Weekend Report

I won't be as funny as Chevy Chase or Jane Curtin or Tina Fey or any of those folks, but here is how the weekend went. After all my emotional venting lately, I feel like a good old travelogue is best right now.

Friday morning Eric reluctantly left for Florida to suffer away the weekend at a work retreat at nothing less than the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne. Poor baby. I'm not bitter that I didn't get to go. No, in his defense, he would rather be home with his family than on a forced trip that is not even real work, so his complaints were genuine and his heart, as always, is in the right place. Besides, in spite of his desperate need for R&R, I'm sure he didn't enjoy his plush room or the beach or the tennis afternoon at all, bless his heart.

Friday afternoon, we got the official travel plans for our son's return from Panama. He gets in on July 1st, which is what we've been saying for a while, but now it is for real-the plane tickets have been issued. That is a mere 9 weeks from this Tuesday. I am very excited to see my boy (who is not really a boy any more.) It's been just about 2 years since we last saw him. It will be so much fun to make signs and give him a big welcome at the airport! I'm so proud of his service in Panama. He has really put his heart and soul into his efforts there.

Friday afternoon I also got Sam off on his camping/fishing trip with the scouts. He has really gotten into scouting lately, and is excited about finishing up his Eagle requirements. Immediately after that was another photo shoot-a very handsome young man's senior photos. Again, it was fun to spend that time with friends with whom I feel comfortable and can be creative. Now to finish all the proofing...

Saturday morning found me at a planning meeting for our church's camp for teenaged girls. It was a good meeting. Eric and I get to lead one group of the girls on an overnight backpacking trip, so I talked a little about that and got the names of the girls we'll be leading so we'll be able to contact them. On the way home, I stopped to visit A., my friend in the Assisted Living facility. She was happy to see me and we worked on word search puzzles together for a half-hour or so.

I stopped home for about 10 minutes to pick up Ev for a shopping trip to Dicks for new lacrosse pads. We also stopped at Target so Evan could pick out the snack for his team for the game later on. He is doing great this season-good coach, continued increased confidence and as a bonus, my pal Julie's boy is on the same team so we get to chat at the games. Yay!

I had a short break in the afternoon which was not long enough to take Evan and Sara up to the Cow Caper Day at our creamery but I was able to live vicariously through Corinne who did go up. Instead I got in my last few licks of practicing and got ready for the recital and game.

The recital went fine. Sara did brilliantly-much better than I did, and yet, I was satisfied with how I did. Sadly, I did not get Sara's filmed because my camera's card was full and I couldn't get it cleared off fast enough. One good thing about my performance was that I didn't feel so embarrassed and anxious about not being perfect. I didn't cry when it was over. That is a big step in the right direction for me. Another good thing is that we got to stay for refreshments! And I got to run over and give Mendy a hug on the occasion of her son's baptism. We got to the game in plenty of time in spite of the 3o minute drive to the park.

The game went well-Evan's team came from behind in the second half to not only win but dominate 7-4! Wahoo. The only problem was that the temperature dropped and the wind blew and I was freezing in my recital Sunday Best. But we all survived. Sara actually went and sat in the car with her cousin. Eventually my mom did too, which I completely understood.

The game ended about 7:30, and I needed to get dinner on the way home, so after leaving the house at 3 pm, we finally rolled back into the driveway at 8:45 with our bucket of KFC. But the night wasn't over yet.

I accepted Christina's sweet invitation and went to her 30th birthday party 2 hours late and really had fun. I got there just in time to play a fun Karaoke game and sang two songs, one of which was by myself in front of virtual American Idol judges. That was seriously nerve-wracking but luckily it was set on "Easy" so even Simon said I was "Fantastic!" It was great to play and eat and share endorphins with everyone, so I'm really glad I went.

