Renewal

The beginning of the year is a time of renewal for me - even more than the start of the school year. Fall is great because the "normal" routine resumes, but you're heading into the holiday season soon, and the start of the school year is always a busy time. So when the new year rolls around and the holidays are over, I start thinking about household projects.

This year, we are redecorating Rugrat's room and re-landscaping the front yard. Those things were actually planned several months ago, and we are plugging along at that.

We're moving the old furniture out of Rugrat's room (a very nice bunk bed/desk/dresser combination that I bought when he turned two) and replacing it with a drawing/drafting table, a new bed, and a bedside table. He decided that since he hangs up most of his clothing, he'd prefer a drawing table to a new dresser, and he's using the elfa drawer system and some underbed storage for the remainder of his clothes (pajamas, shorts, underwear & socks). We're planning to stain the new IKEA bed frame black, and paint his walls in two shades of slate blue. The curtains will also be replaced, with new black & white curtains. I bought him a new duvet cover & sham set at IKEA as well - a very Nightmare Before Christmas-ish black and white print. He's got new lamps and a task chair too (all in black).

The front yard is Mr Wonderful's big project, and I know he's looking forward to some warmer weather so he can start on the changes.

This year we also decided to upgrade our living room a bit, as an early anniversary present. It started with a new big screen tv, and progressed on to an upgraded sound system, since the old one wasn't compatible. Then we decided we needed a new entertainment center, because the old one is far too tall, but the TV won't fit inside it - so we ordered a new tv stand that will be the perfect size, and looks a bit more modern, with a nice dark stain on the wood. Now we just need a great storage ottoman for the living room, and we'll be all set. (Well, that and a universal remote, because four remotes is just way too many to have to wrangle.)

Pictures will be up once we get the projects finished! What are your big projects going to be this year?

Birthday Risotto

I made this a few weeks ago, and Rugrat liked it so much he asked for seconds! And when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner this year, this is what he chose. :) Risotto only seems difficult if you've never made it before. And this version is fancy enough to serve at a dinner party (although maybe I'd use fresh asparagus instead of frozen peas, in that case).

Birthday Risotto
2 Tbsp EVOO
1 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, diced
1 c arborio rice
1/2 c dry white wine
4-5 c chicken stock
1 c tiny bay shrimp
3/4 c frozen peas
1 c shredded parmesan cheese
1 tsp white truffle oil
salt & pepper

Put the chicken stock in a pot over medium-high heat until it's simmering, then reduce temperature to maintain a simmer. Meanwhile, in a large, heavy-bottomed pan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the diced onion, season with salt & pepper, and saute for about 7-8 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the rice, stirring to coat all the grains in the oil/butter, and turn the heat down just a smidge, to medium-low. After a minute or so, add the wine. When the wine is nearly all absorbed, add 1/2 - 1 cup of the simmering chicken stock. Stir frequently, until the chicken stock is nearly all absorbed. You'll know it's time to add more stock when you run your spoon along the bottom of the pan and you can see the bottom of the pan for a split second before the liquid rolls back over it. Keep adding stock, about a cup at a time, stirring frequently, until you've got about a cup of stock left in your pot. Taste the rice, and if it is still very raw, you'll want to add a bit more chicken stock to your simmering pot, because one more cup won't be enough. It takes me about 25-30 minutes to cook the rice. (One more way to tell if your rice is almost done: it starts absorbing the liquid MUCH slower -- your last addition of stock seems to take forever to absorb.) When the rice is al dente, throw in the shrimp & frozen peas. Let the risotto get hot again, turn off the heat, and then add your parmesan cheese. Finish with a drizzle of the white truffle oil.

Prop 8 Trial

While I am disappointed that the Supreme Court refused to allow the Prop 8 trial in SF to be videotaped and uploaded to YouTube, I am able to keep updated by checking in on the Prop8trial Twitter feed list. There are several people who are live-tweeting the trial and anniekate76 has made a list of some of them.

Best Gmail tip ever

I generally import all of my Gmail into my Outlook and read it there, but doing that leaves the messages "unread" on the Gmail server (which is especially annoying when I check mail on my iPhone). So, I periodically go into Gmail and clean it all up - labeling various messages, deleting junk, and marking messages "read". But it means that I have to scroll through pages and pages of mail, since some of it is already marked "read" due to various filters I've set up. I finally found a great trick to use to pull up just those messages that I need to address: in the text field above the mailbox, enter "is:unread" and click the Search Mail button. This will bring up only those "unread" emails.

