Sweetness

Don't these make your mouth water? These are the last twosome from the foursome that our friends Matt and Kristen brought back for us from Magnolia's. That's right, the Magnolia's in the city (the newly opened branch which is a little further uptown than the original). They were in the city this past week for a vacation and we sent them along with our best wishes/advice, a mini-map of the subway, and a very heavily marked Zagat guide. They even ate at our favorite spot in Brooklyn Heights, Henry's End, which I hope was as much fun for them as it always was for us. 

My Dad is doing well, though still in the hospital. They are weaning him onto Coumadin and he is now allowed to get up and walk around, which is a huge improvement. We went home Friday night to visit. Hung out all day on Saturday. A good time was had by all. Thank you everyone for your prayers for him. 

We woke up this morning to the most glorious weather. It was cool so we got to open all the windows. It rained last night so the breeze wafting through the screens smelled of cool, moist earth. When I closed my eyes, it almost smelled salty ... like being at the beach. That is one thing I have started noticing a lot lately. The smell of dirt and how it has been absent from my life for the last four years. I almost want to bury my nose in the ground and just breathe it all in. I actually considered bringing a bowl of dirt in the house and leaving sitting on the kitchen table, like a bouquet. 

The traveling this weekend wore me out, as usual, and I woke up exhausted today with more pain in my hip than usual. Determined not to sleep the day away, however, I made myself get a shower (yes, I can still shave my legs... yet another benefit of being double jointed it seems) and we took a short trip to the North Carolina Museum of Art to see a piece from their collection by Michael Rovner. We saw a show of his in Chelsea while we were still living in Bloomfield and it was one of those shows I will never forget. It was nice to see those familiar little hieroglyphics bowing in unison under the florescent light of their case. I must admit, it was rather nice to be able to just stop by Food Lion on the way home to pick up a few items. I had forgotten how convenient a car can be at times. Soon we are heading over to the park for the first in a series of weekly Sunday evening picnics with Fellowship Raleigh. It's a bring your own food situation so Stephen grilled out chicken breasts and we are having grilled chicken over salad with walnuts and cranberries, a summer staple around our house.