January 27, 2012

Outside Temp: 26 F (still a little windy, but at least I'm pretty sure the house won't fall down)

What I cooked today:
Pitas: I'm trying to figure out exactly how to make pitas.  We found a recipe, along with pictures describing each stage, that I tried today.  About 1/2 of the pitas came out fine.  The other half were either too thin, making them crispy like chips, or too thick, making them not rise in the middle.  I guess I'll just have to keep trying.  The good news is that they taste good!

Pancakes and Bacon: Spoiled family of mine had bacon and pancakes this morning.  My buttermilk will expire in a few days, and I wanted to make sure I used it all up before it goes bad.  And bacon is always a wonderful treat, since I hate dealing with the grease and mess.

Spaghetti Sauce: I didn't want to get caught coming home this evening and having to figure out what to make for dinner.  Once we got home, I just had to put on the pot of water for the pasta and about 15 minutes later, we sat down to a wonderful dinner!

Update:
As you can probably tell from the amount of cooking I did today, I was in the kitchen from the time I woke up until we left for Stanford.  But it was worth it!  A great breakfast, a great dinner and I even had extra pitas to send up to Grandma's house!

Patrick, Allen and I went into Stanford today, to run some errands.  The boys got their hair cut at the local barber shop, we got some checks deposited at the bank there, and we finished up some business stuff with the lawyer.

Allen got his hair cut first.  Once he was done, we asked if they could fit Patrick in.  The barber (totally awesome guy) said he had sometime right after, but he could work on Patrick about 30 minutes later.  So we headed over to the local deli for some lunch.  Just after our food arrived, the (again totally awesome) lady who works there came over with her cell phone.

"Since we are a full service community here, I wanted to let you know the barber shop called to let you know that he's ready for you."

Oh my gosh!  Are you kidding me?  So stinking awesome. 

Of course, the barber shop is across the street from the deli.  And he knew we were headed over there.  But still!  Who gets that kind of service anywhere else!

After the men were all cleaned, we headed back to the school for the basketball game.  Of course, Allen spent more time hanging out with the kids than watching the game.  And Patrick was chatting with one of our neighbors at the concession stand, about the latest issues with the house.  Oh well, I enjoyed the company of the ladies I was seated around, and cheered for the team.  We got a little testy over some calls the referees made, but I guess that's just how things go. 

I've been around enough that when Patrick (finally) chose to join me, I could point out who was whom, and which parents belonged with which student.  Okay, I couldn't name them all, but I could probably do about 1/2.  Not too bad!  I should have it down by the end of the year!

The septic draining guy is coming out tomorrow (THANK GOODNESS!).  Of course, he's supposed to be here right around the time we're at church, so I'm not sure how we're going to deal with that.  I just can't wait to take a 10 minute shower again  (I actually set the timer today, and by 5 minutes, I had barely put conditioner on my hair... I finally shut off the water at about 8 minutes.  And I felt guilty the whole time.)  Oh, and having toilets that actually flush.  And being able to do the dishes, and the laundry (the parents are kind enough to let us use their laundry for the last 2 days).  Ok, I really don't want to do either the laundry or the dishes, but I kind of miss being able to.  Ugh, did I really just say that!