attempting to excerpt

Peering up from a low crouch while re-situating dusty, sweat-smeared hands filled with random bits of debris, Hope finally hisses, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I've kept my end of the bargain; you keep yours."

Joshua sighs. "You don't get this, do you. There is no deal. There is no bargain. And heaven help me, if only I could make you finally understand ... there is no competition. It's all been a lie!"

An indrawn breath is all that registers. Then its slow, forced release. Followed by a steady grind of teeth.

"Then what the hell am I doing here! What the hell are we doing here! Josh, since you know so much, tell me why ... are ... we ... HERE?!

Joshua, obviously playing for time, pushes the toe of his left boot into a partial decomposed clod of garden soil and squishes it flat. "I'm not quite sure. But I have a few theories. I'll share'em with ya if you're interested. But only if your interested."

comfort food in a crust

[2:59 pm -- text from highschooler]

*im hungry i need quiche

[3:01 pm -- text response by me]

*quiche?! why?

[3:04 pm -- text response by highschooler]

*i need protein

[*sigh*]

And five hours later ... with much fiddling with the oven temperature ... I managed to make my daughter happy with this --Spicy Sausage Quiche
(poured into 2 unbaked pie crusts; a gluten-free one for the high maintenance highschooler):

• 1 pound bulk pork sausage
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 14 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain and crumble. Spread into bottom of baking dish. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, onion, chile peppers, and jalapeno pepper. In a medium bowl, mix eggs with chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour over contents of baking dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then cut into squares.

I hope you all had yummy dinners as well (and hopefully you all ate before 8 pm ... unlike us!)

been captured by vampires

and I'm not afraid to admit it!

I know, I know ... I've been majorly MIA these past few months (eerily quiet for someone as loud as me!) but I have a good/lame excuse. Recently, been reading. Lots. Remarkably for the past six days straight! No cooking, no cleaning, no decoration take down and certainly no worthwhile human interactions. I've simply disappeared into some lovely light fiction and haven't regretted ONE moment of it!

My husband and kids have been extremely kind and indulgent to have let me "check out" like that and I'm eternally grateful to them. I guess, in a way, I really needed to get outside of my own life and be able to experience someone else's for a change (in spite of the criticisms I've heard from online sources). I was completely immersed and obsessed and only reluctantly took breaks when my wimpy body needed sustenance and sleep.

And yep, I read more than one: I read ALL four, in a row, non-stop, until I was done. And again ... no regrets.

But tomorrow, it's back to work, back to the grind, back into the drudgery of a time-laden routine. *sigh*

Maybe Spring Break has another series of all-absorbing books in store for me ... one can only hope and see!