Sunday morning found me oversleeping yet again. I am really struggling with the 9 am church thing combined with needing to arrive 30 minutes early for Sam to fulfill his priesthood responsibilities of preparing for the worship service. We got out the door as quickly as we could and got there on time for the service but late for Sam. Oh well.

The afternoon found me looking for ways to cook Sam's beautiful Rockfish filet that he brought home, fresh from the bay. I ended up gently steaming it in foil on a bed of onion slices with a little lime (I was out of lemon), Old Bay and dill. It is a very delicious, mild fish and everyone liked it. Even Ev said it wasn't horrible.

Later that day we went with Johnathan to be with him as he received his Patriarchal Blessing, a rite of passage for members of my church. It was a sweet moment as he learned what we believe is personal revelation, counsel and comfort about the course of his life.

The day and the weekend were rounded out by two happy events: Eric got home safe from Florida and my brother Phil (the one we were just visiting in California) got here safely for a one-month rotation at Andrews AFB. His wife and family will be here later this week. We went over to Mom's to see how much Phil had changed in the month since we saw him last and enjoyed a little ice cream and scrabble to mark the occasion. It will be nice to spend more time with him before they head to their new post at Cannon AFB in scenic Clovis, NM.

I've started two new books, both listening instead of reading and I'm really enjoying both of them. One is the first in a fantasy series by Garth Nix called Sabriel and the other is a non-fiction account called The Orchid Thief. I'll be listening this week as I finish up the prom dress season. I have two more to do, then I'll be done till homecoming, I suppose.

What a busy weekend. Go. Go. Go. Not always fun for a wanna-be hermit like me, but it definitely had many good moments. Today I'll be home until tonight's lacrosse game, which will be played rain or shine thanks to the magic of astroturf fields. Bliss. Think of me under my umbrella in the 50 degree weather.

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Girl with Piano, Camera and Children

If Mary Cassat were to have painted my day yesterday, that would be the title I would choose. Why I think of myself as a girl, I'm not sure, since I'm much more like the woman in this painting, but I do. I'm still 17 in my mind .

I started out at 7 am saying good morning to my cute niece Shania who was spending the day with us. Then at 8:30 I met up with friends for a really fun family photo shoot at which we tried to catch the last of the soft morning light. We did pretty well with that along the shores of lovely lake Elkhorn. It has some of my favorite photo spots around. Then back home for time with the kids, making sure everyone had eaten breakfast before hunkering down for some day-off video game fun, then making sure they turned off the screens and went out into the glorious day. They did and everyone enjoyed the break from the grind. I practiced piano for quite a while (Shania was happy for what she called lunch-time entertainment-she liked my song, sweet girl) and I am just going to have to be satisfied with my efforts.

The recital is Saturday and while my little Kiddie-Mozart won't be perfect, it will be mine. I wonder sometimes why I persist in this charade of thinking I can play the piano. I guess it is the same motivation that drives to do all the other crazy stuff I do. I'm just so curious, plus I have very low self-esteem, plus I'm naive and clueless enough to never think, "Maybe this just isn't your thing..." I'm a little bummed about the recital because Eric will be out of town and Evan has a game that conflicts with it, so I'll be playing first, then Sara, then we're off to the far reaches of Western Howard County for Ev's game. I don't even get refreshments as a reward for public humiliation. Plus, Mendy's son's baptism is at the very same time in the very same building but I can't share their joy cuz I'll be in another room sweating bullets. Can you tell that while I enjoy playing for myself in my own little house, that performing is not my strong suit? Yikes. Hopefully my parents will come, but my dad will probably be disappointed that I didn't play better (I know that sounds awful, and I have a lovely father, but that is one of the reasons I persist in the charade-the kid still wants to please the dad).

