i was kind of a culinary genius today

i made tiny quiches for my sister's baby shower; ones with sauteed garlic ramps and herbed goat cheese, and ones with bacon and cheddar.  i also made vanilla rhubarb ice cream, that is delicious.  for dinner, seafood tacos; spicy shrimp, grilled jalapenos, and lime spiked cod.  i have plans for the fruit we brought back from east of the mountains for tomorrow, but i think as far as one day goes, i did a good job with the cooking.

lake chelan

just got back from spending a few days by this beautiful lake, with 75% of my people.  the boychik stayed home, i think just to make me angry, but the rest of us got out of the house and spent time together in the sun, having a great time.  this was the view from our tent every morning.  how amazing is that? today i unpack, do laundry and prepare for my sister's baby shower tomorrow.  more photos to come!

maths

i love hearing D go over math concepts with the girlchild while they make dinner.  cooking is such a good way to teach all sorts of skills; math, reading, science, and all while making delicious things.  i love it when he makes dinner, but not because i'm a beleaguered housewife.  i know sometimes when i say, "man, i love it when my husband makes dinner," people are likely to hear, "OMG sister i'm so tired of cooking meals, blah blah blah," but honestly, what i like about it is that he loves to do it.  it's nice to be on the receiving end of what he's cooking.*  even when it doesn't come out the way he wanted, even if it's an experiment with an oddly spiced ending, it's usually great.  the house smells good, everyone wanders in and out, the kids help, and it feels nice to sit back and watch it all happen.  we have super different styles in the kitchen too; he likes to work collaboratively, while sometimes i want to be alone, listening to my music loud, spacing out.  i'm always surprised when the kids want to help, although they normally do.  they like being in the kitchen as much as D and i do. 

so yeah, i love it when D makes dinner.  don't get me started on the dishes, though. 

*that's what she said!

beets, bears, battlestar gallactica

like dwight schrute, i love beets.  seriously.  i could eat beats at every meal and be a happy woman.  i read that they are pretty easy to grow, and do well later in the season, like now, where i live.  so last weekend i took the patch of garden that was supposed to grow squash (but never sprouted) and leveled it out and sprinkled a packet of seeds.  i covered it with a little more soil that i had lying around, and was super pleased with myself.  the next day, i realized something had been digging exactly where i put the seeds.  aaargh!  i can't imagine beet seeds being that delicious to anything.  my husband had a bright idea to start some inside and then put them out.  genius.  so here are my baby beets, that i planted literally four days ago.  they are already poking up out of the ground! so cute.  i'm going to let them get a bit bigger before i move them outside.  needless to say, i'm excited about growing some beets.

happy father's day to all my fatherly friends out there!

marriage secret

unsure if your husband is crabby or just not feeling good? start telling him how crabby he is.  when he protests, point out all the crabby things he's said.  he might not feel good as well, but by this time all the crabby talk should have made him crabby, so at least you'll be sort of right. 

glork

you know why glee is ruining america? not because it has the gays in it, we all know the gays are fabulous and i think more happy, gay teens should be on tv, but because now it makes teenagers think they should express themselves in song more.  what happened to terrible, furtive poetry readings? i had to sit through three musical interludes at the boychik's graduation; one of which was pretty okay, one of which was mediocre, and one that i hated but to be honest, it was a rascall flats song and i'm pretty sure nothing in their repertoire would have impressed me much.  in any case, three of them was about three too many.  also, when you first heard green day's longview did you ever think that one of their songs would become the go-to soundtrack for major life changes* or that they'd have a goddamn musical on broadway?  seriously.  we all thought they were stoner retard punks.  they might still be, but some how they are also middle aged, like me.  ...shudder...

*time of your life: it's good for funerals and graduations.  i bet it also gets used a lot at rehab "graduations." 

the hazards of outside

i did a ton of weeding yesterday.  i haven't done much of that lately because a) weeding sucks and b) lots of rain.  i am, most definitely, a sunny day gardener.  i'm going to have to bust out of that habit, since i live in a very rainy place.  yesterday was glorious and lovely, and i had a bunch of music to listen to, so i went out front and pulled weeds and planted more succulents.  i was probably out there for an hour and a half, kneeling down, or in that weird half-kneel so i could reach weeds further back. 

i woke up this morning and my butt was killing me.  in fact, it was the first thing i said to the boychik today.  "good morning, my butt hurts."  inner thighs and calves are also sore, because i guess weeding and gardening works muscles that are normally busy being sat on.  ugh.  going up and down the stairs today was hellish.  it's good to know that all that talk about gardening burning calories might not be all horseshit, though. 

there's a view of our back garden plot from the deck.  things are coming in nicely.  so far the tomato plants are getting bigger, the radishes are still kicking ass and taking names, i have six small patty pan squash plants that are thriving, my peas are using that tomato cage to get some height, we have some carrots taking root (not as many as i thought we'd get, considering the amount of seeds as i sowed), two ground cherry plants that i bought as a lark are doing great, turnips are sprouting, beets are in, and the broccoli went to seed.  i know, that last part is sad, but the broccoli plant was just so pretty, and the little crown in it was so cute, that i didn't cut it out soon enough.  by the time i figured it was time, it was already beginning to flower, so i let it go.  i'm hoping to get some seeds and try again next year.  plus, i've read if you cut off the crown, you get more growth and so who knows, maybe we can get two heads out of the plant.  my artichoke is also doing well, although it isn't as tall as i thought it would be by now.  the slugs ate all my cute, lemon cucumber plants the second they poked their first leaves up, but two survived and i bought another start, we'll see if these do better. the long beans never sprouted, so i planted the beets in that spot. i also have a pot of herbs that starting to produce, and an heirloom tomato plant in it's own container that's growing blossoms.  i also think the dill i planted is starting to come in, so hopefully we'll have cukes and dill and pickles! i have garlic in the front yard and side that's tall, as well.  i bought some purple and regular, i'm hoping we get enough to put some up for next year too.  don't i just sound all little house on the prairie? it makes me happy to go out there and fiddle around.  i honestly thought i'd kill it all, so the fact that anything is growing is making me happy. 

boy to mensch

i'm the first to admit i didn't grow the boychik in my body (i'm too young for that, i swear!) but i have been lucky enough to be his stepmom officially for a year now, and even luckier to have been his parent for a few years longer.  he graduated from high school tonight! i'm the stepmom to a grown ass man now! although to be honest, i hope he stays my boychik a while longer. 

look at that good looking family!

intro to insurance, part 2

or "why you should give a shit about cpt codes"

i had the kind of call today that everyone in insurance customer service dreads; you get a client calling in to ask about some sort of procedure/test/surgery their doctor has signed them up for.  they doctor said, "you should do this" made them an appointment with another doctor, and no one bothered calling the insurance company to see if it was covered.  needless to say, the person i spoke to today had something very big, very expensive, and very NOT COVERED by their insurance done a few weeks ago.  they got the bill today, and with it quite a shock.  they just assumed that because the doctor said it was a good idea, and they have health insurance, we would pick up part of the cost.  not only did we not, but now the doctor and clinic can bill them for it.