10.01.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:53 pm by kate
Our mailbox in the mailroom of our building has been the source of a small joke for some time now. Shortly after we moved in, the nice postman or postwoman put a label on the inside of the box with our names on it to make sorting mail easier when the bank of boxes are open. It initially had Adam’s name, my name and my maiden name on it. The problem is that this person used a nickname instead of my full name for space, and inexplicably chose “Kathy” even though I get a lot of mail addressed to “Kate”. I crossed Kathy out and wrote Kate above it to correct the mistake. After Piper was born and began receiving letters/gifts someone replaced the label and added her name…but still left my name as “Kathy Hirsch.” Sigh.
A few weeks ago we were scheduled to receive one of the last Harry Potter movies from Netflix. We waited and waited, and still no movie. The website claimed it had been delivered nearly a week before. Thinking that it got misplaced in the mail, we waited for a few more days to see if it would show up, and finally reported it “missing”. Netflix promptly sent out a new copy and we watched the movie, figuring we would never know what happened to the original copy.
This afternoon, Adam walked in the door of the apartment with a Netflix movie and envelope that had been laid outside our door. It was the missing Harry Potter movie! Someone had, apparently, opened the envelope, ripped off the sheet with our address on it, watched the movie and then returned it to us. It must have been delivered to the wrong box, and someone decided to open it up to see if they were interested in the movie. I hope they enjoyed it, and perhaps should be thankful that they decided to return it to us (although they could have just returned it in the mail and we would never have known what happened to it). Maybe the person delivering the mail the day it initially showed up got confused – the movie was addressed to “Kate” and not “Kathy.”
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07.13.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:49 pm by kate
(guest post by Adam)
While we were here in the hospital, our wee grey cat, Lightning, came to the end of a several-week decline. She’s had great innings, as the Brits say, and her slow-down over the last little while has been slowly breaking our hearts, even as we’ve been focusing ourselves more and more on the little person snoozing in the bassinet next to us, here.
We’re getting ready to head home soon, knowing that we’ll have to deal with both the emotional and physical traces Lightning left behind. She was an excellent friend, and I’m only sorry we couldn’t devote more to her passing. Despite the huge changes coming to us, we’re going to miss her something fierce.
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11.04.07
Posted in Cats at 10:18 pm by kate
An open letter to our cats:
We love you dearly, but I really think we need to talk. First, do you really need to hork up a hairball right in the middle of the bed? On sheets I just washed yesterday?! I know I was a little late on making the bed, but even so, there is simply no call for that. Seriously…Adam and I provide you with a good home, lots of love, cat beds, a wondrously huge wooden scratching post, toys, special food (including the wet kind), and kitty grass. All we ask is that you let us love you up, cuddle with us occasionally, and provide some companionship. If I may be so bold, I’d like you to not eat the cat grass and then immediately throw up everything you’ve just eaten. Frankly, that is the quickest way for us to stop growing the kitty grass. We understand that you’re going to have the occasional hairball – you’re covered in fur – but if you could just do that on the wooden floor instead of soft bedding, that would be huge.
Second, if you could try to pee just in the litter box instead of on it, or outside of it, that would really be appreciated. Accidents happen, I get that, but consistently peeing on the side of the litter box? Is that necessary?
A special side note to the grey cat: what’s with all of the yowling? Talking to us is cute, but the yowling in the middle of the night that is loud enough to hear through ear plugs is a little much. You’re clearly trying to communicate with us, and I’m desperately trying to figure out what your major malfunction is because dear God, make the yowling stop! I’ve noticed that you’re often in the bathroom when caterwauling. I’ve started leaving the toilet seat up in case you’re trying to make us always leave it up so you can drink from the bowl (which I NEVER thought I would do). What doesn’t make sense is that you have perfectly good filtered water in your cascading water bowl…and it’s clean! Isn’t that enough? Do you need more attention? I love you up every chance I get, and I know that it can be hard when I don’t let you walk across my computer while I’m using it, but I’m happy to pet you anytime you are in the vicinity. I’ve been lifting the covers in the morning so you can crawl under and sleep for hours. That’s good, right?
So, take some time to reflect on what I’ve asked, and I will continue to love you dearly (even with the horking) and try to keep you all happy.
Love,
Kate
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08.06.07
Posted in work at 9:17 pm by kate
Exactly 14 weeks (yes, that’s weeks, not days) from when the NY State Education Department first received my applications for a nurse and nurse practitioner license, I have now received both! This process has been extremely frustrating, and has reduced me to tears on multiple occasions. It has also prevented me from starting my job on time and is causing me to commute back to NH to work while Adam starts school, which is annoying on multiple levels. However, now that I FINALLY have my nurse practitioner license I am going to write them a letter letting them know just how horrible the process was, and that it is certainly not helping the state’s nursing shortage. I think I’ll forward it on to Governor Spitzer while I’m at it.
