Whooooph! Ready To Go!

Tomorrow we're off on the plane to our week of sun and sand. I guess it isn't supposed to be blazing hot where we're headed--only in the 70's, but it will be a heck of a lot warmer than it has been here on good old LI. We seem to be in the stranglehold of a January that isn't interested in the traditional thaw thing, and that "Now the ground is white" line from the old song seems to be the theme for the month.

But "HA" I say! I am leaving! Well--for one week, anyhow. Next thing you know we'll be back, and it will be February, when the weather is usually worse. Wait, wait! Optimism called for here. Focus on next week, when the palm trees will be waving, and the herons will be winging by with pelicans diving into the ocean, and me in a sand chair with a book in my hand, and maybe a glass. Better, better.

The suitcase is packed, the boarding passes printed, got my new little tiny hairdryer and a bunch of novels in my carry-on, binoculars and bird book all ready for our nature expeditions, Fodor's for restaurant scouting, car reservations, picture ID, sunscreen and sunglasses--I confess, it's hard to go have good time! But so worth it!

Brain Drain

I went shopping yesterday for groceries. It wasn't the worst weather day of the year, but we had snow falling all morning and it was only in the teens, but when it tapered off I decided I would toddle off to make my rounds of the grocery stores. I had made a list of the sales, and it was the last day on the circulars. I am doing Weight Watchers, and had promised myself that I would cook up some good meals that would be within the guidelines that the program espouses, and that means plenty of fresh vegetables. I bought my favorite arugula, baby spinach, a big bag of kale, zucchini, radishes, string beans, sweet potatoes, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, three containers of grape tomatoes, romaine lettuce, onions and some broccoli crowns. I still had a big head of cauliflower tucked into my vegetable drawer of the fridge. I hauled this all home, and packed it away, and contemplated some fine dinners.

That was Thursday. I look at the calendar, and realize that I have a luncheon out on Saturday, followed by our choir party (have to bring food, but will have no time to cook), and Sunday I have to play for church, and then get on the train and go to a concert in Manhattan, followed by dinner in a restaurant. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are fine, but we are leaving for a week in Florida on Thursday morning. What is going to happen to all those vegetables? And where is my brain when I am buying all this stuff in the store?

So, that leaves today, Friday to make good on all of this self-created mess. I cooked a batch of cauliflower soup that will be lunches until we leave, the surplus headed for the freezer. I roasted up the grape tomatoes along with the zucchini to take to the choir party, accompanied by a spaghetti pie, a distinctly calorie laden concoction which needs to be consumed by people who do not live in my house. That solves the dilemma of a lingering container of fresh mozzarella that needed to be used, and a zip-lock filled with diced sopressata. There was a vegetarian recipe off PBS that I wanted to try for dinner--a sweet potato stew with greens. Perfect for that bag of baby spinach. And, it was very excellent, except for the can of coconut milk that went over the whole thing to the tune of 1020 calories, 990 of them being fat. What the heck is a coconut anyhow? It's a plant. Isn't that supposed to be good for you? Anyhow, as of Monday we will be eating a lot of salad to get rid of the romaine and the arugula, plus a half-frozen head of iceberg that is lurking in the bottom of our vegetable drawer. For some reason, stuff freezes in our vegetable drawer...

So--where is my brain when I am in the store buying all this stuff? Why doesn't it put two and two together before I leave the house, instead of waiting until I get back home, and then clicking in. Maybe I compartmentalize too much. All of a sudden my different lists come face to face, and there I am working to combing the zig-zags of my outside life and my inside life. I am thrilled to say that I have an interesting life, even if my brain is sometimes lagging behind. And I confess that I still have the wherewithal to catch up when things go awry. It should be a great week--this and next, especially if the plane swerves around the birds!

Things Change

I suppose if you live long enough you see change. Certain things seem to sit there in your life like monuments, but there are other aspects that are more temporal. Now with the "Economic Crisis" there will be another round of things that fade away into the fog of the past, some to be remembered, some to be forgotten. I was with a group of women last night, and we were naming off all the stores where we used to shop that are long gone. Now with the economy giving agita to retail businesses, I imagine we will be losing more of our favorites.

