... While Chicken Little was hospitalized for minor head trauma, since the sky fell from the pure shock of it all. Yes folks, that's right. I'm doing what I never, ever do. PLANNING MEALS FOR THE WEEK, in advance of getting home from work, going through the fridge, freezer, and cupboards 15 times, taking the dog for a walk, then coming back inside and going through the fridge, freezer, and cupboards 15 more times... you get the picture. I call it "culinary spontaneity." Others call it "lack of interest in planning meals." Tomato, to-mah-to.

It's not that I can't cook. I can actually cook very well, when motivated enough to do so. And by cooking I mean something different than baking, but I'm good at cookies and pies, although a recent cake baking adventure shows I should probably quit while I'm ahead. My meal cooking motivation -- unless it's a weekend and I'm inspired -- is usually saved for dinner parties. For this week, so far I'm thinking chicken à la king, turkey rice soup (more like a stew), maybe grilled chicken eggplant parm... and that's about as far as I've gotten. To be continued.

Back to the cookbooks. And because this was totally random, I'll leave you with something else that's totally random -- two very cute, sweet pics of Pico that my dad took in December, when we visited for the holidays. And yes, Pico actually likes the toy turtle that was on his head, even if it looks like he's humoring us.