Cuckoo For Coq Au Vin.

So. Last night, I had a cooking adventure!

My brother-in-law Ben's girlfriend Sarah is a delightful woman and I'm thrilled to know her.  Last night Sarah came over, and the plan was to cook a traditional dish that is native to a particular region of France for her French class. We looked at the list and decided to attempt Coq Au Vin, which is a native dish in Burgandy.

I've seen the Good Eats episode about Coq Au Vin but I didn't pay very close attention because I figured I probably wouldn't be making it anytime soon.  Thankfully, I had my trusty (but shamefully, as-yet-barely-used) copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking to walk me through.  Julia didn't let us down.

I know she would probably have found quite a few technical faults with our Coq Au Vin:

• I didn't have the proper cooking vessel (because I'm still technically a newlywed, and at the moment, rather poor).
• My knives aren't good enough to produce the ideal cuts, especially for the thyme. (Again, poor newlywed.)
• The bacon I used wasn't very lean at all, it was rather fatty, and I didn't cut the pieces small enough.  Also, they stuck together a lot because the bacon was sliced very thin and it was hard to pull apart.
• I didn't do a very good job cutting the chicken.  I probably used slightly less than she would have because of space limitations in my sub-par cooking vessel.
• Also, I didn't use a fryer, I used leg quarters because dark meat is more flavorful and cheaper. (This was actually a suggestion of Alton Brown's, so I don't feel bad about it at all.)
• We skipped the cognac because the liquor store was already closed by the time we got started.
• We used Pinot Noir, again, at Alton Brown's suggestion.
• I thought I had Bay Leaves at home, and (oops) I didn't.
• The Brown Braised Onions weren't technically braised, they were seared and baked.  (Still very good).
• My sauce was too thick.  I thinned it out with more wine and stock, which means the taste of the wine was a bit stronger than it would have been if I had used the proper flour.  I didn't realize that I was out of all purpose flour until I got to this step (my husband was making mischief in the kitchen a few nights ago and used up all the flour to make cookie dough, without me knowing about it)I had use self rising flour, which meant that the sauce thickened way more.  At first I thought I didn't use the correct proportion of wine/sauce reduction to beurre manie (which is basically an uncooked roux), but then I remembered the flour problem and it made sense.  The end product was still probably a bit too thick but I think it will work.

I know that sounds like a lot of problems, but really, very few of them turned out to be anything formidable.

I will say this, though:  If this Coq Au Vin was wrong, I don't want to be right.

It was so good.  So.  Good.

So.

Good.

I should have taken photos of it and posted them.  I didn't think of it until this very moment.  I'm definitely not cut out to be a food blogger.  I'll probably make it again soon and try to correct a few of the technical problems, for my own satisfaction.  Also, it was so dang good, and I only had a taste because I wanted for Sarah to be able to have it all to take to class and if there were leftovers, to enjoy herself.  And also, I didn't want to gain 50 pounds in one night.  I think I'll plan ahead and just eat that for dinner soon.

Also a plus: I had an amazing time with Sarah through it all.  She's so wonderful, and I love getting to know her better each time we see each other.

If you're interested, here are the recipes:

Julia Child's Coq Au Vin
Alton Brown's Coq Au Vin

Also, if you're interested, here is the link to the transcript for Alton Brown's Coq Au Vin episode:
Cuckoo For Coq Au Vin

Today, I Want:

(Be warned: this post probably won't make much sense.  And might not even be very fun to read.  It will probably not be logical or coherent.  Today, I'm okay with that.  But only today.)

