Ramble Write

Ok, I should be mopping the floor right now but, in the true spirit of procrastination, I'm gonna ramble write for a bit.

We saw The Kid this past Sunday; she came over for a few hours on her way back to college. She told her dad, "I'm looking forward to a good meal". So, we made a few of her favorites (chicken salad in pitas and junior mint brownies (she took about 1/2 the pan back to school with her)) and a new recipe, "Loaded Potato Soup", which is, in essence, what it sounds like; a fairly basic warm potato soup with crispy bacon bits, green onions and cheddar cheese provided as toppings. It was good to see her and hear all about how school is going. So far, so-so; she is not getting along too great with her roommate and she's struggling a bit with trying to figure out how to take tests (she never really took tests at Waldorf). On the positive side, she's making friends, enjoying some of her classes, and is working one afternoon a week at her nearby Irish dance school helping teach classes for younger students.

She is looking forward to her upcoming week-long fall break (I don't recall ever getting one of these when I was in college). 

After The Kid left, we went to the local Friends of the Library sale but all the books had been fairly well picked over. So, instead, we went to have a few pints at a new local brewery, Fullsteam. Mr. B loves their basil ale (I can't seem to wrap my taste buds around that, even given how much I adore basil). I satisfied myself with their cream ale and an IPA. BTW, as a ha-ha aside; they offer full pints and half-pints. On their price list for half-pint is a picture of Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls Wilder. I'm not going to explain this; you either get it, or, you don't.

Last night was my book club discussion group. We read "Candy Freak" by Steve Almond. What a rolicking time we had! My SIL bought a ton of candy for us to share. So, we were sugar buzzing and wine buzzing; in general, having a blast. Here is my review of "Candy Freak".

Two of the ladies had recently returned from a two week trip they took together to Italy. Hearing them talk about their adventures made me nostalgic for the time I went with my friend Pam to Italy; also for two weeks. This was eight years ago. Holy moly. Anyway, this thought processes sent me down the path of considering how different a person's life is when they are living alone vs. living with a significant other. And, don't get me wrong, as much as I ADORE my life with Mr. B (and wouldn't trade it for anything), I got a bit sad because there are some aspects of "that" life that I do miss. This is probably fodder for another entry, though.

Mrs. B in Italy 2002

Speaking of past lives, I married my first (ex) husband 19 years ago today. All in all, it wasn't a bad day (it's what came afterwards that eventually took a downturn into true "suckdom"). Although, in all honesty, I should have called off the wedding that morning after he called me (I was at my mom and dad's, he was at our apartment with his family). I thought he was calling to tell me something sweet and romantic, you know, like "Honey, I just wanted to call you and let you know how much I am looking forward to becoming your husband later on this afternoon". No, what he DID say was, "Where's the fu$$ing coffee?"

Oh well. Live and learn. And this I have.

Mrs. B 19 Years Ago Today

On a happier note, this is also my mom and dad's wedding anniversary; #42. Thinking back again to my first wedding, one lovely memory is of the two of them dancing to "The Anniversary Waltz" during the reception.

The weather has begun to cool down so it's definitely time to start wearing jeans again. I have a lot of pairs of jeans, but only one that I truly love. I bought them maybe 8-10 years ago. They are Levi 518 Super Low Junior Size 7 M. For whatever reason, this particular style is da-bomb on me. I should have bought more than one pair at the time, but, I didn't (I've since learned if you find something you love that looks great on you on top of it, buy more than one). My original pair got a huge hole in the seat several years ago. I sewed a patch on (an old Girl Scout Cookie patch circa 1973; Mr. B now refers to the jeans as "Your Girl Scout Jeans") so that I could at least still wear them without showing the world my undies (or...) I went through a stage where I was too fat to wear them. Not so any longer. Anyway, this is a long way in saying that, they don't make this style any longer. They still make 518 Super Low jeans, but, they've added 1% stretch material. Believe me, that 1% stretch has completely ruined the look and fit. I know, because I bought a pair. They are ok for the first few hours, but, then they start to stretch and bag and I'm forever yanking them up. So, I've been on a hunt to find the non-stretch variety, which means eBay. I finally found two or three people selling them. I asked all three of them to go look at the label and make sure it read "100% Cotton". Two got back to me and assured me that they did, so, I bought one pair that is supposedly in "excellent" shape. For not a lot of money. Assuming they fit the way I'm hoping they will, I'm going to go back onto eBay and find a few more pairs and buy 'em up. Of course this means I'll need to stay around my same size. Good incentive.

Anyway, I'm excited about a pair of used blue jeans. What does that tell you?

Seriously, I'm also jazzed about the upcoming World Beer Festival here in Durham on Saturday. Always a good time (although we're really gonna miss my step-mom, who usually goes with us but can't make it this year).

