Mondays, Movies, Monkeys and Menus

Today has been a good day.  So much better than the last Monday when Don was out of town.  He's off Island.   That's Guam lingo for saying he's gone again.  He traded our little island for the bigger island of Oahu.  Poor guy...

Anyway, back to me.  I'm sitting here watching the Oscars.  I'm not really sure why.  I have only seen one movie that is nominated for anything- Up.  By the way, if you haven't seen it, you should- unless you're hormonal or really miss your grandparents.  Even then you should still watch it, just bring extra Kleenex with you.  I digress AGAIN!  I guess I continue to watch the Oscars because I like the pageantry, I LOVE to see the dresses, I like hearing the winners' speeches, the In Memoriam segment makes me feel nostalgic.  Tonight's tribute to John Hughes made me feel kind of old.  Do I look as old as they do?  God I hope not.  (Ok, just checked Wikipedia, The Breakfast Club came out when I was 10, so they've got a good 20 years on me).  I know I'm probably only about the billionth person to state this, but I grew up with John Hughes movies.  They gave me some insight into what to expect from high school and maybe even instilled in me the fact that it's ok to be on the outside looking in.

Earlier today, Price had a hearing appointment down at the Naval Hospital.  Since we were so close to Big Navy, I decided we would head down there after the appointment, walk around the Exchange and then have a picnic on the beach.  It was a lovely morning.  I'm just bummed that I forgot my camera.  As we were sitting and feasting on our subway sandwiches, toes being tickled by the sand, hair blowing in the breeze while watching the little waves tumble onto shore, I couldn't help but feel happy.  Happy to be here, happy to be.  The other day when I met my two blogger buddies for coffee, Tessa asked me if I liked it here.  And I answered honestly (something like this), "I do. I like it more and more each day.  Whenever I get a chance to sit outside on the beach and take in the beauty of where we are, although I own my feelings on bad days and think it's ok to have them (psycho babble much Terrell?), I really am reminded that life is good."  Good thing Amy was there, cause pretty sure an answer like that to a simple question three minutes after meeting me should have scared her off.   But, that's really how I feel.  Even when I have a down day, and we're all entitled to have those every now and then- even if you know someone whose life is harder than yours, I just have to remember the good.  And then probably should hit the beach just to get re-centered.

Speaking of Price, we have always called him  Monkey.  It's probably the most used of the one million nicknames we have for him.  Over the past few days, he has decided to truly embody this word...  The other day while fixing his snack, I knew he was in the laundry room, but when I went to look for him I could n't find him.  Then I heard a faint rustling and saw this,

After cracking up laughing and doing what every good mom does, I left him to go find the camera so i could more pictures like this,

Then on Saturday he was being just a little too quiet (never a good sign for a 19 month old boy), and I found him playing dump truck.

He's not actually supposed to sit in that part of the truck.  But then again he's not really supposed to sit in our entertainment center either...

All I can wonder is, why was I in such a hurry for him to be super mobile???

Now that you've read all of that, you're probably dying to know what I'm eating this week...

Monday- Cheeseburger Buns (I was supposed to make these last week, but life got in the way)
Tuesday- Pork chops with black beans and pineapple rice
Wednesday- Pepperoni Pizza Pie
Thursday- Tuna Patties and Slow Cooker Mac n Cheese with Peas (or as I would call it if I were a contestant on Top Chef, Deconstructed Tuna Casserole)
Friday- Leftovers

The Blogosphere

I love blogs.  I like reading them and I must admit, I really like writing this one.  You are introduced to all kinds of amazing things when you read blogs.  Today, the introduction was tangible!  After months of living down the street from each other, I FINALLY got to meet one of my blogger buddies, Tessa.  She invited my other blogger buddy (and real life beach buddy, we met in person a few months ago and have hit the beach and other Guam sites together several times) Amy and me to coffee this morning.  It was so nice for the three of us to get together.  It's funny meeting someone in person after months of reading their blog.  I know I got ready for our coffee date with the anticipation of a real date- what will I wear, what will we talk about?  Will we like each other outside of words and pictures?  Will we have anything in common other than our blogs and living the life of a military wife on this crazy little island?  Will we talk about our blogs?  The answer to most (I say most because "yes" isn't a good answer to what will I wear or what will we talk about, unless of course we decided to talk about the musical group Yes, but they never came up in conversation) of the questions was, at least from my perspective, yes.  Luckily, Tessa and Amy are good conversationalists and I batted down my shyness and was just myself.  I figured after baring my soul on this blog for so long, I really couldn't be anybody other than who I  am.  I think we already felt like we knew each other or at least knew what each other had been up to in recent weeks because of our blogs, but that didn't seem to deter our conversations.  We just got to know each other better.  I had a really nice time and am hopeful we will get together again soon, maybe without my child and with some wine or other adult beverage, a girl can dream can't she?

