Staycation

So, this week and next week I'm on a staycation (aka 2 weeks of vacation at home!) per some encouragement from my manager to really take some time off since the last few months have been really hectic. I'm settling in nicely to this routine, though it's taken me a few days...if you know me well, you know I'm not that good at sitting. I was regularly "in trouble" with my mother-in-law a short while after giving birth because I was up trying to do my normal piddling, cleaning or anything that didn't involve me sitting down.

But now that I'm settled and over feeling lazy (silly, I know - there's nothing lazy about taking care of your family!), I'm really enjoying myself. Mary-Michael and I are doing lots of playing, we've visited with Daddy a few times during his work day and will have a few play dates under our belts by this time next week. I made it my goal (because I had to have some sort of goal!) to cook/bake/make a new recipe each day. I'll update this as a go along with the do-overs and those that were one-time only.

Do-overs
Molten chocolate lava cakes (if I could, I'd eat these every night!)
Black bean tostadas (Geoff was a huge fan, and he's kinda picky)
Aunt Artie's oatmeal cookies (family recipe from Geoff's mom)
Honey roasted carrots (they tasted kind of like a dessert!)
Chicken taco bake (I've found it's hard to mess up a Mexican recipe!)
Sunny frittata (the Beethoven-Wilson boys really liked this, and it was relatively easy)

One-time only
Curry shrimp over rice
Fresh blueberry crumb coffee cake
Peppered cheddar muffins

I'm also doing lots of reading. If you've let me borrow a book over the last year, I'm hoping to get to it in the next week! So far, I've read "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" and "Thursdays at Eight." Next up is "The Day the World Came to Town."

But more than these easily quantifiable goals, I really hope to have a little me time, and a lot of family time. So much is missed when we hurry through life, so I'm going to try and take it slow these next several days...hopefully, it will stick.