The totally shame-free, actual-life, real-time blog where I tell all, show all--without nagging or whining (all right--maybe a little whining...)--in my attempt to stop being a fat middle-aged woman who avoids mirrors and clothing stores and start being a woman at home in her body...brought to you by a real woman, the Independent Weltha Herself. I won't give any advice, and I'm not asking for any--just companionship on my journey.

Every day...a new post. Every other week...my real weight. Every month...new pictures.

For every woman who has ever tried to just lose the extra weight and feel good...overall and about herself...and who lived to tell the story.


Thursday, August 11, 2011

Day the 161st and Day 29 of 30 Days of Truth

Confession time: Reader, I ate popcorn last night. With butter and parmesan cheese.

Of course, a case may be made ("Your honor, the Defense is ready") for it being Wednesday, which right now is Spanish Night at St. Jerome's with the wonderful Travis as our instructor, and loads of St. J's parishioners (and friends) as...the class. Trying to teach St. J's people anything bears a close resemblence to herding cats, except the cats are better behaved and more focused. Nonetheless, I go because Mischa is taking Spanish (and a very nice accent, too) and he thought it would be good to have me there as a strong speaker. I sit at a table with him, Andy the Thurifer, Kathy the Cantor, and Rita the Soprano.

Where was I going with this? Oh yes. Well, I got home last night, chatted on the portable horn to Louix out in California (land of civilization...) and then realized it was time to GO to class. So...I showered, put on makeup (because with this crowd, I want to look my best...), and hopped in the vehicular transport to get myself to St. J's. I had nothing to eat.

And got home about 8:30 and wanted something easy and fast while I watched the end of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Hence, popcorn.

And now you know.

I came off to work (late...because the weather was so glorious - it's COOL here and we have had RAIN....I know...words I thought I would never use again) this morning with grapes (which I did not eat yet do NOT ask me why because I do not KNOW) and makings of halvah because it's easy and delicious and high protein, yada, yada, yada...

My energy is up and I am going to make something nice tonight. Not sure what, but defo NOT popcorn. Or maybe popcorn following something good.

I may try out the ol' hoola hoop tonight because I hear it's good exercise but mostly because I remember being 5 years old and our little burg up in the Home State having a Hoola Hoop contest on the Courthouse lawn. Ah...days of innocence...I think today, kids the age I was would whine and say, "But I want to update my FACEBOOK page!" Or something...

Low energy = I looked at the Studio last night and said, "Have the cats been rifling thru my things AGAIN?" Unfortunately, because they do not have opposable thumbs, they cannot be blamed, and I cannot get away with "The Cats Did It" dodge...doggone it...So higher energy is needed - cleaning, laundry, vacuuming...and whatnot...not to mention French Friday night with Mischa and Travis Our Instructor and then Harry Potter with Poodle on Saturday afternoon and finally a dinner with a bunch of former students. Way, way fun. Not the time to be draggin' around.

Hoping tonight to steam or braise the greenbeans and cut open that CANTALOUPE because I love cantaloupe. I love it better than watermelon and I want to make popsicles out of some of it (or out of another one. Whatever.)

Meanwhile, boys and girls, it's time for Day 29 of 30 Days Of Truth. And my own personal prompt is:

Tell About Someone Gone Whom You Loved And Now Miss

Her nickname was Candy. It was short for Candace. And her maiden name was Chandler, so the name Candy Chandler rolled right off your tongue. She was the age of The Brothers or thereabouts, and one of my earliest memories of her is going to a high school musical and hearing her sing something about "Or a Venuuuuuusian!" I don't remember the play's name, but I remember Candy.

For some reason, my mom wasn't all that crazy about her. She may have been too opinionated. Or maybe my mom thought she was "fast" - which she seemed to think about a lot of girls who really weren't and didn't think about my friend who actually was "fast." Maybe she was too much of a "show-off" in an era where the "nice girls" were supposed to be sweet and retiring. Mom always told me that my dad's school principal's daughter was so popular because she didn't give her opinions on everything. This is not a concept to which I could relate. I doubt Candy could either.

My next really big memory of her was her singing at Cathy Christiansen's installation as Worthy Advisor in Rainbow Girls and "speak-singing" part of whatever song it was. That really made my mom loopy. And I heard about it. And heard about it.

