Tuesday, December 14, 2004

crinkly wrinkly

my eyes are tired this afternoon. i can feel the lines just beneath getting gradually deeper. i suppose i don't so much mind. i've always been a big fan of wrinkles - especially the deep, crinkly kind. i think they look beautiful. so if anyone asks why i look so god-awful tired again, i think i will tell them it's all part of my beauty regiment.

anyhow, last night, our friends kiran and dave came over to bake cookies, so i am finally in the christmas spirit. 5-year-old kiran mixed the icing, so our holiday treats look more like summer jungle cookies (sunrise orange, jungle green, raspberry pink ... you get the idea). she was happy with them - and the unburned ones were actually pretty tasty.

dave and kiran have such sweet hearts. i liked being with them and my roommates. i just like cooking with a bunch of people. it's funny. i also like cooking like julia childs. you know, when all of her ingredients are already measured and put into little pyrex dishes so you can mix everything quickly. and you feel like you are a real master in the kitchen. granted, the only thing that actually felt true last night from that previous statement was the "you are ... in the kitchen" part. whatever, i'm still young. i've got time to learn the culinary arts.

speaking of being young, three of my favorite alums stopped in today. they're back from college and visiting teachers, but they always come to see me so i get the dirt on what's really going on at school. kris is the first one to show up at my desk and he eventually shares that he's just started dating this girl. i find myself simultaneously so happy for him, and then so protective. i have a bad tendency to love some of these alums as if they were my own. ahh, but they're so wonderful, it's hard not to love them as more than "clients." i digress ...

so eventually, alice and whitney come in to join the group, and they're joking about how old they're getting (the oldest is 20) when alice announces that a friend of hers at college is getting married:

alice: "they're both, like, MY AGE."

whitney: "oh my god. that's way too young. i mean, at least wait until you're a senior."

alice: "i know, it's, like, that [marriage] is something you do when you're like, really, really, really, really bored."

i chuckle and turn to kris.

mary: "remember to bring that up at her wedding someday."

kris: "yeah," clearing his throat and raising an imaginary glass to alice, "to alice and husband, sorry you guys got so bored. best of luck!"

it cracked me up. "marriage is something you do when you're like, really, really, really, really bored." something to think on, i guess, long into the night ...


sleepless evenings - they're part of my beauty regiment. wouldn't look as old and tired without them.

9 Comments:

At 8:36 AM, Blogger allan said...

So Barga, the count is on. That is the 3rd time you have mentioned the M word this week..and its only wednesday. Okay…and apart from that I have always wondered at the irony of you having "food for the hungry" and "bon appetit" links on the same page...I guess it makes some sense...in your warped mary world. Mary: "starving people can still like Crème Brule!"

 
At 9:27 AM, Blogger Mary said...

hmmm, i guess you make an interesting point. i like cooking, so it's a smart link for me to have up there. that's how i figured out how to make a good mimosa mix for kat's birthday.

but i also like giving food to the hungry. and even though my initial reaction was to blow off your note, i am interested in seriously considering it.

shoot - your comment makes me wonder, am i inconsistent?

 
At 9:33 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mare, here at work, I am cracking up as I visualize the alum conversation in your cube...and then imagining kris actually making said toast at the real wedding, complete with suit and champagne flute: "to alice and husband, sorry you guys got so bored. best of luck!"
Really, Chris and I were so bored we were numb. So we thought, "Well, bungee-jumping & Nascar racing had no effect on waking us from our stupor. I guess we might as well try marriage." Really, what other reason is there for tying the knot?
wishing you a Christmas cookie day,
Sarah

 
At 9:38 AM, Blogger Mary said...

well, geez, sare, if i had known you guys were that bored, i could have used the aforementioned toast rather than spending so much time developing such an elaborate toast as i did.

i suppose you can hang onto this one, then, and use it at MY wedding :)

 
At 9:43 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Are you kidding? What's the problem with enjoying what God made, and with thrilling the taste buds that God gave us? Food is a GOOD thing! Let's be generous and responsible in providing for the poor, and make the best of what we've been given as well - even if that means making creme brule! Seriously! Is there some sin in enjoying that? Is my eating only holy if I'm eating rice every day? living some ascetic lifestyle that denies me of any taste variety and pleasure? What's wrong with creating delicious and even ornate meals? How are enjoying good food and caring about/providing for the poor mutually exclusive??! I'm pretty sure King David ate decently well, and God called him a man after his own heart. ...grumble, grumble...
Sarah

 
At 10:13 AM, Blogger allan said...

yes, yes...I am sure King David did eat well. And no, there is nothing wrong with enjoying a little Crème Brule. Believe me I live in a Starbucks-ipod world as well as a starving-bowl-of-rice-please world. The thing is… I wonder if our lives are a true balance of feeding the hungry and having a bon appetit. Mine unfortunately seems to lean far too much on the Crème Brule side of things. just thoughts. Thanks Sarah for your suburban world view defensive rebuke....kidding.

 
At 10:17 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ha ha. :) Thanks. At least I know I'm not the only one sinning.
And what's this about my "suburban world view"? Don't get me started. Grrr...
Sarah

 
At 10:35 AM, Blogger allan said...

I appreciate your perspective, I am sure we would agree when it comes to world views. Its just that since I have been here, my humble African mud hut world view has been radically challenged by this modern day comfort driven, prayer of Jabez, 12 step living, suburban lifestyle christianity. I myself am getting really good at rationalizing and realizing that everything is “all relative”. (tongue in cheek)

Seriously, I think my radar starts beeping and I get on the offensive when it comes to this kind of stuff.
enough said. Bon appetit!

 
At 12:05 PM, Blogger Mary said...

good thoughts. i just got back from lunch with a crazed republican who i adore and we had a nice argument about the have and have-nots in the world.

though our political stances may greatly differ, we agreed that - yes, idealistic as it may be - LOVE is the answer. it sounds so lame and cheesebally, but i stand firmly by it.

no, i'll do more than stand by it. i'll revolutionize with it.

we can rock this cheeseball.

 

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