Summer Eats

I'm still studying away and have been successfully staying off the computer as of late.  But, it's been tough.  I have so many things I want to write about right now! 

So far, I'm feeling really confident with my recertification prep.  Historically, a score of 67% or so is considered passing and I'm now consistently scoring in the mid-80s on practice tests.  When I started, I was scoring about 67%.  It feels really good to have the information coming back easily.

We've had a great first couple weeks of summer.  Bedtimes have stretched later.  Afternoon naps come easily.  Mornings have a different, more relaxed tone. I still get up early but am enjoying the quietness of the house.  I feed Goose and the cats and sip coffee and eat toast while reading a bit.  The children and Andrew get up sometime later.  Breakfasts for them have evolved from the hurriedly eaten granola bar to hot bowls of slow-cooked oatmeal with fresh fruit or eggs with homemade bread toast.  Summertimes are so nice all around.

Our cruise friends, Kha and Ivy came for a weekend recently.  We got to meet Kha's sweet husband and her adorable baby bump.  They are the kind of friends that no matter how infrequently you see them, you can pick up where you let off.  Effortlessly.  It was a great weekend.

We're now in the thick of swim season and the children are essentially living at the pool.  Alice recently enjoyed a week of soccer camp.  Jack is going to Roanoke College's basketball camp soon and Clara will be attending art camp.  Andrew's mom and dad have been here for a couple of days and we've really enjoyed seeing them.

Our beach trip is around the corner and our summer eating is in full force.  Our garden is being quite generous right now.  Raddishes, squash, tomotoes, beans, lettuce, jalapenos, cucumbers, onions.  I love seeing the children popping onions or tomatoes in their mouths while they are out playing. 

Every summer, it seems I develop a seasonal obsession or two.  Last year it was watermelon.  I ate at least one every two days.  The year before it was sliced cucumbers and radishes soaked in apple cider vinegar with fresh cracked black pepper.  Couldn't get enough.

This year, I have three obsessions.

1.

baby greens +
sliced onions +
freshly grated parmagiano regiano
tossed with balsamic vinegar and white truffle oil

2.

Jack's salsa, hot (from Kroger's prepared food section) +
chopped fresh peaches (preferably from SC, thanks Kha!)+
a handful of chopped cilantro from my deck pot
eaten with tortilla chips or, better yet, a spoon

3.

fresh shucked corn, grilled +
painted with half mayo and half sour cream, both light +
rolled in freshly grated parmagiano regiano +
sprinkled with chili powder +
and drizzled with fresh lime juice
(recent Southern Living recipe)

Mmmmmmm....

(Back to the grind.)

Beach Dreaming

I really, really shouldn't be blogging.  I've got my recertification exam in anesthesiology coming up on July 30th.  I decided to take it at the last minute (about a week ago) after finding out that the price of the exam is increasing by $800 next year, and even if I take it and fail it and have to pay a re-examination fee, it will still be cheaper that waiting until next year to take it.  So really, it's just a practice test at this point but IF I pass, I pass, and that is IT for TEN YEARS!  So I really, really want to pass.  And to do that, I MUST stay off the computer. 

But I just can't help thinking about August at the beach.  The annual month-long sojourn that has become so essential to my mental and physical well-being.

We went for a quickie over Memorial Day weekend and the tease was almost unbearable.  We drove down Friday in time for dinner.  Brought a cooler with beer and juice and stopped in Surf City and picked up pizza.  Drove straight to the beach and had a picnic as the sun set. 

The children walked around the beach, calf-deep in the water, not in their usual play and banter, but individually and quietly.  Staring out at the horizon, and then down at the water swirling around their legs.  Almost as if they were checking-in, reconnecting, if you will, with they ocean that has been a major part of all of their lives since before they were born.  (I spent a lot of time in the waves when I was pregnant with them.)

Andrew and I sat together against a dune and ate and drank and watched the children silently communicating with some force that has no name.  And I don't know if it was the long drive, or the (what is for me) intoxicating sound of the surf, or the beer or whatever.  But I shifted in spirit, too.

I remember when I was young.  Occasionally my parents would have me out late and I would fall asleep in the back seat of the car on the way home.  When we got home my dad would carry me to bed.  Now I always woke up to a certain extent when he carried me in.  But never let on that I was awake because I relished that half-asleep, half-awake feeling of being carried to bed by my strong father.  It was a feeling I absolutely loved.

Sitting on that dune with Andrew, feeling slightly buzzed, with the sun setting and no one else in sight but my children, silent and deep in thought, reminded me of being carried to bed by my father.  Warm, loved and secure.  And my soul, at that moment, existed just outside of it's normal, solid reality.  Mmmm...

Anyhoooo....I am really looking forward to August.  My sister-in-law and her husband and sweet girls will join us for part of the month.  Our four girls are really, really close cousins.  In age and in friendship.  And they love to dress alike.  All four girls love to be, what they say, "twins together."

I just bought all four girls sun dresses to change into after a long day on the beach and a big group outside shower.  In which they will scream and squeal that Jack is peeking at them.  He wouldn't dare and truly has no interest in little girl's bodies.  (Six years of two little sisters running around nude and he is DONE with that!)  And they will certainly toss out buckets of cold water as he walks past.  Poor guy. 

At any rate, Alice and Sydney like blue and Clara and Cameron are pinki-philes.  So I ordered two of each.  And I think they will look adorable in their dresses.  And they will just be thrilled to go out and eat a Mexican dinner in them.

Summer Swim Season is Here!

We had our first swim meet of the season last night and the Shermanators are on a roll!  Hunting Hills Country Club hosted Stonegate and it was a great meet!

Some highlights:

Alice won the girls 6 and under 25 free and Clara got third place.  Out of 20-some-odd girls!  They both got silver times and just looked gorgeous in the water. 

Jack scored in the top of his events (back and free) and was even asked, as a ten year old, to step up to the 11/12 boys division to compete in the 200 free relay.  Which they won.

And Andrew, God love him, barely made it to the pool on time.  He had to stay home and peel linoleum paste off the laundry room wall after I misplaced my new wrapping paper station.  But he made it and got 2nd of nine 25-39 year old guys in the 50 free.  Was beat out by a fellow Hounddog and ex-UNC-Chapel Hill swimmer.  He also placed a respectable 4th in the 50 back.

I was so proud of my swimmers last night.

The new GM at Hunting Hills has come up with some great new revenue-generating ideas that include providing an outside buffet at our swim meets.  You buy wristbands for $10 for adults and $5 for children (actually, we charged ours to our account so no cash was needed) and you can come and go into the buffet as many times as you wish during the course of the three hour meet.  Last night they had a pizza bar, a baked potato bar, chicken nuggets, hamburgers, hotdogs, cookies and drinks.  And they have converted the old pool table veranda into a full-service bar.  So the adults were really having a great time.

It was so much fun to see friends that I don't see much during the school year.  And, of course, to watch my children and husband score some major points for the home team.

Alice and Clara hung out with the Moore twins (Caroline and Elizabeth).  Their dad is a pediatrician in town and I was their mom's anesthesiologist when they were born.  And they hung out with the Grant twins (Katie and Caroline).  Their dad is a UNC-trained radiologist.  All 6 twins are 6 years old.  Two, two, two cute!