When you do something stupid like drop your cellphone in a glass of water and you can't take it back.

Heather, you've accomplished so much in your life so far. Let's take a look, decade by decade:

0-10:
Birth
Learned how to express your displeasure
Learned parental manipulation
Lifted your head
Turned over
Sat up
Crawled, then stood, walked and ran
Learned the joy of cats

Learned how to take care of other pets
Potty Trained
Learned how to dress yourself
Learned to sing and dance
Learned to READ and tell stories
Learned how to cooperate
Loved and hated your little brother
Experienced the ups and downs of Day Care
Went to school on a bus
Made friends
Learned to ride a bike
Learned math, science, history, and progressive acitivism
Became a volunteer
Learned how to use a computer
Learned about death from your grandpa

10-20:
Survived Middle School
Freed from Day Care by learning to how to be home alone
Began the grueling rollercoaster ride of Puberty
Started going to concerts
Fell in love
Experimented with breaking rules
Learned that there are liars out there in Internet Land
Immersed yourself in the total experience of High School
Learned about alcoholism from your father
Survived your parents' divorce
Learned to drive
Got a job
Learned to vote
Learned to do your own income taxes
Got a checking account
Went to college
Learned to really love your brother
Moved away from home


20-30:
Survived the death of your father
Accepted your new stepfather and came to really like the guy
Graduated with degrees in Psychology & Anthropology
Felt the heartbreak of losing a lover you planned to be with forever
Found jobs and apartments and cars
Fell in love with Greg
Got engaged
Survived living in Illinois for a few years
Became a fabulous cook with a popular food blog
Married
Traveled to Spain
Entered Grad School for Library Science
Moved back to Wisconsin
Totally ACED Grad School with straight A's, while working at several libraries at once.


I am so proud of you!! Happiest of birthdays, Little Poot. I love you to the moon and back. xoxo

(Can't wait to see what you do between now and 40!)

You know what I could have done about the wrong shirt? ("Could have done" as in "possible", not something I would actually do.) I could have just contacted customer service and told them my shirt did not show up. Keep mum about the other shirt in the wrong size. I mean there are other people in this house who could wear it, even if I didn't get what I was sold.

Only that is dishonest. Even put in the same situation, knowing what I know now, that is not something I could do in good conscience. Stupid being ethical.

I've really got to get over this and move on. Starting... NOW!

Project: Buy a gun for home protection has been dismantled. I'm feeling less anxious with the addition of more meds and etc. This still isn't a particularly safe neighborhood, but I'd rather save up to get the hell out of here than making sure I can kill anyone who tries to mess with us.

Got the first mockups for my new website design. They look nice, and I'm really pleased to have someone reliable to work on it for me. The Kiss Me Like You Love Me audiobook will be done soon, and available at Audible.com soon after that. It's got some familiar voices along with some new ones. I've heard some of the reads, and they are awesome.

I ate a whole pineapple over the course of last week.
It was not in season, and thus not very sweet or pineappley.
H got fresh cherries at the store last week. They were awesome.
Cherries go well in absolutely everything. I used them in ground chicken meatballs and they were fabbo.
I've been craving potatoes and sausage in horseradish sauce.
So I'm making that next week.

New short story is in the works. Subbing it at the end of the month.
It's a 3rd person narrative, because I need practice with that.
Finished reading Under the Dome.
It's depressing as shit, and made me really mad most of the way through.
People suck, and SK is damn good at conveying it.

Been having crazy, violent nightmares lately. I was bashing some lady over the head with a wine bottle in one, and trying not to get stabbed in another. H is almost never in my dreams, which I think is weird.

*********Actually dudes, I posted this on Dreamwidth and am crossposting it here. It doesn't mean I love you any less. Honest. On Dreamwidth? Add me: "Wednes."

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIPiMZdR0CEAjJv7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBvbjdlcmd2BHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDVjE0NA--?p=smother+brothers%2Cbeatles+hey+jude&vid=95cf7eaf1b9f692e21c1cb2b5a5ac922&l=6%3A46&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DV.4826350220083588%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DKqlgeAaTA60&tit=Hey+Jude%2FSmothers+Brothers+Comedy+Hour+-+2nd+take&c=3&sigr=11atsm2ab&age=0&fr=yfp-t-900-14-s&tt=b

Loooong I know. Just click and quit being so judgemental.

This song has been going through my head for 4 days now.
I love the cartoon, but really....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA0TS9l_nJE

Rewatching Candice Gloved and Jennifer Hudson sing "Inseparable"......simply amazing!!!

Bergenia

Wednesday morning started with a text message discussion on where to meet up after several ideas had been mooted the previous evening. DC had read about an independent coffee shop on Bold Street, and there's plenty of good places for food along there so I headed down around lunch time, by taxi this time, the top end of Bold Street is too much of a walk from the bus, so it was a leisurely start to the day for me, fun chat with the taxi driver who was fascinated by what you can do with a smartphone in terms of videos and music, had to give him a crash course in modern tech, in the end I suggested he go and be clueless in Carphone Warehouse and hopefully somewhee out there now is a happy cabby watching Sky football on a small screen while waiting for the next job! I found the coffee shop,(Bold Street Coffee) with a waiting DC, no problem, and despite rather uncomfy seating its pretty good, great to find an independent in this world of Costa and Starbucks, two choices of quality single origin filter coffee on offer which I enjoyed.