I digress. Back to Thursday: At 12:15 I was off to my piano lesson and the knitting lesson I give my teacher's daughter ( I love bartering). Shania accompanied me there and to Trader Joes where we bought as much of their fun junk food as we did actual groceries. Shania picked out some flowers for her mom and we bought many items made with chocolate. Then back home for kid stuff, chores, general nagging about getting homework done and figuring out dinner, then off to drop Sara off at her piano lesson. Luckily I carpool with another mom, so I could come back home, start Shania on some shrinky-dink projects and make dinner. S's mom came around 5, then I was back in the car to get Ev to lacrosse practice, hoping my faithful rice-burner Honda would be able to run on fumes for another 10 miles so I could get him there on time. It did, and he was, and I got gas then headed back to Lake Elkhorn for a senior photo shoot with another dear friend. Oh the afternoon light was pretty. Yum. After the lake, my young friend went home for an outfit and hair change, then came over to do some studio shots under the lights. Whew.

Both shoots yielded good results and both families will have many proofs to choose from. Each shoot is a step forward for me in understanding what my strengths are, being true to what I want to do with my skills and feeling ever more confident about the results. I still see a gap between what I want to produce and what I'm doing, but I've gotten to the point where I can accept where I'm at and enjoy the moment. I think that, in spite of their imperfections, my photos have brought at least a little joy, and that is my goal. There are definitely times when, after seeing someone else's work, I think that I should just put my camera up for sale on ebay and go sell sea shells or something, but then I'll come across an image in my files that I particularly like, and that wasn't by chance. I made it that way-I captured the light and told a story. That makes me feel better when I see the duds.

I have another senior shoot this afternoon so pray that the scattered thunderstorms will scatter somewhere else. Here are some of my faves from yesterday afternoon:

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Before and After

Here is the dress I just modified for my friend M. In spite of the difference in color in the photos, it really is the same dress. She says she really likes it and feels like Belle from Beauty and the Beast when she wears it. I share this to honor her and show her integrity, not to show off my sewing skills, though I'm grateful that all my years of crazy sewing have prepared me to do this small service. What's really impressive is when a young woman has the conviction in her beliefs to be willing to go against the tide of fashion and be modest. For those of you not of my faith, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe in modesty as a way of expressing our faith and our willingness to do what is asked of us by a loving Heavenly Father. Here is how we teach this idea to our youth. We also believe in moderation, so we don't dress oddly or anachronistically, like the Amish, but when compared with how most teens are dressing for the prom, this young lady will stand out with the beauty of her character and personality as the stars of the show instead of her body. It would be easy for her to say, "It's just one night and it's prom-I'd rather fit in and feel hip." This girl didn't say that. She wanted to be pretty and feminine instead of sexy and provocative. More power to her.

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A New Day Has Come

I'm not exactly feeling like pounding my chest like Celine Dion does when she sings that song, but after yesterday, things have been better. Frankly, they would have to be. Okay, I'm being dramatic, but what a discouraging day. The air has cleared and everyone got off to school with light hearts this morning, so all is, of course, well. Thanks to everyone for the kind comments. They really do help when I vent upon you, my darling friends. I try so hard to keep it positive, but sometimes the equation just doesn't add up and that giant negative sign glows neon and demands to be recognized. I love you all for encouraging me and being so kind.

Today's adventure was Sam's first driving experience with left turns in traffic with lights, multi-lane roads, stops on a hill (he drives a manual transmission), and me pretty much keeping my cool. This is my third child to learn to drive and, while it doesn't get easier per se, as long as I remember all the dumb things I did when I was learning and try to pile on the praise, it is bearable. Plus, it is my free ticket into heaven, so I welcome the challenge.

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When Mama Ain't Happy, yada, yada, yada...

Really that saying should be, "When Mama has no quantifiable evidence whatever that anything she is doing is producing even the slightest positive result, then nobody's happy..." Yeah, the other has more of a ring to it, I know.

All I can say is that I'm glad that there is no such thing as Mom Idol. If my kids were the judges, they would all be Simon and my performance today would be worse than a theme-park performance. If they were the viewers at home, I would not get any votes.

