weekend roundup

it's been a busy weekend, indeed. i returned from greenville on friday evening and we've been going non-stop ever since.

if you read my husband's blog (yes, he posted!) you'll know that friday was world refugee day. so lutheran family services had a little festival on saturday. c was required to work as the face-painter. so i went up to show my support, meet some of his clients, and see what was happening. it was a good time.

here is a picture of some of c's more intricate handy-work:


he also was a good sport and let omar paint his head. this, of course, opened a can of worms that was then difficult to shut!


after the refugee day celebration i had a brief presentation to make for work. then, we went to a friend's house to celebrate the completion of her triathlon. great job! at the party we played a raucous and hilarious rendition of "catch phrase." holy smokes, it was fun. i could never do it justice to explain it here. so it'll just have to be left to your imagination.

i took a few picts in the garden today.

the tomatoes were so overgrown, they were falling over, so i had to put some taller stakes in the ground to hold them up. and we had our first okra harvest.

not enough to make a whole meal but it was a great supplement.

tonight for dinner, we had an almost total locally-grown experience. we had sauteed summer squash from a friend's garden (thanks, m!), salad with home-grown lettuce, home-grown carrots, south carolina tomatoes, and homemade bread. we also had black beans (not home-grown) with our okra and brown rice (also not home-grown). it was delicious and it's so cool to see the fruits of our labors.

here are some more picts from the garden.

g'ville

i'm in greenville this week for a conference. i don't know if i've really talked about this much, but i love conferences. i love getting out of town (especially on my job's dime), staying in a hotel where they usually have TV and unlimited hot water and sometimes have a gym and pool. plus, i love learning new things, getting new ideas, meeting new people, and just generally be refreshed.

this conference is extra special because it's in a town that i love and i have friends who live here or close enough to get here. so it's sort of like a mini-vacation. except without my husband. sorry, dude.

pie picking

i went blueberry picking yesterday with some old friends and new friends. it was so hot. we weren't fast enough to beat the heat. but despite that, we managed to pick a good amount. me and my somali friends picked 2 gallons, one for each of us to take home. then i made this tonight.



and we still have plenty of berries remaining.

*i have one picture from picking that i want to post, but i want to just make sure my new friends don't mind me putting their picts up. so that may be added at a later date.

happy father's day

to my fathers and all other fathers, happy father's day.


dad resting his eyes


step-bo entertaining himself

finders keepers creepers

apple scruffs was stolen. last night, we think. along with our bike pump. it really sucks. the irony of the situation is that they've been sitting unused for months, heck, probably even over a year. and just a few weeks ago chris and i started getting up early in the AM and taking a ride. it's been so nice. so we're really disappointed.

chris said, "well, that's what we get for leaving them on our side porch," which doesn't lock. and i wonder, is that really what we get? is it like, well, we deserved that one?

it seems so self-righteous of someone to go up onto our porch, reach through the gap in the door to unlock it, open the broken door, and take something that clearly does not belong to them. i just don't get how someone could do that.

then i get all social-worky and think, is this a sign of the recession? that's not the worst that could happen in life anyway. i think, well we live so good in many ways because of the things our country or government has stolen or exploited from other people. so maybe we can say this is a small price to pay for such a comfortable life. i mean, if we really wanted to we could just fork over the $100 or whatever and buy another one. it wouldn't kill our finances to do that.

but then i keep coming back to the fact that someone made the conscious decision to go on our porch and take something that was ours. it makes me think of when i was a kid and this woman came to our door. she told my mom that her son was having an asthma attack and she needed a cup of vinegar. apparently the vinegar was supposed to help him in some way? my mom didn't know anything about asthma so she didn't think twice about it. that is, not until mom went to get her wallet later that night and realized that it was missing from her purse, which sat conveniently next to the door. we assume that the lady just reached in and took it while mom was in the kitchen getting the vinegar.

it just makes me sad. sad that people think they have the right to take what isn't there's. sad that people feel like they have to take things because they're that desperately in need. sad for just so many other reasons that i just can't really explain.

vote vote vote vote

if you're in south carolina, don't forget to vote tomorrow.

one big bad news and a few good newses

the squash is dead. rest in peace, squashies. no thanks to squash borers. so i went out this afternoon and squashed some borers myself. jerks. so no squash this year. but hopefully they won't bore their way through anything else.

