Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Am I Becoming a Political Junkie?
Sunday, August 4, 2024
Swimming is a weird sport
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Time Marches On
Wow. It's been so long. Man, is life different now!
I think I drifted away from blogging because my kids became more sensitive to what was posted online about them. Also, around late 2015 life really changed and it wasn't all fun to blog about. Mr. Right got horribly sick (he's good now!). We downsized and I went back to work full time so way less time for blog-worthy activities.
But time marches on! Both kiddos graduated high school, then college (during covid, noless). Both have been finding their way in the professional world and both have found the love of their lives. Bridget moved to NYC and loves it, she and Karan have a great apartment and an even greater cat. Aidan gave Omaha a try, but ultimately he and Abby decided that the life they wanted was in the Dallas area, so got new jobs and bought a house about 30 min from us. They adopted a dachshund, and we got her sister.
My biggest fan slipped his earthly bonds in January 2023 surrounded by kids and stepkids. Grateful for the time that we had but always wishing for more.
Ray is easing his way towards retirement and I work full-time in digital marketing with dreams of a food blog/channel some day. I think I'm going to try to use this space to sort out my POV, get some thoughts and recipes into place and just start trying to make sense of my idea.
Stay tuned!
Monday, November 7, 2016
Thanksgiving - random disorganized musings....
Growing up, my family spent Thanksgiving either at home celebrating with the neighbors, or at our cabin in the mountains. The sale of the family cabin and my mother's passing happened in a relatively short space of time, and at the age of 30, I was faced with trying to cobble together Thanksgiving for the family in a house that no longer really felt like a home. I am forever grateful to the varied friends who all answered our pleading invitation to come spend "the first" Thanksgiving with us, when they probably had happier places to be.
That was the year that I began to be "in charge" of Thanksgiving, and it eventually moved to a cabin of my own up in the mountains. I'm a foodie at heart and choose to look at the silver lining of now being able to make some changes to the tired Thanksgiving menu and finally get rid of the dreaded Green Bean Casserole. Over the years, I've experimented a lot..... global flavors, butterflied turkey on the grill, "light" recipes, all with varying degrees of success. I've bought frozen Butterball turkeys, had a farmer raise (and butcher) a turkey of my choosing, and ordered fresh heritage birds from the local expensive market.
We've recently downsized our home, but have invited a large number of guests for Thanksgiving, so my new first world challenge is cooking it in my new "one cook, one oven" kitchen, and trying to find the balance between "enough" menu items for a large group and the constraints of my kitchen. Happily, this is the first house that I think I will be able to expand my dining room table to it's full 9 feet.
As I've said, I've learned a lot over the years. Very few "experimental" recipes make regular comebacks, but a lot of technique has remained in my repertoire year after year. Some of the key things I've learned.....
- Everybody still wants that damned Green Bean Casserole. I've had to get over offering a more sophisticated alternative, and the casserole format keeps it warm longer than other recipes anyway
- Brine your turkey. Yes, you can still make gravy from the drippings, as long as you rinse the bird well before cooking. Besides all the great and varied brining components (lemon peels, juniper berries, fresh herbs) I always put about a dozen black tea bags in too. Whaaaaaa? you say? My guess is the tannins tenderize the meat, but in my experience, a tea-brined turkey is always incredibly tender and I don't notice a tea flavor
- Good gravy starts with good stock. I make my own turkey stock because gravy is my favorite part of the dinner. I buy extra necks, wings, offal, basically whatever the grocery store has and use that as my base. Make a TON. You'll need it for stuffing as well as gravy. And turkey noodle soup!
- Plan your menu all the way down to which serving dishes and serving utensils will be used for each dish. Get those out and make sure they're serviceable and set them aside so that nobody decides to have their breakfast cereal in the dish you'd planned for the cranberry sauce. It happens.
- Start well in advance and make lists. Not just what dishes, but what ingredients. Plan out what can be made in advance and frozen. If you buy a frozen turkey and you want to brine it, you need to get the turkey several days in advance to allow time for both thawing and brining.
- Clear space - I always have a couple of empty bins in the garage that I start filling with potatoes, stuffing bread, the damned cans of cream of mushroom soup, stock ingredients (carrots, onions, etc) and all the other non-perishable supplies you can buy in advance. I clear space in the fridge and the freezer for all the stuff that I:
- Cook in advance. There are actually very few Thanksgiving dishes that won't stand up to spending a week or so in the freezer - even the mashed potatoes! Also turkey stock, the pre-cooked mirepoix for the stuffing, the sweet potato casserole (or twice-baked sweet potatoes that I prefer)
- One oven is enough. If you've planned well, meaning all your side dishes just need to be re/heated/warmed on Thanksgiving day, they will get a good 40 minutes in the oven after the turkey comes out (rests for 20 minutes, 20 minutes for carving). All you need to do while the turkey is resting is make the gravy.
