End of the year and other new stuff

I am in Oregon again.  It is for a short time only, but I am here and that is all that matters. Also, I have a new range in our old farm house – the previous one was a brown, 20 year old electric range with coils, half of which didn’t work, and more mouse poop in its wiring than I care to think about.

The clean-up after they pulled that thing from its spot was toxic.

My fabulous boyfriend, who is soon to be my – wait for it – husband (!!!!) got me the range for a xmas present. I know it sounds that next I’ll be barefoot, pregnant and chained to that stove forever. I guess 2 out of three ain’t bad. HA!

You know I love to cook, so this is really a great Xmas present.  And the electrician is downstairs making sure we can actually turn on the stove and the lights at the same time.

On other news, posting on this blog will remain light in the foreseeable future.  Not that I plan to continue my lazy ways.  Au contraire. I am starting a new blog, one that will be a wee bit more focused that this one, ahemm.

I  need to lose some pounds. And I love food and its place in our life, and I am concerned and interested by the consequences of our mistreatment of the production process of food on the distribution of food across the world.  The fact that I have pounds to lose and that across the Atlantic people are starving, or that my weight comes from eating too much good food while most obesity in the US comes from indulging in Big macs – these are the things that keep me awake at night.

Food is essential, but we humans have not respected it enough, we have no dealt with the inequality in the distribution of food across the globe in a holistic way, and we are not thinking enough about the connection between climate control and food supply control.

If any of this interests you, or if you just want to see me expose myself, my weight, and embarrassing shots of my largest parts, leave me a comment or send me an email (galainoregonATgmailDOTcom) with your email, and I’ll let you know when the new blog is up.

It’s all for a good cause (my weight loss will be a food bank’s gain – more on that in the blog), so I hope to hear from you!

post – thanksgiving hangover

We caravanned in two cars down I-5 yesteday,  for seven brain-numbing hours in post-thxgiving traffic. He with the kids, I with the dog.  He and I were crushed with exhaustion upon arrival, the other 3 passengers were ready for walks, dinner, more walks and some games.

Did I mention I caught a cold over the holiday?

So this morning I woke up groggily to HRH whining, which usually means she wants breakfast.  She was not the only one whining, so he dealt with the humans whiners and I tackled the breakfast for the canine one.

In the middle of this chaos (our place is very tiny), I thought it a good idea to pop into the bathroom to unplug my oh-so-painfully clogged nose. HRH was eating, and therefore not whining, and himself was apparently successfully handling the humans. Midway through my neti-pot routinge, HRH pops he head into the bathroom, whines mournfully, turns he back to me, and relieves herself of the cause of all that whining.

It was not pee.

There I was with a nose dripping saline water and snot, a dog shitting in the hall, and two children who would very soon have something real to complain about.

We disposed of the mess quickly and I lit 18 of  sticks incense.  And the rest of the day has been spent trying to erase the experience from my memory. And since I’ve shared the worst of my day, let me share the best of it.   It may not actually help you recover from the trauma, but it helped me… Because, oh, look – SHOES! (memory erased)

 

Aren’t these just lovely?  I am not a big fan of pink, but this is hot pink, and the shoes are more kickass than dainty, so they totally qualify as shoes-i-covet.  They’re from terraplana.com.  No stores on this side of the US, but they sell online!

 

 

 

 

These are by Fiorenti & Baker, and I have loved them since the first time I saw them.  I don’t do so well on heels, but I would sacrifice balance for beauty. I luuuurve them.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a more sensible choice from Fiorentini & Baker. Still, I think my legs may not be long enough for this model. But the green color makes me swoon…

 

 

 

 

 

 

If they made this model in green, I’d have a hard time not going into debt for them.  Side zip, back laces for calf comfort, low heel, and totally not dainty but also not over the top buckles and biker look. In other words, the perfect pair of boots.

 

 

what i did today

That fluorescent pink pot – that’s a very nice soup. The big pot with the lid, that a big vegetable stew, and to the left of the picture, that’s my head attached t my body, with an arm stomping away at a pot of potatoes and cream and butter.

And believe it or not, I am feeling a bit hungry now and may just sneak into the kitchen for just one tiny little sliver of pumpkin pie…

we are on the mothership

Perhaps it is more accurate to say we are on the parentship. or the parents-in-lawship.  Either way, we are here. HRH and I, the PB and his little people, all of us in a house sans wi-fi.  I am hooked up to the one (one!)  internet cable, making do with the upload speed I had circa 1998.

Perhaps it is just as well.  Because if I have to continue getting emails from unsatisfied and ornery students, inefficient administrators and sundry gossipers, I am probably better off in the silence of the wi-fi less.

Tomorrow there will be much cooking, and talking, and walking of the dog to avoid having her in the kitchen, and more cooking and then eating.  My idea of a great Thursday!

I leave you with a picture of HRH, oblivious to anything and everything around her. Lucky dog.

I am thankful to her for showing me that sometimes things really are better if you just don’t care so much about them, for demonstrating that it is always worthwhile to hang around until the last bite has been eaten, and that there is no such thing as a place that is not fit to pee.

May you have much to be thankful for, and many people to share it with. Happy Thanksgiving!