Sunday, March 13, 2011
On convertibles and car washes
Take, for example, the drive through car wash. What could be easier? We stop at the gas station, fill up the car, and for a few dollars and only a few minutes more, we can have our car washed, waxed and dried before we are back on the road. Now that is a real time saver, right? It always has been for me. Here's the thing: remember that convertible bug I so coveted and now lovingly drive with the top down each day? I never asked about its tolerance for the automatic wash. I did ask my sweetheart, after we looked at it for the first time, "What about car washes? Can it go into a car wash?" This question brought laughter because, of course, the top is waterproof. The car can be out in a rainstorm, so why should a car wash be any different? Right? That's what I thought, too.
Right now in Florida we are knee-deep into allergy season. Everything is dusted in pollen. Sprite has been blanketed in a fine yellow dust for weeks, so the other day I had a few extra minutes when I stopped to get gas and decided to run Sprite through the car wash for her first bath. Silly, silly girl! I closed the roof, rolled up the windows, and pulled into the bay. As soon as the water began to shoot at the car, it came pouring through the front corner of the driver's side window, showering me in aromatic, recycled car wash water! It was also coming in the front of the passenger window, but I was passenger-free, so only the door was drenched. As luck would have it, the only drying option I had with me was a left-over napkin from the bagel store. Most days I travel with a giant Magic Cloth for just such emergencies, but not on this day. I began frantically trying to sop up the water with the pathetic, disintegrating towel and tried to decided whether to drive out while the machine was still running or suck it up and let the wash run its course. I also checked to make sure the windows were all the way up...Apparently they needed to be more tightly sealed. That's called operator error. D'oh! I tightened the windows the best I could, continued to try to dam the deluge, and waited out the storm.
As I finally exited through the high intensity blow dryer I decided that it would be best in the future to save my quarters and wash the car myself in one of the do-it-yourself washing bays. That way only Sprite will get a shower. It may have saved me a few minutes, but the blood pressure spike I experienced when the water started pouring in the window may have shaved a few weeks off my life! Lesson learned: sometimes looking easy isn't enough.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
On the restorative power of cooking
I will admit to being frustrated at first that it fell to me to figure out what to do about dinner as soon as I walked in at 6:00 after working all damn day, but I felt like it did, so I started digging in the fridge and the cabinets. The outlook appeared daunting, but I am nothing if not creative and able to improvise. As I began to chop red onion and garlic, my shoulders started to relax. I was inspired to toss sun-dried tomatoes with some of their oil, green olives, and pitted kalamata olives into the food processor to make a tapenade of sorts. I used olive oil and the tapenade to saute' the onions and garlic in my new Dutch oven. Then I tossed in sliced turkey Kielbasa and browned it up a bit with everything else. My breathing began to slow. To this beautiful mixture, I added a carton of Roma tomatoes, Vodka, and some finely chopped Greek pepperocini with the juice from the jar. The aroma was amazing and I was feeling better by the moment. I added a bunch of spices - red pepper flakes, garlic pepper, black pepper, rosemary garlic...I have no idea what else...I just started tossing stuff in as the muse struck me. Then I boiled some whole wheat penne until it was almost done, and tossed it into the Dutch oven to finish cooking and soak up some of the sauce. By now my sweetheart had joined me in the kitchen and mixed up a Prosecco, Pomegranate, and ginger ale sangria for us. I served the pasta creation in bowls with freshly grated Parmesan and Asiago cheese over the top - everything is better with cheese. We toasted it with the sangria.
I could no longer remember anything that had challenged me during the day. I had cooked it away, and life was good once again. After my sweetheart cleaned up the kitchen we adjourned to the living room whence I promptly fell asleep in my favorite chair.
Monday, February 21, 2011
On convertibles...
In 2004 I got closer to my dream car. I bought a bright green VW Beetle with a sunroof, named it Sprout, and I was living right! The top was open all the time, weather be damned! Sprout and I had a blast together! I loved my Little Sprout. When, this Fall, it came time for Sprout to retire to The Farm (Just let me have this one, okay?) I felt like I was taking my dog to be put down. It was traumatic. I took pictures of our last drive to school together...seriously, I did. I posted them on Facebook. Then, I met Sprite!