One last thought before I go curl up under my covers in the fetal position and have a very dramatic and cathartic fall-apart:
I'm glad that at least other people's children like me.

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There's Something About a Kit

I'm a sucker for a kit. Like this one: It is a pretty little Guacamole kit from Trader Joe's. Because you know, it would be really hard to pick up 2 avocados, a clove of garlic, 2 tomatoes, a jalpeno pepper and an onion all by myself...

Some thoughts: With a kit, there are no decisions to be made, and everything is assembled in a visually pleasing way in a very portable container.

My thoughts lead me to this conclusion: Someone else did some of the work. Someone helped me get from point A to point B. Thank you, yes, I'll buy the kit. Because it makes me happy.

As a result of my happy little purchase, I got bloggy and had fun not only making the guacamole but documenting it. My authentic Mexican "Pig" molcajete is the perfect way to make any kind of salsa, and it worked like a charm. From cutting the onions and garlic to dicing the avocado and pepper to squeezing in just a little lime juice and adding the tiniest pinch of salt, I felt artistic and capable. The process was enjoyable, which made the product all the more special. Instead of just peeling the protective film off of a tub of something like guacamole, I made the real thing. Perhaps occasionally, a little inspiration is worth a few extra dimes.

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Listy Day

Bad news first. Things I didn't like about today:

I did not meet my water-drinking goal-I just forget. If I try to drink it all now, I'll be up all night.

I am incredibly frustrated with my pediatrician's receptionist because she canceled an appointment for Johnathan without telling any of us so his mission paperwork has been set back a WEEK! PLUS, he went to the appointment and was TURNED AWAY! The doctor wasn't even there! Whew, okay that was a big one. That counts for, like, three. But I feel better.

I'm working on spring cleaning and decluttering and am in that unnerving phase when everything looks worse and MORE out of control because all the sorting is in process. It raises my heart rate to walk through my house right now.

I did not practice piano today, and I have a recital coming up on the 26th.


Things that I liked about today:

THE WEATHER!

A lovely day at the temple with my wonderful pal.

3 loads of laundry completely done and in a minute, both my washer AND dryer will be empty. The pile is not completely gone, but it's getting there

I did my 20 minute walk, and half of it was greatly enhanced by holding the dear warm hand of a darling almost-8-year old.

My young friend M. liked the dress design I came up with!! That might count for 2 because I was really nervous.

Sara and I watched Enchanted-what a fun film.

Yay! The likable things outnumbered the unlikable things, even if I do count the doctor thing as 3.

Sometimes, like a rainbow at sunset, the beauty is a little hard to see, but it's worth the look, at least for me.

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Act Swiftly Awesome Pachyderm!

So, if you recognize today's title, you've seen Horton Hears a Who. I would recommend it as a fun family film, so go see it A.S.A.P.* This is one of my most beloved Dr. Seuss books, so I was a little leery about going to see it (I still haven't gotten over The Grinch), but it was Evan's turn to plan our weekly Family Home Evening, and this was his choice. In the end, I found it quite charming. It was actually rated G, not PG, so even with Steve Carell AND Jim Carrey as the main voices, crude humor was almost non-existent, which I found refreshing. Carol Burnett as the Kangaroo Mama was perfect, and the whole thing had a nice warmth and sense of humor about it. I found myself laughing really hard at a dream sequence that was realized in the Anime or Manga style. After years of watching Pokemon and Dragonball Z with the kiddies, the opportunity to poke gentle fun at this type of animation was highly enjoyable for me. The sure sign that my kids liked a movie is that they come out of the theater quoting it, and tonight, they were. Good times overall.

*Today's post title is Horton's interpretation of this famous acronym.