But what endeared Candy Chandler to me forever took place over about 2 weeks following my Senior Year in high school. My church's youth group went on "Caravan" each summer to our sister church out in Parker, Arizona to work on projects and be involved with the youth of that church. We had had what can only be called a major revival among the "young people" of our church and what had been a loose collection of kids forced to go to Youth Group on Sunday nights by well-meaning parents (like my mom...) had become a bunch of radicalized Jesus Freaks, one of whom I was, and including several friends who are today pastors and deacons and elders and just generally Really Serious Christians. Like me.

Somehow, someone asked Candy if she would like to be an adult chaperone on the 1971 Caravan to Parker. And she said, "Yes."

My mother was - in her own words - "fit to be tied." She simply didn't think Candy was a proper chaperone for a dog fight, much less Her Own Youngest Child And A Girl At That. But, my friend Holly's dad came over one evening and talked to my mom about Holly and me going on Caravan. I'm not sure how that happened - but my mother always thought Holly's dad was a Good Guy, and the idea that he wanted Holly (a Nice Girl) to go and hoped I would go too, well, that did it.

Off to Arizona I went. Away from my Mom. With Candy Chandler.

Candy was a hairstylist - or as she called it, a "hair twirler" - or was it "hair-bender"? She had been married and divorced twice by this time so she was Candy Chandler Butler McIntyre. And she had a boyfriend named Jackson, whom she referred to as "JACKSON!" And we called her "Chandler." Long before "Friends"....

I remember that she trimmed my hair and someone else's on the trip - right when some group was having a Bible Study and weren't any too pleased that we were having our hair shaped instead of Studying the Word. Sorry, I have always had a need for beauty, no....make that Beauty. Anyhoodle, Candy endeared herself to us - she was breezy and irreverent and funny and kind.

Out in Parker, I met heat like I had never met. And lost my appetite. Now, back then, I was not the Large Economy Size. I was still rather spindly and really didn't need to lose much weight. But I managed to shed over 5 lbs because I would not eat. It was blazing hot, and I had no appetite. None.

To make matters worse, I was not used to being with this many people all the time. I didn't know it, but I was a sensitive, bipolar kid. (okay, I sorta knew the "sensitive" part....) and I became emotionally overwhelmed on a regular basis, particularly after my watch was stolen from my "room" in the church while we were at Laurie's water baptism. Up at the crack of dawn, hard labor (I poured cement and earned the grudging approval of one of the older boys - who with his father did this for a living - on the trip), relentless heat - I cried easily. And had my feelings trampled on.

I know that one morning, Candy pulled me away from my work site and just sat and talked with me in the relative cool of the shade. I know that meant a lot to me at the time.

But what meant the most is that someone started riding my case - was it morning? Morning break? Dinner? - over something I had said, and Candy was sitting next to me. She shook her head at whoever it was, and then under the table grabbed my hand and squeezed it to let me know she was on my side.

I have never forgotten that. She knew that I was at my breaking point most of the time. Sensitive, spiritual, emotional - much of the trip was hard on me, even though I had the time of my life (not to mention that in the dry heat of Arizona, I got the best tan of my life and my long thick hair dried without being frizzy. This before hair serum...) And she cared about me. And was kind to me.

I think I gave her my Immaculate Conception medal that I had been given as a child (Candy was Catholic.) I think I did.

I just know that when we got back, she had a little party (and for some reason, it involved a swimming pool) for the girls she had gotten to know on Caravan. I didn't get to go - Mom said absolutely not and then stood there while I called and said that we had other plans. I don't blame my mom - she just wanted to take care of me. She wasn't an ogre. She was just a mom.

But I didn't get to go. Somehow, Candy sent me a gift - an address book with names, addresses and phone numbers neatly typed in of my friends back home. I wish I still had it. Of course, I don't.

And that's it. One brief 2 week period in the summer of 1971. I'm sorry to say I never kept in touch with her.

And I had no idea what happened to her until I asked a friend of my brothers about her, only to hear that she had heard that Candy had died. She was not even 65.

I never got a chance to tell her what she meant to me, because I didn't know myself.

Until now. Rest in peace, dear Candy. May eternal light shine upon you.

Independently,

Weltha

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Day the 160th and Day 28 of 30 Days of Truth

I did it. I had fruit for breakfast and no bagel.

I wish I could claim extreme virtue but I can't.

I got up late this morning. Why?

BECAUSE MY TOWN WAS HAVING RAIN, THAT'S WHY. AFTER WEEKS OF INFERNO HEAT AND DRY-AS-TINDER CONDITIONS, WE HAVE RAIN.

