Shiritaki - it's not just another noodle in Tokyo

Have I written about these yet? If so, they're worth more blog-time. These things are great - low calorie, low carb, lots of fiber, and, once you get rid of the smell and add sauce, really tasty. I realize that mentioning that they have a smell doesn't sound so good, but you rinse them off, boil them for 2-3 minutes, and you're good to go. You can get them at Trader Joe's (in the refrigerated section), and probably at Whole foods and places like that. You can also get them at the good Asian groceries, but they you just sort of have to guess that you're actually buying the right thing.

And, they're really filling (that would go with the lots of fiber part, probably). And if you rinse them while the water is boiling, it takes a total of about 6 minutes to make a really good dinner, assuming you don't bother with salad.

To Ayala Karsh

I think that you can rent houses/apartments on Kibbutz Usha these days, but I wouldn't know who to recommend that you speak with there. The kibbutz is changing, and I also don't know if they are continuing to accept new members....

Faux Rosh Hashanah

The new television season has begun! Survivor began last Thursday, and The Amazing Race (TAR) began tonight. The new year, it's not just about a new moon, it's also about new tv. Aaron Sorkin is back (tomorrow night), and I have to wait until October for Lost, but I think it will be worth it....

Elul 23

I'm frustrated. I've known this for a while, but Elul 23, a date on the Hebrew calendar, this year falls on September 16th. This means, that in effect, I really have no Chol HaMoed birthday this year. My "solar" birthday was yesterday, and today is the "lunar". There's no time in between, and frankly, it's just not fair. Sometimes, there are three whole weeks in-between! Think of Sukkot - you don't have to work on the actually holidays (the first and last days), but in between, you have to work, but you still get to do a bit of the holiday in there too. Every 19 years the two dates fall on the same actual day, but I've got another few years before that happens again. Maybe I should put it in my calendar....

Double Whammy

Two things happened today.

The first - I wore real (long) pants for the first time since early May. It was a bit of a shock to the system after so much time. My calves were a bit confused to be out of the fresh air but I think they'll survive. I actually brought a pair of pants with me to Israel this summer, but put them on once, decided I was crazy, and immediately changed back into capris. That presented a different problem because I hate having packed something I wasn't going to wear. I also wore dark socks today, which I also haven't done in many, many months. I'm not ready for fall.

The other was that it became official that we've been here in DC for five years. It's really been five years and 2.5 months, but it was getting my driver's license renewed that made it hit home. You would have thought it was all the 9/11 anniversary stuff, but it wasn't. And there hasn't been much about the 5th anniversary of the anthrax problem the Hurricane that cut out our power for a week or the sniper. So it was the license that made things real.

A few observations: First, my new license has a picture of a crab on it. I realize that we're living in Maryland, but it's not right for a nice Jewish girl to have a crab on her primary state identification. Or maybe they were commenting on my personality? But I digress....

Thankfully, Ronnie stopped by the eye doctor's office yesterday and got her to sign a form of some sort that allowed me to avoid the eye test at the DMV (actually the MVA, but whatever). I barely pass those tests as it is (but I do), and the eye doctor specifically told me to have her sign the form since if I didn't pass, glasses weren't going to improve my driving.

So I didn't have to take the eye test, but I was sitting in front of the little machine. And there's a small pad of paper, maybe 1" x 2" in between the two lenses. It's actually where your forehead rests when you take the test, and presumably when you're done, you take your little piece of paper and it's ready for the next person to put their forehead against. But how do you know if the last person took their piece of paper? And really, if I had to take the eye test, I'd rather have something protecting my eyes from whatever is in other people's eyes than worry about getting someone else's makeup on my forehead - although that is really gross too.

I'm going through the information the DMV guy, yes, the address is correct, yes, I'm an organ donor, yes, I'm registered to vote. And then he asks if my height and weight are correct or if they need to be changed. So I asked if he could add 2 or 3 inches to my height. He was not as amused as he should have been. Really, did he expect me to change my height? Does anyone? Seriously - do you think that anyone over the age of 25 has ever walked in and changed their height on their driver's license? Ridiculous!

