Last Sunday in August

I can't believe how quickly August went - September right around the corner and the year will then just steamroll away - sigh. At least we are getting somewhat cooler temps as the evenings come around bringing some promise of fall and nicer weather for outdoor activities. The downside of all the rain we have had all summer is that even though it is getting nicer outside, the mosquitoes are taking over the world! School is back in swing although I still have one that will start after labor day so I am not yet in full swing, easing my way back in; working with new students and trying to avoid swine flu (college kids are germy). I've been doing well on the running, trying to extend my distance so I can possibly run a 10k in December. I am up to 5 1/2 miles with a day of recovery in between so I am pretty close, I just need to build up my endurance so it doesn't take so much out of me. I've been doing some singing lately - just completed a recital with the voice faculty at Georgia Southern - we sang the entire 26 Italian Songs and Arias, it was a fun night - now I am preparing a duet from Norma and getting back in the swing/sing of things. Lots of cooking in August - hoping to do even more as September rolls around...I am already looking forward to the traditional "first pot of chili" of fall - its always a the best one.

Festivus 2009

Festivus Poles in progress
Originally uploaded by lyricalmezzo

We decided it was high time to celebrate Festivus. I had some closet rods to spare and lots of paint and Heidi had loads of glitter...so the celebration began. The evening began with a pitcher of sangria; sauteed eggplant, and black-eyed pea burgers. After dinner we set about decorating the poles. We had four paint colors and we painted our hands and then grabbed the poles. They actually came out looking sort of like abstract flowers. We let them dry a little and then added the glitter. While the poles were drying we came inside for the feats of strength which amounted to a confusing wii boxing match between Suzanne and I and then one between Suzanne and Adam. There was a brief airing of grievances about compost and worms (don't ask) and then the second feat of strength came about this time in the form of wii bowling with Heidi taking first, Adam second, me third and Suzanne fourth. We polished off the sangria and then evening wound down. We headed home - each with a piece of the festivus pole. I will display mine in my office starting tomorrow. A festivus pole should certainly ease the transition from summer to the school year...here's hoping anyway. There are a few more pics of the celebration here.

Deep Dish Pizza

I had a crazy allergy headache today from too much yard work. I trimmed all the azaleas and could smell the mold on them as I was cutting them - so - as I was healing with a few hours on the couch today, I was flipping channels and landed on Mystic Pizza. Naturally a pizza craving was not too far behind. I decided to mix up my typical pizza making and go deep dish. I used my regular crust recipe - as I was making the crust I preheated the oven to 400 and set the cast iron skillet in the oven to preheat as well. When the crust was ready I formed it and then set it inside the cast iron skillet and pressed it on the sides of the pan - it started to sizzle as soon as it hit the pan - yum. I put the crust in the oven for about 6 minutes while I prepared the toppings. I removed the pan - added the sauce, toppings of spinach and feta, and topped the whole thing with cheese - then back it went into the oven for another 17 minutes. The crust was crispy on the bottom and done all the way through - it was quite tasty! I will definitely do this one again. Normally I go for the thin crust but this was just what the doctor ordered.

10K

No, no. I haven't made it up to a 10K yet, but am contemplating one in December. I have done the Savannah Bridge run for a couple of years now and I have really enjoyed it. I have accomplished the 5k many times now and at best can hope to best my time. I was thinking about trying the 10K this year and when a book club buddy decided to register for the 10K I went into full gear (full gear for one day now) trying to increase my run from 3 miles to 6. Today I accomplished 4 and had energy for more (slowing down the mph really helps in this regard) but am trying to stick to the training schedule I found online that helps you avoid injury and since I have hips susceptible to injury - I am not gonna go crazy with the training. So...tomorrow I will try to do some strength training and then Sunday will be my maintenance run. No idea if I can actually pull this one off, but it gives me something to accomplish other than trying to memorize Italian songs.

August begins

August surprisingly began. The summer is slipping away and I have done very little that I said I was going to do. So, that is pretty much normal for the season. Here begins a made dash of procrastination before I absolutely have to get to work again. Yesterday I painted the computer room a color I mixed from other leftover colors so I am not sold on it 100%, but at least I know the bookcases, baseboards, and floors are clean.




Heidi and Adam have returned which means the keeping of the worms is passed back over to them; guess I will have to find another way to compost my veggie scraps!



It will be good to have them back even though we all have to go back to our crazy schedules all too soon. At least some order will return and we'll hopefully have some fun along the way!

The End of July

Okay, yes I realize that it is August and yes I am writing about July, but I am playing catch up today - yet another task which allows me to procrastinate doing the things I should be doing to get ready for school. Yesterday I painted - more on that in the August blog to come later. July was highlighted by Mimi and Devin's visit and a dash to Atlanta for some shopping some comedy and a playing taxi driver to my friend Carolyn who I picked up at the airport.

I blogged a bit earlier about the Cavalcade of Fun. I should have kept better track of what all we did, but rest assured it was mostly eating...that's how we roll and how we keep ourselves rolly. We had a couple of cooking adventures after the flounder tacos. We had a the requisite fried shrimp feast (with a yummy salad, corn bread and mashed sweet potatoes) and later in the visit we had my parents over and had an evening of tapas. For the tapas we ate very well. Mimi brought some yummy chipotle cheddar cheese and crackers, Mom and Dad brought a delicious variety of fruit and I made a caprese salad, some seared tuna, black bean cakes, buffalo shrimp, roasted red and yellow peppers and some fresh bread (oh and of course some wine).







Outside of the kitchen, we also spent a day at the beach. We headed to Tybee on a Tuesday morning and basked in the sunshine for a couple of hours and then we headed over to the crab shack for the best boiled seafood around. We sat on the back river enjoying the breeze and our yummy lunches. I had the crab legs - delicious!






Sadly the cavalcade of fun once again is put on hold as Devin and Mimi headed back to pack up and move from Alamosa over to Rifle CO where Devin is starting a job teaching fifth grade!

At the end of the cavalcade of fun, I turned Mrs. Ticklefeather north and drove to Atlanta to stay with friends Jerry and April and to pick up Carolyn on the way home. Mostly this trip was about hanging with friends and shopping. There was an added bonus of getting to go to an improve show. It was a blast and we were treated to the best seats in the house courtesy artistic director and former high school chum Chip. It was a great time and we laughed a lot.





I got to shop at Trader Joe's (twice) and IKEA before turning south again and scooping up a very tired and still sick Carolyn and take her back to Statesboro to recuperate before school begins.