Year of Jubilee

My dad turned fifty this week. So now we call him Old Man. Or sometimes Methuselah. He doesn't seem that old, even though he says he feels like it.

We had a wonderful birthday celebration at our house. Amazing balloons courtesy of sis-in-law, as well as some lollipops that said, "50 sucks." Good one.

Mom made dinner, and I made a blueberry pie, courtesy of another library-borrowed cookbook, The Pie and Pastry Bible.

What a day

Today I made a delicious looking chicken pot pie to take to a friend who just had a baby. (Super cute baby, by the way.) Then on my way over to deliver it, it slid off the front seat and smashed on the floor. Totally unsalvageable.

On the plus side, I was thankful that at least I had bought the crust. If I'd made it myself there would have been tears.

Also on the plus side, when I got home I brought the floor mat from the car inside and scraped off the top layer of the pot pie. And yes, I sure did eat it. Take that, you naughty car and chicken pot pie. Even though you conspired against me, at least someone got dinner out of my mishap.

Now it's 1am and I am still awake and I don't know why. So I looked it up on webmd and self diagnosed myself with heartburn-squirmy baby-sweet tea-2 hour nap-and general uncomfortableness-induced insomnia.

I should probably try to sleep now before I accidentally demolish anything else.

36 weeks

What you want

What you want is more pictures of this guy, right?

Figures

Tonight we asked Sharks what he was thankful for during family worship.

He said, Oh I'm thankful for youse.

I re-asked him because I wasn't sure what he meant.

He said, Youse.

I thought it was so cute that he was thankful for me (and Chet I assumed). You know, that kind of feeling where your heart kinda swells and you feel all happy inside.

Then Chet pointed out that right next to me was a pair of Sharks' underwear.

Which he happens to call "U's."

So really he was not thankful for his mother, just his undies.

Wedding Ramblings

My friend Megan got married this weekend and Chet and I travelled (alone!) to the wedding. My parents kept the boys, who both got sick while we were gone. I cannot imagine how miserable it would have been if we had taken them with us!

It was so good to have the time with just the two of us. Ten hours there and back just flew by. I think we only stopped once on the way there (which is a miracle in and of itself what with my pregnant bladder and all.)

Somehow, we kept waking up early - the first day at 6, the second day at 5. (And to think that I was so looking forward to sleeping in since we had no responsibilities.) Oh well, more time together. We were cracking each other up (all you can do is laugh when you are awake before daylight), and Chet said, "I forgot how much fun it is to be with you!" which made us laugh even more.

It is just that so often our days are spent in parenting and studying (and sleeping if we're lucky.) How easy it is to forget to enjoy each other amidst the craziness.

Anyway, we got to Atlanta on Friday, just in time for me to get fitted for my bridesmaid's dress. The seamstress (actually it was a dude - so does that make him a seamster?) made the dress in 2 hours, then did the alterations in fifteen minutes. It was amazing.

Here's a picture I nabbed from Facebook. Check out the couple making out in the corner. Ha.

I loved seeing old friends and simply enjoyed being at the wedding with my husband.

Cookbook-ing

I've been telling Chet recently how it can be difficult to get out with the boys. My pain gets worse when I lift things, including the kiddos, so we try to stay home when we can, or only go places where we have help on the flip side.

Yet somehow, the last two times I have taken them to the library, I have managed to come home with what Chet is convinced are the biggest books in the library.

Which just happen to be cookbooks.

And you thought I only read fiction.

Check out this one, last week's BIG BOOK: 1080 Recipes by Ines and Simone Ortega. It's a whopper. It has some great illustrations and I enjoyed reading it. It just wasn't really all that inspiring. Maybe I have been jaded by Pioneer Woman's enthusiasm, but 1080 Recipes is just a matter-of-fact collection of recipes. No nonsense.

And then today: The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. I haven't gotten too far into it yet, but so far I have really appreciated the introduction. (Ha. Clearly not too far into it.) But I like his perspective of trying to provide a collection of typical, traditional, international recipes without losing the integrity of the food.

What cookbooks do you use? Or which ones have you read and enjoyed? My go-to cookbook is The Joy of Cooking. And as fun as online recipe hunting is, there is something I like about perusing a cookbook in search of a winner for dinner.