girls' day out

Ken had a polar bear golf tournament all day today (and it truly was--30 degrees was the high!), so I arranged with some of my gal-pals to have a chick-flick afternoon. We opted for "27 dresses," and all gave it a thumbs up. Yes, it's formulaic and predictable, but it was fun, and a little different, and we enjoyed it. A much better run for Katherine Heigl than "Knocked Up," which we thought was awful (no doubt the casualty of a lack of chemistry between "romantic" leads), and probably better directed. Some fun moments, some cliched wedding stuff, but who cares. Chick flicks aren't supposed to be Oscar favorites, just fun films to enjoy on an afternoon with the girls. We did.

yummmmmm!

Ken made cheese grits and shrimp the other night, and it was a divine experience from beginning to end. Let's start at the beginning, when the aroma of sauteing onions filled the house. I could have feasted on that for a long time! I think the recipe could feed a cast of thousands, but the portion I savored for dinner was perfect. Lucky for me there are leftovers to enjoy the rest of the week, and I intend to do that very thing. I'm also trying to imagine what else to serve over grits while we're enjoying real winter temperatures this week. A little goulash sounds pretty good!

dusting off cobwebs

It's funny how some memories float to the surface and linger there after being tucked somewhere down deep in the recesses of the mind for years. We had something of a bleak afternoon yesterday, with dark, foreboding clouds that ushered an early darkness into the day. It was reminiscent of a day, long ago, when I went on a skiing weekend in New Hampshire with a neighborhood family.

Wind and blinding snow must have kept us from the slopes on the particular day in question. My friend Sarah and I bundled up and ventured out into the field behind the house where we were staying to explore the terrain and play in the snow. I remember the expanse of that field and a range of mountains beyond its limits, and it is that scene that is etched in my memory. It was a bitterly cold day, windy and overcast, with cloud cover so low and gray that if we jumped high enough we probably could have touched it. The overwhelming impression was that it was the very definition of bleak. The cold and gray seemed to penetrate more than just our bones, leaving behind an almost haunting sense of the power of nature and our insignificance in its midst. At the same time, it was irresistable, and perhaps that is why the memory lingers and is conjured when a similar darkness thrusts itself into my life.

That cold winter day has returned to my mind several times in recent months, prompted by wintry conditions and my own deep desire for a substantial snowfall. It has also made me mindful that I miss my friend Sarah, whose whereabouts are unknown, and whose friendship will linger in my memory as a ray of sunshine in a bleak winter day. Yes, memory is an intriguing thing...

on the fly this morning

but what else is new!

Look who we saw last night! Met Ashley, Travis and Luke for dinner in Clarksville. The time was too short, but I did get my Nana-fix. At six weeks he's already grown an additional three inches an gained four and a half pounds. Translation? Look out, world!