Today, I want to do the following:

• Lay on my new couch all day.
• Lay under a cozy blanket without getting too hot.
• Sit outside and enjoy the nonexistent nice warm spring weather.
• Eat all the different kinds of pasta.
• Go to Washington, DC.
• Watch anything Will Arnett has ever done.
• Watch an America's Next Top Model marathon.
• Make friends with Amy Poehler.
• Get a massage and facial.
• Go buy a bulldog.
• Receive $10,000 and go buy a whole new wardrobe.
• Read my Charlotte Bronte novel all day.
• Sit in an art supply store and breathe in the smell of art supplies.
• Sit in a library or bookstore and breathe in the smell of books.
• Find the perfect nail polish color.
• Get a haircut.
• Move to the beach.
• Go to Scotland.  Ireland would be acceptable, too.

I want to do all those things today.

I will probably just continue to sit here at my desk sipping my green tea.

To My Family -

I love you.  Every one of you, related both by blood and by marriage.  You have all helped make me the person I am.  I thank God for each one of you.

In short,

The Reason.

By the way...

I feel I must explain the reason behind the openness in my previous post. I normally would never share about something like a miscarriage so openly, and probably not at all. However, God has been leading me, inexplicably, to be more open about it. I know that I was encouraged tremendously by several women who have shared with me that they have been there, too. If I can help anyone by being candid about my life, I think I should.

I hope that sufficiently explains it. This isn't to serve as a justification, as I need none. Just a simple explanation behind my reasoning.

Update - Fast Forward a Year

::Kristen logs in to blogger, looks sheepishly at the date at the top of last published post, grimaces.::

Apologies, people.

Life is crazy. You know it, I know it. Yet, most people still manage to keep a blog up-to-date within a year, at least. Oh well. Life goes on.

Well, life has changed a lot at the Learned house over the past year. We live in a different place now. We moved from our two-bedroom apartment into a three-bedroom townhouse over New Years' this year. It suits us well - definitely better than the apartment. We have room to live. Hopefully this will be the last place we live until we buy a house.

Last year was a good one for us.

This one, however, got off to a rough start.

In December, we discovered that I was pregnant. We were so excited - and it was really quite surreal. It seemed like no sooner did we find out and manage to absorb the news and get excited about it that I noticed that I wasn't feeling right. I wound up losing the baby at about 6 weeks. It was an early miscarriage, so it wasn't as painful as it might have been later. Physically, that is.

Emotionally, it was terrible.

The fear I experienced when I realized something wasn't right.

The dread I felt when I was going through what I thought it probably was.

The smallness I felt when I realized I couldn't do anything to stop it.

The emptiness I felt when I knew it was over.

The humiliation I felt when I had to tell the people that knew (there weren't many).

The grief I felt (and have continued to feel) for the little person I loved and lost, and for what could have been.

The minute amount of hope I had been holding onto until my doctor's appointment in the middle of the following week. I cherished a teeny tiny flicker of hope that I'd go to the doctor's office and they'd say, oh, Mrs. Learned, you ARE pregnant, and everything is fine, and it must have just been a scare. Here, let's do an ultrasound and prove it! However, that wasn't what happened. And I knew it wouldn't be. But it still was another crushing blow when, at the doctor's office, they confirmed that I wasn't pregnant.

The loneliness I felt. I only shared my body with the baby for a few weeks. But I felt very alone in my body all by myself when he (I feel like it was a boy, for some reason) wasn't there anymore.

The confusion. What went wrong? What should I do now? Should I keep the estimated due date on the calendar, or white it out and pretend it never happened? Should we try again, or wait? Should I even feel this way about a miscarriage that happened so early? Am I overreacting?

I can't wait to meet our little one in heaven. I never dreamed that I would be one of those women who had experienced something like this - the loss of a child. Some might scoff and say that I haven't experienced the loss of a child - and I know that compared to the loss of some I know who have lost babies during birth or the first few months of life, I have lost little. But it is a loss. My life is changed because of that experience, and earth has lost a little more appeal. I can't wait to get to heaven and meet my Lord, and also get to meet my baby.

But life is good, too!

I have been experiencing a revival of sorts in the past month or so. At church, Jeff and Jason have been teaching through a series on four attributes of God: God is Great, Good, Glorious, and Gracious. They were so timely for me. Each message was delivered, it seemed, right to my heart from God's. (If you want to hear them, I highly recommend. Download them at www.visiodei.org).

