On Wanting.

OK, I give up.  I give up on hoping that the MOU will be extended or that there will be grandfathering of dossiers.  I am comfortable with that. 

Time to move on.  

Sunday we went to the zoo and had a really nice time.  It was one of those days when we had nothing planned and it was too wet to work in the yard.  So after checking the radar to make sure there was a few hours where is was actually not going to rain we set off.  We go to the zoo pretty often, probably 6 times a year.  Our membership is a good investment and always provides really nice, cheap, impromptu outings.   We throw a lunch together and hop in the car and go.

It was not overly busy for a Sunday, nor too hot.  The threat of rain kept the crowds at home.  We fell into our zoo routine pretty readily, and now part of the entertainment is picking out the differences from our last trip.  Three new beaver babies, a fresh paint job in the primate house, a new walk way to the african dogs over-look, that sort of thing.  We were disappointed that the elephant moms had not delivered yet, a bit over due.

We had lunch in the food court area, our usual spot.  We lingered a bit after lunch and my mind was wandering.  I have been dieting and I was feeling pretty good about our nice heathy packed lunch, and how I’d been able to keep under 1500 calories a day for more than a week.  But, also frustrated because despite that I’d gained a pound over the same week.  Just as I was thinking, “Wow, I’m not even hungry.” a really tempting ice cream cone entered my line of vision.  Creamy chocolate soft serve in one of those hand make waffle cones.  Ugh!  Now I’m hungry.  I turned my head to avoid the ice cream only for my eyes to land spot-on a mother and her newborn.  Double Ugh!  I closed my eyes.     . . . . day ruined?  No, just made me think. It will be like this my whole life.  If I keep up my diet at least I will be rewarded with good health and the energy to care for my family.  If I keep myself from children I will have a hole in my heart my entire life.

When we got home I spent some time surfin’ the net.

•  Korea, no.  We are too old for an infant.  (Too old?  I don’t feel too old.  That stung!) 
•  Hong Kong, special needs only, and the fact that we are not ethnically Chinese won’t win us any favors.  
• China, long list of requirements, but possible.  I hate that I would provide a justification for a mother or family to give up a child just because it is a girl.
• Taiwan, possible, but we would have to act fast as we are getting close to being too old but waits are much shorter than China.  Boys and girls . . . And, hey, there is an agency in our area, sort of.  About an hour away.

  This has possibilities.

 

The Perils of Penelope . . . pineapple, that is.

When I wrote in my last post :

 Stay tuned to find out the fate of Penelope Pineapple.  Will it be the grill, the blender, or something more sinister?! 

I didn’t actually intend to blog about the pineapple in my refrigerator.  BUT, dinner tonight was so good that I just have to share!  Not only was it really good, I didn’t ruin my calorie count eating it.  Sorry, it was not the grilled desert (but here is the link to my favorite gilled pineapple/desert), not the blender, it was the chopping block!  (Insert evil laughter here.)  

Grilled Tuna with Pineapple and Rice

This recipe fed my family of three with a lot of left-overs.  (Yum, I can’t wait for lunch tomorrow!)

First the tuna (2-6 oz. Steaks).  I marinated it for about 30 min. in the following ingredients.  A zip bag with the excess air pushed out works really well.  With the bag you don’t need to make a huge amount of marinade to cover the steaks.

• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 1 TBS Soy Sauce
• 2 TBS Lemon Juice
• 2 Cloves Garlic smashed
• 2 Tsp Grated Ginger Root

While the tuna marinated in the fridge, I started the rice cooking.  (Mini Rant:  DO NOT USE INSTANT RICE!  If you are bothering to cook real food, cook some real rice while you are at it!)  I used 2 cups (rice cooker size) of Jasmine rice (my fav!) and used a can of low sodium/fat chicken stock and added water for the rest of the liquid.  (Using low sodium/fat stock lets you control the amount of these ingredients in your food.  You can always add more if you want it.  It is not a diet thing, just a good cooking habit thing.)  I also tossed some minced onion (1/2 small), and ginger root (1 TBS) in with the rice.

