Soup, Shopping & Soda Bread

That's what I have to do today, go to the grocery (probably Walmart) to buy ingredients for work-lunch chicken soup and Irish Soda Bread for tomorrow's St. Paddy's day lunch at DS & DIL1's, then make some variety of chicken soup.  I'm thinking I'll make the soda bread tonight so that it's not too unfresh for lunch tomorrow.  I'd make it in the morning but it bakes for nearly an hour... although I'm up before 8 o'clock to watch CBS Sunday Morning anyway so I could easily stir together the bread during the show... I'll think about it.  Durwood's got a nice full bag of peels for Henny & Penny and both of us will have a baggie of treats in a pocket for Porter so we won't go empty handed.  I'm tempted to buy some fresh ginger too and make a super-gingerbread recipe I saw in America's Test Kitchen's newsletter.  I'm gonna do it.

It snowed a bunch overnight.  Enough so that a neighbor's out with his snowblower.  I'll be out there later brushing off the car and clearing the driveway.  I should go soon because the sun's out and that'll melt any stray snow I miss.  But I need to shower first because I'm not putting clean clothes on this disgusting body.  But I have a sparkling clean shower to shower in because I even cleaned the soap scum off the surround yesterday.  Can anyone tell me why the walls of the shower get scummy when they don't really get anything other than water on them?  I don't flail around spraying soap all over when I shower and I'm certain Durwood doesn't either, so, what gives?  It's one of life's mysteries that I'm sure I'm not destined to know the answer to.

Next weekend I'll be down in Sheboygan with Lala for our annual run-away.  We may not write; we may just goof off since both of us are feeling a bit frazzled from the winter's excitements and pressures, but there will be walks along the river and the lakeshore, and pizza, and art, and the history of toilets.  We plan to go to Kohler to the museum, it's free and sounds like a fun afternoon.  We'll each have our own room and both of us appreciate being alone but like to do stuff too.  It'll be great.  I can't wait for Friday to roll around so I can drive away.

Did I tell you that I found a brand-new replacement laptop battery on eBay for only twenty bucks with free shipping?  I did, and it came the other day.  I slid it into the machine and it immediately began charging up.  Hooray!  Now I can use the laptop for a while when it's unhooked from the wall plug.  Whew.  I was afraid it'd cost an arm and a leg for a new one so I'd be tethered to the cord.

March 16--Rembrandt van Rijn, Aristotle with a Bust of Homer.  Aristotle never saw clothes like those. He's painted wearing the garb of a Dutchman in the 17th century.  How unimaginative.  How ethno-centric.  It's also very dark.  Could this be an allegory?  I'm no good at inferences and deeper meanings.  Just tell me or show me and I'm fine.  Don't be symbolic.

Okay, I confess, I stayed up until midnight and this is all that was left when I picked up my pencil.  Like I always say, I'm just glad to have written.  Some nights are better than others.  I'm off to get wet and clean, then shovel, then shop.  Sayonara.
--Barbara