There was a woman in front of me in line who had long blond (peroxided, and not well) hair and was wearing a baby blue track suit. She had purple eye shadow and purple mascara. I'm pretty sure that the pictures are too small to pick any of that up, but I give her credit for trying....

Switch

At 9:59pm last night, I was feeling fine. At 10:00pm, I could tell I was about to get a cold. It's as if a switch went off somewhere in the universal substation that said, "it's now time for Andrea to be sick".

A co-worker today suggested that it could be divine retribution for my last blog entry.

The security guard at work strongly suggested that I not make my regular coffee run in the morning (note: my coffee run does not include actual "running") and instead he thought I should just get some tea. I just didn't tell him that I was already planning to do that and let him think that I was taking his advice. I also mentioned that I was going to get some oatmeal, and he thought I said opium. Is that what he thinks of me?! We both laughed, but then I started hacking....

It's just not pretty.

Fall, 1978

Last weekend, I got a call from my mother (yes, mom, I know you're reading this). It went something like this:

"Andrea, you know how kids used to have separate kids parties for their bar/bat mitzvahs?"
"Yes, but they don't really do that anymore".
"Yes, I know, but I can't remember your party at all. Did you have one?"
"Yes."
"What kind of party did you have?"
"Ice skating."
"Where was it?"
"Probably at the Creve Coeur rink - that's where we used to go skating."
"Creve Coeur? Are you sure it wasn't at the Olivette Rink on Warson?"
"I'm pretty sure I've never been to the Olivette Rink."
"Well, do you remember what we served?"
"I don't know, probably pizza."
"The only time I remember having pizza for a party was at your sweet sixteen. Are you sure there was pizza?"
"No."
"Do you remember who was at the party?"
"Well, I remember Beth Ferrell because she was a ballet dancer and a pretty good skater."
"Do you remember anyone else?"
[unspoken -"I could list my sunday school class"]
[actually said] "No."
"Well, if you remember anything else, call me. I just can't remember anything about it".
"Ok."

At which point, I promptly decided that my mother can use all the gray matter she wants trying to remember this party, but I've got my brain scheduled for other tasks through 2010.

And later I received this email:
Andrea, Please give the subject of your Bat Mitzvah party for your friends a bit more thought. Your Dad doesn't remember ever having been inside the CC ice-skating rink and I don't remember your having a party there, sending invitations, buying refreshments, etc. This is DRIVING me CRAZY! (as only important things like this can....)

I'm pretty sure the party was the next weekend after your Bat Mitzvah. That's ALL - I keep drawing blanks - and even though you generally have an excellent memory - I 'think' it might be faulty here. If you come up with any other hints or clues, please let me know.

Thanks, Mom

I remember what kind of party I had, what kind of food (probably), where it was, and even an attendee but my mother thinks my memory may be faulty because she remembers only that it was probably the weekend after my Bat Mitzvah? What am I missing here?

But wait - the quest for details has not yet ended.

Nearly a week later, this Friday night, I was speaking with my parents when my mother says, "Andrea, have you given any more thought to your Bat Mitzvah party? I can't find the invitations, or pictures, or remember anything else. I found the invitations for your brother's party, but not yours." (Now at this point, I decided it was not appropriate to ask why she had saved the invitations from Benjamin's bar mitzvah but never got any of the pictures actually printed.)

Here's what I know, the details of these two conversations and the email are going to be seared on my memory far longer now than the fading images from my ice skating party at the Creve Coeur rink where we served pizza (maybe) and Beth Ferrell skated perfect pirouettes.

It's official!

I'm done traveling this month! I have no more planned trips until October, and then it gets crazy again. How do people do it who travel all the time? Like flight attendants? Or train conductors? Or air marshals?

I looked for the air marshals on my last few flights (like the three I took in 36 hours of Tuesday/Wednesday). It's like an adult version of Where's Waldo. I couldn't find them. And on my flight last night, there were probably only 15 people on the whole flight. You'd think that they'd be sitting somewhere up front, and on the aisle. I still didn't see anyone who looked awake enough to care.

