As I write this, I am “stuck” in a hotel in Boston.

Oh, whoa is me. NOT!

Our flight from New Orleans landed late, so the plan had always been to stay one night in Boston so A-Man could have a reasonable commute. I had plans in the city today but they were cancelled and since Winter finally decided to show up, it is not fit for man nor beast outside. The next two commutes promise to be ugly as well, so now it will be two nights in Boston.

I could have gone many places in the city, but nothing appeals to me more than lazing about a hotel room. I could have gone home. but the weather made me uneasy and at home there are to-do lists and the things that have to be to-done.

Here? Here, someone makes my bed for me. There is tea available all day long and an abundance of peace and quiet is mine for the taking.

Sigh. Does it get any better than this?

No one asks me for anything. No on needs to be driven anywhere There are things I can do here. they are choices, not requirements. Did I mention there was a pool? I love to swim. I will go back to reality soon enough. but for now. I relish this time, luxuriate in the nothingness.

I am using the time to fill my well. Next week, I will be a single parent for 7 days. I know that many women do it all the time and many women do it for longer stretches. but I’m not built that way. I’ve always known it. I love my children and I can swing single parenting for short stretches, but I’m a much better parent when I co-parent. Things will be fine, but life will go much better now that I’ve had a week of non-parenting and I get to take these last few days in relative solitude.

My husband thinks I’m nuts. He doesn’t understand the appeal at all. To him, a hotel room is claustrophobic. To me, it is containment, cozy. I am free to write and read, surf and chat without interruption. The woman at the front desk gets it, a female colleague of his, herself a single mother, understands. He just shakes his head and wonders what’s to like about being “stuck” in a hotel room.

Fish is in year 3 of skiing.  Mim is in year 2. As in life, they are polar oposites on the slopes. It is amazing to me that in most of life, Fish is cautious, and conservative, but strap boards to her feet and she’s off like a shot. Her skiing nick name is White Lighting.  Mim on the other hand bursts through life, EVERYTHING is a race to be won. Put skis on him? He is careful, plotting almost restrained.

In the great purge of 2011, I found a bunch of loose change. I decided to turn it into stocking stuffers. I took the ziplock baggies, the child painted flower pot and my buddy Mater and headed to CoinStar.  I normally avoid the green machines like the plague.  The almost 10% service fee irks me. I recognize they are providing a service, but still almost 10% seems steep.  The downside of my righteous moral indignation over service fees is that the change collection gets bigger and bigger.

I recently learned that if you take your change to CoinStar and exchange it for giftcards to popular retailers, you transfer the full value of your collected coins (buh bye service fee!). Both kids have asked for iTunes Gift Cards for Christmas and I am a frequent shopper at Amazon.  So 10 minutes and a few key taps later, I had 3 redemption certificates! Sweet!

Mater enjoyed the adventure too.

I have no connection to CoinStar.  I figured others might want to know how to eliminate the service fee too.

Squash was never one of my favorite vegetables as a kid. It was usually boiled to death and splatted on my plate as a runny gooey mess. As an adult, I tried the Common Man’s squash with butter and cinnamon and ohhhh my. Suddenly squash had potential. Later, I visited Canterbury Shaker Village and found Squash bread, a bread that is soft and moist with a slight sweetness too it. Yeah, squash is definitely moving up in my levels of culinary appreciation.

Mmmmmmm Soup
Those two delights involve the sweeter side of squash, but it has a savory side too and that my friends is best experienced in roasted squash soup. Susan Nye, from Around the Table with Susan Nye, created my preferred recipe. You can download the newsletter that includes a funny background on squash and pumpkins as well as the recipe from Susan’s web site

The recipe is easy and the results are hearty and tasty. You place the squash and other veggies in a roasting pan with spices and balsamic vinegar and pop it in the oven. When it is almost done, a little wine is added. The squash is pureed (I used a blender) and simmered with chicken broth. The result is a soup that is flavorful and warming. It melts on my tongue. My favorite part? It freezes beautifully; I freeze it in both large and single servings and serve it as an appetizer or reheat it for lunch or a quick snack. This soup is a yummy way to get your vegetables.

I first met Susan through a now defunct email list. In her own words, she is a “food writer, entrepreneur and cook… a corporate dropout, I left a twenty-year career in international sales and marketing for the fun, flexibility and fear of self-employment.”

She offers private chef and catering services as well as cooking classes. Susan is a prolific writer, she blogs, and writes for numerous publications. She is a regular on WMUR’s Cook’s Corner (see past visits on YouTube) and she is also chair of the Board of Directors for the Women’s Business Center in Portsmouth (they are a post unto themselves!). You can find more of her recipes and her wonderful stories on her web site http://www.susannye.com/. If you want regular culinary inspiration or just a new idea for dinner, I highly recommend following her on Twitter too, @SusanNye

Soup, soup for you!!

 As I write this, it is Tuesday and my plans for the day fell through. I’m taking this as a sign that I should indeed participate in Nanowrimo.

National Novel Writing Month is held annually from November 1st through the 30th. The goal is to write a novel of at least 50,000 words. The goal is QUANTITY, no Quality. Quality comes during the revision process.

I have multiple novels started, but Nanowrimo is about starting fresh and just getting the words on the paper. I’ve been thinking about it, for the last few years, but now is the time.

November is a tough month with 5 school days off, but I’m going to give it my best shot. I’ve just gotten into a routine posting here and I’ll try to keep that up, but if you don’t hear from me, I’m gunning for my word count 🙂