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| The Houston Alters ski Santa Fe
Spring break means different things at different phases of your life. This year, for me, it means that none of my family are safely where they belong, a though that sort of disquiets me. Colin and his family, above, are skiing in Santa Fe--not sure how they had the nerve to go to Santa Fe and leave me behind, but they did. Megan and her family are in Beaver Creek, Colorado, and Jamie and his family have gone to Seattle so Maddie can see the University of Washington (if you want to be cool, say U-Dub). and Jordan, Christian and Jacob have gone skiing in Ruidoso. The latter is a bit funny--Jordan does not ski, end of discussion; Jacob tried I one day at Christmas and wasn't particularly enthralled, but maybe he'll do better this year. Christian loves to ski.
Jordan and Jacob in Ruidoso
Meantime Sophie and I were left behind. Worried about a long, empty week where work and no play makes Judy a dull girl, I filled my dance
card too full and am having a really busy week (sorry but I can't make this type justify left). Yesterday I had lunch out and friends in for leftover
from Sunday night supper. Tonight I have had breakfast, lunch, and dinner out and am worrying about when I'll ever get my
1,000 words for the day written. Tomorrow I have a breakfast date but an otherwise empty calendar--except I think I should
really run to the grocery store. And Thursday evening Colin and his family will stop overnight, bringing with them the friends
they're traveling with, so I'l have a full house and a full guest house. Friday morning, we'll all go to Colin's favorite restaurant, Carshon's Deli,
for breakfast. Then they'll be gone, Jordan will come by in the late afternoon, and Saturday I will cook for 16 people for Jordan's b'day.
Meantime, Sophie and I know how to relax. I'm sleeping letter in the mornings--no Jacob to hug on his way to school in the mornings--
and I'm getting nice, late, long naps in the afternoon--no Jacob to pick up and do homework with. Here' Sophie relaxing:
 
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Showing posts with label lazy days. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lazy days. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Spring break
Friday, January 17, 2014
Lazy days
Do you ever want to just be lazy, even if you have a pile of work facing you? That's how I've felt the last few days. Actually I've been pretty efficient and busy, but I resolved not to feel harried and rushed. Can't even tell you what I accomplished yesterday, but I think I got the wheels rolling on self-publishing a novel--an adventuresome first for me, and you'll hear more about it later. I wrote a guest blog, to appear later, got Jacob from school, and went to his house for supper with neighbor Jay (the handsome one). Cheese/chicken enchiladas, good appetizers, great company, and too much wine--I was so sleepy when I came home. Jordan really fixed an excellent meal, and they were both gracious hosts.
Jacob came home with me since he had no school today. He wanted to stay at his house, but once he got here he was sweet and charming. I sent him to bed and settled down to give Sophie her nightly tummy rub when suddenly there was Jacob. We had a nice, philosophical discussion about dogs at 10:30 at night. He really appreciates dogs, realizes what they do for us, and is sweet and loving with his own two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and with Sophie--though the difference in temperaments is dramatic. The Cavaliers are so quiet and timid, and Sophie, bless her, is so rambunctious and playful.
Today, in spite of my resolution not to be hurried, we found ourselves at the grocery at nine and home by nine-thirty. Have you ever tried to work at your desk with cartoons on the TV? That's where I was. Not easy. But about eleven I took him to a friend's house--the friend's grandfather, bless him, took them to the science and history museum and the stock show, where people were just setting up. Then McDonald's and back to Max's house to play. Then to our house where they played more on the front lawn while three frozen adults sat and watched.
Tonight all is quiet, and I'm at my desk but still lazing through the evening, not feeling rushed by anything. Had a leftover half a bacon cheeseburger (a rarity for me) for supper and thoroughly enjoyed it.
It's one of those quiet nice times when I don't feel rushed, and I think life is good.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Ah, Sundays
It's been a long, quiet, but not lonely day. Sometimes on days like this I have to gear myself up to do the little things that need doing. But I planted the cyclamen I bought for the window boxes, pulled up the sweet potato vines that obviously do not like these chilly nights, watered plants, and did a lot of little chores like that. My yoga session was much much better than yesterday, and I experimented with a new routine that Elizabeth tried to teach me. By myself, with no one watching, I do better at new poses.
But it was also a day of mess-ups. I baked peanut-butter cookies this morning, following my mom's recipe. I really did freeze all but the two I'd smushed getting the pans out of the oven. Jordan is on South Beach and so has made me very aware of sugar content--do you realize how much sugar is in old-fashioned peanut butter cookies? One cup brown, and 3/4 cup white. Good golly. And somehow I measured out too much white, and while trying to put it back in the carton--it now comes in something that looks like a milk carton--I spilled it all over the counter and the floor. Sugar is not the easiest thing to clean up.
