The Cruise that Wasn't {Part 2}

So, evidently, the cruise wasn't going to happen. We drove another hour back to Ft. Lauderdale, kind of vacillating between shock and outrage. We kept trying to get over it and change the subject, but then one of us would suddenly turn to the other and say "I can't believe they didn't TELL us beforehand..."

The cruise had been scheduled for months. I think Robert bought the package back in February, and then it took a long time getting my passport updated, but it had definitely been scheduled for about 3 months in advance. And the worst part is, while he was scheduling it, Robert TOLD the cruise representative on the phone that I was pregnant. "Okay, great!" he replied. Not "how far along will she be?" or "Oh, that's great, but by the way, we have this policy..." Not a word. Then, once it was all scheduled, they sent us some paperwork detailing all the things we would need, the extra fees we would be charged, the papers we would need to get on the ship or if we were going to bring our children.... Guess what that paperwork didn't include? ANY mention of their pregnancy policy whatsoever!

I understand the policy (now that it's been explained to me), and I don't really have a problem with it. See, after 23 weeks, babies born early have a lower but very real chance of survival. If a pregnant women were to go into premature labor and have her baby early, they don't have the neo-natal facilities or resources to properly take care of it. It doesn't have a helicopter pad, either, so it would take longer to get the woman and her premature baby back to the mainland to get to a hospital, etc. I understand that they are afraid of getting sued and don't want to deal with it. I get it. And I would have had no problem with this stupid policy if SOMEONE, ANYONE had bothered to mention it to us BEFORE we tried to set foot on the ship!! We would have scheduled the cruise for 3 weeks earlier and everything would have been fine. But...BUT...

Back in Ft. Lauderdale, we found ourselves being shuffled back and forth between the "Welcome Center," the cruise line phone representative, and the hotel staff, none of whom seemed to want to claim us. We were starting to feel like Philip Nolan, the fictional character from The Man Without a Country! Our plane didn't leave until Sunday morning, so we were here for another three nights no matter what. We went to get some lunch at a local seafood place while waiting for the whole situation to get straightened out so we could get another hotel room.

Right next door to the seafood restaurant, we spotted this:
 

Did you know in an alternate universe, I'm a notary public? ;-) When you have such a strange name as I do, you always get excited to see it in random places. It's even spelled correctly! Also, the seafood place, Flannigans, was good. Robert was very happy with his shrimp linguine, and I even ate smoked fish dip and clam chowder of my own free will and enjoyed them. (I'm not a big seafood person, in case you can't tell!)

Back at the hotel, we FINALLY got our room, and went and fell into bed and took a four hour nap, trying to catch up from a night of little sleep and a day that held frustration from start to finish! Woke up feeling better, grabbed a quick dinner at the hotel, and took a short walk to buy some water bottles. Then we girded up our loins and began planning Our Vacation: Take 2.  Robert suggested we take the car the next day and drive all the way down through the Florida Keys, stopping at various interesting sights along the way. We resolved that no amount of aggravation from the cruise line or the "Welcome Center" was going to prevent us from having a terrific vacation after all!

Our plans and resolution being made, we went back to sleep. Can you tell we're parents with small children??

To be continued...

The Cruise that Wasn't {Part I}

Last week Robert and I took a vacation. It wasn't the vacation we intended to take - it wasn't the vacation we planned - perhaps it wasn't even the vacation we wanted. But it was the vacation we got, and, as I believe God has His hand on everything in our lives, it surely was the vacation He knew we needed.

Originally we were supposed to go on a cruise to the Bahamas. Robert found a good deal, and we had been planning to go for months. We wanted to have one vacation with just the two of us before the new baby comes and we can't really go anywhere for a while. (Nobody wants to take five children on a cruise ship. NOBODY. Can you imagine? I would spend every waking second and probably most of my sleeping ones trying to prevent one or all of them from getting lost or falling over the side. Oy. That is not a vacation!) So, we planned, we scheduled, we packed, we ran around frantically trying to find our passports that I had gone to tons of trouble to have expedited and then hidden carefully away from the children and then couldn't find the day before our trip...!

Finally all was ready and the day was here. The kids were packed up and sent off to Grammie's for their four-day "sleepover," which they were super excited about, and Robert and I boarded a plane bound for Ft. Lauderdale and our glorious four days of sun, ship, relaxation, and all the food we could eat. Or so we thought.

