Patriarch's Day 2012

Pictures are not in the proper order. I'm not sure how to fix that so we'll just roll with it. It was a good day but we weren't sure what the weather would do. About noon, there were gale force winds and sideways rain. Not good for grilling. Regis was confident that by the time we were ready, the weather would clear. And it did.

Since Regis is having knee surgery on June 26th and the 4th is barely a week later, we decided to celebrate the 4th of July on Father's Day.

It was a good spread. Thanks to everyone who helped in some way...and to those of you who showed up to eat.

Blueberry Corn Salad that I found on Pinterest. Regis proclaimed it the weirdest thing ever but I loved it. It has a lime vinaigrette, a few jalapenos, and cilantro. Nice bite.

Regis did a great job getting food pictures for me! I love to have pictures of the food. Emily said it's kind of like archiving the memories...like a scrapbook only digital.

Emily brought this great salad that she invented. Iceberg lettuce, mandarin oranges, almond slivers, candied nuts, and an Asian dressing. I love the combination of lettuce with fruit!

My baked beans. Deb, do you recognize the little bean pot? Maybe not from this angle, but it's one you sent me for my birthday some years ago.

Bob research a low-carb recipe and it was very sweet of him to do it. He made chicken roll-ups with bacon and ham and cheese. They were great!

Fresno potatoes. A riff on the hash brown cheesy potatoes. This one is made from Yukon Gold potatoes, bacon, cheese, and a sour cream white sauce.

A big old arugula salad, thanks to our CSA. I have grown to like arugula but it's spicier than regular salad greens.

I made the 4th of July pretzel rods for the kids. It was a labor intensive project with questionable results and a big mess. I won't be doing that again.

I love berry season. I think the strawberries are from California but I'm going to hit the farmer's market tomorrow and see if I can't score some local ones. The rest of the pictures are the barely controlled chaos of eating and taking a group photo. It was a wonderful time!

arugula and cooking with veg-e-tables

We got our first share of the Living Land CSA yesterday and I am determined to use the produce wisely. More wisely than in years past. I gathered up all my vegetable cookbooks, reviewed them with the list of what would be harvested when. So, when kohlrabi showed up, I was ready!

I have Kohlrabi Slaw in the refrigerator that Regis pronounced pretty good, I made Marinated Radishes, I have a mixed green saute ready for tomorrow night, and we have greens galore. I've been really disgusted with grocery store greens lately. A day after I buy them, I can find leaves that look like pond scum. Not appealing.

Here's a link to a recipe that I want to try. Coleslaw with Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette

It's a challenge to use all that stuff in a timely manner!

Regis and I are going to pop down to the bar for a drink about 5 o'clock. We think we made a mistake on the bill and want to correct it. Then we're coming home to cook a big steak and some peppers on the grill. Love this weather!

I took the garbage can down to the curb this morning and lingered on the sidewalk for a while because it was so pretty outside. I finally went back in and got my phone to take a picture of the moment. This is it.

the party what started out as jumpin' around

I had a dream that I wrote a book called The Party What Started Out as Jumpin' Around. I wrote about it here. It occurred to me that it would have been a good theme for the birthday party or at least for a blog post. Ah, well.

I had a dream the other night that someone built me a wooden cart with an umbrella. It looked a little bit like this in the dream. Not as fancy.

More like this. With an umbrella. I don't remember being dressed as a rag picker from Charles Dickens' time but that would be appropriate.

I pushed it up and down Minnesota Avenue filled with scones and muffins and a airpot full of coffee. I was wearing an apron. People would pull over in their cars and I would sell them coffee and treats. Yeah, my subconscious has a great imagination.

I have been hunkered down most of the day writing my social media. After about four hours of that, a guy could get a little bit irreverent. I learned at my seminar that Twitter is like a Chamber cocktail party where everyone has had a few glasses of wine. I can relate. There is so much to learn...it makes my head swim.

Last week, I met with a young fellow about a new thing called SpotOn. Their website says SpotOn is a simple rewards program and social media platform that lets you connect with customers long after they have left your store. I listened to him for about a half hour, working really hard to hang on to the threads of meaning. I finally said he had to stop so I could let this roll around in my head and get into the right slots. It's not that hard, but you know how it is, right?

I think I will adjourn this party to the patio for now. I have had quite enough of computer screens for the afternoon. Carry on.

sunday wind down

We've been to church on the patio, we've eaten, we've played with the dog, we've listened to music. We feel like our batteries are drained and we're waiting for them to recharge.

I looked through some old Arts and Entertainment sections of the Trib and added to my book list.

I made a list of party attendees and counted them. Almost 60.

I looked through the birthday cards again.

I read the obituaries in the Tribune. One really nice one. I sent an email compliment. Very nice writing.

