It Aint Over Till It's Over--Or Is It?

I was just reading a piece on Aol's home page about letting your hairdresser know when it's over:
how so many women feel guilty when they leave one hairdresser for another.

I know but too well what they mean.  I had the perfect hairdresser. My hair could have literally gone for weeks after one of his wash and dries. (I won't use the B word.)

But, he was a careless fellow in the area of human relations.  I always called ahead and let him pick the time of the appointment, just so it would be convenient for him and he could give me the time and attention a client deserves.  But time after time, I found myself squeezed into a few niches of time between stages of a color job, or multiple color jobs. I know how important hair-coloring is to a beautician.  It's a hundred-and-fifty-dollar appointment as opposed to a thirty dollar one.  But it's my opinion that if he takes my thirty dollar wash and dry, he owes me all the courtesy and attention at his disposal during the forty or so minutes it takes him to get the job done.

It just wasn't happening.  So I just slithered away. Even though he and I were friends (with a shared love of literature and plenty to talk about that was meaningful to both of us), I just slithered away.  I slithered away just before Christmas of last year--or has it been two years? Time goes by. I slithered by with an unpresented  packet of toddler books in espanol for his baby to listen to. "Buenas noches, Luna," --and more.

Those books remained in  a chest in my living room, bothering me a lot in the meantime every time I opened the chest and saw them. They haunted me even though baby is now only two and ready to appreciate "Buenas noches, Luna."  What to do?

Then in January I read on a Spanish website a story about some lady big shot in Mexico, and it mentioned that she liked to read. What are you reading now? is the question everyone likes to ask now. What she was reading was Mi hermano, el alcalde, (My Brother, the Mayor) by whoever. 

I remembered my friend/hairdresser, and ordered out the book from Amazon. (It wasn't available in English.) And one fine morning I ran into his shop and gave him the book.  He was astounded to see me.

A week or so later, I found the kiddy books in my living room.  So I ran in with those...we had a hasty joyous reunion (as his hair client sat in the chair, impatient I am sure) and he said, "Pero, Linda--que te paso? Por que no has regresado?" and I gave him a hasty and only semi-lying answer about convenience, location, my husband's poor health..and off I ran again.

Now, I find myself a bit dissatisfied with my hair at the new place.  It doesn't look as good as it might, often...and there are times when I long for my old "perfect" hair. And it was perfect. Good as he is, my new guy never has achieved perfect. What to do?  He is so nice, tries very hard to be perfect (most of the time.)  And the shop is closer, chic-er, nicer, and all the operatives are my bestest friends. All of them, mine the best of the best.

It will come down to this.  Hairdressers are like men; whether male or female, they are like men in that they get bored with you.  It was pretty exciting at first, and gets more interesting now and then (more and more rarely), but--it is going to settle down pretty fast (within a couple of years) to humdrum and routine.

It's up to you to decide if it's over. Will you have regrets? Likely you will. But, when it is over, girl, it is over. YAZZYBEL

Raise High The Roofbeam, Carpenters!

'Cause I've got the shingles!!

I am sorry I have them but am glad I am (I believe) correctly diagnosed at last.

I have to take acyclovir.

I will be glad to take medicine if it will take away the vexing dizziness and vertigo I've been experiencing for the last few weeks.

I also have to take nose spray and so forth, but I do believe the doctor hit on the right thing. He had his medical student in there asking me a million questions before he came in, and I blabbed away. The med student asked, "Is there any other ailment or complaint or condition you have?"  "No...," I said doubtfully, though I couldn't think of anything.

Dr Rickwa came in and looked at an itchy rash on the back of my neck, and asked me a few questions, and I asked him if it could be ringworm (always ready to blame the cat.)  And he said, "No, if you'd ever had shingles I'd say it was shingles." AND BINGO, and SHAZAM, the light came on and I knew that is what it is. Exhaustion, dizziness, miserableness, neckache...that is what I had before when I had shingles...So now I will take the medicine and lie about as much as possible for the rest of the week. Hurray. Glad I changed the sheets yesterday evening; it makes lying around so much more comfortable. And, by the bye, thanks a lot, JD Salinger, for a catchy title. YAZZYBEL

Ninety-Nine Cent Miracles

Today we got up and after many domestic mishaps such as my spilling bacon grease on the kitchen floor (a real disaster, believe me, since Theo tried to blot it up with plastic bags and spread it all over, and it was a lot.)

So after we got it together (!) we decided  to get out in the car on this beautiful day, to cheer ourselves up a bit.  So we went to the Ninety-nine-Cents-Only store in National City, where there are wonderful things to be had if you just look a bit.

Now that we have left there, I just remembered ads for wonderful European Easter chocolates that they are selling. Did not think to look for them...Too bad; too late now.

