Heavenly Happiness aisle 9

Today I ate 4 almonds, half a ham sandwich and a few bites of lentil soup.
By the time I reached the grocery store tonight after sitting in 2hrs of traffic I was starving!
And then I came across Cranberry Orange Risotto in the hot counter at the Wegman's.
I gobbled it up with a glass of white wine.
Suddenly I feel so much better.

The Agony and The Ecstasy

This has nothing to do with Michelangelo or the Sistine Chapel. However, I expect my finished product to have the same awe inspiring effect on the attendees.....

I have been back and forth about 1000 times on what to make for Thanksgiving this year.

It is possible that because of being under the weather, my head has not been in it.

But here is the menu so far. (I am so happy to have settled the matter)

Antipasti for mingling and wine drinking: (music mix to include Bobby Short and Blossom Dearie)

Spicy Cheese Log & Crackers

Herb & Cheese Coins ~ a delightful savory cookie made with blue cheese and walnuts

Spiced Nuts

Marcona Almonds

Olives

Hummus

(this is my favorite part of any get together - the liquor and snacks.....I am thinking some Manhattens are in order too....the music almost demands them)

Primi Piatti:

Butternut Squash Soup

Secondi:

Herb Roasted Turkey with Maple/Orange Glaze

Contorno:

Corn Bread & Sausage Stuffing

Crisp Green Beans w/ Sun Dried Tomatoes

Mashed Potatoes

Balsamic Glazed Pearl Onions

Corn Pudding

Cranberry Apple Crisp

Dolci:

Asian Pear Pie

Assorted Biscotti

Pumpkin Mousse Parfaits

And totally unrelated - I see I have a reader from Gillette Wyoming....my uncle used to live there ~ he had this really cheesy one liner on Gillette ~ "Gillette, the sharpest town in the west"

Sorry...I had to get that out of my system. You can blame my Uncle Gerry.

Photo Shop circa 1530

Copernicus was a cool guy.

I love even more that the anthropologically reconstructed Copernicus looks like the real life version of the 'photoshopped' portrait of Copernicus.

It is comforting to know, that even in the 16th century, the media was not about 'keeping it real'.....yet at the end of the day, you can still see the real life guy on the left and know that he is Copernicus. It must be the nose.

Slightly Better and Slightly Terrifying Realizations

Today I only used 1/2 box of kleenex.

I took none of that waste of money cold medicine.

I tasted my dinner when I ate it.

My nose looks slightly worse.

My attitude is slightly better.

It is also looking up that the weekend is fast approaching. I am doing my best to convince myself that tomorrow will be a fast and productive day.

I am happily geeking out over the fact that I can watch that dreamy Rob Pattinson in Twilight this weekend too.

(some may accuse me of being a pedophile - but I believe he is at least 22..... well above the acceptable age.) How terrifying that for the first time in my life I have a little crush on someone younger than myself. Oh, but wait, I have a crush on Steve from Ghost Hunters too....he looks younger than me. Good grief.

I really am almost 40.

Before you know it, I will be called a cougar. How gross.

Maybe he isnt that adorable.

Who am I kidding, yes he is.

Another Head Cold?!?!

Good Grief.

I just want to scream. But I am too busy blowing my nose and coughing to scream. How is it that I have another cold again?!

I just suffered through one of these not two months ago....I thought I was good to go until at least January.

Once again, I reflect on the common facts of the common cold:

• Cold medicine is a worthless investment.
  
• I ask everyone, all day long to feel my forehead to see if I have a fever.


• Anti-viral kleenex makes me feel less like I am infecting the whole world - when in fact the whole world runs from me like I am Typhoid Mary.


• After 5 days of kleenex use, my nose becomes red, dry and cracked - and no amount of mega moisturizer keeps it looking normal.


• I hate having a dry, red, cracked and crusty nose. (this is what I get for calling a certain someone Crusty. Sorry G)


• On top of a crusty nose, my fingers get all dry from the constant kleenex use. Or maybe it is combined with the constant hand washing in my effort to not spread the disease.


• I never have a good hair day when I have a cold. Is it because my eyes are so watery that I can't see myself in the mirror? It may also explain the haphazard application of make-up - I tend to look like Baby Jane when I have a cold.


