speaking of havarti-sesame bites

ok, so.....i fully admit that these little treasures taste just as good frozen out of the box i was to send to paris, as they do warm and toasty....and that they taste even better with a bit of havarti melted on top of each little bite.....and while i know that this is no way to keep off the 5 pounds i have lost....this discovery has made me very, very happy......

gasp.......

ok, so.....i enjoyed a marvelous afternoon off.....starting with the h-burg goodwill, where i found 4 tops (size small), a fleecy pullover (also a size small), 3 pairs of jeans (size 6), and some really heavy brass bookends-horses- that my daughter will just love.....that is one-stop xmas shopping.....on to the big lots where i found really nice metal tins for sending savory havarti and sesame bits overseas....and on to the d-ville goodwill, where there was nothing to be had.....the kroger, and then to the aldi's.....and it was in transit from kroger to aldi that it almost happened...not to me...but to the crazy woman in a black honda similar to mine who pulled out of the kroger lot after me...who was so close to my bumper i could see her face....and when i stopped at the bypass light (yellow), she actually came around me and went through the light (red)...just as the folks in the oncoming lane were starting to move ahead...and a red car almost clipped her back bumper....and i gasped aloud...because had the red car taken a jump on the light there would have been quite a crash.....the second gasp came after aldi, as i was making my way to the bike shop up 3rd street, by the hospital and then the church and then the bank, when a big-ass pickup truck stopped dead, and then proceeded to parallel park to the left....into a spot the looked to be too small.....this guy made it look simple after he failed to hit either the car in front or the car behind.....i am surprised i could gasp, because of the shock and awe..........and now i am home safe and sound...and with a list of small task to do before tomorrow, when i am informed i will drive my mother to lexington to buy a digital h/d television....which will be a gift from my brother....we are to drive over to hamburg place....gentle readers...i would rather take a beating than to drive to hamburg place at xmas time.....but after all is said and done we will eat lunch at....red lobster......with the eldest child so we can deliver the package.....good thing i did goodwills today....because i might not be on the mood for more than 2 or so after driving to hamburg.....double gasp.....

another friday.....

ok, so.....here we are at another weekend.....i have the mundane to take care of....grocery shopping and laundry...plus a trip to lex tomorrow to take the eldest to lunch and to deliver a package that came to the house in his name.....must make the rounds of goodwills on the way because not to do so would be a sacrilege....there is a dinner after church that i do not plan to attend....and then all the sudden it will be sunday night and back to work on monday.....friday's promise so quickly fades into sunday evening.....

old trees, old trees....

ok, so i especially enjoyed this piece from today's nytimes about an exhibit of the photographs of especially old trees...such as a tree that was just a sapling at the battle of Antietam Creek in 1862....wow what a long-lived tree......kinda like the tree i photographed outside st julien-le-pauvre in paris......which looked as old as the church.......

ok, so

ok, so.....only about half of my students showed up for lecture this evening....most likely because the project was due.....and so i decided to give bonus points tho those who turned it in on time.....and bonus points to those who showed up for class......yeah....not the way they would do things at princeton......but eku-d is a far cry from the ivy league......given that one of my students ate carryout macaroni and cheese from the cracker barrel while i talked......who gets carryout mac and cheese?......one more lecture left before the test...the one on aging and dying...and the one that traditionally gets the most discussion.....and then the exam and then we are done...until i get started up again in mid-january.......not thinking about much of a spring break trip because i am hoping that we can all go to austria to see child #1 next year during the holidays.....and so i am saving my pennies just in case.....nice that i will have another 2 semesters to earn that kind of cash.....this evening i was not the picture of health.....i am still plagued by jaw pain.....and i appear to look as bad as i feel...pain tends to age one, don't ya think?.......and so i am going to take a nice long bath and go to bed early and try to regain my youth......

under-acheivement as a strength

ok, so... i have a friend who is an under-achiever....actually....now that i think of it......i can think of at last 3 folks i know well who have not risen to the level that their talent predicted....and one wonders how one can stir on someone who has settled in.....the person i think most about is a close friend at work...who is smarter than anybody on-site....makes it all run...and gets paid pennies compared to nurses who do little and complain their day away........how fair is that?...not fair at all...but that is the way things are...and until my friend gets off her bottom and goes back to college she will continue to be the unsung hero and get paid little for her trouble.....but she has 2 children under age 8...and she is too blessed tired to go back to school...and in my mind it is a tragedy......on the other hand.....one of the nurses i work with in lincoln is going back to school to be a nurse practitioner...she will get her b.s....most nurses have only a 2 year degree.....and then to the classes required by this specialty...and she will make the big bucks if she can stick it out...she has 3 children under 10...but her spouse us vested in her choice and picks up the slack.......it can be done......

book club....

ok, so we had a record crowd at book club..to discuss the namesake......quite a feat for a group that included no one less than 2 generations from immigration.......we talked briefly about the naming part.....and then about the gogol part...nobody had read the original short story...i know that we own it...but could not locate it in our vast shelving arrangement.....(gentle readers....we own enough books to cause gravity to drag our home down the hill into the lake....)...and mostly we talked of the immigrant experience and how hard it is to shake one's past even when one desires to do so.....the closest experience is my grandfather broughton telling me as he was dying that his mothe tolkd him he could either speak german, or speak english and be an american....what choice did he have?.......easy for us who don't look foreign to say......

so old, so cold.....

ok, so...the temperature was 34 degrees as i slid outside to get the newspaper while the coffee brewed.....the high may hit the fifties, but this 34 degree stuff has already gotten old.....we have gone european, with a twin-size down duvet sitting on top of our green duvet, which covers a blanket rather than the old down comforter.....which is so heavy as to be unwieldy.....this twin down thing was in a closet, and is very light and easy to kick off if one gets too hot.....ah, the joys of menopause.....must be ready for the entire range of temps.....though when we put on the flannel sheets the bed will transform into near-womb conditions....i might not be able to drag myself out of bed for the duration......

screaming children.....

ok, so...today was remarkable for the number and shear seismic splendor of screaming children......the highlight was a child of 3 who stood and screamed in the lobby...just stood and screamed...blood-curdling screams....while his mother registered.....people stared at the sight, given that his mother was no further than 10 feet away....and he appeared to be in no visible distress.....and the screaming kept up as i ushered them into my clinic room....and at some point the screaming became comical...given that his mother appeared to ignore this continued outburst.......and i actually laughed at this child......at which point he stood stunned....and appeared to wonder how i could find his 'pain' so funny......as he was leaving one of my coworkers remarked...'that child ain't right'......true, and a parent who has done nothing to fix this problem ain't right either.....

saddened

ok,s o the part i failed to mention yesterday when i got home from the dentist was how, in my time in the chair, with my mouth open and numbed.....my dentist droned on in a litany about his son's recent screw-ups.....gentle readers.....i have known this fellow's son since he was 3.....and i find him to be a likable guy...and i have no need to hear about what he has done wrong this week....especially given that he is in graduate school and making his own way in the world.......what else could a parent ask for?.....

