Friday, November 11, 2011

The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ 11.11.11

To end the week, a little Simple Woman's Daybook...

Outside my window...
sinking autumn sun (I love the angle of late-afternoon autumn sunlight!), mostly-bare trees. It's been a crisp but gorgeous day--perfect for this morning's outing to the Veterans' Day parade!

I am thinking...
that this quiet afternoon is an unexpected blessing--with not getting home from downtown until after 3:00, I didn't think there was any way I'd get Jude down for a nap!

I am thankful for...
the men and women who have sacrificed to give me freedoms I take for granted--for example, a friend of mine noted on Facebook today that she was thankful for "the freedom to choose how many children to have, how to have them, and what and how to teach them." Things I hadn't considered, but am glad about. I forget that others have made tremendous sacrifices so that I can live the way I do.

From the kitchen...
my house smells glorious because I have homemade granola in the dehydrator--haven't made any in ages and we LOVE that stuff. Earlier this week I did some experimental baking: Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream as well as Nutella filling and/or icing for some of them. It was a fun and delicious experiment :) Tonight and tomorrow are both just C.O.R.N., as Home-Ec 101 likes to call it (Clean Out Refrigerator Night)--we need to eat up the enchilada casserole I threw together as a way to salvage beef molé leftovers (I do not recommend that recipe, though I was proud of my improvised casserole based on a friend's idea), sloppy lentils (I do recommend that one) and/or the baked potato soup I made last night (my own combination of this new recipe and an old one of my mom's).

All day tomorrow we (okay, Steve) will be smoking a 17-pound turkey, which is currently sitting in brine in the fridge. Good times. Soon I hope to try out Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream and/or Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes. Frosting cupcakes is NOT my gift--they look rather sad and disgusting--but oh well if they taste yummy :) Ooh, just thought of one other recent new recipe--I can highly recommend Smitten Kitchen's red wine chocolate cake, after making it last Friday, and the whipped mascarpone topping is fantastic.

I am wearing...
jeans, this shirt in Tidal Teal Heather (got it last Christmas and love it--and wow I am a little link happy today!), socks. Need to go put on my slippers; my toes are cold.

I am creating...
a clean desk. I miraculously found a desk underneath the mountain of vaguely-desk-shaped clutter in our office last Friday, but I still haven't completely finished the job and dusted.

I am going...
to get off the computer and go try to tackle that kitchen as soon as I finish this blog post.

I am reading...
mostly just Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies and Baptism: Three Views. I recently finished and *adored* Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl, and also enjoyed David Halberstam's Firehouse. I've been dipping into A Long Obedience in the Same Direction and Positive Discipline for Preschoolers a few times. And in the car or while I'm alone in the house doing mindless chores, I'm listening to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I had absolutely no interest in the Harry Potter books until I read this Andrew Peterson article, and now I'm really enjoying the audiobooks (I'm about a third of the way through #2).

Bible-wise, I'm mostly still in 2 Chronicles, Proverbs, and Mark (using King's Cross as a sort of commentary).

I am hoping...
to celebrate Advent/Christmas in some really special and meaningful ways this year. More on that soon.

I am hearing...
popping noises on Elijah's monitor. I wish I knew what caused that. It's super annoying.

Around the house...
the kitchen is a disaster (see above). I've got some cleaning and decluttering to do before our friends come over on Sunday!

One of my favorite things...
Jude signing "nurse"--melt my heart! He doesn't always do it when he *wants* to nurse, except at bedtime. But often while he already is nursing, he'll sign "nurse" (we use the sign for "milk"--opening and closing your fist) and then grin at me.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
just a quiet Friday night/Saturday with my guys, playing catch-up around the house. Looking forward to having some friends over on Sunday night. Then Steve and I have a date to use a Pad Thai voucher from Living Social next week, yippee!

A picture thought I am sharing...
Elijah and me, standing on the Shelby Street pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland River. Elijah is obsessed with bridges, and this was the first time we'd ever explored this one downtown. A great end to our morning/afternoon watching the Veterans' Day parade and enjoying a picnic lunch at Riverfront Park! Not sure why E looks so angry in the photo--he was thrilled to be on the big bridge. Three and four are not very photogenic ages, in my experience :)


3 comments:

JRae said...

Go Andrew Peterson! Spread the Harry Potter love! :P
I'll let you borrow my icing bags and giant star tip for your cupcakes if you want to. I'll even throw in a tutorial for free ;)

Amy said...

I was totally thinking I needed a tutorial next time you come over!

Danielle said...

You are on a cupcake thing! ;) I'm making more granola lately too. I think I'm going to stop buying cold cereal and just stick to granola, if I can keep it up. So yummy and better for you!

I have to pick up Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl. I know you said you thought I'd like it. I still can't really make out what it's about, though. It's probably just something you have to read.

Ahhh. Audio books are my new best friend! I can't seem to get fiction read otherwise these days! Perfect for while I'm cooking dinner, I've found.