I have well over 200 comments now on my post (from two years ago) about Microsoft Hearts "cheating". There are a few regulars who routinely post new comments. One person has been attempting to reference my Blog on Wiki, but, Wiki won't allow it/keeps deleting the reference. I commented that this is likely because my Blog is NOT about Hearts, just that one entry was. And, hey, by the way, I do appreciate all of your visits, but, why not read some of my other posts while you're at it?

The posts that continue to get a lot of hits (in addition to the Hearts one) are: the one about Henry VIII wives, the one about Facebook being a time suck and, for whatever weird reason, the one that I simply entitled "February 2009".

Ok, I guess this has been a long enough diversion from responsibility. The floor is calling.

Mrs. B

Toothaches and Allergies and Coke Bottle Glasses

I went to the dentist Wednesday for my routine cleaning and exam. Everything felt great in my mouth and I told them so as I plopped down into the chair. The hygienist informed me that my right back molar was likely going to require a crown at some point because a very large filling (and probably pretty old) was starting to deteriorate and it would be too hard to try and put a new filling in there, hence, the crown. Hey, this happens. I already have three of them due to the same reason. Also, they reminded me, the tooth next to it may flare up at any time because the root canal done on it years ago wasn't done very well. When/if it flares up, I'll get to go to a specialist so they can repair the damage. But, anyway, all of this was stuff to worry about another day. Or, so I thought!

Why IS it that your teeth feel fine when you go to the dentist but then you get a toothache? This is what is going on with me now. The problem is, I am not sure which tooth it is, the root canal tooth or the huge old cavity tooth. In any case, my mouth started throbbing but good Wednesday night. My typical pain killing plan of action, Aleve, did nothing to alleviate the discomfort. Thankfully, Mr. B has a stash of REAL pain killers left over from various back problems he's had. I took a Percocet and it knocked me out. I woke up yesterday feeling a lot better; no pain at all (albeit I did wake up an hour and a half later than I usually do).

I decided to go to one of those eye vision places to get a pair of cheap glasses since my good pair broke almost two years ago and I've been wearing a pair that I got when I was still married to my first husband. As an aside, cheap glasses do not compute for someone who is as nearsighted as I am because I have to get the high index lenses plus get the edges of the lenses brushed so I don't look as though I'm wearing Coke bottles and my head doesn't continually drop forward due to the incredible weight.

Anyway, I walked into the glasses store and encountered two of the slowest customer service employees I've ever met in my life. Both of them were old (as in "older than me"). The first one, a man, got off subject and started asking me questions about my contact lenses (this when I said I only wear glasses in the evening when I take my contact lenses out). He wanted to know how long I wear them, how long they last (meaning weeks), and why do I take them out when I take them out? Add to this irrelevant conversation the fact it took him three times as long as what I consider normal to get words out of his mouth and he kept squinting at me and holding his head as if he were about ready to drop dead of something, well, I started to get a tad antsy.

One personality trait I'm trying to develop in myself is patience. Seriously; it's on my "To Do" list to work on my impatience/hot temper flare ups. Well, yesterday was an AFOG moment, let me assure you, what with Old Geezer Dude going on about contact lenses when I was there to get glasses (HELLO); then, his counterpart, Old Geezer Broad took forever to type in my order once we'd finally settled on the glasses (and the sunglasses, thrown in for free). By this time, my mouth was back in full throb mode and it was taking the entire measure of my resolve not to blow my top.

After I left, I drove straight home (even though I'd planned on running several more errands). I contemplated popping another Percocet but decided I'd wait to see if I could tough it out. I did call the dentist office to make an appointment for Monday morning to get this checked out (they are closed today for Good Friday; I figured I could tough it out over the weekend, especially since I've got "The Stash" if I need it). Amazingly enough, the toothache went away for about three hours. I mean, it vanished. I was pretty jazzed until it returned for a command performance right around the time Mr. B got home from work. He was probably wishing I'd popped that Percocet because I was fairly grouchy.

Anyway, the bottom line is, I took another P-Pill last night before bed and, as of 10:15 am, I'm doing ok but I can sense that the pain is lurking, waiting for the effect of the P-Pill to wear off. I'm sort of house bound now because I don't want to be driving while this is in my system. I don't feel impaired so much as I feel a bit ditzy. So, happy Easter weekend. Yey.

On top of it all, my allergies are bothering me. My ears hurt and I feel like there are bugs crawling on me (I have no idea why I get this particular reaction to seasonal crap, but, I do). Oh, and it's now tick season and I keep thinking I'm seeing ticks everywhere (which doesn't help with the creepy crawly feeling).

One final note before I sign off from my little bitch fest here; I have NO idea what is going on with Pete, but, the entire time I've been writing this, he's been out in the sun room "talking". He hasn't shut up. I can see Lily laying on the couch with her eyes scrunched closed as if she's trying to sleep and tune him out; he's just going on and on in that weird Maine Coon way; something between a meow and a coo. It's hard to describe. In the meantime, The Little Kids are tearing around the house like the little hell on wheels that they are and Lucy is outside pacing because she wants back INSIDE.

Later.

Mrs. B