Crazy Lady on the Bus

I love a book that makes me laugh out loud. Jen Lancaster makes me laugh out loud. Much like she thinks Candace Bushnell is her soul sister, I tend to think of Jen as what my big sister would be like ... if I weren't the big sister in my family. Her struggles with weight, the fact that she was also a Boilermaker (Go Purdue!), her opinion of reality TV. The difference ... she actually wrote down all her humorous life trips and has gotten five books published. Yeah, I'm a little envious, but I know I only have myself to blame ... because until I focus and determine what I want to write in a book ... it's not going to write itself!

There is something about sitting on the bus though and actually laughing out loud. It's like your secret is so good, and you see those side glances from the passengers around you and you just want to go "ha! What I'm reading is making me smile ... what about you?" I've lately been reading a lot of books that would go into the humor category ... and I have to say ... it's working. I feel a little lighter in my step, it's helping me put things in perspective (okay, the two books I recently read about happiness are also probably having a little influence, too.)

Ah, but here's my plug for Jen. She's definitely worth checking out!

Meet My Sister

I've delivered Meals on Wheels as a volunteer for the Big Company for eight years. It's hard to believe ... and it's really only three hours out of my month for a tiny piece of philanthropic goodness ... but I think it's important. Of course, there are lots of characters who I've delivered meals to for a while now. I particularly enjoy reliable Tim. He's always waiting for us to arrive and tends to share his plans for the weekend or what he did last weekend. He was very enthusiastic today as he told us all about his participation in Pride Weekend this weekend. He described his gown (purple) and his tiara and how he was excited to be told that he was a queen in the finest sense.

Today's delivery resulted in another adventure outside of Tim's enthusiasm. As I was delivering one meal, the resident smiled brightly at me and said, "My sister Genevieve is visiting from Vancouver, would you like to meet her?" Now, I'm always hesitant to walk into their apartments (and this is why we deliver meals in at least pairs) but I smiled and said, "I'd love to." I followed her in, but just far enough that I could keep the door open with my foot.

She smiled and said, "now I must warn you, she doesn't talk much." Then she quickly turned into her kitchen and whipped out ... a mannequin head with a wig on it! At first I wasn't sure if she was joking or not. I mean, she could think it was her sister (the wig mirrored her own short coif.) Then the old woman smiled brightly and said, "Meet my sister." I am sure my eyes turned into the size of large tea saucers. Her smile got bigger, "naw ... it's just my new wig. I'm losing my hair, so I ordered a wig."

I didn't quite know what to do next, so I complimented the wig and said it was quite lovely and a very pretty color. Then I smiled and said, have a lovely day ... and quickly went to the elevators back to my co-deliverers. It was an interesting day for Meals on Wheels today!

The Day The House Shook

My mind has been a little bit of everywhere lately. Lots going on at the big employer, lots going on at home. I'm trying to relish every minute I can with my boys, which tends to mean squeezing life out of every minute. (Which is why this weekend, we did absolutely nothing scheduled ... to prevent being over scheduled every weekend this summer.) So ... the results of my mind racing everywhere ... not good.

Thursday evening when I came home, my husband opened the garage door as I was driving up and pointed to the mailbox. (This is his way of saying, "honey, I didn't get the mail, please pick it up.") So, I got out of the car in the driveway to grab the mail. I forgot to put it in park. How I did this, I have no idea, because I've done this same routine multiple times. How I could even get out of the car without putting it in park is beyond me. As I walked back up from the mailbox, the engine revs. The next thing I know ... the car is moving. Yes, the car was moving without me in it! I raced to the car, but not before it hit the side of the garage. Result: scratched bumper and dent in the side of the garage frame. My heart sank. We had just had a new garage door installed last year. (Due to a hailstorm, but the irony is that frame had had a dent in the same place. Which, after D had had a chance to come to terms with my accident, he responded ... hmmm... apparently the house just wants a dent there really badly.)

I didn't know what to say, because once I got into the car, I had seen my issue, but how it happened I just don't know. Clearly, I was not being in the moment ... clearly the Swiss cheese that my brain has become has now resulted in a sever consequence ... perhaps it's early onset dementia (which I shouldn't joke, because it runs in the family.) Of course, the car that I did this in already had some scratches on the back bumper from where it's previous owner (my mother-in-law) had run into something, so I actually didn't feel too bad about the car. Now, of course, I keep telling myself, the dent in the garage door frame is not that noticeable. Fortunately, it was just the front of the frame, so it didn't actually do any damage to the functioning of the garage door. (Thank goodness for that, at least!)

Much later that night ... D looked at me and said "you should have heard it when the car hit the garage ... I thought we were having an earthquake." That's when I knew that this too shall pass. When we're able to make jokes about it. Of course, I have to give him credit. He didn't yell or scream when it had happened. He just looked at me, looked at the car, looked at the dent on the door and shook his head. I think we've finally learned that in life, things happen, and it's not worth getting to upset about them. And I think he realizes, I'll be reminded of the incident every time I back out of the garage.

50 Miles From Home

K and I went on a bike ride earlier this week. (Okay, I walked next to him while he pedaled on his bike.) It While the total distance was probably six, maybe seven, miles in total and took probably 30 minutes max, when we got home he weaved a story about how he had gone 50 miles from home. His enthusiasm for his accomplishment was so infectious. I wanted to bottle it up so that I could release it whenever I needed a little encouragement to get through the day.