Afterwards I headed out to buy some black embroidery thread. Now, I understand that embroidery does not play a large part in the lives of 99.685% of the women of America, and that the market for this product has justifiably shrunken down to very tiny. There are two stores within reasonable driving distance from my home that sell embroidery thread,but the little slots where these skeins would normally rest were EMPTY. Remember when shops kept their shelves fully stocked? These days, when the space for an item is empty, it stays empty sometimes for months, until the store restocks. So, what is my recourse? I can access anything I want off the internet, and as long as I am willing to pay the shipping charges, it will arrive at my door, without the aggravation of not finding what I want at the store, and without filling my gas tank. But that doesn't keep the stores in business, and there are situations when the internet doesn't cut it. Sometimes it is necessary to get your hands (feet) on the items you are seeking, and give it a good looking over. You can't see quality on a monitor.

I don't know--we have taken a lot of hits in the last few years as customers. There are no sales people to even look up the correct prices of items, much less give any information so that you can make an informed purchase. The lines to pay are impossibly long, because the company will not put on enough workers to actually man those twenty cash registers that are lined up there, looking like the store had thought about giving you service when it was built, but has now changed it's mind. Joann's actually has the audacity to call it's patrons "guests", as if we come into their store to visit and we better not annoy the "hostesses". Well, I am not a guest. I am a customer, who is paying for "service" (there's an oxymoron--customer service!) for which I am forced to wait ignominiously on line with other patient/impatient customers. Color me Grumpy.

Peace and Joy in January

There is a certain rhythm to the year, and for me it has changed from what it used to be.  Time was, when we had children, and MyTreasure was still working, it was based on the school year.  September signalled the big lead up to the holidays, and there was merriment and celebration through to New Year's.  By January I was always sick, usually with some kind of cold that lingered through February, and all I could think about was the ending of winter and longer days of sunshine.  

This year, December was crazy--possibly due to the lost week between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I confess I was happy to have the holidays all done and over.  January has arrived, and I am NOT sick.  It is quiet here, and I have been catching up with some reading, a little knitting, some fine dvd's from the library, and keeping up with friends.  This week I pulled out recipes that have been collecting on my kitchen counter, and I am setting up for some serious weeks of Weight Watcher friendly cooking.  I even have plans for going through some of the collections of items that need to leave this house.  I was in touch with a lady yesterday on Freecycle who is looking for sewing patterns.  Maybe she will even like some fabric.  

So, it looks like those Christmas card wishes of "Peace and Joy in the New Year" are coming true for me.  I wish you all the same!

Side Yard Drama

We have a bird feeder outside our kitchen window--well actually we are presently up to four bird feeders with a variety of seed which supposedly attracts different varieties of birds.  We have always been blessed with an active community of cardinals.  They are so pretty, especially when there is snow on the ground the way there is now.  New this year are a group of four titmice.  Once in a while a single wren comes by, a couple of chickadees, a large group of purple house finches and of course, the inevitable sparrows.  We only had a few in the early fall, but another group flew in, and they are plentiful.  A pair of gold finches came by and checked out the new feeder filled with thistle seed, but didn't take any and went on their way.  Maybe they'll be back.

Last week, we saw a hawk on a branch in the next yard.  Yesterday he was in our lilac bush--sat for a few seconds, and then helped him/herself to a sparrow who must have thought he was safe in the forsythia bush.  What a surprise!  Both MyTreasure and I saw it--couldn't have been more than 45 seconds all together.  

This morning we heard a big clunk on the storm window, and went and looked, and there at the corner of the foundation was the hawk struggling with something that it had taken down.  We think it was a dove.  They were caught in one of the wire plant supports and the hawk couldn't lift off.  He finally gave up and flew to the top of the shepherd's hook that holds the new thistle seed feeder, and sat there a while to rest--with a beakfull of gray feathers.  Then he went.  BUT!  In about 10 minutes he was back to make another attempt, and this time after some maneuvering between the fence and the bushes, got his catch out, and flew off to the south--pretty much in the direction that we had seen him the very first time.  MT had time to fetch the camera, and snapped off a few pictures.  We still aren't sure what kind of a hawk it is, but it is no more than 12-14" in size.

So, we are running a kind of birdie buffet out there.  I guess everybody's hungry in the winter, but I confess I'd be happy if the hawk would stick to the rodents.