A post in which I visit Grandma Shumate

I woke up hurting this morning, small wonder.

Mom had to get going. Lisa's birthday party is in Chapin this afternoon. I wanted to go, but I just knew I wasn't going to be up to the weekend up here, then driving to Chapin for the afternoon, then driving back to Greenville afterwards, then working the next day. I was already feeling tired.

I talked to Mom while she got ready to go, and helped her pack her call and all. Then I fed Granny breakfast and ate some leftover mac n cheese myself. I am enough accustomed to Granny's ways that it wasn't hard - she only eats cereal in the morning anyway. About the time we finished eating, Louise showed up. She stays with Granny at night and on the weekends if there is a problem.

I finished cleaning up the kitchen with only a brief scuffle with the coffee maker (I hate them, and can't use one. I somehow got this one turned on with no water in it, and then couldn't figure out how to turn it off.). Then I got cleaned up and dressed, packed my car, bid my farewells (managing, finally to break into Louise's stream of conversation - it's very hard to finish a sentence while she's around), and headed over to see Grandma Shumate at the home before I headed home.

I stopped and got her some flowers (I had a vase in the car already). When I got to the home, I found her trying to soothe one of the other residents who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's, apparently. She was convinced that she was supposed to go home today, and was unable to get in touch with her son. Since I know you don't argue with Alzheimer's sufferers, I let her use my phone to try to call him. She was very grateful, even though she didn't reach him. I have no idea whose number she called.

I went in the bathroom to arrange the flowers, and when I came out, the woman was gone. Grandma and I went looking for her, and eventually found that she had been distracted and taken back to her room.

Grandma is frustrated that she isn't making progress in her mobility. She's 88 and has rheumatoid arthritis, which just doesn't improve, but of course you don't want to discourage her. They have stopped her official physical therapy, but they do gentle exercises once a week for the whole facility, and she goes to that. She tries to do the exercises on her own every day, but she told me she doesn't always remember. "If the good Lord means for me to get up and walk again, I guess I will. But if he doesn't then I won't." She concluded with sad resignation.

Grandma and I visited until lunch time, and I went on into the cafeteria for lunch. It's a prestigious thing to have a guest for lunch. I always have a glass of tea, since it makes Grandma feel good to be able to offer me something. I declined lunch, and reminded her of my weight issues. She then said "I want to tell you something." "OK," I replied. "No, lean over here, close." She instructed. When I obligingly leaned over, she stage-whispered in my ear (she's hard of hearing) "These women that work here have the biggest butts I have ever seen!" When I leaned back, trying not to hoot with laughter, I noticed a twinkle of mischief in her eye that made me feel better. I really do love that old woman.

We were joined at lunch by the woman she had helped earlier, whose name is Ruth. Ruth had apparently snapped back, and was full of praise for Grandma. "I just don't know what we would do without your grandmother," she enthused. "She just always knows what's going on. She prayed with me too, and you should hear her pray! I want to know how she's always right, and I'm always wrong!" When we got back to the room, Grandma called my Uncle Chris. "You know Ruth's son," she said. "You call him and tell him to get up here and see his mother. She's all upset!"

We visited in Grandma's room until it was time for me to go. I had actually intended to stay until 2pm, but we ran out of conversation around 1:30 or so, so I headed on out.

I was feeling sleeping and tired already, and driving makes me sleepy at the best of times. I made the drive home, smoking to stay awake. I stopped just over the SC border for gas. I had thought I would get a late lunch then, and was just dying for a tuna sandwich, but there weren't any at the truck stop. I just bought junk food instead.

By the time I got home, I was completely wiped out. I was very glad I had realized ahead of time that I wasn't going to be able to do the birthday dinner in Chapin, as much as I would have liked to be there.

I took a nap immediately when I got in. I felt a bit better when I woke up, but still felt like I needed to take it easy for work tomorrow. Russ called and invited me to dinner with Lady Beth and Billy, but I just didn't feel like I should go. I knew if I went over there I would end up being out late. As much as I would have loved to see them, I knew I oughtn't.

I lay around for a bit, and then realized I had to go get some fruit for lunches next week, among other things needed at the grocery store. I went to the store. To reward myself for being responsible, I went to Subway and got a tuna sub for supper since I was just dying for tuna for some reason. I shouldn't have gotten a foot long though, it was too much. I finished it, but felt stuffed to the point of illness afterwards. I went on to bed. The work week starts tomorrow.

A post in which I'm in Wilkesboro

I woke up this morning about my usual time. Contrary to the usual mornings I'm experiencing, I didn't feel too bad. I did want to take my Ibuprofen though. The problem was that it was out in the car. Granny's bedroom is downstairs, and she's a very light sleeper. She has hearing so good that flies farting on the screen keep her awake. I lay around for a bit, but it was soon obvious that I wasn't going back to sleep. My book was still in the car too. I finally just got dressed and eased out the door as quietly as possible.

Once I got out, I decided to stay out to keep the disruption to a minimum. I got in the car and headed for the flea market. It's small, but I've kind of been in withdrawal lately. I went to the smaller one I found the last time, and surprisingly it was still locked up (it's a quasi antique mall). I went to the larger one to find almost no one there. I talked to one guy who was setting up to ask what time things got going "I don't know," he said. "Usually I'm here a while before anyone else shows up." "Hmm," I replied. "I thought you had to be up early to sell at a flea market." "That was in the old days." He replied, almost wistfully.

I walked around a bit, but there was really nothing going on yet.

This house is right beside the back of the flea market in Wilkesboro. If you've ever wondered where old Christmas decorations go to die, I think this is it.

I'm not easily deterred. It was too early to go back anyway. There was a little country diner near there, so I ducked in and had some breakfast and coffee. It was a locals place, and it just so happened that I snagged a table right in the middle of the section the regulars apparently sit in. No one said anything, but there were some considerably speculative glances cast my way.

a) I had a book.
b) I had my earrings in.
c) I ordered a vegetable omelet and wheat toast.
d) No one had any idea who I was.

I just pretended to blend in, even though I didn't.

With breakfast, coffee, and Ibuprofen under my belt, I felt better. I haded back to the flea market. There were a few more people there. I went by the dragon lady's booth (I call her that in my head because she has this huge hoard of Depression Glass which she purports to be there to sell, but which is over-priced and lingers in dusty heaps, over which she hovers watchfully) just as she was opening. She seemed more willing to part with some of her treasure today, and I bought four of my Sapphire Blue Fire King ramekins. They are the flare-lipped ones I prefer, and she marked them down from book price of $5 each (I'm quite sure that wasn't the book price when she marked them as such) to $4. Fair enough. So I have a set of six now, which is really all the ramekins a reasonable person needs.

The Dragon Lady's booth - trust me if you collected glass this would so give you wood.

A flare-lipped Fire King Sapphire Blue ramekin (they list these as custard cups - meh, potato/potahtoe)

There wasn't much going on there, although I did make one nice redneck woman quite disproportionately amused by remarking during a discussion about the weather that it couldn't possibly snow in Greenville next week because I wasn't out of coffee. She was still chuckling about that as I left.

I went on over to the small flea market/antique store where I found the Beaded Block bowls last time. It was still pretty early, but they were unlocked at least. When I started looking around, I stumbled back over a selection of Looney Toons glasses that Pepsi had done as a promo during the early 70's. They had a nice Pepe Le Pew glass as one of the issues. I had picked one up for Lisa in Easley while I was out antiquing with Justin the last time, but thought I would have to get the rest of the set on eBay. I had intended to give them to her for Christmas next year, but couldn't wait. I had tucked the one glass in with the Blue Willow for her to find as a surprise. There were exactly five of them at this store. That made an even set of six, and I couldn't resist. I picked them up for her even though I had really already gotten her a gift.

