Day Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five: Flowers and Chocolate Times Two

Early Mother's Day flowers that made me cry.

Day Fifty-Four, Friday, was thankfully less exciting than Fifty-Three. Jeremy had to go to town to get his antibiotic prescription and also did a grocery run. When he got back he called to the kids to help bring things, and I continued to work on my computer. They ran outside, and a minute later ran back in again with a giant bouquet of flowers and a Ghiradelli chocolate bar shouting "Happy Early Mother's Day!!!" I immediately got choked up and tried to hold it in, but did actually start crying. "Happy tears!" I told them, and the kids thought it was hilarious. I guess the stress from the day before, combined with the stress of a not-particularly-easy-morning, made the flowers so special - it was Jeremy's way of acknowledging the stress and offering me a little extra love. And from the sudden onset of happy crying, it was needed, apparently.

I'm a little behind on keeping up with the blogging, so I'm going to skip right to another highlight of the day: dinner. I made chicken and dumplings for dinner, much to Taiya's delight. It's maybe her favorite meal of all time. Grandpa (my dad) made it once on a visit a couple years ago, and last summer when we visited him she requested it again. He has since given me the recipe but I hadn't had a chance to make it. On Friday, though, I got it going and it ended up being super easy. Carrots, celery, an onion, peppercorns, a bay leaf, salt, and a bit over 2 lbs. of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs from our favorite chicken farm, Across The Creek Farm. Cover all that with water and simmer for a couple hours (I put it on slow cook in my Instant Pot). I seasoned the broth to taste, then mixed up the dumpling batter, which is basically like a biscuit dough, and plopped those on top. Simmer for 15 minutes, then serve. It was so scrumptious. I ate it as slowly as I could to savor every delicious bite. Taiya ate it as quickly as she could and had seconds on dumplings. William refused to eat any of it, but I didn't even care because I was enjoying my meal so much. If you are in need of some solace in a bowl, make chicken and dumplings. Or if you are vegetarian, make vegetable soup and dumplings. Just fill your face with dumplings and you'll be able to believe, for a few minutes at least, that everything is gonna be alright.

While it's not the most photogenic meal ever, it is the most delicious.

Apparently day Fifty-Four was the crying day, because in the evening Taiya and I got to the chapter of Anne of Green Gables where Matthew dies. I literally sobbed. Taiya was again laughing at me, and said, "Just cry it out and get it over with, Mama!" It was a really hard chapter to read aloud, my voice cracking the whole time. I made it through, but it was not easy.

Day Fifty-Five, the day before Mother's Day, was lovely. The weather has been warm but not hot. I gardened in the morning. I have kale and beets sprouting in the garden, the first strawberries are ripening... it's an exciting time. Around noon, Taiya, William and I made dinosaur-shaped sugar cookies from dough I had mixed up and refrigerated the night before. I use the King Arthur Flour sugar cookie recipe, and it is so vanilla-y and good. Once all the cookies were baked, I got to drive to my in-laws' house to pick up my mother's day gift from them. Jeremy offered to get it for me, but I jumped at the chance for a little alone time. I turned on some Brandi Carlisle, and then some Joni Mitchell, and then a little Mark Knopfler, and sang my way into Fort Smith. It was a treat to see my mother- and father-in-law. I didn't go in their house. We stood in their shady driveway and talked and talked and talked. Their gifts to me were a petite Queen Pee chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling and raspberry buttercream, and a beautiful geranium hanging basket from a local farmer. Flowers and chocolate are a recurring theme here... I think my people know me well. It was very weird to not be able to hug, but it was so wonderful to get to talk. On the way home I listened to Keb Mo.

I checked the mail on the way home, and we got several packages: some books I ordered for Taiya (the entire Chronicles of Narnia and Wise Child, the sequel to Juniper, by Monica Furlong), some vitamins, a letter from my mom, and a package from my friend Laura! It contained gifts for the kids, a letter for me, and a powerful quote from the Dalai Lama that she wrote in her beautiful cursive handwriting. I hung it on my wall, right next to the front door. It says:

"Every day,
Think as you wake up,
Today I am fortunate to have woken up,
I am alive, I have a precious human life,
And I am not going to waste it."

What a gift.