No Cookies And Juice For Me

I didn't donate blood until I was 49 years old, but since that time I've given fairly regularly.  Originally I'd wait until our church had a drive, but last year I discovered there's a Red Cross facility 20 minutes away from my house, and I have a meeting on Friday morning that gets me half the way there.  You can donate blood every eight weeks so now when the stars align and I have a free day after my waiting period has passed I stop in and donate.  The process takes between 45 minutes and an hour, depending on how many people are there.  When I get done I help myself to the selection of juice and cookies, then go about my day.

I've done it so often I know the system.  You sign in and read a binder of information.  Once you are taken to a room, you get your temperature, pulse, blood pressure and hemoglobin checked.  Then you answer a set of computerized questions, sign some papers, and move to the donation area for the Main Event.  The phlebotomist cleans the skin on the inside of your elbow, gives you a ball to squeeze, then inserts the needle.  After you've given up your pint of blood the needle is removed, a small bandage is placed on the needle site, and a dressing is wrapped around your arm.  They ask you to sit in the refreshment area for 10-15 minutes, then you can leave.

I decided that donating blood today would be a nice kickoff to the Labor Day weekend.  When I arrived there was only one other woman ahead of me, so I only had to wait a few minutes. The Mini-Physical results were good, so it was time for the questions.  They're all  about your health history and places you've traveled.  I was zipping through them, when I came upon this one:

HAVE YOU TRAVELED OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES IN THE LAST YEAR?

Well, I had gone on a Caribbean cruise back in the spring.  Did that count?  Turns out it did.  My affirmative answer to that question led to a longer series of questions about where I'd gone.  Two of the ports I'd visited (Grand Cayman and Falmouth, Jamaica) didn't pose a problem, but my time in Cozumel and the ruins at Tulum did.  The Red Cross considers that an area where malaria is found, and if you've been there you have to wait 12 months before you can donate blood again.

My name is now on a "Do Not Donate" list until March 30, 2013.  I'm sad I won't be able to give blood, but there's a side benefit--I won't be getting calls from Red Cross phone solicitors reminding me it's time to donate.

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome

The Welcoming Prayer

Welcome, welcome, welcome. I welcome everything that comes to me today because I know it’s for my healing. I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions. I let go of my desire for power and control. I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval and pleasure. I let go of my desire for survival and security. I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself. I open to the love and presence of God and God’s action within. Amen.

~ Fr Thomas Keating~

This beautiful, new-to-me prayer showed up in my Reader today, complements of Annette at In the Silence

Why? Just Because

At work today someone told me August 27th was Just Because Day. At first I thought they were pulling my leg, but later a quick Google search verified they were telling the truth.  Just Because Day is dedicated to doing out of the ordinary things," just because". I'm always looking for a reason to shake up my routine, so of course I was going to celebrate the holiday.  However, it was tough to figure out the best way to do that.

Finally I decided to stop on the way home and buy some fresh flowers, which is something I rarely have in the house...not because they're expensive or fragile, but because the cats LOVE to eat them! Roses are their favorite, but over the years they've munched on tulips, carnations, baby's breath, and cyclamen. When Hubby Tony brings home a bouquet I have to put them in the family room on the fireplace mantel, the only spot that the cats can't get to.

On the way home from work I stopped at a florist and explained what I wanted. The sales clerk suggested an orchid, but each bloom cost eight dollars, more than I wanted to spend. All of a sudden she had an inspiration, hurried into the cooler, and came out with some beautiful deep maroon Asiatic lilies. The stalks, which were two dollars each, had some spent blooms (which she took off), but also sported several unopened buds. I decided to get two stalks, and she wrapped them up in golden-yellow florist paper.

I didn't have a tall-and-skinny vase, so I had to be creative. After I cut off the lower portion of the stems, I put the flowers in a plastic shower gel bottle that was on the counter waiting to go to the recycling bin. I filled the bottle with water, then wrapped it in the florist paper and nestled the whole thing inside a larger vase. The arrangement looked quite nice in the middle of the kitchen table.

I've never had lilies in the house before and wanted to make sure that these flowers were cat-friendly, so I did a Google search. Imagine my horror when I found out that lilies are one of the worst things a cat can nibble on! After dinner the arrangement went on the fireplace mantel.   Do you think I can remember to move it back into the kitchen for our evening meals?

Funny Children's Science Exam Answers

Q: Name the four seasons.
A: Salt, pepper, mustard, and vinegar.

Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.
A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep, and canoeists.

Q: How is dew formed?
A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q: How can you delay milk turning sour?
A: Keep it in the cow.

Q: What causes the tides in the oceans?
A: The tides are a fight between the Earth and the Moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature hates a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.

Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Q: What happens to your body as you age?
A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.

Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A: He says good-bye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery.

Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.
A: Premature death.

Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized? (e.g., abdomen).
A: The body is consisted into three parts - the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain; the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels, A, E, I, O, and U.

Q: What is the fibula?
A: A small lie.

Q: What does "varicose" mean?
A: Nearby.

Q: Give the meaning of the term "Caesarean Section".
A: The Caesarean Section is a district in Rome.

Q: What does the word "benign" mean?'
A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight

Can You Believe I Ate The Whole Thing?

Hubby Tony and I went to the Festival of Nations today.  We listened to a little music, shopped at the craft market, and wandered down the endless row of food booths.  At lunch time we picked our meals from different areas of the world.  I had Burmese food (a cuisine new to me), and was pleased with my combination bowl of seasoned vermicelli noodles and beef curry.  From the Turkish booth Tony got a donar kebab, similar to a gyro but topped with tomato sauce instead of yogurt.

Afterwards we set out on a mission to find dessert.  We walked down another long row of booths,  but when we got to one that had Mexican pastries we both stopped to look, and then buy. Tony picked a cherry empanada, and I decided on a watermelon-shaped cookie, which turned out to be as big as my hand:

It's hard to take a cell phone picture with one hand!

(And, yes, after my initial sugar rush I got a stomachache and headache. Serves me right.)

What’s In The Fridge?

Friday afternoon is one of my big cooking sessions. Today's projects were poaching chicken breasts (including taking the meat off the bones and putting the broth in the refrigerator to chill) and blanching a couple of pounds of broccoli crowns.  Before I knew it it was time to think about dinner. However, I was still full from lunch. Hubby Tony worked from home today, and we'd gotten carry-out Chinese; my "Number 6 Lunch Special" contained Szechuan Pork with fried rice, Hot and Sour Soup, and 2 Crab Rangoon. Tony wasn't famished, either, so a nice light dinner was in order.

Looking in the refrigerator, I saw a bowl of brown rice, one jalapeno pepper, an avocado that needed to be used, and the fruits of my afternoon labor. Instead of thumbing through a stack of cookbooks, it was time to let Google help me figure out my menu. I typed the key ingredients into the search bar (tonight they were avocado and broccoli) and let it find recipes.  The first page of results included salads, pastas, and soups. Soup sounded good, so after looking at several recipes I came up with this version of Broccoli-Avocado Soup:

BROCCOLI-AVOCADO SOUP
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
4 cups chicken stock (divided)
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups broccoli, chopped
1 ripe avocado, chopped
Diced red or yellow bell pepper for garnish (optional)

Saute onion, garlic, and jalapeno in oil until onion is translucent. Add 2 cups of stock, rice, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes.

Add remaining broth and broccoli. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 additional minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat, add avocado, and puree. (I used an immersion blender. If you use a blender or food processor, probably better to do it in batches.)

Return soup to pot and heat. Ladle into bowls, garnish, and serve.

Tony got out two thick pieces of homemade wheat bread from the freezer, nuked them, and poured drinks. It was a nice night, so we carried everything out to the deck and ate there. The soup was thick and creamy, although I thought it tasted better with a little bit of hot sauce added.

This quantity of soup fed us tonight with enough left over for lunch tomorrow.

Operation Vet

Today was the day our cats Jackson and Pepper hate...their annual trip to the vet.

It's a stressful day for them.  The trip starts with a revolting car ride, and ends up at a place where there's strange smells, sounds, and people that poke them and stick needles in their haunches.  I've learned that if I'm not careful, the cats they tend to disappear right before it's time to leave for this trip, so I had to plan my maneuver carefully so I could get them in their carriers and out the door on time.

The operation started yesterday morning, when I got out the cat carriers that had been stored in the basement since last year. I wiped each out with a wet rag, removing dust, cat hair, and (hopefully) any smells from the doctor's office.  I put a dish towel in each, and set them on the kitchen floor next to the island.  Nothing out of the ordinary here!

After dinner last night I closed the doors to two of the upstairs spare bedrooms (he was sleeping on the bed, so I left "Pepper's room" open) so there'd be fewer rooms for them to run into and hide.  On my way to bed I closed the doors to the downstairs office and the last extra bedroom.  Each time I drew the cats' attention.  Jackson looked, shrugged his shoulders, and walked away.  Pepper, who's more in tune with these types of things, was instantly on guard and ready to run.  Once again, though, there was nothing to get excited about.

This morning on my way out of my bedroom I checked to make sure there were no cats under the bed, then closed that door, too.  Again, Pepper looked like he was ready to flee.  After I went downstairs he followed me into the kitchen and sat at the entrance to the room to see what I was up to.  However,  v-e-t time wasn't for a couple of hours so there was nothing to see.  He left; when I went out to dump the coffee grounds in the compost pile I found him laying on top of the couch in the sun.

