How to Make (Burn) Tortilla Chips

We have this amazing salsa recipe from some friends, and we had made some to go with the fajitas we made last week. The salsa outlasted our chips, but we had some leftover tortillas. So I decided to try my hand at making some tortilla chips. I got a recipe from Allrecipes.com. Here's how it turned out for me.


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (I actually remembered to do this step first!)

2. Empty the spray bottle of water you use to quiet the dog.

3. Mix together half of the olive oil and lime juice in spray bottle, because you're not making an entire batch.

4. Cut apart tortillas and lay them out on cookie sheets.

5. Spray oil and juice mixture on chips. Be sure to spray on the counter, stove top, sink, and dog as well.

6. Forget that you're making half a batch and mix together the entire amount of spices. Sprinkle all of spices on chips, remembering that you should only use half as you tap out the last of the mixture.

7. Put chips in oven.

8. Remember to turn half way through!

9. Change a diaper.

10. Miss the timer and burn the chips.

11. Toss the chips and pull out the Wheat Thins to eat with the salsa.

So, there you have it. This is usually how my cooking adventures go. My husband's consolation: "Don't worry, we'll get real chips tonight."

Thanks, sweetie. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

I had the best first Mother's Day a new mother could ask for.

On Saturday, my husband and I went shopping at a newly re-opened mall in our town to check out the new stores and see what had returned. The entire day, he kept talking to my son, asking him what they should get me for Mother's Day, fretting about having not gotten me anything yet, and even taking me back around the mall to offer me some choices on my gift.

Now, I had told my husband weeks ago that what I really wanted was a ring with our three birthstones in it. I don't know where I first saw this, but I've always liked the idea. It's kind of strange, because I am not a jewelry person, but something about this kind of ring attracts me. I was hoping that hubby had gone to our jeweler to get one made, but by the end of our shopping trip Saturday, he had me convinced that this was not the case. He even finally told me that he had gone to our jeweler, but that the ring had been out of our price range.

So imagine my shock on Sunday morning when my husband slyly slipped a box wrapped in pink and purple ribbon underneath a precious card labeled "Mommy" and laid it on my baby's lap.

I have the best husband. Without a doubt: best first Mother's Day ever. 

The Coup

"Technically speaking" Lucas slept through the night last week. All the books say 5 hours of sleep constitutes sleeping "through the night." I had fed him around 10:30/11:00 and got him to sleep at 12:30, after an hour or so of crying (he's way too young to be fighting sleep!) I figured he'd be waking around 2:00. We didn't hear a peep until 5:30! Score one for Mommy. I got a little too excited, though, because it has yet to happen again. He went a good four hours the next night, but tonight, here I am up at 2:30 after putting him to bed at midnight. I guess it's not a consistent thing.

So, while I'm up, I thought I'd share a quick funny story from last week. My husband made the comment one day that we had too many places for Lucas to sit in the living room. No, I responded, not too many, because they all served their own purpose: the rocker/sleeper where he takes his naps, the bouncer for stimulation, the newly arrived swing for the newly developed tendency of fighting sleep, and the car seat, because there's not a better place for it.

 I had to take back my argument the next day, however, when I briefly lost our son amid the multiple baby locations. I placed him in the bouncer seat and took a quick bathroom break. Upon returning to the living room, there was a good two seconds where I had to check each possible location before remembering where I had set him down. I conceded that, yes, maybe, there were a few too many places for the baby to sit. Maybe.

 So much for our committment to not let this little guy take over. The coup is complete.

Adventures in Breastfeeding

Ever since I gave birth to Lucas, my sister has been encouraging me to blog about motherhood. I'm not consistent enough to garner a following, I tell her, nor do I have enough self-esteem to think anyone really wants to read what I have to say, but she encourages on, so here I am. My experience this past Sunday wass just funny enough to make me think it might entertain someone out there in the interweb world.

This past weekend my husband had to go out of town for work, and I decided I would spend the weekend at my mom's house. She lives about an hour away. It would be the longest I had driven by myself with the little guy, but I was confident I could make it with some well thought-out timing.

