My Goals and Resolutions, February

So, I'm putting this out here. Into the wild.  I find I keep my resolutions better if they are written down and I have to revisit them monthly and check in on them.  I sat down last week and wrote down the list of what I want to accomplish this year.  Dear God, the list is currently at 50 items.  You read that right.  FIFTY.  After a lot of thought, I've cut that number down significantly.  You don't want to read through 50 items any more than I want to hold myself accountable (and write them out) every single month for the next 12 months!

1) Lose 25 pounds.

     Weight Lost this month: 1 pound

    I'd say I'm disappointed, but I think the Oatmeal Cookies I made while home from the snow had something to do with the less than stellar weight loss. 

2) Visit 1 new to me state.

    Coming in February! I can't wait!

3)  3 repairs/improvements to the house.

4) 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge

    It's been a while since I've done this.  You get 40 bags or boxes of stuff out of your house over the 40 days of Lent.

5) Organize old correspondence/letters

    I picked up more page protectors, as well as another 3 ring binder and notebook dividers.  I'm trying         to decide if I want to organize these by decade or by sender.  Both?

6) Big backyard garden project.

7) Finish the cross stitch project I've been working on for 3+ years.

Here is the current situation with the cross stitch! 

I have the right side left to finish.
Progress has been very, very slow.
I've been stuck here for 6 months now.

Let me tell you a rather horrifying story.  Okay, horrifying to any cross stitcher.  During the days off from the snow earlier this week, I went on a cleaning rampage.  In one sweep through the living room, I unwittingly picked up the chart and tossed it out.  Chaos ensued as I dug through the kitchen trash - after just having cleaned out the refrigerator.  It was not a pretty sight.  More than a little upset with myself, I had settled down with the thought of attempting to replicate the other half of this pattern using just the picture from the front of the bag.  

Imagine my absolute delight when I looked into the shred box in the corner of the dining room this morning and found the intact chart, sitting on top of the pile.  *whew*

8) Transfer Dad's slides to digital.

9) Put those images into an album.

10) Fill my America 250 Passport with lots of stamps!

11) Clear out the storage unit.

12)  Do one totally irresponsible and fun thing each month! 

 Historic Ellicott City.  You can find my post on this trip here: https://mini-van-mom.blogspot.com/2026/01/phoenix-upper-main-ellicott-city.html

13) Go see Falling Water. (Frank Lloyd Wright) 

      This is a Bucket List item. 

14) Visit 12 new to me bakeries.

    Elli Mochi, Ellicott City, MD

Snowflakes on our Tongues

 It seems appropriate to highlight this book, considering the weather we've had in the Mid-Atlantic!

It's time for a wonderful, wholesome picture book!  The animals on this farm love to catch snowflakes on their tongues when the farmer isn't looking!  The delightful illustrations in this book accentuate the playfulness of the text.  The rhyming text makes this a most excellent book to read aloud - either to the child sitting on your lap or to a large group of children. When I've read the story out loud to a group, the children always end up helping me out with the refrain!  (I've read it three times this month!)

The kids absolutely love it! 

Elli Mochi Donut

For years, I ate gluten free. I learned to tolerate the weird consistency of gluten free food.  And then... I had cancer surgery and my surgeon put me together with a nutrition team. I'm learning to eat healthier.  I've also learned two other life changing (for me) facts:

1) I am lactose intolerant.  Who boy, does that explain a lot.  Wow.

2) I can tolerate gluten.  Who boy!  I'm like a kid in a candy store!

In an effort to eat better, lose weight, and still enjoy some of that gluten filled deliciousness, I am visiting one gluten loaded bakery each month and partaking in one or two items from their menu.  Believe it or not, I spend a lot of time looking up bakeries, checking out their menus and their online reviews, looking at pictures...  (drooling a little)  *sigh*  This honestly seems like the only way to do this - indulge in some sweet treats - and NOT gain the weight I am trying so desperately to lose!

My first stop on the bakery tour was Eli Moochi, in Ellicott City.  Their donut flavors very from day to day, but there is one consistent theme: YUM!

