Sketching and Talent-Appreciating

Friday, J went to pick up the boys while I was at work. I savored the quiet time in the house to catch up on "American Idol." Poor Pie was simply horrified to arrive and discover me watching it. He said, "Daria, why are you watching this? Don't tell me you actually watch this!" I told him it was my aunt's fault while J told him, "It's not true! She has free will!" Boot doesn't dig the show, but he sat down for a few minutes, then said, "This is awful." I said, "Yeah, disco week. Woohoo!" He & J went to the grocery while I finished watching and Pie went to his video cave. When they returned, we made spaghetti. Pie was so cute, asking about what the kind of pasta we used was called. He's not interested in culinary school anymore, but he still has some curiosity about different foods. Whew! Both boys want to be cops, this week. I think either one of them would be really good at it, the good guy cops, but I'm not sure Pie would enjoy it. I think either that or being an attorney would be a great choice for Boot. It'll be interesting to see which careers they do choose.

Anyway, while we were making dinner, I managed to burn the crap out of 3 fingers on my left hand. I didn't know one of the burners had been turned on and I grabbed it to get something that had fallen into the burner pan. Yow! Boot and J immediately went into action prepping a bag of ice for me. Boot was amazed that I wasn't all tough about it. He had thought I was impervious to pain or something. He was so sweet, offering to make the key lime pie I'd been planning to make. He hung out with me while I made it, ready to jump in on anything I couldn't manage one-handed. I did manage it, though, even separating eggs one-handed! Not an easy task! But it was fun to have him to chat with while I cooked. When I finished & went to join J in bed, Boot also turned in for the night. I think Pie stayed up all night playing video games.

Saturday, I arose bright & early to go to my Art Gang get-together while J and Pie headed out video game shopping and Boot slept in. I hadn't been to a meeting since our December tea, so I was excited about seeing everyone and doing some art. The drive there, an hour out in the country, was refreshing in itself. I wasn't sure how much I'd be able to do with one hand, but it turned out we were sketching. We visited around a table on the porch for awhile, then moved our chairs over by the potting shed to sketch some pots, a butterfly house, some big jugs, the shed itself. I have never really sketched anything before, aside from a few feeble attempts when I was dating an artist, who told me not to try and draw the object, but just the lines I saw. I really have no patience for serious sketching and so much less experience with any kind of art than the rest of the women there, who are mostly older than me and have breathed art for years. Some of them even do art for a living and are featured in magazines like Somerset Studio. So, I often feel like my efforts look like a kindergartener's. But, it's so much fun and they are nice about my attempts. We sat & chatted & drew while Jan's husband made a fire for our luncheon weenie roast. I'd finished my sketch by the time we moved back to the fire to roast our dogs. We had some great dishes: an orzo and sundried tomato pesto dish, potato salad, a bright, lemony couscous dish, a gorgeous trifle, fat-free "Polynesian" pudding with fruit, my key lime pie and a luscious strawberry pie. After lunch, we returned to our sketching posts. It was fun to see everyone's different takes on the same scene! Some had used watercolors or watercolor pencils, some charcoal, some regular drawing pencils. I used Crayola colored pencils! I ended up loving the bright, cheery spring colors of mine, even if the rendition wasn't so hot.

After the day in the sun, I found myself pretty dozy by the time I got home. J and Boot were watching "American Gangster" while Pie explored his new games. I didn't want to jump into the movie halfway through, so after visiting with J and Boot (and having Boot nearly burn the house down when he randomly lit a paper on the fridge, which turned out to be a poem my mom wrote, on fire---WTF??? You don't just randomly light stuff on fire, especially when it's hanging on the fridge with a bunch of other papers! I was furious! And there was NO consequence at all-ugh!), I headed upstairs for a little nap under the swiftly-turning fan. It was a nice nap, after I got over the nasty appearance of dip in the toilet on my way to bed. Boot is not supposed to even bring dip with him to our house. Of course, he swears it wasn't his, but who else's would it be? Neither of us dip and I'm almost positive Pie doesn't. Plus, Pie only uses the downstairs bathroom. Personally, I think we should do a bag check to make sure they're not bringing anything we don't allow while we're still in the driveway at their house, but that will never happen.

