sunday night in march

We had a hoot of a time tonight. I told Tiffany I would watch Elliot so she could go see her friend Teresa. I picked up Ella about 1:30 and we headed to Eagle Lake. Conversation with a four-year old is so surreal. She's riding happily along with me and then asks, "Nana, where are we going?" So trusting.

We picked up Elliot and rode back to St. Peter without incident. Let the games begin. If you want to know why young people are genetically programmed to have babies, spend an afternoon with a couple of them. The babies not the young people. Regis says it's either why young people have babies or why old people drink. We had a wonderful time but it seems like a whirlwind.

Nobody misbehaved. They were all (three of them) engaging and interesting and funny and sweet. But man, they are a busy bunch. If you look at the pictures, Ella's hair is flying in every one. The boys are letting loose with these amazing shouts of joy. Then they all just crash.

Our house is tiny and it would help if they could take more than three steps before a U-turn. We'll have a bunch here next Sunday for Easter. I started cleaning out the porch today (lots of stuff collects there over the winter) and we hope to have the patio open. An extra room and some outside space really helps. If anybody else has a baby before these three grow up some, we'll have to have family dinners at the Holiday Inn.

I'm going to pack up the baby bed, put my clean clothes away, and settle in with a book. I have an appointment to work out with Rachel in the morning at 5 a.m. After my week with strep throat and no exercise, I better put 911 on speed dial.

friday on the couch

I'm just sitting at home letting the antibiotics do their job. Imagining the little streptococcus microbes getting slam dunked by the amoxicillin street fighters. I feel so much better this morning....like I came out of a cave after four days. A bit worrisome as I drove to Mankato twice and attended a conference for two days of the four. Today I feel like I might stand a chance of being vertical most of the day.

Stupid blogger wants to write in italics today and I'm tired of trying to correct it. If italics appear, they don't mean anything.

I have some vague notions of what went on in the world in the past few days. Something with the pope. Something with the health care bill. Tea party rallies. Are those people insane? Has the whole world gone crazy? Deb said she heard a table of people in a restaurant say that Obama was only elected because college kids thought it would be funny to elect a black person as president. How ignorant do you have to be to believe that malarky? Too much Fox News, I'd say. That shit will cause brain cancer.

You realize that a lot of stuff I write here is not because I think it's particularly blog worthy but because I like to write and this is a good venue. I could post on Facebook ten times a day but then I'd get labeled as a nutcase.

Most people who are on Facebook don't post at all which is sort of like being an electronic voyeur. I guess they like those games like mafia wars and farmville which I hide. I can't stand those big pictures of cows, for one thing. So, I just hide every game that comes along. I also ignore all the heart requests and requests for support of this or that. I am a fan of Patrick's because I like to know every week, what they have on tap. A guy has to have priorities.

I have also hidden a few people on Facebook. It sort of goes along with my aversion to the news. People who only write maudlin, cryptic messages about their despair are blocked. They should find a good  therapist  and not look for salvation or redemption on the internet. I realize that people may not like my weird rants either and I think they should hide my posts if that's true. It might be the internet but it comes to your house and to your  personal computer so you shouldn't have to read anything you don't want to read.

This is a sign that people used to post outside their homes during the Depression. It signified that a kind-hearted woman lived there and a hobo could probably get a meal. My mom should have a sign like this outside her door. Bless her heart. She is so good about inviting people to share her home, no matter what their circumstances. Peter lived with her while he went to school and I know of at least five other people she's invited to live with her for at least short periods of time. I admire that about her. If all those people show up at the same time, there could be a problem, but I don't think it would bother her much. My mom is a kind-hearted woman.

I have two goals for the weekend: take the Christmas tree down and clean out the back porch. I want Regis to have this as a goal for the weekend: get the patio furniture out. But I don't get to prescribe his goals, unfortunately. Ha! We're having the crew for Easter dinner and it would be nice to spread out a little if the weather is nice. The porch is a sure thing; the patio is very tentative. April 4th; hell, we could have snow. Notice the plague of semi-colons in this paragraph? I'm never sure I use them correctly, but what the hey. Most of you reading this aren't sure either!

My neighbor is all done raking his yard. That's because he rakes around the snow drifts and as they shrink, he rakes the edges. This is no joke. I think the snow has to be completely gone before you rake. You rake in a t-shirt, not a snorkel parka. We aren't yard fanatics. We like the grass long because it produces more oxygen. We don't fertilize because then you have to mow more often. We don't water for the same reason. Why water your grass so you have to spend more time cutting it? Doesn't make sense.

I'm worried about what's going to happen when I run out of space on blogspot. About a year ago, I read about transferring this whole mess to my own domain but I can't really get a mental grip on what that means. Do my widgets go, too? Hahaha. Isn't that funny? Yesterday, I opened a wiki account, then realized I had no idea what to do with a wiki and didn't feel like going through the tutorials to learn what it would do so I closed it. My wiki experience was a lot like my experience with twitter. I don't do wiki and I don't tweet.

Moving on. Happy Friday!

sick

I have had a wicked rough week. I went to a special ed law conference on Tuesday and started to feel rough in the afternoon. I came home about 4:30 and went to bed. Same thing Wednesday. I stayed home today, took two naps, and still felt like hell when I woke up. I had a raging headache and a sore throat that didn't seem to be progressing into a cold. I drove myself to Urgent Care and TA DA...I have strep throat and now, a prescription for an antibiotic. The very kind doctor at the beautiful River's Edge Hospital said it will take one day to not be contagious and a couple days to feel better and I guess it will. Thank you for listening to my medical problems.

It's been a beautiful and sunny week. No complaints there. It would be nice if it were warm enough for lawn chairs but that's coming.

We're going to spend a productive evening watching John Stewart through 30 Rock. I am giving some thought to giving news in all its formats. I love John Stewart's humor but the Glen Beck clips are really hard to watch. How can a person be that damn stupid? And that tea party stuff is just so weird. Wingnuts and pitchfork wavers. Seriously, a  guy is better off not knowing about these folks.