Resolve

In 2010, I resolve to:

• Go to the gym regularly. Really. I am feeling fat, lazy, and apathetic, and I know the only solution is to actually go to the gym on a regular basis.
• Knit more projects for myself. This year I made 2 things for myself - the shawl that I wore at my wedding, and a Liesl sweater that either needs some really severe blocking, or to be frogged completely, because it's too small. How many knitted items did I finish in 2009? TWENTY-SIX. That's an average of one every other week. And only two of those were for me. So this year, I will knit myself a Slinky Ribs sweater and a cabled cardigan (maybe Central Park Hoodie, maybe something else).
• Along the same lines, I will start my Christmas knitting earlier (like, in January) -- I barely got my sister's package to her in time.
• I will be more thankful for all the blessings in my life. I am truly lucky to have a wonderful husband, two talented and well-behaved children, a steady paycheck, no major health problems, and a comfortable place to live. Plus I can afford little luxuries, like semi-regular pedicures, so I think I'm much better off than most people these days.
• I will try to be more patient with the kids and less grumpy. I'm really hoping that regular exercise will help with that.

What are your resolutions for the new year & decade?

Baby, it's cold outside

Damn cold. Freeeeezing cold. It is so cold, in fact, that my feet do not thaw out, like, ever. I may be wearing fuzzy socks, I may be wearing fur-lined slippers, but my feet, they do not care. No, they stubbornly remain footcicles, all day long.

It is so cold here, that it snowed for the first time in like 30 years. We might get a few little bitty flakes of snow on the odd winter day, but it never sticks. Our snow level came down to about 300 feet a couple of nights ago, and stuck around for hours! Mt Diablo is blanketed in snow like a freaking alpine summit! It is crazy weird, you guys.

In retaliation, I've been making lots of comfort food: mac 'n' cheese with ham, roasted chicken, etc. You know, all that stick-to-your-ribs kind of food. The kind that piles on the pounds so you have a little bit of insulation to get you through until spring.

Oh, and knitting, lots and lots of knitting. I'm trying really hard to get my Christmas projects done in time to send them out to the various recipients.

The sickies

Seems like, for the past month, at least one person in this household has been sick at any given time. We just keep taking turns.

First, Tomboy and I had a cold, and a week later, Rugrat got the cold. Then, last Thursday night, I began having excruciating pain in my jaw whenever I ate anything. I brushed my teeth and almost passed out from the pain. (Really. I had to sit down on the ground because everything went black.) I went to the doctor on Friday afternoon and was diagnosed with an infected lymph gland. Ouch. Antibiotics, anti-inflammatories & painkillers for me. Plus, I still couldn't eat anything -- anything other than water that touched the right side of my mouth caused shooting pain. So for a couple of days I looked like an idiot, tilting my head to the left while trying to eat soup. Yesterday I woke up and I could brush my teeth and eat again without pain, thank goodness. Now I'm just dealing with the side effects of the Augmentin, which aren't pretty -- but at least I can eat.

Then a couple of days ago, Mr Wonderful started feeling icky. It began with a cough and body aches. Last night he came home from work a bit early...with a fever of 102. Poor guy. He spent the night tossing and turning, until his fever finally broke in the wee hours of the morning. I hope he's feeling better when he wakes up.

And this morning, in addition to my antibiotic-inflicted bowels, I've developed a cough. A rough, chesty cough, just like Mr Wonderful has. Oh, joy.

I'm just really ready for everyone in this house to be healthy again.

Waving

I got an invite to Google Wave a couple of days ago, and I've been poking around in it ever since, finding good public waves to follow and trying to figure out how I can best use it. So far it seems to function best as a forum/chat hybrid. It's still really buggy and has scaling problems for sure, but I think it could be very useful as a project management tool.

Are you on Google Wave? If so, how are you using it?

Last night

While doing the dishes, Rugrat decided to regale us all with a joke. And it began, "Once there was this guy with no belly button, but he had one goooooolden nut..."

(After we picked ourselves up off the floor and stopped laughing our asses off, we finally found out that he was referring to a machine nut, as in "nuts & bolts.")

Earlier in the evening, I overheard this exchange while the kids were playing Guitar Hero: "How come you rock so much?" Heh.

Mr Wonderful and I are truly enjoying these fleeting moments before they become full-fledged teenagers in a couple of years. They are just so much fun right now.

Snapped!

My nerves are definitely frayed these days. I've got a ton of work to do and I'm sick with a cold. Tomboy has been home with me the past three days because she's got the cold too, and she's coughing every couple of minutes. Cough syrup isn't doing a bit of good.

But that's not really what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about things that have snapped -- like a few of the supports on the bay bridge! The bridge is shut down indefinitely until repairs can be completed. Can you imagine? I'm so glad I don't have to commute into the city. The BART trains must be packed.

And what else has snapped recently? Oh yeah, apparently the Guvernator has snapped. In a recent veto letter to congress is a hidden message: if you read the left-hand letters of the message vertically, it spells out "F*CK YOU." A Freudian slip? Or has he just had enough?