I'm not ready to describe in great detail what God's doing in my life right now to people en masse, but I will be. And until then, I will continue to try to keep up the posting here. For posterity, if nothing else.

Emergency Fund is Funded!

I know, the blog title was a bit of a spoiler for the post that's to come, but I don't care: Our $1,000 Emergency Fund is now funded!

Mostly because of our tax return. But still, no matter how it happened, its done now and we can move to Step 2 of our Total Money Makeover!

We have actually cheated a bit - we have paid a few things off that needed to get addressed immediately, plus taken care of a few other things such as car repair, doctor appointments, new glasses, and cat spaying. No matter - it feels so wonderful to have been able to take care of things and now really and truly move on to the Debt Snowball.

In other news, we are welcoming a new little member into the Learned family this weekend: another cat! Phoebe is a cat that we got 2 and a half years ago when my beloved Coco passed away, and she has been living with my dad, but since he got a new job and is having to be away from home a lot more, he wants her to live somewhere where she will have company and plenty of attention and love. I am very excited to have her live with us, and I think that she and Moira and Athena will get along great. Maybe not in the first couple of days, but over time, it will be great.

I'll keep you posted!

Updates and Such.

I will say it: the main reason I haven't blogged in awhile is because we have been so ding dang busy. There's been a lot of fodder for blogging, just no time (or energy) to write.

So I will take advantage of some time now and update.

Rob is working at Intrex Computers as a tech. He's repairing PCs, which isn't his ultimate goal, but its great for now as he continues to press on toward getting his CCNA. Now that we are more settled in our larger, two bedroom apartment and our finances are not so crazy, its beginning to seem possible to study and get the CCNA behind us again. Not to mention other things, like cleaning...reading...you get the picture.

My job also has undergone a change. I am working for the same boss, but now at a different location, since the one I was at before closed. My boss moved me to his other location and things are working out nicely. One of the best parts is that I am right across the street from Rob. Literally. Intrex faces North Raleigh Business Center. We get to have lunch together every day. Its wonderful!

I am getting more involved at our church also. I am helping one of our pastors once a week with some administrative stuff and I am really enjoying it...it is a nice way to be involved at church and meet some of the people there.

I put together a reading list for 2010. I didn't read much at all last year, and for my own accountability, I wanted to make it a priority to get more books under my belt. This is a foreign concept to me, though. I have never in my life done a thing like this, but upon reflection of last year, I realized that I couldn't think of a single book I read from beginning to end (execpt for The Total Money Makeover) and I was a little upset about it. Reading is one of the best things I can do...I learn and experience new things...not to mention that the activity of reading is probably my favorite of anything else I do. No wonder I was so stressed and crazy last year.

So, my reading list, for anyone who cares:
1 - The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
2 - Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
3 - Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
4 - The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
5 - The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
6 - Moby Dick by Herman Melville
7 - Shirley by Charlotte Brontё
8 - Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
9 - 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Márques
10 - Confessions by Augustine
11 - The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
12 - Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
13 - Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

So, there it is, in no particular order. And what am I reading right now? Well, I have started and am about a third of the way through Madame Bovary, but I am actually reading The Appeal by John Grisham. Yes, I know. Not on the list. Not great literature. But I definitely enjoy Grisham novels and it has been a long time since I have read one...and its fun! So I will return to Flaubert after I finish Grisham.

I have also been studying languages again lately. I love languages and am pretty good at learning them. I took quite a bit of Spanish in high school and some in college also, and I don't want to forget what I have learned, but rather to press on and keep adding to my vocabulary and practicing my grammar so that I can speak it fluently. I have been reviewing it for a couple of weeks, and have begun reading Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). I figure that I have read that book so many times in English that reading it in Spanish will be a challenge, but not so much as if I were reading a book for the first time. It has been an excellent way to learn new words, practice grammar and seal it in. I have really enjoyed it. I also am beginning to study some Greek again. I took Greek in college also, but it was Biblical Greek instead of modern Greek. Quite a different way to learn a language, that was. So since my Spanish isn't really learning, but rather, reviewing, I'm beginning to learn Greek in order to be able to speak it.

