TIME: 10:28 AM
PLACE: Work
SUBJECT: Cherries
I’ve been on a diet since June 18th.
Today is the last day.
I’ve always said that a diet is the word “die” followed by a “t”…it’s been a challenging 24 days most certainly.
I’ve lost about 9 pounds though…I hope my eating habits have changed enough to keep it off.
*fingers crossed*
TIME: 7:22 PM
PLACE: Kitchen
SUBJECT: Fruit
I love how the fruit tastes so much better during the summer.
TIME: 8:23 AM
PLACE: Work
SUBJECT: Fruit & muffin top
Part 2 of my Leadership Training class was scheduled for all day today.
At least they feed us breakfast and lunch.
Donkey: You know what ELSE everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, "Let's get some parfait," they say, "Hell no, I don't like no parfait."? Parfaits are delicious!
Shrek (2001), DreamWorks Animation
TIME: 6:26 PM
PLACE: School
SUBJECT: Fruit & yogurt parfait
The Juniors are working on their “Simple Meals” badge.
Tonight, they made a simple breakfast – fruit & yogurt parfaits.
Fish heads, fish heads
Roly-poly fish heads
Fish heads, fish heads
Eat them up, yum
”Fish Heads”, performed by Barnes & Barnes, Voobaha (1980)
TIME: 10:26 AM
PLACE: Seafood City Grocery Store, St. Louis, MO
SUBJECT: Fish heads & other stuff
We went to this grocery store to pick up some shrimp and other items for the Super Bowl.
See?
Shrimp.
Sriracha anyone?
Maybe some tilapia?
Finally, is this not the cutest potato flavored character you’ve ever seen?
I wanted to buy it just for the package.
I didn’t though.
~*~*~
Later, since I am a good wife, I made HH his favorite fruit tart/pizza for his birthday as usual.
Confession: I love it too.
TIME: 8:21 AM
PLACE: Kitchen
SUBJECT: Raspberries
The raspberry bush is loaded this year. I picked a quick handful this morning.
TIME: 8:48 PM
PLACE: Joey B’s on the Hill, St. Louis, MO
SUBJECT: Stella and her spaghetti
The girls and I went shopping in St. Louis this evening.
We then went out for supper.
That’s a whole lot of spaghetti – she didn’t make a dent.
Raspberry Facts:
* The raspberry is a member of the rose family and a bramble fruit like the blackberry
* Raspberries have a hollow core.
* Raspberries are known as "aggregate fruits" - they are composed of smaller seed-containing fruits, called drupelets, that are arranged around a hollow central cavity.
TIME: 7:35 PM
PLACE: Back yard
SUBJECT: Raspberries
I had pruned the raspberry bush all the way down to the ground last fall as it had grown out of control. That thing came back with a vengeance. I was thinking that we wouldn’t have any berries this year because I cut it all back. I was wrong.
“We are born believing. A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), U.S. essayist, poet, philosopher. "Worship," The Conduct of Life (1860).
TIME: 3:37 PM
PLACE: Work parking lot
SUBJECT: Crab apples on tree
We saw the sun today! The crab apples on the tree at work looked pretty against the bright blue sky.
“There will always be something to ruin our lives, it all depends on what or which finds us first. We are always ripe and ready to be taken.”
Charles Bukowski (American short-story Writer, Poet and Novelist, 1920-1994)
TIME: 7:43 PM
PLACE: Backyard
SUBJECT: Raspberries
A quick post as I think everything has finally caught up to me. I’ve been tired and sleepy and have not felt well at all today. It’s very frustrating to not be able to do things. I tell myself that I am very lucky and this is only temporary, so I need to quit grumbling and count my blessings.
“A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch.”
James Andrew Beard (American chef and food writer, 1903–1985)
TIME: 3:44 PM
PLACE: Kitchen
SUBJECT: Birthday Fruit Tart
Two years ago(!) I posted this photo of a fruit tart I made for HH’s birthday. 728 days later, I’m posting another photo of said tart – no, it’s not the *same* tart you sillies, I think that dessert would be a little moldy by now. I concocted this one today, along with a chicken pot pie for supper. We invited my dad over to eat with us and to sing (very badly, I might add) “Happy Birthday” to the HandsomeHusband who turns the big, double-nickel tomorrow.
