Another Saturday Night, and I Ain't Got Nobody!

Yeah!!! I love Cat Stevens! Great song. Anyway, another Saturday night, and I ain't got no children, but I do have an amazing hubby and two of the most adorable dogs in the world. And a pretty cute kitty, too. We just got back from Vespers and had a quiet dinner at home. Now we're drinking Margaritas and getting ready to watch Harry Potter.

The past few weeks have been pretty uneventful. We finally decided to take our house off the market after receiving no offers. What an unfortunate time to list a house for sale. Within a week of our listing on the MLS, Obama made his speech about the Federal Government defaulting on its debt, the stock market plunged 2000 points, and the jumbo loan limit dropped 100k. Not good for us. No, no, no!

So now we are trying our best to scrimp and save for our adoption and upcoming Master's program. We need to start fundraising for our adoption, since it will probably cost about $8,000 for us to fly to Ethiopia twice, and our referral fee will be due next year sometime. On top of that, what if we are lucky enough to be referred siblings?!? Then we need to come up with another $6,000.

What is our plan, you might be asking? Well, everybody loves coffee, so we are working on setting up our own online coffee store to help fundraise. I also happen to be pretty good on a sewing machine, so I plan on making handmade African-themed batik quilts and hope I get some takers. I'm starting to feel excited about our adoption! I think I just needed to pick myself out of the dumps of infertility blues and get an attitude adjustment. Also, being 27 on the siblings wait list is good, right??

In the meantime, I've been working on my mommy skills by knitting socks and making these cute little watermelon cookies:

And check out the veggies from our garden!

The Dream of a Ridiculous Woman

These numbers signify many things. They are the number of months we have been on the wait list. They are also the first number of my address. They are also pictures I took of our actual No. 4 on our house and curb. They also are a clue for my stalkers to find where I live. Next month I will give you the next number to my address. You will be so much closer to finding me!!! They are also the number of weeks our house has been on the market. Looks like we may end up staying in our house at this rate, but I digress. Here are some more numbers: 69, 51, 27. Boys, girls and siblings waiting list positions, respectively.

Yes, there has been movement, but is it enough to get me excited and hopeful that this adoption will actually end with a beautiful baby (or an ugly one...either way, we will still love it) in our arms? Not so much. Why can I not bring myself to feel excited? Because two years is too long to hold your breath. That's why.

At my husband's insistence, I read a short story today by Dostoevsky called "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man," and I can tell you that it was, indeed, ridiculous. Don't ever read that. But once again, I digress. The point of this story was that you can either accept that life holds mostly suffering, and in order to survive, you must learn how to turn that suffering into love, or you can shoot yourself in the head with a pistol. And it's the suffering of a little girl whose mother is dying that saves the ridiculous man's life because it makes him realize he has a choice to express love in the midst of suffering. He puts the pistol down and chooses not to shoot himself.

What a horrible story. But anyhow, I feel like I am at a similar crossroads. I can either shoot myself in the head, or I can accept this suffering and try to turn it into something good. I just wish I knew how to do that.

Point Reyes = Happy Dogs

We've been having open houses since we are trying to sell the house, so a few weeks ago we escaped to Point Reyes for the weekend with the dogs.

We saw the old lighthouse...

And the new one!

We took the pups to the beach.

And then to a park.

Great minds think alike...

Or maybe they just get distracted by the same things...

Happy Chica.

Happy Max!

Anxious Daniel and Erin. No offers on the house yet.

English scones at teatime

My best friend is getting married in a couple weeks, and I had the honor of throwing her a bridal shower last week! She wanted an English tea party, so of course, I practiced my scone recipe for weeks beforehand to make sure they turned out perfect for her shower. Here's the best recipe I've found so far for scones:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
6 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces.

Mix these ingredients together until you have the consistency of cornmeal. Next stir in:

1/2 cup of dried currants, cranberries or blueberries (I used frozen blueberries)
1 large egg
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon grated orange zest (optional)

Mix with spatula until ingredients are moistened. Gather into a ball and knead against bowl until sides of bowl are clean. Transfer to floured surface and pat dough into an 8-inch round and 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 12 wedges and place on baking sheet. Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Place into preheated 425 degree oven and bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on rack and enjoy warm!

I now pronounce you man and woof.

Confession time. My dog Chica thinks that my husband is actually her husband. I often come home to the two of them snuggling on the couch in a warm embrace. In the evening, when I want to sit on the couch with Daniel, Chica won't give up her spot, usually leading me to sit on another couch by myself. I've described this to many people, but no one seems to believe me. Well, I've finally caught it on my camera, so here goes:

Scenic Sunday

Hiking with Chica at the Ridge.

