Aurora Borealis

We were supposed to meet up with some of the folks from the pro-life commitee after they got finished with this afternoon’s annual Life Chain down at the cathedral.  But the benediction service following Life Chain must have been very brief because they were done much earlier than expected and weren’t interested in waiting until the pizza place opened at 5:00.  So just the family went.  Agent Murphy struggled to take an afternoon nap, but he still managed to be mostly happy at the restaurant.  (A kid’s birthday party - 8 kids and 8 adults - came in right after us, so even if he’d decided to be cranky and loud, it wouldn’t have mattered.)  Good food, and we’re glad to see this neighborhood pizzeria is doing good business, and we were very excited to see an ice cream shop is “coming soon” across the street.

In other news, all the letters from Agent Murphy’s name puzzle bench are currently accounted for.  It’s good he has his whole name back!

Well, sort of.  We had leftover pumpkin soup on the menu for lunch today, and we planned to make RW’s pumpkin pancakes with some of the extra canned pumpkin.  So we had them together as pumpkin brunch.  The pancakes were quite yummy, though my flipping technique needs some work.

Meanwhile, Agent Murphy has gotten up from his morning nap all grumpy.  Hopefully he’ll do better with his afternoon nap because we’re going out for pizza tonight.

So I came down with the cold Mr. Tldz had.  Felt pretty crappy all weekend.  Still don’t feel great today, but I didn manage to get a fair bit done.  Of course, there’s feeding the Agent, picking up toys, picking up toys again, feeding the Agent, picking up…  Well, you get the idea.  But I also got diapers folded, a load of kiddo laundry washed and put away, scrubbed the stovetop and kitchen floor, and made another test run of Agent Murphy’s proposed birthday cake.  I didn’t mess up the frosting this time, so we’ll get more of the full effect.  But my cake decorating skills definitely need work.  Maybe the Agent will get birthday wishes written on his cake.  Right now we just have squiggles.

We’ll be having fudge cake for dessert tonight.  If it’s any good, I’ll use that recipe for Agent Murphy’s birthday cake.  I intended to make my butter cream frosting, but messed it up and have a bowl of goo instead.  (Sauce on your cake, anyone?)  At least I know that recipe works - well, most of the time; so I was really just testing the cake.  The recipe says it’s good enough to eat without frosting.  We’ll see.

That was yesterday’s agenda.  We got together with N. and her family at the playground area at PDK airport.  I’d heard they’d put in a playground/picnic area, but hadn’t been to it.  Good to check it out.  It’s nice - a good option to have.

I think Foster Mulan enjoyed the opportunity to run around with A. and I.  She even went down the slide, she says.  I was feeding the Agent, so I didn’t see that; but I think we had confirmation of that from one of the other parental figures.  That’s progress - she used to be scared of the slide.  She’d climb up the stairs, then come back down the stairs.

Agent Murphy got to try some watermelon run through the food processor, which renders it not much more than pink water; so I thickened it up with some rice cereal.  Then at home yesterday and today, we’ve been giving him small chunks of watermelon to play with in his “big boy seat.”  With the first batch yesterday, he was mesmerized into silence. (!)  (Of late, he’s been exploring the wonders of his voice - at full volume - at the table.  Elsewhere, too, but it’s particularly ear-splitting when we’re all sitting at the table.)  But he viewed it really as a plaything.  If we’d put a chunk into his mouth, he’d look - I’m not sure, maybe perplexed, or worried, or put out - and then move it around his mouth for a while before letting it fall out.

Mr. Tldz made shortcakes today for the first time.  Excellent!  We had some blueberries and whipped cream with them after lunch.  And then I got a bit of a nap while Agent Murphy took his afternoon nap.  A good day.

My birthday was yesterday, but Mr. Tldz and I went out for dinner on Saturday.  (The restaurant isn’t open on Sundays.)  Yummy Thai food from Phuket.  Leftovers for lunch today.  It was a leisurely meal with no baby in tow.  Yep, it was a big day for Agent Murphy’s half-birthday - he stayed with a babysitter for the first time.  His Aunty M. was nice enough to come over for the evening, and apparently he comported himself well.

Even though it was a day early, I got to open my presents when we got home - Alton Brown’s kitchen manual for organizing our own recipes and kitchen notes and Joseph and Chico.  An authorized biography of the pope for children written from the perspective of a cat he used to own - how cool is that?!?  A quick glance at it suggests it will be a lot of fun and well worth reading.

Yesterday, we enjoyed sweet tea - our first batch of sun tea of the year.  That went along with leftovers for lunch - green tomato pie and barbcued green beans.  Gosh, you’d think I was a Southerner or something!  Then it was homemade pizza for dinner, followed by chess pie.  We also made an egg custard pie for the week, so we’ll be able to compare and contrast the pretty similar recipes.

All in all, a lovely weekend.

My first attempt at sauerbraten turned out reasonably well.  Sauce was rather too thick, though.  Next time I’ll use more water than the recipe calls for.

Pot roast is bubbling away in the crock pot (and smelling quite good!) and apple pie is in the oven.  Laundry is folded.  And Agent Murphy sounds pretty happy playing in his crib.  Tea time, pumping, and completing the pie before going to get Mr. Tldz from the train will be pretty hectic, but hopefully we’ll get it done.  Maybe can even get diapers started washing…

2 places are in plaza on Buford Highway south of Chamblee-Tucker, before LaVenture (4897 Buford Highway):

• Harmony Vegetarian (under $20)
  770-457-7288
  Sun, M, W, TH 11-10:30; F, Sat 11-1.

• Panang - Malaysian food ($21-$30)
  770-220-0308.

Himalayas Indian
in Chamblee Plaza
770-458-6557
$8.50 buffet on weekends.

Bombay Grill
2165 Savoy Drive
678-530-9555
I-285 to exit 30; left on N. Peachtree; right on Savoy.

Shingaar Palace (under $20)
3364 Chamblee-Tucker, Suite H
770-458-4466.

Slope’s Barbecue
Roswell Road just outside the perimeter