forty three!
May. 31st, 2006 10:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mamagotchatoday was one of my best birthdays ever!
even before it began, it was shaping up nicely... yesterday my sweet MIL (i really lucked out in that department the second time around, let me tell you) not only called and sang to me, but sent me a lovely card. my mom and dad sent a copy of wallace and gromit's "curse of the were-rabbit" (hint provided by clayton!), and i got hints from my friends that they wanted to take me out for dinner. an old, old friend popped up on IM and we had fun reconnecting (i mean OLD... like i knew her when i was 11, and haven't seen her in about 15 years!). i got a LOT of IJA stuff done, too.
last night, bill stayed up to the wee hours making The Cake. go check out his blog (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
2006in2006) for the details. i got to taste little bits and pieces, but had to go to bed before it was all together. when i woke up, the whole house was asleep... this is in itself a rarity, because linc is usually up with the birdies. i snuck downstairs, feeling like a little kid on christmas morning... there were two pretty packages on the table, and a gorgeous cake in the fridge... AND every single dish was washed!
i decided to jump into the shower, since everyone was still asleep. when i got out, bill was snoring, linc had climbed onto clay's bed, and clay was up on cordell's bed (that he's moved to while cord is out of town) looking bleary. "how long has he been there?" i asked clay. "i dunno," sez clay. "he woke me up saying 'bottle-of-water!'" and sure enough, linc was happily batting around a water bottle.
bill was still zonked, so i loaded up linc and headed to the y. linc's been enjoying the kid care area, and runs right to it (once he checks out what's going on in the pool and gym, announcing "water!" and "basketball hoop!" just in case i forgot from last time). i did a nice little 3 mile treadmill thing listening to moxy fruvous and watching a really lame tony danza talkshow thing. saw that they're doing zumba now on wednesday mornings (used to be tuesday afternoons) so i'll have to try to make it next week (zumba appears to be a jazzercise lookalike). we have yoga tomorrow morning so i'll be back...
picked up clay from home (he'd spent the hour vacuuming and cleaning up the living room!), and went to get some bagels (i was really craving lox). linc was very happy to get close to a motorcycle, though i didn't let him touch the lovely hog outside the bagel shop. stopped on the way home for lemonade, orange juice, and coffee grounds, then home for a yummy breakfast with everyone.
presents! i got to open my packages!g4n0nd0rk gave me a copy of "life of brian," jedusor gave me a copy of "the omnivore's dilemma," linc (with help from daddy, i suspect) gave me a copy of classic Queen (my sister, 1firefly, loaned me Queen's greatest hits album, but it didn't have "bohemian rhapsody" which this one does, yay!), and the same sister teamed up with jules to get me a hat i tried on last week (my last straw hat didn't fit and finally got destroyed). everything was perfect!
i drove bill to work and was going to do some IJA stuff, but the baby really wanted me to hang with him, so we decided to watch "life of brian." it was a little frustrating, linc really wanted to play and be read to and wander around and eat, but i have the movie now so i can watch it any time i want to! clay and jules seemed to enjoy it though. finally got linker to sleep (while reading the foreword to "omnivore," and headed to our local homeschool parkday (jules stayed home with linc). talked to my sister, who sang happy birthday to me!
i actually got to bring my knitting! i haven't knit in ages (i'm working on these socks for my galpal christina... scroll down to see a good pic) and it felt wonderful to sit in the park, chatting with my friends (who sang happy birthday to me!), knitting and not having to chase the little guy all over the playground for once. don't get me wrong, i love him to bits and wouldn't trade him for anything... but it was nice to take a break today. clay rollerbladed with his buddies and had a nice time too.
came home. linc had woken up and was wandering around. we ate more bagels and watched a gorgeous thunderstorm move in and drench the city. my mom called and we had a nice chat. cord called too (he was hanging with some friends from davis, and they sang happy birthday to me!). picked up bill at 6, and a friend dropped her sons off at 6:45 (whoops, forgot to tell bill that i said she could leave them here while we went out to dinner... but it worked out OK, they're super easy kids).
she drove me and the cake to blue koi, the restaurant my friends were treating me to. (the rain was clearing... and we saw a rainbow on the way!) there were six of us altogether, and we had a fantastic time chatting, opening presents (chocolate! earrings! bells! little pot of holding! hemp paper! tiny purple goddess! more earrings! butterflies!), drinking tea and eating fabulous food.