Of course there are always kinks in the plan. The first, and biggest, to hit was my father getting sick. Horribly sick. Emergency Room at 6:00am sick. Turns out he had contracted a very contagious viral throat infection. So, I mentally put red "Do Not Cross" tape around my parents' house and looked for plan B: the in-laws. This was a natural plan B, because I get along great with my in-laws. They would get grandson time, and I would have a place to stay. Downside: they live about twenty minutes further away than my parents. Never a big deal before, but after baby, twenty minutes can make a huge deal, as I was soon to find out.

Every parent says they have the best baby, or thinks their child is perfect, but really, my kid is amazing. He sleeps so well (like his mommy!), isn't colicky (yet), and is not upset at all by lots of action and noise around him. His fault, however, is that he goes immediately from out cold to crying when he gets hungry. They teach you to watch for all the "hunger cues," like sucking on their hand or rooting or sticking their tongue out. This kid laughs at the idea of hunger cues. His only hunger cue is a wailing scream that says "why do I not have a boob in my mouth!?!"

I had it planned perfectly. I would pack the car, hang around home until he was hungry, feed him, and then have a good hour and a half to two hours to get to my in-laws' house before he would be hungry again. Best laid plans, right? I packed the car, fed the baby, and off we went.

Now, back to best kid in the world. He wails, but it starts off kind of weak, like "hey, I'm hungry, what's a kid got to do around here to get some food?" Then it gets more intense; "Um, can you hear me? Food would be awesome right about now." And more intense; "Maybe you're in another room, let me cry louder so you'll hear me better." And more intense; "I haven't eaten in days and my stomach is going to eat itself!" Until finally, he has reached the breaking point, "I am dying of hunger as we speak! Withering away to small pile of cuteness and baby clothes!"

We had 74 miles to go to get to Nina and Poppy's house. We hit stage one hunger about mile 46, stage two about mile 48, and imminent death around mile 51. I decided that instead of pushing on for another 30 or so minutes, I would pull over and feed him for a few minutes, just to satiate the greatest of hunger pains, and then give him a full meal upon arrival. Breastfeeding doesn't lend itself to feeding anywhere, though the number of locations in which I have bared my boobs is ever-increasing. My parents' house was only 10 miles up the road, but it was currently being moved into quarantine, so I decided just to pull over into an empty parking lot and hop in the back seat. I got off the interstate, went in the opposite direction of traffic, and eyed an empty bank lot that looked promising.

As I turned onto the road, however, I realized that the SUV of teenage girls in front of me was headed in the same direction. Being aware of how I would feel in a similar situation, I chose a different direction, lest they think they were being stalked. I circled around until they had gone on their way, found a parking space under a nice shady tree, hopped in the back and latched the little guy on.

Not five minutes after Lucas began eating, a landscaping truck pulled up behind me. Literally, behind me, almost blocking me into the parking space. I began to panic slightly, not really sure what was going on. My car was still on, unlocked, the front seat unoccupied, and here I was with a 6-week old attached to my chest. I needn't have worried, however. I was not the target. The shady tree next to my car was. Four men got out of the truck and settled themselves on the grass RIGHT next to my car for a picnic lunch.

Seriously? Of all the places to choose to have lunch.

I knew little man had not eaten enough to be content until we reached our destination, but I was unnerved enough that this particular feeding session had to come to an end. I plopped baby back in his seat, thankfully pulled up my bra (though in my haste I neglected the shirt - I'm sure the four men enjoyed that) and took off. Damn the virus, I was honing in on safety. I drove to my parents house and fed him in the driveway.

We made it to the in-laws, eventually. And so far, no virus germs have been shared with me or the baby. But I have a feeling this will be one of those stories I'll tell Lucas over and over, embarrassing him with it at inappropriate moments and thinking back on it fondly once he is grown and gone. Okay, maybe not fondly. But it is certainly a day I will never forget!

Baby's Name!

So... I'm pregnant! We are very excited. We found out August 4 - three days after I started my first teaching job. Great timing, I know. It was a bit of a surprise, mostly because we thought after 8 years it just wasn't going to happen. But in March of next year, we will be welcoming our new baby into the world.

We found out last week (on Halloween, none the less!) that it is a boy. As we have shared this news with people, it has inevitably led to the question, "Have you chosen a name yet?" We can finally answer yes, and the time to reveal has come.