Our Total Money Makeover is going. We are working on getting current...doing the things that we need to do first. We got Rob's glasses replaced, are doing work on the cars, and in general, doing things that will be a problem if they remain undone. Even the little that we have been able to do so far has been a tremendous load off...I'm sleeping much better at night.

Well, that's about as much updating as I can bear, and probably as much as anyone reading can bear anyway. I will continue to update on life and what we're up to as much as I can. But no promises, hah.

I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry.

I swore I wasn't going to be one of those people who start a blog and then never write.

But...it appears as though I am.

Ah, well...one day at a time.

Day One of The Learned Family Total Money Makeover.

Yesterday was the first official day of The Learned Family Total Money Makeover. (Wild applause here).  We are so excited about it.  Literally, we are just fired up.  Our Day One progress consisted of:

Depositing $5 into our savings account!

I know that doesn't sound like much (and admittedly, it isn't).  But it is actually VERY big deal.  We established a new savings account with the online bank ING Direct.  It's not sketchy, we did our research before we signed up.  It's a real bank that is FDIC approved and all that jazz that you hear on commercials about banks that I never paid attention to before yesterday.  The cool thing about this bank is that they offer good interest rates because they don't have very much overhead, since they have no actual branches.  They have wonderful customer service, and it's absolutely free.  There is no account minimum, either.  You can have unlimited accounts (we plan to eventually have a savings account for separate categories...more detail on this later) and even have a checking account.  For now, we are just going to keep this savings account, which we have nicknamed "1000 Emergency Fund."

The gist of what we're doing is this: Step One of the Total Money Makeover is "Save $1000 Fast."  It's your baby emergency fund.  Since you do not use credit anymore, you have to have some sort of security in case it rains (and, as Dave makes sure to tell you, it WILL).  He encourages people not to dwell too long on this step, just get it done.  Every extra bit of money that you can save should go straight to this account.  He also encourages people to keep it liquid, but also keep it safe and protect yourself from being too impulsive.  You will come back later and build up the emergency fund significantly, but for now, the goal is to move on and get to Baby Step Two: The Debt Snowball.  You can't do this until you have a backup plan, and that's what the $1000 is all about.

The thing is, you'd think that scrimping any extra money would be painstaking and awful.  But actually, it's not!  It's fun!  Once we have the end result firmly fixed in your mind, you want to do every little thing you can to get there.  Including eating leftovers at home instead of going to Taco Bell.  Including looking at the price per ounce at the grocery store and getting the best bargain, even when it means sacrificing your favorite brand of cereal for the store brand instead.  I could go on and on.  When you WANT to find ways to save money, you CAN.  Every dollar counts.

And the funny thing is, yesterday, I was really focusing on trusting God to help us get through this.  I want to get out of debt.  I want to have financial security.  I want to be able to retire (even though this is 40 or 50 years away from now) with dignity, and be a blessing to our family instead of a curse.  I want to be able to give generously and be a good and faithful steward.  And it is scary to begin this process.  But the goal is looming large in my mind, and we will make it.  God will provide.  And even yesterday, he did!  One of my clients at work had his business partner (who works out of Jacksonville, Florida) in the office, and I speak to this man on the phone almost daily, but have only met him in person a couple of times.  I was sharing with them that my husband and I are starting this process, and he reached in his pocket and pulled out $20 and told me to add it to our savings!  It is so cool to watch how God is taking care of us!

My primary stress has been coming from finances, for months now.  But now, I feel the burden lightening already, because Rob and I are on the same team, and we are working together to get to the end, even from Day One.