I returned to the house in triumph for find Granny and Mother unsurprisingly lingering over the breakfast table. Breakfast at Granny's is a leisurely and luxuriously protracted affair. I sat down and had some coffee with them and we planned the day.

First we decided what to have for supper, then got cleaned up and ate lunch. After that Mom and I headed out to do the grocery shopping and errand running. We also picked up some white sweet potatoes for us to take home. Yum.

By the time we did all the errands, unloaded the groceries, and rested for a while, it was time to start fixing supper. Mother had asked me to make macaroni and cheese. She doesn't make it from scratch (despite my mother's marked culinary expertise, I was raised on Kraft Dinner), and is very impressed that I can. Rather than make a huge macaroni pie (Granny doesn't like left-overs), I told Mom I would just make some stove top from scratch. Since Granny is down to 122lbs at this point, I spared no calorie. It turned out rich, creamy, and delicious, if I do say so. Granny, a notoriously fussy eater, not only finished what she put on her plate, she ate two small helpings as we talked at the table afterwards. I took that as high praise indeed. Mom loves my mac n cheese. "The secret ingredient is fat." I told her matter-o-factly.

We watched the weather (more snow next week) and talked until bed time. I was on the memory train, and reminded Mom of stories from my childhood. We reminisced, all telling stories until I finally just couldn't hold my eyes open any longer. I had already taken some Ibuprofen for a low-grade fever, which means I over-did it today. Sigh.

A post in which I head for Granny's house

I was up early this morning, but not early enough. By the time I got up, got ready for work, finished packing the car, and did the house prep, I didn’t have time to eat breakfast. I just decided to eat at work this morning. When I got to my desk, our resident diabetic-who-eats-anything-she-damn-well-pleases had a fragrant plate of eggs, toast, and gorgeous- smelling fried potatoes heaped on her desk. I really needed to eat something sensible today since I was going to be eating everything that wasn’t good for me this weekend. Any time I go to Granny’s, I just count it as a splurge weekend. The combination of her affinity for country food, and the reliance on take-out while eating pescetarian usually reduces me to lots of fried fish. But man, I wanted those taters. Surprisingly, my will-power held and I got a bowl of oatmeal and a banana. (I had packed a fat-filled lunch anyway, rationalizing that I needed to clean out the fridge since I was leaving town.)

I left work and made excellent time to Statesville, where I met Mother for our usual repast at the K&W. I had some surprisingly decent crab cakes (for $4 yet!) before we headed on up the mountain.

We got to Granny’s and as always it was good to see her, although she seems noticeably more frail. She’s walking with a walker all the time now (that’s a good thing with the equilibrium problems she’s been having). When she walked in from her bedroom to the den tonight, she had a terrible time catching her breath, and had to use her inhaler. That was a new thing. She does get out of breath when she walks, but it hasn’t been this bad.

She was herself in a little bit though, and we did the usual gab-fest, catching up on what’s been going on and then stopping for dessert and coffee at about 11pm. I couldn’t stay up as late as usual though. After the long day I was wiped out.

A post in which it is a busy evening

I had a lot to do tonight. But I got all the important stuff done. I got home on time, which was nice, and started working on the dishes almost immediately. I got down all the Blue Willow serving pieces and emptied out a box. I wrapped and packed dishes until I got hungry, and then stopped for a big salad and some tomato casserole.

After supper I tended to some laundry, and finished packing the dishes. Finishing that task freed up the cabinet room to put away the Wedgwood dishes I got for Christmas. There weren’t many of them, but it’s a start; two dinner plates, one cup, one saucer, and one bread plate. I’m debating whether or not I’m going to buy any of it myself. The original idea was that my friends and family would buy them for me so that they would still be like ‘family’ pieces, but this could take a while. And I really, really want the soup bowls in the worst way.

Nicole called while I was putting things away. I talked to her for a bit and kind of caught up on what’s going on. She called because she was curious about the lack of details on new Billy, and I had to relate that right now that was because there aren’t any details to relate. We keep getting derailed. Nicole and I made tentative plans to see Avatar next week. I still want to see it in 3D.

Then it was time to pack. Packing for the weekend isn’t too bad. I don’t know why I always dread it so much. Things went together in pretty short order. It’s not like I’m going to be attending a cotillion or anything while I’m there. I packed a vase to take Grandma Shumate some flowers in; although her bedside table is so small I’m not sure there will be room for them. I packed up Ava’s surprises; a couple of books (one of which I had forgotten buying), and a chicken that poops gumballs for her Easter basket. I also ran across a little surprise for Lisa that I had forgotten buying, and tucked it in with the dishes for her to find.

After all this, I decided to watch a bit of the Olympics before I went to bed. I had the TV on while I was packing, and they had made a big production of the fact that they were covering the women’s long program free skate figure-skating finals tonight. After spending ten minutes or so extolling the thorough nature of their coverage, they showed ONE figure skater before turning off to 18 consecutive hours of slalom skiing competition. And NBC wonders why no one is watching. I was flipping back and forth between the Olympics and The Simpsons Movie, waiting for the skating to come back on. And waiting. And waiting. Eventually I gave it up and started getting ready for bed, at which point they finally switched back over to figure skating. Again, they showed ONE routine, then went back to some kind of ski jumping and flipping thing; which they of course covered in minute and gory detail, complete with shots of the competitors post events, etc. I’m like “WHAT ABOUT THE FREAKIN FIGURE SKATING??!!” They then came back on to say they were going to cover the free skate in an hour. I just turned over to a movie on DVD in complete disgust.

A post in which I do kitchen stuff

I had stuff to do tonight. I wanted to bake my tomato casserole and pack up all the dishes. Well one of them got done anyway.

I had to run by the library on the way home to pick up a couple of books I had ordered in. I’ve been trying to read a biography of Jane Austen that Justin loaned me, but it is a dry, dry read. So much so that it’s been putting me down for a brief nap at lunch every day. Not a good precedent.

The King Cake came in today. One of the agencies that we use is in Louisiana and they send one every year. Oddly, they never get here in time for Fat Tuesday. So we get this big cake shipped to the office during Lent. I suppose most people don’t know the difference, and it doesn’t make much of one here. Most of the office apparently aren’t Catholic, or didn’t give up sweets for Lent if they are; in fact one of the guys always first in line for a piece actually is Catholic, which I think is kind of funny. There is now a lot of jockeying for position as to who gets the baby. I don't think the girls have a really clear understanding of what that entails, but they all compete for it now.

I got home, changed, and got in the kitchen. The tomato casserole recipe is another one that allows you to use up odds and ends out of the fridge. I sautéed a bunch of vegetable bits I had lying around, mixed them with the canned tomatoes and stale bread, and threw it all in a casserole dish. While it was baking, I fixed supper, packed lunches for the rest of the week, and cleaned the kitchen up. By the time I got through with all that, I was pretty beat. Plus it was after 8pm. I decided I had done enough for one day. It shouldn’t take me that long to pack up the dishes tomorrow now that I have all the stuff to do it with.

I rested on the sofa for a bit, watching Bastard Out of Carolina. It was a well done movie, but was a real downer. So I flipped over to TCM, where they were showing The Diary of Anne Frank, which is of course a vast improvement and feel-good family film. Well not really. But I hadn’t seen it, and kind of felt like it was one of those movies I should see. It was fairly amusing to watch Shelly Winters performance (although personally I prefer her performance in A Patch of Blue, despite the vile character she portrayed). I was kind of watching it with one eye while I fooled around online. Things about the Holocaust are so horrible that I have to have some kind of insulation from it.

So despite the fact that a good movie was on, I wasn’t exactly horrificated when the phone rang. It was my old friend Anna, who is apparently doing much better after a rough time in her life. As always, we had so much to say to each other that we couldn’t talk fast enough. We were on the phone for almost an hour – and I just hardly ever do that.

By the time I got off the phone with her, it was way time for bed. I switched out a load of laundry and turned in.

