OK, I didn't really intend to take a one-month hiatus, but...I really haven't been cooking all that much. Some chicken chili here, a lot of panzanella and caprese salad there....I'm just doing a lot of assembling raw ingredients rather than cooking big meals from scratch.
But let me tell you, the heirloom tomatoes out here are stunning - gorgeous, multicolored, sweet as candy and perfectly ripe. Check out these ones that I had in my caprese salad last night!
Honestly, though, I've just been kind of swamped this summer. Between the Harry Potter book release (which I finished within 25 hours), going on vacation (camping, Monterey, Portland, etc), Rugrat's change in custody arrangements, and spending as much time as possible with Mr Wonderful....I just haven't had as much time as I'd like to do food blogging. I promise that when fall comes and school starts back up (and Mr Wonderful moves in), things will get into a more regular rhythm. Plus I just enjoy cooking more when the weather is colder. It's hard to get excited about turning on your stove or oven when it's 100 degrees outside.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Weekend in Portland
Saturday morning we went canoeing on the Clackamas river with my sister & her whole family (six people in a four-person canoe...it was an experience for sure). Of course we flipped the boat, but managed not to do it until the very end of the trip, so we weren't soaking wet for very long.
Saturday evening we hit up the Portland Brewers Festival, and oh my goodness, that beer was STRONG! I had three or four and I was completely blitzed. My sister acted as our designated driver, and thank goodness because the rest of us were pretty drunk. I ended up passing out in my clothes and woke up very early on Sunday with a blue-ribbon hangover. It was a horrible headache, but I think it was worth it. We really had a great time overall and I'm looking forward to visiting again soon (but next time I'll bring the Rugrat; my nephew was very disappointed that Rugrat didn't come).
In relationship news, Mr Wonderful and I have decided to shoot for October 1 as his move-in date. This may be altered based on how comfortable Tomboy is with all this; it will probably seem very fast to her, considering she hasn't spent a whole lot of time with Rugrat and I yet. So we're going to see how things go - we are planning a sleepover on the first weekend that we both have the kids (in about two weeks, when Rugrat returns from summer camp). I've talked things over with Rugrat and told him that Mr Wonderful is probably going to move in before Halloween, and his only complaint was that it will be a whole two months before he gets a pet (Mr Wonderful has a snake and a cat). He is thrilled with the idea of having a "sister" (his word, not mine), and was very happy to hear that she would be here on the same weekends he will. Mr Wonderful and I are making plans already; he's looking into transferring to the local hospital that will open this winter, and I am making plans to redo the office so that Tomboy can have it for her room. There is a lot to do, with rearranging stuff and getting rid of superfluous things (i.e., boxes and boxes of books), but I think we can get it done in two months.
This is a little scary though, for both of us. Mr Wonderful has never lived with a girlfriend before - at least not officially. He was "practically living" with a serious girlfriend at one point, he says, but he always had his own place. I am a little freaked out too - of course I've lived with boyfriends (and my husband, a million years ago) before, but it's been about five or six years since the last time I lived with another adult. I'm used to making decisions on my own and not having to consult with anyone else; this is going to be quite a change. And the fact that we both bring almost-tweenage children to the party is another complicating factor. The last time I lived with someone, Rugrat was a toddler. He didn't have a whole lot to say about it back then. He seems fine with it now, but I'm not sure he really gets that this is going to be a permanent thing. So even if he fights with Tomboy, or the cat scratches him, or Mr Wonderful tells him to clean his room, or whatever...we're not going to change things just because Rugrat decides one day that he doesn't like it. We're merging two families together; there are bound to be some bumps in the road. And the ease with which Rugrat is taking the news kind of scares me, because I don't think he realizes what's actually going to happen here.
So...there's some stress here, for all of us. But Mr Wonderful and I are excited about taking this step, and the majority of the time we are very happy with this decision. We are both committed to making this relationship work, on a very permanent basis. This is just the next logical step for our family.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Harry Potter and more (no spoilers)
As I may have mentioned (once or twice or a million times), Rugrat and I had planned for the past six months to attend the Harry Potter book release party at our local B&N. Rugrat decided, the day before the party, that he wanted to dress up as a Death Eater. I think his costume turned out rather well, don't you? I also drew a "Dark Mark" on his left forearm with a dark green pen, and we got many compliments on it at the party. It was a MADHOUSE there...we waited in line for an hour and a half just to check in and get the armband. My armband was #96, which means I was the 96th person to check in who had reserved a copy of the book already; many people had not reserved a copy, and they got a different-colored armband.
At 11 pm, they started lining people up according to the numbers on their wristbands. There were different sections of the store for each group of 50 people. At midnight, they opened up ALL the registers and they moved people out FAST. They had the books pre-bagged; you just paid and they threw the receipt in the bag. We were way at the end of the second group of 50, but we were still out of the store within fifteen minutes. It was incredible.
