Diary of a move, 2

You will never guess what I found yesterday while packing!

Him: 

Oh my flipping god  

Sweet baby Jesus in the heavens, this man is on fire. He is impossibly sexy, elegant, rugged, intelligent, gentle and handsome. I could die.

The boys had yesterday and today off of school. I am going to be honest in telling you that I am quite keen on their returning tomorrow.

For starters, they have demanded a roaring fire in the hearth for pretty much the entirety of this homestay. I like a nice fire, and it's exceedingly cold here in DC, but I am A) nearly out of kindling and not terribly interested in foraging for more in single-digit temps when most everything is frozen to the ground, and B) rather sick of their burning small effigies, Sith plane replicas, and all other "but it's just paper and wood, Mom!" creations in my living room. It's morbid and not relaxing.

Today, for example, Oliver freaked out and rescinded an offer to the fire. "Mom, I want that one back. PLEASE!" Which meant fishing a nearly-aflame masterpiece from atop its pyre and dousing it with ash before any ruin commenced. Not relaxing, people.

Secondly, we have played approximately 712 games of Spot it! which is a delightful game (that I frequently win, heh!) but one whose art director seems to have taken one seriously wrong turn.

When you look at this disk, what do you see?

I see a clock, moon, man, eye, balloon, taxi, tree, and black-eyed tampon with a ball and chain.

Why is the tampon a prisoner? Why has she been fighting and yet continues to smile? Why is she on a children's game? 

I have been asking myself these vexing questions all day instead of packing. I do not yet have an answer. I have only packed one box.

Until this move is a wrap, I have let T know that we will be having extremely simplistic dinners. Fortunately, as long as whatever I put in front of him is flavorful, not mustard or turnip greens, and includes meat at least five days out of seven, he does not care.

Tonight? Bucatini with spicy tomato sauce and speck. Bellissima!

Good night, peeps!

Whirlwind

Gorgeous evenings here lately. 

We bought a new home, and I've been on an emotional twister since. So much to do, immense excitement, packing, purging, remembering. 

I remember being 17 and leaving the home I'd lived in for ten years. Mom and I sat in my old room and cried and cried, years of memories and laughter and trials in those walls. 

Almost ten years into this house, I feel exactly the same.  

The whole family is on board with Sherlock, an utter delight to this fan. We've lost the pipe- what happened to it? Perhaps it'll be found during the move next month. 

Tom's birthday is tomorrow, and his parents invited the kids to stay tonight and tomorrow night. This time together is really the best gift they could give us. 

Tonight we stopped at Macon Bistro for a quick meal at the bar before seeing The Big Short.  

Fallen grits soufflé with shrimp and sorrel, salad and fried chicken with mac-n-cheese and collard greens! Delish! 

The Big Short was incredible. Seriously. Let us be warned and let such lunacy be possible again.  

I miss the boys tonight, just their quiet, sleepy presences. This apartness is good for us all though, and I'm grateful. 

Curried turkey salad

I am really so thankful and warmed by the outpouring of love and support y'all gave me following my Hard Day post. I have not since gotten much more sleep, but today we received some thrilling news, Mom's pain is lessening, and I shared some good laughs with friends.

Last night, in an attempt to eat something, eat well and make it snappy, I made my Curried Turkey Salad for dinner. It is so simple and flavorful, and I am never disappointed. Roast turkey, dried cherries, roasted cashews, scallions, a bit of fresh lemon juice and a curry mayo are all you need; you can whip this up in ten minutes, and it makes great leftovers.