four

call it the new moon, call it leftover roast beef hash, but for reasons inexplicable, i feel the need to tell you things about myself in fours. (look for installments, i wouldn't want to overwhelm anyone.)

employment history

first: hancock fabrics, cashier/general girl of all work, where i huddled next to the bulk fleece while someone robbed the bank next door at gunpoint and where i swept and swept and swept and listened to a lady named marge wearing a maroon apron tell me about her gall bladder and her hip replacement

second: the valley racket club, pool attendant, where i read les miserables and measured my life in fifteen minute increments, stamping the hands of small children covered in blue popsicles and watching them flex their muscles

third: at&t corporate office, personal assistant to the tech in charge of the Y2K switchover, where i ate yogurt and wrote out my boss's travel plans with a sharpie marker on giant sheets of paper

fourth: writing fellow, brigham young university, where i told other students that their papers sucked and spent a lot of time in a very small office laughing at a certain person named sarah olson who has now disappeared (or is at school in berkeley)

a small bout of heroism

i have a job chart for myself. you know, just to remind myself of all the daily household tasks i'm not accomplishing. at the top of the list is "cook dinner."

see, i think families should eat together. every night. i think they should eat healthy things. i think they should spend time talking. i think they should know about each other's lives. the only hitch is, i am now the mom. surprise number one: if my family is going to eat dinner together, i'm the one who has to make it happen. my mom, for instance, is not going to come over every day around 4:30 and start whipping up her famous gulash.

not to say that it wasn't an absolute wrestling match, but this past week i actually did it. i had a warm delicious and mostly nutritive dinner on the table at 5:00 pm every day. wowzers.

the menu follows:

monday-baked salmon with tarragon butter
tuesday-salmon cakes with mint and basil
wednesday-green leaf and endive salad with salmon and artichokes
thursday-linguine in white sauce with salmon and basil
friday-braided loaf bread with roast beef, provolone, and pepper jack
saturday-biscuits and gravy
sunday-chuck roast with mashed potatoes and carrots
monday-roast hash with rosemary and lemon thyme

i amaze myself. [i also have to thank my herb garden for its important contributions to the week.] and i never want to eat salmon again.