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cold day in hell
December 09, 2013
We are in a deep-freeze at present, and I hurt in that particular way that I always hurt when it's cold. From the icy fingers to the stiff joints to the itchy skin to the split fingertips to the runny nose to the utter soul-despair...I just do not do winter well at all.
And this is, despite the calendar date, big horrible ultra-winter. Temps in the low single digits, with windchill all the way down in the negative teens. Snow of the fine, dry, slick variety that make driving hell. (There was a 50-vehicle pileup on I-94 in Racine County Sunday).
Spouse therapy started yesterday. He seemed to feel that it went well, and is looking forward to going back next week.
Even though I have five full days off at Christmas, my family decided that the best time (for them) to have the gathering would be this coming weekend. So the last family Christmas of my mom's life, and I am shut out of it. Thanks, bros.
Dentist Last Friday. I went from "oh, we'll have to watch that tooth" six months ago, to "OMG you are going to lose that tooth if you don't get in here for a root canal ASAP." Seriously? I feel like they do that shit on purpose, so they can charge for more services. I knew there was a problem, since it is a little achy and bleedy, but damn. They also told me my partial didn't need adjusting; the pain and the spot where it is digging into my gums is entirely due to me clenching my teeth. So...once again, it's stress. They gave me a little tube of benzocaine ointment to numb the pain. Yippee.
Did a bit of half-assed baking this weekend; Christmas-decorated sugar cookies using pre-made dough from the Festival bakery. Which is fantastic, not too expensive, and certainly a lifesaver to someone who can't make a good sugar cookie dough to save her life. I didn't roll and cut; I just made round cookies with my scoop and the bottom of a glass. Used red and green colored sugars on most of them, but iced a few for myself, since I do love them that way.
I also got a tub of what they call their "molasses" cookie dough, but as far as I'm concerned, it's gingerbread. I took the leftover filling supplies from fruitcake baking and mixed the chopped pecans, brandied raisins, and candied fruit with a bit of brown sugar, spices, and flour, then rolled it up in some pinwheel cookies using the molasses dough. They came out crazy-good. Lordy, but they are rich , though. I wouldn't advise eating more than one a day. I may take some of the sugar cookie dough and make cinnamon pinwheels, since these came out so well. With my limited time, these pre-made doughs are a real find. My baking can be creative without being exhausting. I will still make my homemade specialties, though--Spritz, pfeffernusse, etc. That's an important part of Christmas for me, and for the people who are used to getting my cookies at the holidays. I made a couple of dozen of the molasses cookies tonight (scoop-and-glass method again) and mixed up a plain icing to drizzle over them. Spouse loves those. I like them, too--but what I really love is how they make the house smell when they are baking!
Spouse has been looking for work--he says, anyway. Why he is applying to retail stores beats me, though. I guess it just goes to show how little he knows of that world if he thinks it would be a suitable job for somebody who can't stand for long periods. But...he can be very tone-deaf to that kind of thing. (He also once thought that he, an insanely light sleeper with a dodgy tummy, would be a good truck driver.) I don't think he cares if he ever works again. And why should he, as long as he has me to pull his ass through life?
Reading: Detectives, Inc; A Mystery Story for Boys" (1935) by William Heyliger. This is an episodic book, so I'm bipping in and out of it.
Listening: Billy Idol, The Beach Boys, The Decembrists, U2.
At Random:
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