Pre-Valentine's Day, but mid-cold

I'd love to blame the Polar Vortex for the lack of post last week, but it went back up to the Pole a couple of weeks ago. 

Unfortunately, Christopher has been battling a cold-type thing since before Christmas. And in the past few weeks the cold has decided that maybe it should try tackling me, as well. So, while we were battling the windchills of -50 degrees a week and a half ago, and then two days of major snow this week, we've been cheering ourselves if we can stay awake until 9pm. 

I thought about taking a photo of a shopping bag filled with Milk, Bread, and Toilet paper to commemorate the weather. But decided that was more Baltimore than Minneapolis. 

So today - as I'm feeling a little bit more back to normal - I decided to push forward with some traditional Valentine's Day cookies. Or at least they're traditional for my family. 

These are made with a basic sugar cookie (you can use a family recipe, or just some of the ones you can buy in the grocery store), and then an even more basic frosting (margarine, milk, and powdered sugar), which I pipe on using the frosting gun I used for the brownie bites. 

And, yes, these will mostly be getting shipped. Not in the "wreath" style of most of my cookies - because they'd stick together - but in layers separated by waxed paper. 

They're not the prettiest cookies you'll probably see this week, but they make me happy - and hopefully will make their recipients happy, as well. 

Hopefully we'll back on our feet - and I'll be back to blogging - in the immediate future. 

-----

Is there a comfort food that gets you through when you're under the weather? Anything I should know about? 

Hanukkah Lights

At work today we had a ceremony to light the third candle on our office menorah. It's a small menorah - especially when compared to the eight-foot Christmas tree - but it's there, nonetheless.

It was a nice few minutes of semi-solemn time, with a reading of the basic story behind Hanukkah, as well as the recitation of the prayer that goes along with the lighting. All of which was prefaced with a caution that we had to do this right on time because the candle lighter's grandmother had always worried about being late for sundown.

There are actually only two people in the office who are Jewish (out of 28 people in the office - with various Christian religions, a lot of religious apathy, and at least one Atheist), but there were about a dozen people gathered for the lighting.

At the end, everyone wished each other Happy Hanukkah and an early Merry Christmas, and we tried to run down the list of other things we might wish each other ("Festive Solstice," and the like).

We're a strange little office 90% of the time. More dysfunctional family than corporate entity, really.

But there was something kind of beautiful about ending our workday celebrating traditions together, even though they weren't our own.

For a moment or two, the four little candles on the menorah were brighter than all of the twinkle lights on the tree.

Happy Hanukkah to all - may your lantern's oil burn for eight days, though you have only enough for one.

Rooting for the Home Team

In case I haven't mentioned it, lately, I live in Minneapolis - home of the Minnesota Vikings.

Whenever they're playing, the hoopla is everywhere. It's on the TV, obviously, and suddenly purple and gold show up everywhere around town. Banners outside otherwise sedate houses, newscasters wearing inexplicably bright purple ties, and - wow - my social media feeds go crazy.

I... well... I like football. I do. But I don't really get into the hometown hype of it all. I don't feel like I need to support a specific team just because of where they're based. Right now, while we're watching a multi-million dollar stadium go up, I figure I'd be more likely to support them if, well, if I felt they were supporting me.

Instead, when they're playing in town, I find myself dealing with a ton of traffic and most newcasts spending a third of their time recapping the play-by-play, which - if I were really interested in it - I'd have already watched live.

So, instead, I tend to root for the home team - you know, me, Christopher, and the pup - and hoping that we can get through the game day without too much hassle. To me, that just makes a lot more sense.

The Heat is On

I fully admit that when I typed the headline to this, I sang it in my head. (You know - it's a song from the mid-80s. If you still don't know it, I pasted a link down at the end of this post.)

Anyway...

The heat has been turned on at my office at work. In the summer, when it's 90 degrees outside and you want to wear shorts (because we can), it is frequently about 65 degrees in the office. There are two people who sit under air conditioning vents who actually sit at their desks with blankets around their shoulders all summer. It looks like they're working in Siberia or something.

