Day 144: 12 x 12 = chantilly

12 x 12 = 144. Twelve is full circle in Japan. Twelve squared must be something significant, although I don't know what.

Dinner last night with a total of 14 (includes Charlie) was great fun. Thanks to all the cooking I did yesterday, I don't cook at all today!!! Instead, I spend the entire morning cleaning the house, while my husband mysteriously dissappears. To reward myself, we go out to lunch. At the eye doctor, we find that my daughter who has worn glasses since she was 2-years-old, may no longer need glasses or contact lenses in a very short time. Hallelujah!

In the evening, I am on Skype again for a couple of hours with my partners in Tokyo to strategize. Highly productive.

Dinner is leftovers, but the leftovers are even better than yesterday. It sure feels nice not having to cook for once.

Speaking of which, one summer in France we had over 20 people rotating through our house. We had a chef who would go grocery shopping, and cook lunches and dinners. Those were the days.... The chef consulted with the lady of the house (i.e. me) about the menu, but since I was totally clueless, my mother-in-law would take charge with assistance from my kids. And so it happens that the dessert for one lunch was peach melba. I was pretending to be a dolphin in the pool, when the chef comes to ask if I would permit him to go to town to get some "Chantilly". Caught in the compromising act of imitating a dolphin and having no clue whatsoever of the identity of chantilly, I demand clarification. Pantomime ensues, and I figure there is much motion of the hand in the creation of chantilly. Chantilly appears to be rather copious. I figure it goes with the peach melba. I say, please proceed, as I go back to being a dolphin. At dessert, I finally realize that chantilly is whipped cream. Ever since, I have special affection for chantilly.

I ponder the trajectory of being lady of the house to my current jack of all trades status: scullery maid, janitor, website designer, secretary, analyst, strategist, translator, cook, salesperson. Nostalgia drives me to plan a summer in the south of France again. Here we come, chantilly!