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I made a fun discovery last week.

I actually *can* still cook. And I still enjoy it! I ate only two meals last week that I didn't assemble myself, a sandwich I picked up at South Street Under on Thursday afternoon and a pasta dinner cooked by Pete on Thursday night.

I am trying to schedule my grocery shopping days for Monday mornings. Compared to the weekends I typically shop, the grocery stores are ghost towns! I enjoy pacing myself through the store with 3 1/2 hours to spare before I need to pick Pete up for lunch so he can have the car for the afternoon commute home. I save money, and I get to come up with fun, innovative ideas to knock his socks off! I am also learning to shop for two--not ten, as I would with my family when I was growing up.

Here is just a sampling of some recent menu items:

*London Broil with a red wine/garlic marinade, topped with fresh mozzarella cheese
*Beef stew in a (potatoless) vegetable broth and homemade white bread
*Cheesecake with a homemade blueberry/lime topping
*Marinated chicken, grilled outdoor style
*Corned beef Reubens with an italian dressing twist
*Fresh strawberries topped with a dash of sugar, a touch of lime juice, and a drizzle of half and half
*Strawberry/cantaloupe salad topped with sour cream

That's what I can remember at the moment. You see, I can post this, because I am finding myself very, very hungry recently. In fact, I am merely posting this before I head downstairs to begin dinner preparations. Because I am hungry again. And food is more important than I would have ever believed it could be.

YOU try gaining 28 pounds in six months!

The Egotaxical Pauper

My buddy Gabe recently posted about having an accountant do his taxes this year. Before the massive hordes who monitor this on-line platform of all things sacrosanct, obsequious and sesquipedalian rush to judge him for his betrayal of manhood, let it be known that he currently entertains the most maddeningly insane schedule of anyone I know, so hiring somebody else to do the taxes was actually an exercise in prudence. But it prompted a gigantic spike in my Pride Factor in knowing that I had crunched the numbers, flogged the calculator, and beat the deadline, filing our taxes all by my lonesome and without the aide of a Criminally Provocative Antagonist (CPA).*

HEAR YE, HEAR YE, I did it myself.

Yup.

By my lonesome.

Oh, and y'know what I also did? I also failed to re-file my W-4 at the beginning of the 2006 calendar year with sufficient withholdings, thus causing us to pay roughly $3,000 extra in taxes. Sigh. My Pride Factor has returned to its appropriate 'Pondscum' setting.

Oh, and he also scored one point higher than I did on the MPRE, so he's more ethical than I am to boot. Yikes, the PF has slipped below 'Pondscum' to an all-time low... 'French.'

* Let it be known I happen to like CPA's, my dad and brother-in-law are both accountants and many people equate the literacy rates of J.D. recipients and CPA's as roughly equivalent.

[Easter] in Connecticut

There is a reason why Barbara Stanwyck spent "Christmas in Connecticut" rather than Easter. Easter in Connecticut looks like Christmas... except without the snow... or the lights... or the trees... strike that: Easter in Connecticut looks rather dull and grey. Fortunately, time spent visiting family and friends can help remove the dull, grey outlook and make it feel as if we're in Majorca. Seriously.

Ok, no so seriously.

Somewhat like Majorca with a little less sun.

And beach.

And friendly natives. (BTW, Connecticut's Department of Tourism Affairs [the renamed DMV] will be announcing any day now that the state motto is changing to "Connecticut: Not QUITE like Majorca but kinda sorta if you squint in the general direction of Rhode Island...")

At any rate, native Nutmeggers, praying off snow flurries that might impede the Easter Bunny, are accepting the cold and wind with the alacrity of a French boarder guard repelling a German invasion.

Too Long Gone

Not only have we been too long from this blog, we have spent much too much time apart this weekend. Nebraska holds no charm for either of us at this point, after Pete's four days missing from my side here in VA--all for a homeschooling group in Nebraska.

I hope they appreciated his presence. I would have appreciated it too.

How odd that we have been married for 1 1/2 years already and it is harder for us to be apart now than it was before we were married. I am hoping this is a good sign.

I am hoping my attitude will be somewhat improved over his next trip.