back....

happy easter (yes, i realize it's a hare late)

well, a 6 day hiatus isn't quite long enough for decompression. i almost got there, and then on the last day fear started to make the back of my neck crawl. sure.... it wasn't as bad as i was expecting when i did go back in today, but it was close. the truth is, i ignored/avoided a couple of people who would have brought it to the expected level.


things i learned over the weekend:

• 6 days is not enough to decompress fully from work.
• no matter how bad my day is, i fall in love with my son all over again (especially when i tickle him after his bath and he rolls around giggling)
• steve burns found life after blues clues. so there is hope for everyone. (for those who don't know... steve was the ever popular host of blues clues for about 6 years. he has since moved on, formed a rock band, and kicked some ass. his stuff is good. who knew? go check out his website. it's a good website.)
• it's hard to make the new steve and the old steve live in my head. i hear his music, but i watch him do his goofy stuff on my son's dvd. weird.

(old steve with the hat, new steve with the guitar)

the "family" easter story.
we are one of those families that all live in the same city, but are so 'busy' we hardly ever get together. the exception to that of course, is major holidays. yah, we all know that's not the best but it works out ok.

usually my family drives me nuts. i love them. but i love them far away. a couple hours is great. more than that, well... it's hard to believe for siblings that are all 2 years apart have little in common. sure, we have common areas of interest and experience, but we all have very different attitudes about life, and the way it is lived.

being the oldest, i was always the responsible one. my brother the youngest, was always the late one - showing up eventually after finding a starbucks with a coffee in hand. he's gotten better after years of having this unmercilessly teased it was all the funnier because he's deny the reason for being late with said starbucks cup in his hand. my sister has the rebellious anger management issue teenager - she makes it there on time. i'm sure she's challenged to make it happen, but somehow they do. this was the best holiday we've shared in a long time.

my mom - lovely woman. caring. loving. would go to the ends of the earth. cooks up oversized meals at most of these events. but somehow manages to suck the flavour out of food.

i'm not kidding.

and i'm not talking bland, or "could use more spice" - i'm talking no flavour. i didn't know this was possible. i don't like coating my food or burying it under a ton of sauce. there are things i will do this to (ribs, spaghetti) but i like the taste of most food as is.

don't get confused. i'm not saying i don't add spice. i do. i'm not saying an accompanying sauce has no place. of course it does. but when you look at some potatoes, and think 'wow, looks like she spiced them this time', and then put them in your mouth and wonder if you really put anything in there?!?!

no taste. no flavour. not even of potatoe. i always thought it was pretty hard to screw up a potatoe - potatoes have pretty good flavour on their own. a little butter. maybe some garlic.

pretty much the entire meal, every meal. unless we do a pot-luck gathering. this round i'll admit the ham was good (oven cooked, nothing done to it) and the spinach salad survived (bag o'salad i think).

this has been the challenge of my life growing up. we're thinking of sneaking in some spices the next time we go over. nothing fancy - some garlic pepper, maybe some seasoning salt, a little curry if i can get away with it. just a minor survival kit.

if anyone out there can explain how this is done, i'd be interested.

just from a purely scientific viewpoint. i plan on continuing to cook with all the flavour i can muster.

until the next holiday.......


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images:
"old steve" - screen capture from blues big musical movie - the 'silly hat' song
"new steve" - taken from steve's official website: http://www.steveswebpage.com/