Return to Brooklyn

I posted this as a comment on David & Allison's blog in response to David's glamorous life of an airline pilot post, but thought it worthy of repeating here:

I had a glamorous day as a passenger yesterday. We left Steve's parents' house a little after 4:30 for Portland Jetport. It's about a 30 minute drive. When we left the house, we knew our flight was delayed by 30 minutes. No biggie. we expected a delay due to the winter weather in NYC moving towards Maine.

We board about when we were supposed to per the delayed departure time.

We pushed back, go the safety schpeal, and then stopped. JFK was closed until they got the taxiways and runways plowed and cleaned up. ATC told our hard working pilots that our new departure time would be 2 1/2 hours later.

A tug came and pulled us back into the gate. Then we sat. But I have to say, the Jet Blue crew and ground agents did an excellent job keeping us informed of all the changes and up to date on conditions and connecting flights at JFK. They deplaned some people who wouldn't make their connection, and one new passenger got on. Both the FO and CO talked to us using the flight attendant PA at the front of the cabin rather than from the flight deck.

After a good wait on the ground, they told us that working with dispatch and ATC, they got a departure time only 20 minutes from that point. So we quickly went through everything again - push back, safety schpeal because a new passenger got on - and rolled over to be deiced, because the storm had reached Portland in the time we had been sitting there. Then we took off and landed without any further holding or delays at JFK around 10PM. Our original arrival time was 7:30.

We took our time getting down to bag check, so they were there going around the carousel just waiting for us. Walked the half a mile in the airport to the Air Train, which then connected us to the A train to Brooklyn. After a transfer to the F train, we finally walked through our door just after midnight. Unpacked, ate some toast because we were starving, cooed over the cats, got situated, etc, and turned the lights off at 1:45, just about when you were getting home.

Long day for both of us.


New content starts here!
Maine was pretty and cold the whole time we were there. We got very lucky with the weather as it never snowed or did anything else precip-wise. Surprisingly, we did quite a bit of shopping. I know, right? We live in NYC but went shopping in Maine. Maine has outlet malls and we had access to them. I'm also not one of those people who like to shop when on vacation. But it's hard to resist outlet prices at J.Crew, Gap, Banana Republic, and Crate & Barrel. We also visited the mothership of the L.L. Bean company in Freeport. Gorgeous flagship store. Steve took his much loved Bean backpack in to see if they would replace the zipper but apparently it isn't worth their time so they gave him a store credit and he was able to buy a brand new one. We also found a smaller version of his pack in a bin at the Bean outlet for only $12. Granted, it was embroidered with the name, "Jacey," but a seam ripper made that history. So he got two new backpacks which came in handy for transporting our purchases back to NY. I bought some new duds that are appropriate for work and Steve got some work-able clothes, too.

On Tuesday, we headed out to look for a Wii Fit (the balance board box) thinking that demand would be lower in Portland. After all, his father found us a Wii there and shipped it to us. No dice; everyone was sold out. Toys R'Us had a ton of Wiis but no Fits. On our way to Portland, I spotted a bald eagle soaring on a thermal right in Steve's neighborhood. There is no mistaking that bright white tail of a bald eagle. No other wildlife sightings except for a squirrel in the front yard.

Taking care of business

Well, things have been progressing rather mundanely the past week or so. It was with some relief that I found out I am meeting all expectations regarding my freelance/consulting work with Egmont. Phase 1 of my six-month contract is already over at the end of this month. Phase 2 starts March 1 and ends at the end of May. I was a little concerned about how I was doing because I feel completely in the dark communication-wise. I only get feedback when I'm in the office once a week to meet with my boss. I asked her and she said I'm going everything they wanted me to do and doing it well. So whew! My contract with them is pretty standard and gives either party a two-week notice contract cancellation policy.

Later that same day, my boss emailed me and asked if I would go to ALA Annual for Egmont. Even though I was doing the happy dance in my head, I played it cool, and simply said, "of course, I'd be happy to." I also have hopes that this is an indicator of either an extended contract or a movement towards a full-time on staff position with them. As I said, my contract ends at the end of May. ALA Annual is the second week of July. In Chicago.

