I love my husband.

That is all.

___________

OK, of course that's not all. When have I ever stopped at 2 sentences? Sorry to be a gross newlywed, but really ... every once in a while I just get a little reminder of how handsome, and funny, and fun, and brilliant, and silly, and just plain wonderful he is. Hooray for Hubbyhubs.

Time to join him on the couch for Mad Men.

Back to Work

Hubbyhubs and I got back last night from our mini-vacation to Portland, OR and Seattle, WA. We had a great time. Our visit was a surprise to his mom, who had been whisked to Portland on the pretense of visiting her aunt. She was stunned to see us, and even more surprised a few hours later when we walked her into a room of 40 people for her surprise party. I didn't get to see too much of Portland, but we did a little shopping in town, and it was very nice. We went to church at St. George in Portland, which was very warm and welcoming. For once, Hubbyhubs won the bet over whether or not I would run into someone I knew at a random Antiochian church. In my defense, the attendance was a little light (it's summer ...) so I still bet that I would know a parishioner there on a regular Sunday.

After that, we drove back to Seattle with the parents, and then Hubbyhubs and I went out to dinner with his friends (my friends too) who just got engaged. As always, the seafood in Seattle was great. We ate at Chinook's and had a lot of fun talking about their wedding plans and other stuff. I really REALLY love not being engaged anymore!

On Monday, we spent the day kind of lazing around the house. I finished a baby sweater for a new baby our friends out there just had, and then we got to deliver it in person. I love little baby boys, and how much they look like angry old men. We had a lot of fun hanging out over there. I am hoping that they will send a picture of him wearing the sweater.

We headed out for a family dinner at the Flying Fish, to celebrate my bday and my brother-in-law's (they are a day apart). I had halibut, and it was fantastic. My present was a book that I am really enjoying, called Three Cups of Tea. It's great so far.

Yesterday (or "lasterday," as my niece says), we woke up, packed, and flew home. We had everything we'd gone out there with, plus a family tree my father-in-law painted for us, a bread machine my mother-in-law picked up for us at a thrift store, and a mirror that H's aunt and uncle gave us as a wedding gift. We managed to get everything home in one piece. I'm excited about the breadmaker.

And now, here we are, back to work. I got a phone call from my niece this morning wishing me a happy belated birthday (ok, she didn't say "belated," but it's not that far out of her vocabulary), and it was great to hear her sweet little voice. My nephew called on my bday and I missed the call, so now I have a fantastic voicemail recording of his two-year-old rendition of Happy Birthday. Best_present_ever.

At last, this week is almost over.

I am so glad it's Friday. I got in super early today because I have 14 million things to get done before the weekend. We're going away (more details on that to come), and won't be back until Tuesday, so I have a bunch of stuff to clear off my desk. Of course, Microsoft Word is frozen right now, so I thought I'd throw in a quick blog post.

We are about at the end of the pantry/freezer week, and I have to say, it was a great week, dinner-wise. We spent zero dollars and ate really well. Last night I remembered that I had two cooked hamburger patties in the freezer, so I warmed those up, and we had them in pita bread (a.k.a. Syrian bread, in my house). For a side dish, I whipped up some croquetas, a favorite cheap food in Spain. They were ugly but sooo good. I love how crispy they are on the outside and how soft and wonderful they are on the inside. Nutritional value is probably pretty low, but mmmm ....

We also had beer, thanks to the Christmas gift I gave Hubbyhubs last year -- Beer of the Month Club. Well, actually I got him beer-every-other-month, because I prepaid for 6 deliveries and scheduled them to come every other month. It's been awesome. I chose the domestic microbrews package, so every other month we get a sampling of beers from two or three different microbreweries. I think next year we'll sign up for 12 months of deliveries and just not ever buy beer at the grocery store. It's definitely cheaper that way, and we get more variety.

Now for the highlight of last night. I have a bday coming up (I'll be 21+, as my mother always said) in a few days, but Hubbyhubs wanted to give me my presents early, since we'll be away on my actual birthday. Well, he hit the nail on the head. First, he gave me a ridiculously funny card, which actually made me laugh out loud. Then, three gifts (elegantly wrapped in a leftover wedding gift bag he dug out of the guest room ... ): I got two books, The Annotated Alice, which I've been dying to read since forever, and a book on word usage by William F. Buckley, one of the best wordsmiths who ever lived. Last but not least, he got me an absolutely perfect wallet (no, not the Louis ... I would have killed him if he spent that much on my birthday!).

