No School Today

 

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 – No School Today

Ah, the joys of subbing.  I’m grateful to Shana for giving me the opportunity to teach her ESOL classes on Monday and Tuesday.  How else would I have been able to watch the 1931 version of Frankenstein at 7:30 in the morning and then again at 12:30 in the afternoon on Tuesday?  And Monday’s silent reading time in each of her classes allowed me to read an entire novel – okay, it was a short one, The Giver by Lois Lowry – in a single day.  All in all, it was quite a pleasant way to spend a couple of days and earn some money at the same time. 

However, I was not overly upset when I got a last minute reprieve from my Wednesday-Thursday subbing assignment.  I decided to use the first unexpected free day for a fun outing with Elliott.  Choosing a restaurant for lunch was a bit of a challenge.  I seem to be experiencing some digestive difficulty and my doctor recommended that I temporarily stay away from spicy food, wine, caffeine, chocolate – in other words, all the things I was looking forward to eating and drinking.  In retrospect, I should have left that chipotle pepper in adobo sauce out of the Mexican vegetable soup I made a couple of weeks ago.  But I was so excited about Mexican flavors when we got back from Arizona, and I was so pleased that my taste buds were tolerating greater degrees of heat.  Could the extra chocolate I ate Monday night have contributed to the problem?  Or maybe it was the bigger than usual meals I’ve been consuming so that our Thanksgiving leftovers didn’t go to waste. Whatever the cause(s), I hope my delicate digestive system will recover soon.  In the meantime, I’ll just have to eat a little more judiciously – and keep the Prilosec and Tums on hand.

Obviously, with the dietary restrictions, we couldn’t go out for Indian food today, but we went over to explore the dining options in the new Mosaic District.  I was sure Elliott would like Le Pain Quotidien, but it won’t be open until Friday.  So disappointing, but we found an excellent alternative right around the corner, Pastry Xpo, an independently owned bakery and café.  Elliott’s lunch consisted of coffee and a croissant (he ignores me when I talk about protein), but I required more nourishing fare.  A tasty spinach and goat cheese mini-quiche and a bowl of lemony lentil and Swiss chard soup was just the comfort food I needed.  Following lunch, we walked over to the Angelika Cinema, the new movie theater, to see Lincoln.  It should be required viewing for our government officials, especially members of Congress. 

I’m looking forward to another school-free day tomorrow.  No plans yet, just an afternoon doctor's appointment for Elliott that leaves plenty of time for fun.