OMG

How does one forget their child?  Especially when there are two of them and one only forgets one child?  How do you look at the one and not think "huh, weird, usually there's two of them"?

Not that anyone forgot one of the girls tonight and since hasn't noticed her absence.  That definitely would not have happened, and if it had I definitely would think better than to blog about it...definitely

cupcakes

Tony is currently in the kitchen attempting to bake cupcakes for me (for my birthday) using the cake mix W/soda technique that is so popular right now.  

There are 3 reasons why I think he is doing this:

1. He hates that my parents (and step mother) forgot my birthday and is trying to make up for this fact
2. He's tired of my b*tching about needing to eat better (so he's using diet soda)
3. He bought cake mix and forgot to buy eggs

I'm sure at the heart of it, his reasons really are only 1&3 but I can also see him debating with himself in the store "she says you can really make cake with soda, I've tried the cakes she made and they worked out ok, should I buy regular soda or diet soda? if there are leftovers I'd rather drink regular, is she going to b*tch at me for buying regular? she did say she was feeling fat today, she's probably going to b*tch about regular soda, they are cupcakes though so who cares if they have 10 extra calories, I should buy diet" 

This is how I imagine my husband's brain works anyway.  I find it rather cute actually.  It's nice knowing someone actually cares about whether or not I'm going to be mad at them.  That sounds bad, at the very least reflective of low self-esteem, maybe it is but I don't think so, it's more of a reflection of bad/immature love matches in the past with people who really didn't care if I was upset at them or at anything for that matter.  So really the jist is I love my hubby :-)

27

Today is my 27th birthday.  I generally try not to get too excited about my birthday, but invariably I usually do.  Most years something bad happens on or around my birthday and well really who wants to celebrate the anniversaries of bad things?  But then again it is my birthday and I do love celebrating...


This year I didn't really get excited.  For the first time I seem to have actually taken my own advice and not gotten my hopes up that anything especially good would happen today.  It is now 8:00pm and while nothing especially good has happened today, nothing especially bad has happened either.



Both of my parents seem to have forgotten that today is my birthday.  Strangly enough this isn't really bothering me all that much.  I think it's due to the fact that I did not get my hopes up for anything this year.  I think had I gotten excited (like I typically say I won't but absolutely do) that this would bother me quite a bit.  I would have probably have sat around my house in the dark and had a pity party 16 candles style (yes I probably am that dramatic, but no I'm probably no where near as cool as molly Ringwald).


 But for some reason this year it just doesn't seem to matter to me.  Plenty of people have wished me a Happy Birthday.  One friend even called and sang me the entire Birthday song over the phone.  My in-laws and my hubs got me fabulous gifts.  Hubs is (hopefully) getting off work soon, and planning to take me to a late dinner.  All in all it's been a good, if somewhat uneventful, day.

Ooo before I forget, I did discover today that I share my birthday with this fabulous lady:

which I happily informed her of via Facebook.  Fingers crossed that I get a response (even though I'm sure it would be from some staff member, it would still be incrediblestoryItellfortherestofmylife cool!), it could be a game changer folks, my birthday could forever be known as the catalyst for beginning my beautiful and life long friendship with Zooey.  One day many years from now we could sit together at our annual birthday dinner party with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, while of course listening to the song She&Him wrote to denote the special occasion, and laugh about how our friendship began via random Facebook comment.

...not that I've given this idea much thought at all...





P.S. I'm assuming this pic is a gag, this lady is waaaaayyyy too amazing to ever do anything illegal

"Maybe we can go outside when yous done with your homework Mom"

It's all done and turned in!  The big bad manuscript is finally off my table (for now anyway, I'm sure I'll have to edit if I want it published).  I have 2 more days of class and a final and this semester is donezo!!!

I should be celebrating and perhaps I will muster the energy for a date night with my hubba bubba (Tony's nick name that popped out of my mouth about 30 seconds after we tied the knot and it has stuck).  Currently I'm lying as still as possible on the couch because I had the bright idea of joining my hubba bubba at the gym yesterday.  Whew that man made me work for it.  Muscles I didn't know I had are aching and by aching I mean screaming at me ruthlessly.