I finished a book today but not wanting to disparage a Minnesota author, I won't mention the title. I was disappointed because I loved her first two books but this one had too many plot lines and too many characters. Even healthy, I don't think I could have kept track of all of that. I started Andre Agassi's book Open and so far, it's good. I bet I read the best part in the People magazine, though. I was more interested in his drug abuse days than his days as a nine-year old tennis player in LasVegas.

I won't be going to work tomorrow because the rules for strep are 24-48 hours after the start of an antibiotic. I'm getting sick and tired of being sick and tired and I can't wait to feel better.

Minnesota River Flood 2010

vernal equinox and of course, a party

Regis and I have a reputation for finding some pretty bizarre reasons to throw a party. We didn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day (other than with corned beef and cabbage and the parade) but we saw that the vernal equinox (first day of spring) was occurring on Saturday so, there you go. This is the crew we assembled to come for lunch: Vicki, Nikki and Scott (he's from Minneota, Mom), Harvey and Kathy, me and Regis. I made the old two-cheese casserole recipe, Irish soda bread, and black and tan brownies. I made Irish coffee and Regis made black and tans with Harp and Guinness.

The party idea was hatched one Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago. The invitations said sky clad was optional which amused us no end but probably scared some of our friends. We saw it on a pagan party site and it means naked. None of us appeared at the party naked which is a darn good thing. Imagining it is bad enough.

I worked with my recipes some more this afternoon and planned the Easter meal. I think I've mentioned before that I have this "meat" thing. We've decided we want to eat less meat and better quality meat. Scott (in the picture) raises cows, pigs, and chickens for the meat. Grass-fed, no nasty stuff like antibiotics, and they get to move around on their legs, unlike the animals raised on factory farms. So, we're going to get our meat from the coop, from Schmidt's, or from Scott.

We also bought a share of the Living Land Farm here in St. Peter. It's an organic farm on the Ottawa Road. Every two weeks we'll pick up a load of vegetables and herbs from them. I have three cookbooks sitting here by my chair so we can get familiar with ways to cook these things. Regis has made a commitment to be more open minded about green things. This is probably a natural progression from my "focus on food" of the last year. I'll be posting some pictures and recipes for our vegetable adventures!

For now, the Easter menu looks like this:

Strawberry Belinni

Deviled Eggs

Glazed Ham

Mashed Baby Red Potatoes

Roasted Asparagus

Seven Layer Salad

Italian Country Bread

Lemon Curd Trifle

I found this website on foodtv that has a lot of good, traditional recipes. I thought we were going to have a small gathering, but the list is growing already. I love holidays.

On to Monday. I'm going to bed early to read.

my favorite: wind

Not only is it going to be in the 30s today but they've added my personal favorite weather event, wind. 48 mph gusts. Lovely.

the weather is going to suck tomorrow

It was 62 degrees today. Lovely warm sun. Everyone and I mean everyone, was outside walking their dogs and stretching their winter legs. Laying on flat rocks. Soaking up the rays. I saw people in shorts and flip flops.

Tomorrow, the forecast is 32 degrees for a high. What the hell. That's cruel irony.

It was Tiffany's 25th birthday today. I can't believe she can be 25 but I guess it's true. We met her and Elliot at Mazatlan for dinner tonight. Elliot was transfixed (is that a word?) by the lights and bright colors and particularly by the guitar player who came to our table more than once. When the server discovered it was Tiff's birthday, a bunch of them came over, guitar player included, and sang a couple songs. She was mortified but I got tears in my eyes. What better way to celebrate? Happy birthday to my baby.

We're watching carefully, the health care debate, and plan to have a bottle of champagne on ice for the vote on Sunday. This, if done right, has the power to change our lives.

My mental health has been less than optimal lately, mostly due to the weather and the time of year. I made a list and a plan today and will implement tomorrow. Nothing I like better than a plan and a list.

Tomorrow is Friday. Back to sweaters and leggings. Ugh.

st. patty's day 2010

Elliot made leprechaun ears at daycare today. He sponge-painted the ears himself and don't you think they demonstrate artistic talent?

Tiffany came over late afternoon and we went for a long walk while we waited for the parade to start. We ran into the Queen Mary and Tiffany and Elliot got their picture taken with her. It's in the slide show. We had a great time...what a beautiful day for a parade. The streets were packed, I tell you.

Ella was going to join us for the parade but alas, she got sick some time yesterday and was home sipping 7-Up. Poor baby. Next year, we're all going to be in the parade. It's a plan.

march the 18th- sleep the 19th

A friend of mine told me today that the tradition in International Falls is to have a minnow swimming in your beer on St. Patrick's Day. The minnow swims around until it dies, you fish it out, you get another minnow. Some people swill them down by the end of the night. He couldn't explain what this had to do with St. Patrick's Day and I didn't google it. I just appreciate the myth.

Ella is going to the parade with us. I know the St. Patrick's Day Queen and hope I can get a picture of Ella with the Queen. She'd loved that big crown and green velvet cape.

I bought a couple shamrock plants today. I tried to carry them over the winter last year but we don't have enough sun to make that a successful project.

I made a Guinness cake on Sunday because Peter has a friend who loves it. I told Peter to take it to Jake. It still sits there so I guess it's fair game. Damn kid.

I found a sauvignon blanc that I loved so much I thought it must be expensive, because I have such good taste, right? I went to the liquor store and it was $6.99 a bottle. I didn't know if I should be disappointed in the wine or in myself. It's Petirrojo Bisquertt. Not only is the wine good, the label is lovely.

Regis and I went to the coop after school. We're revising out diet plan again. We've done that, radically, so many times in the past that it was on my list of "reasons why I'm pissed" today. I think I have my head around it now. Oh, yeah...forgot. We were pricing meat at the coop. After we watched Food, Inc., we resolved to be more careful (WAY more careful about our meat purchase and preparation) so we were checking to see what this would cost. Like, could we afford this resolution AND insurance?)