Then the seasons change, and for about a month the office is both too cold and too hot. I'm not sure how they do that. But there are days where the (mostly wide open) office space has pockets of different temperatures, where the air is obviously not mixing. Want to cool off? Go into the small conference room. Want to warm up? Go into the men's room. (For the record, there was a time - 20 years ago or so - when heating things up in the men's room meant something very different to me.)

Now, of course, we're into the winter, so the heat is on at work. I do realize that this has been a strange year, and the heating and cooling systems have probably been under a lot of stress with the wildly fluctuating temperatures. Perhaps this is their way of either getting their revenge or simply sighing and saying "get on with it, already." Either way, now that I'd love to start wearing sweaters to work, the indoor temperature is more conducive to shorts.

I'm thinking of taking in a fan. Maybe I can get one that has dual modes and includes a heater - then I'll be able to use it next summer, too.

At Least I'm Using My Jacket

I bought a light, hooded rain jacket a few years ago before we went to Alaska. It was perfect for wearing on warm-ish days when it was damp out.

I haven't really worn it a lot since then, because Minnesota seldom has warm-ish damp days. We tend to have cold, snowy days or hot, steamy days. Very few are somewhere in the middle when it's warm enough to wear a light jacket but you need to be kept dry.

This year, after going out and shopping for a new winter coat, and after wearing each of my leather jackets for about four days, I have found that it has been too warm for any of them for most of the past few weeks.

I've broken out a sweatshirt or two, but then it decided to get kind of drizzly, and I didn't really want to carry my umbrella everywhere - not to mention that during a hard drizzle an umbrella doesn't exactly do any good.

So I have decided to celebrate the one benefit of this crappy weather: After two years of mainly leaving it in the closet, I've been wearing my rain coat a lot.

It's not exactly lined with silver, but I'm taking that as this cloudy stretch's shiny lining.

The Scent of Fall

Sure, pumpkin spice everything is around these days.

Apples and cinnamon are in every grocery store aisle.

The neighborhood smells of woodsmoke instead of charcoal.

The chill in the air has brought about a whole new set of aromas.

Yesterday and today, however, were warm - not chilly.

So when I let the pup out this evening the yard smelled of a cross between warm dirt and beginning-to-decompose leaves.

It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but having grown up raking leaves into piles and then jumping into them this seemed more natural than all the other scents.

Possibly not as marketable, but that might be why it made me so happy to smell it.

Split-personality Day

Do you ever have one of those days where you start out doing one thing, then end up doing something completely different?

I had one of those, today.

I got up this morning and - since it was nice out - I finally got around to dealing with our fall yard prep. So I spent about an hour and a half cutting back the peonies, weeding, and spreading some new mulch around to make things look a little nicer. I even remembered to pull up one of the hoses and bring in the liquid garden sprays.

Then I took a quick shower and got dressed before... of course... going to a wedding fair.

Christopher and I have been to one other fair - but it was geared toward gay and lesbian couples, and was pretty small. This one was a full-on wedding fair in the Convention Center, with fashion shows and giveaways and holy crap a ton of people.

I was good and put on my "groom" sticker and wandered around. Eventually I even talked to some vendors (mainly I was there to talk about photographers and, if possible, valet services). and I got about three food samples. Then - after about an hour, and with a handful of flyers, I bailed out before my brain exploded.

This evening I gradually got myself back to normal - hanging out with Christopher, having dinner, and getting some things taken care of around the house. Oh - and nursing a sore arm, which I assume is from the yard work, not the flyer carrying.

Or maybe a slightly less-split combination of the two.

Sleepy in the Cities

It's not quite as catchy as "Sleepless in Seattle," I realize, but it's kind of all I've got right now.

Twice this week I've had to get up extra early to be places an hour earlier than my usual start time. And multiple nights we've been up later than usual, too.

