Middle School

G. came home today and, as per his usual habit, wandered up to my office to say hello.  And with him wafted in what I can only describe as the odoriferous fumes of Satan's grandmother.  "DEAR GOD, what is that smell?" I asked.  Except I omitted the "DEAR GOD" part because I thought it sounded kind of judge-y and I am really trying to back off that sort of thing as a mother.

G.: "Oh! Chocolate-mint hand sanitizer! Doesn't it smell so good?!"  Said while shoving his hands into my face--you'll be relieved to know I did not pass out.

I suppose chocolate-mint is preferable to this.

Me (in my head): "WTF is chocolate-mint hand sanitizer?"  This stuff smells like neither chocolate nor mint, but like....well, Satan's grandmother on Sunday morning. Satan's blue-haired grandmother who lost all sense of olfactory reasonableness 50 years ago and bathed in a vat of "eau de hideous-floral-chemical" before showing up at church with the intent of rendering unconscious every living creature in a five mile radius.

Me (out loud and non judge-ily): "Huh. Where did you get it?"

Boy (with a grin): "Girls."

I peg my chances of surviving my child's adolescence at about 50/50.



This week's dinner menu (Sept. 27-Oct. 3):

Saturday: Pizza (Holdover from the last week-G. had a school dance on Friday so Moses and I headed out for happy hour and tapas)

Sunday: Roasted Salmon with Orange Herb Sauce (Bon Appetit Every-Night Cooking), Roasted Potatoes and Salad
               Dessert: pound cake with vanilla ice cream and cider sauce (also Every-Night Cooking)

Monday: Chicken Verde Soup (Every-Night Cooking) and garlic bread.  This was meh--fancy title, but basically just chicken soup with all green vegetables.

Taco Tuesday: Citrusy Black-Bean Taquitos (Forks over Knives)  This was not great, and in retrospect I should have known.  The recipe required a fair amount of prep, had several steps, involved a food processor (a sure sign of fussiness), and did not involve frying the taquitos.  And it was vegan.  Not-fried, vegan taquitos are soul-crushingly disappointing.

Sandwich Wednesday: Grilled prosciutto and fontina cheese sandwiches with fresh basil (Every-Night Cooking)

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Pepperoni Pizza.
Movie: Good Will Hunting.  G. enjoys movies with people who effortlessly do genius things, like Tony Stark creating the Ironman suit out of scrap metal and delusional thinking, so I'm betting he'll like this movie.  And probably pick up some techniques for deploying swear words, hopefully not while I'm around.)