Lady Sheherazahde's Journal

I had planned to go to water aerobics today but I accidently locked my keys in the apartment. Luckily I had made friends with the new neighbors and Natalie drove over to the landlords and got me a spare key while I watched her toddler, Isabelle.

I missed the aerobic class but I did 30 min on the recumbent stepper (1.9 miles Yay!) and spent an hour in the pools.

Then I went over and picked up The Beast. We went to dinner then Felicia's Atomic Lounge. The Beast bought me a Coffee-tini (Felicia's has such fun drinks).

I didn't know anyone except The Beast and her friend Steve. But I was friendly with people and soon made new friends. Steve's neighbor David, David's SO Joe, Steve's co-worker Peter, Jeff, Guy (just some guy who started talking to me on the front steps) Ryan (possibly a friend of Steve's, he was bumming cigs), and Susie (who The Beast knew from Fetish night at the haunt). Eventually even Ben showed up (he had been working). I ran into some people I recognized from the drum group at the FOL, so I told them about Kaaren's stroke. They hadn't heard.

I stayed till almost 1am talking with David and making new friends. Felicia's is a cosy, friendly place. It was a good night.

Today has been a cooking day.

I started out making the Easy Southern Banana Pudding (only without the Cool Whip topping) I used Lactaid milk so The Best Neighbor Ever™ could have some. (fritterfae should comment since he has a 'Nana Puddin' icon ) It is basically Banana Cream Pie with Nilla Wafers for a crust. A good potluck recipe though.

Then I made Four Cheese Broc & Cheese (actually it is more like Cauliflower and Cheese but that doesn't have quite the same ring) basically it is Mac & Cheese with Cauliflower and Broccoli instead of macaroni. (The four cheeses were Colby, Monterey Jack, Cheddar, and Parmesan.) I think I over cooked it. Maybe next time I will just do the stove top version instead of the baked version.

Then I made a batch of Ratitouille for the Pinkwater Ratitouille diet.

I made a vegetarian birthday dinner for The Best Neighbor Ever™

I made Brown Basmati Rice, Tofu Saté, Klatchian Curry w/fried tofu (instead of chicken), Leek and Potato soup, Chocolate Tofu Pie w/Pecan crust (thanks for the tip about the guar gum soulspirals)(Maybe next time I will make a peanut butter cookie crust for the chocolate pie)

The Tofu Saté tasted great. It could have used a little kick of something (I need to talk to my dad about his recipe again). But it was still really yummy. I marinated Wegmans Extra Firm tofu overnight than simmered the tofu in the marinade (w/some peanut butter). The tofu fell apart in the cooking, which I was not happy about. It ended up looking like tofu mush. I'm not sure how to solve that problem. For the Klatchian Curry I fried the tofu and added it to the curry last, but that means it has very little time to absorb flavor. I want to marinade the tofu but still have it dry enough to fry. Maybe if I used just the liquid from the coconut milk to carry the spices in the marinade and saved the cream to add after the tofu has fried. Of course another option is to use the spices as a dry rub then fry the tofu in the coconut cream.

Hmm I just looked it up and apparently Saté (or Satay) actually refers to the meat grilled on skewers, aka shish kebab (or the speedies I grew up with). It is just that Indonesian shish kebab has curry in the marinade and is served with peanut gravy. I will have to work on the recipe some more.

There was a lot of Klatchian Curry. Remind me to make that when I have a lot of people to feed. But it has the most ingredients so that shouldn't have been a surprise.

The leek & potato soup ended up more of a mashed potatoes w/leeks. Not very appetizing, but tasty.

Something I ate last night is bad for me. My throat hurt. It may be the mace in the leek soup. We shall see.

The Best Neighbor Ever has one thing that she is fairly intolerant of. I'm generally in favor of tolerance but I indulge her in this one thing since it does make her physically ill.

When we were shopping the other day she got very excited about some Chocolate Fudge Jell-O pudding mix, and I suggested that we buy some Lactaid Milk and make it. But I couldn't afford it that day. She does so much for me I like to do things to make her happy so Friday I bought 2 packages of Chocolate Fudge Jell-O pudding mix 1qt of Lactaid Milk and 1qt of WestSoy Low Fat Plain Soymilk (although she has since expressed a preference for Silk).