I used to do great when I was in my 20s - or even my 30s - but these days I just can't function as well on days when I've misplaced an hour or more of sleep.

I keep waiting for the "as you get older, you need less sleep" thing to kick in, but it hasn't yet.

So for now I'll just sign off and try to at least have an "even" night before we launch into the weekend.

Friday Food - Tomatoes

Some of you who have been reading this blog for a while might remember that I rather enjoy a good tomato and fried egg sandwich. This is attested to in my cleverly titled post "Egg and Tomato Sandwiches." I also rather enjoy a good BLT from time to time, as found in "Friday Food - A Little Late" (this one has pictures!).

To that end, this year I once again planted tomatoes outside our back door. Four plants. Each about 8 inches tall when they went in the ground in May. Now a couple of them are about 4 feet tall, and one is probably 8 feet tall, taking over most of the available space. (I'm not entirely sure whether the fourth one is still alive - I can't tell which is which.)

Until about a week ago, I had all plant, no blooms. I've been watching the tomato plants our neighbors have, and starting to get pretty jealous. They've got smaller plants, but actual blooms. And even some tomatoes, already. I, on the other hand, just have plants... leaves... and vines... and... wait... a little yellow flower!

Yes, last weekend I noticed my first blossom! Since then, that one trailblazer has been followed by at least a dozen more. I think they're all on the same plant but, again, I really have no way of knowing. I haven't seen any bees out there (yep - tomatoes are impacted by the problems with insects not being around), so this weekend, I plan to see if I can help the plants "self pollinate" by jostling them around a bit to agitate the pollen.

Then - if all goes well - I'll start to see tomatoes. I hope it works, because I'm salivating, already.

On Sunday, We Smile

It has been a stressful, exciting, wild week or so. Between all of the bathroom renovations (more updates to come, I promise), and the Supreme Court's ruling on marriage equality, the emotions have been running just below the surface - and frequently bubbling over.

And, with all that in mind, I thought I'd share some things that have made me happy this week.

This Cake Wrecks post about Rainbow Cakes (interestingly, no mention is made of gay marriage - it's just about rainbows on cakes): http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2015/6/28/sunday-sweets-rainbow-connection.html

This posting from Buzzfeed about a bunch of really big companies that decided to show their support for same-sex marriage by putting their rainbows where their money is: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jarrylee/love-wins#.wy1QmEJ1d

Seeing all of the happy people posting on social media, or on the news, or pretty much anywhere.

Being able to spend Twin Cities Pride weekend hanging out with Christopher - on Thursday as we went to a one-woman show put on by Lily Tomlin, yesterday while we were shopping for shrubbery, and today as we've been hanging out at home before heading out to dinner with good friends.

And, finally, this photo of our dog (who doesn't really care about politics or rainbows), and who napped over my shoulder while I worked from home on Wednesday:

I hope your Sunday has been smile-y, as well.

Suggestive Planting

I've spent a decent amount of time on the yard/garden this spring. Not as much as many people we know, but a number of hours over a few weekends. Today I pulled out a couple of shrubs, did a bunch of weeding, fixed the backyard gate, and pruned a few trees. And I put some flowers - which I purchased on Friday - into the ground. (I may or may not whine about my gardening aches on Tuesday...)

I figure that you need to get plants in the ground within a few days of buying them. Kind of like how you're supposed to use or freeze chicken within a certain number of days after bringing it home from the grocery store.

Before Mother's Day, I had done a bunch of shopping, and most of those plants sat in the garage for about three days before being planted. Then, as I started getting them going, I put the pots around the yard so that I could get an eye for what I was doing before committing myself.

In its way, this suggests the future plantings and lets me know what I'm getting myself into. I say all this to explain that I understand the idea of putting the pots in place before planting.

One of our neighbors, however, seems to be taking this suggestive planting to the next level.

