What I Did This Summer

Sorry I've been gone all summer. I wish I could tell you that I was off galavanting around the world. That I had found a great job. That I had met the love of my life and was busy being swept off my feet.
None of those things happened. I went galavanting (by train) to Texas and Missouri. I went to a LOT of concert picnics. I made a ton of pesto (so much so that my stepfather actually got tired of it!) I didn't meet anyone special.
I did bake some cakes for a family and their kids, and babysit for them occasionally. Their three year old daughter apparently recently professed her love for me (I watch movies with her that she's seen a million times and I refuse to tell her what's going on when she asks for the thirtieth time "Where's her going?") also, I am the cake lady.
Perhaps I will figure out this fall something to write about. Perhaps I can get involved in something worth writing about.
Fall is by far my favorite season, there's a sense of anticipation in the air. The mornings are crisper, there is more hustle and bustle. The food is more... involved. Maybe I'll start posting recipes again, that at least would be something.

Little Bird has been remiss

P.S. The first recipe will involve bacon. The best bacon in the world.

Frustration.

Once again, life at failblog has led me to make another serious post.
I was born with Neurofibromatosis. This is a degenerative disease. It is what will eventually kill me. Assuming I don't get hit by a bus first. I don't have health insurance. I can't afford it. I simply can't. What one insurance company quoted me, I wouldn't NEED the insurance! I could use that money (there was a $5,000 deductible involved) to cover nearly all of my doctors visits.
Most people who have met me wouldn't know about my condition if I didn't tell them. I'm lucky in that regard. Most of my issues area largely "invisible". But for crying out loud! What the fuck is wrong with trying to provide adequate health care to EVERYONE!? It's not like I get sick just so I can suck tax dollars out of anyone's pocket! There are so many people like me who fall through the cracks. There are so many people who are worse off than me.
There are so many people who think that folks like me are idiots and morons for saying that current health care is inadequate. They say that we don't know what we're talking about. I've lived the life. I know from what I'm talking about.
If there is a program out there to help me, they sure as hell make it as difficult as possible to get to. See, part of my issues include learning disabilities, which makes navigating the convoluted ins and outs of the system overwhelming.
It is in a word frustrating.

--Little Bird is fed up.

The Change

So there was a recent question on Facebook about where you may have been on 9/11. I answered "at work". But there's more to it than that. I was working at a Whole Foods. It hadn't opened yet. I was hired to work in Specialty and Wine. We were still building out the store. It was maybe 9 am or so. I was outside smoking with one of the guys from the bakery department. We overheard the construction guys talking about the World Trade Center bombing. I thought they were talking about the incident years earlier. It did register that there were no planes in the sky, but not that I should be concerned about it. I went back inside, and ten minutes later all work stopped. TV's were rolled out, in several areas of the store. We all stood there entranced, shocked. Unable to move. Unable to think. My cell phone rang. It was Mama Bird, calling to find out if I had heard. I called my ex-boyfriend (former Navy) to make sure he was okay. It turned out that the Shift Manager of my store had an ex-wife. Her new fiance was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.
Nothing more got done that day. I couldn't even think straight.
I remember sitting outside, just before I went inside and found out the news. It was such a nice day. Warm, sunny, a few clouds here and there. It was quiet. Peaceful. And then it all changed.

--Little Bird remembers

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

So, it's snowing here in Chicago. In fact, we're having a blizzard. I mean a full blown balls to the wall blizzard. They shut down Lake Shore Drive. Part of Wrigley Stadium's roof blew off (the press office). And we've had thunder and lightning. They are telling folks to stay inside. You think? That just maybe that it might be a bad idea to go outside for any reason?
My apartment faces the lake. And my blinds are knocking. The cupboards in the kitchen are rattling and the whole apartment is shaking. There are gusts of wind that are so loud it sounds like it take a couple of windows out.
So what to do when you can't go outside, and your cable goes out? Why, you make soup! What could be better fare during a blizzard?
I had gotten a rotisserie chicken yesterday, so after I ate my meal yesterday, I stripped the carcass and tossed it into a pot with water. Just enough to cover it. I had to let it simmer for 2 to 4 hours (I really don't remember how long I cooked it for), and froze it.
Today, I figured that I could add the leftover mashed potatoes from the other day and then puree it some more. I added shallots, garlic and some green onion too. Oh, and milk and sour cream. Topped with white cheddar, more green onions, crispy onions and of course BACON.
I didn't have a recipe to work from, so mostly this was just winging it. All in all, it was pretty good!

---Little Bird is trying to stay warm.

