PICKLES!

Also, I don't care for the new Blogger format. I think they're trying to be new-age Wordpress and I'm not a fan.

But back to the Pickles...

I'm on a bit of a bender. A cooking bender.

Our local farmers market is ah-mazing and has the most delicious veggies! In spite of the fact that it pops up in fairly convenient locations twice a week, I find myself unable to resist buying nice plump radishes in bright shades of red, fresh grass-fed beef, delicious goat cheese, home made pesto and tampenade, and beautiful "Easter" eggs that may or may not have been laid by the chicken I'll be roasting...

(via)

Well, this week I walked away with an abundance of radishes and onions (my mom and I couldn't decide on a bunch of the onions, so the farmer gave them both to us for $3!) and I couldn't quite figure out what to do with them. I looked through Food Network and Epicurious, and overwhelmingly the recipes involved pickling the radish. Don't ask me why this hadn't occurred to me sooner, I'm a big fan of pickled radishes, but we always ate them fresh when I was growing up!

So, I went to that dreaded bastion of insanity and poor lighting (Wal-Mart) and picked up some Ball jars and pickling supplies. We'll have to go to Publix or YDFM later to supplement my garlic and pick up some cucumbers, but there will be pickling to be had in the Sizemore-Clark household this week!

My secondary project is picking the ripe mulberries off the tree Jeremy discovered before the birds can get to them-- once I have 6-8 cups, mulberry jam it is!

Basically, I'm on an old-fashioned food bender. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go slice up some kiwis and kumquats for snack.

(in case I hadn't bragged enough about our locavore tendencies-- this morning we had locally raise bacon and french toast made with locally-baked challa and some of those Easter eggs from my friend Sharon's hens. Clearly, we're pretty awesome.)

When it rains it pours...

BOOKS!

One day I have zero e-books in my holds list, now I have FIVE! They'll hold them for three days before giving them to the next person on the list, so I've been ripping through books all weekend!

I read "The Other Wes Moore" and "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" in one day, then started "The Tiger's Wife" yesterday, will finish that tonight and tomorrow so that I can read through the first Sookie Stackhouse book again (before I read the rest), "The Anatomist's Apprentice" AND the first Steig Larsson book "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"-- quite a list!

I pre-ordered The Bloggess' book "Let's Pretend This Never Happened" and Amy Atlas' first publication for my business library. I'm SO excited about this year in books! Back to reading!

"The Other Wes Moore" by Wes Moore

A really amazing book, I'll review a little more thoroughly later, but I loved this particular bit of writing:

"The common bond of humanity and decency that we share is stronger than any conflict, any adversity, any challenge. Fighting for your convictions is important. But finding peace is paramount. Knowing when to fight and when to seek peace is wisdom. Ubuntu was right." - Wes Moore

Rough Day

Today has been a mixed bag of things... I've been thoroughly exhausted and have no real desire to do much of anything, but on the other hand I got to eat dinner with a movie crew and really? That's pretty awesome.

Work is wearing me out like nobody's business. I have so much to do, but I'm so tired and haven't had a break in so long that I can't think straight! I'm sorely tempted to take all of next week off and go to North Carolina or Florida to spend a few days on the beach, but I know I can't do that... *sigh*

I'm also bummed because my landlord just told us we couldn't get the dog I'd wanted so badly; he offered to sell us the house, but a) we're not in a position to buy and b) this place has a few issues that need to be sorted out by someone with more patience than I have! So, I guess the great search begins again, to try and find the perfect place for us to be... I don't think we'll move any time soon, I'd love to be in this house for two years (because good LORD is moving hard), and we don't make nearly enough money to put a down payment on a house. Who knows, maybe my business will take off and Jeremy will find a fantastic job and all will be well with the world! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Race to the Pole

I'm reading Sir Ranulph Fiennes "Race to the Pole" right now and it's fantastic-- how amazing that 100 years ago, the first person to reach the South Pole was on his way back to England!

From Scott's letter to his niece upon his second Polar journey, November 1910 regarding the sledge dogs:

"The dogs are rather fierce and the people who don't know them have to be careful not to go too close or they would get bitten -- but wasn't it funny -- there was a girl the same age as Phoebe who went up to the fiercest dog of all and put her arms round his neck -- and the dog didn't mind at all. When you grow older you will understand that there are lots of animals and lots of people who are like that dog."

February...

Yesterday was Leap Day and the last day of February! Usually the most fiscally draining month of the year, this year wasn't too bad BUT it was quite draining! This time last year, I was in the ER with fluchitis (I think it was bronchitis, they think it was the flu, but I never had a fever so I'm not sure which one of us is right) and I'm tryin' real hard to not get back there again... Just woke up (rather, came back from the edge of sleep) with a splitting headache...

Anywhoo, it was an interesting day to say the least-- we had a parent who turned 10 and parents with a 5th grader celebrate their 3rd anniversary! [yes, I did pause to go, "OH, were you married on leap day?" before banging my head on the desk-- hellooooo captain obvious!]

Not a whole lot else is going on. My car is fixed enough to go to Memphis for Easter, and I think Glenda and Earl are going to be there for a Traylor family reunion, so we'll finally get to give Earl his Christmas present! We haven't seen the Clarks since Thanksgiving, and haven't been to Memphis in longer so it will be nice to take that weekend. I really wish we could go to NC, but that will have to wait... I'm hoping that even though Rhodes finally decided to do a super long weekend for Easter, that some of my A-family will be around to see.

Other than that, we're just haaaanging in there... a real grown up dinner with Zach and Laura on tap for Friday and training my awesome new assistant for the rest of the week!

Keeping busy

I didn't want to just be a negative Nancy tonight, so here's a little update!

I haven't had a chance to take any more pictures to list things on Etsy, however I did sell a few things and I've made a lot! I also realized that this weekend is the first anniversary of my event planning business! It's only been a year, but I've already had two clients and several consultations, and I've started a generally successful jewelry business in that time as well! I'm very excited and very hopeful for the second year of being my own boss :)

I'm watching the third season of Toddlers and Tiaras, which I thought I would hate but I actually kind of love... there are a few episodes that I've turned off because the parents were just too much, but a lot of these kids are pretty sweet and they come back for a few episodes so it's fun to see them back. There are families who are clearly pushing their kids in to it to live vicariously, but I've also seen a lot of families say (after a particularly heinous breakdown) that it's time to take a break and see if this is something their kid really wants to do. Considering it costs upwards of $30k/yr... that's probably a good decision!

We're done with full day camps at work for now, which is nice, it means my brain can stop worrying 11 hours a day! Of course, now I have to plan spring break and do promotional materials for summer camp, but I'm not very motivated on that... I have to remind myself that I have to stand up to my own standards and not drop the ball just because I may not be there much longer!

Anyways, I'm off to bed-- Violet's birthday is tomorrow, she's turning 3!! They're doing a big party at one of those silly jumping places, but I'll get to see her and play with her and definitely get a picture of her in the birthday outfit I picked for her! Can't believe my girl has gotten so big!!