Road Trip

Last Wednesday, we headed to the beautiful Hudson Valley in Upstate NY for a little late summer vacation. We were all in a bad mood when we left the house. The shower was clogged, the dryer was broken, Daphne wasn't cooperating, and the milk (which I had just bought the day before) was off so I didn't get my customary morning latte. Not a good way to start. Nobody was the least bit excited when I announced that I had planned a surprise stop at an exciting roadside attraction on the way.

Luckily, by the time we reached the Utz Potato Chip Factory in Hanover, PA, things were looking up. We got to tour the factory and see how chips are made (very cool!), and stock up (WAY up) on snack foods, and eat at an authentic 1950's drive-in, and everyone was significantly cheered up and ready for the adventures awaiting us in New York.

We had a GREAT time. Highlights included the always fun Dutchess County Fair (milkshakes, fried mushrooms, a Wonder Wheel, and a Fun Slide) with good friends, a short hike at Poet's Walk, BBQ chicken wraps from Coco's, Nell's Oreo Ice Cream Cake, Friendly's Watermelon Sherbet, Kev's Grandma's 90th birthday party, lots of time hanging out with family, beautiful delightfully cool weather, and - surprisingly this turned out to be Daphne's favorite part of the trip - a visit to Uncle Gary's garage which ended with a drive in the country in a 1915 Ford.

We took 407 pictures. Well, 404 pictures and three short videos. If you are interested, 65 pictures and one video (of the Ford!) made it to Flickr.

Now we're home. The shower is unclogged (hooray for Kev!), I got some new milk, and Daphne's behavior has been excellent. The dryer is still broken, but the dude from Sears is coming Thursday. It's hot again, but only until Friday. And tomorrow is September. Life is good.

By the way, Utz chips are really really good. Try them!

A Slow News Day

 Well, my house-cleaning is suffering, but during the past few days there was Nutella gelato, schnitzle and spaetzle, risotto, homemade granola, and a finished purple cowl:

There is not much dorkier than taking a picture of yourself with your webcam.  But I wanted to show you the cowl and my new hat from Anthropologie, which is my favorite.  It is not at all crazy like the ones from Project Runway last week.    Good grief. 

Kev was nice enough to watch Project Runway with me on Thursday night so we could have quality time.  And he was a really good sport about it...no noises or smart-a$$ guy comments while we were watching it.  But then, after the show, I made the mistake of saying, "You kinda like Project Runway, don't you?"  Which set off a rant that lasted a good 20 minutes about all that is wrong with fashion, TV, and people in general.  I should have known better.  Really, though, those hats were too much.  I think I'd have been worried if he DIDN'T rant a little after being subjected to all that.

We also watched two movies this weekend.  One was pretty OK...I forget what it was called though.  It had Ewan McGregor and Pierce What'shisname and Kim Kattral, and it was a mystery/thriller type movie.  I liked it.  Then, last night, we decided to watch Kick Ass, which was a huge mistake.  Oh my gosh.  The trailer did not indicate the level of distubing graphic violence we were getting ourselves into.  I thought, "Oh, this will be funny...it's got McLovin' and some tame nerdy guys that look sorta like Michael Cera...high-school nerds versus bullies kinda thing."  Uh.....NO.  Terrible.  Do not watch this movie unless you want bad dreams.  And for the record, Nicholas Cage needs to just quit.  He gets worse and worse with every film.  I think his best work might be Valley Girl, which was probably 25 years ago. 

Today is all about waiting for the plumber.  There is a leak that needs attention, and I fear it won't be a cheap fix.  I also feel another mini power-down coming on as we wind down our summer and gear up for the first day of school, so if you don't hear much from me for a while, that's why.  I'll be back in a week or so, hopefully with news of exciting new projects and ice cream experiments, and NOT news of plumbing disasters. 

See you in September! 

Next Big Thing

This is a picture of a line of people waiting to get a cupcake at Georgetown Cupcakes in DC.  I didn't take this picture, but Kev and I saw a line just like it on Sunday when we were shopping in Georgetown.  Only the people had umbrellas.  A line of people snaking down the block were waiting in the rain on a Sunday for a CUPCAKE.  Probably a $4.00 cupcake, at that.  I understand there is a show about this place on TLC, but I also heard the lines were like this even before there was a chance you could get on TV whilst buying your $4.00 cupcake.  No cupcake could possibly be THAT good.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that the Mac-n-Cheese I got down the street at Dean & Deluca was way better, and there was no line. 

