Writing & Riding

After J left for work early yesterday, I finished up my review & sent it in. Then, I got the kids off & puttered around the house for awhile. In the early afternoon, I rode my bike up to the library to find some large print books for J to read when her glasses are off & she's in nap mode. She was delighted that I found a Sneaky Pie mystery for her. I also got a Walter Moseley, a Louise Erdrich, & an Oscar Hijuelos for her. In other book news, a box arrived from Amazon yesterday containing the boys' 2 Star Wars books & one J got me as a surprise...the new Sue Monk Kidd, The Mermaid Chair. I have been admirably restrained about not buying it for the past few weeks, but I consider it every time I pass it in the grocery or the bookstore. So, I am thrilled to have it & utterly touched that she got it for me.

I also conquered a fear yesterday. To anyone who's been riding a bike for awhile, it would probably seem ridiculous, but I have been very afraid of riding on grass. I was (well, still am, truth be told) scared I'd topple over. But, I was trying to cross right when the high school let out & there was no way in hell that I would have been able to get across without a very tedious wait unless I went across at the light. But, that meant I only had a few options, none of which I liked. One was to ride the bike path further & loop back around, incurring a trip up a steep incline. Another, to ride in the street with all the high school traffic. The third, to kill time by riding up & down the bike path until traffic cleared & I could get across my usual way. And the fourth, ride on the grass. #1 was totally out of the question because I am not yet able to ride up such a steep incline. #2 brought on images of me lying in the street with my head busted open & my brains all over some teenager's car. #3 seemed ridiculous, but was the course I was about to follow until I changed my mind at the last minute & went riding off into the grass. With white knuckles & clenched teeth, I survived the trip & was soon home free! Woohoo! I can do it! Next time, though, I will time my trip better so that I don't have to.

I spent the afternoon finishing Life of Pi (which took a weird & unexpected turn) & cleaning the kitchen. We went to the grocery briefly. Then, I launched into dinner preparations, chatting with Pie the whole while. Boot was upstairs immersed in a Star Wars book, but the two of us talked about his lack of focus at school lately & about things he might come up against as a teenager (being offered drugs, friends talking of suicide, etc) & as an adult (his own kids not doing what they're supposed to in school).

I made a wonderful dinner. Since they had no halibut at the grocery, I made seared Mediterranean tilapia, which turned out to be fabulous! The boys had Van de Kamp's fish fillets, which they much preferred. I felt they were missing out horribly. The vinaigrette which goes on top of the seared fish is laden with Roma tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and artichoke hearts. Along with the fish, I made steamed broccoli & mashed potatoes. J said it was better than The Winds. I don't know about better, but I'll take equal to. I was astonished. For dessert, we had chocolate volcanoes with raspberry coulis. The boys adored them & I think J did, too. I like my flourless chocolate cake better, but these were quite good. The coulis would be good on waffles, with vanilla bean ice cream & fresh fruit. That reminds me of E's wonderfully creative birthday parties. I will never forget the waffle creations or the year we all dressed up in outlandish clothes & went strolling through downtown. I wonder what she's doing now, hope she's happy. I heard she is also gay. She was always so smart & creative. I realize that I really miss her parties.

After dinner, J helped me clean up the kitchen. Then, I showed her my review & we hunkered down to our reading in bed. She got right into her Sneaky Pie while I finished John T. Edge's Apple Pie. What a great little book that was...I love his writing. I started on The Lovely Bones then & can hardly put it down!