And Another Thing . . .
And Another Thing . . .
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Sunday, January 18, 2004 Simon was playing a video game, Need for Speed, or some such thing. The point is to maneuver a car at high speeds through city streets, turning corners and swerving. I sat down next to him to tell him something and watched for not even a minute - and felt car sick! I've even felt car sick when I'm driving! Both of these times, just a wee bit nauseous, but still. How ridiculous. Maybe I have a sensitive inner ear or something, which is why I've been prone to vertigo lately. (Gretchen has to close her eyes in the movie theater when that opening bit comes on - that feels like you're in the rollercoaster car zooming around the giant popcorn and Jujubes! At least I haven't reached that stage. Yet.)
I received the most wonderful gift today! I didn't have to go grocery shopping after all. I shop every 2 weeks but I'd gotten a little off cycle by going on a Tues or Wed a couple of times instead of the weekend. So Anal Annie that I am, I'd rather wait another week and get back on track. It works out better with our pay cycles too. I may have to stop and get a few things (milk comes to mind) but I'm going to try not to, in spite of the fact that Simon is bemoaning the fact that we have "no food in the house". I will say he's gotten much better about eating leftovers the last few years. Used to be he balked every time we ate something twice in a row or even twice in a week. He almost understands how much I love using things up, getting a tad creative sometimes. It's like even if he moans and groans about something I'm fixing, he's learned that I usually pull it off pretty well. Speaking of no food in the house, I was thinking the other day about a house we looked at in 2000,that had so much food and water in the basement, it was obvious they were preparing for Y2K. You know how you end up having shorthand for things? When referring to that house, it was "that Y2K house on Harvest". Ever since I took the doors off our pantry, I wonder if people think we are Y2Kers. It's just that we don't have a lot of cabinet space in the kitchen and I typically buy in bulk and when on sale. I could never ever be one of those people that stops at the grocery store every day for that day's dinner. Oy, it would drive me crazy on so many levels.
You may recall that Simon gave Steve the first season of The Sopranos on video for Christmas. This week I rented the 2nd season on DVD. We use Simon's PlayStation 2 as a DVD player. Neither Steve nor I had seen anything on DVD before. Our jaws dropped at the richness of color and the detail! I joked, "You know, this DVD thing might just catch on after all!" We use Simon's game controller as the remote and I'll admit it took me a couple of refresher courses the first night we tried to watch. Simon had shown me how to use it the day before. I had no idea those things had so many buttons! Anyway, it's very cool - and we're just watching straight shows, none of the extra features that I know DVDs come with. We may have to get us one of them DVD players of our own someday. I know they are ridiculously cheap now. Compared to the first VCR Lee and I bought for $700, back in the day, anyway.
I baked some of those huge Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies today - the kind Gretchen made for us all at Christmas time. Each cookie is 1/4 cup dough. Like my new cookie sheet? It's a Christmas gift from Gretchen. It's one of those Air Bake insulated ones, or whatever you call them. It's wonderful.
This picture is for Bonnie who always says my food pictures shoot her sugar numbers sky high! Corn syrup is the ingredient that makes them so soft and chewy (and a bit shiny!) These are for a birthday at work tomorrow - for someone who doesn't like brownies quite so much. I know, I don't get it either. But I know this kind of cookie is one of his favorites so I think he'll like these big honkers just fine.
I finally remembered to start watering my amaryllis bulbs. I have 3 held over from previous years but this is the only one showing any signs of rebirth. Time will tell.
This is the amaryllis Dad gave me for Christmas this year, as is his tradition. This year's package included a bonus - a pot of paperwhites too! What a nice taste of spring these will be.
Yesterday I rearranged my studio just a tiny bit. My desk is out of the picture just to the right. I had my little 13" TV/VCR on this paper sorter thing, which was fine for when I was working on a TV tray right in front of it. (I do that when I'm doing routine assembling or something.) For actual creating, I work at my craft table which is kitchen counter height. Once I put that new rolling cabinet (on the left there), it obscured the TV too much. I generally only listen to the TV, but still. So I had this brainstorm yesterday to move the TV to the top of the tall cabinet. I can still see if it I'm sitting down. So I moved some plants and candles and my lamp and ever-present water bottle to the paper sorter. But it was way too dull on the bare wood. I tried a white dresser scarf - boring! I knew it needed color. Voila - this is a pillowcase I made years ago. The fabric is black with row and rows of color quilts printed on it - with real quilt patterns, not just some artist's rendition. I love these. (They hide drool stains nicely.) The arrangement needs a little work - a little too lined up, but I'll have to live with it a while before I figure it out.
You can't see them in that picture but I filled the 2 birdfeeders outside my studio window today. Actually those I just brushed the snow off. The others I refilled because they were completely empty. Poor birdies in this recent cold snap. It was the first time anyone had walked in the backyard since all of our snow fell. It's about up to my knees. I need to go back out and put suet cakes in the sides of the wooden feeder. I tried shoveling the deck but man, that's a lot of heavy snow. I took the push shovel with me, hoping to push the snow under the railing and over the side. It kinda sorta worked. At least I cleared somewhat of a path for Reggi. She has her "tunnels" outside all the doors where she putters around. After that invigorating upper body workout, I took Reggi for a walk at Fellows Road Park. It was sunny and about 25 degrees. The sidewalk in the park had been plowed somewhat recently so it wasn't bad walking. Then I thought it would be fun to walk down a path that's wood chip lined and so it hasn't been plowed. You know, romp in the snow? The snow was up to my mid-calf. A few people had walked there before but it was still a lot of work for both of us so I turned us around. So much for romping. It was so sunny and beautiful, it actually crossed my mind to lie down and make a snow angel. But I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get up with my bulky clothes on and would lie there like a beached whale until spring. No wait, Reggi would have gone for help. "What's that Lassie? Timmy fell in the well??" Reading: Live Simply in the City, by Jonathan Allan & Lynne Cantwell Listening to in the car: The Secret Life of Bees
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