On Thursday, Steve and I are headed to the Great White North. Oops, er, that's Canada. Maine. We're going to Maine. Since we had to scrub our Christmas visit due to finances and Kitty's required TLC after surgery, we are going now. Steve's folks haven't seen him in over a year, so a visit is well overdue. We'll be there about a week.

We are flying Jet Blue for the first time. Prices were astoundingly low - lower than taking the bus and definitely lower than the train - so we are flying. Even though it's only a little over an hour flight time, I'm looking forward to testing out the larger coach seats, personal tvs, etc. And we can check one bag each without an additional fee. It's amazing that a free checked bag is a perk now.

There is a cat sitter coming in twice a day - which costs more than our plane tickets - to take care of the furries. Cleo's medicine is best administered twice a day. We hired one of the techs from the vet clinic. Gotta remember to have an extra set of keys made tomorrow.

Tonight we are going to hang the curtains for the bedroom. Our bedroom is on the roof and could easily be accessed if someone felt like hopping from roof to roof. So I really want to get the curtains up to close up so should a potential thief roof hop, he won't be able to see in our windows. I also have to give Steve a haircut tonight. So many little things to take care of before leaving - put a hold on the mail, haircut, curtains, keys, pick up new pill pockets, save work documents to Google docs/USB memory stick to take with me, etc. At least laundry got done yesterday so we don't show up with dirty underwear. And I already stocked up on plenty of cat food for The Miss.

Like I said, things have been pretty ordinary around here.

New Blog

If you didn't get my email, here is the link to a new blog I've started. http://avecsucre.blogspot.com/

New addition to the kitchen

A couple weekends ago, IKEA finally had the kitchen island we've been coveting. We went out and got it, had it delivered the same day, and put it together by 9 that night. It's large for our space and will require rearranging the living/kitchen area yet again, but we're very glad to have it. I haven't taken a picture of it, but here is a picture of it from the IKEA site.



As you can see, it's mostly stainless. That wooden butcher-block-type part folds up and down as needed. It's counter height and we also got two folding bar stools. We have eaten there as a table several times and like it. Maybe having friends over for something isn't too far away. It will seat six people. We are going to need more stools.

The BIG morning

I think many of you who read my blog are friends and family and have little to nothing to do with the world of children's books. You've put up with my prattle about ALA, awards, authors, and illustrators and some things may have sunk in whether you wanted them to or not. This morning was the big morning for children's books. The 2009 awards were announced! I'm mentioning some of winning books by authors you may have heard me mention before. I've worked with all of them at either Holt or Harcourt, or both. They are some of the nicest people around, all of them. I'm very happy for them. Only one of these books is a Harcourt book but I'm pleased as punch for all of these authors (and all the ones who won but I'm not mentioning in this blog post). For a full list of ALA winners, you can visit ALA's homepage and click on the links for the individual award press releases. The ALA page is a little slow to respond due to the increased traffic.

Kadir Nelson cleaned up for his authored & illustrated book We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. He won the CSK author award, a CSK illustrator honor, and won the Robert F. Sibert Medal for best informational book for children.

Kathi Appelt won her first Newbery honor for The Underneath. I visited her at home in College Station a couple years ago and she gave me a pair of pink Crocs. She was actually working on The Underneath during the time I visited. We are united in Aggieness. She's also been one of the few authors who has worked with me all eight years in publishing as she was published by Holt and Harcourt.

I was also thrilled for Yuyi Morales winning another Belpre award for illustration and an honor for writing of Just in Case. She's one of the most gracious people I've ever met.

M.T. (Tobin) Anderson won a Printz honor for his second Octavian Nothing installment, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom of the Waves. Which I haven't read yet. But will very soon.

And finally, after many acclaimed books, Marla Frazee has been awarded her first Caldecott honor for A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever. This one is especially dear to my heart because it is a Harcourt book and I worked on much of it's promotion before I left Harcourt in June. Marla's editor, Allyn Johnston, shared early versions of this book with us and we watched it develop, grow, and change over the months before publication. It was amazing to watch the early version of the book mature into the charming, honest, and funny final version.

