My new scheme of weekly menu planning and cooking American and Japanese on alternate weeks is working all right. Not as much food is wasted, and less complaining from Suk. However, many of the recipes I have been using are brand new to me. I got a recipe from the AFWJ cookbook called Miso Pork Butt. It sounded appetizing...I mean, who doesn't want to eat Pig Butt? Suk thought it was hilarious that I was going around the meat section of the store asking them where the pork butt is located. They corrected me by telling me it was actually the pork thigh. So what? Pork Butt is much funner to say. So, anyway, I made the pork butt for the first ... and last ... time. Remember this, folks. Never ever cook miso. There is a reason why miso is always added last when cooking soup or miso based sauces. In fact, it is added last, after the heat has been turned off. In this case, according to said recipe, I was supposed to make a sauce using miso, pour it over the pork butt, and then let it simmer in the pot for 2 hours. 2 hours? I went into the livingroom to nurse the Ailin while the pork butt was simmering, and ten minutes later, it was burned to a crisp and there was a thick layer of black, charred something on the bottom of the pan. Need I describe to you the horrendous smell coming from the pot as well? This horrendous smell filled my house and stuck to everything - the clothes, the curtains, my hair, etc. I could not get rid of it easily, and my nose burned all night. Suk was not pleased when he got home and was welcomed by that miso stench. I really learned something new here. No more pork butt in this house, and definitely no more cooking of miso.
Other news: Suk and I are going on a date in Ginza tomorrow. Just shopping for electronics and then dinner. Yeah. Grandma will be taking care of Ailin.
I am now posting on my teaching blog, which I started last year just before going on maternity leave. I started working on it again, so please check it out if you are interested in English teaching. It is called "It's time for coffee talk" and you'll see the link at the top of my blog roll.
Ailin can now eat with a spoon. I am not sure, but she may have learned that at the daycare. You'd think they would write about such an accomplishment in her diary, but I haven't seen any references to spoons. She seems to be doing well there, but is very happy when I pick her up.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Mandeland
Things are going fine in Mandeland. Sorry I haven't gotten back here to update the saga of Supermom.
I went back to work on February 15 and was sick as a dog. I was even wearing a mask so as not to pass my then-unnamed disease onto my unsuspecting co-workers. I went to the doctor after school and demanded a diagnosis. I forced him to test me for influenza even though I had had an influenza shot back in November. I was negative and he insisted and I did not have bronchitis, pneumonia or anything else related to the lungs. I had what he termed "an especially bad cold." Hmmm. He gave me "especially strong drugs" and told me not to nurse for 5 days.
Okay, I'm not a doctor, but I have read some books, and I am acquainted with Dr Sears. According to Dr Sears, prescription and OTC drugs for things like colds are not going to do your baby in should you choose to take them while nursing. In fact, refusing to nurse your baby just because you are taking a little cold medicine is likely to piss your baby off and leave you feeling even worse. Nursing should be avoided, or at least carefully monitored, if you are on psycho drugs like Lithium, or cancer drugs. And, nursing should be avoided altogether if you are smoking (the) pot, snorting cocaine or injecting herione. So, I went home and nursed Ailin through the weekend and both us felt much better by Monday. Thank the lord.
After a bit of adjustment, she is doing well in day care. They love her, and she is happily playing, eating and sleeping there all day.
At work, I am busy with class-planning for the next school year, chatting with my colleagues, drinking coffee, going out for lunch occasionally and working on a few personal projects here and there. I have no classes right now since it is nearly the end of the school year, and my replacement has stayed on to finish out the year.
Ailin did have her birthday party with the Bilingual Baby Playgroup moms and their kids. Oh, I would have called it a first-class disaster, but according to some of the moms who attended, it was "really great." I don't know what impressed them more - the huge-ass Costco cake that would feed an army or the deflated baloon decorations that were hanging up since the originally planned birthday party two weeks before. Maybe it was the fact that Birthday Girl herself had decided to take a nap just before the guests arrived, and slept for most of the party. When she did awaken and I brought her out, she was in the worst mood ever. And, she got scared off by the living room full of people, so she cried and acted all clingy until everyone left. Then, she was in a fine mood. No, no, I think it was the horrible Star Wars-style sandstorm that was brewing outside during the party, and just when it was in full swing, I sent everyone home so they had to walk through the sand storm with their babies and strollers. Yes, yes, it had to be the last one. If I had been a guest, I would have really appreciated that thoughtful detail.
Well, moving on...it wasn't that bad. I was relieved to get it out of the way. I might avoid planning big birthday bashes in the future. You just never know when someone will get sick and all that prep time and food will go to waste. It's not really worth it.
Other than that, I am busy, but things are going smoother than I imagined they would. I really should be doing flylady-style housework right now, but instead, I am slacking on the computer. So, that's enough for now!
I went back to work on February 15 and was sick as a dog. I was even wearing a mask so as not to pass my then-unnamed disease onto my unsuspecting co-workers. I went to the doctor after school and demanded a diagnosis. I forced him to test me for influenza even though I had had an influenza shot back in November. I was negative and he insisted and I did not have bronchitis, pneumonia or anything else related to the lungs. I had what he termed "an especially bad cold." Hmmm. He gave me "especially strong drugs" and told me not to nurse for 5 days.
Okay, I'm not a doctor, but I have read some books, and I am acquainted with Dr Sears. According to Dr Sears, prescription and OTC drugs for things like colds are not going to do your baby in should you choose to take them while nursing. In fact, refusing to nurse your baby just because you are taking a little cold medicine is likely to piss your baby off and leave you feeling even worse. Nursing should be avoided, or at least carefully monitored, if you are on psycho drugs like Lithium, or cancer drugs. And, nursing should be avoided altogether if you are smoking (the) pot, snorting cocaine or injecting herione. So, I went home and nursed Ailin through the weekend and both us felt much better by Monday. Thank the lord.
After a bit of adjustment, she is doing well in day care. They love her, and she is happily playing, eating and sleeping there all day.
At work, I am busy with class-planning for the next school year, chatting with my colleagues, drinking coffee, going out for lunch occasionally and working on a few personal projects here and there. I have no classes right now since it is nearly the end of the school year, and my replacement has stayed on to finish out the year.
Ailin did have her birthday party with the Bilingual Baby Playgroup moms and their kids. Oh, I would have called it a first-class disaster, but according to some of the moms who attended, it was "really great." I don't know what impressed them more - the huge-ass Costco cake that would feed an army or the deflated baloon decorations that were hanging up since the originally planned birthday party two weeks before. Maybe it was the fact that Birthday Girl herself had decided to take a nap just before the guests arrived, and slept for most of the party. When she did awaken and I brought her out, she was in the worst mood ever. And, she got scared off by the living room full of people, so she cried and acted all clingy until everyone left. Then, she was in a fine mood. No, no, I think it was the horrible Star Wars-style sandstorm that was brewing outside during the party, and just when it was in full swing, I sent everyone home so they had to walk through the sand storm with their babies and strollers. Yes, yes, it had to be the last one. If I had been a guest, I would have really appreciated that thoughtful detail.
Well, moving on...it wasn't that bad. I was relieved to get it out of the way. I might avoid planning big birthday bashes in the future. You just never know when someone will get sick and all that prep time and food will go to waste. It's not really worth it.
Other than that, I am busy, but things are going smoother than I imagined they would. I really should be doing flylady-style housework right now, but instead, I am slacking on the computer. So, that's enough for now!
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