Day One-hundred-and-seventy-five: One dish, two dish, three dish, more

Today was a food extravaganza. I first finished the olive bread by baking the loaves I made up last night. Then I baked the gingerbread for which I cooked the syrup while the olive bread was in its second raise. Not finally, I made a batch of vegan chocolate cupcakes using the last of the cocoa I brought with me.

During the less busy parts I researched and planned my evening menu and my shopping list for the items I needed to get from the grocery store. The basis for my menu was one of the dinner menus in Program for Reversing Heart Disease. Let's just say it was very instructional. Thank goodness I prepared alternative plans for the main course. While I only used three of the four burners, we wouldn't have eaten had my middle sister not come home and pitched in.

The main course became the polenta casserole instead of the eggplant lasagna. I allowed three hours for the food preparation and cooking. It took four and that was with my sister taking over the mushrooms and broccoli entirely. I still did the pea soup and the polenta casserole. I can't believe my sister's family all like gingerbread. My youngest sister's daughters wouldn't touch it.

While I used far more wine than it called for to braise the onions for the polenta, we managed to put away the remaining red and white that wasn't used in the cooking. My sister also has the ingredients for the eggplant lasagna but doesn't have the recipe. She will be buying the Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook because the four people who ate some of it really liked it. I got the recipe from my oldest daughter's in-laws as that was one of the dishes they prepared especially for me.

We had a great conversation about parents, siblings, and children. (At least I think it was great. Three glasses of wine wouldn't have clouded my judgement that much.) What the wine did cloud are the conclusions we reached. But those kinds of conversations are less about conclusions than the feeling of camaraderie. Of course, more wine and less talk may have achieved the same result. However achieved, it is results that matter in this Life after Layoff.

Earlier this morning, after a breakfast of grapefruit and homemade bread toast, not my bread but my mother's, we played more Mystery Partner Euchre. In the third or fourth game, I was well on my way to winning, thanks to a four-point loaner I finally managed to deal myself without a bower turned up. Ultimately, I didn't win. My oldest sister, still younger than me, snatched my victory away from me.

I brushed the snow off my car when I went out to help my father do the same on his. This called for using one of the pair of three pair of gloves I brought. At the time the temperature was no more than ten degrees Fahrenheit. I was plenty warm for the time I was outside. Admittedly I did have my fleece vest and North Sierra jacket on, but I have not needed my silks. Nor have I needed my full sleeved fleece or the down gloves and scarf I bought to go on my first ski trip with Marilyn.

Tomorrow I drive to Columbus. I pick up my 26' chain, cleaned wedding bands, and corrected inscription heart from Diamond Cellar. My oldest daughter and her husband are supposed to be arriving at 11:00 AM. I don't know when we will be meeting, or where. After the Diamond Cellar, I will be heading to Marilyn's oldest sister's house, still younger than her. I both want to remember Marilyn's death, even revere her life, and not. I suppose with each remembrance I am healing. It is a much slower process and one with no end in sight, than I ever expected it to be.

Day One-hundred-and-thirty-one: B-lated B-day

My youngest daughter's birthday was 15 days ago but with her travel to Florida (and her not telling me what she wanted for her birthday until the day before her actual day) we didn't get around to celebrating it until today.  Knowing that I wouldn't be able to celebrate it until late, I went ahead and  bought a belated birthday card, before her actual birthday.  This made it an appropriate card to give her with her present today.  After she opened her gift, we went out an bought her her Christmas gift as well, a rice cooker.  This was so she could use it to make dinner, and use it whenever she wants to in December while I'm on my road trip.  Besides, she didn't want to haul it back from Ohio.

This gift was very good for me since I got the benefit of a hot meal and a Christmas gift already taken care of.  Now I just have umpteen more to go.   I'm not that good at shopping so getting one gift out of the way is a great day in my Life after Layoff.  To have that gift then gift me right back is icing on the cake, which we didn't have, icing that is.  I made a batch of Basic Chocolate Cupcakes from my Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook.  We ate them with Soy Delicious mint chocolate chip ice "cream."

