Torrid Tuesday

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OhMyGawd, readers. I cannot believe it's only Tuesday, and I can't believe just how long this Tuesday has felt. The regular 5:30am wake-up was especially rough for whatever reason, and then, one by one, we had to say goodbye to my sister. I ran her out to the airport so we had another hour or so together and then I raced home to finish up some grocery shopping and get myself cooking for the faculty luncheon that is less than two days away. 75 people!! Six amazing dishes!! I'm thrilled and honored to be able to help appreciate the incredible people who run and teach at Jack's school but I imagine I might just drop on Thursday afternoon. And then, hah, I have to pack for our family vacation; we leave Friday. It's all good.

I made a batch of blueberry-rhubarb Cava jam to finish off the stashes of each ingredient I had left, hung with Ol for a couple hours, chopped huge amounts of grapes and celery, went to Jack's drama finale, made another 3x round of mujaddara, cleaned mint, peeled pistachios, made the boys dinner, chilled some wine, took a brief yet over-the-phone and unplanned Italian placement test (I'm taking a ten-week course this summer!!) -talk about changing direction for the moment- and am considering starting in on the poaching of 30 chicken breasts.

It was such a treat to have my sister here for so long and to truly enjoy that time together. She is such a good person with so much love to share, and I really admire her positivity and unceasing work ethic. Chin-chin a mia sorella!

Oh, and I finished Jack's birthday invites- can you guess the theme? I'm so glad he doesn't actually have this hair-do. He wrote the script himself! Priceless.

Color rendering is horrid here (ex, his pants aren't silver), but I just can't bring myself to take another pic. I'm sure you understand!

NIK_3575

 

Perfect morning

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After take-out Mexican, good wine and Friday's Real Time, I headed down to the basement "hotel room" to continue my 18-hour holiday (thank you again, in-laws). I read approximately 4% of the material I'd carried down - material I've been toting for weeks in a vain effort to stay informed and/or sate my interests - before deciding it was absolutely bedtime; why risk missing the boat to sleep that is my Circadian rhythm. Insistent mewing from Nutmeg, in addition to an assertive attack on the door - seriously, does he carry a tiny yet powerful cat club? - woke me sometime after 6:30am and we had a nice snuggle until he got nippy. Now, I'm nestled on our comfiest couch, a warm cup of good coffee in hand, the Sunday Times spread around me indulgently; I might actually get three sections in before the kids come home! The door to the deck is open, letting the sound of the magnificent breeze outside blow through, the sun is shining through the trees, the greens of spring/summer are positively aglow. The birds seem to be engaged in an enthusiastic kaffeeklatsch, the squirrels are acting like they've joined a high-wire stunt circus, Percy is to my left, snoring on a silk shantung pillow that he co-opted and licked so much that it is now definitely his (how precious is this situation I ask; cue the eye roll), Nutmeg is sitting in front of the screen door in full-on hunter-mode, and I've got my feet propped on the boys' PurFun mini-trampoline as if it's the best ottoman around.

It doesn't get much better!