In addition to four out of five books above, I have also read some of the other award winning novels: Savvy (Newbery Honor), The Graveyard Book (Newbery winner), and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (Printz honor).

Also of note is author & illustrator Ashley Bryan winning the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for lifetime achievement. I had a short exchange with Mr. Bryan at a conference when I was still with Holt. Later, I was much astonished when he expressed his gratitude for sending him a book he requested—he sent me a hand written thank you note and autographed copy of his book Beautiful Blackbird. During that same conference, he crashed the Holt cocktail reception, but we didn't mind at all. Sorry Simon & Schuster or whichever publisher party he was supposed to be attending. I haven't worked with Mr. Bryan but I am a fan. You have also never heard anyone give a speech properly until you have heard the orations of Mr. Bryan.

Another year, another group of winners. I am a little sad not to be at Harcourt of the old days to celebrate with Marla, Allyn, Barb, Sarah, Amanda, Kia, Kara, Rachel, and everyone else. We used to love having any excuse to drink champagne in the office.

2009? Present.

I'm here. In the new year. Still not reporting very interesting news. Our tree is still up. It was supposed to come down yesterday, but I was finishing up reading for work and then went to a friend's house in the evening. There was little notice about going to the friend's house, otherwise you betcha I would have planned accordingly and taken the tree down on Saturday. Or have done more reading on Saturday. So the tree is coming down today.

I walked to Brooklyn Heights last night (where my friend lives) and I passed the corpses of many a previously festive and decorated tree. Today is the first day of the city-wide tree recycling program. Trees get picked up at the curb and turned into yummy smelling mulch that will be used in parks throughout the boroughs. I wonder what it would be like to be a curbside tree spotter and collector? I haven't seen any of the trucks collecting trees yet. Our tree is dry as the Sahara but still nice and green. And it still smells nice. I kept some of the lower branches we cut off and put them in our living room windows. I think I'll leave those up a while longer since they look winter-y not Christmas-y. We are also going to leave up some of the white rope lights since they look nice any time of year.

We didn't have a wreath this year. If we did, it might have helped identify our apartment as ours and not the one next door. Two more people have tried getting into our apartment only to find Steve answering the door to tell them they are in the wrong building. Idiots. Most have been pretty late at night and alcohol was clearly involved, but one just a few days ago, was about noon. Sober. He was very embarrassed. The others have been too soused to be embarrassed. Yes, 377 and 375 look identical from the outside, and I presume the stairwell. Yes, the keys work for both. Isn't that genius? Our first outside door has the same key as 375's inside door. And our inside door matches their outside door. Grrr. Cheap. Luckily the actual locks on the individual apartment doors are all different.

We have no idea if other people in our building have had this problem with their 375 counterparts. Another thought: if we have had four people try to get into our apartment, how many people live in #5 at 375? Four? Or has someone been a repeat offender?

In other news . . .

I watched Mama Mia on Saturday. I spared Steve and gladly wished him well as he played computer games in the other room. What a mess of a movie, but fun and rescued by the campy and catchy ABBA music. The costumes were ugly (and I'm not just talking about the disco get ups). The location - the beautiful Greek isles - is barely used, and the signing. Oh help me, the singing. James Bond is not a but can rock a glam disco jumpsuit. I also thought everyone looked sweaty. And not in a good way. Eh. It was a fun movie, but not a good movie. It could have been done a lot better. At least the cast looked like they were having fun the whole time, especially Meryl Streep.

Now I'm supposed to be working but I'm in a bit of a writer's block. Ironic isn't it? I can write on this blog without any problem, but when I try to write a program proposal I'm stymied. Will go back and give it another shot.

David and Allison to visit this weekend. That will mean another trip to Grimaldi's. Yum.

Last post of 2008

With much happiness, 2008 is finally over at midnight tonight. Can't wait to see this year go away.

Hope everyone has a great 2009. Doesn't have to be much better to beat 2008.