Anyway, I wish that Kev and I could look into the future and figure out what is going to be the next big thing; The New Cupcake, if you will.  Because these "cupcake boutiques" are all over the place, and people are getting rich off them, but it can't last.  Something new will come along, and cupcakes will be out of fashion.  What will it be?  Crepes, maybe?  Gelato?  Pie?  SOUP?!

I'm gonna go now.  I've got some thinking to do...

DC Mystery Door

As we were walking around DC, we ended up in a part of town where all the foreign embassies are located.  We saw the Irish Embassy, the Jamaican Embassy, the Chinese Embassy, and so forth.  Suddenly, we came upon a building with this out-of-place fancy purple door:

I decided to get a closer look at the plaque:

In case you can't read that, it says "Embassy of Freedonia," and in case you don't know, Freedonia isn't a real place.  It's from the Marx Brother's movie, Duck Soup. 

I couldn't really find anything on the internet by googling Embassy of Freedonia.  There does seem to be a grassroots group of wacko people who are trying to start a Nation of Freedonia, but I don't think this door has anything to do with them.  Chances are, some rich Marx Brothers fans live there among the embassy buildings and put this plaque on their door as a joke.  Anyway, it made us laugh.  So good for them.

and Hail Hail Freedonia! 

Big City Weekend

It seemed like this whole thing was going to turn out to be a total disaster. As we drove into the District on Friday afternoon, it was raining like crazy and I couldn't stop blowing my nose. I was trying as hard as I could to not be sick on our one and only big weekend away, but the sick was winning.

We finally arrived and checked into Room 237 at the Dupont Hotel. The rain stopped, and we decided to get some lunch across the street at the Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe. (Where, by the way, the special of the day was the Barrack Obomelet. Please.) I got some hot tea with honey and an omelet with no political affiliation, which was all very good and temporarily made me feel better, and Kev got some butternut squash raviolis which were bordering on amazing. We ate outside, where it was delightfully cool, especially for August. Then we bought some books and went back to the room. I needed some rest, because by then I was feeling really awful. So, I rested, while Kev went to the record store. I figured the trip was ruined. But SOMEHOW, thanks to the rest, a nice hot shower, and the miracle-workings of the neti pot, I was like a new person by the time Kev got back. Bring on the vacation!

I wasn't 100%, but in spite of that, we still managed to pack in a lot of stuff and we ended up having a great time. We walked and walked and walked, ate lots of great food, bought lots of records, saw interesting buildings and art, shopped at Anthropologie, and went to a jazz show. In a cave. It was cool.

DC has a lot going on. We didn't come close to getting to do everything we wanted to do, but we decided to make this an annual trip. I'm already looking forward to next time, when I will hopefully not need a single kleenex or medication of any kind.

I want to thank Kev for planning the trip. It was exactly what I needed and I can't wait to do it again. As soon as possible. Thanks also to my mom and dad for staying with Daphne all weekend so we could go.

Now, back to reality. But that's OK. Hope you all had a good weekend too. Fall is in the air! I think I feel my groove coming on...

Oh, the Possibilities...

I am declaring my first batch of homemade ice cream a success.  There it is, topped with a little Magic Shell just for fun.  But it didn't really need it.  It was fine on its own.  I cannot believe how easy it is to make ice cream!!!  Hooray for the good people of Cuisinart for using their technological powers for good.  As we ate, we imagined the possibilities.  They are endless.  But I assure you, before there is anything else, there will be Nutella Gelato.  (That's even fun to SAY!) I will report back on how that turns out.  In the meantime, please feel free to share if you have any good ice cream recipes or ideas.

