Category: Daily Life

I recently bought an enormous box of dishwasher detergent tablets at Costco and it had been sitting on the kitchen counter because it didn't fit in the cupboard under the sink where I'd been keeping the previous, smaller box.

Yesterday I decided to make a half-assed attempt at clearing the counter and my eye lit upon the canister set that sits on the countertop directly above the dishwasher. Sure enough, the one marked "Coffee" was empty. I scooped out handfuls of the tablets into the canister, put the lid on and felt rather triumphant about coming up with a very logical storage spot.

After another moment or two, it occurred to me that my fantastic idea really only made sense to me. The next time my husband walked by, I stopped him.

"In case I die, here's where the dishwasher detergent lives right now," I told him, lifting the lid of the canister to reveal the shiny, mylar-wrapped tablets.

He stared for a moment and said, "Why?"

"Because it's right over the dishwasher," I replied.

He shook his head and walked away. But it really is a nice and convenient storage spot, don't you think?

And if you're looking for the actual coffee, well, we don't have any. That's why the canister was empty. It all makes sense.

In an online community to which I belong, there was a recent discussion where many people fretted about their inability to finish creative projects, break through in their professions, etc. My comment was that I'm not sure I care whether I leave a legacy at this point. I'd really rather just do fun stuff and be happy.

Since then I've been thinking about whether that's really true for me and I believe it is.

There was a time when I worried that I was just being lazy. I'd think, "I should write a book!" or "I should hone my public speaking skills and get more speaker gigs!"

But deep down, it's really not important to me to achieve fame or recognition on either a large or small scale. Even when it comes to music, I'm content learning cover songs and performing them for some extra walking-around money. I have written and performed my own songs in the past, but I don't have any ego tied up in the idea of sharing *my* music versus someone else's songs. Singing cover songs is fun and that's enough for me.

So instead, I spend my time gathering friends and experiences. I love getting together with the friends I already have and I'm always happy to meet new people. I keep my radar tuned for opportunities to do things that sound fun, educational or otherwise intriguing.

If you look at my calendar, you'll see a hodgepodge of activities: board gaming, comedy shows, wine tastings, parties, club meetings, speakers, music performances, plays, movies, volunteer events, lunches, dinners, brunches and breakfasts, workshops, discussion groups and web conferences. Some days, particularly during the weekends, I'll have two or three activities in a row. Some are planned and some develop spontaneously thanks to my ability to tweet, "Who wants pancakes?" and almost always get at least one response from a local friend.

That doesn't even count the time I spend hanging out with my husband. When we can afford it, we love to go out to eat. We have a half-dozen TV shows we watch regularly together. Sometimes we just sit up in his recording studio and watch YouTube videos or listen to songs together for a while.

All that stuff goes in the "fun" column while the "work" column stays pretty strictly 8-6, Monday through Friday. Occasionally I do a little housework and I manage to pay my bills and gather my tax paperwork every year and sometimes I get a wild hare and paint a room or fix something broken around the house or clean out my closet.

And you know what? I like my life this way. I don't feel overwhelmed. I get to spend lots of time with my dog and cats. I get plenty of sleep. I rarely feel lonely. My house is generally in acceptable condition (my definition: not so bad that I can't slap it into shape a few hours before company comes over).

Is everything perfect? Of course not. If I spent more time at home, we'd both probably eat healthier, for starters. The two things I really should focus on are more home-cooked meals and more exercise (although really, the weather is the biggest factor with the latter right now).

But mostly everything is pretty good right now and I feel lucky that I can guide my own life to the extent that I do.

If I'm remembered for anything once I'm gone, I would like it to be for being a good friend who had interesting things to say. When there's a tallying-up of my life's score, the count of the number of people and animals I've helped in large and small ways means more to me than any number of prizes or write-ups or appearances on television.

It's the individual moments that matter. I'm trying to take in as many memorable ones as I can.

Every year seems to go by more and more quickly these days. At yesterday's six-month dentist appointment, I could have sworn that I'd had x-rays during my previous visit, but it was actually the one before that. That's one of the reasons I need to keep up with this blog. Without it, I have no way of keeping track of when things happened.

I have two goals this weekend that should be easily achievable:

1. Gather my tax paperwork and send it to my accountant.
2. Choose 30 of my beloved old t-shirts and send them to Project Repat to be made into a quilt.

Goal #1 is especially important because I can't be sure whether I'll owe this year, so I need a head start just in case. There's only one important form I can think of that I don't remember seeing so far, and I imagine it's buried in my piles of unread mail. I'll dig it out tomorrow morning.

Goal #2 is a reflection of my changing wardrobe. A few years back, I was still wearing fun t-shirts to work every day. Now, a lot of them really don't fit that well anymore and I have morphed into a more businesslike style during the work week anyway. I love them all and I want to keep the designs, so this seemed like a great way to do it.

Both of these projects will help me tidy up my house, which is a nice bonus. Once I have them out of the way, everything else I have planned is just fun.

Tomorrow evening I'm hanging out with my niece and nephew. I'm thinking we'll go out for dinner and see a movie.

Sunday should be really fun. I'm going to see Joyce Layman speak in the morning and in the evening I have tickets to see Maria Bamford with one of my friends.

What's up with you right now?

I got off to a really slow start this year. Thanksgiving weekend just felt far too early to decorate and then I had a bunch of gigs with my band on the subsequent weekends and suddenly I found myself a week away from Christmas. I took last Friday off from work and finally got the tree put up. I stopped there with the decorating, but it's the thought that counts, right?

