Sniff, Sniff do I smell biscuits?

Do you ever find that certain smells remind you things? Bring back memories? Well, this morning I was making some biscuits for breakfast (2 for 2 WW points!) and the smell reminded me of my grandma’s house. When we were younger, my grandparents would send me and my brother plane tickets to Chicago and we would stay with them for a month or so during our summer break from school. I loved going! We got to fly by ourselves (weren’t we big shots!), eat whatever we wanted, go to White Sox games and the zoo. But the most fun thing for me was getting to go to work with grandma downtown Chicago. She worked in a huge building in the Loop. My grandma’s boss was Mr. Blevins. He was such a nice man. He used to let us come to work with my grandma every day (if we wanted, and I always did!) and I remember when he would go out to lunch he always bring us some treat back; popcorn a lollipop etc. But the most fun thing for me was I got to play office IN A REAL OFFICE!!! I mean what other 10 year old doesn’t love that! I got to play with the adding machine, and the Xerox machine (the old kind where the copies came out a little wet) and all of the office supplies that there were. At lunch we would go to Weibolt’s Department store, hit the toy section and then back to work.

How this ties in with baking biscuits…Biscuits have been a favorite food of mine for as long as I can remember. And my grandma would get up and make a pan of biscuits (the Pilsbury type) before we had to leave to catch the train. (The train was totally fun and could be a little weird!) I can remember waking up to the smell of the biscuits baking and the radio on in the kitchen. I would always lay there awhile listening to my grandparents talking while my grandpa got ready to go to work at the steel mill. Those summers were so much fun. I always missed my mom and dad but my brother and I had such a good time together. Sometimes I miss those days. Hanging out with my brother on my grandparent’s front porch (it was all enclosed so sometimes we would sleep out there) reading or drawing or playing Connect Four. I always had a collection of stuffed animals with me (yes, I had the obsession even back then!) and my brother always had some comics or some such thing. Sometimes I wish I could go back to that time, just for the day. So my grandpa and I could watch a nature show together or go shopping with my grandma. My grandpa is gone now and my grandma has Alzhiemers so she doesn’t even know who I am. It makes me sad, but I always all the good memories.

Parachute Pants and Swatches

So, today I feel old. This whole thing started because Duran Duran is in town tonight and an old friend contacted me to go. I can’t (tickets are way expensive) but it has been nice to be back in touch and to think about all the things we did. So yesterday at work I was talking about re-connecting with S which led to a conversation about the 80’s. One of my co-workers (whom I love dearly) requested to see pictures of me from my high school years. So, I went home and pulled out a few. I had several thoughts:

1. Why did I always have BIG hair? I am not saying it wasn’t cute or in style, just BIG and fluffy and curly (thanks to a perm I had to have every few weeks).

2. I didn’t realize it then but I was quite stylish! Thanks mom for buying me all those Esprit clothes!

3. What was up with all the necklaces? I wore a lot of them all at one time, not to mention lots of rubber bracelets.

4. No matter what anyone says my black parachute pants were WAY COOL! Oh as well as white nylons with socks and my jazz shoes.

5. Why did I find it necessary to wear more than one Swatch Watch at a time? I mean really.

6. Tight rolled jeans. Need I say more?

7. Popped Collars, so stylish!

8. Big Earrings. That is all.

The weird thing is it doesn’t seem like all this happened over 20 years ago. Where did the time go? I have no idea. But if I could go back I would STILL wear those Esprit paint splattered cropped pants with zippers on the bottom!

I want to give a Shout Out to the staff of After Hours Small Animal Emergency Clinic in Raleigh, NC. You ROCK! (Well, not that they read this, but still, I wanted to give them kudos.)

Not only did you take the opossum that I brought in to you on Wednesday at midnight that my dogs “played” with too much (Mr. Opossum will be fine, but the opossums really need to learn that fences are there for a reason!) but you took the turtle that I found on the side of interstate 540 with a fractured face. You provide and invaluable service to the indigenous wildlife in this area and I for one am grateful. I know that you can’t save all of them but to know that there is someone out there who is responsible enough to end an animal’s suffering or help make them better, well there are just aren’t words. There will be a special place in Heaven for you.

To be or not to be…a vegetarian

Well, I think I am going back to being a vegetarian. Let me start this off by saying that I have been a vegetarian in the past-I was one of the ones that would eat eggs, cheese, shrimp, and drink milk but would not eat “animals with faces”. Seriously, shrimp have no faces. They are bugs of the sea…at least this is how I rationalize it to myself! (and no, I am not a huge fan of fish if I can help it. If that is my only non-meat choice than I go for it, but would rather not). So, I know that I can do it. The problem for me is I actually like meat. I just don’t like knowing where the meat comes from. It makes me sad that a cow who has big beautiful eyes had to die for me to have a cheeseburger. I don’t dislike people who like meat or hold it against them. I also don’t mind that they eat meat in my presence. I do mind if they make fun of me or others who choose this lifestyle. Or those people with stupid bumper stickers that say things like “I like animals, they taste great!” or whatever other stupid thing they say. Keep your personal food habits to your self buddy. But I digress…

The reason for my post today is something that happened to me this morning which got me to thinking. As I was cruising down 540 on my way to work this morning I passed a semi. As I got closer I knew it was a semi carrying some type of livestock. It happened to be filled with pigs. Huge pink pigs, with numbers spray painted on their backs. And they were looking right me as I drove by. I mean right in to my eyes (I was being careful while driving I promise!) And then I started to cry. A lot. Because I knew where they were going.
I just don’t want to be the cause of another living things suffering. And I know there are people out there who say they don’t have feelings blah blah blah. But, animals do feel pain. And I don’t want to be the cause of anything’s pain, physical or emotional. I try not to buy things made of leather or that have fur. I do drink milk but I am going to try soy milk and see if I can handle that. So, here I go again. I would be really happy if sticks this time…but I am still eating shrimp! :-)

Observations and Things I Have Learned This Week:

1. My car is one giant purse. Tissues, change, lip gloss, pens…you get my drift.

2. Trees look so much prettier when a breeze is blowing their leaves and branches around. (Good grief that sounds like a Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy skit)

3. I can not go in to DSW and buy just 1 pair of shoes. There must be at least 3 pairs and one of those must be a pair of Rocket Dogs that are completely impractical but so incredibly cute!

4. Before I joined Weight Watchers, I never thought that much about food. I ate when I was hungry. Period. Then I joined Weight Watchers, and food is all I think about. Constantly. Hungry or not. Wait, I am always hungry now!

5. If you are going to use self-tanner, please read the directions and go sparingly lest you have orange, blotchy legs when it is 85 degrees and you can’t wear shorts. Trust me on this.

6. Same self-tanner subject, just be VERY careful on knees and elbows. VERY careful indeed!

7. Rocking back on your heels in Advanced Microsoft Excel class while wearing high heels will snap them right off. I mean right off, which then prompts an emergency trip to DSW for a replacement… and then see #3!

8. Some days Kohl’s has 100 things that I want to buy, and then other’s nothing. Not even for $1.00. What is up with Kohl’s?

9. Why do designers think that “plus sized” ladies want to wear huge hideous flower prints in awful colors. I mean really. Come on! How about a lovely black or nice shade of green?

10. Why can’t someone make a decent throw rug? One that can be thrown in the washing machine and looks just great when you take it out?