Speaking of blogs, I thought I'd share a few of my other favorites with you (in case you don't have enough to read already).

I read these 4 blogs every night before I go to bed (thank you  iPhone).  Three of them are new additions to my roster:

Jessica Watson  Yes, I'm still slightly obsessed with her solo sailing trip around the world.  Maybe it's because there are times I can't even go to the bathroom by myself, I'm just intrigued by the notion of spending 8 minutes months alone anywhere at sea.

The Livesay (Haiti) Weblog  I began reading this blog shortly after the Haitian earthquake.  The blog is sad, hopeful, wonderfully written.  It also helps me keep things in perspective, sure our clinic may close for a day or two when I have a sick baby, but I still have access to decent healthcare elsewhere on the island.

One Girl  Debra Parker, is a Houston based photographer who recently adopted a Haitian orphan.  You may have seen her family's story on the news when her husband and son were not allowed to leave Haiti.  Her pictures tell many stories and her blog reminds me that good always comes out of bad.

BooMama Have you ever been on a blog and the author mentioned another blog (oh wait, i guess even if you haven't before today and you've read this far down you have yourself been in a similar situation), and you visited that blog and something about the blogger's witty tone or topic keeps you coming back?  Yeah that's what happened here.

These blogs are in my Reader.  I try to catch up with them every few days or so, the problem is my Reader list keeps growing, it seems like I'm adding new blogs on a daily basis.

Cooking/Meal Planning (I have mentioned several of these blogs in previous posts)

Five dollar dinners

I'm an Organizing Junkie I am absolutely NOT an organizing junkie, but she has great menu planning ideas and suggestions.  If one day, Hell freezes and I become truly organized I may look at her site for something besides food.

Smitten Kitchen food porn, that's all I need to say

Cooking During Stolen Moments

Crafts and Home Decorating

Nesting Place  dreaming of a non-Flintstone House, inspiring me and at the same time making my current abode feel somewhat inadequate

Mad in Crafts This is a girl after my own heart, she is creative and frugal.  Her series "The Dollar Barn" made me drool over the fact that she could redo Pottery Barn looks on a Dollar Store budget, well just the fact that she had a Dollar Store close by made me drool, but her inspired looks are great too.

Laginappe (that's Cajun for a little something extra. these blogs are all made up of this and that, mostly mommys blogging about life, food, photography)

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman probably my hands down, all-time favorite blog

She Wears Many Hats  She really does and she takes beautiful pictures and cooks delicious looking food and she's from the South, so we speak the same language.


Oops... the boy is awake (I guess I got more than 8 minutes alone today :).  I'll post more links to other sites I love soon. Do you have any good sites you'd like to share?

Short and Sweet

I bet with the title of this post you were expecting to see something like this,

That picture has nothing to do with this post, I just know a few of you can't get enough of this kid.

The post is just short..  Don finally made it home (after a bit of a tsunami warning induced flight delay).  I am getting back into the swing of things and trying to break all the lazy habits we got into last week...

The first wrongs to right, meal planning and cooking.  Now that Don is home and Price is feeling better, I have no excuses.  So here's what is on the menu:

Tuesday- Spaghetti and meatballs
Wednesday- Kelly's Waffles
Thursday- Cheeseburger Buns
Friday- leftovers or out to dinner (the latter gets my vote)

I am off to make my grocery list, pull my coupons and brave the crowds at the Commissary.  Wish me luck!

Only On Guam

Today marks the 6th month anniversary of our arrival in Guam.  I can't believe how quickly time has gone by.  I mean there have been some days/weeks that I thought would never end, but overall it feels like we just got here yesterday.  Hopefully, the next 30 months (I think I like the sound of 2 1/2 years better) will go by as fast and be as pleasantly surprising as the first 6 months.

