A Friday Happy Birthday

Today is my 38th birthday! Matthew had arranged for his sister to watch the kids around lunchtime so that we could go out to eat together for the first time since March 2019 – a full year before the pandemic even began. Yesterday we decided it wise that we cancel because we are both battling an ugly cold. We would have still went if this were pre-pandemic, but things have changed now. And that’s okay because Matthew’s birthday is in March and we’re trying to get a raincheck with his sister.

Winter weather returned this week but it’s been a roller coaster. Our ice and snow didn’t melt away with the last warm front, so we had an icy gleam on our driveway all week. It started to rain last night, which has turned everything to slush. And we’re expecting a severe cold front this morning that will likely turn that slush back to ice so it will be a jagged and slippery walk out to the cars for a little while longer!

I’ll give you an example of how this week has gone. Yesterday morning we decided to cancel on today’s lunch date because of our colds. Then Matthew got a call that one of his co-supervisors had a seizure at work and had to be rushed to the hospital, so Matthew decided to go into work super early to help cover for his co-supervisor and the management staff who all went to the hospital with him. As soon as Matthew left, Bryce got a nosebleed that lasted about 40 minutes (he’s okay – they are common this time of year). And Colton threw up on the bus on the way home and continued to be sick throughout the evening. That was all just yesterday!

Thankfully Matthew was able to come home from work around 10pm, which is 4-5 hours earlier than usual, so it was nice to chat with him before I fell asleep. We watched the last few figure skating performances of this Olympics together and were so sad about how everything played out. The Olympics are typically so joyful and this scandal sucked that joy out of it all. In the future, I hope the IOC takes a tougher stance against countries who flout the rules, especially when children are involved. I don’t believe Kamila Valieva deserved the heartbreaking ending she got yesterday, even if she knew what she was ingesting. She is a cog in their Olympics machine and is simply 15 years old. She deserves a better team around her. And now I’ll get off my soapbox.

(PS: I love that Johnny Weir could translate the Russian for us as it was being spoken. I can’t believe I will have to wait 4 more years for my Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski fix. They are the best!)

IN MY KITCHEN:

I’ve been sharing my meal plans to keep me motivated to cook at home and to help others who might be struggling to find something new. As always, please leave your own favorite recipes in the comments. They are very helpful to me!

You’ll notice that we had nachos on Saturday and Sunday last weekend! It was the Super Bowl and Matthew was really excited. Combine all of those nachos with lots of leftovers from the week before (chicken and rice, Shepherd’s Pie, black beans and quinoa), and we had a “use it up” kind of week. Lots of refrigerator raiding for meals, which is fine by me. It feels good to clean out the fridge and to make sure we’re not wasting food.

Saturday: Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos. We used chicken thighs, cooked them in the Instant Pot, and then shredded the chicken. It was delicious!

Sunday: Chili Con Queso. I mostly followed this recipe, but doubled the chili and added rotel. I also made a great big salad because I was totally queso-ed out by the evening. And did you guys see the ads with J. Lo? I was happy to be eating salad by the time the Super Bowl actually started. Ha!

Monday: leftovers

Tuesday: leftovers

Wednesday: Rotisserie chicken + salad + homemade garlic bread

Thursday: sandwiches + salad. I was going to make a meal, but became overwhelmed by things at home. I’ll save the ingredients for another day.

Friday (today!): We were going to make pizzas at home but have decided we’ll order them since we had to cancel our lunch out.

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Colton will be home from his programs today because he was sick yesterday. Matthew had planned to take today off, but he’ll be going in this afternoon to help cover for his coworker that got sick yesterday. I think I’ll skip homeschooling with my other two children because – whew! It’s been a tough week and we could all use a little break. I’m hoping things slow down this weekend and I find time for lots of birthday stitching, which would be the best gift I could ask for. I hope you all have a lovely weekend – stay safe and cozy!