All of you who know me well know that I have my little obsessive compulsive issues.  I don’t know whether this fits under that category but I hate flying.  We have a trip to North Carolina coming up in a week or two and I’m terrified.  I’ve flown many times before but the flights have never been more than an hour and a half.  This one’s 5.  I know all about the stats on how safe it is and how your more likely to die riding an escalator but that doesn’t help.  Planes still come down.  I’m not afraid to die but I am afraid of that 20 minutes or so before I do.  That Morphine deprived quick trip to the earths surface.  What must it be like to know that your body parts will be unrecognizable and spread out over a very large area?  

     They say that flying is a lot safer than driving.  Tell that to Ritchie Valens.  The fact that I have an armed and ready airbag in my car aimed at my face is a little unsettling but a lot less so than all the passengers in first and business class and half of coach hitting you in the face instead. 

     Yes, there are also major control issues here.  I’m putting total strangers in charge of my well being.  I’m trusting that the people on the assembly line at Boeing are always in a very good mood and are well rested and enjoy working on the same @#&*)%$ circuit board day in and day out.  You know, the board that controls the flight control panel.  I’m hoping the the plane mechanic isn’t just pissed off enough about his wage cut that he doesn’t notice the frayed wire going to the landing gear.  I’m hoping that the pilot isn’t that upset that his wife of 12 years just dumped him for a younger man.  Do we even have to mention the people in the control tower? 

I had a friend once tell me that if I knew more about planes I’d be less uneasy.  I did some research.  I just assumed they were being pushed up by the air.  Nope,  they’re hanging from it.  The jet engines are held on by 1 pin each.  If a plane turns to sharply it can fall right out of the sky.  This is also true if the take off is too steep.  Gee I feel so much better.  I hope we don’t have turbulence cause if we do I’m coming back home on the train.

OK so I miss blogging already.  I still can’t think of anything interesting to post but I do have new news.  I think that most of you who know me or read this blog know that I have dipped my foot into the pool of western medicine due to blood pressure and glucose issues.  The side effects of the drugs they threw at me almost killed me.  That’s not an exaggeration.  I was forced to take control of my own health. 

     Craig and I became vegetarians about a month ago.  It just seemed to happen.  There was no planning or preparation of any kind.  We just decided to try it.  After a little under a month Craig has lost 14 LBS and my blood pressure is normal.  I’m not taking medication of any kind and we’re not on a diet.  We eat a lot of food and we eat often.  We don’t ever have that “omg” why did I eat so much feeling and we’re having fun coming up with new delicious recipes. 

     What it’s forced us to do is pay attention to everything we eat.  One minute we were eating things out of habit and the next we had to plan and make decisions about everything we consume.  It’s a lifestyle change and we don’t miss meat at all.  There are great meat substitutes out there that are surprisingly close in taste and texture.  We’re not vegan yet so we have been eating mollusks and crustaceans and salmon now and then.  We also love our cream sauces and cheese.  The rest of this post will be a pictorial of all the lovely food we’ve been making and eating.  People at my work think I’m crazy for taking pictures of food, but I just want to point out that we’re not suffering.

     This is one of our favorites.  We made it and enjoyed it when we were mega carnivores.  It’s crushed black beans with coleslaw mix stirred with cilantro, lime juice, feta cheese and green onions.  We like it with chipotle but any salsa will do.

     This was scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, lemon cream, and green onions with capers.

     These were new potatoes with a ginger yogurt sauce and home made garlic Naan.

     These were outrageous.  Stuffed poblano chiles with basmati rice, butternut squash, and cilantro cream.

     Another fave.  Muscles in an onion, tomato and white wine puree over jasmine rice.

     Wild king salmon on sweet corn grits with roasted tomato broth and baby arugula-basil salad.

     Then there are the Sunday, brunchy thingies.  I could go on and on.  I think I’ve taken a picture of everything I’ve put in my mouth for the last month.  You can see we’re not suffering and the benefits have been wonderful.

We  just visited Chris and Andrea and the kids in San Diego.  It was one of those trips that you wish you scheduled another day or two.  Right off we got serenaded with a guitar duet.  It was actually quite good.  After the concert we went out to the best sushi I’ve ever had.  It was a very young crowd, lots of energy.  I loved it.  The next day Chris and I put a new bumper on his truck and a new alternator on his jeep.                             