Almost daily, we have OOG moments.  OOG is short for, "only on Guam", it's a term we transplants use frequently to describe something that would probably happen only on Guam.  For instance tsunami warnings (which thankfully turned out to be a non-event), the inability to procure fresh chicken, a fondness for misspelled signs, really bad drivers, seeing no fewer than 6 people you know waiting for the same plane to arrive at the airport, an abundance of rainbows, amazing sunsets, feeling almost like you were on permanent vacation if not for reality creeping in on a daily basis.  It can be frustrating and challenging living here and it will always be far from family and friends, but it's probably one of the most unique places we will ever live.  And contrary to what some of my posts may indicate, I really do try and make the most out of our time here and remember that even on the really bad days, I'm more than likely going to get  a good story out of it at some point.

Here are some pics from a recent family photo shoot we had with one of Don's co-workers at Gun Beach.  We keep getting blessed by knowing budding photogs who need subjects to practice on...

The photo collage was made at Photovisi.com, a free on-line collage making website.

Waves

Well, the world is really a small place when an earthquake almost 10,000 miles away can put our little island under a tsunami warning.  I think this is the third tsunami related advisory we've been under the in almost 6 months we've been here.  Luckily, the previous watches/warning have all happened while I was sleeping and I woke up only to find out we had been under one and that it had been cancelled and we had no effects.  Tonight it's a little bit different...  We are under a warning and this warning comes with an estimated arrival time (1:00 tomorrow-Sunday-afternoon our time, so that's 9:00 Saturday night Central Standard Time) and cautions to avoid low lying areas.  We live high on a hill and any dreams of hitting the beach in the morning have been erased.  I am trying not to worry- after all it's not in my power and how is worrying a conducive way to spend the next 13 hours.  But, if you could throw up some prayers that Hawaii, Guam and all points in between are spared from a tsunami that would be great.  And if you could send up some extra ones for me to remember that there is nothing I can do and that there really is no sense in worrying, I'd really appreciate it.

So that's the news from our corner of the world.  I'll keep you posted!

Thanks

Today I am thankful for...
A glass of wine (or 3).  God being good.  My mom. Adult conversation.  My son.  The Heimlich Maneuver.  The way things work out. A kind husband.

Let me explain.  Price woke up with a really croupy cough today.  He's not a cougher and waking up before it was light outside to the sound of a baby seal barking was not a great way to start the day.  I started up a steam shower and sequestered us in the bathroom and the coughing abated.  However, my concern did not.  So, of course I called my mom.  She just listened to me (Don wasn't available, but he would normally be my sounding board).  I debated with myself about whether or not to call the doctor, but decided not to since the coughing had stopped and he was pretty much acting normal.  Plus, the base had a down day today as a reward for no alcohol related incidences for 36 days so the clinic was closed (have you found that the baby always gets sick when the doctor's office is closed? me too). We went about our day:  planning for dinner guests, eating lots of fruit for breakfast, Price not feeling well and getting punier by the minute.  I decided he should take a morning nap and he concurred (falling asleep on my bed at 10:00 in the morning is a sign of a tired kiddo).  But he woke up shortly after coughing that deep barking cough again.  And this time sweet, precious Price was gone and the kid that woke up was crying and clingy and wanted to be held.  I finally broke down and called my guests and cancelled dinner.  Then, I was bummed- I was sooooo looking forward to having another adult in the house to talk to.  I also called the doctor who told me as long as he wasn't having problems breathing (he wasn't, the cough went away as soon as he was up and about), I just needed to watch him.

Since Don's been gone and Price has been sick, our normal routine of sitting in the dining room to eat has kind of slipped.  I've been a lazy mom and we have been eating breakfast and lunch in the living room, in front of the TV (thank you PBS).  Anyway, today at lunch Price choked.  Not a little choke either.  He was standing right next to me and I was watching him and the next thing I know he was in serious trouble.  I literally thought he was going to die (reading those words, even though I have said them a few times, seeing them on "paper" makes this really real).  I almost felt like I left myself and was watching from afar.  I thought, "Oh my god, I don't know if I can save him, I don't have anyone here to help me, what am I going to do if I can't fix this."  They were literally the the saddest, scariest thoughts I think I have ever had in my life.  I grabbed him and threw him over my lap and started doing a modified Heimlich and got the food out.  The whole thing lasted maybe 30 seconds and he wasn't blue or anything, but it seemed like time was frozen.  He was so upset from being scared and not feeling well and being jostled that he lost it.  I lost it too, I was so upset from being scared and overwhelmed with being thankful.  It was at that very moment, that I felt the strongest bond of motherhood that I have ever felt, that I would do whatever it would take to make sure that my guy was OK.  We stood in front of the open freezer door sobbing.  Thank goodness for popsicles, because it got him to calm down and once he was clam, I was able to calm down too, but I definitely squeezed him harder and told him I loved him more than I normally do.

