it takes more than one day for me to turn 40

We started on the day before my birthday. It was a way to take the pressure off. So much import, this milestone. Plus, that day we had childcare.

So we both took the day off and I had a pedicure (with complimentary iced tea):

… while Scott enjoyed the free wi-fi.

Next we went to lunch (sorry, entrees not pictured but apps and dessert were yummy too!):

And then shopping for clothes, and the movie Up. A perfect day.

Then, on THE DAY, we picked my sister up from the airport (TREAT!), and tried to meet friends at the Academy of Sciences for a playdate but sadly, I forgot to take into account that the entire city had the day off — Friday before a national holiday. With the crowds, the lines, the overall madness; half of my posse I never even saw. But we did get to go in the rainforest exhibit (TREAT!) and Elina made me chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream (TREAT!).

We thoroughly exhausted ourselves and all came home to nap, followed by vietnamese food takeout for dinner.

On the 4th, we went to swim class in the morning because Jonah had been talking about it all week. ALL WEEK.

Weshould goooo tothe POOL. Weneeeed a newww bathingSUIT! No, we don’t need a new one; I think he was just trying to call attention to the concept of swimsuits in general. One day, to emphasize his point, he even marched over to his dresser and pulled all his swimsuits out onto the floor.

So we went swimming the first day we could. And he enjoyed it somewhat but mostly he was obsessed with the vent fan in the roof which was not spinning often enough, in his opinion.

We tried to get him to nap. He didn’t nap. We wanted to take him to Fairyland. He demanded Vivarium. We went to Vivarium and sadly, it was closed. So we wandered around the nearby toy store for a while, greeted dogs on the sidewalk, watched trains go by.

I guess that wasn’t really a birthday day for me. Nor much of a birthday celebration for my country.

That night, captain no nap fell asleep at 6pm.

And then, there was that void again.

I’ve been feeling the void at times lately. When Jonah’s napping, or he goes to bed at a reasonable hour. What do I want to do with my time? I’m in a slight lull with work projects, but even so, nights are not really about working. Nights are about doing something for me, and I haven’t lately known what that is. I haven’t wanted to knit. I don’t have a book I want to read. I have hardly been terribly dilligent about blogging even.

Today, I may have discovered a hint.

Food.

I made breakfast for my sister and family, and later, after we’d spent several hours wandering around the flea market and took my sister back to the airport, I cooked. With every chunk of free time I got this afternoon (captain no-nap decided to go down from 2:30-4:30, and not go to sleep till 9pm but with the promise of gourmet dinner and because they love me, my husband and friend Jenny entertained the boy post-nap while I COOKED.)

For breakfast, I made a frittata (with a made-up recipe) using grated fresh zucchini and carrots, herbs snipped from my backyard garden, leftover mashed potatoes, and cheese — and eggs, of course.

In the afternoon, I attempted Jam with two pounds of the million pound haul of greengage plums from our tree.

Recipe: 2 lbs plums, pitted, 1/4 cup water, juice of 2 lemons, 2 cups sugar. Simmer the plums with lemon juice and water for 5 minutes, add sugar and bring to a boil. Continue boiling for 15-20 minutes until proper consistency (look up tips online for this — I went too far so my jam is a little burnt-sugary and devastatingly thick). Spoon into a clean jar for immediate eating over the next two weeks. If you know how to preserve properly for longer storage, come over and teach me!

I would probably just use one lemon next time, as the results were a bit tart.

And in the evening I tried making potato gnocchi from scratch for the first time:

With a little butter and parsley? Delicious.