Swimming

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, seven swans a swimming.

There's an aphorism that came to mind this week. I know I'm paraphrasing it here. "Be like the duck. Calm on top but paddling like the dickens underneath." It's kind of how I've been feeling. Lots of busy work to do. You know that kind of work. It's little things that HAVE to be done in order to accomplish the big thing. It's frustrating when you want to finish the big project, the one that says, "Look what I did", but you have to pay bills or do wash or clean the bathroom sink. Blogging has taken a back seat to other things that have needed to be done. It's now the ninth day of Christmas and I'm three days behind. Time for some catch up. I have certainly felt like the duck in the aphorism, all calm and collected but paddling like the dickens to keep afloat.

The seventh day of Christmas is the last one with birds. Beginning on day seven and continuing to day twelve, you'll need 35 swans for this particular line. Swans are expensive. The PNC list says they cost $6,300. I assume this is because swans are, for the most part, endangered or threatened. They aren't just something you can run to a farm and purchase. For five days of swans, you'll need to fork out a hefty $31,500 which, of course, doesn't account for something in which they can "swim", a home or food.

These 35 swans join the 12 partridges, 22 doves, 30 French hens, 36 calling birds and 36 geese in your true love's back yard. That's 171 birds. I'm pretty sure I don't have that many wild ones in my yard, even when the grackles show up in flocks.

So what would be a good substitute for swimming swans? I thought about 36 days at a beach-side resort but that would probably set you back more than the PNC 12 Days cost, but water gave me another idea. What about things that go into water?

Ah hot cocoa. This tin of organic coca costs $4.99 at Dominicks. Godiva has a set of 3 canisters, 1 dark and 2 milk chocolate, for $45.00. You also can't pass up Ghirardelli chocolate. They have a 4-pack which includes one each of white mocha, double chocolate, chocolate mocha and chocolate hazelnet, for $27.80. They also have a peppermint hot cocoa for $11.95. If your true love prefers coffee, send them a bag or two or 35 of their whole bean coffee. That will cost $18.00 for one bag.

I adore Cocoa Amore. It's kind of hard to find. I used to be able to get a sampler pack with 8 different flavors. Now, I can only find a 6 pack from C&C Creations for $37.75 with the following flavors; chocolate caramel, french vanilla, chocolate raspberry, chocolate supreme and white chocolate. That's okay because one of the 8 pack flavors was chocolate mint and I don't care for mint in my chocolate.

Unfortunately, chocolate is one of the world's most slave driven commodities. Some of the major chocolate producing countries count on the income they get from chocolate to oppress their citizens. Occasionally, an online petition shows up asking M&M's or Hershey's or Godiva or chocolate makers in Belgium and elsewhere to not buy cocoa beans from places such as the Ivory Coast. For a chocolate lover with a conscience, it can be really difficult to satisfy the craving and feel you have done right by those who do the manual labor. Equal Exchange has a lovely organic hot cocoa for $7.75 that is grown on small plantations where people are paid living wages and where they don't live in deplorable conditions. It can be hard to find but it's good cocoa.

That gives you 6 ideas for hot cocoa and one idea for coffee, but let's go farther. Dunkin Donuts has, I'm told, some of the best coffee on the planet. A bag of their standard coffee is $8.99. Standing in the coffee aisle at the supermarket can be daunting. So, just head over to Caribou Coffee for a bag of their Reindeer Blend, the seasonal coffee. A pound of that is $15.00. Or wander by Starbucks and get a pound of their Holiday Blend for $14.95.

We're done with coffee. I don't drink it so I have no idea what is or is not a great tasting coffee. What I do know is tea and there are a wealth of tea sites on the Internet where you can get great tea. My favorite is Blue Moon Tea Company. You'll want to get one of each of these: Assam (box $7.95), Scottish Blend (box $8.95), Ceylon (bag $7.95), Huckleberry (box $5.95), Brodies Famous Edinburgh's (box $10.95), Scottish Breakfast (Tin $8.95), Chocolate Cream Truffle (loose bag $7.95), Yorkshire Gold (box $11.95), Barry's Irish Breakfast (box $8.50) and Apple Pear Green (loose bag $10.95).

The next place to go is Celestial Seasonings. Most of these you can find on your grocer's shelf. Celestial Seasonings is famous for their naturally decaffeinated and herbal teas. These can be just right for a late night watching of "It's a Wonderful Life". Now is the time they have their holiday flavors out. Each box is $2.99, a veritable steal compared to other beverage costs. Pick up a box of gingerbread spice, sugar plum, candy cane, sugar cookie, nutcracker sweet, caffeine free herbal, cranberry apple, mandarin orange spice, sleepytime and a box of their fruit tea sampler.

