Thursday, November 02, 2006

“It was a dark and stormy night, the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals..."

How many of you had to take your children out trick-or-treating for Halloween?
How many of you did this in the cold, driving rain?
How many of you nearly killed yourselves going up steep steps, slippery with wet leaves, in the dark?
How many of you almost got nailed by drivers going too fast on rain-slicked streets, paying no heed to small ghosts and Power Rangers and pumpkins?
And lastly, how many of you nearly choked to death on a roasted pumpkin seed?

Hmmm. I see.

I only had to deal with the last. Because my kids were all sick this Halloween. Sick enough to stay home from kindergarten, sick enough to forgo the preschool Halloween party, sick enough to have to go see the doctor TWICE in one day.

I never like it when my kids are sick; their hoarse little coughs and feverishly red cheeks wrench at my heart. I hate that when they are sick, they just want to lie around on the sofa, being read to and fed juice and ibuprofen, watching TV. They are too spiritless to even fight with each other; it’s heartbreaking.

But if I had to pick a day for them to be sick, the Halloween on which it poured rain all evening long would be, well, actually, my second pick. (My first would be Christmas Eve, specifically the one on which we all got the stomach bug and spent the holiday lying around the house, pale and wan, and completely unobligated to participate in the be-cheerful-goddamnit horror that is Christmas at the in-laws’ house.)

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I started The Thirteenth Tale. I sat in the coffee shop all morning, reading, and nursing the first peppermint mocha of the winter, and chewing my fingernails. I plan to stop on the way home, have some buffalo bites, and finish it while I still have fingernails left. I have to buy it. Right after I pay off my laptop, and the phone bill upon which appears the phone call to Australia. I lurve you, Suse, it was worth every penny, H be damned!

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I have watched the fifth season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” over the past week. Not as funny as the season with the restaurant opening, but Larry David at his least funny is considerably more hilarious than most people at their funniest. And I say that with the zeal of the convert, as the first time I was made to watch, I had to keep getting up and leaving the room, it was just too PAINFUL. Now it’s painful but it’s funny. Humor that makes you cringe – it’s a good thing.

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Has anyone out there read both Coraline and Brief History of the Dead? I need to discuss the similarities in those two books regarding the concept of one person’s consciousness creating existence/environment. With someone who has read both and might have a clue if what I am saying is even remotely interesting, or if my background as a post-bacc English major is rendering me insufferably…insufferable.

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Why did I have an entire document in my blog drafts folder, with only one word typed in:
fishcotti
What the hell do you suppose I meant by THAT?

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And speaking of food, I have a nice chunk of flank steak thawing in the fridge, awaiting an attempt at Joke’s Cuban Granny Pants (see also Bec’s version). I had a version of this, Ropa Vieja, at a baby shower recently (I know, not typical shower food, but neither were the gifts typical baby shower gifts; in fact, most of them were alcoholic in nature, which is fitting (and of course, only consumed safely, after delivery, so keep your hair on) since the baby was L’s SIXTH. She needed liquor WAY more than she needed another onesie or receiving blanket.)
I ate way more than my share of this delicious stuff, and have been craving it ever since. So we will see how it goes. Of course, I will be the only person in my household eating this, as it fails the acceptability criteria of everyone else but I think I will manage.

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1020 words and counting...for those of you following along at home....

12 comments:

lazy cow said...

Sorry to hear the boys are sick. Poor little darlings. Get better soon :-)
I just received Brief history of the dead from the library - yesterday. Who knows when I'll get to read it though, as there are many books in the queue but I'll bump it up some. How's that?

lazy cow said...

But I can't promise I will have anything remotely interesting or coherent to say about the subject you mentioned. You're waayyy too smart for me.

Suse said...

Yikes I hope it wasn't too expensive.

I lurve you too.

Get well Babelbebes.

Major Bedhead said...

Yish. I hope everyone's feeling better soon. It was lovely here on Halloween, otherwise I probably would have been wishing for illness, too.

Good luck with the Granny Panties. I failed miserably with that tonight.

Caro said...

They were sick AND you had to take them to the dr. two times in one day - that is a full day in itself.

I hope they are well soon.

Congrats on how far you've come with your novel.

Anonymous said...

Halloween illness, huh? Definitely one of those bad news/good news things.

I have to assume that Fishcotti was the beginnning of a recipe that you were creating--a delicious marriage of seafood and italian biscuits.

Joke said...

I have to get up out of the chair and exit the room when something is cringe-funny.

Good luck with the recipe. MsCellania and Bec had luck with it, Julia & Badger didn't.

-J.

Joke said...

P.S. Horrible as it may seem, when our kids get sick, especially NTS, we take the opportunity to sleep and mop and clean up around the house.

Badger said...

I hate when they fight. But I hate when they are too sick to fight EVEN WORSE.

blackbird said...

-hoping the boys are better today...

I can't watch Larry David -
it just becomes a test of my will.
I know he's going to get fucked and I watch and watch for the moment when it will begin to unravel and sure enough, he gets fucked.

Not good for me.

Sarah Louise said...

peppermint mocha--I might just have to try it.

Hope everyone is feeling better.

MsCellania said...

Oh, the poor little fellows!
And poor little YOU, all that worrying and doctoring and then schlepping to the pede's office. *long dramatic sigh in sympathy*
I did that cringing watching Curb Your Enthusiasm the first couple of times, too. Our old babysitter who moved to NYC was hooked on it, and begged us to keep trying. Larry is a thorough Putz and deserves to 'get fucked', as bb cannot bear. His agent's wife is a particular favorite, for some reason...
I'll be curious to see how the flank turns out. If you run out of time to make the Granny Pants, here's my favorite London Broil recipe:

Marinate for 2-12 hours in refrig, turning occasionally:
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 C soy sauce
1/2 C dry red wine
3 T oil olive
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 large clove garlic, sliced
Pepper to taste
1 and 1/2 pounds Flank steak, trimmed

Mix all ingredients in the marinade container. Marinate for 2-12 hours, turning occasionally. Broil meat over hot coals or in broiler for 5 minutes/side. Slice meat on the diagonal across the grain and serve.

Serve with a nice greens salad, oil/vinegar dressing, some crusty french bread and some good Pinot and hell - I'll be right Over!