Sunday, November 14, 2010

Good Dessert Gone Bad

It's cold here in Ohio. Florida is six weeks away (I think). I'm in the process of emptying out my freezer. Today I had homemade pesto (made from my own basil) with pasta - for lunch and dinner. It was particularly good after a week of cabbage soup (lost 3.5 pounds - woohoo!).

After all that garlic, I was jonesing for dessert. I found one last orange pineapple slush in the freezer. See it there? Yay! With great anticipation, I waited for it to thaw. It was taking forever.

Desperate, I scraped off what I could. I tasted it. It was frozen butternut squash.

Now, even more desperate, I needed a squash chaser. But what? Then, I opened the refrigerator.

I free-based Hershey's syrup. It did the trick.

Looks like I'll be back on cabbage soup tomorrow. Don't let this happen to you.

This has been a public service announcement.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Why Friends are Good - make that Awesome

Because I'm mostly an idiot, I suggested to a local organization, of which I am a board member, that we put on a 5k as a fundraiser. While the idea isn't one of an idiot, I'm an idiot because I know better than to suggest something I'm not willing to plan myself. And that's how I suddenly had the title of "Race Director," much to my dismay and even denial.

Overall, the planning was a bit harried, but going along well. Two women were doing a lot of the work and I fully appreciated it. Three days ago, when it was time for us to stuff goody bags for the runners, I realized I was the only one who thought we were gathering as three people working together toward a common goal. Instead, I encountered coldness, lack of eye contact, and whispered phone calls.

As if I wouldn't notice. Seriously, I'm not THAT big of an idiot.

That's when I, again, realized the value of good friends. First of, most all of the close friends I have in this area I wrangled into volunteering (getting up and leaving your warm bed in the dark of a cold November Saturday....these are special people). Four people in particular took a major chunk of responsibility. When I realized these two "Mean Girls" were creating drama where none need be, I fell back on said friends for sounding and soothing. Of course, they came through for me.

I had two more days to endure with the Mean Girls and their attacks. By this morning, the day of the event, I was somewhat worn, but ready. When my friends came in force to volunteer today, the Mean Girls were impotent.

The face of true friendship and sincerity scared them off like water on the Bad Witch. The event was a success! If the Mean Girls wanted to sniggle and snipe any more at my expense, it was even more obvious they had no grounds for it.

What a comfort to me, to have such wonderful people in my life.

While the Mean Girls merit a scrap of respect for their bitterness, that scrap kills any respect because of their adverse meanness. It's like they even made bitterness bad.

And we won't tolerate that kind of attitude around here...

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Dwight Shrute's Are Bigger

And that's not code.

This is Beet Harvest of 2010. I've never grown beets before, but the plants were free. That's good, because if I'd paid money to grow beets this pathetic, I might be sad. Of course, I don't eat beets, so I still wouldn't be sad.

Notice how the beets fail to impress Carbon.

Bitter Writing

It's Tuesday, the most bitter of days in a week (perhaps this could be a new poll). It's also Day Two of "National Write a Novel in a Month" challenge. My writing yesterday really stunk. Sue pointed out that NANOWRIMO now records "successful days in a row of writing." This is pressure we simply don't need.

Anyway, my strategy is now "more caffeine." However, this leads to confusion on my part, and I already have a lot of trouble with confusion. I read a blog post this morning that listed items for a snowman that went something like "carrot, coal, and tophat." I spent a lot of time wondering just what a tophat was.

While I was still pondering this, I noticed a school bus stopped outside my home. The little stop sign was out and the driver had opened the door. There are no children here, ma'am. I kept watching, wondering if Dooley had decided to enroll in school. This wouldn't surprise me, since I'm sure he'd like to study nuclear chemistry or macroeconomics. Of course, Dooley would never leave home, so I know that wasn't possible.

There was no one on the bus, and no one got on (two or four legged variety). It is mysterious.