see what the commotion was about came running behind me. She tripped over the cord to my laptop and sent it crashing from the table to the floor; shattering the screen. In the span of 15 minutes my day took a nosedive.
I found myself in an unusual and new position. For the first time in Madison’s life I felt completely out of control. I wanted to scream or cry or yell profanities; none of which I like to do in front of my kiddo. Greg wasn’t home so I couldn’t rely on him to take over parenting duties while I had a mental breakdown. I was on my own.
I asked Maddie to play in her room for a second, while explaining she wasn’t in trouble. I threw the dog outside and while I was there I let loose some very loud four letter words. I sent my husband a profanity laden text message and then I sat on the couch for a minute before I tackled the mess around me.
I bring this up because it is in this moment that I realized how hard parenting can be sometimes. It is these moments that can set the tone for how a child deals with conflict and mistakes, how they chose to handle issues in life. It is also in these moments that it is hardest to keep your cool.
It is kind of hard to admit that for a split second I wanted nothing more than to yell at my child or hit my dog for being so bad. I wanted to yell at my husband for not closing the door all the way and I wanted to kick myself for leaving the laptop cord hanging off of the table. But in truth, these things just happen. No matter how crappy, it is just a part of life.
I had to remind myself that it was just carpet, and with a little cleaning I was able to get the stain out. I was able to sweep up all of the coffee grounds and get my kitchen clean again. And I was able to buy a new laptop, one that I have to admit, I like a little more than my old one. All of this was just stuff, and it is either fixable or replaceable.
My daughters peace of mind is not as easily fixed and I am glad that I did not damage it by losing my cool in front of her. I can’t guarantee that I will always take the right track or that my daughter won’t hear me slip a four letter word every now and then. But in this moment, right now, I am glad that I didn’t react the way I wanted to. I guess that is why parenting is so hard, because it involves years of putting your own needs and basic instincts aside for the betterment of your child.
When I walked into my daughters bedroom, happily playing with her princess dolls I had a realization. Parenthood is hard because it is worth it.
a life just ordinary 