We came home, I hurried Rugrat into bed, and then settled in to read for about an hour before I conked out. I ended up finishing the book around 1 AM on Saturday night, and I have to say, it was fantastic. This is how you finish off a seven-book series. Yeah, I'm looking at you, Stephen King (I'm still bitter about the ending of the Dark Tower series). HP7 was very satisfying. Of course, it also made me feel super-smart, because pretty much all of my predictions came true. ;-) Knowing (or thinking I knew) what was going to happen didn't stop me from sobbing like a little baby when I read those parts though.
OK, enough about Harry. Just a quick update about Mr Wonderful -- we have started discussing, seriously, the idea of his moving in. To the point that we are talking about what we need to get rid of (in order to fit the things he's bringing), and him transferring to the local Kaiser, and redoing the office/spare room for Tomboy. Of course none of this is happening right away, because the kids still need to spend more time together (which they won't get to really do much of until September), and Tomboy needs to spend more time with me, and get comfortable with the house and stuff. But this is happening, and it will likely be within the next few months. Mr Wonderful and I are very excited about it. I just can't wait to go to bed with him every night and wake up next to him every morning.
And because my life has taken this turn...I am sorry to announce that I am giving up the dream of opening the used book store. At this point, it just doesn't make sense for me, or for us. I can't afford to quit my job and strike out on what would likely be a very financially unstable business venture, especially as Mr Wonderful will soon be going back to school for a couple of years, and will probably only be working part time. And I can't keep collecting these books and storing them in boxes in my garage; quite frankly, we need the space. So I am going to make plans to get rid of the books I've got - whether via garage sale, donating to libraries/other causes, selling to used bookstores, or whatever...they've just got to go. I'm a little sad, but the fact that I haven't made any real moves towards starting the business (besides amassing HUGE numbers of books) tells me that it's obviously not the right time. And making a life together with Mr Wonderful and Tomboy is more important to me than holding on to a dream that may or may not ever happen.
At 11 pm, they started lining people up according to the numbers on their wristbands. There were different sections of the store for each group of 50 people. At midnight, they opened up ALL the registers and they moved people out FAST. They had the books pre-bagged; you just paid and they threw the receipt in the bag. We were way at the end of the second group of 50, but we were still out of the store within fifteen minutes. It was incredible.
We came home, I hurried Rugrat into bed, and then settled in to read for about an hour before I conked out. I ended up finishing the book around 1 AM on Saturday night, and I have to say, it was fantastic. This is how you finish off a seven-book series. Yeah, I'm looking at you, Stephen King (I'm still bitter about the ending of the Dark Tower series). HP7 was very satisfying. Of course, it also made me feel super-smart, because pretty much all of my predictions came true. ;-) Knowing (or thinking I knew) what was going to happen didn't stop me from sobbing like a little baby when I read those parts though.
OK, enough about Harry. Just a quick update about Mr Wonderful -- we have started discussing, seriously, the idea of his moving in. To the point that we are talking about what we need to get rid of (in order to fit the things he's bringing), and him transferring to the local Kaiser, and redoing the office/spare room for Tomboy. Of course none of this is happening right away, because the kids still need to spend more time together (which they won't get to really do much of until September), and Tomboy needs to spend more time with me, and get comfortable with the house and stuff. But this is happening, and it will likely be within the next few months. Mr Wonderful and I are very excited about it. I just can't wait to go to bed with him every night and wake up next to him every morning.
And because my life has taken this turn...I am sorry to announce that I am giving up the dream of opening the used book store. At this point, it just doesn't make sense for me, or for us. I can't afford to quit my job and strike out on what would likely be a very financially unstable business venture, especially as Mr Wonderful will soon be going back to school for a couple of years, and will probably only be working part time. And I can't keep collecting these books and storing them in boxes in my garage; quite frankly, we need the space. So I am going to make plans to get rid of the books I've got - whether via garage sale, donating to libraries/other causes, selling to used bookstores, or whatever...they've just got to go. I'm a little sad, but the fact that I haven't made any real moves towards starting the business (besides amassing HUGE numbers of books) tells me that it's obviously not the right time. And making a life together with Mr Wonderful and Tomboy is more important to me than holding on to a dream that may or may not ever happen.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Today's the day!
Or, rather, tonight's the night. Rugrat has decided that he wants to dress up this time...as a Death Eater. Heh. Yeah, that's pretty standard for him. I think we're going to have to hit a party store or something for some costume materials this afternoon/evening. He really needs a black hooded cloak to pull off the costume, and Mr Wonderful suggested that we get a mask and spray paint it silver (as opposed to just using the "mask" Rugrat made out of tinfoil taped to a pair of sunglasses).
The bookstore party starts at 7 PM, and Rugrat is so excited to be allowed to stay up until midnight (without being forced to take a nap in the afternoon). Whereas I am just excited to get my hands on the book I've been eagerly anticipating for several years now.
The bookstore party starts at 7 PM, and Rugrat is so excited to be allowed to stay up until midnight (without being forced to take a nap in the afternoon). Whereas I am just excited to get my hands on the book I've been eagerly anticipating for several years now.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Final countdown
There are now less than five days to go before the final Harry Potter book is released. Yes, I'm counting down the hours. Yes, I'm a total and complete spaz.
