First Day of Spring

It's the first full day of spring here in Minnesota. Here's what it looks like.

The Easter bunny in the garden has a face full of snow.












Across the street. You can see the ground is warm and the snow is melting fast from underneath but it's still messy.












The branches of this little redbud tree will be covered in pink blossoms before too long.












I saw my first robin today. This is just a prototype...the one I saw wouldn't hold still long enough for his picture to be taken.

Cover Your Noodle Day

The place where Regis works had a morale-booster called Cover Your Noodle Day today. It's a mystery, I know, but it means to wear a funny hat. I guess the mystery is how this could possibly raise morale. Since Regis works at home, he emailed this picture of himself in to the office where they got a huge charge out of it and printed it out and hung it up all over. He looks like a madman who came out of the woods, doesn't he? I said at least he could have shut the closet door behind him but men don't think of that kind of thing.

We're waiting for a spring snow storm that might drop as much as 8 inches of snow on us. Regis and I watched the 1950 movie Harvey tonight (you know...rabbit...Easter) but Peter decided to brave the elements and head to Mankato. I was giving him the usual don't drive on bad roads and stay over night and park your car in a safe place words of wisdom when Regis reminded me that he is almost 21. Alright, alright, alright.

After my very restless full-moon bad night of sleeping last night, I'm ready for bed tonight. I went to work at 6:30 this morning, piled all the stray paper into a pile on my desk (it was about 18 inches high) and started sorting and filing and making notes. I finished about 10 to 3 but I did do a few other things along the way.

We had our 2008 maiden voyage of the grill tonight. Peter was hungry for steak so we cooked a couple rib eyes and a New York strip, some twice-baked potatoes, and had big salads. We had the grill sitting close to the garage and one of the neighbors thought our car was on fire. We could only wish for that. The tornado took down every garage in our neighborhood but ours and we're sure the holes in the roof equalized the pressure. Or something like that. We should have just pushed it over.

On to the weekend.

Black cloud

The black cloud has dissipated a little, if clouds can do that. Mom was cleared for surgery, and as she says, they wouldn't let her have surgery if they thought she was going to croak. My mom has a great sense of humor. The job application process seems less daunting today than it did yesterday. Tiffany got a job. And there is 6 inches of snow forecast for tomorrow. I love spring snow storms!

Yesterday there were three deer outside my office window eating oranges that I tossed out there for them. They were beautiful against the snow.

It was my turn to pick a movie tonight. Even with Netflix, I get overwhelmed. I must have the world's worst taste in movies because I can't find anything that looks good. There are a lot of movies I'd like to see again for the first time, like Waking Ned Devine... and a lot of movies I wish I had never seen, like American Beauty. I'm not in the mood for anything violent or tragic or anything starring Lindsey Lohan or Ben Affleck. The new releases are hideous. I like those quirky British comedies about transvestites with bad teeth who drive old buses across the desert.

I just read in the Trib that some women in Virginia are selling a cornflake shaped like the state of Illinois on eBay. The bidding is up to 250 dollars. Now there are copycat sales: a potato chip shaped like Illinois and a couple other flakes shaped like Hawaii and Florida. What the hell. No question mark. Just what the hell. If you google this, you can get an image of the woman with her Illinois-shaped cornflake. What the hell.

Black cloud of emotion

I was a train wreck of emotion yesterday. I'm going rapidly up and down about the job I applied for and have come close to withdrawing my application. I think it's called emotional lability and you can check it out here on Wikipedia. I like the term emotional incontinence better. I think I can be ok until the interview process and I will be ok after because I like the job I have, but the moment someone comes to kindly tell me that I have not made the second round of interviews, that will be a bad one. Joanne thinks I should have a plan for dealing with it, like maybe I should just get the word by email, or a white flag hung on the door of the district office.

Mom called to tell me she spent the day in the hospital having tests on her heart before she can have her knee fixed on Thursday and that unnerved me. She should get the report from the doctor today.

Tiffany got a job, which should be good news and is good news. It was her 23rd birthday yesterday and we took her out to eat on Sunday night. Peter is here for the week and we made a great looking deep dish pizza for dinner last night. Nice to have kids around.

We finished watching Knocked Up which is a comedy but I cried for the last fifteen minutes. Not just tears running kind of crying but loud and weepy crying, almost sending Regis and Peter over the edge. I wouldn't recommend this movie if you are sensitive to the F word. It's prevalent, but over-all it's a very sweet movie.

Well, here I go out into the world.

Virus and soda bread

This is a costume that was sent from Ireland to Michigan where it was stolen. Be on the lookout if you attend St. Patrick's Day events. It's worth $3,000.

We didn't even go the parade today. I came down with some kind of virus yesterday of which the main symptom seems to be feeling like you have spent too much time on the Tilt-A-Whirl. I stayed home from work today and about every two hours, I gravitated to the bedroom and slept for an hour. I see I mentioned this disease in yesterday's post. Apparently the virus affects your memory, too.

We have the ulgiest of March weather again. A wintery mix, as Paul Douglas would say. We woke up to about an inch of snow, it dribbled snow and rain all day and now has all melted. We're due for 2-4 inches of snow tonight so babies should not put away their Patagonias yet, Miles.

I managed to get off the couch long enough to make another loaf of Irish soda bread today so Regis could have it with the left-over corned beef and cabbage. Here's the recipe:

Real Irish Soda Bread Recipe

1¼ hours | 5 min prep | SERVES 16 , 1 tasty loaf

3	cups flour 1/2 cup oatmeal
2	teaspoons baking soda
1	teaspoon baking powder
3	tablespoons sugar
1	pinch cream of tartar
2	tablespoons butter, melted
2	eggs
1	cup sour cream
1/2	cup buttermilk
1	tablespoon caraway seeds (I don't use these)
1/2-3/4	cup currants or raisins (These either...yuck in this recipe)
1	tablespoon uncooked oatmeal for the pan

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Butter a pie plate or round cake pan.
3. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon uncooked oats on the bottom of the pan.
4. Combine dry ingredients and currants.
5. Mix melted butter, eggs and then buttermilk and sour cream.
6. Stir in dry ingredients only until incorporated.
7. Put dough into a prepared pie pan. The dough is very wet...don't worry about that. Use wet hands to pat into a round once you plop it in the pan.
8. Cut an X in the top of the loaf. (Not easy with dough this wet.)
9. Bake for 50 minutes.

This is delicious and so easy to make. It's good with a little butter and jam and a cup of tea...or with corned beef and a dark beer. Depends on the time of day, I guess. It's really good enough to have for a sweet coffee bread when you have company. Or with soup when you have company. Kind of an all-purpose bread.

