Lovely, lovely

Peeps, I've been caught up in a whirlwind since Thursday night, touching down briefly in VA yesterday and in and around home in DC today. I catered, taught, hosted, cheered, enjoyed the stupendously glorious weather and relished time with friends. DC'ers, was it not spectacularly gorgeous today? I mean really, spring at its best. T and his dad took the boys to the Nats game last night with a huge group of teammates and family members from Jack's baseball team. Naturally Jack is newly obsessed with baseball now, and his team won again today; the Blue Devils are undefeated so far this season! This is quite the shift from two seasons back when they won exactly zero games. Go growth!

I had some lady friends over for lunch today, and boy was it a pleasure to sit comfortably in the back yard, all prettied up in dresses and makeup.

People, as an aside, T is watching SNL from last night, and I swear to god, who, WHO, is funnier than Maya Rudolph? She is g-damn hilarious! Balls does that woman make me laugh.

Back to lunch. The menu was pretty darn tasty if I say so myself: Herbed Tomato Tarts; Zucchini Feta Cakes; Quinoa with Apricots, Pistachios and Lime-Mirin Vinaigrette; Watermelon and Feta Salad with Serrano Vinaigrette; Yogurt-Aleppo Pepper Chicken; Port Salut with Louisiana Pepper Jelly; Smoked Salmon Smearbread; Pink Bubbly; lemonade; Minty Tea; Strawberry Cake; Chocolate Almond Cake; aaannd, yep, Ming Tsai's Shortbread.

Second aside, how much do I miss Bill Hader? He is frickin' hilarious. Stefon anyone?

Anyway, good food. Real good. And then a fun baseball game. And I'll bet I sleep well tonight. I'll take it!

Cloudburst and then

An enormous downpour has been looming for several days now. Yesterday, before the skies broke open, I snuck over to Starbucks for a late afternoon latte, a needed shot of energy for an evening program I had at the boys' school. Round about midnight, I realized that my advancing age means that I am no longer impervious to 4pm caffeine. Damn.

In any case, I sat outside, basking in the heat, and enjoyed watching this menacing cloud settle over our area. Look at the way that tree animates the wind's path. Fortunately the rain held off until after the school gathering; the storm made for a hell of a lullaby.

Everything is calming now, and I feel rather like I'm in a rainforest. It's so intensely green and wet out there; you can almost see the humidity. The birds continue to sing, and I'm sure an even greater number of ants will soon seek asylum in our house.

A week or two ago, we had a similarly intense rain. It went on for days and there was a great deal of awful flooding all around. The morning after that storm finally put a sock in it, I was driving home from dropping the boys off, and I saw in a misty clearing the most wonderful image. An elderly man with a cane was slowly walking his three-legged dog down the middle of a side street. I imagined them to be of the same vintage, taking advantage of a dry moment outside when neither had to rush or worry. The symmetry of their twosome was really beautiful; both on three legs, both moving comfortably at a pace the very antithesis of rushed, a symbiotic team of the best sort. I hope they're well.

Tired, fines, shortbread, lunacy

Is someone kidding me? We, by which I mean the children, are melting down about water temperature, did the Angry Birds Carbonite melt and "WHY MOM CAN WE NOT CHECK IT NOW?", and whose Mad Science star chart that is. It's Jack's, for the record. I know this because he actually took a Mad Science class this year; Oliver did not. I cannot even tell you how much chocolate frosting is grafitti'ing the front of Jack's shirt -did any make it onto his candy house in Spanish Club?- and Oliver is repeatedly making us look at his shoes lighting up as he warps into "cheetah speed." Note: this is about his seventh pair of light-up shoes, so really, this feature isn't new. I am so honking tired that I had to think about my middle name earlier and the boys are still eating. Why Jack feels the need to pick each green bean up with his fingers and then affix it to the fork tines is beyond me; why the finger middlemen? Just spear, for the love. Oliver looks like Shaggy after a long week and keeps scrunching his nose like he smells poo. Hell, that kid might just. I had to fine them each a dollar yesterday for egregious overuse of the immensely unpalatable "butt-hole." The fine jar laid dormant for a while, but lately? Shit, I could open a business with the funding in there.

I.am.so.tired. SO.TIRED!

This time of year is insane. For every parent every year. I looked at my calendar for the next fortnight today and nearly hyperventilated. Chastened, it's day-by-day from here on out.

I am excited to be cooking for some friends this Sunday! The menu is lovely and today I made shortbread dough in anticipation. Ming Tsai's, natch, because I haven't made it in about 7 weeks. TOO LONG! And I did get to spend an hour with the cutest little gal today. Nearly four, she is a spitfire of epically appealing proportions.

Off to deal, obligatorily, with the damn King salmon I splurged for yesterday only to find that hubs was again working late. Balls.