"i originally wanted 2 goat legs. so I didn't have to wear pants. like mr. tumnus."

Take a wild guess who said that.

Weekend highlights (wherein “weekend” starts Thursday night):

City Sen (pronounced “seen”-imagine a little thingy over the e) where I discovered the beauty of a coffee flavored vodka/stout drink that blew my mind and hung out with Joel and the BFF. Someday? Joel, Erin, and Peter will be mature enough to go out and not end up at the Curragh drinking Irish Carbombs.

Carmel Bailey’s Irish Cream liquor with hot chocolate

Celebrating the first soon-to-be-annual Christina Day by watching “White Christmas” and “Love Actually” in front of a fire whilst knitting

Agreeing to run Chicago in 2009. Oy.

Hearing that maybe possibly making no promises someone I never thought in a million years might be interested in running might be interested in starting to run

don't panic: 34 days until Christmas

It’s still snowing. As we have a huge body of water directly next to us, the snowfall amounts are ranging from 4-10 inches by tomorrow afternoon.

Two weeks ago it was 70 degrees.

I watched “Who killed the electric car” yesterday. I was already in the not-so-popular camp here in Michigan of not supporting a bailout for the Big Three. Now? Absolutely not. No way. Forget it. I understand the whole ripple effect thing, but too bad. Let’s bring back the WPA. There are roads and bridges that need to be fixed. There are countless public works projects that could be accomplished. Instead of giving money to businesses that clearly are not interested in making any concessions or changing their business model despite them being a complete failure, let’s spend the money to put the people on the line in jobs that would help the country.

And the new unemployment numbers came out yesterday here in Michigan. Drumroll, please…..9.5%. Yay! We’re the big winners! This might have something to do with why I’ve been feeling so grateful lately. My job? Fairly secure. I mean, at least I’m not in Philly where they’ve had to permanently close 11 library branches. Our budget is tight, but no one is talking layoffs yet.

Other things on my mind:

Soup. I’ve been making a lot of soup. I want to continue to make a lot of soup. I made one the other day that was so good I felt kind of high. Boring ingredients: carrots, garbanzo beans, onions, and kale. Amazing spices: garlic, ginger, cumin, chilis, cinnamon. It was even better the next day.

Bread. I have everything I need to bake bread and yet I’m not doing it.

Knitting. Or rather doing something other than knitting. I finished monster project #1. I started monster project #2, but I think I need to do something else in addition to it. My hands are starting to feel arthritic. I have a couple of sewing projects I need to get done before Christmas. I think I need to change it up.

Thanksgiving. I have a reputation of making “unusual” dishes for Berghoef family potlucks. This year I’m thinking of making this cauliflower and Brussels sprouts gratin which is not nearly as healthy as last year’s roasted vegetables, but the thought of getting some of the Renzema girls to eat Brussels sprouts makes me filled with joy. Plus I’ll use the Romanesco broccoli which is always fun as it’s cool looking.

Baked goods vs Candy. I want to make up little things for various people. Coworkers, neighbors, friends, etc. I go back and forth between quick breads, cookies, and truffles. Quick breads are obviously the easiest, cookies are obviously the most safe, and truffles are obviously the most expensive and time-consuming. I need to make up my mind and start making stuff regardless as there are only 34 days until Christmas.

Not. panicking.

it just ain't right

It is snowing. Normally this is cause for alarm in Erin’s World as it means at least 5 months of gray, cold, wet days (read: depression). And yet this morning I awoke to snow covered trees and felt like it was Christmas morning. I credit a new flannel nightgown that makes me feel like I’m Laura Ingalls Wilder, winter walks, my birthday lasagna dinner, my new chocolate brown Nicole Miller duvet cover, falling asleep reading Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, watching really good documentaries, the new heater maybe actually making things warmer upstairs, getting to wear my red hat, enjoying my job, the prospect of baking bread Wednesday afternoon, soup, feeling like we’re in this together, and the beginning of the holiday season.

I’ve been feeling lucky lately. Not lucky as in “Boy am I lucky I made it through this day” but lucky as in “I am so lucky to have the life I have.”

Ahem.

May the Pollyanna days continue.

it's no longer fall. it's finter.

garlic
echinacea
vitamin C
getting up at 8:30am
the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy
pushcart nominations
being almost done with knitting project #1
tea


peter being sick
peter being sick
peter being sick
having to get up at 6am

but Peter doesn't even LIKE people!!!!

Bell’s was:
way smaller than I expected
Peter’s ground zero
a hippie’s paradise
delicious (Christmas Ale, Smoked Stout (!!!!!), mead, and Hunter’s Moon)
hard to find
practically perfect in every way

If it was'nt for the fact that it was in Kalamazoo and I unapologetically and wholeheartedly despise Kalamazoo I would probably go there every single day. That’s how much I loved it. It’s not Founders, but that’s because it’s Bell’s.


Bob Dylan was:
old
perfectly unintelligible
more sprightly than last time I saw him
played Maggie’s Farm, Rainy Day Women, It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum, Make You Feel My Love, The Levee’s Gonna Break, Ballad Of Hollis Brown, Things Have Changed, The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll, It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding), Workingman’s Blues #2, Highway 61 Revisited (his only guitar playin’ of the night), Ain’t Talkin’, Thunder On The Mountain, Ballad Of A Thin Man, Like A Rolling Stone, All Along the Watchtower

There was lotsa harp and lotsa cool lighting and lotsa people around us smoking pot. Sigh. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.

friday afternoons are the best

knitting
nostalgia
Richard Brautigan
my Nick Drake Pandora station
30 Rock
thinking about my first trip to Bell’s tomorrow
followed by Bob Dylan
the irony of Jennifer Granholm being on Obama’s economic advisory committee



not being able to sleep for no good reason
my sysiphean attempt to keep leaves off the patio
emptying the kitty litter
election hangovers
my birthday

i think i'm still in shock

President Obama
Odd Notion by Magic Hat
poetry
medical marijuana and stem cell research passing in MI
carbohydrates
70 degree fall days
saying yes by saying no
leaves
that speech
sleep



hangovers
fighting
Prop 8

the beginning of the best birthweek EVER

11/3/08
Work until 5pm
Freak out
Go to Meijer for foodstuffs
Cook supper
Pick out what I’ll want to wear to go vote (yeah. I do that.)
Freak out
Knit
Attempt to go to sleep early
Freak out


11/4/08
Get up at 6:15am
Get dressed for work
Freak out
Go to my polling place
Go to Peter’s polling place
Freak out
Go out for Election Day breakfast
9-5 work
Freak out
Cook dinner
Meet up with Christina
Try not to drink too much
Freak out
Watch infuriating pundits say nothing for fear of saying the wrong thing
Freak out
Stay up until it’s over


11/5/08
Wake up with a renewed sense of optimism in the democratic process, the people of this country, and the first president I have ever truly been proud of in my lifetime.

And I might have a wee hangover.