Although I was feeling a little under the weather yesterday, I had a great birthday.  There were gifts, there was gas station Thai food, there was of course the ice cream, there was a nap, there was reading and knitting, phone calls from people I like, nice messages on Facebook, and Daphne was good at bath time.  Kev got me a family band birthday gift - an amp for the bass.  It is orange - possibly the most fashionable amp I've ever seen.  I will take a picture and post it soon.  I am pretty sure I am the only mommy on the block with a cool orange bass amp.  So, now I'm really going to have to practice, because with the amp, you can actually HEAR me playing the bass.  Daphne gave me a card that she drew/wrote herself, and a pretty orange candle holder that she picked out and bought with her own money.  The lady at the Thai place even gave me some free mango and sticky rice, which was nice.  And tomorrow, Kev and I are headed to DC for the weekend.  I can't wait.  A very good birthday.  Thanks, everybody.

In other news, there was a serial killer here in Leesburg going around town stabbing people and hitting people with hammers.  It was pretty scary, especially since we walk everywhere.  But he has been caught! 

Albert the dog is doing well, moving a little slowly, but recovering nicely.  I get to see him tomorrow before we head to DC. 

And tonight is Project Runway night, so set your DVRs.

Have a great weekend, and stay tuned for Big City Adventures...

Double Dip

So, yesterday while I was trying to stay busy and not think about Albert being in surgery, I took the one and only eggplant from our garden, roasted it, and made some baba ganouj (roasted eggplant dip - right).  And then, since I had the tahini and chickpeas, I went ahead and made some hummus too (left).  Good stuff.  So last night, we had dips for dinner.  I also took some of our banana peppers, sliced them up the side, took out the seeds and membranes, and stuffed them with a mixture of sausage, mozzarella, parmesan, and bread crumbs. Then I wrapped them in puff pasrty and baked them.  I don't really like banana peppers, but these were good.  Kev ate some tomatoes too, so it was a very garden-intensive dinner, which is kinda cool.

Daphne, on the other hand, ate leftover chicken soup, which Kev made her on Sunday because she is (you have to read this in your most pitiful and dramatic groan-y head-voice) "so SUPER-DUPER sick."  I think she is actually having an allergy attack.  The air quality here has been terrible lately, and we were outside quite a bit over the weekend.  Kev's soup is really great, though, and we get to have it again tonight.

The next time I talk about any kind of "double dip" it's gonna be referring to ice cream, because guess who just got a new ice cream maker!!!  (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)  Since tomorrow is my birthday, I will be making some ice cream to celebrate.  I even bought some Magic Shell!  (Daphne has never had it).  I'll make something simple this time, but I have been scanning the internet for recipes and have already found a recipe for some Nutella Gelato (thank you, Giada!) that must be made asap.  That will be next.

Another early birthday gift I received was a CD of songs that Kev and Daphne recorded.  It has Daphne singing the ABCs, I've Been Working on the Railroad, and a couple of songs she made up on the fly whilst standing at the mic (one is about soldiers (?!) and the other is all about "I love Mommy.")  Awesome.  Then there are Loch Lomond and Sidewalks of New York, which the two of them recorded together.  Best Gift Ever.  I love my family.

The doctors report that Albert is doing really well and should be able to go back home later today.  Yay.  Poor Albert.  I know he hates being in a strange place with strange people.  I am looking forward to seeing him.  Another great birthday gift knowing our good puppy dog is going to be OK. 

OK.  Off to water the garden before it gets too hot.  Because what we need around here is more garden vegetables.  (When is someone going to invent "sarcasm" font)?

Happy Tuesday.

A Good Day

Our good dog Albert has made it through his surgery and is now recovering minus his gallbladder, which was the source of his recent problems.  We are all very relieved, and thankful for all the good doctors who were involved during this process.  Above is a picture of Albert and Daphne, which she drew to make him feel better.  How could it not?  Feel better soon, Albert.

McT

This morning, when I asked Daphne what she wanted for breakfast, she said, "A Happy Meal."

Um...OK.

So, this is what she got.  It looks a little like Uncle Jeff, I think.  Anyway, it pleased Her Highness and she finished it up quickly, which is saying a lot because I'm sure she had something totally different in mind when she asked for a Happy Meal, and once she has her mind set on something, she doesn't usually budge.

(The dark stuff is a strawberry fruit bar from Trader Joe's).