Excuse me. I got a little excited there...We had a thunderstorm (a REAL thunderstorm, complete with lightening and all sorts of good stuff) in the middle of the night that continued into rain this morning. Nothing heavy - just a nice, soaking rain. We desperately needed it.

My sanity needed it! I was going nutso with too much heat and blazing sun. This is a major respite right now. Major. May. Jure.

So...I lay in bed until almost 7, me and big Fat Cat Horatius, he of the lovely yellow coat, and Mimsey lurked under a chair periodically hollering at me to get self out of bed and FEED HER DOGGONE IT BECAUSE IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MIMSEY. Yes, Mimsey, we get it. It's about you. You are Empress of the Studio Apartment. Yes. We bow before you and ask that you not beat your lowly subjects who delayed your breakfast by 1/2 hour. A breakfast at which you turned up your lovely little black snub nose...

Where was I? Oh yes, I had fruit for breakfast. Black grapes. Very very nice. And lunch today is homemade chocolate halvah - tahini (sesame paste and yes, you can get it at most grocery stores in the "Jewish" section) + honey + cocoa (it of the antioxidents) and I'm lovin' every bite. I needed the protein and the energy. Between the heat and being SICK, I haven't had much energy.

I'll use that as my excuse to have had POPCORN (with REAL butter and Parmesan cheese) last night for dinner.

I know, I know...I said I would make baba and green beans and potato salad and who knows what else but I'm TIRED. And honestly, my mood is a bit low. I'm not sure why - I had a lovely vacation in Baton Rouge. I came home and the cats were just fine. Other than being sick with this crud last week ("Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"), life is going nicely. I think it is being sick and getting off my meds while I was sick....

We pause for a Public Service Announcement: if you or someone you love (or hey! someone you don't hate but just barely tolerate) are put on prescription meds for a....oh let's call it a mood disorder...and you miss those meds EVEN ONE DAY, you can go into a MAJOR tailspin. Don't try this at home without adult supervision (or...even WITH adult supervision...)!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming....

So I ate popcorn last night. BIG DEAL. Not the end of Western Civilization as we have come to know it. (that I know of...if you know differently, please let me know that my popcorn last night caused the earth to tilt on its axis and created a major shift in thought. Please.)

Meanwhile, Spanish class tonight - always fun! Poodle and I are going to see Harry Potter this weekend. I saw it the weekend it came out (at the IMAX, no less, in 3-D...which made me bat at the "screen" during an ad...yikes, it was a-comin' fer me..)

Speaking of comin' fer me...I have a great story that we will use as Day 28 of 30 Days of Truth:

Tell A Really Great Story That Is Hilariously Funny And Does Not Reflect Too Well On You

Yes, I made that up. I have lost my list and besides, if I remember correctly, Day 30 was "Write yourself a love letter." Sheesh to the NO! That's a little too touchy-feely, wound-licker for this southern girl...

Here is the Really Great Story:

I go to this tiny little Anglican church that I love - St. Jerome's. I have a wonderful priest in Bishop (who is a prince among men) and many, many lovely friends, including Mischa, Poodle, The Pearl, Scott the Lector, Kathy the Alto and Kathy the Cantor. And many, many more...

And then there is Andy the Thurifer ("thurifer" is Anglican for guy who slings the incense).

Andy is not the only Thurifer. We also have John the Thurifer who slings the stuff around like he is trying to fumigate St. Jerome's. Of course, I haven't seen any bugs recently so maybe that's what he was trying to do and it worked....

Andy is a prince among men. I love his socks off. But the first Christmas Eve (Feast of the Nativity, in Anglican) I was at St. Jerome's....well, Andy and the incense are the heart of my Really Great Story.

On the big feast days, we process into the nave (Virginia the Alto calls it "parading" and in her case, I think that's the right word. She's a great parade all by herself, and I love a parade...) wearing our black and white robes (I've met plastic garbage bags that breathe better but that's another story). First comes the Crucifer (I think...I get it mixed up...it's the person with the cross) and then the Thurifer (that's Andy with the thurible - the incense thing). I think. Maybe it's the other way around but it doesn't matter for the purpose of our story.

Then comes the first member of the choir. I was first member of the choir that night. To complicate matters, we had a little reception downstairs in the undercroft (Anglican for church basement) and there was white wine. I drank a big glass.

I am not a drinker. And I had a fairly empty stomach.

Okay, so here we go, down the center aisle. I'm just trying not to weave from the influence of the Big Glass of White Wine.

And Andy decides to bust a move that he had seen somewhere. A great move. Honestly.

