Rainy day blues--and a seminar

Rain today all day, varying from a light drizzle to a steady gentle rain. Not cold, but if the humidity is 95% and the temperature in the 50s, it always feels chilly. A good day to stay inside with a good book and take a long nap, but that's not what I did. I was at TCU at nine o'clock for a mass media communications career conference presented by the Society of Professional Journalists (Fort Worth chapter) and TCU's Schieffer School of Journalism. College students and others from all over North Texas attended--I'd say at least 175, and the keynote speaker, a woman I greatly admire, gave solid information on sending out your resume, doing the all-important interview, etc. From my point of view, I should have stayed in that warm bed an hour longer, but I admired the very practical information she provided. It's just that I doubt I'll be sending out any resumes soon.
Then the breakout sessions--on pr, broacast, online work, newspapers, visual communication, and magazine and book publishing--the latter where I was on a panel with Skip Hollandsworth of Texas Monthly and Bob Francis of Fort Worth Business News.
It was fun. There was a moderator, but Skip, a talkative and gregarious soul, did the actual moderating and kept things moving--blessings on him. The students were focused and responsive, anxious to talk about their varying goals. In the first session, most of them wrote daily--journaling, a couple of bloggers, etc. I was surprised that in the second session only one wrote with any frequency--a young woman who had a blog about what she and her children did. We tried to stress the importance of writing daily and of discipline.  I thought maybe the second session was less sucessful than the first, but as I left a young woman who had been honest in revealing her uncertainty about what she wanted, thanked me and said, "You really inspired me." That made my day, and I told her so.
Home to lunch, some odd work at my desk, a bit of reading, and that long nap the day deserved. Woke up so loggy that I haven't been much good all evening, but I did make the last spread for tomorrow's fundraiser.
Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and pretty--perfect day for the thirty to forty people at the fundraiser, though I haven't cleaned the porch. I'll consider that in the morning. But today is muddy and wet, and I have dirty dogs. And a very clean house. I've worked hard all day to make the two compatible. My old dog is content to lie on his bed most of the day, although he refuses food if it's raining--haven't quite figured that one out, except that maybe he considers the rain a personal affront and his way of protesting is to refuse to eat. The young one gets bored and wants to go out every so often. Then she doesn't like it, especially if she's alone, so she sits by the door (under the eaves fortunately) and looks pitiful. Cross your fingers please that I can avoid muddy footprints until tomorrow evening.

Sometimes life gets ahead of you

By 11:30 this morning, I had tired myself out. Been to the office to wrap a package for mailing, to the grocery, the post office, and the printing store to pick up a manuscript, to the audiologist to get new ear molds (honest, when they called I thought they said ear mites and I wanted to say, "No, thanks!"), and to Old Home Supply to drop off five more copie sof Skeleton in a Dead Space. I think that marvelous hardware store, which specializes in fixtures for old houses, is my best retail outlet! They keep sending me messages: "We need more books!" It is of course in the heart of the Fairmount neighborhood, setting of my novels. By 11:30, I was at the Old Neighborhood Grill (frequently mentioned in the book) for lunch with an old friend and her daughter. It's still a bit of a shock to realize that this child is forty-five-I knew her parents before she was born, for Pete's sake. Georgia, the one I've know almost fifty years, bought two more books--so of the ten I received yesterday, only three are left on my bookshelf. Woohoo!
I snuck a nap between lunch and picking up Jacob and slept so soundly that I haven't been much good the rest of the day. I woke suddenly, misread the clock and thought I was late to pick up Jacob--turns out I was early. But I spent much of the rest of the day feeling sleepy and ready to go back to bed. Jacob went to the neighbor's to play and then went out back to play with the dogs--only came in when it dawned on him it was darn cold (he's slow to realize such things). We had supper and Sue, my former neighbor who calls me her Fort Worth mom, came for a drink and catch-up session. We both have a lot going on in our lives, and I was super glad for the exchange--plus we agree about politics and social issues. Good discussion.
Made real headway on tax stuff tonight but am far from done. How I hate doing that!
Cold tonight--in the twenties. No wonder I feel like hibernating.

