The morning in review

I got some serious rest last night--whew, what a relief! Since I'm off today, I would have loved to stay up later, but Ken went to bed at about 10:15 (he's been working long hours, and he's about wiped), and I was close behind, a matter of 15 minutes later. I actually have lots of energy today, and all the chores I needed to get done are done!

The turkeys were hanging out today, and I got to see them fly over the house and into the marsh out back. After watching dozens of turkeys glide overhead, I managed to close my gaping mouth. It's just the coolest thing to see! I was also excited to see a couple of toms displaying. I don't recall seeing them do this so early, but it must be getting to be that time of the year. "Love is in the air...." I think they are so gorgeous when they do this. Their head coloring is quite odd, but their feathers are just amazing and beautiful, and it's so funny the way they puff up and try to look so intimidating and strong! (And believe me, I'd never want to tangle with a wild turkey, especially a big ol' tom--those claws and spurs look like they could do some damage!)

I had a couple of Cornish game hens in the freezer, and I got them out yesterday to thaw overnight. I usually roast them, but I thought I'd see if I could find a crockpot recipe. I did, and they're cooking right now. It called for making a batch of stuffing and putting it into the hens, but are you kidding me? I wanted to put a quarter of an apple in each one to keep it moist, and I had to slice it into eighths in order to fit it into that tiny little cavity. Who could fit enough stuffing in there to matter? I browned the hens in a pan on the stove, then I mixed up a some melted butter, lime juice, soy sauce, and white wine to pour over the hens. I put a little seasoned salt and paprika on top, and was good to go. I think I'll serve them with rice, carrots, and a salad. How does that sound?

Hey, I'm watching the Food Network, and "Essence of Emeril" is on. He's cooking eggs, and he just mentioned a neat tip: store eggs wide side up, because that's where the air pocket is, and they'll last longer. Cool! He said to watch the expiration date, and while I try to use eggs up as soon as possible, I find that they last much longer than the expiration date on the carton.

When I took out the garbage, something about the downspout caught my eye. It's at that midway point where the sun melts what it shines on, but it's still cold enough to freeze. There's a little stalactite/stalagmite thing going on here.

Something about it reminded me of something...I can't quite think of what it is....

Hm. Oh well, it'll come to me sooner or later.

Tags: Wild turkeys, Cornish game hens, Food Network, Essence of Emeril

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The Lady in the Pink Mustang

Yesterday was March 5th, which means it was my Uncle Bobby's birthday. Happy birthday, Uncle Bobby! It also means that it would have been the birthday of his twin sister, my Aunt Bert--short for Bertha Jean--who is my Mom's sister, and Cousin Shane's Mom.

                                     

Aunt Bert was something special. A gorgeous, long-legged blonde (not a natural blonde, but she looked great as one!), she did indeed own a pink Mustang. How cool is that? Her beauty went much deeper than the surface, though. She was one of the kindest, most gentle-hearted people I've ever known. She also had that goofy sense of humor that seems to run in my family. One of my Mom and Dad's favorite stories about her is while they were sitting around talking one day, Aunt Bert was cutting the "pills" off of a sport coat. She was snipping away while she talked, and when she held up the coat, she'd cut a big chunk out of it. She looked at Mom and Dad, and they all just burst into laughter, and believe me, when Aunt Bert laughed, she gave it her all! Shane and I still chuckle about that laugh that she had, and all the sisters had similar laughs. We used to wonder when one of them was going to lay an egg. Like her and Uncle Bobby, I am the youngest sibling, and maybe that's why we got along so well--as the baby of the family, we both have that "class clown" attitude. She loved to laugh.

                 Aunt June, Aunt Liz, Aunt Bert, Mom

When we were kids, a lot of the families would go out to a local campground and have a cookout. At night, we'd sit around a fire, and Shane's stepdad would play guitar and sing. I still remember him singing "Long Tall Texan," and when he sang, "And when people look at me, they say..." and Aunt Bert would say the line, "Hoo-raw! Is that your horse?" Sounds corny, doesn't it? It was, but it's something I've never forgotten, and I'm smiling as I write.

When I went off to college in Indiana, my parents were living in Georgia. I spent my summers with them, of course, but during the school year, I'd often come up for a weekend visit with family. Sometimes I'd stay with one of my sisters, sometimes with my cousin Greg and his Mom, but 9 times out of 10, Shane would pick me up (or I'd catch a ride), and I'd stay with him and Aunt Bert and his stepdad. They took me in as part of the family, and that's where I spent Christmases. It was good to know that I had a place--a home--where I could spend a weekend and be with family and have homecooked meals. (Aunt Bert was also a great Southern cook, just like her Mom and her sisters.) It meant a lot to me to have that kind of atmosphere, instead of being stuck at school all the time.