pain...

ok, so ....now that they tooth on my bottom right has been fixed......my right jaw is still in incredible pain.....hopefully with a day or two of chewing correctly will bring these poor jaws back into alignment and we shall be able to put an end to all references to physical discomfort.......

magazines.....

ok, so...the best part of the afternoon....the absolute best part....was the waiting in the waiting room with piles of magazines that i could leaf through......i make no illusion of reading any of the entertainment weekly, time, metropolitan home or gourmet of fairly recent vintage.....it is quite enough to skim the headlines, look at a few charts, smell the perfume ads.......and mostly move on.....i did enjoy a review of the deathly hallows.....written well after the book was released, so that every detail not available to those who reviewed it sight-unseen (just to say if was reviewed) could be thoroughly rehashed.....written by a true harry-fanatic.....probably my age....he declared that it was after the 4th book that rowling figured out that her audience was as much adult as anything...and began to gear her prose toward an ever aging readership......to the point that the use of the word bitch in the final installment was appropriate rather than shocking.....i's have said the same thing under the circumstances.....this article was a full 3 pages long...not a bad total for the 10 or so magazines i actually touched during my wait.......at this point the only magazine i receive weekly is the new yorker....and while i savor every word, and do not miss having to schlep out the stacks of old magazines from time to time...i do enjoy those times when i have nothing better to do than to turn pages.

the good news and the good news....

ok, so.....i have been at the dentist for the past 2.5 hours....and although i cannot feel my tongue, close my lips completely around the edge of a glass.....i feel that the tragedy has come off better than expected....the gold crown could not be replaced because the tooth actually broke beneath it.....BUT the dentist was able to fill the place with amalgam unavailable when this crown was made...read this as on onlay...as the dentist told me that these are onlays not crowns...who knew.... and so....i got to keep the hunk of gold that came out of my mouth, and i now have a passable white filling.....and my insurance covered most of it.....which meant that my bill at the end was so surprisingly low that i almost started to argue the point.....but back to the gold....i now have quite a stash of old gold....from my original engagement ring that had to be replaced when i wore through the back with years of gardening.....at some point i might be able to use this used gold to have the citrine stone i bought awhile back set...hadn't even considered doing it while gold was at an all-time high...but if i have enough gold of my own i might be able to pull it off.....maybe if i lose another onlay.....just joking.....i'm babying what is left of these onlays......

rude awakening.....

ok, so it is thanksgiving monday.....and despite having swollen gums, and an achy jaw....i must get myself together to go back to work...... where i have just 5 work days to get ready for an audit, and just 8 days to wait for my boss to resign (as rumored)...and so there is doom in my mouth, and doom at my workplace....and rain and the possibility of thunder storms outside....and i could use some help finding a silver lining......maybe the world will seem improved after the dentist today at 2......

beginning to bake.....

ok, so...i made 2 kinds of savory crackers this afternoon, with the intention of packing them carefully enough to make it safely to paris-based festivities......i remade the havarti-sesame crackers......a bit more pink this time with extra hot sauce.....yummy....and a walnut-blue cheese crackers....which could have used a bit of salt.......no idea how one transports such food items abroad, other than i do not intend to use metal tins, which may get everybody in security all in a ruckus......maybe just cardboard lidded boxes with lots of tissue.......anyway, these little nibbles will go well with wine and cheese......and at this moment the batches are tucked carefully into the freezer so i will not nibble them all ahead of time.....

suffering in silence....

ok,so by the time i got to sunday school, the notion of dwelling on my teeth was swept away by tales of actual woe...people who had lost loved ones or had a family illness or other pressing emetgemcies seemed more important topics of discussion than people who lost dental work.......just as it should be......

sunday school....

ok, so i teach sunday school this morning, and eventually i better move on from blogging to studying the text and making a few notes......the passage is the classic one where j.c. replied to his critics something about giving to caeser what is caesar's, and giving to god what is god's........j.c.'s comment was a crafty way to answer a factional question, in an age when there were many factions .....little has changed in the middle east it would seem.....but i suppose what i find most chilling in this text is how much it reminds me of what is happening at work...where factions have been at work for months and months pushing an agenda that is ridiculous on many levels....and now the rumor is that the director will quit, as many have hoped and that we will get a new director who will be present at all times......who in their right mind wants a boss who is always there?.....these folks have obviously never had a looking-over-your shoulder boss....it is something to be avoided, actually......and since we have shared a director with a sister health department.....there are those who do not quite understand that we cannot just take a part-time position and hire the replacement fulltime without adjusting down expenses somewhere....most of the time expenses are downwardly adjusted by laying off staff...gentle readers, my soon-to-quit boss is not someone that i am comparing to j.c......though i must add that he has never done me a bad turn and that is why i have gone out of my way to stay out of the factional business.........yet i do feel that these factions have the potential to make my professional life miserable for months to come.....and with this aching jaw and swollen gums and crumbling dental work i have no use for discord at work......

all afoul......

ok, so....i woke up this morning with my sinuses clogged, by jaw in pain, and my gums swollen......clearly i clenched what is left of my teeth during my time asleep......and must continue on as is for nearly 48 hours til the dental appointment......this focus on my health has become annoying at best......distracting at worst.......because i seem to be unable able to concentrate on anything but my head......even as i lay in the bed listening to a piece about alice seibold on the bbc, i had difficulty getting beyond my personal discomfort.....beyond the possibility that pain and aches are the new reality......seibold's new book is about pain and aches and growing older and more feeble/fragile, at some level.....and at some level it was hard to listen to the gist of her newest book's plot.....i don't want to read about stark reality at this point....i want to lose myself in the fantasy of the prose....or at least immerse myself in a story where nobody feels mean and old.....

the address.....

ok, so....my mother arrived this evening with the address in lassee, austria of her cousin gertrude...or more likely, the address of gertrude's son gunther, who is also a doctor(dentist?) and was talking of switching houses with her and her husband (dentist) when mother and dad visited there years ago.....gentle readers....i have made it quite open and clear that my children would be visiting the vienna area for quite sometime...and this address has just now materialized......hopefully my children can make contact...with these folks who are closer kin than the folks we visited in lambsheim....my mother remembers sending her old clothing to gertrude and her sister elizabeth....we visited elizabeth and her family in hanau in 1972...and mother and dad visited gertrude and her family in lassee sometime after i left home in 1974.....no idea when it was that they were in vienna...but i digress.....she has had this address and is just now passing it on.......

amen

ok, so the dentist office called...they can work me in monday at 2:00 pm.....they were in today, but didn't seem in a mood to negotiate about an appointment today.....

another day off

ok, so.....having peaked yesterday, i seem to have no immediate goals on this day off.....yeah, there are the standard ones...like go through all closets and drawers to find stuff to give to goodwill.....the german scholar will be going back to lexington today.....and so even the prospect of figuring out what to make for supper has lost its appeal.....if i am lucky he will take part of that pineapple kuchen with him so there will be less left for me...i am down a few pounds and must be on my guard lest they find their way back to my waist.....such is the season when all of the outside seems off-limits....nothing especially pressing in any of the beds on this 20 degree morning.....there is ice on the pond...and robins have been edging out on it carefully as they look for a place to get a drink of water.......this must be what robins do on their days off......no decision anxiety...lucky them.....

