10 1/2

I remembered just in time that Brendan is not going to be at Bible study this week, so I'm skipping it. J. B. will be leading & it's always dead boring when he does. He is a sweet man, but I am not in alignment with his version of Christianity & he is a less-than enthralling speaker. So, I will have lunch with the grands, but for now remain at home.

I went to WW yesterday & have gained .6 of a pound. Not bad, considering the indulgences of the weekend. On the way home, I saw a beautiful young deer, which I considered a good omen. I also saw a cat hunting in a field. I came home & puttered around most of the day. With the kids going over to Jason and Mark's after school, I had all kinds of spare time to do something like clean out the pantry, clean out the fridge, get the screened porch ready for summer. But, I was immersed in the life of Zorro instead. Shame on me! That dratted Isabel Allende foils me every time!

I did get to the grocery & by the time J got home, had dinner well underway. I made Paula Deen's caramelized brownies first. Then, I made sunny citrus vinaigrette (beautiful & tasty) from the MMMiami cookbook. I had just quartered the cabbage for Spanish cabbage from A Taste of Old Cuba (which is a great cookbook) when my darling wife came home, all lovey-dovey & cute.

We ran to the grocery for salad (Dole's Italian blend fit the bill nicely), then I finished dinner. When we sat down to eat, I presented J with camarones aj ajillo (which, to me, weren't as good as the ones you get in Miami, but she loved them), jasmine rice, Spanish cabbage, & salad with citrus vinaigrette. For dessert, we had the brownies with ice cream balls rolled in chopped nuts, all of it drizzled with caramel sauce (recipe for brownies & ice cream balls at www.foodnetwork.com). J said, "That meal was a ten and a half!" I am so happy that I could make her a great meal. Her boss yelled at her right before she came home, so I hope the good food helped alleviate the sting from that. He yelled at her for her handwriting! He asked her to take notes during a meeting &, in front of her peers, he berated her over her handwriting & the fact that she didn't use an eraser on the whiteboard. That is over the top. I think she should document this stuff because you shouldn't belittle an employee in front of their peers.

Oh, yesterday while the boys were at Jason & Mark's, I called & made arrangements to take the 4 boys to the lake on Friday! I am so excited. What a perfect activity for the first day of summer vacation! If it rains, I don't know what we'll do...probably just hang out over here. But, if it doesn't rain, it will be a blast. J might leave work early to come with us & that would be even better! The boys want to join the local private pool. I called to find out what their family membership rate is & what their definition of a family is. If they don't consider us a family, they can forget our money. The boys aren't even here for most of the summer, so it may not be worth it to join, but if it's not very much, we will...as long as they're not homophobic. Otherwise, we can do the lake & the public pool, which won't kill them.