Lost blog post, found

SD NOTE: I initially published this post on August 13 but it disappeared from my feed. I would have left it alone, but it mentions one of my favorite restaurants. (In other news, if you use Blogger and you have a post mysteriously disappear? Give me a shout. I've put in the legwork on that one.)

Long Week
8.13.12

Can we consider juggling schedules to be a daily activity? Because I haven't done jack in terms of getting exercise this week.

how can you resist this booth?

Groom's family was staying with us from Boston and San Francisco and my family is visiting from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Washington DC, and Tampa at the family lake house about half an hour away from my house. And, a friend who owns Two Salty Dogs Pet Outfitters asked me to work the Maine, Boats, Homes & Harbors Show in Rockland this past weekend. And, I have a sh*tload of freelance I need to get out the door. And, I still have no car. 

SUP jousting at MBH&H Show

So, I've been juggling schedules for over a week and I'm headed into another week of it. Frankly, darling, I am exhausted. Dinner plans tonight with one family; dinner plans tomorrow night with another. I'm so tightly scheduled, if anyone changes anything in the plan, I have to bail completely because I'm struggling to keep this little house of cards standing, which makes me come across as flighty. Awesome.

one more minute...you can do it...

I hope to sneak 20-30 minutes on the elliptical today, which will be a challenge, but I think I can do it.

I'd like to make it very clear that I realize my problems are awesome problems to have. And, while I'm clearing the air, let's address something else:

Someone made a few comments to me that made me wonder whether I've been misrepresenting myself. She mocked and criticized me (but not in the fun way) for not wanting to walk to the store in the rain and I realize that maybe in this post, I made it seem as though the store is really far away. It isn't. I was making fun of myself. These were my exact words:

It's pouring rain outside so I don't want to walk to the store and I can't drive in good conscience since it's only about a third of a mile away. Yes. I know. I'm rationalizing. And, I'm realizing I'm a bit of a princess.

Secondly, when she saw the work on our new kitchen, her comment was, "Oh, you made it seem like a hardship. You've been using your apartment kitchen all along. Huh."

I'd like to offer a formal apology to anyone who inferred that I think having our kitchen remodeled is a hardship. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I'm excited about the remodel and, no, it isn't a hardship. We do use the kitchen in a little mother-in-law apartment attached to our house. We normally rent this space out, so I guess I could say it's a bit of a financial hardship, but certainly not a day-to-day hardship. No. All those pictures of us cooking our meals? Those are taken in an actual working kitchen that we use on a daily basis.

What else? I think that's it. But, if anyone thinks I'm being false, please let me know. I see no reason to lie about things. I have a nice life but I don't want to smear that all up in your face every day. On the other hand, I don't, in any way, want people to think I'm spewing off about how hard my life is. I live free from disease, free from financial hardship (the real kind), free from pain and war and fighting and starvation, and free from discrimination...for the most part. (I mean, I am a woman after all. Fat or not, as long as I have these 36Ds on my chest, I'll always face some form of discrimination, but I'm not a so-called illegal immigrant or a minority that faces daily hate crimes. Unless you count rape. Which I do. Soooo.... let's just pretend I didn't really say I'm free from discrimination even though it isn't really widely acknowledged that women face daily discimination in our wages and in our interactions at the hardware store and in our dealings with the dockmaster at the local marina--I put that in to be douchey...please....you're on the big blue watery road, girlie...relax about the discrimination--and in our healthcare system and in how we get promoted in corporate America, unless you count women who are promoted because they are women, which is another form of discrimination and leads to co-worker sabotage and staff disgruntlement, especially among the fellas, and even backlashes toward women who deserve the promotion.)

That's the longest parenthetical statement ever. Kids, avoid long sentences and parenthetical statements in your writing because such items will be edited down. (Immediately.)
  
Where was I? Oh yes. Eating local foods and getting my daily exercise. I've been trying to sneak some exercise in--mostly a little paddling, but not much; a walk on the beach that seems hardly worth mentioning; and a lot of schlepping and lugging. I was able to get onto the elliptical last week while Groom had his family out on the boat. They were gone all day, so my fears that I wouldn't get some time alone were completely unfounded. True, my in-laws were here, but they were reading and fussing in the kitchen, so I could sneak off without too much notice.

specials at Trattoria Athena

For the most part this week, I was able to stick to my "local foods only" rule. For eats, we went to Trattoria Athena in Brunswick after visiting the Wegman exhibit at the Bowdoin College Museum. That museum is totally worth a visit. The Wegman show is great and it's complemented by an installation about the history of the Androscoggin, or "Andoscroggin" as a friend from away used to call it. For short, he would say "Scroggin." How freaking awesome is that?

super cute interior

Trattoria Athena is worth a mention because the food is amazing--even my mother-in-law who never says anything negative about food, but rarely says anything effusively positive when it's good said, "This is delicious." Twice. That's enough of an endorsement for me.

The other thing worth noting about Trattoria Athena is that the owners worked the farmers market circuit a couple of years ago selling their homemade pasta. It got us hooked and now we eat at the restaurant. Kinda brilliant marketing and PR really.

I went local Anchor Inn in Round Pond last week with my sister and her family while Groom and his family went to the Topsham Fair. It's what you'd expect--plenty of fish and lobster and butter and breadcrumbs--but the haddock cooked in parchment paper is really good and they have this raspberry white chocolate mousse cake that...well...just order it. And don't even pretend you're going to share. Because you won't share it. I'll probably end up at the Anchor Inn again this week. I can't say I mind.

Sweets and Meats was at the boat show this weekend so I gave then a whirl. Their shop is in Rockland and I plan to make that one of my favorites now. Totally recommended. Their chocolate croissant gave me fits.  

the drive to Five Islands for local eats

Primo for dinner on Saturday because what's a weekend in Rockland without a little Primo action? As always, delicious. Aren't we sick of talking about Primo? I'm not sure what I can say about it that other people haven't already stated. Local, delicious, thoughtfully prepared meals. Worth every penny. Yadda.

Of course Conte's was on the list for the weekend as well. Maybe I'll talk about that later. It's worth its own post. But, here's a link to some pictures of Anthony Bourdain's visit to Maine. He stopped by Street & Co and J's in Portland, and Primo and Conte's in Rockland for his show "No Reservations." The Conte's segment was priceless. Basically, owner John Conte cussed and cursed about "that f*ckin' asshole" from the city coming into his restaurant and ordering "every god damn f*ckin' thing on the damn menu." So good.

Tonight, I have some more juggling with my schedule, Groom's schedule, my family's schedule, his family's schedule, last-minute plan changes, and one car. I guarantee someone will be annoyed with me. Oh, wait! How about stress? Can stress be my daily activity?