This is Just Funny...

Take a lil' break and watch this with me.

On the Road Again

...and I wish it was Willie Nelson.

Wednesday morning I fly to Minneapolis for a meeting. Then, Wednesday afternoon I drive four hours to Norway, IA for trainings all day on Thursday. I'll drive back to Minneapolis on Friday a.m. and catch a flight to San Diego for the weekend.

I'll be visiting my "gay husbands" in San Diego for the weekend. These are two of my dearest friends that I've known for almost 10 years now. Where does the time go. They live in Phoenix, but have a place in SD, so I'm going to crash there. It will be a chill weekend to include drinking, eating, cooking, sleeping, watching movies, gossiping, smoking and general carrying on.

Monday I depart from SD and arrive in Chicago at midnight.

On Tuesday at 10 a.m. I fly to North Carolina for meetings. Tuesday night I'll be staying with Mit! I'm so excited. Pumpkin mole will be consumed as well at Mexican Chocolate Brownings (not to be confused with brownies). After my slumber party, I'll head home on Wednesday.

Thursday the 16th I have a big ol' meeting with my new client.

Friday morning vacation begins! Whoo hoo!! I'll leave for Phoenix on the 17th and will participate in THE HUNT on Saturday the 18th. It's the geekiest thing I do all year and I love it. This will be my six of the past seven years (boo...I missed last year).

Sunday will be brunch with my girls, B and J.

Monday will mean recovery at Sonja's house. I love laying on her couch. But Leanne does have the coziest couch in Phoenix. I'll stay at Sonja's for the rest of the week.

Tuesday I have a facial and massage and then a hair cut and color with Keiko, my fave! The real fun will begin on Tuesday night with a happy hour at CJ's Talley's Pub. I love that place! We'll see if I can still draw a crowd.

Who knows what the rest of the week will bring. I'm sure there will be lunches with friends, cocktails with my bestest buddies, sleeping in and visiting.

Thursday or Friday, my parents will come to Phoenix from Tucson and we'll continue the cocktailing. I'm sure we'll go here for at least one happy hour, one of the best in the city.

Friday...hmmm, what happens Friday? Oh right. I think that someone might be celebrating her birthday. Who could that be? ME!!!!

The birthday's not til Saturday, but I'll be celebrating all week. Saturday, I'll go out to dinner with the folks and we'll get some quality time in. Come Sunday, the party's over and it's back to Chicago on Sunday night, October 26th.

Then, I think I'm home until November 6th when it's back to California for a long weekend of work. Whew...I need a vacation before my vacation even begins.

Monday Stuff

Boy, today took off like a rocket! It's after 7 p.m. and I haven't eaten a proper meal, drank enough water, read blogs, turned on the tv or anything. I have loaded the dishwasher, done a load of laundry, scooped the poop, washed the wine glasses from last night, been out with the Realtor to look at four condos and worked like crazy!

The dinner party was a success with six people, which is a great number for a small dinner party. Let me know if you're interested in the recipes, most of it I just made up as I went along.

The menu:

Chips with salsa verde, smoked tomato salsa & sour cream
Green chile chicken enchiladas with queso quesadilla and queso fresco
Refried beans
Green salad of red leaf lettuce, red peppers, tomatoes, radishes, cukes and pepitas with honey-lime vinaigrette

Dessert was Mexican Chocolate Brownies with homemade vanilla/almond/cinnamon ice cream

Dessert was the clear winner of the evening. We drank a few bottles of wine, watched some Tina Fey and enjoyed the night. Of course, the conversation even turned to poo as all good dinner conversations do.

Oh, and I think I might write and offer on a condo tomorrow. I got my prequalification letter, talked to the people who own this place and it looks like they're open to letting me out of the lease early and I'm read' to go!

