You want to know how stressful my week has been? I didn't realize until I left work tonight that we have Monday off for Presidents Day. In fact, when my co-worker mentioned it as we were walking to the train I didn't believe her at first. Then I cursed loudly and headed back to the office, excessively cheesed off. I'd set aside some work to take care of first thing Monday morning, and since I wouldn't be there it had to get done tonight after all. I missed two trains, but I got it done and now I can relax with a clear conscience.
Boy, I would have been pissed to get to work Monday and discover I was the only one.
I do wish I'd known ahead of time, actually. I didn't take advantage of gloating over a long weekend coming up, nor did I make any plans whatsoever. Well, not many plans. Well, some plans, but nothing for Monday. I made an appointment to see Masako, my nutty Japanese hairdresser, tomorrow morning. I may go platinum blonde again. I may get some funky colors added, maybe blue or fuchsia. I need something jazzy to get me through this last month of dark evenings and rain, and it's been a long time since I did anything challenging with my hair.
When I'm done being color-coded, I'll pass off the car to John who has some major flea market and antiques show perusing to do up in San Mateo. Then at 3:30 we're scheduled to look at a house in Redwood City, romantic dreamers that we are. After that, we're free, though. My big plan for the evening is practicing for the Roman Feast we were invited to next month. I'm excited about it, particularly as I've been assured togas and flute-girls aren't involved. I've been checking out some of the Roman recipes at KET's Distance Learning site. My contribution is going to be Browned Chicken Frontinian (or Chicken Fronto, as Apicius called it), and pears cooked with cinnamon and wine. I am not going to make my own garum, as this calls for fermenting several pounds of fish in salt and herbs for seven days, stirring as the stuff liquifies. I am taking an executive decision and substituting a nice, strong Thai fish sauce which I'm sure will do excellently and has the advantage of not exciting the cats.
I've had Rome on the brain for the last year, starting with the Steven Saylor mysteries set in Republican Rome, then reading Colleen McCullough's series on Caesar, followed by Livy's histories, and finally booking numerous vacations to Italy for the special Holy Year. I've been researching Italy intensively, particularly ancient Italy, so I'm thrilled our friends Karen and Mike decided to host a themed cooking party. My parents are fabulous cooks, an inclination I didn't inherit, but I do like messing around with recipes for special occasions, and I'm always up for making dessert. The poached pears recipe looks foolproof. Famous last words, which is why I'm going to practice.
Working on ancient Roman recipes makes me think wistfully of my delayed trip to the former center of the civilized world. It doesn't take much to get me daydreaming about all the places I'd like to go: Italy, Chile, Namibia. I don't understand people who accumulate weeks and weeks worth of vacation time. I use every minute of mine, and indeed, I can account for all but one of this year's fourteen days already. I don't need an excuse to go to an interesting destination, but I know some people only travel for particular occasions like family reunions, or a major holiday. I'm counting the days until we go back to Japan. Meanwhile, a three day weekend is a welcome, and necessary, break from a long stretch of hard work. I can feel myself relaxing already.
The Index
Next Incarnation