That Has To Be A Record

I seem to have a thing about records. Maybe it stems from my childhood when I couldn't get a star sticker at tap dancing class when I was four.

Today's record: sixty cookies baked before 8:30 AM. It's a record for me at least.

Back to tap dancing. I went to the Art Linkletter Dance Studio franchise at the Westbard Shopping Center in Bethesda, Maryland back in about 1970. I was four. I was (and still am) uncoordinated.

Everyone in the class was listed on a chart. Every class we'd learn certain steps. Learn a step, get a shiny foil star sticker for your spot on the chart. You see where this is going. I was too uncoordinated at four to earn the stars. One time I actually screwed up the courage to ask if I could have a star. That rotten teacher said to me "No. You didn't do the step right." B!tch. Okay, yeah, I didn't get the step. So just give me a star to take home - don't put it on the chart. It was a stinking piece of paper! It's bad enough to be a failure at tap dancing but then to be denied the star when everybody else got one! She was a bad teacher at the very least. Maybe she didn't want to be teaching four-year-olds. Why am I making excuses for her? Why am I writing about this?

You know, I wonder if that incident right there is why I HATE to ask anyone for anything?

My Neighbor, Michael Dukakis

Oh my Lord, one more post and NaBloPoMo is done! Whoo! And I can get back to thinking like I normally do and not "Do I have time to post now? Do I have anything to post now? I have an idea but I don't have time to post now!" Duh.

Today's post: My Neighbor, Michael Dukakis.

Michael and Kitty Dukakis live around the corner from us. I saw him this morning at about 6:30 charging down the street with his wheelie bag. I guess he was taking the T (that's what we call the subway around here) to the airport, or possibly to the train station (he did run Amtrak for a while there after all) We waved to each other (I was out with Fay. I am not a morning person and I don't have kids so there's no other way I'd be out at that hour)*

I used to have this game that I'd play with him that he didn't know about. I would try to see who would wave first. He won most of the time and he wasn't even playing. The man is friendly.

I haven't seen him in a while and I have to say he looks great. More pepper in his hair than salt and moving along at his usual urban clip. The rocking chair won't be getting him any time soon.

And now, it's time to make the cookie dough. I will be making World Peace cookies from Dorrie Greenspan's Baking, From my home to yours. They are chocolate cookies with a bit of fleur de sel in them. Should be interesting to eat. I like to do something unusual for the cookie exchange. One year I did Spicy Mexican Chocolate cookies with cayenne pepper and cinnamon in them. At least I liked them.

*Is that a record for parentheses? Two sets in one sentence and three in a single paragraph?

I'm still in the chair

I just read about the online game, Eve, on the New York Times site. It sounds cool. I don't know how to play games like that.

Wait a minute - I don't have time to play games like that!

Somewhat Stream of Consciousness

When I was working out I had all these great ideas for blog entries. Now that I've had lunch and fixed a billing snafu I can't remember any of them.

If you're my Mom you might not want to read the next paragraph (now she won't be able to help herself!)

It's okay I guess. Maybe they weren't that great after all. Like those erotic dreams you have where, for example, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is whapping you on the head with his hat and it's the hottest thing you've ever experienced and you really hope he doesn't stop, don't stop, don't stop and he stops and you wake up all disappointed and think "What was that all about?"

Sorry Mom.

I had a good studio day today. That blog entry from before where it occurred to me to go in with a destructive attitude really helped. "Let's see what I can wreck today" turns out to be a good motto.

I have another good motto I'm working on but I think I'll save that one for later when my brain's working better.

I have to go back to Brookline tonight. My Sister-in-law, Kristen's holiday cookie exchange is on Friday. I need to be prepared. As usual, though, I don't want to go back!

Oh suck it up! Post this entry! Get out of that chair! Pack up and go!!!!

But I just packed up and came here two days ago (whine!)

T.S!!!!!!

Fay Update

Here's Fay keeping up with Marc, Pete and I during a game of off road croquet in Amagansett:


The terrain's a little bit rough but she finishes with a satisfied sneeze.

The prednisone bombs weren't working so they've been discontinued. Instead she's taking a new, outrageously expensive drug that's used to treat rheumatoid arthritis in humans. It's the last drug we can try. So far though, no improvement. No horrible side-effects yet either.

I've got a call in to the vet as scheduled. I imagine she'll tell me to lay off the new meds.

