Secret Smiles

Somewhere along the line, I truly became an old lady. If you define an old lady as someone who prefers talk radio over music radio. There's a local radio station called. My Talk 107.1 and I just love it. Every chance I can, I try to listen to it. And I realized something the other day as I was listening to it on my way home ... it makes me smile and sometimes I don't even notice it until I question why my cheeks are pulled up. I probably look like a crazy woman to anyone who looks at me. I don't care. There talk about hot topics, cheesy topics, good food, shopping and trends and sometimes just trashy gossip.

It's just what I need to start my day and end it after a hectic day at work. It's mindless and thought-provoking at the same time (well ... sometimes it's thought-provoking!).

And of course, I must shout out Happy Halloween! It's O's first Halloween and we'll do our usually gig and trek it down to the MN Zoo for their members-only event. We like that this is a somewhat limited event (less crowded than Zoo Boo) and is inside for the most part and not so scary for the kids. It's also fun because you get to do a ton of costume watching -- more than if you were just trick-or-treating in your neighborhood.

K woke up so excited for today, so we'll watch a bunch of cheesy, non-scary Halloween movies (Thank you Disney channel and ABC Family) and then get ready to go for the evening. Yes, the holiday season officially kicks off with Halloween and I am so pumped!!

October - where have you been going?

Okay, I don't know why it's so crazy busy right now that I can rarely find the time to hop on this blog and post something. But alas, apparently, it's crazy busy.

The exodus has started at work, we've lost three PR managers and a senior specialist in the last month. I anticipated it happening at some point after the reorg, and so I'm not surprised the momentum has started to pick up. It will be fascinating to see how the rest of the year plays out. Of course, this is the time for performance reviews. I get to give a total of six next week. I know, you're jealous aren't you? They should all go well, at least, I'm assuming they will.

We had our first parent conferences with K's preschool teacher. He's academically brilliant (no surprise there) but when it comes to social skills. Well, he's a tad bit bossy and dominating. Yeah, no surprise there either. Of course, now that parents have met each other, D is relegated to a few afternoon play dates. (And I owe an email to a mother of another young kid to set up one with K, yet.) It's a lot of pressure having children.

I'm hosting wine club tomorrow - the flavors of Chile and Argentina -so I'll definitely post after that and share how the evening goes!

Good Writing

What is good writing? As part of my profession, I'm expected to write a lot. And being in the lovely sector of front line management, I am expected to critique others writing. This is, of course, expected of everyone at my level or at a higher level. So, I find it quite delightful when the topic surrounds who is a good or great writer and who needs to improve. And now that I am finally diving into reading my 1001 books, I find the topic even more humorous. The first book I decided to tackle was The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.

This is supposed to be good writing. However, if I were to write like Mr. Bunyan, I can guarantee I would be called a terrible writer with much improvement needed. So, how objectively can we judge writing. Is it based on the pure grammatical notions. (That does not appear to be the case because we have a former English teacher in our department and oftentimes he is in disagreement with the grammar rules our superiors are following ... so what gives?) So if what accounts for good writing is truly subjective, then how are we fairly and accurately assessing people's writing abilities?

This is a tough call, and one I have to deal with on a daily basis. Because I also am from the school of thought that there are many ways to write one good sentence. (This believe is not followed by everyone, as there are many who feel their way is the only way.) I wonder how many times I will ponder this as I read these books.

And while The Pilgrim's Progress is a little hard to follow at times, the imagery is splendid and the story is quite good. I can imagine it being read out loud to a church and being used as a way to get people to follow the laws of Christianity. So, even though the writing is quite difficult, I don't argue its place on the list.

Showering One with Love

This weekend was the entry into a busy next two months. The first shower for my sister's wedding was at my house this weekend. The theme was desserts and we had lots of yummy treats. Fortunately my younger sister and my two cousins really helped ensure the event went off with a hitch. The menu was amazing, if I do say so myself. It was a lot of delicious autumnal flavors.

There were mini gingerbread cupcakes with pumpkin frosting. Just the right bite of gingerbread. K said they were the best cupcakes he had ever tasted (not sure if I agree ... but I'll go with it.)

 Next up was the triple cookie delight. I did not make any of the cookies, my cousins and sister did ... but they all tasted delicious. The french macaroons were unbelievable, the earl grey shortbread were a nice savory treat and the chocolate hazelnut crinkles melted in your mouth!

We also served pumpkin caramel bars with a special secret ingredient ... bacon. Yes, that's bacon crumbled on the top. It was unlike anything else ... and it's definitely true what they say about bacon!

We also had an unbeatable spiced pumpkin mousse. This was a labor of love, but definitely worth it in the end. And they were so rich, I served them in mini cups - just big enough to get a satisfying taste. And to wash it all down ... a special autumn punch (pineapple juice, pom juice and ginger ale ... who knew? It was a fantastic combination!)

 

As for the shower itself, there was a moment at the beginning when I got really nervous because I could tell we weren't people who necessarily had a lot to say to each other ... but after asking my sister to share how they met and then with me reading their engagement story ... the tension broke and we all just had fun. I think it was hard for my aunts because they didn't have anything to do. My cousins, sister and I had everything already perfectly out and everything was under control. It was like a very quick turn of the generations. I think it was a little unnerving for them. And then I sent them off with their favors ... handmade, by yours truly ... cake pops. It was a delicate way to end the dessert shower with a touch of elegance. (Oh, did I forget to mention ... I dropped them when I was bringing them up. Most survived the aftermath ... but the ones that didn't ... it was enough to break my heart!

Alas, time for the next venture!