SUN. MAY 14

Sorry for missing Sat. -- I was just not home either day and didn't really have any time to speak of on my computer.

Yesterday (Sun.) was Mother's Day. This was the first year my mom wasn't staying with us. She has always come up for the kids' Grandparents Day at school, but there is no way she could handle it this year -- She would make a huge loud fuss about not being able to see or hear during the opening presentation, and she wouldn't have been able to handle the physical walking around the school, and would have been embarrassing to the kids because she wouldn't remember anything that happened two minutes before. So she didn't come. And she didn't remember ever coming before, so that wasn't a disappointment to her. Our dear friend Jack took her place.

We have traditionally gone to church then driven Grandma home and done the big buffet brunch thing at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point, which is near where my mom lives. But this year we felt that she would not be able to walk carrying plates of food very successfully. Also, she tends to pile her plate with food and eat every bite whether she wants it or not, to the point of making herself sick.

So this year we went to church in a more peaceful manner -- unfortunately, they were out of doughnuts!

So we went to the restaurant owned by the couple that caters our Christmas party -- about 10 miles from my mom's, so that worked out. (The fact that we had a $50 gift certificate had no bearing on our decision, of course.)

The afternoon was lovely, though the service was slooooow. I had 5 miniature hot-off-the-grill English muffins w/ pear/strawberry/hazelnut butter (wouldn't have had so many if the service hadn't been so slow!...

Then had a clear chilled fruit soup, then a v. flat grilled potato thingy topped w/ about 2 eggs' worth of scrambled eggs, w/ appx 3 oz. of smoked salmon. It was delicious, but not much food, I have to say. Dessert was sort of a wash -- I ordered the chocolate beignet, but when the chef came out to say hi to us, he let us know that his apprentice chef in charge of desserts had left the eggs out of the beignets, which explained why they were so dry -- I actually only had about 3 bites of it. But I also had about 4 bites of Cory's "Twix torte" -- a cake made out of candy bars! -- which was so incredibly rich that 4 bites was all anyone could handle.

Hard to tell what I drank, because they kept filling glasses that were half-full. But my guess is about 6 oz. of champagne and about 16 oz. of cranberry juice.

I was quite hungry by dinnertime, and Cory had been asking for a specific recipe of mine (the way to a mom's heart!), so I started defrosting and cooking and made quite a mess of the kitchen that's still there because I really didn't feel I should have to wash dishes on Mother's Day. (Unfortunately, no one else felt they should have to wash dishes on Mother's Day either.)

I made one of my favorite recipes -- meatballs in an onion/paprika/sour cream sauce, over noodles tossed w/ butter and poppy seeds. I was in heaven. Had 1 1/2 servings, and had to throw the leftovers in the fridge right away or I would have kept eating.

Monday, I have errands to run -- a physical therapy appointment, Cory has soccer. I have reading to do for the WGA, have to get started on taxes, have to get back to changes on scripts. So no time for real cooking on Monday.