Don't even breathe!

I was wrong when I said that last piece of persimmon pudding gave me an uncomfortably full feeling.   Either I have left lower lobe pneumonia or I shouldn't have rented that exercise video with the crazy lady who promised to "work you like a daaaawg". 

Every time I take a deep breath I have a pain in my left side just beneath my rib cage and "deep" is relative.  Reletive to how much pain I can stand at any given moment.

The video is mis-titled.  Instead of "Walk with Joyce Vedral - A Low Impact Walking Workout" it should be called "Dance Till It Hurts".  I only danced with Joyce 15 minutes on Thursday morning and I'm still in pain. 

But I swear I think my waist on the left side is a half an inch smaller than it was before those 15 minutes.  And I learned some nifty little dance steps.  As soon as I can breathe normally I'm going back and try to reduce the right side. And if I can get that swing in my hips that Joyce has in hers I think I can take a few inches off the hips in thirty minutes.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving dinner. 

I only ate one meal today but it lasted from 2 to 6 and now, at 8:30, I'm still a little uncomfortably full.  It was that last piece of persimmon pudding that put me over the top.

But it was worth it.


Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God. ~Ray Stannard Baker (David Grayson)

Persimmon Pudding

I'm making persimmon pudding for Thanksgiving dinner.   I haven't had any for years and the anticipation is almost more than I can bear.

The local grocery store where I used to buy persimmon pulp went out of business years ago.  The chain store that bought them out carried it for a few years afterwards, but I haven't seen persimmon pulp there for ages.  Imagine my surprise and joy when a few weeks ago I spied the amber ambrosia hidden among the every-day frozen fruits.  Then imagine my shock when I saw the price.

But how do you put a price on memories?  The memory of the seedless persimmon tree next to the Blue Lick church?   Grinding out the pulp in Mother's old food mill?  The puckery taste of a raw persimmon transformed into a pudding fit for the gods?

You can't.  

Persimmon pudding is something of an acquired taste. It's not for everyone and I hesitate to share my puddings with the unappreciative. So make your own. 



Persimmon pudding has it's own web site at http://www.persimmonpudding.com/ where you can find recipes with personal notes from other pudding lovers.  Pick the simplest recipe you can find.  No need for gourmet folderol.

Today's News

I read the on-line news headlines this morning as is my wont, searching for anything interesting, intertaining, or educational.  It was kind of depressing.  And then I read about the dog-poop powered lamp - at last a bright spot in the news.  ("bright spot" - "lamp", get it?)

An ingenious young man, Matthew Mazzotta, converted dog poop in a park into a power source for a street lamp.  Read the whole story at petside.com.

Sure beats setting a bag of poop alight for the neighbor's front door.

It's cold outside

Not so very cold, but too cold for comfort.  And it's a typical Indiana November gray-day.  I shouldn't complain because this November has been fairly sunny, give or take a few days of rain, fog, and yucky, but I haven't seen snow yet.  Snow is OK in it's place and that's outside with me inside.

I went to the store earlier today.  I put on a top and a sweater, thought about it, then put took off the sweater and the top and put on a vest, then the top and the sweater.  I put my ol' faithful jacket on over that.  I should be ashamed to be seen in public wearing that jacket, but I'm not.

 It was 42 degrees outside, not freezing, but no where near warm.  The first person I saw as I was driving away was a kid in shorts and a sweatshirt playing with a soccer ball.  Teen-agers are stupid.  The next person I saw was a twenty-some year old in a short sleeve knit top and blue jeans.  Twenty-some year old girls are stupid.

Old ladies are warm.

whatareyagonnado

I didn't sleep well last night. Well, technically, I slept well, I didn't sleep long.

Once I woke up before 5 AM, I started obsessing about the Dumass Corporation employees who like to live up to the company name.  I know I shouldn't.  I know it's not mature.  I know it's not healthy.  I know it won't solve anything.  But ...... whatareyagonnado?

Anyway, after 45 minutes of tossing and turning and teeth grinding, I got up.

I went back to bed about 3 this afternoon because I was so sleepy I felt ill despite the nap I took while watching  Planet Earth: Oceans.   It was so light in the room I didn't think I could sleep, but I did and when I woke it was so dark in the room I thought I'd slept into the middle of night, but it was only 6.

It gets dark so early now.  If you ask me, this is when we need to spend some of that daylight we saved all summer.

But ...... whatareyagonnado?

Salute!

Salute: to express commendation of; as in "I salute your dedication to duty."

Today is Veteran's Day 2010 so I want to send out a big salute and Thank You to the men and women of the armed forces today.  I keep you and your families in my morning prayers. 

If you want to know more about Veteran's Day read the History of Veterans' Day on the Department of Veterans' Affairs web page.

The National Geographic has a good article on Veterans Day 2010.

There is a slide show about Congressional Medal of Honor recipients on the Huffington Post toay.   More than facts and dates about Veterans Day beginnings and observances, these pictures and accompanying stories explain why we set aside a special day in November to remember, to honor, and to salute. 

I almost missed it!

You know I don't appreciate daylight saving time now anymore than I did when it was first introduced in Indiana several years ago.  If someone could actually save daylight and give it back to me in the middle of winter, I might see some point to it. 

It takes my body days to adjust to the new schedules twice a year.  I don't know when to go to bed, when to get up, when to eat.  And I'm not the only one.

Today, one of my co-workers went to the cafeteria for lunch at what she thought was 11:30, but they weren't open yet.  She was a little peeved and the cafeteria staff was a little puzzled as to why she thought they should be open for lunch at 10:30 when they always open at 11.  She eventually realized she had forgot to set the clock on her desk back and her stomach thought it was lunch time so she was ready to eat at the normal time.

Except it wasn't normal at all.  When governments insist on playing around with time, there's nothing normal about time.

Time may fly, but flies still can't tell time.

Excuse me!

Or as Steve Martin would say "Well, excuuuuuuuse me!"


Whatever happened to the phrase "Excuse me"?   Am I the only one left in the world that knows those two words?

Today at work getting on the elevator I smiled and said "excuse me" to a woman getting off the elevator that I almost ran over because she was talking to a friend and tarried awhile inside the elevator before disembarking so I didn't realize that she wanted off.  She just scrowled at me. 

Then when the elevator got to my floor, I said "excuse me" to a woman getting on the elevator as I was getting on and she was in such a hurry to get in that she blocked the exit with her fat butt so I could barely get out.  She just scrowled at me. 

So as I walked away I said "And excuse you, too".

I'm always saying that for rude shoppers who don't know how to articulate the words. 

Honestly, boys and girls, most shoppers will move aside if you just say "Excuse me" and then you won't have to reach around, over, and/or under them to reach a jar of pickles.

They may scrowl at you, but they'll probably move.

Especially if you accompany it with a hip check.