It was supper and some of it was good

I've decided I'm going to push through and continue to post about our DC trip. But before I move on, I want to talk about our supper from Wednesday night. Until Olivia begins her new job, she and I have been confabbing about suppers to cook and blah blah blah. Well we went off the grid (I guess we can't say reservation anymore) and made the plan for lemon thyme chicken, cous cous with pine nuts and parsley, and sautéed green beans. It sounds so flowery for someone like me, but I'm nothing if not willing to stretch my horizons. I think we all know that by now. 

Well, in order to even further broaden the expansion of horizons, I suggested we add to our meal, some new roasted veggies, namely parsnips and cauliflower. Now I know parsnips are not in your everyday language, but Emma told me she ate them at a friend's house and they weren't bad. In order to perpetuate a snooty and pretentious supper, I decided we should try them. Now, I realize that makes it sound like Emma had a snooty and pretentious supper, but that was not my intent at all. But come on, we ALL know I've lived 57 years without a parsnip don't we? Martha Stewart has not. I'm comparing her to the most pretentious person to have ever eaten a parsnip. But I digress. So I went to the store and bought so many vegetables it looked like a commercial for health food, and when I reached the check out line, I had no cookies, candy, or ice cream in my basket. It was so sad. 

Tuesday night rolled around and Olivia was taking the lead on supper, but I was sous cheffing the cauliflower and parsnips to ready them for roasting. Well, it did not get past the two of us that the parsnips smelled somewhat spicy, if that's possible, and they looked like a white version of a carrot. Once they were cut and set aside, I took on the cauliflower and believe you me it didn't go unnoticed that it did NOT pass the smell test. How can something taste good that starts off stinking? It smelled like a fart. And I'm not kidding. Our skepticism was at an all time high and we hadn't even turned on the oven. 

Moving forward with the meal, it came time to roast the veggies and let me tell you it DID NOT enhance the cauliflower in the smell department. At least not in a good way. Our home smelled of bad decisions and farts, and Owen wasn't even home. 

Once "it was supper" the time came for the taste test even though the smell test had failed miserably. Come to think of it, Addy stayed so close to the table that night I now realize she was enjoying the odor coming from our plates. We should have known. At our advanced ages there is no talking yourself into taking a bite of uncertain food, so people dove into the tasting part of supper and the final verdict was as follows.  

Olivia and I will never be eating cauliflower again. Why would we ever knowingly eat a fart? Believe me we wouldn't, or let me say, we won't ever again. Carrie, John and Owen all liked the two new veggies, which means I can never trust their judgements again. Olivia and I do not agree with any of those people. The parsnip verdict was less smelly but still the same. Olivia, Carrie and I consider them to be carrot wannabes and therefore should never be trusted. Thank God for lemon thyme chicken and cous cous with pine nuts. 

And I can't believe I just said that.        

And with that statement ends this episode of "Why did our supper have to stink at the Herrock house?"

Come back for more Washington posts. That is, if anyone is coming at all.

Gu bye

I'll see ya when I see ya...

I have returned from the west. It's very bittersweet to be in Louisiana in October, because Corsicana is the best place to be in the pumpkin month. It was just as lovely as I suspected it would be. The skies were blue and beautiful, the air was crisp and fallish and the pastures were bathed in golden sunlight. It was perf. 

By Friday the house was full of people and food, and the weekend was in full swing. Outside fires were built and burned while the little boys present were living large in the country. There were swings to be swung, chickens to be checked, Hank to be fed treats and toys to be played with. All in all it was a success. Anna's second trip to Corsicana seemed to be a win for her.  

I think there's something unknown built into the fabric of that land that causes peace and tranquility to exist. I don't think we will really ever know for sure. If I believed in magic, I'd call it that. But I don't, so instead I will call it a God given something.

For now, I'm back in my den in Louisiana, but next week I'll be back in Texas. There will always be more Texas in my future. In the meantime I've decided to take a break on the DC postings and switch to something else. I may or may not finish our DC trip. Does anyone really care about seeing the rest of it? I need to know. 

Anyway for today I'm doing a snap post. That is, a post about snapchat. It's not for the old and slow. If you open snapchat and get distracted by anything. It's O VER. Open it....glance over there.....and...you missed it. That's real and true. BUT. If on point, it's fab. 

A while back the best snap in the history of snaps happened with what you are about to see. I screen grabbed so many and when I look back at these I laugh. Cause they are freaking funny. If you don't see it, then you need to go buy a sense of humor. 