Unrelated:  I found out that my Awesome Birthday Surprise is a weekend with Kev in DC at a very nice hotel.  I cannot wait.  It is going to be fabulous.  So, stay tuned in a couple weeks for lots of photos and tales of adventure.  We may even CANOE!  Kev rules.  Thanks, Kev.

And thanks to my family down south for babysitting!

On a more serious note, our good family dog, Albert, gave us all quite a scare this week, but today we finally received some encouraging news indicating that some routine surgery may solve the issue.  The news could have been much worse and I am very thankful.  We will all be glad when the operation is over.  Albert is not a pet, he is a family member.  Please keep a good thought for him.

OK...off to start the weekend.  Perhaps with grits.

I Should Not Be Allowed to Watch TV

One time in 2003, Kev and I went on vacation to Maine.  I love Maine.  I wish I could spend every summer there for the rest of my life.  There are loons, lakes, blueberries, mountains, whales, lobsters...aaaaaah.  Anyway, when we went to Maine, we flew into Boston to visit Kev's sister and our brother-in-law for a couple days, so we visited the aquarium there.  That is where this picture was taken of some kind of jellyfish. Pretty, huh?

WELL. A couple nights ago, we were flipping through channels and Kev stopped on a show all about jellyfish (there are 30,000+ different kinds!).  This was not a good idea, fascinating as it was.  You see, Kev really REALLY wants me to like the beach.  But now, after what I learned on that show, I will probably never ever stick my feet anywhere near an ocean again.  These things can KILL you!  And their populations are growing exponentially.  So consider this a public service announcement.  The jellyfish are taking over! Beware! 

Today it is hot and muggy and I would love to be in Maine, where it is probably delightfully cool.  If I was there, I would climb up the Beehive with Kev, then enjoy some lobster bisque while taking in a nice view of the Bubbles.  As it is, I will go enjoy my quiet house and my iced coffee.  Not quite the same, but it'll do.  At least there are no jellyfish.

Resistance is Futile

The title of this post was suggested by Kev as he came in from the garden on Saturday morning with way more tomatoes, green peppers, and banana peppers than we can possibly eat.  Even after giving a bunch away, we still had all that (above) left this morning.  And below is what I just finished gathering this afternoon.

Possibly the most unfortunate thing is that I do not like tomatoes.  We grow them every year.  I taste them every year.  And I just don't like them.  Even with salt.  Even with fresh basil and mozzarella. But there IS hope.  This year, I disliked them much less than in years past.  There was no gagging this time, or running for a glass of water to chase them down.  So, maybe next year, I'll try them again.  Everyone has been saying that these ones from the garden are especially great. 

In other news, we had a really great weekend.  Our friends came back from their tour of NY/Philly on Saturday, so we all went out for Cajun food on the new patio at the Cajun Experience restaurant downtown.  The food was great, the weather was delightful, and Daphne was really good.

On Sunday morning, the kids set up all of Daphne's guys to be the audience  for a magic show

which was performed by the Great Stromboli and her "lovely assistant."

Very entertaining.

And before they left, there was Rock Band.  Of course.  So much fun.

It was really great to get a chance to spend time with my good friends.  It's been way too long.  I was very sad to see them go.

 As promised, here is a photo of the new dresser we found last weekend at Eastern Market.  I love it.  I can't wait to put my stuff in it and get rid of those cheap plastic Target bins.  But first, I have to find some pretty paper to line the drawers with.

Look!  Dividers!

That's where my sweaters will go.

OK...off to read a little before Daphne wakes up.  I need to finish my book so I can return it to the library tomorrow.  Nothing is on the agenda this week, and I think I'll try to keep it that way.  I have a lot to catch up on around the house.  Please let me know if you want some tomatoes.

A Pretty Good Book

Last week, I took Daphne to the library.  She played on the computers and picked out her books, and then it was my turn.  Theoretically.  My turn = making Daphne sit on the floor with one of her books by a column in an aisle while I quickly scan that same aisle for something with a cover that indicates it is not a book about murders, vampires, plane crashes, or recently divorced women on shopping sprees or trips to Italy.  I came home with three books.  Two were unreadable.  I didn't make it past the first chapter of either of them.  The other was a collection of short stories.  I like the idea of short stories, but almost always find them unsatisfying.  I can't take all that disappointment, over and over in the same book.  So on Saturday, I went to the library by myself, and I got this book (above).  I love it.  It isn't perfect - I completely agree with some of the issues reviewers have had - but it's different, and I'm finding it hard to put down.  More info here if you're interested.  I think this book would make a great movie. With an awesome soundtrack. 

