No More Easter Egg Fail

Hey Nora-- this one's for you! Aren't they beautiful? We can do this!

Cotillion Spring Ball

It sure didn't fee like spring, but we had to make it look good. Cotillion is a once a month event that the Bright-eyed boy complains about but I think he secretly has a good time. The spring ball is the most formal event of the cotillion year, and like last year (here) we opted for a tuxedo over buying him a suit that he'll grow out of by next week. I don't know if you can tell by looking at last year's pictures or not, but he's grown more than six inches since then.

Turns out he's a pretty good dancer! I'm the one having to look at our feet.


He's thrilled that I have to look up at him. He's living for the day that he's taller than his brother. Won't be long at this rate.

I'm very proud of him. And I'm liking this dress, too. Who knew it would match the boutonnieres? Perfect.

Last stop? The Lost Dog to get the boy a chocolate malt and mom and dad a much deserved beer. Needless to say, we were the best dressed folks in the place.

Now back to the taxes. Ugh.

It's All Good

Sadly no photos, but the week is going well. Funny, how I know I get along with anybody and everybody, but "getting to know" people takes some time. You have to finesse these things to a certain extent. Inquire, but not pry. Share, but not intrude. Then, sometimes suddenly, you have a connection! Cooking! or, Gardening!, or Weight Loss!. Sometimes it's more tenuous. . . you discover a school in common with your kids, or in a small-world kind of way, the person who is training you graduated three years ago from the same school where your oldest is attending, and from the same degree program. . . holy smokes! Too funny.

Good people, and I look forward to getting to know them better, one-on-one, face-to-face, not sifting to find the common thread.

Big Week Ahead!

Friday was my last day at the high school! The new job starts Tuesday, and I confess to being both excited and nervous. Back to Non-Profit World. Looks to be a fairly casual office, but it's not going to be high school casual. Must get some shopping in this weekend.

I'm really having to get my head around having some easy meals on hand for my longer days. Just back from the grocery store. I'd browsed my recipes and bought what I need to make five or six meals. The check out guy says, "Lots of groceries today! Looks like enough for a month!" He looked to be a starving college kid. WF had whole chickens on sale. They're smallish, so I bought two; I'll roast them both today so we'll have one for dinner tonight and one that I can use for derivative recipes later in the week. Doesn't this soup sound good? It's from a group of recipes in my Real Simple for using cooked rotisserie chicken as a short cut.

Greek lemon soup with chicken

In a large saucepan, bring 6 cups chicken broth to a boil. Add 1/3 cup orzo and boil until tender, 8 to 9 minutes. In a bowl, beat 6 egg yolks; slowly whisk in 1 cup of the hot broth. Add the egg mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken and 1/4 cup lemon juice; season with pepper.

There are about a dozen others and most sound good. I'll make the venison recipe Russ's sister gave me tomorrow as it has to cook for hours. The other recipes for the week are very simple. Shrimp Fra Diavolo, white bean soup with andouille sausage and collards, and I have a meatloaf in the freezer.

Anyway, I'm still procrastinating on the paperwork I need to do. F-ing taxes. It's so beautiful outside! I think I'll pull my garden gloves on and trim the roses.