I'm reading Michael Pollan's books. I started with Food Rules, now I'm reading In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. I don't want to be a freak about eating habits so that's all I'll say. But they're very good books. If it won't ever rot (McDonald's hamburger) don't eat it.

We're watching The Quiet Man, our favorite St. Patrick's Day movie. I usually hate John Wayne but this is a good movie. They play patty fingers in the holy water. Oh my. Mom, you'd like it. See if they have it at your local video store. This movie and a bottle of that wine would make a good night!

I heard the sun might shine tomorrow for the parade. Oh, that would be a great blessing. We are sun deprived, sun starved. To be on Third Street in the sun for the parade would be wonderful.

I took my friend Mary, the St. Patrick's Day Queen, a shamrock plant today. Happy St. Patrick's Day, Mary!

 I'm going to watch the movie and finish my wine and get ready for the holiday! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

signs of spring today

a recipe from the past

I'm working on a project to organize my recipes. I decided against using google docs exclusively for several reasons most of which revolve around my love for just browsing through the binders and remembering special meals. Here's the mess today. I have ended up with binders for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's Day, Miscellaneous parties, Healthy, and General. One of the pleasant side effects is that I run across recipes I thought were lost. Here's one.

I first had this at Deb's apartment in probably 1976. I copied it and made if for a St. Patrick's Day party in 1978 when I lived in St. Paul. It's been missing for a while but here it is! Resurrected for St. Patrick's Day 2010!

Two Cheese Casserole
10 slices white bread with crust removed
softened butter
3/4 pound shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 pound shredded Monterey Jack
8 eggs, slightly beaten
4 cups half and half
1 t. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. garlic and onion powder
1/8 t. red pepper
1/4 t. pepper
1 t. Worst. sauce
1 t. dry mustard

Butter the bread and cut in cubes. Grease a shallow pan (9X13). Put in half the bread cubes, sprinkle with 1/2 of each cheese to make 2nd and 3rd layers. Repeat. Combine eggs and spices and other ingredients. Pour evenly over the top. Refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Bake uncovered at 325 degrees for one hour.

You can tell this is a recipe from the days when "light" had no meaning in cooking but we knew the bread didn't need no dang butter! With all the cheese and those whole eggs? You can skip that step. I adapted it a couple times by adding ham or sausage and it's very good that way, too. I think now I might use pepper jack cheese instead of the Monterey Jack. Just for more of a kick.

Back to my project.

saturday evening

We met Pat and Helen and Amanda at Mazatlan to celebrate Amanda's 23rd birthday. Peter took this picture. He was uncharacteristically social and joined us...saying he wouldn't pass up a free meal but he has passed up lots of them if it meant visiting with people. He stuck around for the whole evening and even visited. It was very nice. The food was delicious, of course. Happy birthday, Amanda!

Regis dropped me at TJ Maxx for a while so I could shop. I love shopping but I hate trying things on. It works out most of the time. Ironically, Peter went shopping today, too. He was quite proud of the sweatshirt he got off the clearance rack for five bucks. Hey, Mom! We trained him well!

I'm almost done with Once a Runner so I have to go to bed soon and finish it. Don't ask me why. I just have to finish it. Erin Hart's new book is next in line. She's going to be in St. Peter on Tuesday but I don't know if I'll go see her. It depends on the weather.

Tomorrow is a day to stay at home. I might take a nap. I plan to pick up the house and do some cooking. I plan to make my grocery list, clean out the refrigerator, get my clothes in the laundry, and get organized. I guess that would be get organized in a general way although being disorganized is sort of a fact of most folks' lives. I would really prefer a kind of gypsy life with no obligations and no responsibilities but maybe I wouldn't like that if I had it.

I say if I won the lottery I would quit working. People tell me I wouldn't be happy doing that. Hmmmm. I'm not so sure.

update on saturday morning

I stuck my head outside into the cold and damp and decided to hell with that. I went to the Pulse where I walked and ran for three miles then pumped some iron for a half hour. Satisfactory workout.

Had to get out the carpet cleaner for a pet mess. Good grief.

Had more coffee and a piece of toast. Into a warm bath to relax with more coffee. I like to make my saturday phone calls from the pool.

Niece Amanda's birthday today and her family might meet up in Mankato giving us a chance to see them. Haven't heard the final plans but we suggested Dino's or Mazatlan. I think we'll make this a relaxing day and tomorrow the day to get organized.

A good day for a nap.

saturday morning

I'm going to write a fast post here while I make my decision about what to do at 7 a.m. I didn't sleep worth a darn, I woke up way too early, and I'm a little grumpy. I can't decide if I should exercise inside this morning or if I should take my iPod and go for a long walk in the rain and muck. I'm leaning toward the outside. I'm not in the mood for a room full of people in a bright room. Yup, that's it. I'll just hit the pavement this morning.

Yesterday, on my way home from work, the sun was actually spotted through the clouds. I saw an actual shadow. I am pretty sure I detected a sliver of blue sky. It was fleeting, as Joanne says, and we were lucky to be outside when it occurred but it was appreciated. Be optimistic, people! The sun is still up there and it will return!

I've had two cups of coffee this morning and ordered some books on Amazon. They make that way too easy. I've gotten interested in Michael Pollan's books. He's been on Oprah lately and while I don't watch Oprah (too much yelling and jumping around), I do pay attention to the news about Oprah. I read his book Food Rules and I think I've written about it here before. One of his rules: If it won't ever rot, don't eat it. Interesting concept, eh?

It's a busy week. St. Patrick's Day Wednesday. Tiffany's birthday Thursday. Vernal equinox on Saturday. Make plans to celebrate one or all of those things. I don't get it when people say they aren't into birthdays. We look for reasons to celebrate so your birthday, my birthday, doesn't matter. Make a cake, pour a glass of wine, wrap up a present.

We went up to Tom and Betty's last night, opened the bar, and had a good time. Betty and I were dancing with Elvis and Gonzo. Good story there, believe me. They seemed to prefer the Jamaican music to the Irish. We're all anxious for patio and pool weather. Ella, Betty says hi... and how's Pitty Pat the Kitty Cat?