Sunday night

After spending most of the day in lethargy, I'm completely out of gumption. Tiffany and Eric came down a couple hours ago and we've spent some time visiting, they did some laundry, and we're going out to eat to celebrate Tiff's 23rd birthday. I feel a little bit like I spent too much time on the Tilt-A-Whirl this afternoon and I know it isn't Irish-related because I felt fine until about 3 o'clock. It's gloomy, damp, and cold outside. Perfect March weather and perfect for sleeping or reading on the couch with a blanket.

Peter's coming home tomorrow for a few days. He just wants to eat and sleep, I think. Funny how kids plan their homecomings around food. I offered to take him out to lunch tomorrow but he said he's going to Massad's in Mankato. He likes the chicken shwarma sandwich. I've looked up the recipe but there's about 45 ingredients so I think I'll let the restaurant make it.

I started thinking about my garden this afternoon, after watching Paul trudge back and forth to the garden house with bags of something that look like dirt. His little structure looks precarious so I hope we don't get a big wind this month. (The 29th is the 10th anniversary of our tornado.) I pulled up a lot of bad plants last fall...English daisies that had taken over, false sunflowers, coneflowers that were leggy and ugly. So I have bare spots to fill in. Our yard is getting so shady I think I'll have to move hosta to the front garden. I don't like to grow vegetables, only herbs. Lots of basil and parsley.

Sunday nights. Ugh.

St. Pat's Dinner 2008

We had a dinner for Betty and Tom and Kathy tonight. Harvey was home with an illness that will remain nameless. We had the usual: corned beef and cabbage cooked in Guinness, Irish soda bread, Guinness chocolate cake, and Irish coffee. A good time was had by all. After we stretched out in the living room to let the dinner settle, we watch The Quiet Man. Good movie for a St. Patty's celebration.

Note those green pants that Regis has on. These are the ones that are green like the crayon. He and Betty look cool in their hats.

Here's the recipe for Irish coffee. Note that Bill says absolutely no aerosol whipped cream. It's a mortal sin.

Friday at last

I spent the day in St. Paul in the company of a band of bureaucrats at the department of education. I don't want them to google themselves and blackball me from any future jobs or my well-earned retirement earnings so I'm being careful not to name them or their true place of employment. Oh my god. Those people, for the most part, are the most boring pompous-assed stiffs I have ever spent time with. One man was very interesting and somehow managed to make fiscal news almost, well barely, palatable. But the rest of them...one woman said it was the obligation of their organization to promulgate rules. Well, I guess.

Regis and I went to do some errands when I got home and realized that in a half-mile radius from our house, we can go to the bank, the drug store, the bar, the food coop, and the liquor store. Not bad. We didn't go to the bar since we had a beef roast in the crock pot at home, but it's nice to know a guy could if he wanted to.

Last night we went to Irish Stews and Stouts, a real community education class. It was very interesting and educational. For food we had Irish stew with veal (no lamb), Irish soda bread, a cabbage dish with bacon, and Guinness chocolate cake. The beers were many and varied; some we liked and some we didn't. The one in the picture is called Unibroue Ephemere Raspberry beer. It's almost like a liqueur and you can see by the label, it's brewed by angels. Or maybe fairies. Many of the beers came from brew houses, like the Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis. It was interesting to hear about the beers and then try them in little tiny plastic glasses.

Here's one we weren't so fond of: King Boreas Imperial Wit which the guy said is a strong wit ale. Lots of Curacao bitter orange peel, coriander, and a hint of star anise. Brewed with German pale wheat malt and Golden Promise barley. This is our Winter version of a Belgian white beer. Medium bodied, amber colored, and unfiltered. We also weren't so fond of the Brau Brother's Cream Stout. Some of their beers are good, but not this one. Too bitter.

There you go, all the news that's fit to print on beer. Well, off to the weekend. Leaving the bureaucrats behind...

Almost the end of the week and time for an Irish stout

It's been a hell of a week and Regis and I are headed down to Patrick's, not for drinking beer as you cynics probably think, but for a Community Education class called Irish Stews and Stouts. So there. I'm sure it will be very educational. Oh shit, I just realized that's a lamb in the pot. That can't be right.
I've been sleeping great with the aid of Ambien. I go to sleep at 10 and don't wake up for anything all night. The woman in the beauty shop last night told me about a friend of hers who awakened in the kitchen of a neighbor, sans clothing. That would not be good.

The last few days have been very spring-like. Today was 54 degrees when I came home from school. Most of the snow is gone and the flowers are poking up through the dirt. I recited this poem to Regis last night:
Spring has sprung
The grass is riz
I wonder where
The flowers is

He asked if I wrote it and I admitted that I had not. Nothing worse than plagiarism.

Ella: The Daily Cute

Ella spent the day caring for her Nana and Popop Saturday while her Daddy helped her Uncle move to a new apartment. She was quite entertaining:
I showed her a picture from Thanksgiving, everybody in a bunch with big smiles. She said, "Oh look! Everybody's cheesin'!"
Regis made bacon for breakfast and brought it out to us in the living room. She took one bite, looked at me seriously and said, "We need more bacon!" and turned to trot back to the kitchen.
She was good as gold but she wears us out; even a good two-year-old is busy and curious and looking at everything. We had a fun day, though, and both of us got naps. Ahhhhh.

The weekend went too fast. We spent the day Sunday doing things we haven't done in a while and that were overdue: I washed the kitchen floor, Regis gathered and organized all our CDs, I vacuumed and dusted. Not my favorite chores.

We watched On the Beach last night. It's an old sci-fi movie with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner. Regis remembers seeing it when he was young and being fascinated by it. Since it's about nuclear bombs, it's a good thing I never saw it. I had nightmares about bombs when I was a kid and imagined that innocuous things my parents did, like carrying a box of canned vegetables to the basement or covering the windows with plastic were in preparation for the bomb. At this point in my life it wasn't that frightening but it was too sad and there was no redemption in the end. I need a little sign of life at the end of a movie like that.

On to the week, folks. It will be milder, babies, so maybe you can get out and stick your faces up to the sun one of the nicer days. Spring is coming! Believe it!

People who don't cuss can't live here

It's the 7th of March and this morning when I went to my car, the snow squeaked. For God's sake. The snow squeaked and it's only two weeks away from the start of spring. We expect snow in March especially when tournaments start which they did last weekend. But squeaky snow is for January.

I was glad to see this week end. I sat at my desk for a while this afternoon and tried to get my mind around it. Nothing in particular; just it. Life goes too fast.

We're going to watch Ella tomorrow while the men move Regis and Amber from one apartment to another. We got the best end of that stick. I think after you turn 50, it's a rule that you don't have to move anyone. Not even yourself.