The first "bump" in the road was our flight getting delayed coming into Denver - all flights, actually, due to bad weather - which resulted in our flight to Ft. Lauderdale getting bumped back three hours, which meant we arrived at 2:15 am local time, give or take a few minutes. We trekked the deserted airport, got our rental car and directions, and drove out into the POURING rain to try to find our hotel. It was not terribly near the airport, but we finally arrived, got our room, and fell into bed to get a few hours sleep.

The next morning we had to rise early all the same, because we had a tour scheduled with the "Welcome Center" as part of the package deal we signed up with our cruise in order to get an inexpensive hotel room and rental car. Turns out the "Welcome Center" was most inaptly named. We arrived at 8:30, said "we're here for our tour," and were informed (quite testily) that the tour was actually located an hour away! Gee, thanks...that would have been nice to know when we called you to check in yesterday! Every single person who worked there was not only less than helpful, but quite rude about it. Finally we managed to get the tour rescheduled for Saturday after our cruise ship returned, retrieved our boarding passes, and set off for the Port of Palm Beach to get on board our ship!

After another hour drive, we arrived at the port to see the World's. Biggest. Ship. stretched out in front of us! I have never seen anything that massive, particularly up close. It dwarfed everything around it, including the "embarkation building" next to it, and made up feel like ants next to a mountain! Two tiny little ants who parked our car, went through security (security?? To board a ship?? It was nearly as thorough as TSA!) checked our luggage, and went to fill out our final paperwork to get on board. While Robert was writing, a tiny little Asian lady came up and smiled at me.

"Getting ready to get on the ship?"

"Yes," I smile back.

"Ah. I see you are expecting!" (gesturing to my burgeoning stomach)

"Yes, that's right."

"How far along are you?" (conversationally)

"Oh, about twenty five weeks."

"Oh." Her smile disappears. "Well, I'm very sorry to have to tell you, but we cannot allow pregnant women on board after twenty three weeks."

I blink. "Excuse me?"

Oh, yes, I heard her right. This small factor, which not ONE person from the cruise line OR the 'Welcome Center' had bothered to mention until we were actually boarding the ship, was company policy. No amount of discussion, reasoning, or appealing to more highly authorized personnel did any good. We were very apologetically but firmly refused entry to the ship and shown out of the building, one of us fighting back tears of frustration. You can probably guess which one! The four hours' sleep combined with the hormones weren't exactly helping.

We drove back to Ft. Lauderdale in defeat, tired, frustrated, stunned by this turn of events and wondering how to salvage our vacation.

To be continued...

Daily Life as a Parent

Here is the breakdown of my day:

40% sleep deprivation
20% making food
20% cleaning up messes
10% answering random questions
10% trying to keep them from escaping out the front door
5 % kissing boo-boos/applying bandaids
3 % singing the goodnight songs (over and over)
2% sitting on the potty begging someone - anyone - to bring you toilet paper

And for those of you who noticed that it added up to 110%? Yes, it does. That's because that is the minimum you can give each and every day.

Are we worth it?? You bet we are!!

{naptime} #2

On the other hand, you have days like today where the tired two year old climbs into bed, and then big sister comes along and shuts the curtains, tucks her little sister in, and then crawls into bed and falls asleep right along beside her.

Clearly the solution is to have the three year old put the two year old down for a nap every day!

{naptime}

Putting a cranky two year old down for a nap is like....well, it's like putting a two year old down for a nap.

If you've done it, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

If you never have, there are no words that can properly explain it!

Suffice it to say that by the time the toddler's finally asleep, it's the mama who REALLY needs a nap!

They look so angelic when asleep...it's all a lie.

Sisters

So a few months ago, my sister Daniella posted this picture on her blog, and I just fell in love with it.

It was so pretty and romantic and appropriate to us Neal sisters! Ever since I saw it, I've been wanting to get us all together and take a picture just like it, especially because we all have long hair at the moment.

A few weekends ago, Daniella and Phillip were in town for Lydia's graduation, and the next day was Daniella's birthday. We were all up at my parents' house and decided to seize the opportunity to take our own picture. Here is our version:

You may have noticed there are five of us in the picture. My lovely cousin Tiana, who grew up with us and is practically our sister, was in town too, so we talked her into joining us! (It wasn't that hard. ;-) We all love playing dress up.) Sadly, the one who's missing is my dear sister in law Melissa, who had a family emergency and couldn't come. I hope soon we can do another fun "sister shoot" when she can join us!

Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Courtesy of the worst allergy attack I think Albuquerque has ever experienced, my diet the past week has consisted mainly of soup and frozen yoghurt, the only things that feel good on my very sore throat. I'll eat canned soup if I'm desperate or too sick to cook, but I much prefer good homemade soup. It tastes better, is better for me, and I can control the ingredients that go into it and guarantee it stays gluten free for the little ones.

Over the weekend I made a giant pot of chicken soup, and the minute we finished it, I started some more! For a long time I couldn't really figure out how to make good soup without buying canned chicken broth. I tried boiling chicken breasts, but all I got was some lame thin chicken-flavored water, not that delicious rich fatty broth that is so necessary to good soup. Then I learned that I needed to boil chicken bones to make good broth, so I attempted that and it was better, but something still wasn't right. Finally I hit upon the happy combination of roasting my chicken in the oven and then boiling it, bones and all, to make a delicious broth that tasted just right. 

This roasted chicken recipe is one of my favorite easy yet delicious dinners to make, and I discovered that if I make a little extra, I can use the leftovers to make chicken soup for another day. It's very easy if you count the amount of work you actually have to do - it just takes a little time for all the roasting and boiling and cooking.

Step 1 - Roast the chicken

You can use a whole chicken, but I prefer to buy chicken thighs and drumsticks, bone in (this is the essential point!), usually 2 pieces per person. Arrange the pieces in a large glass baking dish and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. I like to season mine with an herb blend called "Herbs de Provence." I already happened to have a jar of this blend, which I'm sure you can buy in stores, but here is a recipe for mixing your own. Mine does NOT include fennel, however, as I don't like the texture of the fennel seeds. But you can use other seasonings if you prefer. Next, take a stick of butter and cut into pieces, then place butter pieces on top of the chicken pieces. I usually use a whole stick for a large pan of chicken, but reduce if you have fewer chicken pieces (approx. 1 Tablespoon per piece of chicken). 

Roast chicken, uncovered, in 375 degree oven for about 1 1/2 hours, until the chicken is nicely browned and the skin is crispy. You might want to check it at an hour and rotate the pan, since everyone's oven cooks a little differently. Slide a knife in next to the bone and see if meat pulls away easily to determine if it's sufficiently cooked. The meat under the skin should be very tender.

Served your family this delicious chicken, with sweet potatoes and a salad, or mixed vegetables and rice, or whatever sides you prefer - but don't forget to save a few extra pieces of chicken AND the drippings from the pan for your soup! You can even save the empty bones for boiling.

*If you're pressed for time, a good shortcut is to buy a whole rotisserie chicken from the store, eat that for dinner, and then save the carcass with a little meat still on it. You can boil the entire carcass to make soup.

Step 2 - Boil the chicken

Take the reserved chicken and pan drippings, which include the melted butter and chicken fat, and put it all into a large stock pot. Fill with water about 3/4 of the way. Now add the vegetables - celery, carrot, and onion pieces. Note that these are not the vegetables that you will be eating as part of your soup - they are simply to add flavor to the broth as it cooks, so you can just include a couple of large chunks of each. This is a great place to use leftover celery tops, carrot ends, etc. Throw in a little salt and pepper and bring the pot to a boil. Once it is boiling, turn it down very low and simmer for a long time - even overnight.

Step 3 - Make the soup

Once the stock has simmered for a long time, turn the stove off and let it cool. Once cooled, use a strainer to strain all the broth into a large bowl or another pot. If you used chicken pieces, strip all the meat off the bones (I admit this is my LEAST favorite part about making chicken soup!) and set it aside. Throw away the bones and mushy vegetable tops, rinse out your pot, and pour your broth back into it. Add in the chicken pieces. Cut up carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, and/or any other vegetables you may desire into bite sized pieces and throw them in the pot too. If you are pressed for time you can just pour in a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium-low until vegetables are tender - only about an hour or so, since the meat and broth are already cooked.

*For chicken noodle soup, omit potatoes and wait until the vegetables are almost done, then throw in a package of noodles and cook until they are soft. If you are using gluten free noodles, be careful not to overcook, as they can get mushy very fast.

** If you want to make this soup ahead of time and freeze it, don't add either potatoes or noodles - they do not freeze well. Add the other vegetables and cook, then cool and pour into gallon ziploc bags and freeze. When you're ready it eat it, pull it out of the freezer, dump into the pot, add the potatoes or noodles, and cook until done.