I enjoy the lists. I get to see all of them and it makes me feel useful.

You are a far, far better person than I.

My mom did the burger/macaroni/tomato soup "goulash" thingy, too. Bland and comforting. And cheap enough to make a lot of.

The reality of my life now is occasionally frustrating, and as much as I love my child, depressing.

Plei, you are sooooo not alone. Of course, this doesn't make it any less frustrating or depressing but maybe less lonely. And we were in a heck of a good starting point when Owen was born. Every day it makes me second guess having another kid, with the added expenses and wondering how it's going to stretch.

We got out again today--but just to a friend's house for lunch. She just had her second baby and I am relishing the time she has on maternity leave (she works three days a week) so right now, she's effectively the only friend I have in town that doesn't work and has kids that I enjoy hanging out with. *sigh*

O's napping and I still don't know what to make for dinner to go with the sweet corn I got at the farmer's market. We're pretty much meatless around here unless I can find some un-freezer-burnt chicken in the freezer.

Cindy, dad made that once, with spinach rather than peas, when Mom was in the hospital having my baby sister. I believe it was the only meal we all refused to eat.

Oh, I think spinach would ruin it. I like spinach, but it's sort of a sweetly bland comfort food, and oh no. I've often wondered if it was something my grandmother's family either made up in Nova Scotia, or brought over from UK. Creamed Salmon and Peas sounds like British food to me.

VW, if it helps, I was a bad bad girl last night.

Ebay + insomnia + having enough in my personal reserve to cover it = BUDGET? WHAT BUDGET??? OMG. So I'll have to work a couple of extra hours today to make up for it.

I know better. Really I do. But it was under $30, and, err... really, a once-in-a-lifetime sort of purchase. (By which I mean, the conditions that lead me to thinking this was the best idea since making your own sliced bread are once-in-a-lifetime.)

Which I'll link to, but it's not worksafe.

[link]

she's effectively the only friend I have in town that doesn't work and has kids that I enjoy hanging out with.

This is the reason I decided to come to New Mexico for two months and stay with my parents for a while. With Joe gone, my only nearby-friend in NC is a full time student with two kids who are enough older than Ellie that we can't really do stuff together outside the neighborhood. I still feel pretty isolated, but at least I'm in a gorgeous place.

Out here, I can hike with Ellie and the dogs or go to the lirbary or something. It's such a small town that I always see people who know me or my parents. Sometimes I feel that I'm not being "adult enough" by clinging to my parents at 31, but the truth is that we are all happier with me out here.

One of my favorite meals as a kid was what my mom called "goulash". It was actually browned ground beef, put in a casserole with a small box of cooked elbow macaroni and two cans of tomato soup. Put a few bread crumbs on top, bake for 40 minutes, and it's delicious. I guess you'd call it "macaroni and beef" or something. Total peasant food, but so comforting and tasty.

My ex-the-doctor and I decided all of these type recipes fell into the category of Cooking With Soup, which by our reckoning was one of the few universal constants defining the American working class (from which we both sprang).

When I was in college my friend John Collins had us all up to his family's house in Cleveland for Easter. His Mom was the ultimate master of Cooking With Soup. Every casserole was a Cream of Mushroom spectacular topped with either Durkees Onion Rings (which seem to only exist as a casserole topping) or crumbled Ruffles potato chips. It was good.

This is the reason I decided to come to New Mexico for two months and stay with my parents for a while. With Joe gone, my only nearby-friend in NC is a full time student with two kids who are enough older than Ellie that we can't really do stuff together outside the neighborhood. I still feel pretty isolated, but at least I'm in a gorgeous place.

Yeah, if I Christopher had to be away, I'd be with my family, too. I'm kicking myself for not getting out more and making friends but I was always friends with people I worked with. Now those people are too busy working to hang out.

Plei, ONCE IN A LIFETIME!! Squeeeee! That's awesome.

I know better. Really I do. But it was under $30, and, err... really, a once-in-a-lifetime sort of purchase. (By which I mean, the conditions that lead me to thinking this was the best idea since making your own sliced bread are once-in-a-lifetime.)

Sometimes you've just gotta do it (and that thing is pretty damn cool!). I justified my purchase because I had a full frequent buyer card that I used, which made my purchase $15 less than it would have been otherwise. I was pretty good considering. Plus, my day is going to be filled with stress-producing car errands, and I needed something to keep me sane and excited.

Some days you've just gotta give in...a little, anyway.

I don't cook with soup.

I think my mother does, but I only ever liked Cream of Mushroom as a solo act.

I'm kicking myself for not getting out more and making friends but I was always friends with people I worked with.

This was always true in my case as well. We move so often that usually I make friends pretty quickly. At least at work, you usually have some things in common. One of the hard things (for me, at least) with making friends with other moms with young kids is that "moms with young kids" is a pretty broad category and a lot of times, I feel that's all we have in common. If all you have in common is that you are both parents, but you have chosen to parent in different ways, things can get awkward.