My neighbor Mike says it's not good to repress cuss words; it's what causes cancer. That and probably a few other things. I don't mind cussing myself and my own mother says I talk like a sailor. There are worse things.

On to the weekend...

P.S. I just reread this post and noticed that I ended each paragraph with a snappy little sentence. There must be a literary term for that, don't you think?

Longish day

It was a very longish day today. We had conferences to which nobody comes so we diddle around and have meetings and watch educational videos and try to think brave thoughts about curriculum and standards and such. About the 12th hour, none of it makes much sense. If we had cable tv, I'd be watching re-runs of Leave it to Beaver right about now.

I got a new old book in the mail today. Shirley Jackson's Life among the Savages. I don't know if I ever read it or if Jane has told the story enough that I think I did. A baby is sitting in one of those 1950's style car seats that just hooked over the back of the front seat. It had a little steering wheel and she describes how he is scanning the road ahead for possible cookies. That's the part that makes me laugh because in safe driving for the elderly we teach the strategy of scanning. Get it? Scanning the road for possible cookies?

We had dinner with Anders last night, our friend whose wife passed away two months ago of that awful breast cancer. Anders asked what I was reading, "for Jan." She would want to know, he said, and we believed she was listening. Jan took Out Stealing Horses with her for the afterlife. A good choice because it's a book you can read twice and not get tired of it.

Regis finally came out of the pod of isolation or whatever they call it and is set up to work at home. That only took about five months. Quite a business plan these people have. I'm shocked and I work for the public schools. We'll see how well he likes this when he realizes he doesn't have ten miles to leave the stress behind. I forgot to ask how they liked the noodle recipe.

This is my 385th post on this blog. That would probably be a book if you laid them end-to-end. Or if you literally laid them end-to-end and you assumed that each one was about 6 inches long, you'd have 192.5 feet or about a third of a mile. If I did the math right and I'd say there is a slim chance of that. It wouldn't be much of a book because, well, because most of it is like this one, blather. I think of it as a public service...if you're reading this, you aren't watching the news.

I listened to a podcast this morning, the gist of which was that in a contest between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny always wins. Here' s an excerpt:
Bugs is at ease, laid back, secure, confident. His lidded eyes and sly smile suggest a sense that he knows the way things work. He's onto the cons of his adversaries. Sometimes he is glimpsed with his elbow on the fireplace mantel of his remarkably well-appointed lair, clad in a smoking jacket. (Jones once said Cary Grant was his inspiration for Bugs. Today it would be George Clooney.) Bugs never raises his voice, never flails at his opponents or at the world. He is rarely an aggressor. When he is pushed too far and must respond, he borrows a quip from Groucho Marx: "Of course, you realize this means war." And then, whether his foe is hapless hunter Elmer Fudd, varmint-shooting Yosemite Sam, or a raging bull, Bugs always prevails.

Here's the whole essay if you want to read it. It's about politics but could probably be about other things, like job applications and marriage.

I realized today that I have to change my haircut appointment again. I have a meeting at 3 and I'll be nervous about making it to Mankato by 4 and back again by 6:00. I think haircuts should get a dispensation from the pope, like St. Patrick's Day and capybaras.

I can tell this is going from silly to foolish so I'll stop now and say goodnight.

Low of 6 degrees tonight

That is really a crock of shit. What is with this weather? At dinner tonight, we were speculating that with the moist winter we've had, the mosquitoes ought to be about the size of horse flies. Lovely. Makes you wonder why we live here.

I remembered today about the time (this must have been pre-blog) that I went to the bathroom at Whiskey River and there was an advertisement on the back of the bathroom door for a company that printed wedding stationery. I like things to be spelled right but I'm not a freak about it, but...this place prints stationery and they spelled it stationary. Like the damn bicycle. Oh, for god's sake. I went right home and called the stationery company and gave them a hard time about the ad copy that they apparently didn't bother to read, then I called the ad company that sells space on the backs of bathroom doors and gave them a hard time about not bothering to edit the copy. What is the world coming to? Like I said, I'm not a freak but I draw the line right there. Right there.

I had a meeting today that made me stop in the middle and make that screwing motion into my right temple. You know, the one that says, "You people are making me insane." Enough said about that.

Regis is dragging some dude home with him tomorrow who will hook up his computer so he can work at home. I said thank the dude for the notice. We've been gone for three nights in a row and those trolls have been coming in during the day and messing things up. I'm sure the guy will think we live with shiftless college students or something. Oh, wait. How does this reflect on me? It doesn't. La dee da da. So there. Lots of people in the world live in houses with dirt floors and they survive just fine and my immune system is healthier than that of a person who scrubs all the time.

Regis was asked to bring a recipe for something with noodles in it to work for a cookbook. Here is our contribution:

Pomegranate Martini with Noodles

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

* 1 box noodles, cooked

* 1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice

* 2 oz. Absolute Citron vodka OR white tequila

* 1 oz. Cointreau liqueur

* Cup of ice

* Optional: Splash of sparkling water

* Optional: Squeeze of lemon

Shake martini ingredients in a shaker and put in chilled martini glasses. Put pomegranate fruit into glass as garnish. Throw the noodles in the trash and drink the martini.

Tall ships and snow

I read in the paper today that three tall sailing ships will be in Duluth the first weekend in August. This is the Pride of Baltimore II. I'm not a fan of traveling especially into crowds (I think this is the weekend of the Bayfront Blues Festival) and this is a celebration of the 150th anniversary of Minnesota's statehood so there are bound to be a bazillion people around but I would love to see those ships. Nope just checked...the blues fest is the next weekend.

We finished up our safe driving for old poops class tonight. What a nice group of people. One lady brought cheese and crackers and venison sausage. I think that's a sign of a friendly group when someone brings food.

I made a delicious and easy tomato soup tonight for dinner. It's called sherried soup but I left that out because I forgot to buy it. Didn't seem to matter. I used dried basil and parsley because where do you find that stuff fresh in March when it doesn't look like limp sun-baked weeds. I used the immersion blender on it, too, because we don't like tomato lumps. It was great with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Sherried Tomato Soup

6 tablespoons melted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 46-ounce bottle or can tomato juice
2 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 to 3 tablespoons chicken base
3 to 6 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
Black Pepper
1 cup cooking sherry
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
chopped fresh parsley
chopped fresh basil

Saute diced onions until transluscent. Add canned tomatoes, then tomato juice, sugar, pinch of salt, and black pepper. Stir and bring to a near boil then turn heat down. Add sherry and cream, basil and parsley to taste. Serve with croutons or crackers.

