Threefer

I have been so consistent lately - posting every day - that I feel like I ought to make this one a triple-decker to make up for missing Saturday and Sunday but I also eschew arbitrary guidelines, which means I don't gotta do what I don't wanna.

Fortunately for you, dear reader, I actually had a weekend worth talking about. On Saturday, I tracked down my friend Andrew at a local food and craft market where he was selling t-shirts he makes and while I was there, I bought a bunch of great food things from the other folks. I went with the intention of picking up a shirt that my friend owed to me but once I was there, I just couldn't lay off all the jams and mustards. I'm a sucker for supporting local anything.

Jim and Anna came over for dinner early that evening. Anna and I cooked Kasha with mushrooms and dill, we boiled artichokes and I fried up some po'k chops for Jim and myself. For the chops, I added chopped garlic and tarragon leaves after a good sear, then deglazed with stock and finished the sauce with some hot pepper jelly I bought at the market. Deliciousness ensued. Jim played at the Pub with a great musician named Dan Blakeslee (another local!) whose shows I hate to miss so we went down there after putting a good effort into thinking about washing the dishes.

On Sunday, my friend Erin and I drove to Jill's parents' farm. Ostensibly, we made the trip so we could sit by the pool and enjoy the sun, but when we arrived, the sun took off and we amused ourselves by talking to the animals, which is what I would have done anyway. For dinner, I cubed up some potatoes and onions, then did the same to some veggies (bell peppers, anise, zucchini and summer squash) and Jill put each group of fixin's into aluminum foil with butter, salt and pepper. Dave grilled steak and shark. Again, deliciousness was not excluded from the proceedings. At night we played some pool, watched the basketballers and fell asleep to Kung Fu Panda, which always reminds me that I shouldn't be so arrogant about my movie "taste" because a lot of those low-brow, goofy movies are exactly what I'm in the mood for.

I was back in the lab today at noon and had a full, productive day. Hyomin even had a chance to throw out a few more ideas about related topics to connect to this study so I have a bunch of avenues to pursue this week. If this were October, I would feel like they were hanging me out to dry but at this point, the chance to construct much of this phase of the project on my own (at least until the heavy theoretical part) is loads of fun.

Now, the moment we've all been waiting for...

Goat Dog!