Sunreturn

Happy solstice, everyone! It's my favorite holiday (seriously--for a few years running, my holiday cards were handmade [by me, no less] solstice cards).

Let's see. Apparently mom was starting dialysis today, but I haven't heard a report from anyone on how that went. I talked to both my parents yesterday and told them each that I'm going to be visiting; I had wanted to surprise them, but I thought it was better this way. Mom sounds pretty good. She's not a whiner, and she's known this would be coming eventually, so she's just accepting it and moving on. I suspect the dialysis will even improve the quality of her life in some ways.

I took Friend out to dinner for his birthday last night, which means I left work after only 9.5 hours or so, plus I went in nearly an hour late this morning (I punched in at 7:50), as I'd warned Bossman I was going to do. We had a wonderful dinner, even though we ended up at his second choice restaurant because his first choice was full of holiday parties and there was a 1.5-hour wait for a table. The place we went is set up such that you can either order from the menu or, for a fixed price, they bring you a bunch of little plates of appetizers, and then a couple of pastas, and then an entree (which you choose from a list); they will also bring you a glass of a different wine with each of those courses (there are three price levels for that option). I've never ordered from the menu the half dozen times I've been there, in part because I like to sample the bits they bring. Last night: appetizers were olives; little balls of fresh mozzarella drizzled with a flavored olive oil; a parmesan-encrusted caramelized onion slice; and some little veal meatballs. The pastas were wide ribbons with a duck ragu and rigatoni with parmesan, italian sausage, spinach, and cauliflower. For our entrees, Friend had a hunter's stew with quail, rabbit, white beans, and spinach, and I had braised pork with white beans and greens (kale, I think it was). We both took home wads of our entrees--I had some tonight, with added spinach and over pasta, and I'll get another meal out of it as well, and Friend took his leftover stew to work today with a hunk of bread I had on the counter. (I told him it was a sign of my affection for him that I was willing to give him the heel of the bread--and it was semolina sesame sourdough, no less, which may well be my favorite bread at the bakery.) I insisted on dessert, which was a slice of candied orange--including the peel--and a scoop of hazelnut chocolate gelato. It was simple and spectacular, and we shared a glass of the dessert wine they suggested as a pairing, and it was wonderful, too; the caramel notes in the wine played off the rest of the dessert beautifully. All in all, a wonderful evening.

Friend is heading up to visit his family this weekend--which is when they're doing their christmas thing--and returning Sunday evening. He has to work Monday, though he expects to be told to leave early. Thus, our current plan is for me to work like a crazy person at the bakery for the next two days, then meet him downtown Monday for dinner (another place to which we've gone has a great deal on Mondays--if you sit in the bar area, all their wines are $5 a glass, which is a great way to sample wines that are normally $12 a glass). The place opens at 4:00, so that should work out okay. I'll shlep along whatever we'll need for dinner on Tuesday. The current menu includes rabbit (which he has in the freezer), using a recipe that I've made several times with chicken and that includes madeira, pancetta, dried cherries, and tasty goodness; broccoli and cauliflower with a cheese sauce; polenta or potatos (it would be easier to bring the ingredients for the former, so I'm leaning that way); and dessert of some kind. I may make a chocolate hazelnut cake, if I get sufficiently ambitious and am not too tired and I remember to bring some hazelnut flour home from the bakery. The other part of our plan is to watch the LOTR trilogy Christmas day, though we may not have the wherewithal to do all of that--it's more than 12 hours of viewing, after all.

I only worked until about 6:00 tonight. I did manage to rearrange my production schedule such that I'm not laminating or shaping croissants tomorrow or Sunday, which means I'm available to be a utility infielder and do whatever needs doing. I did a little of that today, too. Phil wants to know whether I'm making lasagna or pizza or what next Saturday (for my last day)--I told him he should make it, not me. We'll see; someone will make something.

I also decided to give myself a break. I've continued to gain weight, such that many clothes don't fit. But I've also realized that I can't take any serious steps until I'm not at the bakery, in part because of the availability of the food and in part because of the aforechronicled hours, etc. So I'm just not going to think about it for the next couple of weeks. I'll get it together and start exercising and practicing yoga again, and I'll lose the weight--just not in the next two weeks. I've also realized that I can work out at city park facilities for quite cheap--way less than a gym--so I'm excited about that, even if I'm not sure how far I'm going to have to shlep to find facilities. Yes, I know I could Just Walk, but I also know I won't do that.