                                     

                                                                   Aunt Bert, Shane, me

When I finished school, I got married shortly afterward. Aunt Bert put together a photo album for me, with pictures of me and my cousins when we were little, pictures of family, pictures of our Christmases together, etc. She wrote inside, "I will always cherish our times together, for you are like my very own." Aunt Bert died of cervical cancer about a year and a half after that, and it gave me a little shiver to look at the dates...I wonder if she knew by that time that she wasn't going to make it? She was 46 when she died, not even a year older than I am right now. I still miss the heck out of her (all of us do), and I always get emotional around her birthday. She once gave me one of her lounging robes, a hoodie sweatshirt thing with BJ (Bertha Jean) monogrammed on it. It's pretty ratty by now and I haven't worn it for years, but I can't bring myself to throw it out, so it still hangs in the closet.

A few years after she died--I was divorced by that time--I had a dream that I was terribly sad about something. Aunt Bert was there, held out her arms, and said, "Let me give you a hug, honey." She hugged me and told me everything was going to be okay. I woke up in tears, feeling like my Aunt Bert had just been there to give me a hug. I called Shane and we talked about it, and while I'm not a big believer in "things happen for a reason" (how can the loss of such a wonderful person have any rhyme or reason?), Shane and I probably connected on a deeper, more mature level than we ever had, and we've been that close ever since.

I wonder what she'd be like today? She'd be 68 years old! Wow, that's hard to believe. I think she'd be the same beautiful, fun-loving person that she was 22 years ago. I think she'd be happy for me, and proud of me--I know she'd be proud of Shane, who is an utterly great guy--and I also know that she would love Ken to pieces. While I still wonder sometimes why she, of all people, was taken from us, I'm grateful that she was a light in our lives for the time we had her. Love you, Aunt Bert.

Tags: Blogplugs

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Call me Ms. Gumby

MAN, am I ever ready for my day off tomorrow! I was doing the respiratory DFA's (one of the ways we test for influenza) today, and there were a bunch of them (including a bunch of positives), and it is becoming so tedious to work on so many, and my hand is sore from so much pipetting, and...

MY BRAIN HURTS!

It's time for the local news, but after a quick trip to the store after work (that way I don't have to go out tomorrow, yay), I'm happy to just sit here in the peace and quiet for a little while. We'll have leftovers tonight, so it will be a nice relaxing evening for all.

Well, Hillary did what she needed to do, didn't she? I have to give her credit for working hard and fighting. The delegate count didn't change much, but she's still in it. It's looking like Indiana might yet play a role with our primary on May 6. For the first time since I can remember, we might actually have some campaign visits here. That would be rather exciting! Congrats to John McCain, and Huckabee gave a classy concession speech.

Seems like I was going to mention something else, but I can't remember it for the life of me. Probably because MY BRAIN HURTS!

Tags: Monty Python, Gumbys, Hillary Clinton, John McCain

Another Question of the Day

Zobmondo's Question of the Day (and this has already generated much laughter here at Nutwood):

Would You Rather... Always have a little green piece of spinach stuck between your front teeth or… a little booger in your nose that moves when you breathe?

My initial response was NOT the spinach, because I smile a lot, and I'd be flashing the spinach constantly. Besides, I reasoned, it doesn't say that the booger is visible. Ken gave me a look and said, "If you can feel it moving, it's visible." I said, "Not necessarily! It could be way up in your nostril!" (By this time, I was giggling so hard I was crying.) Ken said, "No. Both the spinach AND the booger are visible. But people are more likely to tell you that you have a piece of spinach in your teeth than that you have a visible booger. I'd go with the spinach." (Oh my God, I'm still giggling about this!)

Since the premise has been clarified so that the booger is indeed visible, I also will go with the spinach. That's a little less gross than a booger.

Tags: Zobmondo

Speechifyin'

A pretty good day at work today! We were busy enough, but not crazy-busy like it has been. That was good, because we had a lecture to attend today, and it lasted about an hour and a 45 minutes. What was amazing, though, was that we didn't even realize that that much time had gone by, because the guy was fascinating and such a good speaker! He's a Ph.D. from University of Iowa, and he spoke about positive blood cultures and the lab's role. Positive blood cultures are probably the most crucial thing we deal with, because it can be life-threatening in a matter of hours. I was so interested that I didn't even get a little bit sleepy, and this was after the lunch they gave us! I even asked a question after he was done, and I rarely do that. I'm always hugely impressed by people that speak so well and so easily, probably because I am the complete opposite. I've given little inservices at work, and I'm even nervous about those, although I'm okay once I get going. He came up afterward and toured our department, and was just the kindest, most likable guy, and SO knowledgeable. We all really enjoyed his lecture, and probably the thing I've liked the most about my job over the years is the fact that I still find it wonderfully interesting, and I still learn new things almost every day. One of these days I'll write about one of my favorite topics, how disease has affected history. Stop laughing, it's a lot more interesting than you'd think. One of the books in my stack is The American Plague, which is about yellow fever and how those epidemics shaped America's history. I'm sure you all can hardly wait for THAT entry! I promise, you'll find it interesting....