Next, I think I am going to re-read The Secret Garden, which Daphne picked out at the bookstore yesterday.  She had a gift card from her birthday, so I let her choose what to buy.  We just watched the movie, so she wanted the book, even though she's really still way too young for it.  One of my all time favorites. 

A couple of quick things:  Project Runway started last night!  I have to say I am a little disappointed in the results of the first episode.  It seemed like the judges were more interested in keeping "characters" for drama's sake than in judging the actual pieces they designed.  But it's early, so we'll see. 

Also, great news!  Target has their school supplies section up and running, and it is awesome as usual.  I had to pry myself out of the notebook aisle.  Oh, to be a student nowadays!  (Well, we DID have better lunchboxes back in the 70s, so I guess that's something).

Finally, Kev has something up his sleeve.  Big secret plans are afoot for my birthday, and I can't wait.  I know I will love it, whatever it is. Especially if it involves someone who is not me deciding upon and executing the meal plan.  I will keep you posted.

The other day, I told Daphne we were having tacos for dinner.  Daphne loves tacos.  But, she said, "Mom.  Why do you always cook the same thing?  Why can't you make a VARIETY?"  What a stinker. 

OK.  Off to the park with our neighbors.  It's finally not a million degrees.  Have a great weekend!

Monday PSA

The other night when I was out with my preschool Mommy friends, I found out about restaurant.com.  Do y'all already know about this?  I feel like I'm always the last to know about anything out there in the real world.  But in case YOU are the last to know, I'll tell you about it, because it's pretty cool.  You go on there, type in your zip code and a radius of however many miles you want, and it spits out a list of participating restaurants within that radius.  You can then purchase gift cards for these restaurants with a value higher than what you pay, and then print them out and use them.  For example, yesterday when we went to Angeethi, I bought a $25 gift card for $10.  So, we saved $15 off our meal.  You have to read the restrictions, of course.  The catch for this one was dine-in only, and a minimum purchase of $50.  No problem last night since there were six of us.  So, try it out...it's a pretty good deal.  There are 25 participating restaurants within 10 miles of my zip code, including 2 of my favorites: Angeethi and the Cajun Experience.  Just for fun, I entered my old Zip in Dallas, and there were 64 restaurants within a five mile radius.  Anyway, there you go.  And thanks to Tina for the heads-up.

Fun with Texans

Over the weekend, we were visited by our good friends Tracy, Kevin, and Shane, who are doing a big Summer 2010 Tour of the Northeast.  They arrived Friday night and there was lots of catching up over jambalaya, a short walk around town, and a quick stop at Shoes.  Daphne was thrilled to have Shane around.  He is a real live teenager after all, and she thinks teenagers are the biggest rock stars there are.  Shane is awesome and treated her like his little sister immediately, patiently doing his best to answer 1001 crazy Daphne questions, mostly about science.

My friends are insane, and spent the enitre day Saturday in DC, walking 12 miles in the 103 degree heat, along with every cub and boy scout in the United States as it is their 100th anniversary and they had a big to-do about it in our nation's capitol.  On Sunday, we went in with them.  We decided to take Metro, which was pure torture.  The boy scouts apparently all made that same decision, so they joined us on the train.  We were packed in there like sardines and the AC was taking the day off, so it was like an oven until they all got off at Smithsonian station.  Then it was more like a green house. 

We stayed on to Eastern Market.  Above, you can see Daphne and Shane taking the escalator straight into what looks like the sun, and it might as well have been, as hot as it was.  We had brunch at a place called Banana-something in Capitol Hill (yum!), and then went to Eastern Market where it was really too hot to shop, but Kev and I found a dresser!  Woohoo!  Goodbye plastic bins from Target!   