Kitties joined me and I dozed until J woke me when it was time to start grilling dinner. She & Boot (now in responsible mode again-what a roller coaster) made burgers, hot dogs, baked beans & mac & cheese for dinner. It was some interesting dinner conversation. Pie talked to us about his new game and whether he should be a blacksmith or a craftsman in it. He also told us about how the Nazis' victims weren't just Jewish people, but also gypsies, artists, gay people and others the government didn't like. Meanwhile, Boot was doing a running monologue about peeing on a bonfire and getting paid $22 to roll down a hill and all kinds of stuff like that. Oy. It's like he has deliberately decided to be as anti-intellectual as possible. Probably because allowing his smarts to show also makes him vulnerable. He was giving us advice about being invulnerable, telling us just to stuff our emotions until we found someone to take them out on. Just keep them inside all the time, he recommended. Pie told him that if he keeps doing that, his internal injury is going to cause him to bleed out. Interesting insight from Pie. All we can do is try to steer him in the right direction by word and example. I hate feeling so helpless. We tell him that decisions he makes now will affect him far into the future, but I don't think he believes it. Or he simply doesn't care. Sigh. After those conversations, the talk moved on to Pie's new girlfriend, with Boot trying really hard to annoy or embarrass his brother, while Pie simply put on his selective deafness. She sounds like a nice girl and I think Pie will talk more to us about her when his brother isn't around to ask inane questions. She's his first girlfriend.

Sunday, I went to church while J immersed herself in "Elvenbane" and the boys slept in. Yes, Pie finally slept! After church, I went to the sloppy joe luncheon and stayed for the talent show. That was great fun! It was MCed by one of the youth and he told great bad jokes between the acts. My favorite was "Why shouldn't you take a shower with Pokemon in the room? Because they'll Pikachu!" There were several acts: a small brother & sister doing "Yankee Doodle" on piano & recorder, a fiesty senior doing a series of jokes, a trio of sibs---one twin boy somersaulting, the other singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and the older sister singing a song about Peter Rabbit, the boyfriend of one of the college girls singing a Boyz 2 Men song and beat-boxing, a middle schooler playing Metallica quite well on his electric guitar, a dad doing magic tricks and a group of gals who call themselves "The Sisters" (who dressed up as nuns last year) getting all garbed out in 70s attire and singing "We Are Family." It was lots of fun and very funny and cute.

After church, I cleaned the kitchen and hung out with J watching Sci Fi while the boys slept (Boot had arisen to go to KFC with J, but Pie slept right through lunch). We roused the boys shortly before it was time to go. Since J was kind enough to do the driving, I read to her from "Elvenbane" and the boys didn't even complain once. Boot wanted me to listen to his newest favorite Enrique Iglesias song (he is always wanting me to taste his new soda flavors, listen to his music, etc...a lot of our tastes are the same) and Pie wanted to tell us about some of the stuff in his video game. It was fun. It was not so fun when Boot got bored and started trying to aggravate Pie. Lots of "Mom, Brother's touching me"s from the backseat. Poor Pie. He finally pulled his shirt over his face, put his feet on my armrest for petting & went to sleep. It must be exhausting for him to be around Boot's high energy prodding all the time. On the way home, J started to feel bad, so I made a quick breakfast for dinner and we went to bed. She'd hoped to sleep off the beginnings of a migraine, but ended up having to call in sick today. Poor baby. I am lucky I don't get them!