Then I tried to replace a ceiling flood light in the kitchen. You have to use one of those extenders that wrap around the bulb. I tried and tried last night, decided I was getting frustrated and would try again this morning. First try: I somehow broke the bulb, shoved the screw-in part of it right down into the bulb. So then of course I had to vacuum so the animals wouldn't get glass in their paws. Wywy, the cat, has been acting weirdly the last couple of days--she (he, it) who wouldn't touch dry food, now won't touch canned food but does eat the dry. Still doesn't seem as ravenous as he used to. Maybe the dry has more bulk.
And then, trying to clean green beans, for my stir-fry supper, I spilled salt all over. I clean them by rustling them around in salt water and then rinsing--another of my mom's tricks. Fortunately I rinsed them well enough that they weren't salty--I stir-fried scallops, grape tomatoes, green beans, two bites of broccoli left from last night, and mushrooms. Last week I served poached scallops when I meant them to be sauteed. I learned a lesson--do the scallops first, and dust them with a bit of flour. Remove from pan, saute the vegetables, and return the scallops until all is heated.
But my biggest mess-up was a computer one. I am reading through the edited manuscript for my cookbook (due out in Feburary--everyone hold your breath!) It's one of those deals where you have to position the cursor just right and then click either accept or reject. With recipes and quantities, there's a lot of that, because the editor standardized my haphazard approach to cooking.By late last night I had gotten through the preface, one and a half chapters. Toward the end of the evening I hit something which highlighted eveything in yellow--very annoying and I didn't know how to undo it. Went to bed and was almost asleep when I realized that I might not have saved it. Ever since the installation of U-Verse, my computer has been going to sleep if I leave it for long at all. So I stumbled up and saved eveything. This morning it had the strangest formatting I've ever seen, and I had no idea how to fix it. Fortunately I had the email with the original edited mss. so I had to start all over. I am now well into the third chapter, and I'm quitting for the evening, before I get so tired I goof it up again. It's very repetitious, mechanical work--and yet addictive. You think, "I'll just do one more recipe" and you keep going.
The book--called Cooking My Way Through Life with Kids and Books--is a memoir cookbook and has a long, funny story behind it. But I'm saving that story for when I am, I hope, asked to talk about the book.
I've re-charged my Kindle and found a mystery on it that I'm really enjoying, so that's my project for the rest of the evening.
But it was also a day of mess-ups. I baked peanut-butter cookies this morning, following my mom's recipe. I really did freeze all but the two I'd smushed getting the pans out of the oven. Jordan is on South Beach and so has made me very aware of sugar content--do you realize how much sugar is in old-fashioned peanut butter cookies? One cup brown, and 3/4 cup white. Good golly. And somehow I measured out too much white, and while trying to put it back in the carton--it now comes in something that looks like a milk carton--I spilled it all over the counter and the floor. Sugar is not the easiest thing to clean up.
Then I tried to replace a ceiling flood light in the kitchen. You have to use one of those extenders that wrap around the bulb. I tried and tried last night, decided I was getting frustrated and would try again this morning. First try: I somehow broke the bulb, shoved the screw-in part of it right down into the bulb. So then of course I had to vacuum so the animals wouldn't get glass in their paws. Wywy, the cat, has been acting weirdly the last couple of days--she (he, it) who wouldn't touch dry food, now won't touch canned food but does eat the dry. Still doesn't seem as ravenous as he used to. Maybe the dry has more bulk.
And then, trying to clean green beans, for my stir-fry supper, I spilled salt all over. I clean them by rustling them around in salt water and then rinsing--another of my mom's tricks. Fortunately I rinsed them well enough that they weren't salty--I stir-fried scallops, grape tomatoes, green beans, two bites of broccoli left from last night, and mushrooms. Last week I served poached scallops when I meant them to be sauteed. I learned a lesson--do the scallops first, and dust them with a bit of flour. Remove from pan, saute the vegetables, and return the scallops until all is heated.
But my biggest mess-up was a computer one. I am reading through the edited manuscript for my cookbook (due out in Feburary--everyone hold your breath!) It's one of those deals where you have to position the cursor just right and then click either accept or reject. With recipes and quantities, there's a lot of that, because the editor standardized my haphazard approach to cooking.By late last night I had gotten through the preface, one and a half chapters. Toward the end of the evening I hit something which highlighted eveything in yellow--very annoying and I didn't know how to undo it. Went to bed and was almost asleep when I realized that I might not have saved it. Ever since the installation of U-Verse, my computer has been going to sleep if I leave it for long at all. So I stumbled up and saved eveything. This morning it had the strangest formatting I've ever seen, and I had no idea how to fix it. Fortunately I had the email with the original edited mss. so I had to start all over. I am now well into the third chapter, and I'm quitting for the evening, before I get so tired I goof it up again. It's very repetitious, mechanical work--and yet addictive. You think, "I'll just do one more recipe" and you keep going.
