Garlic soup

Olivia was feeling better, but Avery had a cough...so he suggested that I make chicken soup! What a great idea! So, Josh and Avery went out with a small grocery list in hand for the provisions required to make the soup. Alas, Josh called after trying the third grocery store -- but all were closed. After all, it is Sunday. Perhaps being open on a Sunday is a seasonal thing; all these stores seemed to be open on prior Sundays. Or perhaps, as one friend explained, it varies week to week depending on the whims of the market and the availability of its employees. These markets all seem to have hand-written signs of one form or another announcing whether they are, or are not, open on Sunday -- and the signs come and go.

Meanwhile, Olivia and I had already prepped the carrots and the garlic cloves, and thus I was determined to make soup. So, I improvised. I made vegetable soup. I used carrots, red pepper, garlic, chick peas, a little tomato and basil pasta sauce and seasonings. It was okay, but not a real winner. It was only after I served it as a starter for lunch that I had the idea of pureeing the vegetables and some broth together. Now we're talking!

While I had been making the soup, I also had the idea of making garlic toast. I had peeled a lot of garlic and had some left over. So I fried up some bread in olive oil; then when it was still hot, I rubbed fresh garlic clove on to it. I had intended to share the toast with everyone, but it was so good I ate it all myself - two whole pieces. Later, when the soup was ready, I strained the garlic cloves out. At first I put them aside, but then I popped a couple into my mouth. Garlic is supposed to be healthy, right? Well, it may be good for you but you won't make any friends. After lunch, I took a shower, I brushed my teeth, I drank juice and I drank water and yet when we got into the car, Josh noticed a foul odor. I had no idea what he was talking about.

Avery had been invited to a birthday party -- guess where: AquAniene. It couldn't have been more perfect -- or so we thought. We had planned to be there anyway for the swim meet, and now Avery and Olivia could play at the birthday party at the same time. Unfortunately, it took them almost two hours to get into the groove. The "Italian party" does not seem to interest Avery in the least, and Olivia kept claiming it "wasn't her party." They only wanted to sit around and eat the snacks without participating in any of the activities. Finally, we had to tell them if they don't play the birthday party games, they can't eat the birthday party cake. That worked.

In the meantime, we were shuttling back and forth to catch Charlotte's races. She really had a great meet despite the fact that she had a tough schedule today. First she swam the 200 Breast and did her best time. Then, only about a half an hour later she swam the 200 I.M. and again swam her best time. Finally, a short 20 minutes after that race, she swam the 50 Free and matched her best time. Way to go.

With all the running back and forth from the party to the meet, and from the meet to the party, I kept taking my sweater on and off -- I was changing climate zones. With all the taking on and off of the sweater, I began to smell something strange too. Was I perspiring? Or, was it....GARLIC oozing out of my pores?!? The mystery of the foul odor (described like the scent of a homeless person) was solved.