There's something about Fridays

Today I felt like a balloon--if you let a little bit of air (or energy) out of me, I'd collapse in a puddle on the ground. I was home after errands early, had an early lunch and a nice nap--the kind where the alarm comes as a grand intrusion when it's time to get up and go get Jacob from school. After Jordan picked up Jacob, I went back to bed for a second nap. Never did really sleep, just dozed, but I was so comfortable I had to make myself get up, feed the dogs and myself. It's a nice lazy feeling, and I'm wondering how many of you find Fridays give you that sense? I think I had some obligation every night this week, plus I was trying to write furiously and I have come to a stopping point on that--not finished but much more comfortable with where I am. So maybe that's why I'm like a deflated balloon tonight, but it's a nice feeling, and I intend to enjoy it.
My Austin kids--Megan Brandon and the two boys, Sawyer and Ford--are probably about at Hillsboro now on their way to Fort Worth, so it won't be that lazy a weekend. But I'm looking forward to it. I think life will keep getting busier between now and the holidays, so I can enjoy an evening of laziness. Hope you are too.

Some good writing, a long nap, rain and homemade pizza

Today was a holiday, even for me--no school for FWISD students, which frees me to my old schedule of working in the early afternoon and napping in the late. I wrote almost 2000 words and felt good about what I'd done--as opposed to yesterday, though last night I reread all that I had so far and it didn't seem that bad to me for a first draft. But I worked away this afternoon, and the ideas seemed to flow. Love that feeling. I took a late, long nap and then lay in bed, daydreaming--sometimes great plot ideas come to me when I do that. But I realized I smelled rain--my greenhouse window vents in the kitchen were open and sure enough,  the streets were wet. As I write it's raining pretty steadily--what a blessing. Yes, it's humid, but who cares.
Tonight I did something I haven't done in years--made homemade pizza. I'm not particularly a pizza fan, having overdosed on it in high school when we used to eat it cold for breakfast the morning aftre a party. When my kids were little I would spread dough in a jelly roll pan and section off parts, so each child could put on favorite toppings. But now when the kids suggest ordering pizza--or as Jamie often does, going to the pizza parlor which has sentimental value from high school--I either pack a sandwich or eat what passes for a salad. Make pizza nowadays? Never.
But Jacob announced he had a special recipe. You put it (I had to ask what and was told chicken) in the oven for 20 minute,s take it out, put pepper on it, and you have pizza chicken (piece of chicken?). I promised him we'd make pizza tonight, so today I pulled a sauce recipe off the web and let it  simmer so long I burned it--luckily it didn't taste but once again I'm scrubbing and soaking. Bought a Boboli 8" crust, cooked some lean ground beef with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Had Jacob spoon on the sauce, then sprinkle the ground meat, and top with shredded mozarella. I despise buying shredded cheese but it's a lot cheaper.
Result was pretty good--knife and fork pizza because it was piled so high with ingredients. We ate maybe a third, so Christian has good leftovers. Trouble is Jacob doesn't really like ground meat so he didn't eat much.
Now I've got everyone to bed except Sophie--and I'm dreading taking her out for her evening excursion in the rain. Hope I have to get used to that.

Pomp, Circumstance, and pre-school?

