A Day in the Life

Yesterday we went out for our weekly late lunch/early supper. It's really the only time every week that I actually get out, aside from short walks in the apartment complex. We've only got the one car and Jim is using it during the week to go to work. Besides, I wouldn't trust myself driving still.

We went some place different than the normal list of restaurants, a little further from home. We drove on a road I hadn't been on for quite a while. I noticed several things...

• A hand-lettered sign on a telephone pole, advertising for a "BRAISTA" at one of the corner coffee places
• A larger home-grown sign over the door of a business in one of those little industrial strip-mall places that said "I am Da Boss". I'd love to find out what sort of business it is.
• A bumper sticker in the back window of a car that said: "Keep Portland WEIRD".
• On the door of the restaurant (actually a soup-and-salad place) were their hours: "Sunday-Thursday -- 11 a.m to 9 p.m; Friday-Saturday -- 11 a.m to 9 p.m."

(BTW, "A Day in the Life" was on the radio when we were driving. The station doesn't usually play oldies, so that was a nice surprise.)

After lunch we went over to Michael's Crafts to pick up some things for my cross-stitching. Like always, though, within 10 minutes of looking at stuff, I was starting to get dizzy and weak. We paid for the things that I had picked up and headed out to the parking lot. By the time we got to the car my vision was beginning to get cloudy. Jim unlocked the door and when I was able to sit down I was a lot better. Within ten minutes I felt fine.

Back at home, I fell asleep on the couch for a couple of hours while Jim watched college football and then worked on my cross stitch stuff for a while. Oh, the excitement of our lives!

Come into the world alone?

A couple of days ago I was watching some movie and there was the line that we've all heard dozens of times: "You come into the world alone and you leave it alone." Really? Has anyone since Adam and Eve (if you believe that sort of thing) actually come into the world without someone else being in the general vicinity? Am I the only person who had a mother present at her birth? I kinda don't think so.

As for leaving it alone, there are a lot of people that do that, but not everybody by a long shot.

The silliest things bother me. :)

Life has its compensations

I've spent the last four days with another migraine. This is getting tedious, especially since I can't get any more Imitrex until July. I've been surviving on aspirin, which doesn't do very much.

Before the migraine hit, we had signed up to do another one of our Designed Dinners things. Their June menu was pretty good. We chose:

• Adobo Rubbed Sirloin Steak -- Full of flavor with garlic and a mildly spicy South American inspired adobo rub


• Asian Inspired Pork Loin Chops -- The sultry flavors of soya, orange, ginger, special seasonings and black tea come together for a great marinade


• Calzone Creation Station® -- Fresh dough, Designed Dinners signature basil pesto, herbed marinara and an array of fillings to choose from to build 4 custom calzones


• Chicken Wellington -- Breast of chicken, button mushrooms & swiss cheese baked in puff pastry


• Grilled Moroccan Style Breast of Chicken -- Ready for the BBQ with the robust flavors of red wine, coriander & cumin


• Grilled Tiger Shrimp -- With fresh rosemary & garlic


• Honey Ham Steak -- Glazed with molasses and rum


• Jumbo Meatballs in Sweet & Sour Sauce -- With pineapple & mixed peppers


• Mahi Mahi Fillet -- with pine nuts, lemon, herbs & chives


• Mojito Marinated Chicken Wings -- Mildly spicy, bursting with bright citrus flavor


• Savory Polish Style Smoked Sausage -- Premium skinless sausage with Designed Dinners signature beer braised onion compote


• The Ultimate Jalapeño Bacon Cheddar Burger -- Lean ground chuck mixed with herbs, garlic, aged cheddar cheese and minced jalapeño bacon

(We get two meals out of each one, so that makes 24 meals. I usually make three a week, which means this will last for 8 weeks.)

I wasn't sure how things were going to go this morning. The migraine was gone, but I always have a day or two of being really weak when they're over. We got to the place and got started. By the time we'd finished putting together two meals, I was ready to pass out. I know it was air-conditioned in the building, but I was drenched in sweat, the whole room was spinning and I had a horrible pain going across my back. I get that pain a lot when I'm feeling weak. So I found myself a stool to sit on and Jim went ahead and kept putting things together. He was so serious as he measured out the ingredients and made sure he had everything right. The chicken Wellington may not be the prettiest that anyone has ever seen, but I know it'll be edible and he did the very best he could. I was quite impressed with the way he dealt with the dough for the calzones.

At one point, I was sitting in a back room that was cooler and had real chairs instead of stools. Without being able to watch the goings-on, I found myself waxing philosphical (to borrow a phrase ;)). I'll admit I was feeling sorry for myself a bit, bemoaning the migraines and the Crohn's disease and all the other shit. I sorta felt like Job, with the gods picking me at random to mess with and make my life a hell. Then I thought about Jim and realized that, if the gods really had decided to mess with me, they at least gave me Jim so that I could bear it. I thought about a trade. Would I agree to lose Jim if it would mean that I was completely healthy? No. As long as he'll hang around, helping me to deal with it, I'll deal with it. Nothing in the world would be worth losing my guy.

So, we're home, we have 24 main dishes in the freezer, Jim's watching the World Poker Tour that he recorded while we were out. It's supposed to get over 80 degrees today and warmer each day through Tuesday. For those of you who are feeling that this is nothing, remember that we have no air conditioning. We have open windows, fans and shades to try to keep from ending up as little puddles on the carpet.