A joker of all traits...

Something that is wonderful about living here and not working is that I have so much free time to pursue other interests. However, the downside of learning new things is that you are doing just that -- learning (which means you have to fail a lot to learn). I don't think I have really had to all out learn since college (6 years ago). Actually, since I had a lot of fun in college, I think the last time I really, really worked on learning something was in high school. I had forgotten just how frustrating it can be to try and learn about a whole new topic.

--This weekend we had a nice time in the Loire Valley. However, it just reminded me of how little French I know. We did some wine tastings at a few vineyards and after hearing "bru, demi-sec, appelation, and moelleux" I was reminded again of how little I know about wine.

--I have been trying to figure out a new knitting pattern, but it just doesn't make sense to me. It is even worse because all the writeups about this pattern say, "So easy!!!" The more I learn about knitting and "gauge, K2P2, YO, psso" the more I realize what a bad knitter I am.

--I am in a few book clubs and one recently started with the statement from a fellow member, "Well, it is obvious that the author thinks along the lines of Nietzsche." As I am thinking, "Who the heck is that?" I look around and see everyone else nodding in full agreement to her point.

--I am in a Bible study and these women are flipping back and forth through the Bible and referring to all these stories that I have no clue about. The worst part is that I went to Catholic school my entire life (which means that I had religion class every day for 13 years and I still don't know the Bible!!!) Honestly, I sometimes wonder if my mind can retain nothing except celebrity gossip and silly stories.

--I just finished Julia Child's book, My Life in France. It was a great and I really enjoyed it, however you can't help but feel like a failure after learning about her. I checked out her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking which is supposed to be, "A superb introduction for someone who is just beginning to have an interest in food." My goodness, I have been enjoying cooking for the last two years and I don't even understand some of the directions in the book. She wrote it for American housewives who might not have ever even tried French food. Not only do I eat French food often, I live over here, and yet I still don't even understand some of the recipes. Recently we were going to a party where I had volunteered to bring a dessert. I had bought a new type of flour and didn't think much about it when I was making a pound cake. Well, apparently the flour already had a levening agent in it. Since I didn't realize that, I had added baking soda (like the recipe called for). This was the result:

This was the cake oozing out of the pan and all over the oven. When I tried to get it out of the pan, it didn't quite look like a pound cake:

You might be thinking, "Yes, but that is just one mistake. Who knew that their flour had baking soda in it?" Well, I have a sick problem of taking pictures of my failures because sometime they are just so bad. Let me remind you of when I tried to warm some brie in the oven for a party:

Or the jello I made for the Fourth of July (it was supposed to be jello with whipped creme, strawberries and blueberries on top to look like a flag):

I had been thinking that I wanted to take up tennis, but after re-reading this blog, I am thinking that I should try and master ONE of the many things with which I obviously have a lot of room for improvement.