Photos of the Day

Well, we had a strange Christmas. It was just us and the cats. We ventured out tonight to Rock Center to see the tree. The mob was unbelievable and we didn't last long. I didn't even see the skating rink. We'll go back again before the tree comes down.

Awwww

For those of you who didn't see this on my Facebook page, here is a picture of Kitty sleeping in a box wearing his cone, or "hat" as Steve calls it. Kitty is actually very good when it comes to wearing this thing. At times it drives him bonkers. We take it off when both of us are home and can keep tabs on him. When we put it back on it only takes one of us to do it. He just stays put and waits patiently while Steve ties it on. At first, I was distracting Kitty with treats but now he doesn't need those to sit quietly. Such a good Kitty! He has to wear the cone until Friday.

Poorly timed discovery

I don't have long johns.

This is long john weather!

It's cold here. Really cold. Not as cold as Susan's 24 below a week or so ago in Montana, but it's cold. The wind chill right now is -1. But it's sunny and gorgeous out. I'll be braving the elements in about 30 minutes as I go out for a few missed grocery items. I have about a mile round trip walk to get the store (not the one I usually go to because the one I usually go to doesn't carry what I'm looking for). Will bundle up in my long johns, wrap an angora scarf around my face, boot up in my fleece lined warmest-boots-in-the-world boots, and pull up my heaviest wool knee socks. I bought a down coat a few weeks ago and I'm glad I have it. The cats are snoozing away in sunbeams right now.

If I'm not back in an hour, send out the St. Bernard's.

Kitty's Home!

The happy vet called this morning and said she was clearing Kitty to come home today. We went and picked him up around 2:30. We've had a little bump since bringing him home but it's minor and he's doing fine. He has to wear one of those cone collars to keep him away from his stitches, and it's driving him bonkers. He has tried to wash his face and can't and he rubbed his head against my leg but all I got was collar. Steve had him purring for a little bit. He has to wear the collar for up to seven days. He's moving around easily and doesn't seem to be in any post-op pain.

So glad he's back but Cleo is acting like she's never seen him before. He does look different with that collar on, so maybe that's what she's reacting to. She'll get used to him again.

More to come.

Snow mania & Kitty update

What is with all the snow all over the country? It's been snowing in freak places like New Orleans, Houston, Las Vegas, and Malibu!? It's snowing here today, but it's supposed to snow in New York. The snow is actually falling gently right now but it was blowing sideways earlier. Cars are already blanketed as are the rooftops. It's just starting to stick to the sidewalks.

Steve and I will venture out to visit Kitty at the hospital tonight. Yesterday afternoon, I noticed Kitty wasn't able to urinate. So Steve came home early from work and we took Kitty to the vet around 4 o'clock. They took him right away and sure enough, he was blocked. They treated him last night for the blockage and he came through that very well. Today, they took an x-ray of him to see if there was any more blockage or stones in his bladder. Yup, bladder stones showed up. So they have to do surgery today to remove them. This is costing Steve a small fortune (he does have the option of a three month payment plan for the surgery costs) but Kitty will be all better and then we'll do preventative care here at home to reduce the chances of this happening again. Cleo seems fine but so did Kitty until about 2 o'clock yesterday. Even though there are other contributing factors, they do eat the same food and drink the same water, so I'll be keeping an eye on Cleo. Kitty should be home by Monday.

Here are some pictures of Kitty enjoying licking the leftover whipped cream from my mixing bowl, and posing so handsomely.





Needless to say, we aren't going to Maine for Christmas. We won't be able to afford in-home care or boarding for both cats and we don't want to leave Kitty so soon after all this drama. Everyone is disappointed, but we'll go visit Maine next month.

Dinner at Harold's

Last night, I met up with six girlfriends for the annual holiday dinner. The dinner is in lieu of having to get gifts for everyone. My friend Donna suggested Harold Dieterle's restaurant, Perilla. Harold is the first season winner from Top Chef. All seven of us are Top Chef fans and all of us really like food, so it was easy to agree.

