audio cable: $9

ipod nano box: $0 (well $150, but at least an ipod came with it.)

glue gun, scissors, screwdriver: $0 (i had them laying around.)

too much time on my hands: $0

resulting ipod nano dock for my stereo system: priceless

tonight i purchased my 9th pair of birkenstocks.  the 13th pair i have owned in my lifetime, it all started with mocha bostons (i wore them with white sweat socks in high school, very un-trend-setting).  i also had a pair of green pvc birk clogs waaaayyyy before the crocks (also turned heads in high school, not always in the best way).

oh, and just a little plug here, this is my favorite business to purchase birkenstocks from:

http://www.simplybirkenstock.com

the stores and site are run by a great couple, and they are based in new hampshire, so any sale is tax-free.

i’m swimmin’ not bloggin’

my mother’s birthday was this past weekend, so guess what that means?

that’s right!  funny story!

so i call my mother and this a how the conversation goes:

me: hi, happy big 6-0.

her: no, 5-9.

me: oh come on, just embrace it.

her: no, i am 59. (she says in an annoyed tone)

me: no 60.

her: 59.

me: you know, usually one would want to stop at 39, not 59.

her:  i was born in 1949.  i am 59.

me: um . . . oh.  what?

the conversation continues.  yes, in fact my mother is 59 and not 60.  and now she is a pissed 59 year-old.

there’s more . . . my sister called me at work today to tell me that my mother called her last night.  here is how that conversation went:

her:  how old am i?

sis: 58.

her: no, i am not 58!

sis: how old are you then?

her: 59!!  your sister said i was 60!!!

all i have to say about that is at least my sister got it wrong too.

we had company over the weekend, and due to lack of breakfast food (that did not require that i cook it) we decided to go out to panera.  we ate breakfast sandwiches and egg soufflés, plus coffee, plenty of coffee.

here is my issue with coffee: ever since we bought a keurig from costco most other coffee tastes like crap to me.  i can do espresso and lattes out, starbucks is great, panera has a good house latte (although, the steamed milk is more like bubbley dishwater rather than the starbucks velvety foam).  yesterday at panera i had the house latte, followed by a cup of drip-brewed coffee.  it tasted nasty.  nasty.  we then had like a ten minute conversation about how liz and i think most coffee that does not spew out of our keurig is crap.  it is my coffee standard.

that slurpy sound the keurig makes as it spits out the last few drops of a cup makes me drool.  very pavlovian.

this is bummping around allmediocre

one word:

1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Your significant other? work

3. Your hair? short

4. Your mother? far (thank god . . .)

5. Your father? same

6. Your favorite thing? sleep

7. Your dream last night? whack

8 Your favorite drink? water

9. Your dream/goal? quit

10. The room you’re in? living

11. Your hobby? crafting

12. Your fear? bees (eeeek!)

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? elswhere

14. What are you not? perky

15. Muffins? tops

16. One of your wish list items? house

17. Where you grew up? CT

18. The last thing you did? write (on paper. yes they still do that.)

19. What are you wearing? jammies

20. Favorite Gadget? ipod (new)

21. Your pets? cats

22. Your computer? blinking

23. Your mood? pluh

24. Missing someone? girl

25. Your car? saturn

26. Something you’re not wearing? earings

27. Favorite store? costco

28. Like someone? girl

29. Your favorite color? grey

30. When was the last time you laughed? saturday

this week at work i received my first floral delivery ever, and it was gorgeous! the flowers were from a patient who had surgery late last year, it was a special case and included a doctor from yale university. insurance companies being as they are, had told me that the yale doc would be paid as “in network” at 80%, but when payment was made for the surgery they paid as “out of network” at 60% after a $500 deductible (which is crap). the insurance company then tried to argue that the surgery was “elective” and “not medically necessary” acting like they had done the patient a favor by paying at all.

apperently i made such a huff and fuss that the insurance company not only reprocessed the claim as “in network” for the higher payment, but paid the claim at 100% with no payment due from the patient. i don’t know how they did this . . . it must have been a mistake, because no amount of huff and puff to an insurance company will ever result in a higher than contracted payment.  (yes, i am bitter)

anyway, the patient has given me credit for this fluke and gave me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers ever. i have a picture i took with my cell, i’ll have to post it later.

hanging tomato plants (6) with a good bunch of thai basil in the center (see the purple bud on the close-up?) i saw this idea on the victory garden last summer and just had to do it.

on the top: rosemary, sweet basil, mint, sage, thyme and italian broad leaf pasrsly, in the back row is chives, and in the center is some very small and pathetic looking dill weed i planted from seed. i also planted the chives from seed.

on the bottom is a photo from the front side.

a rotissarie chicken from costco

bolthouse farms yogurt ranch dressing

organic spring mix

delicious