Saturday, November 27, 2010

11 lbs

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
My 11 lbs turkey was a big success, thanks to a decade of training. The organic turkey was brined in garlic, onion and salt water overnight, then patted dry, stuffed with apples and potatoes and 4 hours later....voila!

(must insert photo here)

The turkey is now gone - nobody had time to complain about leftovers. Despite the fact that my friend, who was born weighing in as much as our turkey (kudos to her mom!), did not participate in eating the bird (early childhood trauma of pet chicken appearing on dinner table), we managed to clean it all out in two meals. One thing for sure - turkey makes you sleepy. I have slept like a baby this long weekend.

Thanks to Lynn who told me about a book called The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, I now know that my brain is doing exactly what it should be doing at its stage in life. Our brains may not be as quick as younger brains, but they are wiser (unless you cannot outgrow your self-centered self, in which case, you simply turn into an old fool). I take comfort in this knowledge, and vow to be more empathetic to others.

So, this morning, I drive my son to the SF Music Conservatory, and wait in the van for an hour reading up on the Male Brain, which explains a lot of stuff, that I already knew (except I now know they can't help it).

Monday, November 22, 2010

The Economy is Recovering

Today, my gut instinct tells me that we are in recovery mode. This morning, we ran out of milk, and so I decide it's time to go to Costco. After working on a presentation, I take a 30-minute plunge in the local pool, and then drive north. Costco is packed as I have never seen before. I sense that everyone is tired of being penny pinching. They are carefully splurging, which is very different from simply splurging. Even I opt for an organic turkey which costs twice as much as a normal hormone-happy turkey.

As I arrive home and chat with a friend about my experience, she says that is exactly what CNBC as saying: people are tired of being stingy. Let's hope we all lift the tide again.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Senior Moment

My friend just became a proud homeowner. She came over to talk it over tonight. One thing leads to another, and soon, we are chatting about many random things. At some point, she says "What the hell was I going to say?". It happens, a lot more often than before. I am happy to share in her senior moment. It's most embarrassing when you are trying to impress someone. Since, neither of us are even dreaming of doing this to each other anymore, we look at each other in silent appreciation of the thought that has been lost forever. It does not deter us though.

We continue on our path of remodeling her house from top to bottom.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

November

The day starts like a typical weekday for me. I awake, and slither my way into the shower stall, emerging semi-human. I make coffee, warm up the milk, shake a little cocoa in, and survey the kitchen for crumbs to be swept.

After checking my email, and downing my cafe mocha, I whirl my vacuum cleaner around, hang the laundry on the clean tech dryer (aka the laundry drying rack), and tackle more emails. This morning, I have a power walk with an acquaintance in town. Charlie knows something is up and gets ready too. We make it down together to the first cross street, where Charlie stalls. This forces me to take him home, hop into my batmobile and speed down to the meeting point. Gorgeous weather and intriguing conversation ensue.

In the afternoon, I head into San Francisco to meet a delightful person to discuss business. My phone rings, which I silence with apologies. Two hours later, I hear my youngest on voice mail asking for a ride home from school since he has his trombone and cannot manage that and his back pack on a bike. I summon help from my spouse, who swoops up the baby who has practically turned into an ice cream. The pain of thinking of the wait in front of school alone.... His siblings are right in their cool critique - why didn't he call papa in the first place? Why did he not think ahead? He spends hours at the library anyway, what's the difference spending it in front of school? HOWEVER, my heart aches and I feel bad as I zoom home to check his pulse. OBVIOUSLY, he lives and is NOT AT ALL traumatized.