Meghan's Musings

(c) Hillary Weeks I canNOT believe that is the title of this post!! (And like the Princess of Privilege needs defending from me!) On Monday an e-mail from Goop popped into my mailbox that said "A note from GP". This was out-of-the ordinary, as they usually show up every Thursday. I tried following the link on my phone, but an error message popped up. Since I wasn't really that  interested I just let it go. Whilst getting chummy with Insomnia again last night, I scrolled through my Twitter feed and clicked on  this piece from Slate  about Gwyneth Paltrow's divorce - er - conscious uncoupling - from Chris Martin. The news I missed on Monday. Even though the overall tone of Jessica Grose's piece (whom I'm in agreement with 99% of the time!) was sarcastic, and some of what she highlighted from the newsletter struck a cord with me and I had to read it myself. So I scurried downstairs to read the "Note from GP". . The announcement was twofol...

Succulicious I said yesterday that I would share a wonderful soup with you, did I not? And I am nothing if not a woman of my word. This is  a fantabulous, hearty, succulicious (Like my made-up word combining succulent and delicious? Webster's is going to knock on my door to add it to the dictionary, I just know it!) bowl of goodness for you.  For the longest time I really had no interest in soup whatsoever. I had nothing against  soup - I just didn't get it. Maybe it was the years of sucking down salt-in-a-red-and-white-labeled can whilst trekking through my adolescent countryside that left my desire lacking. (Funny little sidebar: One of the nights during the aforementioned trek, my professionally trained chef brother said he was going to make a linguine dish for dinner. Being the snooty little picky-palate I was, I declared, "I don't like la-gweenie!" To which he replied, "Really? What are you going to have?" "Chicken noodle soup....

My original plan was to have a quippy little St. Patrick's Day Post with a most original title of "Top O' The Morning To You!" That fell by the wayside because my ole friend Insomnia popped in for a visit at about 1:00 a.m. Monday and she kept me company all through the night. When 5:00 a.m. arrived, instead of popping out of bed bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as anticipated, I staggered out of bed, bleary-eyed and zombie-faced. I trudged to the kitchen and wandered around aimlessly, trying to figure out something for breakfast. Not even a cuppa Joe could get my brain into writing mode, then I remembered I'd completely neglected my German lessons on Sunday and whipped out Ole Reliable (my iPhone) and resumed my lessons with Professor Owl. Yes. I am learning German.  I read about Duolingo , a free language app, at my one-stop source for news - Slate.com. Why, German you ask? Because I'm a rebel. Spanish would be more practical, but who says I can't learn it...

There is a bright, shining star amongst the annoyances of late. That star is Isaac. After a week of super-duper-model behavior the following week, he was honored as a Star Student of the Week at his school for this week.  Mummy's so proud! A letter came home that highlighted things that were going to happen each day. Monday was a sharing sack - he brought in artwork he made over the summer and I mentioned his family tree project from Satori in Tucson, and he snagged it immediately. Tuesday was his favorite picture book. When I saw his choice, Cats, Tiny Tigers in Your House , I arched an eyebrow and asked, "Is that really  your favorite picture book?" Apparently it is. Wednesday was a family letter. There were some suggestions (thank the universe - suggestions are the flint to my steel!): A special or funny story about your child; A silly or serious poem; Share some neat things about him they might not know; Write a short story with your child as the main character. Gue...

Before I get to my fabulous find - a gripe, if you will. Normally whence I listen to someone kvetch about winter, I just smile and nod. Winter has never bothered me all that much. Sure it's cold and SOME people get sick - but the cold has never bothered me all that much and I NEVER get sick. Well it's official - I HATE winter. More correctly - I hate THIS winter. The frigid cold has been relentless, I actually got the flu and Shiloh is now battling her second bout with the flu in less than two weeks. So I had to leave work early yesterday (and the CEO was visiting) AND I have to stay home today and am taking a vacation day Friday. With all these days NOT going to work, it sounds like a reason for one to do the happy dance... However I detest unscheduled occurrences - and a plethora of winter-flu-child-sick-snow-days have been hurled at me. My rigid psyche has been coping poorly.  Ahhhhhhh.... Thank you! On to the Fabulous Find. This Saturday past, like so many others, wa...

I could not be happier that the craptastic chapter of life that was last week has closed. It was just one of those weeks where a multitude of bad occurrences - one invited by my own stupidity - just colluded in a supernova of awful. The blackness that infected my psyche was quite off-putting, and if not for a dear friend allowing me to vent - not something I'm prone to doing - I would probably be in a room where no sharp objects are allowed. Since mine is a disposition that does not allow for happy mediums, nor gentle transitions, at 4:45 p.m. Friday, the moment I'd been waiting for all week happened - my switch flipped and the blackness receded. Woo-hoo! We met Mumsy and Daddy at our usual meeting place last Sunday to hand off Isaac and Shiloh - a Friendly's in Lee. They were kind enough to spring for lunch. When Shiloh was done eating she got restless, diving under the table for food that fell and fidgeting between Ben and Isaac on their booth. Ben took her outside and ...

How did everyone's week pass? Last weekend I was able to collect the remnants of sanity by spending it in my favorite place with my best friend. I left work at 3 p.m. last Friday and made it to Kim's house by 6:15, with only one detour to acquire Cosmo ingredients. After some cocktails, my saintly friend treated me to a lovely dinner at my favorite local restaurant - Finz. Saturday we ran errands, and I cooked a steak house dinner comprised mostly of recipes from her Christmas present to me - a subscription to  Fine Cooking  magazine. I was only slightly irritated that the grocery store AND the meat market we went to didn't have filet mignon in stock, which was the cut of meat that was supposed to go with the cognac-peppercorn sauce, and had to settle for a lesser quality cut. To accompany the steak I made twice-baked potatoes (my own recipe), and mushroom-cauliflower sauté from the magazine (the recipe actually called for broccoflower  - green cauliflower - which was c...