He began to spin the flaming hot and smoking thurible in a 360 out to the side, coming back toward...me.

Intellectually, I knew that the hot, smoking thurible would continue to go around in a circle and then Andy would spin it again. It's a very effective look.

Unless you're about 2 1/2 sheets to the wind and the thurible is comin' RIGHT AT YOU (you think.)

All I could think was, "Dang! It's a-comin' fer me!"

It was all I could do not to turn tail, lift up my way-too-long black cassock and run for dear life out of the nave and out the door.

I did, however, keep my composure and manage to sing, one eye on the thurible and thinking, "Andy....so help me...."

I told Bishop this story many months later and HE told me that there was one better that that. Andy was Thurifer at a wedding, did the 360 and the thurible opened up AND A COAL FELL OUT ON THE RUG AND SET IT ON FIRE.

They had to put it out with Holy Water. I wish I had been there.

And the Holy Water has a story too. Every year at the Feast of St. Francis (I call it Dog Sunday), Bishop blesses the pets and sprinkles them with holy water (this last year, his dog Abigail licked him on the nose. 2 years ago, she slipped her leash during the Homily and we had Bishop and the Junior Warden chasing her down the center aisle. Never a dull moment at St. J's.)

A year ago, Jeff the Choirmaster, was carrying new pup Otis and holding big Sadie on a leash. Trying to juggle little Otis, he sort of let Sadie do her own thing.

Next thing we heard was the sound of a noisily slurping bulldog. Yes, Sadie had found the Holy Water and identifying it as a nice container of fresh water, was drinking for all she was worth. Loudly. Very loudly. With vigor.

Bishop put the Holy Water on his lap for the rest of the blessing.

Ah church...definitely where many of my Really Great Stories happen.

And now, a bit more halvah, I think...

See you tomorrow, kiddies!

Independently,

Weltha

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Day the 159th and Day 27 of 30 Days of Truth

And she's back, Campers...

Let's see - what do you want to know? Why of course, you want to know what I ate last night, this morning, and what I am eating EVEN AS I TYPE (well, kindof-ish...) for lunch today.

Last night - you know what? This heat is getting to me and we had both 107 degrees (or 109...at this stage, it's hard to tell) and a low pressure system leading to an all-too-brief thunderstorm. So I was beat. I had finished yesterday's blog post, posted it on BOTH of my FB pages, and was finally home in the cool.

So I had popcorn WITH REAL BUTTER AND PARMESAN yes, I know, don't sue me...and some potato chips (which I never buy but happened to have...long story...) and this wonderful mango-peach herbal iced tea that I make, sweetened with my new BFF Stevia...No fruits. No vegetables (unless you count popped corn and the potatoes in the chips as veg...). No exercise...unless you count yapping with Poodle on the horn as exercise which I think it should be - exercise for the mouth, the mind and the heart, not to mention a major workout for the funny bone.

But I digress. Anyhoodle, this morning I indulged ONE MORE TIME in a bagel at Old School. Fairly soon, I'll only be going in for bagels on Sunday morning but lest Scott the Bagelman think I'm snubbing his establishment and taking my custom elsewhere, I will probably go in for either the Blackberry-Jasmine iced tea (remember it? "Panther Pee"? Little cup of heaven? bells ringing????) or the wonderful new love o' mine, Orange Blossom Ginger which wakes me up and which Mischa says is marginally better than Panther Pee. He no likee eithah wahn, mon...

but back to my food story - I had an Everything bagel heated with garlic-herb cream cheese (because me likee the savory in the AM...me wonder why me -talkin' pidgen but me gonna go wit' it...)

And now luncheon is Fage Greek yogurt with honey, almond butter (missed those posts, didn't you?), "raw" almonds, and fresh raspberries. I am soft on all things raspberry and think the most sophisticated pairing with dark chocolate is the elegant and pungent raspberry. Yes, today's lunch is delicious, has protein, has calcium, has fruit, and I am lovin' it. Okay, it's not Red Beans and Rice at the Alpine in the Quahtah in Nawlins (dahlin'), but then what is? (other than red beans & rice, etc., etc.)

Tonight - if I can muster the energy, I am going to make that baba ghanoush because I need some. And maybe some homemade pita bread (this is not hard. Not hard at all.) And maybe have some green beans and some carrots - deliciously steamed with some sort of something on them. And I have the makings for wonderful homemade potato salad AND for coleslaw. IF I can get the energy together...cross your fingers, sports fans. Please.

