This Afternoon

Right Before Spring

It's cold outside. Not freezing in a below-zero snow-on-the-ground way, but the kind that just sort of bites at you as you get closer to spring and want the warmer weather.  The kind that makes me want to sit with seed catalogs and a hot cup of something in my hands and plan summer gardens. We had unseasonably warm weather last week and it made me itch to get my hands digging in the dirt.

We have a lot to do. Last year we didn't do much. It just felt like too much. We had a pool for the first summer ever (it came with the house, we wouldn't have voluntarily chosen to have one. In fact, it was on our list of things we DIDN'T want, but here we are.) We had an infant.  I was still trying to kick PPD/A in the face and it was just too much to think about the work and money involved in starting a new garden.

This year it's all feeling better.  I'm still trying to kick PPD/A in the face, but I'm making progress. And Ben is bigger.  And we can manage to wrap our heads around starting new garden areas from scratch.

As I started planning and figuring out how many veggies vs cutting garden flowers I want, I looked back at this post and this post it made me feel hopeful. I cannot believe I grew so many flowers that season!  If I could plan and do that, I can certainly get some seeds in the ground to grow some veggies for our family this year, even if it does still feel like a big task to dig out and start a new garden spot from scratch.  We're using existing space and I'm trying to combine my cutting garden wants with perennials and landscaping to work on our yard a little bit while I still use it as garden space in a few different spots that still don't have permanent landscaping.

None of this includes our whole front yard that needs to be landscaped because when we moved in we had to have everything in the front ripped out to fix a basement water problem.  So that's happening, too.  One step at a time.  I may or may not have much time for blogging this spring and summer!  

As usual, I have no idea what the heck I'm doing, but I'm going to do it anyway...

In the Spring

We had to say goodbye to our chickens this spring.  From what we understand, someone complained which lead our borough to send us  letter that we were in violation of ordinances and told us we had 10 days to get rid of them.  I spent the days leading up to day 10 gathering info and ordinances, but at the end of the day we hadn't read as well as we thought in the first place and it totally stinks.  The hardest part for me, beyond the strangeness of standing in the kitchen window and not looking out to see my girls and missing their eggs and sweetness, is that I really want to take the time to work on trying to do what I can to try to change the ordinances to at least allow us a few chickens.  But we're prepping our house to get it on the market in the next few weeks, so between house hunting and house prep and end of the school year activities and getting ready for baby #3 while I'm still sick 24/7, I just don't have the energy right now. 

Everything else is normal.  Good weather, windows open, kids happy outside (thank goodness!), yard work, grilling, lots of end-of-year school events, getting excited for the pool to open, lots of holidays and birthdays, getting excited about the baby.  That's all I have right now! 

Springtime

This is the part where the lines intersect. I knew it was coming.  The part where her stories become something that aren't mine to tell. Where the heartache of watching someone grow up becomes bitterly, painfully real.  Where she comes home from school daily with a report on whether or not it was a good day based on how much she felt made fun of for wanting to splash in a puddle (which makes her gross) or how she eats her lunch. She is achingly sensitive and self-conscious and the pain of adolescence is so hauntingly near that I think of it with tears stinging my eyes sometimes.  She is disoriented by this rocking boat of someone else expecting her to be a certain way and not comprehending how someone wouldn't want to splash in puddles or get dirty or play pretend. 

When I was in 5th grade, they were doing construction on our school, so there was orange plastic fencing all around the playground to keep us away from the construction. There was a girl in my class who would spend every day at recess running up and down that fencing pretending to be the animal she chose that day (usually a horse or a wolf) and making those animal noises at the construction workers. I can still feel the way I'd get a lump in my throat and how my heart would ache and my face would flush hot to know that people viewed her as weird just because they didn't understand. They couldn't pretend and imagine like that anymore. And how on earth can my girl only be 3 years away from that age already??

Spring is bringing so much goodness.  Outside playing and so much more sunshine (even if it's pouring today!) and flowers and blooming trees and feet in the grass and dirty hands and seeds being planted almost every day.  And this.  My new project that feels so tiny and so huge and makes my heart want to burst and is the reason I've been a bit absent from this blog space right now, but it's not forever and I can't wait to share more!  

Friday Bits and Pieces

I'm sitting here with a chick sleeping on my chest and the poor little thing is so snuggly and SO awkward looking right now.  I forgot how awkward they get! Also, I think their feathers are going to match my hair, which is randomly fun:) The wind is whipping like crazy outside.  When the wind started getting wild, Nick looked outside and said, "Whoa! It really IS Lion-y out there mommy!" 

It was 60ish degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday and it seriously felt like some sort of fog just lifted from the universe.  Between that and the extra sunshine in the evening, life was good.  Even if I did have one kid home sick and puking and the other at school, the one day a week that I usually have a chunk of kid-less time to get things done.  The same kid who was home two weeks ago with an awful ear infection! I just keep telling myself that SPRING is less than a week away. 

I'm working on meal planning and prepping for freezer cooking this weekend and, since I feel like I've had a bunch of people asking me about freezer meals lately and I didn't have much time to dedicate this week to posts, I thought I'd share a few things that I love to always have in the freezer for easy meals to give some ideas.  These are all things that would be great to try if you want to start having meals in the freezer but don't have big chunks of time to spend on cooking a bunch at once or you feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start. A lot of it is stuff that can just be doubled when you're already making it or can be cooked as you cook other things and have the over or stove going anyway.  

Some Quick and Easy Freezer Favorites: 

Bolognese - make a huge batch and freeze in  meal-size portions

Pork Ragu - SO easy and so good! If you have the time to leave this in the oven, it makes more than enough for multiple meals

Burritos 

Soup - freeze leftovers in individual portions for lunches another day

Fried Rice  - only $4ish in the freezer section at Aldi (if you have one nearby!), quick to make, more veggies and tons less salt than most other store-bought frozen meals (and easy to add more veggies) and always turns out so well.  I also make my own with this recipe, but in a pinch it's nice to grab that bag and make it instead of eating out! 

Salmon - Sure, if you're feeling motivated you can marinate ahead of time, but I rarely do because it's so easy to roast along with some potatoes and a veggie like broccoli or serve with a salad. 

Chili - If you want to get outside the box, this black bean and sweet potato chili is AMAZING, but regular chili is so easy to make and always so nice to have. It's a whole meal alone, but I usually freeze it in smaller portions, too, to heat up and serve over baked potatoes on a night that we need something easy. 

Twice Baked Potatoes - another option that makes a meal alone with a salad on the side or as a side dish themselves.  

Sloppy Joes

Rice (or any grain, really) - Cook a big batch when you're cooking it anyway and freeze enough for another dinner. 

Pork Tenderloin

Quiche (freeze it cooked or uncooked) 

Tortellini

Pierogies

Shredded Beef/Pork/Chicken for Tacos/Soups/Casseroles/Quesadillas/Sandwiches
Sandwiches
Beans - cooked in big batches, they freeze and are so easy to have in the freezer. 

What do you love to have around to make life easier? I'd love to hear! 

p.s. If you struggle with lunches for work, The Kitchn did a whole series this week on lunches with TONS of awesome ideas!