Rollercoaster Weekend
Emotionally up and down this weekend.
Friday I bought a few things to prepare for my Halloween Eve party and dropped Kate off with her dad.
Yesterday I got news that a friend's dear parents have been dealt a terrible blow. I don't know how many of you feel close to the parents of your friends, but these parents in particular were incredibly kind to me and literally took me into their family when I was alone in Canada and getting on my feet after my separation (and eventual divorce). Steve went into surgery to have a polyp removed from his intestine only to have the surgeon come out with terrible news: it wasn't a polyp but a metastasized tumor that had spread to his liver. The surgeon declared the situation, "Not good." Of course Steve is one of those guys who has always been healthy, who gardens and eats healthily, who rides his bike everywhere as his main form of transportation... I want to cry and scream and rant. Unfair, UNFAIR!
Last night, I joined my friend Stan! to celebrate his 40th birthday. A roomful of us mingled and talked and laughed and ate, we listened to Stan! deliver some of the best of his suite of Japan stories, and rumor has it some karaoke broke out. I got to see some good friends who I haven't seen in probably 9 months or more. So happy to be a part of it.
Today is the first post-summer craziness meeting of my nascent Cooking Club. This month's theme is Brunch. The group will be attempting Eggs Benedict (mmm, hollandaise), and each participant is also contributing some other brunch-themed loveliness which is expected to include some homemade biscuits and jam, pumpkin pancakes topped with whipped cream and cardamom sugar, and my simple-but necessary contribution of Assorted Breakfast Meat. I mean, c'mon, that menu clearly needs bacon! Freshly roasted coffee and some sort of alcoholic morning cocktail are also on the agenda. It's a grey, foggy morning so far and a perfect time to revel in a delicious brunch.
Friday I bought a few things to prepare for my Halloween Eve party and dropped Kate off with her dad.
Yesterday I got news that a friend's dear parents have been dealt a terrible blow. I don't know how many of you feel close to the parents of your friends, but these parents in particular were incredibly kind to me and literally took me into their family when I was alone in Canada and getting on my feet after my separation (and eventual divorce). Steve went into surgery to have a polyp removed from his intestine only to have the surgeon come out with terrible news: it wasn't a polyp but a metastasized tumor that had spread to his liver. The surgeon declared the situation, "Not good." Of course Steve is one of those guys who has always been healthy, who gardens and eats healthily, who rides his bike everywhere as his main form of transportation... I want to cry and scream and rant. Unfair, UNFAIR!
Last night, I joined my friend Stan! to celebrate his 40th birthday. A roomful of us mingled and talked and laughed and ate, we listened to Stan! deliver some of the best of his suite of Japan stories, and rumor has it some karaoke broke out. I got to see some good friends who I haven't seen in probably 9 months or more. So happy to be a part of it.
Today is the first post-summer craziness meeting of my nascent Cooking Club. This month's theme is Brunch. The group will be attempting Eggs Benedict (mmm, hollandaise), and each participant is also contributing some other brunch-themed loveliness which is expected to include some homemade biscuits and jam, pumpkin pancakes topped with whipped cream and cardamom sugar, and my simple-but necessary contribution of Assorted Breakfast Meat. I mean, c'mon, that menu clearly needs bacon! Freshly roasted coffee and some sort of alcoholic morning cocktail are also on the agenda. It's a grey, foggy morning so far and a perfect time to revel in a delicious brunch.
I know how you feel. With some of my friends, I referred to their parents as Mr. Shields or Mrs. Tate. But with others, their parents were Mom and Dad to me; I wasn't one of their children's friends, I was just another one of their children when I was in their home.