I'm listening to some of that music that irritates you when you hear it on an elevator. It's relaxing at night and I like to tun it on if I wake up at some ungodly hour. New age they call it. I'd stick a pin in my eye if I had to listen to this crap when I was fully awake.

My neighbors crocus are poking their heads up through the dirt. Poor little things will have brown tips after the deep freeze the next few days but I guess they must be used to that. Don't put your long underwear and mittens away yet, Minnesota.

A good night sleeping

I know this might be boring to some of you, but what a good night's sleep. I went to sleep about 10:00 and woke up right before the alarm went off at 5:30. I didn't even have to use the music. Like James Brown says: I feel good. ( Can you hear that?)

We have another night of safe driving for the elderly class tonight. We have a nice group of people who happily watch the little videos on how their vision might be declining as they age and how to back up safely in a parking lot. They're good sports. One lady called in sick because she has the chicken pox. You don't hear that very often in an AARP class.

Better get ready for work...

Sunday

Don't be too impressed because I blog so often because I do it at the expense of other things like cleaning. It's a way to feel sort of productive but really not have to accomplish much. Especially with the sleeping issue, it's about the best I can do.


Regis and I made our early Sunday morning trip to HyVee. We like going at 7 because you don't have to contend with crowds. People picking up 10 dozen rolls for church can be a little annoying but not as annoying as those kiddie carts that look like firetrucks and leave a nasty mark when they clip you in the back of the heels. Who invented those things anyway? Early in the morning, we can mosey around, look at things without being rushed, and backtrack if we forget something.


Tomorrow and Tuesday we teach the safe driving for old people class. I made chicken wings and potato salad this afternoon so we can have lunches and fast dinners for a couple days. I shouldn't have used russet potatoes. They crumble and get kind of dry. Otherwise tasty.


Oh, Jill asked for a sleep update. Thursday night I took a trazodone at 9:00 and slept until 3 but it felt like better sleep. I was out of gas by afternoon but felt good all morning. Friday night I tried Manhattan therapy instead of the medication. I had a brief period of wakefulness but slept until 7. Last night, I stayed up until 10, took a trazodone, and slept until 5 this morning. Overall there is improvement.


I've decided I better give up naps for a while which is very painful because I am a champion napper. It's never disrupted my sleep before but it might be part of the problem now. I'll sit in the chair in the living room and close my eyes for ten minutes or so but I don't go to sleep.


Here's a weird recipe I want to try. I usually avoid foods with soda in them but the picture of this looked so good I have to try it. Notice the ingredient Mountain Dew. There isn't one healthy thing about this recipe, but what the hell. They show it served with ice cream on the side, too. Let's see, fat, sugar, caffeine....oh, and apples!

Apple Dumplings

2 Granny Smith apples
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla
cinnamon
1 small can Mountain Dew

Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Good dog gone bad

The man of the house had a favorite pair of earbuds for his iPod.
They used to look like this:

They were made by Koss and they weren't cheap, as earbuds go.
This morning when we got up, they looked like this:

Something isn't right as you can see. The little rubber things are gone, baby, gone.
Here is the culprit:

How did he manage to pick those tiny things off without eating the entire earbud? That is some manual dexterity!

Great music coming up at the Bothy

There is some dynamite music coming up at the Bothy Folk Club in the next few weeks. If you've never been there, it's a great venue for live music:

1. You can get a front row seat if you get there early.
2. You can buy a beer and a box of popcorn in the Eagle's Club bar and carry it back to your seat.
3. You can go early and buy a burger basket and carry it back to your seat.
4. Tickets are about 15 bucks each. When was the last time you went to a concert for that kind of money?
5. You can buy a raffle ticket and win a free ticket to the next concert.
6. You can win a box of chocolates. The tradition is that you open it and pass it around.
7. You don't have to drive to Minneapolis or park in a ramp.
8. The concerts start at 7:30 and you're always home before 11:00.
   

We've seen some great music here over the last few years. The Carrie Hassler concert is sponsored by the Minnesota Blue Grass and Old Time Association. They co-sponsor a concert every year and we've always been thrilled with it. We've never see Robin and Linda Williams but they're on Prairie Home Companion all the time. Becky Thompson is one of our favorites. They're one of the most requested bands at the Bothy. I'm not kidding...when they do a Patsy Cline song, it almost makes you cry.

Friday, March 28th Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain
Carrie Hassler has serious game as a bluegrass/country vocalist. Hard Rain has serious chops - joining the Infamous Stringdusters as a band with so many instrumental options that you just can't WAIT to hear the next hot break from the next hot player. Check out the instrumental "Sensabaugh Tunnel", opening like a wonderful cross between an Irish Fiddle tune and a syncopated Jazz riff, then evolving into a full speed bluegrass breakdown.

Wednesday, April 2nd Robin & Linda Williams
Their chops don't stop at singing. They are first-class instrumentalists and superb songwriters, able to, as The Washington Post put it, "sum up a life in a few details with moving completeness." It's why their compositions have been recorded by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tom T. Hall, Kathy Mattea, Tim and Mollie O'Brien, George Hamilton IV and The Seldom Scene. Irish singer Mary Black included their haunting "Don't Let Me Come Home a Stranger" on her CD Full Tide.

Saturday, April 12th Becky Thompson & Old School
Becky Thompson and Dan Lund deserve a Lifetime Achievement Award for pleasing Twin Cities crowds for nearly 30 years, dating back to when they were in the Sky Blue Water Boys. And Joe Savage deserves a fire extinguisher for the way he burns up his steel guitar. This is a 6 piece group of veteran musicians playing classic country, swing, and rockabilly so good it will make you weep. (I added the last part.)

Regis and I went to Whiskey River tonight for dinner which is where we like to go when we need to relax. There were a thousand cars there but not many people in the bar. We had a few Manhattans and a big plate of beef commercial. Just what the doctor ordered. Larry came over and visited for a while and we saw a few other people we knew. The stimulation is less than other places we might go on a Friday night so we really had a relaxing time. You can get a beef commercial there for $7.95. The pot roast dinner is pretty much the same thing but costs twice as much. I'm not saying we're being cheap about it, but we're being cheap about it. We used to pay 50 bucks for a cheese burger, a cup of soup, and a couple beers. This is a much better deal and we're happier when we leave.

Have a nice end-of-February weekend.