Yesterday morning, some guy got on the plane with a cup of coffee. I didn't say anything, but I wish I'd been able to take my coffee on. So he walked by security, he walked by the person taking the boarding passes, and he walked by the flight attendants who say hello as you get on the plane. And he sat down in the row behind me. Right before we pushed back, a flight attendant said to him "you're not supposed to bring drinks on the plane". He said, "really?" She said, "Where have you been the last three weeks?"

It could be because I've been on 6 flights in the last two weeks, or just because I watch the news, but who didn't know you couldn't bring drinks on a plane?! And why did it take a fourth set of eyes to see it (not including mine)? I did bring toothpaste in my carry-on the other day and no one noticed.

The whole security thing is ridiculous. What can you hid in flip flops? And the floors walking through the metal detectors are gross. But yesterday morning I got to walk through one of the machines that puffs air at you to detect drug residue. I had been having such a good hair day before that....

And just for the record, the Southwest Airlines magazine is excellent. The USAir magazine, not so much. And I like the XM radio that ATA has. It means you don't have to talk to the people next to you unless you really, really want to, which is not so often.

Shoes

Pretty much every day, I wear sandals. For the past year, up until about 2 weeks ago, I wore a pair of Naot that I'd purchased the year before. I think I wore them every single day unless it was snowing or the dead of winter and just cold. They haven't quite died, but it's clear that they're on their last legs, so to speak. In case you're wondering if I'm not going barefoot. I'm now enjoying the other pair, identical to the first pair, that was purchased at the same time (ok, a day later, but it's basically the same).

And in the winter, I wear my clogs. Even when it's snowy. Which is sometimes a problem.

But tomorrow I have to go to New York for meetings. Meetings in which my sandals, as new and shiny as they are, are not appropriate. And lo and behold, I find that I really have no other appropriate shoeing. I own a really nice pair of boots, some elf shoes (they're not green with pointy toes, but they're sort of low boots that make me think of elves, I'm not sure why), and a lot of clogs. None of which are wooden, in case you were wondering.

So tonight I made a mad dash to the mall. I learned two things. One, I don't really like wearing "real" shoes. Two, shoes that are really inexpensive (think Payless and Target) aren't so comfortable. Three, it just doesn't make sense for me to buy expensive shoes since I'm just going to go back to wearing sandals and clogs. Four, "why?" (or "why not") is not the natural response to item three.

And in the end, I discovered a really old pair of shoes in my closet that haven't been worn in years that fit, are comfortable, and will be fine for tomorrow, before they are put away and forgotten for another few years.

Modge Podge is magic

Take one old coffee table, replete with stains and bubbling veneer, two pieces of beautiful hand-made paper, two paint brushes and one jar of Modge Podge and what do you get? Magic. Total transformation. And I learned a new rule - always experiment one someone else's furniture. This adventure happened to turn out for the best, but it could have easily been a bust. The other success factor - two people working on the project (hence the need for 2 brushes), and one person making dinner. Just to be clear, it would have worked just as well with three of us on the project, if there had been a fourth making dinner....

it's been a century...

This is my 100th post. I'm not sure that anyone's written a ceremony for this type of milestone, but I think my cousin Steven (www.stevensadventures.blogspot.com) also noted his 100th post, so maybe a simple notation is the tradition.

There's only a little new, and even it isn't so new...

Way back, I think I mentioned that the tenant in our Milwaukee house had stopped paying rent. She's out of there now (as of Aug. 1), and we put the whole matter to small claims court (for rent and damages). We're not done with court yet, but in the meantime, she got a letter when she moved out saying that she would owe us a sizable sum of money. She called the house manager and offered to set up a payment plan. Seems like a good sign (except that this didn't work with rent collection), but her terms were a little unreasonable. Why? She wanted to pay $10 a month. At that rate, we figure it will take her nearly 500 years, if not more, without including interest, to pay us.

Other random sightings: I saw a woman yesterday so tightly shoved into a pair of jeans that she could barely put one leg in front of the other. Literally, it was as if she was turning her whole body to the side in order to propel a leg forward. And then the same on the other side. Needless to say, it wasn't a good look for her. (and neither were the big tatoos on either arm, but that's for a different day.)