I started re-reading the series late last month, and am probably a third of the way through the sixth book as of right now. So I'm fairly sure I'll be all caught up by Friday night, when Rugrat and I will head on down to our local B&N for the Midnight Madness party. I have to say, I haven't looked forward to something this much since...well, probably since Christmas when I was a wee munchkin and still believed in Santa Claus. I've been reading the Harry Potter books since Rugrat was just a tiny little monkeypod in diapers, and he's in third grade now!
In other news, Rugrat and I will NOT be going to PS at the end of August. Tomboy said that she didn't want to have to cut her vacation short (which we would've had to do, as Rugrat returns to school on Aug 30). That's totally understandable (and very diplomatic of her to give that as the reason), and quite frankly I was surprised that Mr Wonderful had thought it would be appropriate in the first place. Because, as I mentioned before, we've only spent time with Tomboy once. But all that will be changing soon, as Rugrat will be going to summer camp in a few weeks, and when he returns we'll finally be on synchronized weekends. Then they'll be spending more time together than they ever wanted, I'm sure. ;-)
Mr Wonderful is still, well, wonderful. I love that we have so much fun together - and I'm not just talking about the sex. We laugh together all the time. He's my favorite person, and there's not a day that goes by that I don't feel incredibly lucky to have found him again after all these years. And he tells me the same thing - that he is so very glad that I found him on myspace. That it feels so right, being with me. That it's getting harder every day to be apart from me. Knowing that he feels the same way I do, hearing him SAY these things, gives me such a sense of security and joy. I think we're building something great here, and I just can't help thinking that all those years of being single were preparing me for this. Because I don't think I will ever take this for granted. I want to cherish him, and US, every day.
I started re-reading the series late last month, and am probably a third of the way through the sixth book as of right now. So I'm fairly sure I'll be all caught up by Friday night, when Rugrat and I will head on down to our local B&N for the Midnight Madness party. I have to say, I haven't looked forward to something this much since...well, probably since Christmas when I was a wee munchkin and still believed in Santa Claus. I've been reading the Harry Potter books since Rugrat was just a tiny little monkeypod in diapers, and he's in third grade now!
In other news, Rugrat and I will NOT be going to PS at the end of August. Tomboy said that she didn't want to have to cut her vacation short (which we would've had to do, as Rugrat returns to school on Aug 30). That's totally understandable (and very diplomatic of her to give that as the reason), and quite frankly I was surprised that Mr Wonderful had thought it would be appropriate in the first place. Because, as I mentioned before, we've only spent time with Tomboy once. But all that will be changing soon, as Rugrat will be going to summer camp in a few weeks, and when he returns we'll finally be on synchronized weekends. Then they'll be spending more time together than they ever wanted, I'm sure. ;-)
Mr Wonderful is still, well, wonderful. I love that we have so much fun together - and I'm not just talking about the sex. We laugh together all the time. He's my favorite person, and there's not a day that goes by that I don't feel incredibly lucky to have found him again after all these years. And he tells me the same thing - that he is so very glad that I found him on myspace. That it feels so right, being with me. That it's getting harder every day to be apart from me. Knowing that he feels the same way I do, hearing him SAY these things, gives me such a sense of security and joy. I think we're building something great here, and I just can't help thinking that all those years of being single were preparing me for this. Because I don't think I will ever take this for granted. I want to cherish him, and US, every day.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Blessings
Last night Mr Wonderful came over after a long day of sailing (and getting dumped in the bay when the boat capsized, hee hee) and said to me, "I was talking to my mom today, and she thinks you should come to P--- S------ in August when [Tomboy] and I go." Jigga-wha?? Furthermore, he told me she said, "You have her blessing." Wow. I've never even talked to her but apparently he must say really good things about me, because she is already asking him when we're going to get married and give her a grandson. Thankfully he set her straight on that count; there's no way either of us want to have another child.
But back to the point...I would love nothing more than to meet his mother. Really. She sounds like someone I'd get along with very well. I'm just not sure that it would be fair to Tomboy for us to tag along on this trip; Tomboy has met me (and Rugrat) exactly once. And Rugrat would be coming too - which is another consideration altogether, what with his picky eating and his temperamental thing. She doesn't know either of us that well, and to spend almost a week together, 24-7, well....it might be a bit overwhelming. I don't want her to feel like we're horning in on her vacation time with her dad and her grandparents. She's already missed quite a bit of her time with her dad this summer, and I'm about to drag him off to Portland on one of his scheduled weekends with her. She seems very content to roll with things as they come, but I really don't want to push it. Anyway, I voiced my concerns with Mr Wonderful and said I didn't think it was a good idea....but then I couldn't think about anything else last night and had a really hard time falling asleep. Because: dude! He wants me to come meet his mom! Why am I saying no?? And I really do want to meet her.