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The Good Earth

For the second day in a row, we've taken advantage of the good weather to get a ton of cleaning up and spiffing up done in the yard. It has been woefully neglected this past fall and winter, and Eric is in a bit of a lull right now at work (contrasted with last summer and fall when he was literally doing the work of two people while his friend and associate took a well-deserved maternity leave), so he's had some...wait, I can hardly say it...spare time. So much that he has had time to exercise, to take the kids to a lacrosse game at UMBC and just be home. It is amazing. Anyway, the whole family spent most of the afternoon in the yard and I started turning the garden.

All my latent farmer genes just come right out when I get going in the yard and I genuinely enjoy it. You'd think I would have a really beautiful, well-kept yard. HA-hahahahaha!!! Think again. It's almost like I sabotage myself because I get such pleasure out of gardening that I relegate it to the "After I've done all the IMPORTANT THINGS" list, which is things like cleaning, laundry, dishes and finances etc., which of course is a list that is never actually complete, so there's no AFTER for me to garden in. I need to change my thinking about that.

Anyway, I have such a small garden that I don't use any motorized tools, just old-fashioned ones.

This is my favorite and today I got to go to town broadforking my garden into lovely, aerated soil. Considering that the soil here in the southern half of the Atlantic coast is flat, hard, orange clay, my 100 square-foot rectangle of nice, black topsoil is one of my proudest accomplishments. I've never bought topsoil, just organic amendments to complement my own compost. I go in and out of gardening and do more planning and dreaming than actual gardening, so please don't be too impressed, but when I get the chance and gardening finally gets the better of my list, I do love to get into the dirt. In spite of what the photo might indicate, I wear shoes, but the dirt gets in anyway, so my feet show some serious wear and tear. Gardener's toenails are one of the best reasons to indulge in either a manicure or my handy-dandy fake toenails. You just never get the dirt completely out.

My plan for Monday, in between starting on my semi-annual Adventures in Prom and Formal Dress Alterations and Modest Makeovers, (I've agreed to do 4 dresses this year) I hope to put in some salad seeds like lettuce and spinach. I have to go slow and not get ahead of myself or I'll get psyched out, but I am really feeling inspired after some of the reading I've done this past year about the way our food is produced.

The best thing about a garden is the fact that every year you get a fresh start; a new chance to try again to be a better gardener. I just love new beginnings.

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Fun Recipe

I made these this morning for seminary and was reminded of just how yummy they are. My kids like them, I just don't often get one of my own, so I haven't tasted one in a while. The seminary kids seemed to really like them, too. They are awesome to keep in the freezer for instant breakfasts-a great homemade alternative to pop tarts, etc.

Breakfast Burritos (This recipe doubles, triples or quadruples easily if you happen to be cooking for 24 teens)

6 eggs, beaten

½ lb. sausage, cooked, crumbled, drained on paper towel

¼ cup salsa

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

10 flour tortillas

1 Scramble eggs in a large skillet. Add sausage, salsa and cheese.
2 Warm tortillas in microwave for 20-30 seconds or until warm and flexible.
3 Place a scant ½ cup egg mixture in each tortilla; roll burrito-style.
4 Place in ziploc bag with cooking instructions and freeze (or eat immediately).
5 Cooking instructions: Cook in microwave until heated through, about 2 minutes. OR Thaw, wrap in tin foil or place in covered glass pan and bake 350° for 10 minutes.

Cooking Tips
Jazz them up by adding green onions or chopped onion, chopped tomato, shredded potatoes or hashbrowns, jalapeno slices or whatever else your family loves.

Recipe Source
Author: Deborah Taylor-Hough

Source: Frozen Assets, Reader's Favorites

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Quick Funny

The other night, we had a new vegetable: Broccoli Raab or Rapini. It is not actually related to Broccoli, but that's not what I wanted to share. When I told my family the name of the mystery vegetable, which is pronounced Broccoli Rob, they immediately nicknamed the new green Broccoli BOB. At first some of them were tempted not to like it, but they had so much fun with the silliness of the name that they went round the table having Broccoli Bob do various feats of derring-do on the way to his imminent demise in their mouths. It was pretty funny, and I'm sure I'll never be able to call it anything but Broccoli BOB for the rest of my life.

