I learned a few things today. I learned that we, humans, have apparently used up 2/3 of the world’s resources. I learned that rats chewing through wires are responsible for 18% of the power outages in New York City. And I learned that my dog will actually eat dog food, so long as it’s expensive gourmet dog food. It figures.

I just finished reading 3 Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School At A Time and now I’m resisting strong urges to give all my money to the Central Asia Institute so they can build more schools. It’s a truly inspiring book and it makes me want to do something effective.

Sometimes I get so pissed at myself that I didn’t join the Peace Corps when I graduated from college. It always seems like someone else is out there making a difference in the world. And me? What do I do? I give some money away here and there. I pick up a few starving cats off the street. It’s not enough. I’ve realized that I’d really like to get involved in something bigger, something that really does make a difference. I’m tired of piddling around.

One of my myriad brothers-in-law is visiting. So we HAD to get off our butts and celebrate the New Year, at least a little bit.

So we made Mojitos. For anyone who doesn’t know a Mojito is a Cuban drink that has in it equal parts rum, lime juice and club soda, it also takes a little sugar and some crushed fresh spearmint. Very refreshing.

My brother-in-law is a Cuba buff and so he made the first round of drinks. But the first thing he did when he opened the bottle of rum was to spill a little on the floor. For “los Santos”, the Saints. Apparently this is a tradition in Cuba. You open a bottle of booze and you have to pour some on the floor to feed the thirsty alcoholic Saints. Of course my housekeeper had just washed that floor yesterday. And of course the dog came and licked the booze up (poor thing). But what I want to know is why would Saints want to drink booze off someone’s floor? Even if it is clean… What if we just pour them a shot? Or at least pour it in the sink so I don’t screw up my floor…

The other thing we did to celebrate was to make curry! I love curry! I think I finally perfected my Thai Panang Curry recipe. Most recipes don’t call for the addition of veggies, but I added carrots, zucchini, red bell pepper and onion. But the secret (if you don’t have Kaffir Lime leaves) is to add a lot of lime zest. The lime makes the whole thing imho. I made a vegan batch that has tofu, and another batch with chicken in it. Yum.

Today we are pondering which beach to go to. Husband wants to go somewhere that the dog can run on the beach, so we may go up to Isla Blanca. But first I need a cappuccino.