Yankee Gumbo

Whoa! It's been a while since I've posted. This is because I'M WRITING AGAIN! Yes, I'm shouting. Maybe it's rude. But I am excited to be working on articles and stories again and interviewing great folks like Fiona Bayrock and Nancy Robinson Masters who write nonfiction for children. I am doing a series of articles on this topic for my friend, Dan Case, who publishes Writing for DOLLARS! (Yes, I know that was more capitals but that is the name of the publication.)

News on the Pennsylvania front is that we went out to dinner the other night at this really cute place we like in Dallas, PA. It's called Really Cookin' and they have cabaret singers from time to time and live music. It was just piped in music on a weeknight (albeit awesome music by Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire and Tony Bennett.) We both had a crock of red seafood chowder. Red means that it has a tomato base as opposed to a cream base like the clam chowder you might think of. It was great. It had scallops, clams and shrimp and other good stuff. I prefer to call it Yankee Gumbo. Then we splurged on huge desserts. Michael had peanut butter fudge cake and I had croissant coconut bread pudding with vanilla sauce. I had had it before and it is truly memorable.

My physical therapy is doing some good but this is a slow recovery. I'm still pretty hampered in the things I can do. Standing for more than a minute or two can be excruciating. Sitting, walking and lying down are all pretty good though. Go fig! So what am I having trouble doing? Grocery shopping. You'd think that involved walking. But it's a lot more standing than moving. And, of course, making dinner and washing dishes. Michael helps as much as he can even though he's still working a lot of hours because he is a true prince of the universe as anyone who knows him can tell.