tuesday things

1. I am lucky enough to have a job that I really enjoy. But in the summer, I love it even more. Although our office is open during the summer, our school follows summer hours. So, it's really like a part-time job for 10 weeks (three of which I have off). Not a bad gig for a non-teacher.

2. I've been much more motivated to cook since I only work 6 hours a day (minus a bit for lunch). Right now, I'm cooking my first brisket. If this things tastes as good as it smells, it will be a success. You should know that my brother makes mighty fine brisket. In fact, this spring he was invited with the rest of The Cherry Laurel to cook barbecue for Rick Perry, the Texas governor. So I decided that I'd try his method. Just 2.5 more hours.

3. Along with brisket, I'm going to make this recipe for esquites. My sister-in-law made it for Mother's Day, and I could have eaten just this. I think it will go well with brisket. (And if the brisket doesn't turn out, this will be good on it's own!)

4. We had the eaves of our house cleaned this weekend. We had a slight mildew issue thanks to humidity and the pine trees behind our house. The eaves look great. Unfortunately, whatever cleaning solution he used burned our newly planted vegetables and my pretty hydrangeas. I think I can trim back the burned hydrangea blossoms, but I think we have to replant all of our veggies. It makes me sick!

5. I'm in a major purging mode. I'm hopeful that my free afternoons will enable me to get our extra room unpacked this summer. If you're keeping track: we moved in over two years. Two-thirds of the room is boxes of stuff. At this point, I'm tempted to just donate the unopened boxes. I mean, if we don't know what's in them, will we miss it? Within an hour, our garage will be less one couch and two over-sized chairs. Yea!