Hours, days, weeks...

I can't believe it's been over 2 weeks since I have posted. It seems that hour we lost while springing forward was the hour I used for blogging. I have been so busy.

20 was here for Spring Break. He is still the family Tazmanian devil. Remember, Taz, the cartoon? The whirling ball of energy. That's what the week is like when he's here. Lot's of goings and doings, it's all good. It's just lots.

A number of birthdays have gone by hubby's, BILs, and some young cousins turned 13 and 18. We all laughed when 20 said HE was getting old when told a cousin had just turned 13. He was quite shocked because in his words "she's the little girl of the family" and now she's a teenager.

I have been scrapping, and cooking, and still watching lots of movies some old and some new, and even reading again mostly magazines but at least I'm reading again.

I have been working on an expresso flan which is not coming out the way I want it to but I will keep working on it and let you know as soon as it's successful. I will get it right someday.

Today its gray and rainy outside but we had some good weather last week and over the weekend so the boys where able to enjoy the beach with their friends and BIL was able to go on his birthday boating expedition; an annual event.

I have one question to pose: Why is it that no matter how much cash I take out for the weekend it always seems to be exactly how much the boys need? If I take out only $20 then only one asks for cash. This weekend I took out $60, 17 asked for $20 for gas, then later $20 for parking at the beach and lunch, then 20 asked for $20 to be able to eat a little something at the airport. So again I end up with a Monday morning empty wallet. I tell you it doesn't matter how much I take out they seem to know and need just that much. Amazing....

TIME; where does it go?

Am I the only one who was oblivious to the fact that we are springing forward this weekend? i just read about it over at Second Effort. Why!? oh why? I hate the time changes. Hate. Hate. Hate. I always need more time never less time. Even when they give us the extra hour in the fall its really not enough is it?

I have some appointments tomorrow and so I decided to take the day off and see if I could squeeze in an errand to get it off the weekend list of things to do. I have no idea how necessary that was going to be in order to accomplish what I want. Now, I have to really organize my day tomorrow to try and get things done.

I'm feeling a little Mad Hatterish right now like I'm late for a very important date...and they haven't even taken the hour yet....

Movie weekend

Did you watch the Oscar's? I did. I actually popped open a bottle of bubbly (leftover from New Year's Eve) and watched the whole darn thing. Did you have any favorite dresses? Here are mine:

There were many others that looked pretty and all but those three were my absolute favorites. I also liked Kate Winslet and I thought Meryl Streep looked great as did Kathryn Bigelow.

I did not like Jennifer Lopez' dress at all and from what I have read it seems to have been all the rage but not for me. I also thought Zoe Saldana's dress with all those purple feathery ruffles on the bottom was just too much. I will giver her an A for being bold and daring but I didn't like it.

The show overall was very underwhelming not very entertaining at all. I did like the dance performance to the mix of nominated songs. I also thought it was really cool seeing the 'Brat Pack' come out together to present.

The rest was ho humm....I don't think there were any real surprises in who got what at least I wasn't surprised.

Meanwhile over the weeekend I saw Doctor Zhivago (again). It is still wonderful. I had forgotten pieces of it so I am glad I saw it again. I also saw Giant and The Philadelphia Story and Rebel Without A Cause. They were all great. I had no idea that Dennis Hopper was in Rebel Without a Cause. It's fun seeing the old movies and finding popular actors in their beginnings in Hollywood. The only one that was a repeat for me was Zhivago and it totally sucked me in again. Marvelous. Movies back then were bigger. I mean the places were characters in the movie jsut as Texas is a character in Giant. Movies just aren't made like that any more.

I also saw Julie & Julia. It was a cute movie. I liked it because I like Julia Child. Streep totally made the movie worth watching. She was Julia. I don't mean that she impersonated her I mean she WAS Julia. Hook, line and sinker.

So overall, it was a big movie weekend for me.

