50 Degree Weather!

WARM BREEZES
Today the temperatures topped at 50 degrees-finally spring weather here in Kodiak. Patrick has written many a post about "crust cruising" which is another word for skate skiing on top of ungroomed springtime snow. He is one of the few people around who have been excited about the long winter. I am personally ready for sandals, barbequeing, trips to the beach with the kids, an occasional warm breeze....not having to bundle kids up in 15 layers of clothing to go outside. Those simple springtime pleasures.

Today Mike brought Cecilia over after work and we all hung out on the yard. (Mike often brings Cecilia over and she can play with Steuy and Nora and we all enjoy a drink or chips and salsa before dinner. Its a good time. Roxann works until 6 pm so right around 6 Mike leaves to go enjoy dinner with her and Cecilia.)
This afternoon Stuey crawled around on the yard, Nora sorted pine cones into piles and Cecilia watched and followed Nora and Stuey in curiosity. Patrick rolled around with the dogs and Stuey would climb on top of him. Good times to be had in the great outdoors.

BABIES AND TRANSITIONS
As of this morning all of my pregnant friends have had their babies! Marias delivered her baby this morning. I am so excited for her and can't wait to meet her little girl.

It seems that my friends all fared considerably better with the older child adjustment after bringing baby home. Makes me realize how horrible our adjustment period went when bringing Stuart home from the hospital. I remember Nora crying for days and days and days. Nothing could console her. It was brutal. When anyone called, she would be SHRIEKING in the background and there was nothing I could do. Friends and family remember how hard this was to be part of. I'm so glad that my friends have had easier transitions than I had. It was one of the more stressful times as a parent-those first few weeks with Nora's sadness.

GOOD AND BAD RECIPES
Tonight I made my first truly bad new recipe. I found a carrot soup recipe from my Vegetarian Times magazine which is made in a Vita mix blender---you blend the carrots, garlic, chicken stock, ginger on high speed for 2-3 minutes and it beats it so fast it actually cooks it. It came out DISGUSTING. The garlic and onion flavors were too strong. It was the worst use of carrots ever. Patrick refused to even try it, which was a smart choice.
I need to give up on carrot soups. Whenever I see a carrot soup recipe I think to myself, "Oh, this one will be better than the last." NOT. Not sure why I try so hard with them. Patrick didn't even want anything to do with it before I made it. Smart guy. MIke Pfeffer was daring enough to try it. He didn't make it half way through his serving. He was quite polite about trying it and we all got a good laugh out of it tonight.

The most recent GOOD recipe was the chickpea taco recipe. It was so easy, healthy and good. It consisted of a can of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) mixed with mushed up avocado, some lime juice, minced garlic, cilantro. Pile all of this on a small bed of a lettuce in a taco shell. Voila! Yummy taco. The flavors were amazing. Mary Jane can attest to it-she was here for that meal. The only problem is that all of us were hungry later on, so I think a side of vegetables or Spanish rice would've been a perfect addition to help complete the meal.

Zoya

Photos
Stuey, Patrick and Roxy on the lawn this evening.
Stuart cruising along the porch. Just a few weeks away from walking, perhaps.
Mike and Cecilia chasing Nora on the lawn.