The restaurant is small with a bar on one side and tables on the other flowing into the back. The kitchen is closed, so we weren't able to watch Harold cook up, or expedite, our meals, but we did see him several times. Our table was near the kitchen and he popped out to check on things but didn't speak to any diners. Maybe he's shy. His face was flushed from the heat in the kitchen and he was wearing a white shirt and jeans. He also had a green half full-length apron tied around his waist. My bet is that he was expediting and not cooking. He also had glasses on which I don't remember from the show.

The decor is minimalist but warm. Along part of the wall are curved, orange booths. The orange is pretty much the only bright color in the otherwise neutral dark brown and cream room. Clearly the focus is on the food. Between the seven of us, we managed to cover the menu nicely with our selections. I opted to have an appetizer and a side dish for my meal, bypassing an entree. (Wait staff in NY has coined the term nontrees for people who order like I did skipping an entree.)

I selected the spicy duck meatballs because they were mentioned in just about every review I read for the place. The reviews said the meatballs were small, the size of olives. But the ones I had last night were more the size of Swedish meatballs. Not small. And very rich. I didn't taste that distinctive duck flavor but the meat was a lovely soft texture, but not mushy, and they were definitely spicy. At first. But the time I got to the last meatball (there were only 4), I realized in addition to spicy, they were very salty. Or at least the broth that was under them was salty. They were served with a handful of mint cavatelli, spinach, and a raw quail egg. I wasn't expecting the egg to be raw. When the server put the dish in front of me he suggested beating the egg into the broth, which I did. Can't say I really tasted the egg at all. The meatballs were good but the salt needed to be quieted down a bit. Two others at the table also ordered the meatballs. We all thought it was salty but really good.

For my second dish, I ordered the farro risotto with artichoke confit, Parmesan, and grapes. Yes, grapes. And they made the dish as far as I'm concerned. They added such a nice sweetness to an otherwise savory, rich, and under seasoned dish. I could have had a touch more salt or lemon or other seasoning. There was some parsley which tasted nice, but not enough. The Parmesan was obviously high quality and it was delicious in all it's melted glory. I loved the artichokes. The risotto was filling and I was unable to eat it all. It was a side dish on the menu but our server assured me it was plenty for an entree and people ordered it all the time as such. I ordered a glass of delicious Chardonnay (California, Hanging Vine, 'Parcel 4', '07) to go with the risotto. This Chard wasn't heavily oaked and tasted like pears and honey. Very easy to drink.

We had started the meal off with a bottle of cava rose from Spain (Llopart '05) because it was festive both in color and in bubbly. The wine and beer list is also nice. There are only about five choices each for red and white wine by the glass, so making a choice isn't overwhelming. The wines by the bottle is several pages and ranged in price. One of the beers they had by the bottle is the Green Flash West Coast IPA. We have a friend who works at that brewery back in San Diego. I couldn't believe the restaurant was charging $8 for a bottle. That's NY for ya!

Here is what my friends ordered and I tasted most of them:
Crispy calamari and red watercress salad
Lady apple and red romaine salad
Crispy Berkshire pork belly
Seared diver sea scallops
Roasted local beets and lamb prosciutto
Roasted bacon wrapped game hen
Braised elk osso buco
Black Trumpet & sheep's milk ricotta cannelloni (I almost got this instead of what I did get)
Roasted Brussels sprout leaves
Sauteed spaghetti squash

The cannelloni was accompanied by a deep fried egg. It was a soft boiled egg (I think) that had been lightly breaded and fried. It was soooo good and quite possibly the best thing we had all night. I think these are also called Scotch eggs but haven't checked. All the food was very good and all of us managed to clean our plates each course (except I left a little risotto). Portions were a nice size that were of manageable amount and plated on plain white bowls or dishes. Not much garnish other than some sauces or herbs.

By the time dessert rolled around, we were so stuffed but we endured and ordered two full desserts and then two orders of ice cream. We ordered the sticky toffee pudding and the brown butter bar. Both had interesting accent sauces that at first seemed like an odd pairing but mixed all together, they worked. The desserts were just okay but the ice creams were very good. We had two flavors - lemon curd and ginger. The lemon was absolutely divine. The ginger was good but could have used a touch more ginger. The flavor was very subtle. I had a glass of moscato with dessert.

