.Black.Friday.

To celebrate this weird cultural phenom that is competitive shopping stuffed up the rump of a turkey called materialism, I have assimilated an xmas list of my own gimme-gimme's:

• This bento box

• Ikea pendant lamp (design!)

• cases and cases of Limonata

• a pack that fits my back

• a fox jam print

Peace on Earth, goodwill to consumers.

The West Virginia Writers' Conference

Finished up the WVW Annual Conference yesterday at Cedar Lakes in Ripley. As usual, my brain is bulging with all my new knowledge. Can I be any more inspired? Shoot, no. So many new ideas, new advice, new people. It was a lovely, exhausting--dare I say, super-sweet?--weekend.

Thanks to Granny Sue Holstein's suggestions for Ripley's best restaurants, I found this little gem:




I'm in love. It reminds me of a couple of places I used to work, a couple of people I loved, and a couple of wistful ideas all rolled into one. It's got small-town charm. It's got good, greasy food. And it serves breakfast all day. I love, love, love it. (I'm not sure it loves me, yet. But don't worry. I'll win it over.)

Pickin'

Today we picked strawberries. "We", as in Becca and the kids, yay! Lacey said it best when she said, "I wanna doe back to da nice cool house!" Yes. At the strawberry place I picked up some regular and eight-ball zucchinis and a pound of peanuts, which are boiling right now. (West Virginia doesn't count as a Southern state--unless we're being judged by Northerners or those eerie mid-westerners...Mid-atlantic, people, we're mid-atlantic...--so I learned about the boiled peanut phenomenon while on a trip to Florida some, uh, several years ago.)

Then at the farmer's market I got some endive to plant--yessss!--and a loaf of lovingly homemade wheat bread.

This is a good kickoff for my summer break (or, brake). I'm planning on riding my bike again really soon, my skin is nearly grown back.

Off to make some jam, pies, a rhubarb-strawberry crisp, etc. I'll post some pictures from school soon.

Another Snow Day...

...and just like that she started blogging here instead of there. Which is a relief. To me, anyway. Hello, everyone.

Lots of things are piling up to make this a weird day. Firstly, the time change. I remembered it was happening until it actually was time to set the clocks forward. Then I forgot. Typical. So when I woke up this morning (late), I had to figure out if all the clocks were on time because they ALL automatically reset themselves or because they ALL didn't reset themselves...So I'd know if I was a half-hour late or an hour and a half. Oh, boy, won't my carpool buddy be pleased!

But, as it turned out, it didn't matter. Church was canceled. Actually, it was canceled last night but we were on the phone so...yeah. Suddenly, I'm no longer late but *early*. Back to bed?

NO! We went for a walk. I really need to get Slarty some boots for this. I'm certain we have the worst weather anywhere. You heard me. Anywhere. We have floods but are still considered to be in a drought. We have low humidity, but it's in the winter so your skin cracks off and blows away. We have warm weather but then, of course, it's super-humid. Most of the winter is cold rain, but then, when you're ready for spring: a big snowstorm. I shouldn't complain. That drought last summer was glorious, and I should be content, fingers crossed for another.

Anyhow we went out and it was like this:



So I decided to make these:



A little burned and gooey-centered, but it's only the second time I've made 'em. And since I don't make English muffins every day, I had to gut the pantry to find the yeast. So I reorganized it. Because I had to take everything out anyway. How long does 'Flaked Hominy' last?



So for the rest of the day, I think I'll be shockingly irresponsible and write some stuff and maybe draw some stuff, watch a movie I borrowed from the library, a totally dowdy British chick-flick. Hope and pray for school to be canceled tomorrow!