Seriously

Today I voted. I was voter number 1291, and my site had been open for about 8 hours. I took my time, double and triple checking to make sure I got everything right. I didn't expect to be nervous.

I pride myself on being a pretty informed voter. The judges always confound me, of course, but I have trustworthy advisers for that sort of thing. I was caught a bit off guard by a food tax initiative. Do I want a 1% prepared food tax, or do I not? I hadn't even heard of the issue. It was pretty clear to me even without knowing what it was about that no, I didn't want an additional tax on food. Food tax just seems wrong. I did check, though, with some of my neighbors, who were outside the polls with sample ballots. God, I love this town. My intuition was right--no food tax.

Normally when I vote, there aren't that many other people there. Today, maybe because it's the first day of early voting, I could barely fit into the polling place. There wasn't a long line, but voters were crammed into every little space. It was a bit chaotic, actually.

After the machine sucked in my completed ballot and the counter changed from 1290 to 1291, I took my sticker and walked back outside. I was surprised to notice the lump in my throat. I looked around at my neighbors. Not just the ones who live in the square mile or so that marks my immediate neighborhood, but at all the others who live in the city proper.

My eyes welled up. My city has mobilized, and it makes me proud to live here.

I'll wear my sticker tomorrow to the conference where I'm presenting. Every little bit helps, you know?



(Oh, and this:)




(And this)

Mom Menu

My mumma's birthday is today! I called her from work when I was meeting with my cutiepie peer educator kiddos, who insisted they wanted to talk to her.

So she had a 10th grade boy and a 10th grade girl each ramble to her for a while. They are SO CUTE.

This is mom's dinner tonight. Can you figure out where she's going?
(I'm jealous)

Wednesday, October 15 $75
Hand-stretched mozzarella with late-season tomatoes and basil oil
Local swordfish involtini alla siciliana
Spit-roasted loin of Magruder Ranch California boar with shell beans and wild mushrooms
Meyer lemon granita with raspberry sherbet

How to Attract Your Soul Mate in 14 Easy Steps

Today at work I was rooting around online looking for some free, ready-made lesson plans to address budgeting in a teen-parent household. I didn't find any good ones. Ah well.

However, one organization had a handout targeting at-risk youth, to help them during their search for love.

I copied it below, and there's a link to the PDF as well.

Do me a favor and read this advice. Keeping an open mind, what bits do you think are valuable, and which are crocks of shit? I want to hear from y'all!

How to Attract Your Soul Mate in 14 Easy Steps

1. Write down exactly what it is you want in a mate…every positive detail. Keep adding to the list as you think of new items.

2. Avoid the negatives and focus on the positives. List out what you want and don’t define what you don’t want.

3. Look in a mirror and tell yourself that you truly deserve her or him. Genuinely affirm this. Deep down in your subconscious you must absolutely believe it to receive it.

4. Feel this person is already a part of your life. He/she is with you at meal time,
exercising, sleeping. In the shower, affirm it. Driving to work, feel it.

5. Make vacation and party plans, movies too. Carry on as if this person was right there beside you. Plan your next apartment, the kind of car you will be driving together, along with the color and every other detail.

6. Wear a new bracelet or a rubber band as a reminder, switching wrists, so it doesn’t get stale. Every time you feel or look at the bracelet, reaffirm your feelings and thoughts. There is no limit to the number of times this can be done throughout your day. The more often, the better.

7. Place the list of your heart’s desire on the night stand. Morning and evening, place your hand over the list and feel the vibrations and that loving feeling.

8. Act as if you are in a restaurant. Place your order with the server. Once you have ordered, go on with your life comfortably certain that your meal will be delivered in due time. It’s the same in attracting your soul mate. Get your order in and then enjoy this creative experience. It’s all about the law of attraction. You will get what you think about regularly. It’s a law of nature.

9. Collect perfect moments. Revel in that special feeling that all too often happens once or twice in a lifetime to the average Homo Sapiens. Remember a time when your entire body tingled and you were transformed. Now use your mind and body to visualize and recall both the perfect moment and your heart’s desire. Feel this person as a part of you. Absorb him/her into your life in that perfect moment.

10. Smile! During each and every one of the above exercises and experiences, smile! Smiling has a magical power all its own. After all, you now are a very happy person who can feel the love of your life with them.

