Updates!

I am starting to get a little bit behind, so I wanted to clear the decks and add a bunch of updates at once.

Last week, I finished reading The Book of Fate, by Brad Meltzer. I already posted my review on goodreads, so I'll just add that I really enjoyed the book. I had an opportunity to meet Meltzer a few years ago at a book festival in Florida (I was visiting relatives), and he signed a book for me. I don't recall the title of the book off-hand, but I do remember that part of the story took place in tunnels below the White House. For some reason, I was compelled to tell him that the dorm I lived in during college also had tunnels underneath. I'm sure he was like, "Ooooohhhkay." But he pretended to be interested in my lame story, and I thought he seemed very nice and smart. He's one of the authors on my "always read" list.

As an aside, sometimes I really embarrass myself when I meet famous people.

Also last week, I made calzones one night, so I've crossed another weeknight dinner off the list. I realized that I need to make new recipes on the weekend and do more of the old favorites during the week, so last week was a good example. When I make calzones, I use reduced-fat crescent rolls (the kind that come in a tube at the grocery store). I spread one side (a rectangle made from two unseperated crescent rolls) with spaghetti sauce, then add whatever meat/cheese/veggies we have on hand, and cover with cheese and another rectangle of crescent roll dough. Bake at 375 for 13 - 15 minutes, and eat. I always make extras, thinking I'll freeze them, but usually we end up eating them as leftovers. One weekend, I just need to make a bunch of these, actually freeze them, and make a weeknight dinner even easier on myself!

I'm steadily crossing off my list of things to do around our house to prepare it for listing, and this weekend knocked out almost all the upstairs painting. I just have a little bit of trim left to paint in the bathroom. Then, I'll have trim painting in the kitchen, painting the kitchen ceiling, and just a few touch-ups left. Well, I'll probably help K paint a wall of the garage, since our contractor has agreed to fix the hole in the wall his crew accidentally punched out last week, and we don't want the wall repairs to be noticeable. It shouldn't take too long--and it certainly doesn't have to be perfect.

That's the other good news for today; our contractor came out this morning to take a look at the areas around our house where his crew screwed up last week. He admitted they had screwed up, and would fix those areas. The meeting went much better than I expected, although of course it's still going to be like pulling teeth to get them to complete the job. (For example: 40% chance of rain today? Sorry, no workers. Sigh.)