Book Club Love

For whatever reason our "new" ward doesn't really have relief society meetings, activities, or whatever you want to call them.  When we first moved here I either figured one would maybe come up soon, or it was just a busy time of year.  Really it didn't take long, though, to get a feel for many of the ways things are different here and while I remained hopeful, I became more and more sure that they just don't happen here.  When there finally was a stake RS activity in March I was thrilled.  There's also a regional women's broadcast next week that I'm looking forward to!

We do have, though, a small but decent group of moms with young kids that like to get together sometimes more sometimes less often.  It's nice to be able to do that during the day sometimes - get to know the other moms better, the kids get to know each other better, etc.  Sometimes that's announced in RS, but it's usually just organized among ourselves and nothing official about it.

The one thing that has been consistently announced and happened monthly is a book club meeting.  It sounds like the ward has had one off and on over time, and this time around it was started up again not long before we moved in (maybe?).  As soon as we were out of Jersey City and closer to everyone in the ward I started going.  I must have had a conflict in December, that or they didn't meet, but since January I've made sure to go every month.  This being the only "relief society activity" I can expect and count on, it's pretty important to me to take advantage.  I know you know why: once a month I can have an evening with other women and I get a break.

It's not a large group.  Sometimes as few as four (I don't think it's been down to three), and last night it seemed like a big group at six!  One friend there is seven or eight years older than me, and with her youngest being four, sometimes she's at play group, but not always. (Andrew adores her boys, though!)  Anyway, after her, I don't know how many more years, but we jump up to women around my mom's age and then one or two beyond that.  I like playgroup and relating with people in a similar situation to me, but I LOVE going to book club and spending time with these "older" women.  Sure, I like reading, and it's nice to discuss the books, but I really love going to talk with, listen to, and learn from these women.  And they're nice enough to talk with me too : )  They're definitely all different and each has unique things that I enjoy, but I really look forward to it and am sad if they aren't coming.

In January we talked about books we might read this year.  Then I read the books for February and March.  April's book was long and tedious, though I still liked what I did read (My Dearest Friend: Letters of John and Abigail Adams).  The book that we read for last night was even longer.  It was nearly 1,000 pages and I decided not to read it and instead work on other books (like more of the John and Abigail book).

Will knew that I wasn't reading it.  He also knew that book club was coming up for last night.  He knows how much I love going to be with those women and what it means to me to have a night each month to go.  Last night we cleaned up dinner and had some family time before I left (doesn't start until 7:30) then he happily distracted and calmed Andrew as I was leaving, cheerfully telling him that mom was going to book club.  He told me to have a good time and not to worry that I hadn't read the book.  What a guy : )  I love book club and I love Will!

Viva la cake!

You would have thought it was Thanksgiving week the way I've spent a good chunk of nap time today looking over recipes and Pinterest and making a shopping list.  I also made a small sample size recipe to test something out.  I super love just about all Thanksgiving foods and consider the group of them to be on my top 10 favorite foods list.  Not that I've ever really had a list... : )

But no.  Thanksgiving will have to wait a while until it's getting cold again and we go back to leafless trees.  And really, after living in a place of practically perpetual summer, this girl is already wrinkling her nose at the thought of next year's winter.  ("But this year it was so mild!" they've told me.  And, "Just wait until it really snows more next year," they say.)  Now that we're back to leaves on the trees my soul feels lighter.  Green is good!  At least winter brings Thanksgiving food : )

What a tangent!  Anyway, this week we're taking advantage of our American right to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with our southern neighbors!  I enjoy cultural things from other countries, but I especially love the excuse to eat the food.  Mexican, or American Mexican, is also on my top 10 favorite foods list.  Guacamole, salsa, chips, cheese, etc!  I like to take the opportunity to make a tres leches cake and I plan to make horchata.

How fun it would be to listen to a live mariachi band like we got lucky to hear in Balboa Park last summer or to see some dancers with those pretty dresses that I love... I suppose we could have a pinata, but since I'm also making food for the ward chili dinner/YW camp fundraiser the next night, likely not.  Perhaps we will watch one of those old south of the border specials - The Three Caballeros or Saludos Amigos!  I'm pretty sure I've blogged in years past about how I got Will to watch them with me years ago when we were dating, probably for Cinco de Mayo... what a good sport!  That's how I knew he was the one... ha : )  Actually, it couldn't have been then - must have been earlier.  I remember specifically that he was gone to New Mexico and I had made a tres leches to share with my roommates and begrudgingly shared some with one of Will's former roommates who had come by for some reason.  Cake?  (I had known this guy actually longer than Will and he'd just about used up all his extraneous-goodwill-from-Ashley cards for things like eating my precious tres leches.... he had probably used them up before I'd even met Will.... haha...)

Anyway.  We've been missing taquerias from California, so this will have to do for now.  And you can't go wrong with horchata and tres leches.... and chips and salsa and guacamole and cilantro!!  Unless you're Will.... then you give all your cilantro to meeee! :

"Salsa is now the number one condiment in America.  Do you know why?  Because people like to say 'salsa!'"