Short rib ragu, 40

We're about 9 months late to the game, but T and I watched This is 40 last night and found it spot on. We are not yet 40 but might as well be in some respects. Parts were absolutely hilarious, others so poignantly true. Paul Rudd- meow! Prior to the movie, we had a hell of a dinner (after a hell of a long-ass day!): seared cauliflower steaks, pasta disks with short rib ragu and a terrific red wine: big, meaty, divine!

Exceedingly random thoughts

Why do cats lift their butts when you pet their backs? Yesterday I had an entire conversation with a man next to me in line at the Friendship Heights Whole Foods, yet although I believe we were talking about the almost-complete lack of cell reception there, I could not understand 99% of what he said. It was bizarre. No, he was not foreign. He was smiling maniacally and speaking American English with a combination of mumble and rapidity + a bonus weirdness that led me to miss the entire conversation but nod agreeably the whole time. It was a strange experience.

When people drive with their blinkers on, even as they go in the opposite direction of the in-use blinker, why is that?

Ricotta, egret, tantrum

Holy tantrum, Batman! You should hear Oliver wailing and freaking out because he cannot draw a playground "as good as Jack." Never before has either child attempted to draw a playground, and five minutes in, Ol has slug-like boogers and tears streaming down his face because his swing set looks like multiple pairs of boobs hanging off of a pole (that's what it looks like to me; I told him that thinking the word "boobs" might make him laugh but it didn't seem to work). Top left: a swing (?) and a bumpy slide that I tried to fix for him and which he promptly scribbled out. Top right: slide and boob poles (his swing; seriously?). Bottom: Jack's swing for Ol and Oliver's slide which now looks like a billowing smoke stack.

Jack is taking every opportunity to avoid cleaning up the Legos that are so seriously out of their boxes that it appears he's got a new floor in his room, but one that really hurts to walk on. They're both in superhero underpants, and we've been up for three hours.

In the meantime, I made a batch of comfort ricotta, now draining, and managed to get T excited about organizing and shredding! Yoga in T minus 1 hour peeps.

As you may recall, my parents live in SW Louisiana and their yard backs into a bayou, Contraband Bayou. Though there are more alligators than I'd like, the birds are incredible and beautiful. Look at this egret my mom's neighbor snapped!