Each day this week when I've walked the dog, I've seen that there are new pots stationed around her yard and the boulevard along the sidewalk. It started as a single potted shrub. Then about three of them spaced around the yard. Those migrated to the boulevard on the third day.

Today, while the shrubs are still hanging out on the side of the house, a couple of pots of decorative grasses appeared along the front steps. I can't wait to see what will show up in a few weeks as annual plants start to go on sale.

I guess it does save on recycling if you never actually take them out of the pots, right?

Post-Plant Sale-ing

I made it to the Friends School Plant Sale after work last night. There were a ton of cars around, so parking wasn't great, but there didn't seem to be that many people there.

That's one of the great things I learned the last time I went on Friday night. You see, the plants all get stocked (or re-stocked) overnight, so the serious shoppers go first thing in the morning, and not as many people are there the rest of the day.

Of course, this means that if you go late in the day there are also a number of plants that are already sold out (at least for the day) by the time you get there.

Yeah... That's what I dealt with.

About half of what I was looking for was already gone. Luckily, I'd made up a kind of back-up list, so I knew what else I could look for, but it was still a little depressing.

Today, though, I was out and about and made a "filler" trip to the local garden store, and then came home and planted things. (Technically, it's too early to do that in Minnesota, but I checked the forecasts, and we should be okay for the next 10 days - and the usual planting date is May 15, so... hopefully we're in the clear.) I've got a few things left to put in the ground (I gave up after my back started to give out), but our yard is already looking pretty good.

We still have to deal with ripping out some old shrubs (some are dying, some we just don't like), but that can happen later on. Sometime after I feel like I can stand up straight, again.

Food Helps

This week is still pretty wonky. Lots of things are up in the air (literally and figuratively), and my spring allergies are having a field day in my sinuses (from the things that are literally up in the air).

Tonight was "Dining Out For Life" in the Twin Cities, though. So I was out to dinner at Le Town Talk Diner in Minneapolis with a bunch of good friends, and we all ate really good food and talked for an hour or so. And - as an added bonus - donated money to a good cause.

I just might make it to the weekend, yet.

Grass Attack

Tonight after work, before dinner, I took advantage of the warm evening to go out and attack some of the yardwork we've been meaning to do.

Yes, I know we're not supposed to be doing yardwork, yet, but this was stuff that was either fall or spring stuff, and since we had some rain over the weekend I've been worrying that soon it would be too late.

Plus, the decorative grass next to the driveway got kind of pummelled by the snow last week and had started to droop into the driveway. I realized, yesterday, that I was actually driving over it - which meant it was time to go.

So I was out there tonight with my clippers taking it down, but it didn't want to go without a fight. The long blades were falling over and hitting me in the head. When they were cut, they didn't want to bed and go into the bag. Yes, eventually I succeeded, but I definitely had to work for it.

You see, I'm allergic to that grass. So everywhere it touched me I got a quick rash. My arms, my hands (yes, even through the gloves I was wearing), and - yes - the top of my head.

It's sad to see that area without all of the tall grass, but I know it will be back soon. And, for now, I'm just glad I survived one more seasonal chopping.

A Taxing Evening

(For the record, yes, it is hard to come up with so many punny post titles. And, yes, I said "punny" and not "funny" - I realize the level of this, after all...)

How do the well-heeled of Minneapolis spend their spring Saturday nights? By doing their taxes, of course.

I find that they get more depressing every year. Mainly because this is the one time of year when I'm forced to look at my net income. I realize that my financial net income is not the same as my personal net worth, but it's still a shock every year to look at it and think "Really? That's all?"

On the other hand, I also get to look at it and think "Wow. I did a lot with not much this year. Imagine what I could do with a lot..." And then I daydream for a while as the tax software processes. (I used to love "conquering them" all on my own, but I gave up on doing them by hand about the time I moved to Minnesota. First it was because I had partial-year residencies to deal with. But then I just found it to be so much easier to do this way. Not quite the same feeling of victory, but at least the pain doesn't last as long.)

