Jamie has tonsilitis. And Merlin was barfing this morning. This week just keeps getting better and better.But tonight they both seemed a little better. Hopefully everyone heals up soon so we can plan some fun. Because this girl needs some.
I left the house at 7 am today to get to campus by 7:20 so I could be ready for the first day of class (and have time to snap a photo). Class was the best part of my day, BY FAR. After leaving the U, I ventured into the office for vita.mn's first deadline day on the new computer system. I left at 8:30 pm (yup, 13.5 hours of work today) angry and in need of dinner (and wine). I have now had my wine, and I guess I might go back tomorrow.The short of it? Being in the first group of staffers to launch a brand new computer system kindof sucks. OK. Really sucks. But tomorrow will be better. It has to be.The photo is of campus first thing this morning. So quiet. You can barely see it, but we were having slight flurries at the time.
Today I was back at the Strib on that new computer system. The day started off well, but by noon the system ATE MY PAGE. The one that was finished and saved and closed. And I went to reopen it and the page was blank. Empty. All my work was gone. So I had to do it again.Then later? It happened again with a different page. AGAIN. And it wasn't just happening to me, but to other designers as well. So that was awesome.And then I came home to my delicious leftover soup, which you see above. You guys, it is SO DANG GOOD that I'm gonna give you the recipe right here.DIRECTIONS: Put 2 tbps olive oil in a large saucepan and warm while you dice a medium yellow onion and 2 cloves of garlic. Add them to the pan and cook until soft. While that's cooking, chop up one head of cauliflower. Add one quart of chicken stock to the pan once the onion mix is soft, along with the cauliflower. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.While that's simmering, melt 2 tbps butter in a frying pan and brown one container of button mushrooms, sliced. I like to sprinkle them with garlic salt while they cook. Once they have released their liquids and then that's evaporated off and the mushrooms are toasty brown, take them off the heat.Once the cauliflower is done simmering, add mixture to a blender (or food processor) to smooth. Return the soup to the pot on low to medium heat and mix in the mushrooms and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Viola!I like to garnish this with sunflower seeds, bacon bits and chives. But I'm sure you can think of other options as well. So, so tasty!
It was a little cold this morning ... and it never reached zero. So I stayed in all day long, which was phenomenal, and I got all my work done before 3 pm which left time for yoga and some domesticity resulting in an amazing cauliflower and mushroom soup. YUM. I would have taken a photo of that but a) it wasn't very pretty and b) I'll save it for when I have beautiful garnishes. Don't worry. You'll get the recipe soon.
Good lord, tonight was fun. Back in December I had my annual holiday party with my girlfriends from work scheduled, but it snowed more than a foot that day, so we postponed it until tonight. Most of us work nights, some days, some weekends and saying it's hard to find a time where we can all get together is an understatement.Anyway, my buddy Nancy hosted this year, and we just laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. You can see my friend Michiela above laughing to the point of tears. Man, it was good to catch up with these lovelies.We were there for ... five hours? And I really only left because a) I need to be at the automechanic at 8 am tomorrow (got a leaky tire) and b) Merlin was practically begging me to leave so he could go to bed. Apparently all of our cackling was disturbing his beauty rest.And no, I don't normally bring Merlin with me to parties, but the hostess, Nancy, helped us find our sweet boy nine years ago, and she has always been like a second Mom to him. Plus we thought he'd have fun seeing her collie and all the girls (who would sneak him table scraps). I'm sure he enjoyed it, but come 9:30 he turns into a grumpy old man no matter where he is.
Man, today has been great. First off? I got to sleep in until 11 am. What am I? 17? It was divine. Then after rolling out of bed, I made us some pumpkin pancakes and we watched KU beat Texas by the skin of their teeth (but I'll take a win any way I can). Next we took Merlin over to Lake of the Isles to run on the ice. I thought it would be fun to ice skate and take photos of him. The ice, however, wasn't in great shape, so I just walked instead of skating, but he had fun running leashless in the wind (or trying to).Next up? Flu shot followed by free wine tasting at the shop up the street. Everyone should celebrate immunizations with free wine, in my opinion.And tonight I'm heading over to First Avenue to shoot a concert for the paper, which I am super excited about. One of the bands is Now, Now, who had a fantastic album last year and I have yet to see them perform live. And tomorrow? I can sleep in again if I want. Yes. This is the weekend I dream of.
Today I got to work at home on MY computer with MY software and I was so damn productive and it was such an amazing change of pace. Then Jamie came home and took me out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in town (Ngon Vietnamese Bistro) before we went to Vita.mn's Crush party. The party involved a fashion show (as seen above). Don't worry, we'll be back to normal tomorrow...
My brain is mush. Today was my first day at the office being 100 percent on the PC and in the new system. A page that took me 15 minutes to design in the old system took me an hour and 15 minutes today. I know I'll get faster as I get used to all the shortcuts and such, but man, tonight I ordered thai takeout on the way home (above) and poured a glass of wine and sat down in front of a Tivo list of bad TV. And it's just what I needed.Tomorrow I'm back to my freelance gig working at home in my own office on my own equipment on software of my choosing next to a window with a dog at my feet. Hot damn, I am excited for that.