weekend recap

Our weekend was surprisingly relaxing considering how much we did. (Of course, when you stop to consider that a lot of what we did was sleep in/be lazy on Saturday morning and nap on Sunday afternoon, it only makes sense that it was relaxing.)

• We spent a bit of tax return money: on a bed (which will be delivered on Thursday...yippee!) and a gloriously lightweight stroller (8 narrow, well-constructed pounds, people, which will make maneuvering this crowded, stair-filled city all the easier).
• We caught the latter half of the neighborhood St. Patrick's Day parade as we were walking home from the bus stop after church, and that was great fun. (If there's one thing New Yorkers do well, it's celebrate their Irish heritage, which turns March into a month-long St. Patrick's Day celebration.) I do love me a good pipe band and musical bits of an Irish accent wafting through a crowd.
  
• We learned in nursery how to be thankful for animals and I walked away from our lesson yesterday most impressed with both the elephant impersonations these kids are capable of and their participation during my re-telling of the Noah's Ark story (many thanks to Peter Spier and his fabulous book on the topic).
• We broke down and finally put away Garrett's swing. Our living room feels so empty now.
  
• We talked, via our webcam (which, seriously, is the greatest invention ever), to both Blake's family AND my brother, Riley, who happily informed me yesterday that his new computer came equipped with a camera.
• And finally, I used our friends, who spent yesterday evening kicking back at our apartment, as guinea pigs for a new cookie recipe I wanted to try. The cookies turned out deliciously superb (if I may say so), especially considering most cookies I make involving oatmeal turn out either doughy or burned. I thought that since this baking endeavor turned out to be so wildly successful, I'd share the recipe with you:

Mrs. Field's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cream together:
1 cup brown sugar,
1 cup white sugar,
1 cup butter.
Add
2 eggs and beat well.
Add:
1/2 tsp salt,
1/2 tsp baking soda,
1 tsp baking powder,
1 tsp vanilla,
and mix well.
Stir in:
2 cups flour,
2 cups oats,
2 cups chocolate chips.

Bake at 400 for 6-8 minutes.

And since I'm feeling extra generous today, I'll also throw in a potato wedge recipe we made (and loved) the other night:

Baked Potato Wedges
6-8 medium potatoes, cut in wedges
about 1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper

Arrange potato wedges on greased baking sheet and brush with oil. Mix together Parmesan, garlic salt, and paprika; sprinkle over wedges (both sides). Sprinkle with salt and pepper (both sides). Bake for 45 minutes at 375.

And now the weekend's over and it's back to weekday reality, which is so far looking to be weighted more in favor of busy than relaxing. Oh well, though: busy is good, too.