Sunday Salon, Nov. 20th

Weather: overcast and cool. Threatening to rain on and off all day.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Anne a dull girl. I had one of those weeks that was just crazy busy at work. I double booked myself almost every period for three days in a row. So I not only was busy every period I was also running around every period from class to class. I ended up staying late every day except Wednesday when I had to leave early for my follow-up mammogram (gulp) but they discovered nothing after closer inspection (whew.) I came home every day completely pooped. See what I mean about Anne having a dull week?

"Look everybody. Look whose back. Again." That is one of our favorite lines from the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". In the movie the grandmother keeps running away and a neighbor brings her back. In our life, we say the line whenever someone is gone for a while and returns. This week it was Ichiro, our fifteen-year-old cat, who disappeared for over 48 hours before returning all bedraggled with a wounded foot. Boy, were we happy to see the old boy. I had already written our girls an email telling them I thought he was gone for good. Glad I was wrong. The photo montage (above) is one photo of him which I manipulated with Waterlogue.

Thanksgiving this week: We are hosting the dinner this year and plan the traditional meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and sides, and plenty of pies. My parents and sister and her husband are driving up from Eugene, her daughter is flying up from California, a cousin and my aunt are driving down from Seattle, my cousin's daughter and her husband will be here (they live nearby), and so will our daughter and her husband. It will be a full house, but lots of fun. We will miss our youngest daughter who will remain in New York and dine with friends.

Books read this week:

• Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter. I attempted to finish this book last Sunday as part of my 24-hour reading/blogging event. I didn't quite get it finished in time but finished it later in the day. It is a weird one but I did end up enjoying it.

Currently reading:

• Girl at War by Sara Novic. For an upcoming book club about a girl trapped in the fighting during the Bosnian War. 33% done.
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. For my Classics Club challenge. I hope to finish by Dec.1st. 69% finished. Audiobook.
• Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford. Another audiobook and book club selection. 70% complete.

Fish Tacos:  A new food obsession of mine is fish tacos and we dined out one day at the local Taco Del Mar and each had two fish tacos then later in the week we successfully made them ourselves, using two recipes, one for cooking the fish and the other for the white sauce.  In my opinion it is the white sauce that makes them extra special, but we did use cabbage, cheese, and pico de gallo along with the fish and sauce. Since we had leftovers, we are having them again today. Yum. Anne Burrell Fish Tacos.  and Wickedly Good Sauce for Fish.

Have a wonderful week. Even with all the disappointments of this Fall (election results, death of my father-in-law, cancer diagnosis for my brother) I still have so much to be thankful for. Bet you do, too!