I can't find an exact picture of it, but it's pretty close to this, only black, and no visible snap on the tab:

I love it. I switched out all my cards and cash from my wristlet last night, and it's so nice to be able to see what's in my wallet. I feel like an actual, organized grownup now. Thank you, Hubbyhubs!

OK ... Microsoft Word finally closed itself down and I reopened it, so time to get back to work.

Is it Friday yet?

I know I've only worked like 3 out of the last 10 days, but seriously ... this week is dragging, bigtime. I am preparing for an arbitration in case that I am 99% sure will settle on the eve of the hearing, so I have very little motivation to actually get the work done. The office is eerily quiet, and it looks like such a nice day outside my office.





Anyway ... I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats wondering what we had for dinner last night. I sauteed some shrimp in a pan with shallots, seasoned them with amazing Adobo, and tossed them with some olive oil and pepper over some ziti. It was delicious. Hubbyhubs brought the leftovers with him to the office for lunch today, but I say he chose wrong. The leftover quiche I dined on this afternoon -- cold, straight from the office fridge -- was singularly satisfying.





I have no idea what I'm making for dinner tonight. I'm pretty sure there's chicken in the freezer, and I think I saw a hamburger or two the last time I was in there. Tomorrow night is definitely Tilapia night, but tonight is going to be a mystery. I'm very proud of how little we spent on food this week. Let's see how we do next week!





In other news, I totally want this:

It's only $250 ... and I really need to get my wallet situation organized. I've been using a Coach wristlet for the last couple of years, and I absolutely love it, but it's not really functional as an everyday wallet. So, yeah ... kind of lusting after this little Louis ... (and of course I still want the big bag).

Quiche Me

First of all, thank the Lord, I am feeling SO much better. Antibiotics are amazing. I slept through the night last night and I feel like a new woman.

Second, I have to say, I'm a genius in the kitchen. Trying to keep spending down, we are eating out of the pantry and the freezer this week. So far, so good. Monday night I made a delicious meal for two of us from one pork chop. There was rice, and beans, and onions, and I don't know what Goya puts in that Adobo stuff but it's the food equivalent of crack. I'm hooked.

Last night I made a crustless quiche, roughly following this recipe:

SPINACH - MUSHROOM QUICHE (CRUSTLESS)
3 eggs
1 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c. flour
6 oz. shredded cheddar cheese (I usually use more)
1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach
1 can mushroom pieces
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 8x8 inch pan (or 9-inch deep dish pie pan) in 350 degree oven. Beat eggs, add milk, flour, salt, baking powder, and mix well. Add shredded cheese, spinach (drained), and mushrooms. Pour into pan and bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

I didn't have any mushrooms, and I added some chopped up deli ham. For the cheese, I just tore up a few slices of provelone and tossed in some grated Parmesan. And then, the genius part ... we didn't have any milk in the house (I never drink it, and hubbyhubs uses it in his cereal a couple days a week ... we're often out of milk). So, instead of milk, I used a cup of L'Madeleine Tomato Soup, which my cousin in DC brings me jars of every time he visits. Yes, that shot the fat content up to about 18g per person ... but it was worth it. It also probably weighed the quiche down a little bit, as it was rather low, but it was absolutely delicious. I also added a few shakes of black pepper into the mix, because I thought it was a weird omission. Anyway, this is definitely going to be a staple in our menu.

I am feeling energized and ready to tackle the 2 million projects that have piled up on my desk in the last week. I swear, I don't even know what the point of working at a firm is, if nobody pulls together in my absence. I might as well be a sole practitioner.

I am knitting up a storm, as usual. I am in the middle of a baby sweater for a couple of friends who have a new little boy. I have one more baby sweater on the list, for the grandchild of my parents' friends. And then, I get to tackle that big bunting sweater thingy, and I CANNOT wait. I really hate that I have to waste so many hours at work when I could be knitting. My latest daydream is that I open up a teeny little knitting shop in our neighborhood, sell all kinds of soft fuzzy yarn, talk to old ladies all day, and read, and write, and knit. I'm not sure if it would pay the bills, but it sure would be nice ...

Classic Onion

I mock my husband, pretty much constantly, for his undying love of This American Life.

Thankfully, The Onion has relieved me of the burden of coming up with new mockery. Genius.