So this morning I told him that I do want to come to PS, and he said that he'd talk to Tomboy about it and see how she felt. She might be fine with it, who knows? But even if it doesn't work out for us to come on this trip, Mr Wonderful said that we could take a couple of days off and drive down there for a long weekend, just the two of us, maybe in the winter when the weather is nicer.
But back to the point...I would love nothing more than to meet his mother. Really. She sounds like someone I'd get along with very well. I'm just not sure that it would be fair to Tomboy for us to tag along on this trip; Tomboy has met me (and Rugrat) exactly once. And Rugrat would be coming too - which is another consideration altogether, what with his picky eating and his temperamental thing. She doesn't know either of us that well, and to spend almost a week together, 24-7, well....it might be a bit overwhelming. I don't want her to feel like we're horning in on her vacation time with her dad and her grandparents. She's already missed quite a bit of her time with her dad this summer, and I'm about to drag him off to Portland on one of his scheduled weekends with her. She seems very content to roll with things as they come, but I really don't want to push it. Anyway, I voiced my concerns with Mr Wonderful and said I didn't think it was a good idea....but then I couldn't think about anything else last night and had a really hard time falling asleep. Because: dude! He wants me to come meet his mom! Why am I saying no?? And I really do want to meet her.
So this morning I told him that I do want to come to PS, and he said that he'd talk to Tomboy about it and see how she felt. She might be fine with it, who knows? But even if it doesn't work out for us to come on this trip, Mr Wonderful said that we could take a couple of days off and drive down there for a long weekend, just the two of us, maybe in the winter when the weather is nicer.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Lazybones
I've been so lazy recently. This morning I just couldn't seem to drag my ass out of bed when Mr Wonderful got up; I vaguely remember him kissing me goodbye before he left, and then I conked out again until 8 am.
Last weekend was even worse - I didn't do much of anything besides eat, read (I'm re-reading the Harry Potter books in anticipation of book 7, which comes out in a little more than a week), and sleep. I napped three times on Sunday, I swear to God.
And blogging? Hah. I haven't updated the food blog in weeks - I still have to post the chicken chili recipe that I made when we went camping. All I want to do is just curl up and sleep the day away...but I have too much to do. Obviously there's work; I've got to do that. And then I have to pick up Rugrat a couple of times a week, meaning that I'm dealing with the awful Hwy 4 traffic. Tonight the Harry Potter 5 movie comes out, and we're going to see that before we head back out here (hoping to miss the traffic). On Friday I have to go back in to the dentist to have a tiny cavity filled. This weekend I've promised to set up a CMS shell for my project manager's new pet project, and I want to get through the last of the HP books (or come really close). I'm about a third of the way through book 5 now, so I shouldn't have any problems polishing them off before next Friday.
So I have things that I need (or want) to get done, plus of course the nagging crap that I really SHOULD do, like clean up the backyard again and reseed the patches on the front lawn. But....I'm just so sleeeeeeeepy. Maybe I'm iron-deficient. Or pregnant. Oh God, that would SUCK. I so do not want to be pregnant. Mom, don't get your hopes up, I'm on the pill.
Last weekend was even worse - I didn't do much of anything besides eat, read (I'm re-reading the Harry Potter books in anticipation of book 7, which comes out in a little more than a week), and sleep. I napped three times on Sunday, I swear to God.
And blogging? Hah. I haven't updated the food blog in weeks - I still have to post the chicken chili recipe that I made when we went camping. All I want to do is just curl up and sleep the day away...but I have too much to do. Obviously there's work; I've got to do that. And then I have to pick up Rugrat a couple of times a week, meaning that I'm dealing with the awful Hwy 4 traffic. Tonight the Harry Potter 5 movie comes out, and we're going to see that before we head back out here (hoping to miss the traffic). On Friday I have to go back in to the dentist to have a tiny cavity filled. This weekend I've promised to set up a CMS shell for my project manager's new pet project, and I want to get through the last of the HP books (or come really close). I'm about a third of the way through book 5 now, so I shouldn't have any problems polishing them off before next Friday.
So I have things that I need (or want) to get done, plus of course the nagging crap that I really SHOULD do, like clean up the backyard again and reseed the patches on the front lawn. But....I'm just so sleeeeeeeepy. Maybe I'm iron-deficient. Or pregnant. Oh God, that would SUCK. I so do not want to be pregnant. Mom, don't get your hopes up, I'm on the pill.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
It burns!
My eyes are burning. I need to blink more often, I think. I've been installing software & copying stuff over to the "new" laptop all week (in between taking care of the occasional minor issues that co-workers request). It's not difficult, but it is time-consuming and irritating, especially when I import like 100 sites on Dreamweaver and when I reopen the program they are ALL FUCKING GONE. God. Because you can't just click a button and import them all quickly and automatically. No. You have to specify the local directory that DW should use to store site files. What a pain in the ass.