mm's friday five.......

ok, so....my top five accomplishments of the day......1) sorted out the closet nearest the computer; discovered forgotten wrapping paper and gift bags 2) made pineapple kuchen; discovered from visiting german scholar that kuchen means 'to cook' and does not refer to a baked good as i have always thought 3) got dressed;brought in mail 4) felt sorry for myself and my mouth; overate trying to find foods that can be chewed on the right side only 5) updated facebook; learned how to do facebook; discovered that 2 of 3 children blocked me before i even knew what to do with facebook...oh, yeah....i did watch ellen while i knitted quietly on the sofa....there was a segment in which grown women contorted themselves to fit through a cut-out shape in a wall coming toward them slowly.....sadly, it was very funny to watch these grown women go to such lengths for a $5000 gift card.......it is a good thing i am not home during the day very often......i could vegetate.....and my mind turn to mush......

the damned tooth.....

ok, so i tried to glue the crown back on with this dental kit i found at the cvs.....but now my jaw is swelled enough that it no longer fits well.....and i found it more painful to have it back in than it was to have it out...and so i filled in the gap with this putty stuff until monday when i can really see a dentist.....

blocked by yet another cool-kid

ok, so...as i sat at the main pc updating my facebook page, an ungrateful cool-kid sat in the next room, and through the power of wi-fi.....blocked me from his facebook account.......at least the third cool-kid in this family has actually responded to a message i left on her page......or at least she has yet to figure out this rude blocking thing

time on my hands.....

ok, so...i clearly have better things to do when i go to the trouble of updating the facebook account i only started when my outlaw fred asked me to join his network......i am certainly too old to act like a cool-kid...but it is kinda like rubbernecking at an accident.....once you get started it is hard to pull away....and then to find that i have actually been blocked by one of the cool-kids......and that i cannot block this person in return because he has already blocked me.....got that?.......at least typing has taken my mind...somewhat..off of the gold crown that continues to sit detached from my mouth...on the gold-rod colored sticky notes.....no dentists to be found today......and it would require getting dressed to go to town to buy some sort of dentistry emergency kit that some pharmacies are reputed to have on hand......or so say some of the googled sites for dental emergencies.....much to easy to sit here at the p.c. feeling sorry for myself and for my tooth...actually teeth...for it was in the trying to get close to the part of a front filling that was loose that the crown came out......gentle readers.....keep up with your flossing and brushing so as to not get into this predicament.....

no super-glue....

ok, so in the course of the family gathering....a gold crown that has been in place for over 26 years came loose and then came out.....and is now resting on a pad of golden-rod post-it-notes on the desktop so as not to be lost......i miss this dental fitting mostly because without it my tongue dwells in its place.....and food gets stuck in its place.....and in less than a day i am really annoyed at this loss......

happy thanksgiving.....

ok, so.....the four-day thanksgiving weekend pretty much makes up for having to work on columbus day....and with the driving part up front....i'll still have three days to lounge about...the real definition of a great long weekend is the nap...whether one was able to squeeze in a nap...and if i can manage a nap on friday afternoon that still leaves saturday and sunday to do mundane stuff like clean out closets and take stuff to the goodwill.....shopping is not on my radar...especially since nobody i love needs much of anything......and those who have needs will be taken care of when the timing is right.....and not because they need a box to open on a day in late december.....how far we have come from christmases with little ones......who would dance about in their eagerness to open gifts......ah well.....at the grocery yesterday the muzak was christmas carols.....way too early for me.....for those who do not have the day off....who have schoolwork to do and classes to attend...please know that we are thinking of you, and really wish you were here with us......

making a list.....

ok, so.....we do not leave out of here until around 9......but there are things i really need to make so that i can be leisure-girl in the morning....like make stuffing for 15, and cut up vegetables......and yeah...i do have to make supper too.....i did stop at the kroger on the way home to pick up one more bag of stuffing mix...and ended up spending nearly $60....how does that happen...go in for 1 item and fill up the cart.....for starts....kroger had clementines....5 lb for $6.99......for which i had a coupon to take of $1.50....and that was got it all started...once i broke out the coupons i felt the need to use all i had.......the good news is that the 7 bags of groceries cost less than a modest meal for 3 in paris

trying to get out.....

ok, so...in my dreams i was in a yellow basement, that had been recently evacuated by friends of ours who have recently bought a home without a basement....seems in my dream sequence they took only what they wanted and left the rest....and what i wanted was part, not all, of a piece of mint green and pink seersucker fabric.....which i never managed to acquire in this dream......i have never been in the basement, by the way...and have no idea that it is painted a heinous shade of yellow.....

a pleasant conversation

ok, so...i enjoyed a pleasant conversation with my only sibling on the phone this evening because we opted not to talk about 1) politics 2) religion or 3) money......and had we stayed away from talking about our only remaining parent...we'd have had a perfect little chat.....

why don't you tell me about these things?.....

ok, so the last child is making her way through her 15 un-finished social studies assignments by reading the newspaper and writing a summary of a few articles...and she is just now reading about the little girl from india with the extra arms and legs (from a partially absorbed twin).....and when i told her that this was an old story...she was adamant that i should be keeping her up-to-date on interesting stuff like this...i suppose my lack of a myspace account allows me plenty of time to read cnn, nytimes, wpost, and assorted blogs.......

productivity....

ok, so....i have auditors coming dec 3....and i decided on this day that it might be a good idea to reorganize my office so as to inspire confidence in my job performance....and i thought it might be a good idea to dust off the plan i made for the fiscal year...and that i might be a good idea to actually develop all of the handouts/educational materials i said i was going to develop this year....and i managed to accomplish about 75% of this stuff.....kinda hard to organize an inservice during the holidays....or a community program....but each of these events are scheduled.....and so....on this day i published a list of public walking tracks and hiking trails in the county.....scheduled all of my diabetes classes for the next year, developed a breastfeeding 'getting started card' for mother's to be to carry in their wallets.....and i melted criso shortening and measured it into test tubes to illustrate the difference in milkfat between whole, 2%, 1% and skim......all-in-all....a really productive day.....

stuffed grape leaves

ok, so....the night before we came home from paris we perused the grocery just yards away from the metro stop where we wished our boy well before he dashed off to class.......and i bought 2 cans of imported greek grape leaves stuffed with rice and seasoned with extra virgin olive oil and lemon....and because i had only the rest of sunday night's chicken soup for lunch...and a mealy pear.....i was really hungry when i came home...and the can simply threw itself into my hands to be opened...and once opened.....i lined up the stuffed leaves on a little plate...like they were for everybody to share...but here it is 5:48 and nobody else is home...and i have eaten every last one of those conundrum leaves.....yummy...yes....but now i am trying to decide whether one hides the can...or simply explains if asked that i was so very hungry.....is it a known eating disorder to hide stuffed grape leaves cans?.......