And now, we move to Day 27 of 30 Days Of Truth. And the prompt is:

What Reasonably Affordable Luxuries Are Calling Your Name And What Would You Do With Them?

I'm not talking about my own personal Lamborghini...one of my brothers had a friend who ACTUALLY owned one (because he could) and it was a misery to him because EVERY time he took it out, people driving by were so stunned that it WAS a Lamborghini that they stopped watching what they were doing and drifted in their cars too close to it and he was always nervous about getting hit.

And I'm not talking about a villa on the Cote D'Azur in France (unless you know some really great single guy who wants to get married, is a Christian in an Anglican sort of way, loves movies, and has a villa on the Cote D'Azur...then I'm your girl) or a 21-room apartment overlooking Central Park in NYC...just things I want that are not even remotely necessary in life but just...fun.



  1. A BOSE Radio & CD Player - I'm really funny about music. Sometimes, I cannot stand one more piece of auditory stimulation and other times...I am lonely and homesick for the stuff I love. Right now, I am listening to Amy Winehouse again because I loved her, I was pulling for her, and her death made me sad. BUT, I also want one of these because the music just fills the room, and that will be perfect this winter on a cold weekend night when we have rainstorms complete with thunder and lightening, and I can listen to Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto, which I consider perfect music for a dark and stormy night...complete with lit candles and a kerosene lamp...and me reclining on my chaise longue with my silk coverlet...feeling distant and distracted and vaguely Parisian with a little Eastern-European thrown in, oh yeah...

  2. A Full-Size Keyboard - all right, I would really like a Steinway grand but to be remotely reasonable, I would love a really great keyboard that is full size and would sound like...wait for it...a piano. With pedals. I want to start playing again - lots of Rachmaninoff (not the "Rach 3" - I'm a dreamer, not delusional), lots of Chopin and Mendelsohn and Schumann and Schubert. And a few others. I am a classical girl, playing the great Romantics...and I need to practice.

  3. A Microscope - I am a science girl, too. My dad taught science, I was a biology major, and I actually had a child's microscope. I have found one online for - get this - $179 with 3 lenses AND I can get an oil immersion lens for not-too-much. If you don't know what one is, it's hard to explain. Still...I love looking at stuff under the microscope. I miss it. I could have one. I could. I really could.

  4. A Telescope - my dad had a group of student astronomers he called The Stargazers and I once wrote an essay about him called "Stargazer." Years ago, I had a chance to look through a really good microscope and saw the rings of Saturn and the surface of the moon. I loved it. I want to do it again. I want the best one I can afford. I'm sorta like the girl in "A Walk to Remember." Without the terminal illness.

  5. A Widescreen HDTV Television - I want one. Not the big jumbo variety - just one bigger than the tube I have (which is not HDTV) that I can mount on the wall and turn in 2 directions to either watch in my bedroom or watch with friends to see a movie. I have some ideas on this...oh, and a Blu-Ray Player for obvious reasons.

I know that some of you TRY to post and this thing won't let you - but I would love to see posts on either food (oh dang, that's what this blog is ABOUT) or your reasonable luxuries. Or at least posts on my FB page(s) when I post this online.


Thanks for hoppin' back on board The Big Bus To Skinny Weltha Let's Call It What It Is.


Independently,


Weltha

Monday, August 8, 2011

SHE'S BACK - Day the 158th and Day 26 of 30 Days of Truth

OH yeah, girlfriend here is BACK.

I fell off...not the wagon, but sorta off the planet. Here is why:



Remember that I had The Shingles? That's not all...





  • I have had not one but THREE bouts with upper respiratory infection, the final and nastiest of which I am currently just getting past....



  • General depression from stress- although not terribly bad or terribly lengthy



  • 1 bad blow-out with a friend - now nicely mended, and both of us are happy



  • Watching another friend go thru H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks-In-A-Handcart - and on the road to The Mend - this still in progress



  • General Facebook Foolish-osity...


  • Having to go back on our prescription meds. Not a bad thing but still...



  • Heat here in the MidWest that has turned My Town into your basic happy inferno


BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE.



In one week (yes, one week), our Favorite Weltha experienced the following:





  1. Wee cat Fafnir ran away and never returned. I felt like the World's Worst Cat Mom. For days. And days. I looked for him; he was never to be found.


  2. Housemate and I had a break-in while we were gone one evening (and it was through my bedroom window...) and "they" not only got her TVs and a set of pearls that meant very much, but some of my jewelry INCLUDING my Very Own Mother's Wedding Band. Yep, it feels JUST like you think it does...