After breakfast I tried to act as if nothing was up, but made sure I knew where the cats were.  If it was just me leaving the house, I'd walk out the door in just enough time to get there promptly.  However, not knowing how long it would take to get the cats ready to go I started ten minutes early.  I didn't want to be late for our appointment and risk having to wait in the waiting room because they'd given our appointment slot to another animal!

I started with Pepper, who was now laying under the coffee table next to the couch.  When he saw me coming he tried to disappear behind the couch; however, I grabbed him and pulled him out (nails dragging all the way), then cradled him against my chest while I walked to the kitchen and deposited him in his carrier.  As soon as I started latching it he started howling, which alerted Jackson; when I found him upstairs he tried to run, but all the bedroom doors were closed so he just hissed at me as I picked him up.  Again, I cradled him against my chest while I carried him downstairs.  I did NOT want him to escape!

Once both cats were secured I took the carriers out to the car, where put them in the back seat and buckled them in for the five-minute drive to the vet.  The cats started wailing the minute I pulled out of the garage, and kept it up the rest of the trip.  I tried talking to them in a soothing voice, but they ignored me.

As anticipated, the vet poked, prodded, and stuck needles.  She announced all was good, but Jackson had gained a bit of weight. I guess we need to be more diligent about his diet and exercise program, or look into giving him a different type of food.  The cats also left with a recommendation to come back and have "senior" blood work done, which would mean another trip to the vet.  Neither the cats of I are looking forward to that.

Mouthy

Last week my local Aldi had mangoes on sale. I bought two, ate one immediately, and put the second one in the refrigerator.  Over the weekend we put a lot of leftovers in the fridge, and the mango got pushed to the back. I found it this evening.  It was nice and soft, and needed to be eaten immediately.

I cut the flesh off the seed in strips, then put each strip in my mouth, skin side up, and scraped the flesh off with my lower teeth. It was heavenly!  Fifteen minutes later my lips started to tingle, and I realized I'd forgotten to clean them off. I ran to the bathroom and thoroughly washed my lower face with soap and water, then rinsed it a couple of times and dried it carefully. I've learned the hard way that although I love to eat mangoes, they don't love me back.

A couple of years ago I was with a friend, and she noticed there was a red rash around my lips. When I mentioned that my lips also felt chapped and itchy, she asked what I'd been eating the past few days. When I mentioned mangoes, she diagnosed my problem as "mango mouth", explaining that mangoes are in the same botanical family as poison ivy. The peel and sap from mango contain urushiol, the same oil that causes the autoimmune response in its 3-leafed relative.

She recommended an OTC steroid cream, which made the problem go away in a day or so. Since that time I haven't had any issues....as long as I remember to clean up after I eat. I love mangoes too much to give them up completely.

New Deck

When we moved into our house 25 years ago there was nice deck in the back off the family room.  Over the years the deck got a lot of use, but the years eventually took their toll.  For the last few summers we've known the deck needed to be upgraded, but there was always some more pressing job that had to get done.  This year the project finally made it to the top of the list.

Our house has a walkout basement, so the deck off the main level is actually second-floor.  A few of the deck boards were cracking, and the stairs were getting wobbly.  Hubby Tony took charge of finding contractors and getting estimates.  We investigated whether we could just rejuvenate the deck by replacing the deck boards and rails, but found out that wasn't feasible; it was out of code in so many ways that it would be more cost-effective to just tear the whole thing down and start over.

After we selected the contractor, but before he put together a bid we met him at an "outdoor living" store so he could show us some  options  for materials. The choices were overwhelming! The decking material could be wood (from pressure treated, to cedar, to exotic varieties like mahogany or ipe) or composite (a mixture of recycled wood fibers in a resin base) of various brands and qualities. Rails could be the same material or different, and could include things like fancy post caps and lighting systems. Of course each upgrade came with an additional cost. After a lot of discussion, Tony and I decided on a simple wood deck with a simple wood railing.  The end result would be pretty much like what we had before, just newer.

The finished product:

A couple of hours after this picture was taken Tony carried our table and chairs up the stairs and put them into their place.  We've already eaten our first dinner there.  The finch feeder is back up too, attached to the rail on the left.  Once I move all the plants back, this new deck will start to look like it's always been part of the house

My Favorite Walk Yet!

Since Hubby Tony and I are getting ready to walk in a 10K event in September, this month we're aiming for five-mile training sessions.  However, we've figured out if you walk in the right direction, and take a break at the halfway point, five miles isn't as hard as it sounds...