many laughs. many fireworks. more than five beers. not the food binge that it usually is but that is ok…

chris and cindy are coming over to put a bow on the weekend with me. Burgers and sweet potato fries and deviled eggs and getting them caught up on True Blood…

How was your Independence Day?

I love the Fourth of July.

If I ever get married again, this will be the date for it.

It’s my favorite holiday. I have more collective happy family memories from this day than any holiday before…I can only remember one Fourth when there was fighting…so that’s saying something!

My parents would pack us up, be social with their friends, haul out to the lake, cook out and pop firecrackers. There would be hot dogs and homemade ice cream. We would run around screaming because someone would chase us with fire, or those tanks would come after us, or the screaming something or others would follow us…it was glorious. At the end of the night, our tummies full of sugar and nitrates, we would sit in laps and oooh and ahhh over the big display that the city shot off over the water…

at the end of the day, smelling of smoke and fire and OFF, we would haul it all back home and just be happy.

The day, of course, is more meaningful and powerful than that. Freedom. Independence. Blood and Sacrifice. All of it.

I hope today that you are surrounded by friends and love. I hope that you are letting yourself go a little, relaxing and just taking a moment to be. I am.

I leave you with two of my favorites.

Happy Friday Ya’ll!!! God Bless America!

I haven’t said much of substance over her in sometime…it’s been a little less thrilling than a 12yr old’s diary.

Dear Diary, Today I went to work.

Dear Diary, Last night I went to bartend.

Dear Diary, I am like totally sooooo tired.

Dear Diary, I’m feeling funky about life.

Dear Diary, I’m sticking my head in the proverbial sand by devouring tons of books and focusing on working on my house.

Dear Diary, I’m annoyed with my living arrangements and annoyed with my social calendar and it’s lack of…socializing. I’m annoyed, Diary, and I’m trying to move forward but…

you get the picture.

right?

right.

I’m excited for some time off this weekend. I’m surrounding myself with my friends. No working any jobs. Just putzing around the house and doing more plantings…(my garden is annoyed too because I’ve YET to get any produce) Lay out by the pool given we have sunshine. I’ve got friends and family and food lined up to Sunday. I’m going to sleep. And eat. And play. The house is in semi decent shape so the house guilt should be small in doses.

I’ll have my jalapeno creme cheese deviled eggs. My black eye pea salsa. Cold beers. and bag chairs at the ready…Fireworks are in my future.

There are a few other chunks of funk that are still hovering in my brain…and maybe I’ll share it here. Soon. But until I do, I’d like to tell you that I just finished a book that was gifted to me by Abbylicious, of The Vegan and Abbylicous Household via Hoboken New Jersey.

This book is by the native Oklahoma author who also writes Orangette. For anyone who is even remotely interested in food, this is a fabulous site. I’ve been perusing and reading for awhile now. The book is full of fabulous stories of family and growing up in Oklahoma. Of travel and experiences and memories and laughter and loss. At the end of each section, is at least one recipe. I’ve devoured the book this week and as I sit her munching on french bread with herbed goat cheese schmeer… my mind is FIXATED on the recipe for Pickled Grapes with Cinnamon and Black Pepper. It may happen for me this weekend.

Pickled Grapes with Cinnamon and Black Pepper
from A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg
Adapted from Susan Kaplan
Makes 2 pint-sized jars

1 lb red or black grapes, preferably seedless
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick, cut in half
1/4 tsp salt

1. Rinse and dry the grapes and pull them carefully from their stems. Using a small, sharp knife, trim away the “belly button” at the stem end of the grape, exposing a bit of the flesh inside. Put the grapes into a medium bowl and set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then pour the mixture over the grapes. Stir to combine. Set aside to cool to room temp.

3. While the grapes cool, wash 2 pint-sized canning jars and their lids in warm, soapy water. When the grapes are cool, ladle them into the jars. Chill for at least 8 hrs or overnight. Serve cold, and use within 2 weeks.

THANK YOU SO MUCH ABBY for the beautiful book. It was a great read and I treasure it. For anyone looking for a great book to gift someone…this is a winner.

Thats it from me for a bit. Have a good one…

Let me just tell you, this past weekend kicked my ass. Up and down the street and over and again. Lots of working. Lots of phone calls. Lots of running errands. The money made was worth it, both nights…paid another 200 on my computer debt…but my mind and body were at the breaking point.

I came home last night, ordered a pizza, then put myself into the bed by 8:30. I dont remember falling asleep but I woke up at 9. Sometimes the what the body wants, the body gets! Feel great now and am enjoying my late morning with some fresh hot coffee and a fiber one bar…prepping for the weekend!

well. now it seems as if I have nothing to say. I’ll be back when I do.

lots going on. big named comedian coming into town for a show tonight put on by my friends, and I’m bartending and helping out with it…we’re right this minute waiting on the ABLE Commission to approve our temporary license but who the hell knows what we’re going to do. There’s been lots of snafu’s, none of which are on our part, that may keep us from getting the license to serve beer tonight…

Tried borrowing the one from the events center, but as usual, things in my mind are far simpler than they are in reality and it was just too much. Not as easy as me just taking the number and operating under it…so with that, and the fact that it was the next day….well I’ll say it again. Just too much. whatever. I’ll figure it out elsewhere…

I didn’t do much of nuthin yesterday. A little laundry. A little cleaning/picking up. Nothing more than superficial though. It was cloudy and muggy and rained last night a lot so no yardwork. Was super tired from the week.

I DID have brunch with Roger and Ma. They were up for a shindig down at our former college and swung up to the city to see me and borrow a blow up mattress…well. they loaned it to me to begin with so it was just a return actually. Anyways, so good to sit across from to faces that I love so much. Who knew…all those years ago when I walked onto campus…that I would find love and family? nice.

so today I’m sippin coffee about to watch my True Blood. We are at the mercy of ABLE. If they come through and assign us our temp license to serve, then we run around and get stuff together. If they deny it, we go to plan be and I start more laundry and grocery shopping and whatnot.

That’s it from me this rainy Monday. Hope yours is painless…we’ve got another short week ahead! HUZZUAH!!!!

This was breakfast at Central Market…and ima trying to post photos from my phone!

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

Can I post content from my Blackberry? Let’s see, shall we?

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

went to see McCrackin today. apparently I was almost too inflamed and tense to even crack….ALMOST.

the man is a miracle worker. and I have been eating the ibuprofin. and slathering the biofreeze.

kids…it’s a bitch when a waterslide can bring you down.

I wouldn’t trade one second of it.

worked all day, had a fabulous fantasy vacay improv text with Kizz…Gave Noodle her 12 year old haircut and got schooled by the child once or twice…oy. save us all from that 12 year old!…then had some gazebo….porch....patio…sitting on dirt beers with LT tonight and just talked it all out.

i actually feel human tonight as I doze off…remind me tomorrow about my Life/Math Epiphany.  gah.

can.
hardly.
move my neck.

gah.