Creeping Crud

I don't know if this is simply a very nasty cold or a mild case of the flu. All I know is that its symptoms are lingering on much too long for my liking. This current malady reminds me of my extremely low tolerance for over the counter cold remedies. I awoke with a sizable Nyquil hangover that lasted well into the morning. After lunch, realizing the sinus pressure was pretty much intolerable, I dosed up with an appropriate amount of ibuprofin and decongestant. This resulted in a Sudafed rush that propelled me through a highly productive afternoon at work. So productive in fact that I collapsed into a two hour nap when I got home this evening. Makes for an interesting day. And just now, during a long, lovely, steamy shower, I learned two things during a sneezing fit of five doozies in a row. One, that my facial cleanser tastes absolutely horrible and I vow to never take it to the kitchen and mistake it for a condiment. And, two, it is more than remarkable how sneezing makes leg hair stand on end, resulting in an exceptionally close shaving experience. I'm now headed off to bed, taking my creeping, cruddy cold and silky legs along for the night.

Threeze

Three things in this house that are in dire need of cleaning

1. My bathroom
2. The kitchen floor
3. Office/computer room

Three things that drive Newton and Einstein nuts

1. Lights that move around on a wall
2. Bottlecaps
3. Closed doors

Three things hanging on the back of my bedroom door

1. Pink feather boa
2. John's brown shirt
3. Deflated Tinker Bell balloon from my birthday party last summer
   

Three things that have recently emerged from the melting snow in my yard

1. My moon garden
2. Pink flamingoes
3. Back issues of the local shopper

Three wonderful things I have eaten in the last 24 hours

1. Toasted cinnamon raisin bread
2. French Onion Soup
3. Lindor truffle
   

Three things I must accomplish before leaving on vacation

1. Make a comprehensive list of stuff the 15yo must do while I'm gone
2. Create a new playlist for the iPod
3. Do all the laundry, then try not to take it all with me

Three things that take forever to get over with

1. Waiting for an ingrown toenail to grow out
2. Winter in South Dakota
3. A song on the radio that you really can't stand
   

Three things that I have absolutely no control over, and since accepting this fact, have become a much happier person

1. The seemingly senseless and arbitrary decisions made by the computer guys at work
2. The fact that I develop feelings for one man or another. I have taken this one step further by actually learning where the line of appropriateness is in expressing such feelings. I'm becoming such a grown-up.
3. The inception and enactment of Daylight Savings Time

Wildflowers & Higher Education

I uncorked a bottle of J Lohr Wildflowers about an hour ago. Then I chatted with Colleen about the house and moving progress. I am now on my second glass of this lovely and very reasonably priced red wine. And I can still type! And I was thinking about wine and higher education. And you may possibly be wondering why anyone would make such an association. Well. My wonderful and most brilliant son who is attending SDSU is fortunate enough to have a healthy chunk of his schooling paid for with scholarship dollars. And the bulk of those dollars are generously contributed by The Lohr Foundation. Think about it. Every single time I have purchased a bottle of J Lohr wine in the last, actually, the number of years isn't all that important in the cosmic scheme of things, few years, which is quite a few bottles, even before I gave birth to my son, I was making an investment in his future education! Was that a run-on sentence? I believe it was. Although a reasonably coherent one. I went shopping in SF this afternoon. I did not purchase any wine but I did buy two pairs of shoes, one on sale, one on clearance. Anything to make my cranky feet happy. And now I have this amazing little wire with a headphone-size jack on each end. I plug one end into the center console in the car, plug the other end into my iPod (which I do know how to program all by myself, thank you), hit the Aux button on the dash, and magically, music I have loaded onto the iPod plays out of the stereo speakers in the car!!! This I find completely amazing. And very cool. So I would like to share with you the frequency of artists, as best as my whacked short-term memory can reconstruct, for the approximately two hours I spent in the car.

• Eric Clapton, 3
• The Eagles, 3
• Hank Harris, 4, one of them was a Red Willow tune
• Abby SomeOne, 5
• Sheryl Crow, 2
• Bonnie Raitt, 1
• Bering Strait, 1
• Little Shop of Horrors soundtrack, 1
• Lyle Lovett, 1
• The Beatles, 1
• John Lennon, 1
• Heart, 1
• Jennifer Warnes, 1
• Sarah MacLachlan, 1
• Tim Buckley, 1

Which makes me wonder about the randomness of the shuffle setting. And how random it truly is. Then I think about the Eisenberg uncertainty principle and if somehow the fact that I'm listening alters the playlist. I'm going to avoid thinking for the rest of the evening and see if I can manage to stay up and watch the Red Willow 30th Reunion Concert on public TV. It's only forty minutes away. I think I'm up for it.

