No title because I can't think of one....

I know it’s been about a million years since I posted. And that’s all I’m going to say about that:)

Some random thought from the last few weeks…

-Spent the two year anniversary of entering the hospital at the monastery. Which means Petros is almost two. TWO!!! And, boy, is he ever acting like a two year old. Everything turns into a battle with him. He so wants to be able to do the things Pavlos does. A two year old is not an almost six year old, though. And, when he is not battling with me, he is a very smiley, affectionate guy who loves to “read” and sing (and say “Amen” really loud at church either right before the people say “Amen” or right after).

-Looked forward to the release of the movie Once on dvd. Only liked the movie. Love the soundtrack. Paul bought it for me for Christmas. The reason I only liked the movie is because of all the swearing. It’s rated R only because of the swearing in the movie. I detest swearing. I do not feel that it adds anything to a movie or to life. That is just an opinion of mine.

-Pavlos has already experienced one of life’s major revelations. He and Paul were watching Empire Strikes Back while I was doing something in the kitchen. All of a sudden, from the living room I hear Pavlos exclaim, “He’s his father?!?!?!” I laughed.

-A few weeks ago, Paul and I went to the Capella Romana concert here in Portland. Yiayia and Pappous watched the kiddos at our home. Pavlos was in the bathroom for a very long time (yiayia knocks on door and says, “what are you doing, Pavlos?” Pavlos replies, “nothing, yiayia.”). Eventually Pavlos emerges from the bathroom, blood streaming from his lip and lots of bloody Kleenex all over the bathroom (including the toilet filled with Kleenex). “What happened, Pavlos?” “I ran into the door.” Hm. Yiayia is smarter than that, though. Yiayia says, “you know, when Katherine (my sister) was about your age, she thought that she could shave and cut her lip and it bled.” Pavlos replied, “did she think she had a beard?” So, yes, Pavlos thought that he had a beard because he is getting older, you know, and decided that he needed to shave like Papa. Needless to say, Paul keeps his razor way up high where Pavlos can’t reach it (normally, it IS kept way up high, except that we were in such a rush to get ready for the concert that Paul did a quick shave (he has a beard and just shaves certain areas of his face and neck) and didn’t clean up his shaving stuff before we ran out the door…. All it takes is once). Poor yiayia and pappous! They get to have all the fun adventures at our house.

And I will leave you with what we are having for dinner…

Baked Chicken with Pasta (although, I use cooked brown rice instead of the pasta to make this gluten free)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (the recipe actually calls for 1 chicken cut in half, which i sometimes will use the whole chicken, just increase cooking time a bit)
salt and pepper to taste
1 can diced tomatoes (I run mine through the blender because pavlos won't eat whole tomatoes:)4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cinnamon stick
3/4 pound (12 oz) egg noodles, orzo, or fettuccine (I cook 1 1/2 to 2 cups brown rice)
Mizithra cheese (or parmesan) grated
season chicken with salt and pepper. place chicken in a deep ovenproof pan with cover. add diced tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and cinnamon stick. cover and bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, cook pasta (or rice)and drain. When chicken is ready, remove from pan. add noodles (or rice) to the sauce. mix well, cover, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes. sprinkle with cheese.