I started off Saturday morning by picking up Mike's anniversary present and then heading to Starbucks for my first pumpkin spice latte of the season and some serious grading. Having made a good amount of headway with my grading and feeling elated by the beautiful Saturday we were having, I pulled out my laptop to type up the post about my amazing students. I was feeling really good, happy about my job and all of the the things that I had to look forward to this week. I headed to the animal shelter to play with the kitties and pups, and met a very handsome pitbull/hound mix named Farley. He had the best snout ever and was super calm and loving. Lucky for me, my apartment in the size of a shoebox and I have a cat that has made it very clear that he prefers being the sole receiver of human attention, so I'm never really tempted to bring home other animals. But I do like to stop by and give them all a little love.
Back at home I continued with my grading, and then, something amazing happened! I took a cleaning break! I cleaned my apartment on a Saturday night. FIVE whole days before Mike's visit! And I did laundry! It felt splendid! The next morning I took a little walk over to Sweet Claire's for a delicious breakfast with Andrea and Dimitar, got a bit more work done, snuck in an afternoon nap, and even did some data collecting. I was just getting ready to call it a night when Grant called me to say Trisha would be having her baby in about an hour! And since I had another hour to kill, I washed dishes! You guys, it was a SUPER productive weekend!
I arrived at the hospital around midnight, where I stayed for the next 3 hours until Trisha gave birth to her darling baby boy, Jackson. I actually ended up staying in the room for the delivery and it was the most incredible thing I've ever experienced. Trisha was such a trooper and I just couldn't wait to meet her little one. Trish and Grant opted to keep the gender a surprise, so when the nurse yelled, "It's a boy!" we all just burst into tears. It was such a joyous moment. Jackson arrived with the fullest head of hair you've ever seen and his mommy and daddy just love him to pieces. And now I'm Aunt Nicki!
I didn't get home until around 3:30 and I knew I'd have to be up by around 6:15, but witnessing such a special moment made the severe lack of sleep totally worth it. And that afternoon I got a letter from the university approving my second class for next semester! Which made the day even better! But between driving carpool, teaching two classes, holding individual conferences with students, and data collection, I was exhausted. I made dinner (I'll get to the recipe in a bit), cleaned up (had to keep my kitchen clean after the weekend's cleaning escapades), and went to bed.
Yesterday was another busy day filled with a teaching evaluation from a fellow colleague, more conferences, and grading. I walked to a local Chinese restaurant for dinner to get my veggie fix and the owner gifted me with a package of mooncakes! I thought it was super sweet because when I looked into buying them for my students, they were about $20 for a package of 4! I brought them to class today and most of the students were brave enough to try them. Although many of my students asked if there was a chocolate option (no, no there is not), I was happy that they were willing to try it; before I left for China, one of my professors wrote me a note saying "remember, try everything once," and those words always stuck with me.
Today is my long day on campus since we have Chinese Table on Wednesdays. But once I'm home, I have the rest of the evening and all day Thursday off. And tomorrow is an especially momentous occasion, because Mike is coming to visit! It's been over a month since we last saw each other, and it's not been easy. I didn't realize how much I'd miss the little things, and it took me a while to adjust. Things have been looking up though, and I've been focusing on staying positive and happy. Our one-year anniversary was September 12, so we've got fancy plans to celebrate. Friday evening we're having dinner with friends and then on Saturday it's off to Apple Works for what, I have heard, are the best apply dumplings ever! Saturday also marks the start of their u-pick pumpkin season, so it should be a perfect day (although it may be in the 80s, and that is not my idea of fall). We'll end the day at Finch's, a local farm to table restaurant with a very romantic ambiance. We went there to celebrate Mike's dissertation defense, so it holds happy memories for us too. And there will be gifts! I love gifts! I'm the kind of person that likes to tell people I'm giving them a gift so that they can be excited for as long as possible. An anticipated surprise, if you will. I'm super excited about the gift I got Mike, and I really hope he likes it! I'll post a picture later, but since he reads my posts (he's the best!), I can't ruin the surprise!
AND on top of all that, tomorrow I have a play date with Trisha and baby Jackson! I'm sure we won't be doing much playing, but there will be elephant ear bread, and maybe some movie watching, and lots of cuteness! And Grey's Anatomy is back tomorrow! It's almost too much (almost!).
So in honor of the best week ever, I'm sharing with you one of my favorite recipes! I made this Monday night when it was 8:30 and I was starving, because it takes less than 30 minutes and you get four generous helpings out of it! Also, I almost always have all of the ingredients on hand except the chicken, so a quick run to the grocery store and a $5 for a rotisserie chicken is all I need for one of the most comforting meals I've ever tasted.
Chicken 'n Dumplings
From Tasty Kitchen Blog
2 cups of flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cold butter
about 1 cup of milk (you will probably use a little less)
a pinch of salt
2 qt chicken broth
1 rotisserie chicken, meat shredded
black pepper to taste
Combine all of the dry ingredients and cut in the butter to the mixture using a pastry cutter or two forks. Add the milk until the dough forms a cohesive ball. Meanwhile, place broth in a large pot and bring to a boil. Generously flour your worktop and roll out the dough to about 1/8" thickness. Cut dumplings into 2x2 inch squares and drop a few at a time into the boiling broth, stirring after each addition. Cook for about 15-20 minutes until dumplings have puffed up and the broth has thickened into a gravy (add a bit of the extra flour for thicker gravy). Stir in the chicken and add black pepper to taste. Lick the bowl. Have seconds. I do.
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