Long time, no writing

It's not that I've been at a loss for inspiration, I just haven't been inspired to write. Among the inspirational things:

• sample(s) of chocolate covered carmel corn at Marvelous Market (break open a bag, steal one, beg them to give you a sample - this stuff is amazing, but too expensive to actually buy. That, and there's more sugar in one piece than a small nation should eat in a day)
• grilled cheese soup at camp last week (really not so remarkable but for the fact that they were not also accompanied by fish sticks)
• Julia Alvarez's most recent novel, Saving the World (excellent)
• Dennis including a poem in the all-office email reminding us that the summer dress code is changing back to the winter dress code (this makes no difference to me whatsoever)
• the dog that I see by the metro every so often that has spots meant for a Holstein cow
• not being able to decide whether to get a cold fountain drink or hot coffee at the gas station/convenience store and deciding to get both (And then there was a question of whether to go with cubed ice or crushed....)

This is just a small sampling. It clearly doesn't take too much to inspire me. Actually writing is a different story.

Blogger Break

Camp Ramah (Darom) here I come. Little, if any cell phone reception, Unreliable internet and mosquitos the size of your head - what more could I ask for other than a week in Clayton, Georgia?

In case you were thinking that Clayton just a small town nearly three hours from the closest major city, you'd be correct. Which means, it's gonna be a long day!

And did I mention that I have 58 small alarm clocks in my luggage that we're giving to staff? TSA is going to have a field day.

Shimba Hills

is a new coffee shop by our office attached to the Verizon Center (nee MCI Center). I'm not sure when they finally opened, but I decided that this morning would be a good time to finally see how their coffee is. It's good, but not something I would go to everyday (maybe just Fridays).

Here's what I don't get. They've got all sorts of coffee (including something called a "Red Eye" that's a shot of espresso in a regular cup of coffee), and some breakfast pastries, and... wait for it.... gelato. I could understand this if they were trying to create an ambiance of an Italian cafe (of course I have no idea whether Italian cafes also serve gelato, but I'm thinking they're both Italian, so maybe), but they're not. If they were, I would expect pictures of fountains on the walls, maybe an Italian chocolate bar being sold, or at least Torani flavorings for their drinks.

I see no problem with people eating gelato and drinking coffee, but I believe this is why Baskin-Robbins doesn't brew coffee - not many people drink coffee and eat ice cream at the same time. Or I just don't think it happens so often, and especially not at the Verizon Center. I can't see taking in a basketball game, and then having gelato. Or seeing a monster truck show, and then getting a latte.

I will be going back to try a Red Eye at some point though (but not with a side of gelato!)

Aaron Sorkin and my family

I am fairly certain that Aaron Sorkin learned his writing style by listening to conversations within my family. This thought occurred to me a few weeks ago in St. Louis, and then again yesterday in Wilmington. It was banter par excellence - all fast, all about random, non-essential topics, and mostly going nowhere. And then someone new would enter and the entire conversation would repeat itself. Plus, sometimes, there were two cross conversations happening in this same fashion, only at some point, the topics and participants would switch. It was all really fascinating, actually. And I think the hallmark of it all, is that afterwards, you can't remember a damn thing that was said.

My Uncle Jake wanted to know if I'd write about my visit. Here goes: he was a gracious host, offering us cashews and 15 month-old dark chocolate M & Ms. He didn't make too much fun of me for drinking a Diet Pepsi slurpy (not so easy to find, by the way) and he offered to make Rebecca an egg sandwich (even though she did it herself in the end). And he also took us out to dinner, which was very nice. (It took some convincing, but he finally let me take care of the tax on the bill.)

Randomness

I've spent the last week recovering from finally watching Lost and getting back to Television Without Pity. Mimi told me that the Dharma food is manufactured by Widemore Industries. And thank you to whoever told me it was Portuguese. And I also learned that Kelvin, the man that turned Sayid into a torturer, was also the guy in the hatch with Desmond. And....

I've heard, from several sources this past week, opinions which suggest I spend too much time blogging about bathrooms. And yet, you still read, and so I will continue to write about them, when appropriate.

Wedding Crashers - funny movie.

The Tent, by Margaret Atwood - a brilliant book. It's unbelievably short and yet I didn't finish it before it was due (and someone else had it on hold so I couldn't renew it - damn). And if you haven't read Oryx and Crake yet, you should.