The real highlight was the little old man at the next table. He looked like your average little old man, a bit lost, all on his own with a drink, quite unprepossessing. Until he got out a small travel amplifier, set it up on the counter and suddenly took a celtic harp out of its case, hookd it up the amp and proceeded to tune up, with me watching every move keenly. The piped music was switched off and he started playing most beautifully, lovely tinkling harp sounds, very skilled abstract folky stuff... Poor DC lost me for a while, I may not play my harp much these days but the instrument has a direct line to my soul so I was utterly transfixed and not relaly responsive as it had my full attention, I even took a wee video clip on the phone. So lovely, really perked me up and put such a smile on my face, which I told the man before we left, its always good to be appreciated, after all.





And then lunch, this time at The Italian Club two doors down, another relaxing place to be in terms of decor, bit rustic, white wood and photos on the wall and very tasty foods, baked pasta dish for him after a starter of rice ball thingies (can never remember what they're called) and a hot breaded chicken sandwich for me. Which was made with the freshest bread you can imagine, not sure what kind of bread it was, halfway between french bread and ciabatta I think, but utterly lovely. And not too filling, well, not if you leave half the chips and ignore the salad and don't have a starter - I don't usually eat as much as I had been doing and my tummy was objecting somewhat to being indulged a little too well with three course meals several times over, though I did steal some strawberry ice-cream from DC's dish *giggle* It was clearly a day for music, though the 2 buskers over the road with the guitar may have been excellent but we didn't hear much except when someone came in or out of the door..

One long slow amble down Bold Street followed, peering in various windows but not actually doing much in the way of shopping, though Utlity had TinTin books for some odd reason, and soft toy white Snowy dogs should such a thing be required, which led to a later discussion of French bands-desinee and the like which kept us busy over coffee in Caffe Nero. And I finally got a solution to my not-so-pressing coffee problem. The main reason I hang out in Starbucks is because, though I freely admit their coffee is awful, I like the caffe mocha chocolate concoction with cream on top. Which was fine when I hardly ever went to town and could keep it as a treat, but its far too rich and sweet as a regular thing, but other coffee options are too potent. Until DC pointed out the Caffe Nero option of only having one shot of espresso in your cup rather than their standard two. Which made it drinkable and hobbit-friendly and that Caffe Nero is much nicer than the Starbucks over the street I usually choose so yay being dragged kicking and screaming into the world of proper coffee options after all this time... well, I had to learn these things eventually.

Another new experience for me that day, we wanted to head back to the Travelodge for a rest before dinner and it was specifically chosen for being right by James Street metro station. So we got a train. Ooh! Not been on that line since the late 90s when I used to get the train into town for my computer course, since then its been cabs or buses for me. But its a very efficient way of getting from one end of town to t'other, with lifts of course, I'm wobbly on down escalators and not a fan of stairs still... One quick trip and we were up and away and back out, and only when we'd passed the ticket barrier and were back on the street did I remember my disabled bus pass is valid on the trains also and thus I'd had no need to buy a ticket at Central. Ooops. Still, now I know I can do trains safely it opens up more travel options for the future, like the train to Southport one day, whee! :)

That Travelodge is really well placed, short walks to Liverpool One or the Albert Dock or up to various pubs and restaurants, plus the view from near the lifts across to Albert Dock is pretty good too (room view was just the building next door..)




I was pretty cold and hungry by the time we'd both had enough of a rest in the hotel, so glad to wander up the street for the Italian place we'd eschewed the previous night. Franco's got rave reviews online, under its old name at least, and despite being down some rather uneven stairs and in a rather pokey downstairs room turned out to have some of the best food *ever*. And such good service, and the kind of place where they ply you with extras, so bread to nibble while you wait, and then some fabulous garlic bread ("We'll share it," said DC. "But I'm really hungry," said I. "No, we'll share...". He didn't get much, it got wolfed happily, though I did give him half my pate as it was a tad rich so that worked well). The pasta dish I chose was farfalle with chicken and broccoli in a cream sauce, doesn't sound that exciting I realise but the flavour, oh my. Perfectly crafted pasta cooked just right, and the sauce was the right side of creamy, not too rich, not too cloying but certainly not stinting on ingredients, and the mouthfuls of chicken were soft and tender, the tiny florets of broccoli still had crunch for extra texture, I was raving about it while DC enjoyed his cannelloni greatly, but even he succumbed to the delights of that sauce when I let him try it, and he was happy to polish off the rest when I got overfull. Soooo good - and I finally got my pasta dish rather than steak! *giggle*

We split a tiramisu dessert and then were presented with grapes and biscotti and mints and those little orange physalis fruit in the papery leaves as extras to round out the meal, not to mention the very cool music in the background, a lot of 60s standards with an Italian feel but unusual recordings of same, some quite jazzy, some more classic, and Soundhound came to the rescue again to reveal Madeleine Peyroux as the artist on one track (turns out I have a cd of hers, though not that one), and musical chat lead DC to waxing lyrical over the film Its Trad Dad: google and amazon then helped him track down a copy of same, eliciting much joy :)

All these long days were catching up on both of us, so we arranged to just meet up for coffee after lunch next day, at Lime Street waiting for the train home to Glasgow. Which meant a nice leisurely morning for me and a chance for DC to get sushi for lunch as I kept refusing Japanese food, me no like. It was good to spend another couple of hours together and I was very sad to wave him off down to the platform before heading homeward...

Such a lovely visit, and it all worked out so well with the hotel and everything, plus the tasty foods, mmmmmm. Must do that all over again sometime! :)

Love to hear "Kick by #34 Matt Preece is good!"