So now it's after 9. I'm all e-filed and printed, and ready to... I dunno... probably go to bed.

Yep. Excitement runs rampant around here.

Some Quick Updates

Due to the fact that it's almost 10 on a school night and I've been feeling short on sleep for the past week, tonight's blog is going to be a bulleted list of updates from topics we've already covered:

• (See? I'm even using real bullet point markers!)
• Nude postings are no longer going to be banned. Don't worry, I still don't plan to post anything remotely nude. 
• I almost made it through one of this week's work projects today. I'm 20 pages shy of finishing the edit of the novel I started on Monday. That means I've edited something like 250 pages of that novel since Monday afternoon. I'd have completed it, today, but I got pulled into one half-hour meeting, and spent about 45 minutes formatting a sample chapter for an author who doesn't understand that you can just type in a Word document without having to put everything into text boxes. So... 250 pages over approximately 2 days' worth of actual work. And, yet, the most I've been able to do in a day for the behemoth is 22 pages. What is wrong with this picture? 
• I finally used some of the pesto cubes I made last fall. They were tasty, but instead of tossing them with pasta I baked some chicken with them. So they separated. The oil went to the bottom of the pan, and the pesto solids (the basil and nut bits) just sat on top of the chicken. Tasty, but weird. 
• We're at that point in the weather year when Minnesotans are just tired of being cold and having to dress in 82 layers. It's supposed to get really warm (like, up into the 40s or warmer) by next week. So today, of course, I saw people walking around with their coats undone and wearing no scarves or gloves - even though it was only about 4 degrees out. (I may or may not have been one of those hatless people on the way to work, but I wore one this afternoon for the dog walk.)*

Okay. That kind of gets us caught up to today.

We'll see if I can come up with anything more pithy on Friday.

*Spellcheck insists that this should either be "hapless" or "headless" - I suspect that if one led to the other, I'd still end up hatless...

Umm... Yeah... So It's Cold...

Let me start by saying that pretty much every stereotype - if you look closely enough - usually has some kernel of truth somewhere in its history.

I'm sure there are some that have none, but there are others which are just way too spot-on to have been made up.

One of the stereotypes of this part of the world (Minnesota and the surrounding states) is that everyone talks about the weather all the time.

We like to point at our agricultural heritage and say that it comes from years of necessity. Years of having to watch the weather to know how our harvest was going to be. But how many of the people I know, here in Minneapolis, really make their living based on the weather these days?

Even so, when Christopher and I were out tonight, I was sitting with some friends and talking and the weather was a major topic. Sure - I know that this is a good small-talk fallback point - but these were good friends and we have a lot of other topics we could have fallen back to. But the weather was the winner.

The problem, though, is that this time of year - when we're past the thrill of the start of winter, but not yet to the sigh of relief of the end of winter - there isn't really much to talk about beyond "Yup. It's cold."

I have to admit that I'm not sure the talk could have gotten any smaller than that.

Perspective Can Be... Fun...?

At lunch today (because I actually left my desk and went to lunch today), we were having a discussion about the relative size of Paris.

Why? Why not?

But, to be more precise, it was because a friend of ours is going to be running in the Paris marathon in April. And I thought it was interesting that for the 26.2-mile course to all fit "in" Paris they apparently start in the city, run through the city out into one of the massive parks in the suburbs, then back through the city and all through the massive park on the other side of town before coming back into the city to finish up.

When they do the marathon in the Twin Cities, it starts in one downtown, runs along the river, through the other city and into the other downtown. That's it. Just a (relatively) straight shot, and it's done. None of this criss-crossing back and forth across the cityscape. Just start - go - done.

So that got me to thinking about the relative sizes of the two metropolitan areas. I played around online with a couple of Google maps, and figured out that - from north to south - all of Paris would fit between where Christopher and I live and downtown Minneapolis.

