Things I’m loving this week
1. Roasted asparagus. After loving the roasted brussel sprouts I made last week, I tried roasted asparagus and…oh, my gawd…it’s like candy. I’ve never been so thankful that no one else in my house likes vegetables. I ate this entire pan myself.
(How to: Snap off the hard woody ends of the asparagus. Brush (or drizzle) with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt. Roast in a 400 degree oven for …oh, I don’t know…20 to 30 minutes?…you’ll know when they are done).
2. Tri-ing new things. I’ve always wanted to do a triathlon, but have always hesitated to sign up because I can’t (and don’t want to) compete in a tri. I just want to complete it. So I’m at a pool workout with friends on Sunday and my friend Karen says she’s going to do the Dam Tri. I say…wait, you can’t swim a lap without sucking up water and you can’t run right now (she’s injured) and you’re signing up for a tri? She laughs and says, “yeah, I just really want to do one,” and I thought, well, if she can do it, then so I can. The tri she was thinking of doing was increasing in price on Monday so I had to (as my father would say), shit or get off the pot. YOLO, right? I’m giving it a Dam Tri.
3. Spring sunrises. Have you noticed the sunrises this week — all pink and purple-y? Early spring is an ugly time around here with melting piles of soot-stained snow, drab brown landscape everywhere, and bare trees, but…the sunrises make up for it.
wikipedia.com
4. Bird calls. It’s so lovely to hear them again, isn’t it? (Remind me of this in mid-May when they are so loud at sunrise that they wake me up).
Things I’m not loving this week
1. Overwintering koi/tadpoles. We had to scoop the fish and tadpoles out of the pond this fall and they’ve been wintering over in a tank upstairs which, despite a recent creek-water change, has clouded up into a murky mess again. Two fish died last week. It’s weird that this is happening now…when it hasn’t happened all winter and we’re at a loss as to how to deal with it. We bought a cleaner fish, but it died two hours later, so we bought another one that we think is still alive. I suppose we may have to put a filter in the tank. *sigh* Spring really needs to get here.
2. Construction mess. I know…I know…it will all be worth it. It will all be worth it. It will all be worth it. (But it’s highly maddening for a neat-freak).
3. Owning a dog in spring. One word: Mud. Good thing my kitchen is under construction and my kitchen carpet is due to be torn out because it doesn’t really matter to me if he tracks mud all over the place. (Next spring is really going to suck though.)