  3. I found out that 4 months after moving in with very nice housemate, I would have to MOVE AGAIN because the owner of the house decided to retire there A YEAR EARLY.


I am amazed I am still in one piece.



And because I like to eat as a form of comfort (pity party with refreshments....), I am amazed that I did not gain back any weight. In fact, I may have lost a few pounds because New Scale is set higher than Old Scale.



Girlfriend here is weighing in at 222. MUCH more than she wishes but much less than it might have been.



Have I been a naughty eater? Weeeeeellllll....not really.



All right, I have a Serious Bagel Jonz going on and Old School Bagel Cafe is rakin' in the coin from me.



And there has been WAY too much popcorn complete with real butter. And parmesan cheese...



But there has been no Coca-Cola. Or regular iced tea. None. No M&Ms. I have had a few really great chocolate bars, sweetened with "better" sweeteners, really dark chocolate and natural ingredients. And that's okay.



But not enough fruits or vegetables. Or exercise (or hey! ANY exercise beyond choosing a new film to watch or turning the pages of the excellent Jane Austen.)



This is about to change. There are fruits and vegetables in my refrigerator EVEN as you read this, and I just bought a hula hoop AND am moving the rebounder where I can watch movies AND exercise. Yes, a win-win (I almost typed win-sin...) is in the making. IN THE VERY MAKING...



However, let's do Day 26 of 30 Days of Truth:



List the Good Things That Have Happened To You In the Midst of Missing Cat, Break-In and 2nd Move In 4 Months.



Obviously, I tailored this one for myself. I mean, you don't exactly find a list with this strange and specific sort of prompt...well, I don't. Maybe you do...I dunno...



Because I love me the lists, here goes:





  • Thanks to Scott the Lector, I have moved into the coolest ENORMOUS studio behind the mansion (yes, mansion) owned by my landlords. I love it. It's wonderful. I and cats are so happy.


  • My neighbor - as in one of the other studio apt renters - is the wonderful Paula from church. Who knew? She is so major great and just 20 feet away...


  • My new domicile is 1/2 block from Poodle - I mean, I walk over there and we par-tay. Well, as much as a pair of middle-aged people who tire out at 8:15 pm can par-tay...


  • And I'm just a mile from Mischa (the former Woodstock who is now firmly Mischa, my Polish prince.) This is a good thing, too.


  • Work is going well and my position might be made permanent (I would still need to interview, etc. for it) and "they" are looking for something that might deal with my geekola love of writing nerd stuff, proofing and editing...


  • New friends at church - Travis and Matthew. Lovely new friends, complete with their cat Emma, Spanish classes and French classes. And Travis thinks everything I say is hilarious. WHAT is not to love with these two?


  • Jeff and Gary - if you "know" what I mean, you know what I mean. If not, well, I promised not to publish on FB and I am keepin' my word. Very happy.


  • A totally great trip to Baton Rouge AND Nawlins (and the Quahtah) to see my high school friend. It was fantastic and there is nothing like realizing that an old friend is now a new friend - and as great a guy as ever. Thank you, Eddie dahlin'...and yes, the trip came complete with great food - a chicken salad I wanted to marry, BBQ (I had me a pulled pig sammy and I loved it), BBQ shrimp (now #2 in my pantheon of great shrimp dishes, second only to shrimp broiled in butter and garlic), and Mediterranean food (baba ghanoush, my dearest love, and chicken shawarma salad...YEAH, baby.) And Eddie is major fun.


  • A backyard at my new place that reminds me of summers on the river as a kid.


  • My new bedspread which I am trying just real hard not to bow down and worship it's so...wonderful.


  • The perfect haircut from Dan My [Hair] Man


  • Bishop is back in town and hittin' all cylinders on his homilies


There, I think that will do for a while.



Warning - I'm only going to post Mondays through Fridays. 7 days a week when my own personal computer is either at death's door or has actually gone home to be with the Lord (or whoever computers use...) is exactly 2 days too many.



And yes, we will finish 30 Days of Truth and then have some other gimmick, I mean some other point of interest for each blog.



Today - Everything bagel heated with garlic-herb cream cheese and Orange Blossom Ginger white tea. And work coleslaw for lunch.



Girlfriend thinks she'll make her own personal baba tonight...that's why God made the eggplant in my refrigerator. I know this is so. I know it.



The Bus Trip has started back up and YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS IT!



Independently,



WELTHA