Getting molars isn't much fun

Emery getting her molars has led to screaming the likes of which I've never heard from this child.

Yet, as awful as I'm sure it's been on her, today I'm kind of glad it's been so rough ... otherwise she never would have wailed herself to sleep on Matt.

She hasn't done this, well, since she was an itty bitty baby! (you might notice Matt still was wearing his hospital bracelet - he wore it till it fell off. AHHH ... melt my heart, would you?)

If you have a can of tuna,

the possibilities are endless. I've been thinking of writing a post on fallback, pantry meals you can whip up in a pinch, but I'm having trouble getting my list together. So I think I'll just post the ideas as they come to me.

Today I was reminded of the wonders of a can of good tuna (please not the gray, catfood stuff). It does not have to always turn into boring mayonnaise-tuna salad, though that's not half-bad, especially on top of a baked potato with some corn. Sounds strange, I know, but I ate tons of these when studying abroad in Scotland. And baked potatoes, well, they deserve their own post because recently I've made many a delicious meal out of odds and ends in the fridge piled on top of a baked potato.

My "tuna turnaround" today centered on white beans and wheat berries, both super pantry staples. I've gotten in the habit of cooking lots of different kinds of dry beans in mass quantities, then freezing them for later use.

To the tuna, wheat berries and white beans I added some shredded carrots, diced onion, diced cucumbers, chopped tomato, feta, chives, and a little salad dressing.

YUM.

The wonderful thing about this kind of tuna salad is that it doesn't depend on all of these ingredients. Many could be swapped out for other kinds of grains and veggies. I think chickpeas would work well, too, if you don't have white beans handy.

For a hot dish, you could always mix your handy can of tuna with some marinara, throw in some green or black olives, and whatever "pasta cheese" you have on hand and presto, there's dinner!

I'm sure there are many other avenues you could take with a can of tuna, but now my appetite is getting the best of me, so this post will have to end. Now.

NPR car

This week Emery began a Kindermusik class for which we need a parking pass. Like a good student (or parent of a student I guess), I dutifully followed the instructor's guidance to place the decal on the bumper of my car, since that's where the parking police like to see it.

As I was trying to place the sticker on straight (unsuccessfully), with Emery in my arms and needing to get back inside for class, I felt a little thrill. If there is anything I am not, it's musical. And if there's anything we don't do in the Doescher household, it's put bumper stickers on our cars. 

So you can imagine Matt's reaction when I told him about the sticker - "Now we have an NPR car! Why didn't you just put it in the windshield?!?"

Because! I know we don't normally do things like this, but I actually find it kind of fun/funny ... makes me feel like I can pretend to be a different kind of mom for the few months that Emery is taking Kindermusik. The kind of mom who annually donates to NPR (incidentally, the class really is held on the campus of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and even in the building I think that houses the campus' NPR station. So he's kind of right), the kind of mom who sung in an acapella group in college and is now extending her love of singing and music to her young, impressionable daughter, the kind of mom who, even in the midst of all the demands of parenthood, still manages to continue nurturing her musical abilities by playing the violin in the local orchestra ... you get the idea.

None of these things will ever be true, but something about having the bumper sticker makes me feel like maybe more things are possible than I really think. Starting with Emery letting me listen to NPR news in the car in the morning instead of Toddlers Sing for the 80 millionth, billionth time.

A must make - Skillet lasagna with sausage and peppers

I impulsively bought a Cook's Country "Skillet Suppers" magazine in the checkout line at the store a couple of months ago and it hasn't disappointed. At all. The spicy steak soft tacos were amazing and now, well, this skillet lasagna is a new, promise to make again soon and frequently, favorite.

The magazine version of the recipe suggested the option of substituting the ground meat with 1 lb. of sausage removed from its casing (I used mild Italian chicken sausage) and adding a chopped red bell pepper with the onion. We loved the flavor the sausage added and even Emery could handle the mild spice.

Even better, it truly only took me about 40 minutes start to finish and didn't seem to create much of a mess in the kitchen.

This little girl, however:

does make quite a mess in the kitchen, and everywhere else these days, but we still love her!

Pretty amazing

This picture was taken over my birthday weekend and when I really sit back and think about it, I am astonished.

These three women all have given me the gift of true friendship over the years .... starting with Amy,  (in the middle), one of my closest childhood friends. We probably celebrated every single birthday together from 1st to 12th grade. Then there is Brooke on the far left, whom I met the first week of college and became a fast and extremely faithful friend. On the far right is Shannon. Our friendship began right after college and has taken us through just about a decade of fabulous adventures, lows, highs and everything in between.

And would you believe this - they ALL live in Chattanooga right now. It's not like this is Chicago, or Washington D.C., or some other places where gajillions of people live. Nope, the population here doesn't even reach 200,000 and yet somehow, we've all ended up here.

Most of the time I think I take it for granted that they are all here, right now, but every now and then I step back and really think about how I never could have planned this myself, wouldn't have even occurred to me, and I realize how pointless it is to worry, strive or try to manipulate my future to turn out just how I want it to. Seems to me God has it pretty well under control and is doing far a better job than I could ever do myself.

Shameless plea for help

I really didn't want to have to do this. It feels kind of low. Self-serving. Begging.

But here goes. Look at this adorable photo of Emery in MI.  Don't you like it?

Well, if you do, would you mind going to our local toy store's Facebook page and "liking" it? You first have to "like" the toy store, then you'll be able to "like" the photo.  I'm so close to winning a $100 gift certificate if I can get the most likes by Aug. 13.  (I'm in the lead! As of today, that is. Now they're actually starting to advertise the contest, which is not working in my favor)

I'll make it easy for you! Here's a link to the picture, though you'll have to click on the store's profile to like it first.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2319328703101&set=o.293835460000&type=1&theater

Thank you in advance for feeding my competitive spirit and my totally ridiculous notion that if I just got Emery the right toys, our days together would be even easier! (I know, I know, who am I kidding, she'll still be most interested in getting into the chocolate chips and emptying my nightstand over and over and over.)

Miscellaneous

How is it that I can lose shoes, dresses, dishes, and more ... and still this silly little eye that fell off a craft Emery "made" at the Y has been following me around the house for more than a week?

I had an old favorite for lunch today - scrambled eggs with pesto. SOOO good. Just add a dollop of pesto to your eggs as you're scrambling them and voila - green eggs minus the ham. Even got Emery to try the eggs tonight, and she's becoming quite the picky eater, so I must say I was rather proud of myself for gently coaxing her into loving them.

We love the library these days. Free, new, cleanish toys and really good AC.

A whole fried catfish! Matt and I dug into this for my birthday dinner out ... yummmm.

Even better, I was able to partake in some fried pickles on my actual birthday.

Last week we went to a huge used bookstore and got lots of credit for books I don't want anymore. Emery, who one month ago adored books and now barely gives them a glance, enjoyed cruising along the shelves much more than reading ...

The Y now has an indoor playground and this is where I found Emery the other day when I went to pick her up - just peeking out the peephole at me!