Optimist Under Siege

So I’m reading Peter Mayle’s book A Year in Provence to get ready for and excited about our upcoming trip to southern France (Languedoc-Roussillion and Provence- from Toulouse to Marseilles). It’s witty, beautifully descriptive…definitely something I’d recommend. But the problem is that reading it always makes me hungry!

Mayle is always talking about these amazing meals, in great gastronomic detail. I can almost taste the stinky cheeses (I LOVE stinky cheese), local wines, pork and duck and rabbit. He has some intense culinary experiences. And if the book isn’t going on at length about long, leisurely meals in aesthetically pleasing surroundings, it’s describing the fresh, succulent vegetables at markets. Or the fresh melons from their garden. Or the locally made wine enjoyed as the sun sets.

It’s pleasant torture! Needless to say, I am VERY excited about our trip. We’ll get to see a lot of wonderful places, and eat a lot of wonderful things. Cuisine is a serious thing in France and I am a serious eater. I think we’ll get along just fine.

I’ve got a hypothetical situation for you…

What if, on one random Sunday morning, your husband decided that the tv was too big and needed to go? Then, being the internet savvy guy that he is (hypothetically remember!), your husband immediately put an ad on Craiglist to sell the tv. In the early evening, what if some local college students came on by with cash in hand and the tv was out of the house by the end of the very same day?

Okay, none of this is hypothetical. But I suppose you already knew that. My husband’s funny. Which I suppose you might also have already known.

And we lived happily ever after…with a smaller tv…!

My husband has yet another business trip in Las Vegas, but this time I’m going with him! I’m still going to be working. I’ll have my laptop and all. But I think working out by the lovely pool and pool-side casino will be MUCH more productive than working in my living room. Definitely.

Working at “home”* is a wonderful thing.

*If by “home” you mean Las Vegas.

I’ve got a new environmental site up and running for Green Living; I have almost finished planning a super cool trip to southern France (enfin!); and I’m getting a hair cut today. I feel like I’ve got it together! At least for the moment.

My computer seems to think so. I recently received a software update for my computer which was described as follows: “This update delivers increased compatibility with iLife.” I am SO glad to have better compatibility with life. Couldn’t we all use a bit of that?

I just got back from a slightly disconcerting visit to my aunt, uncle, and cousin out in Minnesota. Now don’t get me wrong; my husband and I had a great time out there. We went to the Minnesota Rennaissance Faire and the State Faire (needless to say, we ate a LOT of faire food…maybe that’s why I’m now craving salad!). We had the opportunity to spend time with my aunt and uncle and my 16 year old cousin who just started her junior year at an art high school. She seems really happy about it, which is great.

So what was the disconcerting part? Part of the timing of our visit was to coincide with what my uncle affectionately calls, “Andercon,” as in the gaming “con” of the Anderson family. Every year around labor day my uncle has a slew of his gaming friends drive or fly in to play strategy games pretty much non-stop for a week.

The disconcerting part was watching my husband, uncle, and his gaming friends interact and realizing that I may be looking at what my husband and his friends will be like in another twenty or thirty years! What a crazy thought! Although, as my aunt pointed out, it’s not a bad thing. Instead of drinking beer and watching football, they play strategy games and drink soda (or, excuse me, “pop!”).

My husband fit in just a little too well…