We did an experiment to see which works best with Prepackaged Pudding mix Lactaid Milk or Soy Milk.

The Results were:
The Lactaid Milk pudding set up perfectly.
The Soy Milk pudding did not set up at all.

The Beast said they didn't taste any different than regular pudding. But I though the Soymilk was a bit thin.

The Beast believes it is the milk fat that thickens the pudding. It is possible that a Soymilk with a higher fat content might work better.

Busy day yesterday.

I got out of work promptly at 5 so I could pick up The Beast at her work and get to Ralph's Ribs by 5:30 to meet blaisepascal, skitten, kenshardik, kinnerc. We were having dinner with my childhood friend Wolf and his wife bloodsong1 who were visiting from Colorado.

After dinner I had promised The Beast that I would take her to the grocery store to buy vegetables.

kenshardik had to go on a Guild Raid, and kinnerc had other obligations. blaisepascal, skitten and bloodsong1 were discussing tattoos so I convinced them to meet us at Medusa Tattoo and talk to Carol. Wolf already has at least two tattoos and he started discussing a new one with Carol. She does beautiful work I am happy to direct more business her way.

We lost blaisepascal and skitten after that. So just bloodsong1, Wolf, The Beast, and I dropped in on elwood2005's new condo. Unfortunately he wasn't answering so we moved on.

We got bloodsong1 and Wolf to go to the Nest while The Beast helped me drop my rent check off with the landlord.

The Beast and I have been planning my idea for a Neo-Socratic Symposium. We have agreed to have it on February. But she says the invitations should go out Saturday. Saturday is also the last day of the old postage rates. The Beast agreed to model the Greek outfits (chiton and Chlamys More Greek clothing) for the invitations. But she is going out Friday so last night was really the best time to take pictures of her.

So we spent most of the evening taking artistic nude photographs of The Beast. There is a reason why we call her the Best Neighbor Ever™ . If I have time I will post some of the pictures to my Flickr this weekend (if someone bought me a Flickr Pro account I could post more *wink*wink*nudge*nudge*). [But of course since kenshardik has more free time he has already posted some]

Last night Sarah (The Best Neighbor Ever™) wondered by looking for something to eat. She is a vegetarian and she was having 'woman's problems' so I wanted to come up with a vegetable tofu dish. I was originally planning this as vegetable side dish, another way to get more veggies in my diet. But it freezes and reheats well and is good for a quick breakfast or box lunch.


Spinach Tofu Casserole

2 lbs. (2 boxes) frozen chopped Spinach
1 box (12oz) silken soft Tofu
5 Eggs
1/4 c Olive Oil (or butter)
1 cup Milk (optional)
2 t Onion powder
2 t Salt
Pepper

Defrost and drain the spinach.
Put all the ingredients in a blender and liquefy (I put the tofu and eggs in first to make sure it is fluid enough to blend in the spinach).

Pour into a casserole and bake at 350°F for 1 hour.

Lots of excitement

Tuesday night I went over to blaisepascal & skitten’s for dinner and Ritual planning. Marilyn and zimarra were there too. We had a good night and planned the next two rituals (I look forward to seeing the plans when K posts them… real soon now…I hope…)

When I got home kenshardik and The Best Neighbors Ever™ (and their friend Steve) were drinking cocktails and watching "Freaks" (1932). (Which was a very interesting movie and not nearly as "freaky" as I expected it to be.) We had the doors to both apartments open as we have been doing lately.

When we went to bed I closed the doors. Ember didn’t come to sleep with me that night. I thought she was just being a cat.

In the morning Ember didn’t visit me in the bathroom so I started looking for her. I couldn’t find her outside under the stairs (where the cats usually hide when they get out.) And Sarah had not seen her.

Well, she could have been hiding the house, that has happened before.

During the day I called J and asked him if he had seen Ember. He hadn’t, but he spent some time looking for her.