A Monday kind of Tuesday

I'm back at work today and incredibly exhausted. I finally went to the doctor yesterday, who confirmed that I have bronchitis, laryngitis, and a sinus infection. Lucky me. He started me on antibiotics and told me to stay home from work (well, if you insist ...). I am feeling a lot better today, congestion-wise, but either the bug or the antibiotics or the steady diet of Advil I've been on is just knocking me out. I might actually try to leave early today (like, 6).

Of course, I was a waste of life around the house all weekend, and got no cleaning done at all. I really really have to deal with all my clothes in the bedroom and the closet. Hubbyhubs was a champ, and did get some good cleaning done around the living room and kitchen, so at least that is taken care of. And, we finally finished our big batch of thank-you notes (105 so far), so that is a great relief.

Now I just have to get through the next four days until I can relax again. I hate that I spend every minute of the weekdays looking forward to the weekends. I need some more recreation in my life, I think.

Oh, I also finally finished the latest baby sweater (for a friend at church), and started working on another, the first of 3 projects I have sitting around. I'm a machine.

That's all, folks.

I'm Speechless

Well, I'm voiceless, anyway. I ended up sleeping on the couch last night because it was too hot in the bedroom and I couldn't prop myself up the right way. This chest cold has gone from bad to worse. I didn't fall asleep until after 2:30, and that was with the aid of Benedryl (that stuff is practically Ambien to me). So, much to the probable chagrin of my boss, I am not going in today. I have absolutely no voice whatsoever -- I can't croak out a single word. And, the periodic coughing fits are no picnic either. I don't feel like spending the day fielding the "why are you even here?" questions I'm sure I will get. I think they will survive a day without me.

Mejor en Espanol

I had a chat with my friend Vivian today. If I had to write an acrostic poem about VIVIAN, it would go something like this:
Vivacious
In-style
Very cool (hubbyhubs says "oh please, that's a cop-out ... don't transcribe my words!")
Interesante
Absolutely fabulous
Nobody's better.

Anyway, I digress. So, I was talking to Vivian (never Viv) today, about how certain sentiments are just better expressed in Spanish. Vivian, for the record, is an American-born Cubana. She humors me when I speak Spanish to her all the time. Anyway ... these are the words that have no meaningful English translation:

Estrenar: loosely, it means, "to debut," but that doesn't quite cut it. You would use it to tell someone that you are wearing your new outfit for the first time, or that a movie is opening this weekend. There's no real, concise way to express this in English.

Antelacion: loosely (again), it sort of means "lead time," or time ahead. Eg: I want to get to the theater with enough "antelacion" to buy tickets and get a seat. I am convinced that there is no single word in the English language that can express this. For that reason, I am trying to Anglosize it. Pronounce it: an-tu-lay-shun. Let's see how that goes.

Janeado: I think this is the right spelling. This was Vivian's contribution. It means that something is in your way, like when a bunch of annoying tourists stop RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SIDEWALK and you are trying to get to work. Janeado.

(Full disclosure: due to my ridiculous chest cold, I've been drinking a hot mix of scotch, lemon juice, and honey. I'm not sure it's helped, but I'm more than a little drunk. Oops. Forgive my nonsense.)

Hubbyhubs is laughing at me.

Yeah, I have a funny husband.

I don't mind that he's also tall, cute, and brilliant. And so sweet.

I don't think he'll ever understand my need to climb, but at least he accepts it. Sometimes, I just see a high ledge or platform, and I think, that needs to be climbed (clome?). I'm probably half monkey, or cat.

Someday, when Hubbyhubs has his own blog, I will guest blog and tell you all embarassing things about him.

I'm (reluctantly) back in the office today. I still feel like I have a cactus stuck in my throat, with branches trying to push out through my ears, but my fever seems to be staying down. I am definitely not staying late, though (famous last words). At least tomorrow is Friday and I can relax over the weekend.

Back to work -- there is plenty of it today.

Climbyness is Next to Oddliness

What's up, it's the Notorious H.U.B.S., guestblogging by popular demand. (And I do mean demand -- thanks to reader A.T. for the late-night text message. Please can I have my puppy back now?)

Here's a little story about your regular blogger. When I met BrooklynGirl I was a starving student, living in a tiny dorm studio. It was the type of place where the kitchen was a sink and two burners, in the hallway. It was the type of place where I could sit up in bed and very nearly touch three walls. It was the type of place where I literally -- LITERALLY literally - propped my bedframe up on its side every day so I could stand the mattress behind it and pretend I had a living room. Ok, half a living room. It was that type of place.