Click here to see the whole menu. It's not a large menu and it is very seasonal. Prices are a bit high. We split the bill evenly seven ways and each share was $76. Not cheap. But we had good food and a really good time. We were there three hours, but I never felt we were waiting a long time for food and we certainly weren't rushed. The pace was very good. Our server was nice and unobtrusive but she was there when we needed her to be. She answered our questions and suggested wines confidently.

The music was the only thing that didn't seem to fit into this elegant and food-centric restaurant. It seemed like someones iPod was hooked up to the sound system because it was an eclectic mix of hits from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, with something from the 60s thrown in for good measure. I liked the music since I have most of the songs on my iPod as well, but it just seemed a little strange. The noise level did get pretty high at one point when every table was full, but I think we were having to talk loudly to hear over the other conversations, not the music. I hate it when music is too loud to talk.

I liked Perilla and would probably go back should the occasion arise, but with all the other restaurants in NYC to try, a repeat visit won't be anytime soon. It's definitely a special occasion place for my budget. I'd like to go back in a different season when the menu changes.

Post-Turkey Coma

Hope everyone had a nice and food-filled holiday. We did. My friend Reka can cook up a mean bird. She had a whole chicken and a turkey breast. There were only five of us having dinner together and an entire turkey seemed a little much. I completely ruined the stuffing but Reka was able to whip up a batch with a moment's notice. I've made the stuffing before to good results but this year I completely messed it up and wound up with a big ball of mushy goo. My mashed potatoes turned out beautifully creamy and smooth, so at least I didn't screw that up. And my cookies were a hit. It was a very nice evening.

I've been working at my new job all this week. But it's a little anti-climatic because I'm working from home. I was in on Monday to meet with my new boss, and we will continue to meet every Monday afternoon, but until there is space in the office for me, I'm sorta stuck working from home. Logistics are going to take a little time to work out. I also need to go talk to an accountant and figure out what the best way to go as far as tax deductions and how to pay freelancer quarterly taxes. I will have to pay estimated taxes by mid-January for the money I get paid this month. Ug. But at least I found a job. Things are rotten in the state of publishing. Yesterday was a black Wednesday across many companies - Random House, S&S, Thomas Nelson, and good 'ol Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - had lay offs. Big ones. News on the fall-out is still coming in so I don't know who was let go from HMH yet.

Not all news was bleak yesterday. Steve came home with some good news. I can be included on his insurance through work. That's a relief. We'll get me enrolled before the end of the year.

What else? Oh, Amy and new husband Gareth came up from Baltimore over the weekend. They were only here a short time but since I missed their wedding, it was very nice to see them. We walked the promenade and after standing in line outside in the cold for about 45 minutes, we sunk our teeth into pizza perfection at Grimaldi's. Steve and I love that place and it's a great place to take visitors. It's very Brooklyn not to mention it has arguably the best pizza in the city. It's sort of an In-N-Out of pizza. Just like In-N-Out has basic burgers and fries, Grimaldi's menu has pizza. That's pretty much it. You can get a calzone but why? No salads, no appetizers. Just pizza and soda and beer and wine (red or white, nothing fancy). I'm fine with the simple, concentrated menu. Who would want anything else there anyway? Their take out is always busy and pies (and leftovers) are put on a cardboard round and wrapped in white butcher paper bags. Old school. No pizza boxes here. The walls are adorned with pictures of the Rat Pack (we seemed to be sitting under the Frank Sinatra shrine), famous New Yorkers and Italians, and 9/11 memorial images. It's very crowded and even though the red and white checked tables are separated, it feels like eating family style with your neighbors. The music will range from 80s pop hits to Rat Pack to Italian opera. Very colorful place that attracts all kinds. Just like In-N-Out. The other thing that makes Grimaldi's special is it's location. It's under the Brooklyn Bridge. When the moon hits your eye, like a-big pizza pie . . . They guy working the line teased Steve about not letting him in. Steve was wearing his Red Sox hat. When we left the guy said in his Brooklyn accent, you can come back but don't wear that hat.