Doctor's help with sleep

I went to see Dr. Ruth today about my sleeping problems. I drove past the LeSueur exit and had to go up to the Henderson turn-off to get going the right way. Not a good sign. Ruth started talking about changes in sleeping habits as we get older and I almost started to cry. I was afraid she was going to start talking about not watching television in bed and shit like that. But Ruth is a realist and said it's not good to miss exits on highways because you're tired so we talked about Ambien. I don't care if it's the stuff that makes you get in your car in the middle of the night in your pajamas and drive around town drinking wine from a bottle. I am desperate to sleep. I asked about trazodone and she said she loves it...a lot of her nursing home patients use it. Hey, have I been insulted? So, I came home with a RX for trazodone and the caution to stay away from wine while I'm taking it. Good advice. Tomorrow I will be rested and happy and able to walk and talk at the same time.

Sleepless in St. Peter

Regis and I have taken turns waking up at 1:30 this week. Last night was his turn. I woke up at 3 and that isn't good but it's better than 1:30. I'm going to see Dr. Ruth this morning. Bob says she'll just mix me up a movie star cocktail but I don't think so. She's conservative about pills and has a way of getting to the bottom of the issue. I've tried all the home remedies: warm milk, melatonin, no wine, wine, and so on. I don't watch tv in bed and only read for a half hour or so. Sleep should not be this hard to come by and I can see why people start taking pills to sleep. You get desperate.

Our Girl Scout cookies were delivered yesterday. You see what you pay for those babies (a lot)and estimate the time it takes to eat a whole box (not much) and it doesn't seem right. It's a good thing they aren't for sale all year because we'd catch on and stop eating them. When the Wizard of Oz was on once a year, everybody watched it that night. Now that you can own the DVD and watch it whenever you want to, who cares? Same thing.

I have been checking out Youtube and looking at clips of old cartoons and movies. Here's the clip of Ma and Pa Kettle doing math. It's a hoot. 25 divided by 5 is 14 and they can prove it. And one of my personal favorites: Gomer Pyle doing a citizen's arrest when Barney makes an illegal U-turn.

On to the rest of the day. Looks like we might get some snow. I'll keep you posted, Miles! It's 16 frosty degrees right now.

Weird brain thing

I've had too much in my head lately. So much in my head that stuff comes in faster than I can sort and file it and stuff goes out faster than I can monitor it. I looked at a co-worker the other day and said, "I got an email from you today. I didn't read it. Wait a minute. I did. We're meeting for lunch on Friday." What the hell. It's like there's a lag in my processing center. Or I find myself talking about something I am putting together in my head as I speak. Or something will blast through my mind at some point in the day and I recall an email, a memo, a something related to it...and then I have to go on a hunt to find whatever that is. Usually I am successful which I guess is a tribute to the brain in general, not mine in particular. Scary.

Regis and I both had bad days at work (must be going around) so we went down to the bar, watched some Mexican tv with Tom and Jim Davis, and had a bite to eat. All in all, a satisfying evening. Mexican tv has something like the old Candid Camera only more over the top. The women dress provocatively, there's some slapping and kicking, and there's no resolution. It's even stranger when you can't understand a word they're saying. It's perfect for the end of a bad day.

And since we were both awake at 4, we're tired and would like to go to bed. It's cold and snowy and dark again. What happened to spring? I had to come home at noon and get my mittens.

Regis is planning a trip back to Pennsylvania in April. I'm already nervous because I know how he drives here among the slow and slower moving vehicles. Imagine him there where everybody drives like the back end of the car is on fire. They don't make eye contact, they don't stay under the sign that says the name of the road they're on, and they don't merge when the directions say to merge. It's uncivilized.

Sometimes I crack myself up as in this post from November. Things that annoy me in no particular order.

Doldrums of winter

It's a balmy 16 degrees this morning, it's almost March, and we're in the doldrums of winter. It's ugly outside: the snow is dirty, the sidewalks are icy, and the back yard looks like a dog poop bomb went off. You can't pick that stuff up in weather like this.

I hear the Pope warned against celebrating St. Patrick's Day on the 17th because it's during Holy Week. Regis read the real rules of the Catholic Church and they say it should be moved to the closest Saturday after Lent but that would be April 1st and who wants to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in April? So I guess they got a dispensation to have it on the 15th. It isn't the beer they object to but the corned beef. Couldn't the Pope just declare that corned beef is a fish for that day?

This is a capybara. The capybara is a is a semi-aquatic rodent of South America. It weighs about a hundred pounds and is about 2 feet tall at the shoulder. Capybaras are gentle and will usually allow humans to pet and hand-feed them, like a giant guinea pig. During Lent capybara meat is especially popular as the Catholic Church, in a special dispensation, classified the animal as a fish in the 16th century. Give a yell for those Catholics and their winks and then go down to the river and try to net one of these babies. .

I read on Charlie's blog this morning about a Can of Whoop Ass. I laughed out loud...then had to do some research. Thank God for Google is all I have to say.

And, in case you aren't familiar with whoop ass yourself, you can find the directions for how to open one here, on e-how, in the section on resolving conflict in your relationships. You never know when this will come in handy. Hey, does that look like Condi Rice just below the can of whoop ass?

How to Open a Can of Whoop Ass

Sunday night

It was such a nice weekend, I hate to see it end. We took Ella with us to Menards this morning. I had forgotten how hard it is to shop with a two-year old. She was good but she is no longer happy to sit passively in the cart. She wants to get down and walk...and pick up everything she passes. She never fussed when we put things back but we had quite a collection of stuff we didn't want...a watering can, a kneeling pad, a screw driver, a roll of duct tape. Regis said she is a retailer's nightmare. Or maybe not if we had bought any of that stuff.

We tried to watch the Oscars tonight but we don't have tv. We assumed, in the age of the internet, that someone would have it streamed. Regis figured out how to hook the computer to the tv but that was as much luck as we had. There were a few sites that said they had it but it was coming from China or something. Probably some guy in China with his movie camera aimed at the tv. I guess I'll read about it in the paper like I usually do.

Other fun things we did today: made Cuban bread (a bread so easy it almost makes itself), made fettucini noodles and Alfredo sauce, put a smoke detector in the office (well, ok, that wasn't so much fun), read the paper and took a nap in the sun. All in all, a good day.

Pizza

Isn't this pretty? I used round cake pans instead of the rectangular pan and I think it was the right choice. Half of food is the look. We used Italian sausage, sweet peppers, caramelized onions, and mushrooms. And of course mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. There isn't a lot of cheese on the top...just the parmesan and some olive oil drizzled over it...and I think it's so you can see the filling. If you read the recipe, you might have noticed that there was 1/2 cup of corn meal in the dough. I thought that was interesting but I think it's what made the dough light and crisp. Even in the center with all those vegetables, it didn't get soggy.

