Home is where the work is

Working from home as a freelance designer has to be one of the best jobs I've had. Actually I've pretty much only had cool jobs, but being at home a lot is a major perk to this job. I know a lot of companies let employees work from home, but I think more companies should allow it. I think the world as a whole would be a more relaxed place. It's just better to be at home. Take today for instance, I took a five minute break and watered my potted plants, I took a phone call on the patio and the caller asked me if those were chirping birds he heard in the background. Then around five, still having more work to do, I popped out to the kitchen to put on the rice for dinner. I think the dogs like having us home too. They don't have to wait around to show us what they've done all day, they get to show off their dirty noses immediately!

Happy Fastnacht Day!

Happy WHAT day? Isn't it Fat Tuesday? No, it's Fastnacht Day. It's almost like Fat Tuesday only without the drunken, shirt lifting debauchery. Rather than Happy Let's-party-today-because-tomorrow-is-Lent Day, it's more Happy use-up-all-the-leftover-lard-before-we-have-to-fast-for-Lent Day! Even though lard isn't so prevalent these days the Pennsylvania Dutch still keep the fastnacht tradition strong, because why wouldn't you choose one day a year to gorge yourself on donuts?

Generally we are not the first to align ourselves with the Pennsylvania Dutch, but I think in this case we can make an exception. Who doesn't love fresh donuts? To celebrate the momentous holiday, I popped out to Chow's Donuts to pick up our breakfast. As I drove down the hill I imagined there not being any donuts left to buy. What if I'm too late? The donuts might have been sold by 8 and here it is, 8:15 am and I AM NOT GOING TO GET ONE! (That is what really happens in Pennsylvania, you can't get a fastnacht anywhere if you didn't preorder last week!)

However, I've come to realize that we maybe the only people in our Southern California town to celebrate Fastnacht Day. Luckily, there was plenty to choose from at Chow's.

I made my selections and happily headed back up the hill to our home. It was well worth the drive.

She may not be a groundhog

... but she certainly is happy! Lola will rub along the couch then flop down on her side, spin onto her back with her legs tucked tight against the couch and then shoot herself across the carpet to scratch her back. Yesterday she just decided to stay that way and take a rest.

No sudden movements

The items you can find in my refrigerator are generally interesting looking things like the gravy from that roast chicken we had three weeks ago. You remember honey, don't you? Every few days I'll be rummaging through looking for that jar of salsa I thought I remembered having some where back here, and come across a piece of pizza from who knows when. Usually I will throw the greenish discovery away, but sometimes I don't and it continues to grow new sorts of cancer curing fungi.

I inherited this trait from my father's mother. My dad always said Helen discovered penicillin LONG before the rest of the world. I remember making Grandma a cup of tea when I was a teenager, but never having one myself because I was never sure of the state of the milk lurking behind that sealed yellow door.

Fast forward to my life today with a refrigerator that I am mostly responsible for, and you will probably find penicillin. (The milk is hardly ever bad thankfully.) Being good little homeowners we ate all the eggs and drank all the milk before we embarked on our two week holiday trip. We did not, however, worry about ANY thing else inside the fridge. About two days before returning we were anxiously discussing the things that might greet us upon our arrival home. Things like a mud covered couch and lots of dust and dog hair were not far from our minds, then like a bolt of lightening the fridge crossed our minds simultaneously and we stared at each other in the utmost fear. We both knew what I was capable of and we weren't excited to rush home to it.

Reluctantly the day we arrived, we opened the refrigerator hoping nothing would crawl out and climb up our legs. I put on the rubber gloves, Thomas grabbed the trash can and we went in head first. Dumping the contents of Tupperware containers, washing the shelves, we selected only first rate items to return to the inside.

In the deep dark corner, low down, behind six other sauces, salsas and leftovers, we discovered a can of lump claw crab meat, a lovely, yet odd, yarn store parting gift that a loyal customer gave me to enjoy. Surely it couldn't still be good, could it? I closed the store in April. We found the BEST IF USED BY date and what do you know? It said Feb. 2008! WHOH! WOW! YAY!

In celebration we made this amazing, perfectly risen, Crab Soufflé.

Go away!

How does the garage fill up with so much stuff? Boxes from online orders, tools from projects once conceived but not yet finished, mementos from days gone by, why do things like this pile up? The trashman must think we're nuts with of the amount of stuff we pile on our curb four times a year. Ugh!

Stuff gets cleared out and yet somehow within a few months there's new stuff taking its place. Where does it come from? I swear we don't put it there!

Well, back out for more organizing-slash-throwing-stuff-AWAY!

...but at least it's 70 and sunny with seagulls squawking as they fly overhead.