Awesome

Connor Jensen Carrillo has a favorite word; awesome. Sorry, I spelled that wrong the correct spelling is AWESOME. So in honor of Connor's favorite word, awesome, here are some observations.

I made some awesome chili that can never be duplicated. I started with some very delicious tender stew meat and added some turkey sweet Italian sausage just because it was hanging in the refrigerator and needed used or I would lose it. To this I added some organic salt free vegetable juice, a can of salt free diced tomatoes, the good kind, the Muir Glenn kind. I had cooked some sweet potatoes and green beans so I added the water I semi steamed/boiled those vegetables in because of all the nutrients left in the water. A trick I learned a long time ago was never throw away water from cooked vegetables, save it in the freezer and add to soups and stews. I do. I ended with a flourish of spices; cumin, oregano, red pepper, pepper, and chili powder -- lots of chili powder and viola awesome chili, especially when loaded with cheese and gluten free chips -- not salt free.

I saw a truck in slow crawling I-5 traffic the other day as I was traveling down the road to Ballard to have breakfast with Claire, before my mandatory meeting downtown on my day off. It passed me, I passed it, it passed me and so on until I veered off at Northgate.

TAL truck lines, what are the odds? Made me think of my awesome brother in law.

What is awesome about traveling to a mandatory meeting downtown on your day off?

I will tell you. First is was a stunningly beautiful day; blue skies, towering evergreens, mountain views in every direction, polite drivers, no one trying to take me out, breakfast with Claire at one of my favorite breakfast places that I seldom go to, a Christian drive-by at his Ballard shop where he handed me a Fair Trade, Devine, 70 % Dark Chocolate with Raspberries, 3.5 oz candy bar that some customer had bestowed on him. He passed it through the car window with a cavalier "Here Mom." Also I was able to drive into downtown in daylight and park in daylight, plus all of the afore mentioned.

The downside was I will be paid my pittance for attending the 1 1/2 hour meeting, but I had to buy gas for the 52 mile round trip and pay for NOT early bird parking. I might have made four dollars on the excursion which didn't pay for my breakfast -- but breakfast was delicious, I was yanked out of my rut, time with my friend, and it turned into a three son day.

Three son days are awesome, always.

Cathy has started her awesome trip to Hawaii. And isn't Nora about ready for her awesome trip to Harry Potter with a special guy? Awesome.

Thanksgiving photo's from Bo and Roger that I was able to post on Facebook.

Looking through some old family reunion photos that made me smile, laugh and wince. The year Dan, Jacquie and Benjamin came. My, my Blaine looks so different now. He has "growed" into a man. A beautiful man.

Big family Christmas breakfast, or small, depending on the weather. What is it looking like? It's been so cold here I almost shut my bedroom window. It's down to four inches.

Shopping online. "Shopping online is delightful. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

Lots of "online" is awesome. I am continually amazed at online everything. You would think I would be over it by now, but I'm not. It is still magic to me, it might as well of been created by pixie dust. Did anyone ever go watch the TED about what exactly the physical mechanics of the internet is? Andrew Blum. Awesome.

Andrew Bowman sent me an email, awesome in and of itself, about movies and such. Werner Herzog, oldies but goodies, and other stuff.

Bo's football team won some big game. She is an awesome fan.

Mahalia Jackson singing "Christmas comes to us all once a year." I still can't find it on YouTube. As Ian said, "Out of the millions and millions of songs on YouTube only Mom would want a song not there." I guess I need to go to Amazon and just buy it.

And now a word about Connor: We were coloring with four crayons and my job was to color the big fat lettered word, little. I said what color do you want me to use? He said rainbow is awesome. So I colored the L red, the I blue, the first T green, and the second T yellow and asked what color do you want me to use now? He said, rather exasperated I might add, "Red granny -- we are making a pattern." Now, how in the world does a wee boy know how and when to use the word "pattern?" Awesome.

Then we came to the new PEZ candy dispenser, the Santa head instead of the Halloween Squishy head. When the candy ceased to come out Connor shouted,  "Granny, I discovered the problem -- it's out of candy!"

My friend posted a poem on "avoiding the holes in the sidewalk" on her blog. A lovely poem.

My prescription for avoiding holes in sidewalks, metaphorically speaking of course, two quotes I have posted before. I sort of apologize for repeating myself. The Alpha and Omega of "avoiding holes in the sidewalk." The Alpha and Omega of existence. Everything else in-between, is, well, everything else. 

Sir Issac Newton:
"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier seashell than ordinary whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."

And a line from Nonno's poem from Night of the Iguana, by Tennessee Williams on death:
"Oh courage, could you not as well, select a second place to dwell, not only in that golden tree, but in the frightened heart of me."

I was clearing out some stuff and ran across a stash of awesome cards I was saving. One was perfect for Tal.

I've made my soup, purchased yogurt, completed all of my little life maintenance tasks, and Ian will manage the laundry on Saturday. So for now I can relax, read a book, watch a movie, shop online, listen to music, think awesome thoughts and send a card to Tal.