Afterglow

Gainesville

Happy Birthday Sandy! Your birth was a major life changer for me-- probably annoying at first, but rewarding ever since, more so each and every year.

Lessee, yesterday: Didn't make it out to do errands (last night I was too tired to put an olive in my martini-- now THAT'S tired!) after staying up too late, too wired. Not sure what it was I did yesterday that tired me out so, but I'm sure it was interesting. Right. I got the bloody Xmas cards finished and ready to mail

Oh yeah. I made a crock pot mushroom soup, which was actually rather good, if a bit watery. A pale shadow of Sandy's bravura dish, to be sure. It has turned suddenly cold here, after the heat wave, so soup was a good idea. The spinach salad, not so good. I did all the right things, but it just didn't work.

Tonight I did much better: Leanne's "Indian Chicken" (breasts marinated overnight in a yogurt based thing, then baked for 45 minutes) and the fabulous FC #83 (p.47) Indian Stir Fry (cabbage). I couldn't find cumin seeds, and used Publix's cole slaw mix of shredded cabbage and carrots, but it was still amazing. Bill was ecstatic-- he has long been in search of something called "Indy" which was bar food he had as an exchange student in the Netherlands in the 70's. He says this is the closest to it he has had since. Whoa! Wasn't expecting that. I've searched for Indy in the past without luck.

Had a very traumatic experience today. Ventured out briefly to mail off the last of the holiday cards (yay) and stopped at the Publix to pick up a few things. After being in the store about 10 minutes, I realized my wedding ring was missing! Kee-rist! I abandoned my cart, started retracing my steps through the store, realizing it was probably futile trying to spot it on those damnable terrazzo floors. Tried to keep calm. Back outside, trying to remember my path from through the parking lot, realizing how hopeless it would be to find it out there anyway. By the time I got to Blue I was starting whimper a bit, wondering if I'd accidentally let it drop in the drive-by mailbox at the PO. I opened Blue's door, and... there it was, between the door and the driver's seat, the sweetest sight I've seen in a long long time. I knew when I'd put the two rings on today that they were very loose (cold weather). Once I had it back on my finger, I kept my left hand in a fist the rest of the trip, and took both rings off and put in their safe place as soon as I got home. This has never happened before. Are my fingers shrinking? Must work on this problem.

I'd be happy if I had even started taking my tree down, Mom. Out of sight, not quite out of mind. The snow scene is down and partially packed away, but no progress today. I'm glad to hear you're organizing. If possible, write a few notes on a post-it for the important ones. That's what I'm trying to do this year. The stories slip away faster than the artifacts themselves do. You have things from Kales. Do you have any from Rose?

That was not the greatest story to relate on the day I bit the bullet and made airplane reservations. I will have nightmares from now until I get back, and probably beyond. This situation is the result of the swell deregulation of air travel brought to us by some actor or other and his pals. Lower fares! More competition! Better service! Yeah, right.

Blogger is still acting a bit weird, so let's hope I can post this. If not, well, no great loss.

Anyone want any Gators Rule stuff? We are awash with it. Newspapers dense with full page ads for it. Mostly t-shirts, but other stuff too. Place your orders now, while supplies last!

And some nice local congratulation ads too, especially Publix. I'd post it here if I could, for it was priceless: Full white page in local paper. A small nutcracker in the center, subtly altered to look like gator jaws. Caption: "The Nuts Should Have Seen It coming"

Maybe things will get back to normal tomorrow.