Soon I Will Be Domestic Superhero Named Wonder Wifey.

I have stumbled across this blog named simplemom.net.  Love at first sight.  I read like two words on this thing and am hooked forever.  I'm not even a mom yet and I have found it so useful.  This only happened like, 2 whole days ago, and I have already begun to do some of the things that the author, Tsh, discussed...and it has made a huge difference.  One really cool thing about her is that she is a huge Dave Ramsey person, and the further into Total Money Makeover I get, I am too.

One of the major things that I did right away (literally...that very day) was to start what Tsh calls a Home Management Notebook.  It has revolutionized my life.  It's basically a binder that consists of about 20 dividers, and each section is where you keep all information relative to that topic.  It sounds pretty simple, but it has been so cool to assemble it and really begin to see how much it's going to simplify my life.

For instance, my divider sections are: Emergency info, Daily Dockets (essentially an agenda for each day that consists of to-do list, basic schedule, what's for dinner, space to write down what exercise you got, miscellaneous notes, and other stuff), monthly calendars, menu planning, grocery shopping (keep my master list in this divider and also notes about what costs more at which store, etc.), cleaning checklists and chore charts, Home/Office Information (like account numbers and passwords and all that miscellaneous information it's just so easy to forget), a pocket for grocery coupons, a pocket for other coupons, budgeting and bills, diet and exercise (for food logs and exercise notes), home maintenance, project lists, wants and needs list, Family Mission Statement (more on this later), birthday and address lists, a pocket for recipes I collect, and articles to keep.  It is an evolving project...I'll probably add several more as I discover what I need, and maybe even condense or combine a couple that I don't use as often.  But this is a great place to start, and it has already been tremendously helpful to have all this information in one place.  Granted, it sits beside me all day, but that's the point: I don't risk forgetting anything, and everything has a place where I'm sure to be able to locate it later.

I know some of you probably think this is excessive, especially for someone who doesn't even have kids yet...but man, does it work for me.  And when I DO have kids, I will be a step ahead (at least as far as the organization of our home goes).  Well...hopefully.

Whoa.

I've caught the fever.

Craigslist fever, that is.

I really didn't like it very much before yesterday.  I know you can get good stuff on there, and I have even used it to find stuff before, but not until yesterday did I begin to enjoy it.  It was when I found a coffee table for $10, a free 32" tv (that needs a repair, but that's not a problem when your husband is a handy guy), a free dresser, and a free leather sofa (that someone beat us out on).

Not bad for a day's furniture accumulation.

The thing that I didn't like about Craigslist before was that I would see something, fall in love with it and get all emotionally invested in it, and then try to contact the person and get no response or find out that it wasn't available any longer.  Heartbreak time after time.  Now, those of you who know me pretty well won't be surprised about this.  I can understand that it sounds a little crazy.  But that's the kind of girl I am.  I can't invest in anything emotionally without getting attached to it, and then I'm attached for life.  So you can probably see where I might have problems with it.

After getting the free chest of drawers home and the coffee table that cost me $10, I am converted.  I'm learning the way to not get attached to things but be casually interested until I know I've got it in the bag.  It's been working out well for me.

Wonder what I'll find today!?  So excited.

Things Are Looking Up.

Well...my rosemary and lavender have sprouted!  They have been transplanted to another container where they can grow and flourish.  Well, hopefully.  If I can get the kittens to leave them alone.  The rest of the plants are doing well.  I really hope they keep on growing and don't die on me.  That might be more disappointing than if they had never sprouted to begin with.

