Winding down...

I just got home from spending a nice mellow evening at my sister's and you'd think I had a whole bottle of wine instead of just the one large glass, because I feel totally relaxed and in the mood for one more. Unfortunately that is not possible because I have no wine in the house and if I did I would probably drink the whole bottle and become drunk and wake up with a hangover. So all is for the best and I will just enjoy the slight mellowness that I feel now. Hey, I'm not used to much and I have to enjoy each moment as it comes to me.

My sister had baked a chocolate cake with nuts and apricot jam as a filling and chocolate icing on top and it was very good. I did manage to put away a piece of that, although my stomach protested loudly after that. I burped quite a bit, which is not polite in mixed company as we were. I had 2 espressos as she was out of milk, but we are going grocery shopping tomorrow, which is good because I'm also almost out of milk. My niece and nephew were there and their grandparents and I had brought Tyke who is desperately trying to become friends with my sister's dog, but he's not much interested and lets Tyke know in no uncertain terms.

We watched the British Kurt Wallander with Kenneth Branagh and it was the first time I really watched it, although it is on every week. I had not realized who portrayed him and how sexy he really is and I'm determined now to watch that series more often. I like the fact that it is filmed in Sweden and that it is as authentic as possible. I've read as many of those books as I could and should recognize a lot of the stories, although the one we saw tonight was unfamiliar to me. I like men like Kenneth Branagh, they bring out the beast in me, Ha ha! I don't really know if I still have a beast in me. There is some doubt about that.

My nephew had pepperoni pizza flavored chips. He offered me some and they were really good. What will they think of next? Any flavor is available. I could have eaten a whole bowl by myself, but decided to be polite about it and not ask for one. I do have to think about my diet after all. Although when something tastes really good, I will eat it. I won't turn down a piece of very good cheese for example. Or macaroni or potato salad. That reminds me that I haven't eaten lasagna in a long time and I used to love it so. There's no sense in making a big baking dish full for myself, so I will not get to eat it any time soon, but I sure would love to. I am going to have to buy those small portions of different flavors rice. I will get some of those tomorrow. I must not forget that.

As an encore I'm having some green tea with lemon. That ought to help me go to sleep. I really ought to have some nighttime tea, although I have no idea what's in it and why it is really called that. I wonder if there are really ingredients in it that make you sleepy. I still think the best thing is a mug of warm to hot milk and I may have that next, although I miss the little skin that used to form on top of it when it cooled off. That was the cream that used to be in the milk and that is gone now. Speaking of cream, the thing I like to eat best is fresh crusty white bread with real butter. I could make a whole meal out of that. The last time I really ate well it was that with a salmon steak.

Well, it's time for me to go to bed, unfortunately. Sensible people must do sensible things. Nowadays I am sensible. First I will have my mug of warm milk and make some cigarettes for in the morning. I will try to sleep as long as I possibly can and try not to get up too early. Maybe I can ignore the call of the computer. Yeah, right!

Sleep tight.

Ciao,
Nora

The first cup of coffee...

I'm still working on my first mug of coffee, but it is a big one this time. My sister brought it with her all the way from Japan and I guess they like big mugs there also, at least for the tourist trade. I'm going to have a mug of cold milk after this, because I've had enough coffee to fill me for awhile. There is such a thing as overdoing it and as I said before, my taste for coffee is waning and i don't drink nearly as much as I used to.

The other day I had a cup of English tea without sugar and it didn't make me cough, so it is the sugar in the tea that makes me do that, So no more tea with sugar for me. I was offered Earl Grey, but I never developed a taste for that. I like Irish breakfast the most, although I know there is another more official name for that melange. Unfortunately, the labels on my two jars of tea have faded and now I don't know which is which anymore. One is Irish breakfast, but which one? And what is in the other one? Maybe the taste will tell me.

I've been up for awhile after a very nice sleep on the bed together with Tyke who has decided to stop demolishing things. Maybe he is outgrowing this phase. I fell asleep almost instantly when I laid down and closed my eyes. I always think that I will give myself half an hour to fall asleep, otherwise I will get up, but I'm always asleep way before that. It's nice to give yourself a deadline like that, though. Then you don't have to lie awake worrying about whether or not you will get up. It takes the pressure off. If I were to get up, I would start the going to bed ritual all over again, even if it would take me a few hours, but I've not had to do it yet. I suppose in a way I do it when I get up early in the morning and sit behind the computer with my coffee and get tired again after awhile and go back to bed for some more sleep, but nothing is set in concrete and I can do as I please.

For some mysterious reason, my rubber plant has died. It started to droop and the leaves died and shriveled one by one and now it's just a poor old thing sitting there and I need to throw it out. It lasted about 4 years, which is not bad, but it was thriving and then suddenly gave up the ghost. I have to buy 3 new plants to replace the ones that are either dead or doing poorly. This is not the year of my green thumb. It's a trade off, something else good will happen instead. That's my philosophy anyway. I'm going to try and save one plant by putting it in a different spot. It may make a comeback. It's not beyond hope yet.

Well, that's all the gossip I had for this morning. I just had to turn up the heater because I'm cold. I need to live in a warm country and I was a fool to leave California.

Have a nice day, all of you.

Ciao,

Nora

To write or no to write?

Here I am sitting behind the computer again early in the morning with my empty coffee cup and my just lit cigarette. I am contemplating making a mug of tea, because I'm almost out of coffee pads and I have no plans to go to the store yet. I have to get paid first and that should be tomorrow. I have Gold Tea from Lipton, or Green Tea with Lemon, or Red Bush Tea. I have to decide which I want. I think right now I'm in the mood for Gold Tea with a spoonful of sugar. Okay, that's coming right up! I can't wait to drink it.