A post in which I share a feast with Dick and Eve

Work was pretty quiet today. My boss was back, but was far too busy from being out to give me grief. I finished my write-offs and turned them in for approval.

They brought in lunch today for us, but by the time I got in there they were out of salmon. So I had iced tea, salad, steamed broccoli, and veggie rice pilaf for lunch with a tiny kid-sized cup of sherbert. That was a pretty light lunch for me, and by the end of the day I was pretty damn peckish.

I had told Eve that I would have dinner with her and Dad this week, so I called her and we agreed on tonight. After work I headed over there. That means tomorrow night I cook. We chatted amicably enough until Dad came in. They found out what was wrong with his hip was actually at the base of his spine. He got an injection to help with the inflammation, but he’s walking with a cane. Dad is only 63. That was hard to see. It’s times like these that I remember that his dad died at 64, and he was in a lot better shape than Dad is.

Eve put out quite a repast. There was teriyaki glazed flounder, brocco-slaw with fresh spring onions, rice medley, turnip greens, the ubiquitous navy beans Dad eats with every meal now, and whole-wheat yeast rolls. Everything was delicious. Apparently they eat like this every night and Dad takes it for granted. After my light lunch today I was starving.

While I was in the process of eating until I hurt, Dad was showing me his new phone. He just got one of those fancy ones that does 8,000 different things. They told me that it was supposed to snow here tomorrow - naturally, since I am low on coffee.

I had told Mom that I couldn't come to Lisa's birthday dinner on Sunday, but no one had told me it was a surprise. I called her to straighten out some plans for Eve and gave the surprise away. She played it off cool, but I felt really bad once I figured out I had given it away. I wish someone would have told me it was a surprise!

Forewarned is forearmed about the weather. I visited until about 8 or so, then excused myself and went by the grocery store on the way home. I picked up my odds and ends. I’m now completely ready to make tomato casserole tomorrow night, and I have my coffee, so it won’t snow now. I had the nicest checker at Publix, and when I walked in a charming stock-person asked if she could help me - and actually did. I just love that store. Even if they did stop doing the penny item.

A post in which I think about movies

I woke up today not feeling good about last night. Maybe I'm outgrowing sport sex. Maybe I'm just getting to old for that (until the usual spring rush o' hormones, I ruefully reflect). Whatever the rationale, I was conscious of feeling vaguely disappointed in myself today. I've had to be more conscious of things that make me feel 'less than' instead of 'greater than' as I get older. Maturity? Morality? Here? How odd. And of course completely speculative at this point. Time will tell.

It was a quiet day today. My boss had taken the day off today as well.

After work, I had to go to the grocery store, natch. I have leftover bread from lunch yesterday at home, and I’m going to make it into a tomato casserole like the one they make at the Berryman House in Georgia. I picked up some odds and ends, and birthday cards for Lisa and Cindy. I also finally remembered to buy some chubs to use to wrap up the Blue Willow. I’m determined to do better this week than I did the last time I prepared to go to Granny’s house.

Lisa’s birthday party is this Sunday, but I’m not going to be able to go. Driving from Wilkesboro to Chapin, then being there for the party, driving back to Greenville, and working the next day is just a bit more than I think I can manage at the mo. I’d really like to be there, but I know I’m going to feel terrible the next day if I do it. So hopefully Mom taking the dishes down there for me will make up for part of that. Guilt, guilt, guilt.

Speaking of which I forgot to call new Billy back last night as he had asked. I had also didn’t call Eve today about having dinner with them this week. Eve called me Saturday because they hadn’t seen me in a couple of weeks. There was just no way I was doing that tonight though. By the time I got in from the market, put away the groceries, made supper (I was going to cook the casserole tonight, but by the time I got home, I knew that wasn’t going to happen), and cleaned up the kitchen I was all in. Plus I had to change the sheets again.

I did lie around for a few minutes before I went to bed. I watched part of The Devil Wears Prada. I didn’t like the movie any better than I had the first time. Meryl Streep is brilliant in it, of course, but the point of the mediocre book was how brutal the fashion industry is. The character of Miranda Priestly, in her complete disdain for the rest of the world, mirrored the complete self-absorption of the fashion industry that produces un-wearable, uncomfortable clothes for unreal people. I’m sure that Meryl insisted on a re-write of her character (it would have been a one-note performance had she not), but by humanizing Miranda and giving her motivations for her cruelty, you destroy the message of the book. It becomes a character study rather than a satirical indictment.

Anyway, about that point I had everything done that had to be done tonight, and the FarmVille server locked up - again – so I said the hell with it and went to bed. I’ve been watching Spirited Away to go to sleep the last couple of nights. I understood part of it last night that I hadn’t prior. The invasion of the ‘No-Face’ monster into the bath house had puzzled me before. It seemed arbitrary. Plus the character had repaid kindness (Chihirio’s leaving the door open to let him in out of the rain) with terror. What I got last night was that No-Face only reflects what is around him. He becomes a monster when surrounded by greed. The more selfishness and greed that surround him, the larger and more monstrous he becomes. When Chihiro is more concerned with her friend than with the gold nuggets No-Face offers, he can’t understand that. When she returns the offer of gold and instead offers him something, his inflation and monstrousness is graphically purged. It seems simple, but then I guess I am, because it took me several viewings to finally figure it out. An adept metaphor for people who reflect the ethics which surround them, and an interesting reason for being a stand-up character. Also a metaphor for the de-humanizing effects of greed. Apt.

I ended up staying up too late, so maybe I need to pick another movie to take to bed.

A post in which we do the Dirt Mall*

I was up early, and not feeling too bad today, which is nice.

I futzed around the house and made myself a bit more toasted 5-grain and a decadently delicious goat cheese Gouda omelet while I waited for a decent hour to call Russ and dana. dana had asked for a wake-up call, and Russ sometimes doesn’t feel like getting up after we make plans to go to the flea market. About 9 I called everyone. Russ was already in motion, and dana said she would be ready, but it was over an hour later before Russ got to the house. Just one o them things. It wasn’t a big deal. I was going as much to spend time with them as for anything else anyway.

I did speak to Billy this morning. He is still sick, and had been to the emergency room last night for treatment and fluids. He was severely dehydrated.

We went on down to Anderson and did the Dirt Mall completely. Russ and I greatly enjoyed the scenery if nothing else. I didn’t buy much. I got some oranges for lunches next week, a piece of Tupperware I had been wanting, and a cake plate to replace the one I took to Miss Helen yesterday. dana reported that when they left for dinner last night Miss Helen was still taking a nap, but she got up at some point during the night to cut a large piece of the cake. She also apparently got quite a kick out of her new pants this morning, which I was glad to hear. Oh, and I also bought Justin's birthday present.

By the time we finished walking all over Anderson we were all hungry. We called and rounded up Miss Kat, Helen, and Billy to eat lunch at the Cracker Barrel, since Miss Kat, dana, and Helen will consistently eat there. We hit just after the church crowd, so we didn’t even have to wait that long to be seated. By this point (it was after two) I was hungry enough to eat the floorboards, and proceeded to order a large lunch. I had fried shrimp, fried okra (sensing a theme here?), mac n cheese (theirs is boxed now, but I was too starved to be particular), a large salad with buttermilk ranch, and biscuits with apple butter. We all proceeded to eat until we couldn’t move.

Russ and Billy were going on to the movies, however. Russ just never stops. Ever. I sent them on. I was just too tired to do any more. I went home and became One With the Sofa. I had been chatting to a buddy for a while, and he came by for a visit later. It was a nice evening.

A post in which I bake a cake, and go to the bear dinner

I woke up feeling like crap this morning (thank you Epstein Barr) at about 5am. I crawled to the sofa and lay there for a while before getting motivated to make some brekkie. I had picked up lovely 5-grain bread from Publix the other day. I toasted some of that and made myself a little omelet to go with. I had thought I might run over to the flea market this morning, but I decided I would have to go tomorrow.

