just a quickie

And alas, I don’t mean that in a fun way!

Haven’t been able to get on here long enough to post much of anything, so today I decided to just post a quick “I’m still alive” message, and hope to get something more exciting written soon.

I got a packet from my aunt today with a handful of letters she had received from my dad. She thought I might like to have them. She was right, and it means a lot to me that she sent them. I still have so many boxes upon boxes of his papers to go through, and just can’t handle more than a little bit at a time before I feel too depressed to keep going, but I’m going to fix myself a mug of tea tonight and curl up with these letters. I know how much it meant to him to be able to write to her and to get letters from her, and it’s very generous and kind-hearted of her to share these with me.

Nothing really exciting happening today — haven’t felt up to snuff recently, so I’m being lazy. But I’ve promised the guys that I’ll make a batch of Rice Kripie marshmallow cookies tonight, so they’re looking forward to that. Funny how something so simple can be a treat. I’ve got supper out of the oven and sitting on the counter to cool for a while. I made a vegetarian Sheperd’s Pie ; I’d actually planned to bake some fish, but we all decided that we’d had enough protein for the day, and wanted veggies more, so this is what we have. Tomorrow, I’ll bake the fish covered in chopped tomatoes with herbs, olive oil, and sliced green olives. That sounds tasty to me for some reason.

By the way, I just wanted to take the time to mention that we’re all terribly saddened by the death of Steve Irwin. We admired his passion and his love for animals very much, and were shocked to hear that he’d died. He gave the world a great gift, and I’m sure his memory will continue to live in the hearts of everyone who shares his devotion to nature.

I’ve got some great karma…

from Lush.com, that is! I indulged myself a while back (and really, this stuff is a bit costly, as is their shipping, so this *is* an indulgence) and got some Karma Kombu bar shampoo, Karma body cream, and a bar of Karma soap. Love it, love it, love it! The shampoo has been great, the lotion is light but luscious, and the soap smells heavenly. It may well be that I’m lucky and this stuff simply works well with my own body’s chemistry; all I know is, I smell great and I love the way I feel when I use this stuff. Very pampered. I think the bar of shampoo and the tub of cream should last me til the end of the year, although the soap won’t. I’m hoping that after Christmas, I can afford to order at least another tub of the cream, and a couple bars of the wonderful soap. There’s a Lush store somewhere in Chicago, I believe, so maybe sometime next spring I can make a quick trip up there to hit the musuems and then go to the Ethel M chocolate shop and the Lush store — I’ll be spoiled rotten, that’s certain.

I’m also enjoying a yummy mug of tea right now, thanks to my friend Paivi in Finland. The tea is called “Faithful Friend” (the company is Nordqvist) and is made with black tea, peach, orange, and pineapple flavours. I’ve had it a couple times before, and enjoy it very much! Along with it I’m having a slice of homemade bread with a little butter and honey.A very simple lunch, but it’s all I wanted.

We watched an excellent movie last night on dvd. It actually came out a while back, and Jeff had seen it in the theatre, but Danny and I hadn’t. “The Aviator,” with Leonardo DiCaprio. Wonderful! Watching Hughes struggle against his mental illness while he also embraced his passion for flying and for developing airplanes really moved me, and DiCaprio did such a magnificent job. I read a couple biographies of HH years ago, and of course Jeff knew a lot about his airplanes and his flying, but the movie makes me want to dig up more books about him. Fascinating, and heartbreaking. We bought the dvd used at Blockbuster, along with two others, and with a special deal they had at the time, this dvd only cost us $5! What a bargain for a movie that was so good we’ll certainly watch it several more times over the years.

Well, guess I’ll close here. I have nothing special planned for today or tonight — just making whole wheat buttermilk pancakes for supper, much to Danny’s joy. I’d intended to make them before this, but ended up fixing other things instead, so he’s been waiting quite impatiently. Pasta, Mexican food, my homemade turkey gravy with mashed potatoes, calico beans, cabbage with smoked sausages, and pancakes… those are probably his favorite foods. Well, other than special treats, like my stollen at Christmas, or wacky cake, or my grandma’s recipe for molasses cookies.

Hi Angie! Pass out hugs and kisses to everyone for me!