Better get my rain gear on so I can go for a walk.

the nuclear option

I grabbed that phrase from the Colbert Report but I have no idea what it means. I have a severe aversion to the news (always) and more so than usual so I only half listen. I know why it is: that crap gets in your head and goes around like a bumble bee leaving little tiny footprints of shit everywhere it lands.

I was at the Pulse this morning, walking on the treadmill, minding my own business, and all of a sudden realized everyone was gone. I didn't worry too much but I did wonder where they went. Then I saw shadows in the other room and realized they were all in there doing pilates. (How did I miss the exodus?) But...they went away and left the televisions on the news! I ignore it, but why would someone go away and leave the television blaring news about kidnapping and murder and robbery and war? Another poor soul decided to take charge and shut them both off and what a relief it was. Ah, well.

One week from tonight, there is a parade in town. People who are not fans say it's just a bunch of people walking down the street. Those are clans of people of Irish heritage and they're celebrating. There is a difference between that...and people walking down the street.

It looks like we'll make it through this miserable week after all. Ha!

cloudy with a really good chance of rain

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Today...Periods of rain in the morning...then a chance of rain in the afternoon. Widespread dense fog in the morning...then areas of dense fog in the afternoon. Highs 35 to 40. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight...Cloudy. A chance of rain and areas of drizzle in the evening...then a chance of rain after midnight. Areas of fog through the night. Lows around 35. East winds 10 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Thursday...Rain likely in the morning...then rain in the afternoon. Highs 35 to 40. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

Thursday Night...Cloudy with rain likely. Lows around 35. North winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Friday...Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of rain. Highs around 40. North winds 15 to 20 mph.

even the bunnies are sick of the weather

I went to the drug store after work which is a story in itself but when I came home, I walked right past this bunny in the front yard. He's hunkered down by silver garbage can we keep in the front yard for bird seed. He looks disgusted, right? I threw a couple carrots out for him but I think I scared him off rather than providing him a meal. He hasn't been back.

We're in the midst of a hard rain. A hard rain's gonna fall, Dylan fans.

Regis made Guinness stew for dinner. It made the whole house smell good. He said there was vegetable identification going on which means that he could tell the parsnips (he finds them loathsome) from the potatoes. We have a glass of wine now and we're going to watch The Big Lebowski in honor of Jeff Bridges and because we need a laugh here in the land of endless gloom. It's all gutter balls and strikes, dude.

Regis is a really good cook, a skill he hid from me for a few years. It's nice to eat the cooking of someone else.

Back to Stephen Colbert. Presidential puberty. Hahahahaaha

So, I guess it's about what we do to get through the March madness. We cook. We have wine. We watch funny movies. We have parties. We pick fleas off the dog.

Regis thinks the animals in captivity are rising up. As evidence he offers: the bear that bit three fingers off the woman in Wisconsin, the whale who did in the trainer at Sea World, and the otter that mauled the face of the 95 year old man. I could have some of the details wrong as I loathe bad news and do my best to avoid it. He says these stories are true.

John Stewart of the Daily Show, the only source on television for legitimate news, has a story on about bombs. I'm not a fan of bombs or news about bombs.

If you haven't been reading the comments on previous posts, you should. They are a hoot. I think some are from my mom and some are from Jill. Probably some from Deb. They're pretty funny.

Happy birthday to my Aunt Vi today. I tried to post a comment on Deb's blog but it wouldn't work from school. We have a chintzy bandwidth. A can and a string between schools, you know, with budget reductions. If I had a few glasses of wine, a microphone, and a podium, I would be dangerous.

Hang on. The sky will clear. The snow will melt. There will be green grass and daffodils and tulips. We'll be able to go outside without mittens and parkas. Be optimistic.

oh weekend...don't go

We've had a wonderful weekend. I won't do the play-by-play but it's been relaxing and fun. Tonight, I made focaccia bread for dinner and we had Irish cheddar cheese, red and yellow peppers, olives, and shrimp on a nice platter while we watched the Academy Awards. I'd like to stay up until the best actor award is given and I had a nap this morning so it might be possible. Then again, maybe not.

Focaccia bread is very easy to make and very good.

Regis is checking out the weather forecast, and they predict a big thaw this week. Today, even though it didn't look so nice outside, was almost balmy. It smells different when spring weather comes. We continue to look for signs of spring and this week, besides the smell of spring, we've noticed curbs which we haven't seen since November, the sound of birds in the morning, puddles on the streets, and bare legs. A guy has to be optimistic.

I started a project a few weeks ago that involved making sense of all my recipes but I think I'm going to abandon it, or at least I'm going to change it. My idea was to put them all in electronic format, on google docs. I could access them from anywhere and I wouldn't have to dig through piles of paper recipes or binders to find the one I want. But, I've discovered, much like pages of a book on the kindle, there is no context for a recipe in google docs. I don't have the picture, there are no stains on the page, and it doesn't have any recipe friends. Usually, in the binder, recipes are with others from the same meal or the same season or there are some clues about when I made it. I don't like this recipes in isolation thing.

I've noticed that nobody says good-bye in email conversations. At least, most of the time, it's true. I have some friends who write more formal emails and use a greeting and a closing but some friends, who tend to write a line or two every few days...we start a conversation and then one or the other of us just drops it. All those email conversations just floating around there in cyberspace. Unfinished. Very sad.

Well, it's ten o'clock and this show isn't over yet. I'm done. On to Monday.

saturday in march

Regis and I thought we would be teaching safe driving to old people all day today but thank goodness, nobody signed up for it and we're off the hook. It's a long day when you do an eight hour class.

We thought about going to the cities for a party but decided against that so we've had a quiet day at home.

We have been planning menus for the next couple weeks. It's St. Patrick's Day soon, and one of our favorite holidays but since it falls in the middle of the week, that puts a crimp in a guy's style. We're planning to do some more Irish cooking, though, like Irish stew with parsnips and turnips (and Guinness) and black and tan brownies (with Guinness) and Guinness cake and onion soup (with Guinness). Do you see a pattern here?

