Tuesday 5: Dinner Menus, Dreams, and Dolls

1. Fall has come to Florida. While the rest of you are enjoying cooler mornings and a crispness in the air, we’re enjoying fall, too. It’s still miserably hot and humid. I was outside for 15 entire minutes today, while I picked up Arthur Dent and then we hung around for a few minutes to say hi to Gertrude Bell while she was at recess. When I crawled back in the car, my hair was dripping and my clothes were wet with sweat. I still knew fall was here, though—there were love bugs on and in the car. If you don’t know what they are, consider yourself, and the bumper of your car, fortunate.

2. In the interest of trying to get some things done now that the kids are back in school, I’ve been trying to take on some projects that I’ve been putting off. Today, I reduced the number of tops in my closet by one third. I’ve also gone through handbags and jackets in the past week, and started on shoes. I need to get a handle on scarves and jewelry next. I feel so much better when I have less “stuff,” so I’m lightening my load. 

3. I’ve been having some unusual dreams lately. Last week, it was a dream about trying to buy feta cheese in a blizzard with David Duchovny.  Monday morning, I sat straight up in bed after dreaming that I was being attacked by a giant frog. I was saved in the nick of time when Agent Doggett shot the toad as it jumped at me. Coincidently, that precisely corresponds with Season 8, Episode 19 of the X-Files, which we watched tonight. Totally normal, right?

4. We had a major crisis on our trip to Georgia last week. We were five minutes from Reagan’s Godparents’ house when Gertrude Bell let out a scream of pain that almost ran me off the road. Once I regained my composure and made sure Gertrude Bell wasn’t injured, I found out that her doll, Mary, had a hole in her body. For those of you not familiar with Mary, Gertrude Bell got her for Christmas the year she turned three. Mary has been around the world with Gertrude Bell, literally. She is Gertrude Bell’s most prized possession. Gertrude Bell sleeps with her every single night, and takes her almost everywhere she goes. It’s not a shock that Mary has a hole, it’s more of a shock that it’s taken so long. Today, Gertrude Bell broke down in heaving sobs as we packed Mary in a box (with lots of insurance!) to mail to Grandma for repair. This will be the first time she’s spent the night without Mary, ever. Every hotel room we’ve stayed in, from Bangladesh to Kansas, Mary has been beside Gertrude Bell. She’s been to almost every show-and-tell day at school, and now she’s been entrusted to the U.S. Postal Service for a two day trip to Grandma’s, and another trip back. Fingers crossed, send some good vibes, Fellow Adventurers. In the overall scheme of things, no big deal, but in the Intrigue Family, the hugest deal. 

5. What’s on your dinner menu this week? We had crock pot chicken tacos last night. Tonight, pad thai. I stabbed myself in the palm with a dry rice noodle. It was no joke, Fellow Adventurers. I need a band-aid. The rest of the week is shrimp with dill and farro, veggie lasagne, and frozen pizza. The Intrigues always have pizza on Friday. Now that I’ve found a cheese free version that I like, I feel even less guilty. Seriously, though, Fellow Adventurers, I’d love to hear your meal plans, especially if they include anything that can be completely pre prepped or cooked in the crock pot. Now that school is back in session and activities are in full swing, that’s a necessity.