Earth hour

I didn't know about it until MS told me yesterday that he'd heard about it, so we did it and it was lots of fun.

Next year, he's going to try to get the whole county to do it.

I have been to the theatre before.

I donated blood today and now I feel every inch the civic-minded member of the community.

I often go to the blood donation center, fill out the paperwork, answer all the questions, get bp, temp and pulse taken, and only then do they do the stick for the blood-iron test. Then I get rejected for low iron and go home, having wasted my time and theirs.

This time I got smart. "Before you do anything else," says I to the nurse, "Please check my blood iron level. I am often rejected for low iron and I don't want to waste your time if I'm low today."

And wonder of wonders, she actually did as I asked.

And this time, of course, I was ironed up. So I gave.

"My veins are juicy, but quite wiggly," I said to the next nurse, "I won't watch as you stick it in, since I have a tendency to tense up and that moves the vein." She got the needle in first try.

After it was all over and I was sipping my water (no juice on display) and eating a cookie, I recognized the slight sensation of looking at everything through a camera's view finder was the familiar symptom of light-headedness. I informed the recovery nurse and he had me lie down again, put ice packs on my neck and chest, and whipped out a bottle of juice from the secret stash.

I wish that I could have gone to donate platelets instead (AB+, universal platelet donor), but they require you make an appointment for that and I've never been able to make my iron levels match my appointment time.

I've often thought that they should set up a blood donation center at the court-house for the jury pool. As long as you're there doing your civic duty, you might as well do your civic duty.

Answers to the verklempt quiz

1. Suniverse was right! It is Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.
2. Charlotte Bronte's Villette.
3. L.M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon.
4. Agatha Christie's Curtain. This is the only one without even one listing on IMDB.

In other news, we used up 3 pounds of carrots here this weekend making carrot soup, carrot bread, and carrot cake.

The carrot bread was supposed to be carrot cake, but we left out the sugar. Oops! It tasted pretty good with honey.

The carrot cake was better, though.

I need to call up my grandma for her recipe for carrot soup. The one we made was good, but not as good as hers.

Thanks guys!!! I'm all verklempt.

I'm feeling much better and loving 39 so far. Is it just me, or does each year get better and better?

Here are more first lines for you (famous authors, less filmed works):

1. No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine.
2. My godmother lived in a handsome house in the clean and ancient town of Bretton.
3. The house in the hollow was "a mile from anywhere" - so Maywood people said.
4. Who is there who has not felt a sudden startled pang at reliving an old experience or feeling an old emotion?

Hints: Each of these authors has at least one book that has been made into a movie more than once. Only one of the books whose first lines I've given has NOT been made into a movie or tv series of some sort.

40 - 1

Happy 39th Birthday to me!!!

Birthdays always make me think of a child-hood friend (the daughter of the woman who wrote Apple Pigs). Like her mom, she had a gift for rhyme and an adorable British accent. And this is the song she would sing on my birthday

(Please add a veddy uppah crust British accent when singing and you must sing it in a high-pitched 6-year-old girl voice).

Happy Birthday to you
Squashed tomatoes and stew
I thought it was you
So I put you in stew

Thinking of you, silly friend.

For my mom...since the link in email didn't work

Click here, mom! Thank you so much!

Mono-a-mono

It's not strep. It might be mono. I'm on the hard drugs - Zithromax.

God, I hope it's not mono. Please, please, please let it not be mono. And please let me not have given it to MM (or anyone else for that matter).

Going back to bed now.

Gimme fever

I'm sick again, dammit! Fever and sore throat. I'm guessing that the strep came back.

Doctor's appointment at 2:15. In the meantime, I have posted a sign saying, "Beware of Grump".

PSA

Peggy Nature did a school project - "A PSA From Your Body". I think it's great, and that's not just because I've got a picture in there. See if you can spot me!

A dilemma

MM got a strike at school today...for talking at lunch. Apparently the teachers made it a quiet lunch when the kids were getting too noisy.

Normally, our rule is no screen-time for a day after a strike. But I just can't get het up about talking at lunch. I mean...he's six. He needs time to socialize at school. I'm just not feeling any enthusiasm for enforcing this one.

So we said no screen time tonight, but he can get it back in the morning 'cause he did such a great job otherwise at school this week.

So I'd like you to vote:
Reasonable or Wishy-washy?

Pesto*

The basil, parsley, and mint in our aerogarden^ were growing tall. I cut them back and put 2 cups worth of the freshly cut leaves into the food processor with 4 cloves of garlic, a 1/2 cup of good parmesan cheese, and a heap of pinnoli nuts. I set phasers to stun and started drizzling in a 1/2 cup of olive oil. Then, drunk on the heady odors of basil and garlic, I poured it into a covered container to chill in the 'fridge overnight.

Tonight we had it on rotelle.

It was ambrosia.



*Recipe from The New Basics Cookbook, page 12.
^ Christmas present from my sister-in-law.

He did great

He was well-behaved and very, very quiet. He watched The Return of the Jedi and a bit of The Incredibles and ate candy. During the break, I had him run up and down the hall and around me and do jumping jacks.

During the break and after the class, several of my classmates cooed over him and his big brown eyes. He was quite at ease and told them he was just visiting because he's only in kindergarten and doesn't go to college yet.

And then we went and bought a Star Wars Lego kit (Anakin's Star Fighter) and he spent the afternoon putting it together. And then we played Crash Bandicoot. And that was that.

He was most impressed by the fact that I get a muffin and coffee from Dunkin Donuts before class and wants to come with me every Saturday.