O is for Olfactory

Friday night, we just relaxed at home with a fruit & cheese dinner. Nothing too fiddly, but very nice. I laid out Comte, Belle Etoile and smoked Gouda cheeses with some Pinot Noir salami on one board, a loaf of Tuscan bread on another and some Pink Lady apples on a third. I added a tarte d'Alsace from Trader Joe's and some deviled eggs with capers & ham. Dessert came from our Easter baskets. We were in bed fairly early and I arose early Saturday to get started with our O date.

I'd seriously considered O foods under the open sky and orangutans, but ended up using my aunt's suggestion for an olfactory date. I chose highly scented breakfast foods-vanilla coffee, fresh-squeezed tangerine juice and gorilla bread (which is monkey bread with cream cheese in the middle). We had breakfast in bed and J told me the gorilla bread was the best thing she'd ever eaten in her life. She said, "This is a food group all its own and it is elevated above all other food groups!" This made me giggle! Friday night, we just relaxed at home with a fruit & cheese dinner. Nothing too fiddly, but very nice. I laid out Comte, Belle Etoile and smoked Gouda cheeses with some Pinot Noir salami on one board, a loaf of Tuscan bread on another and some Pink Lady apples on a third. I added a tarte d'Alsace from Trader Joe's and some deviled eggs with capers & ham. Dessert came from our Easter baskets. We were in bed fairly early and I arose early Saturday to get started with our O date. I'd seriously considered O foods under the open sky and orangutans, but ended up using my aunt's suggestion for an olfactory date. I chose highly scented breakfast foods-vanilla coffee, fresh-squeezed tangerine juice and gorilla bread (which is monkey bread with cream cheese in the middle). We had breakfast in bed and Jeannene told me the gorilla bread was the best thing she'd ever eaten in her life. She said, "This is a food group all its own and it is elevated above all other food groups!" This made me giggle!

After Phase 1 was complete, we moved on to the first day of the Farmer's Market! Yippee! We saw sheep being shorn (and got to pet them), got close to sweet-looking alpacas, ran into our former Associate Pastor and heard some great live music. Then, we strolled around the local outdoor mall. My first official stop was L'Occitane, to smell their goodies. Our hands-down favorite is verbena. Mmm! Then, we stopped in at 87W, a new wine bar, for a snack and a drink. We had a small plate called chorizo and chevre hanky pankies. They're like little tea sandwiches and are quite tasty. I enjoyed a glass of Riesling while Jeannene had a beer. We sat and people-watched as we ate. The wall-sized windows were wide open and the weather was just perfect for being outside! Our next stop was Rocky Mountain Chocolate for a whiff of their sweetly-scented air and a couple of chocolate-dipped strawberries. Our final stop for Phase 2 was the greenhouse, where we took in the smells of potting soil and hyacinths and feasted our eyes on all the spring flowers! Finally, we headed home for Phase 3 of our O date. I ran Jeannene an aromatherapy bath and let her read and soak for awhile while I planned our first Wild Mango Queens event for next month. Then, I returned to wash her back. When she was done, she had a little nap while I took my aromatherapy bath. It was a wonderful O date and a perfect day, all for under $25. We did some grocery shopping and some t.v. watching Saturday evening. Sunday morning, we went to church and then headed to the library so I could show Jeannene some children's picture books I'd just discovered & loved. Then, we had some potato cheese soup with ham before doing another grocery run. Most of the afternoon was spent simply lazing about. I put on a roast about 4 while Jeannene napped and read her "Elvenbane" book. After dinner, we got to bed early to accomodate Jeannene's 5 a.m. Monday wake-up.

After Phase 1 was complete, we moved on to the first day of the Farmer's Market! Yippee! We saw sheep being shorn (and got to pet them), got close to sweet-looking alpacas, ran into our former Associate Pastor and heard some great live music. Then, we strolled around the local outdoor mall. My first official stop was L'Occitane, to smell their goodies. Our hands-down favorite is verbena. Mmm! Then, we stopped in at 87W, a new wine bar, for a snack and a drink. We had a small plate called chorizo and chevre hanky pankies. They're like little tea sandwiches and are quite tasty. I enjoyed a glass of Riesling while J had a beer. We sat and people-watched as we ate. The wall-sized windows were wide open and the weather was just perfect for being outside! Our next stop was Rocky Mountain Chocolate for a whiff of their sweetly-scented air and a couple of chocolate-dipped strawberries. Our final stop for Phase 2 was the greenhouse, where we took in the smells of potting soil and hyacinths and feasted our eyes on all the spring flowers!