the good news is that the barlotti beans have flowers. and we have little okras coming up. and i saw 2 bees the other day. those are the first bees i've seen, so i'm happy about that.

may/june harvests

i failed to mention 2 weeks ago that we harvested the garlic. the bulbs are rather smaller than we would've liked, but not too bad. the taste is great. not too pungent but very aromatic. yum!

tonight we harvested the carrots. they're supposed to be harvest-ready in 60-75 days and it's been over 90. so we figured, out they go, even though they we're really too big. but again, not too bad.



for the past few weeks we've been eating a little bit of the italian kale as well. again, the leaves weren't too big so it's not been enough to really make one full meal. but the taste is delicious! do i sense a theme (small but yummy?)?

age-old questions answered

chris: "whoever said you can't have fun for free?"

me: "no one."

chris: "exactly."

late night double feature picture show

saturday night chris and i went to the movies to see baby momma. we've not been to the theater in ages so we decided it was about time. there are so many movies we want to see in the theater right now; i'm not really sure how we chose baby momma over the others. but one of us needed a laugh and it did the trick. c and i both commented that for having tina fey and amy poehler, it was a little subdued. and i wouldn't say it was the most complex plot ever. but we laughed and fully enjoyed it.

as we were walking out of the theater it was around 10:00 or so and, as we walked to the car, we were tossing back and forth the idea of seeing another show. before we even knew it, we had shelled out another $17 to see iron man. another great movie! a bit different from baby momma, to say the least. great acting.

good times!

picts are up

here is a sampling. more can be found here.


our room overlooking the pool and the mountains


el yunque rain forest


one of several towers we climbed in el yunque


arecibo observatory (the world's largest radio telescope)


old fortress walls around old san juan


awesome band along the street/waterfront in old san juan

it's almost showtime

good luck in cali, guys!

we are back

i've not posted anything about our trip yet but i wanted to let you know that we're back. i know you were worried we'd never return from our vacation!

as you can see, our "mountain retreat" was so relaxing we really didn't want to leave. i'd highly recommend it if anyone is looking to get away, la casa grande mountain retreat in utuado, puerto rico.

so we're back and in the swing of things again. i'm in the mists of uploading the pictures now but probably won't have them organized or anything tonight. so i'll post a link when they're all set.

vacation daze

for the past 2 days i've been technically "on vacation," meaning i've not been going into work. so far it's not really felt like a vacation, honestly. but it's still been good.

i spent the day yesterday cleaning the house* and doing some cooking. one of the families that we stayed with 2 years ago during our trip to tanzania have been in town and we had them over for dinner. it was really nice to see them again and i was happy to reciprocate their favor and open our home to them, even if only for one evening.



i spent vacation day 2 by starting to paint our back room. that's actually not quite accurate. we started painting the back room when we spackled it 8 months ago before we moved into this house. but until this point, that's as far as we've gotten. so i took today to try to tackle another big chunk. i'd say i got about 2/3 of the way finished. hopefully it won't sit another 8 months before we finish!

our real "vacation" vacation starts tomorrow! i'm looking forward to being away from home renovations, cats waking us up at all hours of the night, and all the rest of the hum-drum everyday stuff. hopefully this'll be the ticket to getting us relaxed and well-rested!

(*talk about a fruitless effort. many of you may know that we live very close to a factory which churns out a lot of dust. i spent 1/2 the day yesterday sweeping, dusting, vacuuming, and mopping the house, plus washing sheets, blankets and our bedspread. when it came time for bed i padded in my bare feet into the bedroom, walked by the window and felt a whole lot of grit under my feet! urgh! frustration!)

happy birthday x

today is the birthday of malcom x. he would've been 83 had he lived. if you have not done so, might i suggest you read the autobiography of malcom x as told to alex haley? i actually recommended it as a good read just barely over 2 years ago.

spring is in the air

(even if it feels like summer)

saturday i was trying to make another dent in the vine situation along our fence. i was pleased to find blackberries growing in a few small patches. it's my hope that once i clear out all the other crappy vines, maybe the blackberries will come in full-force. ymmm!

however, i have been temporarily way-laid due to this little discovery.



this was situated right inside a big mess of kudzu and grape vines. luckily i realized it before it was too late and walked away without harming the nest. i was worried i got a little too close and scared away momma for good. but she spent the better part of the afternoon and sunday sitting on her precious eggs, despite our comings and goings while doing remaining yard work.

