Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Or more aptly, shuffling towards Spring Break. It's that time of year. We're tired of the cold, rainy weather. Holidays are over and there isn't much to look forward to, except March and Spring Break. I'm trying desperately to keep my menus interesting, but it's hard to wait for the spring veggies to arrive. I'm getting tired of doing dishes and I think my hands just might fall off. I dream about a kitchen that isn't held together with duct tape and glue, a budget that actually has something to do with reality and kids that do something other than whine. But it's the midwinter doldrums for us, as we schlep ourselves toward spring.

Brand New Year

But largely, the same old thing. Cooking for the kiddos, trying to convince them that veggies are not the enemy. Trying to get back into the gym after the evil martian death flu I'm still recovering from. For some reason, I don't think it would be kosher to try to walk on the treadmill and hack up my lungs. Probably wouldn't be very hygenic either. So I'm staying away from group settings until I can breathe and talk semi-normally. Also, need to kick my NyQuil habit. But that's a battle for another time.

I'm not an addict. I can quit anytime I want.

Meanwhile Back on the Ranch

Yeah sorry about the unscheduled stop in my blogging adventures...Everything kind of went bonkers at the same time and I could barely find time to tie my shoes, much less compose sentences. Work has been chugging right along, with the modification that I am being trained now to do all my own bookkeeping and spreadsheets etc. Its more work, but the good news is that they are going to pay me for it. So that's a plus.
The holiday time is upon us now, and once again, I have failed to make Christmas cookies. But since we know I am not a baker, that really isn't all that surprising. The good news almost all of my shopping is done, all that is left are things that I am doing for others. I am home with my family now and surrounded my all the lovely decorations and music and that is very good.
Some rest is welcome and I plan to enjoy it to the highest. So, in my annual message, get out there, do some good somewhere, help somebody.

Noel.

Fool's Games

I go to the library for books and internet access. On any given Saturday morning, you can find me here as the doors open, hoping to snag my usual spot, far from the madding crowds. I work on my blog, pay my bills, email, yadda yadda. Of course this morning I forgot is the last day for early voting in my county. Libraries are polling places here, which means that the parking lot, which is already tight, is ridiculous. And I'm being accosted by wackos with fliers wanting me to vote for their candidate or their cause or whatever. Now, political activism is all very well, until you get in my way when I'm trying to do my thing, then, I will run you over in my car and not even flinch. I realize that seems crass, but it's true. Never in my life have I been so disgusted with my own government. Never have I known so much and so little at the same time. My Dad always says I should vote, because otherwise I can't complain, and I always say I will not lend my vote or my strength to that which I wish to be free from. So when the chipper little county commissioner candidate comes bearing down on me, with her big hair and bigger smile, rather than ignoring her like I do most of them, I looked her dead in the eye and said, "No I won't be voting. I have no government. I am at the mercy of thieves and tyrants."

I think she understood me.

The Heat

Sorry for the delay in posting, but everything decided to happen all at the very same time. You've seen that bumper sticker, "They say to take one day at a time, but lately several have attacked me at once?" That's been me. My one great hope is to get to the gym this week. If I could get 2 days, I would consider myself accomplished.

So, here's what's been going on...I got a little catering job, a brunch for about 15 people, on a Saturday. I thought, hey that's swell, I could use the extra money. Then a day or so later, the owner of where I work says, "Hey, I'm having dinner for about 20, can you cater it?" and it is...wait for it...Saturday night. So I have to get everything together, keep my receipts all seperate, make list after list after list, make an emergency run to Target for ramekins and work a straight 16 hour day. But all was not in vain, everything went well. People came, they ate, they seemed to enjoy it. I washed so many dishes that I thought my hands would fall straight off, but they didn't. I crawled into a hot bath at 1130PM.

This is why I don't do two shows a night, babe, I just won't do it.

Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

Maybe you don't realize, but not all apples hail from Washington. North Carolina is big apple country. So last weekend, the Divine Mrs. M (yep, she's back!) and I rode up to Hendersonville to Stepp Orchard to pick some apples. It was warmer than we might have liked, and we probably picked way more apples than we needed, but hey, if we get tired of canning and pies, there's always cake, bread and cookies. :-)

My computer is now deciding it won't load my pictures, won't save them as jpegs and is openly mocking me. I will post pictures soon.

Stay tuned...

Not Fade Away

I always post something for 9/11. It's such a huge part of my life, not in the sense that I know anyone who died, or survived, but that it is the marker between child and adult for me. One minute I was 21 years old, finishing up my less-than-stellar college career and my biggest worries were where we were going to hang out that weekend and would I find a job once I graduated. At 10:00 AM that morning, those worries ceased to be important. Meg and I came down the stairs just in time to see the first tower fall and we just stared. Our lives altered in that one morning and they've never been the same since.

The History Channel has been running their documentaries all week. I watch some of them, avoid others. There is one thing that sticks out in my mind every year this day comes around. The thing I notice most is this: I have lost faith in my government. My security has been shown to be as spurious as starlight. But I have never lost faith in the people of my country. Every year, I see the evidence, as I watch those towers come down over and over again. Because while everything else was crumbling, these people did not fail. We did not go gently into the night. We ran up the stairs, into the flames, fought for our planes and brought them down. Our government failed us, but we did not fail ourselves. We did not fade away. We were Americans.

And I'm proud of that.