And the CSA begins...

ML and I picked up our first CSA share this weekend before speeding down to Lincoln for a dance workshop.  For a full share, I thought it was rather small   (can’t imagine what a half share would have had), not to mention it was hard to split up – everything was in odd numbers!  Nonetheless, it was a nice variety of early season veggies – two kinds of onions, mixed lettuce, swiss chard, peas, potatoes, and a dozen eggs each.  I sent the peas with ML – there weren’t enough to split, but I harvested a quart of my own garden sweet peas on Thursday. 

Last night I fried a few of the eggs for dinner, along with some fried potatoes, onions, and a “Q-ball” zucchini that I found at the farmers market last weekend.  With some toasted Old Market sourdough, it was a pretty good meal – and an even better breakfast, as I made extra to bring with me this morning.  I followed my first meal today with a helping of the lettuce, another onion and some tomatoes and dill for a fabulous lunchtime salad…  mmmm…. J  So much better than all the crap I ate this weekend! 

 

Speaking of the weekend, it was a decent one, for the most part.   I took a 4-class, 6 hour workshop in Lincoln, followed by two spots in the show that night.  The stage lights were blinding, so it was a little stressful – several dancers ran into props, no doubt unable to locate them with all that light.  Thank goodness that none of the trees or flaming torches were real!

 

Sunday, the puppy and I got up early and met Divas on the Run at Lake Zorinsky for a jog.  I brought the dog because a) he needs the exercise and b) I didn’t think he could run for too long, so he was my excuse to walk and nurse my sore hips.  Um, no.  He ran the entire 4.3 miles around the big half of the lake, stopping only to mark his territory and bat at a caterpillar on the trail.  He was very well-behaved, staying in the grass along the trail for the most part, and even inspiring a “wow, that’s a well-trained dog you have there!” comment from a passing biker.  Fooled ‘em, huh?  Ryker spent the rest of the day collapsed either on the bed or on his pillow in front of the window.  One tired puppy.

 

Tonight the DH has a show at the Roxbury. Hopefully they have chairs, ‘cause I’m old and can’t stand up for more than 10 minutes if I’m not moving. 

 

Tomorrow morning, I will attempt to wake up before 5 a.m. so that I can meet my new carpooling buddy at 5:30.  Geesh, that’s early, but at least it means I’ll get home at a decent time.  Being such a glowing morning person, it shouldn’t be a problem, right?  Poor guy doesn’t know what he’s gotten into.

new stuff and clouds

Posted a couple of new items on Wardrobe Refashion today - check 'em out there, 'cause I'm too lazy to repost here. :)

Got a couple of shots of the storm rolling in Friday night. We didn't get much in our neighborhood, just some wind and rain. None of the damage like the rest of town - our patio furniture (well, the one plastic chair we have on the deck) didn't even move, so I guess it missed us.

berry good

Did I mention that ML and I went out to pick strawberries last week? I froze 6 quarts of them, 3 for each of us. 1 of those will travel down Q Street this week to become homemade ice cream... :)

Walkable neighborhoods

Trent on The Simple Dollar posted today about the practicalities of not owning a car (or at least reducing the number per household).  An interesting site he pointed to is Walk Score.  It lets you type in your address and then shows you how walkable your neighborhood is, in terms of restaurants, schools, access to groceries, fitness centers, parks, etc.  Pretty nifty.  Unfortunately, my current neighborhood isn’t very walker-friendly.  (I could have told you that from experience – we have a serious dearth of sidewalks outside the residential zone).  However, ML is in a very walkable neighborhood! J Oh, how I miss downtown…

 

Smoke-free at last

Whoo-hoo!  The smoking ban in Omaha finally extends to all bars!  The Omaha World-Herald today reported that the total ban went into effect today, after a judge ruled a couple of weeks ago that the exemptions for certain bars, keno outlets, etc, were unconstitutional.  I’m glad – it seemed like all the exemption did was cause most “bar and grilles” to quit serving food to keep the smokers around.

This is happening at an ideal time – the DH’s band is playing at The Roxbury with The Classic Crime a week from Monday and that place was SO smoky.  I can finally breathe a little easier. J

 

It's true, I'm an idiot

I was so careful.  And yet it still happened.  :P  Figures....

Diva Soma danced at Benson Days today.  I though - hey, what a perfect time to rehearse my solos for the wedding Kamaria and I are dancing at tonight!  So, knowing that it would be hot, I brought water.  Knowing that it would be sunny, I brought sunscreen. I even remembered to put it on.  Did it even occur to me that the surface we were going to dance on would be 5000 degrees???  Nope.  I wore my flip flops for the first few group dances, thinking I'd avoid stepping on anything icky before my solos.  I didn't get a solo in until about 1:15-ish.  I slipped off my shoes.  I stepped into the dance area.  I promptly burnt the crap out of my pedicure-smoothed (and thus defenseless) feet.  Holy freakin' hell, it was hot.  I finished one dance, but I'm not exactly sure what I did - it wasn't my choreography.  It was so hot, all I could think to do was not rest in one place for too long.  :(  After that, even dancing in shoes was no use.  A bath to remove all the Maple Street grime revealed a couple of nice big blisters on the balls of my feet.  Gee, dancing for 90 minutes at a wedding tonight is going to be FUN.  Stupid, stupid, stupid. 