minor media circus....

ok, so...there were three heavily made-up news personalities stationed at intervals in downtown this evening as i came home.....each with the courthouse in the background...and each reporting live from d-ville on the murder trial now in its second day......the old guy claims to have been outside hunting a skunk when he accidentally shot his neighbor.....the prosecution will surely remember things much differently.....

power struggle.....

ok, so...closer to home.....now that the hostess for our family thanksgiving has not only borrowed but set up the church tables in her basement, her sister is demanding that early set up is a sign that she is far too busy to host thanksgiving, and is now demanding the the location be changed to her house........ only in america......as for me....i'll not attend if the location is changed.....i'll make do with creamed spinach and sweet/sour red cabbage and bread stuffing in the calm and quiet of my own home......

when you wake up feeling old.........

ok, so yesterday afternoon i dumped out pots and moved them to the cabin....and moved the summer furniture to the cabin as well.....and i feel all of that hard work this morning.....omg...i feel at least 20 years older and i stumble back to the kitchen to refill my coffee......

buying tickets

ok, so....i was buying tickets between paris and parts east all through the night.....and don't think i ever slept more than an hour or so between each time i woke up too hot....only to get too cold after a bit......one would hope that these ticket dreams will stop when the real tickets or seat reservations are purchased.....

a candle lit.....

ok, so.....i visited new churches on this trip....st julien-le-pauvre....and st severin.....and as is my custom..i lighted candles in memory of those who are near and dear to my traveling spirit....chiara, of course, and on this trip sheila, whose traveling coat i now treasure....

sesame-harvarti crackers

ok, so...i made these crackers today...and the recipe is my best recollection of what i used.....this recipe was inspired by my half-moon fluted cookie cutter from dehillerin......to be enjoyed with wine.....red would probably go better than white....

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup shredded harvarti
1 cup white flour
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 tbsp hot sauce

place all ingredients in a mixer.......work on low until a stiff dough forms.....i kept adding sesame seeds and flour until his happened.....roll out on a board covered in sesame seeds.....to about 1/4 inch thickness....cut into small bite-size crackers with a cutter.....place on a baking sheet 1 inch apart. Bake at 350 for 9 minutes.....avoid the bottom rack, as these crackers got too brown on the bottom and i was forced to go ahead and eat these right away.....this recipe made at least 40 crackers...hard to say because people starting in nibbling right away....enjoy

a glimpse....

ok, so...my spouse came home yesterday with the news that he had gotten a glimpse of the oldest and most honest young person we know...being towed while still driving her car....by stout rope tied in back of a truck......he mentioned that he had been towed by such a means in his youth....and added that he hoped all was well with this dear soul we have not seen nor heard from in quite a while.....curiously, several old blogs of hers showed up inexplicably on my google reader recently.....so she has been on our collective minds.....

cleaning out drawers

ok, so...yesterday ii ended up cleaning out 6 drawers...all of the kitchen drawers......and by cleaning out i mean sliding them carefully out of their runners, turning them upside down, washing out the insides, and putting back everything worth keeping in some sort of orderly fashion.....and there was a lot not worth keeping......at least 10 forks, spoons and knives that do not match our silverware pattern.....we'll send those over to the store where they are always looking for eating utensils....and a handful of pieces that belong to my mother...no idea why they were in our drawer.....and the general utensil drawer was reduced by half when i took out the canning lids and rings.....most drawers were on the empty side when the flotsam and jetsam that can accumulate was tossed out......i did allow myself to throw away nubs of birthday candles.......and pencil-ends...and used twist ties.....gracious....we will be able to find what we are looking for....for at least a few days before items begin to be tossed into drawers again.......and so the drawer-mania could and should carry on to the rest of the house....i really do need to deal with outside matters on this day.....especially since the weather has gotten cold and i invested in some nice glazed outdoor pots that need to be emptied and stowed away.......

5 years.....

ok, so ......my mother mentioned on the phone....when she called to make sure i knew that osu beat michigan...that is has been 5 years since my dad passed away.....5 years.....how has such an event passed by so quickly....i must say that few days go by that i do not think about my dad.....and i did think of him while we were in paris.....not because he loved paris.....because he did not...but because my sense of direction in getting around in paris came from him...and it is times when i am navigating that i feel his presence most ......

teflon.....

ok, so....my eldest child mentioned on the phone today emails he had sent...that i never received...and so to test the email situation, i sent test messages from each of my accounts to myself at the hotmail (main) account....and i have many accounts, given the scope of my work, teaching, and online photo and blogging accounts.....and this child has a point.....only 2 out of 3 test messages i sent myself came in....and the third message is nowhere...it has not bounced back nor made it to the inbox in over 45 minutes......so if i have not returned an email to you...it is because is is in email limbo.....

osu update....

ok, so...osu beat michigan.......so all is again well with the world.....

food porn.....

ok, so....the french have such a way with food.....nothing that looks this good can be good for you, can it?

romanesco cabbage

ok, so many thanks to joe for identifying the curious carved-look vegetable sold at a market right outside our hotel.....

curiously cleaning.......

ok, so....since i got up this morning, i have cleaned out the space under the sink in my jacuzzi bathroom.....which was an unruly pile of partially filled bath products......i have consolidated as many as possible, and cleaned out the remaining containers for recycling.....and as a result, it is obvious that i am due a trip to marshall's to replenish my supplies.....i also cleaned the under-counter lazy susan where the baking supplies are kept.....i found no fewer than 3 partially-filled containers of white vinegar....and 2 partially used jars of caro syrup....no idea why i bought another when i only used the first one time...and no idea what i used it in...as caro syrup is not something i use frequently......note to self- find recipes that use caro syrup so i can use it up and be done with it.....i also cleaned out my bill bin that sits on the kitchen counter...i was looking for a pad of checks...and by the time i was done i had a pile of discardable paper, receipts, and the like.....i suppose the cleaning is to fill space that was recently devoted to planning and packing.....i would say that i am doing these small chores to keep from eating....but i will admit to treating myself to a very small batch of potato latkes this morning.....the potato was on the shelf in the fridge, and using it seemed like a better idea than dropping it in the bottom drawer with its mates......

drugs, tobacco and alcohol....

ok, so...now that i am back home....and have graded the exams given on my behalf while i was gone.....i am horrified to report that not one single person earned an A on this test......and that the most unilaterally missed question was the name of the most popular illegal drug in america......who could miss a question so obvious.....?.....the answer of choice was the most expensive and least available locally......given that nobody can grow it locally......whereas the correct answer is likely being smoked by somebody within a 2 mile radius of my current location as we...chat.....the second most-missed question was an alternative name for anti-anxiety medications......most folks went for a made-up name and completely ignored the correct answer...tranquilizers......there were those who could not correctly identify nicotine as the active ingredient in tobacco......and those who contended that tobacco farmers are responsible for the high price of cigarettes......omg....these folks live here and did not quite understand how cigarette pricing works....i did end up giving every student bonus points....as i used illicit rather than illegal for a question...and at least one student complained that this was an unfamiliar term.....and giving 4 points to everyone kept at least one student from flunking......ah well....must not feel guilt.......

