Required Fun

[elfs]

It was a busy stay-around weekend here at The Villa Sternberg. Omaha made gorgeous, silky without being slimy, French toast for breakfast, and we did the weekend chores this morning. Floors to mop, Quicken to update, bedclothes to change. I had to scrub the dining room floor on my hands and knees to get up the little bits of play-do the girls had cemented to the wood floor.

Then, I had required fun. This is my phrase for a work-related party or outing, such as the Christmas party, and end-of-cycle celebration. I just don't do such things; the guys I work with are great to work with, but my "fun" life is separate from my job and I don't really want to make my social life "work" with my work life. Actually, the barbecue wasn't bad; fabulous tuna steaks and wonderful rosemary potatoes. But it wasn't my idea of an outing.

And the host had C2 in the cooler. C2 is a "new new Coke"; it's basically half diet, half real Coke, "less carbs, but tastes like real Coke." Half the sugar, and aspartame to taste. I took one sip and spat it out; maybe I'm just one of those people who can't stand it, but the aspartame was too strong, too much. It always tastes slimy to me. I stuck to ginger ale.

When I returned home, everybody was outside despite the weatherman's dire warnings. The kids from the house next door were out bicycling, so we got Kouryou-chan and Yamaarashi-chan out into their helmets and riding.

Bicycles!

Yamaraashi-chan used Kouryou-chan's little bicycle with training wheels to practice getting down the muscle memory needed to ride correctly. She'll need much more before she's ready for her own two-wheeler that we got her, but she's getting it. The weather was beautiful.

Later, after dropping Yamaarashi-chan off at her mother's place, I returned home to find Omaha making salmon with an orange dressing that was just heavenly, with orzo and spinach on the side. Even Kouryou-chan ate it, and she's not a fish person. And I need sleep. Tomorrow, I hope to hear those sweet words, "This is the end of Unit 30. You have now completed the first course."

Comments

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

When are the folks in Atlanta gonna learn, DON'T FUCK WITH COKE?! (/vent)

Got a recipe for the orange dressing? We're getting Valencias out the yin-yang in our veggie box nowadays and need something to do with'em...

[omahas.livejournal.com]

actually, it wasn't a dressing, it was a marinade. Basically, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1 cup of orange juice (about 1 orange) and 2 tsp of grated orange rind. Soak for 30 minutes in the fridge, and you've got it. :)

Re: Helmets?

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Yeah, helmets. No, kids aren't more breakable today; we just want them to break less often. While most road accidents are probably minor, there's always a decent chance that they'll hit a car or something and, y'know, brains tend to work best in their original containers. The alternatives (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4954303/) aren't that palatable.

I think its important to give them good habits now rather than wait until they're out in serious traffic to tell them, oh, yeah, you might want to wear a helmet.