Finally, we headed home for Phase 3 of our O date. I ran J an aromatherapy bath rich with lavender and chamomile and let her read and soak for awhile while I planned our first Wild Mango Queens event for next month. Then, I returned to wash her back. When she was done, she had a little nap while I took my aromatherapy bath. It was a wonderful O date and a perfect day, all for under $25. We did some grocery shopping and some t.v. watching Saturday evening.

Sunday morning, we went to church and then headed to the library so I could show J some children's picture books I'd just discovered & loved. Then, we had some potato cheese soup with ham before doing another grocery run. Most of the afternoon was spent simply lazing about. I put on a roast about 4 while J napped and read her "Elvenbane" book. After dinner, we got to bed early to accomodate J's 5 a.m. Monday wake-up.

Easter Fun

The weekend started early, with J's plant actually being shut down for Good Friday. What a delight! We started the morning with a cup of Starbucks courtesy of a gift card as we waited for a table at First Watch. Then, a great brunch (J had a superb waffle while I chose a breakfast burrito) followed by grocery shopping and a trip to Michael's to look at their spring flags. Then, we headed home to do some housecleaning before picking up the boys. When we did so, we discovered that Boot still has an enormous knot on his head from more than two weeks ago, thanks to his brilliant "fight club" idea. I swear if this child makes it to 30, it will only be because of hard work on the part of his guardian angel! Apparently, the other boy has a matching knot. That's some bonding activity! Once home, J made an andouille and Monterey Jack pizza for supper. Then, she and I colored eggs while the boys did their thing-Boot went to bed early while Pie entered his video game cave, not to emerge again until he was hungry for a brownie.

Saturday, J made biscuits and gravy for breakfast. We all spent some time doing our own thing-Boot and J were immersed in t.v., Pie in video games, me online and on the phone with my mama. Then, J and I hit the library and grocery before coming home to hang out. She found an Anne Geddes book for a dollar in the book nook, where discarded books are sold. She also picked up a Cleveland jigsaw puzzle and a mystery novel, while I found a Martha Beck book and a book on creating a women's spirituality circle and a couple other books. All that for $5! I love cheap indulgences. Even cooler was finding books I wanted on the free shelf. I've been curious about Jennifer Crusie romances because she worked at the same bookstore I did, just a year or two before I started there. However, I haven't been able to commit to buying one or even checking one out from the library because they're romances. Silly, I know. I also found Gustavo Gutierrez's classic volume on liberation theology on the free shelf! We spent the rest of the day just relaxing. J made a delicious chicken pot pie for dinner and we even had an extra to share with our neighbor. When I took it down to her, I invited her to Easter dinner but she was planning to cook a dinner herownself and hang out with her Vizslas. She was very surprised and pleased with both the pie and the invite, though.