Then it was back to Smithsonian because we promised Daphne she could go see the dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History.  Unfortunately, all the boy scouts were promised the same, so it was pretty crowded.  But we still had a good time, and Daphne got to be a paleontologist and search for various bones and teeth and things hidden in some rocks:

Here are our friends on the National Mall, with the Capitol building in the background, and Daphne too, apparently still searching for bones and teeth and things in the dirt there.  She handed me a small rock and said please put this bird tooth in your purse, mom.  Then it was time to head home.

 As the train came out from the tunnel a few stops from ours, we saw that it was raining, which was a very very happy sight.  When we got off the train, the rain was over and it was about 25 degrees cooler than when we got on in the District.  Daphne fell asleep on the train.  A big day for a little Peanut.

In the evening, we went for Indian food at Angeethi, which was delicious as usual.  Murgh Makhini.  Medium spicy.  I'm telling you.  You won't regret it.

Our friends left this morning for a few days in New York City, and then a stop in Philly before heading back here next weekend for one more day before going home.  Daphne is missing her buddy Shane and I am missing having my friends here.  It was a good weekend.  Hope yours was too.

Good Daddies and Itchy Pirates

On Friday morning, Daphne woke up to the promise of adventure. On Thursday night, she was pretending to look for gold and jewels, so Kev stayed up that night and prepared a pirate treasure hunt for her. He hid eggs around the house with clues inside which lead her from one to the next until she found the lost treasure of Itchy Island.

The last clue was in the barn.

The treasure was a string of pink Mardi Gras beads, hidden away in her lunch box by those crafty pirates.

She wore them all day.

Easy Bake Wednesday

 All during the school year, Daphne repeatedly asked her teacher to come to our house.  She said she could only do that in the summer, but promised that she would.  Today was the day.  So, Daphne, with a little help from me, busily prepared brownies in the Easy Bake oven so we would have a treat to share. 

 We decorated the brownies with some chocolate frosting and a few sprinkles.  Here's the result:

Hmmm.  Well, you don't get a lotta bang for your buck with the Easy Bake Oven, but it's still fun, and they tasted alright.  Miss Heidi (pretended that she) enjoyed them very much, which made Daphne happy.

We had a nice visit.  Daphne showed Miss Heidi all around the house and the garden, and we sent her home with some tomatoes and peppers. 

After she left, Daphne, Austin (in the blue chair), and I had a tea party, which Daphne set up all by herself.  We each got two cupcakes, a cookie, and a piece of birthday cake (all toys, fortunately).  It was lovely.

I have just decided that I want to have tie-dye day.  Daphne's cousins did it recently with very nice results.  I guess it will have to wait for cooler days, though. 

OK...off to read for a while.  MNO tonight at the Wine Kitchen.  Yep.

Motivation

Daphne's bathtime used to be awful.  Really really awful.  Bath day filled me with dread.  Every time, there was a huge battle.  There was crying.  There was hiding.  There was yelling.  (And for me, there were sudden explosions of new silver hairs).  Some of you have witnessed it.  Not a good scene.

But, thanks to the 100 Point Bath System of 2010, I dread it no more!  See that piece of paper on the table with the colorful line on it?  We started at zero, and for each "perfect bath" (no crying, no hiding, no yelling) Daphne received 10 points.  The goal was 100 points, which would earn her a trip to Target to pick out a new game for her Leapster.  Over the past couple of weeks, the colorful line has been creeping slowly toward the 100 point mark.  Sunday, she reached her goal.  We went directly to Target, and she picked a Pet Pals game which she loves.  Today was the first no-points bath, and it was GREAT.  Bad habits broken.  No more bathtime battles.  Mommy wins.  Yes.

This time, anyway.

Monday Field Trip

 Today we took a field trip to Winchester, Virginia to meet some friends at the Discovery Museum.  It's a science museum for kids.  It's perfect.  They get to touch EVERYTHING.  They get to climb on stuff.  They get to be noisy.  It is a great place, especially on a hot hot day. 