• When I have a cold, I get so miserable that I start to wonder what healthy and normal feels like. I love to wallow in the "i am sick pity party"


• I can never remember to feed a cold, starve a fever or feed a fever, starve a cold ~ and it pisses me off because I assume it is feed a cold, but what is the point if you can't taste anything?


• Hearing everyone tell you to drink green tea and take echinacea is just annoying. Shut up and stick your opinion up your butt.

When I Grow Up

I want to be just like Kate Winslet....

I have put this cover in my bathroom.....no doubt the Thanksgiving guests may mock!

Nevertheless, I am pretty sure Kate and I are about the same height....attainable goal no?

A forecast I can finally live with!

43°F
Current:Mostly CloudyWind: SW at 2 mphHumidity: 59%
Today50° 31°
Mon47° 27°
Tue43° 25°
Wed43° 27°


Hip hip hooray! The cold weather is finally coming! The temps in the 70's yesterday was hardly an inspiration!

The Ramble of Angst....

The following things have been on my mind and of great concern to me lately. Here they are in no particular order.
The Economy
My hair
Project Ass Reduction
Weird Dreams
My inability to get anything done lately.

Ok, so each and every day, the economy weighs heavily on my brain. I don't know a great deal about economics, I don't recall ever really paying attention in my economics class, and quite honestly, I never have had a lot of money. I read the paper, I listen to the news, I read magazine articles and listen to talk shows....and listen to podcasts like this. It helps my pea brain wrap itself around the issues.
I was trying to be optimistic to all my employees.
Then it came crashing down on me a week or so ago, when I had to announce to all of my managers that the company was putting a pay freeze in place for the next 12 months. On top of that, we would not be matching 401K contributions for the next 12 months. Ouchy.
Each day, sales are worse and worse. The saddest part is that I am happy when I am down 30% and the rest of the districts are down 40%. I worry, I try to be grateful to have a job, but it is hard to carry the burden of worry for my entire team.

My Hair - I currently hate it. I am afraid that my cut is growing out to "the Rachel" cut.....AAAgggh.
But, I have decided to grow it to donate it again before I have lots of gray hair. As I worry like I do, I fear I may sprout more and more gray!
The color is also not good. I thought it was good, and then two people told me I looked tired and washed out.
Thanks for the honesty and making me feel like crap.
Another friend told me to go darker, she said I was losing my italianess....Hi, I was born with light colored hair, so shut up.
But, they may be right. This sucks, and I can't believe I am even giving a shit.

Project Ass Reduction ~ good grief. I feel like a fat ass ok? I hate halloween and the damn small snickers bars. I never during the year eat snickers bars like I do during the month of October. I think I can take any temptation over snickers bars at Halloween. To make it even more painful 1 week ago, I put on a pair of pants...ok good.
The next week, I put them on again and they would not button. Utter, total and complete fat ass melt down. I cried.
Happily, I did realize it was the pre-menstrual bloat and hopefully next week I can button the damn pants again.
I hate that my metabolism is that of a sloth.
I hate that I have to move my body every single day in order to maintain a reasonable body weight.
I hate that this bothers me so much.

Weird Dreams - Monday night I dreamt I was arrested for shoplifting towels from Saks Fifth Avenue. Do they even sell towels? And the worst part was, my boss was calling me on my cell phone yelling at me for missing a conference call. I couldn't even be arrested without being bothered by work. Last night I dreamt I was pulled over and arrested while driving. I don't know what I did wrong! But the policeman ended up coming with me to where I was going. He was very handsome, and I think I was supposed to be in love with him....but then work called and I had to leave.
I am exhausted when I wake up, too busy explaining my arrests and worrying about not missing conference calls.

My inability to get anything done ~ It is November, Thanksgiving is weeks away. I have no Christmas Cards - normally they are done in October, I am cooking Thanksgiving, I have no idea what the menu is. My home is dirty. I have no idea when I will clean it. The list goes on and on. My priorities are in the toilet....which also needs to be cleaned. I can't focus.
Perhaps, if I spent more time on important things, and less time griping, I would not be in this predicament.