It’s exam week at Wayne State, and so Mark is prepping for his first exams of medical school. Which means that all of the studying he does normally (three hours a morning beginning at 4:30am six days a week, 9-6 at school, then a couple of hours after dinner before bed) has ramped up even more. Today was a review day, so he spent it working from home and prepping for tomorrow’s histology exam.
While Mark studied and studied, my mom and I took Gigi out jeans shopping. Since the baby was born and losing the baby weight (or most of it at least), I haven’t been able to find a pair of jeans that fit, and with fall approaching it has become necessary. So off to TJ Maxx we went and with the help of some gift cards saved just for this purpose, I came home with some jeans that make me feel comfortable in this new body of mine. I may have gotten back down to (mostly) pre-baby weight, but it has settled in new places that I’m not used to. Having clothes that fit well cannot be under-valued.
Today we had some glorious fall weather. What’s that you say? It’s August? It’s still summer? Oh no, no, we live in Michigan. So we enjoyed a cool, rainy, windy, gray day that made me want to go to the apple orchard and had me on the look out for all things “pumpkin spice.” As much as I hate the advent of fall weather (mostly because it means winter is all that much closer), it was a great day for the first homemade soup of the season.
Last week I made Chicken Ropa Vieja from Skinnytaste.com. When I read the recipe, I realized that if I just added more chicken and veggies to the crockpot, I would have shredded and chicken and enough homemade broth (you only use a tiny bit of the broth that’s made in the actual recipe) for chicken soup. So once I had taken what I needed for the original recipe (which I reccommend, though with more spices than it calls for), I took the rest and seasoned it for soup. I froze it, thinking that I wouldn’t be in the mood for soup for at least a month, but once again, the Michigan weather through me for a curve, and I was grateful to have this on hand. I added some brussel sprouts and mushrooms that we had in the fridge plus some elbow macaroni, and voila! Soup!
As the soup was simmering, we took a little jaunt down to the bakery to pick up some bread.
One of the things I love most about Grosse Pointe Park is how walkable it is. I’ve never lived in a place like this before. We are able to walk to the bakery and farmer’s market, to the hardware store and pharmacy. It is wonderfully practical and a great way to get in my exercise for the day. Not to mention that the bakery is incredible. . . .
All in all, a fabulous Tuesday in GP. Say some prayers for Mark’s exams this week!