Zombie Bites and What's For Dinner

First of all, thank you for your happy responses to the swim school post. Whether I've met you or not, you all are my family, and it was wonderful to share good news with you. We're so thrilled the school is back up and running and as I reflected from my couch this afternoon, half-listening to James talk to parents and potential clients on the phone all day, he is SO GOOD at this. So knowledgeable and enthusiastic, it was really fun to get a window into his customer interactions. Cora started back with her lessons last night and as a picky former swim parent, I was very pleased.

Cora was pleased too. If the big kids are doing it, she wants in. So in she went.

We ended our evening by driving to Gloria's because they have the best margaritas (after Yucatan Taco Stand, of course) and their happy hour is all day on Thursday and my skin was SO FULL OF FIRE I needed frozen tequila to make it bearable. Then I came home and had a mexican martini because no one has ever bought me a frozen margarita machine and sometimes you have to make do.

Before meeting the kids at the pool for their swim class and lesson I had been sent home from work by my staff accountant who found me with my head on my desk, silently and invisibly weeping. She'd checked on me throughout the day, noting that "usually there's such happy high energy coming out of your office. Today... it's just sad." Sadness and oozing. On her third or fourth check-in, she brought me flowers and told me to go home. So I did, clutching my beautiful rainbow flowers with one hand and holding my shirt away from my zombie bite with the other.

In questionably good news, I realized last night that I'm allergic to latex and that's at least 50% of the reason this treatment has been so hellish. My bandaids were trying to kill me. It was confusing because the doctor told me the medicine would make cancerous and precancerous skin "red and oozy," so I just thought my god, I have SO MUCH CANCER. But it turns out, I have a medium amount of cancer and a lot of latex allergy, and suddenly the fact I would pull off chunks of skin anytime I removed a bandaid AND my constant urge to itch my raw oozy skin makes a lot more sense.

Making sense does not actually make it better, but thanks to a trip to Walgreens, it will at least not get worse. And I only have one more dose of cream left -- tonight is dose 20 of 20 and THANK THE LITTLE BABY JEBUS we are done because my self-medicating techniques were getting calorically and financially very expensive. James even ran out for Stir Crazy Baked Goods for me on Wednesday night without me actually asking. It was like I was pregnant again, except this time, with cancer.

I took a sick day from work today. It finally occurred to me that "sick" can be "badly wounded and can't put on a shirt," so I've spent the entire day in a low cut tank, half a cardigan, and my favorite summer pj pants watching episode after episode of The Great British Baking Show. Why did you all not tell me about this? It is GLORIOUS. I love all of these people. I love their weird combinations of meats and fruits that they bake into pies and cover in nuts. I love their good old British can do attitude and cheeky cheer. I love that they always have tea. I love that the Baked Alaska challenge was the most tense and stressful thing I've watched on television and I've survived all existing seasons of Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and The Fall. I love that they all seem so normal and friendly and they want each other to do well. It soothes my soul if not my skin. It actually hurts my feelings that I didn't know it existed until now.

Does this cookie make my cancer look smaller?

Moving on to other random news of the week. I decided Landon's bedding was too "big kid" and I needed to seize any remaining "little boy" moments that I still can. So I stored his teen bedding plastic, to be pulled out when he is actually a teen, and bought him this bright and adorable and perfect quilt from Pottery Barn Kids. I LOVE it. I love it so much. And it actually goes better with how colorful his room ended up being.

He likes it too.

Claire also got a new comforter, since she'd had hers since she was 3 and no amount of washing can disguise the fact the girl likes to nest and raise her body temperature 10 degrees just so she can sweat out her body weight every night.

And Cora got to pick out new sheets to go with her new purple comforter because now that she is potty trained we're taking off the side of her crib to make a little bed just like she's real people.

Ponies. PURPLE ponies, obvi.

And finally - dinners! I never posted this week's menu, so some of this is retroactive but everything was delicious.

Monday: Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce, garlic bread
Tuesday: Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup (I needed soothing and this was a great recipe! highly recommend)
Wednesday: Mexican rice (recipe below)
Thursday: Out (unplanned, but medically necessary)
Friday: Quartino night (all the meats and cheeses with crackers, french bread, oils and vinegars, olives, and fruits - I make a big fun spread in fancy serving dishes on the table and we all dish up; the kids love it)
Saturday: Crockpot Creamy Chicken Enchilada Chili (I've made this before and it's so good)
Sunday: Homemade Veggie Lasagna
Monday: Beef and bean burritos
Tuesday: leftover lasagna
Wednesday: Tamales, scrambled eggs, refried black beans, avocado
Thursday: Out because my sister, brother-in-law, and tiny baby NIECE are visiting! Somewhere with margaritas, I'm sure.
Friday: Homemade pizza

Mexican Rice
(my grandma got this recipe from a neighbor in Spain when they were stationed there; so simple, so yummy, it's always a crowd favorite)

1 lb. ground beef
garlic
diced onion
1 small can tomato paste
1 regular can tomato sauce (+ 1 can water)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. sugar
1 cup cooked rice
toppings: grated cheese, diced tomato, black olives, shredded lettuce, avocado, fritos

1. Brown beef in garlic and onion, drain fat.
2. Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT rice
3. Simmer and stir (at least 10 mins? I often let it go quite a while, adding more water if necessary, this is an inexact science)
4. Add rice, heat through, serve with fritos and toppings

~ ~ ~

And now it's back to The Great British Baking Show and photo booking. I'm 5 books behind (ughhh; right now I'm doing a page on James's birthday when he turned 33. He will be 35 in 4 weeks.), but I think I just have to get going and let the addiction start up again. I do so love them when they are done, I just might need to take the next month off work to make it happen...