I've been buying gifts a few at a time for the last several months. I thought I had finally achieved 100% online shopping but then I remembered that I'd bought one gift at a local shop. It's been a very low-effort endeavor any way you slice it.

I've probably spent almost as much on groceries this year as I have on gifts. Man, food is expensive! In the past week alone I've paid about $250 for groceries between three trips to the store, and that doesn't count cat food.

All of these groceries are basically for three parties and a few extra meals on days when it won't seem like a very good idea to go out. I baked snickerdoodles and made tofu-topped pizza for a cookie party last Sunday. I'll be hosting Christmas Eve dinner at my house for just three people, and I have been asked to contribute several menu items on Christmas Day. 

Now all that's left is to wrap gifts (I've already inventoried to make sure I have everyone covered) and start food prep, baking and cooking. Tonight I'm making a pumpkin cake roll using vegan cream cheese since my sister and I have both been diagnosed with dairy allergies now. I'm making just the green bean casserole portion of this recipe for tomorrow night's dinner and while I'm at it, I'll probably go ahead and snap the beans for the green bean dish I'm making on Thursday.

Last but not least, I'm getting a dinner roll recipe from a friend of mine. I thought my family roll recipe was good, but hers is better. I went to her house for dinner a couple of weeks ago and I think I ate five of them.

And that will be that. I'm not going to bake any additional cookies or make candy this year. I may play with some cocktail recipes, but that's where it stops.

Are you ready for Christmas the day after tomorrow, assuming you celebrate it?

One morning earlier this week, I woke up and remembered that I had been dreaming that I was listening to a band called Little Bear. Because I wake up and go back to sleep a couple of times each morning, I was still in enough of a dream state on that particular morning to actually open the browser on my iPad and do a search for "Little Bear." If I hadn't done it right then, I'd have forgotten all about it.

A couple of days later, I opened my browser again and there was the search, with results leading to a band called Little Bear in Derry, Ireland. I had some time before I needed to get ready for work, so I started listening to the songs they had on Soundcloud and I really liked them.

Interestingly, there's a very dreamy quality to their music. Since then I've listened to the songs several more times and I find them quite beautiful and calming and they stick with me long after I've stopped listening. My next step is to see if they're available for sale online anywhere.

Considering that there are probably thousands and thousands of unknown and little-known bands with their music posted online, the odds that I would ever have run across this one under any other circumtances are pretty much nil. 

It's a great reminder from my subconscious that there is a lot of wonderful art out there if I just go seek it out.

I scooped the foster kitty's litterbox this morning and when I bent down to put it back on the floor my back spasmed so bad that I thought I was going to pass out from the pain, right there on the filthy floor of my basement. It hurt so much I felt like I was going to throw up, and I got all hot and sweaty.

I couldn't help but moan my distress until my husband came to find out what was wrong. He brought me an Alleve and a glass of water and eventually had to come down and open the back doors so I could walk all the way around the house to get upstairs, because there was no way I could make it back up the basement stairs.

I spent about an hour on the floor working my muscles with the foam roller and a tennis ball, then slathered Bio-Freeze over a large percentage of my body, and now I can actually stand upright. I'm not so sure about driving, though.

For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I've had this happen this year. The last time was in the spring, and it took two deep-tissue massages before I was fully functional again.

The underlying problem is that I am not in very good physical shape because I don't exercise enough. Clearly, that's something that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

For now, I'm trying to get to the point where I'm pain-free and flexible enough to get dressed and go to work. I seem to be sitting fairly comfortably, but if the last time is any guide, it's the standing up part that's the problem.

When I think of someone having a "bad back," I always think of my grandfather. Then again, it's possible that he was about my age when his back started "going bad." Isn't that a sobering thought?

I cooked all day, despite the fact that I had bought many of the food items for our Thanksgiving meal pre-prepped. Oh, and I completely forgot to serve the Waldorf salad, so that's getting donated somewhere tomorrow.

By some miracle of orchestration, I managed to get everything on the table before 5:00 p.m. By 6:00 p.m., I'd put away most of the leftovers and run the dishwasher for the second time today (it's on its third run right now).

We had a lovely group of guests with plenty of interactions with the cats and dog. Dr. Jones only jumped on the counter once, which is a holiday miracle.

I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving as well. If you're in the mood for leftovers, I can hook you up tomorrow.

Before we all descend into a frenzy of calories and chaos tomorrow, I wanted to take a moment to wish all of my U.S. friends a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you have a day filled with happiness, joy and reflection along with as many slices of pie as you want.

I'll be cleaning and cooking all day and then hosting a lovely combination of family and friends. I'm looking forward to it all already.

Namaste.

(I know, I'm not usually a "namaste" gal, but it feels right today.)

Ever since I was a kid and I first got my hands on one of those label makers that embossed letters onto strips of sticky plastic, I've enjoyed labeling or marking my stuff.

As a musician, I've learned the hard way that small, portable pieces of gear and accessories have a tendency to get absorbed into other people's collections unless they're tagged somehow.

For a while I was marking everything with orange electrical tape, but I think my latest turquoise zebra-print tape is cooler and easier to spot. I bought it to mark my chargers for BlogHer this year, but I've gone on to also put it on my luggage and the music gear I carry to gigs.

So far it seems to be working. I haven't lost anything marked with it yet.