I am a great lover of good food. From a hunk of cheese with a hunk of bread and some wine to an elaborate multi-course tasting menu, I love good food. But sometimes, for me, good food is not always snob-worthy. Some of my favorite comfort meals in the world:
American cheese grilled on potato bread with a can of Campbell's tomato soup
Fried up burger in jarred red sauce over boxed spaghetti with Kraft grated Parmesan and a slice of packaged bread with--wait for it--Country Crock spread on it (I'm sure this is due to the overwhelming presence of margarine in my childhood. I find non-butter "butter" comforting.)
Reallyreally rich mashed potatoes with heaping helpings of sauerkraut on top of them
Harvard beets forked right from the jar
large curd, full fat cottage cheese on Triscuits with Fresca or TaB or ginger ale
Other than the beets, these are all, in one way or another, a remnant of my childhood. I don't have any particularly fond or poor memories of these foods; I simply remember these simple things. And I enjoy them shamelessly.
The other week, when I was in Ann Arbor, training, I started having limb tingling. Not just my feet or legs or hands or arms, but everything from my elbows to my fingertips and my knees to my toes. It feels like when your body parts "fell asleep" and are "waking up." This is called neuropathy. Apparently to have it in arms AND hands AND legs AND feet on both sides is not as common as other types of neuropathy. I could have a really bad pinched nerve somewhere, probably in my cervical spine. I could have Buerger's Disease. I could have MS. I could have autoimmune peripheral neuropathy. I could have hip cancer. Other than the last one, all are plausible due to my autoimmune history. (But, of course, hypochondriac that I can be, I do remember having very bad hip pain last week, once, and a few other times in the last year.) Whatever it is, more drugs, unfortunately, will most likely be the answer. My appointment is in a few weeks.
Nate took his (recently paid off) Catera into the fancy dealer shop (where he bought the car) and found out his radiator needs replaced right before our vacation for $800 and to repair his long broken AC would be another $2400, not to mention his sunroof isn't working so the poor bugger is roasting to death. We said nay on the AC as that would cost more than the car is worth now. And he called the local guy to see what he could do for the radiator. $400. GREAT! But parts won't be in until next week. When we're in Rehoboth. Call to grandparents: Can we borrow a car for a week, because we need two cars to get to the beach house with all of the stuff and kids and the dog? "Yes." GREAT!
A week spent worrying that I am sucking horse dong at this job. Conference call today. I am WAY far ahead (like a week or so of work) of many of the new girls and even most of the old-hands. Yay! I'm a bit competitive (stop smirking!!) and am now fretting over the week I am going to lose on vacay. Almost immediately after I had my "yay!" moment, I then had my "oh NO!!" moment. Typical.
Our dishwasher has been not working for a while. The Sears repair guy gave me our $400 estimate and then told me it'd be cheaper to buy a new one. A) No it wouldn't, we're picky. B) I want to repair and not replace. Better for the Mother and all that. But C) $400?!?!? SUCKS! Damn Mother! We approved the estimate. Parts will be in next week, so repairs are the following week.
Car and dishwasher aside, we are eagerly (yeah, right) awaiting the tuition bill from Holden's high school. Since he is attending another district (the science magnate school in the next district over), we'll have to pay them. He won some money based on merit, but apparently we're now "rich" and therefore the first people from out of district to have to pay anything at this school. The rest of the kids have always received needs-based money from the science foundation to cover the whole tuition. SUCKS! (Who knew being rich sucked? We've waited 15 years to be "too rich" for something, and now I wonder why. Bills just expand to meet income somehow. Where're my mani/pedis? Where's my weekly massage? Where's my wine cellar? Where's my housecleaner? Where the HELL is my pool-slash-whirlpool-slash-patio-slash-poolhouse cum guesthouse?)
Tomorrow: Laundry, and then we PACK! Happy 4th of Ju-freaking-ly!!
Make no mistake, I do have my trashy novels ready for the beach!
These are a few things I have learned this past year:
No matter how long the darkness is, there IS light again at the end.
My boys are soon adults. (!!!!!!!)
My boys are more funny, intelligent and independent than I ever realized, and I like to think I have almost everything to do with that.
Keith Olbermann is the most entertaining and wonderful newsman on TV. Who knew I'd love someone from ESPN so much??
The face--the literal face--of politics is changing. A woman and a man of mixed race running for POTUS is amazing!!
The figurative face of politics can change--witness Obama's campaign full of dignity, truth and actual hope. It's not just a slogan.
When one is cruising through all of the CSI episodes ever made on Spike TV and CBS and has almost run out, ECT will make them all new and fresh to watch again. Not that I recommend this method of re-loving your shows.
Surprises can come in small and large packages, sometimes at the exact same time.
Life can throw crap at you for a few years and seemingly devestate your world, but it is more than likely not a lifetime of bad luck and life will bless you again at some point.
I am ready to try to keep houseplants alive again. (Wish me and my black thumb luck!)
Costco's filet mignon is about the best thing ever meat-wise.
Frank's Red Hot--a longtime favorite--can fix more foods than previously thought.
Good coffee and red wine (long consumed, but never before fully appreciated) are indispensible little bits of heaven in my everyday routine.
All that loud music as a kid really does effect your hearing. Sigh... (As a connected "thing I've learned": Closed Captioning is a wonderful invention.)
You can grow older and grow more liberal contrary to popular belief. (Right, my socialist little hubby? MWAH!)
You can absolutely retain "cool-ness" as you grow older. Sometimes you can even increase it.
Actually more of a crazy-assed, screaming rant than a whine:
What the fuck is wrong with that smunt devil-woman?? When will she get it?? She is DONE! FINISHED! OUTTA THERE! A L-O-S-E-R!! FINITO!! Buh-BYE!! I seriously cannot take it anymore. Her pandering, her lies, her stiff delivery, raised eyebrows, ugly pantsuits, conservative beliefs, and general retardedness. GO AWAY HELLARY!! Go away, already!! Please!! We grown-ups have important work we have to get to, and you're holding us up.
And on to wine: This article in the Times today "vin"dicates me, finally. (See what I did there? A little bilingual pun for your reading enjoyment.) I barely ever spend more than $12 for a bottle of wine and some of them are not only quite good, but actually better than some redonkulously expensive wines I have had. Unfortunately we cannot get Two-Buck-Chuck here, but oh! would that we could! And lately, due to either my trailer park roots or my love for the environment or my even greater lover for cheap, good wines I have been drinking Banrock Station Shiraz from a box! And guess what? It's very good! It's my "everyday" wine and the critics consistently rate the Shiraz from this environmentally friendly company from 78-85 points. Not bad for wine that costs me $15 for 3L. That works out to $3.75 a bottle!! And because of it's airtight packaging it tastes good for the two weeks it takes me to finish it. (One LARGE glass a night on most nights.)
Lastly--or second to lastly: It won't happen--it WON'T--but if by some horrible confluence of events Obama doesn't end up on the ballot in November, I will be voting for wackadoo Mike Gravel. He was my favorite Democratic candidate once upon a time, and is now the Libertarian candidate. His videos on YouTube have rocked my equally wackadoo world. Here is his latest:
But you won't want to miss these, either:
And lastly lastly, and for no particular reason than I love him and therefore this piece, Tom Waits:
