Sweaty Season

It is hot out. Really, really, uncomfortably hot. And I'm not sure what exactly it is about our home that traps the heat - but we have been sweaty and cranky over the last few days. Today we went to the Maxi-Saver cinemas to see Ocean's Thirteen and enjoy the AC. Thunderstorms should bring us a break.

We've recently discovered that we can see the fireworks from the stadiums from our bedroom window, so on Pirates game nights when I start to hear the explosions I run upstairs to watch. The Northside keeps giving us reasons to love it. I can also see the big analog clock on Mt. Washington from my window which isn't quite as exciting, but has come in handy more than once.

I'm going to DC for work on Monday - which I'm both dreading and looking forward to. I always dread business trips - no matter how many I go on, but I am excited to see people I haven't seen since we moved - and maybe even squeeze in some calamari at Raku. Also, JB Jr. starts school on Monday, and I'm disappointed I'll be gone when he gets home. Hopefully JB will fill me in on all the first day of school gossip.

¡Ven a mi casa amiguita y te enseño mi ropero!

Unbelievable, but true. Our closet is completed. Now, I know this doesn't sound like reason to celebrate, but this damn closet caused us so much grief over the last few months that it was leading us down the "irreconcilable differences" road.

First we painted. Fine. Time consuming, but standard. Then we had to remove the old closet setup - which involved metal pipes, 2x4s nailed to the walls, and 100 degree heat. The trick is, that these 2x4s that were nailed to the walls were nailed in such a way, that each nail was on a different angle (how this was achieved, I know not) and when I managed to pry it from the wall it brought large chunks of said wall with it. Now, our house was built in 1870, so the plaster is just waiting for you to give it a reason to crumble. So we patched, replastered, allowed the plaster to dry and repainted. Ok, so at this point we are basically at what should be square one.

We purchase a closet system. I didn't think much about it, I just knew that I wanted bi-level hanging bars so I chose the cheapest system with that feature. We get it home and begin reading the directions only to realize that installation requires your closet to have side walls - fair enough - but our closet doesn't. Well, it does, but our room is in what would be the attic so we have drastically sloped ceilings which make the side walls about 4 feet tall and not compatible with this system. So - we get a replacement closet system that allows you to mount it from the back wall. The end is in sight.

So we get to work mounting the system's main bracket. We are careful to use anchors where there aren't studs, we use our brand new level to ensure our hangers don't slide to one side, and we measure to achieve optimal spacing. Now that the main bracket is up and sturdy we proceed to mount the supporting vertical brackets - and we hit brick. Now, it is possibly to drill and mount in brick in most cases with masonry bits and anchors - but as I've mentioned, our house is exceptionally old and the brick just crumbled and left a gaping hole. This is where I had the nervous breakdown. Thankfully the Burgan clan swooped in and worked their magic. I don't what they did or how they did it (and I don't want to) but all the brackets seem sturdy.

Finally we were able to put up the rods and shelves and hang our clothes and accessories. I can't tell you how happy and relieved I am - perhaps it's silly, but this closet was nearly the death of me. It's kind of a gateway project - now that we've cleared all our clothes and shoes out of the living room we can begin to organize other closets which will hopefully set off a sequence of organizing projects. We'll see.

FOR-E-VER

So we completely abandoned the dip idea for the last co-op meeting and instead ended up making crab-stuffed mushrooms. And of course, I volunteered us for the snack again for tonight's meeting, but I'm copping out and just making a big batch of salsa to do double duty for tonight's meeting and tomorrow's book club - speaking of bookclub, I still have 100 pages or so to on the book, so tonight may be a late night.

JB and I have had two hot dates in the last few days. Last night we went to the Gypsy Cafe monthly dinner. We shared a bottle of wine and had a lovely night. On Friday, we played scrabble at the Quiet Storm. This was my first time back to the game of scrabble since I played with Ehrrin - which was traumatic, because I'm not used to playing with only seven letters (JB and I have our own, very flexible, set of rules) and I was nervous and awful - so it was good to be back. We don't keep score, and when we finished, JB said the same thing she says after every game - "I think you won." Only now am I realizing that I probably don't win most games.

Also, I'm working on a new art project for our bedroom -which is turning out nicely so far, but I think it's just a distraction from the closet - which I don't want to discuss. I'm destined to live closet-less forever. FOR-E-VER.

On the family front - the kids started school in Mexico, the Burgans are officially in Pgh, and Stephanie came over for dinner on Saturday - I made a comfort casserole with stovetop stuffing, cream of mushroom soup, chicken, broccoli, and cheddar cheese - not the healthiest meal, but perfect for a rainy night. It's been grey and cool lately, which is a nice break from the stifling heat - still I like to see some sun now and again.

Meringue Callous

This evening we have a meeting for the co-op membership committee and we offered to bring the food. We are still debating what that food should be, but we are leaning towards a dip of some kind. When JB and JB Jr. get back we are going to go on a fieldtrip to the east-end co-op for some inspiration.

Over the weekend I tried my hand at a coconut cream pie for the first time. I think it turned out pretty well - despite the fact that I don't have an electric mixer. I didn't think it would be a big deal, because I've hand whipped cream and other things in the past, no problem. Apparently meringue is a different beast entirely. I must have whipped those egg whites for over and hour (with a couple breaks courtesy of JB). I even have a callous! On top of that, the cold spots in my oven required strategic turning of the pies during baking to even out the "golden brown" color which was the goal. In the end, it was worth it, because I ended up with three gorgeous pies. One for Grandma and Aunt Pam, one for Uncle Steve and Aunt Rose, and one for us. Steph drove me to drop off the pies and we managed to get lost about a dozen times, which was nice, cause I'd never been to Hopewell - plus we got some quality sister time. Aunt Pam and Grandma fed us and sent us home with an interesting assortment of treasures (old magazines, a dog crate, buckets, and doughnuts). Uncle Steve and Aunt Rose gave us some produce from their garden - cucumbers, banana peppers, and ox heart tomatoes.

Jiquilpan

My family left for Mexico on Saturday. They'll be there for a year. I'm trying to not take it personally that this mass Telep exodus follows my long-awaited return to Pittsburgh. Last I spoke to them they are somewhere in Texas (yes, they are driving) and hoping to cross the border by tomorrow morning. Reports from the road include a visit to the Dallas Aquarium, best BBQ they've ever had, and 100+ degree weather. I'm really glad they are doing this - it will be so good for them, but I'm going to miss them an awful lot, and perhaps I'm just the tiniest bit (read: totally) jealous.