Talk about your long delays from writing… At least I’ve had good reasons, right? I spent all day Friday shopping (for groceries and other things) and cooking for my sweetheart. Tried three new dishes (roasted orange and bell pepper soup, lobster tails with ginger-plum sauce, and creme brulee), all of which were hits. Plus, my kitchen smelled of the roasted orange all day. It was the first time I’d ever popped an orange under the broiler, but I have to say - just like the first time I roasted garlic - that smell will make me do it again. I don’t know what it is, but even when roasting doesn’t help the flavor (which is an exceedingly rare circumstance), it concentrates the smell of the food until you get this wonderful, essential aroma. And when it’s something as fragrant as an orange - well, that’s something special.
Anyways, dinner went well.
Saturday I spent lollygagging on a volleyball court in Maryland, then drove home through the beginnings of a storm that would eventually drop about two feet of snow on the DC area. Lacie and I went out to dinner and a movie that night. Sunday and Monday we just sort of hung out, knitted, and watched the snow fall… until Monday afternoon, when I (unnecessarily, it turned out) dug out her car and she drove home. Eventually, we realized that she didn’t have to work on Tuesday and could have stayed, but it was a bit too late by then to do anything about it.
Then came Tuesday itself - that glorious day on which seemingly everyone had off of work - except for Nextel. Alas, my car had been re-buried by the plow and the clearing off of other cars, so there wasn’t much I could do to get to the office. I ended up (ugh) taking leave and puttering around the apartment all day. I finally got the car dug out around 4 (with only minimal damage to my back) and ran some errands, but all in all it was a non-busy day.
So that’s where I’ve been. Hopefully I won’t have to be so absent again for a while.