This weekend, we are going to get a Christmas tree. It seems a little early but we were so late getting pumpkins for Halloween that we don't want to repeat the mistake with the tree. We are also going to help a friend pack up salvageable items in her apartment. Her building had a fire about two weeks ago and her apartment sustained quite a bit of damage. Her kitchen is completely destroyed. But she and everyone in the building got out okay. We are also going to try to get to a museum. This weekend, and every first weekend in the month, Bank of America members can get into participating museums for free. Steve is with BofA so we can save $ on one admission. The natural history museum and the Met are participating so we'll go to one of those probably on Sunday.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Happy Thaksgiving

So, in case you haven't heard, I got a job yesterday. After months of waiting and searching, I got a freelance job with Egmont USA. I have a six month contract with them to be their library marketing consultant. The pay is good, the hours should be good, and I can work from home or the office. The job will be very much the same as what I've done for the last eight years, which is fine with me because I have loved what I've done. I am very relieved and happy to be working again. I start December 1, although I have some reading and work to start this weekend. But I won't start until tomorrow. Today is a holiday after all.

The stuffing has been brewing in the crock pot. I started it yesterday and it was on for hours. But I turned it off overnight. We woke up at 4:30 this morning due to a cat heaving up a hairball, so we plugged the stuffing back in. It smells really good and should be perfect by the time we eat. I also made gingersnaps yesterday that turned out really well after I got the baking time correct. The book suggested 15 minutes but I thought the cookies were a little too done. So I tried 13. Nope, not done enough. Fourteen minutes proved to be the sweet spot.

Today I am going to make sand tarts and get the mashed potatoes prepared without actually finishing them. I'll finish them over at Reka's before dinner.

The Macy's Thanksgiving parade starts in 15 minutes. I like the idea of this parade and there are some floats, balloons, and performers I like seeing - Sesame Street, all the balloons, the Rockettes - but overall the parade has become way too corporate and amounts to one long commercial. I rarely know the pop "stars" the "sing" on the floats anymore. I also like the high school bands. The Rose Parade is still the grand-daddy of all parades in my opinion. (Excluding the Mardi Gras parades down in NOLA.)

Hope everyone has a fun, safe, and YUMMY day today. Love me some Thanksgiving leftovers tomorrow.

Good Day

Yesterday was a good day. The weather was cold but gorgeous. I got my Brooklyn Public Library card, so I am officially a member of the neighborhood. I figured out what I am going to contribute to the Thanksgiving dinner I'm going to. I mailed what I hope are my last unemployment claim forms EVER. I went to Trader Joe's during an off-peak time and bought three pounds of butter. And I heard about a job that I thought was not an option anymore. It sounds extremely promising and I am going to go in and talk to them next week. I also had a good second meeting with another potential employer on Thursday. When it rains . . .

Steve and I had dinner at another restaurant we haven't tried yet. This was Apartment 138. They bill their menu as modern comfort food. They have a little bit of everything at pretty reasonable prices for NY. We split a huge field greens salad with tarragon dressing, and a chicken fried steak! It was a special for that night and neither of us could believe we found a place that has it in NY. It's sorta hard to find even outside of the South. It was good and came with smashed potatoes and fresh veggies that were crisp tender and not cooked to mush. It was good. The restaurant was very dimly lit and crowded but the volume level didn't offend us like it has at some places we've gone to. I'd like to go back and try some more.

Oh, and before we got to the restaurant, Steve and I were Shanghaied by a group of 13 year old girls and their dad chaperon who were out on a birthday party scavenger hunt. They needed to photograph Steve & one of the girls and the dad and me dancing - "get two of your group to dance with strangers on the street." So we posed and they snapped the pic.

Yes, it was an eventful day in Brooklyn.

Observation

The laundromat/dry cleaners around the corner from us has a meat counter and deli slicer. If that's not the weirdest combination of services, I don't know what is.

Snow Patrol

No snow here yet. Flakes have been sighted in the area, but I have seen nary a flake fall in Brooklyn. I'm watching for them since every day this week has had flurries in the forecast. I'm looking forward to that first real snow and we can make a snowman up on our roof, but after that I know I'll grow sick of the stuff fast. It's cold here. Our heat was on the fritz but it's been working properly for two days now, so hopefully I won't have to call our landlord, Mr. Lee, about it anymore.

