s'mores don'ts

When you have leftover s'mores fixin's from a recent camping trip, do not think you are being smart by cooking them in the microwave. If your marshmallows do not explode first, you will have one giant gooey mess on your hands. And face. And everywhere else. Trust me.

sun, sand and seafood

We got back from Cape May late last night. It was a very relaxing long week-end, but we managed to pack in quite a lot of activities.

We saved money by camping instead of staying in a hotel:


We spent a lot of time on the beach.


We did a lot of birding.













I added many life birds to my list, including these juvenile Laughing Gulls:










Most importantly, however, was the seafood. We ate ourselves silly:














Everyone had such a good time that we're already planning next year's trip.

blog browsing procrastination

So, as I am avoiding putting away the laundry and cleaning the bathroom floor and scooping the cat poop out of the litterbox, I am reading the blogs I usually do. I usually read my favorite blogs through Google Reader. I was catching up with Julie Zickefoose, my favorite bird blogger, who posted another adorable ode to her pet puppeh. I clicked the link mentioned in the post and it took me right to Julie's blog, which I had never visited before. Just looked at through the RSS feed.

And, lo and behold, my mind went:

holycrapIhavetheexactsametemplateasmyheroJulieZickefoose!

Coincidence?

impatience

And, in other news, my tomatoes are still not ripe. I'm betting they'll start to redden approximately one day after we leave for Cape May next week. Bah.

something you don't see every day

Each morning before work, I take puppeh outside so she can do her business. Today, as she was sniffing around for "the perfect spot", I watched the birds come to the feeders and admired how tall the weeds in the back yard are getting. I was slurping my way through a lovely warm bowl of flaxseed oatmeal with some divine local blueberries when I happened to glance upward.

Do you KNOW what that is? Fried squirrel. That's right, it's an electrocuted squirrel hanging on by his front paws, dangling away on the power-line. I know it is dead because it was in the exact same position when I came home from work.

EW.

hopped up on goof-balls

That's right, I am. And it is GLORIOUS.

The short story is:

I fell down the stairs at church on Sunday. In front of everyone. And I was wearing a skirt. I went to an urgent care center where I had x-rays taken. Upon review of the x-rays, it was determined that I had not broken anything, but most likely bruised my coccyx. Badly. I was also given a prescription for Vicodin which I promptly filled at Wegmans.

Tuesday I went for a follow-up with my regular doctor, who told me that the very tip of the coccyx had most likely separated from the rest of the bone and that I would have pain for several more weeks while it heals.

The rest of my body is bruised and swollen, but I thankfully didn't break an arm or sprain an ankle or anything like that. It has been a painful challenge getting in and out of bed, standing up, sitting down, bending over, using the bathroom, etc. I was using a cane for a while to help with going up and down the stairs, and a walker in the bathroom to hang on to while getting in and out of the shower. I have an inflatable donut I sit on for support, which helps a little with the pain.

But, I am supposed to not be sedentary, to keep with my regular routine as much as possible.

I've stayed home from work all week using my accumulated sick time, which has been most helpful in my recovery. Each day I've felt a little better and have been able to perform more tasks than the day before. (This is the first time since last week I've been able to check e-mail.) If I keep on keeping on, my hope is to be mostly pain-free by the time we leave for our trip to Cape May in two weeks.

Thanks to all of you who have offered your well-wishes!

dinner duty, night 1 = pesto

While Ryan's been helping our friends renovate their new home, I've been on dinner duty. Monday night, I turned this:




2 C firmly packed basil leaves
1/4 C toasted pine nuts
3 large cloves of garlic, toasted
1/4 freshly grated Parmesan
7 TBSP of the best Extra Virgin Olive Oil we have
salt & pepper to taste



into this:


I tossed the pesto with whole wheat fusilli pasta and a little of the pasta water to thin it out. I served it with Caprese salad: fresh, local tomatoes (since mine STILL aren't ripe yet), fresh mozzarella, fresh basil from my garden, and drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.



Tuesday we had grilled onions, peppers, green beans, celery and carrots tossed with grilled, Asian-seasoned chicken breast that I tossed with Teriyaki sauce and served over herbed rice. However, my culinary ambitions ended there. The rest of the week we ate take-out.