This and That and Soup

First off, Talitha is doing well. She and the other kids are all doing great with each other. Sure, there is the occasional tug-of-war over mom but it does make me feel super popular. Talitha will be sitting next to me on the couch. As long as she's touching me in some way, she's happy. Noah will spot her touching me and all of a sudden he loves me dearly, even though for the majority of the time he doesn't seem to notice me at all. I am the giver of juice and that's about it. So he'll pile on me and lay his head on my shoulder like he actually loves me. She will squawk and try to edge him out. They are both fighting over my affection and I think "I finally know how the cool kids feel."

Yesterday the kids played in the pool. Toby killed a snake, which he was quite proud of. It seemed like a harmless garden snake, which was very sad. We watched a toad hop along and ate fresh figs from our tree. Good things.

The marks on the fence? That's me with the lawnmower.

Mmm, figs!

Today I had planned to make cauliflower soup and biscuits and take some to my bestie, who just had her fourth baby. Noah did not sleep at all for naptime but I had to run to the store for ingredients this afternoon because I am nothing if not a good planner of time. Tali was fussy so I carried her in the sling. Noah sat in the cart and rubbed his eyes and generally looked stoned. At one point, I was wearing Tali and pushing Noah and making threatening remarks about behavior to Jack while Katie sadly nodded her head at him, like she was disappointed in his choices. It was around that time that someone I knew turned around the corner and ran into us. From threatening my kids through clenched teeth to a very bright "Hi, how are you? How are we doing? Oh, just fine - couldn't be better!"

Says the mom with a clingy sweaty baby on her hip, a red-eyed toddler in the cart and two young kids, both of whom are probably scouting the crowds for a nicer mom. "Look at the juice she's buying. No preservatives, organic, and each fruit picked gently in the moonlight. That's the one."

I got home around 4 pm. Here's a rundown of me making soup tonight:

-I browned the butter in the pans and chopped the veggies. I'm making a triple batch, one for my friend and two for us. Lots of math. Which was probably my first mistake.

-Realized that I only bought two heads of cauliflower when I needed three. Why did I think I already had one? Looked in the veggie drawer - oh. That's a cabbage. So my family got a nice mix of cauliflower and cabbage in the soup. They both grow in the ground. Similar enough. 

-I forgot to buy chicken broth. I have one box, which is 4 cans. I need 24. So I googled 'Chicken broth substitute.' Among them is white wine. So I rummage through the cupboard. How about a wine cooler?"

-Big kudos to me that I remembered that chicken broth has a lot of sodium so if I was just using water and boullion, I would have to use salt. Sprinkled liberally throughout cooking. It was after I dropped the meal off at my friend's that I noticed the salt shaker was closed. I do that so the kids can sprinkle away without actually using any salt. So...not much in the seasoning department.

-I made some biscuits in my beloved cast iron skillet. I placed the skillet on the counter after the biscuits were done. Minutes later I saw that the milk lid was sticking out under the pan. I lifted the pan up. The one that minutes ago was in a 450 degree oven. Lid melted. Fingers burned. I drove the whole way to my friend's house with my hand in front of the air conditioner vent to cool it off.

Later I carried Noah and Tali to the bathtub, as they were both covered in broth and biscuit crumbs. As I passed by the mirror, I noticed that my one-day-old haircut was not quite what it was yesterday. My side swept bangs have now feathered. I've got a popular haircut. It's just 30 years late. 

Then Talitha had an unfortunate accident in the tub. We got the rubber duckies out just in time. She clenched her teeth when I tried to brush them and Noah stuck one of her flower petals from her towel in his mouth and pulled her head over til she screamed.

Stick a fork in this day. It's done.