It’s been raining here for what feels like a lifetime. Or maybe just since Monday. In any event, the rain yesterday literally BROKE the road in front of my driveway. It created a huge sinkhole that continued to sink right before our very eyes, although slowly. I imagine it was a lot like watching paint dry or grass grow.

After there was much excitement in the neighborhood and my neighbors stood with us and watched the hole (because that’s apparently what you do when a sink hole forms. You stand outside, look at the hole and chit chat) I went back inside and the police and township people sealed the area off all offical like. Jason even got to drive on the sidewalk all law breaker-like.

Right before I went to bed I looked outside to see what the hole might have gotten up to. The township people put some spotlights on it. I guess they were scared it was going to go somewhere and that the light would act like a prison.

Then this morning, they were hard at work as is evidenced in this photograph.

It appears that they’ve made the hole larger. I can’t wait to see the latest development in Hole Watch 2009 when I return home this evening!

It’s offically the half way mark of the week. It’s Wednesday! A lot of people take issue with Wednesday because half the week still remains, but I like it. At noon on Wednesday I know that half my work week is complete. Although I’m also prone to saying it’s Friday at 5pm on Thursday, because really.. for all offical work related purposes, it so is!

On Sunday I spent the last hours of my vacation with Jason out on the deck. We got pretty much every normal Sunday groaner of a chore done by 3:30 (That includes going to the grocery store and laundry being folded! All of it!!) and so we sat out on the deck, made a drunken chicken, had a few beers and just enjoyed the piercing blue sky and the sunshine that trickled down through the trees. I can’t think of a better way to have spent my Sunday.

Also on Sunday I got really ambitious and mixed up a recipe that I found on Smitten Kitchen for garlic mustard glazed skewers. I can’t begin to tell you how great the marinade smelled when I was stiring it up.. and it was so easy! Very few measuring devices needed and then you just let it sit there! Right there, covered on the counter! Because the drunken chicken took so long to cook I grabbed some ziplocks and stuffed some whole chicken breasts into them and poured the marinade into the bags, smooshed it around until they were all coated and then plopped them into the fridge.

Yesterday Jason had to work late (again) and so I decided that I would handle the dinner preperations. It was a really nice day, I’d go outside and read and cook and just unwind from a work day that reminds me of so many others. So I turned the grill on and waited probably 45 minutes. At some point my neighbor’s brother came down to chat and hang out for a bit and started questioning my grilling abilities when the grill wasn’t warming up as it should have been. It turns out that I hadn’t turned the gas on. Who knew you had to do that?!

After much agrivation and some mild embarassment I cooked the chicken and this is what I created:

I didn’t make skewers, I just chopped up a piece and then put on a salad and drizzled some dijon mustard on top as my dressing. I figured that since the marinade had dijon in it already that would be a safe bet. It was tangy and sweet and smokey and wonderful.

And best of all it gave me my green food item for the day!

When does food cease to drive me aboslutely bat shit crazy? It’s good, it’s bad, it’s wonderful and confusing. What to eat, when to eat, how much to eat… And I really hate the term diet. Diets sound like something that people do to try and lose weight but everyone has one be it healthy or unhealthy. Lets call them that doesn’t sound like roadkill on a vintage 1950’s plate. Why don’t we call them something like Feeding Plans. Or Nourishment Calendars… Even though those sound like terms pulled directly from a bad scifi movie, I’d much prefer them to the word diet.

Which brings about my latest eating goal. Getting back from vacation is hard and so is getting back on track. The thought of completely changing my entire way of eating sounds daunting. I’ve decided to break it down into little itty bitty baby part steps.

Here’s the first one: Eat something green every day.

It could be a salad, it could be a veggie, I’m just hoping it’s not bread.

Sounds simple enough huh? Eat something green. I think I can handle this. And the feeling I get when the week is over and I’ve been successful in my goal will be awesome. And hopefully it will stick. That will be step one.

This eating stuff is hard work.

Things were crazy. They hung on by a thread. It was when you’re losing your baby teeth and there is just that one little string holding it in place, letting it twirl freely.

Then I left. More like ran. I needed so deeply and desperately to just be gone. And I was. I was unplugged (mostly) and unavailable. It was so amazingly nice to just not be 100% accessable unless I chose to be.

I can’t begin to describe the cool, calmness that is Jason’s family. I have learned to expect their pure awesomeness everytime I visit and still they never cease to amaze me with their hospitality and welcoming kindness. I never feel so relaxed as I do in their presence.

And now.. Now it’s time to head back to the world. Back to our house, back to our kitties, back to my job and responsibilities.

It was a great trip. I can’t wait until the next one.

This is a stretch of I-95 in Virginia. Only 5 hours to go.