the bad news is that i can't take those vines out right now. the good news is i don't have to worry about taking those vines out right now! so i've pretty much wrapped up that project (for now). woohoo!

drunken slugs

whoever invented putting beer out for slugs really had it spot-on. i knew something was eating some of our plants but had previously suspected beetles. but when we were digging around yesterday i found a few slugs in the tomatoes. so i thought, "oh, beer! that's what i've always heard works for slugs." chris suspected it was a ploy to purchase myself some beer. but no, i convinced him. "i hear this really works." of course there was the added bonus of me being able to finish off the remaining 5 in the 6-pack, but that doesn't take away the fact that it works! check it out!


that's alotta slugs!

team reid

i spent another weekend outside working on our yard and garden. this time i was joined by my husband, who is now finished with school (for the summer) and has a bit more time to lend a hand on household projects. we did some really fun stuff and i took some pictures. but i'm too tired right now to post anything detailed about that. i just want to sit and veg out to my show.

oh, and one day until vacation. and 4 days until vacation trip. woohoo!

happy mother's day moms

mom


stepmom

(and all other moms too!:)

excitement

i just went out to water the plants and saw a few little bursts of zucchini life sticking out of the ground where i planted seeds last week. there's something about growing a plant from seed that feels so fulfilling. transplanting is okay; but from seed is real growing.

the great outdoors

i spent most of the weekend outdoors, which was great.

saturday i finally followed through on my promise to take a small group of my somali kids to pick strawberries. we had a great time, despite the fact that a lot of the strawberries were a little too far gone for my tastes. and a few of the kiddos fell in the mud. oh well, at least they didn't fall onto the plants, which i kept nagging them about.


(this was taken before the fall into the mud!)

after the picking, as is now tradition, we went to congaree swamp for a hike. this was short-lived due to some immediate bathroom needs of one child.


but we were able to pick up some junior ranger books, which most of them actually enjoyed filling out.



the remainder of the weekend, i spent in our yard. there was much to be done on this front, and are still not done. but we made a nice dent. not only have we not mowed the lawn since we moved in (in october!) but there are a bouquet of ivy trying hard to take over. i found honeysuckle, poison ivy, wisteria, kudzu, and grape vines, just to name a few. my husband cut the grass while i wrangled some of the ivy. (stay tuned for later posts to see if i break out from the poison ivy.) plus i planted zuccinni, cucumber, and barlotti pole beans. here's a picture of our garden now that the grass is low enough to actually see that we have a garden.

congrats to the barns

erin ruth was born at 1:51 this afternoon. check out their blog to read the play-by-play. i am awed at what a blessed gift her birth is.

5 years plus one day

happy anniversary yesterday to my hubs. you're my favorite and i love you.

jubilee celebration

this weekend i was blessed to have been able to attend the jubilee mass and celebration for several nuns in the order of the missionary servants of the most blessed trinity. it was a beautiful celebration and a renewal of my own mission to be a servant. i only wish that i can be half as faithful to my call to service as those 10 women who were celebrating their 25th, 50th, 60th, 70th, and 80th years of service.

philly zoo trip

despite the short length of time (and the heat!), i had a great time saturday visiting with family and trampsing around the philly zoo. it'd been ages since i'd been there and i was pleasantly surprised by the renovations to exibit spaces and the updated collections. the sheer number of animals, etc. that they have on collection is pretty vast compared to the cola zoo. however, they have so much that you almost get the feeling they don't have the space to keep everything, which, if i recall accurately, was the general sense i got last time i was there. so i have to say if i had to choose, i still think i like columbia's zoo better. but philly's zoo (the first in america) will always hold a fondness in my zoo preference.

you can see more pictures at flickr.

cell phone advice?

so i think the time has come for us to get a "real" cell phone. i know, i know. we've tried to fight the system for so long and have managed relatively successfully. a few years ago chris's parents gave us a pay-as-you-go cell phone to use in case of emergencies or for when we're traveling. other than work phones that i've been contractually obligated to use, we've managed to keep the personal use of cell phones to a minimum.

but now, all of a sudden, i've found myself married to "that cell phone guy." he's always on it! all right, all right, it's mostly because of his job*, but still, that thing rings constantly. and over the past few months we've been spending astronomical fees because we've been going over our meager 200 alloted minutes a month.

which brings me to this post. i'm now in the market for a no-frills cell phone plan that will give us like 400 or 500 minutes a month with as minimal cost as possible. we don't need texting, we don't need internet, no bells or whistles. just talk. for cheap. preferably. and if they threw in a free phone for signing up, that'd be great too!

i'd take any suggestions if anyone has any. for those local to the area, anyone have good experience with suncom? it seems like they have the most cost-friendly plans, but i want to make sure i'm not limiting ourselves with crappy service.