the descriptive that cannot be said out loud.....

ok, so....this photo has been viewed on our flickr account 15 times...and has been tagged as a favorite of some guy in boston who is curious about the genre that cannot be written...as it will then be google-able......one always knew that such fetishes existed...but it was not until a simple photo of this genre was labeled as such and online that the lesson hit home......go figure......

no mona?

ok, so.....i am just about done blogging about now trip...now that i am back safe and sound and on to more immediate things.....but it is worth reporting about the reaction of several colleagues who took the time to ask about specific sites seen....the first question was usually about the eiffel tower...which we did see from afar on several occasions and the second was about the mona lisa.....which we didn't attempt to see on this trip....yeah, we were in the louvre, but opted for the less visited/less crowded side.....mona is likely the most viewed artifact in the louvre.....and the crowds leading to and from her location are daunting.....and though she is fascinating.....there are other paintings in the building ....we chose to admire the northern european still lives and portraits and landscapes....especially the rembrandts and vermeers....so....no mona.....i did not take the time to explain to anybody that i have seen mona many, many times....because i have not shared the long list of previous visits with colleagues.....and though nobody asked....we did not see the musee d'orsay impressionists, either on this trip.....opting for the smaller exhibit at l'orangerie.......well, it is hard to call 8 wall-size water lily paintings small.....but you get my drift.....l'orangerie was nearly empty, and the orsay would have been packed......at this point in my life i'll go for quiet and nearly empty every time.....

lagging a bit behind.....

ok, so.....i am still a tad jet-lagged.....which made lecturing this evening problematic.....i ended up calling it a day an hour in....because i was starting to ramble......and so i will squeeze the material left uncovered (immunity and infectious diseases) until after thanksgiving....i feel as though i should be going to bed right about now.....but sadly i am still waking up at 4:45 am or so....and find it difficult to get back to sleep.....i know from past experience that this all wears off in a matter of days....hopefully i can get myself straightened out for the weekend.....when i hope to get myself organized for major food preparation......i have volunteered to bring the stuffing, the creamed spinach, the german-style red cabbage, and a relish tray......the cabbage i will buy jarred, because aunt nellie makes it better than i ever will....and i will also buy kroger's creamed spinach, and allow ti to thaw by thursday morning in time to transfer the packets to a nice serving dish.....don't tell......but the stuffing i will make on my own.....and so i will peruse a few cookbooks, and try to decide on white bread or cornbread or both......sausage or no,,,,,pecans or walnuts.....the only ingredients i know for certain are onions and celery...which is why i like dressing in the first place...for the savory ingredients......we are going to cincinnati for just the day.....and i so appreciate getting to sleep in my own bed for the entire 4 days i will have off.....no Christmas shopping to speak of this year...what with the trip we just took and the trip we are funding....the only person to shop for has too much stuff already.....and i am tempted to take her shopping for the salvation army food bank as part of her gift.....ah well....enough of this typing...i am fading fast......and it is not even 8 pm.....

arcimboldo......

ok, so.....while we were in paris we ventured over to the musee luxumbourg, an exhibit space off the luxumbourg palace and gardens....and were stunned to see crowds of people who had also made their way to that area of town......crowds......to see a 16th century guy's depictions of people as fruits and vegetables.....and as fire, books, and other inanimate objects.....who knew that we would have to wait our turn in a line while others who had booked ahead walked right in, or that the exhibit itself would be so crowded you had to stir them with a stick......and that the gift shop was equally as dense with eager buyers....not sure if anyone purchased a 3 foot tall reproduction of a fruit and vegetable head for 850 euros.......don't know quite where i would put something like that in my house......the entire visit lasted less than 1 hour....because there were only 4-5 display rooms....but for that short time it felt a happening place......

pictures.....

ok, so...i have yet to take a look at the photos we took, let alone delete the blurry ones, or the ones where people stepped in front of the camera.....plan to do that today......and plan to upload into flickr as well.......

back home in the nick of time.....

ok, so this from cnn.......Traffic gridlock gripped the French capital today as President Nicolas Sarkozy's promised labor reforms went head to head with transport and utility unions who have launched an open-ended strike. Polls say a majority of French people are not behind the unions.........wow...good thing these folks waited until wednesday to strike......

reflections on eating out....

ok, so...we ate out every meal from the time we arrived on friday til we left on tuesday.....and though this added up to far more than we are used to spending...being people who would rather cook a good meal at home rather than go out, even on birthdays...we are used to spending nothing on restaurant meals.......and though we spent far less than we could of.......there is still the persistent feeling that we will cringe when the credit card bill comes......so....let us revisit meals that i enjoyed so i can remind myself of how marvelous they were when the time comes.....i had wonderful onion soup and part of a warm goat cheese salad on the first day....with a glass of poiully fume.....later on that evening i ordered small....just an italian interpretation of a chef salad because i was not yet really hungry..with pinot grigio...on saturday we ate at the hotel....not the best value as we spent 18 euros for both of us on cold breads, butter, jam juice and hot coffee......lunch on saturday was vegetarian....i had another warm goat cheese salad and a vegetable potage that could have used a little salt....the wine with lunch must have been from the loire, as it had a bite, and was the worst i had the entire trip...so sorry rachel and joe......we went italian again on saturday evening....with a bottle of the house white...from a region in italy whose name escapes me because i was and remain unfamiliar....the wine was very smooth, and dry, and tasted mostly chardonnay...but could have been a clever blend of several varieties.....i had veal scallopine that was just scrumptious.....and a bit of stephan's arugula salad, which turned out to be huge......i treated myself to an omelet on sunday morning.....and to a better bowl of potage des legumes at lunch with a mystery house wine across from our hotel.....and ordered veal scallopine yet again for supper because one never knows when one will have veal again.....yum.....monday, our last day....we ate outside near our hotel on formula breakfasts designed to attract tourists....and i had eggs and ham with buttered tartine for less than i had paid for a cold breakfast days before....lesson learned......at lunch i fell prey to the sin of envy...as i changed my order at the last minute when i saw the woman just up from me at the outdoor cafe around the corner at our hotel...le terasse.....she had the classic steak frites, the steak thick and wrapped in bacon......with an arugula salad topped with a shaved piece of parmesan cheese..... along with a glass of cote de rhone..... yummmmmm.......our last meal in paris was just the two of us...and we walked back toward the eiffel tower to a place i'd been to before....a small place that is basically a one-man show......the chef explains the menu himself, takes the order....and has his daughter (who looks about 14) bring out the meal.....on this visit he had a waitress bring our food.....which seemed appropriate as his daughter was doing homework at an empty table.....i had roast chicken that melted in the mouth.....and another warm goat cheese salad.....gosh, but i love goat cheese.......and while each of the places we chose offered plats for less than 20 euros....the bill always seemed to add up faster than one expected it to.......and so i will try to focus on a steak that melted in my mouth, or the oozy feel of melted goat cheese upon a crisp bit of rocket salad when i am writing the check come the end of the month......

