We’re still on holiday break, and after the orgy of activity leading up to and through Christmas Day, we abruptly switched gears for a couple of days. The family was lying low. My daughter was plastered to the couch watching movies; the boys were plugged into their gaming systems. For two days, I had no problems to solve, no arguments to mediate, and no schedules to juggle. All I did was work on my blogs and work out. It was spooky.

I firmly believe in taking vacation time to do nothing but regroup, so I try to do it every year when the kids are out of school for the winter break. It’s a time for all of us to just slow down from the regular rocketing speed of daily life. But, to tell the truth, I’m always ready to jump back in the fray after my time off. I have to admit I thrive on the daily hustle that is my life.

Today, family life got a little closer to “normal,” with a little wrench thrown in works just to keep us on our toes. No sense in getting lulled into a false sense of serenity just because you get a little quiet time.

I did a couple of boring morning errands, and then went to the grocery store, which I actually don’t consider a boring errand, because I love food. When I go to the store, I always bring a list, but I also like to roam around and pick out treats for myself and the family. Unfortunately, on most grocery trips, the roaming is more like a sprint through the aisles, grabbing what I KNOW we need in the 13 minutes I have to shop before the next thing on the schedule bites me in the ass. Today I roamed freely, and picked out treats, no deadline looming, completely ignoring any budgetary constraints. I proudly brought home my bounty by noon, at which point two of the kids were just rolling out of bed. Of course, this fabulous grocery haul should last all of 4 days, with Snacky, the 15-year-old, 6-foot-5-inch, 190-pound eating machine roaming the house in a constant state of hunger.

The sports practice breaks are officially over today. Both boys had 2 hours of basketball practice. Not to be outdone, Quent and I went on our usual jaunt to the gym – admittedly not for 2 hours. It’s nice to be able to work out in the middle of the day, as opposed to right after work or, God forbid, before work (I am SO not a morning person).

Our challenge of the day? The Camry wouldn’t start. Hubby had the battery checked, but no way could it be that simple. It’s been towed off to the shop. It’s all good, though, because this is probably the one time of year when we can reasonably get by for a couple of days without a second car. How rare to feel no stress about a car problem! Of course, that could change very quickly, depending on the cost of the repairs.

Now the hubby and I are going to wrap up the day with a nice flat-iron steak dinner. He was introduced to this cut of meat last summer by a friend who is just about as grill-crazy as he is. It’s a popular cut of meat here in Kansas, and very tender. It’s best prepared on the grill, so even though it’s 20 degrees outside, with a fresh coat of snow, he went to get charcoal so we can do it right. I’ve got one of those handy bags of pre-sliced mushrooms, which I’m gonna saute in some olive oil with a little salt and pepper. Then I’ll splash some red wine in the pan to make a sauce. I’ve also got some zucchini and yellow squash to steam. We’ll round it out with good ol’ Uncle Ben’s rice.

What I’m really excited about is a red wine I picked up to go with this dinner. It’s called The Ballbuster, from Tait Wines in Australia (2006). I’m intrigued — it’s a blend of shiraz (78%), cabernet sauvignon (12%) and merlot (10%). I’ll report back on it next time I sit down with this blog.

 

So now? On to the kitchen.

  • Share/Bookmark