We had company when I stopped by to pick up a dozen donuts.  We demolished those donuts in a day!  They are very good.  They are chewier than a Krispy Kreme, and denser than a Dunkin'.  They are so very good!  Also on the menu at Elli Mochi are teas and smoothies, as well as Korean Corn Dogs.  What is a Korean Corn Dog?  As near as I can tell, it is a hot dog, wrapped in the mochi dough, and then fried.  While I would absolutely love to try one, my current status of "needs to lose weight" has me bypassing this delicacy for now.  I'll be back to try them once I make these 25 extra pounds a thing of the past!

A box of Elli Mochi Donuts!  They are little pieces of art.

The cookie monster one is so cute!

My personal favorite!
I added the little umbrella - they didn't give it to me.
I thought it seemed appropriate!

Massive Snow Storm Headed to the East Coast

The preparations for any major snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic are always amusing.  People panic buy like we're going to be snowbound for a month or more.  The reality in 2025 is that we might be snowed in for a week, at most.  Even here in Maryland, our road crews are great at getting business moving again in pretty quick order.  I grew up in the Mid-West.  TBH, we are always prepared for bad weather.  We've always got enough food in the freezer and non-perishables to see us through for a couple of weeks in the winter time.  Blizzards are no joke.  We don't get many blizzards here in Maryland, and I'm not certain if this storm will be a blizzard or not.

But watching people freak out is a wonderful past time for me!  We have a turkey that I picked up on sale after Thanksgiving that we are going to cook tomorrow.  Somehow, I found a relatively small bird.  This one is less than 10 pounds.  The two of us should be set for days....  If the power does go out, it will be nice to have cooked food on hand.

I couldn't resist going to Wal-Mart yesterday.  This storm has been hyped so much, I was curious just how much people were panicking.  Let me tell you, the visit did not disappoint.  

Evidently, a lot of beef chili is going to be had in the Burg.
We need to have a chili cook off at some point!

Or maybe we're all making wings?

There's just a little milk left - all of it Lactose Free.
I love the half gallons of chocolate milk!
I really should have picked one up!
If only I wasn't on a quest to lose weight...

I enjoyed my visit.  I needed to break a $20, so I got a salad from Subway and sat down and watched the chaos at the registers for a while.  I give a lot of credit to the employees - they really kept those self check outs moving fast!  But I am wondering why someone needed 10 cartons of eggs.  If you're reading this, I want to know what you're making with them! Please tell!  Give me the recipes!

I admit, I did panic buy one item.  White acid free cardstock.  I'm working on an old scrapbook that I found from the 1950's.  Everything was glued down, front and back to the same page.  And the pages are disintegrating.  The items that were glued down are of historic significance.  I'm hoping to get at least some of the pages pulled apart and remade.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to safely do this without ruining all of the documents, please let me know!  I really would appreciate your input!

Seriously folks - if you're in the way of this storm, stay safe and warm.  This promises to be the first wild winter weather event we've had in Maryland in 10 years.  I'm thrilled to have some snow!  My hiking boots are out, and I found my sled!  There's a little hill in our back yard that I've got my eye on.  It's been 10 years since I last took a sled down that hill!

Woodlands: Pure Vegetarian Indian Cuisine

Indian Cuisine is fascinating, isn't it?  So many subtle depths of flavor in every single bite.  Up until recently, we had an Indian restaurant across the street from where I work, and I thoroughly enjoyed eating my way through their menu with the help of the owner who loved to recommend new foods for me to try. Since that restaurant has closed, I have moved on to search for other sources of Indian Food. This journey led us down to the Washington, DC area. 

Woodlands Pure Vegetarian Indian Cuisine is located in Gaithersburg, MD.  The location is in the bottom floor of an office building, and is rated as one of the best Indian Food Restaurants in the Washington, DC area.  Husband and I decided to set out on an adventure to try some new to us food.  We met up with friends. It turns out that this restaurant is a great place to meet up with a group!  Most of the food is served family style, so you are able to taste everything.  The servers were excellent at giving us recommendations for food based upon what we have tried and liked before.

