Random 5 Friday

1. I discovered salmon in my 20s through my friend Janice. Up until that time, my experience with salmon had been limited to salmon patties and other disgusting variations. Janice invited me over to her place for freshly caught salmon, barbecued. It was a revelation. I loved it up until the time I was pregnant with Camille. Her father ate salmon at least once a week, while I hid the bedroom with my nose pressed against the screen, trying to breathe in air that didn't smell like fish. Periodically, as Camille and her brother grew, I would try to eat salmon but my stomach always turned.  All other varieties of fish tasted wonderful and I've been happily eating Ahi, halibut, trout and even catfish all these years.  A few weeks ago, Brett and I went to a wine and food function at a local winery. One of the food pairings was salmon. I thought, what the heck, and took a bite. My stomach didn't roll and the salmon tasted awfully good. It was a small piece of fish, about the size of a ping pong ball, and I ate it all. Last week, I bravely ordered salmon at a work dinner and loved it. Last night, I made it for dinner. It was delicious. Camille is 19 now -- I disliked salmon for a long time.

2. Speaking of kids, I was reading Inger's blog and she posted about not having kids of her own. Although it was her choice, she sometimes wishes she had a grandchild. When I was a teenager and in my 20s, I didn't want kids at all. I didn't particularly like little kids and I didn't want to be tied down. Then my sister had a baby when I was in my late 20s. I adored Nicholas and spent every weekend that I could at her house babysitting. I didn't have Camille and Kyle until I was in my 30s and I loved (almost) every minute of their childhood. I'm still not a gushy fan of little kids -- toddlers and babies especially -- but I sure enjoy adolescents and teenagers. I know, I'm weird.

3. Brett and I are traveling to San Diego this weekend for the wedding of our nephew, Pete, and his lovely fiance, Jen. We're looking forward to spending time with Brett's brother and sister, as well. Vanessa will be looking after the animals and Sedona will be on raccoon patrol.

4. Kersey has been spending a lot of time under the house retrieving footballs and other remnants from prior owners.  She's very busy and very pleased with herself.

5.  Our oak trees are starting to turn golden.  I was sitting on the porch last weekend when a breeze brushed through the trees.  The air above the front lawn was full of gold snow; the leaves are snowflake size and they hung, drifted and swayed glitter gold on their way down to the ground.

Linking up to A Rural Journal for this post.