A Moment to Myself

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Grace

It is 2:05 on a Monday afternoon and I just woke up from a nap.  I needed a nap.  I spent over two hours running fifteen miles in the cold mist this morning as part of my marathon training.  It sounds torturous, but it was exactly what I wanted to do on my day off from work.

I’ve also been reading and writing today.  No laundry or cleaning.  No trips to the grocery, bank or Target.  Just me being me for a few hours.  Very nice.

Speaking of reading, last year I had the pleasure of meeting a local young adult fiction writer, Meghan Pearsall.  She is a co-author of Sundial, a book I bought from Amazon and recently reviewed.  It’s a sci-fi/romance novel and a well-done first publication.  I will be reading the sequel when it comes out later this summer.

Photographs.  I have seen many.  The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has an interesting exhibit on Elvis at age 21.  It would have been more interesting if I were really into Elvis, but I am into photography, so that is why I went.

I also caught the Gordon Parks exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art several weeks ago. Parks was the first African-American photographer for Life magazine.  His pictures capture much of poor, black America in the 1950s and 60s.  The exhibit was smaller than I had expected, but simply amazing.

Here are some photographs of the sky.  Not too exciting, but no blog post is complete without a few pictures.

Why do people throw old shoes over power lines?

A sunset in Washington, D.C.

Testing my telephoto lens after sunset.

 

Posted in Books, General Seriousness | Tagged | 5 Comments

Random Picture Day

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Grace

Once again my desktop is cluttered with photographs that I enjoyed taking but never found the time to post.  The time is now.

First a photograph of the James River.

I took this with my phone one evening when I was at Belle Isle with my daughters.

Continuing with the nautical theme, the next two pictures were taken at Virginia Beach.

Shadows of Holly, Heidi and me standing on the boardwalk.

Here is one I took at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.  Not too colorful- it’s winter.

But here is some color.

Sparkly bracelets that I made with Heidi on Christmas morning.

And here is Heidi “writing” thank-you notes for all of the wonderful Christmas presents she received.

I’m not sure why she is wearing a stocking hat inside, but she is more fashion forward than I will ever be.

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Beer Monday

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Grace

It has been forever since I last posted a recipe, but over the holidays I did have a chance to bake.  I made three pecan pies using my grandmother’s recipe – always a winner.  I also made some quick candy – a dark chocolate bark with pistachios and sea salt from a recipe I saw in Whole Living magazine.  And, after much research, I made a bread pudding with whiskey cream sauce using a recipe from “The Pioneer Woman” blog.

How did my two new items turn out?  Well, I got a phone call and a thank-you note regarding the bark, so it was a hit.  As for the bread pudding, I received a text message attesting to the awesomeness of the dessert (thank you Ree Drummond).

While desserts are great fun, my first love is baking bread.  I also have a love for beer. Mostly I love drinking it, but this year I am going to branch out and see what else beer can do.  So my first recipe of 2012 is one for beer bread.

I have made beer bread before using a Sam Adams lager and the aftertaste of the bread was just too “hoppy” for the average person.  So I found a different recipe that recommended using a cheapo beer.  I’m not a big fan of most cheap beers but I figured that a Yuengling would be about right for beer bread.  It was.  I have pictures.

Getting started.

Mixing the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

And the 12-oz. pour:

Stir, but don’t over stir.

The recipe called for three tablespoons of butter to be melted and spread on top of the loaf before baking.  With two tablespoons, the loaf was already swimming in butter.

And after about an hour in the oven on 375, it was beautiful.

The butter on top did make a super soft crust.  So yummy.

My three-year-old loved the bread, but Holly, age six, did not.  She said it tasted funny at the end.  So Yuengling did leave a slight aftertaste but it was mild and it’s exactly what I would expect from a beer bread.  For the full recipe, visit this link to “Honest Fare,” a food blog with a great beer bread recipe.

Posted in Food | Tagged | 5 Comments

Back to Normal Yet?

