Instant Streaming

So post three of stream of consciousness. . .

Little Couple is in Boston. Here are the things that are weird about this. 1. they're in the north end in the summer and it's not crowded to the brim with some festival. 2. they're in Mike's Pastries and they were not only not trampled to death, the camera crew had enough space to get shots of the glass cases filled with pastries. Also, not weird, but I thought I should mention I hate Union Oyster House (they went there too). I realize it's historical and that the founders of our country were patrons of the establishment, but I am convinced given the choices available now, they wouldn't be caught dead in the Union Oyster house (well actually, they aren't caught dead there and they actually are dead so I rest my case).

Speaking of the Faneuil Hall area, I went to Crate and Barrel today and that location is closing. It's been there for 30 years, it is the most convenient location in the world for me and has gotten a number of us in my office out of a lot of jams. I am sooo sad about this closing. The biggest shopper I know has left the country for two weeks and in her absence Crate and Barrel decides to close?!

And while we're on the topic of dishes and being abandoned, my boy is the one in our house that does our dishes. I hate doing dishes. There are a lot of reasons why I hate doing the dishes, but tonight as I was doing them, I was reminded of yet another reason. We have one of those handled sponges that is filled with soap. It's great except that the sponge doesn't stick very far out the front of the handle but it sticks out behind. Why would you design something like this? It means you cannot get the bottom part of narrow cups, vases etc clean. In looking for a picture to demonstrate the maddening design to you, I had to go through two pages before I could find one to show you what I was talking about. Apparently oxo's classic design (and pretty much any other one they've designed) does not have this issue, nor does libman to the same extent that ours does.

I have more randomness I could spurt (like a handled sponge), but I think this is probably good for tonight. Tomorrow will be my last night with ready access to Internet till Monday, so eat it up now!

Friendly Little Public Service Announcement

So clearly the stream or consciousness writing hasn't affected my readership. I didn't get any comments but I also got no complaints. So here we go again.

Have you used up your FSA yet? You have three more days. I was planning on getting a tdap vaccination because I work with the homeless (who can be high risk for pertussis) and am around a few babies (though I've been so slow about it at least one of them has already sped well past the 12 month marker). Apparently whooping cough is deadly to babies, or at least that's what the scaremonger article I read said. The cdc just says:

Adults who expect to have close contact with an infant younger than 12 months of age should get a dose of Tdap. Waiting at least 2 years since the last dose of Td is suggested, but not required.

According to the CVS minute clinic website, that vaccine and a flu vaccine would have taken care of the rest of my FSA balance. Sadly, Mayor Menino (WHO I DID NOT VOTE FOR WHEN I HAD A CHANCE -- TWICE!!!) doesn't like minute clinics (okay fine, it's not just him, but since I currently don't like doctors, I like the above board we're just in it to make money minute clinic idea besides, there are two cvs stores really close to work, so convenient for a quick vaccine).

Anyway, that's a long boring post, to say, if you're like I am and didn't make it to the minute clinic, you can go to drugstore.com, where they have a lovely tab for fsa eligible items. I ate through my balance pretty quickly.

Speaking of eating, have you tried Turkey Hill's Chocolate Nutty Moose tracks?!

It's delicious, you should rush right out and by some -- and by you, I mean my boy specifically because even though it's only 55 degrees in our house and I am freezing, it's becoming a very real possibility I will consume all 12 servings before Thursday.

In other random announcements, did you know that there are pink tomatoes? I mean really, can't Susan G. Komen let just one opportunity to turn things pink go?!? Really it's Burpee, and as as far as I know they aren't donating money to Susan G. Komen, but maybe they should get on them!

Also, my boy is correct, apparently, when he says everything comes from Pennsylvania. Burpee seeds come from Fordhook farm located in Doylestown, PA (only an hour away from all of you in Philly). They appear to have "open days" in the summer and fall months where professional gardners give you lectures on gardening and you get to wander around a truly historic site (this is the birthplace of the big boy tomato, golden bantam corn and, most importantly, iceberg lettuce -- so named because of being shipped in crates of ice long distances. If you're interested in more about Burpee and the farm, you can read an article about how burpee seeds got sold off and then reunited with fordhook farm.

Oh, and to answer my question from the last post about best Christmas present this year, I think the beautiful candy apple red kitchen aid mixer I got pulled out ahead:

source

See how much more blogging you get when everyone I know has left the greater Boston area (and by greater Boston area I mean Roslindale and the South end).

PSSSSSSSST Guess What?! It's Been a Month!

So time flies, that's it, time just flies. . . .

We've come to the end of watching The Waltons. Technically we haven't in the sense that in January all the reunion movies come out. But for now, we're aimlessly searching the television for other options. I pick The Golden Girls my boy picks Air Wolf and usually we compromise on an episode of History Detectives we've only watched once or twice before (especially now that TopChef and Monk are finished).

Way back when I started blogging, I thought I had so much to say. Turns out, that's not exactly true. I blogged quite some time ago about a friend who accidentally emailed me (it makes me wonder how many people get back in touch via the auto-fill feature on various email programs). At the time I struggled to come up with something new and flashy that was going on in my life. Oddly enough, my life has slowed down even more at this point, meaning I have even less to blog about -- for example if you referred back to that post, you'll notice that I had started a multi-vitamin, that lasted about a week (TWO YEARS AGO).

Anyway, since it's late and my boy is set on leaving the house at 5am (you know like three hours from now), I've decided to just free associate. . .

I almost titled this post, I got a ring!! Which is true, I did get a ring, but it wasn't an engagement ring, it's just a ring I had admired for awhile and had hinted very strongly (and by strongly I mean I sent a coupon code to my boy and a link) that I would like to see it under our imaginary tree. So yay! It's beautiful, don't believe me? Go, look for yourself.

I've gotten a lot of really lovely presents this Holiday season (I say holiday, because I opened some of them during Chanukah). For starters, I got apples to apples the Jewish edition. WHO KNEW?! Guess which was the first card I pulled, that's right, Sarah!! I also got a super cute stuffed saint (I plan on buying some for two other friends, but since they never read my blog, it's safe to share it here -- besides, the shop is on vacation so I can't even imbed a link). Also, in going to get you the link for the stuffed saint, I stumbled across this which is awfully cute as well!

My boy and I don't write Christmas cards (come on people, you saw how lame I was with thank you cards) but we've gotten a number of cards with pictures of friend's children and sweet or interesting notes updating us on all the goings on in our their lives (clearly I don't need to do that since I blog so regularly ;)). One note I received from my aunt this year made me laugh. She said she enjoyed my blog and that I wrote like I talk. I thought back on how many of my posts are about how annoyed and how depressed I am and I just felt sorry for all of you. Course those of you far away luck out, cause you can just skim or, you know, just skip.

So your turn now, what was the best gift you got for Chanukah (or Christmas if you're late reading the blog post)? And/or if you were going to write a Christmas letter what exciting, new, or notable thing would you include?