Speaking of pain in the ass, that would be me this week. I'm PMSing pretty hard for the first time in several months (I get my PMS the week AFTER my period, which is completely bass-ackwards and weird, but I haven't had it in quite a while) and Mr Wonderful is having his "time of the month" too, when he's a little less patient. Plus he's a little under the weather. So what did I do? Oh, what did I do? Yes, I picked this time to have a fight with Mr Wonderful - our first fight, actually. And...it really wasn't bad, as far as fights go. It was more like a conversation where we both discussed our differing points of view, with a little side order of me being edgy and feeling like I'm about to cry (thank you, PMS). And basically, it all boiled down to a little breakdown in communication (plus, yanno, the PMS). It was the most adult "fight" I've ever had, I think. In fact, the worst part about the whole thing is that I haven't seen him yet since we had this conversation, so there's been no hot make-up sex yet. I plan to remedy THAT situation tonight. ;-)
And speaking of drama, I have a dentist appointment tomorrow. I tend to put this off for about five years, and then finally I'll break down and go see a dentist for a cleaning & checkup (thank goodness I have nice, strong teeth). I just get more and more phobic about the dentist each time I go to one. It's been like this ever since the time I had two fully impacted wisdom teeth taken out with nothing but novocaine. Horrible. Awful. Traumatic. And so this time, I found a dentist who would prescribe me Valium for the initial exam & cleaning. My preference would be to sleep through the whole damn thing, but if I can't have that, at least I'll be so drugged up that I won't care. Right? Right??? God, I hope this works.
Speaking of pain in the ass, that would be me this week. I'm PMSing pretty hard for the first time in several months (I get my PMS the week AFTER my period, which is completely bass-ackwards and weird, but I haven't had it in quite a while) and Mr Wonderful is having his "time of the month" too, when he's a little less patient. Plus he's a little under the weather. So what did I do? Oh, what did I do? Yes, I picked this time to have a fight with Mr Wonderful - our first fight, actually. And...it really wasn't bad, as far as fights go. It was more like a conversation where we both discussed our differing points of view, with a little side order of me being edgy and feeling like I'm about to cry (thank you, PMS). And basically, it all boiled down to a little breakdown in communication (plus, yanno, the PMS). It was the most adult "fight" I've ever had, I think. In fact, the worst part about the whole thing is that I haven't seen him yet since we had this conversation, so there's been no hot make-up sex yet. I plan to remedy THAT situation tonight. ;-)
And speaking of drama, I have a dentist appointment tomorrow. I tend to put this off for about five years, and then finally I'll break down and go see a dentist for a cleaning & checkup (thank goodness I have nice, strong teeth). I just get more and more phobic about the dentist each time I go to one. It's been like this ever since the time I had two fully impacted wisdom teeth taken out with nothing but novocaine. Horrible. Awful. Traumatic. And so this time, I found a dentist who would prescribe me Valium for the initial exam & cleaning. My preference would be to sleep through the whole damn thing, but if I can't have that, at least I'll be so drugged up that I won't care. Right? Right??? God, I hope this works.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Camping at Lakes Basin
When I arrived (around lunchtime) on Friday, he was sitting there at the picnic table, reading his book. I was SO happy to see him, and he had been anxiously awaiting me...he even put a little welcome message on his car bumper ("Hi Baby!"). So sweet. We unpacked, set up the tent and the air mattress/sleeping bags/etc., and had a little lunch. I changed into my bathing suit and we walked over to the river and got in (slowly...and carefully...it's FREAKING FREEZING water, since it's all melted snow). We went for a hike up into the woods and had sexy time out there in the wilderness, because we couldn't wait for nighttime and the campground was a little too populated for privacy. ;-) Then we drove over to Gold Lake so he could show me that area (where we originally intended to camp) and we both agreed that our campground was much, much nicer.
That evening, we had the chicken chili I'd prepared & frozen at home, along with some (rather squashed) cornbread muffins. Mr Wonderful had been chatting with the campsite manager and got quite friendly with him, and the guy told Mr Wonderful about a concert that was being held out at an amphitheater in the woods, so we decided to check it out. And...it was like the worst bar band you've ever heard, doing covers of some great songs, but doing them very, very badly. We tried not to giggle too much, and snuck away when the band took their break. We headed back to the campsite and I built an awesome campfire (almost too awesome, it was HUGE and we had to let it die down quite a bit). We had some s'mores and half a bottle of wine, and then snuck off to bed.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Missing him like crazy
It's been like fifty different kinds of horrible, not being able to talk to Mr Wonderful since yesterday morning, but he just called me! God, I love that man. And I am heading up to the mountains to see him first thing tomorrow morning. Babydaddy picked up Rugrat from daycare today and decided to take him back to his house, so I'm going to get an early start. It can't be TOO early, because I have to swing by the dentist's office tomorrow morning at 8 AM to register & pick up my prescription for anti-anxiety pills (before my "real" appointment - exam & cleaning - next Friday). But I am going to be on the road immediately after that, and I am totally going nuts, missing him sooooo much. It's like a pit in my stomach. But at least now I know he's safe, out of the woods and around other people. He cut his backpacking trip short because he wanted to make sure & get a campsite for us, and he called because the place where we're camping is different than where we'd originally agreed to meet, so he had to let me know where it was. And I am just so excited because I got to hear his voice for the first time in over 24 hours and it feels like it's been FOREVER.
