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Friday Randomness
I’ve been off almost all week. Tuesday I thought it was Wednesday, Wednesday I thought it was Thursday, and Thursday I thought it was Friday. But finally, Friday is here. Yay Friday! This will be a busy weekend for us, because… Tomorrow is Maya’s birthday! She turns 18, which is INSANE. I cannot believe my baby will legally be an adult. She can gamble, see R rated movies, whatever she wants to do. Every year I find myself reminiscing about those early days…so 18 years ago today, I was going into the hospital. I spent the night, and was induced in the morning. Gross, but effective. OK, gross is not…
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Air Pollution Hits Home
I was looking at the news today and one article in particular made me sad, and for some reason I decided to bring that sadness here. Bad idea, probably. Here’s the article. It is about the 7 million people every year who die from air pollution, 1/2 of whom die from complications of indoor pollution. “One of the main risks of pollution is that tiny particles can get deep into the lungs, causing irritation. Scientists also suspect air pollution may be to blame for inflammation in the heart, leading to chronic problems or a heart attack.” Indoor pollution comes from coal and wood-burning stoves, leaky furnaces, etc. It’s that leaky…
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Spanish Spaghetti with Olives
Speaking of cooking, check out this recipe Ted found yesterday. I mainly cook during the week, and Ted mainly cooks on weekends, a habit leftover from when he had a more 9-5 schedule and didn’t get home until late. Now he sometimes works on weekends, sometimes works very early mornings, so I guess it doesn’t matter when we cook what, but we’ve stuck with the schedule, and it works for us. One thing Ted likes to do when he’s trying to decide what to make is to ask his phone. He says, “What’s for dinner?” and google gives him some ideas. I’m not tech savvy like that, so I don’t…
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Cooking
My friend Nance has been tagged in a meme, and she has taken it and twisted it in her own way. The meme is a series of questions, and instead of popping them all into one long list with quick answers, she is using each question as a blog post of its own, and telling an entire story around that question. You may have noticed that I haven’t been blogging much lately. I’ve noticed. I don’t know why, but I do know that when I get out of the habit of blogging daily, or at least a couple of times a week, my mindset changes, and I forget all about…
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Jury Duty
Wednesday I was summoned to another part of my county to perform my civic duty and report for the dreaded Jury Duty. Jury Duty can be horribly boring, sitting in the Jury room for hours on end, and then perhaps dismissed. Bring a book. I once brought a notepad and wrote my friend a 6 page letter before being dismissed, then went to lunch and then some light shopping. It can be a nice diversion from your regular routine, provided that your company pays you for the time. I wonder if the reason so many people hate it is because they are losing pay or income by being there. I…
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Friday Randomness
Isn’t that a beautiful graphic? It’s been raining here, a bit, and I’m hopeful that the high pressure system that has been over California for the last few months may have broken apart, and we may get some relief from our drought conditions. I don’t know what this means to the Coho Salmon, which may go extinct in much of California, because the rivers have been too dry for them to swim to their spawning ground. I hope the rain doesn’t come too late for them. We’re still taking drought showers, until there is enough rain that the official drought conditions are lifted. Which of course, 2 or 3 little…
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“Me” Weekend
My job has a big rush right before and then again right after the year-end, and then it slows down a bit. I know, I take a week off between Christmas and New Year’s, but that’s but a brief lull. Now, after all of the states and cities and provinces have announced their tax changes for the year, now things slow down for a few minutes. Now is the time when I can, and do, take a few minutes for me. So… I made some lovely bread the other day, from a recipe that I snagged from my friend Carla. Delicious. We had it with some split pea soup that…
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It’s Official
Frank Gehrke, chief of snow surveys for the California Department of Water Resources, left, leads his group out to measure snow levels near Echo Summit, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 3, 2014. The readings Friday showed the water content in the statewide snowpack at just 20 percent of average for this time of year. Photo: Steve Yeater, Associated Press Friday, Governor Brown declared that we are officially in a drought, making way for federal relief efforts and initiatives to move water from areas that are still well supplied to more parched areas. (Jerry Brown was also governor in the 70s when we had another extremely serious drought. Should we blame him,…
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The Invention of Wings
Sue Monk Kidd’s new novel, The Invention of Wings, starts with Sarah Grimké’s 11th birthday in 1805 South Carolina. As a gift from her mother, Sarah receives 10 year old Hetty (Handful) to be her handmaid. Sarah doesn’t want a handmaid, has been scarred at an early age by the cruelties of slavery, so she decides to set Hetty free. It doesn’t take. So Sarah instead befriends Hetty, tries to be as kind as possible, and endeavors to teach Hetty to read. Unfortunately, teaching slaves to read is illegal, and both Hetty and Sarah suffer for their crime. Sarah is a bright girl who loves to read, and her beloved…
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August: Osage County
August: Osage County is the story of a brutally toxic family brought together for the funeral of the patriarch. This family is so dysfunctional it’s painful to watch. Based on the play by Tracy Letts, and starring Maryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper, Sam Shepard, Abigail Breslin, Ewan McGregor, Dermot Mulroney, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, and Benedict Cumberbatch, August: Osage County begins with Sam Shepard explaining the lay of the land to a new caretaker (Misty Upham, who plays the only sane person in the house). The lay of the land is that he drinks all day, and his wife takes pills all day, and they barely tolerate each other.…
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Jacques’s Pommes de Terre mont d’Or
Last night was the season premier of season 4 of Downton Abbey. I’d spent the last few days getting caught up and ready, re-watching season 3. Gah, the stories, the clothes, the scenery, and…the food. The food is oftentimes gorgeous. So Ted decided that in honor of our season premier, we should have a somewhat extravagant dinner. He chose roast beef, caramelized carrots, and Pommes de Terre Mont d’Or, which he found in our cookbook, ‘Julia and Jacques’. I made the Pommes de Terre Mont d’Or (mountain of gold potatoes). It’s made of potatoes, eggs, and cheese, and is light and fluffy, much like a souffle. Truly elegant, and truly…
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What I did on my Christmas Vacation
I took a bit of a vacation from work (and, apparently, from blogging), which was relaxing and delightful. We didn’t do any traveling this year, and mostly kept ourselves home bound. So, what did I do with myself? Christmas was lovely, spending time with family, a delicious feast, wonderful gifts. Then my favorite week, the week between Christmas and New Year, which is mighty relaxing. So, what did I do with this week of grace? Let’s see… Delivered Meals on Wheels. I considered taking the time off from this activity, but discovered that many regular drivers do, so they were looking for volunteers. So I drove both on the 26th…
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A Muppet Christmas
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Merry Christmas to All!
It’s morning on Christmas Eve. I was watching Tim Minchin sing “white wine in the sun”, my favorite secular Christmas song by far, so I thought I’d share it with you. Gifts have been purchased, delivered, and wrapped. Cards and packages were mailed early last week. Cookies have been baked. The house is decorated. Our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of Cinnamon rolls (from a tube) is in the fridge, as well as the ingredients for our contributions to Christmas dinner. Ted is at work, and Maya is still sleeping. I’m not sure I can face the grocery store today, and I didn’t plan a Christmas Eve dinner, so it’s…
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Blog Love
Remember when blogging was all new and honest? When we wrote about anything and everything? For some of us, that stopped when we felt that the world had heard everything we have to say, so no need to say it again. For some of us, that stopped when our kids got to a certain age, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to write about them in a public space anymore. For some of us, both are true. Enter Carla, a friend I had in High School. Carla and I were not super close, and I think I only met her in my senior year. But I admired her greatly, for her…