and then, it was time... for The Cake. well, if you clicked through to2006in2006's journal, you'll get a good physical description of it. but that won't do it justice. it was incredible... crunchy and creamy and rich and deep and dark and not too sweet... the rich moist cake, the smooth light ganache, and the indescribable hazelnut praline-chocolate coat... i fancy myself decent with words, but i'm afraid i cannot do this creation justice. between the brilliance of rose levy berenbaum's recipe and directions, and the loving care that my husband took to make it, a glorious gift was given to me. i am indeed the most fortunate woman on the planet!
we couldn't rush through this confection, so it was good that the restaurant didn't try to turn the table over fast (and they're not a big place... and they didn't mind us bringing in the cake, either). we tried to get the server to take a piece, but he foolishly declined. ha! more for me! we reluctantly broke up a little after 9, and my friend drove me home. i loaned her some of anne lamott's books, she and her kids took off, bill ate the pork dumplings she brought for him as a babysitting thank-you, and then bill finally got to taste his handiwork (well, he'd tasted all the bits beforehand... but now he got to have the Experience). and he had the same reaction... you couldn't eat it fast, and it was fantastic.
not much else to report... got online, read some email (including a sweet birthday wish fromlunacow), wrote this entry, and now i think i shall head off to bed.
i should add that bill's other gift to me was deciding that we could go into debt a little more so that gotcha, fork, hooligan and darwin could attend the National Puzzlers League con this summer... i'll finally get to see the Krewe again at TexSAcon, HOORAY!
pretty much a terrific birthday all around. my face hurts from grinnin' like a fool!
even before it began, it was shaping up nicely... yesterday my sweet MIL (i really lucked out in that department the second time around, let me tell you) not only called and sang to me, but sent me a lovely card. my mom and dad sent a copy of wallace and gromit's "curse of the were-rabbit" (hint provided by clayton!), and i got hints from my friends that they wanted to take me out for dinner. an old, old friend popped up on IM and we had fun reconnecting (i mean OLD... like i knew her when i was 11, and haven't seen her in about 15 years!). i got a LOT of IJA stuff done, too.
last night, bill stayed up to the wee hours making The Cake. go check out his blog (
2006in2006) for the details. i got to taste little bits and pieces, but had to go to bed before it was all together. when i woke up, the whole house was asleep... this is in itself a rarity, because linc is usually up with the birdies. i snuck downstairs, feeling like a little kid on christmas morning... there were two pretty packages on the table, and a gorgeous cake in the fridge... AND every single dish was washed! i decided to jump into the shower, since everyone was still asleep. when i got out, bill was snoring, linc had climbed onto clay's bed, and clay was up on cordell's bed (that he's moved to while cord is out of town) looking bleary. "how long has he been there?" i asked clay. "i dunno," sez clay. "he woke me up saying 'bottle-of-water!'" and sure enough, linc was happily batting around a water bottle.
bill was still zonked, so i loaded up linc and headed to the y. linc's been enjoying the kid care area, and runs right to it (once he checks out what's going on in the pool and gym, announcing "water!" and "basketball hoop!" just in case i forgot from last time). i did a nice little 3 mile treadmill thing listening to moxy fruvous and watching a really lame tony danza talkshow thing. saw that they're doing zumba now on wednesday mornings (used to be tuesday afternoons) so i'll have to try to make it next week (zumba appears to be a jazzercise lookalike). we have yoga tomorrow morning so i'll be back...
picked up clay from home (he'd spent the hour vacuuming and cleaning up the living room!), and went to get some bagels (i was really craving lox). linc was very happy to get close to a motorcycle, though i didn't let him touch the lovely hog outside the bagel shop. stopped on the way home for lemonade, orange juice, and coffee grounds, then home for a yummy breakfast with everyone.
presents! i got to open my packages!
g4n0nd0rk gave me a copy of "life of brian," jedusor gave me a copy of "the omnivore's dilemma," linc (with help from daddy, i suspect) gave me a copy of classic Queen (my sister, 1firefly, loaned me Queen's greatest hits album, but it didn't have "bohemian rhapsody" which this one does, yay!), and the same sister teamed up with jules to get me a hat i tried on last week (my last straw hat didn't fit and finally got destroyed). everything was perfect! i drove bill to work and was going to do some IJA stuff, but the baby really wanted me to hang with him, so we decided to watch "life of brian." it was a little frustrating, linc really wanted to play and be read to and wander around and eat, but i have the movie now so i can watch it any time i want to! clay and jules seemed to enjoy it though. finally got linker to sleep (while reading the foreword to "omnivore," and headed to our local homeschool parkday (jules stayed home with linc). talked to my sister, who sang happy birthday to me!
i actually got to bring my knitting! i haven't knit in ages (i'm working on these socks for my galpal christina... scroll down to see a good pic) and it felt wonderful to sit in the park, chatting with my friends (who sang happy birthday to me!), knitting and not having to chase the little guy all over the playground for once. don't get me wrong, i love him to bits and wouldn't trade him for anything... but it was nice to take a break today. clay rollerbladed with his buddies and had a nice time too.