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06.10.07
Posted in athletics, track at 9:08 pm by kate
While looking for a phone number on the Smith College website, I decided to visit the athletics page. There were a number of snippets on the page, including this one, that caught my attention:
Northampton, MA: Senior Shayla Livingston (Sharon, VT) won the 400m Hurdles event in a time of 61.54 this afternoon at the Open New England Track & Field Championships held at Dartmouth College. The time breaks the school record previously set by Kate Farneth (63.15) in 1997 and breaks the automatic NCAA qualifying time of 61.59 Livington set yesterday in winning her heat. Livingston is currently ranked third in the country in the event. She also ran the 200m and finished 10th in 25.79.
I had forgotten that I had set that record, but it’s kind of sad that it has been supplanted – even if it did last for 10 years. It was only a matter of time, I suppose. I guess that puts me in the category of “aging track stars”, if one could consider me a star at a Division III school.
Also, a woman who was a year behind me in high school was just named the new Field Hockey coach at Smith. Small world…
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12.16.06
Posted in Food at 10:21 pm by kate
Adam and I have started to make Christmas cookies. We’re adding two new recipes this year and decided that we would do a test run to make sure they’re worthy to give to friends and neighbors. I decided that I wanted to make salted chocolate caramels from this month’s Gourmet, because really – who doesn’t love chocolate caramels with fine sprinkles of Maldon salt on them?
I got all of my ingredients ready and began following the directions to the letter. We don’t have an actual candy thermometer, so I used a digital thermometer that I clipped to the side of the pan. Once the boiling sugar was a golden amber color, I added the chocolate and heavy cream mixture and began to stir… and stir. This goo was supposed to get to 255 degrees. It was taking a while, but I continued to stir continuously. After 12 minutes or so, I began to smell a faint burning odor. I continued to stir anyway because the mixture wasn’t up to temp yet. After a few more minutes, Adam asked if I should take it off the heat. The burning smell continued and the goo was still separated. It only got to 230 degrees, but we took it off, added in the butter and poured it into the pan. After resting for ten minutes, I sprinkled the caramel with salt. It was then to rest in the pan for 2 hours before cutting into 1 inch pieces. After 20 minutes of trying to clean the pan with burnt chocolate and congealed caramel, I noticed Adam tapping the caramel in the pan with a spoon. It was as hard as a rock. We quickly found a cutting board and I cut a strip off (the knife slipped as I was doing this and I nearly cut myself). Once I had two small pieces, I tried to eat it. Dear lord… the caramel was so hard I could barely get my teeth into it. When I finally did bite into it, a tiny piece shot off and Adam said, “Look it’s caramel – watch out for the shrapnel!”. Behold, my awful not-even-remotely-candy creation! And yes, the entire block of caramel has gone into the trash.
Another person who made the recipe commented on the website that she had the same problem I did. I’m going to try and compare this recipe to others online and see if I can make a more edible batch next time. Here’s hoping it comes out differently.
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07.19.06
Posted in music, parents at 10:57 pm by kate
While we were down in DC for a wedding this past weekend, we stayed with our friends Jeanne and Dave, and their 3 yr old son, Eli. It was a great visit, and there was always music on in the house. One of the CDs David played was Paul Simon’s new album, Surprise. I was really excited to listen to it because it had the song “Father and Daughter.” This was the song my Dad and I danced to at my wedding. It’s a sweet, wonderful song, and had previously only been available on the Wild Thornberry’s soundtrack. Seeing as we don’t have kids, and not being up on Nikelodeon cartoons in general, we never bought the soundtrack (although I was seriously tempted to buy it just for that song).
When we got home Sunday night, Adam bought the album from iTunes. I’ve been playing it a lot this week, and occasionally find myself getting a little teary-eyed when I hear the chorus…
I'm gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father
Who loves his daughter more than I love you.
Not only does this song bring back wonderful memories of my wedding, but the chorus expresses exactly how my Dad feels about me, my sister and my brother. Both of my parents have always made it clear know how much they love us, and that this love is unconditional. I feel very lucky to have parents like mine!
If you haven’t checked out Surprise, you should… it’s really good!
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05.14.06
Posted in Cats at 10:11 pm by kate
We let our cats out during the day. They enjoy romping outside, and we feel that experiencing the joy of the outside improves their quality of life. This morning it was pouring, so we decided not to offer the cats the option of going out. As we left for Quaker meeting, Lucy slipped past us and out into the rain. We made a half-hearted attempt to catch her, but figured if she really wanted to be out in this weather, who were we to stop her? After all, as Adam likes to say, “she’s not made of sugar.” A few hours later we returned and I heard this frantic meowing as I opened the back door. Lucy bolts past me and through the door, completely soaked. She then proceeds to leave wet spots wherever she sits… Look at what the rain dragged in.
