My most favorite brother-in-law finally accepted that its 2008 and got a blog. Head on over and see what he’s up to. This summer he’s working at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. I think he does something with “lasers”. He’s a physics Ph.D student, who really knows what they do?
He has an amazing view from his lab.
Welcome to the World Wide Web, Joshua. We’ve been waiting for you.
Hmmm … Elliot’s legs are almost as long as the slide.
Whoops, they’re nearly as long as the pool is wide too.
Phew, Audrey can still take full advantage of our home-made water park.
Good, because we’re not leaving the hammock.
Know what’s even better than Samoas? Still having them in June.
Our neighbor vacationed in Alaska a few weeks back and caught a 113 pound halibut. We were lucky enough to have been gifted some of the fish.
It was sliced too thin for grilling. So, I decided to make ceviche. Gary introduced us to this delectable treat years ago. Each time we make it we think, we should do this more often – it’s so easy! If you’ve never had ceviche and you like fish I highly recommend it. The fish is not raw. It is “cooked” by the acid in the limes. You don’t have to be a sushi lover to appreciate ceviche.
Because I have a full day and wanted to be able to take the ceviche to the pool tonight for dinner, I took some short cuts.
I sliced a pound of fish into approximately 1″ squares and covered with the juice of four limes in a glass dish (all Internet recommendations are glass or stainless). Choose limes that aren’t too juicy, they’ll be more watery and less acidic affecting the curing of the fish. That concoction was refrigerated for just over an hour. Last night I found recipes ranging from 15 minutes at room temperature to 8 hours in the refrigerator. Your mileage will vary based on type of fish, quality of fish and your preference for “doneness”. I drained the fish and then poured a chunky peach mango salsa over the top (that’s the short cut part, there are as many variations on ceviche as there are sangria).
We’ll nosh on this at the pool this evening with tortilla chips.
Total time prep time: < 15 minutes
Total time: approximately 1 hr, 15 minutes
Difficulty: uhm, none
Kid friendly? Maybe, since it’s in salsa
Wipe the drool from your keyboard.
Recently I was informed that I’m doing much better in crowds than I used to. How’d this come up? We were riding the mall shuttle and I didn’t hyper-ventilate I suppose. As for this “bubble” that my dear beloved claims I have, I call it personal space. Everyone needs some. I don’t need people I don’t know standing right next to me. Ever. Getting in my grill, if you like.
Which in my stream-of-consciousness brain leads to the topic of public bathroom manners.
Imagine three stalls. The row begins just past the sinks. The last stall is bounded by a wall. If you’re the only person in there, which stall do you choose? The first because statistics say it’s most likely to be the cleanest? The end because its coincidentally the handicapped stall and you like the extra space? Or the middle stall? The bathroom only services two corporate suites on the floor. Which do you choose?
If the restroom is empty, don’t choose the middle one. Why? Well, now when I wander in there I am forced to do my business RIGHT NEXT TO YOU. If you had chosen one of the ends, we’d still be separated by an empty stall. We would have a buffer zone. A DMZ. Not that either of us should be making any noises. At all. It is, after all, a shared space. And! girls don’t poop. So, there’s no need to make noise. Ever.
Also, a public restroom is not a place to carry on a conversation. For one, you never know whose toes those are sticking out from under the door. (Not that you would look, right?) If you and I head into a public multi-stall restroom together I will talk to you right up to the point my hand touches the stall door. I will stop mid-sentence if necessary. After that? My invisible shield goes up and I can no longer hear you. You can choose to talk. I will not answer. I am busy. And if I finish the task at hand before you, I will not answer you if you are still sitting on the can. Period. We can regroup at the sinks.
Hmm, in black and white like this is sort of sounds like I have an issue.
Nah.
Do you talk to people in the bathroom?
The few tributes I’ve read of George Carlin all left off a very approachable part of his career. As any good train mom knows, he narrated the Thomas the Tank Engine series for some time. These are some of the best episodes. He brought the words to life. He wasn’t just reading a book, he was telling a story. I liked those episodes. I didn’t want to shove hot pokers in my ears. Alec Baldwin just reads words, might as well be our dearly departing president reading from a teleprompter for all the inflection he gives Thomas & Friends.
What will Cars 2 do without the original Fillmore?
In other news, we might have to take up watching Thomas & Friends again. Pierce Brosnan is the new narrator. Mommy could do with a little Bond. James Bond.
Hmm … apparently I read the wrong news sources, the Mercury News has an obit recognizing his influence on our kids.
If she says all the cool kids are doing something, then far be it from me not to be a follower.
How to perform participate do the Mosaic Meme
The Questions:
1. St. Catherine’s Church, 2. A Berry Good Day, 3. Maui at night, 4. vintage tea set with cupcake, 5. john travolta, 6. first juleps of the season, 7. Roatan Beach – Perfect Day !!! 25000 + views and 200 + faves – Thank you – Janusz, 8. 182/365- Just Peachy, 9. What Is Truly Indecent?, 10. Untitled, I searched “kisses” and got a little kitten face 11. Dressing Room, 12. Pandcat, Catda
Tag, you’re it. Leave a comment so I know to come look at your mosaic.
Thanks Gary!
When we were young and in love we lived in an apartment and planted a teeny tiny container herb garden. When we moved to our first house I dutifully transferred each herb from the pot into our new garden. Nearly everything did well. We had a prolific rosemary plant until the house painters trampled it. But one thing we could never kill? The mint. It started out at a $1.79 plant and grew to take over the world. Fortunately it was in a bed that was concrete on three sides and the fourth side was the underneath of the porch, so I didn’t much care about spreading there. Peter would often weed whack the plant to keep it tidy. I would trim it back for my mint julep fix. We didn’t regret its placement, but we knew were lucky it didn’t creep across the sidewalk and choke out the lawn.
New house means new mint. This time around I bought chocolate mint. And put it in a pot. Good thing I did. Less than a month later and it’s filled the pot. Also, if I hadn’t? I might have incurred the wrath of the blogosphere like smart, pretty Mir did.
What does one do with chocolate mint? Chocolate mint juleps? Chocolate mojitos? What?
We rung in the official start of summer with a trip to the pool followed by ice cream.
