utinsels

the other day when i got home from work beth and i were playing before bedtime and she, of course, being the curious little girl that she is wanted to open every drawer and cupboard in the house. finding the utinsel drawer was like hitting the jack pot. she would pick one of them up, shake it around and try to figure it out for a bit, then hand it to me to see in what manner i would tickle her with it, or see what noise i could get it to make. then she would want to back have her own go at it again. her favorite were undoubtedly the tongs. the perfect grabber/tickler/noisemaker/toy with moving parts, she went back to those about every other minute. we could have sat there for hours and played with every gadget in the drawer, but alas, bedtime came and the fun had to end.

i love nights like these. i love the nights when i can leave work at work and come home and just hang out with the girl. work has been ultra crazy lately, and it has seemed hard to let it go when i leave and focus on my short time with beth when i get home. it bothers me when it's like that. i leave work (usually late, sorry wendy), rush to pick her up, rush to get her fed and ready for bed, play for what feels like 15 minutes, then it's off to sleep she goes and the whole night has been rushed to get those essential needs taken care of, rather than spending the quality time together that we should. that i need. not that the good nights like this don't ever happen, i just wish they happened every day that i worked, rather than say, 50% of the time. another reason i cherish the weekends. even if they're a little full and we're running around a bit, at least i'm with her all day. and i love that.

also. here is the update on my resolutions. january: finish the blanket - check. february: drop those last 10 blasted pounds - check. march: make the chocolate flan cake - check. and i must say, it was de-lish. especially after sitting in the fridge over night - long enough to get nice and chilled all the way through.

my nieces and nephew were in town and i made them help me make it. they were excited when i called it a magic cake - the layers flip flop when it cooks - and they were so unimpressed by it. it was awesome. their faces were literally, THAT's the magic? whatever, that is not even that cool. well... at least we had fun making it. :)

for the recipe, go here. and definitely go with the real deal: cajeta. not the american stuff. i also followed one of the commenter's recipe for real flan (found at near the bottom of the page), rather than go with the cream cheese version shown in the original recipe. really glad i did that, too.

cheers.