Sunday morning, I got up and put together J's Easter basket and then put on my Easter bonnet and headed to the church brunch, leaving her to handle the other baskets and the cooking. After the brunch, I visited with one of the youth group members for awhile before the service started. It was nice to catch up with him. Senior year has left him with very little time to attend church, so it's been nice to see him there the past couple of worships. He sings beautifully and has helped to bulk up the choir. The service was a lovely cantata. It was so good to hear the music, see all the people dressed in their Easter best (especially the little girls in their pretty dresses), smell the hyacinths and lilies and reflect on God's nature as pure love and cause for hope. After church, we roused the boys and did Easter baskets. J found a bunch of fun little stuff for me (coloring books, crayons, colored pencils, a couple of rubber stamps, a Hello Kitty puppet, a Tinkerbell egg filled with stickers and candy butterflies, stuff like that). What fun! Then, we had our Easter dinner. J made a ham (which she found on sale for $7!), potatoes au gratin, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and rolls. She also went pie-mad, baking an apple pie Friday night and making a peanut butter pie in an Oreo crust and a lemon icebox pie Saturday. I'd been planning to do either cut-out cookies or a lamb cake, but that seemed thoroughly unnecessary! After eating, Boot retired to his room for a nap while I joined J and Boot in the living room where they were watching t.v. I spent the afternoon coloring in my new Disney Princesses book. Pie was kind enough to pull up a picture of Aurora online for me so that I could make sure I got the hair color right. LOL. Before we knew it, it was time to take the boys home. I drove there (and greatly enjoyed Boot's acting as a tour guide through current music for me-"Boot, who's singing?" probably came out of my mouth 15 times in the course of the trip) and J drove back. I spent the 2 hours back reading Jill Conner Browne's hilarious new Sweet Potato Queens book aloud to her. Then, we settled in for a dinner of crustless quiche (bacon & feta, from Trader Joe's-delicious!), bacon, English muffins (mine with lemon curd, hers with strawberry preserves) and oranges. Yum! We watched "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" before retiring for the night.

M is for Middle Earth

Friday night, we just had a very quiet night in. We'd planned to go to a new women's discussion group at the LGBT center, but when we got there, none of the doors were unlocked. We went to 4 doors and every single one was utterly impregnable, despite the "come in" signs on them! I grumbled and griped about that all the way through the trip to the gay store we made on the way home, but then we had a really nice night in. J made Cajun andouille pizza for dinner using one of her plant's new sauces, we watched t.v. and went to bed fairly early, since J had to work Saturday. Luckily, she didn't have to go in super-early, so we had some snuggle time & I read to her from a Sark book before she went to work.

While she was gone, I worked on a presentation I had to give last night. A friend of mine was supposed to guest teach a confirmation class at a UCC in a neighboring town but realized at the last minute that her flight wouldn't be back in time. So, when she asked me to step in, I was happy to. She was supposed to present on the history of the denomination. So, I brushed up on my history and started work on a power point. This is the second time I've filled in for her for a youth-related event. The first time was a presentation on Facebook & youth ministry at our national headquarters. It's fun to sub for her. I also got to have a nice long phone conversation with my mom. What fun!

When J got home around 4 on Saturday, we went to the library to get the Lord of the Rings trilogy on DVD for our M date. I'd originally planned to take us to Miss Molly's Tea Room for our M date, then I considered Michigan for a good M, a little day trip over to Ann Arbor to check out my aunt's restaurant. But, with her working Saturday & my presenting on Sunday, those just weren't good options. So I planned a Middle Earth Marathon instead. After the library, we did our weekly grocery shopping, then returned home and did some house-cleaning. By the time our Middle Earth dinner (shepherd's pie) was ready and we started the first movie, it was almost 9, so we ended up watching only one of the movies Saturday night.

J must have really needed to catch up on sleep because she slept until about 1:30 Sunday. I got up earlier, but didn't make it to church (we'd forgotten to spring forward) and started work on finishing my presentation prep. I spent the afternoon engaged in that while J watched t.v. (and probably wished I'd not agreed to sub!). I had lunch with the kids from the confirmation class and watched them play a game, then did my presentation. It went fairly well, but the discussion part was like pulling teeth. I somehow drew the thoroughly untalkative bunch, the girls. The boys got into some pretty deep theological discussion and the table of three kids who didn't seem to fit in with the others seemed to be fairly intent, as well, but the silences and awkwardness at my table were excruciating. I did get them to talk a little bit, but not much. I was thinking, "Oh, man, why am I here? I'm not doing any good."