the final tally.....

ok, so.....i wore my pedometer from the time i left home on thursday the 8th until i got home last night..the 13th.....the final step count was 79,602.....which averaged out to 13,247...or roughly 5 miles a day...but considering that we traveled the bulk of 2 of those days......our actual in-paris days were more like 17,500 steps.....more like 7 miles a day........on sunday we walked over 20,000 steps alone......8 miles.......during our trek from the marais back to the eiffel tower area.....though we walked, we took many pictures of the communal bikes available to rent in paris....these are available on the street in electronically controlled bike racks.....one buys a ticket then runs the bar code over the specific bike holder, and voila....you have the bike for as long as you want, and your credit card is charged when the bike is returned to the same spot, or one of many locations throughout town....we saw business people on these bikes, families, even elegantly-dressed women......at all times of day.....alas, no helmets were in use......but one cannot expect everything......we were also impressed by the growing number of small cars on the streets of paris.....to the extent that parking areas where once would have stood 2 regular sized cars....there were now 3-4 smart cars tucked in easily with room to spare......gentle readers....these cars are not for people who have children, as we saw a smart car parked next to a mini-cooper....a car that many in america see as almost too small.....and the mini-looked like a limo compared to the ultra-small smart car.....we saw not one suv or pickup truck on the streets, and no limos, curiously.....just a succession of very small cars willing to pay for gasoline that was running upwards of $9 a gallon...wow......if it cost that much here there would be riots in the streets......

sights that were seen.....

ok, so.... a limited list of folks that we found too funny for words.....for starts...the woman with the red high-tops and red backpack...read this as a hikers backpack with a sleeping bag attached...who got off the train at gare st.lazare....clutching a plastic carrier that held a......rabbit......wtf?......this woman appeared to have her pet rabbit as her traveling companion.....and then there was the woman ahead of us in the customs line in atlanta with a cat in a carrier....who replied, when asked if she had a cat, said icily...'yes..it is a cat with 4 legs and a tail....'...which did not strike me as something a true cat lover would have said......and then there was the guy who looked like fat bastard from austin powers.....wearing an austin powers t-shirt in line for his seat(s)....how cliche......the shoe style these days in paris appears to be retro...really retro...to when courtiers wore really pointed toe shoes...so pointy that the toes pointed up...there were shoes like this in many of the store windows.....and they looked comical to me.....until i saw real men wearing this style and i realized that they did not get the joke.....speaking of jokes....i photographed a pair of cream-colored high-tops that were on sale for 180 euros.....roughly $270.....what a joke..../..

young and old

ok, so.....i have so much to blog about our short time in paris, but our trip home is fresh on my mind...and my mind is not so young any more.....for starts, understand that we took the metro from ecole militaire to invalides, and transferred to the RER C line for 2 stops, and got off at st michel-notre-dame expecting to buy RER ticket to charles-de-gaule......and keep in mind that we were inside the system...rather than outside....and thus could find no place to buy actual tickets....and given our time crunch we opted to just get on the RER train to CDG and hopefully pay our way out of the system.....and with time of the essence.....the caisse that sells such passages out of the RER trains was closed....and we had no option but to jump the turnstiles....done with agility i might add......i fully acknowledge that we owe the city of paris 24 euros........we left our hotel at 6:30 for a 9:20 takeoff time....and arrived at the gate with just moments to spare...given that i was the lucky one chosen for the full purse-search and the body pat-down....they even made me send the wallet in my pocket through the xray machine even though it did not send off the bells and whistles......as we stood in the line to board....a retiree just ahead of us started in talking loudly to no one in particular that she could not possibly be expected to stand in this line......but by the time the delta folks had rounded up a wheelchair she had skipped our line for first class....and was already on the plane.....saw nothing of her til we landed.....a story line i will return to..after i deal with the young on our flight.....3 toddlers between the ages of 1 and 2 were within 10 foot of us....and took turns wailing and carrying on....either because they were tired, wanting to walk about, or had ear pressure buildup.....i can forgive the little ones their mania...mostly because i hear the screams and cries on a daily basis at work...and when one of these toddlers was still in our line...and starting to wander past me...i put my hand down about 6 inches in front of her face and said sternly .....'no-go back'.......and this child turned right around and went back.......the folks in back of us commented on how the parents needed to learn the same hand signals.....bless their little hearts.......so let's return to the retiree who could not possibly wait in a line.....she was somehow in back of me when the plane landed.....and was verbally announcing that she had to get to the front because she couldn't possibly walk and a wheelchair was waiting on her and she had another plane to catch.....this was all shouted in my left ear as i was waiting my turn to get my things from the overhead.....but it wasn't until she got really mean and loud that she caught my full attention.....'i think you should move your bag'....she shouted in my ear......'what?' i said....wondering how she could mean me......'i think you should move your bag...it is in my way....' she shouted again....and as i looked down...there was a bag in her way.....but i had only the purse in my hand...and the bag belonged to the person she had crowded in front of.....and being naturally mean....i said firmly that it was not my bag and if she wanted it moved she would have to start asking around.....and that i also had a plane to catch.....she elbowed her way out of the plane anyway...and plunked herself down in the empty wheelchair outside the door.....and then asked loudly to nobody in particular 'who is going to push me to my gate?'......and as we passed by...along with the rest of the passengers she had elbowed her way out the door.....not one person offered to push her to her gate.....but enough of mean old ladies......and young crying babies, and middle aged folks who cannot figure out how to buy RER tickets....we are home, and have clothes in the washer and the dryer...and life is getting back to normal......having had a homecooked supper......wow....much as i love to eat out, it got mighty expensive after 4 days.....and though i enjoyed some of the wine i drank...i enjoy my 5-litre california white in a box at 14.95 a bargain beyond compare.......life is so very good.....

last night.....

ok, so......i cannot quite recall when last i blogged, or what i put into words......we spent this day sleeping very late, then making our way to sacre coeuer then to ste. chapelle, and then to meet our darling child for a late lunch.......he seems very settled and inspired with his classes....and that is all a mother can ask for.......after he went to class, we had a nice dinner at la varangue on rue angereau.......i am ready to come home and get on with life now that i have seen that my child is on the right track and life seems good for him.......à bientot.......

wind and rain

ok, so.....we zere not qble to see the museums we hqd planned to see today, due to november 11 observation......who knew.....but we did manage to see place des vodges, paliais royal, and the l.orangerie.....where we saw a japanese woman in full garb......we were disappointed that her spouse did not wear similar garb.......plus...she looked mighty unprepared for the wind and rain.......enjoyed a lovely omelet for breakfast at a cafe.....and potage des legumes for a quick bite late qfternoon.....hopefully so,eplace will be open for supper.......

en paris.....

