aroraborealis

I wish the US didn't have so many factors of the political system involve the government threatening to blow itself (along with the US and maybe global economy) up every few months: The budget, the debt ceiling, "temporary" measures as key parts of various policy frameworks.

Meanwhile, Trump's demolished an entire wing of the White House to turn it into Mar-a-Lago 2. Apparently there's a really pressing need for event space, so it's a shame that Trump's inevitably going to fill that niche with tacky garbage. And it's insane to unilaterally demolish a WH wing during a government shutdown. Imagine the reaction if Obama did anything even remotely like that.

My mom was in town last weekend for her high school reunion, and it was a pretty great visit. Friday evening had dinner with cousins Amy, Josh, Sylvie, and my Aunt Milly at Dosa & Curry. There was a lot of stuff going on for HONK! Fest all weekend. Julie and I took Erica to the festival in Davis on Saturday, and we all went with my mom to the Harvard Art Museum on Sunday morning before going to the parade.

Monday was a rainy, quiet day at home, but I decided to do a cooking project Erica had been planning, she wanted tomato soup with pesto grilled cheese. So we baked milk bread and made pesto and made the soup with fresh tomatoes and herbs. I made the soup more or less according to this recipe, but I didn't broil the veggies after baking, added more garlic and herbs, used a can of coconut milk instead of cream, and also added a can of tomato paste. For the fresh herbs, I used all the fresh tarragon and sage in the packets I got from the supermarket. Which was an ounce each, so a questionably large amount, and I would have felt like a fool if I'd ruined the soup on that account. I thought it turned out great, though, and fortunately everyone else liked it, too. I really love sage, though. Season your food more, it's fine.

New people are starting on my team at work this week. Busy, busy.