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Pretty, huh?
A perfect day for me to make a pot of chili + a pone of corn bread.
And a salad of spring greens, candied walnuts, dried cranberries & blue cheese crumbles.
With homemade walnut oil vinaigrette, of course.
And perhaps a bottle of beer?
Lord knows that after the party that wasn’t, we have enough of them sitting in our garage.
😉
I. Things for the party began to fall apart a few days before Friday. It was small things at first.
Zen-Den got food poisoning, a rarity, and took to bed for 32 hours. He felt horrible, but eventually rallied. His illness was unexpected, but no reason to cancel a party.
[Poor guy.]
Then I had ridiculous problems placing the “customizable” deli sandwich tray order. We had received a brochure in the mail that told us what was available and at what price. Well, when I went in to place the order, turned out that for the deli, the word “customizable” meant me choosing between turkey or chicken salad on rolls of the deli’s choosing.
[Say what?]
And then at the bakery the man told me that I couldn’t have the Santa Claus face, made of cupcakes, that had been such a hit at last year’s party. He told me that the woman who decorated them no longer worked there, so wouldn’t I like a boring red + white candy cane cupcake cake instead?
[Hell no!]
II. So on Thursday morning before the party, having survived the aforementioned small debacles, I thought we were in great shape. House decorated. Bathrooms cleaned. Food ordered &/or purchased. Pretty paper plates + napkins. Booze aplenty. Wine glasses washed and ready to go. Coolers for the beer and soda on the porch. Gifts wrapped. Outside decorated. Guest bedrooms ready for our overnight guests.
I was ready for 54 friends and acquaintances. Let the party begin.
III. What happened after Thursday morning is blurry.
First, early in the afternoon some out-of-state guests started calling because the airlines had cancelled their flights due to bad weather heading our way; these guests wouldn’t be coming to the party.
However, other out-of-state guests’ flights made it here Thursday afternoon/evening– and, as planned, those guests came to stay with us here at the house.
Then, guests who were in-state, but driving long distances, began to phone to cancel because of the bad weather that was heading our way on Friday.
While I knew that we’d miss those faraway guests, that reason alone wasn’t enough to cancel the party for all the local people. They could still get through, right?
IV. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Friday morning we awakened to streets covered in sheets of ice and a winter snow storm headed our way. The entire region had closed down, anticipating what turned out to be, by mid-afternoon, a Level 2 Snow Emergency with record amounts of snowfall.
How much snow, you ask? A mere 6.5″! Yep, that’s enough to stop everything around here.
So Zen-Den & I did the only thing that we could, we cancelled the party. And spent the day with our house guests– goofing off. Then at 6:00 p.m. we had THE PARTY with them and two of our guests who happened to be neighbors who were able to walk over to the house.
Where, I have to say, considering how much we six adults ate and drank, a good time was had by all! 😉
“It looks like the repo man has been here.”
~ Zen-Den, looking at the mess in our home office
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Over the weekend we decided to start the process of updating our home office. It’s where I write this blog and I’ve never been happy with the furniture arrangement and accessories in here. Too dark. Too orange-y. Too blah.
So we ordered a real desk. Then in anticipation of its arrival we dismantled the computer system that sits on/around/near the horizontal surfaces that I’ve spent the last few years pretending are a desk. And finally, we dragged all this old, orange-y, non-desk furniture into the basement.
Bottom line? Cora, my trusty desktop computer that I use to write this blog, is now sitting on a little table that is scrunched into a dusty corner of the deconstructed home office. Consequently, this means that for the next few weeks until the desk is here and the computer system is back in place, I’m going to be away from the my favorite keyboard.
Considering that Late Summer morphing into Autumn is a beautiful and mellow time of year, I’ve decided that while everything is in flux I’m taking a proper blogging hiatus during the month of September. Might even extend it into October. We’ll see.
So with that being said, I’m stepping away from the computer and taking a bit of time off to enjoy my life without the need to write about it. Shocking idea, I know.
I’ll catch up with you later, kids. Be safe. Be happy. Be.
A most peculiar week, this one. Blue moon and all. Must have had something to do with it.
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A friend is thinking about getting a tat. 3 of her 4 children have at least one tattoo, and she feels like an old fogey without one. She wants something meaningful with a bit of color, but not gaudy. Nothing wordy. Wordy ones, we agree, are too much like work. Who wants to read themselves?
I’m of the tats need to be organic and flowing school of thought. She’s of the tats need to include all family members, somehow, school of thought. Will let you know what she decides on… if she ever does.
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Besides contemplating theoretical body art, this week I’ve watched Dr. Who. Did you know that I was a Whovian? Well, now you do.
I’m on the 10th Doctor with Donna Noble as his companion. I’ve read that she comes to some lousy end, so I’m finding this season to be rather bittersweet. She’s one of my favorite companions; I do so love her attitude and spunk. Noisy woman with a heart. Doesn’t travel light, that one.
Oddly enough, watching Dr. Who this week has me doodling. I don’t know why, but every time I sit down to watch an episode, I pick up pen/pencil + paper and commence doodling. Lots of swirls and flowers– and boxy faces composed of rectangles, triangles, stars.
Perhaps I’m creating a tattoo for myself and don’t even know it? Or maybe I’m more lost in thought than usual. Regardless, I’m happy listening to/glancing at the Doctor and Donna. And doodling. Must. Draw. Doodles.
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Sometimes I’m amazed by how I decide to do something productive [like paint the bottom pedestal part of our kitchen table] and how the weather decides to be uncooperative [like hazy/rainy/stormy/humid all fricking week].
This is a project, if it is to be done properly, that requires lots of sunlight and low humidity and a very happy me. Yet not one day this blue moon week have I been able to work on my project. Do we not all believe that effort should be rewarded? Am I not trying here?
They tell us that the weather isn’t personal, but this week it has seemed personal. That I’m being thwarted for no good reason whatsoever. That all my plans have fallen to dust and I’ve been left alone to work around the mess that unfulfilled plans create.
But as we all know: you live, you learn. Which, from what I can tell, means that some weeks you live with a huge unfinished project smack dab in the middle of your kitchen. And you learn to not whine about it.
THE SPECTACLED BEAN 