As requested:
Vanilla Almond Cinnamon Ice Cream
About 1 quart, I made a double batch

Heat:
1 cup of whole milk
1 cup of heavy cream
3/4 cup of sugar
pinch of salt
in a heavy pan over low heat, do not boil.
Cut 1 vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds out, add the seeds and bean to the hot milk mixture.
One whole cinnamon stick, broken, add to mixture.
Remove from heat and allow to steep for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk 4 egg yolks until light and fluffy.

Slowly, add a small amount of the warm milk to the eggs to temper them. Put the egg and milk mixture back into the pot and heat on medium low heat until the custard thickens a little and coats the back of the spoon. Stir constantly as to not scramble the eggs. I have a hard time noting the thickness of the custard, but it usually takes me ten minutes or so on a gas stove and I remove it when it's steaming pretty good!

In a large bowl, add:
1 cup of heavy cream

Put a fine sieve over the bowl and strain the egg/milk mixture into the cream.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of good vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of good almond extract. Put the vanilla bean and broken cinnamon back into the custard to continue to add flavor.

Put in an ice bath to cool and then refrigerate for 24 hours. Follow the directions on your ice cream maker.

Mexican Chocolate Brownies
Melt 1 stick of butter, 1 oz of very dark chocolate (I used Valrhona) and 1 whole disc of Mexican chocolate over low heat and then allow to cool.

In a bowl beat 4 whole eggs until light yellow and fluffy, gradually add 1 3/4 cup sugar. Add 1 1/2 teaspoon good vanilla.

I added a good shake of ground cinnamon and a little powdered chipotle, I didn't measure.

Combine chocolate with eggs.

Add 1 cup flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir to incorporate, don't stir overstir or your brownies will get tough.

Add 1 cup of pecans, walnuts, almonds, etc if you like. Oddly, toasted pine nuts are great in this!!

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Yesterday's trip to Michigan was great. We were canvassing in Grand Rapids and registering voters. Knocking on doors, I was a little nervous at first, but I ended up enjoying myself. Michigan is still an important state for the Dems. McCain has suspended advertising in Michigan, but with 30 days until the election, things can always change. Obama has a lead, but it's narrow and the gap can be widened.

The unemployment rate in Michigan is almost 9%, much higher than the national average. The economy is suffering and people are in need. We were canvassing in a very normal, working class neighborhood and the people are saddened, confused and hopeful. The number of vacant homes, homes with foreclosure signs and those with public notifications of auctions were shocking.

I drove my canvassing team of three others and we had a great time in our 14 hours together. The brain power in my car was astounding and my brain contributed very little. Raphael is a Ph.D. in physics working in photovoltaics. Rob is finalizing his thesis in Astrophysics. And Greg works in Domestic Violence for the Chicago Police Department, under Biden's Violence Against Women Act. These were three brilliant gents. The conversation was stimulating and I learned so much.

I'll be at the phone bank on Monday and then I'm planning another trip to Michigan at the end of the month. I'm really enjoying being so involved in this process.

And now for something a little fun, this is a meme from Blackbird that I enjoyed.

Outside my window the grass is still green but the leaves are just beginning to change colors.

Daily rhythm: I wake and head into my office to check email. I usually don't even go into the kitchen for an hour or so for a cup of tea or coffee.

I am thankful for my parents. They've been on vacation for two weeks out of the country and I miss talking to them regularly.

In the kitchen cinnamon almond ice cream is churning.

Breakfast hasn't happened yet.

Lunch will probably be whatever I scrape together.

Supper will be green chili chicken enchiladas with friends from Second City, they arrive at five. Guac and margaritas will also be enjoyed.

I am wearing my uniform...cotton jersey PJ bottoms, a t-shirt, pink fuzzy slippers and my brown Big Lebowski robe. Not very flattering, but so comfy.

I am creating a new life for myself.

Bringing beauty to my home with fresh flowers.

I am reading Vaclav Havel.

I am hoping Obama wins the election.

Around the house there is laundry to be folded and a bed to be made.

Making plans for my vacation in Arizona.