I've been watching the Weather Channel. The sky looks dark, it's humid, and it feels unsettled.

It's going to be hard to go back to business-as-usual tomorrow. Can you tell?

Waiting for storms...

Notice the gold fish in the martini.

and a few things I forgot to mention

That's my friend, Monica, in the picture with the John Denver look-alike in the party photos. She was convinced he was a relative of John Denver, but the fellow said he wasn't. He does seem to be cultivating that look and he sure enjoyed that Monica thought he looked like John. Monica, never shy about her thoughts, told him he should get his DNA checked because John's wife was from St. Peter and he would have been hanging out here about 40 years ago.

We love this band. Now I have a signed CD of Shake Your Boogie, another copy of Shake Your Boogie, and Live at Blues on Grand. They're going to play at the Savoy in Mankato on Sunday, July 29th. We have it on the calendar.

Ironically, they're going to play at Checker's Tavern in Cedar Rapids, Iowa next Thursday night. Monica might gather up the Iowa gang and attend. I think she just wants to see if John Denver shows up again.

This is me with Bobby Lee Sellers, Jr., the drummer in the band.

And this is me with Reverend Raven himself.

He always goes out into the crowd and jumps up on a table. He wears red shoes...I love that.

Another party story. My friend, of Mary's Flowers, came in the door of Patrick's about 10 o'clock carrying a five gallon pail full of 60 roses and a You Rock balloon. She told me I had to give the roses away in 60 seconds. I didn't make it in 60 seconds but I did give them all away. Some people were really tickled by it, some refused to take one (men, mostly), and some thought I was selling them. Yeah, right. When I told the stories, they loved it. Mary, what a sweetheart.

My circle skirt was a blast to wear. I bought it on etsy.com from Amanda in Texas. I'm dancing with our friend, Al. He is a great dancer and it's hard to keep up with him. There was some great blues dancing going on, let me tell you. Amber said, "Who invited these pros? They're making us look bad."

I had these shoes on for the first two hours of the party but when the band started, I had to switch to the flat sandals. These are not dancing shoes.

Well, that's about it for now. Going to the patio to enjoy some heat and wind.

a few tales

This was my list for Friday. I was checking it and crossing things off until 4 o'clock when I was finally done. Done getting dressed. Done paying for things. Done worrying about this or that. Done. I sat down to wait for the fun to start.

By six o'clock, the band was set up, the food was on the table, the cupcakes had been displayed, and the friends & family were beginning to gather.

Oh, my. What fun we had. We danced and sang and hugged everyone and we carried on until 1:30 a.m.

The next day, we drove out to Schmidt's meat market to buy big steaks for the grill. We stopped at the Chankaska Creek Winery for some cold beer and a glass of wine on the deck.

This is Monica and Ronnie, Dick, me, and Jane on the deck at the winery.

We came back to the house and continued the merriment. Great food, wine, stories, and laughing until we cried. 

This morning, more coffee, more stories...and Monica spiked my hair up! What a hoot!

This is my list for Sunday. Regis took Gus and Ella to the dog park. I laid in bed under the ceiling fan and read the paper, I made an egg bake, I did the dishes. Now I'm working on the second item: gather up our brains for the week.

It was so much fun. Regis said it's probably illegal in some southern states and maybe even a few midwestern ones to have as much fun as we had this weekend. What a way to celebrate 60 years.

pictures first...stories later

zero hour and it's party time

I'm sitting in the living room, hunched over my computer, drinking coffee, thinking about getting up to do the cleaning I meant to do yesterday. I have 30 minutes to take care of that since I have to be at work by 9:30.

Jan is coming to help with the real cleaning this morning. I know that might make me sound lazy but it's the way it is. I'm a bad cleaner, I have really low standards for my own cleaning, and Jan likes doing it. So what?

Regis is not concerned about anything. Now that the hotel rooms are paid for and the dog is on his way to The Paw, things are fine. He says he will pull a t-shirt of the drawer and he will look fine. He's probably right.

I, on the other hand, have been focused on some bizarre details. Should I shower before or after work? Or both? (I smell like toast when I come home from the coffee shop.) Should I put cookies or biscotti in the hospitality bags I'm taking to the hotel for the guys in the band and for our out-of-town guests? When should I pick up the cupcakes and how long can they sit in the car? I guess I just need to make a plan and stop fussing.

Somebody asked me this week why we would hire a band like this and have a giant party. I said because my husband indulges me. I love this band and he wanted to do something nice for me. Isn't that sweet?

This afternoon, I'll put on my new circle skirt, my flame orange nail polish, and my shiny earrings and go down to hear Reverend Raven and the Chain Smokin' Altar Boys. What a hoot. Regis is taking the camera so there will be pictures.

