Just another manic Monday in a mad March

What a month March has been: we pulled off two dinner parties, got new Fiesta Ware, spent a week sick, then nursing other family members back to health, (hopefully that was an extremely isolated incident); had a fabulous spring break trip to South Carolina, and Bruce Pearl got our boys all the way to the Elite Eight for the first time ever, and within two points of being in the Final Four. Next year, baby.

Not to mention the mad, mad weather patterns that plagued us this winter, even into March - who knew we could get snowed out of our annual ski trip??? Friday is supposed to hit 80. I'm sooo ready for it.

So now I'm looking ahead at April (if only I could see my desk calendar, I'm sure April is next), and I'm setting some goals for my non-working hours:

1) Clean off my desk before April 1 so I can change the calendar.
2) Clean out my car (I think we hauled home a half-ton of beach sand.)
3) Finish two different newsletters this week and start the next issue of a third newsletter, due out May 1.
4) Paint the hall and den before Bunco on 4/12.
5) Update the mantel with pictures and stuff from our beach trip.
6) Sand and stain the low dresser that's been sitting in the garage since last April.
7) Pressure wash everything - deck, sidewalk, gutters, shutters...everything.
8) Trip to Rita's in Jackson to buy spring flowers - bring home and plant them
9) Get the vegetable garden planted with peas, shallots, and lettuce, then tomatoes and peppers after the last frost.

Nine goals, four weeks: no sweat. I'll save the sweating for the gym; after this morning's tepid performance - barely 3 miles - I need to put in some early morning hours there.

South Carolina, you had me at the shrimp & grits

Since my first visit a long time ago, New Orleans - specifically the French Quarter and Garden District - has been my favorite place to go. Forget Bourbon Street - give me a beignet and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde, then let me amble around Jackson Square, buy some remoulade sauce at a Central Market, slip into some out-of-the-way courtyard eateries, browse through some antique stores and funky art galleries, and I am in a state of bliss. Before Katrina, a ride on the trolley all the way to the end of the Garden District and back was a wonderful (and cheap!) way to see the stately (and not-so-stately) homes, schools and other sites along the route. Our last visit required taking a city bus to get us back to the French Quarter, to gather our luggage just in time to catch our flight. The bus ride was not as magical as the trolley, and a painful reminder of the blight that Katrina left on this city.

No matter how seldom I actually visit NOLA, I have my favorite spots burned into my mind and heart, and I can find them with my eyes closed. Well, maybe not quite that intimately - but definitely without a map or a moment's hesitation. Every visit feels like I'm going home.

My first visit to NYC was a business trip, pre-Giuliani's cleanup efforts; I was pregnant and taking no chances with the subway or the streets. I saw little of the city, and had zero desire to ever return. But a second visit to NYC a few years ago mesmerized me much like NOLA, but for decidedly different reasons. Manhattan practically hums with energy, and you tingle when you step out on the street. Seeing Rockefeller Plaza lit up with Christmas splendor, standing outside the NYSE on Wall Street, meditating near the site of the WTC towers, enjoying the lush beauty of Brooklyn Botanic Garden, taking a stroll through Central Park, an afternoon of Monet and Manet at MONA, a Knicks game at Madison Square Gardens, and of course, a real Broadway play combine to spell magic. In a future trip, I'm sure I'll be ferreting out my favorite places, and finding new favorites in a New York minute, no pun intended.

And now South Carolina - especially Murrells Inlet and Charleston - has joined NOLA and NYC on my short list of absolute favorite places to visit.


Sleepy little Murrells Inlet is part salt marsh, part fishing village, and a gorgeous, pristine state park/beach (Huntington), where the dolphins came out to play a few yards from where we were standing, and the starfish threw themselves on the beach (we took pictures and threw them back.) Walt Disney cannot hold a candle to that sort of magic, try as they might. The seafood of this area is legendary, the people are friendly - as small town southerners are - and the pace is definitely laid back. And if that's not enough, it's ridiculously convenient: only a few minutes from Myrtle Beach's shopping, and a couple hours to Charleston, on the sweetgrass basket highway. (Yes, of course we stopped ;o)

Charleston - like NOLA - boasts dreamy architecture in town, magnificent plantations all around the city, great shopping, and utterly amazing food. I'm sure it sees its share of revelers and party-goers, but the atmosphere is decidedly more family-friendly than NOLA.

I've fallen hard for South Carolina's charms. I just hope my husband REALLY loves all the golf courses there, since I think I might be wheedling a repeat visit (or two or three) in the near future. For now, I'm content to put a sticker on my car window - a palmetto tree and crescent moon. Of course, mine is orange.

What a week!

Okay, so we went from on-top-of-the-world weekend to toilet-hugging Monday, all in the span of a few hours. Either I'm getting older or this thing was rougher than most, but it stayed longer than the typical 24-hour-bug. Now it's hopefully run its course through our whole family, except the child who lives away and was smart/lucky enough to STAY away this week. Clorox and Lysol, here I come. This was an exceptionally lousy time to get sick - spring break is approaching at breakneck speed. My menu for this week is virtually untouched; guess it'll do for a do-over in April.

Thankfully I was nearing a full recovery by Wednesday morning and able to keep my Dinner A'Fare appointment today, so the freezer is well-stocked for when we return home. Here were my choices from their March entrees:

shrimp 'n grits with a bourbon red-eye gravy
chicken balsamico
south-of-the-border tenderloin
flank steak with gorgonzola and walnut butter sauce
five-spices chicken with cilantro cream
horseradish-encrusted burgers

I tossed in a breakfast entree for good measure (heuvos rancheros - let's see how THEY fix 'em.) And next month's menu looks even more enticing. Hmmm.

Tonight the Vols play San Diego State University (the NCAA basketball playoffs begin today.) Go Big Orange!!! It's a late-starting game, and given our weakened constitutions (*snicker*) we might have to watch it from the bedroom TV. But then it won't be in high-def. Decisions, decisions. speaking of which, I guess I better go decide what to start for dinner. A few days out of my normal routine, and I've completely forgotten how to plan and cook dinner.