While the rice was cooking and the tuna marinated, I chopped up the following:

• 1/4 Pineapple in 1″ chunks
• 1 Orange in 1/2 ” chunks
• 2 TBS Fresh Cilantro 
• 2 TBS Fresh Parsley
• 2 TBS Fresh Chives

(Some red pepper would’ve been nice, but I didn’t have any.)

By now your rice is well under way and you can grill the Tuna.  4 min. each side over high heat.  (The grill must be preheated.)  When rice and tuna are done, chop the tuna into bite size chunks.  Toss tuna, rice, fruit, and herbs together and add:

• Juice of 1/2 Lime
• 2 Tsp Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

And toss again.

Serve with Soy Sauce or Nuoc Mam on the side.  I prefer Nuoc Mam myself, nothing like the salty sweetness to go with the ginger and pineapple!  What is Nuoc Mam?  Vietnam’s all purpose condiment made from anchovy extract, salt and sugar.  One of those things that is WAY better than the sum of it’s ingredients.

And now the Mom’s are out there saying, “Grilled Tuna!  My kids/husband will never eat that!”  But they will. Really.  My son has remarked that last two times I have served tuna “Mom, how come tuna tastes like chicken?”  I don’t know the answer to that (in part because it doesn’t taste like chicken to me), but I do know he eats the tuna with less complaint than chicken!

So, there it is; the first post about the pineapple in my fridge.  Tune in tomorrow when our villain will say, “Smoothies anyone?”

but who’s counting

four.

I am.

While waiting for our referral I have begun counting other things too.  

Goodreads.com has become a almost constant companion.  I have 430 books on my list, read and to-read.  I have had a lot of time to read this year and have not had that pleasure in a long time.  I have had excellent luck finding things to read that suit my tastes.  The reviews and comments by real people seem to be far more useful than publisher provided information alsone.  I am also hooked on the never ending book quiz and have finally broken into the top 100 ranked players.  I don’t think I will ever make it onto the leader board which is determined by the most correct answers.   

I count my calories on Fitday.com.  So, far I have lost 10 pounds in about a month.  I should also add that my food hobby previous to fitday was binge eating, which caused me to gain 25 pounds.  I was at the diet or shop point. I could not even put on the vast majority of my clothes and the ones I could caused me to be very uncomfortable.  Yesterday my Fine Cooking Magazine came in the mail.  Wish me luck.

So, this blog is supposed to be about a busy working Mom.  How is it that I have all this free time on my hands?  NO BABY!  My employer did not want me to disrupt my teaching by leaving the country for two weeks.  So I have been on unpaid leave from my teaching duties this entire academic year while I wait.  Fortunately, I have been allowed to design a few shows, and had the time to take on some projects that I normally would’ve had to miss.  I did a small project for a large theatre company near where I live and was able to participate in an exhibit of theatre designers.  This has kept me from going completely bonkers.  Next fall, back to my normal schedule, I hope, but I wouldn’t count on it.  

Current Projects

The academic year is winding down, so despite the theme of this blog, things are relatively calm.  I suppose that is why I have time to do this now.

Irons in the fire right now?  

My husband and I are throwing ourselves a 20th wedding aniversary party later this month.  Hopefully the weather will co-operate, we will need to be outdoors or we will be so crowed I will need to find a hall on very short notice.

We are working on our second adoption.  Let’s just say I’m a year overdue and pretty cranky about the whole thing.  I’m sure this will be the frequent topic of future posts.

The university I work for is building a new facility for our program.  We will be in temporary shop spaces for the next academic year.  We have to move out of our current shops a year before the new building is ready to make room for a new medical program that cannot wait for an orderly departure on our part.  I’m sure this will be the subject of future rants.

With spring comes gardening at our home.   There will be photos, just wait!

Weight loss! (UGH!) Nine pounds in three and a half weeks.  (Did I mention how hungry I am right now?!) Sorry, no photos here.

Yeah, pretty calm.