I did text with new Billy a bit today. He told me that he’s feeling better, and that he was hoping to keep his lunch down today. Not a ringing endorsement of health, but hopefully I’ll get to meet him tomorrow.

I lay there like a slug and watched telly for a while before dropping off for a nap that ended up being several hours long.

I woke up still feeling crappy, but I made myself start stirring about. I had shit to do today. I cleaned up the kitchen and ran to the store for the last of the cake things I needed, as well as running a few errands while I was out. I came home, ate the rest of my fish and chips for lunch, and then got Helen’s cake in the oven. I cleaned up the kitchen and sat down for a few minutes before it came out. The cake turned out pretty well. It wasn’t all lop-sided like the last chocolate pound cake I made.

While the cake cooled, I straightened up the house a bit and got cleaned up for tonight. When I got out of the shower, I wrapped the little gag gift I had gotten for Helen, glazed the cake, and called Miss Kat about delivering it. I am mad at this cake. The glaze needed another tablespoon of butter, which I could clearly see; but ignoring my instincts, I followed the recipe. As a result the glaze was gloppy and unappetizing looking - another Shrek cake. The first one of these I glazed (after not making one for about 15 years, I might add) turned out so pretty I made a picture of it. It looked like something out of a magazine. Every one I have made since then has looked like homemade mud. I don’t get it. But the glaze tasted good, and if the whole thing tastes as good as the inside of the car smelled after I got it over there, it will be a good one. Even if it does have a face that only a mother could love.

They were going out to dinner, but fortunately I had time to run the cake over there and visit for a bit before they left. Unfortunately Helen was asleep, so I won’t get to see her open the gag. Here’s the deal. I bake Helen a cake every year for Christmas (this year’s is woefully late). Last year when I brought it to her, she said “Next year, you’re going to have to bring me a cake and a new pair of pants.” I had intended to give her a pair of those super-huge panties they sell at the Anderson Jockey Lot, but for some reason the panty man stopped coming. So I ended up getting her a teeny-tiny, see-through lavender lace thong for her ‘new pants’. I was so looking forward to her reaction, but I guess that’s selfish reason to give a gift isn’t it?

They needed to leave for dinner though, and so did I. We were supposed to eat at a new place called Harry and Jean’s. I’d been curious about it, and was looking forward to going there, but apparently they took reservations over the phone, then told the bears when they started to arrive that they don’t take reservations. Aggravating.

After a bit of kerfuffle, it was decided that we would go to Capri’s on Woodruff instead, which frankly suited me just fine. The food was as delicious as always, and the service was great. I can always eat their baked spaghetti. It was a good dinner. There ended up being about 24 of us, and my blog fan, Brian (who of course has an independent life outside of being my fan, but since I am an egomaniac this means nothing to me) came, and proved just as charming in person as he is via email. Some folks make the transition better than others, you know. Anyway, everyone liked him, the conversation flowed freely, and Russ, Billy, Brian, Vince, and I all ended up basically staying at Capri’s until they kicked us (nicely) into the street.

Russ was too tired to have anyone over by that time (and truthfully, I was too tired to go, although I would have anyway), so we all went our separate ways. Dana and I had made plans to go to the flea market tomorrow anyway, and Russ decided to join us on our expedition to the Dirt Mall (which refers specifically to the Anderson Jockey Lot, in Brian-ese). I’m afraid I may have packed my day too full for tomorrow, but honestly, I’m not expecting Billy to be up to lunch from what he told me today. If he is, it’s gonna be a long day.

A post in which I stay home

I have been feeling better a bit at a time, but by the time I got home today I was really bushed. I have been trying to marshal my energies and not over-do since I’m supposed to meet new Billy on Sunday.

I decided to take myself out to dinner though; partially so I wouldn’t have to mess around in the kitchen when I got home, and partially because I was dying for some blue cheese cole slaw. I had just gotten aggravated and decided to leave – I just refuse to pay for parking to eat somewhere when there are plenty of other places to go – when a parking space magically opened up right in front of the door. My luck held in that I was almost immediately settled, and got into Caroline’s section. She’s their very best waitress. I had an excellent Charlaine Harris book (From Dead to Worse, I've gotten a bit behind in the Sookie Stackhouse series) for company, and was served a gargantuan serving of delicious Liberty Tap Room fish and chips in short order. Apparently they have increased their portions. There was no way I could finish it all, and I took about half of it home. Caroline even put in fresh loaf of the excellent sourdough bread they make on the premises. I was glad I had given her little more generous tip than usual. I don’t really relish going out to eat by myself, but it’s something I suppose I should get used to.

I had called several people this afternoon because I’d like to see Avatar before it leaves the theater, but either I couldn’t reach them or they’d already seen it. I talked to Justin, and he and Amanda were baking cookies for a tea party tomorrow, then going to James and Jeff’s later. It is James’s birthday. He invited me up, but I just wasn’t up to it tonight. As much fun as it is to go see everyone, they don’t get off work until about 10pm, and I never get home before 3-4am. After feeling bad battling EB all week and working a full day, I just couldn’t do it tonight. I need to be up for tomorrow anyway. I want to bake Helen’s Christmas cake, finally, and there is a bear dinner tomorrow night.

I had resolved to go to bed early, and did, but took the book with me. I ended up staying up until after 11 to finish it. It was really good though, and I did go on to sleep afterwards.

A post in which I turn in early, and schedule

I’m still feeling yucky from Epstein Barr, but I’m managing. If I take my Emergen-C in the afternoon, I don’t feel too crappy when I get off work. I found out last night that new Billy is sick now. I feel like I’m jinxing him or something. So I don’t know if we’re going to get to meet on Sunday or not. I hope so. I haven’t said anything about the EB episode because I’d like to meet him at some point.

I’m trying not to over-crowd my schedule. I need to get some rest this weekend. I have a bear dinner Saturday night (no word from new blog fan Brian on whether or not he will attend), and this date planned for Sunday. I’d like to bake Helen’s Christmas cake at last on Saturday, but I’m going to see how I feel when I get up. The bathroom needs to be cleaned too. Next weekend I’m in Wilkesboro, barring another snowstorm, so I won’t be able to meet Billy that week.

Tonight after work I ran errands. I went to the Dollar Store for cheap toothbrushes, and then to the grocery store for some Parmesan cheese. I thought about buying some Reggiano for just in case, but I’m trying to hoard less food in the house.

I got home, ate more indulgent pasta (along with a small container of shrimp I had picked up - I'm really spoiling myself this week), watched some telly, messed around online a bit, and went to bed.

A post in which I indulge myself

Although I pretty much have it under control, I don’t wake up feeling good when I have an Epstein Barr flare-up. That really sucks. I used to wake up feeling great and in a good mood usually. After I stir around a bit and have some coffee I feel better, but I really hate starting the day off achy and feeling bad. I was making up the bed this morning when I realized that I had never called new Billy last night. We had said we were going to stay in touch this week, but I had completely forgotten it.

It was a busy day at work today. I had two training classes to do and then my regular stuff. Additionally I kept getting new clients. After the classes, my throat was pretty sore, but I thought the classes went well. Billy texted me during the second one, and apologized for not calling me. I texted back and let him off the hook. Apparently we were just both too busy last night, which happens.

When I got home tonight, I had kind of a quandary. I had some veggies in the fridge that needed to be used, but I really wanted to rest instead of cook. I’ve been craving Alfredo sauce terribly, and had looked up a recipe and gotten the stuff to make it this week for suppers. It was cook or eat frozen pizza. Eventually cooking won out despite the extra work.