We also pitched the tent I bought in my living room.  They are encouraging me to use it on my road trip and have offered me the use of one of their mummy bags with its -20 degree rating.  I'm debating with myself on two fronts.  Do I really want to "winter" camp, and do I want to do it with borrowed equipment?  It is true that I will not likely need a sleeping bag with that low of temperature rating if all I'm planning on doing is using it on my motorcycle trip across America (U.S.) and around North America, at least Canada and the U. S.  I can only do these things, if I manage to stay out of work.  I can't ride my motorcycle in snow and on ice anyway.

We went to four stores today:  Fry's Electronics, Gryphon Stringed Instruments, Whole Foods, and Costco.  The Prius couldn't find Gryphon Stringed Instruments because we were spelling it Griffin.  After we drove away from Fry's toward downtown Palo Alto, my son-in-law called 411 and got the address.  We punched it into the Prius navigation system and was directed back to a half block away from Fry's.  We first thought that we had done something wrong because just as the guidance said, "Your destination is on the right," we were passing Fry's.  The Gryphon Stringed Instruments sign was obscured by some trees.  As I was pulling over to reenter the navigation information, since you can't enter it while moving, I noticed the street sign of the road ahead.  It was the street that Gryphon was on, right on the corner.  We had almost parked closer to it than Fry's when we parked in the Fry's parking lot.

At Gryphon, I got to listen to some rather good banjo music as both my son-in-law and a very knowledgeable and skilled sales person tried out and demonstrated several banjos.

First last weekend and now this one.  Having great fun being with great people.  I must admit to feeling a little sorry for myself when I'm alone.

Comcast didn't come again today.  Even though I can still watch TV, I am not going to allow them to charge me for it.  My daughter is encouraging me to cancel my AT&T land line as well.  I must admit, the only real use I make of it is to call 800 numbers and to fax stuff.  My family plan roll over minutes are still accumulating so I should be able to call all the 800 numbers I call from my cell phone.  None of the other people on my family plan have land lines, now that my oldest daughter is off on a new family plan with her husband.

Incoming faxes might be a problem in my Life after Layoff with no employer's fax to use in an emergency, but for outgoing faxes I can always use whatever Kinko's or Mailboxes Etc. morphed into.

Since it appears that my daughter and son-in-law are still on Florida time, I can go to bed early as they have done so already.

Day One-hundred-and-four: Vegan cupcakes that take over the world

Since I had some Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting left over from a couple of weeks ago, I decided to make another double batch of vegan Basic Chocolate Cupcakes. This time I was smart and took the frosting out of the refrigerator to let it get to room temperature before I needed to frost. The frosting went a lot better.

So, I packed the car with 20 cupcakes, 14 of them "frosted," and drove to San Carlos. As I was turning on El Camino, I noticed the Street Fair and thought to myself, "I wonder what this is going to do to parking." Two or three large city blocks and several minutes later I found out. I had just given up finding a spot driving down the alley parallel to El Camino after the parking lot I had used previously was full. After all, I had already driven beyond the end of the street fair. So, I decided to go north of Holly to see if I could find some parking in that direction. I turned on to El Camino to do just that and there it was, a sign that read no parking 2 to 6, but there were a lot of spots and it was only 1:00. I parked and before I grabbed anything out of my car I walked back to take another look at the sign. When I read it more closely, it was 2 AM to 6 AM.

I grabbed the cupcakes, my journal, and my water, and crossed the busy El Camino without the benefit of a crosswalk. Once across I quickly recrossed to grab my cell phone. Then back across the street. After few steps down the sidewalk I was looking for the first flat place to sit something down, which occurred quickly when I knocked my Baja Fresh water cup over. It was full so a little water did seep out around the straw hole. I took this opportunity to put my heavy journal in my waistband and carried the cupcake containers in my left hand and my water glass in my right. Even the cupcakes got heavy by the time I got to the phone bank office. (I thought my "perfect pushup" exercises was giving me more upper body strength.)

The cupcakes were a hit and were gone by the time I left. I was greeted with "the vegan cupcake guy" when I walked in. A person asked for the recipe as I was walking out. I got halfway to my car and realized that I had left my journal. The walk was good. The weather was great.

The calling was so so. Out of 117 calls that I made, 92 were not home. Only one specifically said that they were voting for someone other than Obama, however, 12 refused to say. (The 12 also includes the people who hung up.) There were seven calls made to Obama supporting households. I learned later that a record number of 3,245 calls were made from that location today. There were a lot of people there. While most of them were younger than me, there were a surprising number that were truly young, but older than 18.

