Draft #49

I checked (to see how lame I was) and, to date, I have begun forty-eight drafts of blog posts that I never wound up posting because they were just too horrible. That's almost fifty! You think I'm not writing anything, but you're wrong. I write all the time. Crappy stuff, that you wouldn't want to read. Worse, if you can fathom it, than what's about to ensue in this post. I'm presuming, of course, that you've read this far.

Here's the skinny-

Weather: It's finally begun to rain around here. We got a spectacular storm last weekend (discussed in Draft #48) and everything perked up a little in the yard, including the dog who, the other day after the rain cooled it off to about 90 degrees outside, voluntarily exited the house instead of clinging frantically to the sofa ("No! Nooo! I don't want to go out there! It's HOT! I'll DIE!!!") as is her standard summer behavior.

Dog: See above. Also, shedding a lot. We furminate three times a day now.

Guatemalan: Working steadily at his job in the School of Architecture's woodshop at the U: sawing things, welding things, scampering about in only his boxers - God only knows what those boys are really up to over there. And also, he built me a fence so that the neighbors can no longer leer through the cracks of the rickety old wooden thing that used to be there, ogling my bras hanging on the clothesline and whatnot.

Laundry: I did a couple loads last Thursday and will probably do about six more this Thursday. Raphael goes through outfits like a supermodel goes through...outfits, on account of his building fences during the hottest part of the day and riding his bike to work and then also the work itself which, as I mentioned, involves sawing and welding and all kinds of other sweat-inducing activities. He's a regular sweating machine these days. So we do a lot of laundry. It gives the neighbors something to look at.

Work: Is work.

Food: Right-o. Made some food this week. I recently found a mango chutney recipe that I've got to give you and I can't make it fast enough to stave off my cravings for it. It's so fantastic. Raphael, it turns out, isn't so keen on mango chutney. He prefers salsa. I'm utterly content with the arrangement, as that way I get all the mango chutney to myself. Also, within recent days, some other things I've made that I want to post recipes for include Toasted Coconut Ice Cream, Caramelized Black Pepper Chicken, and these crispy little Almond Brown-Sugar Cookies. I'll have to type out the Coconut Ice Cream recipe as it's not online. It involves processing an actual coconut, so you were unlikely to run home and make it tonight anyway ("Oh! Finally! I've been saving that coconut for something extra-special!"). And the mango chutney recipe, too. No worries. I won't forget about the chutney.

Bears: Oh, right. I forgot to tell you about the bear.