ok, so....maybe this should be a paris....but those who know are back at the hotel.....and i have strolled 2 blocks over to a cyber cafe while they read/sleep before dinner....i was stunned to see that my email inbox had 47 messages since thursday at noon....and less than surprised to see that most were forwarded messages from my cleveland kin....i erased all dire warnings and jokes and funny pcis without reading a single one.......i did receive in my junk mail folder a thank you from the rnc that assured me that victory was'ours' next november......ah well......so far our paris adventure has been just that......i have seen many places that i have not been before.....such as eglise julian-le-pauvre...a church just up from our vegetarian lunch spot, where we browsed before the place was open and ready to serve us....also wandered into st. severin, named for st severin the solitary.....a monk/hermit from the 6th century who has some connection to the site.....the biggest surprise of this day and this trip was the crowd at the musee de luxumbourg.....where an exhibition on the artist archimboldo is currently on display...we waited in line because i had doubted there would be a crowd....go figure......enjoyed especially the pictures that can be viewed from right-side-up as well as upside down....the collective 'we' which included the l.o. and her s.o. also meandered through st sulpice and by sciences po before making our way back to our hotel and the suitcase we brought with us....(we had met up with our friends staying in dijon at the head statue by st eustache this morning).....and began our day at dehillerin, where i treated myself to a fabulous stainless steel strainer.....oh, the money i could spend in this store if i didnot have to carry it all back, and find a place to put it.......last evening, after a nice italian supper.....stephan and my spouse and i toured the highlightsof the lourve's richelieu wing after 6, when the price drops.....i was running on fumes at that point, but enjoyed being at this marvous place despite the late hour. enough of a blog on an empty stomach....i believe that i will amble back to gather up my family and go out for a nice saturdaynight supper. a bientot......

the curb.......

ok, so after years of family fussing about heavy rain that floods our porch as it flows downhill toward the creek.....the county has installed a black curb along the road that begins just before our fence and continues to our driveway.....where rainfall will now presumably collect in our garage.....no large rains since this curb showed up...but i cannot seem to remember from day to day that it is there....and so when i stumble out to get the newspaper in the semi-darkness i trip over it....no injuries yet...but it would seem the kind of obstacle that will break your nose, eventually.....

making a list.....

ok, so.....we are in countdown mode....i am taking the fewest personal items ever before schlepped to a foreign country.....i also have no hour-by-hour agenda.....not because i am unable to whip one up.....but because my spouse asked me nicely if on this trip we could browse rather than march through the sites......and i while i do know what days which sites are open....and what they cost...i have no agenda save for saturday's rendezvous with the l.o. and the l.o.'s s.o......got that?.......though i will be gone from my office for a week.....few have spoken of this trip...and i understand amongst my spouses' friends even less has been said.....one would think we were going to purgatory rather than paris.....but i contend that going to paris to see one's child is much different than going on a luxury vacation to an exotic locale....especially since i have yet to see paris on a lavish budget.....my spouse told me today that when one of his closest friends made yet another comment about our extravagant trip....he told this person that i was likely to spend less on this vacation than this person would spend taking 2 people to disneyworld for the same number of days.........ah well.....enough ranting about people who don't go far afield.....i plan to enjoy myself....eat well....drink wonderful wine....and take lots of good pictures.....and since i left plenty of lists in envelopes on the fridge....emergency lists and dire emergency lists....all should go well..... a bientot.....

just too funny

ok, so...this from the wire.... In an unusual development on the pop album charts, veteran rock band the Eagles were awarded the No. 1 spot on Tuesday after a last-minute rule change relegated Britney Spears to second place.

The Eagles' first studio release in 28 years, "Long Road Out of Eden," sold about 711,000 copies last week, according to preliminary data released by tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan. Spears sold a modest 290,000 copies of her album, "Blackout."

seems the eagles album is available only at walmart, which does not usually release sales figures to nielsen.....but this issue is a digression from my point...that an aging rock band has outsold the pop queen......just too funny......

shakertown goes wet....

ok, so....with a vote of 426-341...the precinct that boasts the restored shaker village in the county just to the north will now allow alcohol sales with lunches and dinners. This will be good news for shakertown, which suffers from under-utilization. Even in-county landmarks like the beaumont inn can offer alcohol to dinner and overnight guests because the city voted several years ago to allow alcohol sales under certain conditions. But shakertown was not within city limits, and voters, up until now, have always defeated ballot iniatives.....shakertown is a lovely place to stay fro events in lexington, but could not draw large crowds because of the 'dry' issue. I am looking forward to our annual christmas outing at shakertown with the propect of a nice glass of wine......

the 'v' word.....

ok, so....i had hopes that the 'v' word would be put back on the shelf for another election cycle.....but the early eruption of presidential primary candidates onto the political scene tells me otherwise.....the collective 'they' are looking after my family's values....or so they say......and i sincerely doubt that few, if any have a line on what my family holds dear.....for example.....we value a good book.....read this as enough good books to overflow from existing shelf-space....we value a good game of scrabble.....we value far-flung travel, well documented photographically......we value lifelong learning after one's master's degree......and regular physical activity.....and cheeses of the world.....we value the re-use of items that can be reused, and would rather buy used rather than new goods.....we value giving things away rather than throwing things away......so far......the values folks have not hit these nails on the head with their rhetoric......

my little black book

ok, so.....as mentioned earlier i am using the same moleskine journal on this fall paris adventure that i used back in april....given that there is plenty of room and i have most of the necessary details already recorded...such as which museums are open versus closed on mondays....and which are free (musee carnevalet), or open late at a discounted price(like the louvre on fridays).....and so with my morning spare time i pasted into my little black book bistro reviews.....and i am now regretting my choice of saturday restaurants....thinking that lecluse, a wine bar that serves food near quai augustin/st michel metro might be more fun and still have something vegetarian to offer.....it has a website....and for my money the salmon salad looked just yummy......so many restaurants so little time.....

50 feet in a pudding position....

ok, so.....in one of the more curious dreams to date....i dreamed that as we were moving stuff out of the youngest child's room into somewhere vague......we were somehow connected to a group of olympic kayakers, who were kayaking through rather dangerous manmade runs...that involved long tunnels, drops, and shoots......and the option was given these women (yes...these daredevils were all women) to do the same runs without their kayaks.....and one of the women described how she shoots off the cliff and drops 50 foot in a pudding position before completing her dive into the swirling water....and before the current sweeps her down the remainder of the run......thankfully, this was a peaceful night's sleep...well...aside from being cold.....i should have gotten up and located the down comforter...and the overnight temp was near to 30.....i work til 2....and then have 4 hours of state-donated time with which to vote...i have to actually sign an affidavit that i, in fact, voted.....i have to pick up the grey wool peacoat at the drycleaners....and pack it with the other paris-bound clothing.....and then go through my owned packed garb to sort out what is essential and what will likely go unworn......getting so very close to this trip......

a passing panic.....

