Things I like right now.
An update! Right now, the things I like are:
1. Over-the-counter decongestants. I have a cold, and my colds inevitably go straight to my sinuses, causing me to suffer AND to torture my cubicle-neighbors with endless days of snuffly snorty noises. (I have no paid sick time, after all. I'm not staying home.)
2. Cook's big white teapot. We're decaffeinating gently, by drinking black tea instead of coffee. Eventually we'll work out way out of caffeine dependency, thanks to #3.
3. The 10:00 bedtime rule! It's been in place for only four days, but it's terrific. I feel so much better when I get 8 hours of sleep under my belt. The temptation to stay up a little later to enjoy my down time and read a little more (or blog a little more) is fierce, but I'm trying to stick to the new regimen.
4. Blueberries. Oh, how I love them. And I love getting them at...
5. Farmers' markets. I'm so spoilt that I hate buying produce at the grocery store now. Why should I eat vegetables that were picked more than 8 hours before I buy them? Tonight we had pesto with potatoes, green beans, and hardboiled eggs, with blueberries and white currants for dessert. Thank you, oh farmers of Oregon. Thank you, Tom McCall. * Dutch declared the pesto to be "a little on the spicy side" (due to the presence of garlic), but licked her plate clean.
6. Random pleasant encounters with strangers. There have been quite a few of those this week, and I am grateful. Today, when I was walking (blissfully alone, having sent Cook and Dutch off to a "pinkalicious"-themed birthday party**) on a popular jogging/biking path, slogging upstream through packs of taut and perfect-looking joggers, feeling fat and floppy and frumpy, and I saw a woman coming toward me who was also a little on the fat-floppy-frumpy side, and she grinned at me, like she not only knew me, but was really happy to see me. We beamed frumpily at eachother, and I felt happy all the way home. It's amazing how tiny little social moments like that can be so powerful.
* Though I do think it's time to start setting up rural reserves, folks. The UGB will only take us so far.
** Three-year-old girls are so extreme in their tastes that caricatures are basically useless, because you can never go further than reality. While standing by a table laden with pink foods (including pink tortilla chips), snacking on a pink cupcake, I listened to another mom complain about the annoying Barbie Phone her daughter loves. Dutch cried tonight because she desperately wants a dress exactly like Best Friend's pink, frilly party dress. If you have no three-year-old girl in your life, or know only blessedly non-caricature-like three-year-old girls, I can sketch the caricature out for you in three words: Pink. Sparkly. Pink.
1. Over-the-counter decongestants. I have a cold, and my colds inevitably go straight to my sinuses, causing me to suffer AND to torture my cubicle-neighbors with endless days of snuffly snorty noises. (I have no paid sick time, after all. I'm not staying home.)
2. Cook's big white teapot. We're decaffeinating gently, by drinking black tea instead of coffee. Eventually we'll work out way out of caffeine dependency, thanks to #3.
3. The 10:00 bedtime rule! It's been in place for only four days, but it's terrific. I feel so much better when I get 8 hours of sleep under my belt. The temptation to stay up a little later to enjoy my down time and read a little more (or blog a little more) is fierce, but I'm trying to stick to the new regimen.
4. Blueberries. Oh, how I love them. And I love getting them at...
5. Farmers' markets. I'm so spoilt that I hate buying produce at the grocery store now. Why should I eat vegetables that were picked more than 8 hours before I buy them? Tonight we had pesto with potatoes, green beans, and hardboiled eggs, with blueberries and white currants for dessert. Thank you, oh farmers of Oregon. Thank you, Tom McCall. * Dutch declared the pesto to be "a little on the spicy side" (due to the presence of garlic), but licked her plate clean.
6. Random pleasant encounters with strangers. There have been quite a few of those this week, and I am grateful. Today, when I was walking (blissfully alone, having sent Cook and Dutch off to a "pinkalicious"-themed birthday party**) on a popular jogging/biking path, slogging upstream through packs of taut and perfect-looking joggers, feeling fat and floppy and frumpy, and I saw a woman coming toward me who was also a little on the fat-floppy-frumpy side, and she grinned at me, like she not only knew me, but was really happy to see me. We beamed frumpily at eachother, and I felt happy all the way home. It's amazing how tiny little social moments like that can be so powerful.
* Though I do think it's time to start setting up rural reserves, folks. The UGB will only take us so far.
** Three-year-old girls are so extreme in their tastes that caricatures are basically useless, because you can never go further than reality. While standing by a table laden with pink foods (including pink tortilla chips), snacking on a pink cupcake, I listened to another mom complain about the annoying Barbie Phone her daughter loves. Dutch cried tonight because she desperately wants a dress exactly like Best Friend's pink, frilly party dress. If you have no three-year-old girl in your life, or know only blessedly non-caricature-like three-year-old girls, I can sketch the caricature out for you in three words: Pink. Sparkly. Pink.
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