When I got out of work I took the bus home, got my car, picked up a treadmill from Freecycle, put air in my tires, picked up Beast and phoenixmedusa, got money from the bank, and headed up to Common Ground for Wing Night. It has been a long time since I have done Wing Night. (Common Ground makes great wings and Cheese Fries.) I couldn’t stay long because I was tired and still had to go shopping.

J agreed to take Rauncie home and Sarah came shopping with me. We went to Byrne Dairy for milk (in glass bottles), P&C for food, and Eckard for my prespcription refills.

We got home at 9pm. Sarah helped me carry the treadmill up the stairs, and she carried up most of the groceries.

Ember still hadn’t turned up so Sarah made up plates of cat food, tuna, and catnip and put them out around the yard. Then she sprinkled a trail of catnip up our stairs.

Sarah kept saying that statistically cats don’t go far from their original home even when they run away. So when it got dark I sat on the stoop with the phone and tried my various cat calls. Ember usually comes when I clear the caller ID from the phone. She is also attracted to my whistle and when I call Kip!Kip!Kip! or Em-Bar, Em-Bar, Em-Bar. J and Sarah came down to look around too.

While we were sitting on the stoop I heard a cat crying. At first I wasn’t sure if it was Sarah or J making a cat noise to call Ember. But when they claimed innocence I looked around and Ember was in the stairwell looking at us and crying.

She could not have gotten past us. Our apartment door was closed to keep Kip in. The only open door was the Best Neighbors Ever™. She must have been in their apartment the whole time. But J and Chris both looked.

Well, we are glad to have her back.

Yesterday J took Arwen to the local SPCA while I was at work (it had to be done before 4pm or I would have gone with him). So last night was our first night without her.

When I went to bed Embar let me snuggle her a little and she sat by head for a while. But she is less interested in sleeping by my head. So I had no quiet purr or little love licks last night.

Ember is a bit hyper and skittish. She can't hold still when I pet her. She doesn't really purr, she sort of hyperventalates. I always wondered why she would start panting when I cuddled her, I finally figured out she is trying to purr. But she is my little silky girl.

This morning I took up the plastic and the extra littler box. And sprayed "Nature's Miracle" over the hall carpet.

Embar will come in the bathroom and sit on the sink so I can pet her. But she will not do that cute thing Arwen used to do- reaching up to me to be picked up.

In other news Sarah, The Best Neighbor Ever™, has been helping me with my wound care for my mole biopsy. It is in the middle of my back and I have trouble reaching it to change the bandage or apply ointment. I have three stitches. I think this is the first time I have ever had stitches.

Sunday I finally got meet zimarra. Following standard protocols for meeting strangers on the Internet we agreed to meet in a public place, Oasis natural grocery downtown. Since phoenixmedusa and her friend Wayne were around they also dropped by. Which was good thing since the construction downtown made me late.

Zimarra is cool. It turns out we were born one day (and fifteen years) apart. She just got her degree in Anthropology (mine is in Soc.) and she likes fantasy fiction. She is also a vegetarian who is lactose intolerant and allergic to soy. (And just as I was converting all my milk recipes to tofu for Sarah!) Well it means more veggie recipes and salads.

We went to lunch at Wegmans then we went to my place and watched "Kiki’s Delivery Service".

She lent me the first eight episodes of InuYasha and I lent her the first of the Sandman graphic novels.

I tried to introduce her to the Best Neighbors Ever™ but they weren’t answering their bell (J thought they were sleeping late because they were up till 5am. It turns out they were out hiking.)

Then we went grocery shopping and made dinner. She doesn’t have cable and was enjoying our TV and our kitties.

She is a singer! I finally have someone who will sing my Yule carols with me. She also is interested in learning chants.

I think she will be lots of fun.

(Well, lunch is over back to work)

Sarah, The Best Neighbor Ever™, was supposed to help me wash Arwen this morning. Apparently "helping" meant I wrapped Arwen in a towel, walked across the hall to Sarah's bathroom, and handed Arwen to Sarah who washed her, naked. Arwen is still a bit damp, and smells like watermelon.