We're very seasonal people. We buy different food and drink depending on the season. It's fun to recognize holidays and changes in seasons. Today, we've had a lot of fun reading up on the vernal equinox and checking out recipes for that holiday. We went to the local MGM and checked out beer and wine that are more spring like than the heavy beers of winter. We can't wait to take our culinary act to the patio.

We have the Chieftans on the iPod this afternoon. Last night, we heard a song by Delbert McClinton on the radio at Famous Dave's. We came home and put one of his CDs on the stereo, then realized (via internet) that he is playing at the Medina tonight. We went to one of his shows there...maybe 8 years ago. We had a hard time staying awake for it as he didn't get started until almost 11:00. We thought maybe we'd have a Lone Star and listen to the CDs tonight instead.

In case you want to know the real way to make Irish coffee (as opposed to dumping cheap whiskey in a glass with Cool Whip) here is the link. Bill Murphy is an artist...of apparently more than art. This makes the best Irish coffee ever.

We're making orange chicken for dinner but the more time that passes the less interested I am in cooking tonight. Oh, I am a lazy one.

oh i just have to share this by verlyn klinkenborg: sometimes the smallest things

Lately I’ve been thinking of the things my parents taught me — all those habits that were handed over to me one by one when I was a child. These are the sorts of thoughts I always have when I’m teaching writing, which is partly the act of revealing bad habits to their surprised owners. What got me thinking this time was the discovery that I’ve been tying my shoes wrong for more than half a century.

I’ve been tying a granny knot in my laces, a lopsided knot that tends to come untied even when doubled. It’s the knot my mother taught me. But thanks to a tip on the Internet, I learned that if I wrap the lace around the first bow the opposite way, I get a reef, or square, knot, which lies evenly across the shoe and doesn’t come untied.

(You can see for yourself at http://bit.ly/92NW56.)

I believe that if my mother had known about the reef knot, she would have taught it to me. What mother wants her child’s laces to come undone?

Here’s another example. My dad taught me how to adjust the sideview mirrors on a car. In their reflection, I learned, I should be able to see the edge of the vehicle I’m driving — as though vertigo might set in if I couldn’t locate a mechanical version of myself in the mirror. But this is exactly the setting that creates a blind spot on both sides. There’s a better way (http://bit.ly/cY2dtl). I’ve been using this new setting on the freeways of Los Angeles, and I realize now that I’ve been driving with my mirrors improperly adjusted for more than 40 years.

These are small things. They’re also deeply embedded and as close to unconscious as learned acts can be. To tie a reef knot in my laces, I have to try to tie a reef knot. That means beginning to do what I’ve always done and then undoing it — reefing the granny, in other words. I’m sure my dad didn’t want me to have blind spots. He simply passed along the blind spots he’d inherited. Now I’m having to learn to trust what the mirrors show instead of what they don’t.

One of the beauties of the Internet is its ability to cough up tips like these from the collective experience of humanity. I’ll discover more, I’m sure — slight, but somehow significant adjustments to the things my parents taught me, the deep habits of a lifetime. I don’t imagine that I’m driving without blind spots in reef-knotted shoes on my way to the examined life. But something has changed, and I welcome it.
VERLYN KLINKENBORG

another sign of spring: curb

We haven't seen the curb around town for months. Today, I saw curb all along the length of Nicollet Avenue. I called Regis and he said I just might be taking the signs of spring campaign a little too far. I don't think so.

Last night we met our good friend, Bob Bergstrom (alter ego of David Bengtson), in Arlington. Arlington is a town not known for it's plethora of restaurants. It's a town of 2000 people. When I called the Arlington Haus to ask if they were open Monday, only to find out they were not, I asked about other possibilities for a place for old friends to meet. The person I talked to was stumped. Well, she said, I never go to the other end of town. We ain't talkin' the main street of Waterloo. So, we drove to Arlington, met up at an intersection, and went to Triple E's Cafe.

It was real home cookin', for real. Regis had a chili burger, I had a Denver sandwich, and Bob had a chicken salad. Chris took care of us in the modern vernacular...in the old days he would have been called a waiter. They didn't serve beer but the coffee was good and I had a lot of it. Chris was attentive.

We told stories, laughed, and I read Bob's poem about his dad and his uncle who have a laugh over not being able to run anymore. At the end of the evening, a whiskery aproned grill cook came out of the kitchen with a guitar and sang happy birthday to a little boy who was celebrating with his family and a screaming baby sister. He grinned like crazy when the guitar playing cook asked if he liked rock and roll. Very sweet. Very small town.

I'm sorry Marilyn Bergstrom had to be busy during out dinner. Maybe next time, she can join us.

I was tired at the end of the day and came home to try and take a nap in the sun. The dang dog must have dropped a ball under the bed because he kept getting down on his tummy and trying to dig around under there. Good grief. I slept for about ten minutes and woke up cussing the dog.

I saw two people riding bikes this afternoon. He was wearing an Elmer Fudd hat buttoned under his chin. Not a pretty sight. Like the confluence of athleticism and dorkism.

I'm reading a book called Once a Runner. It's about some guys who ran in the 70s. Long distance runners. It's on my kindle and one thing I don't like about the kindle is that when you turn it on, there's the page is. No clues, like the cover of the book. It's like waking up on the high diving board.

I'm getting into the spirit of March with black and tan brownies, Guinness stew (with turnips and parsnips that I loved but Regis hated), shamrock lights, and Jameson home decor. St. Patrick's Day is on Wednesday this year which is kind of a buzz kill.

I came home from exercising this morning at 6:15 and the sky was getting light. It's 6:40 in the evening now and the sky is still light. That means, for the math impaired among us, that we have almost 12 hours of daylight. La dee da la dee da happy dance. That is a huge improvement over December when we had about 8 skimpy hours of daylight.

