More Holiday Food

Among the many yummy things we noshed on at my dear aunt's house was ambrosia, frozen in individual silicone cupcake molds, and brought out for several meals.

I suppose my grandmother would have called this dessert, but it's salad in my book!

Holiday Food

As is fitting for my family, a lot of the holiday centered around food. We were making some stops on the way home from the airport, and when we passed Rubio's, my aunt said we could pop in there.

And of course, Rubio's = Fish Tacos. Maybe not the best I've ever eaten, but still, I'm loath to pass up a fish taco wherever I find one.

Here's Mom at Rubio's:

On Holiday

Being on holiday means one has time to do things like eat a sliced nectarine for breakfast (shown here on my new Fiesta Dinnerware).


Of course, by now the holiday is only a sweet memory, but it's a good one.

Revelations

A couple of weeks ago, I learned three surprising facts all in the same day:

• My dear friend M bought and moved into a condo this summer.
  
• My brother A2 just finished playing a season of indoor soccer.
• My coworker J knows how to both knit and crochet.

Granted, none of the three facts are that shocking. The surprise of the first two is just that I didn't know about them until after the fact. As for J, he's male, so the fact that he's skilled at needle arts is a bit unusual (but totally cool).

What else am I in the dark about?

Deep Breath

Back at work. Trying to take it easy (that's not hard to do). If I don't work too hard, maybe my mind won't realize I'm back at work. Or at least, that's the plan.

More about vacation soon.

July 17

Happy Birthday to...

ME!

LYLAS

Linda and Cynthia at the Mountain View cemetery, Pocatello, Idaho

Changing of the Guard

What do these places have in common?

• Taco Bell
• Marriott Hotels
• MTSU campus
• D/FW International Airport

What Might Have Been

When I started blogging, the Blogger URL for auntiek was already taken, hence my current URL. I'm disappointed to see that the other Auntie K hasn't done much (if anything) with her blog. The least she could do after hogging the name is to put it to good use. I may not be as witty as I was back in the beginning, but at least I'm trying!

Happy Discovery

I just learned that a Dove chocolate bar makes for convenient illicit snacking if you're staffing a service desk in a no-food zone. The bar breaks into four convenient bite-sized pieces, perfect for discreet consumption.

A Blessing and a Curse

A three day weekend, for someone as ambivalent about work and as generally angst-ridden as I am, is both a boon and a bane.

As I am wont, I came home Thursday night with plenty of "work papers" in my bag, about which I had some vague notion of doing something over the weekend. I got as far as scattering them on the floor by the front door in search of more pertinent items in the same bag (namely my current audio book), and there they stayed until Monday morning.

The boon part: With my oodles of free time, I did a (tiny) bit of housecleaning, a bit of reading, a bit of seminary studying, went to church (of course), did a (large) bit of tv watching and a (larger) bit of napping. The highlight of the weekend was Friday night's outing to see the excellent fireworks and listen to the admirable Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra on Friday night with the Vance/Moores. The company was even better than the fireworks.

The bane part: It was twice as hard to drag myself to work on Monday as it usually is, having had an even longer break from work. The guilt over not doing more housecleaning or studying or any "work work" or exercise was also twice as strong as it usually is. Of course, by Friday night I'll have conveniently forgotten all of that and will be settling in for another weekend of ample time wasting. I'm nothing if not predictable!

Answer Revealed

I guess the reader quiz was a dud. It's my fault for either posting about something unpostworthy or acting like a smartypants. Or both.

So, SST, Ishtar, Erno, Eire, and era are all frequently used crossword puzzle solutions. Yes, really not that interesting now that I think about it. (Erno is Mr. Rubik's first name, and an SST is an aircraft). And we all know what Ishtar was, right?

I am by no means a super puzzle solver (like Rex Parker who solves seven major puzzles every day). But I do enjoy the activity. For several months I've been working through Harder Wednesday Crosswords, a collection of Wednesday puzzles from the New York Sun. Non-puzzlers may not know that in most major papers, the puzzles get harder as the week goes on. I like the Wednesday book because everything is not a total breeze, but if I think about things and look up the fact-based solutions, I can usually solve a puzzle, though not always in one sitting. I guess purists would disagree with looking up solutions, but it doesn't bother me for things like South American capital founded in 1956 or 1933 Nobel Prize Winner. I would never be able to finish a puzzle if I didn't look up those things.

I usually work the crossword right after work (before the after-work nap) or right before bedtime (after the after-work nap), which is also my time to read. So my reading has suffered lately, though haven't been too interested in it anyway--go figure. I did just finish three juvenile and YA books right in a row, however, so maybe I'll put the puzzles aside for a bit and work on my backlog of library books. Plus, I'm about to take vacation (!), and I have some juicy titles saved up just for the occasion (In the Woods, The Dive From Clausen's Pier, and Change of Heart).

Two of My Favorite Things

Enough said.

You Know You're Getting Old...

when your baby brother buys a minivan.