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Tomorrow we’re going to a Super Bowl party and I was put in charge of the desserts. So naturally I turned to Elise to come up with something. We made a chocolate stout cake and an almond macaroon torte. This is going to be a classy Super Bowl party.

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Tonight we had Shabbat dinner. Andrew pretty much brought home the entire meal with him and whipped up the whole thing in under a half hour. It was impressive. We’re not big wine drinkers, but we always break out a bottle when we have Shabbat dinner. This was tonight’s bottle of wine. It was a Merlot. I’ve never been a big fan of red wine, but we often have that with dinner on Friday evenings and it’s starting to grow on me.

And the name. Let’s discuss this.

Yes, that is my name. Kind of. Except it’s pronounced more like See-mee instead of Sim-me (which is how you pronounce my name). But I would say 40% of the time, when I tell someone my name, that is how they think it’s spelled. I work with a guy who thinks that is how my name is spelled and pronounced and will call me See-mee at least 5 times in one conversation. Over and over again. See-mee. See-mee. See-mee. One time I swear he was calling my name for a good minute and a half before I realized he was trying to get my attention.

My first college roommate was a girl named Agnes. She was from Simi Valley, CA (where this wine is from). I’m pretty sure that’s why we got placed together. “Oh, a girl from Simi Valley and a girl named Simmie. Perfect!” Someone was having fun in the housing office that day.

Anyways…back to dinner. It was a delight affair with chicken, homemade cranberry sauce, broccoli, and Caprese salad.

I would like to point out how nicely spaced the food is from each other. We wouldn’t anything touching now, would we?

Also, there is a website called www.simicakes.com, just so you know.

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It’s Groundhog Day and we’re watching the movie Groundhog Day. We’re timely like that (as is CMT).

Apparently Phil saw his shadow today so we’ve got six more weeks of winter. Except so far this year I think we’ve had about 36 hours of winter. Seriously, I haven’t even worn my mittens. I sort of lost them.

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Have you guys heard of The Thoe????

I LOVE The Thoe.

The Thoe is a toe thumb. The Thoe is also totally a real thing.

When I was little, my favorite exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science was this tiny little display about The Thoe. As time has gone on, the exhibits have changed and been updated, but The Thoe exhibit is still there, right to the right of the entrance to the exhibit about how babies are made.

It’s a four foot by six foot window with a bunch of plaster models of hand deformations. Then, in the bottom left corner is a tiny, ancient TV playing, probably a VHS of a story of a man who lost his thumb in some sort of accident. It was decided that it’s easier to live without a big toe than without a thumb, so doctors cut off his big toe and sewed it back on where is thumb should be. Apparently it work as a functioning thumb and he’s doing just fine. (I could only find a link to this article about a guy who had this done in 2011, but the video I watched was definitely from the early eighties.)

It was, and still is, my favorite exhibit at the Museum of Science. I’m not sure what it is about The Thoe, but I’ve always found it particularly fascinating. Andrew recreated The Thoe for me (don’t worry, he didn’t cut off his thumb) tonight. If he had to have a thoe, it would look super weird because he has a giant big toe. I guess all we can hope for is that he is careful with his thumb placement when using sharp objects.

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That’s a pretty nice invitation, eh? That’s right. I would know. I have been looking at this thing for the last month and a half. I’m never quite sure how it happens, but once again this year I got roped into doing this dinner invitation design. It’s a pretty neat concept though. You pay some money to go to a lovely dinner with a semi-prominent local celebrity. Funds are raised. Plates are filled. Conversation is had.

I’ve been working on the design, and the redesign, and the next redesign, and then the last redesign, oh, and then the for-real last redesign, and then the that’s-it redesign, and then the oops, we-had-a-last-minute-change insert for a while. But the inserts are inserted, the envelopes have been stuffed, and the stamps have been stuck. I’m glad to see them go.

And while it has been a bit of a hassle at times, it’s also been a good learning experience. For instance, I learned how to draw a candle in Photoshop. Of course, that’s the only thing I can draw in Photoshop, so be on the lookout…candle drawings for everyone!

Also of note, this is the 31st day in row I have posted to my blog. This is unprecedented and quite frankly I’m impressed with myself. And just think, you have eleven more months of empty plates, airports, and space heaters to look forward to. (Hmm…I wonder what a year’s worth of spacer heaters would look like.)(I think there’s probably a bad joke in here somewhere, but I can’t think of it right now. Suggestions welcomed.)

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It’s nice to be able to leave work now and still see some light in the sky. Both because I’m leaving work earlier and because it’s staying light later.

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Every Sunday (and most Wednesdays) for the past month I have spent at my temple preparing for the Purim Shpiel. I got involved last year on a whim and it was so much fun! It’s a lot of work, but I have met some amazing people along the way and have really found a place in my new temple community.

I do the behind-the-scenes stuff for the play – the music, the website, the stage setups, etc, which means I sit around for five hours and press play a lot of my computer. The above hand does not belong to me, but to my friend Raine who takes all the notes for the director during rehearsals. That hand is a gifted hand. I’m not sure how she keeps up with what’s going on and makes sure everything is in order, but somehow her brain and her hands keep up. I don’t envy her job. She also plays a mean game of Words With Friends.

We still have a little more than a month to go before the big show and I’m looking forward to seeing what rehearsals bring in the next few weeks. I’m anticipating lots of laughs and excitement. Also having many many Stevie Wonder songs stuck in my head.

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Meri came over for dinner tonight and we cooked a pretty awesome meal. Actually, Elise and Meri did most of the cooking and I did most of the kale washing, but all-in-all it was a team effort and I think it came out pretty well.

Meri is Melissa’s little sister and just today we were reminiscing about how I’ve known her since she was a preteen. It’s crazy how fast time flies and Meri is now in college. It’s been a while since she beat me at chess as a precocious nine year-old, but I’m glad I still get to see her now and then. We haven’t played any boardgames in a while, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she could still whip my butt. Meri is awesome though. She has her own blog and is an amazing cook and baker.

Between Meri and Elise’s talents, we came up with a scrumptious meal of southwestern quinoa salad, kale chips, and 7-grain bread (which I picked out from the grocery store thankyouverymuch), and World Peace Cookies for dessert. Since Meri isn’t too far away now, I hope to see her again sooner rather than later (and maybe have her cook me dinner again).

Also, some days are a stretch to find a good daily picture. That’s how you end up with pictures like this and like this. But today – today was a bountiful day for photographs. It started with this:

What? Sometimes our house is cold…

Then I moved onto this:

Strawberries are so good right now. And they’re all on sale. Can you eat too many of them? Because I think I’m going to be working on my third pound in three days tomorrow…

And the day ended with this:

Mmm…kale chips. I think I ate at least 2/3 of the bowl myself. They are sooo good!

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Nothing like spending a Friday night watching a depressing Holocaust movie. I read the book a couple of weeks ago on way out here and I thought the film adaptation was pretty good. The French know how to do it I guess.