Again, to keep my sanity, I'm going to keep track of "domestic" information here, too. So, this is my easy how-to on cleaning the microwave, a secret I learned somewhere, sometime in the last decade.
Step 1: Get a microwaveable coffee/tea mug and fill it with water. Put it in the microwave on high for 2 minutes.
Step 2: When the microwave beeps, take out the mug* and put a tea-bag in the hot water.
Step 3: Get a damp rag/paper towel and wipe away the now-steam-loosened food particles from the insides of the microwave.
Step 4: Drink your tea.
Ta-daa! Now that is multi-tasking if ever I could multitask. I am just amazed at what a lot of work a little bit of steam will do.
*The mug is hot. The water is hotter. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO BURN YOURSELF!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
2 Salads
As we're preparing for MWW to be gone, I'm trying to think also about meals I already know how to make, and I want to compile them somewhere. First, I'm starting with two salads that I have named after the people who introduced me to them.
Grimm Salad (green salad)
Ingredients:
Salad Greens
Chicken (leftovers, or boiled or grilled, or whatever)
Corn Chips
Ranch Dressing.
Directions: Toss the chicken and corn chips in the salad. Dress with ranch. Eat. Easy.
*This salad got a name because a co-worker of mine, Mrs. Grimm, would bring it for lunch. I had never thought to put my own chicken, even corn chips, on salad. It's delicious, but more importantly quick and easy.*
Hart Salad (pasta salad)
Ingredients:
1 pkg. rotini (spiral) pasta, cooked
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced (boiled is how I cook them)
1/2 bottle of creamy Italian salad dressing
grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
small can of sliced black olives
green onion, diced
Directions: Combine ingredients. Eat.
*This was named after another co-worker of mine who invited me over to dinner right before we moved to AL. This is her go-to salad. It is excellent as leftovers, and I generally leave out the onions, but they do add some good color and flavor. I also always get the colored rotini. Does it taste better? Maybe. But it's pretty.*
Grimm Salad (green salad)
Ingredients:
Salad Greens
Chicken (leftovers, or boiled or grilled, or whatever)
Corn Chips
Ranch Dressing.
Directions: Toss the chicken and corn chips in the salad. Dress with ranch. Eat. Easy.
*This salad got a name because a co-worker of mine, Mrs. Grimm, would bring it for lunch. I had never thought to put my own chicken, even corn chips, on salad. It's delicious, but more importantly quick and easy.*
Hart Salad (pasta salad)
Ingredients:
1 pkg. rotini (spiral) pasta, cooked
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced (boiled is how I cook them)
1/2 bottle of creamy Italian salad dressing
grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
small can of sliced black olives
green onion, diced
Directions: Combine ingredients. Eat.
*This was named after another co-worker of mine who invited me over to dinner right before we moved to AL. This is her go-to salad. It is excellent as leftovers, and I generally leave out the onions, but they do add some good color and flavor. I also always get the colored rotini. Does it taste better? Maybe. But it's pretty.*
Friday, January 14, 2011
Still
I've known about the 13.5 weeks for a while now. And I knew that there would be another phase of training to go along with it. What I didn't know was that that phase would be immediately on the heels of the long absencee. After JAOBC, MWW will be home for less than one week and then will turn around and be gone for most of six weeks. I think he will be able to come home on the weekends since he'll just be across the Georgia border from us, but still.
I'm still getting used to this idea. I know that there are families out there with their spouses/fathers in war zones for extended periods of time and that I am so blessed to still be in the training phase, where at least I know he'll be safe and out of harm's way. So, please, please, please don't misunderstand this as a whinefest.
I am blessed.
And I am extremely empathetic to families who are doing their best to weather deployments.
Even admitting that I'm in a better situation than many, it still sucks.
I'm still getting used to this idea. I know that there are families out there with their spouses/fathers in war zones for extended periods of time and that I am so blessed to still be in the training phase, where at least I know he'll be safe and out of harm's way. So, please, please, please don't misunderstand this as a whinefest.
I am blessed.
And I am extremely empathetic to families who are doing their best to weather deployments.
Even admitting that I'm in a better situation than many, it still sucks.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Game On
Since September, my weekend warrior (MWW from here on out) has been driving the two hours to go to drill for one weekend a month. In October, he found another WW who lives nearby-ish to carpool with him, so they split the driving and the gas. Her friendship has been a real blessing to our family, a real reflection on what type of people the Guard JAG program attracts.
Back on the homefront, I think we have adjusted pretty well. Some weekends it was survival mode, and others we cruised right on by. I'm pretty sure I skipped church one Sunday because it was overwhelming to get the kids up, bathed, and dressed by myself. Another Saturday I had to miss my friend's baby shower because leaving the kids with a sitter would be challenging at best. I missed out on a "no children" dinner invitation last night because I couldn't find a sitter, but frankly didn't want to go by myself. If I'm going to pay a sitter, I'm going to get to spend some time with my husband. None of those things are necessarily because of the NG, but the single parenting thing is a challenge on those weekends.
MWW joined the National Guard when the baby was a week old. Can you imagine how overwhelming that was to think about being left alone with my little one and my new toddler? It's not quite as daunting now, five months later. These adjustments over the last few months have mostly had to do with parenting two children, rather than just one, more than having a spouse gone for one weekend a month. It's just harder. Not impossible, but harder. I have two children under the age of two. Would it be easier if the kids were older? Who knows?
But it's about to get more challenging.
When he reported for drill this weekend, it was confirmed that MWW is leaving to go to his training (JAOBC) in four weeks. He will then be gone for 13.5 weeks, from the beginning of February to the beginning of May. I will be a single parent and a working mom. I HAVE to be organized. I HAVE to get my junk together in order to survive that adventure. I've been preparing since October on the off-chance that the government would get its own act together and send him to training with the rest of the lawyers who are scheduled to go. So it begins.
Game on.
Back on the homefront, I think we have adjusted pretty well. Some weekends it was survival mode, and others we cruised right on by. I'm pretty sure I skipped church one Sunday because it was overwhelming to get the kids up, bathed, and dressed by myself. Another Saturday I had to miss my friend's baby shower because leaving the kids with a sitter would be challenging at best. I missed out on a "no children" dinner invitation last night because I couldn't find a sitter, but frankly didn't want to go by myself. If I'm going to pay a sitter, I'm going to get to spend some time with my husband. None of those things are necessarily because of the NG, but the single parenting thing is a challenge on those weekends.
MWW joined the National Guard when the baby was a week old. Can you imagine how overwhelming that was to think about being left alone with my little one and my new toddler? It's not quite as daunting now, five months later. These adjustments over the last few months have mostly had to do with parenting two children, rather than just one, more than having a spouse gone for one weekend a month. It's just harder. Not impossible, but harder. I have two children under the age of two. Would it be easier if the kids were older? Who knows?
But it's about to get more challenging.
When he reported for drill this weekend, it was confirmed that MWW is leaving to go to his training (JAOBC) in four weeks. He will then be gone for 13.5 weeks, from the beginning of February to the beginning of May. I will be a single parent and a working mom. I HAVE to be organized. I HAVE to get my junk together in order to survive that adventure. I've been preparing since October on the off-chance that the government would get its own act together and send him to training with the rest of the lawyers who are scheduled to go. So it begins.
Game on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)