I am so completely hooked on this man. What a girly girl I've turned out to be, all squee-ing over a frickin' phone call.
I am so completely hooked on this man. What a girly girl I've turned out to be, all squee-ing over a frickin' phone call.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Withdrawal
OK, I'm just ever-so-slightly freaked out. Mr Wonderful is now officially off the radar, hiking around in the wilderness by himself with nothing but a backpack full of freeze-dried food and some very basic gear between him and the elements. I get that it's important to him to be able to do this - to get out of his head and into a very primal way of living, all man-vs-nature, yaaar, but it still kind of freaks me out. Because I love him like crazy and I would really, really hate it if something happened to him. And I would totally be the first one to figure out that something had happened to him, because nobody else is expecting to hear from him until Sunday, and I am driving up day after tomorrow to meet him at Gold Lake. But until that happens - until I see him at the campground, he's totally off the grid. As in, no cell phone access. And here I am, all hooked on him like fucking crack, what with the half-dozen or so daily phone calls we usually have. Including the one right before we go to bed, which is almost as good as actually being next to him in bed (or at least it's the closest facsimile we have, and we make the best of it). And now I am supposed to be completely out of contact with him for over 48 hours?
Friday can't come soon enough.
Friday can't come soon enough.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Meeting the family
Looks like Mr Wonderful will be meeting even more of my family in July. As I mentioned previously, we are headed up to Portland for the Oregon Brewers Fest (yay!) at the end of July, and also visiting my sister & her family at that time (especially since we'll be staying with them). Now it seems that Mr Wonderful will be meeting my dad & stepmom next month as well. I got an email from dad yesterday saying that they are planning on coming out for a visit next month, near the 20th. So poor Mr Wonderful will be put under scrutiny by about half the family within the span of about a week. Hey mom, do you & F want to come up for a visit next month too? We'll just get it all out of the way at once, shall we? ;-)
So now he's talking about having me meet his family...I will be driving *right by* his sister's house to get up to the campsite this weekend, and he mentioned that I could meet her & her family on the way back home, if I wanted. I kind of didn't respond to that, because I'm not sure if I want the first contact I have with his family to be while I'm grungy and greasy from camping for a couple of days with no shower. Talk about feeling at a disadvantage. And his sister is the one that I'm most intimidated about meeting, actually. I'm not sure why, but that's how I feel. Anyway...when I mentioned that my dad was coming to visit next month, Mr Wonderful started talking about taking me down to P--- S------ to meet his mom & stepdad. Which is a lovely idea, really it is. But I'm not sure if I'm ready to go to the desert again so soon. I just don't want to get sick again, dammit; I'm pretty gun-shy about the desert after my last trip out there.
So now he's talking about having me meet his family...I will be driving *right by* his sister's house to get up to the campsite this weekend, and he mentioned that I could meet her & her family on the way back home, if I wanted. I kind of didn't respond to that, because I'm not sure if I want the first contact I have with his family to be while I'm grungy and greasy from camping for a couple of days with no shower. Talk about feeling at a disadvantage. And his sister is the one that I'm most intimidated about meeting, actually. I'm not sure why, but that's how I feel. Anyway...when I mentioned that my dad was coming to visit next month, Mr Wonderful started talking about taking me down to P--- S------ to meet his mom & stepdad. Which is a lovely idea, really it is. But I'm not sure if I'm ready to go to the desert again so soon. I just don't want to get sick again, dammit; I'm pretty gun-shy about the desert after my last trip out there.
Playing Catch Up
God, I know. It's been a while, right?
I made this yummy Chicken Caesar Salad for dinner last Thursday. Pretty standard - romaine, roasted chicken breast (boneless/skinless, roasted at 400 with olive oil, salt & pepper), cherry tomatoes, homemade croutons, and caesar dressing from scratch. Yes, with the anchovies. Mr Wonderful was hesitant about eating the anchovies, but he ultimately enjoyed it and said it was "right on the edge," meaning that the fishy taste was there, but not TOO strong. So that passed muster (or mustard, heh). I got the recipe from foodtv.com, from Barefoot Contessa's caesar salad with pancetta recipe.
I've made some other yummy stuff in the interim, but haven't taken pictures: a chicken wrap made with feta cheese, lettuce and cucumber strips, dressed with a mustard vinaigrette (we ate this on the way to Monterey), and an easier wrap with deli-sliced turkey, baby spinach, olives and Alouette garlic-herb cheese spread. Rugrat actually enjoyed this one, and it will probably go into the lunchbox rotation. I made some more fresh corn, since Raleys has the good local stuff at 4 ears for a dollar. And of course I've made tons of caprese salad, my summertime go-to meal.
I promise to get the camera out a little more often and document the meals better in the future. :-) This weekend I'm heading up to the mountains to go camping with Mr Wonderful, and I promise to take loads of pictures. I'm planning a white chicken chili for one night, and a campfire Bananas Foster dessert, so stay tuned!