But then, when we had wrapped up and I was gathering my things, the girl at the table of three approached me to ask about what seminary was like. She had really stood out among the other kids as being much more mature than the others and very intelligent. She reminded me of myself at 14, actually. She seemed quite self-assured and was really interested in issues of social justice. I'd heard her say she didn't want to get stuck with the girls' table for the game they played and she advocated really hard for their table of three to be a team unto themselves. Anyway, this 14 y.o. girl told me that she's feeling called to ministry. I explained how the process works. She seemed disappointed that she couldn't start seminary right away. My advice was to read as much as she can now, study religion in undergrad and then head to seminary, if she is still feeling called by then. In the meantime, she can always be really active in the opportunities for youth involvement in denominational things. I suggested she approach her pastor, too, about this feeling of calling.

We got into talking about world religions and how much we have to learn from them. I mentioned having to leave the Presbyterian Church because they wouldn't ordain me because I'm gay. She said she is, too, which really surprised me. I am so impressed with teenagers these days who are so brave and out so young. I cannot imagine what 8th grade for an out lesbian must be like. I didn't realize I was gay until I was in my 20s and 8th grade was rough anyway. Anyhow, we kept talking and I finally offered her my phone number in case she has any more questions about ministry or whatever. I felt like she was looking for a resource or mentor or something like that. She asked if she could also have my e-mail address & we exchanged those. I hope I can be a source of hope for her.

After she walked away, the youth leader came over and asked me how open she'd been with me. I told him and he said he was so glad I took the time to talk to her. Apparently, she came out at school this year & it's been a hard time for her. He seemed kind of at a loss for how to really be helpful to her, so he was glad I gave her my number. I've been an adult sponsor for two queer teen groups, so I do have some experience. And if she is already feeling a call to ministry, I certainly want to support that. The whole thing kind of gave me goosebumps. I'd been feeling kind of cranky and as though there was no reason for me to be there and then all of a sudden, it was like God said, "This is why I wanted you here." When I got home, I made a pineapple angel food cake and some chicken, bacon & blue cheese panini for dinner. We watched the final "L-Word" episode (which was most dissatisfying) and then went to bed right afterward.

Sweet Valentines

We started the weekend picking up the boys (yes, both of them for a change). I had some trepidation about how it would go to have Boot around again. In fact, my chest got progressively tighter as we drove toward their home. It was certainly different than weekends with Pie only, but he was very nice to be around and we didn't even have to contend with them fighting all weekend. I wasn't too keen on his conversation in the car the whole way home, all about his aspirations to join the mafia or the military, his plans for bootlegging whiskey (he tells us he has a still now, which I actually believe but can do absolutely nothing about but pray that it breaks before producing anything or blowing the house up with my babies inside), etc. He elicited several "That's nice, Brother" comments from Pie, which cracked us up. He said it in such an offhandedly calm yet thoroughly condescending manner. Boot cracked us up by telling us how amazing "ladies" are & that we don't even realize we're amazing. He said, "A lady could get me to do a lot of things" and I responded, "Well, we certainly haven't managed to!" Pie said, "Oh, burned, Brother!" to that.

Once we got home, Pie descended to his cave to play X-Box Live while Boot climbed up to his room to fall sound asleep. He'd been at a slumber party (Pie's term-Boot says, "It's not a slumber party when it's men! It's a sleepover!) the night before and had only gotten 2 hours of sleep. So J and I ate some of her plant's amazingly good bean soup and settled in with recipes (me) and a jigsaw puzzle (J). I also got to talk to my dad about our upcoming visit. He is encouraging us to check out Key West while we're down there. I think we shall, although it will have to be a down & back trip in one day because the room rates are exorbitant this time of year. 6 and a half hours on the road for a day and sunset in Key West somehow seems quite reasonable to me after doing nearly 4 on Tuesdays and Thursdays just for classes for the past 2 and a half years.