*ironic that chris uses the cell phone the most for his job which is really not a job exactly. it's an internship. and he doesn't make any money to work there. yet they call his cell phone like nobody's business. i'm not blaming them, but it just ruffles my feathers a little bit.

two more april birthdays

happy birthday yesterday to erica and mamaw bane! 29 and 80 respectively. i wish them the happiest year yet!

prayer request

chris and i have taken a quick trip to mississippi to help out with his mom and we'll be here for the next few days. continued prayers for her and the family would be so appreciated. thanks!

a real vacation?

at the end of this month chris and i celebrate 5 years of marriage! woohoo! i feel like it's a big milestone. so to celebrate and, heck, just to relax a bit, we've decided we're going to take a real-life, honest-to-goodness, vacation at the end of may.

puerto rico, here we come. we've found some out-of-the-way place to spend a few days just relaxing, hiking, looking at nature and resting. i can just smell the pina coladas now!

feeding addictions

it's been a few weeks since i finished watching season two and season four of project runway. i've not had a chance to check any other seasons out since then (we've been busy!). but in case i was going through withdraw, i was fortunate enough to have seen nick verreos from season two give a talk at usc last week. (i took some pictures but they came out too dark to post here).

let me tell you, that guy seems like a sweetheart. he was very energetic and lively. and he seemed very likable. i was a little disappointed that he didn't dish the dirt too much about the show. but maybe he got to that after i left. i stayed for over 2 1/2 hours and he was just up to the q&a! there was supposed to be a meet-and-greet after that which i, of course, missed. it was 20 till 10 pm so i decided to split.

speaking of tv addictions. i'm mad at desperate housewives because they have not updated their website with the rerun episodes they had been running on tv each week. i was tuning in every week to the website to help me catch up on the gazillion seasons i've missed. but for the past month or so, they've not really put anything up. i guess they're trying to build anticipation for their new show this weekend? but anyways, since they didn't have any new episodes when i checked on saturday night, i decided to try another show out via website. dancing with the stars. i started watching that and within the first few minutes i was hooked. i LOVE it! i guess i really am a junky for "reality tv" as long as they show some sort of talent. ha! (i've only watched a few episodes, so please don't give any spoilers about any of the seasons in the comments.)

2 birthday surprises!

tonight i was talking to my mom and she said, "oh, did you get the sugar scrub i sent in your birthday package?" i said, "no. there was no sugar scrub in the package." after a moment of confusion i realized, OH!, there was a present under the chair in the living room. so i got an extra present.

plus! check this out for another birthday surprise.

watching talkin' funny is chris and my new favorite addiction! they're just so funny. so we often will end our day with an episode or two. this evening i realized that they posted the first episode of their new season so i sat down to watch while eating my dinner. but i realized quite quickly into the episode that there was a birthday surprise! check it out!

p.s. clown warning for those (like me) that aren't too keen on clowns! (she's not too creay though.)

dirty 30

thanks to all the do-gooders, well-wishers, and (not-so-) distant relations who wished me a happy birthday the other day. 'preciate it.

not-so hard trivia quiz: which one of these little cuties just turned the big 3-0?


the hair probably gives it away (or is it the award-winning smile?).

weekend "away"

why is it we forget our camera at times when it would be really great to have them?

