Vermicomposting Update

I'm not sure the wormies survived the move.  Last time I added kitchen scraps to the bin, I saw no movement.  I added more wet shredded paper, hoping it would revive them, but I've been afraid to check on their progress.  I know, I'm a big chicken, but I just feel so bad.  I may have killed 500 of God's creatures!

I promise to get up the courage to check on them soon.  Maybe we'll be building a new compost bin outdoors (sans worms) now that we live in a real house instead of a third story apartment!

Anyone else having composting woes?

Our December Travels

For the last three weeks, Spencer and I have been traveling:

We spent a week in Honolulu, HI for the Pacifichem 2010 conference.  While I was presenting and sitting through symposium sessions, Spencer got to check out Waikiki beach and downtown Honolulu.  Our last two days we spent sight-seeing.  We went up to the Polynesian Cultural Center (amazing!), visited Pearl Harbor, and stopped briefly at the Dole Plantation (pineapples) and a macadamia nut farm.

We were home for barely 24 hours before heading off to Virginia to visit our families for Christmas, but we had a few hiccups first.  At 10pm the night before we were supposed to leave, Spencer started having chest pains.  We called an on-call nurse at the university who told us to call 911.  We did, and the EMTs showed up shortly after.  Although an EKG of his heart looked normal, they still recommended a trip to the ER, so I drove Spencer there myself instead of letting the ambulance take him.  Another EKG and blood tests came back normal enough, so we left with a list of symptoms to look out for.

After a few hours of sleep, we were off to VA, or so we thought.  Not 5 miles from the house, Spencer's car broke down.  At least we were close, right?  A good friend (who we are very indebted to) came to pick me and the cats up while Spencer waited for the tow truck.  We had the car towed back to our house, repacked everything in my car, and finally got on the road.

We had a very nice Christmas Eve day with my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend ending at church.  All day Christmas was spent with Spencer's family.  It was the first time I started dating him that all the siblings were home for Christmas.  Nine (and a half) people plus seven cats makes for a full household, but it was a lot of fun.  On the way back home, we made a short stop in KY to see my grandparents, cousins, aunt, and uncle.

We made it back home just in time to spend New Year's eve with our friends, then zonked out for a good 10 hours or so.  Yesterday we spent doing nothing, which was nice, but today we need to get back with the program!  I'm trying not to stress and worry about everything that needs to be done, and remembering my therapist's advice to keep it to four things or less per day.  So, here are my TODO's for today:

1. Go to church
2. Go to Hypnobabies class
3. Meal planning
4. Grocery shopping

I'm hoping much more gets done today, but that defeats the purpose of this whole exercise. 

TODO: Day 1

My list of things to do today:

1. Cloth Diaper 101 Class
2. Work on Pacifichem presentation for 1 hour
3. Spend 15 minutes unpacking
4. Write blog post

The Cloth Diaper 101 Class was amazing and has me really excited about cloth diapering our child.  Spencer went with me and is also on board :)  We even started our stash:

• 1 bum genius 4.0 one-size pocket diaper + 2 inserts
• 2 FuzziBunz one-size pocket diapers + 4 inserts
• 1 flip cover + organic insert
• 18 disposable flip inserts

Do any of you cloth diaper and have any suggestions for us newbies?

I'm alive!

I know it's been a long time since I posted, but I promise I'm alive!  A lot has happened since May.  First of all, I'm pregnant with our first child, due March 2011.  We are really excited, but have also been dealing with a lot of stress.  In August I took my comprehensive exams, but I failed 2 of them and it's taken a while to figure out the next course of action.  A few months later, Spencer lost his job.  Shortly thereafter, I was diagnosed with depression.  Oh, and we've moved!  Because of all this, I've decided to take next semester off from school to focus on myself.

This week my therapist gave me some homework.  Part of what's perpetuating my depression is the extremely high expectations I have of myself.  Each morning, he wants me to write down a list of things to accomplish that day.  My only goal is to complete those items.  I'm supposed to start with about four items and evaluate from there.  If I can't get four things done, the next day I'm only supposed to write down three things to do, etc.  Even if I only have one thing on my list for the day, if I accomplish it, I'm supposed to be proud of myself, and not dwell on what else I could have, should have, done that day.  That will be hard for me.

I'm going to try to post my lists here on my blog and comment on how I feel about my progress.  Feel free to play along!

Recipe: Chicken Pad Thai

One of the things I used to love to make before I was married was Pad Thai, but I had never made it from scratch. Here was my first attempt, which turned out rather well.  We didn't have any limes, so the lime zest and juice were left out. I also tend to skip the garnishes in recipes, so we didn't use any cilantro, either. Overall, this recipe was a hit, and my husband even reheated some for lunch the next day.

Changes for next time: I would decrease the amount of chile sauce; it was a tad spicy with a whole tablespoon.  I also want to experiment with incorporating the egg into the dish.  I thought it was weird to just sprinkle it on top.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
Serves: 4

8 oz. rice noodles
1/4 c. salted peanuts, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. grated lime peel
3 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
4 1/2 tsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. Asian chile sauce with garlic
3 tbsp. cooking oil (we used vegetable oil)
1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size strips (we used chicken tenderloins)
1 tbsp. finely chopped garlic (we find using a hand grater is easier and faster)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 c. fresh bean sprouts
1/3 c. sliced green onion (approx. 3)
2 tbsp. snipped fresh cilantro

Place noodles in a large bowl. Add enough hot water to cover them; let stand for 10-15 minutes. Drain well.
For peanut topping, combine peanuts and lime peel. Set aside.

Combine fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, rice vinegar, and chile sauce. Stir until smooth. Set aside.

In a 12-in nonstick skillet, heat 1 tbsp. cooking oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and garlic. Cook and stir for 6 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Transfer to a bowl.

Add egg to the hot skillet and cook for 30 seconds. Turn egg with spatula and cook for 30-60 seconds until set. Remove egg from skillet, chop, and set aside.

In same skillet, heat remaining 2 tbsp. cooking oil over high heat for 30 seconds. Add drained noodles and sprouts; stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Add fish sauce mixture and chicken. Cook for 1-2 minutes until heated through.

To serve, sprinkle each serving of noodle mixture with egg, peanut topping, green onion, and cilantro.

ENJOY!

P90 Cardio/Abs Day 2

Somehow we made it through our workout yesterday, but both of us found it so difficult!  My body just wasn't cooperating.  I think it's because we took Friday off to spend some time with friends and didn't eat the healthiest things (read: pizza).  But we survived and tomorrow it will be easier, right?

P90 Cadio/Abs

Last night we did our first night of P90 Cardio/Abs.  It wasn't that bad, but I learned that I'm really bad at yoga.  Does the instructor really think I can do planks and pushups after yesterday's strength training?  Oh, and the yoga dog must be Episcopalian.