When I drove up into the driveway after work today, I noticed something tan on one of the bird feeders. At first I thought it was squirrel butt, but I looked closer, and it was one of our small hawks! I think he's a red-shouldered hawk. Here's a pic, a little fuzzy, but isn't he handsome?

Since I was downloading the hawk pics, I'll include a few recent others. Here are a few of the turkeys in our back yard--this was the day we counted about 75 of them, so this is only some of them! One of my friends at work, Alissa, told me that her husband Scott (a hunter) was concerned about me and my family, and didn't want us to get Avian Flu, so he was willing to come over and cull the flock. I said that was a very kind and generous offer, but I usually don't make a habit of going out and hugging our turkeys!

                                     

Here's a squirrel with cold hands. (Paws? They LOOK like little hands!)

Finally, here's our cat, Sheeba, checking his email. We suspect that while we're at work, Sheeba and Baxter (our friends Kim and Steve's cat) exchange IM's. That's okay, as long as they stay away from the kitty porn. <snort> Get it?

                                     

Addendum

Reader Bill wrote a great entry on his journal, Rosarium, about my "Dressing Down" entry. Check it out!

Forkin' A

When I was unloading the dishwasher this weekend, I remembered that I was missing a dinner fork in our set of silverware. I know it shouldn't be that big of a deal...but it is. I stewed about it all weekend. Well, not really--I just got out the warranty card, found Oneida's website, and made sure I could get open stock in my pattern. I could, and just ordered my replacement fork. I figured I'd check the drawer and see if I was missing anything else, and I was also missing a salad fork! How do forks go missing? I suppose they're hanging out with the AWOL socks.

While I was at it, I ordered 4 iced tea spoons and 4 soup spoons. I was going to order a set of 8 steak knives, but that really upped the price of the order, as well as the shipping, so I skipped those.

I'll be so happy to have a nice, even number of forks. That's a load off of my mind.

And if that's all I have to worry about today, I consider myself a very fortunate and blessed human bean.

Work is still there

My alarm went off at 5 AM today, I took my shower, got dressed and ready, headed out to work, and when I got there...the building still stood, and there was plenty of work inside. <sigh>

I'll never understand how the time between around 5 PM Friday and 5 AM Monday can go SO FAST. Someone please explain this strange time warp effect.

I was a little dismayed to hear today that a coworker speaks frequently to others about how they can't retire soon, and they don't get to go on vacations, and they don't have a lake cottage (that last one was in reference to another coworker who has one). I've had so many nice comments from people about my coming retirement, usually to the effect of how they'll miss me and my experience, but wish me all the best. Just today, Dr. Kim, our pathologist who is in charge of Micro, chatted a bit with me and said that they hate to lose me, but they all wish me well. It honestly made me more sad than mad to hear that this person was so eaten up with what seems to be envy. (The person who told me this said that it was almost an obsession with the person.)

It's been my experience that if someone truly cares about you, no matter the relationship, they will be genuinely happy for you when you have good news. I think we all know of people that we really don't care for, and then I think it's natural to feel that little shiver of Schadenfreude. But when it comes to people I care about, I don't think I've ever had that feeling, and I've always been quite happy for them. The hard truth is that we all have choices, and just because we make certain choices doesn't mean we should begrudge others their good fortune. Ken and I have been planning this for years, just like we saved for years to go on a cruise with the kids, and we are by no means extravagant in our lifestyle. I've written often here about how rarely we go out to eat--I'm sure that saves us big bucks. [Say we eat out once a week at a moderate restaurant like Friday's. Figure on a $50 tab, if we have a couple of drinks, and then there's the tip. That is $2600 a year.]

So that was kind of a bummer for me to hear. I'm not all morose about it or anything, and it really doesn't make ME feel bad...I'm the one who will be retiring soon, after all. Call me crazy, but I'm kind of excited and happy about that! But it DOES make me feel sad for this person, that they are unable to step outside their own experience and be happy for someone, and I can't imagine that that kind of envy and bitterness is doing them any good, either physically or mentally. It's just not good karma, man.