Author: alisahuntsman

it’s prom season.  or perhaps i should say prom dress shopping season.  that sound you heard was the collective groan of moms everywhere reliving the experience of shopping for “the” perfect dress with a teenager.  actually, for me, this time around it has been easier.  the first time, when alix needed a dress for her first trip to the prom, she tried on everything in every store and could not find “the” dress.  as a matter of fact, the prom was less than 3 weeks away and she was still looking.  we went on a trip to the mall as a last ditch effort.  every store had relegated the dresses to the clearance racks and what was left was a:  ugly   b:  huge, only the large sizes were left  and c:  damaged from so many girls pawing through them and trying them on.  we almost gave up hope but gathered up a collection and trudged on to the dressing room.  the first pick, a handkerchief hemmed-tea length dress in bright fuchsia.  go ahead, say yuck real loud, but believe it or not, it looked great on her and it ended up being “the” dress.  the fact that it ended up costing $17 did not hurt either.  the next year, alix found a dress in february and we bought it at full price, i did not go shopping with her but i did go with her to buy it.

if i had a dollar for every time i have stated that “if i never baked another thing as long as i live, i could still die happy”, i’d have some money to spend!!!  even so, i cannot imagine my life without baking.  life without the smell of bread baking or savoring the taste of warm cookies just seems unimaginable.  if you know me then you also know that i bake for a living and to come home and break out the recipes or to spend a day off in my kitchen seems like overkill and a sure way to get bored with it.  even so, i joined two baking forums that also are blogs.  each month there is a challenge-secret and known only to the members and on a specific date, the members post the results on their blogs as well as participate in private-members only forums.  keep tuned to this space for the results each month as i post for the daring bakers and  you want pies with that.

living in the south makes minor weather occurrences seem like major events.  even the mention of snow can cause many to experience small panic attacks and massive pilgrimages to the grocery store.  today’s big snow was no exception.  we have had a lot of rain in the last 36 hours; rain accompanied by low temperatures.  the threat of ice has been hanging over our heads as we watched cities to the north of us glaze over.  today, the day started with more rain and the additional advisory of impending doom, the dreaded wintry mix.  that noise was the collective gasp of a cities inhabitants bracing for the big one; preparing themselves for the paralysis that was to take hold any moment.  after all, schools called out earlier and the weather radar maps were purple…then, like so many meteorologists predicted with certainty, the rain began to freeze and snow began to fall.  and fall it did, fast and furious and suddenly the ground was almost white.  but this is nashville and an hour later, the snow stopped falling and the purple band that had become white had moved on and we were left to watch the snow melt-quickly.  maybe next time we will get to drag out the sleds, not this time though. 

hurry up and wait, the way my life seems to be right now.  so many things i would like to do, books to read and places to go.  days off are filled with chores and the restless anticipation that one might experience before starting a new project.  shelves dusted, floors vacuumed and bathrooms scrubbed; laundry washed and folded and placed in drawers.  appointments kept and classes attended and finally time for me.  only it is too cold to work in the garden and right now, no book is waiting to be written.  weather must change and negotiations must settle.  time now to wait, what’s the hurry anyway?

about a year ago, i started writing this blog.  the whole blogging thing is somewhat addictive and before i knew it, i had started 3 other blogs.  and of course, this one got left behind, neglected and ignored due to the demand of the other 3.  well it’s time to fix that and today, i deleted all of the old posts and i am starting over again today.  this one will not be so private and anonymous.  in this “new” space, i will put all of the thoughts and experiences that just do not fit on the others.  this page will not be about my garden, the demo garden or restaurant experiences.  however, that does not mean that this page will be anything more than the vague and random happenings in the life soccer mom jane…