Dear USA. No, dear florida. no, dear panhandle/forgotten coast/emerald coast - you know who you are
I love you. you know i love you. i came back here, traveleld thousands of miles for you. BUT what's with the salt??
I made more cakes (i can't post pictures because this little place has the only internet access in town but no usb or blutooth for my camera (heavy laden) to talk to) with ALL Purpose flour, only to discover half and hour and a dozen gloden baked, ready to be frosted, cupcakes later, that the sticks of butter were so salty that i was exactly back where I started. I know, I know - the butter didn't SAY unsalted, but sometimes at home i use salted butter for baking if I don't have any unsalted, and I've NEVER had results like this. not only have i had to grapple with your oven, measuring temperatures in F's stead of C's, working out how much baking powder to use with the plain flour and figuring out the kitchen timer on the microwave - but you have to lumber me with extra salty salted butter. thanks.
Also, dear florida, I must complement you on Tallahassee - it's so pretty, with all those lovely oak trees and their dangly moss stuff. But after a couple of days to visit the 'city' (what IS your definition of a city anyway?) I was pleased to get back to our little stretch of beach on Indian Pass.
And a political/logistical question - why is it when we drive the few miles from our rental house in Gulf county, over to the pretty little town of Apalachicola (where P is curently in her second pottery class while I eat apple and chocolate cake and write this (I wrote your email first, Maj!)) which is in Franklin countythe quality of the road abruptly changes. just like that. at the county boundary. We go from gray, rough, bumpy and, at night, darkness, to smooth, black, white lines, yellow lines and catseyes. What's with that? May I boldly suggest it has something to do with men being in charge of budgets? perhaps you are lacking a more practical approach?
Nevertheless. Regardless. Much love,
Dodo xx
what's wrong with you people ?
why would you do that, why??????
trying to make an impression at the ballet class christmas party, to which P had received an invitation.
my child bakes cupcakes. decorates them all christmassy.
salt in self raising flour?? SALT ???
another quickie. availing myself of the only public internet in town, courtesy of Cafe con Leche, a lovely laid back cafe which boasts fine fine baked goods (apple cake with choc chips, for eg) but, strangely, is also workplace of the only grumpy person we've ever met here!
P is at a pottery class - we signed her up for four weeks while we're here so she can meet some other kids and so that we can shop for christmas treats without prying eyes. When we dropped her there, the manager from the B&B where we stayed the first couple of nights was there waiting to see her - with camera in hand! And the big sister of one of the other students told us how great p did in the ballet class on monday evening - where we signed her up for two lessons before christmas and she was invited to the dance school's christmas party. P acts like she's been in this tiny town (Apalachicola, fl) her whole life, and has way better social skills than either of her parents.
super quickie from the other side of the pondwhat is it with you people and folding chairs????
the merest hint of an event and there you all are. seated. hours beforehand.
Christmas parade, boat parade, musical event, opening of an envelope on the school sports field.
You people are awesome!
saw the big shrink lady yesterday.
i've developed a theory.
the more difficult i find it to answer her questions, the more drugs she gives me.
yesterday she upped my antipsychotics by
100%
And the date of my next appointment? My six weekly check in?
The same day my doubtless soon to be ex boss wants to see me in another part of the country to discuss "whether there are any projects for me in 2008."
How's that for a choice?
Forgive the self indulgent nature of this post. it doesn't become me.
Not really a fitting final post for 2007.
Bear with me.
Lean pickings
around here of late.
and not just on these pages.
anyone else found that, despite best efforts of diet and exercise, those crayzee meds that help to unlock doors to the outside world also lock pounds of lard to your body?
make your work suits pinch and pull?
find whole new ways to make you feel uncomfortable?
Plus i got my first ever written down bollocking in a work context. ever. "unacceptable behaviour," it said. It was over a communications breakdown, and is kind of fair enough. but. still.
last week I had to drop everything and go across the country to my in laws house. they had been burgled while on holiday. I wanted to put everything right side up before they got back so they never had to see, and have ingrained in memory, the result of strangers rummaging through their house.
being away from home for a week really put us back, not just in terms of the work project, but in preparation for our long awaited, much anticipated holiday in florida.
i managed to get P into preschool for an extra day today so I could catch up with work stuff (big presentation on wednesday) and pre holiday stuff. but all i seem to be able to do is sit and work about what's going on at the office while i'm not there. i know my boss really wanted me to be physically present today, but it was next to impossible.
the only thing i've accomplished this morning is filling out P's school admission form for next september. i'm supposed to put a few choices, but there's only one school within walking distance that i'd be happy with. so i only out one. We hear such horror stories about kids not getting into first choice schools. i hope i've done the right thing.
can't seem to get any enthusiasm for anything today. everything seems really laboured. I slept way too much at the weekend. that's never a good sign. i must remember to collect my extra meds before we leave the country.
