you say mice i say mouse

"Why are you limping?" I asked my student as we walked down the hall. 

"A mice bit me," he responded. 

"A what?" I asked. 

"A mice" he replied.

"Wait, did one mouse bite you or more than one?" I ask again. Now let's pause because even as I am having this conversation I am kind of like... huh, a mouse! But for some reason I first focused on a grammar lesson- I know call me crazy. 

"One but it was a baby so the small ones are called a mice." 

"No they aren't, if it's one it is a mouse."

"Nuh uh." 

"Ok let's not keep doing this... you got bit by a mouse? How?" 

"I don't know, it bit my foot. We have mice in my house."

"Did you tell your mom?"

"She said 'why did you let it bite you?'" 

"What did you say to her?"

"I said, I don't know mom the mice just bit me." 

"Are you gonna be able to walk on the field trip today?"

"Oh yeah, it's just a mice bite." 

Purpose

I wonder if others wonder about purpose...

It is my constant life perplexing question. 

It keeps me awake at night. 

It causes me to question every decision I make. 

It makes me want to leave school, my job and move to France, or Italy, or Buffalo, or somewhere, anywhere. 

It makes me want to stay in this town and never leave. 

It is circular, shades of gray and frustrating. 

Sometimes I wonder if the questions will haunt me my whole life. Or if some day I will find the answers. 

Sometimes I feel like I am in limbo waiting for my life to happen but somedays it feels like life is happening so fast that I am missing it. Or that it should be something more than what it is. 

On rainy days like today I can't help but be driven by these questions, in the solitude of my mind I am sent stumbling around searching for answers, longing for a more naive day when I believed life would just happen in the American Dream sort of way, now I know better. With my knowledge comes no answers just a continued pursuit of purpose. 

Sunday Blues

Perhaps it's because I have had bronchitis for 5 weeks and am heavily medicated, or perhaps it is just because this was my first weekend without a wedding in over a month or perhaps it's just cause I love my house so much but I barely left it. I cooked, I slept, I watched movies, I messed around on the internet, and I tried not to cough but most of all I stayed in, with the exception of a few hours I was a happy prisoner of my house all weekend long. And for once my former roommate didn't show up. It was bliss. Although I feel slightly guilty because I accomplished nothing, not guilty enough to get off the couch. And the best news- because I have now been sick for so long I have lost 5 pounds. And my mother called today to read me some research that states apparently dark chocolate cures coughing better than codeine. Which is why I just can't believe I am still sick since I have been sucking down cough medicine with codeine and dark chocolate for 2 days now. Anyways I am sad that the weekend is over. I am thankful that I have Tuesday off- thanks Veterans- at least I can get everything done on Tuesday that I should have gotten done this weekend. 

I did get out and take a few pictures, and got text messages from 2 men of my past. Hmm weird. Not even sure what that means. But MD text me yesterday asking if we can hang out next time I am home and my 'ex' and I actually had a brief text conversation after not communicating for a year and a half. So random. 

wedding soup

I am a big fan of wedding soup... it is something I actually never tasted until I dated an Italian a few years ago. A love of wedding soup is one good thing that came out of that relationship. But I had never tried to make it myself, until last night. I am now poor, since my roommate went psychotic and has flown the coop and I have been sick now for a month and therefore all my money goes to prescriptions and doctor visits. I went to the doctor again yesterday and as I picked up 4 prescriptions from the pharmacy counter the girl said, "have a nice evening." I wanted to say, "well i plan on sipping on this cough syrup with codeine all night so it should be a GREAT evening." But I just said "you too" and proceeded to the check-out. Now if you can explain this to me that would be fabulous - how does a single girl spend $106 at the food store. What did I buy? Stuff to make cheese cakes, chicken fingers, wedding soup and chili... and a colossal size box of soft pretzels. They are my new favorite late night snack. They are low fat and they quench my after class hunger pains. Back to wedding soup. I have been buying it by the pint from my local italian restaurant for a few weeks now but decided it's easy enough to make myself. 

Here is my recipe. 

12 cups chicken stock/ broth (I ended up with 2 containers of stock and 1 broth) 

1 pound of chopped escarole

2 cups mini meatballs (I was exhausted and since I use them more for flavoring than actually eating them I bought pre-made frozen meatballs, gasp!)

1 cup diced carrots

2 tbsp parsley 

3 large eggs 

3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese (plus more for topping)

1 cup acini di pepe (little ball pasta)

salt and pepper

Bring stock to a boil in a large pot. 

Bring water for pasta in a boil in a separate pot. When boiling add pasta and cook for 10 minutes. 

When stock is boiling add carrots and let simmer for 1 minute then add meatballs, and escarole. Let simmer until tender, about 9 minutes. 

Whisk egg and parmesan in a small bowl. Stir soup in a circular motion, add egg mixture slowly stirring soup with a fork to create strands of egg. Add pasta and parsley. Serve, top servings with parmesan cheese.

So good I had some this morning for breakfast.