Yesterday was our anniversary. Four years, three kids, several job changes, and not too many spectacularly disastrous suppers... We're doing pretty well. Each Thursday at 3pm I receive a text with the USCCB's intention for Friday's penitence, and providentially, yesterday's was "That every married couple allow Christ to transform and perfect their love." It was the perfect prayer intention on our anniversary, and a good reminder of why we chose the feast of the Transfiguration for our wedding.
II
I risked adding another supper disaster to the count tonight: quinoa egg enchilada skillet. Little Bear ate enough, though he wasn't a huge fan, but Matt thought it was good enough to have seconds. "It would've been better with rice, of course." Of course. But I liked it, and he liked it, and it wasn't rice (which we all like, but I just needed a break from it). And it only used things I had in the kitchen, because somehow my meal plan didn't include Friday and I was not going to the store again. And it was easy! After cooking the quinoa ahead this morning, which is as easy as cooking rice, this evening the instructions were pretty much "Put everything in the cast iron skillet. Put the skillet in the oven. Take it out in a half hour and serve." Protein, vegetables, grain and dairy all in one pan; there's no other work to do to get supper on the table, which was great tonight since Kit needed to be held.
III
Matt's been so busy and stressed with work that we decided to wait until Saturday to do something to celebrate our anniversary, instead of trying to fit a date in between work and Little Bear's bedtime on Thursday. Thus the two notes on my day planner: "Aug 6 - our anniversary" and "Aug 8 - anniversary (observed)." The government and the Church both move the observance of important days to a more convenient day of the week; I can too. There are cinnamon rolls rising very slowly in the fridge right now, and I'll get up early tomorrow to bake them for breakfast. In the middle of the day, Little Bear is going to help me make cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crumb crust and strawberry rhubarb topping. Early tomorrow evening, we're hoping to go try the new Italian restaurant in town as long as Kit is cooperating, then come home for some cheesecake before Little Bear's bedtime.
IV
It's going to be quite the weekend. After all of Saturday's excitement, we're getting up extra early on Sunday to go to the earliest Mass in town because Matt has to do an hour or two of work from home starting at 9 am, helping a coworker test some updates to the video conferencing system. As he's working I'll be keeping two kids quiet while making a giant pasta salad, because as long as it's not raining, we'll be spending a good chunk of the afternoon picnicking at the lake with my parents, several families from our parish, a few priests, and a handful of current students and other alumni from Franciscan University. It will be fun, I'm sure, but looking at my weekend right now, it sounds a little overwhelming... there might be a part of me that's hoping for just enough rain that I can't go because of Kit, but little enough that everyone else will still go and have a good time.
V
It's the beginning of the end... This morning the kids and I noticed yellow and red in the underbrush as we walked down to the mailbox at the end of the road. The fireweed pods are bursting, the rose hips are ripening, and the birches are even beginning to have yellow leaves speckled in among the green.
VI
Today was the first day in quite a while that it was both cool and not-smoky enough that I kept the windows and deck door open all day long. It was lovely to have a light breeze blowing through all day! I don't think it reached 70 outside today, so even though I had the stove and oven both on this morning (quinoa and granola bars) and the oven again this evening for supper, it's just 73 in the bedrooms tonight. That will sound unbearable in a couple of months, but right now it's nice and cool compared to what we've had even just earlier this week.
VII
Not a sign of impending autumn, exactly, but on Tuesday Little Bear and I saw two moose in the woods close off our deck. Hunting season starts in less than a month! Moose season unfortunately coincides with the busiest part of Matt's year, when no one is allowed to take leave for a full month straight; hopefully he will be able to get out looking for moose on a couple of weekends at least. It would be so wonderful to go into the winter with a freezer full of meat!
Have a good weekend, and don't forget to stop by This Ain't The Lyceum for more quick takes!
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