I was reading over old posts from this time last year. I think I was a more interesting person back then. That's a shame. Maybe pregnancy saps my personality. It certainly has sapped my social life. I really can't remember the last time I did something with non family members. Oh well. 

I'm loving autumn and loving that I'm no longer nauseous every waking moment. I think fall and winter cuisine is the most comforting and pleasurable food genre for me to work with. Sadly I have no pictures to show off, but we've been enjoying apple cake, apple pie, soups, stews, homemade bread, biscuits, pumpkin cookies, and much more. Rob got a soups and stews cookbook for his birthday and man o man, if you have never had homemade chicken noodle soup made with homemade stock, you haven't really ever had chicken noodle soup. We've also had my dearly loved Lentil Beef soup and Rob made a beef stew on Sunday that was very delicious, though heavy on the meat so we'll have to tweak that recipe. As for my apple pie; long time readers might remember that I was all about making my pie crust with vodka last year. Vodka doesn't develop the gluten in the flour which gluten leads to tough and chewy pie crusts, so you can use more liquid, which makes for easier-to-handle dough. And the vodka vaporizes in the oven so you don't have to worry about getting tipsy. Anyway, my vodka ran out and I just can't bring myself to go the liquor store again. So I went back to the on-the-wagon version and while it was a bit tricky, it still worked. I did take a picture, but it was on my phone and I don't have the necessary cord to transfer to the computer. So if you want to see it and have access to me, I can show. 

In non-food related news, the Primary Program is this weekend and my mother-in-law is coming to visit. As regarding the first event, I have resigned myself to the fact that I can't really do anything about it anymore. Time has run out to make changes and so I'll just have to let it play how it will. It is an awesome burden to be the sole person in charge of the Program, though that really isn't true since my incredibly capable fellow presidency members have taken a lot of the bother off my shoulders. Still, since I wrote and planed the whole thing, I still feel a great amount of responsibility. That is, if it tanks. If it is successful, I know it wont be because of my doing. 

Having my mother-in-law come this weekend should, culturally, be the greater stress of the two. But I have been blessed with a sweet, loving, kind, and fun MIL and one who is predisposed to think the best of me regardless of how many times I might not live up to expectations. So while I will be spending the rest of today and tomorrow in a frenzy of cleaning to make up for the past 3 months when I played my sick pregnant woman card to get out of housework, I know having her here will make for a great weekend for all concerned. She is bringing all the material to make a kite, which is her and Rob's new obsession since we went to the kite festival. It should be pretty cool. 

Well, this is getting pretty wordy, and I was supposed to be doing something else for the past half hour. So I'll sign off now and leave you with a few pictures of Grace at the pumpkin patch.