Hurry spring time. We can't wait to move the Howard Fritsch rosemary back to the patio.

st. patty's day and you can decorate with whiskey

#1 sign of spring. Here's a pile of my winter clothes ready to go into storage. Regis says he loves this about Minnesota that we don't wait for warm days and the official start of spring, we just get out the stuff and act as if it's here. Velour and faux now leopard are just not done after March 1st with that as your philosophy. I hung the down coat in the closet and had Peter carry all the winter sweaters to the basement. The long underwear are gone for the year.

 

#2 sign of spring. Regis went out to pick up dog poop in the back yard. He always takes a box and I thought there was some great irony in his choosing of this box. Read the label at the top.

                                       

Even Kramer has been seeking the sun. He sits by the back patio door all afternoon and waits to go outside. He gets cold when he's out very long but as soon as he comes in, he wants to go out again.

  

#3 sign of spring. Anyone who has a dog knows what this mess is all about. I swear, it doesn't matter how diligent you are about cleaning up after your dog, there is always an ugly mess in the end.

  

#4 sign of spring. I like to have Guinness in March. I cook with it and Regis likes it in a black and tan once in a while. Today, it went into stew and brownies.

                                           

#5 sign of spring. St. Patrick's Day is the only holiday when you can use whiskey as a home accent. I love holidays.

 

  

#6 sign of spring. Guinness lights on the tree. I think there might be something wrong with my camera...it's making the close-ups kind of fuzzy. It ain't your eyes, pal.

  

#7 sign of spring. The first black and tan of the season. We have a special spoon to pour the Guinness over to make the layers of beer. I'm not good enough to make the shamrock on the top. I'll have to practice that part.

  

 #8 sign of spring. Guinness stew with beef, parsnips, turnips, and carrots. I made dumplings as a concession to my sweet husband who hates those vegetables.

 

#9 sign of spring. Guinness black and tan brownies. I thought the texture was a little weird but Regis says they are great. There's a layer of light brownie with pecans on the bottom and a layer of dark brownie with Guinness on the top.

What a lovely weekend.

oh what a saturday

 

  

 

I shipped out to Mankato early this morning for shopping. I intended to check out the clearance sales at Kohl's and TJ Maxx. I shopped Kohl's pretty well...found a skirt for nine bucks with a 20% discount. Great deals on some Vera Wang stuff that I love. Got a great Jones New York leopard t-shirt at TJ Maxx for $3.00. Good grief it was a hoot.

After shopping, I headed to Eagle Lake to celebrate Elliot's first birthday with his mama and his other grandma and grandpa. He seemed to be unphased by the continued hoopla but we had a nice time.

 

Elliot's getting the idea of unwrapping packages but he still likes the paper almost as much as what's inside.

  

 Elliot for bath toys and books. He's examining the Elmo bath toy here. He loves Elmo. And his mama.

  

 He can't believe we kept cupcakes from him for the first year of his life. He certainly knows how to get every crumb of pleasure out of a cupcake!

 

This is Elliot with his blow-up clown. He loved toting it around the house...and it's almost as big as he is! Happy birthday, baby boy!

Signs of spring: a kid riding a bicycle in Eagle Lake, streets were dry and water was running, neighbors were outside and NOT shoveling snow, ice houses were going down the road to their summer homes, icicles were melting. The sun felt so good today even though it was cold. I poured a glass of wine and basked in the sun coming through the front window when we got home. We can't wait for patio days.

Regis and I had a mid-afternoon dinner at Mazatlan in Mankato. It's absolutely the best food ever and so reasonably priced. You feel like you should give them more money than they ask for...it's that good. I had a seafood plate with scallops, shrimp, and tilapia on caramelized onions and peppers. It was delicious...made me want to lick the plate.

I might go to yoga tomorrow and then I want to take a nap in the sun. I can't get enough sun lately. We're going to watch the hockey game and relax in the afternoon. Weekends are just not long enough.

I'm making Guinness stew tomorrow and black and tan brownies...recipes out of a current magazine but I can't remember which one. Probably Cooking Light.

I bought some socks today that go up to my knees and have shamrocks up the sides. I love holidays. Tomorrow, I'm going to put away the Christmas tree and the Valentine lights. Can I hang Guinness bottle lights on a Christmas tree? I think this year I'll celebrate the rites of spring...

Busy month of March: safe driving for old people on the 6th, party at Michelle's on the 6th, Italian party on the 13th, St. Patrick's Day on the 17th, Tiffany's birthday on the 18th, Rites of Spring on the 20th, New Primitives at Patrick's on the 20th. I don't have time to work, you know.

this week

It was a rough week, sports fans. I had a bad case of the winter blues yesterday that required a glass of wine to subdue. Thank God for the grape. I think I said that earlier in the week, too.

We've been watching the Olympics. I love the human interest stories but I'm tired of the medal race. Isn't it enough competition that they race to the bottom of the hill? There was a funny column in the paper last Sunday about what (in the opinion of the writer) is or isn't a sport. I have some opinions about that myself.

I went on a rant one day at lunch (did I write about this before?) about the player for the Twins who is thinking about whether or not to accept a contract for, I think it was, twenty million dollars. That is obscene. Of course, the sports fans think I'm a lunatic and that might have something to do with my rants about the sports section of the newspaper. Never mind about that right now. But really, whatever his name is....twenty million dollars and you have to think about it?

I think I have been ranting a lot lately. My theory is that with the weight loss, my ornery molecules have been concentrated in my head and only find release in episodes of loud blathering. Yeah, that works.

Someone at school told me yesterday that they heard I was retiring. I said that would mean I had an anonymous benefactor who was providing for health insurance for Regis and me. I don't think it's gonna happen, Tim. So, anybody who is awaiting my drop from the perch is going to have to wait a little longer.

Speaking of health insurance, Keith Olberman has a powerful rant about that on the MSNBC website. I won't link to it here but it's worth a listen if you feel strongly about health care reform. Death panels, my ass.

