Two-fer...

My folks arrived Saturday evening from the West Coast, so we had Sunday supper plus a Memorial Day meal with them and Ron, plus Bill on Monday. Full disclosure -- I was very cranky on Sunday, probably because I didn't drink enough water while sweating it out in Waxahachie the day before, but I was much more pleasant today. And both meals were quite delicious.

Sunday (inspired by watching FoodTV while working out in the hotel exercise room in Raleigh the weekend before):

• Margaritas in a bag
  
• Chicken Kebab Salad (a big ol' Caesar with grilled chicken, sausages, and bread -- and I used boneless skinless thighs as well as the recommended breasts, and turkey as well as pork sausage, and basil leaves rather than bay)
• Lemon Sabayon with Fresh Strawberries & Raspberries

Memorial Day (this one was pretty improv'd, so no recipe links)

• Elderflower Sours
• Barbecued Turkey Breast, brined and tied and with a nice BBQ rub
• Grilled Vegies -- Corn, Baby Artichokes, Zucchinis, and Leeks
• Green Bean and Red Onion Salad with Creme Fraiche
• Watermelon

Hope everyone else had a lovely long weekend, too. Now, back to the coal mines...

P.S.  There was no Sunday supper club last week; I spent the day wallowing in Powerpoint presentation preparation and fast food.  Looking forward to coming up with a great menu this weekend!

Gee, it's good to be back home again...

Even if it involved joining unintelligible conference calls before eight AM and not getting a shower until after I picked up the Juj from his second-to-last day of kindergarten.  (Uh, yes, I worked from home and did not inflict my showerlessness on anyone at the office -- and only ever-so-briefly on those at the school.)  But we got one car washed, made it to the K-garten graduation ceremony clean and on time this evening, and I only shed a small tear or two. (Pictures soon.) 

Plus I'll get the other car spotless tomorrow after I pick up the house so the housekeeping service can do the rest, and doting grandparents arrive Saturday evening for an extended visit, so I foresee a date night or two in my near future.

Life. Is. Good.

(Oh, and on the pictures front -- I am now the proud owner of my very own Renaissance Faire wench costume, so if you all promise not too laugh too much, I might deign to share a shot of that as well.)

Another post from N.C.

My sojourn in the Raleigh area continues. The good news is that I have been able to change my plans to fly home on Wednesday afternoon instead of Friday, as it turns out J's kindergarten graduation is Thursday evening. And that I actually spent 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer in the hotel exercise room this morning! The bad news, especially for J and G-man who may be driving each other crazy, is that I'm still here over the weekend, since my meetings continue next week.

One thing (actually two; well, three) about RTP: the weather is even more changeable than Dallas, and the seasonal allergens are even worse! But there's a heck of a lot less traffic.

I did hear something cool on NPR this morning that I wanted to share. They interviewed Lorraine Feather and played some bits of her new CD "Language." Fun jazz voice, very funny lyrics, and one-time a Bay Area denizen -- check it out (play the songs in the box). (And Ms. F5 might be especially amused by the Miss English link on Lorraine's web site.)

A Conversation...

"Oh, maaan!"

What's wrong?

"I just forgot how to draw a pig!"

You mean like a pig's snout and ears and curly tail?

"No. We just draw a pig's mouth. Everyone at school is drawing pigs. I don't know what it is, everybody is just obsessed with pigs!"

*sniffle*

Well, here I am back in Raleigh, leaving both my men at home alone for nearly TWO WEEKS (well, not alone -- they have each other!) while I wallow in a tiny bit of self pity about having my Mother's Day cut short. And T-Rob and Ms. McQ dinna make it any easier with their posts.

I will admit that it's hard to be too pitiful when I will have the bed all to myself for more than ten nights. Juj has been pretty good about staying in his new big boy captain's bed, but apparently cracked under the strain of knowing I was leaving and crawled into our bed at one or two o'clock this morning. Which, compounded by my incipient cold (or maybe just bad allergies) meant that it was not the most restful night for me. But I will MISS them both!

So, let me catch up by sharing last Sunday's menu, which we enjoyed with Tia Elsa and Uncle Ron...

• big salad of red lettuce, radishes, avocado and celery
• chicken and brown rice with chorizo from the current issue of Saveur (thanks, Weintribe!)
• fresh strawberries with saba and black pepper (well, J had his with milk)

And this Sunday?

Suffice it to say that I had a lovely meal alone this evening. Mez has good food, a nice bar, is within walking distance of the hotel, and although normally closed Sundays, they happened to be open in honor of Mother's Day. I ate there twice on the last trip, and my hotel wasn't as close (plus I had a car that time, which expanded my options); I'm sure I'll be back for more...