Particularly Scattered Notes from the Sandwich Life

 1.  I have been so busy I feel like I haven’t been here much.  And that’s not good because when I’m writing regularly I feel more like myself (in a good way!).  In case you couldn’t guess, I have been WAY busy.  Work’s been crazy, not bad crazy, just busy crazy.  I had to give a talk at lunchtime today which isn’t my favorite thing to do (although the people were delightful and it’s been a long time since I said the pledge of allegiance and sang songs like In the Good Old Summertime) and when I got back to the office I had a million things calling to me.  So suffice to say…I am beat….and I am getting ready to shout to the skies how wonderful my husband is for taking Owen to the school open house without me and Leo. Oh bless you Ernest....

2.  O.k….now tell me if this is crazy.  Ernie and I went to Prairie Gardens the other day to buy a gift certificate for a friend’s birthday.  Of course I quickly piled a bunch of fall plants in the cart because….well, just because. We went to one of the many blondes they seem to have working there (honestly, have you ever noticed?) to check out.  She rang everything up, wrote out the gift certificate and then proceeded to outline the gift certificate entry on the receipt in red ink.  Then she folded it up and told me she was going to enclose it with the gift certificate in the envelope.  I told her I didn't want a receipt for a shitload of kale and mums to go to the person to whom I'm giving the gift certificate.  She said it was the only way they would know that she didn't just write it out and that we really paid for it.  I said no, I'm not giving someone a receipt for everything.  Then she suggested just putting in the credit card receipt which just has a total.  Now how this would prove a damn thing I don't know but again I said, NO you're not putting a receipt for $65 worth of plants and doormats and everything else in a lousy $20 gift certificate.  Finally I said that this was just silly---void the whole sale and ring them up separately if you need to.  If you must have a receipt for the gift certificate then make it just for the gift certificate.  Then she looked really pissed and finally said she guessed it would be o.k. without the receipt.  Believe me I just gave you the short version---this went on MUCH longer.  I have bought gift certificates there before and never gone through this.  I let Ernie take the gift certificate from her and I busied myself with pushing my cart of plants out while I muttered about MENSA.  We get to the parking lot and I look at the stupid gift certificate and she has put her name in the spot where normally I would have written OUR names.  I was so irritated with the whole thing that I could have spit.  Ernie kept asking me if I wanted to go complain but I just didn't have it in me.  So off we went with our plants and our gift certificate muttering all the way.  At least it did make for a good anecdote when I gave it to our friend.  Geesh.

3.  Ernie found this Split Enz video and youtube and I've been playing it over and over.  MAN I love Split Enz.  I had the red and green cover on that album that came in all different colors....  Anyway....when you first watch it the Wiggles will come to mind if you have a child of a certain age and for a minute you will get distracted thinking, "now wait, are the Wiggles from Australia or New Zealand?" and wonder if there is some strange connection between Split Enz and them but then the music takes over and you forget about that. And then suddenly you will realize that Neil Finn reminds you INCREDIBLY of LEO!  Beautiful face, big eyes looking up at you from beneath their lashes in that Princess Diana kind of way and of course the song's general sense of paranoia and frustration fits him as well.  Oh......good LORD my beautiful baby.....and Neil Finn as well.....it almost made me cry!!!  Man I love that boy....

4.  O.k....tomorrow I'm buying two pork shoulder to slow roast with lemon, rosemary and garlic for the Peter Case house concert.  Anything other seasoning? Whaddya think?  And then on Saturday we'll go to the farmers' market and buy a TON of tomatoes and eggplant and peppers and zucchini and squash and onions and garlic and anything else that sounds good for ratatouille.  I saw a recipe the other day for ratatouille that called for carrots.  Huh.  I've never had carrots in ratatouille before....anybody else?

5.  I suppose I should end this.  I imagine the blondes will be home soon and I need to get dinner going.  I'm tired so I'm going with my favorite comfort food meal of curried oven fried chicken and whatever vegetables I can dig out of the refrigerator.

6.  Peter Case, Peter Case, Peter Case.  WOO-HOOOO!  Don't forget to email me if you're interested in coming on Sunday!