Saturday, October 03, 2009

Real Estate

Available immediately: One room elf house in a desirable location. Furnished.
Amenities include: spectacular view (window curtained for privacy), various objets d'art to enjoy, felt insulation and soft pillows and mattresses.
Sweet and agreeable landlord excited to welcome you to your new home.
Goblins need not apply.

treadmill: you're doing it wrong!

Busy busy

Wednesday I left work early for a doctor's appointment...and when I got home Pete had already disconnected the old stove. Would I like to help him move applicances? Do I have a choice?

Old stove, moving out. Some of the objects located: wooden puzzle piece, pen, cigar cutter, barbecue tools(!), hair elastic.
New one, on deck.
Installation. This followed the obligatory trip to Homey D for additional supplies and one to Kendall Pond to pick up pizza.
Success!
[There are no pictures of the moving of the couches, which happened yesterday after work. I'm just glad that's over, and that my husband never made good on his threat to saw the old couch in half with a circular saw.]



Just stuff

When we got home from CT last Sunday, I felt like making (and eating) soup. I just realized that these are the last pictures I have of a cooking project on the old stove. If I sound nostalgic, I'm not, really. I am seized by irrational glee just walking by my new stove. But would you like to see me make Potato Florentine Soup? Of course you would.

Onions, maybe three? And I didn't cut myself.
I cooked them in olive oil with rosemary. Ten minutes, covered.
Potatoes, peeled and diced. I think I used 8 medium-sized.
Then the potatoes go in, with a quart of veggie stock and a teaspoon of salt. Note the presence of Big Blue....I love that pot irrationally.
Next, my assistant and I remove stems from a metric ton of spinach.

This is the face of a good little helper.
Once the potatoes are tender, we remove half of them and puree with 2 cups of milk, some black pepper, 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, and 3 oz of neufchatel.
Meanwhile, the spinach goes in the pot and the pot gets covered....until the spinach wilts a bit. You are also supposed to add chopped fresh basil and parsley. I had neither of these things, so I used a few tablespoons of "Italian Herb Medley" herb puree in a tube. Cheater!
Then we stir in the puree, and heat through.
Have some bread too, why don't you? (Don't let her fool you; she did not care for the soup.)
Yum yum yum. Moosewood recipe....so good!

Rainy morning

(10.3.09)

Friday, October 02, 2009

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

6:45

(9.30.09)

Leaves

(9.29.09)

Monday

(9.28.09)

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Car

(9.27.09)

On the road again

(9.26.09)

Friday, September 25, 2009

Metaphors

I have been absent and silent for a while, and it's largely just that I am tapped out. While this week was better than last week, which was filled with anxiety, I've just been.....uninspired, I guess. I don't feel like cooking, knitting, reading, or generally doing anything other than sitting. And it's not that summer is going away- as much as I love summer, I love fall more. I think it's partly just that I'm stuck in one gear and can't seem to manage to shift into the next. The engine revs, then stalls, then....we don't go much of anywhere. Ya know?

Work's been busier than I anticipated due to some unexpected things happening, so I need to shift gears there, from normal keep-it-going mode into do-two-jobs-and-hire-and-train mode. It's not going all that well; I got stuck at work late last night and worked at home after Charlotte went to bed the night before. One of my goals today is to establish some limits during this temporary crazy-making time and to stick to them. Ha. Easier said than done.

I guess I am kind of looking around me at all the things that need my attention, and one word goes through my head: triage. Do what absolutely has to be done to stop the bleeding, handle the situations at work that could escalate before they do, take care of what needs to be done at home.....make it home in time for dinner or at least to kiss the kidlet good night before she falls asleep. Bed before midnight, or at least shortly thereafter. Monday through Friday is a blur.

I'm glad today is Friday. The extra perk of our visit to CT this weekend (aside from the obvious one of seeing the family!) is that there will be no working. The laptop and blackberry will sit in the house. I will be 180 miles away. This is good.

And who knows? Maybe if Pete and I can get our act together and get our new stove and couch into the house, I might feel more inspired to reshape our surroundings into what we want them to be before winter....which was the whole impetus in the giant "buy new stuff" trip we had Sunday. That, and not filling the house with smoke when we use the oven.

Time to go and wake everyone up....

Too early

(9.25.09)

Good morning!

(9.24.09)

Still kicking

(9.23.09)

Smiling down

(9.22.09)

Monday morning

(9.21.09)

Sunday, September 20, 2009