- Get used to butter. It's just one day - eat a ton of it. If a recipe doesn't call for butter, it doesn't belong at Thanksgiving
- Nobody but me likes a dish whose primary ingredient is onions
- THIS is the most awesomest cranberry recipe and the only recipe that has made a reappearance virtually every year after I discovered it. It's GREAT over brie and very wine friendly! Keeps for a week in the fridge, and the recipe makes enough for you to offer a jar to your neighbors
- Stock up on disposable foil food containers - great for sending leftovers home with your guests
- Snacks - if you've got a houseful of football-watching individuals, throw some snacks at them like nuts, crudites, brie and cranberry sauce etc. but that's it. They need to be hungry when dinner is served.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Fangirling
20+ years ago I read a GREAT novel. It had everything I love.... deep character development, interesting and accurate historical details, and a complex plot that left me wanting more. I got "more" over the last 20 years - this incredible, genre-bending author has written 8 huge tomes in the increasingly multi-faceted series, plus several smaller spin-off novellas that deal with some favorite secondary characters.
Every time a favorite book gets made into a movie, I prepare myself by expecting to be disappointed. This is probably the first time I'm excited about an on-screen adaptation. "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon has been turned into a 16-episode series that will soon air on Starz. The first season will focus on the first book, and if it's as good as I think it will be, I have many seasons to look forward to.
Why am I excited and not expecting to be disappointed? Obviously the fact that it is 16 episodes and not a 2-hour movie will enable the writers to deliver many of the important details and plot points of the book. And the second reason is the production crew. Over the last year, I've become a Groupie. I've been following the writers, drivers, actors, costume designers and producers on Twitter. I read every article that gets written, watch every interview.
This thing is gonna be epic. They used archaic dyes of the time (18th century) when making the fabric for the costumes. They hired all kinds of artisans (armorers, knitters, weavers, etc) to create all the props. They filmed it mostly outdoors in winter conditions and put the actors and crew through hell to get it right. They hardly used any CGI.
But mostly, the writers and producers have a true love for the story material and are staying true to the "really good yarn" that Diana Gabaldon wrote. The author has been retained as a advisor and has been consulted on everything from scripts to casting. They are producing it for the fans of the books, assured in the fact that new fans will follow because it's that good.
I could go on and on. Just a few more facts to pique your interest..... the writers call the central male character "The King of Men" because he's All That. The actress who plays the female lead says of her character, "Well, she's just a badass - the women all want to BE her." The Executive Producer describes the show as "Highlander meets Game of Thrones visits Dr. Quinn falls into the Time Tunnel."
Check out the preview. Can't wait!
Monday, August 26, 2013
Random Musings on the First Day of School
Friday, January 25, 2013
Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger
It's been a long time since I was out in the working world. I have quickly remembered how often it is that people tell you lies in the business world. Or are merely incompetent. Or don't care.
But, among all these fools, there are some great people. I'd like to acknowledge everyone for filling my days these past few weeks, in one way (good) or another (bad).
Phone companies. Gah! The wag (or some other gesture) of the finger goes out to almost every traditional "phone" company. AT&T, Time Warner, Grandecom, etc. Your websites are useless, offering little information beyond price. Lists of features are either incomplete (my suspicion) or you just don't offer your business customers very much at all. Why do I have to contact a person and talk to a fool (and wait and wait and wait, for the privledge), when the Internet is the perfect vehicle for delivering all the information I want? The tip of the hat goes to the awesome folks at Ring Central. They have everything I want (and then some!) at a monthly fee that is the same as the traditional phone companies. They were friendly, personable and knowledgeable (what a concept). They delivered and then swapped equipment quickly and efficiently. They provided training, though their dashboard is so intuitive, it was hardly necessary.
Banks. On the advice of our financial planner who is structuring the deal, they recommended two organizations as being effective with this particular structure. Chase and Wells Fargo. Chase has more convenient branches for me, so that seemed a no-brainer. Wag of the finger, Chase! As soon as I had all the documentation to get my banking set up, I went to a Chase branch. Nice people. I told them what I needed to do. Blank stares. Handed them the instruction sheet provided by the financial planner. Quizzical looks. Got them on the phone with the financial planner. Stammering and stuttering. Picked up my toys and left.