~*~*~*~
I should get extra “what-a-good-wife” bonus points for making this because I had to go to the grocery store this morning for the ingredients. It was ugggg-ly. That place was a madhouse…an obnoxious blend of Sunday grocery shoppers and people in a mad frenzy to stock up on bread, milk and eggs to hold them over during the expected winter storm (freezing rain, snow, and sleet, temps in the single digits-woo hoo.)
“Have you noticed that even the busiest people are never too busy to take time to tell you how busy they are?”
Bob Talbert (American, newspaper columnist, 1939-1999)
TIME: 4:07 PM
PLACE: Grade school
SUBJECT: Fruit on a Hawthorn tree
*Sigh* Just another relaxing day on my day off. I spent my morning at school, helping out with the PTA’s annual Santa’s Cottage. Santa’s Cottage is an event that lets the kids shop for family and friends in the gym. The “cottage” has small gifts, knickknacks and other items that range in prices from 25 cents to four dollars. Then it was off to the beautician for a haircut at 11:30am and then to the grocery store to pick up ice cream for the 4th & 5th grade boys basketball celebration after school. I also stopped by the bakery to pick up a cake HH had ordered. At the celebration, HH took individual and team photos of the boys; I served them cake and ice cream and our town’s police chief and a local Paralympic athlete stopped by at HH’s invitation, to congratulate the boys on working hard this season and the importance of giving their best in all that they do. Ahh, well…I was busy for good causes, there is always Thursday to get other things done.
“Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.”
Bernard M. Baruch (American Economist and adviser to US presidents, 1870-1965)
TIME: 9:41 AM
PLACE: Work
SUBJECT: Crab apple
The crab apple trees at work are drooping with fruit. As I passed them this morning, I must have heard at least 3 of them plop to the ground. During a break, I went outside to take some photos. As I was shooting away, one of those crab apples actually fell and hit me on the head. Luckily, they are small and fairly soft, so it didn’t hurt too much. Plus, I have a hard head.
Jonathan: This is the ultimate blend to drink. How'd you find this place?
Sara: I first came in because of the name: Serendipity. It's one of my favorite words.
Jonathan: It is? Why?
Sara: It's such a nice sounding word for what it means: a fortunate accident.
*Serendipity*. Perf. John Cusak and Kate Beckinsale. Dir. Peter Chelsom. 2001. Miramax Films.
TIME: 8:44 PM
PLACE: Kitchen
SUBJECT: Honey crisp apple
Part of SD’s homework was to bring in an apple for class tomorrow, so I had to make a trek to the grocery store to purchase some. When did apples start becoming so expensive? They were priced anywhere from $1.99-$3.99 a pound, depending on the variety; or they had 3 pound bags of smaller sized apples for $2.99 ~ but SD informed me that she didn’t want a small one *rolls eyes*. I picked 3 medium sized apples and it ended up costing me $2.37 *sigh*. When I returned home, SD choose one to take to school, DQ ate another apple and I snagged the last one in order to take a picture. While taking the photo, I noticed my apple a heart outline on its side. I *heart* serendipitous discoveries like this.
“The apple tree never asks the beech how he shall grow, nor the lion the horse, how he shall take his prey.”
William Blake (English visionary Mystic, Poet, Painter and Engraver. 1757-1827)
TIME: 4:49 PM
PLACE: Back yard
SUBJECT: Apple
This apple tree never asked me how to grow, it just did. It grew secretly and stealthily in a bush on the side of our yard. I was backing out of the driveway yesterday and spotted this apple on a branch. At first I thought it was some sort of seed pod, but when I investigated it further today, I saw that it was actually an apple. I found two more small fruits that had fallen onto the gravel in the driveway. What a persistent little tree it is.