Sprite! My convertible bright green VW bug!!!!! At forty years old I decided to Hell with the voices, I was going to have my convertible. If I get carjacked at a stop light, then The Bossman was right, but damn, I will have enjoyed the ride!
Now here is the thing about driving a convertible. I consider it a moral imperative to have the top down unless it is raining. I do live in Florida, after all. The funniest things happen when you drive a car with the top down. People on the street talk to you all the time! In my seven minute drive to work one morning, two different people stopped to talk to me. One of them rolled down his window at the light to tell me I was going to need an umbrella. The other, a woman walking her dogs, said she wished she was me. I replied, "Yeah, it is pretty great!" One of my coworkers was following me, and she asked it that happened all the time. I had to tell her it does. People smile and wave every time they see me drive by with the top down. It is hilarious. Sometimes they smile and punch each other - remember it is a Punchbuggy. That always makes me laugh. Wherever I go, my car makes me smile.
There are a few challenges I have encountered. Sprinklers...hard to avoid. Recycled water sprinklers can just be gross. I keep good smelling spray in the car to combat that. Garbage trucks. Following them in a convertible smells much worse than in a regular car, but it does give you the opportunity to smile and thank the guys who have to do that icky job, and they seem to appreciate that. The latest challenge I have encountered was with music. You may remember that I discovered the Cee Lo Green song, "F#*k You!" after the Grammys the other night. I have now fallen in love with the song and only downloaded the "explicit" version, rather than "Forget You!" as performed on the Grammys. Well, here's the thing: I'm thinking that song is best enjoyed at an ear-popping full volume. I mean seriously, when you are in the mood, like I was the other day on my way home, to let that song fly, you are in the mood to blast it! Right? In a convertible, you can never be sure whom you are going to subject to that music. I put it on as I was pulling out of the parking lot at school, so I had to turn it WAY DOWN, because that is just not the sort of thing a middle school teacher should be listening to on campus. So then I turned it up a little. Then I hit a residential neighborhood. Dog walker - volume down. Past him. Back up. Kid on bike. WAY DOWN..."Ain't that some Sh...?" And now I am humming "F#*k You and F#*K her, too," realizing that this really isn't cutting it because I really needed to blast it. Everyone did smile and wave, though, and I continued to hum all through the night.
Perhaps it is time to download the sanitized version. It is a beautiful day, and Sprite and I have a lot of driving to do!
Monday, February 14, 2011
You asked for it!
Being a champion procrastinator, I am creating this blog, finally, after procrastinating for so very long, instead of doing the real work on which I need to focus this Valentine's night, or paying the bills...really need to do that! I am certain that is next on my list. I am getting right on that. Here I go...Any minute now...
Or, I could rant a little more.
So, in an effort to avoid working last night, I watched the Grammy Awards for the first time in at least ten years. I must be getting old. All I could think about as I watched Eminem giving his "brilliant" performance was,"For the love of Pete, pull your pants up in the back you fool! You are wearing a belt! Use it to hoist your jeans up over your behind! Nobody needs to see that! Who are you inviting in back there?" Only some of that was I able to keep inside my head...I tried, really I did, but it just got too loud in there and I had to let it fly!
On the flip side, I will say that I cracked right up to Cee-Lo Green, dressed like one of the Mardi Gras Chiefs from Treme', and Gwyneth Paltrow singing "Forget You" with the puppets. That was the first time I had heard any version of that song, and I immediately went to iTunes and downloaded the explicit version which I have been singing in my head, and occasionally under my breath all day! I even quoted the clean version today, explaining to one of my classes what the yearbook company would be telling us if we miss our deadline. "Forget you!" They laughed. Kids are easy...sometimes.
At the end of the day, I love that I know that song! I will be playing it my head constantly now. I think it will make me smile more, and I smile a lot as it is.
I have the best life of anyone I know. I have a partner who loves me and who I love. He challenges me, and I challenge him. We grow together. I have an amazing family who not only love, but actually like each other. I have friends who I treasure above any measure. I have a job, a home, relatively good health, and the ability to laugh every day. My life is good, and I am so thankful to everyone in it to helping make it amazing.
It's good to be a Betty.
Okay, now I'll go do the stuff on my list.
Happy Valentine's Night!
Thanks for reading!
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