came home. linc had woken up and was wandering around. we ate more bagels and watched a gorgeous thunderstorm move in and drench the city. my mom called and we had a nice chat. cord called too (he was hanging with some friends from davis, and they sang happy birthday to me!). picked up bill at 6, and a friend dropped her sons off at 6:45 (whoops, forgot to tell bill that i said she could leave them here while we went out to dinner... but it worked out OK, they're super easy kids).
she drove me and the cake to blue koi, the restaurant my friends were treating me to. (the rain was clearing... and we saw a rainbow on the way!) there were six of us altogether, and we had a fantastic time chatting, opening presents (chocolate! earrings! bells! little pot of holding! hemp paper! tiny purple goddess! more earrings! butterflies!), drinking tea and eating fabulous food.
and then, it was time... for The Cake. well, if you clicked through to
2006in2006's journal, you'll get a good physical description of it. but that won't do it justice. it was incredible... crunchy and creamy and rich and deep and dark and not too sweet... the rich moist cake, the smooth light ganache, and the indescribable hazelnut praline-chocolate coat... i fancy myself decent with words, but i'm afraid i cannot do this creation justice. between the brilliance of rose levy berenbaum's recipe and directions, and the loving care that my husband took to make it, a glorious gift was given to me. i am indeed the most fortunate woman on the planet!we couldn't rush through this confection, so it was good that the restaurant didn't try to turn the table over fast (and they're not a big place... and they didn't mind us bringing in the cake, either). we tried to get the server to take a piece, but he foolishly declined. ha! more for me! we reluctantly broke up a little after 9, and my friend drove me home. i loaned her some of anne lamott's books, she and her kids took off, bill ate the pork dumplings she brought for him as a babysitting thank-you, and then bill finally got to taste his handiwork (well, he'd tasted all the bits beforehand... but now he got to have the Experience). and he had the same reaction... you couldn't eat it fast, and it was fantastic.
not much else to report... got online, read some email (including a sweet birthday wish from
lunacow), wrote this entry, and now i think i shall head off to bed.i should add that bill's other gift to me was deciding that we could go into debt a little more so that gotcha, fork, hooligan and darwin could attend the National Puzzlers League con this summer... i'll finally get to see the Krewe again at TexSAcon, HOORAY!
pretty much a terrific birthday all around. my face hurts from grinnin' like a fool!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 06:52 am (UTC)I'm sure you'll really enjoy The Omnivore's Dilemma. I (upon your notifying me of its existence) hurried to my local bookstore, bought it, and... well... devoured it. It's a very informative and enjoyable read.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 04:48 pm (UTC)What is the Omnivore's Dilemma. (Yeah, i know, i could look it up. Why do you recommend it?)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 05:41 pm (UTC)i first heard the author, michael pollan, on an NPR interview. he was discussing this book, and his thoughts about our culture's lack of food traditions contributing to our obsession (and problems) with food really intrigued me. i added the book to my amazon wish list, and then it turned out that he was the featured interview in The Sun magazine last month. it was a great read, and a lot of what he said confirmed things i've already suspected or discovered for myself (about eating seasonally, locally, and slowly).
he's a good writer, with some very interesting thoughts and creative ways of presenting them. if you like what he says in the interview, you might like his writing (his writing style is not unlike his speaking style). lord that was a convoluted paragraph... hope i didn't give you a headach, but i'm too lazy to go back and edit...
if you check him out, let me know what you think!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 10:48 pm (UTC)Pollan traces four meals to their sources. His meals are a McDonald's fast food meal eaten in a moving car, an "industrial organic" meal made from ingredients purchased at Whole Foods, a meal of food produced on a "grass farm" that intensively rotates chickens and cattle through pastures, and a meal of foods hunted and gathered by the author himself. In doing so, he discusses many of the complexities of what foods are best for us, and are not only "good to eat" but, as he puts it, "good to think" (ie morally acceptable). It has a lot of good information about the origins of the food we eat, and, armed with that knowledge, we can better go forward and determine for ourselves which foods we want to eat.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-02 03:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-02 05:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 05:35 pm (UTC)i'm not too far yet... i really want to be able to, erm, digest the message well, so i'm trying to be mindful about when i sit down and open it up. i suspect it's going to take a while to go through the entire book, but i'm very much looking forward to it.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 02:27 pm (UTC)I added you as a friend!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 05:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 05:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 04:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 05:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 05:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 05:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 06:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-01 08:18 pm (UTC)