I guess that means we'll gradually wean Fay from the prednisone - if we don't it would cause side-effects worse than her disease - and she'll just gradually get worse. She's been getting worse anyway so maybe it won't make much difference.

I don't think there's any way of predicting how fast she'll decline. We may still have her around come springtime. We're all flying to San Diego for Christmas to visit my parents. I bet she'll still be okay for that. I'm hoping they let us carry on her wheelchair.

T-Day Wrap Up

The pie came out fine. Not ideal of course but tasty, not ideal pie is still better than no pie.

Please remind me never to pack like a man again. Six days in the same pair of pants and sweater is not for me. Normally I'm a heavy packer but we had to fit three grown ups, their gear, a dog, her gear, her wheelchair and a cooler in a Subaru Outback Sport. I stuck to one large tote bag. Next time I'm shoving in one more sweater and one more pair of pants.

I am comfortable with my maintenance level. I don't need a decrease.

That sounds suspiciously like an affirmation.

A Good Smack...

One great thing about this blog for me is that there's a record of all the fun I'm having.

Sometimes I get all bummed out and lonely and whiny and complainy. Should I be tempted to head in that direction I can now look at all the fun stuff I've been able to do and give myself a good smack upside the head.

A Massive Yet Invisible Planet Effecting Spacetime Around Him?

Wow, NaBloPoMo is almost over. That month went really fast. Gee, time really flies. And yet George W. Bush is still president. How does that work?

Another Pie Adventure

Look what happened to my crust! It fell! There aren't any pie weights here and the crust needed to be pre-baked. I just went for it. I should have left a lot more overhang I guess. Instead the sides collapsed down into the crust.

So, in the spirit of going for it I'm putting the filling in and baking it anyway. The filling might seep around the sides and make pumpkin crust goo. It'll probably taste pretty good whatever happens. Hey, it's an adventure! For people like me who don't get much excitement.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

Dom Perignon for you?


YOU RUINED Thanksgiving for EVERYONE!!!!!


This was supposed to be cooler than regular Thanksgiving.


GRNGKHUNKGRNGNGNNGG

Thanksgiving So Far

Pete, Marc, Fay and I are having Thanksgiving in Long Island. Pete and Marc's parents have a full house with Pete's other brother, Chris, his wife and their three kids down in Florida. My family's in Las Vegas with my brother's girlfriend's family. We couldn't go because there's no way Fay can stay in a hotel without making a mess of the floor. I can't have that! I wonder if they're frying the turkey again this year? So it's just the four of us having a slacker Thanksgiving.

It's a beautiful day in Amagansett, NY. Sunny and in the sixties. Marc sets out for some surf-casting in some antique waders he found in a closet:


Fay relaxes in the living room beside her stunning and comfortable Jonathan Adler dog bed that her Grandma (my mom) gave her. I guess it's too high for her to get on to with her back legs the way they are. Bummer. She's content though.


I made another tarte tatin:

Pretty, if I do say so myself.

Marc returns:

Pete and Marc then got in the car and drove the fish back to the water. They set it loose and it swam off in a wobbly fashion. We are hopeful for it.

Quote from Marc, "I never thought I'd catch two stripers and snowboard in the same week." Looks like he's having a good time.

We're going out for dinner. Tomorrow we're making stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie and filling them out with whatever left-overs we bring back tonight.

We might stage an alcoholic rage-fest later at dinner just to keep up appearances. I'll bring my camera and see what we can come up with.

Outdoorsy Day

It snowed Monday night in Vermont so Tuesday was an outdoorsy day.
To begin with, Pete decided to cut the waterspouts off the pear tree. Behold, the last pear of the season. It was pretty much frozen but still tasty. I split it with Fay.
We decided to light the burn pile:

We nursed it all day long and into the night. For lunch we cooked hot dogs over it:

There's nothing like a Nathan's hot dog cooked over a gigantic fire:


Who is that hot chick in the nerdy Harry Potter hat? I want a date with her!
Sorry folks, I'm spoken for.

Later in the evening Pete's brother Marc came by and we continued to hang out by the fire. We made nice, grown-up vegetable packets and baked potatoes. The men had more hot dogs too (I love hot dogs but two in a day is good enough for me)

A moonlit night, some tasty food, a little wine, a tiny splash of whiskey...and now we're looking around the property for other stuff to burn. It's a really pleasant way to spend a day/evening if your schedule and the weather allow. All we missed was a few more friends to share the evening with.