After we had both recovered and he went down for his nap, I started to regret canceling our dinner plans.  But I of course felt (because I am, from time to time, the most socially insecure person in the world) that I couldn't call my guests back and re-invite them to dinner.  But thankfully, when they called to tell me they had gotten the message, I told them I could really use the company and if they hadn't made other plans, I'd love for them to come to dinner.  And they did!  It was so nice to have adult conversation, have someone for Price to play with and have a glass of wine (or 3).

And yes, I am signing up ASAP to take a CPR class, I would encourage you to do the same (especially if you have children in your home, you never know when you may need it).

On a Roll

I am recently obsessed with rolled food....   I mean food that looks like cinnamon rolls.  I am not sure where this obsession came from, but maybe it was this post from Cooking During Stolen Moments (Isn't that a great blog name?  It really speaks to me because I feel like that the time I get to cook is during stolen moments throughout the day.  Anyway, it's a great recipe blog for easy, family-friendly recipes).  Or the King Cakes I recently made. Or  these cookies (which I haven't made yet because I am  afraid I will eat every.single.one. all. by. myself.).

Anyway, I needed a pick me up and one of the best ways for me to get in a better mood is to get in the kitchen and do some cooking.  I also had a hungry, fussy kiddo and no real idea what to do for dinner.  Then I thought, what about pizza and why not experiment and do it in rolls?  So, completely ignoring the fact that Price was way beyond his normal melting point, I decided to dive in and go for it...

I used my Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe:
Whole Wheat Pizza Crust*
1 C warm water (needs to be between 110-120 degrees)
1 pkt yeast
2 1/4 C all-purpose flour, plus extra  (I use unbleached all-purpose flour in all of my baking)
1/4 C whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp each- basil, oregano

Preheat oven to 350.

In large mixing bowl add yeast and sugar to warm water.  Let stand for about 10 minutes until water is frothy from yeast.  Add flour, sugar, salt and spices.  Mix.  Add olive oil.  Continue to mix until all ingredients are combined.  If dough is very sticky, add a little more all purpose flour.  At this point, you can let the dough sit from 5 minutes up to an hour.  However, if you're in a hurry, like I always seem to be, you can roll dough immediately.  Knead dough until it is elastic and not too sticky, adding flour as necessary (you should be able to pick dough off counter with out it sticking).  

Dough after resting for about 20 minutes

If your hand looks like this after kneading dough, add more flour.

When your hand looks like this after kneading dough, you have achieved flour nirvana.

Instead of forming a circular crust on my pizza stone, I rolled my dough out into a rectangle

(rectangularish is ok in baking if not in geometry)

I then layered with sauce, SPINACH (this was a great way to sneak in the veggie, it practically disappeared during cooking), cheese and pepperoni.

I could have baked it just like this and had a pretty good pizza.  Instead, I thought it would be fun to roll it up ...

(If I had baked at this stage, it would have been a Stomboli)

... and sliced it like cinnamon rolls.

Since I haven't made anything like this before, I experimented with different pans to see which would work better.  All the while my sous chef was hanging out, critiquing my every move (between pouring out an entire can of Tony's and pointing out how many breakable knick knacks I have on my counter tops)

Ahh.. the things one must do to get dinner on the table during the "witching hour."

Alas- the finished product! (Warning- they aren't beautiful)

Baking like cinnamon rolls worked better than baking on pizza stone.  I think these could be great appetizers.  Next time, I will add more sauce, cheese and spinach.  I will roll tighter.  I will not make while dealing with a super fussy child so I can improve presentation.  I served with a side of extra sauce because the sauce  really cooked out and Price enjoys dipping his food into bright red stuff and smearing said bright red stuff all over his face.  The dough was amazing!  There is room for improvement here, but a pretty good first attempt.