Lots of Goings Ons

I signed the paperwork for Thomas' speech therapy last Thursday. Pat, our services coordinator, said that they have a shortage of speech therapists right now so I thought it might take a while to actually get an appointment. But I got a call today. Thomas starts speech therapy next Monday. He'll go once a week until he can accurately imitate sounds, has a 100 word vocabulary and can use 2-3 word phrases.

I also scheduled by dissertation proposal defense. On Wednesday, May 6th at 2 pm I'll sit down with 10 of the professors in my department and probably cry. No, I'll just want to cry.

My proposal is a 25 page paper that identifies the problem my dissertation will address and outlines my solution to it. The proposal defense is a working session - at least that's how the faculty views it. Students traditionally think of it as an hour-long opportunity for your professors to point out the weaknesses in your arguments and generally undermine your confidence in your philosophical abilities. Since I already have very little confidence in my philosophical abilities, it shouldn't take even that long. Though I doubt they'll cut it short, no matter how much I might wish they would.

Clearly, I am not looking forward to it. However, if I get through it (without crying, hyperventilating, vomiting or rashly faking an epileptic seizure) and my proposal passes (lets not even consider the alternative), I'll get my master's degree and I'll finally be able to teach. More importantly, the last five years will have proven not to have been a complete waste of time. (It was touch and go there for a while on that score).

It's all about the pajamas.

I try never to buy clothes at full price, especially for the kids. I'll buy stuff on sale in a pinch, otherwise I stick to the clearance racks. But the other night Thomas was crying after Jeremy dressed him after his bath. Thomas climbed on my lap and started pulling at the feet. He was crying because his pajamas were too small for his feet! (Though weirdly, the shoes I bought him last year still fit.) So, I broke down and bought him two new pairs a few days ago.

Then, Easter came and grandmas and grandpas sent him money in the mail. I decided that the Easter money paid for the pajamas and now I can sleep at night without wondering if I could have found clearance pajamas if I'd searched for a few more days.

(Speaking of laying awake nights over money, thank you for all the ad clicks. Keep it up!)

Thomas also got trucks for Easter. He loves them, thanks Grandma Peggy!

Yay Easter Trucks!, originally uploaded by leslie.ann.

This is Thomas' new favorite thing to do:

New Habit, originally uploaded by leslie.ann.

And, of course, I laugh every time. Because I am a child. He's guaranteed to do it every day until he turns 15. Spiffy new pajamas, though.

Food Friday - Pasta Bake

Pre-cheese Pasta Bake

This is my favorite pantry recipe. It's simple comfort food. Throw together a salad while its in the oven and you've got dinner.


Pasta Bake

1 pound of pasta (penne, spiral, shells, etc.)
1 jar pasta sauce
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1 can olives, sliced or quartered
1 can diced tomatoes
Italian Cheese to cover


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pot. Add sauce, beans, olives and tomatoes and stir together. Transfer to a casserole dish and cover with cheese. Heat through in the oven, 15-20 minutes.

Thomas has a little friend.

Thomas and Trent, originally uploaded by leslie.ann.

Tyson, our neighbor across the street, has a 21-month-old son Trent and is much more outgoing than me. He actually crossed the street to introduce himself a couple of weeks ago. Shocking, huh?

(An aside: it actually was a bit shocking. Thomas and I were doing laundry in the garage when I saw this young man walking up our driveway and into the garage with us. My first instinct was to keep him out of the garage so I was trying to corral him back outside when he explained that he lives across the street.)

Tyson and Trent came over to play in the yard today. Thomas and Trent don't exactly play together. Thomas gives his toys to Trent and then marches back over to recover them a few minutes later.


In other news, I planted some flowers.


I put in the landscaping timbers and filled in the bed with compost and manure. Unfortunately, Home Depot wouldn't cut the landscaping timbers so I left the ends open. It rained yesterday and a lot of the soil washed out into the yard. I had considered that possibility and decided that it wouldn't be a problem. However, I didn't account for the runoff from the roof of the house. Anway, I found something they would cut down for me and closed off the ends. Now, I just have to keep the flowers alive.

Food Friday - Pasta w/ Chickpea-Tomato Sauce

This pasta is simple and awesome. I doubled the garlic from the original recipe because I have never in my life tasted something and thought it had too much garlic. If you have had that thought, scale back the garlic. I also threw in some steamed broccoli and marinated tofu because they were in the fridge. I didn't have any fresh basil so I added a small pinch of dried basil to the sauce. (I just planted a few basil seeds though so I'm looking forward to the next time I make this.)


Pasta with Chickpea-Tomato Sauce
Adapted from Everyday Food April 2009

4 garlic cloves, minced
¼ tsp red-pepper flakes
3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 cans)
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 can (14.5 oz) vegetable broth
1 fresh basil leaf (more for garnish)
1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
12 oz medium pasta shells
grated parmesan for serving


Saute garlic and red-pepper flakes in olive oil until fragrent. Add chickpeas, season with salt, and cook for 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce has reduced slightly, about 20 minutes. Add basil leaf, cook for 5 more minutes. Remove basil.

While sauce is cooking, cook pasta according to package directions and steam the broccoli.

Add sauce and broccoli to pasta and toss. Serve w/ parmesan.

All Better

All Better, originally uploaded by leslie.ann.

Thomas got the all clear from the doctors at The Shriner's Hospital. All told, his burn took 10 days to heal. So, no scar. We will have to keep his arm covered when he's out in the sun this summer.

The mark turns purplish when his arm is down by his side but when we rub in his moisturizer, it almost completely disappears. Sometimes burn marks get darker before they lighten and disappear but that doesn't seem to be the case with his. I think it will be gone well before a year has passed.

The ordeal is over but I'm still so sad that this happened to him.

Freedom

This is my new laptop. Guess what it does. It works. All the time. It knows what time it is without me having to tell it. If you accidentally unplug it, it still works. Which opens up the possibility of unplugging it on purpose. It's awesome. I love it. Thanks mom and dad.