Fail; or, so close

It is the 29th of May and I have blogged every day this month. It hasn't always been stellar... but it has been an act of discipline. I am heading out the door for a weekend vacation and I am relatively sure that I will not post over the next two days. So, well. I guess I tried.

Have a great weekend!

Derek Jeter Friday;or, see yet another reason to love america

So, Memorial Day is kind of a patriotic holiday, isn't it?

food; or, look what I made

I have a friend who posts pictures of the food she makes. I love it! I love seeing what real food made by real cooks looks like. I have always been meaning to take pictures of food I make in order to participate in this Real Food for Real People movement. I just figured out how to upload picture from my phone.So, here is some of my recent creations. (okay, the limoncello has been in the freezer for almost 2 months... so not SO recent.)

   Limoncello

(the last bottle from the first batch)

Whole Wheat Raisin and Walnut Biscotti

(this jar WAS full)

Strawberry Shortcake

Fresh Strawberries, Whole Wheat Shortcake, Whipped Cream

And yes, we use "christmas dishes" all year round. Sigh.

wishing for Scotland; or, rainy days will always make me think of you

On rainy days when my hair is wet and my sweater is damp I crave Scotland. I want to have tea and scones(okay and sticky toffee pudding!). I want to walk for miles and miles and tour castles. I want to go to bed at night exhausted from having climbed hillsides, followed paths around the many lochs, and having run through rain soaked fields. I want to search for sea monsters and drink whiskey. I want to duck my head as I am led through the low doorway into my new favorite pub listening to lilting voices that sound nothing like mine. I want to lie in a hotel room in Edinburgh and listen to the rain on my window.

I have been to Scotland twice for a total of 11 days. The first trip was nearly 8 years ago and was lovely. A friend and I took a Haggis tour to the Highlands--which I highly recommend. The second was last summer and I was on my own.  I cannot be sure, but I think it rained every day at least once. In my memory it is always raining in Scotland. This last trip, I stayed in Edinburgh mostly, but for a short daytrip through the countryside and a night's stopover at a new friend's. I love both trips equally, but for entirely different reasons. The first trip I love because one never forgets their first, and because the wildness of the Highlands will never leave me. But the second, well, the second I will always love because of a boy.

His name was Ben. I can't remember the last, and frankly I had forgotten his first until a friend had reminded me. He was a security guard at the castle and I met him while asking directions. I don't even know what I was looking for. But, what liked what I found. He was tall, blonde, wild curly hair, blue eyes, and the strongest Scottish lilt I'd heard. For the first two days I had to lean in close to catch words. I had to ask him to repeat things. That can be awkward while wooing. We hit it off immediately. He said he was a writer. He said he had been accepted into an MFA program in New York city, but for various reasons could not go. So, he was working and waiting. I often meet men while travelling, it is easy, clean, no strings. I am fantastic at walking away, so the touring love affair is natural to me. Being such a veteran of the vacation romance I was skeptical of his story. Sure, sure, what better courtship tactic than to tell the American English Professor that you are an aspiring writer. With those hands on her body and that voice in her ear she will believe anything you say. True or not, it was enough for me, I thought it was the best of stories, and a story was really all I needed.

 It wasn't until I had returned to London that belived him. I found a note slipped into the pages of the novel I was reading.  I was sitting at an outdoor cafe with my friend when I found the note. I didn't remember seeing him writing and thought that he must have written it to me while I was in the shower, and put it into my book without me seeing. I can't remember what he said, not exactly, but I remember reading it aloud and my friend and I both sighing. Whatever it was it was enough to convince us that he is a writer. Or maybe a poet. A wordsmith at the least. She was upset with me that I was so sure it would lead nowhere. I remember sahying how I would miss this one. This boy. Now, here I am nearly a year later in America, in a house that is not a home. My hair is wet from the rain. My sweater is damp and smells faintly of wet sheep. As I knew that it would, the affair has faded. The note is lost. Most of that trip is forgotten. I had even forgotten his name, but what I hope to never forget was the sound of the rain on the window and a Scottish lilt whispering "Oh my kitty kat, rainy days will always make me think of you."

Accounting; or, my life in numbers (travel edition)

I love to travel. If pressed I would say it has something to do with the fact that I grew up in a tiny isolated town where I read books about other places and thought "someday, I'm gonna go there."  Usually, I do it big. If it doesn't involve a passport and 9 hour flight or a cross country drive I wasn't all that into it. As a result I have been a lot of places, but never really explored my own back yard too much. Well, like most folks the economy has shrunken my wallet a bit and now I am really not able to afford the "Big" trips. So, in honor of my new back yard approach here is my Accounting Travel Edition.

Ten countries I told my high school English teacher I wanted to visit (in alphabetical order): Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Romania, Scotland, Spain.

Number of countries I have visited from that list: 5 (England, Scotland, Ireland, Czech Republic, France).

Number that have been added to the list since then: 62

Number of times I have visited London: 4

Number of countries I could cross off my list if I had gone there instead of London (Again): 3

When I realized that: Just now.

Prices for my plane tickets to London in chronological order:
2003: $521.00.
2007: $362.00.
2008: $534.00
2009: $967.00

Cheapest Flight Deal: Round trip London to Belfast for $4.00

Most expensive "cheap" flight: Round trip London to Czeck Republic $35.00 Plus nearly $350.00 in fees because I missed my flight both ways and had to re-book!

Total number of countries I have visited: 9

Number of US States I have visited: 41

Number of US States I have lived in: 5

US Travel Goal: To see a game in every MLB ballpark.

Number of parks I can cross off my list: Four

Number I visited only to have the team tear it down and build another one: Two

Number I was supposed to visit this summer but facist ticketing practices have ruled that out: 1 (yes, I am talking to you Los Angeles Dodgers).

Number of trips I still have planned for this summer: 3 (Reno, Ashland, TBD)

Trips I was supposed to take this weekend, but may be snowed out: 1 (In theory I am supposed to travel to Reno this weekend. In reality it is snowing... Um, I don't "do" weather, so we'll see how it goes.)

Sunday Stroll; or, what a walk looks like

The River Trail: a walk up Hard Parts Hill  in pictures.

This is one of the "arms" of the trail. This is one of the least crowded part and I have never seen a biker on this one (too steep I think). It doesn't have the separate lanes like the rest and it is in full sunlight. It branches off to the north and is only about a mile long, but it is just one steep hill. It doesnt' have an official name, but I call it "The Hard Parts Hill." When I want to do a really hard workout I park at the top of this hill, walk down the hill and then do the right side of  the River Trail and back. Because of the hills, It is essentially uphill both ways! I called it the Hard Parts Version. I am not ready to the whole Hard Parts Version (YET!). But, I did do Hard Parts Hill all this week. 

The Warning

The Shady Bend (This is my rest stop on the way back up)

The View (This is the canyon. It's hard to tell, but the river is down there)

Going UP

And --Hey there's the car!!

Derek Jeter Friday; or, who has the time to write on a Friday?

I bet this is a homerun. Okay, prolly a single down the right field line.