It feels like Saturday, doesn’t it? It does.
This morning I hung out at the hospital while my mom had surgery on her ankle. (Necrotic tissue, bone spurs, ice machine and elevation for a week, you get the picture. All is now well, although she got really sick to her stomach right after I left. I tend to have that effect on people.) While at the hospital, my dad and I strolled over to the cafeteria where I ate the worst hummus in the history of chick peas. I really should have known that hospital hummus wouldn’t be good. Lesson? Learned.
This afternoon? We picked up one of Meredith’s friends and then quickly dropped Harper off at a friend’s house. Do you remember that scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Harrison Ford replaces the golden idol with a bag of sand? We’re doing that with kids this weekend. Drop off a kid, pick a kid up. Pick a kid up, drop off a kid. Harper weighs about 43 pounds. I’m guessing Meredith’s friend comes in at around 58 pounds. (Harper’s packed suitcase weighed around 15 pounds.) Equilibrium has been achieved.
Earlier this week, I attended my second-to-last PTO meeting as Treasurer.
The Things I Love The Most In Life On Friday, April Sixth
1. My family, my friends, my church, and all of the other stuff I’m supposed to list first.
2. Beets that have been wrapped in foil and baked at 400 degrees for an hour, then sprinkled with sea salt and olive oil. Seriously. Try it.
3. This song, which is full of bad words and 100% better than the original, which is sung by a woman who is known at The Pudding House for having dirty feet. (Last week Harper went out to get the mail with no shoes on. Meredith yelled, “No! You’re going to get Ke$ha feet!” My job here is done.)
4. Knowing that after May 1st, I will never have to sit at a big PTO table in front of a group of 20 (or so) people ever again. My voice has shaken and my eyes have rolled into the back of my head many times this year. (Incidentally, I’ve been reading a lot about introversion over the past several months, and I’ve learned that it’s okay to be me (la la laaaah!) and it’s okay to absolutely hate being at the front of the room and it’s okay to not attend events that make me feel awkward and it’s okay to be known as the person who always cancels. Similarly, it’s okay that not everyone wants to be my friend and although I’m still struggling with that one a bit, I *do* know that I have a few friends with whom I’m tight, and I just finished a 32 ounce cup of Diet Dr. Pepper, and the caffeine is sort of manifesting itself in this parenthetical aside. My whole self-awareness thing is so boring for you, isn’t it? I should warn you before I go off like this! Anyway!) Last Tuesday we held the election for next year’s officers, and it was announced that I wasn’t adding my name to the ballot because I want to increase my volunteer time at school. That’s not necessarily true. My volunteer time completely depends on the girls’ teachers and if they would like me to give spelling tests or grade papers or do anything else I can to save them some time. The reason I didn’t run again is because I would rather sit in the back of the room than in the front of the room. When the May meeting is over I plan on driving straight to Houlihan’s and treating myself to a chocolate martini with a Ding Dong sidecar, and it will look a little something like this.
Something Completely Different: I’ve been on a kick to finish a few knitting projects.
A few weeks ago, I finished my Damask. I really should have placed a quarter or a squirrel or something on the shawl so you could get some perspective. It’s really more of a shawlette, I suppose.
Last week I finished my Guernsey Wrap. It’s huge and cozy and I’m finally figuring out ways to wear it that don’t inspire Meredith to accuse me of trying to look like Jesus.
Last night I finished my cotton Liesl. It’s red and blocking and maybe I’ll show it to you next week. I’m currently working on a Seraphim for Jeff’s author who sends us towers of gifts each Christmas, along with handspun fingerless mitts for Gina. AND, I’m feeling the urge to try to spin a pound of fiber and make a sweater out of it. (It’s the Knitmore Girls Spin Along, Knit Along (aka SPAKAL)!)
Also, I’m seriously thinking about planting a salsa garden in my front yard.
Enjoy your Easter.
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That Damask is so pretty! And I don’t think you look like Jesus in the wrap, though that may be in part because I don’t picture Mary as that much of a knitter. (I may be wrong in that, but it’s my impression.)
True story: the reason I stopped going to church (it’s okay, it was a pagan church) is that they kept wanting me to join committees. And they would not quit with that. I don’t want to join committees! I just want to show up and then leave! I tithe! Leave me alone!