We watched the movie Ed Wood after dinner. I ordered it because Johnny Depp is in it and Tim Burton directed it...and I wanted to give them a chance to redeem themselves after Sweeney Todd. I'm sure that's important to them. Ed Wood, Jr. was a movie director, acclaimed to be the worst director of all time. He did a lot of B horror flicks in the 40s. The movie is in black and white and there are lots of recognizable actors. We really liked it and I'd give it a 4/5. Siskel and Ebert loved it and had it on their list of best movies of the year. Here's their review.

Happy Sunday and last week of February!

At the movies again

We made grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner last night...thick slabs of bread with white cheddar, provolone, and sharp cheddar. Then we watched Gosford Park. I liked it and gave it a 4/5 but Regis wanted to drive right down to the mailbox to get it out of the house.

It's about a murder at a British hunting estate so people wander around dark hallways wearing dreadful furs with the feet attached, kind of muttering under their breath in thick British accents. They light each other's cigarettes and have breakfast brought to them in bed by a valet or a lady's maid. The murder was very refined (just a little knife stuck in when you weren't looking...no blood) and there were no chase scenes.

I love British movies which seem to be often like this unless it's a British movie about transvestites like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in which case there is more flamboyance and more action. Regis likes movies like The Bourne Identity. That's too stimulating for me with all the chasing and shooting and killing. I thought Gosford Park was very funny in places and I chuckled. Those Brits can be quite wry.

We slept until past 7:00 this morning and I'm not rushing into anything today. We're making Chicago-style pizza tonight either in the rectangular pans or in the round cake pans that might work but might be too small. I found the right pan online and Nordicware makes it right here in Minnesota. I should have known. Here's the recipe:

A Chicago Legend

In Chicago...eating pizza is a dining experience, not just a snack as in most places. But it wasn't always that way. Ike Seawell changed things back in 1943 when he created deep dish pizza. (Some folks call it Chicago Pizza.)
This recipe was adapted from the book The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American by Jeff Smith. Jeff wrote that "I have tried to figure out how it's done at Pizzeria Uno and I think that I'm very close. I ran my recipe by Mama, a gorgeous black woman who has been cooking pizzas there for thirty years, and she smiled and nodded. You can't get much better than that!"

Dough Recipe

* 2 packages rapid rise dry yeast

* 2 cups warm water

* 1/2 cup vegetable oil

* 4 tablespoons olive oil

* 1/2 cup cornmeal

* 5 1/2 cups flour

In the bowl of a stand mixer (e.g. KitchenAid), dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the vegetable oil, olive oil, cornmeal, and half of the flour. Beat for 10 minutes. Attach the dough hook and mix in the remaining flour. Knead for several minutes with the mixer. (Note: because the dough is very rich and moist, it would be difficult to do this by hand.)

Remove dough and place on a clean countertop. Cover with a very large metal bowl and allow to rise until double in bulk. Punch down and allow to rise again.

Punch down a second time and you are ready to make pizza!

Oil your deep-dish pizza pan. Depending on the size of your pan, place some dough in the pan and push it out to the edges using your fingers. Put in enough dough so that you can run the crust right up the side of the pan. Make it about 1/8-inch thick throughout the pan.

Filling for a 9- or 10-inch Pan

* 1/3 pound sliced mozzarella cheese

* 2 cups Italian-style whole peeled tomatoes, drained and squished

* 1 teaspoon basil

* 1 teaspoon oregano

* 2 cloves garlic, minced

* Salt to taste

* 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

* 3 tablespoons olive oil

Place the cheese in tile-like layers on the bottom of the pie. Next put in the tomatoes and the basil, oregano, garlic, and salt, reserving the Parmesan cheese for the top. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the pie and you are ready to bake.

Variations: Before you put on the Parmesan cheese and olive oil drizzle, you might like to add any or all of the following:

* Italian sausage, hot or mild

* Yellow onions, peeled and diced

* Pepperoni, sliced thin

* Mushrooms, sliced

* Green sweet bell peppers, cored and sliced thin

Bake the pie in a 475°F oven until the top is golden and gooey and the crust a light golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes.

I'll take a picture!

Out of the cone of silence

I feel like I was so cranky from the cold and wind the first part of the week, that I left out some details of our exciting lives...

Regis is coming home to work on March 3rd although he says he will believe it when he sees it. The phone is hooked up, the office is cleaned up, and the desk is ready. Out of the cone of silence.

I decided tonight that I had to have a Chicago-style pizza pan. Of course, Target didn't have what I had in my head so I had to settle for a rectangular unit which doesn't seem right. Rectangular pizza? Shades of Jeno's and little wiener slices.


We went to Dino's in North Mankato for dinner. If you're local and haven't done that yet, you should. The food is delicious and the ambience is very nice. They serve New York style pizza, pasta, sandwiches, and some different appetizers. We had bruschetta tonight that wasn't like it's usually served. We've had blue cheese kettle chips there before that were so good you wanted to lick the plate.

Regis was in an east coast driving mood tonight. Honest to God, he is the only person I have ever know who has made a U-turn on both Minnesota Avenue and on Belgrade Avenue. He doesn't believe me when I say it just isn't done. He must have switched lanes a hundred times on the way over and back. If I had been driving, I would have picked a lane and stayed in it. It's just my way.

My right wrist is killing me. I don't know if I've been kneading too much bread or lifting too many bales. I bought a brace for it at Target tonight.

We saw Bill tonight when he was home for an hour to meet his kids for dinner. He came home Tuesday night to find the motor on his furnace had burned out and the temp in the house was 35 degrees. I'd say that was fortuitous. Tomorrow he flies to Cincinnati, then Singapore and then somewhere else equally exotic. It sounds exciting but tiresome....you know how I like to travel. We didn't give him any crap about the guy cleaning off his driveway at midnight.

I helped Peter with an essay today and complimented him on his writing. He thanked me but said it was kind of like your mom telling you you're handsome. Not much credibility when you're the mom, I guess.

Amazing how much better we felt with the temperature in the 20s and the sun shining today. A guy almost feels like he might survive the winter. Paul Douglas says the worst is behind us. Pretty soon folks will be out with their ice chippers, putting a can of beer in the snow bank until they're done cleaning the driveway.

Middle of the night snow removal

I woke up at 2 a.m. to the sound of a jet plane with all engines ready for take-off on the front yard. When I sat up and pulled the curtain aside to peer outside, it wasn't a jet after all, but one of these snow machines brushing snow off my neighbor's driveway that happens to be about 8 inches from my bedroom window. This is not my real neighbor doing this: Bill and Jean are gone for the winter so they contract with someone to remove their snow and cut their grass. Is this guy crazy? IS THIS GUY CRAZY??? There wasn't enough snow to brush yesterday much less in the middle of the night. A person who is not getting regular sleep does not need this kind of experience...the loud noise, the snow being blown against the siding of the house, the bright lights because you know this thing has headlights like the Gulag.