this weekend chris and i went to the atl for what we hoped to be a little get-away. we were able to secure a ridiculously cheap deal at a a fancy hotel but didn't really get to enjoy it. we got into town later than anticipated and had some family business to take care of. so we pretty much just dropped our things off, met up with my cousin and his new fiance for a quick bite to eat and then made it to the variety playhouse just in time to catch the last 30 seconds of mike doughty's band (or should i say piad) playing the sort-of fake opening set for their concert. we did get to see the "real" opening act, the panderers, and mike doughty and his band, including our friend and the bass player, andy. we also got to hook up with everyone afterwards. hung out with andy for a bit backstage and then went to grab a bite to eat with andy, mike, and chuck (the road manager?). (by the way, the restaurant we ate at, r thomas was awesome! i wished i was more hungry because i wanted almost everything on the menu.) but this is where the not-having-a-camera-thing comes in. sure would've been nice to have some pictures of us all hanging out. but we do have memories, and i guess that's more important. plus, i can always borrow pictures from other people, like this one i pulled from mike's blog.


picture i pulled from mike's blog of mike doughty and his band

He is Risen

Happy Easter, everybody! I've been silent on the blog this week for holy week. hope it was a blessed one for everyone.

we had a great easter weekend. friends from out of town came back into town for a little visit. we spent saturday eating good food, hanging out on our porch, dying eggs, and having a hunt. here are some pictures.









for the past few weeks i have been working hard to get our yard in order. the owner before us apparently dumped truckloads of pine straw all over the yard. in addition to it being too much pine straw, it had just sat there accumulating leaves and debris. it was a mess! so anyways, i've spent a lot of time raking the front yard and cleaning everything up. now instead of a pine straw yard, we have a completely dirt yard. but i honestly think that looks a million times better. besides, we're hoping we can get something to grow where the pine straw as. this picture doesn't really show the yard, but you can see the azaleas in bloom.

girl-full weekend and other rambling

i am late on a bunch of blog posts. so i'm doing them all in one right here.

birthdays: happy birthday on wednesday of last week to lindsay. happy birthday on friday of last week to melissa. this is the time of year for some fantastic birthdays!

question: how do you know it's spring? is it a) flowers are blooming, b) the time change last week, c) pollen in the air, or d) waldie has poison ivy.

answer: the one tried and true way to know that sping is in the air is for me to have poison ivy. all the other ways work too, but this way seems to happen more regularly than any other method i've found thus far. where is my pi?, you may want to know. on my face, of course. how lovely.

this weekend: i had a very women-friendly weekend. on friday i attended a fantastic ladies-only dinner party. that was a hoot, i'll tell ya! great food, great drinks, great company and great music.

then, on saturday chris and i headed up to greenville for this one's baby shower.



again, great food, great friends, great games, and a good time.

cutie and cutie

i just think this picture is so sweet.


that's my hubs and my niece, if you didn't already know.

taunting!

the LAST episode of project runway arrived in the mail yesterday (thanks one last time, f & e!). the thing is, i gave up tv on the weekdays. so it'll just sit on our dining room table taunting me until this weekend when i allow myself to watch it. yikes! who's it going to be?? (please don't tell me, i like the suspense/surprise!)

spring break

the only reason i wish i were still in school is so that i could have a spring break. i don't want the homework though. so i guess it's a toss-up.

i sort of vicariously get a spring break because chris is on a quasi-spring break*, so i get to have my husband back at least a little bit this week. woohoo!

this weekend we had a weekend full of fun! we shopped around for inexpensive bookshelves, cleaned out and organized our back room, and then raked our front yard. boy, we're adults huh? that this is our idea of fun! we really just enjoyed each other's company, which was grrrrrrreat!

the kids had fun too!


(notice mokey skulking in the background, wishing that she weren't so fat so she could fit in the new toy too!)

*chris's spring break is only "quasi" because he's still doing his ga and internship, just no classes.

new curls

i finally went for it and cut most of my curls off. it was about this time 7 years ago that i did the same thing. that just so happens to be right at the beginning of when i started dating my husband. so maybe there's some sort of significance there, i don't know. but what i do know was i was ready for a change. so here it is:



other things of note: i drove all the way out to here (1 hr 15 minutes drive) for 45 minutes of the worst presentation i've ever given at a conference which was so disorganized; then i got back in the car for another drive home. yea, that was a waste of a beautiful saturday. though, i have to say, the campus is pretty, the drive was nice and i got to listen to some good radio programs. and when i got home i decided to salvage what was left of the day and do some yard work. so it turned out okay.

