Oh, we can do this

My dear friend invited our family unit over for dinner tonight. Both having two and a half year olds and a serious picky eater among them {my kid}, I worried, she worried. We just generally wondered how it would go and it's probably the reason why we've put it off so long. We're both fairly ambitious working mothers, which contributed to our angst. We want everything to be perfect and go perfectly. The fact that we are mothers is surprising. {I'm not sure it bodes well for our children.} But we got together and lived to tell the tale. She made dinner {amazing grilled salmon with basil corn tomato relish and green beans with pancetta}. I brought dessert {chocolate peanut butter Reese's cookies and gelato}. Of course our kids didn't want to eat it {more for us}, so we heated up pizza and they gobbled that up. Success! The cookies were amazing, but a source of contention when the tots wanted more {of course}. I was amazed how well Vincent did, mainly playing off on his own with toys. I can't wait to do it again. I'm truly surprised how enjoyable it was since Jonathan and I are not that social {introverts}, but we both enjoyed the company and the kids {the wine was good too}. 

Time flies when you're having fun

The apartment is empty of our great guests. The only evidence that remains that Andy, Chance, and AJ were ever here is the water bottle they forgot. I miss AJ's little voice and giggle, and my listening to my sister's oh-so-exciting conversations in person.

The trip was fun, crazy, and at sometimes a little challenging. It rained everyday we were in Missouri. We drove, and drove, and drove, and drove. Poor AJ probably can't stand the site of his car seat anymore—or Black Beauty for that matter. We ate lots of food (including some evil fast food!), but I did manage to get in homemade chicken pot pie, asian lettuce wraps, and roast, Crock Pot mac 'n' cheese, and mashed potatoes. I've been declared a fabulous cook! I'd say the trip was a success just from that compliment alone.

Got to see M.O.M., who got to see AJ for the first time. It was such a sight to behold watching her take him in and snuggling him up. We also fed the rainbow trout at Bennett Springs State Park hatchery. It was too cute watching AJ throw in fish food pebble at a time. We would have been there all day if Chance and I hadn't throw in a few handfuls ourselves. The upside to the rain was everything was lush and green. My most favorite parts of the trip was holding AJ's hand (it's so tiny, it's almost hard to hold) and watching him give me a sleepy grin.

Apparently the trip is on for next year as well, only this time camping out at Bennett Springs. Bugs, mud, spiders#&151;I think I might have to be busy next year. But for that cute grin of AJ's, I'd get bit by spider. It's worth it.

Wishy washy

Cars are nothing but trouble. Might need to capitalize the 'T' on that. Trouble. Yesterday, Jonathan called me saying his check-engine light came on.

His car is 11 years old, so it shouldn't be a surprise, but really? You have to start breaking down right now? When we're back on the We're-going-to-buy-a-house-this-summer kick, something we have been saying on and off for at least a year. We take the car in Monday, so fingers crossed that it's nothing major to deplete our savings. Where's public transportation when you need it?

If we have to pay a lot, we once again will be sitting tight to buy a house, which to us means putting the rest of our lives on hold: the real cooking I want to do (I've dreamed of making croissants), the card-making, the decorating, the having kids, the possible gardening, the having friends and family over that won't come visit me because my apartment is too small (or so Melissa says), the everything!

Oh, and did I mention that I'm not getting a raise?!

Wish list: Dinner parties

Maybe it's because the new year is upon us, but I'm in a plannerly mood. Dreaming up dinners for guests I don't have, decorations I don't have room for (ditto on space for a party more than five), and cooking chops I don't even possess.

Tonight I'm flipping through my Good Friends Great Tastes cookbook in preparation for my sister to come visit me (something I'm trying to make into a monthly ritual because she too loves to cook, even when she can't eat most of what she does cook because of food allergies; plus, she's on the closer side: 3.5-hour car ride away). This cookbook makes me wish for weekly dinner parties; its the perfect cookbook for such a thing. It has menus that list attainable ingredients and minimal directions. One of my other sisters purchased the cookbook for me when I was in college, and I have yet to make anything out of it some three or four years later. I guess I just assumed it's a dinner-parties-only kind of cookbook, and if that's the case, well, who wants to come over for dinner? My door is open and my oven is preheating.

The reluctant hostess

I've never "entertained" before. The mere word frightens me. How can I, a homebody, book-reading, card-making, TV-aholic knitter, entertain anyone? I look to be entertained. So, when I came across Amy Sedaris' book, I was intrigued. Maybe that's the exact approach I need to take to entertaining.

The In Laws keep asking when I'm going to have them over for dinner. Maybe a slight alcohol buzz would make the whole ordeal easier to bear if I didn't take it so seriously. I'm buying this book. I hope it gives me the courage (liquid or otherwise) I need. What could go wrong? Well, they could always remark on my dingy, stained carpet...