Saturday morning, J brought my gift to bed, in a beautiful bag with lovely tissue that had hearts cut out from it. She gave me a sweet collection of gifts: a book on the Beats, a "Bee Mine" bear, Valentine-themed stickers, a Dragonfly tin that's designed to hold a mini pen and paper, a deck of slumber party activity cards, a mini heart box of chocolates, a bouquet of heart candies, some conversation hearts, a packet of Hershey Kisses that says "You go, Social Girl" (although Boot, helping pick it, wanted to get the Sporty Girl ones. LOL!). I hadn't got hers finished yet, so after a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit and a trip to the grocery with my love, I dropped her off and went to the bookstore for the rest of Valentine's (I gave her an "I love you to the moon and back" mug and a booklet of love coupons that I hope she'll actually redeem) and for her birthday, which is tomorrow.

Pie played his games most of the afternoon, emerging for homemade pizza, and Boot hung out with J while she worked on her puzzle. I spent much of the afternoon researching new recipes. It was such a grand luxury to have the time to do that and not feel guilty for playing when I should be doing something productive. I made Alice B. Toklas' gypsy goulash for dinner. Pie was not hungry (could it have been all the brownies & cupcakes?) and Boot found it was not to his liking, so J heated up some alfredo sauce for him to have over his noodles. Then, the boys went to bed and we watched a little t.v. and sipped some Framboise.

Sunday morning, I got up and taught Sunday school (K-2, which was really fun) while the slugabeds dreamed away. By the time I got home after church, only J was up. She made grilled chocolate sandwiches for us and wondered whether she should wake the boys and make them spend some time with us. While I would've liked to see more of them Sunday, I also feel like they don't get much chance just to relax and be teenage boys at home. So, I suggested just letting them sleep in. We did rouse them for another homemade pizza before leaving for their father's, but otherwise let them sleep while J worked on her puzzle and I looked at magazines. Very relaxing Sunday. Until, that is, Pie decided to play his techno music so loud through his headphones all the way home that I wanted to bang my head against the steering wheel. J could hardly hear it, but it was loud & clear to Boot and me. Neither of us particularly likes techno, but we just had to put up with it. I wanted to play the audio book I'm listening to (Isabel Allende's The Sum of Our Days) but since I knew no one else wanted to hear it, I just gritted my teeth and listened to the same exact damn beat for almost 2 hours. Ugh! Toward the end of the trip, Boot got thoroughly irritated and said, "Okay, if you're going to play that game, I'll play, too" and turned on his country music blessedly loud, drowning out the incessant dance beats. Really, as annoying teenager traits go, listening to techno too loud is hardly on the scale. It may have driven me batshit, but it's tame & we're lucky.

After the boys were deposited back at home, we drove home and I made our real Valentine's dinner. I went bistro-style, with croques monsieurs, pommes frites and steamed artichokes with lemon butter and garlic dijon aioli for dipping. It was all amazing and we had a good time remembering our first artichoke together at Tarpy's Roadhouse near Monterey and the croques monsieurs we had at Mon Ami Gabi in Las Vegas. That Tarpy's artichoke was J's first ever and she has loved them since. I was introduced to them as a small child when visiting a family friend in Toronto and I adore them, too.

L is For Live Blues, Library Book Sale and Lebanese Food

Friday afternoon, I had coffee with a young man who attends our church & went on the mission trip last summer with me. He is bright & funny & really seemed to need someone to talk to. We visited for 3 hours, then I headed home, arriving about half an hour before J. When she got home, we commenced our L date weekend with an evening out at the local blues club for live music (and some of the very worst BBQ ribs I have ever eaten in my life).

