You Know How They Say ...

You know how they say, "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today,"? Whoever "they" are, they are right. Hence I found myself at 6:30 a.m. dragging my trash out to the curb. I should have put it out last night.

The icing on the cake was the four inches of new snow with more falling softly onto my jacket hood. Mercifully, we have a delayed work start and it was the Director's robo call telling me of this that woke me. Dazed and confused in my semi-awake state, I thought it was my alarm and I couldn't figure out what was going on. Got it now!

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It was supposed to be so easy: cream of mushroom soup. I googled a recipe and it was elegant in its simplicity. Saute mushrooms and onions, add chicken stock, and finish off with some cream. Well ... I didn't have any chicken stock. But since it was the day before trash day (cooking yesterday), I remembered the last of the rotissiere chicken that had a carcass and a plastic container that needed to go out. And then I remembered that I had bought celery ... so I made "official" chicken stock with the rest of the chicken and the carcass. 

I know it doesn't look like it, but it was delicious! I added the light cream in the bowl so the leftovers will be like fresh.

I guess I can figure out why, but it doesn't make sense to me that full stalks of celery are so much cheaper than celery "hearts." You pay less to get more ...

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What else did I do yesterday (besides cooking a zillion meals for the week)? I had a lovely time going to Cyndi's cello recital. There were actually four cellos (celli?) in her group, but I didn't know how others would feel about being on my blog. So you only get our star, Cyndi.

The hat was for a stylized arrangement of Jingle Bells. Everyone had a different hat. I really liked the one that was a single pointsettia with sparkles.  We need more sparkles, not just now but all of the time, don't you think?

I just love the shooting stars on the lamp post! Palm Springs knows how to do festive!

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Things that you thought would be fun when you were a kid. But they are not when you're an adult:

* Pumping gas. I remember sitting in the back seat of my Mom's car thinking, 'That looks like fun. Maybe I'll work at a gas station when I grow up.'  Nope, it's not fun. I have a lot more respect for those who do pump gas for a living.

* Using a squeegee on glass. Again, at the gas station, watching them clean the car windshield.  Well, using a squeegee on a glass shower door (to prevent streaks of minerals) just makes my ass freeze. And if anything will diminish the warm cozy cleanliness of a shower, that will!

* Rolling coins. It was kinda fun to roll coins and see how much you ended up with. It can be fun now -- if you make the time. You don't have to roll them, but if you go to one of those coin counters in the bank, it is way fun to dump a bunch in and let it count the coins for you! However, actually rolling coins is no fun. 

* Snow. Well, o.k., it can be fun if you ski or snow board. But I'm a long way from that. I did notice this morning (taking the trash out, remember?) that it's perfect for snow balls. But not wishing to incur litigation, I did not wake up my next door neighbor and throw a snow ball at him.

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The snow plow came! Woot, woot!

This guy actually spreads salt!!! Yay!!! And they shoveled the walks! I think I'm in love with my snow plow guy. (He's also my lawn mowing guy.) He's young. 

So now that I know somebody will take care of the snow, I'm fine with it. We need it -- don't want another drought next summer. Last summer was not fun.

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By the way, I learned at church yesterday that the pink candle that was lit on the Advent wreath is for JOY. (Peace and Hope have already been lit.)  I hope you all can find time to have some joy in your hearts, even if it's only for a little bit. Don't mourn losses but remember the joy for having had the love. Cheers.