11. Carry a small “Mate Finder” stone. Rub it, and feel the positive vibrations. Visualize the look, smell, feel, touch and taste of your mate. Caress it and imagine the face of your soul mate. Look deeply into their eyes.

12. Remember this individual is also seeking you, so you need to get out there. See yourself as a powerful magnet drawing together two loving people…you and your soul mate.

13. It is VITAL that you act as if you have already found this person. This isn’t a hope or dream, it’s reality. What you need to do is actively participate in attracting this person. This will only work if you feel it as deeply as you would something that has already happened. Give thanks regularly for this.

14. One cannot sit home and wait. This is an activity so get out there!

From this publication.

Jodines!

OMG.

Y'all, I got a comment a couple of days ago from one of my most favoritest people in the universe, and definitely my favorite Catalana, Marta.

I met Marta when I was living in Barcelona, over 10 years ago now. (Vaya, como pasa volando el tiempo*...) We didn't hang out in Barcelona. Not much, anyway. We met towards the end of my year living there, when she found out that she'd be coming to my university on an exchange. I didn't have anyone to live with, and she had no idea about getting an apartment in a foreign country. A match made in heaven.

Seriously, Marta and I had exactly zero conflict when we were sharing a townhouse. Things just fell into place. I was messy; she straightened up after me. I liked to cook, so Marta ate what I made. Marta and I drove up to Michigan and stayed with my family, who loved her.

Loved.

Somewhere there are some photos from that time. My twin nephews, now 10, were infants, and we spent a gorgeous afternoon on a blanket in the front yard of my mom and Pete's house. The cherry tree was in bloom, and we were blanketed in pink petals. Truly a perfect moment.

I'm glad she found me here.


Marta, espero que sepas lo importante que me has sido y que sigues siendo. Aunque estamos en paises distintos, y a pesar de que solo hablamos cada dos años, yo sé que puedo contar contigo para cualquier cosa que necesite. Y también, que tú puedes contar conmigo. Es una amistad que tiene raices fuertes, y te lo agradezco. Mil besos, cariño.


*My how time flies.

Making Do

My housemate went Krogering and locked me out. Hrm. Looking around, I'm OK as far as food goes. The garden has a few tomatoes, numerous peppers, chard, and a few young lettuce leaves. I have access to water, and also a soda I accidentally left on the porch.

It's getting cold. Housemate left a bathroom rug out to dry last week, so that could supplement my shorts and t-shirt. I also have a plastic tarp, and I could burrow down into the wood chip mulch for warmth. It's kind of fluffy, so I expect it would be insulating. Actually, I wonder how hot my compost pile is?

Really, though, the bigger issue is that I'm beginning to have to pee.

Just for Jerry. And birders.

Another Bubba post, but no pictures this time. (Ed: How's a video?)

.

I just wrote this email to my lovely housemate:

This is kind of funny. I've been working in the yard all day, and came across some of the Bubster's poop in the backyard. It had all of these smooth things in it that kind of looked like roaches or beetles, only not moving.

I was stumped.

Until! I remembered that it's persimmon season. Out in the woods, persimmon trees grow wild--in the fall, they ripen up and fall off the trees. They're really really yummy and sweet, unless they're not ripe. If you bite into one too soon, they're....astringent would be the best word. They make your mouth pucker up and feel dry. It's not like your reaction to something sour. Hard to explain. If you know what alum is (I don't expect you do!), that's the exact sensation.

Anyway, Bubba's been eating persimmons. Check out this link and scroll down to see what's in his poop!

There's nothing wrong with him eating them in general, I don't think, but they may be what's been messing up his tummy.

*********

In other news, I went birding this morning and got a lifer! (I am not a "twitcher", for the record. And what a bizarre term!)

This is the first time this fall I've even seen any true migrants. Actually, it's the first time I've seen any warblers since I went to Michigan. I even had to pull out the Sibley's. That's been rare this year. For what it's worth, the lifer was a male Black-throated Green Warbler. The other cool ones were a female Black-throated Blue Warbler, and a couple of Black and White Warblers.

What a great day so far

I Know, I know.

Bubba's got the sneezies. He's not typically particularly cuddly, but right now he's being the cutest dog in the whole wide world. He's lying next to me on the couch, with his head on my foot. If I stop petting him, he nudges me. Makes it hard to type, but oh, my is it worth it!

I think he liked it when we played dressup yesterday. That's probably why he's loving on me today. Hot pink really favors him, don't you agree?

Yay to the Bubs.