I'm not as far along as I thought I was, for some reason, keeping track of the weeks is proving difficult. Peanut M&Ms are proving dangerous.

I’m going to figure out how to upload a sound file, so we can listen to the baby's (aka, the construction project in my womb, CPIMW) heartbeat together. 'til then.

dive into a new book.

find the back up power cord for my computer.

Upon returning to Amsterdam I headed directly to the post office where I picked up a package from Greece. It's always a treat to head to the post office when you know that at the end of the errand something delightful awaits you.

Shalimar , my secret food sender prepared an excellent package. It was loaded with various (and thankfully not terribly perishable) goodies each ribboned and unique.

A detailed note with ingredient name and directions on how to use was included:

3 sorts of traditional cookies: A savory white knot, a cinnamony round, and an anise/sesame cookie (my favorite of the three). I have been nibbling away at them over the past two days and now remains only one which I will dip into my coffee. The anise/sesame one was my favorite. Similar to a biscotti in texture, rich in uncommon flavor. If I could get the recipe on this one...

A package of organic orzo, pasta shaped rice. It's like my thoughts are out there in the open ready for anyone to read. I mean the ones I haven't written down yet. Growing up we would eat Near East Rice Pilaf a lot, we loved it. Since moving here, every now and again I get these cravings for foods I cannot find, generally some package and some sentiment. The past few months it had been this rice pilaf, so I got it into my head to try to recreate it. Likely with this Greek orzo I can make and even tastier product.

A jar of capers and a sack full of mountain tea, both which grow wildly everywhere along Greece.

Many long sticks of cinnamon, which Shalimar says are often used in Greek sauces. Frankly, I have never seen them so long and look forward to finding various recipes to use them in.

Two sorts of Nougat. The package reads Nougat Pita, which is a pretty good name for it since it's like a delicious Fluffernut filling sandwiched between two very thin wafers. I haven't had nougat like this in the past, I look forward to eating up the second package, perhaps dessert for tonight.

A bit of candy for Easter. Tootsie Rolls being my senders childhood friends

And, delightfully a bottle opening depicting the traditional Greek dress.

A million thanks for this!

To read about the package I sent, go meet Kel. I was half thinking of hand delivering this package since I was in Barcelona over the weekend. I regret doing so since he blog is so great, but I had not time to think or read or coordinate this at all. Another trip there is forthcoming.

A week or two before classes began my mom and I met with a guidance counselor to select a course schedule for me. In addition to other things, there was a music requirement for all students in the middle school: you could choose from music theory, the chorus, or from playing an instrument in the band or orchestra. In Israel I sang in the school chorus and liked it a lot, I even had a pretty decent voice (I don't anymore). But when asked how I would like to fulfill my music requirement at Welsh Valley Middle School I said music theory thinking that surely that's what the cool kids were going to take. I remember quite clearly my mother was a bit surprised by my decision and I should have headed that warning because of what I can freely acknowledge now that I would have denied with my dying breath back then, Parents Know Best.

So music theory it was. That error, combined with several other critical errors made in the first three days of school, branded me for a long time after as the Lamest Person Ever.

Needless to say that once the opportunity came about I switched to chorus, nonetheless remaining branded until a few years later when I chose to not care about it since despite it all I made a few very good friends, friends I have maintained throughout my teenage years, one who is still among my closest friends in the world. (Don’t you love when a sentence is so long it becomes a paragraph?)

For the past several years there has been a song that pops into my head from my days in the chorus. I could only remember a few of the verses but I sang it anyway, making up words as I went along. I turned to my friend Jessica, who in addition to risking her own reputation to become my friend very early on in the game, was in the chorus.

Jessica tells me everything I want to know about this song. That its first line comes from Walt Whitman. That the song is from the musical Fame. That she too has a Branded for Life feeling about this song - she had a solo part in the song, a solo for which she one time missed her cue, for which she was called a Mic Hog by another girl. And of course, Jessica fills me in on the lyrics:

I sing the body electric
I celebrate the me yet to come
I toast to my own reunion
When I become one with the sun

And I’ll look back on Venus
I’ll look back on Mars
And I’ll burn with the fire
Of ten million stars
For in time, yes, in time
We will all be stars!

Oh! The lessons we could learn from these lyrics if only we had the sense back then that we do know.

What a lovely life I have.

I bought you ten grapefruits and you bought me this day. Thank you.

I wonder, where else in my life I could spend an hour primping and get such gratifying results?

The weekend was spent with dear friends on our lovely little island in the North Sea. We rented a great house complete with sauna and a top of the line bath tub. We gorged in the usual way on delicious fried fish and incredibly fresh and meaty herring. We played very many games.

It's quite a funny thing about games. I take it so personally. I learn games quickly and quickly become good, I am at times unlucky. Those moments of unlucky playing cloud my spirit, I become upset, I forget that I'm playing a game and games are about fun. If someone else is doing better, instead of being happy for them, I get upset since I must be doing poorly. Players around me fall into the same trap - perhaps I've set the stage. If I do well, I can't be happy or proud since someone around me is upset. Since among equal players winning proves nothing, why can't playing a game be a win win situation?

A classic in every way, delicious the next day too.

Cook al dente:
1 pound elbow macaroni
Drain well, set aside

Grate 12 oz. cheese, I used a combination of Gruyere (5) Gouda (5) and Parmesan (2)
Set aside

In a sauce pan make a roux using:
3T butter
3T flour

When slightly turned color, add and bring to a simmer:
1 c broth
1 c milk
1 T paprika
1 t cayenne pepper

Remove from heat and melt cheese into the sauce. Add:
2 - 3 heaping T minced garlic

Combine well with the pasta, place in baking pan and broil until top has browned.

Serve hot with a nice bottle of white wine. MMMM

We celebrated 200 days of marriage.

It's been a wonderful experience. New emotions, new opportunites, doors flung open. Oh a new haricut!

Now if only we could sleep through the night...

The family has grown in wonderful ways in 2005. This a happy group - happy to be celebrating a turning point together, happy to be in the cold after a long opera.

It was one of those funny weekends which you plan, get really excited for, buy tickets, and make reservations. None of those things matched in a moment of the greatness of just being together. It's a tough thing for me to just have fun when around my family, I put so much pressure on myself I forget to be nice to the nicest people I know. I wonder if it's because of the newest member of the family that everyone just had fun.

Thanks for turning 60 Ma, it was a wonderful trip.

As such, I am renewing the contract with myself. I will make time on a weekly basis to incorporate my list into my agenda (number 84 on the revised list). In taking stock, I have reviewed and revised and filled out the list (since I haven’t entered 100 items yet). I have gotten started on a few of the items, some are about to get launched, some have been completely forgotten. Good to review.

I am determined to improve my energy this year. I need to flood my mind with positivity, desire and will. To that end, I am doing some coaching exercises, so perhaps we are moving in the right direction.

Successes this year include getting married, increased hours consulting, and having made two contacts for Pampoosh Clothier.

Failures this year include not contacting friends more often and allowing several relationships to slip.

A few recipes have already started to arrive, and I've posted them below. I'll keep posting as new ones trickle in, and eventually test them all.