Ready, set, go?

Somehow, more than a week has gone by since I was last looking at the blog. Maybe it's because I'm admiring the new appliances too much. We have named the fridge-Moby Fridge in honor of its size. And, I will report that I have NOT hit my head since it was delivered! It is wonderful, and I gave it a pat for my bee balm friend Lizzie...

However, I digress. This post is actually about admitting to something I unashamedly try to get out of at the first opportunity: cooking a meal. I love to bake; I do not love to cook. I do not practice, therefore I am not very good at it. I married a man who can cook, so why should I learn? Anyway, we planned a wonderful dinner for last night to celebrate our 29th anniversary. Lou came home from the hyperbaric therapy exhausted and out of sorts-he let himself become dehydrated without realizing it. I made him take some pain pills for his toe, then he drank two glasses of water before he laid down. Meanwhile, I have Sarah O, Sara B and Henry all ready for dinner. What could I do? I seasoned the steaks, put the bread in the oven, the corn in the microwave, and the green beans on the stove top. I set up the electric skillet I use for latkes, and started cooking, trying to time things to get to the table together. (Don't even ask why we weren't grilling them in the 90+ degree heat) AND--it happened!! everything came out when it was supposed to, and it even tasted good. I was a wreck. Too much pressure for me. Sorry, darling daughters, cooking meals is not a skill you could ever pick up from me. Making stand-up ducks on a crayon lake, cookie press cookies, poppyseed cake-anytime. Meals-go talk to your father.....

I love it!

The new side by side is here. It needs 24 hrs to come to temperature. It will be hooked up tomorrow to make ice and filtered water. I love it. I am seriously pathetic.

Into the 90s!

Yes, at heart we are little hippie-freaks from the 60/70s, but we have officially joined the 90s this weekend.

In 1991 (or so) the patent for crushing ice and delivering it through the door was granted. Today, I bought a new side by side fridge for the kitchen that has such a device. (It also has a lock in case we have little people visit who would use it until their cup runneth over.......) About three years ago we bought an energystar fridge, making us feel very eco. Since we are basically cheap, we got the traditional freezer on top model. Unfortunately, unless you are about 4'6" tall, every time you reach for something not exactly in front of your face, you have the opportunity to hit your head on the thicker walls of the freezer. I know this from lots of experience over the last three years. I finally told Lou I'm tired of hitting my head. Since he has trouble bending to look in the lower regions, a freezer on the bottom was not in contention. Of course, since my kitchen was built in 1954, and upgraded in the XXs, the dimensions of fridges have changed. Let's just say people will get used to opening and closing the side door with the doorknob really fast if they don't want scrapped skin.

I also bought a new dishwasher. This has been under discussion for about 5 years. It wasn't too bad that it just took a LONG time to run a cycle. It wasn't too bad that it was noisy-we could turn it on and go to bed and not hear it. But when it started backing up and out the emergency overflow and ran all over the counter and the floor, I felt it was telling us something. Since we rarely run it more than once a week unless the girls are home, winding a dish towel around the emergency overflow to guide the water into the sink and backing that up with sponges was working pretty well. You can imagine how the girls accepted that. So, yesterday was the day-I did get talked into the model one up from my original choice, but with good reason. It's one of those ones that senses how much detergent to use, but more importantly, you can run a top rack only cycle. Since we tend to use a lot of glasses and small plates that will fit there, it seemed like a good deal. So, they both come Friday and I will be very happy!

Memorial Day weekend was Commencement Weekend at Brown. Sarah has now commenced. Her sister and aunt conspired to make it unique with personalized t-shirts and m-n-m's (which are definitely one of the coolest things out there and worth whatever they cost!). I am trying to be a gracious person-I am trying not to resent not being able to spend time with Lill, Jack, Lou, Omi, Jeff and Jude in Providence on Thursday and Friday because I had to go to Cleveland and fly in with Si and Peg. Having help with her for the restrooms and plane was the only way he could come to the commencement and I was not about to let anything ruin the weekend for Sarah. I hope her kids fry in Hell because they would not help out for the weekend. Okay-so I guess I'm not that gracious.

Lastly, we bought our roma tomato seedlings today. Hopefully Dave next door will rototill the garden area tomorrow and we can prep the ground and get them in. Pickled tomatoes--here we come!!!

Maybe, just maybe, I'll even get to start sewing again!!