Oh, well.  I'm sure the wedding guest will confuse my tears of painful dancing agony as tears of joy for the happy bride and groom. :)

Last night the DH and I went down to the opening ceremonies for the College World Series.  Ate some junk food, watched a free performance by Candlebox...then skipped the fireworks to avoid the traffic.  Good times...almost made me wish I liked baseball!

tomato-tomoto

The FDA is advising consumers to avoid Roma and red round tomatoes because of a recent string of salmonella outbreaks.  Ew.  I have a pile of Romas in the fruit bowl on our kitchen counter.  Am I worried?  Nope.  My Romas were grown locally and bought on-the-vine.  True, it’s a little early for tomatoes in Nebraska – these were greenhouse-grown – but they are darn good… J  They taste even better with the knowledge that I am supporting a local grower and avoiding a serious illness.

aftermath

The DH got home early this morning (2:30-ish) just as the sirens sounded in our neighborhood.  We did not see any damage from the tornado, but neighborhoods to our east were not so lucky.  What a night! 

The rest of the weekend has been significantly better, that's for sure.  On Friday night, the DH and I went downtown to check out the Taste of Omaha festival, otherwise known as "DH's BBQ Rib Heaven".  We walked around, munching and people watching.  A U2 tribute band provided the soundtrack.  After dark, the DH suggested we take a gondola ride in the lake - evoking memories of his marriage proposal almost 3 years ago.  As we neared the center of the lake, the festival fireworks began - talk about good timing!  We had the best seats in the house...or lawn, as the case may be.
We took the puppy down to the farmers market Saturday morning, finding strawberries, tomatoes, salsa, potatoes, and salad mix.  The puppy found the dog-cookie stand with no problems.  Instead of heading straight home, we drove through Dundee to check out the new clothing exchange store Scout Dry Goods and Trade.  It is adorable.  The DH waited patiently while I filled the dressing room with cute finds.  I ended up with a soft cotton dress and a dark green lightweight sweater - Lux brand and a steal at $11.  I can't imagine what the poor schmuck who originally purchased it at Urban Outfitters paid.  Reluctantly exiting that store, the DH lured me down the street to eCreamery where he bought me a jumbo banana split for lunch! :)  Mmmm...  We bought the puppy a scoop, too.
The DH left in the early afternoon, destination Kansas City and the Rush concert.  I just hung out at home, sewing up some cute t's and bags.  The first hint of storms started rolling in around 6:30, so I opted to skip our belly dance hafla - I've had enough hail for one week!  Little did we all know what was to come later in the night/early morning hours...  Eek!

Today should be good.  I'm about to meet up with some friends for a jog, then dance practice, then another group is meeting to see Sex and the City, followed by martinis and sushi!  Yea sushi!

Dear god make it stop burning, or... Ouch.

Just in case you, for some reason, thought that Chipotle-Garlic Salmon would go well with Raspberry Venom Salsa (and, you know, a nice fresh-picked garden salad with dill, and perhaps some organic cilantro-blended quinoa), I have a suggestion.  Don't do it.  Holy crap, my mouth is on fire!  I guess the word "venom" in the salsa title and the large "HOT!" label on the lid should have been my first clue...

Pain free

About to head out on a jog…this will be a second test run to see if my new arch support “performance inserts” are really doing the trick when it comes to my strange and unbearable foot pain.  Crossing my fingers…  Monday’s run was wonderful – after a horrific 5 mile race the week before (my right foot hurt every step of the way), I was scared to even try it.  My dad, who I call for all running-related diagnoses, suggested that new inserts would cure me, but I’ll admit I was skeptical.  Guess he was right… 

 

Didn’t run this past weekend, but was plenty busy regardless.  Spent Friday night helping ML put a ruffle on a too-short vacation dress, visited the farmer’s market on Saturday morning, and then drove down to Lincoln with the DH.  I was invited to dance with Basharaat and The Tribe (their student troupe, of which I guess I’m a part) at a Rocks Oriental show.  For the non-belly dancer reader, “Raks Oriental” means “Dance of the East”, or Belly Dance.  This show was set entirely to classic rock, hence the title “Rocks Oriental”.  I wore my new denim tiered skirt and performed my choreography to the UHP cover of Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire.  It always gets a good chuckle from the crowd when they start to recognize the tune… J  Naturally I forgot my entire dance the moment I got on stage but I think my improv skills are getting better… J

 

Sunday was the weekly Salome rehearsal, followed by dinner at the new Baby Blue sushi restaurant and then a drive to CB for The Roots(!) at Stir.  It was…interesting…  They are an excellent group, but I wasn’t feeling all that good by the time the performance started – I think I had a bad reaction to the spicy tuna at Baby Blue… L  Nevertheless, I wouldn’t have missed it. J  Some of their material seemed a little dated though – or is it old enough to be considered “classic”? – I caught an Urkel reference in one song.  It occurred to me that half of the audience probably wasn’t old enough to remember who Steve Urkel was!

 

African dance classes have started at Gnosis studio!  I’ve taken a couple of workshops with Melissa, the instructor, and always had a good time, so how could I miss the change for a whole 6-week session?  The moves are totally different from what we do in belly dance, and you feel really awkward, but I guess that’s what helps you learn, right?  I sure hope so… J  Right now I’m taking 3 classes at Gnosis…cause I’m a glutton for punishment – add in weekly rehearsals, extra practices for special performances, my twice weekly crack-of-dawn PiYo class, and the hopefully-more-than-occasional run, and I’m probably lucky I can walk…