Anyway, after I met BrooklynGirl but before she looked around my fireproof hovel and sang "let me upgrade you," she came over a few times to hang out. We were young and giddy with newfound love, but I was extra giddy at not having been dumped when I told her I lived in a dorm. What sort of person does that, at my distinguished age? How strange do you have to be to voluntarily cohabitate with close-talking grad students from Minsk and college sophomores in Levi-would-shudder jeans? Pretty odd, right?

And then, all at once, my worries were gone. Because during one of BrooklynGirl's visits, I looked up from my seat in the "living room" to see my unofficial fiancee, the love of my life, the syrup on my pancakes, standing.

On my windowsill.

Just standing there, four feet up. As if it were perfectly normal. Chillin'. What's more, this relocation from normal altitude had occurred when I'd looked away for just a moment, IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONVERSATION. "Sometimes I feel climb-y, " she explained meekly, and I've learned that to be true. The other day she towered over me from the ledge by my desk, and last week she was alarmed when she thought--mistakenly, for just a second--that someone had pruned a certain tree on our block. Seems she finds that tree tantalizingly climbalicious, and has been waiting for a chance to scale it. All of which is to say: I know I have nothing to worry about. My wife is one odd duck. (A climbing duck, I guess.)

H.U.B.S. is out, my people. I will strike again when you least expect it!

Blech.

I am sick. And I'm not a very good patient. I started getting that gross sticky throat / itchy ears / headache feeling yesterday. I took some Tylenol Cold last night and woke up feeling worse. I took my temp and it was 99.5, which didn't seem bad enough to skip work. Well, the bus ride was frickin excruciating. I don't know why, but whenever I have even the slightest fever, my legs ACHE. My hips, my knees, my thighs, everything. It's unbearable. So I got into the office around 8:30, cleaned up my desk, made copies of stuff I need to work on, and drafted a letter that had to go out today. When Partner arrived at 9:30, I told him I was leaving. I couldn't bear to get back on the bus again, so one $40 cab ride later, I was back in the comfort of my bed, now with about 100.6. I know it's a low fever (as my dad also pointed out) but crappy is crappy, and even a little fever makes me feel awful. Plus I think my normal body temperature is low-ish, so anything just feels lousy. So, I slept until about 3pm with a couple of snack breaks, then watched Mad Men (great show), and then actually managed to make dinner for Hubbyhubs and me. Again, Rachael Ray came through, but I found a way to make her recipe even simpler. It was for a Sicilian Eggplant Marinara pasta dish, and she said to take a whole eggplant, roast it in the oven, and scoop out the insides, and put the insides through a food processor. Well, because I am my mother's daughter, I already had about 2 pounds of frozen "inside of roasted eggplant" in a ziplock the freezer. Does Rachael Ray not know that stuff comes in cans now? It took a while to thaw it out in the microwave (it was leftover from a previously opened can), but if I'd had a can on the shelf it would have been about a 9-minute meal. Definitely going to keep that one in mind.

Now I'm ready to head back to the couch. I'm so annoyed that I'm home and basically unable to do anything. There's a ton of laundry and organizing that I've been meaning to get to, but I just don't have the energy. I guess it will have to wait for the weekend.

Sorry for such a blah post ... maybe it is time for Hubbyhubs to start guest blogging? What do you think? I want to hear from all 5 of my readers (that's excluding the 20 or so people in Pakistan who end up at my blog every day after searching for images of Katrina Kaif).

Yum-O

Hubbyhubs is supposedly making dinner tonight, as he is working from home and I am working from the depths of Hell at the office. According to the menu I planned on Sunday, tonight's meal is Rachael Ray's Chicken Curry in a Hurry. Everything he needs is already in the kitchen, and we even own a wok, so I think he can probably handle it. Vamos a ver.

And yes, I totally just googled the html code for strikethrough because blogger doesn't do it automatically and I'm that big a nerd.

I am a lazy blogger.

Sorry, guys ... I know you're all dying to know what this boring old married lady is up to every second of the day, but I just don't have that kind of time.