Saturday, we relaxed with coffee & chocolate croissants before heading out for the second leg of our L date weekend, the library book sale. After gorging ourselves on books, we sat in the sunny library cafe and read for awhile. Then, it was time for her to run a few errands and me to meet the woman who was interested in having me tutor her kids. She turned out to be very nice, someone I'd hang out with on purpose, and the kids seem very sweet. She agreed to my price and I agreed to her terms and I walked out of her house gainfully employed. When I got home, I practiced my sermon a couple of times before we headed out for L date part 3, Lebanese food at Aladdin's. She thought of everything! Dinner was marvelous (we started with falafel and sfiya, moved on to a Lebanese salata and then I had an arayiss rolled pita and J had the Jasmine's special with tuna steak-menu at www.aladdinseatery.com). After dinner, we poked around the bookstore a bit and stopped by the outdoor fireplace on the way back to our car. Then, we lounged on the couch & loveseat with books until bedtime.

Sunday morning, I preached at both services in church, then we visited with folks at coffee hour. After church, J made us grilled cheese sandwiches before we went out to poke around Half-Price Books, T.J. Maxx and Lowe's. We capped off the afternoon with an early dinner and trivia-playing at Buffalo Wild Wings. Then, J spent the evening playing with her new watercolor set while I hung out and played online. She'd never tried painting before because her brother is supposedly the artist in the family. However, she turns out to be quite good! What fun! We went to bed early with books so that she could get up at early thirty for work.

Super Bowl? What's That?

Friday, J went to pick up Pie while I awaited the arrival of my mom & auntie with my things from my grandparents' house. I'd brought some of it up with me earlier in the week, but there were some larger boxes & some furniture (like a jelly cabinet made by my mom's partner-yippee!) that wouldn't fit in my car. So, I baked banana nut bread and when they arrived, the house smelled all nice & cozy. I gave them a tour & then we unloaded. My aunt was exhausted, so she headed on over to my aunt & uncle's house. We followed a little while later, joining them for Chinese food and a good visit, complete with lots of happy Golden Retriever panting. Meanwhile, J took the boys out to dinner in their town. Then, she dropped Boot off at his friend's, where he was spending the night before their wrestling tournament. J has consistently given the boys the choice to stay in town & participate in wrestling matches or come with us for weekend visitation since the season started. Boot has consistently chosen wrestling and says parents are a distraction at tournaments. Because of work obligations, we haven't been able to stay in town anyway. But we don't want to keep either of them from participating in sports. Pie has consistently chosen to come hang out with us for the weekend. Right after dinner, I got a phone call from J & Pie. He got on the phone with me, my mom & my aunt, telling us he loved us in a really funny voice, making us laugh. When we returned from my uncle's, they were home & we had a nice visit. Pie showed my mom his video game. He is such a delight on these solo weekends. It's amazing how different the dynamic is when it's only him. He is so laidback and affable that it's really easy to be around him.

Saturday morning, we made a nice hot breakfast for my mom and did some visiting. Then, she was headed home all too soon. J and I went to the grocery & library, then came home for lunch with our boy. She made peanut soup and sandwiches. Pie didn't try the soup, but happily munched on sandwiches & hung out with us. Then, we watched a video of animals playing and started "Finding Nemo." Sadly, the disc was all scratched up & I didn't even get to see my favorite part, the seagulls. Oh, well. For dinner, J made a spiral ham she'd found on deep discount. It was delicious with au gratin potatoes, salad and baked beans. She made a cherry pie for dessert, but we were all three stuffed to the gills. We did some reading, t.v. watching & video game playing and had a fairly early bedtime. I ended up staying awake longer than I intended to because I was trying to finish the Rita Mae & Sneaky Pie Brown mystery in which I was immersed.

Sunday morning, while Pie relaxed at home (something I suspect he doesn't get to do a lot of at his father's), I went to teach the pre-school kids about baptism at church while J went in to finish up some things at work. She made a good lunch when she returned home, then it was about time for Pie to pack up & be taken home. We stopped to get him a meatball sub on the way home, then dropped him off. We played games in the car all the way home, then J turned on the big game when we got home. Disgusted with the score, she turned on the Puppy Bowl instead & we ate our soup while we rooted for the adorable pup who curled up & went to sleep on the field. We liked the German Shepherd, too, who hung out around the edges of the action.