This little project of mine was really meant to get my pen moving. To push me from talking to walking – me always saying I should send so-and-so a card, a note, a letter, yet never doing it. I wasn’t doing it to get a letter in return, though I hoped that one day I would. And I have, already; one from Gay McDonald, the woman who directed UCLA Child Care Services back when I was a student at UCLA. She’s retired now (after 23 years of service), she told me, but the staff forwarded a copy of my note to her. In her response, she congratulated me on my success in parenting and my career (I was kind of vague about my current civil-servitude). I’m incredibly moved that she took the time to write back to me, and for her kind words – in beautiful blue script on actual paper! 🙂
I began the term full of hope, energy, gusto, ready to work my way to an A+ in the two summer school courses developed for me, by me. My attitude was similar to most when starting something new – I was fully engaged, perhaps even obsessive, ready to take off and push my brain to new heights.
And then I got complacent. I could blame running (training for my next half marathon is in go mode). I might say it was my family, our summer adventures. I could blame it on the a-a-a-alcohol (baby). But these excuses aren’t new. All these variables were there before the start of my courses and they aren’t going anywhere. Hence, the only thing to hold blame is me.
While I’m the instructor and could go easy on myself, I won’t. What I will do is keep going, keep pushing, even if it’s just to earn a C- rather than an F.
Maybe I can still pull a B in my “Build a Better Brown Dinner” course. Although I was late on my “fish week” assignment, I’ve been pretty good otherwise, cranking out three new dishes and a cocktail so far. Only two more weeks remain, including my grand finale meal just before I head away for vacation. Maybe if it’s good enough, I’ll earn a few extra credit points. Don’t want to have to re-take my own class.
At this point, I should have been dropped from my classes.
Grown Up Home School – Summer Edition – was scheduled to begin back in June. However, with dance recitals, a multi-day volleyball tournament, and a trip to Vegas packed into those early weeks of summer, my study time was truly non-existent. Thankfully, this is Grown Up Home School, and I’m the Principal, the Dean, and the Professor. Therefore, I pushed the first day of school back so that I’d be able to manage my two-course semester. While I took liberty with the semester schedule, I will not be flaky or apathetic now that school’s in session.
My two courses for the semester (which, for me, runs from 7/14-8/24) are Build A Better Brown Dinner, a class that will improve the quality and variability of Sunday dinners at my home, and Snappy Blogging, set up to help make Dianderthal more dynamic and well-received.
Over the semester, I’ll keep you posted on my progress – good or bad, passing or failing. I’ll also post resources for setting up your own courses and give ideas for Grown Up Home School classes you might consider designing for yourself.
In the meantime, feel free to check out my curricula. And wish me luck – word’s out my instructor can be pretty tough.
March tends to be a slow eating month for Dianderthal, what with Lent and the absence of a carefree three-day weekend and weekdays jam-packed with my kid’s practices and rehearsals. And there’s half-marathon training for me. So I was psyched that I had no plans when asked by my OG homie Jeannine if I was available to join her for some grub to celebrate her fourth 39th birthday. And I was even more psyched when she named her restaurant of choice as Spin! Neopolitan Pizza in Los Alamitos, as I’d driven by it several times over the past several weeks, my taste buds curious about what was going on inside.
Nice space
I was a bit overwhelmed when I arrived, not having checked out the menu online first (as I typically do); not realizing it was an order-and-sit kind of place – the pressure was on as Jeannine was already near the register in line when I got there (late). I still might have been overwhelmed (although pleasantly) had I looked at the menu ahead of time as it was plentiful, full of salads, flatbreads, soups, pizzas, and sandwiches. Jeannine was set on the Mini Mia, a combo that included a personal pizza and salad for $9.75. Me: psyched. And psyched once more when I learned they offer the option of a whole wheat crust (in addition to gluten-free).
Blood orange sangria
I also took her lead and ordered a sangria (even though I’m supposed to be abstaining on weekdays during March per my fitness goals – oh well) – the Blood Orange Sangria, to be specific. Next time in, I’ll order a pitcher of it as my little glass was gone way too soon, even when I tried to pace myself. It was tangy, punchy, and went down easy – a perfect accompaniment to my meal.
A meal I very much enjoyed. Like my sangria, my salad went much too fast. I ordered the Sonoma, with glazed pecans, apples, raisins, goat cheese, and a sweet, thick vinaigrette. My perfectly-sized Margherita was also quite delicious. My only issue with it was that my whole wheat crust clashed some (as might be expected) with the white flour used to roll the dough out. With a regular crust, the rolling flour blends in more subtly. But I’ll get the whole wheat crust again on my next visit because it’s my aim to be as healthy as possible while being unhealthy.
Sonoma saladGreek saladMargherita pizza
I ended my dinner with a small serving of gelato – vanilla because I’m boring like that. But this vanilla was anything but boring – rich, creamy, and bold. A great way to end the evening.
Gelato smorgasbordSumptuous vanilla gelato
Next time in, I plan to be a little more daring with my selection of pie Рperhaps the BBQ di pollo & pineapple or the goat cheese & arugula. Maybe even the cipolla e ch̬vre (caramelized onions & goat cheese) or the pesto e pollo.
Looks like I have a lot of reasons to return to Spin! Anyone got a birthday coming up? Give me a call – the pitcher of sangria will be on me.
Spin! Neapolitan Pizza
11122 Los Alamitos (and other locations)
Los Alamitos, CA
562.684.7746
8 rides. 8 rides even though we arrived after 6:00. That’s pretty awesome for me, one usually content with Space Mountain and a corn dog. I’ve got the homie Ivonne and her niece Ceci to thank for that – they don’t mess around. And trying to stay healthy, I even managed to turn down my billion calorie corn dog. Not bad for my first night on vacation.
dianderthal 