Victoria's Dirty Little Secret

Those bastards in Victoria's Secret's corporate marketing department! They have reeled me in like the unsuspecting fish that I am!! Let me first say that I own only one garment from this retail establishment. And this is how owning one little pair of cotton panties can take over your life. I checked the mailbox. Lying in there was the latest issue of a particular magazine. I brought said magazine into the house to peruse its contents. Before I take a look into any magazine, I first leaf through it and dispose of the many annoying renewal cards and other innocuous advertising inserts. They normally go straight into the recycling bin. For some reason my attention was drawn to a (of course) pink certificate/coupon looking thing. I picked it up off the pile of paper gathering on the table. This innocent postcard sized document entitled the holder to a free pair of VS panties. White cotton panties in various styles and sizes. Something Free!!! my feminine brain screamed. But we all know that nothing is truly free. I tucked the coupon into my purse and forgot about it. Some time later I found myself in a shopping mall and happened to walk past a Victoria's Secret store. Hmm. Did I still have that free panties coupon? Indeed I did and the expiration date was only days away. I ventured inside, scooped up a pair in the high-cut style and waited in the check-out line. I glanced down at the panties (free!!) in my hot little hand. Seven dollars and fifty cents! The price for owning these panties was seven dollars and fifty cents! And I, feeling quite smug at the moment, was going to get them free. The salesgirl wrapped them in pink tissue paper and tucked them into an adorable little shopping bag. She rang up the coupon, beamed at me as she handed over the bag, and insisted that I have a nice day. That was fun, I thought. A few days later I wore the VS white cotton panties. They were so comfortable! Stayed put, didn't ride up, fit me juuuust right. I've worn them several times. They launder up just dandy and they never spend much time at all in the drawer until I simply must wear them again. And I've been thinking. What if I had a whole drawer full of them! I could be in VS heaven every day! I can't believe that my own frugal self is considering investing in a week's worth of panties at seven fifty a pop! Which brings me back to those merciless bastards in their marketing department. Just give her one pair free. Then she'll be hooked. And come back for more. I'll bet they've jacked up the price to fifteen bucks. Pernicious panty pushers!

Sunday Muffins

Yes, it is possible to put too many blueberries in the muffins. The yummy factor is significantly increased, but be warned. Blueberries are not an appropriate structural material. In fact, the structural integrity of the muffin is so very compromised that the muffin must be eaten on a plate with a fork. If I had lacked the foresight to use paper liners in the muffin pan, they would not have come out in one piece. I must admit that I used paper liners because I am lazy. Paper liners minimize the clean-up and you do not have to spend a tedious thirty seconds to grease the wells with cooking spray. You, too, can make these wonderful muffins! The recipe follows. I try to offset the healthful effects of the oatmeal by sprinkling a half teaspoon or so of raw granulated sugar on the top of each muffin before baking. This results in a lovely, crunchy crown.

Blueberry Muffins

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 beaten egg
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup blueberries

Stir together the buttermilk and oatmeal and allow to sit for an hour before proceeding. You can also do this step the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Cream together the butter and brown sugar, then add the egg, then the buttermilk/oatmeal mixture. Stir together the dry ingredients and fold into the batter. Add blueberries. Spoon into muffin pan, I strongly recommend paper liners! Bake for 25 minutes at 375. Makes one dozen. Enjoy.

Yes, I have the pink phone. And I have received my first call on it! Last night from the 15yo son who needed a ride home. From now on I shall curb the urge to list pink things. Although I don't know how I could have possibly forgotten the pink straw cowboy (cowgirl?) hat.

More Pink

How could I have forgotten my pink lunchbox that comes to work with me most days? Also the pink sunglasses. The pink alligator (it's vinyl) tote bag. Not one but two pink purses. Pink feather boa. Pink suede winter boots. The five shades of pink nail polish. And the flock of seven pink flamingoes out there in the yard braving the last remnants (we hope) of winter.

Pink

I can't say that pink is my favorite color. When queried as to what my favorite color is, that can vary depending on my mood, what day it is, sort of like the rules for Fizzbin. I'm likely to say blue or green. Maybe red. And I have discovered that my reply is likely to match the color I am wearing at the time. But I am viscerally drawn to pink. You may have noticed that the backdrop to this blog is pink. I got married in a pink dress. My friend Colleen, who is the luckiest Goodwill shopper I have ever encountered, found a pair of new sandals for me there. I was complaining that I could never find the shoe bargains there like she does because they seem to never have my size. Later that week she showed up at work with a mysterious brown paper bag. Inside the bag was the very cute pair of very pink sandals. Now my mission is to find a sundress to go with them. Just for fun, I will now list as much of the pink stuff I own from memory. I will not poke around in closets or dig in my purse, I'll just root around in my head.

1. Luggage
2. Cowboy (Cowgirl?) Boots
3. Computer Bag
4. Wallet
5. Cell Phone Case
6. Change Purse
7. Binders for Poetry
8. Flash Drive
9. Camera & Case
10. Two rather hideous formal dresses
11. Journal
12. Baseball Cap
13. Hooded Sweatshirt
14. Numerous articles of clothing
15. Various assorted scarves & jewelry
16. iPod case
17. Backpack
18. Ski Jacket
    

There is a great deal of pink in my kitchen. Dishes, ceramic tiles, countertops, gadgets. The walls in my kitchen and living room are painted a lovely shade of pink, Lucite Pink Sangria. I have come to the conclusion that I have not chosen pink, rather, pink has chosen me. And just in the last few minutes, pink has spoken to me once more. I am due for a cell phone upgrade. My provider has reminded me of this numerous times in the last month. I went online to pay my bill. I was thinking that my current phone is just fine. I don't need a new one. Until this morning when I discovered that the Motorola Razr is available in my upgrade options. For free. In pink. I'm weak. I caved.