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02.20.06
Posted in Journal at 4:57 pm by kate
So I’ve developed hives in the last 24-48 hours, and I can’t figure out why. I haven’t eaten things out of the ordinary, I haven’t been too stressed… My skin has been fairly dry recently and I haven’t been good about putting lotion on, which could be the catalyst, but who really knows. I was feeling itchy (but didn’t have any hives) on Saturday and put lotion on then, and tried a thicker one on Sunday because I was still itchy. By last night both my legs and part of my arms were covered in hives. With some help from Calydryl lotion and some Benadryl, I was able to fall asleep and Adam didn’t have to listen to me furtively itch underneath the covers. (We’re pretty sure it was Benadryl, but I threw away the package and put the pills in a plastic bag when we moved, thinking, “I’m a nurse, I’ll recognize what these bright pink pills are without a problem!” Kids – don’t do this at home.)
This morning, I was inspired to document the hives on my leg for posterity. Why, you ask? Because I can! I just thought this photo was kind of cool, but being in the medical profession, I find a lot of things cool that gross other people out.
The hives have calmed down a little this afternoon, but I’m still in an itchy hell – but not as itchy and fiery as earlier. It takes a lot of concentration NOT to itch, so I’m off to the drug store to buy more Benadryl (I’ll keep the packaging this time).
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02.15.06
Posted in Food at 11:33 am by kate
Adam and I went out for a late dinner last night to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Neither of us feel like we have to shower each other with chocolates and gifts, because we’re pretty schmoopey all the rest of the days of the year, but a nearby cafe was doing a special dinner so we thought it would be nice to partake. Twigs, the cafe, has awesome baked goods and sandwiches, and the owners were offering a little taste of what is to come when they open a resturant at night. Here’s a copy of the dinner menu for viewing pleasure.
I worked yesterday and was on transport call last night, so it was a gamble going out to eat. I had my pager hooked to my pants in case I got called back to the hospital, but luckily we had a page free dinner (the vibrate function on my pager is really startling). Twigs was doing 2 seatings last night, at 5:30 and at 8:00 pm. Knowing my inability to get out of work on time, Adam reserved a table for the 8pm seating. A bunch of our friends went to the 5:30 seating; it was a bummer to miss them, but Adam and I had a very relaxed, fun meal on our own. The food came in 4 courses: Antipasti, Primi, Secondi, and Dolci (dessert). It was fabulous start to finish. For the first two courses, you were given a little bit of everything to taste. For the Secondi course, you had to choose one of three things for the main dish, and for dessert each of us could choose one of three things as well.
For the Antipasti, we were given a plate of 4 things with enough for each of us to try everything. We both really enjoyed the cocoa shrimp with mango sauce and the three cheese stuffed artichoke bottoms. They also had fried polenta with wild mushrooms, and prosciutto wrapped slices of cantaloupe. The Primi included a bowl of roasted vegetable minestrone, and a goat cheese salad. The slices of goat cheese were fried, but the frying wasn’t bad for you because it was cancelled out by the bed of salad greens, of course! The slices of pear and the balsamic dressing (?) were a very nice pairing with the goat cheese. The soup was delicious as well.
Adam and I both got the roast duck with orange sauce for the Secondi course. It was beautifully done with roasted root vegetables, but the problem was that I couldn’t eat more than half of it because I had eaten so much in the first 2 courses. Luckily, they wrapped it up for us to take home. It was BYOB, so Adam had picked a 2001 Auslese Riesling which went really nicely with the duck.
Last but not least, was dessert – always my favorite part of the meal. Adam ordered the basil gelato with balsamic marinated strawberries, and I ordered the chocolate mousse with strawberries. The desserts were huge! I thought the flavors of the basil gelato and the balsamic strawberries went really well together, and the basil gelato by itself was stellar! The chocolate mousse was also to die for – very rich and creamy with white and dark chocolate drizzled over it. The strawberries on the side were dipped alternately in white or dark chocolate, which was a nice foil to the mousse. Both desserts had a beautiful presentation, and were delicious. I only finished half my mousse (it was getting to be a struggle to eat it at all because I was feeling pretty full), but got to take the rest home (yay!). Adam’s gelato was not going to travel home well unless we strapped it to the roof or bumper of the car, so we had to leave it behind, which was too bad. This morning, while I was grabbing things from the refridgerator for breakfast, I thought to myself – is it bad to want to eat chocolate mousse for breakfast?
All in all, it was a fantastic meal, and a lovely Valentine’s Day celebration indeed. Our only comment was that it was too much food, which is certainly not a complaint because everything was so delicious, but we felt quite full by the end. The good thing is that I have roast duck and chocolate mousse waiting for me today, and hey – that’s not shabby at all!
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