I love putting up the Christmas tree. I wasn't planning on doing it this year, though, because we are going on vacation. Yep, we're going on vacation. Where to? Somewhere we've never been before. It feels too exotic to even say. Ooo, a destination Christmas! I feel embarrassed even mentioning it. We *don't* go anywhere for Christmas. We already travel in the summer. And, contrary to popular opinion, we do get sick of airplanes. Our options were a bit limited because we did *not* want to deal with jet lag. I didn't even want to deal with a trip at Christmas, but when you are practically handed tickets, we couldn't pass it up. So, we'll be in Thailand for two weeks. Boom.
"Phở is a Vietnamese noodle soup, usually served with beef (phở bò) or chicken (phở gà). The soup includes noodles made from rice is often served with Vietnamese basil, mint leaves, lime, and bean sprouts are added to the soup by the person who is dining."
This is the soup that will be served in heaven. This is not a picture of the soup I made. I wish. My first stab at making this seemingly simple soup went surprisingly well. At least it was edible.
There is this great chain of restaurants in Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland called "Pho ___" (insert random number) They all have a different number; 75, 43, 88. I don't know if there is a system to the numbering, I just know they have awesome soup. The clear beef broth is flavored with onion, cilantro, ginger and various other spices I don't even know the names of. You pick two meats to put in the broth. There are also noodles. You are given a plate with bean sprouts, cilantro, lime and a carousel of sauces including Srirache and soy.
As I was wandering through the produce section of Jawad's (the local supermarket) I was struck with a moment of inspiration, or insanity. I saw all the ingredients in front of me and decided to try making Pho that night. Once I got my shopping bags home, I unloaded my loot. I had looked up a few recipes and decided to try the most simple one. I had even devised a plan to remedy the potential "Ewws" and "It's too salady!" responses from the kids.
So when I put the colander in the sink with the intention of draining the noodles, imagine my surprise when I looked down at my hands and saw that I was on auto-pilot and draining my broth down the drain! I lost about a quarter of my liquid gold! Oh well, there's always next time, right? Everyone actually liked the soup. It wasn't up to true Pho standards, but it'll do. We definitely will be trying this again.
There was a furniture & antique auction/fundraiser at the school a couple weekends ago. I intended to go, but didn't have the opportunity. The week after said event, I read in the school bulletin that they were having an after auction sale and selling items at 30% off the beginning bid price. Sweet. See, inaction does pay! I got to stroll through the two rooms that were jammed with mountains of stuff. I say 'stuff' because most of it we could all live without; they'd just clutter up someone else's house. I had a few items in mind, from the picture sheet they emailed me. I'd had my eye on these scroll benches since before the auction. (they sent out a catalog) The little price tag said $175; so 30% less than that is $122.50. After seeing them in person, I knew they were meant for me! (yes, there are two benches.) Happy Anniversary, Birthday & Christmas to me!
Picture taking is just my hobby, I don't profess to be a professional. I have no formal training, I just like taking pictures. You learn quite a lot about yourself when you engage in any sort of activity. I've learned that I'm not that good with people; taking their picture, I should say. I prefer a sweeping landscape or lush garden or inanimate objects. So I've pushed myself outside my comfort zone whenever I take pictures of the kids or people. Like school picture time, when they come home with the sheet of thumbnail pictures and I don't like any of them. I say to myself, "I could do better!" And then myself replies, "Yeah, but you didn't! Will you?" I have to tell myself, "Yes, yes I will." And the whole task of getting their Fall school pictures done before Spring is upon me. So I usually fold and go with the school pics. But this is just one example in a whole string of instances. The point is, I am pushing myself to do new things and improve upon what can do.
I really can't complain when it comes to the kid department. My kids are so tolerant of my picture hobby; they can cheese it up when the need arises. I've also learned a lot from them. You can't force a smile or pose, they have to want to do it. So I encourage the face wiggles and even have spontaneous non-serious "picture time". Here is what I have to work with. The other day when we were out, I told Grant to sit down and let me take a few pictures. He took the whole "face wiggling" exercise to a whole new level. I've erased more pictures of him than I keep. Oh well, at least be grateful for the ones I get.
Jacqueline's kindergarten class had a Stone Soup Feast for the parents. She was very excited for the whole shindig. They even went shopping at a store for the vegetables and other ingredients.
They made invitations and Jacqueline was tickled pink that she got to deliver them herself. The class made the place cards and place mats for their guests. They also made corn biscuits and butter! Yes, their own butter; shaken in a jar & everything.
The soup was . . . interesting. I couldn't get past the whole "children prepared this" part and politely stirred my soup around and pretend sipped. Bless their little hearts, but I can't account for where their hands have been. It's the Monk-ish part of me.
This year was the first in a long time of Thanksgivings that we haven't had people over for dinner. We even did it last Thanksgiving, amid boxes and unpacking. I just wasn't feeling it this year. We still had a great time. The kids are getting old enough to engage in games the whole family can enjoy. Mairyn & Eliza honed their chess skills. We all played Apples to Apples Jr. and Farkle is always a sure bet for fun!
If feeling in the Christmas spirit was hard in Cairo, it's even harder here in Bahrain. Oh hi, it's me again. I've had my internal dialogue on all month, it's your fault you can read my mind! I've had a major case of the "I don't cares". The sick cycle of guilt has been rotating on me. It goes something like this:
"Crap, I haven't blogged in a few days. Oh well."
"I haven't blogged in a week! Double crap! I'd better make the next post really good."
"Crap-ola, this is a record, two weeks! I'll do . . . ooo, something shiny!"
"Whoa, over three weeks. *BAM* (that was the sound of Thanksgiving hitting)"
And so it would continue; the feeling of duty to blog, then guilt over how long it has been, followed by the knowledge that anything will be inadequate to make up for the lost time. Finally the avalanche of all insurmountable odds to right my blogging wrongs buries me and I crawl under a rock.
Well no more, my friends. I know, you're all shaking your head going, "Yeah, we've heard this one before." I can't promise the world, but I can try. I've got a backlog of pictures that need showing and the holiday season coming up. I need somewhere I can procrastinate my time away while I should be doing other duties.
Here is a shot from yesterday when we went to the Bahrain Fort. This is why someone always lugs the tripod around on our outings. And that someone usually ends up being Spencer, bless his heart. And he loves the fruits of my hobbies just as much as I do!
