Seven Quick Takes Friday, Vol. 40

Linking up with Jen for another round of (very) quick takes!

I

Having the dryer running in the background is a huge help in putting Little Bear down for a nap, but he always wakes up when it ends because the buzzer is so loud. I know, first world problems.

II

Could I ask for prayers for Matt's aunt? She is hospitalized and suffering from several serious conditions right now, and the doctors don't sound terribly encouraging. 

III

Has anyone else experienced night terrors with one-year-olds? It happened again last night, and it's so hard to hold him as he screams and sobs and refuses to wake up so I can comfort him. I asked the nurse about it the other week, and she was surprised -- I guess it's not normal to start before age 3.

IV

More rain for the firefighters this week; no torrential downpours, but we've had something fall from the sky every day this week. Wednesday afternoon was gorgeous, though, and I took Little Bear for a walk all the way to Matt's office. It's close to four miles, and I was a little disappointed that it took me a whole hour, but I enjoyed the walk and it was fun to surprise him by showing up as he finished up for the day.

V

My mother was cleaning out her files of old school papers the other day, and when I stopped by yesterday, she had the folder of all of my tests/papers/report cards set out for me to look through. As I flipped through it, my sophomore year PE log caught my eye: log hauling - 3 hrs; splitting wood - 2 hrs; shoveling - 2 hrs; skiing - 2.5 hrs, etc. Oh, homeschooling.

VI

I'm looking for some nice, neutral tones of fast-drying nail polish... Any suggestions? And do they make any that are non-toxic, so that I can stop worrying when Little Bear sneaks up on me and bites my toes?

VII

I made bread pudding on Monday, and it turned out so well that I have to share the recipe; I found it in one of this past winter's issues of Ruralite magazine, but failed pretty badly at following the actual recipe so I'll note my changes:

2 cups half-and-half (or if you can read as well as I can, 2.25 cups heavy cream)

1 egg, beaten

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon (or tablespoon) vanilla extract

Half a loaf of French bread (or Irish soda bread)

4 tablespoons of butter

Cut the bread into half-inch cubes. In a bowl, combine all other ingredients except butter (I melted the butter and added it at this step, because I'm so good at following directions). Dump in bread and stir, making sure it is thoroughly wet. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour into greased 8x8 baking dish. If you didn't already add the butter, cut it into little pats and scatter them across the top. Bake uncovered for 50 minutes.

The recipe called for topping it with a white chocolate sauce; caramel would also be good, or fruit of some variety. We used the leftover blueberry pie filling I made last week, and that was very good. Little Bear sure like it!

Have a wonderful weekend!