Why did I decide to cause myself this agony?  Well I like most women am not overly pleased with my body these days.  I've been thin my entire life.  In fact when I was in middle school one of the cruelest taunts I received was to have "Anorexic" screamed down the hall way, in the lunch room, on the bus etc.  I've wanted to be "thicker" for years (which other women have never understood).  Over the last couple of years my metabolism has slowed a bit and I have put on weight but I still have the 12 yr old body type I was born with.  Unfortunately what that has meant is that I'm still pretty thin but it's a nice, soft kind of thin, that shows every lump, bump, and cellulitey goodness, kind of like the old ratty t-shirt your husband hangs onto years after it has ceased to fit him properly, and embarrasses you in front of your friends.  Yeah that kind of thin and soft.

Oh and it definitely does not help that one of the meanest girls from middle school is now a successful fitness model.  Silver lining though she does serve as a good motivator...

I might drown in the amount of words piled around me

I am coming to the end of my first semester as a full time PhD student.  The end of a semester in school is never easy no matter what level of schooling you're in.  My husband is working on his BS and the end of each semester is no picnic for him either, so trust me I have no woe is me issues for being in a PhD program.

That being said...

Woe is me! lol.  I'm writing a manuscript for a maybe one day to be published article on clinical supervision of substance abuse counselors working within the military population.  Mouth full isn't it? Try writing it about half a billion times over the course of 10+ pages.  Not to mention the naggy detail that academic writing requires that you PROVE every little fact you mention.  I mean really, I have to PROVE that service members have less rights to privacy, I can't just say it, I have to say it and then say who else said it, where they said it, and preferably who they said, said it and where.  Which when I put it that way doesn't actually prove anything but hey I guess that's academia for ya.

When I'm all finished though (hopefully by tomorrow) I have fun fun stuff to share.  Did you know that Selma is the Antiques capital of NC?  I learned this yesterday...

"They spent two months at sea to reach a strange new world, and barely survived once they got there"

Some years we really do feel like we've barely survived, don't they?  As I sit back and enjoy a quiet cup of coffee while my girls watch tv in another room, and my husband sleeps quietly, I know that this year is not one of those years.  This is a year like the first Thanksgiving.  A year when after struggle and strife everything just comes together and life is as good as it can get.

I have so much to be thankful for this year (I shared some of my many blessings here).  I honestly don't even feel like I know the person I used to be before the Agius crew came into my life.  As I struggled to explain it all to a friend last night I faltered, and couldn't come up with the words that encompassed the change.  I then realized it could all be summed up to a single sentence: I'm a Mom now.  That simple fact is the greatest gift I have ever been given.  Not just because of the joy that my girls bring to my life but also because of the many lessons that they (and my lovely husband) have taught me.  It's not all about me anymore, and it never will be again.  It's about my family.  How things impact them, what choices will be best for them, how do I explain the hard stuff to them, are they learning the right lessons to become good, strong people.

It's a lot to simply walk into at 26 but I would not change a thing. In working to teach them the important things in life, I have remembered what those things are.  I heard in a song once that a woman should live the life she would want for her daughter, and be the kind of person she would want her daughter to be.  I'm not there yet but the journey so far has been spectacular in and of it's self.

I am also so very lucky to have an amazing partner to go the journey along with me.  I know I gush about Tony a lot on here but I can't help myself.  I always thought that I knew what I wanted from a man and Tony really is all of those things, but he is so much more than those things too.  He is everything I wanted and all of the things I didn't know I needed

So when I look back over the year today and try to sum up what I am most thankful for I stumble and struggle to put it in to words but again I find it boils down to one sentence: I am most thankful for the simple fact that I'm an Agius!