Surprisingly, the most highly rated recipes I found called for cream cheese as a thickener rather than the traditional butter/flour roux. Against my inclinations, I used one of these recipes. I started putting it together, and then remembered that I hadn’t gone by the store to get Reggiano Parmesan cheese as I had planned to do on the way home. I had some powdered stuff, but not enough. It was at that stage where it was too late to run to the store. I ended up using some of the goat’s milk Gouda I had in the fridge; not what I wanted to use that for, but I have to say that the sauce was kick-ass. I usually don’t make high-fat stuff like Alfredo sauce, but I spared no fat gram tonight. I poured the sauce over pasta and mushrooms and spinach that I had sautéed in butter with garlic, white wine, and lemon juice. The completed dish was very rich, indulgent and delicious. It was even worth cleaning the kitchen and all. Probably not what I needed to be eating, but sometime you just have to live a little.

I watched some telly and fooled around on the computer a bit. I did remember to call Billy tonight, but he was too busy to talk. Eventually the tiredness caught up with me and I went on to bed.

A post in which it is a better day

Today I worked, I came home, and collapsed; which was what I needed to do. I didn’t feel as bad today as I did yesterday, thank goodness, but I didn’t feel great. I did get an unexpected lift from the fact that my boss will be out of town for the rest of the week, so things should be fairly quiet at the office for the next couple of days.

I texted back and forth with new Billy today, which was good. I had kind of thought about getting in touch on VD, but that day is so freighted, and I got distracted with brunch and all and ended up not doing it. We’ve made a date for Sunday. I’m looking forward to that. It’s nice to have some hope on the horizon. So now I have to be sure I watch it and feel better in time to go. He’s apparently quite the outdoorsman, so I’m hoping we don’t have to go hiking or something. Wouldn’t do to pull a Camille for our first date – there are enough hurdles to overcome already. I am looking forward to finally meeting him.

I watched The Cat Returns tonight on DVD. I had it on loan from the library. I really love Hayao Miyazaki films, even if he just produced this one. Crooner's name was almost Muta, after the big white cat in this movie. Ultimately, though, I decided it was too awkward in English.

A post in which it is Billy's birthday

Well I paid for yesterday today. I probably over-did on Saturday as well. I woke up feeling like hell. But the doughnuts had to be made, and I had already taken a day off last week when I was sick with the upper respiratory infection, so there was nothing to do but tough it out and go on in to work. This is the backlash of Epstein Barr, so I knew I wasn’t contagious or anything, and I know how to fight it. Drink fluids, get rest, and take my Emergen-C. But in the meantime I felt awful.

It was a tough day. I had two useless meetings (one of which was a one-on-one with my boss, who was in a mood) in addition to my usual Monday stuff.

Then this afternoon I had a phone call from a guy who was looking at buying the Bomber. He had gotten my information off of the maintenance records (I had left them in the glovebox to try to be a good guy) and called me at work. TWICE. He told me he was a minister, and I tried my best to tell him not to buy the car without just outright telling him it was a POS, but he was not to be dissuaded. During the first call, I finally told him (because he was a minister) that I had traded the car because it needed work done. He called me back that afternoon to tell me that he had reviewed the service record with the Dodge dealership and was buying it anyway. You just can’t help some people, but at least I hadn’t lied to a minister. Libertine I may be, but I do have some standards.

By the end of the day I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was crawl home to my bed, but that wasn’t an option.

Billy’s birthday dinner was tonight, and since he put together my birthday dinner in September, I pretty much had to go. Plus there would be a bunch of the Kindred there, including Lady Beth, whom I hardly ever see.

I went by Lowes first (since I was right there) and returned the dead switch I got a couple of weeks ago. Then I went over to Best Buy to pick up a gift card for Billy, which is what he had requested. After that I stopped at Out of Bounds for a birthday card. I needed to get some new gay stickers for Gracine anyway, and had been meaning to go by there. I wanted to get Billy a penis card, but for some reason, all of the penises were small. I don’t get that. I suppose there’s a market there. I’m not a size queen but if I’m going to buy a dick card, I want a big one. I'm just sayin'. I ended up going in another direction. Then it was home to change, feed the cats, and head right back out the door.

The dinner was at the Olive Tree, a Greek/Italian place of which Russ and Billy are very fond. I hadn’t eaten there before, but the food was good. I had a calzone that was lovely. I was kind of sorry I don’t eat meat any more, to be truthful. They had souvlaki plates, which of course are wonderful, but the tzatziki sauce really looked amazing. I would have loved to have had some of that.

I got to sit right beside Lady Beth, which was great. I really like her, and usually everyone’s trying to get her attention so it was nice to get her to myself a bit. Miss Kat and dana were there, and so were Carmina and adder – they had driven all the way up from Columbia to be there, and it is just always good to see them. Billy's cool sister was there - the one we all like - and I got to sit right across from her. There were a bunch of guys from the bear group there too.

It was a very nice meal, and I really enjoyed seeing everyone, but when it was time to go home, I was ready. I crawled gratefully into bed and collapsed.

A post in which it is a lovey brunch day and Spartanburg visit

I was up early today, actually earlier than I wanted to be, but I was way too excited to go back to sleep. I had plenty of stuff to do anyway. I ran in the grocery store (when I walked in, I was positively assaulted by balloons, flowers, cakes and cookies all done up in shades of red and pink, as if cupid had exploded in the store for VD) to pick up a few things and got a birthday card for my nephew (his birthday was LAST Sunday – I’m a bad uncle). By the time I got back to the house, got ready, did the cat chores, got the card ready, and packed a party bag, it was almost time to go, but not quite. Since I know Justin sweats every detail and works up until the last moment, I wasn’t going to show up early. I loaded up the recycling and dropped it off, then ran the card by the post office on my way to Spartanburg, which put me there almost perfectly on time.

Brunch was all I had hoped for and more. The food was delicious. We had fresh fruit, brownies, homemade chai scones, a krabmeat strata, tiny boiled quail eggs, and an assortment of beverages. The company was congenial, and the conversation was enjoyable. We all ate until we couldn’t pretty much hold another morsel, and then talked and visited.

After a while we ended up over at Jeff and James’s house, as per usual. Since the last brunch I gave had ended up around 6pm, I had come prepared with a party bag.

Eventually, we ordered some pizza for dinner, having consumed the last of the brunch food we loaded up in the car.

When we put the dogs to bed during supper, they all went in the crate together - don't call PETA, we let them right back out after we made the pictures.

We talked, visited, smoked some more, and just generally had a gay ole time. Eventually we put in Die Mommie Die, which I had brought with me. I found out during the course of the movie that neither Jeff, James, nor Justin have ever seen Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? - so we know what the next party movie will be.. I was fairly shocked I have to say.

When the movie was over, sadly, I had to head for home. Work tomorrow you know. Sigh. I pulled out around 9:45 or so. It had been a lovely day. I really didn't think about VD that much either.

A post in which I do NOT waste a Saturday

The view from my kitchen window this morning

The house across the street, the one I wanted originally

From the front porch - doesn't it look like a sleigh could go by at any moment?

The view from the front porch

It was beautiful when I woke up this morning. Despite the weather forecast for fog, the day dawned sparkling bright and gorgeous. The covering of snow made my old neighborhood look like a Christmas village, and since I could regard all this beauty from my heated house with the television on I was well pleased. I don’t mind bad weather as long as my power stays on.

I was also feeling much better today, which was a good thing. I’ve been looking forward to Justin’s brunch tomorrow all week this week and really want to be up for it.

After some tasty brekkie, I lounged around and watched Cash In The Attic on BBC America. The Hunchback of Notre Dame was on TCM today and I had never seen it. The 1939 version is supposed to be one of the best (no surprise there to movie buffs). Charles Laughton was great, and Maureen O’Hara was heart-rendingly beautiful. I watched it with one eye while I breakfasted and started on the day.