The System

Last Saturday when I made the truffles and the Marmalade Cake and went out to the family gathering to celebrate a birthday, I didn't do the dishes. Sunday morning I got up and made breakfast and then vegged a bit and watched a movie still not doing the dishes.
I was going to do them but Saturday I was busy and then tired and Sunday morning I wanted to be a bit lazy.
I started doing other things and one thing lead to another and well here comes dinner and I still haven't done the dishes. They were piling up. It's not like I have to do them all by hand or anything although there are quite a few things that are not dishwasher safe but the dishwasher was full and so that meant I had to empty that first. Well, you can see that this is leading to a very full kitchen sink.
I have a double sink and frankly both were full. Shameful I know but this isn't an everyday happening it was a one weekend happening. I am sure (read: I truly hope) it has happened to you. I feel obliged at this point to make note that I don't do all the dishes on a regular basis. I cook and hubby does the dishes. That's the deal. Well, as you know hubby isn't here and so I am cooking AND doing dishes. Have I mentioned I don't like doing the dishes. Not that I imagine anyone actually looks forward to doing the dishes but I really don't like doing the dishes. It may have something to do with all the tables I bused and dishes I washed in Freshman year as detention in boarding school but that's another story.
Back to the story, by Monday afternoon when 17 and I got home he actually commented, if dad were here he'd have a heart attack looking at that sink. He's got a system. That's his new nickname - the system. He's got a system for everything, he's always got to follow his system otherwise things go bonkers. The System.
I tried to explain to my loving son that there is something to say for spontaneity and creativity. That everything doesn't have to have a system to get done. Of course this was while I was doing the dishes so I am not sure the point came across very well. Regardless, the dishes got done (that night) and more meals have been made and their dishes have been done and frankly I find it all a bit boring. I like just creating the meal and walking away. It was much more satisfying.

Mean winds

I have to go to the bank. If I want to get there quickly I should probably leave the car and just let the wind carry me over there. We are under a wind advisory until late tonight. I swear if you just listen it sounds like a hurricane is coming in.

All you hear is the wind. No birds. It's kinds spooky. I can't even hear the cars just the wind. Blowing. Howling. Hurling around the corner of the office building.

I realize other parts of the country have had their weather issues of late but I can tell you that it has been an uncharacteristically long winter here. I can't remember ever going this long with the air conditioner off. I haven't had it on at home for over a month! And there have been plenty of night were 17 and I are bundling up because the house is chilly. I insist its not chilly enough for the heater. I live in SoFL people, let's be real.

Most days it has been ok but today the wind is truly severe. Stay safe everyone and be warm, where ever you are.

I think I will make soup tonight. It's just that kind of day.

I did some new baking this weekend. I made truffles with brandy. It was my first time. I coated them 3 different ways some with cocoa powder, others with crushed pistachios, and others with crushed pretzels. I chose pretzels because the person I was giving them to likes the sweet and salty combo.

The truffles were a bit involved. It's not that its technically hard to make it was just a lot of steps and working with chocolate and melting it and getting it to the right temp was a bit daunting. But know that I've done it. I have some ideas to make it easier and I will take on the task again. I already bought more chocolate.

I have 6 of each kind to hubby's aunt as her birthday present. I told her to be honest with me later and tell me which ones she liked, if any, because they were an experiment. I didn't tell her I had tried one and didn't like it.

I had some leftover and so I took them to a girls game night where I volunteered to take dessert because I wanted to make a Marmalade Cake I saw here: http://orangette.blogspot.com/.

The truffles were sampled there and enjoyed and I tried one again and it was good. I guess the brandy and chocolate needed to mellow. Now, I know.

The cake intrigued me the day I read about it and I had been wanting to make it and my girlfriends were the perfect guinea pigs. I really liked the way it came out. It was very simple looking but full of flavor. I totally see why she called it a marmalade cake not an olive oil cake. The olive oil is not a predominate flavor. The citrus and almonds totally steal the show.

I have one more birthday to plan for this month, hubby's, then I will start planning on the April ones which I already have some ideas for one of which requires setting up the sewing machine again. So, here we go.

Oh, I almost forgot I used my homemade vanilla in the recipes this weekend. I think it worked well. I am going to give some to a girlfriend who bakes a bit to have her try it and see what she thinks.

Other happenings:

* 17 went to a school retreat for 3 days. I have never done anything like that and I know he's been dealing with some issues that he doesn't want to talk to mom about and I was thrilled and grateful when he came home Friday raving about what a wonderful experience it was for him. He says it truly brought him closer to the classmates and teachers that were there and to God. He felt very good about things and I am so happy for him.

*20 had an accident in the weight room while he was bench pressing. The bar slipped from his hand and +200lbs fell on his chest. Miraculously, he's fine. He didn't even crack a rib. The Dr. didn't believe it when he saw the x-rays and so he ordered a scan and both came out clean. He's in pain because he has severe bruising but nothing broken. Thank goodness!

* My dog isn't doing very well. I see him more lethargic than normal and he has these growths that I won't go into detail here but they are gross to deal with and are giving off a bad odor. I think it may be time to say good-bye. I need to talk to the rest of the family about this.

* I have been watching more old movies and still have many recorded to watch. I saw 42nd Street, Broadway Melody and Golddiggers of 1935 and a documentary about Zora Neale Hurston as well as some cooking shows. I'm enjoying the old movies, surprised I know so many of the songs from the musicals but I guess I just didn't know what movies they came from.