I made this yummy Chicken Caesar Salad for dinner last Thursday. Pretty standard - romaine, roasted chicken breast (boneless/skinless, roasted at 400 with olive oil, salt & pepper), cherry tomatoes, homemade croutons, and caesar dressing from scratch. Yes, with the anchovies. Mr Wonderful was hesitant about eating the anchovies, but he ultimately enjoyed it and said it was "right on the edge," meaning that the fishy taste was there, but not TOO strong. So that passed muster (or mustard, heh). I got the recipe from foodtv.com, from Barefoot Contessa's caesar salad with pancetta recipe.
I've made some other yummy stuff in the interim, but haven't taken pictures: a chicken wrap made with feta cheese, lettuce and cucumber strips, dressed with a mustard vinaigrette (we ate this on the way to Monterey), and an easier wrap with deli-sliced turkey, baby spinach, olives and Alouette garlic-herb cheese spread. Rugrat actually enjoyed this one, and it will probably go into the lunchbox rotation. I made some more fresh corn, since Raleys has the good local stuff at 4 ears for a dollar. And of course I've made tons of caprese salad, my summertime go-to meal.
I promise to get the camera out a little more often and document the meals better in the future. :-) This weekend I'm heading up to the mountains to go camping with Mr Wonderful, and I promise to take loads of pictures. I'm planning a white chicken chili for one night, and a campfire Bananas Foster dessert, so stay tuned!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Owwww!
On Saturday, Rugrat and I went out on the Delta with my cousin K, my uncle J, and his friend M on J's speedboat. At the last minute I decided that I should've worn shorts instead of jeans, and I borrowed a pair from my aunt. But we left right after I changed into them, and I neglected to put sunscreen on my legs until we stopped to gas up the boat about an hour later...and by then the damage was done. My legs are FRIED, y'all. Absolutely lobster-red. I think I've just upped my skin cancer risk by about 1000 percent. Wow, is it painful. Yesterday I spent most of the day whimpering and moving as little as possible. Every time I stood up it felt like knives in my legs. Ouch.
On the plus side, we had a blast on the boat - Rugrat had a great time (and of course didn't get even remotely pink, because he's got quite a bit of Native American in him, or Spanish or Italian or whatever - he just browns easily - from both my side and his dad's side), and I had a wonderful time until I got off the boat and my sunburn started to really develop.
Mr Wonderful came over and spent the night last night; he's on vacation for the next week, that lucky dog. He's going up north of Tahoe, to go backpacking and get away from civilization for a while. I'm joining him up there on Friday, so we'll have a nice weekend up in the mountains together.
On the plus side, we had a blast on the boat - Rugrat had a great time (and of course didn't get even remotely pink, because he's got quite a bit of Native American in him, or Spanish or Italian or whatever - he just browns easily - from both my side and his dad's side), and I had a wonderful time until I got off the boat and my sunburn started to really develop.
Mr Wonderful came over and spent the night last night; he's on vacation for the next week, that lucky dog. He's going up north of Tahoe, to go backpacking and get away from civilization for a while. I'm joining him up there on Friday, so we'll have a nice weekend up in the mountains together.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Three things
Here's a meme I found on a random blog...
Three people/things that make me laugh: Mr Wonderful, Ren (from Ren & Stimpy), the episode of Coupling (BBCA) where Jeff shows up at the bar in the leather mask
Three things that scare me: heights, Rugrat's tendency to leap before he looks, random violence (because you just can't prepare for it)
Three things I love: family, friends, books
Three things I hate: cockroaches, scallops, traffic
Three things I don’t understand: why the country voted Bush into office for a second term, why anyone would want to keep homosexuals from having the legal right to get married, why so many people are ignorant and mean
Three things on my desk: computer, blood pressure machine, stack o' papers
Three things I want to do before I die: take a cooking class in Tuscany, skydive (must conquer that fear of heights), write a bestselling novel
Three things I can do: cook, create a website content management system (CMS) from scratch, hula hoop with two hoops at the same time (for quite a while)
Three things I would like to learn: fluent Italian, string theory, how to design my own sweater knitting patterns
Three favorite foods: filet mignon (preferably swimming in butter, at Ruth's Chris Steak House), spicy hamachi roll, CHEEEEEEEESE
Three beverages I drink regularly: Dr Pepper, coffee, water
Three TV shows/Books I watched/read as a kid: Dukes of Hazzard, A Little Princess, the Nancy Drew series
Three people/things that make me laugh: Mr Wonderful, Ren (from Ren & Stimpy), the episode of Coupling (BBCA) where Jeff shows up at the bar in the leather mask
Three things that scare me: heights, Rugrat's tendency to leap before he looks, random violence (because you just can't prepare for it)
Three things I love: family, friends, books
Three things I hate: cockroaches, scallops, traffic
Three things I don’t understand: why the country voted Bush into office for a second term, why anyone would want to keep homosexuals from having the legal right to get married, why so many people are ignorant and mean
Three things on my desk: computer, blood pressure machine, stack o' papers
Three things I want to do before I die: take a cooking class in Tuscany, skydive (must conquer that fear of heights), write a bestselling novel
Three things I can do: cook, create a website content management system (CMS) from scratch, hula hoop with two hoops at the same time (for quite a while)
Three things I would like to learn: fluent Italian, string theory, how to design my own sweater knitting patterns
Three favorite foods: filet mignon (preferably swimming in butter, at Ruth's Chris Steak House), spicy hamachi roll, CHEEEEEEEESE
Three beverages I drink regularly: Dr Pepper, coffee, water
Three TV shows/Books I watched/read as a kid: Dukes of Hazzard, A Little Princess, the Nancy Drew series
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
In general...
