<p>Too many bad things have happened this year. Dad’s death, worries with Mom and my sister, clients wanting more and more legal work for less and less money. Last week something very disturbing happened at younger D’s school. So many demands on my time. I’m starting to think that there is only one solution: more chocolate. I think I need to start stockpiling little dark chocolate squares in my desk, in my purse, hiding them in my closet at home.</p>
<p>Dark chocolate is pretty much the answer to lots of things …</p>
<p>I think pie is the answer to everything, so maybe dark chocolate pie???</p>
<p>Hmmm…I like dark chocolate with a nice glass of Cabernet. ;)</p>
<p>DTE, I agree about the pie, except that it’s harder to hide in my purse and desk.</p>
<p>Pasta Primavera is what I did for an anniversary dinner. Cook the pasta risotto style in oil, then broth and white wine (this thickens the liquid some), cook the veggies separately, toss and serve with Parmesan on the side.</p>
<p>CFang, I feel for you. The pressures of school are just too much for some. I hope your S finds his niche. I know several kids in this situation - bright but held back by their issues. I honestly think that in the old days they had menial labor jobs, but those aren’t as numerous today. I am thinking of someone’s FIL who ‘hauled lumber from one end of the RR yard to the other’. No great effort involved to find or keep that job.</p>
<p>In a bit of a funky mood today. Spent a big part of my day dealing with remodeling issues and feeling overwhelmed. I need to get a grip and figure out Easter gifts for the girls and quite frankly I am not really feeling that I should make a big deal out of giving any gifts. No one really wants candy and I just visited D1 and her H last weekend and came bearing house and clothing gifts and then gave D2 cash for her Florida trip plus several outfits for the vacation. They will be very surprised. Maybe I need that dark chocolate and wine now.</p>
<p>When D and I were on a mini-trip we had the good fortunate to visit a really nice little candy shop - where I enjoyed a dark chocolate cabernet truffle. Best of both worlds in one bite. And perfectly acceptable during business hours! ;)</p>
<p>Since dark chocolate and red wine are both so good for the heart I think that qualifies as “health food”.</p>
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<p>Florals are supposedly big this year. I bought each D a soft, floral scarf, and some pastel nail polish. Will add a couple of Reeces eggs and a handfull of Ghirardelli chocolate squares (unless I eat them first myself!!!). H was amazed that I didn’t buy Peeps but H and I are pretty much the only ones who eat them.</p>
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<p>I want one right now.</p>
<p>I just gave each of the girls new scarves last weekend…and necklaces…and tops.</p>
<p>OK …I think I just realized that my blissfully self-indulgent empty nest years are coming to an end - albeit temporarily.
S and D will both be back home this summer - YIKES! I overheard H telling D this weekend that she should take her time before moving out, that no one is pushing her, etc.
Good lord! I think he has been watching too much of ‘GIRLS’ and is a little freaked out by the prospect. ;)</p>
<p>Having Easter chocolate in this house right now is a bit like having crack in the home of a recovering crack addict. After a 15-hr day yesterday, I arrived home and balefully stared at the bag of treats I’d bought for mcson for an ensuing hour. I was also hungry and way under my caloric budget so I actually could have justified a treat. But for me it might have opened a floodgate of pre-Easter, chocoholic shenanigans 
so I had some hummus and rice crackers instead. This represents a level of seriousness in my diet heretofore unheard of! </p>
<p>I think it helps knowing that while mch so sorely needs to lose weight for health reasons, if I fall off the wagon he will tumble merrily behind me ;)</p>
<p>Woody, enjoy the empty nest while its empty, but enjoy the summer too. I am not entirely convinced that mcson will not end up needing to light here at some point, so I’m not quite redecorating his room yet ;)</p>
<p>I do recall actually feeling hurt when my mom turned my room into a study while i was a university student. I shouldn’t have been surprised, because she’d always said “18 and out” but in the kind of ironic twist usually reserved for great novels only two of us listened, and two others lingered for a very long time, one of them for a decade, and ho harries her still The other one who “listened” had actually run away at 16, but I intercepted her and put her in a catholic school and then college. My mom wasn’t very happy about it all, but when you constantly tell people “18 and out” the more tender ones take it personally, while the self-absorbed ones ignore you entirely.</p>
<p>This all stems, of course, from her own complete lack of socialization in a family context, where prevailing notions are foreign to her. As an adoptee who ran away and then worked to support herself from age 15 onward, she really didn’t get that “18 and out” was less than generous ;)</p>
<p>Peeps! YUM!!! S and I are the only ones who like them in my family. I just LOVE Peep season!! </p>
<p>Thanks for the recipe ideas. I’ll need to try some of them. For this weekend I’m going small with just one and I think I’m doing one that I found that is a south western potato dish. Looks good but I need to check with the other mom that is bringing stuff to my house. There will just be 5 of us. H and I, her and her H and S home from college for the weekend. Typically when the two families get together because both she and I like to cook with have enough for 1/2 the town so we are really trying to keep it small. No one is vegan in this outfit or even vegetarian but I wanted to try something for another brunch I have coming up with probably 18-20 people who some are vegetarian and some are vegan. I will be looking through the ideas that were sent! Thanks again.</p>
<p>So for this weekend it’s creme brulee french toast, fruit salad, the potatoes and then whatever she comes up with. I would also like to make cinnamon rolls but I know if I do too much my H will have a fit! Oh well they may get made any way 
We will also of course have mimosas – yum and coffee. We’ll have to see what she is making but I may need to do some bacon. Have a recipe for candied bacon that is really good. (Now you see why this is a bad idea to have her and me cook – she is probably doing the same thing and we will still have too much food!!)</p>
<p>kmc, I think I’ve said this before, but you really do need to write a book. Or at least option your childhood to a screen writer.</p>
<p>When the kids were in elem school, I chaperoned a school trip alongside a woman who had been one of the Vietnamese boat people. She and her H were having a very hard time figuring out what kind of social life - if any - to allow their older D to have. The H was very old world and thought “none.” The mom knew the D needed to do more than study, but (a) the mom didn’t know what was normal here, and (b) the mom didn’t even know what was normal in Vietnam since she spent her own teen years first in a refugee camp and later in the home of someone here who took her in (where going on dates and parties was the least of her concern.)</p>
<p>When you know the social norms, it’s so easy to take it for granted and assume that everyone else does. I knew a guy in HS who was required to work and pay room and board at age 14! Thought that was just plain cruel, but now realize that there must have been a back story.</p>
<p>I’ m on a bus to Boston , we’re checking out a few schools there. S loved Bowdoin yesterday so it’ s currently in the top three on the list.</p>
<p>Busy today. I am hosting one of my book clubs tonight so I have been cleaning and now off to run errands and buy groceries for snacks and get some wine. I printed up and framed some subway art for D1 and her H so will mail them that for Easter gifts. Still thinking of what to do for D2. May make a basket of Trader Joe groceries for when she returns to school next week.</p>
<p>Great idea, NM.</p>
<p>Back from my errands and just made chocolate covered strawberries for tonight. One of the ladies has to have gluten free food so I thought that was easy for dessert! </p>
<p>Missypie…I broke down in Target and bought some pastel nail polish that was on sale for under $2 and some bronzer to put in D2’s basket.</p>