I want my MTV

Nick has come back it appears. And it also looks like he brought the rest of the band with him. It hurts and has a bright red mark where I expect it to start bleeding again any minute. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
I do not want to have to have him removed again. I don't want to have to do it again later either. I want them to stay gone when I have them removed!!!!! I want to be able to afford the surgery. I want to be able to get health insurance.
Apparently I want for too much.
I have a few recipes, but somehow, now doesn't seem like the proper time to share them.
I will say though, that bacon and peanut butter go VERY well together. Something that was discovered while in the process of making something entirely different.


--Little Bird does not want the band back.

Material Girl

The diet begins today.
Basically all I'm doing is NOT drinking beer during the week. And walking some more. And eating salads and a few sandwiches instead of pastas and meat-heavy meals.
Okay, I suppose that does sound like SOMETHING after all.
This came about after showing Mama Bird the pictures from New Years (actual paper copies, no digital ones just yet, so I can't show you). Next to Whirly Bird you can tell that Little Bird ain't so little these days. But, that is something I can fix. Also in the pictures I look positively Amish in comparison to my friends. I seriously need to re-think the turtle neck sweater as a "fancy dress" item.
In lighter news Mama Bird, her husband and I went out to eat on Friday to celebrate my birthday. SUSHI!!!! It was wonderful! The next day we went to CostCo and I bought myself a TV and an iPod dock/clock with some of the Christmas and Birthday money I received. Yay for being able to read the channel menu now! The next day Mama Bird and I went to Old Navy. Ostensibly for some camisoles for her. I figured I would check out the jeans for me, and MAYBE I would get some. I found my size, my style and my color immediately. The reason why I did not let go of the jeans even for a second while we traipsed about the store? The tag read 97 cents. That's right. The jeans were 97 cents. We thought it had to have been wrong, but I was sooooo going to try to get them for 97 cents. When we got to the register (Mama Bird could not find her camis) I pointed it out to the girl and she said that it was actually the right price, and omigod was I so lucky. AND they were 40% off!! I got a pair (the only one in the store at that price) for 58 cents. 58 cents!!!!!!
We went back and scoured the shelves for more priced the same, but there weren't any. I did also get a shirt that came to less than $5. A whole outfit for under $6. I should have bought a lottery ticket.
Recipes will be making a comeback here, in a few days or so. I need to look up some good ones to share.

--Little Bird is trying to live up to the name.

Take Me Home Country Road

I'm sitting here, trying to not fidget myself into a nervous fit. In about an hour I leave for the train station. Because I must get there a couple of hours early. I don't know why I feel the need to be that early, I just do. The train will not leave early. I don't think it's allowed to do such a thing. But my neurosis (this one at least) mandates that I must be more than one hour early to the station. Mama Bird calls this "going airport". When she travels she feels similarly. But she flies. "Going train station" just doesn't have the same ring.

It's been a great visit, time spent cowering in the basement not withstanding. Good friends, good parties, Red Hot Ripplets (crack chips in my vernacular). I'm only bringing one bag of the chips home, I'm trying to be good.
For those not in the know, they simply can't be found in Chicago. I've looked. And they are my all time favorite potato chips.

I will be leaving the books I came here with at Whirly Birds house and borrowing a few others. Namely "There Eyes Were Watching God" something I read in high school. A closer look at the book indicates that the copy I will borrow is actually MY original copy from that high school!! Also borrowing "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo". That one I absolutely must return in a timely manner. There is a waiting list to borrow it apparently. I read fast so I should be able to get it back to her relatively soon. I just need to get a packing envelope and not use duct tape on it.

--Little Bird is getting flighty

Red, Red Wine

Happy New Year Everyone! All four of you that read this. I hope a good time was had by all!

So yesterday was interesting. I woke up to tornado sirens in St. Louis. Where I am visiting my bestie, Whirly Bird. We spent a fair amount of the noonish part of the day cowering in the basement. It was 65 degrees. On December 31. Tornadoes in December are just plain wrong! And while there was no damage to Whirly Bird's house or even her neighborhood, there were several tornado touchdowns not too terribly far away. Of course, five MILES away is far too close for my comfort zone.

While we were sitting in the basement we decided that this summer I'm coming back to help her clean her basement and set up a "Preparedness Corner". Cooler, comfortable seating, first aid kit, that sort of stuff. If you have to be in the basement, it doesn't have to be uncomfortable!

Once the weather died down we got ourselves calmed down and ran the few errands we needed to to get ready for the evening. I'll go ahead and tell you, there was dancing last night. So that should tell you how I feel today.
We went to a bar/restaurant that specializes in vodka, burgers and sushi. It is not as gross as it sounds, and no, I did not partake of the vodka. If I had, I would have been down for the count by ten PM. I had wine. Red wine. So that should give you a hint of what the evening was like. Despite the hangover, I had a great time.

So now we recover from last night and prepare for tomorrow night. My birthday. And Whirly Bird's is a few days after that, so we are having a joint party tomorrow. I hope I survive it.

--Little Bird's liver is crying