Multi multi of these are me. Is me? Are me? It doesn't matter. Just know I loved it and took lots and I liked them all so much I posted all of me and other adults and children. Lets see them and laugh.     

Also, I could leave it to you to pick out the people, but I decided to identify them all just in case someone couldn't pick em out. 

Come on!!! It's super fun!! 

Emma took the time out of her workday to celebrate the fabulousness. 

I agree Caitlin. 

Car Car getting her Seeya on. (Hint, I know it's not seeya.)

This would be me.

Not sure, maybe Addy.

Lindsey, easily spotted because of the kid.

Lucas loved the Seeya look.

Really really liked it.

William looked unsure.

Anna was indifferent.

James too.

This was a video I took a pic of, but it cracks me up.

Two for the price of one.

Doesn't get better. 

Oh wait....

Even Jack got grabbed by the screen.

Gmaw!!

Me needing a Seeya moment in the car.

No it does not.

But I repeat myself.

I told you I was in here a lot.

Milo was unimpressed, but are we surprised?

Once more with feeling.

I re-documented me again. 

Me....

That's right....me again.

Oh Wait! Nope it's me again.

I was obsessed.

And then it was over....

And I was sad. 

There it was in all its splendor. It was my fave so far. 

Now I'm off to run some errands and decide on what's for supper and worry about data usage til the 4th of November. Cable and phone bills are literally stealing us all blind. You know that don't you? 

Gone for now people....

It was Capitol tour day

It keeps happening. I'm working on another post and the weekend is already here. Which means I probably won't post this til next week. 

It's Monday again. 

And now it's Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Why?!?! I can't stop time and I can't finish a post. In the meantime there are many moving parts to life right now so I'll do my best. And besides, I have so many different ways of wasting time. It's really quite something. 

To change the subject and good news for me, I'll be heading west today and that's always excellent. And Emma will be flying down to join us in Corsicana, so even better. Friday Caitlin and Owen will be joining the rest of us. It will be a rare sighting of Owen in Corsicana.  

For now I'm going back to Tuesday, June 28, 2016 when we were still in DC with a day full of events beginning with a tour of the capitol. If you're ever there, look up my personal tour guide, she's the best. 

This was the goal.

Pretty flowers outside Emma's office building. 

This is key. Suddenly your car isn't evil when you have a plate like this to use for parking in the fancy place. However your car will be searched for any and every thing.  

This guy. He makes me crazy. He's a congressman from Georgia. If we had a conversation I'm not sure we would agree on anything. 

John something. Wait while I look it up. John Lewis. One of these days I'm gonna call Emma when I see someone being interviewed so she can wave to me on TV. It is a HUGE goal of mine.

Ceiling in the rotunda of the Canon building. 

Big fancy meeting room. I think it's the Canon caucus room. 

This is in the underground tunnel on the way to the capitol. 

She is the Statue of Freedom in the Emancipation Hall of the capitol. If my tour guide disagrees with me, I'll defer to her and let you know.  

This is a plaque signifying the cornerstone of the capitol. 

This is the cornerstone which was laid by George Washington. I think this is such a big deal. 

This is the old Supreme Court chamber. 

This was a special treat to go out on the Speaker's Balcony and get a look at this view. Wowzers.

It was stunning, but there were no lawn chairs nearby to sit and stay for the day. 

I may have already discussed this from my trip before. That's George up there with angels and stuff. It's weird.  

This is the old Senate Chamber. One senator or congressman attacked another in this chamber. Beat him with his cane. And they say politics is crazy NOW.

Speaker of the House's office. Never saw him. We did see Ted Cruz presiding over the senate when we were in the senate gallery. 

On our way back from the capitol. 

I like this tunnel area. The paintings in the background were done by high school artists from around the country. A contest is held and the winning paintings hang here for a year. Pretty cool. I KNOW my top hat snail would have been front and center. It will always be a regret of mine not to have had this opportunity. 

A pic outside the office.

A pic INSIDE the office. When the cat's away the mice WILL PLAY.

Kit Kat's over it.

That's a wrap of the capitol tour Summer 2016. I finished this with seconds to spare before we are off to parts west of here. As I do, it occurs to me that many members of our family are flying here and there today. Some are popping back over the pond from Paris. Well la ti da. Another is flying to Ohio, and one will be heading to the south from DC. The south is a good place for my people to be. Let me rephrase that, the south, as close to me as possible, is the BEST place to be. 

I'm out people.  

If you need me in the next few days, don't. 

Just kidding!

BUT I WILL KICK YOU.