300 Days of Sunshine

Happy St. Patrick's Day!   Our Shamrock Sweetie! Talk about crazy weather lately.  While my friends in Minnesota and New England are hunkering down for blizzard warnings and snow emergencies, we have been opening the windows in the house and going for afternoon walks in short sleeves!  I'm not gullible enough to believe that winter is truly over, and I'm definitely not packing up the boots or sweaters yet, but it sure has been nice to experience some spring-like weather this week.  Daylight Savings was a beast while I attempted to get up for work hours before sunrise after waking up multiple times in the night to feed the baby, but the sunny afternoons and long evenings ALMOST make up for it.  (On a related note, a bill was recently passed in the Senate that would keep New Mexico on Daylight Savings Time year round.  We may never have to set our clocks back again!)   Daylight Savings bill We have visitors coming to town this weekend and I...

Happy Mardi Gras!  This month has been a whirlwind.  I started back at work after my 12 weeks of maternity leave, Ady started daycare, Ady also had her first trip to urgent care when she developed a fever, we took a family trip to San Antonio where I presented at a national physical therapy conference, we celebrated restaurant week, watched the Oscars, almost forgot Valentine's Day, and suddenly February is over!  Whew!  I didn't want to go the whole month without a blog post, so here are a few updates: 1.  We had friends over for dinner last night for an early Mardi Gras celebration and I made my standard Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya.  Yum!  I ordered a King Cake from my favorite local bakery (because who has time to cook dinner AND bake in the same night?!) and over the weekend I also tried these amazing Pecan Pralines: Louisiana Praline Recipe .  (Let's just say they aren't going to last very long in my house.)  Laissez ...

After a warm and mostly snow-less December, we have had a beautiful January with several weekend snowfalls!  In the past week the Santa Fe Ski Basin has recorded 27 inches, and I've been able to enjoy several snowy walks through my neighborhood during the final few weeks of my maternity leave.  Earlier this week I went up to the Aspen Vista trail for some snowshoeing with Ady in her Ergobaby carrier.  It was so peaceful and serene, and exactly what I needed after the stressful and shocking events of the past week.  I needed to just forget about the world and all its chaos and turmoil for a couple hours.  I encountered a few groups of fellow snowshoers and cross country skiers whom I imagine were doing the same. Kua had a blast running through the fresh powder, and Ady slept with her warm body nestled against mine in her carrier.  I love my girls!   The sky was a really interesting color that afternoon, very dark and cloudy with small patches of brigh...

The past year has been monumental for me in terms of the way I see the world, comprehend and respond to events in my community, and stabilize my own beliefs.  The months leading up to November 8th and the events that have followed have been precipitous and unbelievable at times.  During the tumultuous and fierce election, I wholeheartedly supported a strong, intelligent, female presidential candidate whom I had seen repeatedly become the victim of sexist remarks and attitudes, yet who never faltered in her dedication and determination, and I looked forward with excitement and pride to the day when she would become the first female President of the United States, just days after my own daughter was born.  I was then shocked and dismayed as the election results were confirmed.  I was up in the middle of the night feeding my three-day-old baby when I saw the announcement of the election.  I couldn't stop crying as I held my girl.  Was this a joke?  Who co...

Happy January!  I have two weeks left of my maternity leave and I'm trying to make the most of it by spending lots of quality time with Baby Ady before she starts daycare.  It's going by so fast!  While I'm home I've been using my crock pot a lot, working on some yarn projects, taking long walks with Ady and Kua, reading, and doing some baking.  I have struggled with high altitude baking since moving to Santa Fe 5 1/2 years ago.  Cookies turn out okay, but I usually have to make some adjustments with cakes, and my breads are often mushy in the middle and crispy on the ends.  I can get by okay with a few of my favorite recipes that I have practiced multiple times, but it's often hit or miss.  For Christmas, my secret santa got me this amazing cook book, Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitudes, that explains the chemistry behind high altitude baking and gives suggestions for adjustments to make at various altitudes.  Ingenious!  ...

Ahh, if only there were more time to read all the books I want to read!  2016 was another successful year of completing my "Reading Challenge."  This year I surpassed my goal and finished 54 print or electronic books (including 2 short stories) and 43 Audiobooks, allowing me to explore a wide range of fiction, nonfiction, classics, humor, mysteries, sci fi, autobiographies, as well as several maternity and motherhood books as we welcomed our baby girl!  I listened to a lot of audiobook memoirs by present-day comedians and entertainers (Amy Poehler, Sara Bareilles, Amy Schumer, Chelsea Handler, David Sedaris, etc.), explored some new authors and ones local to New Mexico, read a selection from Emma Watson's feminist book club, and also reaffirmed that historical fiction is my favorite genre (especially when there's a good plot).  I didn't like all of the books I read this year, which is okay too, but most of them were great.  My "Thursday Night Wine/Book Club...