Welcome to fall

It's a chilly 75 degrees outside and the wind is whipping around like there's a hurricane on the horizon. None yet, thankfully.

Since Jason last posted sometime back in 1993, you are stuck with my one-sided account of how things are going. I will bug him to exercise his creative writing skills for the blog soon.

An update since the Labor Day/we-adopted-an-Aussie-momentarily post. First, I was offered the manager position at work and have decided to take it. What this basically means is that a) my boss was able to guilt me into acquiring a Blackberry; b) the Blackberry is turned off after 5 p.m. M-F and is quiet in my purse all weekend; c) I will get to do more project and people management and d) it's great fodder for the ol' resume.

On a personal note, I just returned from visiting Lisa, Jeff and Baby Jeli in California. They had the baby shower, and to my joy, I was able to spend the weekend with them. Email and IM are decent ways to keep up with long-distance friends, but there's nothing like seeing an old "flush buddy" in person. The time we spent together was such a blessing, and it's wonderful to see them anticipating the birth of their little girl with such happiness and gratitude to God.

Jennie and Eric (Jason's sister and brother-in-law) are coming to visit next weekend. We have a full agenda planned, topped by crablegs and the Museum of Science and Industry. I hope they remember their swimming suits...

Love to all,
M.

Hello Sabbatical

That's it, I'm taking a leave of absence and touring the most beautiful libraries of the world.

Look for a postcard from me.

Good for breakfast, lunch or dinner...

Jason usually makes both of us lunch on the weekends (well, he makes all of the meals on weekends when we don't go out). Those of you who are familiar with my eating habits know that I will blindly grab anything from the pantry that doesn't require slicing, dicing, julienneing, or for that matter, heating, and call it a meal. It is not unknown for Jason to go on a business trip and for me to consider a decent dinner a plateful of Triscuits, mini gerhkins, some cheese and a brownie.

But, hold on to your cookbooks. I have a suggestion for a quick, easy, and nutritious sandwich. I can't take credit for the creation, because a restaurant in Urbana, IL was the originator. Here you go:

Monkey Sandwich
2 slices whole-wheat bread
1 banana
1-2 tablespoons peanut butter (extra crunchy is the PB of Champions)
Some coconut flakes
Drizzle of honey
Sliced almonds (optional)

Take pieces of bread and put on a plate. Spread PB. Slice banana and squish gently into peanut butter. Sprinkle coconut flakes, then drizzle honey. Take second slice of bread and place onto masterpiece. Gently push almonds into top of bread slice. (Toasting of the bread is optional, but don't bet on keeping the almonds on top afterwards.)

Trust me, it's GOOD.