tandem couple plus one

congratulations to tandem couple on the birth of their first child, a daughter named indigo aurora. she was born february 9 at 8:08 Am, 20.5", 9lb 3 oz. she's a biggie and what a cutie! special prayers for this little bundle would be appreciated. it seems she was born with some birth defects in her ankle and leg which will require ongoing attention and surgeries. however, from what i can tell, everyone seems to be adjusting well! you can check out their progress here. yea, babies!

second marriage

while we visited my family in nj this weekend we went to our local church for mass. apparently the state of nj designated last sunday as a day to give special prayers to married couples to strengthen their marriage bond and preserve their vocation. (i personally, think it might've been more appropriate to do this the weekend before since february 10th was technically world marriage day, but whatever.) in any event, chris and i (along with a couple dozen other couples) got to renew our wedding vows. it was actually really sweet and my husband looked me in the eyes this time as he said his vows. so i guess we're on our second marriage now. cool.

happy birthday mom!

it has been a busy week. we left friday a for a weekend trip to see family in nj for mom's birthday. her actual birthday is tomorrow, so happy birthday, mom!


most of the family came down and we just had a good time eating, walking on the beach, visiting, eating more, and playing around the house.

a new addition

it always takes me ages to add anyone to my friends and family toolbar on the right. so my apologies to city yogan for the delayed addition.

as an aside, she lent me becoming who you are by james martin (who happens to come from my original neck of the woods). i've read about 1/2 of it so far and am really enjoying it. very simple messages with lots of things to think about. thanks, cy!

they arrived!

the seeds are in!



the pictures on the packages look so good, you almost think they're real. i am hoping to plant them tomorrow if i can sneak it in after work and before sunset.

i've not posted about this weekend so i'll say a few words here. i was so productive!

on saturday i visited the all-local farmers market and picked up some fresh goodies. then, it was such a beautiful day, i headed home and dug up our yard. i made a 12' x 8' plot for the garden. our soil is so good (as far as i can tell). there were lots of happy bugs (well, they were temporarily unhappy because i dug them up), and there were very little rocks and the soil just looked dark and healthy! it's so cute, even as just a patch of tilled earth.

sunday the productivity continued. i finally got around to touching up the paint around the new windows which were installed in december. it didn't take too long but it was something that had been nagging me for months. woohoo!

thanks to me, chris has been sick for the past few days, so he's been laying low, reading and just chilling. of course, there's always time for cuddling even if you're sick.

page 123- 3 sentences meme

i was tagged.

* Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more.
* Find Page 123.
* Find the first 5 sentences.
* Post the next 3 sentences.
* Tag 5 people.

the book: mick martin and marsha porter's dvd & video 2004 guide.

the quote: "blue crush:***three maui surfer girls support themselves as hotel maids as they prepare for the big competition at the pipeline, while one (kate bosworth) is romanced by a visiting nfl quarterback (matthew davis). the film is lightweight but entertaining, with an appealing cast, colorful locations, and excellent surfing scenes. rated pg-13 for sexual content and brief profanity."


tagged: i'm not a big fan of tagging. never played the game when i was a kid because i didn't like people chasing after me. so if you want to play, feel free to post in the comments section.

i never have seen this movie, by the way. chris and i were both surprised it got 3 stars. this book, however, is the most cited reference book in the house.

happy birthdays

happy birthday today to tricia and yesterday to fuzzy. february birthdays kids! sorry we're not there to celebrate in person with you guys. of course, i have my annual february cold. so nobody would really want me around.

i've mostly been lying around since wednesday. but yesterday we headed down to south georgia to see my grandparents. i pretty much laid around there too. but i did get a chance to play with their new puppy.


she was a real cutie!

getting ready for spring

i'm a little obsessive compulsive. i just spent almost $60 on seeds. yup, seeds!

you may remember that i made my first attempt at gardening last year and it worked out ok. now that we have a new house with a big-to-us yard, chris and i have been talking expansion. a full-blown garden. so in a few days (hopefully) we'll have our first shipment of seeds. not all of it, of course, will be put in the ground right now. most will have to wait a few months. but we're hoping to get outside next weekend to prepare the ground for some of the winter and early spring crops.

when i told chris i wanted to spend $60 on seeds he said, "well, you work hard. you earn the right to spend money on something that you like to do."

of course, time will tell if i spent a ridiculous amount of money on something that will totally eat up my time for no benefit or if i spent money on something that will be totally fun and will yield great results in our gastronomical lives. i'm hoping for the latter.