My [Triumphant] Return

How do you sum up a blogging dry-streak of more than a month in a single post?

I could go with a poem. Or a word-less post. Or a video of myself telling you about the last month. Or maybe an interpretive dance.

I'm thinking I will just go with a simple list of  "-ing" verbs for now. And, a promise that I will be a better blogger.

cry-ing
On August 8, 2011 I said goodbye to my dear (and previously trusted) friend, Mac. His life ended too soon; we were together only three short years. His passing was very unexpected. He suffered from an unexplainable hard-drive failure.

To keep my explanation of all of this simple, I will just give you the highlights:

• Back-up often. Back-up your back-up. I know it sounds nerdy, but really. Do it. It will save you lots of stress and tears.
• If you are looking for a second career, explore the possibility of hard-drive restoration. Seriously. Those people make lots of money.
• Buy Apple Care. They replaced my hard-drive even though it was almost 60 days out of warranty. They don't call them Geniuses for nothing.
• When your computer crashes, check your email. I am amazed by the number of things I email to myself. Those are all files I was able to recover.

play-ing
The pictures I am the most sad about losing are from my mini-break to Minneapolis with Angie in July. We took a cooking class at Cook's of Crocus Hill (learned to make stuffed pasta), shopped at Ikea, enjoyed facials at the Aveda Institute, and ate plenty. And, every. single. picture. is gone. We had a great time, though, believe me.
 

eat-ing
Of course, I have eaten lots of fabulous things since my last post. Highlights include a trip to Chicago to visit Em. We took a cupcake tour downtown and enjoyed dinner at Da Vanti Enoteca. DELICIOUS!

read-ing
I always meant to read Jane Eyre. I am pretty sure that I probably "read" it at some point during high school or college, but I wanted to really read it. So, I found a few friends who wanted to do the same thing and threw a dinner party to honor Miss Eyre. It was a smashing success.

work-ing
I don't have many pictures for this one, friends. The work isn't very exciting. But, this month I taught a three-credit graduate class, created materials for investigating the Common Core State Standards, and finished my (small) part of the WSRA 2012 convention program. 

Then, there's the fact that I actually went back to work. I don't want to say much about that.

Then, there's also the fact that I accepted a new job on Tuesday morning. More about that another time, though.

Summer Dozen: Update

Remember my summer dozen - the twelve things I wanted to be sure to do this summer?

Since there is about one month of summer left, now seemed like as good a time as any to check-up on myself.

The Original Summer Dozen:
Build a summer playlist. Haven't started this yet. Did solicit some assistance on Facebook and got virtually no response. Have been listening to Mumford & Sons, Adele, and Bon Iver - all new to me.

Make macarons. Will make these for the upcoming Jane Eyre party. 

Play along with Week in the Life. Am doing this now. 

Learn to crochet Granny Squares.  Haven't thought about this since I typed it on June 10th. 

Grow tomatoes. In progress.  

Read Jane Eyre. In progress (and saw the movie).

Visit San Francisco. Done. And enjoyed.

Discover a signature summer drink. I did realize that I like rose wine, and I have been making Vietnamese Iced Coffee almost every morning. 

Eat healthy. This is going so horribly that I should just pretend I never even wrote it.


Unexpected Summer Joys
And, for each of the things I haven't finished (or even thought about) there have been other things that have ended up in my life that have been equally wonderful.

Picking strawberries

 

A road trip to enjoy an entire day of grocery shopping

I found a couple of great books - The Kitchen House (I'm listening to it right now) and Blood, Bones, and Butter.

Angie and I greatly improved upon a recipe to discover what might just be the best salad ever.

 

A few education-related projects that have been incredibly challenging and rewarding

Adding to the Summer Dozen
And, there are, of course, things that I still really want to do before the summer is over that never made the original list.

• Go to the drive-in movies
• Visit the Farmers' Market at least a few times
• Get a few over-due weeks (along with the summer) done in my Project Life album
• Finish my mini-album from Seattle
• Finish my mini-album from CA
• Have a shrimp boil. (And remember where I saw the recipe for a shrimp boil that made me really want to have one. Although, this one looks delicious. I do think, though, that the one that originally inspired me was on Ezra Pound Cake.)
• Go on the boat with Brad at least once
• Visit Em, Justin, Mirielle, and Henry

Layover

I am enjoying the people watching on beautiful concourse C in the Minneapolis / St. Paul airport. I have seen and heard many things I wish I hadn't including a man (in white velcro shoes) shouting loudly into his phone, "Let me talk at him!" and a woman wearing Zumba pants in a Coca-Cola print with Sketchers Shape-ups.

I digress.

I'm still digesting (both the food and the experiences) a fabulous Fourth of July weekend. It seems like I should process it all before I head off on my next adventure.

I'm so lucky to have Mike, Angie, Luke, and Dottie as part of my life. They just, basically, let me move in for the weekend.

The festivities started with pool-side Popsicles on Friday afternoon. Excuse Dottie's exposed parts. A suit that fits the girl on the bottom doesn't fit the girl on the top.