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Little Thing

About 4 years ago, I bought a Circle Journey Book to exchange with my niece. She lives far away and we seldom see each other. We sent it back and forth a few times, then she got busy with the life of a teenager and we haven't exchanged the book for about 2-1/2 years. Now we do things like text each other occasionally, and she came out to visit last summer, and I know she knows I love her, but I am always a bit wistful for more contact. Today, without any warning, I got the circle journey book back in the mail from this dear girl. It brightened my day so much. It is such a little thing, but her sweet gesture of searching through her room to find it and get it back into circulation meant so much. I can't wait to fill it up with my latest news and maybe a photo and a little treat and send it back to her. She works on the yearbook for her school and just got it submitted. How I can relate to that relief! I love that we have some similar interests. She is an absolutely wonderful girl and I hope we can continue to become better friends as she grows up.

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First Week of April

I haven't been terribly busy, but I have been trying to limit my time on the internet, so I've done very little blogging this week. I have two great books to read that I've been greatly enjoying, and I had a wonderful weekend full of spiritual renewal and learning, but I'm still working on my post about that, so it will have to be anachronistic.

I've gotten a ton of scrapbooking (the digital kind) done and completed 4 different books. I've been exploring different publishing sites and programs and it has been fun. Here are some thoughts about the process of creating the books. I'll comment on the books when they come in. It is important to note that this is about mostly automated photobooks. Some would not even call it scrapbooking because I let the site or the software do a lot of the work. There is a whole other world of digital scrapbooking out there that involves creating pages completely from scratch in a program like Photoshop. Heritage Makers kind of bridges the gap, because they gather everything into one place and you have the option of doing it completely from scratch or simplifying with a more automated system.

Apple: Easiest by far for me since I already have iPhoto installed and the book creation process is literally a few clicks. No uploading of photos or downloading of software. I've never seen an Apple book, but they look good in the pictures. A nice perk is that Apple's integrated iLife software will make the album into a slideshow, let me set it to music and make a DVD out of it, complete with menus, theme music, etc. I think it will be very fun to send an album and a slideshow dvd as a gift. Also, the book gets saved as a folder in iPhoto and I can order another one anytime. Mac at its best.

Shutterfly: My first and most familiar digital scrapbooking experience. They've gotten tons better in the last few years and have lots of nice options now. I didn't use them this week, but I have a collection of their books to compare with the ones that are coming. One major thing I like about Shutterfly is that their photo hosting is unlimited and lasts forever. No emails warning you that your photos are about to expire. The books stay forever, too, so you can reorder them. They also have plugins that make uploading to their site very easy.

Picaboo: I was very excited to try this company after seeing some of Corinne's beautiful photo books, but sadly, they do not have the force with them and do not make their free software available for Macs. I am interested enough that I may transfer some pictures to our pc and try it out anyway. It looks cool.

mypublisher: This software is slick, free and available for Macs (and pc's) and is very easy to use. It has very positive buzz in the computer magazine and review world. Once the software is downloaded, it hooks up with iPhoto to allow my photos to be added to the book very easily. I imagine it would do something similar on a pc-find all your photos for you. The books look beautiful and are comparable in price to the apple and picaboo books. One nice thing is they have volume discounts, and they save my books for me online. I can also share books with friends.

Heritage Makers: I'm getting better at using this, but I have some of the same struggles with it as I do paper and print scrapbooking. I just get so involved in the details (HM has digital papers, embellishments, unlimited layouts, themes, etc.) that it takes me as long to do a page as it takes me to do a whole book in the more streamlined systems. The books are beautiful, but they are about twice as much (they compare their prices to what you would pay for all the papers and embellishments). I am interested to see the results of my comparison shopping. Also, there is no software to download, but since you are working completely online, uploading photos can be time-consuming, but once they're there, storage is unlimited.