I talked with one Obama supporter who said that he has received over 20 phone calls. Even though I was one of them, and don't regret it, I'm glad that I don't live in a battleground state in my Life after Layoff.

On my way home I stopped in at Whole Foods. Among other things that are good for me, I bought some more Tortilla Chips, a flavored variety. This would ordinarily be bad news but I've already tried them. I guess they are edible but they aren't entirely to my taste. This means that I'm not in any rush to eat them, which is really good news.

I must like paper, blank paper. I just looked out over the table at which I am writing this and I count two leather bound journals, three pads of paper, a notebook calendar, and an address book.

Day Eighty-seven: Calling strangers

Before I knew it, it was 11:30 and I had to get cleaned up and run out the door. It was my day to call people on behalf of Obama. My time for doing so was limited by the battery in my cell phone. Still, I called several numbers with the high percentage being "not at home." The next highest was "number disconnected," possibly due to foreclosures. There were several Spanish only, which I marked as "Spanish" for another call from someone who spoke Spanish. Most of the actual contacts were voting for Obama with a very few undecided and only one voting for the other guy.

I have to say that the Obama campaign is a class act. Besides, they loved my vegan chocolate cupcakes with the fluffy buttercream frosting.

I mixed the frosting up this morning as the bread was making its final raise. Then I made the mistake of putting it in the refrigerator. As I was rushing around to go, I tried icing with my now solid frosting. It still tasted good but didn't really spread all that well. The nicest thing was that my tupperware cupcake holders, i.e., deep enough for cupcakes with icing and still be covered, didn't hold them all. So, I ate the two that were excess.

This was my dessert after my lunch of my last heirloom tomato in the house on my just made whole wheat bread. On my way back from San Carlos, I stopped at Whole Foods and got some more. I had to. I have the perfect tomato sandwich bread and didn't have anymore perfect tasting tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes are my fruit of choice in this Life after Layoff.

As I was driving up to my house, I saw my neighbor. I rolled down my window and asked if he wanted some of my excess beer. I have reduced my inventory by 16 bottles of Stella Artois. I still don't like to drink by my self.

Day Sixty-six: Loss of productivity

I couldn't watch the Republican convention last night or the repeats. I find that I'm getting tired of the political speeches. This doesn't mean I don't have an Internet addiction. In fact, it's obvious that far too many people do. I read the blogs and particularly the comments, the comments that are added to before I can read all the ones that have already been posted. This is a tremendous drain on my productivity, or could be without some severe self-imposed restrictions.

I only do it while I'm waiting for something, or at the end of the day. Now it takes a certain amount of creativity to find things that have built in waiting time. Take this morning for example: I chose to fix myself steel cut oats because they were supposed to simmer a whole thirty minutes. I could have done something more productive with that time but my very portable laptop was on the table so I declared it "waiting time." Of course, my laptop being on the table also meant that I could "wait" between bites.

Leisurely meals are supposed to be healthier for a person...

The rest of my morning was truly one of productivity without progress. I did a load of laundry after I changed the sheets on the guest bed. I made a pot of chili, primarily to use up the cilantro that I had left from the earlier Mango Black Bean Salad, and to use some more of that delicious chili powder my daughter got me. I also made a double batch of chocolate cupcakes, 24, for Saturday. I enjoyed the chili for lunch and licking the bowl was dessert, although I didn't eat them in the traditional order. I do hold with the philosophy that since life is uncertain, one should eat dessert first. Eating when I want and what I want is The Secret of Life after Layoff.

I'd like to say that my productivity continued into the afternoon. I did start a couple loaves of bread possibly for Saturday. Both are Whole Wheat but one also has olives. I also put a lot of effort for little result in washing the truck's wheels, well two of them, one of them twice. I was following the instructions, including the use of rubber gloves. With my lack of progress and noticing holes in one of my gloves, I decided to try again when the sun wasn't so bright, hot, and burning. Oh, I did dry the laundry I washed this morning. My final bit of work this afternoon was the creation of a list, a list of all I still had to do. I kept it very high-level so as to not be overwhelmed. Lists are good for at least one thing, the crossing of completed items off of them. It is also a reason to put things that I know I will do, like bake the bread I now have raising. At least I didn't put things like get up (each day), ... But maybe a computer program/scheduler would be a good place for all of that. I know, I'll put it on a list.