Still discombobulated, but getting there...

We're drowning in moving boxes.
Every time I unpack a box, either a new one magically appears (okay, not magically, b/c for instance, we've just purchased a coffee table for the living room and a dinette table and two chairs for our kitchen, which were delivered today), or my feat is unremarkable against the drifts of boxes still stacked up in corners, under tables, behind the sofa, etc.

What's that saying about the last 20% of any job takes more than 80% of the total effort...? But, I can look to my right and see the glorious shelving that Ken put up today - yay! Our tv is sitting on it, and we were then able to move the lateral file to its more permanent spot on a far wall. Sigh. Progress.

Appropos of nothing -- I'm amazed, bemused, and sometimes appalled by the fact that the main pop radio stations here STILL PLAY SONGS FROM WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL. Seriously, I've heard more Loverboy and Pat Benatar here in the last couple months than I have in the past 15 years since I left the Midwest. And, it's not just the chart topping singles from them either; I'm hearing stuff on the radio from Def Leppard, The Romantics, and John Mellencamp that I haven't heard on the radio since 1984. And, I'm not feeling that this is a good thing.

Thank God, I've found the local NPR/College radio station. A little Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, a little 60s and 70s soul music, and music selections from this century blast out the auditory crud that threatens to clog my brain day after day while driving around on errands.

And, iced or hot mocha from Dunn Brothers Coffee helps a lot, too.

My mom came to visit last week. Had a lovely, lovely time. She and I had big fun at a local, famous-in-foodie-circles spice store called Penzey's Spices. When Ken and I left LA, we gave away all our condiments, oils, vinegars, spices, etc. to our neighbors. We weren't going to move those two pounds of salt AGAIN. So, I stocked up on the basics at this store: basil, minced shallots, thyme, garlic, paprika, cayenne, cumin, cinnamon (Vietnamese -- have you ever smelled different cinnamons next to each other? Vietnamese smells different than Mexican, which smells different than Chinese. It was like wine tasting, only with spice), pumpkin spice (ever had tofu pumpkin pie? It's VERY tasty.), fines herbes, etc., etc.

That's the report at the moment. Lorie, out.