It's All in the Details

One comment people seem to make about the allure of blogging is that reading the details of others' lives, mundane as those details may seem to the author, draws them in. I'm feeling uninspired today, so here's a rundown...a day in Suburbia so to speak.

1. Wake up to alarm at 6:10 a.m. Snooze until 6:28 a.m. Shower
2. Put together roast chicken recipe for dinner and start crock pot
3. Get dressed, do hair and makeup
4. Grab granola bar and water. Eat breakfast in car on way to work
5. Check voice mail and email
6. Visit special ed English class
7. Attend IEP meeting
8. Visit AP World History class
9. Drop by room where special ed teachers are eating and discuss progress toward meeting new "highly qualified" standards under NCLB
10. Stand in courtyard doing "lunch duty"
11. Eat lunch
12. Consult with colleague about school trip to China next year
13. Visit speech pathologist and watch individual student session
14. Visit World History class
15. Meet with social studies curriculum specialist
16. Talk to district testing coordinator and set up meeting
17. Answer emails, return voice mail messages
18. Sort through huge piles of papers on desks
19. Vow to keep desk cleaner
20. Begin work on gathering data needed for yearly civil rights audit
21. Ask custodians to leave door unlocked until 9:00 p.m. so that teacher can hold parent conferences
22. Leave to pick up Swim Chick at Odyssey of the Mind practice
23. Arrive home, check on chicken, start load of towels in laundry
24. Read blogs
25. Put on side dishes for dinner
26. Greet Adventure Guy, Gym Girl, and Soccer Boy as they return from various athletic practices
27. Eat dinner and visit with Swim Chick's friend who has joined us
28. Clean up kitchen
29. Watch American Idol with kids
30. Tuck kids in to bed
31. Check email and learn that custodians locked doors at 8:00 p.m. causing teacher to miss a conference and scheduled parents to return home. Apologize and vow to make sign for tomorrow night
32. Watch House while updating blog

And tomorrow, I get to do it all again plus attend an evening meeting!

By the way, the crock pot chicken is worth trying.

Vanilla Roasted Chicken

2-3 lbs. whole chicken, cut into pieces or left whole

1 clove garlic

8 sprigs fresh tarragon or 1 Tbs. dried tarragon

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1/4 c. chicken broth

2 Tbs. vanilla extract

Wad up three pieces of aluminum foil into fist-sized pieces and place them in the bottom of the crock pot. Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Rub inner cavity with garlic clove. With your fingers, gently loosen breast skin and insert a tarragon spring under the skin of each breast. Stuff remaining sprigs in inner cavity and truss with kitchen twine. Rub the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on top of the foil. In a small bowl or cup measure, combine the broth and the vanilla. Pour over chicken, into crock pot. Set crock pot to high for 1 hour then turn down to low for 8-10 hours. This turns out like roasted chicken. The foil keeps it from cooking in its own juices, so it browns.