The financial planner gave me a name of a Chase corporate person who understands this. I called her. I emailed her. Silence. I called again. I emailed again. More silence.
OK, on to Wells Fargo. Tip of the Hat!!! Their rep reached out to us immediately. Understood exactly what we were doing. Set it all up without me having to leave the house. Did it in a day.
Two days later, I got a call from the Chase corporate person. A day after that, I got a call from the local Chase person who had previously looked at me like I had two heads, "Um, I think I get it now, c'mon back and we'll get you set up." Too late, losers!
More finger wags to the financial world. I'm not real organized sometimes, and my money is in a couple of different places. Some of it needed to be consolidated to finance this deal. Calls to Prudential and Morgan Stanley got the same answer, "Oh sure, we can do that! It takes about two days!" Great! I'm under a time crunch, that is the answer I wanted to hear! This week, I've actually tried to make it happen for five days now. Nothing. Dead in the water. Prudential: "Oh, you're married? Well, there is an 8-day waiting period on that type of transaction for joint accounts. Oh, and you need it notarized." Morgan Stanley: "We don't do that." What??? It's my money, freaks! You're just trying to hang on to it! Organize a conference call w/ Morgan Stanley and my financial advisor who says, "That's crazy. We do that all the time. There's no reason Morgan Stanley can't do that." Morgan Stanley: "We still don't do that." Gah!
Obviously a Tip of the Hat goes to our financial advisor, Guidant Financial. This deal is a little more complicated than I am used to, and they have been great. Available, responsive, clear, concise, methodical. Everything you expect from someone you are paying to help you. Some of the other guys Just. Don't. Get. It.
So. It's been a fun couple of weeks. Working on website copy. Doing photography. Being visionary. Learning new things. Talking to potential vendors.
I will keep you posted!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Homecoming. Texas Style.
Then, he liked a girl.
And she liked him back.
So, here we go again, on the homecoming roller coaster ride that only Texans can do.
Last year, the "ASK" involved a small gift. This year, the tradition seems to have morphed into a memorable event. Things like many candles lit in the girl's front yard. A scavenger hunt. Convincing the teacher to add it as a question to a test. Surprise is key. Aidan hatched and discarded many different ideas, all involving varying degrees of props, supporting cast, financing and originality. His final production involved half-naked men and body paint.
I know I'm being kind of snarky about all this. I will add that Aidan and his very nice date had a great time. This is an awesome group of kids and as a parent I want to be supportive of them since they ARE so great. I know they get tired of hearing "Back in the day, we didn't expect all this rigamarole!" I don't know how or why or when things got so complicated.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Destin 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Building Character...
It's a well know fact that swim meets are long, uncomfortable, and boring. For most people.
Not for "swim parents." See, while a swim meet LOOKs like just one race after another, with hundreds of kids who all look alike, there is actually a lot more to it than that, if you know the swimmers, and all the drama.
Not "drama" in a bad way, drama in the Wide World of Sports way. The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. What may LOOK like eight kids swimming the same stroke across the pool at the same time is really eight different stories playing out, sometimes over the course of a season, just the 3 days of the meet, or only that one swim, right there.
We swim parents spend the 3 days doing the zombie shuffle around the stadium. Must. Keep. Blood. Moving. We are like leaves drifting in an aimless current, occasionally gathering in an eddy to exchange information. "How's Nathan swimming? Did you see Kiley get the meet record? Wasn't that race with Carly and Lauren amazing!? Did Stephen qualify for TAGS?" We are like one, big, extended family and we love to celebrate the achievements of everyone else's kids.
To give you a feel for the ups and downs of a meet, here is how Aidan's story played out over three days. You will see why I don't mind watching him swim.
Aidan recently turned 15, and it's time to start competing against "men." No more being ranked by how old you are, either you qualify to swim based on time (not age), or not. At this point in his swimming, the Big Goal for the end of the season is to qualify for a Sectional meet, which is about 1/12th of the country. (There are 4 zones, and each zone is divided into 3 sections. We are in the western section of the southern zone) Aidan was close to achieving a few qualifying times for Sectionals, so that was his primary goal for this meet. There are 2 levels of qualifying times, called "hard cuts" and "soft cuts." You have to have at least one hard cut to qualify, and each hard cut earns you the right to swim two additional events as long as you have the soft cut.
This meet was run in what is called a championship format. Meaning there are preliminary heats in each event in the morning, and if you finish in the top 16, you come back at night and swim it again in finals. This format pits the very fastest kids against each other, and they all swim just a little bit better in these fastest heats at night.
Swimmer rankings are released a few days in advance of the meet, so you can get an idea of where you fit in the overall scheme of things and predict whether or not you will qualify for evening finals.