I had the Uthappam.  Oh my goodness, it was amazing.  Giant hashbrown pancake with so many vegetables mixed in doesn't do this dish justice. It was the best thing I have ever had.  Sad to say, I refused to share more than a bite with anyone.  It was mine!  The sauces that came with the dish were not spicy and enhanced the flavor of the dish.

I also had the Mixed Vegetable Pakora.  Everyone shared in this delicious appetizer!  Potatoes, onions, and cauliflower are mixed with chickpea flour and then deep fried.  Oh my goodness!  It was amazing!

We had several curries.  I tried a bite of each, but I was so enchanted with my Uthappam that I really didn't try many of the curries.  We had a Chana Masala (one of my favorites), Vegetable Korma, Dal Makhani, and Aloo Gobi (another favorite).  What I tasted was amazing.  I was honestly hoping that we would have leftovers so that I could take them home and really enjoy them for lunch the next day.  Unfortunately, we had no leftovers.  We cleaned out everything! 

I'm in no way tied to the Woodlands restaurant.  But if you're in the Washington DC area and are looking for some amazing Indian Food - this place is great!

My Cookbook!

 I found this gem the other day, hiding in a box that I pulled from the storage unit.

 

It's the cookbook I put together back way back when I was young and innocent.  I was still in High School when I assembled this. I used this notebook in Junior High School. I think it came through Junior High School in better shape than I did, honestly.   I curated this wonderful cookbook using recipes from the Sunday Supplement in the Washington Post, the backs of cereal boxes, and various women's magazines. I look at some of these recipes now and wonder "what was I thinking?"  I wouldn't have eaten any of this stuff back in the 80's, and I'm even less likely to eat it now.  

Some of these recipes are classics!  I copied this lasagna recipe from the back of a box of San Georgio Pasta back in the 80's.  I've used this recipe so often, I have it memorized.  I've modified it a little over time (I add a ton of veggies to the sauce, and I've cut amount of meat and cheese in half.) But, the bones of the recipe are still very much the same.

For a while now, I've been searching for a "Holy Grail" recipe.  I used to make this all of the time, and it was one of my favorites.  Basically, you took a large instant biscuit, flattened it out, and then filled it with broccoli and ham.  You'd roll the biscuit up around the filling, and put that into the oven.  While it was baking, you would make the cheese sauce from scratch.  I mastered this recipe when I was 14, and for many years it was a staple.  I stopped making it sometime in college, and hadn't really thought about it until I found this notebook. I don't even know where this recipe came from anymore.  I hand-copied the recipe onto a sheet of notebook paper.

Younger me thought that this was a complete meal!  It has broccoli!  Older and wiser me would add a side salad, a baked sweet potato, or roasted veggies to round this out.  I hope you enjoy this recipe from the Way Back Machine!

Broccoli and Ham Roll Ups

Ingredients:

For the Roll-Ups

1 can of refrigerated rolls

1 cup cooked, chopped, broccoli. (squeeze the water out with cheesecloth or a paper towel.)

1/2 cup cooked diced ham

For the Cheese Sauce

2 TBSP butter

2 TBSP flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1-3/4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese.

Directions:

Pre-Heat oven to 375*.

Unroll and separate the rolls.  Flatten them out.

Mix broccoli and ham together.

Along the middle of the biscuit, place 1/8 of the ham mixture.

Roll the two sides of the rolls inward, around the filling, and place in a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

While this is cooking, make the sauce:

In a saucepan, melt the butter.  Add the flour and whisk until a paste forms.

Slowly add milk to the paste, and stir until the flour mixture is thoroughly incorporated.  Add the cheese, and stir until the cheese is melted into the flour mixture. 

Remove the roll-ups from the oven and pour the cheese sauce over top of everything before serving.

In A Rush

 In A Rush.  Kate Canterbary.

Content Warnings: Content Notes:

incidences and discussion of infidelity, incidence of body shaming, parental estrangement, parental divorce, brief mention of past domestic violence (parent/child), brief mention of past emotional abuse (parent/child), brief mention of parental death (ALS), chronic illness (main character–endometriosis). Note that there are several explicit sex scenes in this book.

