Olly Olly Oxen Free

It's official.  The lists are crossed off, the meals are prepared, the bathrooms cleaned, the laundry washed and put away, the baby clothes are out, the suitcases packed, the cloth diapers await use, the arrangements for the girls have been made, and countless other 'get ready for the baby' tasks have been completed.  You can come out now Quincy.  Come out, come out, we know where you are!

If you haven't weighed in on the Quincy arrival date and gender, unfortunately, it's not too late.  If you're wondering why I'm complaining a week before his due date as to his lackadaisical arrival, it's because tomorrow is the longest I've previously been pregnant.  I'm a wimp, I have due date phobia, and after tomorrow morning, I'll be in uncharted territory.  I've not been conditioned to physically or mentally withstand the rigors of the full 39th week of pregnancy.  My other children have spoiled me, with long, early labors.  I know women have done it since the beginning of time, but I haven't.   I am wondering however, if I go later in the pregnancy, does that mean we'll have a shorter labor?   

While you weigh in on Quincy's arrival and I learn what pregnancy past 39 weeks, 1 day is like,  I'll give you a peek into one of my days of preparation.  It involved three friends, 7 hours of cooking, 80 meals (20 meals each), and just a few minor problems.  Our first problem was that I created the grocery list and evidently have trouble understanding the English language as it clearly appears on recipe cards.

The result was 10 cans of cream of mushroom soup when we should have had 10 cans of cream of chicken soup (and yes, it makes a notable difference).  Thankfully, Julie agreed to run to the store to make the swap.  While she was there, she picked up some diced green chiles and jalapenos in place of another oops from the grocery list.  Did we really think it was possible to make 80 meals without a few bumps?  I can hardly make one without realizing I'm missing six ingredients and I forgot to thaw something out.  Luckily for us, I can't remember any of the other mistakes from the day because I'm too tired to think about it.  There's also a good chance that even if I did think about it, I wouldn't remember anyway because this fourth pregnancy has all but dissolved my remaining brain cells.

While the moms worked to figure out our disaster, the kids played, supervised mostly by my husband.

Despite the few problems we encountered, we still had fun and enjoyed one anothers company.

We also pondered the wonder of green onions, and not the kind that are supposed to be green, the kind that are supposed to be yellow.

My husband has researched and figured out the scientific reason (it has something to do with pureeing onions in advance, sauteeing them with garlic, and the release of copper) why our sauteed onions and garlic kept turning green.  He assures me it's normal and that it won't kill anyone (or even effect the taste of our food).

We, of course, forged ahead in ignorance with the green onion situation, not knowing anything other than that they smelled strong and looked strange.  I'm glad to know that before my first freezer meal is consumed, we can rest assured that no one should die from the green onions that are not supposed to be green. 

On second thought, maybe we should get one of those meals out now.  Has anyone heard if green onions that are not supposed to be green can help induce labor?