Our Beautiful Valley.

Chica summoning her inner cow.

Potatoes Gratin Dauphinois

These are the most delicious scalloped potatoes you will ever taste! It's a foolproof recipe that always turns out creamy and amazing. It's out of the Joy of Cooking, and I'm posting it at my stepmom's request. Sorry, no photo! But just imagine creamy, soft layers of thinly sliced potatoes with a golden crispy cheese top. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Ingredients:

1 clove of garlic, halved
1 tablespoon of butter, softened

2 1/2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced (I always use Yukon gold potatoes because they are creamy and rich)
3 cups of a combination of milk and cream (I do half cream, half milk, but you can use less cream if you want a lighter dish)
1 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup of grated Gruyere or Fontinella cheese (or whatever cheese you've got laying around)

Preheat oven to 350. Rub a 12-inch glass dish with the garlic clove. Discard garlic. Next coat dish with the tablespoon of butter.

In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg and bring mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat. Cook and stir until the liquid thickens, about 5 minutes. Pour mixture into baking dish and top with the cup of cheese. Bake until the top if golden and potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Enjoy!

Just to post a picture anyway, though, here is the new beret I just knit for myself!

Argentine Chimichurri

Thanks so much to all who were able to join us for our Memorial Day BBQ, especially Ramzy and Rachel, who brought the most amazing marinated chicken and pasta salad! Several people last night asked for my chimichurri recipe, so I'm posting it for you all. My dad is from Argentina, and so I grew up smearing this stuff on my sandwiches, and it is so delicious. My dad doesn't call his version chimichurri, though. He just calls it "the green stuff." He can't eat spicy food, so he leaves out the chile pepper. I think my recipe adheres to the more traditional chimichurri. You can use it as a marinade on any type of meat or as a dipping sauce for sliced sausages, etc. Sorry there's no photo. We ate it too fast! Here goes:

1 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 bunch of curly parsley
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of chile powder (in Argentina they use Aji, but if you can't find that, use Cayenne or even paprika if you don't like spice)

Throw all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and let it go until you have a creamy texture. If it's too thick, you can always add a little more olive oil and blend it up. It should be the consistency of hummus or yogurt. Enjoy!

How do we make the mortgage?

Hello Everyone,

I'm Daniel. This is my first post. I was just so inspired by my wife's theophantic eloquence. So here it goes:

Dominatrices

Fantasies aren't bad.

Mind if I cover your face?

Not good pillow talk.

Ok, so here's the context. After we took Max to the vet, we got a good ol' fashioned country breakfast and discussed the pros and cons of Erin taking up dominatrixing so we could pay our mortgage a little more comfortably. I was a little against the idea, but Erin explained to me that not everyone's fantasies need to be identical. I think it's a valid point. Some people might like the whole intimidation and pain thing. It's sexy, I hear. Anyway, I hope it makes sense now.

Good night; thanks for indulging my fantasy of being a blogger.

DSR

A bittersweet weekend

On Friday Max got his teeth cleaned and also got a tumor removed by Dr. Chan. Thank goodness it was not malignant, but it's heartbreaking to see the love of my life, my little furry-baby stumbling around and wimpering in pain. It was not a good weekend for Max or me, either, since I'm fighting another cold off, which I think is turning into bronchitis. So on Saturday, when I should have been at the Oakland A's game for Jesse's birthday, Max and I were at home feeling sorry for ourselves. I did manage to make some lemon marmalade, though! Ingredients: 10 lemons, 4 cups of water, and 4 cups of sugar. Ouch! Toothache just writing that! It came out delicious.

Something I've been pondering for a good while now: If infertility had to happen to someone, I'm glad it was me, because I'm open to adoption, and not all people are. I know with all my heart that I could love a child that is not my own blood as if it were my own, and I know this because that's how much I love my dog. I figure, if I can love my dog Max as if he were my own flesh and blood, adore him and appreciate him in such a way that I think only Jack London would understand, then I KNOW I can love an adopted child that same way, if not more! Now, if only this adoption would move forward! I've been reading some pretty hilarious and thoughtful haikus lately, thanks to "Cory and Molly." After this weekend's events, I feel inspired to write my own haikus, two odes to Max:

Tumor Victory
Stitches on belly
Praise God was just fat tumor
He still wags his tail

Child or Dog?
If dogs lived longer
I wouldn't want to have kids
Max is it for me

I think Max is the most adorable dog I've ever laid eyes on! Isn't that what parents think about their kids? I think I'll be a good mom.