An unexpected moment of silence

I have been running around like crazy since school started in September. While I love everything I've been doing, I just had sixty seconds of sitting still and being quiet... and I am so filled with relief that I might start crying any second. Even lying on the chiropractor's table it is my wont to make lists. I don't know how I just achieved that complete brain silence (maybe it's actually dementia or something and I should not be so excited about it?) but it felt great.

Today I've made pumpkin bread pudding ( a purely indulgent act, since I'm the only one who likes it), sourdough bread, and nanaimo bars. I've been to Michaels, with Younger Daughter (which means that I spent twice as much as I intended going in). I've been to the supermarket to get some things I forgot yesterday when I was at Whole Foods. I took the girls out to breakfast, since my school celebrates the beginning of every break by reminding the residential faculty that this isn't really home (in other words, testing the fire alarms early in the morning). And now I have had a moment of quiet.

Time to give thanks!

Druid Mittens

So I made a bad call and took the Druid mittens to faculty meeting tonight. I should have taken the boring but beautifully pink and sparkly scarf I'm making for D#2. During the first bombshell announcement I lost my place in the first chart and had to frog back 20+ rows. I hate when that happens. But then I pulled myself together and made a lot of progress. I'm trying to decide whether to color code the chart so I don't need my old lady reading glasses (I can no longer do the New York Times Sunday crossword without said glasses, sad to say). I like this pattern a lot, and the Dream in Color is showing the stitch definition beautifully. I wonder if I'll have the attention span to make more than one pair.

Kitchen update: I plan to buy some jars and try green tomato pickle -- I did try the green tomato cake recipe that came as an online extra with The Boston Globe magazine a couple of weeks ago; it was a huge hit with my family, none of whom knew it contained tomato. Interestingly, you also add beer -- which must help the batter counteract the weight of the tomato puree -- I used Avery IPA which I would NOT do if I make the cake again. Something with a less distinct and hoppy taste is probably better for baking (although the IPA is delicious for drinking). I suspect, in fact, that Guinness would have been better. Speaking of newspaper recipes, the other night R made the mac and cheese pancakes from the aforesaid New York Times. They were extremely yummy.

When we had family over on Monday I made whole wheat bread and banana bread, and squash/apple soup, and I'm glad I did, as I'm feeling crummy now (some sort of tree pollen allergies AND a cold) I have no interest in setting foot in the kitchen. Given that our 19th wedding anniversary is tomorrow, that doesn't bode well for a festive dinner...

And yes, I did notice that my beloved Red Sox are being massacred at Fenway. I don't really want to talk about it.