I am not the person who cancels. I’m the person who always says no. Or the person who never answers the phone, ever. So I feel you, sister. Also, I want that chocolate martini/DingDong combo in my mouth RIGHT NOW.
I will have to try beets prepared that way. Might I suggest you try roasting radishes in the oven, sometime? I dunno….probably 375 degree oven, drizzle olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt & pepper, roast until golden or your preference of doneness. (I prefer mine more browned)
Your knitting skills are mad! I’m with ccr in MA, I don’t picture Mary as a knitter either.
Happy Easter to the Pudding Family!
1.) I love the Ben Folds version. I had never heard of Ke$ha, but then again, I try to avoid people whose names include special characters or are symbols, and I can totally visualize dirty feet.
2.) I TOTALLY had a picture of a chocolate martini with ding dong sidecar because I too take pictures of my food, but even with iPhoto and its amazing ability to sort things in “events”, everything in my life is like one big event called “hot mess” and I’m incapable of sorting anything in a reasonable and rational manner, so everything is under “stuff”.
3.) Every time I blog I really want to write one of my own, but since I have lost the ability to write as a human being (long story), I just want to copy and paste yours and say “yeah, what she said, except I don’t have kids and I eat meat”.
I am slowly learning the same things as you about not being an extrovert. It’s okay that public speaking literally brings me to tears every single time. It’s okay that I cancel on stuff all the time because engaging with other people is more than I can handle.
I told a friend this past week that I’m learning to say that it’s okay if others look at me and think damaged or difficult or complicated. I don’t need to worry about their voice. I need to worry about mine. And when mine says to stay home and watch reruns of 30 Rock I can honor that without feeling like a failure.
That wrap looks like the most deliciously comfortable thing I’ve ever seen. Good job you.
Introverts unite! Quietly, of course. Have you watched Cain’s TEDTalk video? We are also a family who sits around, each reading their own book, and considers that ‘together time.’
Happy Easter to you and yours – hope it’s a happy weekend. :)
There’s not any thing I don’t love about this post…The fact your mom’s OK, the kids swapping out Indy style, the caffeine buzz, the knitting and spinning, leaping over “towers”, the introversion, ditching politics for volunteerism, salsa garden out front, chocolate and booze in the same glass with a ding dong garnish…really, what’s not to love? Happy Easter to you all!
So… If I drink 32oz of diet Pepys I’ll suddenly get the urge to finish all my wips?
Cool.
The guernsey wrap is gorgeous. I have never been able to master knitting, but last summer my 8 year old picked it up in one evening at my mom’s (who is a tremendous knitter). I may have to bribe her to make me one.
Also? Hummus wraps at the airport? Not great in my experience. (Actually, an awful lot of hummus is disappointing come to think of it.)
Thanks for the beet recipe. I only eat them when I go out, as if it’s illegal or impossible for me to prepare them at home. As for the knitting, damn I wish I could that. Wait, I’m lying. It’s not my thing, but I TOTALLY admire those who can sew, knit, and crochet. I can cook, clean, and iron with the best of ’em, but when one of my daughters needed some help at her sewing machine the other day, she may as well have been speaking Chinese. (On my to-do list: learn Chinese, maybe figure out how to thread a bobbin.)
Thanks for your always entertaining posts. At least you’re not an introvert online.
A salsa garden, yes! I planted chicken soup a few months ago (well, minus the chickens, of course, although I guess one could incorporate the right kind of fertilizer and make that happen)
Hmm…I wonder if it would be possible to plant chocolate cake…
Happy Easter, and cheers for your forthcoming retirement :-)
I was going to be all “OMG WHAT IS THAT” but then I clicked through and saw that it is Damask and that we have previously had this conversation.
The things you make leave me agog. How did you ever learn these things? They are spectacular–like in a Manhattan fancy store and it costs $900 spectacular -way.
I love that Meredith accuses you of trying to look like Jesus.
How to roast beets. You may have just changed my life. It was first changed by beet juice, then by a beet and potato latke. But the whole shebang may have just been achieved. Beet nirvana I am amazed you do not eat these with sour cream because that would be very borscht.
I will meet you at Houlihans after the last PTO meeting. I will partake in some sort of adult beverage with you. I love being your friend and am glad we are tight!