Vacation and Sonnets

So I've been on vacation for the last week. It's been pretty relaxing despite the several days of rain smack dab in the middle.

During the first weekend I helped my roommate housesit for friends of ours down in Warwick RI. They've practically got a farm's worth of animals; 2 dogs and 3 cats to be exact. As a bonus they have a backyard and a legit grill; so I spent most of the weekend reading, sunning myself, going for walks with the dogs, and eating delicious grilled food.

Monty. He's like a lion!

Dogs, cats, and humans living in harmony

Beef kabobs with tomato, mushroom, & red onion. And red potato kebabs to go with them.

I also went home to Springfield for a night to hang out with my parents. We checked out the new(ish) Mama Iguana's . Not bad. The atmosphere and decorations were fun, the free chips and salsa were "eh ok," but the food was pretty good. I had Tacos Atun, sesame encrusted seared ahi tuna with slaw and wasabi aioli. And to drink, michelada, a Tecate beer with a splash of hot sauce, lime, and a salt rim (yum!)

Today I'm spending the afternoon canning some tomatoes. My father buys large boxes of farm fresh tomatoes a few times a year. And this time, he ended up with a box double his usual size for just $10. I was lucky enough to get to take a number of those tomatoes with me when I left yesterday. Last year I tried canning salsa but wasn't thrilled with how it came out. So this time, I'm going to can tomatoes in their own juices so I can make whatever I want with it later in the fall/winter (salsa, sauce, soup, etc).

I've done a lot of eating out and hope I can get myself back on track as I return to the real world.

And last but not least. You're wondering about the sonnet. Well I accidentally challenged Jessica to write one last night. It's complicated to explain how this happened, but it's not an unlikely circumstance for us. I had no doubt that she is clever and witty, but I was admittedly happily surprised by the sonnet she wrote in just 30 minutes time about Body Glide. Check it out here: Untitled 30 Min. Body Glide Sonnet

Awesome huh? Ha ha Good Job Jessica!