I had plenty to do. The goal was for me to get all my chores done today so that I could play with a clear conscience for as long as I wanted tomorrow. After Hunchback went off, Mutiny on the Bounty came on – bleah – but that was fine. I turned off the TV and set to in earnest.

I did all the laundry, changed the sheets, dusted the bedroom, cleaned out the fridge, took out the trash, dust mopped the wood floors and vacuumed all the carpets and the furniture in the living room. The place looked pretty spiffy when I got done. As a reward, I turned on Jezebel (also on TCM today, and one of my favorites) while I finished that up.

After a pause for lunch, I put in an anime movie I had gotten from the library this week to watch as I started cooking. I had planned on maybe making Helen’s Christmas cake (at last) today, but I had forgotten to get butter last night. I was pretending to be ‘snowed in’ today to keep myself focused, even though the roads were mostly clear and dry by about 2pm. I made a big pot of smother-fried garlic vegetables for lunch next week, packed up the lunches, and cleaned up the kitchen. By the time I made tea and ate some leftovers for supper I was pretty much whooped. But it was all done, and I was free tomorrow, which was the goal.

After fielding a couple of calls from Justin about making strata (I was very flattered to be his go-to guy), I got caught up in a Jane Austen marathon on telly.

They showed the Keira Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice twice today. I had turned past it earlier in the day, and coincidentally I caught it tonight at just the place where I had left off earlier. After that, they showed Becoming Jane, which I had not yet seen. I watched it too. It was quite good, although I hadn’t realized that Jane Austen had such an unfulfilled love life prior to this. I suppose someone married wouldn’t have written so glowingly about love, and so longingly about marriage. It was interesting to pick out the characters that later wound up in her books from her life story (although I’m sure it had been ‘Hollywood-ized’). Unsurprisingly, I felt an affinity for Austen, always the one a day late and a dollar short, just missing happiness.

I haven’t thought as much about Valentine’s Day this year as I usually do. I don’t know if it’s the channels I’ve been watching, or if I’m just less sensitive, but I haven’t noticed the usual 8,000,000 jewelry commercials and the like this year. I haven’t been dreading it the way I usually do. Part of that may be that there is a prospect on the horizon as well. I heard from new Billy last week, and it seems that he’s getting settled back down, and hasn’t forgotten about me. It will be nice to meet him, although of course there is still a major hurdle to clear even if we hit things off. I wonder if I’ve been putting off meeting him to hold onto the sense of hope. Life has intervened of course, but if I’ve been doing that it’s hardly fair or productive.

Any melancholia I was courting was immediately banished by turning over to the Fran Dresher Valentines Schmalentines marathon while I got ready for bed. You just can’t hold onto a blue mood in the face of such utter vapidness.

Plus I am really looking forward to tomorrow!

A post in which I make my way home carefully

I still felt yucky today, but went on in to work anyway. I’ve felt worse, and I had my monthly meeting to prepare for on Monday. When I got to work, I wondered if this was such a great idea, but I got through the day, and got all my stuff done. Little Boots was off today, which made things nicer and easier. It was certainly a fairly quiet day.

The weather started to get bad this afternoon. They had called for snow, but my nose let me down. When I went to the door, I couldn’t smell anything. But then I do have an upper respiratory infection right now.

It started falling around 2pm while I was at lunch. The daycares and schools had closed, so a bunch of people had brought their kids in to work and dumped them in the cafeteria to re-create Lord of the Flies; so in addition to the kitchen crew music, the two televisions, and the bake sale going on in there today (to benefit earthquake victims), there were periodic stampedes of children through the room. Not a particularly restful break.

By the time I got off work, it was snowing pretty heavily but still not sticking to the roads. The temp had just dropped to 32F. I got in the car and began to make my weary way home. I’m afraid of the highway in the rain, much less the snow, and knew it was only a matter of time before everyone crashed into each other anyway, so decided to go through town. That was an OK decision. The South Carolinians were of course driving like dumb-asses, but the roads weren’t really bad enough for even SC drivers to screw up too badly. I did get involved in one small jam, but it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. I made my way to the grocery store. For some reason whenever the weather gets bad I never have anything in the house to eat.

The grocery store was surprisingly quiet (I suppose because everyone else had already been and left – plus I’ve learned not to go to the one in my neighborhood) and I was through in record time.

I headed carefully home, tucked myself in, and enjoyed being out of the weather. I closed all the blinds and just snuggled in.

The Graduate was on TCM tonight. I had never seen it, so decided to watch it. It’s an important movie, and I usually really like Dustin Hoffman; but the movie didn’t do that much for me. Personally, I found the material dated. I could see the artistry of it, and why it was a hit when it was. It really embraced the nihilism of the late 60’s, and the period where disdain for one’s own wealth became the ultimate chic. It didn’t really seem to matter what you were doing, as long as it was anti-establishment and frowned upon. I also felt that the love interest was really just there to forward the plot – she was a passive character, and seemed to just be an object – more of a quest than a person. It didn’t seem particularly romantic to me. He seemed to be focused on her to the point of possessiveness simply because he had nothing else to focus on. I got the Holden Caulfield parallels, but without the stream of consciousness of Catcher, the material fell a bit flat for me.

A post in which I continue to be sick

I still felt pretty bad this morning when I woke up. I decided not to go in to work.

I made some poached eggs because I was dying for them, ate, and slept for a while before conquering the mess in the kitchen.

I hurt all day today, and had a headache almost all day. That is one of the calling cards of Epstein Barr - killer headaches.

I slept for a good part of the day, but watched enough BBC America to know that they re-ran almost every program they showed yesterday. Yeah I was pretty over that.

After a huge lunch of the last of the layered Mexican dip, I slept most of the afternoon.

This evening, I mustered up the energy to go to the mailbox. That was my big excitement for the day. I tended to my virtual farm and aquarium tonight.

Yeah, it pretty much sucked.

A post in which I am sick

Well there was no doubt about it when I got up this morning. I have another %^$%$##@!! upeer respiratory infection. I felt like crap, and could tell this junk was moving down into my chest. Sigh. Deja vu. The Epstein Barr does make me more susceptible to infections, and since my boss would come to work if he had the Black Plague, I guess I'm just going to have to get used to this.

I had to go on in to work, because dead or alive, the slides had to be done. I managed to finish up the 8,000 updates that needed to be done and have a debate about yet another format change before I had to leave to make my doctor's appointment. The doc confirmed, sent me a prescription, and I went to get it. Then I went home and hit the sofa. I slept most of the afternoon, intermittently waking to catch parts of the antique shows on BBC America. I woke up when my fever started going up this evening.

I took some ibuprofen and waited for it to break before getting ready for bed.

A post in which I continue to feel off

I felt worse than yesterday today, but went on in to work. It was one of those days where I couldn't decide if I was getting sick or not, and the slides had to be done.

I debated on going to the doctor today, but when I called they had closed the office for lunch. I tried getting onto the website (they want us to do everything through the website now), but I couldn't tease my password out of it, despite putting in my date of birth, social security number, blood type, grandmother's shoe size, and a partridge in a pear tree. That website is very complicated, and pretty user-unfriendly. Eventually I just gave up.

As the day went on I felt progressively worse, bad enough to beg off of Donnie's birthday dinner tonight. But it was mostly in my head, and I think maybe I just have a cold. That would be novel.

So I just stayed home tonight and ate layered dip again (which makes me notably and remarkably flatulent, I'm embarrassed to say - I was running the cats out of the room, but I digress). I checked emails, and had a really nice email from a guy name Brian. He is apparently a late but dedicated reader. It's always flattering to know that somebody out there is interested.

So I chatted with him for a bit, tended to my farm on FarmVille, and went on to bed.

A post in which I feel kind of off

I mean more so than usual.

