And the Fun Goes On

Hi all,

Ok. First - the score update: Karaoke:2, Steph:1. Although it was a very reluctant one point, and another co-worker was the driving force behind getting me up there again. And very graciously asked the DJ if they had it, and then sang it with me. Thankfully, no one was really paying attention, which helped. It was a complete "Go Me" moment.

Getting ahead of myself, aren't I?

So Thursday started my transformation into a Twilight Vampire. As I came into the sunlight after the glass shop, I was sparkling. Well, twinkling, at the very least. I did end up breaking one more piece (since 5 and 14 were outlined on the same piece of glass, and the angles for breaking turned out the be problematic, apparently...) but it turned out to be for the best. I found an even better color, and finished cutting them all. I then got to move onto the grinding stage. This makes them look a lot prettier and kind of gives me hope.

Friday was a long morning. After a stressful morning in the kitchen, I managed to pull off 2 pans of lasagna and bread. Even with interruptions! My favorite part was when Sam (who'd earlier professed a dislike of lasagna...??) walked in the door and I pointed at my beautifully cheezy and oozing pans and said: "How can you look at that and not want to eat it?!?'
"Well, I just don't find it...sexy."
"Uh. Hmm. I think...that we'd say - maybe -...'attractive'...but probably not sexy"
"Oh, I know. I chose this word on purpose. Don't you ever find some foods sexy?"
"Um. No..."

Sometimes it's just time to smile and nod.

Friday afternoon was very laid back in the co-op. We got two different shipments in and methodically trudged through them - getting only one done. In all fairness, we were short a co-worker and had only one villager, so it's not too surprising. Friday was a relatively laid back night, I introduced Polo to "The Princess Bride". Honestly, it's pretty much the amazing dialogue that carries the film, and so for a non-native English speaker to find it funny is quite the accomplishment, I think.

I slept in until 10 on Saturday, had breakfast and then went on a roadtrip with Bean and Schmee. Bean and her GPS (Pegasus), kept us on the straight and narrow (and twisty turns), and we went to Kingston and New Paltz. New Paltz was very cute and funky, and we had some great ice cream. It was a melting 93 degrees! We had fun poking around and searching for the comic book store. May 1st is National Free Comic Book Day. Bean finds this very exciting, and I support her excitement. We later went out in Hudson.

Today was very laid back. It was a sweltering 80 degrees and felt like 80% humidity at 9 this morning. I wasn't in charge of brunch, so I had a good chunk of the day to just relax. I made some phone calls, hung out with the house and discovered my new favorite way to eat avocados (although I love guacamole!). Friday, someone had stopped by the co-op and told us to try a pudding. It was nutty and chocolate-y and I just couldn't place it. Yup, Chocolate Avocado mousse. Here's my base recipe (she told us the ingredients, and so I recorded my amount):

6 Avocados
7 TBSP Maple Syrup
6 TBSP Cocoa Powder
5 TBSP Sucanat (Sugar Cane Natural)
3 tsp Tamari
3 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Puree the crap out of the avocados and mix in the rest. You get a smooth, creamy and delicious mousse. Went great with some unsweetened whipped cream! Everyone in the house loved it, except housemom, who couldn't get over the savory/sweet combo.

We ate dinner late, (well, myself and Beau) because there was the first village softball game. Maria, Beau and I went, although Maria only watched. A few of the German guys were trying to organize it, but we got off to a late (1/2 hour) start. My team ended up "winning", but the playing was just a lot of fun. Beau really likes baseball, so if he got a ball he'd try to pitch. This was almost as suicidal as playing pingpong with him, but I and a few others still managed to get a hit off of him! I also made a double-play. Nice, right? Definitely a lot of fun, and something to look forward to on Sunday nights!

Hope all is well,
Steph