Below you will find a word search and a list of words. Find all of the words listed in the word search and mark them off. The letters left over spell our little one's name! I will delete any negative or negatively perceived comments, just to be warned. :) We're excited, and you should be, too. Oh, and don't spoil it for anyone else, either.

Have fun!

H L B U B I B S R C 

O I C O A I T S A A 

N S G E T R R L T R 

E B A H O T U C T S 

S S T L C M L I L E 

I A L N R H H E E A 

E E A O G E A W S T 

R O F C A R R I E R 

R E C N U O B O R D 

BIB

BOTTLES

BOUNCER

CARRIER

CARSEAT

CRIB

FORMULA

HIGHCHAIR

ONESIE

RATTLES

STROLLER

__ __ __ __ __   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ 

Doubt - John Patrick Shanley

This semester, being my last semester before graduation, is packed full with the "lasts." For the education part, I am student teaching, which is going really well so far. I've got about two more weeks in my first placement, and then it will be on to high school. For the English part, on the other side, I am writing my senior thesis, which is a 25-30 page paper on a book or several books by a particular author. There is also the option of doing a creative project or of directing a play. I told my advisor as soon as I entered the English program officially that I would be directing a play for my senior thesis, so that's what I'm doing this semester, as well. I chose to direct Doubt, by John Patrick Shanley. It's only an hour long, actually, so I guess it's technically a one-act (we're doing it as such), but it's such a deep play.

I had the incredible opportunity a couple of weeks ago to go and hear the author of Doubt speak at a Q&A. I got to ask him a question, and we even got to go backstage afterwards and meet him in person. I was awed by him. He is so down to earth and grounded in reality. He said so many wonderful things about theatre and life. I just got this incredible sense of wisdom and balance from him, and it made me love his play even more. One of the things he said that I loved was that we've already fallen off the cliff. We're going to die, we just have to figure out how to enjoy the ride down and make the best of it. He also said that he doesn't understand why anyone would be certain about anything, because being certain means you take a possibility off the table, and in a world of such possibility, why would you count anything out?

I was just thrilled to have the opportunity to hear him in person and to meet him. But Shanley has evidently always been a very open writer, encouraging conversation. He actually included his e-mail address in the back of one of the scripts of his I had read, and evidently also put it in the program for the original run of Doubt in New York. So I e-mailed him and asked if he would want to come to our performance. He said no, which I expected. He's otherwise engaged. I am somewhat disappointed, not only because it would be simply amazing to have the author at one of the performances, boosting attendance, energy, and likely my grade on the whole project, but Shanley just seems like the kind of person I'd want to know. There are a few people in the world like that, you know? I hope to be that kind of person someday.

We open in about two weeks. The cast has worked so hard, and I'm really pleased with where we are. We have a long way to go, but I feel confident we'll get there.

Theatre just gets me. So many things can be said without ever actually being said. I was listening to Next to Normal and Wicked in the car the other day, and I started crying thinking about the relationships and the truths that are expressed in music and words that never have to say what they mean to get their point across. It's a beautiful thing, when it comes together. I'm just grateful for the chance to experience something like it in my life.

Teacher Moments

As you may know, I'm student teaching this spring semester. (Have I mentioned that here?) It's been a crazy semester so far because we started for four days and then were out for six and a half for snow/MLK holiday, back for one, and got out early today because of the threat of bad weather. Several of the teachers didn't think we would be in session tomorrow or possible next week, either. (I live in the south and we don't know how to handle ice and snow.)

But I digress. What I really wanted to talk about was something that happened today. It was my first time teaching third period (I'd done some things in fifth and seventh, but I'm slowly moving backwards to take over the whole day). I taught a lesson on prepositions. We went through an interactive power point where we learned what prepositions are and then identified some prepositions in some sentences. When I finished, I assigned their homework and gave them the last 2-3 minutes to work on it before the bell rang. As I was processing my lesson and getting ready for the next class period, this girl in the back of the room raised her hand. I acknowledged her, and she said, "You teach good."

I was extremely appreciative of the compliment. But guess I need to add "good vs. well" to my list of things to teach. :)