Week 17

Lunch spot

And lo, on the twenty-third day of the fourth month in the 17th week of the year, I reached the square triangular age of 36. I awoke with the quintessential song of Enya orinoco-flowing in my head and decided it was a very good way to start my day, possibly even my year. The day brought sunshine and warmth, my first picnic lunch of the year, a bittersweet moment at work, wine with a dear friend, and a beautiful spread of my favorite foods, compliments of the one who knows these things.

Cake and well-wishes on my birthday (though not for me)

The bittersweet moment at work was sitting in on the final lecture of an iconic professor in an iconic class - he will continue teaching other classes as he phases into retirement, but this one was a biggie.

On Tuesday, I got to attend an event featuring Pulitzer Prize-winner Katherine Boo. She spoke with warmth and calm as she cast direct light on men and women whose brilliance is buried in the situations into which they are born, naming them as individuals who are valued, whose stories are worthy of telling. I hope to read Behind the Beautiful Forevers before the year is through.

Convention Center skywalk

Another fun photo shoot in the music building

I found my first mosquito bites on Wednesday after a good bike ride with beer and hills.

Eating salad with chopsticks is a gamechanger

As for Thursday - did you know April 26 is National Pretzel Day? And now you know the real reason I go to Bar Method.

All my tulips started blooming.

On Friday, we got to see my niece perform in her high school theatre production. What a treat! Girl's got talent.

On Saturday, I started weeding the strip between the sidewalk and the street, when three of the kids who live nextdoor came over and asked if they could help. The older of the three told me the younger ones just like to play in the dirt, which turned out to be true. They were blissful over the pill bugs and caterpillars they were unearthing beneath the rocks, while their big sister was literally saving me hours of yard work. It was funny to hear their banter as they described the invasive grape hyacinths as onions (due to the bulbs) and imagined digging an underground home to sleep in. Many hands make light work, and in this case, a little more light-hearted. But I was still worn out.

It felt good to walk down the hill for a beer reward.

And just for old time's sake...

Watching

On a whim, I started watching the first season of Laugh-In, which is currently available on Netflix. I laugh, I wince, I get caught off-guard by the segues. But it's been *very interesting*, enough to keep me watching. It's the kind of show that makes me want to write a research paper about the late 1960s. I find myself wondering how much outside pop culture Laugh-In is referencing versus how much Laugh-In shaped pop culture.

Also watched Network, one of those movies that feel just as relevant today as it did when it originally premiered more than 40 years ago. 

Sweets (in lieu of Cookie of the Week)

I ate two lemon tart-like desserts this week. As well as halves of two different cupcakes and two different macarons. And a fancy organic version of a Mounds candy bar. Cookies may reappear in my oven come June at this point. I'm trying to cool it on the sugar for a couple more weeks. Though I did just make a lemon yogurt cake with blueberries and crystallized ginger...so scratch that.

Listening

For the last decade (or so), whenever the weather hits 80 degrees, this is one of the first songs I listen to as loud as is appropriate.

Reading

Well, maybe I'll finish Swing Time someday.

Recipes

I requested peas and prosciutto for my birthday dinner, and Joel put them into a risotto with spring vegetables. It was just what I needed. He also made some bomb steaks with chimichurri another night. I haven't been in much of an adventurous cooking mood lately and have been returning to old favorites, like Jenene's Indian, which we ate on Saturday.