Romance novels seem to be crossing my path a lot more often recently!  I love the happy endings, and I'm enjoying the spicy parts, too.  In A Rush is the second book in the Friendship, RI series. I read the first in this series - In a Jam - over the summer.  I fell in love with the well written characters and engaging storyline.  I love that the romance is a part of the plot, but not the driving theme behind the book.  If you are not into the spicy parts of this series, it is easy to flip past them and move on as the plot is not dependent upon the spice.  Characters in this series are friends and appear throughout each book - but each book revolves around the story of one of the friends.

In a Rush focuses on Emme.  She has just left a long relationship - after she discovered that her long term boyfriend had another long term girlfriend.  The twist to this romance is that Emme's former boyfriend is going to be the best man at the wedding of Emme's best friend.

Ryan Ralston is a pro football player. He is at the top of his game and could have anything he wants. The thing is - he has always wanted Emme.  Since their days as best friends in High School, he has been in love with Emme.  In the aftermath of Emme's latest heartbreak, Ryan finds his opportunity to move in and declare his love.

But will Ryan and Emme's love story have the happy ending he wants?  

Author Website: https://katecanterbary.com/books/in-a-rush/

Phoenix Upper Main Ellicott City

I took this picture in July of 2018. 2 months after the 2nd round of floods.

As part of my totally fun and irresponsible adventure for the month of January, I roamed through Main Street in Historic Ellicott City.  It's been years since the flash flooding destroyed much of the downtown area, and Howard County has been hard at work ever since, installing flood alert sirens and a tunnel project that should help divert flood water away from the city and down the tunnel to the river.  Above street infrastructure has been fixed and updated.  Some of the buildings at the bottom of the street, closest to the river are still being worked on.  Others have been demolished.  But the charm of the City is back, and many businesses are back up and running. 

More about the flood and the lessons learned here: https://umbc.edu/stories/learning-from-ellicott-city/ 

Most of the businesses on Main Street open around 10 or 11.  I arrived at 10:30, found a parking space and began exploring. I hit up many of the small businesses.  I did a lot of browsing!  

 

I stopped by the B&O Railroad Museum.  This is the oldest surviving railroad station in the United States.
It was built in 1831. Passenger service at this station ended in 1949.  I visited the ladies waiting room upstairs, the freight room, and the caboose. While I was there, a train went past on the tracks next to the station.  I LOVE trains, so I ran outside to watch the train go by right along with all of the kids!  If you'd like to know more about the B&O Railroad Museum, you can visit their website here: https://www.howardcountymd.gov/ecborail

After visiting more stores, I stopped by The Phoenix Upper Main.  This beautiful restaurant sits near the higher end of Main Street. If you are familiar with Chef Gordon Ramsey, he visited The Phoenix Upper Main in 2020, and helped them get back on their feet after the devastating floods destroyed their restaurant. Unfortunately, Chef Ramsey did this work in February 2020. Just days before everything shut down for the pandemic. Through sheer determination, The Phoenix Upper Main not only survived, but has since thrived. I stopped in for my very favorite treat - a hamburger and fries. Let me tell you - that was the BEST hamburger and fries I have had in a very long time!  From my seat, I was able to see into the microbrewery. 

If you're interested in finding out more about The Phoenix Upper Main, you can visit their webpage here: https://www.phoenixuppermain.com/ 

 

The Frozen River

 Written by Ariel Lawhorn.

Midwives were the hottest commodity in any community up until the advent of modern medicine.  A good midwife could mean the difference between you and your baby surviving a difficult childbirth or the death of one or both of you.  The training of midwives was handed down from one generation to the next, with the upcoming generation slowly assuming the role of guardian of the childbirth bed. In Colonial and early America, midwives were difficult to find.  With people scattered across the frontier, it could be hours from the time a woman went into labor until a midwife could arrive. 

Trigger Warning: sexual assault, child death/stillbirth, violence/murder, medical/birth trauma, misogyny, sexism, grief, emotional abuse. 