So, try your hand at digital scrapbooking if you haven't already. It can be as easy as letting the software autoflow your photos into the template, then clicking the "order" button or as detailed as making a traditional scrapbook. For me, the payoff is when I see my family all piled around a book reliving the memories. For that, a scrapbook doesn't have to be fancy, it just has to be done.

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What's in a Name?

Too late for April Fool's, but very fun nonetheless. This is from Cami.

1. Your rock star name (first pet, current car): Gabbi Accord (are you feelin' it? Is Gabbi Honda any better? Is there any car brand less rockin' than Honda???)

2. Your gangsta name (fave ice cream flavour, favourite type of shoe): Chunky Monkey Mary Jane (very tough, that one)

3. Your Native American name (favourite colour, favourite animal): Blue-Green Platypus ( I think I would have been voted out of the tribe with that name)

4. Your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born): Lin Salt Lake (oh brother)

5. Your Star Wars name (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name): Nuske or, my maiden version: Wixke

6. Superhero name (2nd favourite colour, favourite drink): Purple Water (Wondertwin Powers, ACTIVATE!)

7. NASCAR name (the first names of your grandfathers): Blaine Herbert

8. Stripper name (the name of your favourite perfume/cologne/scent, favourite candy): Black Truffle (oh, that's bad.) I might have to go with the pet/streetname version: Gabbi Montrose

10. TV weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Williams Westport

11. Spy name (your favourite season/holiday, flower): Autumn Lily

12. Cartoon name: (favourite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Mango Jeans (I could actually see this in a Japanese cartoon)

13. Hippie name (What you ate for breakfast, your favourite tree): Yogurt Dogwood (I actually thought Flapjack Eucalyptus was brilliant. I may name my next pet that.)

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A Salami Day and a Taste of Licorice

As I sit here, combining mulling over the day, finishing my seminary lesson and blogging all at the same time (and they say multitasking isn't all that productive-feh!), I am sipping a new herbal tea that is licorice flavored. I am one of those fairly rare individuals that seek out black jelly beans, chew whole anise seeds, and really enjoy old-fashioned black licorice candies when I can find them. For me then, this tea is a wonderful night-time treat. Just a little something slightly sweet and flavorful to help me with my constant food cravings-and actually delicious in the bargain. Some herb teas just don't taste like anything to me, but I like the idea of a light, soothing, low-calorie something to use as a ritual at the end of the day, and I've reached for those teas, both bland and not, for a lot of years. This one is a keeper. Mmm.

Before this nice moment happened, however, there was the sort of day which was made for a cup of tea-a day that needs this kind of slow moment to fix all the memories in the mind. To the uninformed observer, it was just a regular spring day-unpromisingly rainy in the morning, beautifully sunny and breezy in the afternoon. I was busy with all my usual routine-all good, nothing stressful-so it was destined to be a pretty good day no matter what. But there in the middle, just as the clouds were giving way to the sun, and burnishing a pretty good day to one with a sweet rosy glow around it, there were the 2 lovely hours I spent with my friend doing nothing fancier than eating yummy salami sandwiches, laughing, looking at pictures and just well, the only word I can think of is, delighting in each other. We talked about everything except all of the many business-y, administrative-y, thingstodolist-y stuff that we could have talked about. Instead it was books and family and food and memories and the remembered touch of a new baby's skin. I feel refreshed, loved, happy, lucky, ageless, blessed and about a hundred other magical things. Who knew that salami could do all that, eh? So much of what happens in my life and every other woman's life is giving-giving-giving. Its what we're made for and I'm not complaining, but I was feeling a little empty. I reached out to my pal and bless her, she welcomed me to her cozy home for a favorite treat and made a space where we could just be for a little while and then end up enriched rather than spent.

By the way, that salami is on sale at Weis right now. Do you need a Salami Day?

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