I've been to two graduations in the last week. The first was Jacob's pre-school graduation, crowded with proud parents and grandparents. The kids were adorable of course, sang a couple of songs in which they sounded like the children's choir at church. But they marched in to the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance." I don't think it made much impression on five-year-olds and they soon went to devour cake.
This morning I went with former neighbor Sue to see her son Hunter graduate from 5th grade at Lilly B. Clayton, the school across the street from my house and the one Jacob will attend starting next Tuesday. This was a much more rehearsed affair--Hunter said they practiced over and over and over and over. But, yes, they marched in to "Pomp and Circumstance." One blessing: when they sang "Clayton, my Clayton" it was to the tune of "Texas, My Texas." The musical selections were lively and well done, the awards endless--almost every child earned either the honor roll, attendance record or good citizenship. My heart ached for those who had no such accolades after their names were called. I guess we make our own beds, even in elementary school. Sue cried, as this is her last child to graduate from this school that has been such a loving, warm home for them, and I failed at my mission--didn't bring Kleenex. But I was glad to be there for support.
The thing about "Pomp and Circumstance" is that Kenwood Elementary School in Chicago ruined it for me. they put words to it, and to this day when I hear those familiar strains, my mind goes, "Goodbye to you, Kenwood/We will remember your name/For you've led us onward/To the halls of fame." If there's more, I can't remember it, but that's enough--migosh, it's been, what? sixty-some years? My mom had the same problem, only it always made her laugh. Even when I got a Ph.D.
This afternoon, I guess I was worn out by graduation and errands but my dog and cat and I slept for over two hours, so soundly that I awoke comletely disoriented--5:30? Morning? Evening? What day? I had no idea. Even wondered if I was still in Scotland but pretty quickly ruled that out. When I figured out the whole thing, I lay in delicious comfort until six, enjoying drowsiness and the quiet closeness of the animals--felt like a family.
When my children were at home, I used to buy cube steaks--those inexpensive cuts that have been tenderized. Haven't done that in years, but I saw a small one in the market today. Brought it home and cooked it the way I always had--cut in strips, flour, salt and pepper liberally, give it a fairly quick saute, and squeeze lemon juice over it before serving. While that was going on I roasted some cauliflower (which may be my new favorite vegetable after years of ignoring it) with olive oil, salt and papper. Delicious to slop the cauliflower in the leftover lemon/beef juice. I buy just a handful of cauliflower flowerets for me, but I may start buying broccoflower to get the green benefit. Only thing I missed tonight was the green vegetable.
I may have told this story before, but I inherited from my mom a firm conviction that  you should have something green, preferably dark green, at every meal. I don't always do it, but it's there. One time, a man I was dating ordered chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes with gravy for lunch. I looked at his plate in horror and said, "You don't have anything green!" He rolled his eyes and said, "Once a mother, always a mother." You know, I miss that man yet.

Hmmm--what's new?

Sometimes I start a blog post with no idea where it's going, and that's the case tonight. I think I'm still in recovery from my hectic birthday day. But my house is lovely and cool, and I can't believe I took a three-hour nap today but I did. Still, I'm sure I'll have no trouble sleeping tonight. I think yesterday wore me out.
Sometiimes lately I'm afraid this blog will turn into a chronicle of how I went gluten free. A friend called from El Paso tonight and asked how it was going--I said it was too soon to tell. I mean I don't expect to see results for months--but I'm sticking to it. Went to Central Market today and bought broccoli, asparagus, and spinach, chopped sirloin, a lamb chop (big treat), Dover sole, and salmon. Froze everything but the sole, which I had for dinner tonight, along with the mushrooms and zucchini I had on hand. Dover sole is probably my favorite fish, so delicate in taste. Usually I flour it to saute but tonight I just did it in butter and olive oil and squeezed a bit of lemon over it--delicious.
After my nap I found Elizabeth had left me a birthday present--a book titled Gluten Free Girl, which she says she bought before I decided to go gluten free just because she knows I enjoy good food writing. And she left a bonus--a box of gluten-free brownies. I'll eat one tomorrow, when Jacob eats his chocolate cake.
Work? No, I haven't done any, though I can report over the past week good progess on my food book. Did you know that Wolf Brand Chili is so named because the man who started it had a pet wolf--it used to be Lyman Davis' Wolf Brand Chili. Or that Dr Pepper (note there is no period after the Dr so as not to confuse it with medical advice) because the pharmacist who doubled as a soda jerk and who put together the formula was intrigued with the flavor of the fruit ices he made in the late 19th century but individually none tasted like the aroma he inhaled when making all of them. So he made a blend of fruit syrups. Another day we'll talk about Dublin, which is legendary in Texas for the oldest bottling plant and the only one who still puts DP into glass bottles.
Food writing is fun--to read and to write.