I've been a bit out of sorts the last couple days and haven't felt up to doing much of anything...

Thursday, Tim returned from Iraq. Tim is Holly's (who is my cousin) husband. He was gone for 4 months in Baghdad working at the airport there. It was really good to have him back, and fascinating to hear all the stories and see the various things he brought back with him.

My Mom watched the kids while I went to therapy and while making a quick stop at Target the woman parked next to me had a dead battery. So, her and I worked at it and eventually remembered how to jump her car. It was really rather funny. It made me late and I still had to get lunch so by the time I arrived at my appointment, everything was kinda out of whack in my head. Nonetheless, it was still a very useful appointment, as all of them are.

Jason stayed home today because someone from Comcast came to put in digital cable. It sucks. But we're rather stuck because DirectTv's customer service sucks even more. I won't even go into how terrible they've been. Ugh. But their Tivo setup and software is far better than Comcast. Its like going back into the dark ages of television.

So you know I made that really icky eggplant dish earlier this week? Well, I figured that not all the recipes in the book could be bad, so I tried for another one which was lemon marinated pork chops. You thinly slice potatoes, then put the pork chops on top, then drizzle with the marinade and cook. Easy enough, and the individual ingredients sounded good.

Well it tasted like poop. And smelled like poop. And after 1 1/2 hours of cooking in a 375 oven, the darned potatoes weren't even soft. They were cut like 1/8th inch thick so there was no reason they should be hard. Its like the awfulness of this dish changed the structural makeup of the potatoes and kept them from softening against all odds. Anyway, luckily we had leftover pizza so the kids and J were saved. I had made some delicious blue cheese dressing to have with an iceberg wedge salad, so I had that. That dressing rocks. Here's the recipe.

Blue Cheese Dressing

I used Point Reyes blue, but the recipe suggests Stella or Danish Blue. Something not extremely strong...

6 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sour cream
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Using a fork, mash the blue cheese, buttermilk, and garlic together in a bowl until the mixture resembles cottage cheese. Stir in the sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. The dressing, covered, can be refrigerated for up to 4 days, stir to recombine before using.

Ethan and Gwen have developed their own language of late. Its a series of grunts or screams. One of them will start, and the other will answer. And they will go back and forth, louder, softer, longer tones and shorter tones. Its cute and irritating :)

Today I took the kids to the little playground by our house and all by himself Ethan "swam" down the slide. Lately he's been very proud of his "swimming" which is when he lays on his stomach in the bathtub and moves his arms and legs like he's swimming. We did not teach him this! Gwen is starting to pick it up too. I'd love to put them in some sort of swimming class, but that would require me to get in a swimsuit and er... that is not going to happen.

Oh, and one final thing. Ethan went #2 in the toilet 4 times today! I could not believe it... he is doing so well with his potty training.