I woke up feeling kinda squiffy today. I blamed it on the party last night, but I ran a low-grade fever all morning. Then I heard my boss coughing and sneezing. I’m afraid he has dragged yet another pestilence into the office to share with the rest of us. I nonetheless discharged my duties, putting together a new and still more complicated weekly report my boss has ordered.

Justin emailed me today to invite me to brunch on Sunday, which I am anticipating with great pleasure.

After work I returned home to eat leftover seven layer dip for dinner, which really suited me just fine.

I puttered around the house a bit, changing the sheets, cleaning up the kitchen, and re-planting my FarmVille fields. My new switch-plate for the bathroom came today, and I put that up. It was nice to feel that I had finally finished that job. But I made an early night of it.

A post in which it is Super Bowl Sunday!*

Donnie had invited me to his Super Bowl party, and I was looking forward to it. I really wanted to watch the game, and it’s always better with friends. Plus this solved the problem of me having to have a party.

I knew I had to be there at 6 or so, but I had a lot to do today.

I ate some breakfast. I had a piece of leftover pizza from lunch yesterday, and I decided to try, once again to poach some eggs and make toast to supplement it. I love poached eggs, but have never been able to make them. The first one, as usual, was a disaster. But the second one turned out OK – the first decent poached egg I have ever made. I think I’ve not been waiting for the water to get hot enough before I put them in. So I triumphantly ate breakfast, but making poached eggs destroys the kitchen.

I took a nap. I needed the rest after being out late last night, and because I knew I would be out late tonight, but it put me behind schedule when I woke back up at noon. I hastily cleaned up the breakfast mess, and then ran to the store for the last things I needed for lo mien, and dip fixings. I had agreed to make my mother’s layered taco dip for the Bowl tonight.

I had a friend coming through town today and he was supposed to stop by to see me. I only get to see him about twice a year, and I really like him. His name is Jay, and he lives in Atlanta now. I checked in with him and he was going to be late, which actually suited the way things were running.

I got home and put about half the dip together. Some of the layers are vegetables and can’t be put on until you actually serve it. I had done most of the chopping when Jay got to the house.
After a lovely and relaxing visit with Jay, he left to go on home, but it was almost 5pm. I decided that I could be a little late – I wanted to go ahead and put the lo mien together so I wouldn’t have to come home and cook Monday night.

Well I got the lo mien done in pretty much record time, but making Chinese food destroys the kitchen worse than anything – even poached eggs. There is all the chopping mess, and then you have to put it together quickly so you have to drag everything out at once. I have to say this was the best lo mien I have ever made. My noodles weren’t quite as done as they should be, but I feel like I have the combination correct for the flavor.

Working as quickly as possible, I cleaned up the kitchen and headed for Donnie’s. I was only about 20 minutes or so late. They had delayed the game waiting for me (I felt kind of bad about that, but it’s easy enough to do with a DVR). I put the dip together, got a plate of food (having worked up an appetite earlier, and having taken time for only a light lunch today) and settled in to watch the game.

It was a good game, and my dip was roundly praised. Always a good combo. All the food was good.

We were rooting for the Saints. They’re from the south, and I feel sorry for New Orleans. They could use something to raise their spirits. Plus Peyton Manning had defected from them. Against all odds, the Saints came from behind to win. The last quarter was spectacular football, and the final interception Tracy Porter of the Saints ran in for a touchdown was like something out of a sports movie. It was beautiful. I am so happy for them!

Tracy Porter of the New Orleans Saints (left) breaks away to run an interception in for a 74 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. What a play!

Mom's Seven Layer Mexican Dip is just always a hit. It was so pretty Christina said I should make a picture of it, so I did.

A post in which I go to a lesbian bar

I woke up this morning not feeling well. I just felt icky and hung over, despite not getting drunk last night. Once again, I had plenty to do today; and once again it did not get accomplished.

I dragged myself to the sofa and watched some BBC America as I tried to wake up. I’ve been in flea market withdrawal. It’s been weeks since I’ve been able to go; so I finally roused myself and drug myself over the White Horse Road for a bit. It was clear this morning, but still soggy, and there weren’t any yard sale people there. I did go inside and see the Gourmet Food Lady, and picked up some stuff; including a big ole hunk of hoop cheese (old timers call it rat cheese). It’s one of my faves, and was cheaper than I usually see it. Since it was shrink wrapped in heavy plastic, I figured it was pretty safe. I got home, toasted some on whole wheat bread, and ate it with scrambled eggs and hot sauce – yum! After that I had a nap and tried to get motivated. Without a lot of success.

Christina texted me that she had passed her Nurse’s Exam and was now officially a nurse. They were going out tonight to celebrate, and I was invited, which was nice.

I had planned to do my taxes today, so I called the H&R Block near my house. I’ve always had good luck getting in there without waiting forever. Ordinarily I do my taxes myself, but with the window credit and all this year, I decided to pay to have them done. I got right in, and the guy that did them was very nice. Sadly, Gracine didn’t qualify for the energy efficient tax credit (the car had not been introduced when that measure was passed), but I did get my window credit. For my first time itemizing, it went pretty smoothly.

While I was out I decided to go ahead and pick up groceries. I had decided to make lo mien this weekend for lunches next week. I had the noodles in the freezer. It is damn near impossible to find proper lo mien noodles, so when I find some I get them. I went to the Chinese grocery for odds and ends, including some baby bok choi. They have lovely bok choi there. They have pretty savoy cabbage also, but since they are consistently the size of small waste baskets I don’t buy them there.

When I got home I put stuff away and rested for a bit before I went to meet C&J for dinner.
We were going to a new place tonight called Mojo’s. I had never been, and couldn’t find out anything about it online. I called Christina and talked to her, and apparently its lesbian owned and operated. It’s become a hangout for the local lesbians, but they are downplaying that aspect in the interest of business I suppose. Apparently The Castle has lost their stranglehold on the liquor license board, or Mojo’s is flying under the radar.

It’s an OK place. It’s more bar than restaurant, but nice enough inside. There’s a good-sized bar area, an eating area, and a dance floor. It’s decorated with WWII pinup girl poster re-prints, which I thought was pretty cool and low-key. The rest of the décor is traditional lesbian chic. Gray floor tiles, brown walls, corrugated metal ceiling. The general impression is that it was designed to be hosed out if necessary. One look around the clientele, though, would tell you that you’re in a lesbian bar; lots of no-nonsense women, which frankly suits me just fine. The menu was all frozen deep-fried stuff. But we were there for a celebration, not for the food.

Kimbley and Laura were there, and Donnie and Mark came in. Two friends of K&L, named Toni and Ronnie came in. They’re very nice. We had appetizers and food, but Mark and Donnie declined to eat (my impression is that the limited menu didn’t meet with their approval). I had a couple of drinks with the group, but then the bar stuff cranked up. Very loud music kept conversation to a minimum. I remembered why I don’t go to bars any more.

I hung out for a while and danced a bit, but frankly I was pretty bored. I was there with people I really like, but couldn’t really talk to them. Of course flirting opportunities in a lesbian bar were pretty scarce for me. There were some gay guys in there, but they were in a group, and seemed to lean towards the ‘skinny bar-fag’ genre.

I invited the group back to my place, but Christina was in a party mood and wanted to stay to dance. I was just noised out. I didn’t want to be a party-pooper, but I was pretty much done.

Russ had invited me over, and I called and talked to Billy, but they were headed for bed.

I went on home and headed for bed myself.

A post in which I visit with Miss Kat and dana

It was another rainy, yucky day today. All day long. When I got of work, I made my soggy way home to change. I had invited Miss Kat and dana over, but they preferred that I come there. I really couldn’t blame them.

