How timely

I made pumpkin pie with a friend tonight. We used How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. I was utterly disappointed. It took ages to set up, and was all custard, no pumpkin. I'm going back to Joy of Cooking.

What your mother has been doing for thirty years is sometimes exactly right, and does not need some hip young guy to improve upon it. That is a lesson for life. Especially when when you're going back to is heavy cream and brown sugar. How could I have doubted?

Alas

If only I weren't in charge of the church nursery. And had no children. And no end of money.

Then I'd spend every single weekend paddling the San Juans and eating, eating, eating, with these fine people.

Alas, I fear heaven will have to wait until the actual afterlife.

Romney or Huntsman?

I'm a good LDS woman. Behind whom am I throwing my support in 2012?

Um, in case you haven't been paying any attention at all, I'm a democrat. Born and bred.

Not that I think President Obama is perfect, or that none of the republican candidates might be okay. Maybe it's just habit, but the republican base scares the heck out of me. Luckily most of them still think we're a cult and wouldn't elect an LDS guy if you paid them. Thank heaven for small favors.

Crushed under the weight of my own perfection, Part 2

I'm sure you've all been wondering where I went between February and May. To the doctor, unfortunately. All kinds of weird symptoms, like a swollen face and numb left arm and a persistent gagging sensation. Did I have allergies? No. Multiple sclerosis? Nope. Lou Gehrig's disease? That was in the running for a while. I got in to see Doctor #5, an uber-specialist in this kind of thing. What did he say to me?

"Why so little Zoloft?"

Why, indeed. It turns out that stress can do all kinds of interesting things to you. My friends have had chronic migraines and secondary infertility attributed to stress. My body just acts like I'm going to die, and soon.

Overall, the news is 100% good. We've put in place some badly needed de-stressing mechanisms. Also, my funeral is all planned. Just give me another 70 years or so, and we'll have quite the party.

Coping

Two strategies in place right now.

1) Maybe if I go running every day I'll be so pumped up with endorphins that I won't need to sleep.

2) Maybe if I just keep eating, everything will be okay.

So far, it's a toss-up.

Crushed under the weight of my own perfection

I need some advice. I don't have a television to hypnotise the kids while I make dinner. I also make all our food from scratch. It takes time. I've tried to buy prepared food, but I can't. It's just too icky. So here's the question: What do you do with a one-year-old while you're trying to cook and he just wants to open all the cupboards and dump everything out on the floor? He does not like his high chair well enough to sit in it. His sister's idea of interacting with him is hitting him/running away screaming "He's going to touch me!" I'm going nuts. Thanks in advance.

Oatmeal

I eat it almost every day. Helps keep up my milk supply, is cheap (especially in 25 pound bags from the church), and tastes so, so, so good when done right. Here's my routine:

one part regular oatmeal (not quick, not instant, just oatmeal)
one and a half parts milk

Microwave for three or four minutes. I add brown sugar; add cinnamon too if you want to feel like you're having rice pudding for breakfast. Or fruit, or shredded coconut, or anything else delectable.

Here's what you don't want to do: buy oatmeal at McDonald's. Just don't. If that isn't intuitive for you, check out Mark Bittman's recent piece. Blech. Nothing worse that fast, cheap, healthy food turned into something vile and not really food at all.

Little rays of hope

1. The baby slept through the night on Wednesday. My first full night in bed since last spring. It was about time.

2. Got a cd in the mail from a cousin--his daughter's band. So nice to have something good to dance to with my good little sleeper. Check them out at www.molliesmusic.com Nothing better than a good baritone ukulele to spice up your evening.