Crazy friends from Iowa are arriving sometime late afternoon. They're staying in a motel down the street and will be here for a few meals and for socializing on the patio. Could be some legendary action.

Here we go. If you aren't joining us tonight, think about us at 8 when Reverend Raven takes the stage!

my morning journal

I love sitting at my desk in the morning to write. I've been cranking out the River Rock blog on a fairly regular basis and it's easy to focus on that and neglect my own. I think clearing off my desk helped.

Regis and I had a nice day yesterday. Gus went to The Paw and we did a little shopping and went out for lunch. I try to keep the thought in my head that I am trying to clear my house of clutter so I shouldn't buy more stuff but I couldn't resist this orange purse. No pictures. You'll have to see it.

We're in the last two days of birthday party prep which really isn't prep at all since we're having it somewhere else and I'm not doing anything. I decided not to worry about weeding the garden, something I rarely worry about anyway and why would I worry about it now, I wonder.

I like frogs and have a lot of them in my garden. The lawn art kind of frog, not the real, amphibious kind of frog. Not that I have seen the real kind, anyway. Doesn't mean they aren't there. I was walking over to take a picture of another weird happening when I spotted these guys down among the dead leaves and new growth. The laughing one cracks me up.

This is a giant toad stool that appeared on my neighbor's lawn overnight. You can see another one in the background with more of an open umbrella look. I got right down there to photograph this one. It looks like an alien ship. Regis asked me why I called it a toad stool and not a mushroom. Not sure.

I don't eat anything that grows on the lawn, I don't care how much like a mushroom it looks. I had an unfortunate episode with some morel mushrooms a few years back and I don't even mess with them anymore.

When we picked Gus up at The Paw yesterday, we were given this treat bag. It's from Sadie, the dog who celebrated her birthday yesterday. The cookies were for Gus. Haha! How cute is that!

social media and brain clutter

I'm taking a break from the world of social media for which I am paid to do my own personal social media campaign. That's what we call it in the social media world. A campaign.

I spent the last hour cleaning off my desk and trying to clear my part of the office of junk. I have a large desk where my computer sits but I was trying to use if for all of these purposes:

• Make-up and hair drying
• Vitamin storage
• Personal paper correspondence (cards, stationery, stamps, address book)
• Work of my kinds
• Exercise clothes storage (what?)
• Medical records
• Bills

Good grief. No wonder I was over-whelmed.

I've cleaned out everything but the work-related stuff. I have to find another place for all that other junk. I threatened on Facebook to start a bonfire in the middle of the street and start tossing.

I could use that TLC show about clutter...their team...to come in and get me organized.

Now I'm down to four piles.

• A current work pile
• An on-going work pile
• A personal pile
• A miscellaneous pile

Our house is too small to maintain this level of shit accumulation. It's a constant battle to keep the common areas free of junk. I have given up on the basement and the back porch. No, that's not true. But many days I don't have the gumption to face it.

The article that I have but keep losing is now on my desk. Front and center. How to Tackle Your Clutter. There you go.

no pictures...just blather

I went to work out with Rachel this morning. Except that I know this is what I pay her for, I would think she was trying to kill me.

Regis is down there now, probably not faring any better than I did. He's trying to strengthen his knees before he gets one or both replaced.

Like I told her, I'm not complaining. I can do a lot of things that some people half my age can't do and I'm glad for that. One-legged squats, for example. That will serve me well into my old age, right?

Rachel is telling me about what she calls the new wave of fitness whereby you try to stay strong and balanced into your older years. So you can get off the toilet at the nursing home by yourself, presumably.

You see the future and it's not the future you want. Yes, I have been there.

We had such a nice weekend that it's hard to face the day and leave it behind.

It was so much fun to see my mom this weekend. She is such a good sport and so much fun. She likes wine and she likes people so taking her to vineyards was a hoot and a half, as they say.

I'm reading Jim Harrison's books again because I love them. Some people in the reviews complain about his rambling style but it suits me. I find so many sentences that I love. I miss the characters when the book ends.

I do spend some time trying to find new things to read but it's a struggle.

It's the weekend of our big birthday bash. There are parts of this I over-thought and parts I probably under-thought. The guest list, for example, is a real mess. I lost my addresses off my computer so some out-of-towners are going to have a good excuse not to travel. I carried invitations in my purse and sometimes handed them out with reckless abandon. Ah, well. Such is life.

Off into the week. I had fewer blog posts last month than I ever have in the history of the blog so my goal is to do better this month. Here's to June.

weekend in pictures

Hey, these pictures are even in order! Ha! It was a fine, fine weekend. We had so much fun. Thanks for coming everyone!