A Pleasant Picnic and the Power of Ice Cream

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . putting my husband's favorite cup in the cupboard. It rarely goes in there, because after spending the night in the dish drainer it's put right to use for breakfast in the morning. When I put his cup away with the other dishes this morning, it was just one more reminder that my sweetheart is out of town. I miss him.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . Joy snuggling in bed with me a while this morning. It was sweet to drift in and out of sleep with her there, taking a moment to pat her hair or rub noses before I slipped back to dreamland.

. . . attending a back-to-school picnic for Joy's new preschool. I really enjoyed meeting Joy's teacher and talking with so many engaged, enthusiastic parents.

And another thing . . .

. . . I like making smoothies, but I have no fixed recipe. My smoothie-making is a haphazard process, constrained by what we have on hand and/or what I feel like tossing in the blender on a given day. Sometimes I produce delectable concoctions, and other times I produce "smoothie mud"--a fruit committee that can't agree what it wants to taste like. Today was a muddy day, and no matter what I added, I couldn't get the smoothie to taste good. Finally, in desperation, I tossed in a couple spoonfuls of Breyer's vanilla ice cream. That improved things considerably. Good ice cream usually does.

On a tangential note, when my kids hear the blender turn off they often come running to sample the smoothie, even if it's still a work in progress. When I made gazpacho the other day, I tried to explain to them that the red concoction in the blender was tomato soup, not a smoothie, but they still insisted on tasting it. Daniel looked particularly aggrieved when I put the spoon in his mouth.