Friday, December 29, 2006

 

Decorations down

The garland, silver balls and white candles are off the mantle. The ornaments hung from the dining room light fixture are in their box in the closet. The Santas put up and the usual pictures back on the entertainment center. Lights in two windows are down. The other two will come down today. The house seems plain without the decorations. I suppose that's a good argument for me to get "a lot of things that just sit". Nah.

I haven't gotten much of what I wanted to do this week done. Haven't started studying for the cert I'm interested in, haven't finished a vacation blog. House is still not back in order. Oh well. I've enjoyed the hibernating and being a bit ill, I'm sure it's done me good.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

 

Casual Sunday

I've noticed that people don't dress up as much to go to church these days. Very odd to me. I've felt strange in a pants suit, even a nice one, since I NEVER wore pants to church as a child. Even a skirt was not quite right. Dresses were the thing and almost the only thing.

After some shopping today, I think I understand the change: it's hard to buy "church clothes" these days. In addition to me hating shopping for clothes, shopping for dresses has been nightmarish over the past few years. What I find tends to be a) too formal, b) too old, c) too young. Today was no different. So unless you're going to the opera after, you're 10 or you're 70, nice pants may be your only choice. So I suppose I'll stop worrying about it and keep wearing my black pants and assorted tops.

Shopping today was just as much fun as ever. I did manage to buy The Boy a robe (which he needed), so it wasn't a total waste. I know you shouldn't start a fitness routine so you can look better in clothes, but my shopping experiences are reinforcing my need to get off the couch.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

 

I will drink no wine....

before it's time. A good quote and Orson Welles delivered it with majesty and gravitas on commercials years ago. I need to amend it a bit for my own personal use: I will drink no wine when my nose is not in full operating condition. And the more expensive it is, the better reason to pass.

Why is the nose key? Easy. You can taste a handful of flavors: salt, bitter, sweet, sour and what the Japanese call umami (what makes meat "meaty"). Five. Millions of tastebuds, they can only light up to one of 5 options. Your nose, however, is hardwired straight into your brain, which can process many many more. Good wines are complex and you experience that much more through your nose than your tongue (as you do ANYTHING you eat or drink).

At Christmas with the in-law's, FIL opened a nice bottle he'd received as a present from co-workers. A fairly famous label that I've not tried because I don't normally buy $30+ bottles of wine. From what I could smell and taste, it was really good. I think I only "got" about half of what the wine had to offer because I've been sinus-y. He likes wine, but is the only person in his household who drinks it. So our visits tend to be his main "tasting time". He was excited about the wine, so how could I say "save it until I can really taste it" ? I'm the family expert, so I was asked for my opinion. Was a weird position to be in..."what little I can taste of it is great"??? Can't say that.

Unfortunately, my sinuses bother me enough that this isn't the first time I've had such an incident. One year, The Boy got a NICE bottle of wine from a vendor. Yes, this was back in the day when venture capital flowed like water for anything tech-related. We cooked Valentine's Day dinner and he wanted to open THAT wine. We were both sick. I actually said "you know, this won't taste much different from what's in our water glasses", but to no avail. AFTER dinner he says "we really should have saved that until we both could taste it". Uh, yeah.

So it looks like I'll be dry for a few days. I'd picked up some nicer than normal wines for us to have with family and just us together. Looks like they'll get us through January......

Saturday, December 16, 2006

 

Out in the country

Went to get the mail a minute ago. One of the things I like about living on 3 acres is the quiet. As I walked up the driveway, I noticed it was quiet as usual. But then, you start to listen and you hear a lot. The wind through the leaves still on the trees, the wind rustling the leaves that have already fallen. The whine of a saw as a neighbor down the hill works on a project. The distant strains of a radio. The far away rumble of traffic on the main road or the highway.

The wind carried the clouds quickly by. It also brought the scent of leaves burning and a slight chill.


The leaves are mostly gone and I can see more--but still not much--of the neighbors down the hill. Just enough trees so that we each know the other is there, but plenty of trees to give us each privacy.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

 

Bowled over

I'm not sure which Bowl game AR will be invited to. The projections don't look good. Teams with worse records than us or lack of status within their own conference are slated to be in "better" bowls than we are. I know one of the criticisms of the BCS is that it doesn't make any sense. Let me add my vote to that chorus. Granted, since myself and the numerous critics aren't going to inject any cash to the system along with our opinions, our voices won't make much of a difference. I whole-heartedly agree with King Kaufman of Salon.com (at least I think it was him) who points out at least once per season that the BCS isn't about crowning a champion, it's about making money for the participating schools.
I suppose it shouldn't matter to me since I won't be going to the game, even if they had it in our state. I prefer to watch my football cozily and fairly quietly in my home. Hanging out with thousands of people, many of whom could care less about the game just isn't my thing. The absolute LAST thing I'd want (and which I'd probably get) would be to sit in front of Muffy and Buffy discussing their plans, outfits and drinks for the party after the game or Mom, Pop and kiddos who don't need to hear my thoughts when AR does something stupid. No, my thoughts are much safer in my living room and I can get things done around the house during commercials and halftime.

Just, please BCS selection committee, please let us play on Jan. 1. New Year's Day is bowl game day. All the REAL bowls are played then. So you can't watch all the games at once. Wah. Spreading games out for weeks is idiotic (unless you were, I don't know, maybe having a PLAYOFF!). Yes, the Tostito's Bowl is some other time. Shouldn't be. It ought to be on 1/1/07. Oh well....it's noon on Sunday. Time for me to quit worrying about college ball and turn on the real stuff....NFL, baby!

Friday, December 01, 2006

 

Ghost sighting

As I was walking on the stair*
I saw a woman who wasn't there....

Ok, it wasn't really stairs, it was a chapel on the college I attended. And some woman was there, I'm just not sure it was the one I was reminded of. Some years ago, a friend of mine dumped me. She wasn't what I'd call an "ordinary" friend. We were extremely close, I told her things I could never tell my solidly-red-state "best friend" who I've known for 30 years. She and I had retirement plans more solid than the ones either of us had with our respective spouses.

But one day, she met a boy. Who didn't like me for vague and nonsensical reasons. Some of the same things he used as reasons not to like me were not unique to me (friends he disapproved of, I knew her ex, I encouraged her to leave her ex). Another friend of hers shared some of the ones he deemed "major faults" of mine, but he liked the other friend just fine. So I lost my dear dear friend.

Studies say that divorce and death are extremely stressful for humans. My situation with her was neither, but it was the single most stressful even that had happened to me at that point and is still in the top 3, some 8 years later. What made it more fun at the time, was that few of my other "supportive people" in my life "got" why it was so important. I got lots of "if she's going to be that way, she doesn't deserve you". Possibly true, but it doesn't fix the rending of my soul an the large part of my life plans that have now disappeared.

Two to three years ago, I felt comfortable enough to mention her name. Last night, I believe I saw her in the audience of our college's choir Christmas concert. She was in the choir in college, so that makes sense. She hasn't lived near here in years, so that is confusing. She has no "reason" other than the college, to be in this area. I'd wondered for some time what I would do if I ever saw her. Now I know: stare. I had a good side view of her, but she probably didn't notice me. I looked for her after the concert, but she was gone. Good. There are people I could reach out to to see if she was here. I have a highly developed sense of curiousity about most things, but not for this. If it was her, I wish her good tidings ('tis the season, you know). If it was not. Well, her twin was lurking about and I wish her the same.

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