The First Week of July

The first week of July has been a productive one. I really couldn't tell you exactly what has been done; I simply know that I have not slept in once and TV time has been at a minimum. One thing that is causing me a bit of grief this week is finding towels and rugs to match the guest bath shower curtain. I keep on picking up accessories that are not just not quite the right shade of blue and not quite the right shade of brown. It's very frustrating. And, I could go with cream or light yellow, but that would mean that I would have to paint another room. Not high on my want-to-do list. So, I will return my latest bag of mismatched findings and try again. I know, in the grand scheme of life, not a big deal.

I did try a new recipe this week that I will share. It is a marinade for grilled chicken in which I got the opportunity to use some of the herbs from my herb garden. The recipe comes from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook:

In a baking dish, whisk together 1 tablespoon olive oil, 3 garlic cloves (minced), 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 1&1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (chopped), 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add 1&1/2 pounds of chicken; turn several times to coat. Let marinade at room temperature for 10 minutes or up to 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Now, I did not whisk in a baking dish; instead, I put all of the marinade ingredients into a ziplock bag (adding the wet ingredients last) and mashed the bag together to mix them. Then, I added the chicken to the bag, squished it altogether, again, in order to coat all of the chicken in the marinade, and let it marinade in the refrigerator for several hours/half a day. I also used Tyson thin cut and pre-trimmed chicken breast (found at Wal-Mart), so it grilled really quickly. I served the chicken with grilled asparagus and baby red new potatoes. Yummy!

I would recommend doubling the recipee because, the left over chicken is wonderful to throw on top of some spinach for a salad. I would feel pretty confident in saying that it would also be good chopped up on top of a homemade pizza with lots of veggies and also thrown together with pasta and sauce or made into chicken salad. The leftover possibilities are endless.

We have actually made a little progress on the baby front this week. We are talking about it more and Husband is finally taking some interest, although it's still just a little. I have been reading more about it, but I think that is partly to my demise. You see, the more I read, the more frightened I become. It is really hard being 2,000+ miles away from family and not having a military network of friends in the area to fall back on. (Or, any friends in the area.)Some days, actually many days, I feel quite alone. I mean, the cats...really not all that helpful. I have received many phone calls from loving and concerned family and friends, but it's just not the same. So, if anyone needs a get away, feel free to pack a bag and travel this way! And, on a side note, I am feeling the baby moving around.

I do have one other little bit of crankiness to add this post. In the sense that I kind of hate to see things change, I feel like an old lady writing this one, but it somehow makes me sad/frustrated. If you have been in a mall lately, you may have noticed that Victoria's Secret (VS) and Bath & Body Works (B&BW) are both having their semi-annual sales. Well, for some reason I was feeling a bit nostalgic and wanted to purchase some on-sale body wash/lotion/spray in scents that I wore years ago. Guess what, I could not find them! I mean, when did B&BW stop making Juniper Breeze? They did have Plumeria in the clearance bins (again, no longer carried on the normal shelf), however they were out of the lotion, so I didn't get that one either. And, they renamed, as well as changed, the scent of what used to be known as Country Apple. Gee...so much for relishing in the past for a while. But, all-in-all is wasn't an unproductive shopping trip. I did get a great buy on a couple new up-sized bras for my newly voluptuous tatas as well as an ahead-of-the-game sexy black lace nursing bra. Yes all you new and potential mamas out there, VS now makes nursing bras. Although, sexy and nursing bra just seem a bit of an oxymoron to me.

Husband and I are headed out late this afternoon/evening for a weekend get-a-way. We are traveling to Jackson Hole (or simply Jackson, depending on who you are talking to), Wyoming. We plan to do some hiking, check out Teton Village and Grand Teton National Park, make a side trip to Husbands Wyoming "hometown", have burgers at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, and just enjoy each others company for a few days. In other words, some much needed R & R. I am looking forward to it.

So, on that note, I am outta here. I need to make it to the gym this morning and then do errands and pack. Plus, the clothes dryer just buzzed and I despise wrinkles. Happy Independence Day to you!!! I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!