Among many other things, Daphne helped build a roller coaster:

 We played in the infinity mirrors:

 And there was a rock-climbing wall:

 The museum is located in a section of old town Winchester where the street is closed to cars.  There are cute shops on both sides (which we didn't get to visit) and cafes everywhere.  So we took a lunch break and went to a cute little cafe for sandwiches and hot dogs and lemonade.  Then the kids got to make a wish in the fountain:

Daphne got to choose a souvenir, so she picked a little T-Rex, which she named Dyno.  Of course.

On the drive back, we got to stop at a frozen custard stand because our behavior was good at leaving time.  It was a great day in a new place with nice friends.  (But next time, I'm going with an extra helper so I can go in those shops.)

Good Eats Weekend

Friday night, we watched a movie and had Earthquake Shakes:

Saturday, Kev made fresh salsa with peppers and tomatoes from the garden:

And I made some pesto with some of our basil (Note: I need a new food processor):

Yesterday, Kev took Daphne to the water park and I stayed home and made homemade granola:

And last night, Kev cooked some delicious Jamaican Jerk chicken with cous cous and flambe-ed pineapples.

Good eats, indeed.

And now, it's Monday. Back to the regular old Taco Night or Leftover Surprise or Choose-Your-Own Cereal. It's too hot to cook. For that matter, it's too hot to eat. I am going to go sit in a chair and think about Christmas.

Dates and Melons and Things

On Wednesday night, Kev and I went on Date Number 3 of my Mother's Day dates. Daphne was down south, so we enjoyed a nice quiet dinner for two at La Lou, which is probably my favorite restaurant in Leesburg. I had linguini with mushrooms and some really good Italian sausage, and Kev had grilled swordfish. I loved mine, and Kev liked his a lot. For dessert, we each had sorbet. Mine was orange, and Kev's was lemon, and it was served inside a hollowed out orange and lemon, respectively, with some sauce, a strawberry and whipped cream on the side. Delicious and refreshing! I hope more people will go to the restaurant. It's always good, and almost never crowded. The owner/chef knows us and always visits our table. He is an interesting guy. He caught a fly with his bare hands right in the middle of our conversation! I hoped he washed them before he went back to work. He reminds me a little of the chef (played by Tony Shalhoub) in Big Night. Great movie if you haven't seen it. It will make you hungry. And it has a great soundtrack. Anyway, it was a fun night out. Thanks, Kev. Three more dates to go!

Yesterday, I spent the day in Frederick, MD at a seminar. It was like it always is. Long, cold, uncomfortable. The best part was going to lunch by myself. I ate at Bob Evans and read my new book. It was sort of weird going to a different state just for the day. Texas mentality, I guess. It takes forever to get to another state when you're in the middle of Texas.

Last night, I stayed up late and finished reading my book. So, so much for that. I couldn't make it last. A trip to the library is in my near future.

The combination of staying up until 11:00, getting up with Daphne to potty at 2:00 am, and being awakened by an EARTHQUAKE at 5:00 am has left me a little unrested and unsettled this morning. Yes, I said earthquake. In Virginia. The whole house was shaking and I couldn't figure out what was going on. My first half-asleep thought was that for some reason Daphne had gone into the attic and was jumping up and down. But unless she was accompanied by 3 or 4 elephants, that theory was not likely to be true. Then I thought it was an earthquake, but quickly dismissed that idea. Then I thought maybe we'd been bombed. This is not unlikely considering our proximity to DC. But I didn't hear any sirens, so I figured that wasn't it. Eventually, I got up, and the computer confirmed the earthquake theory. It was a 3.6, centered near Gaithersburg, MD. Anyway, that was my first, and hopefully last, earthquake. Nothing was damaged, but stuff definitely moved around on the shelves. It was freaky.

Meanwhile, things are getting exciting in the watermelon patch:

And we have a couple of eggplants unless the critters get to them before they're ready:

And it looks like it's probably about time to make some pesto:

So, things are good in the garden. But it's HOT again. The don't-go-outside kind of hot that makes me lethargic and unproductive. I'm glad we don't really have any big plans this weekend.

OK...off to launch an Iron and Wine station on Pandora while I make some lunch for me and the Peanut. And I think after dinner tonight, I might make milkshakes in honor of our morning wake-up call. Have a good weekend!

PS: If you felt the quake and want to be a good citizen, go here to report what you felt to the USGS for their research. Science is good!