Thought I'd catch y'all up on some general stuff:
- The Goddamn Rooster™ is gone! I noticed a conspicuous absence of crowing about two weeks ago, but I didn't want to jump the gun. The neighbors could have just taken him on vacation or something. But I'm pretty sure he's really most sincerely gone now.
- Rugrat is student of the month for June! He won this award for his "sense of humor and initiative." Whatever that means. Basically, I think he won for being the class clown.
- Rugrat also got an award for perfect attendance during the entire school year. Pretty incredible. I don't think I've ever had perfect attendance for a year, either in school or at work.
- Still not smoking! It's been two and a half months now, and I haven't had a single slip. I don't think about it much anymore, but occasionally I have a brief craving. It goes away in a minute if I ignore it.
- I have the world's biggest freaking zit on my chin.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Weekend in Monterey
Friday night immediately after work I threw together some food, finished packing, and headed out to Livermore. I managed to catch the last 45 minutes of Mr Wonderful's Aikido class, and it was rather impressive. Four guys throwing each other on the ground, over and over and over. The sensei absolutely blew my mind - he's a geek! A glasses-wearing Star Trek nerd. And yet he seemed to throw these huge guys around with no more effort than it would take me to lift a paperback book. Amazing.
After Mr Wonderful's class, we swung by his place so he could take a quick shower and grab his bag. And then we were on the road, shortly after 9 PM. I'd packed a couple of chicken wraps for dinner (sorry no photos for the blog, guys), some caprese salad and a bunch of bottles of water. We made excellent time and got to our hotel by 11 PM. We checked in and collapsed on the ROCK HARD bed. It was awful. We spent the night tossing and turning, and finally just gave up around 6:30 AM and got up.
We headed back to Monterey, and had lunch at a little place on fisherman's wharf. The food was just OK, but the view of the marina was lovely, and Mr Wonderful taught me quite a bit about sailboats. We snuck back to our hotel room for a nap (and...stuff) afterwards, first re-making the bed with the blanket and comforter UNDER the bottom sheet so that there was a little bit more padding for our tired bodies.
We walked along the beach in Carmel at sunset, feeling absolutely relaxed and blissed-out and totally cheesy-cliche romantic. It was awesome. I didn't take any pictures of Carmel, but I've got my memories, and they are absolutely golden.
We ended the day with dinner at Bahama Billy's in Carmel (on the east side of Hwy 1), and it was really fantastic. We weren't super-hungry, but the food was SO good. I had a mango crab bisque and some coconut shrimp, and Mr Wonderful had a kalua pork rice bowl. Thanks to my cousin K for recommending this place - it was definitely a treat!
Overall, though, I'd have to say it was a lovely weekend.
Epiphany
Mr Wonderful and I are closer than ever, and I had an epiphany on Sunday night as I was falling asleep: I am going to spend the rest of my life with this man. It's not like "I hope I'll spend the rest of my life with him" or "I really, really want to spend the rest of my life with him." No. It was like a premonition, a statement of fact. There is no doubt in my mind, he's the one. This is it, y'all.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Just not feelin' it
Sorry I've been slacking on the posts recently. I've just been busy at work, or busy with Rugrat, or busy with Mr Wonderful, or just busy sweating. The temperature rose about twenty degrees in two days here, and now we're suddenly battling 100 degree heat. Not that I really mind - I've got air conditioning, and I like hot weather anyway.
Plus I'll be cooling off this weekend...Mr Wonderful and I are taking off tomorrow night for Monterey, to spend our long-anticipated childless weekend on the coast! Wooohooo! Big Sur, here I come. I really can't wait; I've been feeling seriously stressed out the last few days, and I desperately need this little getaway. No kids, no work, no worries. Bliss.
Plus I'll be cooling off this weekend...Mr Wonderful and I are taking off tomorrow night for Monterey, to spend our long-anticipated childless weekend on the coast! Wooohooo! Big Sur, here I come. I really can't wait; I've been feeling seriously stressed out the last few days, and I desperately need this little getaway. No kids, no work, no worries. Bliss.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Blue belt!
Rugrat got his blue belt in karate class yesterday. This is kind of a big deal; it's the last of the "beginner" belts. It's probably also the last belt he'll get for a while, as we haven't figured out if we're going to enroll him in karate out in WC yet or not, and if we are, where we'll take him.
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