Weekend Update and Mother's Day

DInner - took 20 minutes! Grass fed tenderloin from Linden Hills coop, organic everything else....so good! (Beats Heidi's steak at 4 times the price.) Mixed greens with olive oil, gorgonzola and walnuts. Roasted asparagus.

Mixed berries for dessert. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries. 1 T. sugar brings out the juice. Top with cream.

I follow Alice Waters' recipe for tenderloin. Let meat sit out to come to room temp for 45 - 60 min. with olive oil, salt and pepper. I cook mine on a griddle at medium heat - 4 min per side for med rare. 5 min per side for medium. At some point, I poured a touch of my red wine (right out of my glass!) over the meat. Just a touch.

Roasted asparagus - cut tips back to about 4". Spread out in baking dish. drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in 325 degree oven for about 15 min. Check them with fork. If too hard, leave in a couple more min. Don't overcook!

So, I had the weekend of all weekends. I had NOTHING on my calendar. Not a social engagement! (Don't get me wrong - I love to see my friends, but I was still weirdly jetlagged. Acting like I was on vacation and unable to concentrate. Balance my checkbook? Oh, who needs it!) A free calendar is like someone gave me the Hope-fricking diamond. NOTHING I had to do. So, I did whatever I wanted when I wanted it and that is the greatest luxury in the world to me.

Saturday...omg. There was sun, the temperature approached 70 and there was no wind. Lake Harriet was placid, like a mirror. The first turtles were out sunning themselves. Lee thinks the female ducks are on their nests while the dads seem to be a bit nervous. Pressure. I'm not sure. We saw a giant raccoon on a branch in the daytime. Maybe he thought he was hiding, but the thin leaves gave him away. No matter - the walk was bliss.

Yesterday, I met a client, organized my new "closet" which is really Izzy's old bedroom. Our 1920's apartment is short on closets, so I keep my clothes on a rolling rack. In our bedroom, it was certainly convenient, but it was a mess - the lighting is bad, and it had to be horrible feng shui to sleep in the beehive of clothes that were strewn at the end of the bed. At night, on my way to the bathroom, I inevitably tripped over a pair of Frye boots.

So, with no one coming home this summer (we both pray for ourselves and for our daughter's sake) I can take on the empty room. There is a double bed for the rare times we have guests, of course, but right now it is a horizontal organizational tool - keeping my shoes, out of season clothing and those items that are dancing between "Keep it - you never know when you will lose five pounds" and "Please. Pass is on. You will never lose five pounds, you menopausal matron!"

Then, napping, a little blogging, shrimp dinner on Saturday, reading about the Medici family (fascinating!) On Sunday, the New York Times hour with cappuccino, yoga at 11, plenty of time at my desk in my pj's, talking with Lee about Jung and James Hillman, talking to my kids and my mom and the most delicious steak dinner! (Tenderloin from the coop - 100% grass fed beef, but how do they feed beef grass in January????)

The Mother's Day part? My kids did the phone call on Mother's Day thing (one is in Houston, TX and the other in Madison, WI) and sent a sweet email card Izzy whipped up. Zan told me I have been the "perfect mom". Schmoozer. (Highly unlikely, but I'll take it.) I realized that not being with them is somehow just right- that they are so engaged in their own lives is all I could ask for them.

My kids just rock right now in my eyes. Zan and his girlfriend, Jessie, just got jobs teaching in Brooklyn at The Uncommon Schools (charter schools for low-income students of color). I'm so excited to know that I'll have them for Sunday dinners in NY. Izzy graduates from Madison (UW) next Sunday - so we are going to party, party, party all weekend with Kelly and Tom (my brother and brother-in-law - the uncles extraordinaire.) Zan coming from Houston to join us. She's interviewing for jobs in the real world.

In many ways, when your kids are good, life is good. When our children are troubled, it is worse than being troubled ourselves. Motherhood is such a lovely state of being. From the minute you see their first breath to their adulthood. The responsibilities may recede slightly, but the soul quality of motherhood is never, ever is diminished by time. Tell me about your Mother's Day!