ok, so.....this being monday on a thursday travel week...i decided it would be prudent to reconfirm all of my travel times and dates.....and to email them to our dear middle child who may want to know this vital information....and when i got to looking closely at my delta confirmation email....i noticed that the seat assignments for the atlanta-paris leg were asterisks, and not actual seat numbers......oops.....and so i called delta and was assured that we do have seat assignments.....and that we are good to go as far as our plane trips.....and then i printed out my saved email hotel confirmation......and got to looking closely at the dates....and while the hotel was correct...the confirmation was for 3 nights...3 weeks from now.....and so i replied to the hotel on rue cler with the email they had sent with their room availability.....to make sure that they were expecting us friday, and not a few weeks from friday......and then i waited...and waited....and waited......until our hotel reconfirmed that we were, in fact, expected friday and not several weeks from now.....gentle readers.....the last thing i needed was to have to book into a new hotel at an inflated rate at the last minute......we are keeping a watchful eye on the weather conditions in paris....at this point the high is the same, but the low is not nearly as brutal as once posted......should be decent climate conditions for a marvelous weekend jaunt.......and this evening, while i waited for my diabetes support crowd to arrive in anderson county....i discovered that several museums in the marais that i hope to visit on sunday are free.....who knew?......and so this trip i will opt out of the museum pass thing....because the museum we will visit on saturday doesn't credit the museum pass.....it no longer makes sense to buy a pass to see museums that cannot be seen on consecutive days.......

truth.....

ok, so....in my dreams i was taking a test.......i had a blank answer sheet, and my chore was to write down single word synonyms...50 of them.....from a separate xeroxed list.....and i had no table to use, so i was using the side of my purse as a writing surface.....and at some points i could not find the test, and later on the answer sheet....these pieces of paper would get strewn about along with the cincinnati newspaper....lost in the shuffle.....and curiously, the numbered answere sheet would become scrambled...so that if i was answering number 10 i had to search for the corresponding blank.....i struggled with the answers...the most memorable was for a synonym for truth....i wanted to put down words like correctness.....or justice...but these were not right...and i knew that even in my sleep.....for the record...the best answer would have been fact...as this was my first google of the day.....as for the people in this dream......a curly-headed fellow who went to church with my middle child , who i know to have only brothers.....was telling me as he proctored the test for a bit about how his sister would have answered a question on a synonym for blue...curious.....and as i was going into a room grasping both the unfinished answer sheet and the test.....a girl from my high school class......whose name i could not recall....and someone i have not thought about since before we graduated, was walking out......as obscure goes this is really obscure.....part of the action took place in my in-laws house in cincinnati....a place no longer owned by family....and all of the furniture was different.....as it would be.....sadly...i never did complete my task...and toward the end i was wondering how i would ever earn a degree in english if i failed this exam.......good thing i have never aspired to a degree in english.....

the wand chooses the wizard.....

ok, so......i spent this evening in intense conversation with a dear montessori mother.....and in the course of our chatter about travels, she presented me with a legacy coat......a lined black trench that was owned and cherished by her sister.....one of the first people to read my blog at its beginnings.......back when going to spain was the adventure.....it is not everyday that one is gifted with a treasure....sheila silver's coat......if not worn to the ends of the earth, it was certainly destined to travel so.......and i will do my best to wear this coat to its destiny...this trip to paris...and the next.......

a bookclub rebuttal....

ok, so this is my response to my bookclub's discussion from last evening....about b.kingsolver's book...small wonder

Last evening i appreciated the brisk discussion about so many topics.....including our digression into evolution, the desirability of living closer to the earth, and the stepping a second time into the same stream.....and as usually happens....the things i could have said/should have said did not come to me until after i was home and the moment had long passed.....but there are thoughts worth adding late rather than never.....that in some ways tie together many of the themes we batted back and forth.....we talked intensely about how we are maturing earlier, growing taller than our ancestors and living long enough to stymie our families with our fantastical revisionist memories as we dwindle into senility......all these realities are a result of a global food market.....our ability to buy, both by personal wealth and availability of foodstuffs that cannot be grown in our 50 mile circle enables us to even out the nutritional deficits that often accompany local dining options....those who live in the arid southwest get to buy milk and cheese to supply calcium not found adequately in the local food supply.....those from the north get to buy citrus and kiwi for vitamin C....a classic example of the complete failure of local foodsupply is in china, where an entire region has selenium-poor soil, and the cancer rate to match the lack of this necessary anti-oxidant. We live longer with better teeth and fewer life-threatening infections because we can and do dine globally. And while i appreciate the Kingsolver desire to live closer to the seasons and to their land.....i want it noted that this was something that they could not have done in Tuscon.....and might not have been able to do in Danville, unless they were willing to milk their own goats as local bovine dairies are as rare as hen's teeth in these parts. As for me, I intend to enjoy Florida tangerines, and Chilean red grapes, and Brie with Australian Chardonnay until I, too, dwindle into senility.

Ah well, thanks for humoring me with this post-bookclub installment.

friday, friday....

ok, so...today is my (new) continuing education day.....i do read on-line (and free) continuing education lessons, and do the post-tests on paper....and after november 1, i submit these online and get my certificate of completion.....i require 15 hours per year, which ends oct 31 of each year....and i have been able to get most of these hours taken care of by the3 or 4th of november...this year i read qualifying articles on the gatorade website about sport and cardiovascular diseases, sport and herbal supplements, as well as a review of the role of fats in nutrition and another piece about consumer perceptions of current nutrition messages. i usually attend meetings throughout the year, but it is quite nice to know that i have my license requirements completed.

bookclub......

ok, so....i lectured on 2 chapters between leaving work and arriving at bookclub...which was somewhat exhausting.....the talking-too-fast so as to make it to my next event before everybody got settled in to the book...a collection of essays by b. kingsolver.....one that i recall as being a tad preachy...especially to the choir.....those who are not environmentally sensitive would never have gotten past the 3rd piece.....i was at a loss with the discussion...because i not only read the book first out of two of us.....i read it long enough ago that i could not remember any of the essays in enough detail to give learned commentary......which sets a collection of essays apart from fiction...the plot that drives the prose leaves subtle markers....so that one can pick up a book much later and be able to find passages that were memorable based on just about how far you were in the reading when the words leaped off the page...so to speak.....ah well.....i had looked forward to the evening, because the hostess has a wired-hair terrier....like our late dog oscar......but he was confined to his own space somewhere out of our hearing, and i didn't get to nuzzle with her....even for just a moment.....i did however take mental note of the trips brought up as examples throughout the evening...the caribbean, hawaii, the southwest, the rockies.....that were conjured up by kingsolvers prose....these mental pictures from a person who point blank told my spouse that he could never see himself affording a trip to france....i have no doubt that a person could spend more on a long-weekend jaunt to any of those spots than we are spending on this trip of ours.....but the perception is there...that paris is extravagant....and somehow colorado is....not.....?...tickets to denver are never cheap.....ah well... the next book is the namesake....which is in the trunk of my car...for which i have explanation......

countdown.....

ok, so we leave for paris one week from today....and i have not yet begun to pack....