Snopocalypse in Seattle

Seattle's weather is making national news. We just aren't equipped to deal with this much snow in the city. Typically, when it snows here, it melts within a day or two. Not this time. And, they're predicting more snow tonight. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that our flight isn't cancelled on Thursday. Many, many people have been stranded at the airport due to cancelled flights.

Patti reminded me that I never reported the results on the quinoa recipe. It was tasty! I halved the recipe and we had leftovers for days. I'd only make the full portion if I was taking it to a potluck with lots of people. I didn't have any of the vegetables on hand that the recipe called for, so I omitted those and added fire-roasted green peppers instead and it gave it a great kick. Now I think I must make it again soon...

Let it Snow...Some More

It's been snowing all day long. Fortunately, the wind the news was warning us about never came to our area. We still have power and plenty of food. I'm planning on measuring the total snowfall in our yard tomorrow. Fun stuff!

Let it Snow

We got between 4-6 inches of snow yesterday. I am so happy that it waited until after Malcolm and I got home from San Diego. Another storm is expected to hit on Sunday bringing more snow and high winds. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't lose power.

Sickies

Jenn & Dad are now sick with the tummy bug. So sad.

Reporting from San Diego

Me & Malcolm are in San Diego. He's asleep on the bed beside me. Poor kid has a tummy bug. He started getting sick on Thursday. Fortunately, he didn't get sick on the plane ride but did get sick in bed last night. Pieter, bless his heart, cleaned up the bedding and stuff while I cleaned up Malcolm. He's in a relatively good mood but hasn't had much to eat the past couple of days.

I am also sick but not with the same thing. I have mastitis. Yesterday was definitely the worst with the fever and chills. I haven't had any fever today but the muscle aches are sticking around. Dad & Carolyn came back from their cruise today and were totally OK with having a mellow day. I still feel a little guilty having my sister who is 7 months pregnant and her partner take care of me and my kid.

Onion

Malcolm's memory catches me off-guard all the time. For example: last week, while at the grocery store, I bought an Onion. Mal kept calling it an Apple. While going through the check-out, the cashier told him that it was an Onion. Mal said Onion.

This week, while leaving the grocery store, we walk by the cashier from the previous week. Malcolm points to him and says, "Onion".

Another odd tidbit - the employees at this grocery (it's a co-op so it's small) have taken to calling Malcolm, "Famous" because they say he looks like Macaulay Culkin. I actually get people telling me that often. I think "Famous" is an odd nickname whether he looks like an actor or not.

As you can see, the daily posting for a month didn't keep me posting daily after the end of November. I've been busy, you see. I created a very long 'To-Do' list and my free time has been dedicated to crossing things off the list. Couple that with getting ready for our trip to San Diego and trying to put up Christmas decorations, i don't have much time on the computer.

Now that I've checked the forecast for San Diego, I can pack the suitcase. It'll be nice not to have to pack a coat, but I'm kinda sad that we're going to miss the first snow in Seattle this weekend (if it actually happens).

The Electrical Problem

I found a great electrician to come out to our house Monday afternoon. He found an extremely disturbing problem: the 'hot' wire going into our electrical panel for the dryer was loose and melted. Every time we used the dryer, it was shorting out. This scenario was a prime candidate for a house fire. I cannot tell you how lucky we feel that the panel never set fire.

He fixed the damaged wire, tightened 3 other loose wires and replaced a blown fuse. Problem solved for less than $200 (or so we thought).

I attempted to do a load of laundry on Tuesday. About 20 minutes into the dry cycle, the power goes out. Crap.

Jim the Electrician comes out again this morning. He checks the dryer (Tony pulled it out from the laundry closet. No easy feat) and makes sure that everything at the panel is a-okay. He then checks our main breaker and found that it was very loose and not bolted down. Therefore, it would flip if you breathed on it funny. Just to be on the safe side, we had him replace the main breaker. I haven't attempted to do laundry yet, but he assures me that the problem has been fixed. He didn't think to check the main breaker before because the melted wire seemed to be the obvious problem and our main breaker should have never passed inspection.

Whoever did the electrical work on our place did a shoddy job. Whoever did the final inspection to make sure it was up to code did an even shoddier job. We will be letting all of our neighbors know about this and strongly urge them to have an electrician check out their panels.

Blog Changes

So as you can see, I changed the look of my blog out of necessity. There are a lot of templates that are unfriendly to photos :( I do not know Html well enough to create my own template, so my pickings were slim.

I also changed the title of my blog (again). The previous title was just too long and rarely do I actually write about our 'adventures'. We'll see how long I keep this current title.

Malcolm's sleep has been wonked ever since daylight savings time ended. I thought it would fix itself eventually, but he's showing no end of his 5 AM waking. I'm often able to get him back to sleep, but on mornings where I am not, I have a really hard time functioning throughout the day.

I can't seem to find an available electrician to come out and fix our problem. So lame.

Peruvian Baked Quinoa

I think I'm going to try this recipe tonight (I'm going to make half the portion). I'll let you know how it is.

From Vegetarian Times:

Think of this recipe as a protein-packed, gluten-free alternative to mac ’n’ cheese.

Ingredient List

Serves 8

2 tsp. olive oil
1 medium leek, white and pale green parts halved and sliced (1 cup)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
2 large eggs
1 cup nonfat milk
1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese (4 oz.), plus more for sprinkling, optional

Directions

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and bell peppers; cover, and cook 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in quinoa and garlic, and cook, uncovered, 3 to 4 minutes, or until quinoa grains turn opaque.
Add 3 cups water, and season with salt. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 3 to 4 minutes more, or until most liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 13- x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl. Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese. Transfer to prepared baking dish, and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until browned around the edges and on top.

Nutritional Information

Per SERVING: Calories: 241, Protein: 12g, Total fat: 10g, Saturated fat: 4.5g, Carbs: 27g, Cholesterol: 72mg, Sodium: 295mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugars: 3g