“One must ask children and birds how cherries and strawberries taste.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Playwright, Poet, Novelist and Dramatist. 1749-1832)
TIME: 6:07 PM
PLACE: Kitchen table
SUBJECT: Strawberry shortcake
My favorite thing about spring? Fresh strawberries. StellaDella’s favorite thing about strawberries? Whipped cream - Or more specifically - Cool Whip non-dairy topping. In fact, you can just forget about the strawberries. Just some sponge cake and a ginormous heaping of Cool Whip will do her just fine.
He is the very pineapple of politeness!
Richard Brinsley Sheridan (Irish playwright and Whig statesman, 1751-1816) The Rivals (1775)
TIME: 8:34 PM
PLACE: The kitchen
SUBJECT: Pineapple
A very rainy, very dreary, very depressing Monday here in the Midwest. After work, I went shopping at ALDI’s to pick up a few items and saw that they had pineapples on special for a mere $1.19. Now pineapples do not ripen after they are picked and I’ll admit that they looked a little green. However, this one does has a sweet scent, so I’m hopeful that it will taste pretty good anyway. For the price I paid, I am willing to take a chance. Plus, I will admit, another reason I bought it was that I thought it would make a good picture!
“There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (American, essayist, philosopher, poet, & leader of the Transcendentalist movement, 1803–1882)
TIME: 7:23 PM
PLACE: New Athens, IL
SUBJECT: Pears
A fairly quiet Saturday, compared to last week’s with its family reunion. Tonight we went as a family to a friend’s surprise 50th birthday party at a Knights of Columbus hall. The man is a big Dallas Cowboy fan and the hall was decorated with a blue, silver and white theme. These pears were piled in a bowl on the head table. Why pears? I have no idea, but I’m sure there was a good reason for them. One thing that I can’t get over is the fact that it only cost $1.25 for a draft beer in the bar. Sweet action! I think I need to drink there more often.
“Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches,
Movin' to the country, gonna eat me a lot of peaches,
Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches,
Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches.
Peaches come from a can,
They were put there by a man,
In A Factory down town,
And if I had my little way, I'd eat peaches everyday,
Sun soakin' bulges in the shade.”
“Peaches”, The Presidents of The United States of America, The Presidents of the United States of America (1995), Track 4
TIME: 9:57 AM
PLACE: Eckert’s Peach Orchard
SUBJECT: Peach
This morning the kids and I went to a farm to pick our own peaches. I love picking our own fruit. We always joke that they really need to weigh us before we go into the orchard because we sample as we pick *wink*. Today, they were picking at the rows right in front where you pay, but the kids wanted a tractor ride so we loaded everyone onto the trailer. They drove us in a big circle around the orchard and dropped us off about 50 feet from where we started. I do believe that we spent more time on the tractor than it took us to pick our peaches! I’m thinking a peach crisp with vanilla ice cream is definitely in the works for dessert this week.
Edited to add: Today is the 20th anniversary of the first date I ever had with HandsomeHusband. The day after our date, he sent me a dozen sweetheart roses – well, today, he sent me a dozen long-stemmed red roses. Thank you babe…I am so glad you asked me out!
“Enjoyed it! One more drink and I'd have been under the host.”
Dorothy Parker (American short-story Writer and Poet, 1893-1967)
TIME: 8:12 PM
PLACE: Margaritas Mexican Restaurant
SUBJECT: $1 Margarita on the rocks
I got a "kitchen pass" to go out to dinner with my old college roommate and good friend, Denise. She wanted to take me out for my birthday and catch up because we realized that we hadn't gotten together since StellaDella's birthday in February! So we went to a local restaurant, had dinner, some beverages and chatted. Then we went to a tavern that happened to have a band whose keyboard player/singer is a friend from high school. His wife, who was there as well, is another former high school classmate. We haven't seen either of them in quite some time. We ended up doing even more chatting and catching up with her and when the band took their breaks, we did the same with him. As for the bar scene, all I can say is I am SO glad I am married (and happily so most of the time -right honey? *wink*) and am not out there in the "searching for someone" arena. It's brutal out there!