DAY ONE
Aidan's main focus for Friday was the 200 IM. He was ranked 57th among the 95 entrants with ages 15-27.
He had a GREAT swim - and got a "soft cut" for Sectionals. Since he moved up so much in the rankings, he had one more opportunity to get the "hard cut."
Here is a video of his swim. I really like the 200 IM because you get to see all four strokes, but it only takes about 2 minutes, unlike the long slog of the 400 IM.
Since I hadn't expected him to make finals, we had no hotel room. I found a covered parking garage at a church and we sat in the car for four hours with the AC running. Aidan slept, and I monitored the engine temperature, occasionally going for drives to keep the temperature down.
Back to the pool for finals. The good news is, he killed it again and dropped more time and wound up being ranked 12th overall. The bad news is, he didn't quite get the hard cut.
Meet the Crabby Boy in the lobby when the meet is over. "Great swim!" I enthused. He glared at me. Rolled his eyes. "Dood! You went a 2:20!! That's AWESOME!" I insisted. He growled at me. "I don't care. That's like a consolation prize. I wanted to go a 2:19."
Alrighty then. It's gonna be a long ride home.
DAY TWO
Up at 5am to make the hour drive to the swim meet. This time, we packed a change of clothes. Just in case. The main focus of the day is the 200 back, and he is ranked 21st. He's one second off the soft cut and four seconds off the hard cut. He is wearing an expensive "technical suit" and his legs are freshly shaved. He is ready.
He didn't just get the soft cut - he killed it (again) and got the hard cut. He made his goal in prelims. Then he swam a solid 100 free and broke a minute, but that event is dominated by guys who have several inches and fifty pounds on Aidan, (we call them Zoo Animals), so a good time drop is the only prize. He also swam the 400 IM.
So, back to the meet for finals, and since he lacked a clear goal, he did not swim as fast as he is capable. Sort of a let-down after having such a great day. But he finished 8th overall, which is a nice bump from being ranked 21st! My pride in him is no consolation for him though. He felt like tonight's race was pointless, and hated that he didn't do his best.
DAY THREE
Sunday dawns, and his last event of the meet is the 100 back. That is his best event. He is tired. Worn down to a nub. He also has to start the meet with the 200 breast. Any 200 really takes a lot out of you. He swam pretty well, but made a mistake on his pull-out and was disqualified. That takes the wind out of your sails and he still had to wrap his mind around trying to get a hard cut in the 100 back. He told me when I dropped him off that morning, "Mom, if I make the hard cut in prelims, I am NOT staying to swim it again at night." I get that. But that is a conversation he must have with his coach, and not an argument that is worth having at this moment.
I can tell by his posture that he is feeling defeated and has lost his fire. He swims the 100 back and gives it absolutely everything he has to give. He gets a soft cut. Not the hard cut. Ugh. He wants to be done, and he's not. He has to do it again. I stand in the back of the stadium watching his every move. Trying to discern what his coach is telling him, whether or not he has enough left to make hanging around for finals even worth it. He hits the cool down pool. That is a good sign, if you mean to swim again, you MUST cool down after every race or your muscles seize up. He packs up his things in a desolutory manner. I am waiting to see if he folds up his chair, which means he does not intend to return. The chair stays.
I meet him in the lobby. He has a face like thunder. This is going to be a long afternoon. "Food or sleep?" I ask. "Food. Then sleep." Off to iHop (for the 3rd time this weekend) where he wolfs down his usual in silence. I keep my mouth shut. Back to the car and the covered lot by the church, he has 2 hours to sleep.
Back to the pool, I have done my best to refrain from saying anything. "Dig deep, buddy" I say as he exits the car. "Swim it like it's 105 meters!" hoping to convey the message that he must not run out of steam in the last 5 meters like he's prone to do when he's tired. He glares at me. "I don't even know why I'm doing this," he mutters as he slams the door extra hard.
I stand in the back of the stadium watching his warmup like a hawk. He talks with his coaches. Do they know? Do they know how utterly defeated he is? My heart is breaking for him and I want to rescue him. I want to go down on deck and tell the coaches that I am scratching him out of this farce. I want to put this behind us and take him home. I don't want him to have to fail. But I am not raising a quitter. I go back to my chair and try not to think about it.
It's a long wait. 3 1/2 hours from the time he had to report for warmups to when his event starts. I am kicking myself for not realizing this and getting permission from the coaches to roll in late. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Bad Swim Mommy.
Finally. The Men's 100 back final. I don't want to watch. But here it is. Can he do it?