We had a great weekend. Friday I ran out of work, got my hair done, ran to Duane Reade and (gasp!) bought pre-glued fake nails to slap over my grubby claws. They looked fabulous. I ran and met hubbyhubs, coworker, and coworker's girlfriend for dinner. We went to Bhukara Grill, which was delicious if a little bit expensive. Had a lovely time. From there we went to my cousin's 25th bday party at a bar in the meatpacking district, where we had a few drinks and ran into some people I hadn't seen in a while. Took a nice cab ride home and slept waaay late on Saturday morning. Went for a walk along the water, made pancakes from scratch (and scrambled eggs), wrote about 25 thank-you notes out on our balcony, while mosquitoes ate my legs mercilessly. Found some ground turkey in the freezer and made Turkey Paprikash a la Rachael Ray, which was right tasty if I do say so myself. I also made a big pot of yogurt (that's "leban" to my fellow Arabs), which, the next day, I put into a cheesecloth bag and strained to make lebneh. It was delicious and I am awesome.





Sunday we had a nice morning at church, followed by my favorite Sunday-afternoon activities of overeating, napping on the couch, writing another 20 thank-you notes (indoors, where the bugs couldn't bite), and watching TV. I printed out the circular from our local grocery store, sat down with my Rachael Ray 30-min meals cookbook, and planned our week's dinners around the sales. Gave hubbyhubs the circular with my circles on it, took my own written list, and we hit the grocery store. In the end, we saved 26 bucks and got enough food for a week of dinners and probably two weeks of lunches and breakfasts. We're awesome. I came home and made Engagement Chicken (does it count if he's already proposed to and married me?), which, as usual, was scrumptious.





I ordered some Alpaca yarn and some new needles, and I'm really excited to start a project for my cousin's baby-on-the-way:

It doesn't get much cuter than that, folks. I'm doing it in a dark magenta. Unfortunately, the pattern has been translated from Norwegian to British English, which means I still need to translate it to American knitting terms to be able to follow it, but ... I really think I am ready for the challenge. How hard could it be? (famous last words!) Seriously, though, look how cute this stuff is!

Today I got into work at the ungodly hour of about 7am, and I am totally beat. I had to get through a ton of documents by 9:30 to bring Partner up to speed before our 11:30 client meeting, which lasted until 2:45. Am I the only one who EVER has to go to the bathroom? WTF? There is no way these people are drinking the recommended 8 to 10 glasses of water a day. I thought I was going to pass out.

And now, finally, the day is over and I am heading out for our parish council meeting. If I leave now, I'll be about an hour early, but I am not getting anything done here (as you can plainly see), so I am going to take a hike. I will try to be a better blogger ... and hubbyhubs might start guest-blogging. I'm a little nervous that he's going to be more entertaining than I am ...

Hooray!

I love when bad guys get caught -- or turn themselves in! Now pay up, jerk!

Adorable Little Piece

Thanks, Tara, for pointing this out!

Please stop calling it a disaster.

I'm working on discovery responses for a really annoying case I'm handling. One of the requests states:

"If your response to any document request is that the document was lost in the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center disaster, please provide a copy of your response to NYSE Information Memo 01-34 listing those documents."

I am sick and tired of people calling the BRUTAL, MURDEROUS, TERRORIST ATTACKS on the World Trade Center a "disaster." Disasters, in my opinion, include earthquakes, floods, and the Clinton administration.

Maybe the strict definition isn't totally inapplicable, but the connotation is all wrong. "Disaster" depersonalizes it, and makes us forget that it was a willful act by a bunch of crazy terrorist scumbags.

Where the heck is my vorpal sword?

The Frumious Bandersnatch

I don't know why, but I have been SUPER cranky the last two days. Everything bugs me -- too cold in the office, too hot outside, a/c at home is too loud, nothing on tv, blah blah blah.

I was feeling that way on the (very cold) bus this morning, and I decided to resort to my old cure for the crankies ... reading Jabberwocky:


JABBERWOCKY

Lewis Carroll (from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

--------------------------------------

Now don't you feel better? Seriously, I could use a Tumtum tree right about now. I am so annoyed with just about every aspect of my job. It's not exactly stressful (well, sometimes it's stressful) but it just gets soooooo unimaginably boring. I feel like the creative parts of my brain are going to atrophy. Some day, when hubbyhubs opens a kick-ass charter school in Brooklyn, I will teach English and be happier. It's not that I don't like being a lawyer -- I love learning about the law, writing about the law, crafting cogent and convincing arguments, etc ... What I don't like is pasting together the same cookie-cutter documents over and over for every case, and devoting all of my mental energy to making sure I don't miss a deadline, and fighting with opposing counsel.

So, yeah ... I'm not really sure where that leaves me. But while in uffish thought I stand, at least I have the Jabberwocky to amuse me.