There was nothing in the house to eat that I wanted to wait on, since I had let the fridge empty out this week in preparation for going to the mountains. I could have had a cheese sandwich, but just really felt like eating something better on a Friday night. I usually stop at Long John Silver’s when I go over there. I can just grab a quick meal of fish tacos (a guilty pleasure of mine); but tonight I thought “Screw it. If I’m going to eat something bad for me anyway, I’ll just get what I want.” So I went to another Chinese buffet, this one over off White Horse Road. For some reason I just die for cheap Chinese food around the time of Chinese New Year. I’m sure it’s completely in my head, but I indulge it.

Of course tonight’s meal wasn’t as much fun as last night with Nicole (nor was the food as good, frankly), but I have an excellent book right now. It’s another Charlaine Harris book, called Poppy Done to Death. This series features the intrepid Aurora Teagarden, sleuth in a small southern town, rather than her more popular Sookie Stackhouse character. I have one of that series in the pile too, but there’s just something about a whodunit when the weather is ugly.

After eating enough to keep a small Ethiopian village alive for a week, I went on over to Miss Kat’s, to find her at home alone. dana had taken Miss Helen to the auction tonight. We sat and talked and visited until dana and Miss Helen came in. I helped them carry in all the stuff, and Miss Helen showed me her disaster pantry, where she is putting food aside in case of the rioting/war she believes is coming. She said “Can you shoot a gun?” To which I replied that I can, but haven’t for many many years. “Too bad.” She commented. Apparently I am to be one of the many casualties of the coming difficulties.

After visiting for a bit with dana I headed on home.

A post in which I go out for Chinese Buffet

I talked to Mother this morning about the trip, and apparently they are expecting a lot of snow and ice in the mountains this weekend, so the tri p to Granny’s is cancelled. I was disappointed, because I wanted to see Mom and Granny, but at the same time, this left me free to make plans for the Super Bowl. I had agreed to go up before I realized the game was this weekend. I got in touch with Russ and Billy, and Kimbley and Laura, but no game parties planned that I can find out about. Maybe I’ll have people in myself. If it wasn’t on a Sunday I’d be all for it, but having a party and then having to work the next day may be more than I really want to take on.

I got a lovely response from Lynn on my first Kindred update today. That was nice.

Nicole and I had planned on going to dinner and having a visit tonight, so despite the weather we decided to go. It had snowed lightly during the day, but by the time I got off work it was just wet drizzly yuck outside – in short February weather. February is the cruelest month, not April. February is the month in which we Southerners pay for our pretty weather the rest of the year. We have unpleasant Januaries sometimes, and I’ve been through ice storms in March, but February is consistently disgusting, nasty, raw weather.

Not to mention it contains Valentine’s Day, the bane of single people everywhere. Nothing like a special day where society says, in unison “Hi there you pathetic loser! Life is passing you by AND your expendable to society! Hope you don’t die alone and get eaten by your cats!” But I digress.

After going by the library, and (God help me) the grocery store (I was out of milk. I take solace in the fact that it is my duty to buy groceries during inclement weather whether or not I actually need anything. I did go to a better neighborhood tonight instead of the redneck store in mine, so it wasn't such a madhouse.), I went home to meet Nicole.

We went to Ni Hao, since I’ve been craving Chinese buffet for several weeks now, and I basically ate like I just got out of prison or something. I’m seriously considering just abandoning all dietary restraint for the month. I could use the boost in morale. Not the best idea in the world from a clothes-fitting perspective, but it makes a dandy rationalization.

After supper, we just went back to my place, turned on some music, cracked a bottle of Pinot Noir, and talked. Nicole is a talker too, so we never lack for conversation. She’s nearing the end of school, has landed a fabulous intern position, and things are starting to happen for her; and I am just thrilled. Girlfriend has paid her dues.

It was a lovely evening

A post in which I try to get motivated to pack

It was a frustrating day today at work. I spent over two hours poring over a new report my boss wants done. I was trying to figure out how I kept ending up $5million off. Eventually, I realized that the report was wrong.

I sent out my first progress report to the Kindred today. I’m to send a status report each month for my pledge year. I felt good about sending it out today. I think I’m making tangible progress towards my goals, and I had before and after pictures of the bedroom to send, showing the new valances. I also sent a sample recipe from the book I’m working on.

I would have gone out to dinner tonight on the way home, but I had finished my book today at lunch. I don’t really like going out to eat by myself. With a book I can enjoy it well enough, but I wasn’t going with nothing to read. It’s just as well. I need to clean out the fridge before the weekend, and I’m going out to dinner with Nicole tomorrow anyway. It’s not as if I need the extra calories. After getting through the holidays in pretty good shape, I’ve eased vigilance in January, and my work pants are getting tight again. Back to the salad.

I went home and finished up the last of the super baked beans I made last weekend. I messed around online, watched a little telly, and chatted with a friend on Facebook. I was putting off packing. It needed to be done tonight since I’m visiting with Nicole tomorrow. Ordinarily I don’t mind packing, but I just couldn’t get motivated tonight. I had already decided not to do laundry before I went. Then I decided not to pack up the Blue Willow dishes, which I really should do so I can get them out of the house and on to Lisa. Getting things out of the house is a big deal when your house is as small as mine. I’ve been letting the green room junk up and I really need to clear it out. But I decided to wait on that, primarily because I don’t have anything to wrap the dishes in, and didn’t feel like going back out to buy newspapers; which is a pretty piss-poor excuse.

Eventually I did throw some things in a bag, so the barest basic is done. Then I went to bed.

A post in which I get my hair cut

It was busy today, as I knew it would be. I had the usual Monday stuff to do, plus month end to assemble. But I’m used to doing it all, so I just sat down and started getting stuff out.

I finally had my appointment with Russ today. He had put me off week before last, and then his dad passed last week, so he was gone all week. At five weeks out (I try to have it cut every three weeks), I felt like I had a Church O’ God bouffant.

Russ seems to be fine. He is hard at work catching up his client base after being out of town.

After being shorn (I felt a bit like a New Zealand sheep must feel on my way out), I headed for the library and picked up a book that had been on hold for me since last Friday. Thankfully it was still there.

I would have gone out for something to eat on the way home, but there really isn’t anything around between the library and my house. I am really craving Chinese buffet. I went by the one near my house. I haven’t been in there in months because the food quality had gone down so precipitously; but I didn’t feel like driving back across town, and was craving strongly enough to give them another chance. They’re closed. I figured they wouldn’t last when the buffet started looking so straggly. They would offer to cook anything special you wanted and put it out, but that kind of isn’t the reason you go to a buffet.

I went on home and ate stuff out of the fridge. I need to clear it out before the weekend anyway. I’m supposed to be going to see Granny this weekend with Mother.

A post in which I do the new valances

I woke up feeling pretty crappy today. I had a headache and a tired feeling that I recognize as the calling-card of Epstein Barr. I decided not to go in to work.

After a hearty breakfast of baked beans on toast with egg (the Brits really do know something about how to eat), I turned in for a nap. I slept most of the morning, and then watched BBC America for a good portion of the early afternoon.

After lunch I was feeling a bit better, and decided that the day shouldn’t be a total loss. As another motivating factor, I have my first monthly progress report for the Kindred on Wednesday and wanted to have something good to report.

So I got out the sewing machine and made the new valances. They turned out pretty well. They do make the bedroom windows look finished. I’m not happy with them, of course, because I know where the mistakes are, but they’re the type of things that people who don’t sew are unlikely to notice. I am becoming more experienced at sewing. I did a lot of the ironing and pinning in advance today, and when I finished one valance, I put it up to see what needed to be fixed before I did the others. That saved me some time. Instead of pulling out seams, I could just re-iron and re-pin the others.

By the time that was done I was tired, but at least felt that I had accomplished something today.

The bedroom, sans valances. I hated the old ones so much that when I took them down for the window people I just got rid of them.

Bedroom with the new valances up. Jinx wasted no time going in to inspect.

Detail on the new valances. You can see a little bit of the pattern. The drapery panel had a 2" crest on top, so I used it and did the two other panels I made to match.