My friend Wendy and her family are going to Disney World next week.  Her daughter Kelsey is a cheerleader and they have made it to the national round.  I am jealous.  I want to stow away in her suitcase.  I'd never fit, but I could try.  Disney World is my favorite place.  I have only ever been once, but that was enough for me to know that I wanted to move there and live in Cinderella Castle.  Or anywhere else, for that matter.  I still haven't given up hope that we will move to Orlando one day and I can go anytime I want.  I know almost everything there is to know about the parks, resorts, and restaurants.  I buy the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World every couple of years and read it cover to cover.  Like a novel.  This week that they are going is the best week of the whole year to go, because it has the lowest population and it's already decorated for Christmas and the temperatures are mild and wonderful.  Most people who go this time of year will go for one of the holidays...Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years.  The second week in December is perfect.  That's when we went 11 years ago.  Please, someone, take me back.  I beg you.

So Thanksgiving was good...I saw lots of family and did a fat lot of nothing.  I really meant to clean my apartment, but I just didn't have the energy.  I did take some pictures of my cousins' children, some of which I'm pretty happy with.  Those kids are so cute.  Between my four cousins and their spouses/significant others (one of which, Joseph, is not married to his longtime girlfriend Bridget and they don't have kids yet) there are 5 kids and 2 more on the way.  Lots of little ones.

Our tree is up and decorated.  I will post pictures.  It's our first Christmas tree!

I know this was a very random post, but I don't have any inspiring thoughts today.  Just many disjointed ones floating around my head.  Might as well get them out, huh?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know I'm a little early...just by a day...but I wanted to go ahead and wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.  Perhaps the most overlooked holiday these days, and it's sad.  It's a great day.

May this one bring smiles to your faces, hearts and tummies alike!

On Reading and Books.

I have not had much time to read lately. It might be more accurate to say that I haven't MADE much time for reading lately...lately, as in, the past year or so.

This is a very sad thing. As a kid (and those of you who knew me then can vouch) I was never without a book. Literally - NEVER. At the dinner table, at friends' houses, even in church if I could manage to get it past my mom's attention (which, rest assured, wasn't often).

Still, my first impulse when I want to know something about anything is to find a book. I love books. Not even because I love to read. I DO love to read, passionately. But the funny thing is, I love a book. I love the concept of pieces of paper with words written in a linear fashion and bound together. I love the smell and feel of paper. I love the sight of words on a page. I love words and language, period. I love the way they look on a bookshelf or in a stack on a table or strewn about beside the bed. I love that they contain information. It's always there...on every page. It doesn't go away or disappear just because that page isn't open at the moment. I have so many books at home...probably well over a thousand by now, most bought with my own money, even as a child. That is a lot of information! It makes me salivate intellectually, thinking of all the stuff there is to know that is already available to me, if I would take a moment and open the book and discover it.

Which brings me to what I was initially thinking about when I began this post. I never have (or make? whichever you want to say) time to read anymore. I can't remember the last time I actually finished a book. With the exception of books like Baby-Sitters' Club and Sweet Valley Twins, Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume, Roald Dahl and J.K. Rowling...you get the picture. Kids and fantasy books. I will never outgrow them. I started reading them before kindergarten and I will never stop. This is what I would write if I had the option. (And Grandmama, I know you're thinking it, if you're reading this right now...Yes. I have read them probably hundreds of times by now, and they only get better.)

I'm trying to get through Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover these days. It is actually much better than I ever expected it to be. Dave's style is informal and friendly but it certainly doesn't leave any room for misinterpretation about what he is trying to get across. He explains very clearly what the problems with money management are and gives hope for the future. I'm really enjoying it. The problem is...I'm about halfway done now and I'm losing steam. I need to finish this book. Not just because my money needs a major overhaul (and believe me, it DOES) but because I need a breakthrough in my reading life! I need to finish a book, one that I haven't already read 200 times and isn't targeted to a fifth grade audience! Why do I need this so badly, you might wonder? I think it's because reading is about not just this one hobby for me, but about all of my hobbies. I love to read, but I also need to read in order to develop my other interests. It's such a defining part of who I am that when I don't do it, I don't recognize myself.

I recommend the book, by the way. It's really great. I will probably be discussing some of the things I'm reading and learning in it at times here in the blog. Especially when I begin to see results.

