Pause button

I've spent the past few nights staying up late to catch up on the blogs that amassed in my Google reader while I was off dozing in Mexico and playing in the dirt. These late night reading sessions confirmed two things:

1. I have an odd compulsion to read every single post (yes, all 798) that I missed. What if something interesting happened? Clearly, blogs are the Days of our Lives to my modern housewife.
2. I must bake soon. Or can fruits. Or fry something - anything. Or pickle veggies. All this outdoorsy work has left even pioneering souls like Hubs and I, who make our own cheese and breads, to be reduced to night after night of Jack's frozen pizza (which ain't too bad if you are armed with a bottle or three of habenero hot sauce, but not really up to snuff for daily chow). And if we have no time to eat decently, you know we have no time to socialize. If our friends weren't eagerly helping us raise our property value create an outdoor party spot for all to enjoy, we'd never see them.

Combined, these two compulsions have led me to start a mental (now typed) list of things I want to do when regular life can start again in our humble abode.

• First and foremost, we have to have a party. To break the deck in, to see if the alleged 35-burger count our new grill advertised is correct, to show off our hard work, to make nice with neighbors who so kindly didn't complain or throw trash at our house when we were jackhammering at 7 a.m. on a Saturday, and to reacquaint ourselves with the friends we very nearly forgot we had.
• Hubs got me an ice cream maker for my 25th birthday and I think I've only managed to make three batches of ice cream in the two years since. As always, I can count on Pioneer Woman to get my cooking/freezing sensibilities rip-roaring to go.
• I must grill some squash. With six or seven plants, I know we are about to be over-run with the stuff.
• Brianne wrote about two awesome summer-in-Des-Moines things I can't wait to try. One, I was already hip to - the movies at the Art Center. I picture Hubs and I on a blanket with some of his amazing crusty, homemade bread, a jug of homebrew and some snappy little veggies and cheese, enjoying Pretty in Pink. Yes, please.
• The other, I was so not hip to but love. Moon floats at Gray's Lake? Is a jug of homebrew allowed on the open seas? Even if not, it sounds lovely.
• I never make the pancakes. Hubs does that. But, couldn't a gal slip this recipe under her husband's pillow and hope for the best? When I'm not behind the mixer, I like to be a cooking muse, even if it's not very subtle.
• Eggplant tacos a la Sam on our fancy pantsy new grill? Hells yes.
• Again with this Pioneer Woman inspiration. Well, I'm sorry, but she never disappoints and chocolate malt cookies sound heavenly.
• I'd also like to do some laundry and wash my floors. It's sick that I'm actually listing that as something I'm looking forward to, but I'm telling you - crazy DIY projects will do that do you. Be careful.
• Even worse, I'd like to start the hunt for a new dining room light, which sounds small but can easily become a time-suck of wandering stores, both in-person and online. Sigh. This is an ugly cycle.