There have been birds chirping a lot on our front porch lately. If I close my eyes, it makes it feel like spring.
Most of my readers know that I hate hot weather. This girl was born in August but not meant for the August heat. I’m a cooler weather person. I hate the humidity that sticks to you. Those days when you put on a little makeup, and it melts off your face as soon as you step outside. You attempt to wear your hair down, and it instantly gets big and frizzy, making you look like ‘Animal’ from The Muppets. Or my favorite — upper lip sweat.
It’s a hot summer day, and you have to go grocery shopping. One of those ridiculously hot days where if you are getting ice cream or popsicles, you get them within thirty seconds before hitting the cashier line, so you don’t have creamy milk by the time you get home. THAT kind of hot summer day.
You leave the cool fresh air when as you walk out of Wegmans, and you just wait for the blast of hot air that instantly, once again, melts your face. I drop my sunglasses down and head for the car. At this point, I want to drive the shopping cart like a rally car, and get my butt to my car and get the A/C turned on as fast as I can. Suddenly, you notice a person walking towards you that you know.
Of course, they stop to chat. The heat is unbearable, and I’m starting to feel that dang upper lip.
“Oh man,” I’m thinking to myself as I’m feeling the beads arriving on my face.
“I wonder if I should wipe that bad boy off, or will that make it more noticeable!?”
This person you are talking to isn’t sweating a lick. First off, please, tell me how this happens? For real. This person’s makeup is like they just walked off a modeling floor, and hair is pristine.
I’m over here just praying to God my face and upper lip doesn’t look like I just got out of a swimming pool. At that moment, I am also praying that maybe, just maybe, my sunglasses are hiding a good part of what is happening to my face right now. Then it hits me that glasses don’t go below your nose, and that’s when I realize that puppy is completely exposed.
“If I just drop my sunglasses down and sit them on my lower lip as I’m talking or something, maybe that would work?” I thought.
I’d probably look like a dorkus, but it could work.
The conversation ends (praise the LORD!), and I hightail it to the car. I need a full bath towel to wipe down my entire body that is now ready to dive into a cool pool or river and I’m envious of people who don’t sweat or are bothered by the heat.
Now let me tell you, I don’t typically mind winter. I think the snow is beautiful, and I love the feeling of the winter air on my face. It just feels so clean. I’ll stop and chat to anyone in a grocery store parking lot all winter when I’m looking fabulous! (*enter my cheesy smile here.*) Not a single worry of looking like ‘Animal’ from The Muppets who just got out of a swimming pool.
This year though. This year has been a tough one. All the ice and single-digit numbers have really been a test this year. As I sit here writing this, the birds are going nuts on our front porch again. Since I’ve been laid up the past two weeks, they honestly have been a breath of fresh air.
I’ve thought more this week about our river days and our motorcycles than I had since October, when all of that ended. I wished it was warm outside so I could go sit on the porch and feel the sun on my face. Instead, I sit in our dining room that has many windows to at least see and feel the sun, then watch the deer come in for their feed. That’s my excitement, guys. Isn’t it awesome!? Haha.
What I would have given to have a ‘mild’ summer day. They are growing on me, but I MUST be moving. Moving on my motorcycle and feeling the air hit my face. Jumping into the river off the back of our boat or floating on a tube with my cousin Lindsay Clark in my mother-in-law’s beautiful pool.
The river and motorcycles are two of my most favorite things, and I can’t get those in the winter. So it’s sucking up and dealing with that upper lip sweat and enjoying all that summer has to offer, or it’s sitting here wishing it was warmer than ten degrees while listening to the birds tease me, thinking spring is right around the corner. I’ve never wanted upper lip sweat more than I want it right now.
And if any of you see me in the summer, outside on an unbearable day, and I am not in my happy places of water or air, don’t you be starin’ at my upper lip. OK? OK.
One hundred twenty-five days until upper lip sweat weather, baby!
Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Chicken
*Photo is not cooked yet*
Ingredients:
• 3 large chicken breasts
• salt & pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder, divided
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1 cup broccoli florets, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 cup mild cheddar cheese
• 1 tbsp mayo
• 2 tbsp olive oil
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425° F.
Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, paprika and 1/2 tsp of the garlic powder. Use a sharp knife to cut a slice through the middle of the chicken breasts, but not all the way through, creating a pocket for the filling.
For the filling, place the broccoli in a microwaveable dish and add about 2 tablespoons of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 1 minute. Drain any excess water. To the dish add the bell pepper, cheese, mayo, remaining garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste. Mix until combined, then divide the mixture between the chicken breasts, using a toothpick to secure if necessary.
Heat a large, oven safe skillet (I prefer to use a cast iron skillet), over medium heat and add the olive oil. Sear the chicken for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Cover skillet with foil and bake in preheated oven for 15- 17 minutes, or until chicken reads 165°. Let rest, covered for 5 minutes before enjoying.