Throughout the bike ride, I had to keep encouraging him. I wanted it to be more focused on the effort, the fact that he kept pushing on when he wanted to give up. (And there were definitely times -- particularly when going up hills -- that he wanted to give up.) I decided I didn't want to reward him for just having great results, I wanted to reward him for the effort that he put forth more. Perseverance is something that we need to encourage our children to develop. In this society where instant gratification has become such a way of life, I'm afraid when they have to work toward something and the reward is not readily apparent, it will be too easy for them to give up. And well ... if sometimes they have to skew the results a little and say it was 50 miles instead of 7 blocks ... I think it's okay ... especially when they are only four.

How to Visit Portugal and Greece in One Night

This past weekend was another lovely wine club evening. This time, we explored the many grape varieties of Portugal, Greece (and heck, we threw in a Croatian Rose just for fun!). It was all complemented by a lovely menu and what will be revealed to you as a very aesthetically interesting dessert.

We kicked it off with Basil and Feta Cheese Spread on Crostini and Olive Tapenade on Pita. Okay, so before I go any further ... there was one key ingredient in much of the food ... salt ... and if you know me ... you know I LOVE salt. I love it in fact so much that when someone said that they could taste the salt in the olives, I was oblivious because I was loving it so much. The cheese spread was so delish. The wine that complemented these appetizers was called Achaia Clauss. This little Greek white was unlike anything I've ever tasted. At first whiff, it had a strong alcohol smell. It was very dry, and tasted of butterscotch and lime. (Yes, butterscotch and lime are not a typical combination, so you understand why it was a very new flavor profile for me.) It was very smooth and caught brighter as I had more of the olives.

We then enjoyed a Greek Salad with Tomatoes, Olive Oil and Oregano paired with a Korta Katarina. This was the pink Croatian treat. I'm not typically a fan of Roses, and this one unfortunately, didn't become the exception. It was fruity and sour with almost a bitter taste. I won't discount Croatian wines yet ...

We moved onto our main dish which was Carne de Porco Estufado com Leite (Milk-Braised Pork Loin) and Portuguese Sweet Bread. Okay ... I love the other white meat and this other white meat had a sweet gravy ... so I knew I was on to a good thing ... but I will confess ... it was the bread I was really digging. It was sweet, yummy, carbolicious goodness. And the hostess made it from scratch (by the way, Gretchen, you still owe me the recipe!) The first wine we tried with it was the 2007 Altano Douro. This was lightly fragrant and tasted of vibrant cherries. It was a very smooth wine (and at less than $10 a true bargain.) It definitely qualified for me as an excellent table wine ... and it's lightness worked for a summer evening.

The next red was Nemea Boutari. This was a slightly bolder smelling and tasting wine. It had a bit of a peppery kick, but rolled on the tongue like a lush thick zinfandel. It definitely had more tannins and a much longer finish than the Altano -- but still a decent wine for a reasonable price.

The last red of the evening was the 2002 Monte das Anforas. This was a very smoky, woody wine with just a hint of cherry in it for me. It again was smooth and something that you could drink on it's own if you'd like. It was my least favorite of the three reds, but I wouldn't turn it down if it was the only red in town.

We capped off the night with the most visually interesting dessert I think to hit wine club. In fact, I thought it only fair that I share a picture with you:

I'm a big fan of figs, so these Figs Stuffed with Almonds and Chocolate were an excellent end to the evenings palette, but I will admit we all did a double-take when they were first brought out. We also ended the evening with the Gazela Vinho Verde. This little white is effervescent, so yes, there's a little bit of bubbly. Now, while I'm usually one to refuse the bubbly normally, I could enjoy this one, especially on a hot summer night. It was very fruity, very light and tasted of pears to me. (Others felt it reflected more of an apple and comparisons to this elusive Crispin ... were once again made.)

All in all, from a wine standpoint, I don't think it's my favorite region, but as we learned, it's a region that's fairly new to the world of wine, so I'll attribute it to that they are still working out some kinks. I'm excited for our next adventure ... the land of Germany on a hot June night ... what could be better?

My Ode to Martha

I love Martha Stewart. I'm not afraid to admit this. I DVR her show ... yes, yes I do. I would aspire to be the next Martha - except for I don't believe in lying to myself about my talents. When it comes to domesticity ... well, frankly, I'm a bit limited. However, one thing I can pride myself on is my beautiful peony bush.

Anyone who is a fan of Martha's (and okay, maybe you're not) is well aware of the fact that she loves a good peony. She has a garden full of peonies in every shade of big imaginable. If I had the acreage in Connecticut that she did, I would do the same thing.

Instead, I currently have two bushes. One is a year away from blooming still, since I got it as a cutting, but the other has blessed me with amazing blooms for the past two years. I love this bush, even thought it's blossoms are here for only a short time. It's beauty may be fleeting, but I usually get to enjoy it inside and outside. I was too delayed in cutting them when the rain came and destroyed this year's blooms, so I only got one cuttings worthy of beauty to bring inside ... and I thought I would share them with you.

Reading - A journey to happiness.

I am getting a lot of reading in lately ... devouring books at an uncanny speed. I don't know if I've just increased my reading prowess or that my hours in the milk lounge have just made it easier to get through a good book quickly.

I've read a lot of humor, Sarah and Chelsea's newest books. I've enjoyed some Sookie of the house of stacks and now I'm reading a book that discusses the science of being happy. It's not presenting any new theories to me. It's just confirming that we are all in control of the fate and life that we live. You can choose to be happy and an optimistic realist. So, today I choose. I choose to be happy and live my life to the fullest that I can. I'm going to revel in my boys, enjoy my personal downtime and map out a course for positive action. I ask that you do the same.