Dwindling options

Cornell has made offers. USC has made offers. Arizona has made offers. We've been rejected from Stanford and UPenn.

This translates to there being slim chances of being wait-listed at Cornell, USC, and Arizona. Which could be good, but it's a BIG risk. At least compared to jumping on the possibility of an offer from University of Washington in St. Louis (let's call it UWash for short, k?)

Wait lists do not move quickly. Unless we are absolutely first on a list, we're more likely to be having twins than we are to get into any of those schools.

Josh still isn't sure he wants to go to UWash. St. Louis seems to be a really nice place to live. Low cost-of-living, decent stipend, the university is less than 10 miles from a temple, and public transportation seems to be good. But the program is small and doesn't have a reputation, meaning Josh will have the burden of demonstrating excellence if he wants to work abroad post-tenure. No riding on the coat-tails of a brand name.

So we're ruminating.

In the meantime, enjoy this excellent recipe from Our Best Bites for Chicken Taquitos. My friend made it true to the recipe; I substituted yogurt for the cream cheese, and refried beans with black beans for the chicken. It was very, very tasty. I also added a diced jalapeno.

YOU MUST EAT THIS

Holy cow, I have just come across the best alfredo recipe in the history of alfredo recipes.

The best part? It's also the simplest recipe I've ever seen. Josh ate three helpings of this last night. If it weren't for pregnancy nausea/heartburn/you-name-it, I would have had more myself.

Recipe from goodLife (eats), who adapted it from Cook's Illustrated:

2 cups half-and-half
5 TBSP butter
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
ground black pepper
pinch of nutmeg

1 lb fettuccine

Combine 1 and 1/2 cups half-and-half with butter, melt over LOW, LOW heat, while you cook the pasta. As soon as it's fully melted, turn off the heat. Drain cooked pasta, toss it in the pan with your sauce, turn the heat back on low and add remaining ingredients. Stir until sauce starts to thicken slightly.

It will look like too much soupy sauce, but if you serve it on warm plates or in warm bowls, the pasta stays warm and continues to absorb sauce, and ends up being the perfect amount.

KEY TIPS: LOW LOW HEAT! High heat makes it gluey. WARM BOWLS! Lukewarm pasta is gross.

Please, enjoy. Because this is seriously amazing.

Relief

This week is going MUCH better than last week. I'm feeling very grateful for that.

Not much to report. Today I've eaten nothing but hummus and pita bread. Tomorrow, who knows? Feeling kind of cruddy, but managing to start getting the house back under control.

Josh wants to cut out poultry and red meat for a while (we've already cut out pork). Should be interesting.

The rest of my day will probably be spent trying to get this house in order! And maybe we'll go over to a friend's house to play.

Ultrasound

Well, the fluid levels looked great, and THERE'S ONLY ONE BABY! For some reason, I've been paranoid it would be twins.

The tech said she would bet it was a boy, but it's too early to be certain.

And last night? Well, let's just say I didn't get more than 30 minutes of sleep at any given moment. And I only got a few of those. We'll see how long I last until I ship the kids off somewhere for a nap.

Oh, and Josh is sick. Poor Josh, who lost a day to emotional crap instigated by someone in his program, and lost two afternoons watching the boys for 3 hours each time while I had doctor's appointments. Poor Josh, who has 8 tests in the next 7 days.

Say a prayer for him, eh?

This Week

This week has been a rough one. I slacked on Monday and read a novel instead of going grocery shopping or doing laundry, both of which could easily be put off at least a day or two. Tuesday I felt a little funny, had no appetite, did 5 loads of laundry, and a 2-hour dr's appointment with 5 vials of blood drawn. Tuesday night I couldn't eat, puked anything I did try to eat, and since then have generally felt gross.

Today I went grocery shopping, prepped for and taught playgroup for about a dozen rowdy kids, and now Leo is napping. I have to do the dishes, make focaccia bread, butternut squash gnocchi, a pie, and clean the house by 5 p.m. as we are having company for dinner.

Tomorrow I have a valentine's day party for the kids and then an ultrasound. Then I will come home and eat chocolate pudding.

I feel more tired just thinking about it. Better get cracking.

Connections

According to the Hallmark ad on PBS, Connections Make Life Meaningful.

I have to say, I agree.

Today has not been one of my better Sundays. The kids were up at 6, and I was not ready to go. We made it to church, where I missed most of the meetings for one reason or another.

But when I look at one of my boys smiling up at me, the enormous mess he just made seems unworthy of anger. When I express frustration, and Guy hollers back with, "I'm TRYING!" it's a slap in the face that his independence is worth encouraging.

So today as I was kneading the focaccia for dinner, as the rest of my family napped, I pondered the very special connection I've always felt to my maternal grandmother. I'm sure she wasn't always patient, but everyone knew she loved them fiercely. Her bread may not have always turned out, but she kept feeding her family. She very surely felt exhausted some days, but she kept fighting for that which she valued.

So to all my friends who are struggling, just keep at it. Right now is the chance to do great things, if we seize it. Perhaps it will only be seen by one soul, but I'm certain that soul is valuable.

1-2-3 Magic

My friend Tarmy lent me her copy of 1-2-3 Magic, Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 by Thomas Phelan, and I just finished it this morning.


It has changed my parenting philosophy a bit, and I'm pleased.

The 1-2-3 rule: No unnecessary talking (by the parent), and no emotion. When your kid needs to stop a behavior, you simply say, "That's 1" (pointing out what needs to stop, if necessary. Wait a few seconds to give them a chance, before proceeding to 2. On 3, they get a time out, or a time out alternative.

The book also goes into tactics for encouraging positive behavior, and ways of improving our relationships with our children so that the majority of the time we spend with them is enjoyable instead of frustrating and full of discipline that's only half working.

So far it's working really well. I'd highly recommend the read, especially the last few chapters focusing on strengthening your relationship.