The book--called Cooking My Way Through Life with Kids and Books--is a memoir cookbook and has a long, funny story behind it. But I'm saving that story for when I am, I hope, asked to talk about the book.
I've re-charged my Kindle and found a mystery on it that I'm really enjoying, so that's my project for the rest of the evening.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Another lazy day and Obama's house
It was another lazy day. I barely finished reading the paper when Jordan and Jacob arrived about ten this morning. Seemed to me there was a lot of interest in our usually thin paper--Obama's plan to cancel many of Bush's presidential directives about stem cell research, the environment, etc.--all things that can be done without going through Congress and all things I applaud. Then there were articles about Sarah Palin's reception back in Alaska, and a lot of other stuff I found fascinating. I had to hustle to gather the recipes Jordan wanted, empty the garbage, make the bed, and generally act like I had my act together.
Jacob was in fine fettle--he'd scream loudly and then get the giggles at his own behavior. Then he went to pushing a toy car through the house at a fantastic rate--until he got it tripped up in the rug and went down head first. It was a slow motion fall and at first we didn't realize he was in trouble--but he was sort of a triangle over the upside down toy and apparently didn't know how to free himself. So there were tears. But we had a fun morning. Tonight two good old friends came for dinner--I did scallops with tomatoes, shallots, and mushrooms, asparagus, salad, and a coconut bread that had been a gift. Charles, who is usually a slim eater, ate two large helpings.
My email has been busy today with messages from a childhood friend. She found on the web where the Obama family lives--turns out it is less than two blocks from where she grew up and about six blocks from where I grew up. She has bombarded me with pictures, aerial pictures, etc., and it's all been such fun. Everyone says that
Obama lives in Hyde Park, and I say that I grew up there bcause Hyde Park is well known, but technically we were all on the other side of 51st Street, so we lived in Kenwood, a neighborhood of mansions that once belonged to the meat czars and other people famous in Chicago's history. Our house was modest, and Obama's though clearly larger is not one of the huge mansions. It's across the street from a Jewish temple that I can still see in my mind today. And on the corner of the block where my friend lived, there was a drugstore in the basement of an apt. building--you went down some steps to get to it. Kenwood was one of the first neighborhoods in our area to integrate as wealthier African Americans bought some of the huge mansions. It's a wonderful neighborhood, and I feel proud that he lives there, though I haven't been back in years. I was amazed at the value of his property, but then several years ago I heard the house I grew up in was for sale for $500,000. I think my folks paid $6,000 for it in 1937.
Jacob was in fine fettle--he'd scream loudly and then get the giggles at his own behavior. Then he went to pushing a toy car through the house at a fantastic rate--until he got it tripped up in the rug and went down head first. It was a slow motion fall and at first we didn't realize he was in trouble--but he was sort of a triangle over the upside down toy and apparently didn't know how to free himself. So there were tears. But we had a fun morning. Tonight two good old friends came for dinner--I did scallops with tomatoes, shallots, and mushrooms, asparagus, salad, and a coconut bread that had been a gift. Charles, who is usually a slim eater, ate two large helpings.
My email has been busy today with messages from a childhood friend. She found on the web where the Obama family lives--turns out it is less than two blocks from where she grew up and about six blocks from where I grew up. She has bombarded me with pictures, aerial pictures, etc., and it's all been such fun. Everyone says that
Obama lives in Hyde Park, and I say that I grew up there bcause Hyde Park is well known, but technically we were all on the other side of 51st Street, so we lived in Kenwood, a neighborhood of mansions that once belonged to the meat czars and other people famous in Chicago's history. Our house was modest, and Obama's though clearly larger is not one of the huge mansions. It's across the street from a Jewish temple that I can still see in my mind today. And on the corner of the block where my friend lived, there was a drugstore in the basement of an apt. building--you went down some steps to get to it. Kenwood was one of the first neighborhoods in our area to integrate as wealthier African Americans bought some of the huge mansions. It's a wonderful neighborhood, and I feel proud that he lives there, though I haven't been back in years. I was amazed at the value of his property, but then several years ago I heard the house I grew up in was for sale for $500,000. I think my folks paid $6,000 for it in 1937.
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