I can't find my Crazy Heart CD and it's driving me insane. I have it on my computer and on my iPod but it's irritating when you lose things like that.

I just heard one of the announcers on the Olympics say this and I'm not making it up: If ifs and buts were candy and nuts. What the hell. She didn't finish it. What if they were? If wishes were horses...has an ending. Beggars would ride, of course. Good grief.

Tomorrow's Friday. Happy weekend! Take a nap in the sun if you can.

paragraphing errors are not the fault of the author

I've tried to fix the stupid paragraphing errors in the post below. They will not fix. Regis is learning about html but he doesn't get my questions.

cross posting

Sometimes I write a brief version of what appears on Facebook here later and in a fuller form. This is one of those times. I'm in transition to the hyper-fast electronic media. Thinking I won't make it all the way being the slow processor that I am.

I was going to exercise yesterday afternoon but when I went in the bedroom, there was this big patch of sunshine on the bed so I took a nap in it instead. I opened the drapes wide and moved my pillow so I was right in the sun.  

Last week, I ran three miles one day. I have piddled around with running a few minutes here and there and I decided I was going to do it, run three miles. On Tuesday, I went in, got on the treadmill and away I went. It nearly killed me but I made it to three miles. I guess that's what people mean when they say they sweat. I have spent most of my life avoiding that particular body function, preferring more sedentary activities like reading, so this was a new thing for me. 

I can't say I enjoyed doing it. I had to cover the console on the treadmill so I couldn't see the numbers. Before this, every one hundredths of a mile ticked by in slow motion. I thought at every tick, "I have to quit now". So if I couldn't see it, it helped a little.

I did feel a sense of accomplishment when it was over. I bragged to lots of people, sent an email to Rachel, and wrote about it on Facebook. Friday night at the bar, I talked about my sports injury for which I was soundly ridiculed by my friends. Oh well, I say.

I made manicotti tonight for dinner. I found a recipe somewhere (whoever remembers where that stuff appears) that called for rolled up no-boil lasagna noodles to avoid having to stuff (people really do this?) manicotti noodles. We think it's fine Italian fare and enjoyed it very much.

I see I didn't write much about the weekend but it was grand. It was the right amount of busy and lazy, social and anti-social, and had all the parts I love: a party, beer Friday, a nap, some cooking, some radio, some live music, and a lot of laughs. You would think it would make a guy ready to go back to work but not so much.

One of the teachers at school has a hamster in her classroom. She is out for a few days for a family emergency and we are left to deal with the rodent. Apparently he was circling the drain today. Not wanting to bother her, I asked another teacher if she was willing to "make the decisions". We (the royal we) moved the hamster to an office and called the vet. They euthanize hamsters for 20 bucks. I didn't ask about the cremation package, assuming he could be, uh, disposed of, in a less expensive fashion. I'm not sure how this all panned out as I had to go to a budget reduction meeting at the end of the day. I think there are some moral parallels here but I'm not clear on what they are.

So, that's all the news that's fit to print today. Sandy, if you are reading this....I have a message for you about subs. Don't let me forget to tell you tomorrow! 

And thank you God, for wine at the end of the day.

alexander and elliot birthdays

my new fur vest and I can hear you laughing already deb

I bought this cool faux snow leopard vest at the HyVee gift shop today. It had been 60 bucks and was on sale for 16. What a deal. When I walked into the house wearing it, the men couldn't quit laughing. Regis had to hunt up this picture of Sonny and Cher right away. I get no respect.

valentine's day

 

This is our Valentine tree. It has red chili peppers and paper hearts on it. I love it.

It's been a very nice weekend. Tiffany and Elliot came over yesterday and spent the day. Elliot toddles all over the house, laughs at his mama's antics, and likes to play with his toys. We had dinner at Whiskey River before they left. Good day for laughing.

I had taken two naps during the day so Regis and I could attend the New Primitives show at Patrick's last night. It was great fun but we got jostled around quite a bit by the youthful crowd. I think in all the years we've been married, we've been out past midnight twice. Last night was one of the nights so today we're dragging a little. Good day for music.

We went over to see Alex and Ella today. Ella told us she was very sorry but Valentine's Day was over last week. She's such a hoot. We played a couple games of Hungry Hungry Hippo and saw the new room they're putting in the attic. Good day for little kids.

Regis made a gorgeous prime rib roast for dinner. We had a shrimp cocktail appetizer and sauteed sweet potato with it. I made a mocha cake with berries for dessert. Good cooking day.

It was snowing earlier. I haven't bothered to look outside since it got dark. I bet Mom is irritated...she's tired of winter like everyone. I saw somewhere (I don't watch the tv news...so did this come as a news flash from space?) that travel in that neck of the woods is not recommended again. They've been house-bound all winter out there.

We watched short track speed skating at the bar last night before the band cranked up and tonight we're watching pairs figure skating. They make that stuff look so easy. I have probably written before about my idea that I should be skating alongside Apollo Ohno to demonstrate just how difficult it is to stay vertical on speed skates. That would give the viewers the clear idea, let me tell you.

Regis is busy working on a web development project and I'm heading to bed to read.

Restoring your body and soul with exercise

I was reading a Runner’s World magazine this morning on the treadmill. My knee pained me yesterday so I took a couple days off from running and was doing a nice, slow paced walk so I could read. The article is by John Bingham and is called Rust Buster. I couldn’t find it online to provide a link but I’m going to copy a couple paragraphs here. I think this could apply to any kind of exercise that we embrace. (The whole essay is on page 50 in the Best of Running December 2009 issue.)

In a column a few years back, I wrote that I had come to think of my running shoes as erasers. Each footstrike rubbed away damage from earlier years, when I had smoked, drunk, and eaten too much. Little by little, I was wiping the slate clean. Now I realize my running shoes are more powerful than erasers. They are the steel wool that scraped away years of rust that had accumulated on my body and my spirit- and kept it from coming back.

George Sheehan, one of our sport’s great philosophers, wrote that running, especially running hard, galvanized his soul. He believed putting all your strength into the final moments of a wholly exhausting run or race was powerful enough to transform you into a new and better person. I wouldn’t argue with that.