Martha Ballard was a midwife in the state of Maine from 1785-1812.  She delivered close to 1,000 babies over the course of her years as a practicing midwife.  She never once lost a mother or a child.  How do we know this?  She kept a diary of the everyday happenings of her life.  From the day to day happenings of her life, to the births and deaths of the people around her, to her medical practice.  It is a treasure trove of information about life in the early days of the United States. I would like to add a note here.  Martha was a woman who could read and write.  In the late 1700's education of women was not commonplace.  The fact that this record, written by a woman, exists is worthy of a separate discussion.

Ariel Lawhorn has taken information from Martha's Diary and written a book surrounding a rape trial in her town of Hallowell, Maine. As the midwife who treated the victim after her rape, Martha is called upon to testify.  However, she can't testify without the presence of her husband, and neither can the victim.

Concurrent with the story of the rape is the story of the suspicious death of a man in the community. Martha was called in to identify the cause of death, but is pushed out of the way by a newly arrived male "doctor".

As the story unwinds, the depth of deceit slowly unravels while the women in the story are forced to live within the constraints that the men have placed upon them even as they attempt to seek justice.

It's a fascinating, thought provoking read.  

For some follow-up information:

Make certain you read the author's notes in the back of the book.  It's a treasure trove of research information.

A Midwife's Tale.  Written by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. 1991.

Martha Ballard "Delivered". The Mayors Committee for Martha Ballard, Augusta Maine.  https://www.marthaballard.com/marthaslife

A Midwife's Tale: Martha Ballards Diary.  The American Experience: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/midwife-gallery-diary/ 

 Author Website: https://www.ariellawhon.com/thefrozenriver/ 

 

Mount Vernon

We stopped by Mount Vernon over Christmas week.  It's been many, many years since we've been to Mount Vernon.   While the house itself is timeless, some things have changed!

Mount Vernon has been undergoing some desperately needed restoration work over the past couple of years. They are currently working on upgrades to the foundation.  While our visit was quite chilly, it was enjoyable!

View towards the front of the house.  I think this is the view that we all think of when we picture Mount Vernon in our heads.  You can see the construction fencing, marking the spots on the front of the house where foundational work is happening.  The largest part of the work seems to be happening in the back, towards the river.

One fascinating fact that the guides mentioned.  The house is wood.  However, when you get close to the building itself, it looks like a brick front.  The "bricks" are sand that has been painted.  The sand was thrown up onto the wood while the paint was still wet.  The purpose of this was to protect the wood.  And indeed it did.  Much of the exterior wood on the house is still original.  If you'd like to know more about the siding on the mansion, you can find it here: https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/the-mansion/siding

The view from the back of the house, down the Potomac River. I love the Potomac River in all her stages and phases.  This is a lovely (but very cold) view!

This key is in the front hallway of Mount Vernon.  It is the key to the Bastille.  I am certain that many of you are familiar with the role that the Marquis de Lafayette played in the American Revolution.  I don't know how many of you are familiar with what happened to him when he went back to France after the war was over.  Spoiler Alert: It wasn't good.  He ended up in prison.  Anyway, Lafayette sent the key to the Bastille to George Washington.  And here it is.  If you want to know more about Lafayette, and his role in the American Revolution, you can find it here: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/marquis-de-lafayette

One last picture.  The "family" sitting room.  When you arrived as a guest, you were placed in a sitting room according to your stature.  This room was for family.  The guide told us that the sofas in the room folded out to become beds.  If you were placed in here for a nights sleep, they considered you to be an overnight guest. You were directly by the front door, and the location was in a spot where you would constantly hear noise from the rooms around you and from people moving around to get their day started - which began as early at 4 am. 

I think the part of this tour that I appreciated the most was the attention paid to the lives and stories of the enslaved people of Mount Vernon. If you would like to find out more about the lives of the people who made this plantation work, you can find it here: https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/slavery-at-mount-vernon.

The Mount Vernon Website: https://www.mountvernon.org/

America 250 Parks Passport

 2025 marks the Semi-Semiquincentennial of the United States.  It's the 250th anniversary since the founding of our country.  I am a huge history geek, and this moment in time is just like Halloween - only better!