Sleeping has been like this lately...this is a great old Donald Duck cartoon and only takes about five minutes so get a cup of coffee and relax for a minute.

New PTO policy

That stands for paid time off. Regis works for the rich guy in Mankato who owns the basketball team. The one who has more money than God but gives employees a ten dollar check for Christmas WITH TAXES TAKEN OUT. Buy yourself a nice Big Mac meal. Anyway, the new policy is that you can call in the morning of the day you decide you want to, say, play golf, and just say, "Take it out of my sick time." So I think that's what Regis will do tomorrow. It's going to be 40 below with the wind chill. Good morning for golf.

I managed to get the baby gift over to Katherine Nova Callahan before she went off to school. I wanted to take a loaf of bread and do you know how hard it is to coordinate those three things? Baby gift, card, loaf of bread. I almost didn't wrap the books because it was too much. But I did and she's cuter than a bug and she got the books before she could read them herself. (Nova is a Hopi word that means chaser of butterflies. Erin said if Mike got to give her the last name, she got to give her a hippie middle name.)

We went to Harvey and Kathy's for tacos. They were good, and even better with the pinot noir that I brought. It was very relaxing to sit in front of their fireplace with a glass of wine and listen to the wind howl. Holy crap it should not be this cold at the end of February. The sky looked like the middle of December when we came home: stark, dark, cold, forlorn.

I hope I can sleep tonight. I was awake at 1 last night, looking at houses on the internet. I found a nice one on 9th Street but it has a pool and I'm not interested in that as a project. I didn't sleep much until I got up at 5. Not much the night before either which made it a bad day for brain function.

I finished Pretty Birds. I liked it but the person I thought was an enemy turned out to be a good guy in the end and I missed how that happened. It happens to me a lot that I miss a detail. It's what makes me avoid book clubs and quizzes.

Off to bed.

At the movies

I have a reputation for being one of the worst movie selectors of all time. Regis said he was going to get me a button that said, "Do not rent movies to this woman!" I think it's due to my trusting nature. If it gets rave reviews on the box, I think, hey, it must be pretty good. Thus we have suffered through some awful trash.

Tonight while working on our Netflix queue, I decided to search for a list of the worst movies. I found Roger Ebert's most hated movies list which is a hoot. He's really funny when it comes to blasting bad movies. About one he said it should be cut up and made into ukulele picks for the poor. He listed my favorite bad movie The Village and his review is so funny it's way more entertaining than the movie. I love his last paragraphs:

It's so witless, in fact, that when we do discover the secret, we want to rewind the film so we don't know the secret anymore.

And then keep on rewinding, and rewinding, until we're back at the beginning, and can get up from our seats and walk backward out of the theater and go down the up escalator and watch the money spring from the cash register into our pockets.

That, my friends, was the most productive thing I did today outside of lunch with Peter and Kathy. I spent all afternoon trying to take a nap because I couldn't stand the sound of the wind anymore. I was interrupted by the wind, dog barking at the moaning screen door, the wind, the UPS guy, the wind...and by that time I was so crabby and tired I really did need a nap.

I see the little weather bug on my computer says the temperature is 0. Tomorrow the temperature will be -. What does that mean? I know this just gets worse when you perseverate on it but I can't help it.

On a more positive note, there's a story in the Trib about critter cams and a little video to go along with it that's really amazing. A video taken by a camera on the back of a seal that I can look at in my own house and then email to my friends. Wow.

No school today!

There's no school today as we celebrate President's Day with sales at Kohls and Herbergers. What that has to do with presidents is a mystery but it's a good day to stay home...it's 2 below and the wind gusted to 40 mph during the night. Amanda wrote on her blog about surviving February and that's exactly what it feels like. We've gotten spoiled with these wimpy winters the last few years and this is hard on us. I think we've lost the right to brag about our hardiness because there sure has been a lot of whining going on about the weather this year.

The worst part of the weather change is that Saturday and Sunday morning, it felt like that damp spring weather. The weather forecast on the Trib homepage showed high 20s all week and then all of a sudden the wind comes up and it's 2 degrees again. All those little sunny faces and double digit temps and now the thermometer with ice hanging from the end of it. Brutal visuals.

My feet are so tired of wool socks and shoes. I think I'll get a pedicure this week in preparation for sandals.

Regis started another blog but I hesitate to recommend it because he has a content warning. He does cuss some but so do I and I didn't realize a warning was necessary. Maybe it's a sign he intends to get worse so take your chances. Today his post is about his frustration with deli food here in the Midwest. He should start a deli university of meat cutting, cheese selection, and roll baking. He thinks our rolls (as he calls them...we call them buns) are loathsome.


I have a poolish on the stove this morning waiting to be made into bread. Regis got me two new bread cookbooks for Valentine's Day. This one: The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread is just a gorgeous book. I made a poolish baguette yesterday but I had to rush the rising and I don't think it turned out just right. I can't bake bread when I'm trying to make a meal because it's too many things happening and I have a short attention span. Regis wants me to read about all the chemical stuff related to bread baking but I really don't care about that. I have enjoyed reading about bread bakeries in Paris and the Summer Loaf Festival in Portland. Here's a cool website about bread, too, called The Fresh Loaf. It's addictive, so be careful.

I gave myself until 8 to sit here and futz around. I see it's about that time so I'm getting up and moving on with the day. Stay warm, Miles and Callum!

Bologna

Yesterday I felt like I was getting a cold or the flu or something all day. I took two naps in the afternoon and didn't do a thing until dinner time. We ordered sandwiches delivered so even that wasn't much.

This morning we got up early and made our weekly trip to HyVee for groceries. I think we're on the seventh week of menus and organized lists so it's working out well. Some nights I don't feel like making what I had planned but it's still better than not having a clue what to cook. Regis has been helpful with all parts of it...shopping, cooking, and cleaning up.

We were home by 8 and started with our daily kitchen work. We wanted to try bagels so we got started with that, then baked potatoes for twice-baked potatoes, got the ribs ready for the roaster, and made whole wheat baguettes. Tiffany and Peter were here for dinner and we had a nice meal together. I sent Tiffany home with lots of left-overs, a computer monitor, cookies, and two jugs of St. Peter water. Peter took ribs and potatoes to his buddy's house in Mankato but wouldn't take any Valentine cookies because that would be weird.

