School Resumes For The Grandchildren, Alas

“My religion is nature. That’s what arouses those feelings of wonder and mysticism and gratitude in me.” Oliver Sacks

Heavy Sunday Snow Fall

The Albarran Abode -- Classic Connecticut Winter Scene

It's now 7:45 and I have just returned from taking Marisa to her bus since it's so cold out. We wait at the end of the street in the warm car until the bus arrives.  Both Mitchell and Ramiro are gone as well, Mitch back to school, Ramiro into the city.  Beth is off in forty five minutes as well for the morning, so Evie and I will be all by our lonesomes for a couple of hours.

Yesterday morning was one of the beautiful snowy days, everything frosty with glistening snow but by the afternoon, the woods lost their whiteness and beauty, leaving tree branches reaching skyward like hands. We did nothing special for Sunday breakfast, as everyone seemed to take care of themselves, giving the cooks the morning off.  Mitchell fried enough bacon so I could have a copy of pieces (Yum), to go with my yogurt, homemade granola and blueberries.

A Frosting of Snow

Around 10:00, I could not stand it any longer in the house, tried to talk the others into going for walk with Cody but was unsuccessful, so I went out for an hour in the glistening snow, walked up the next street over, up the hill and back.  Cody loved it because it was not too cold but he was covered with wet and dirt when we got home.  I had to really towel him off before letting him into the house.  It was my favorite kind of walk, snow filled yards and trees, sun, and blue sky.

When I got home, Evie and Beth had finished making the Costco list for the week, so Ramiro, Evie, Marisa and I went off to Costco, to have lunch first, a hot dog and coke, before venturing forth into the wilds of the Costco warehouse.  We picked up all the staples for the kids lunches and our dinners, a pork roast for last night's dinner, and no lawn chairs or external hard drive like the last time I was there.  We just shopped for what we needed, a strange feeling for Costco.

Playing Backgammon with Dad

We spent the afternoon in the sun room, watching some TV, playing backgammon with Marisa. Mitch, however,  went over to his girlfriend's house for the afternoon.  Around 5:00, Beth and I took Cody out for another walk just as the sun was starting to disappear, a great time of the day.

An Aged White Oak And Me

Evie and Rami discussed how to cook the pork roast and decided to take it apart and roast the two pieces separately.  They also had a discussion as to when it was done, decided on 150º but Evie took it out at 145º like most cookbooks say. We also roasted potatoes, had a salad, and cauliflower roasted with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and balsamic vinegar, really quite tasty.  We had lots of pork leftover, almost half the roast so it looks like we will be having Cuban sandwiches for dinner either tonight or tomorrow, depending on our whim.

The Chef Extraordinaire

Beth and Ramiro quickly did up the dishes so we could watch part of the Oscars Red Carpet Show on E and then the Oscars.  We stayed up until 10:00, late enough to watch all the non descript winners, not late enough to see the more interesting winners.  So we read who won on line this morning, a few surprises for me because I thought Boyhood would win Best Picture, and Michael Keaton, Best Actor.

And I forgot...I bought a book yesterday for my Kindle that I have been meaning to read and decided to just go for it.  It's called THE LIFE CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP: THE LIFE CHANGING WAY OF DECLUTTERING AND ORGANIZING: MARIE KONDO.  You may wonder why, with a wife like mine, I might be interested in a book like this.  Well, I hope to help her be more efficient in her efforts to keep our house clutter free and organized, like a good husband!

Rule # 1 Instead of discarding things you don't want, first decide what you want to keep, what makes you happy, then discard the rest. This is the opposite of what most of us do which is to go through stuff and discard what we don't want.  So, decide what you want first, what brings you 'joy,' in Kondo's words, and discard the rest,