Preparing for Swim Season

Ugh, it's been a busy few weeks. First I had a bunch of projects to do -- don't you just love how you don't have much going on for a couple of months and then BAM! you get three jobs at one time? -- and then we went to New York and Vero Beach. Trying to get Baz back on a decent sleep schedule took another couple of days.

But, now I'm back and things are getting back to a manageable pace. And I have two finished videos under my belt -- keep an eye out for an exciting NY Times one on South Florida pythons in the coming week or so -- and my first blog post for Babble.com's Strollerderby blog about infidelity, this sex addiction "epidemic" and what children can learn from how mom's handle their cheating husbands.

Sure, I've been cooking, too. But mostly it's been some of my tried and tested recipes like picadillo, shrimp scampi and grilling everything from asparagus to kielbasa. My creativity well has been getting pretty tapped out.

I did make a pretty delicious turkey bolognese recently that I will post the next time I make it. Damien was skeptical of replacing the ground beef with ground turkey, but it was really good, if I may say so myself. The key, of course, is the seasoning rather than the actual meat and fresh thyme -- lots of it thanks to the wonderful suggestion of my Dad's Mario Battali cookbook -- made a big impact.

But, I do want to point out something that is a big deal for those of us in South Florida. The temperatures are rising a little too fast for my taste which is a reminder that swimming and pool season are in full swing around here. But, as The Miami Herald's MomsMiami blog points out, it's also a reminder that Florida leads the country in toddler deaths due to drowning. In fact, Miami-Dade (where I live) and Broward county (next door) are in the top five counties in the country for these types of accidents.

We don't have a pool and I am trying to teach Baz how to have a healthy respect for the ocean and water, but it's never a bad thing to try and educate yourself on preventing accidents.

So, take a moment to read up on how to prevent an accidental drowning. You don't have to live in Florida to be thinking about this. Summertime is here and we're all bound to be near water at some point.