It continued with a modified Shrimp Cobb Salad for dinner. We quadrulped the amount of bacon, doubled the amount of shrimp, cooked the shrimp in the bacon grease, doubled the dressing, added cucumbers, added green and yellow peppers, added red pepper, and added (of course!) cheese.

The salad was a rousing success. Try it. Well, don't try the recipe. Try our version.

A little shot of the post-dinner mess on Friday.

Somehow, I didn't take any pictures of Friday night's strawberry balsamic jam adventure. Angie? Did you take any?

Saturday started bright and early with a trip to the Farmers' Market and butcher. I was trying to explain to Dottie and Luke (I'm not sure why) that some people and animals are vegetarians. Dottie shouted, "No!" and shoved a beef stick in her mouth. Geez. I love that girl.

After a little nap (for the grown-up and the kiddos), I embarked on a fun-aunt-Barb babysitting adventure. There was lots of swimming, more popsicles, and some coloring.

Dinner on Saturday night included this amazing cheese, bread, garlic dip concoction and steaks on the grill. The bread recipes suggests you jam one pound of thinly sliced cheese in the bread. You will get impatient, and you will think, "Sheesh. I don't need all this cheese." You would be wrong. Just keep jamming that cheese in there. You will love it.

And, after dinner Luke needed to go for just one more swim. Man. I love that kid. He can always make me smile.

Not pictured:
Sunday's day of rest
Memphis's sheer exhaustion after Friday and Saturday
Monday's fireworks extravaganza
Luke and Dottie's play date with Miri and Henry
Packing for CA

How to Plan a Dinner Party

Me (to Facebook from the checkout at Gooseberries Market at 11:57 AM):
Summer cart - wine and food for the grill.

Angie (at 1:05 PM):
What time should we be there? I'll bring more wine!




I quickly followed up with a phone call explaining that she'd need to bring more than just some wine - especially if Luke and Dottie planned to eat anything.




By 4:30 we were all in the same city and simultaneously cooking dinner, drinking wine, and entertaining (and being entertained by) the little people.


We managed to put together quite the dinner: a beautiful cheese plate, a flight of white wines, baked potatoes, steaks for the adults, hot dogs for the little people, tomato salad with cucumber and feta, and s'mores.

And, Luke put on a concert for us. He wants to rock. Rock! This is the first dinner party in which we have ever had the good fortune of having live music.

And, I will officially say that this is the first time dinner party guests have ever taken a bath and put on their pajamas before leaving my house. That's how any good dinner party ends, right? You're so covered with food you can't get in the car without a bath, and you're so exhausted you need to wear your pajamas home.

Summer Dozen

Just like that another school year is finished and I am feeling optimistic and relaxed and so excited about a couple months of life on my own terms.

1. Retro / Music / Wood, 2. Macaron!, 3. album spine, 4. granny square afghan, 5. Heirloom Tomatoes, 6. jane eyre GB stamps, 7. Golden Gate Bridge, 8. Simple Summer Drink - With a twist of lemon, 9. Farmers' Market

Build a summer playlist.
Make macarons.
Play along with Week in the Life.
Learn to crochet Granny Squares.
Grow tomatoes.
Read Jane Eyre.
Visit San Francisco.
Discover a signature summer drink.
Eat healthy.

(I made a similar list last summer.)

Fairest of the Fair

State Fair. I have made a pilgrimage most summers for as long as I can remember, and I do the same things almost every time. Most of those things are related to food. This year wasn't any different.

Menu:
Cream puffs
Fresh corn dipped in melted butter
Beer (Monkey Wheat from Lake Shore)
Baked potato
Kabobs (I didn't partake in this)
Swiss cheese dipped in rye batter, fried, and put on a stick (I didn't partake in this)
Italian sausage sandwich
Milk
More cream puffs (to-go)

My parents are such good sports.

My dad took this one.

I was feeling perfectly comfortable until I slammed two glasses of milk (one chocolate and one strawberry) in less than five minutes. Actually, I think it was the milk that did me in last year, too. Note to self for the future: only have one glass of milk.

Entertainment:
Polka band
Exhibit Hall
Home and Garden winners
Jake (the world's tallest horse)

This is my favorite picture from the day. I have no idea who these people are, but they were polka-ing like crazy. It was over 100 degrees, and they are clearly older, but that didn't stop them from dancing and dancing and dancing. I hope Brad and I are like that 50 years from now.

Weekend in Review

Friday:
Worked on the WSRA Convention program for 2011
Blizzards as dessert
Catching up on some television with Memphis and Brad (Friday Night Lights and Boston Med)

Saturday:
Farmers' market with Stephanie and AJ
Baking zucchini bread (using Sarah's recipe)
Fountain playtime with Natalie and Katelyn
Fun burgers (brie and apple butter) for dinner
Saw Inception

Sunday:
Polka Mass and booyah
Naptime
Pasta primavera for dinner