I don't drink tea at home very often and I really don't have a good reason why not, except that I seem so hooked on coffee. So, maybe this is a good time to start drinking more tea. It certainly tastes good if you don't put too much sugar in it, otherwise it tastes like sugar water. The next one I'm going to try is Green Tea with Lemon and then I'll have the Red Bush Tea. I also have Rose Hip Tea, but I don't like it at all and it has been sitting on the shelf for over a year now. I have to remember to buy a tea egg, because I also have lose tea that I have to use up one of these days and they are some nice flavors, Irish Breakfast being one of them.

I just looked in the kitchen drawer and found the tea egg and I am now brewing myself a nice mug of tea the flavor of which I do not know, because the label is no longer on the pot. I think it is Irish Breakfast, though, because I think the Exfactor took the other flavors, because I don't see them anywhere in the kitchen cabinet. I've been divorced for nearly two years and I'm still discovering what is not in the cupboards. Well, I've got myself a nice mug of hot tea. You can't beat that.

The little bit of sugar I put in my tea is going straight to my head and I'm getting a little high from it. It's like I've had a bit of alcohol. No wonder I get drunk so easily. It's the strangest experience. I never noticed it as much as now, though I've noticed something similar in the past. If this is the experience I get from sugar in tea, I'm going to drink more tea. I wonder if it is possible to get off the coffee completely and to only drink tea from now on. Would my body go through caffeine withdrawal, or is there enough of it in the tea? Does anyone have experience with this? If so, please let me know.

Tyke is sleeping on the floor beside me. Every time I get up, he follows me to the kitchen. Wherever I go, he goes. I have a total lack of privacy, but I'm used to that by now. I've always had animals follow me wherever I go and watch whatever I do unashamedly. They even "help" me get undressed. Gandhi claws at whatever dangles from my clothes and hangs on tight and Tyke helps me pull off my socks and leggings. He then also wants to take off with them, but that's another story. I usually catch him on time.

I'm going to take my medicines now and lie on the sofa for a while under the red fleece blanket. It's that time of the morning again when I can catch a few more winks of sleep. Oh, how glorious!

Have a good morning, you all.

Ciao,
Nora

A nice cup of tea.

I'm having myself a nice cup of tea. Gold Tea from the triangular bag, and a few spoons of sugar in it. I was just outside with the dog and a cup of hot tea sounded like just the thing to heat up my cold body again. I need the sugar for my sluggish brain, of course. It must wake up and function properly after that nice nap I took late this afternoon. The tea is very good, but I need to make it hotter the next time so it will brew better. I will do that with the next cup.

Nothing exciting at all has happened today. The repairman came and I have heat and hot water again and that is very nice, but it isn't very exciting. I've let the day slip away from me. I filed my income taxes for 2008 on line and it was only a little bit complicated, and I checked my bank account balance to see that I was almost broke. That was not a nice surprise, but saved me the embarrassment of standing by the cash register in the grocery store with not enough money to pay for the groceries. A loan from my sister provided the solution and I will go shopping tomorrow.

I will have to cut down on the amount of books I send each month through Bookmooch, although right now I am in popular demand and stagger my books over monthly shipments as much as possible. So far I've given 21 books and I have to send 22, but I have to make different arrangements for some of them. I have mooched 46 books and am expecting 21 more. I am working on the 4th cubbyhole in my bookcase and they fill up rapidly. I didn't think that I would get so hooked on mooching books, but I am and I get real greedy when I see books that are on my wish list that are available. The only way to get books, is by giving books, although you always get more than you give. I just got the shipment ready for November and will send those off on the 22nd.

Mmm...that second cup of tea is just perfect. I let the water get hotter and let the teabag steep in it for a long time.I forgot how nice a cup of tea can be, especially in the evening. It warms you up and is so soothing. I also have rooibos tea and I will have that next. Actually, what I need now is a nice chocolate bar, but I'm unwilling to go to the store to buy it. I won't sacrifice that much for it. Going out in the cold and dark on my bike, I don't think so.

In order to free a cubbyhole in my bookcase, I have to straighten out some of my administration. I have miscellaneous papers laying there that either need to be filed or tossed out. So that's a little job that I will do this evening or tomorrow. They are the kind of papers I'm not sure of what to do with and I don't know if they need to be saved or what. Just to be on the safe side, I will save most of them, I think. I may come to regret it if I toss them out. I will get the old punch hole out and file them in a two ring folder.

If I'm smart, I'll wash my hair first before I do that, because it's kind of unruly right now and I don't want unruly hair. It's got too much hairspray in it, that's why. It's got kinks in it from me lying on it. I'll also put my pajamas on, so I'll be all ready for bed when the time comes. Then all I need to do is jump in the shower real quick in the morning before I go to creative therapy. Well, I better not jump. I may slip and break my neck.

I thought I was out of dog food and was ready to cook rice and bouillon for the dog, but then I found a can of dog food and he got lucky. I had the dried kind, but he pretends he doesn't eat that. I have a whole bag full of the stuff and Jesker refuses to eat it even though it's supposed to be good for him. He is a spoiled dog.

I'm awfully hungry myself and must scrounge around the kitchen for something edible. I'm sure I'll come up with something. I've been known to eat jars of jam. Maybe there is some chocolate powder left to make hot chocolate with. That sounds like a good idea.

Well, adios my friends, I'm off to wash my hair and to sort my paperwork. Have a good night or a good rest of the day. I'm hoping for a nice long night of sleep.

Ciao,
Nora