My spring break week wasn’t much of a break. Monday was my first day back after PLA. Tuesday I had to do a webinar – and it was John’s birthday. Wednesday I had to appear in court for my failure to remove snow ticket. Thursday I had two meetings – both of groups that I am co-chairing, where we’re filling in schedules for upcoming week-long events, (one in June, one in August) and a conference call. Friday I decided to work at home, because I needed to grade assignments for my online courses, write two more assignments and post course content for all the units after spring break.
Since I didn’t have to get dressed, I started work early, and had enough done that we went to see an early show of Saving Mr. Banks at 4:30 at the cheap theater. I felt my phone vibrate while we were in the movie, and when we got out, there was a message from Rach that an artist friend had died suddenly on Thursday. I had just been chatting with him over beers on Tuesday, while Duffy’s band played.
David McLimans, 1949 – 2014. Photo by Patrick Joseph Blough Flynn
We picked up Pasqual’s, went home, ate, and there was still time to do a little more work and watch the Sopranos at 10:00. It was an early movie. Oh, and I bought WI Film Fest tickets, too. We’d kind of been dragging our feet – tickets went on sale on March 8th. We got 9 films, and there’re a couple I’m pretty happy about. I’ll do my usual reporting when the Fest starts – April 3 – 10.
I went and got a leg wax Saturday AM at 8:00. The esthetician was a guy – first time I’d had a guy instead of female. I guess the salon I go to is adding more services for men. He’d just moved here from Chicago, so we talked about that. And winter driving – he just got his first car.
Went to the co-op, came home, washed my hair, and got dressed to go to a memorial for one our librarian friends. It was at the Moravian Church by Dudgeon School, that we could walk to. I’m really going to miss Mary Tipton – she looked like just an ordinary little old librarian lady, until she opened her mouth. She had a wicked sense of humor and was interested in everything. I usually saw her at the Farmers’ Market, making the rounds with two or three other retired and soon-to-be-retired librarians. She had a great smile – I am going to miss that smile all summer.
We were back from that by 2:00, so lots more time to work. Got all the assignments graded.
I made these sourdough biscuits and beef & vegetable soup – with tomatoes and corn, like my mom used to make. The biscuits were OK – they were from a very precise recipe, by someone really trying to historically, accurately, recreate biscuits of the 1880s – pre-baking powder. So he used controlled temperature proofing, and gives all the measurements in grams, ounces & cups…. I figured if these were campfire biscuits, I should be able to use some of this and some of that. I had fed my starter the Sunday before, but didn’t know if it was 100% hydration, and it hadn’t replenished at 76° for 12 hours ….
Sourdough biscuits
I guess Sunday was a good day. I got out for a walk. We had pie twice – bacon for breakfast and rhubarb for evening TV snack – using up last year’s rhubarb from the freezer, because it’s spring. I took the kids to Hilldale, and made a Sentry run, and got more work done on my class.
I made power bars (these are the ones from 2008) for my brother’s annual birthday bike ride. It’s 57 Varieties this year – but he’s pushed it back from March 29 to April 5 this year – so a little hard to get motivated. I used the Heidi Swanson recipe I’ve always used in the past – no fruit this year, and lots of coffee. I made the bars Sunday; I’ll try to get them sliced up and packed Monday night.
Bacon Quiche
Rhubarb pie made with last year’s frozen rhubarb
But I can’t help feeling a little melancholy. That I am at the phase of life where death and memorials are the news and social events. Have to start interspersing, like Rach said, instead of so and so died, so and so went to London for 6 weeks, because they’re retired, or “oh Look, so and so’s got a new grandchild.”
The mail came so late on Saturday that I didn’t get it until Sunday morning when I went out for the papers. And it was all f**ked up. We got mail for just about every address on our even side of the block, 2122, 2124, 2128, 2134, 2136, and 2140. Some of it looks like bills – I know I got one neighbor’s MG&E bill – and one envelope looks like a check. So that was disturbing too.
If there weren’t still dishes from pie making in the sink to be washed, I’d head straight for bed.
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