Day Two Hundred Forty-Three

I don't know what I was doing over the weekend, but somehow there wasn't spare time to breathe. I think maybe I put up some Christmas trees? And cleaned a whole lot? Still, I didn't find time to do things that I usually do no matter what.

Like update the Christmas Crazy total.

Y'all. Y'ALL. I blinked and that number in the sidebar jumped right on up. So ... thank you! Seriously. You are amazing.

Yes, you. All of you.

That said, there's still a ways to go. I'm realistic and understand that in this, the year of sucktitude known as 2020, I shouldn't expect to hit our usual numbers. There are way too many people fighting to just get by. I totally understand and am incredibly grateful to not be a part of that, at least right now. Been there. Done that. It's not fun AT ALL.

But the flip side is that in this, the year of sucktitude known as 2020, the need is greater than ever. Financial stressors and life stressors and all of those things cause more people to seek out help from places like Center for Victims. What's more, federal funding for programs that protect women and children has been reduced greatly. What I'm saying is that the need is higher than ever, even as our ability to meet those needs gets harder.

So.

Let's keep it going. We're going to do the best we can and it will be worth celebrating no matter what. The old cliche "every little bit helps" is incredibly true - the small things really do add up to larger things. So ... let's go. Here's the Amazon Wish List and here's the Paypal link. We've got magic to make!

Day Two Hundred Forty-One

There really is nothing surprising about the fact that the extrovert has hit the COVID-19 wall.

Oh, Mila.

The child who disappears the second we walk through the door whenever we visit friends or family is super not amused that she will not get to pretend I don't exist on Thanksgiving. It's really one of her favorite traditions. She disappears for hours on end, happily playing with or talking to absolutely anyone who makes eye contact with her. Except me. She has ZERO to do with me the entire day, even going so far as to walk a wide circle around me just in case I'm thinking of making her leave.

Not this year, kid. Nope, she's stuck with me. ALLLLLLL ME. And the rest of the residents of this house.

I'm not above staring at her blankly every time she complains about it, by the way. I feel she should reflect on her words a bit and realize that she's basically saying I'm not enough. I realize I'm not enough for her, BUT STILL. Pick different words, or something.

So this has been going on for a few weeks. We've made it clear that there will be no holiday travel this year, but we will be subbing in some fun activities to hopefully make it a little better. Mila is sad about it. It's very justified, but I do try to remind myself that no matter how many people are around, she's never satisfied. This is the kid who I have drug kicking and screaming from a full day at a friend's house. She's also the kid who often refused to get off the school bus because there were fun people on it and who wants to go home? That's all to say that her sadness about not hanging out with other people is pretty consistent with every day ever, except that she has a few specific days that are notably worse.

So Thanksgiving.

I finally issued the challenge this weekend for Mila to figure out what would make Thanksgiving better. She thought about it for a full day before busting into my office and giving me her list:

1. Unlimited pumpkin pie with whip cream.

2. Those sour berry things. (She meant cranberries, but couldn't think of their name.)

3. Facetiming everyone.

4. More pumpkin pie.

It might be the most reasonable list of all time. I think we'll be able to deliver! Except for the unlimited pumpkin pie thing, of course. It can't be unlimited because I play to eat way too much of it and C'MON, KID. LEARN TO SHARE.

Day Two Hundred Forty

I bought a REALLY big bag of potatoes the other day. Excessively large. It was partly an accident and partly because they were way inexpensive and partly because meh? Can you ever have too many potatoes? That means I'm digging deep to find more ways to use them, but also reaching back to some known favorites.

Like this one.

It's so simple, but so good.

Potato and Tomato Bake

2 medium potatoes, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Basil, oregano, salt, and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Layer the sliced potatoes in the bottom of a non-stick dish (I used a cake pan because that was what was handy). Next, layer the tomatoes on top of the potatoes.

3. Drizzle with olive oil and season. Top with cheese.

4. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

5. You can also toss in some garlic, onions, or whatever. It's pretty hard to screw up potatoes, after all.