After Chris and I finished the  auto mechanics and Craig and Andrea were done with the soul searching thing we did a surf and turf  barbecue thing.  Chris made a wonderful barby shrimp and steak thing.  It was great.  After dinner we played cards.  I was captive.  Nobody on this planet can make me laugh as hard as Chris can.  He started in and didn’t stop.  I almost died.  I was on the floor trying to breath and my stomach hurt so bad.  Is this healthy?  It was a great weekend and we hope to do it again soon.  Vivian made a picture for our fridge.  It’s hanging there now.  Great trip.  We’ll go back soon.

I think blogs may have run their course.  Facebook is doing the same thing and more,  but I’m not going there.  I’m signing off for awhile until I feel like I have something interesting to say.

I hear people talk.  It’s the centuries old “what is this world coming to” thing.  Is it especially true now?  You look at what’s going on in the Middle East.  Wasn’t that a prophecy?  Look at the weather.  In our neck of the woods we’ve had more rain than Seattle since the first of the year.  I don’t know if that’s a prophecy, but it should be.  Weren’t there supposed to be mudslides?

I’m pretty sure there was something about the rivers overflowing their banks and turning into a huge latte.  Am I wrong?

What about larvae laying down with locusts, I’m pretty sure that’s one.

I know there’s hail in there somewhere.

The sun just came out.  Never mind.

Just the fact that we have Blogs is kind of an ego trip.  We post and our special people tell us how wonderful we are.  It really is a great thing.  I’ve found out that writing a book is kind of the same thing only painful.  It’s a lot of work.  This post will be short and sweet cause I want to get back to it.  I’m hoping to have it done by June.   Who knows, maybe with enough of this ego thing I’ll be able to join Charlie Sheen’s fan club.

I’ve often noticed how Pat Sajak takes a woman’s hand and takes her to the bonus round.  If it’s a man he just kind of expects the guest to follow him and stop while he points at his place to stand. 

All the high fives and low fives and fist butts and chest slams and back pats that men do to each other is a very American thing, I think.  Why is it so hard for straight men to show affection?  I was going to say that this is so old school, but it isn’t.  This is all new, at least in the last century or two.  Men have been kissing and holding hands in public in Europe and the middle east for centuries.  It doesn’t mean a thing.  I think that most straight men just need a big old, full on, bear hug.  Maybe even a peck on the neck.  Can we please just mellow out? 

No pictures, just an observation.

      THIS IS YOUR BODY

                                              THIS IS YOUR BODY ON KAISER

                                                   ANY QUESTIONS?

     I’m a little squeamish when it comes to dental work, but Craig is a down right wuss.  He had some work done on Friday, easy stuff like replacing old fillings.  I had to take the day off to take him to and from because he had to load up on Valium.  He had what I called the Homeless hole.  He of course had to have gas.  He doesn’t remember if they gave him Novocaine.  He also had me cue up The Carpenters greatest hits on the iPod.  Now he’s all set.  Our dentist really is quite old school and his equipment looks exactly like the equipment they used when we were kids.  There is a reason to be a little concerned, and who am I to talk.  My flying Phobia is almost out of control.  He drives a 1979 mustang fast back.  It’s not in great shape either, but I’ll bet he bought it new.      Actually I don’t go to him anymore.  I had a bad experience with a crown.  I am spending way too much time with doctors lately.  I’ve decided to play grown up and actually get my blood work done and fix the blood pressure and stuff.  It has been awful so far.  The drugs my Doctor gave me at the same time for several different ailments make me real sick.  This too shall pass.  I have resisted western medicine for so long and now I’m in the thick of it.  Go figure. 

     Is everyone well?

               What I don’t miss will be mostly a pictorial.  We’ll start with snow.   

                How about the inversion layer.

                                                                                                                                      How about the politics.                                                            

     Strip malls.

     and kids, everywhere.

     There is much more but I don’t want to offend.  How about you?

     Moving from Salt Lake I thought I would never miss anything,  I moved away once and had to move back.  I moved again for good.  I have had years of nightmares where I am stuck in Salt Lake and couldn’t leave.  I wake up almost in tears.  There are still some things I miss.  I have said this before and I’ll say it again, Training Table cheese fries, not to mention the hawaiian hamburger. 

Another thing we can’t find here is a good greek restaurant.  My life for a good gyro.

Since California is the Florida of the west, all of our good produce gets shipped away.  I got better avocado’s in Utah.  Lemons and limes here are just so-so and tomatoes suck.  Every summer I crave a good Utah tomato.  Our nights get too foggy and cold for tomatoes to do well.  I miss fry sauce.  Doesn’t exist here.

And then there are the freeways.

    None of these things could even come close to making me want to move back.  If I had to move from California I would probably go just about anywhere else before I would go back there.  It’ll be in my book.  What do you miss about home?  If you’re somewhere else.