I almost forgot the bologna story. Regis has had weird food cravings lately and today it was bologna. Not Oscar Meyer, but deli bologna. I didn't even know they had bologna in the deli. We ordered it then he shuffled off to the bathroom. The guy asked me how thick. I said I didn't care so he made it about 1/4 inch. Like the packaged bologna. Regis almost died. Apparently, in a deli, bologna is sliced paper thin. Who knew. He should stick around when there are important decisions to be made.

Now that everyone has gone home, we're ready for bed but it's only 6:40. The wind is howling and makes the screen door moan. The dog growls and barks everytime he hears that noise.

That's it. I don't care what time it is...I'm going to bed to read.

Saturday

Peter came home this morning for a long weekend. He was driving his own car and was very proud to squire us around to a few errands and then out to eat for breakfast. Funny when kids come home, one of the things they want to do is eat at a favorite place. His is Massad's in Mankato. Tiffany likes to hit all the fast food joints. Tiffany is coming home tomorrow for the day so I'll have both kids under my roof again. We're having ribs and twice baked potatoes. There was a lot of discussion about the menu!

Kramer had a bath this morning. Well, actually a shower. Regis bought a contraption that screws onto the shower head so it's easier to bathe him. We bought some of the perfumed shampoo from the groomer so he smells nice, too. He sure was happy to see Peter. He went right to his toy basket and got the ball Peter always throws for him.

I have a three-day weekend and I don't know why, but one extra day makes it seem like a real vacation. I feel like I don't have to do a thing today.

Baby goats are here!

Check out pictures of the baby goats!
http://goatcentral.blogspot.com/

Dysfunction Junction: Where's my gumption?

I think I'll blame my lack of gumption at home on being busy at work. I get a lot done there but come home and fold up like a card table. I shouldn't admit this but I've let the cleaning go lately. Those of you who know me, know I am capable. Of letting it go, that is. Like I used to tell my kids: You can write your name in the dust, just don't write the year.

Valentine's Day today so I put on every piece of shiny, sparkly, red bling that I own. It was more of a fashion statement than it was real fashion. It's too cold to care about fashion anyway. See the post on the fur-lined Elmer Fudd hat.

I made mushroom and scallop risotto for dinner last night. For a one-pot meal, it was complicated. I had to get everything ready because there is no sitting down to sip wine between acts and it took 90 minutes. It was very good but labor-intensive.

The cookies in the picture are not the cookies I made this year. They are the cookies I made last year but if you don't read carefully and just look at the pictures, you will think, "Oh, Teresa is at it again with the cookies". I did make some but haven't frosted them yet so it's not a complete fabrication. If I don't get to it soon, I'll just put shamrocks on them. You gotta roll with it, folks.


The temperature is supposed to be very cold again tomorrow as you can see. It's mid-February and we're having this weather fit for polar bears. What the (you know the expletive). This is what it should lbe like here tomorrow....bright blue sky and cold as hell.

I'm going to a meeting at 6:30 then we're going out for a Valentine's Day bite to eat. Most places will be busy so maybe we'll go to some unromantic place like Hermie's Bait & Grill. Nothing like Reuben Balls on Valentine's Day.

My brain hurts

I spent the last two days at a retreat with special ed folks from southern Minnesota, learning about the new state regulations about special education. Some if has changed since we met in August...new laws, new interpretations by lawyers, new something or other. You wonder why anybody would make a career of this. It was fun because we had a glass of wine and laughed when the business was done and then went out for a nice dinner. But my brain hurts tonight.

Today on my way home, I noticed that the snow is melting on the fields. It was only 15 degrees today but the sun was high enough in the sky (I guess) to start melting snow. There's a sign of spring! Paul Douglas said Sunday was the most dangerous weather day we've had in twenty years with wind chills in the negative forty range. We deserve a sign of spring after that.

Another sign of spring...the baby goats are starting to be born in Washington. Check out T Minus Nothing at Goat Central.

Despair

Our weather station says the wind chill is 40 below this morning and we're starting to feel despair. I heard GK on the radio yesterday say that some Minnesotans go to warm climates during the winter but he thinks its better to suffer despair quietly in your own home than to go somewhere and hope things will be better when you come back. Something like that. I liked the part about despair. Below zero wind chills are what make us appreciate spring and summer so much.

We're carb loading again today with pancakes for breakfast and pasta for dinner because a guy can't survive in weather like this on salads. You could take the trash can down to the curb, slip on the ice, and that would be it. At least with pancakes in your belly you might survive long enough for the next car to come down the street and see you there like a popsicle in the snow bank.

Tom's making pasta sauce and meatballs. After I announced that I hate those little frozen meatballs, he said he had planned to try and fool me. Ha! I had those meatballs once in a nice restaurant to which I will never return. The same place that served me a French dip on a (you know the expletive) wiener bun. This restaurant has had several inexplicable fires over the years so I'd say they are getting their just desserts for trying to slip fake meatballs past discerning customers like me. And the wiener bun, well, there is no punishment evil enough for that sin.

We're spending another day hunkered down. I haven't had sandals on since October and my feet are crying out to be liberated. In the last few winters, we've had a few warm stretches where you could actually get by with sandals on a sunny afternoon without looking like a complete nut. One of the good things about global warming, sorry Al. Not this year. I've been in wool socks and boots for weeks and it doesn't look like a break any time soon. If you haven't looked at the prediction for next Friday night, the wind chill might reach 55 (you know the expletive) degrees below zero.

A very good book to recommend: Pretty Birds by Scott Simon. Here's a snip from a review:

Young women served as snipers for both Bosnian and Serbian forces during the siege of Sarajevo; Simon, a prize-winning correspondent and NPR Weekend Edition host, interviewed one of them and has masterfully imagined her life.

The book begins with half-Muslim Irena, 17, perched on a rooftop, wearing a black ski mask, sighting down a rifle and listening to a sneering Serbian propagandist on the radio ("The Yanks send you food Americans wouldn't give to their dogs") before she pulls the trigger. Simon then flashes back to the spring of 1992, when Irena, her parents and her parrot, Pretty Bird, must flee their home on the mostly Serb side of the city. When they make it (barely) to her grandmother's apartment, they find her slain on the staircase.

Simon's account of the family's refugee life—sans water, electricity and supplies, they eat snail-and-grass soup—is full of brilliant details ranging from the comic to the heartbreaking. When a former assistant principal spots Irena, once a high school basketball star, he offers her a job that quickly has her recruited, indoctrinated and trained in deception and weaponry. That's when the action really begins to move along.

Pretty Bird is released for mercy's sake, flies to his old home and is caught by Amela—a Christian and Irena's former classmate and teammate—who concocts a devious and difficult plan to return him to her friend. A deeply felt, boldly told story and clean, forceful prose distinguish this striking first novel.

Stay warm today, friends. Babies especially, Miles!