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Grace

It has been an interesting past three weeks.  A few of the highlights include: a family trip to Tennessee, riding in a tow truck (my car would not start), Christmas Eve with grandparents, Christmas Morning (and new high heels for Heidi), going running on the Northbank Trail, parties (and more parties), a trip to Virginia Beach to see friends, and pinkeye (Holly).

While we have been busy, and have enjoyed the company of so many people, I believe my favorite time during the winter break was the afternoon of December 31st which I spent with Holly, right here in Richmond.

The weather was beautiful for New Year’s Eve Day.  We spent our afternoon together at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and saw the Mummy exhibit per Holly’s request.  What kid does not love mummies, especially when there is a 3-D movie involved?  It was Holly’s first 3-D movie and we sat in the front row.  She kept reaching up to catch the images when they moved towards her.  Pretty neat.

After leaving the exhibit, we walked around and saw a few works of art.  As we were leaving, I asked my daughter if she wanted to walk over to Cary Street and grab some ice cream.  Dumb question.

It was our first time at Sweet Frog.  We had heard rave reviews about it from our friends, but had yet to try it.  The ice cream (technically yogurt) and toppings buffet (“bar” does not adequately describe the vast amounts of goodies that were on display) did not disappoint.

We relaxed in big green chairs outside of the store while Holly ate her ice cream and I drank a ginger ale.  We watched as people from all walks of life passed us by.  It was a wonderful way to spend the last day of the year.

Posted in General Seriousness | 1 Comment

The Best Of Mom and Dad

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Grace

Ah, a New Year is almost here and you know what that means.  It’s time for the media (and blogging) world to inundate society with the 2011 “Best Of…” lists.  The best viral videos.  The best stump speech.  The best crying on television.  And how can we end 2011 without the best of Justin Bieber?

So you will have to forgive me because I, too, am going to give you a “Best Of” blog post today.  But wait! This is not a typical “Best Of…” and because I can’t name a single best of Bieber moment, I will have to tell you what I like best about my parents.  Seriously.  My Mom and Dad are pretty wonderful folks and here’s why I think so.

First, my mom.  She is amazing because she does not act her age (and I don’t mean this in a bad way).  My mom has a lot of energy.  Once when I was a teenager, my mom told me that she loved running – that it had been one of her favorite things to do as a child.  Years later, on a visit home from college, I discovered that my mom was running three or more miles a day.  At that time I could not run thirty feet, much less three miles.  In 2006, my mom and I ran a half marathon together and, next March, we will run together again in a full marathon.  I don’t know if I inherited her energy level, but she set the right example for me to follow.

Second, my dad.  When I was a child living in a rural town in Tennessee, my father frequently traveled on business.  Sometimes he would take me with him.  Quite often the business trips were extended so that we could visit The Statue of Liberty, Niagara Falls, The Laura Ingalls Wilder Home in Mansfield, Missouri (I was a huge Little House fan), and Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

It was in Detroit, at age ten, where I saw Reggie Jackson hit a triple as the Oakland A’s were playing the Tigers.  After the game, Dad and I returned to our car.  We had parked on a side road along with other people who were attending the game.  Once inside the car, we discovered that someone’s poor parking job had barricaded many cars that were trying to leave.

Apparently people in Detroit have no problem taking matters into their own hands.  My Dad and I sat in awe as five large men physically moved the offending vehicle so that all could leave the parking area.  As we sat and stared at this exhibit of Motown strength, my dad said in a calm voice, “Grace, why don’t you go ahead and lock your door.”  It was trips like this one, and so many others with my father that gave me real world experiences outside of my small town home.

That’s all.  Not so bad, was it?

And for the photo portion of my post, I found some pictures from 2004.

This is my mom hiking in Virginia on the Appalachian Trail.  She is with my dog, Pete.  I had him for thirteen great years.

This is my dad with his father (who turned 92 this month) in Washington, DC standing in front of the World War II Memorial.

Like father, like son.

Enjoy 2012!

Posted in General Seriousness | 6 Comments