I would argue, though, that for someone like me, who let his body go to waste for the first half of his life, the experience is slightly different. Before running can galvanize you, it must first restore you. When you can move your body for only eight seconds before gasping for air, it’s hard to imagine running long or hard enough to reach a running high. Like that tractor, my body has lost its ability to do what it was designed to do. As much as I wanted to experience the joy that comes from hard effort, I had years of work to do before getting close to that point.

Running, more than just erasing, is an act of restoration for me. It has restored my muscles, heart, lungs, and joints. More important, it has restored my soul. It brought back hope to a hopeless spirit by showing me that if I made changes to my life, change would occur. As I ate less and moved more, I saw results. As I learned to set reasonable goals and achieve them, the sense of failure I had lived with started to fade. I was running further and faster. I was succeeding. Even if I would never be a great runner, I was becoming a better one- and a better person, too.

Now, I'm a beginner so I'm not making any great claims. But I have gotten up at least five times a week for more than a year. I guess that's something.

new coffee maker

The other day our coffee maker took a turn for the worse. We debated about ordering a part that might fix it, sending the broken one to Iowa to exchange for a new one, ordering one from Amazon, or just going down to the local hardware store to buy a new one. Regis went the local route. Those people are so nice and so helpful and we like to support the local economy. Except when we buy from Amazon, which we do a lot. The new coffee maker arrived today (the hardware store had to order it...probably from Amazon) and we'll have coffee in an hour! Hurray!

I love Thursday night before a long weekend. The three days lay out there like the yellow brick road. We have no big plans which means we can decide from moment to moment what we want to do. Regis has to work through some puzzle about web development....html something or other....but not me. I can turn my brain off tomorrow at 3:00 and not turn it back on until Tuesday. Hurray!

There's an article in the new Rolling Stone about Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart. I'm so anxious to see that movie. I ordered the CD about two weeks ago and I bet I've listened to it three times a day since then. I love it. I'll read the article later tonight. The cover....omg the cover...has some rap singer with his undies hanging out and he's covered with grotesque tattoos. Oh please. DECIDE WHAT YOUR DEMOGRAPHIC IS, PLEASE! Fans of the dude don't really don't want to see Lil Wayne on the cover of the Rolling Stone.

Well we are big rock singers, we've got golden fingers
And we're loved everywhere we go
We sing about beauty and we sing about truth
At ten thousand dollars a show
We take all kind of pills to give us all kind of thrills
But the thrill we've never known
Is the thrill that'll get you when you get your picture
On the cover of the Rolling Stone

It was below zero again this morning and I tell you, it's demoralizing. I mean really. A person has no manual dexterity with two pairs of mittens on and it's hard to start the car with the remote when you have those tiny buttons. You get tired of wearing forty pounds of winter clothes. I think I might have complained about this before.

Going to watch Parks and Rec and drink my cup of coffee.

update

The bunny ears are gone.
See picture below.

snow

 

Here's the synchronized snow blower action going on in the neighborhood this afternoon. There were two more snowblowers down the street that I couldn't get in this shot...and several people across the street with shovels. You can see how high the snow banks are. We have a hard time backing out of the driveway because you can't see what's coming down the street.

 

This is the apple tree with the little shriveled up and snow-covered apples left from last summer. On warm days, the squirrels wake  up for a while and eat them. I suppose they taste good if you're that hungry. Aren't they pretty?

I have a concrete bunny in the garden and these are his little ears peaking out of the snow. He's about two feet tall so you know the snow is deep. I can't remember the last time that the garden was completely covered in snow all winter.

I'm grateful that football is finally over. Regis doesn't watch it much but it seems to completely invade the cultural space. Arrghghggh. Who cares really. I'd like us to devote this much attention to poetry or gardening. A whole section of the newspaper.  Ten channels on the television. The Eternal Poetry Network. No?

I moved the Christmas tree into the dining room and hung it with chili peppers and Valentines. It's just beautiful and really lights up the dark winter nights. I'll take a picture of it in time for Valentine's Day.

I love the book Checklist Manifesto. I talk about it all the time. Today I read a chapter about the role Walmart played in the aftermath of Katrina and how in the face of complex problems, power has to be pushed outward as much as possible. Another chapter was about skyscrapers and how teams of specialists work on them and none of them ever fall down. How do they keep all that stuff straight? Did you know there is software that makes virtual representations of the work that goes on and cross checks building codes with tasks as they are accomplished? Amazing.

My rosemary tree has tiny blue flowers on it which seems like a hopeful sign of spring.

lists

I've always been a list maker and have passed that on to Tiffany. When she started school this semester, I gave her a small notebook which is what I use at home and at school. I keep a running list of things to do. Not big projects like "paint the bathroom" but things like call the dentist and those kinds of details that I tend to forget. And so, I was excited to hear this author on the Daily Show last week...

I started reading a book called The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. He's a surgeon and he talks about an idea for using checklists in ICUs to decrease incidents of central line infection (he explains this very well and the results are dramatic) can be used in many other fields. It might sound like my past obsession with the book Oranges (John McPhee) but it's really very good. I like non-fiction a lot when it isn't about disasters and disease and zombies.

I copied the weather forecast from the National Weather Service at the bottom of this post. I couldn't get the test to revert back so I had to do it this way. It's been a long winter. Harder on some folks than others, I know. Regis talked to a friend of his from his old job. More lay-offs there and people are constantly looking over their shoulders for fear of being laid off. His friend and wife have worked there almost 30 years and are both suffering. I read in the paper yesterday that 100,000 people in Minnesota are uninsured now. That's pitiful.

So, read the weather forecast and weep.

The National Weather Serviced has this to say: A LONG PERIOD OF LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW WILL IMPACT THE AREA FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. THIS LONG DURATION OF SNOW HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE SNOWFALL TOTALS IN EXCESS OF 10 INCHES OVER THE TWO DAY PERIOD.