I'll let you know how it goes.

My Herbs, Oh, My Herbs!

My herbs are growing!

Let me, before there is a major misunderstanding that might lead to some pretty serious legal implications, specify: these are herbs for cooking. And also cat grass. Parsley, basil, rosemary, sage, lavender, thyme, and chives. NO marijuana. Although when I was at Borders a few weeks ago looking for books to do some research on herb gardens, there were like 3 books on growing actual herbs in an entire shelf full of books about growing (and smoking, and cooking with) The Herb. I think the guys nearby searching for books on being a wine connoisseur (they were converting from beer, they said) thought that I was really interested in weed. I plopped myself down on the ground in front of the shelf and settled in for awhile.

I digress.

This may not seem like a big deal, that my herbs are growing. It's not that hard. But you must understand this: I do not have a green thumb. It might very well be the only thing I've ever tried to do that I haven't been reasonably naturally adept at. I have a black thumb. But I decided that I wanted to grow plants, and I wanted to start with herbs, since I love to cook and what tastes better than fresh herbs? Extra incentive to get them to grow. So I did my research. I dragged Rob to the nursery to buy some seeds. I squealed and ooh'ed and aah'ed over the selection of seeds. We came home with our purchases and I planted my little seeds and put them in plastic freezer bags to create a greenhouse-type environment for them (except for the lavender, which I put in the refrigerator, since it seeds best when cold). Most of the seeds take a minimum of 5 days to seed, but my basil and cat grass seeded within 3 days of when I planted them! So I have this cute little baby basil growing now, as well as my chives, thyme, and sage. The cat grass (which I grew for the kittens to eat, since cats have a natural urge to eat grass because it aids their digestion...this is a healthy and safe alternative to grass for indoor cats, and it will help them not eat my other plants) just SHOT up. It's like 5 inches tall and it's only been just over a week!

I squealed with delight again when I came home from work today and saw a little seedling of parsley having just pushed through the soil since I have been home for lunch today! It's a big deal for me, because parsley is a notoriously long seeder and can take up to 60 days!

Maybe I'm the herb whisperer.

My lavender and rosemary (the two I'm most looking forward to growing, since I adore the smells) are the only two not to sprout yet. Updates to come, and probably pictures, too, since I feel about these plants the way most people probably feel about their firstborn children.

Not really, but close.

The First is Always the Hardest

It is so daunting to begin something like a blog or journal. The first post or entry always feels like it has to do so much...and I feel like it sets the tone for the entire thing. Maybe not so much for a blog as for a journal (and as a lifelong journaler, I would know). Then again, there are very few things I love quite as much as opening a fresh journal and beginning to write on page one. I do love BUYING journals. But that's not quite the same thing. And a very different type of pleasure, one that I am working hard to overcome. There is so much possibility with things like this! What will I eventually be posting about? My kids? My first house? A new job? A graduation? Will I post in a different language, to offer proof that I actually learned one? Who knows. Hopefully all those things, eventually, will appear on the pages of this blog.

Or at least on the pages of a journal.

I don't want to kid myself. It is likely that I'll be one of those people who writes one blog entry and is so stoked about their blog. I'm going to write EVERY DAY. I'm going to be witty and glib. I'm going to have a loyal following of readers. Even if they are my grandmother, aunts and uncles, and maybe even (gasp) cousins too! I joke. I have no idea if anyone will ever even read this besides me. But one of my dearest wishes is to be a writer. And as this is not the proper time to pursue that particular dream, it seems like the best way to deal with it is to blog. I do write in my journal. But that is private. It is a very different thing to have written something that people actually read. I'm not going to lie...it's scary and vulnerable.

So we will see what happens. I'm going to write in this blog about the daily happenings in the Learned home and also about what this Learned woman (girl? chick? lady? Woman doesn't sound right) is learning. Trivial sometimes, deep others...we will play it by ear, but there will probably be a fair share of both.