From east to west, it's a little more interesting, but Paris would fit completely between the western edge of the city of Minneapolis (not including suburbs, mind you), and extend just a bit beyond Interstate 35W. That's not the easternmost edge of Minneapolis. It's kind of 2/3 of the way across.

This means that all of the actual city of Paris (not including suburbs) would fit in a space about 1/3 the size of the city of Minneapolis - not including suburbs, and not including St. Paul.*

What really made me think is that when I lived in Paris I would occasionally get a wild hair and walk places, instead of taking the Metro or the bus. I'd do a half-hour walk, or maybe even an hour, without thinking about it. When I checked a couple of those distances, I realized that I could almost walk from home to downtown - at least according to Google - in the same timeframes. Which I would never do.

It's weird how your perspective changes - not just due to the angle you're looking from, but also due to what you're looking at.

*For the record, I'm still thinking I must have been doing something wrong, because that just seems kind of impossible...

Too Much of a Good Thing

Twice this weekend, Christopher and I ended up having "too much of a good thing" meals.

Yesterday afternoon, we met two of my cousins for tea at Brit's Pub in downtown Minneapolis. I don't remember how we decided to do tea, but we did, and it was definitely worth it.

The waitress was sweet as she walked us through what we had to drink and eat - even though she seemed to have a few things stacked against her (like one wrong menu, and one tea not available). And we sat and chatted (and ate) for a good couple of hours before walking back out through the boisterous main bar and into the "real" world.

No, the food options weren't really traditionally British, but the civility of it all (with a three-tiered tray of food and individual tea pots) was the perfect complement to an afternoon of great conversation.

We did *not* have dinner last night after we got home. We snacked a bit in the evening, but we had eaten too much in the mid-afternoon.

Tonight, we "crossed the Channel" and went to Le Town Talk Diner for dinner with friends. I believe (though I'm not 100% certain) that the location used to be The Town Talk Diner, but it was purchased and repurposed. Now the menu is "French comfort food" and instead of spending 15 minutes over a quick diner meal, we spent nearly three hours over appetizers, main dishes, and dessert.

The staff there were incredible tonight. Friendly, but not cloying, and the food was nearly entirely spot on. Everything from the steak tartare to the potato and leek soup and the dark chocolate mousse with "caramel crunch topping" was... well... not "amazing" but just so comforting. (The roasted chicken was a little dry, if I'm being honest - though the flavor of the rub on it was very tasty.) It was all slightly surprising, while being exactly what you hoped it would be. (Does that make sense?)

And the conversation mirrored that sentiment. As a group of four, we can end up with some surprising topics, but at the end of the evening, you realize it was all exactly what you expected it would be.

The only problem is that we got home tonight and Christopher and I are both feeling a bit stuffed. It's a good thing, though - caused by eating just a bit too much of too many good things.

Inexplicably Tired

I hate the times when, for no apparent reason, you just get tired.

You'll have an entire open afternoon ahead of you so you'll sit down with a book and - boom - you're too tired to read, even though you really want to.

Or you'll finally have a quiet evening and decide to sit down and watch TV when - whoomp - like a pillow up-side the head, you're walloped with a case of the yawns.

Christopher and I were out for dinner tonight with some friends. It was a very nice dinner, with good conversation and good food, and on the way home I figured it had to be at least 9 or 9:30. It was just barely 8:30. And I was yawning so hard that I couldn't stop.

I mentioned it to Christopher and he asked whether or not I've been sleeping well. I think I have, but I must admit that I have woken up thinking "Did I sleep wrong last night?" a couple of times, lately.

But that doesn't explain the amount of tired that hit me tonight.

I think I'm going to blame the change in the weather. We've had really oddly warm temps for the past week or so, and when we were leaving dinner tonight it was decidedly not warm. (Warmer than average, yes. As warm as any evening in the past week, no.) I figure the need for sleep is my body's way of saying it's time to get back into hibernation mode.

And who am I to fight nature when giving in means a nice warm bed and the potential for a good night's sleep?