"Turkey Trot Trot Trot across the Lot Lot Lot, Feeling Fine Fine Fine, Until Thanksgiving Time"

Friday was the first of several Thanksgiving events for our family.  Actually Friday way the first 2 of several Thanksgiving events.  The Air Force picked Friday to be turkey day so we went to Bella's preschool (on base) for Thanksgiving lunch and then went over to the hanger where Tony works for a 2 hour (really? two hours?) Thanksgiving celebration (it actually turned out to be 3.5 hours, whoa I mean whoa that's a lot of male bounding over some turkey folks, though I think I may have made friends with a girl in Tony's shop, so yay for new friends)

I happen to think I make one of the BEST Turkeys out there (ego I know but I PROMISE it's AH-MAZING) and since I got up at 7:30 AM on my day off, with no kids to take to school, to roast a turkey, I figured I'd share with you.

So what are the secrets to the perfect turkey you ask.  There are two, the brine (if you've never brined your turkey, this is why it comes out dry no matter what you do to prevent it) and the Turkey Triangle (Alton Brown you are a genius!)

So for the brine.  I use the recipe from Chez Panisse because their turkeys have been rated the BEST in the country for years.  So here's what you need:

A large Stainless Steel Stock Pot (the brine contains A LOT of salt which may pit aluminum pots)

2 1/2 gallons cold water

1 1/2-1 3/4 cups kosher salt

1 cup granulated sugar

2 bay leaves

1 bunch fresh thyme (or 1/4 cup dried)

1 whole head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled

5 whole crushed allspice berries

4 juniper berries, smashed (I can NEVER find these in the stores here in eastern NC so I know from experience picking them straight off the bush is totally FINE)


What to do:


Mix everything together in your pot, making sure that all of the salt and sugar has dissolved.  Then add your turkey. (do I need to tell you to remove all packaging and organs? yes? ok do that first).  Make sure the turkey is COMPLETELY submerged


Let the bad boy refrigerate at least 12 hours but no more than 24 hours ( I've been known to fudge it and only do 6 hours and it's worked out just fine).  Another good lesson learned, if it's cold enough outside and there is no room left in the fridge cause well it is Thanksgiving, you can toss everything in a cooler and set it outside.


When you're ready to roast the turkey remove him from the brine and give him a good rinse in cold water, and pat dry. 


Here's where the genius of Alton Brown comes in.  I saw his Thanksgiving special (Romancing the Bird, I think it was called) a few years ago, the man is kooky but brilliant none the less.


Rub your turkey down with Canola oil (doesn't change the flavor but promotes browning)


Take a large piece of aluminum foil and form it into a triangle over the Turkey's breast leaving the legs exposed, remove and set aside


Place aromatics inside the cavity.  Alton suggests seeping a whole cinnamon stick, apple (sliced), and onion (quartered) in hot water for 8 minutes before placing inside.  I use a quartered apple and onion, skip the seeping and the cinnamon, I did it by the book one year and had cinnamon flavored turkey, not bad but definitely not what I was going for.


Place your turkey in a roasting pan, breast up (VERY IMPORTANT, messed this up one year too).  Tuck the wings under themselves so the tips don't burn, and place your turkey feet first into a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes.


When your 30 minutes are up you'll have a beautifully browned breast but a mostly uncooked bird.  

Here in lies the genius of the Turkey triangle.

Place your triangle back over the breast.  (This prevents burning).  Drop your oven to 350 degrees and continue roasting for 2-2.5 hours or until your turkey reaches 161 degrees in the thickest part. (if you're measuring the temp use a digital meat thermometer and NEVER remove the probe, if you do you'll release all those lovely juices that we've been working so hard to save.


When your turkey is ready to come out of the oven remove and cover with aluminum foil, another pot, a lid whatever you have on hand, until you are ready to serve (at least 10 minutes though if you're ready right as he comes out).  These lets the meat rest and keeps everything nice and hot too.  I left mine covered for over an hour Friday and he was still PERFECT by the time we got around to eating him.

Now of course me being me I forgot to take a picture of the finished bird but here's one from Alton's page on FoodNetwork.com  My presentation wasn't quite up to par but my bird was almost an exact match.

Happy Roasting Folks!