Anyway we got a ton of wonderful produce and a few cans of no-salt tomatoes and beans, and a number of plastic items and some dishwashing soap. Total was twenty six dollars and something. Unbelieveable. Alas, when we got home we discovered that the soap had come open and gone all over a lot of the produce...lots more washing at home. And we are  worried about the blueberries.

After we left the store, we came down to the J St. Marina in Chula Vista, where we looked at the many ducks of all ilks that were swarming around in the park, and the huge huge seagulls that were in the area where the slough comes out. Seagulls and ducks just seem to be getting bigger and bigger.Or I am getting paranoid. 

Then we came home and ate a giant potato that had been baking the whole time we were gone and still had to be microwaved the full time (we ate one fourth of the potato each, folks)...plus three and a half each of some small green zucchinis that we bought at the Fresh and Easy last night....plus some pan broiled t-bone steak that was riddled with difficult tough connective tissue here and there in a most un-luxury- meat way from Ralphs...and are now resting to digest our feast, and to ponder our adventures. YAZZYBEL

Saturday Pilon

A pilon is something unexpected that you get when you buy something.

A little surprise.

Here is my little surprise.  I am putting it in today because I am unable to get it put in as the lead photo on my blog.  How dumb am I.  Really. It's embarrassing. 

So, again, moi, in a photo more recent, more accurate, and preferable to me to the one that is smiling in the apron up there untopple-able at the head of the blog. YAZZYBEL

There Went Friday

Yesterday I had to go to the doctor with Theodore. He is a nice young man.  The age gap between us is striking. His mom died a few years ago as did his dad, and they were in their seventies.

Going to the doctor is vexatious. The office is bound to be loaded with germs and other filth. There's no escaping it. Then, there is the trip down there, the interruption of any continuity in our lives as we drop everything and run to some doctor.

Everyone, eat well.  Eat little, mostly vegetables.

It's the only way we are going to save ourselves from a lifetime of sitting in those doctors' chairs waiting for our number to come up.

WebMed came up with suggestions today for food choices. Instead of:

potato chips,              choose    air-popped popcorn

granola,                     choose     bran flakes

sugar drink                choose     fruit juice

cheese dip                 choose     hummus

ice cream                  choose    sherbet and ice

sausage pizza            choose  margherita or veggie

alfredo sauce            choose     marinara

frozen fried food      choose    frozen dishes with
                                               rice or veggies

fried fish or chicken   choose    boiled shrimp

Those are all good ideas; we all know them all...we have to be careful of fat meat, cream, cheese. Too much of those will do us in.  In the case of Theo and I, we  don't go overboard except for Theo and cheese. But it is our incidental carb intake that's bringing us down, I think. Beware of cookies, crackers, donuts, sweet rolls, and boxed cookies especially. Even, beware of store bread. I may have to go back to Katy Kornettes as a life-saver alternative. Oh, boy!  YUM. YAZZYBEL

Oh, How I Love Parsley!!

Yes, I do love parsley.  Flat, curly, Italian, or good old USA, I love parsley.

I can remember when I was about four years old, watching our rabbit (probably a leftover Easter Bunny) eat his parsley.  He ate it so daintily, yet so voraciously, nibbling and savoring every bite.  I remember trying to mimic his technique, eating and wrinkling his little nose. I could not do it...but I loved the parsley anyway.

When we ate out, for years, there was parsley on every plate as garnish. I have always eaten my parsley, and that of any other diner who'd give me theirs.  I do love it, and it is FREE.  Ditto the orange slice, but that's another posting.

Nowadays, our thrifty restaurants put Kale on the plate in place of parsley.  They try to pretend that it's because of nutrition, but I know it is cost.  Nevertheless, I also eat the bits of frilly Kale. (It's free too.)

The only thing really bad about the MOW is that there is no fresh leaf of kale, nor spinach, nor chard, nor even lowly collard, as yet.  Too bad. There is so much you can do with them, those leaves. Cut them up into small shards, and put them into almost any stir-up dish.  You can just taste the goodness.  I mean the nutritional value.

I am feeling more myself today. Had you noticed? It just goes to show that a kind, cheerful doctor can do a lot to cheer up a lonely old lady. He even got me to try the Lipitor.  And it's free. We have to pay for the doctor, but the kindliness and cheerfulness are like the parsley on the plate! YAZZYBEL

Sube Y Baja

Hi, I felt a bit better yesterday, worse today.

Woke up feeling vertigo'ed, finally called the doctor's office and got in to see Dr Bautista after lunch. He was good. Good=makes me feel a bit better.

I'd like to have more energy. I need a tonic. Will look on the web for a recipe. YAZZYBEL