end of the weekend

I see the clouds in the west are building up again. I am making Cornish game hens for an early dinner, basted with butter, orange juice and zest and fresh parsley. Steamed broccoli with the remaining butter and zest will be added, along with a fresh loaf of French bread from the grocery. The smells right now are yummy and I felt refreshed as I chopped up the parsley for the basting juice.

I bought a pot of budding yellow tulips (three blossoms at least) to put by my bedside. I read in one of my magazines that waking up to flowers can set a bright tone for the rest of the day. I will need it tomorrow as I have a day of data entry to do from the fall Conversation Cafes at the community college. It's the least favorite part of that kind of work and I wish I could afford to pay someone to do it for me. I really had tons of it to do for my dissertation and ever since then, the thought of punching the keys stirs up memories of solitary work that I would rather keep to a minimum. But, since I am doing this pro bono anyway, I certainly won't be paying someone else for the honor! So, I need to look at the task with a different slant--how this is a next step in mentoring my UA colleague in this nonglorious aspect of public dialogue/discourse.

I still have my Christmas tree up: the evening's dark benefits from the light of the tree so it stays for another week at least. But the tulips remind me of another season beckoning in a month or so, at least it does here in the desert. So, it's a blend right now of winter and early Spring to add "zest" to my week, as the seasoning will to our dinner.