Lost and Found

I finally spent close to 90 total minutes watching the last two hours and 4 minutes of Lost. Finally. Assuming that there really are only 44 minutes per hour of television (the rest being commercials), the time passed way, way too quickly. We only had the last 4 minutes of the penultimate episode, but really, I'm not sure I could have taken more than that.

The four-toed foot. John Locke admitted he was wrong. The Others. Penelope Widemore. The pneumatic tube to nowhere. Mr. Eko. Charlie and Claire. Elizabeth/Libby. Hurley's not hungry. Walt. The Russians (but they weren't speaking Russian, so whoever they were). Dart guns (and really bad convulsions). And a Hanso commercial in the middle! It's all too much.

Sardines and Avocados

I kid you not - I sat across from a man at breakfast who was eating sardines and avocados and drinking cinnamon coffee. There is really only one word that can even come close to adequately describing this experience - EWWWW.

We finally finished building the very last piece of IKEA furniture that's been sitting boxed in our house for so many months that it's embarrassing. In any case, it's done, and looks pretty good. I hope it's not a big problem that I had four screws and a wooden peg left over.... (and no, they weren't just extras in the bag).

And we cleaned up the basement last night and today. It's not quite done, but it's in a good place. In addition to having more drill bits and screw drivers than I'm sure we need, we also found a lot of dead crickets. At least they were dead....

Did I mention....

That in addition to Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis, that we spent last Thursday in Milwaukee? Perhaps I forgot because it was so traumatic.

We went to see how our house was doing. Our tenant had fallen short on her rent for the last two months and we'd been told that the house couldn't possible show well to future tenants given the state in which she was keeping it. Her mother died about 8 months ago and had really been the one holding things together. We are incredibly lucky that things didn't fall apart rent-wise in the middle of winter, when the prospects for new tenants would be less than nil.

So we pull up to our house. And out of the front door walks a teenager with his pants belted just below his crotch. I realize that Milwaukee is sometimes a little behind on the fashion trends, but a) this was a LOT of behind, and b) as far as I can tell, that trend has been over for even the U.P. to get the idea. And, he had no shirt on, which led us to surmise that he leads a lifestyle that includes a great deal of television, potato chips and twinkies. (Hmm, this could explain his not being able to pull his pants up farther.)

So our first reaction - ewww. We met our manager, Toni, and went into the house. And we met the tenant, who just seemed like the kind of person who would have a son who can't pull up his pants. The house was cleaned up more than the last time Toni had been there, but we were still pretty shocked. The whole place was just a mess. (Our second reaction - ewww.) It's going to take a good amount of work to make sure we can rent the place again. Pulling up carpeting, repainting pretty much everything, fixing windows and screens, filling the holes in the yard dug by their dog, tiling the bathroom floor and putting in a new vanity....

And we still need to find a new tenant (if you know anyone looking for a 4 bedroom house in Milwaukee....)

The redeeming part of the day - returning to our favorite restaurant from 5 years ago and realizing that it hasn't changed at all.

It's the heat AND the humidity

Well, we're fortunate, I suppose. The pilot told us it was only 99 degrees in Baltimore when we landed. That's a 2 degree improvement over the 101 we experienced in St. Louis, and our house is a cool 91 degrees, down from 93 when we arrived. That's practically balmy, but without the palm trees. Good thing there are pop-ices in the freezer.

Airports are fascinating places. To be more exact, the people in airports fascinate me. Some are dressed as if they're dressing up to travel. Others are clearly going somewhere for business. Others for vacation. And some are just dressed inappropriately no matter where they're going. You know who I'm talking about - the 70 year old women who are dressing like their granddaughters. And the 40 year old men who still think they're in highschool. Or the really tiny women wearing yards and yards of material or the really big women wearing far too little.

My suggestion, there should be mirrors, oracles, and changing rooms at the counter where you check your luggage. The mirror would give you an opportunity to reassess before the oracle spills the beans on what you really look like today. And you'd still have a chance before you send your luggage through to become at least a little more presentable. I would recommend the same set up for the TSA line for those not checking luggage. Expensive, yes. Priceless, definitely.