Sunday, March 7, 2010

Spring-y Weekends

It's already Sunday evening. This means that the weekend has flown by, once again and we're facing the beginning of another work week.

It's been a nice weekend. For the first time in many weeks, the sun shone and the temperatures soared above freezing. It felt like Spring was in the air. I'm not about to start acting like it is Spring because this is the midwest and while it may feel balmy out there today, it can just as easily turn into a blizzard in the next few days.

Nevertheless, I did take the time to enjoy the warmer weather a little. Yesterday, I headed down to Findlay Market in Cincinnati. I'd promised my parents some very specific sausages that can only be obtained from Kroeger Meats down at the market. As I've mentioned before, the thing about Findlay Market is not only is it a bad area of Cincinnati, it's also quite impossible to find somewhere to park on nice days.

This weekend, I thought that being that it was, technically, still winter and that the actual outdoor farmer's market wouldn't be going on, it might not be too busy.

Naturally, I was wrong. I admit, I got a spot of road rage after my (no joking) fifth lap around the block to try to find somewhere, anywhere to park. The market itself has a car park attached to it plus two satellite lots. It's nowhere near enough parking. After about 20 minutes of driving around trying to find somewhere to park, I started to get furious. I didn't want to turn around and drive home because it's a good distance from home and would have been a waste not to find anywhere. Instead, I ended up pulling up to the parking lot attendant who was refusing to allow anyone into his lot and I asked him where the heck I could park. He told me to try the other lots and when I said they were full, he said to keep trying. Fortunately, ten minutes later, I happened to go back to his parking lot and find that there were some spaces available. However, by the time I got to the market, I was still furious and frazzled. I did, however, manage to obtain the sausages.

I spent the rest of the day doing a spot of spring cleaning. The problem with the warmer weather and brighter days is that you tend to see how dusty your house actually is. I tried to remedy this but I'm not the world's best duster and so I'm sure I missed quite a few patches.

I also managed to send my book to Amazon for publication on their site. Within a week, people can start buying my book. I think I'm excited. I did worry about the magnitude of what I was doing: It's a little scary. However, as one wise friend reminded me, it's my dream to be a published writer and, at this point, it's only me standing in the way. I admit, it's not quite the dream I had. I always wanted to be one of those authors who was 'discovered' and then took took the literary world by storm.

But who am I kidding? I don't know anyone in the publishing industry so I can't get my foot in the door. It's so rare for unknown writers to get in the door without knowing anyone these days, it just seems like winning the lottery to get your stuff read.

So, maybe I am achieving my dream in the way that is right for me: There's no good sitting around waiting for someone else to make it happen. If I want it, it's up to me...I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

My Sunday was spent attempting to make Julia Child's Bouef Bourgienon from the recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I have to say, the woman is a genius. It turned out fabulous. The beef, having simmered in the wine and beef broth for three hours, fell apart in my mouth and the flavour was, literally, a taste explosion. It's worth every minute spent on preparing the ingredients.

I also may have found a puppy. She's a long-haired dachshund puppy and I think she's mine but I've had a couple of near-misses so I'm not wanting to jinx it. I'll keep you posted.

So, all in all, though it flew by, I had a good weekend. It was productive but fun. It involved good food, making a dream come true and the potential a new furry friend in my life. I would say that is was definitely not a wasted weekend at all. While there were moments of laziness, it wasn't overly lazy.

Sometimes those are the best type of weekends.

Happy Monday!

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