I am very excited, because the National Parks Service has put out a parks passport specifically for the American Revolution.  Each page in this booklet has stamps for sites specifically related to the American Revolution.  I have already begun dragging my poor husband to historic sites in and around the Mid-Atlantic region, collecting stamps and marking this moment.

Many states have scheduled programs and events specifically surrounding the 250th anniversary.  Last month, I discovered that the state of Virginia has a free 250 passport for sites in the state that relate to the American Revolution. I picked up my Virginia 250 passport, and I already have my first stamp in my book!

I have many sites yet to visit.  The one I'm most excited about is a museum that is down the street from the house where my parents lived.  I remember the old elementary school that was falling down way back in the day.  It's since been preserved and is now a museum that is in the 250 passport.  I'm looking forward to taking my husband back down there sometime this year.  We're going to go walk around the old neighborhood, honk at the swamp monster, walk through downtown, and visit the museum.  With the amount of walking I'm planning on, I don't think we're going to want to tackle this on a snowy day!

Note that these passports are just for collecting stamps.  They do not provide admission to the parks.

If you're interested in finding out more about these passports:

image: National Park Service Store

https://shop.americasnationalparks.org/products/passport-to-american-revolution-ed-1?srsltid=AfmBOoptEwrZJMzrye6UGkamr1ts-OHARAWnNgP7hzvjh3C9WT674urK

 

Virginia 250 Passport:

image: Mount Vernon

https://www.mountvernon.org/virginia-250-passport

Three Holidays and a Wedding

 Written by: Uzma Jallaludin and Marissa Stapley

Such a wonderful, sweet Romance novel. I enjoyed this book from the moment until I picked it up until I finished it.  Just in case if you were wondering how much I enjoyed the book, I did not go to bed until I finished reading the book at midnight! 

Set in 2000, Jallaludin and Stapley explore that unique moment in time when Eid (which concludes the month of fasting known as Ramadan) coincided with Hannukah and Christmas.  Maryam is headed off to her sister's wedding - in December - in Toronto- when the list of disasters slowly begins unfolding. Maryam's seat mate is Anna.  Hit by severe turbulence in the air, the two women end up bonding over their terror.  When the plane makes an emergency landing in Snow Falls, the wedding plans quickly begin to unravel, and unexpected romance fills the snowy air.

This fabulous tromp through Snow Falls is filled with happy endings, just the right amount of romance, snow, and celebrations.  I personally loved the exploration of family relationships, as well as romantic relationships.  I love how the authors used their characters to explore the nature of love and relationships with their characters, delving deep into the heart of trust and how to move on when trust is broken.

If you are looking for a romance novel with many happy endings, and no explicit scenes, this is the book for you!

My Goals/Resolutions for 2026

So, I'm putting this out here. Into the wild.  I find I keep my resolutions better if they are written down and I have to revisit them monthly and check in on them.  I sat down last week and wrote down the list of what I want to accomplish this year.  Dear God, the list is currently at 50 items.  You read that right.  FIFTY.  After a lot of thought, I've cut that number down significantly.  You don't want to read through 50 items any more than I want to hold myself accountable (and write them out) every single month for the next 12 months!

1) Lose 25 pounds.

     Doctor's orders.  I can do this.

2) Visit 1 new to me state.

3)  3 repairs/improvements to the house.

      Where do I start?  There are many choices.

4) 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge

    It's been a while since I've done this.  You get 40 bags or boxes of stuff out of your house over the 40 days of Lent.

5) Organize old correspondence/letters

6) Big backyard garden project.

7) Finish the cross stitch project I've been working on for 3+ years.

8) Transfer Dad's slides to digital.

9) Put those images into an album.

10) Fill my America 250 Passport with lots of stamps!

11) Clear out the storage unit.

12)  Do one totally irresponsible and fun thing each month! 

13) Go see Falling Water. (Frank Lloyd Wright) 

      This is a Bucket List item. 

14) Visit 12 new to me bakeries.