Lamb, kites and cable.

Today would have been my father’s 83rd birthday. He’s been dead for twelve years now, but I haven’t yet forgotten his birthday when it comes by. He hated birthdays, or any fuss being made. He hated anything that departed from routine. He didn’t even like taking vacations away from the house. He was a tough man to buy for, and could be a tough man to please. I thnk perhaps in the back of my mind I am still convinced that I’ll find that perfect birthday present for him. Reality can take a while to sink into all the crevices, I guess.

Last night I made lamb for dinner, and The Socialist and I experimented with stir fried peppers and onions. I’m not sure what all seasoning he put in the peppers, but they turned out wonderful: sweet with just a little bite to them. I hope the experiement is reproducible. I took charge of cooking the lamb, which was just a little butterflied leg roast. I loved the look on his face when he watched me sear it in a pot, then cover it with water. “You’re going to boil it?” he exclaimed, with dismay written all over his face. Four cloves of garlic, six bay leaves, some ground pepper and a few other spices later, he was singing its praises though. There are a few things I can still do right in the kitchen. I did manage to pull one goofus maneuver last night though. While taking the lamb out of the broth, it slipped back in and made a huge splash. The cutlery drawer was open just next to where I’d set the pan down, and everything in the drawer was covered with juice and fat. I’m making a special run of the dishwashing machine now to clean everything up. I did let fly the “f” word when the slop hit the flatware though, which is something I seldom do. The Socialist got a kick out of that – he tells me all I have to work on now is the volume (I said it under my breath).

Yesterday at work turned out to be a long day, but at least it let me make up all the time I’d lost going to the cardiologist and getting the mammogram done last week. I spent far more time than usual away from my desk, but managed to get quite a bit accomplished in spite of that. I’m sooo glad I have Monday off though. I could really use the extra day to recouperate. Today will (unfortunately) be devoted to housework. No rest for the wicked, I fear.

It’s really windy today, and what I really want to do is go outside and fly my parafoil kite. I know what the Socialist would say about that proposal: “It’s too butt-ass cold to go outside.” I’m not entirely sure what butt-ass cold means, but coming from a native Californian I suspect it’s anything under 65 degrees.

I broke down and made arrangements to get cable television. It isn’t that I want the extra stations, but our reception here is very poor. Thinking in terms of the long run, there’s going to be a period of time sooner or later that I’m confined to quarters for a long while, and I guess it will be nice to have some additional options for television veiwing while I’m recuperating. Mostly, though it will just be nice to be able to see all the stations without the ghosts, snow and zig-zaggy bars.