Then I had to rush down to Apalachin for my friend Sammi's son's graduation party. Jesse, the son in question, is a fire fighter (like her) but he is joining the Army as a combat medic. I can't imagine how Sammi must feel about this. On the one hand he is brave and selfless on the other hand no mother wants her son to go somewhere where people want to kill him. I have known Jesse since he was very young, and I just want to say that he has grown into a very handsome young man.

At the party I learned that Sammi was once hunted by a Mafia Boss. It turns out she grew up next door to the famous house where the mafia bosses were arrested as they held a national convention in 1957. She was 11 months old at that time. But when she was around two years old she wandered off into the woods and her mother got everyone in the neighborhood (including the mafia neighbors) to help look for her.

When I got home from Apalachin it was time to go to Common Ground for Rauncie's Birthday. I got razzing from the staff for not being there in a long time. But it was fun to be back. Rauncie was about an hour late but I finally got to meet her friend Jade.

It was Karaoke night. I had forgotten what a beautiful voice Rauncie has. Joseph also sings beautifully (but I had not forgotten that). He also has a great stage presence and should do stand up, or at least MC. I had never heard Sarah sing before, she reminded me of Janis Joplin. Sarah has a sultry, bluesy, voice.

The 37 bus did not show up this morning and I convinced Sarah not to take the 32 instead so I felt morally obligated to drive her downtown so she could make her connection and not be late for work.

That meant I had my car downtown and had to move it every two hours. I drove over to Bu's for lunch instead of meeting him on the Commons as usual. And because I had my car I didn't need him to drive me to my doctor's appointment at 3:30pm. I would have liked him to come with me anyway but Kaaren wouldn't let him come out and play.

It was very hot out. My work is air conditioned and that is nice, but I just didn't want to work today. I did work, I just didn't enjoy it as much as usual.

I had hoped the dermatologist would just cut off my papilloma and I could just go on my way. But it was my first visit so they had no intention of letting me see the Dr.. First they made me fill out some paperwork. Then a nice young man asked me all the questions that I had answered on the paperwork. He looked at my papilloma and said "Yes" it will have to come off, some other day. Then a Nurse came in and looked all over my body for any other strange bumps that may need to come off. She liked my tattoo (I told her about retro-phrenology and the man who had a cock that hung below his knee). She found something she wants biopsied on my back, but other than that I'm OK. I got out of my 3:30 appointment at 5pm.

That gave me enough time to go get Sarah from her work and save her the bus ride home.

When I got her she said that she had called Chris and he was meeting her at Felicia's Lounge because she really needed a drink. I really needed some Thai food and to go swimming. So we did all that. We met Chris and Steve at Felicia's then we picked up some food from Taste of Thai Express (which wasn't very "express" but was very good) . Chris and Steve got impatient so we sent them off to get towels and told them to meet us at the swimming hole downstream from the bridge and the old mill, across from the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve on Six Mile Creek. I showed Chris a map of where to go. They never showed up.

I had forgotten how steep the path down was. When we got there there were a bunch of hippies smoking pot, and one guy swimming naked. A nice young man named Josh talked to us about the Redbud Woods protests. He thinks they may actually save the woods, and he invited us to breakfast with the protesters. He got a bit shy and tongue tied when Sarah took off her clothes, but he stayed and talked to me like a human being after she went in the water.

Since she was naked I took off my clothes too and went swimming. I also managed to convince the only other woman there, Crystal, to take off her clothes and "Join the naked women!" It was lots of fun. I haven't been swimming for years.

phoenixmedusa I thought of you. We need to get more Big Beautiful Women to have a "nudist swim" night with us. Sarah wants to do this more often and I would be happy to swing by and pick you up. The Beast, the phoenixmedusa, and me.

We swam till it started raining. The walk back up the hill nearly killed me but we got back to the car before the lightning started.

What a Day
What a day,
Oh what a day.
My baby brother ran away,
And now my tuba will not play.
I'm eight years old
And turning grey, Oh what a day, Oh what a day.
- Shel Silverstein
"Where the Sidewalk Ends"