Mr. Lee is very nice. He calls himself a "developer" not a landlord. He has other properties but since we reside in his newest, and there are still bugs working themselves out, he is quite attentive. Besides, if a landlord doesn't provide heat, we don't have to provide rent. So he has financial as well as legal motivation to make sure our heat works every time. Mr. Lee is Chinese. He's always very polite both in person and on the phone. He dresses very neatly and a little on the nerdy side. Mr. Lee is here at the building at least once a week, or if he isn't, someone from his family is. They take care of our weekly overflowing trash cans and recycling. They also clean up the foyer, laundry room, and ground level. I haven't seen anyone clean the stairs and boy, they sure need it. I like Mr. Lee. I just hope he doesn't kick us out in April when our short six-month lease is up.

Christmas is creeping into all the shop windows and decor. I haven't seen any Christmas tree lots/stands yet but I bet they start popping up this weekend. The big tree at Rockefeller Center goes live on December 3.

I had another meeting today with a prospective employer. It went well but it sounds like they won't be able to pay me anything near what I was making. Even on a part-time basis. But I think it would be an interesting job and there is tons of room for growth and more money down the road. I'll let you know what happens.

In between errands, chores, and job meetings, Steve and I eat. Amazing! This week, we've had Thai at a neighborhood spot, Thai leftovers, and homemade calzones. I did those last night. They came out really well and I have a feeling they will be added to the regular rotation. I made them with Trader Joe's herb & garlic pizza dough (divided in two and rolled out into 12" circles), spaghetti sauce, fresh mozzarella (because we live in an Italian neighborhood and can get such things for not very much $), diced browned chicken breasts (with olive oil, oregano, s&p), and a taste of browned Italian sausage. I also gave each calzone a light coating with egg to get a little crispy and brown. Steve declared the calzones better than the pizza I make from the same dough and almost same ingredients. I remember when Susan used to make us spinach and chicken calzones in college. Will have to try that version next.

I went to Lush today. Yay! Bought a shampoo (Big), conditioner (Retread), and one bubble bath bar. I also got another FREE bubble bath bar because I had received an e-mailed coupon from Lush for any solid product under $10. I love free things from Lush. I bought the French kiss (lavender scented) and Floating Island (sweet scented) bubble bars. Can't wait to try them out. Thanks for the gift card, Mom!

I'm also doing quite a bit of reading. I just read three books for the meeting I had today, and I'm in the middle of another but I just can't pick it up again so I don't think I'll finish it. It's very bleak and I don't care for the style. I think I'll move on to Peter Golenbock's In the Country of Brooklyn: Inspiration to the World. It's a not-too-short 20th-century history of Brooklyn. Peter Golenbock might be familiar to some of you because he's written other histories about baseball and baseball players. I picked up an ARC of this title at BEA and I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Sounds interesting and I'd like to know a little bit about where I live.

Voting in Brooklyn

I've done my civic, patriotic duty and voted about 9AM this morning. Before I left California, but after I had an official address in Brooklyn, I registered to vote in New York. Luckily, I had 30 days before the election to register so I just squeaked in. The polling place was a high school just in the next block. The process went fairly smoothly. The only real problem I saw was poor placement for the voting machines. I think four to six districts were voting at this particular location. Each district had two voting machines. Everything was crammed into the main hallway of the school. It was very hot, very crowded, and confusing as to which line is the correct line to stand in. I'm not sure why they didn't place the machines and check in desks in a gym or cafeteria. But everyone remained patient and pleasant. People helped others to find the right line. We waited in line probably 20 minutes, so the wait could have been worse. The machines appeared to be working properly. The only other complaint I have besides the poor placement of the machines is that they didn't have any "I voted" stickers. Bummer.

After voting, Steve went off to work and I came home. I'm going to do some housecleaning and make a pie as I watch the news all day. I can't wait to watch returns tonight. Happy voting everyone.