Last week was crazy, hence the lack of posts. I started the new job and so far, everything is great! Everyone is incredibly nice and welcoming, including my boss. The work is interesting, the firm is great - life is good. I'm of course in my adustment period, so I'm a little frazzled because things are simply unfamiliar, but hopefully that will change soon.

We heard some bad news this weekend. Hubs' step-brother has advanced colon cancer and the prognosis isn't good. Not that it changes anything, but he and Hubs are not close (there is a big age difference and frankly, they don't know each other that well), but it still makes you evaluate the important things in your life. Which leads me to my next point...

The older I get, the more I appreciate my family. (I know, cue the Barbara Streisand music.) God knows mine isn't perfect, but the bottom line is, we love each other. And that matters more than anything. I wouldn't say I ever took mine for granted, but once you see how cruel and - maybe even worse, indifferent - some "families" are to one another, it really gives you a different perspective. I feel incredibly lucky that no matter what, my husband, mom, dad and brothers ALWAYS have my back!

Changes all around

My lady-of-leisure break is coming to an end in a few days...WAH!

Truthfully, I'm a little relieved. I've enjoyed sleeping in (if you can call a few days here and there of sleeping till 8 am "sleeping in"), but I've decided that without 1) a vacation lined up, 2) friends in like situations or 3) work-at-home jobs (or kids), this whole staying home thing is kind of for the birds. Remind me in six months to kick myself for saying that.

Anyway, last week it was a bit of a stretch to occupy myself, but this week I've actually been super busy because....we bought a house! Yep, fun times. But also the beginning of a thousand-and-one things to do. I've been extremely diligent because I know my time to do this at will is limited, so I was very happy we were able to do the inspection today. I was even MORE happy my dad took time from his busy schedule to come with me (totally unexpected). Hubs is away for work, so the company and advice was much appreciated.

(I had to laugh- to myself- when my dad started to answer questions I directed to the inspector...awww Dad. I don't think he'd like the inspector butting in if someone asked surgical questions, right? Anyway, it was cute.)

So I forsee a lot of home-decorating posts in the future and I'm welcoming any advice or links to pictures you may have! In a completely unrelated note, I gave that chicken fried rice recipe a second shot and MAN, what a difference a few key ingredients can make. I'm going to leave that as a parting gift - enjoy! (Sorry I don't have any pictures, but it does look lovely with all of the chopped scallions).

Healthy Chicken Fried Rice - in honor of Grace
1 small onion, thinly sliced and halved
1 zucchini
1/4 medium yellow pepper
1 can sliced water chestnuts
4 oz. frozen peas
1 lg. carrot, jullienned
2 c basmati rice, pre-cooked and chilled
4 oz. boneless, skinless chicken, sliced on the grain (totally appropriate to use Publix's lemon-pepper rotisserie chicken....just sayin')
1 egg
soy sauce (I like reduced sodium)
ground ginger, approx. 1 tsp.
sesame oil
chopped garlic
3-4 scallions, washed and white and green parts chopped

(In case you haven't noticed by now, I eyeball measure ingredients)

In a wok, heat approx. 1 tbl. sesame oil over medium-low heat with garlic and onion. Add julienned carrots, yellow pepper and ground ginger. Cook until slightly tender, approx. 5 minutes. Add zucchini, cook for a minute longer, then add peas and chicken.

Meanwhile, in a separate nonstick pan, scramble the egg and set aside.

Raise heat to medium high, add 1 more tbl. sesame oil and the chilled rice (the chilled part is verrrrrrry important!). Stir quickly, add a few shakes of soy sauce and cook until heated throughout. Combine the scrambled egg to the mixture, add more soy sauce if desired, and apportion to serving plates. Garnish with chopped scallions.

A whole lotta turkey

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! I hope you had a wonderful dinner with family, the kind that inspires meaningful and heartfelt discussion about gratitude and the truly important things in life.

I kid, I kid - who actually has those family holidays so reminiscent of a Publix commercial? The idea is nice, but at our house, there's usually chaos as everyone tries to sit down before everything gets cold. (We are a family of cold-food haters!) This year, I even toyed with the idea of idea of throwing in my own little message, but it seemed a little out of place, considering the grace delivered by my mother. It could be rivaled only by, say, Homer Simpson. (Sorry, Mom.)

And of course my brothers, the great conversationalists of the family, only add to the Rockwellian atmosphere at our Thanksgiving table. To paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, if you can't get rid of a family skeleton, may as well make it dance, right?

But it's ok. Life is not a Publix commercial (thank God - talk about pressure). And the next morning, as I stood on line at 6 am for a flat-screen TV with my loyal mom and dad, ready to spar - well, verbally - with anyone who dared try to ruin Hub's Christmas surprise, I realized that while no family is perfect, I'm pretty lucky to have the one I do.