There is no reason for today's post. I'm just reaching into the soupy cauldron of thought which is my mind and discussing what I find.
Buddy - I chose not to sit at home to play out my weekend morning ritual (coffee, reading and the internet) but instead chose to shower early and go up to Starbucks since Buddy was working. I ground up the portion of coffee I wanted to drink this morning, packed it in the French press, grabbed a coffee mug, my laptop, a book and went on my way. While I was there reading, Buddy took his lunch (he got to work at 5:30, so his lunch was at 10). I said all of that to say this: One of Buddy's abilities which never ceases to amaze me is that of being able to sleep anywhere.
We were in one of the lovely, large comfy, "it hugs me when I sit in it" chairs at Starbucks and he said "wake me up in 15 minutes." Before my brain could process what he meant, he'd removed his glasses and fallen asleep. The music was playing, the espresso machines were foaming, customers were talking, and he was oblivious to all of it. He's like a puppy. Last week he got down on the floor to cuddle with Chloe and accidentally fell asleep. A couple of times I know of, he's sat down in the shower and fallen asleep. Really? Seriously? I think somewhere in his brain is a neuron which acts as a snooze button. Honestly, I wish I had one.
Говорение по-русски (Ga-va-ryen-EE-ye po-russkee) - "speaking Russian": It is becoming increasingly apparent that I chose a fantastic starting point for my linguistic adventures. The language itself has very similar attributes to other languages. For example, gender specific nouns affect adjectives and other words associated with them. While not popular in English, it is a common practice in other romantic languages.
Russian is also sprinkled with cognates, or words which are borrowed from another language and adapted for itself. An example of an English/Russian cognate is Парашют (pah-ra-SHYOOT) - parachute. But, English isn't the only language from which Russians have borrowed. A Spanish/Russian cognate would be Библиотека (beeb-lee-oh-teh-ka) - biblioteca (library). So not only are there words which will help me in other languages, but linguistic concepts that will help as well.
Finally, the Cyrillic alphabet in and of itself has been a bona fide mental triathlon. I predict it will make reading French that much easier when Buddy and I take that up around January of 2008. As I started Russian in November it will get the longest amount of study so I can juxtapose each new cultural endeavor with a calendar New Year.
Toronto Vacation - Mandy has her passport, Buddy's is on the way and round-trip ticket prices for direct flights via Continental just plummeted to $271! What a fantastic coincidence! I sent Paw-Paw the e-mail this morning asking for the tickets for Mandy, Buddy and I for our Christmas/birthday presents. March is still a month off but my excitement is growing. I think the trip will be brilliant. Buddy has armed himself with a tourist book of the city so we can list the places we want to see and experience while we're there. Toronto has been much warmer this winter (global warming and all), so I am hoping that it will be more spring-like during this trip. That will afford us more time outside. Having a digital camera with a much higher number of mega-pixels will also allow better quality pictures. I'd like to add another 18x24 and assortment of smaller pictures to the living room. I'm excited. :)
Mom's Visit - My mother is coming to visit next weekend and I'm excited. She treks down here twice yearly for a weekend with us, and her first trip of 2007 will be for my birthday. It's always a fantastic way to break up the monotony of our weekend lives as well as a lot of quality time with Mom. Honestly, we see her more with those trips here than we did when we lived in Houston. We're going to make her a deal ... she buys dinner Saturday and Sunday and Buddy will make fantastic meals for dinner Friday and breakfast Saturday & Sunday. If you ask me, she's getting the better end of the deal. *grin*
Last Night's Dinner - Buddy did REALLY well. I have horded away two years worth of recipies from Martha Stewart Living. They are all at my store awaiting lamination and collecting dust. Thankfully, I remembered them yesterday when Buddy asked what I'd like him to make for dinner. So, we had baked chicken with onions and garlic, lemon and caper mashed potatoes and rice pilaf. The chicken was SO moist and flavorful and the rice pilaf (made with fresh angel hair pasta) was also wonderful, but the lemon an caper mashed potatoes REALLY floored me! The light, flowery texture of the lemons and capers combined with the creamy texture of the mashed potatoes was intoxicating. We were both wowed by that meal. We can't, however, make a habit of it. While it is cheaper to cook that at home than eat it out (and it WAS restaurant quality), it was still relatively expensive as far as meals at home go. But, it is a great Friday night meal ... and Saturday lunch.
Speaking of Saturday lunch, I'm hungry now. Time for chicken and rice.
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