Lastly, visit the Bigelow Tea web site. Bigelow is another brand that is ubiquitous on the grocery shelf, but they make very good tea. Plus, their teas usually come in a regular and decaffeinated version. You'll need a box of Constant Comment, English Breakfast, Darjeeling, Earl Grey, Chinese Oolong and Cinnamon Stick. If I am reading their web site correctly, you buy a selection that contains 6 boxes of the variety. That costs $17.75. The teas retail for $4.99. As long as you don't mind 6 boxes of one kind, the pack is the way to go.

That's 36 different drinks that mix with water. Totaling up the cost, you've spent $135.24 on cocoa; $56.94 on coffee; and $149.94 for tea by buying the individual Bigelow teas at the grocery. Total cost for swimming in beverages, $342.12.

Just a hint, if you're sending your true love 36 cheesecakes, adding something to drink with them is a good idea.

Beverage:  Gingerbread Spice tea

Deb

Birthday Goodies

It's raining. Actually, it's pouring. It's not going to not rain the rest of the day and into the night. I long for snow on my birthday. It's close enough to cold weather that this could be snow or rain mixed with snow or even just flurries. No sleet or ice, thank you very much. Just snow. 

I could be forgiven for not wanting to go anywhere in the chilly late November rain. But a couple things got me out of the house. 

Stop #1 - Pharmacy. Tomorrow is the last day for which I have a pill for my knees. I could go get this on Monday but why? I have other errands so they will fill the script and have it waiting when I come back.

Stop #2 - Photo store. The gal who works in Wisconsin has been given a 27 home inspection project with reports. She needs photo holders. They know me by sight in this store so Harry helped me do that math to determine we only needed one package of photo holders even if 500 photos are taken. 

Stop #3 - Office. Drop photo holders on desk and put space heater on floor. I could have taken the space heater back on Monday. Yeah, right. With my memory, it will still be sitting on my living room floor come January. 

Stop #4 - Bank to deposit the check friends gave me to help with the furnace repair. 

Stop #5 - Caribou Coffee. I received a coupon for a free drink on my birthday. You must redeem it on your birthday and they are open on Thanksgiving for those years where my birthday and Thanksgiving coincide. Large white hot cocoa with a shot of hazelnut, whipped cream and crushed Snickers on top. FREE! God better have this in heaven or I'm not going. 

Stop #6 - Wendy's. I received a coupon good for a $1.00 off any combo meal. I just wanted a hamburger, fries and a drink. I didn't need the drink but I would have had to pay extra for a Frosty. "Would you like cheese on your burger?" "Oh sure. It's my birthday. Why not?" Thanks mom. Your birthday money bought me lunch. And Wendy's new and improved hamburgers are outstanding. My burger had to wait for me to get home and it was still really juicy and flavorful. I'm going to have to go back. 

Stop #7 - Back to the pharmacy and pick up my script. Notice that Dr. Pepper is "Buy 1 Get 1 Free". I don't know why they don't just drop the price to $1.00 each but whatever. Toss in a large candy bar for the chocolate quotient and I'm good to go. 

It can be hard to remember, when you feel beaten down, just how the little things can make you happy. Free cocoa. A dollar off lunch. A free bottle of soda. All good. It can rain all day. I'm happy.

Beverage:  White hot cocoa

Deb

One way to stop spending.

(sigh) I decided to treat myself to Caribou Coffee this morning. There had been a coupon in the paper for $1.00 off a beverage and I was running late. It's been a good 3 1/2 weeks since I used the last coupon and that was for breakfast I could expense.

I got my 2 blackberry white chocolate chunk scones and ordered Assam tea. The gal behind the counter said they had changed their teas and Assam was no longer being offered. I looked and Irish Breakfast was gone, too. It seems others were removed from the menu but those were the two I ordered a lot.

In their place have come lattes, chai and what I can only term "designer" teas. They have caramel, vanilla, pomegranate flavors. What the...? Herbal teas are infusions made by pouring boiling water over something other than the leaves. I could see pomegranate and vanilla as you could use flowers, roots, bark even, to steep to make a tea. But caramel?

And what's with all the milk-infused beverages? Chai is milk infused tea, which is how most of the world drinks their tea. Spices are also added to the chai and those spices vary region to region.

Latte, is usually coffee with milk. Variants can include replacing the coffee with chai. But, taken literally, that means you have milk tea mixed with milk. Huh?

Whatever the case, I was severely disappointed in Caribou when I stopped. I got Darjeeling; that was still on the menu as is Earl Grey. The scones I like were still in the case but they were dry and crumbly, not moist as usual.

What I think life is telling me is that I no longer need to spend $5.63, with coupon, for breakfast. I have a tea kettle. It's a simple thing to turn it on when I hop into the shower or while I'm making breakfast. I have Huckleberry, green, Lapsang Souchong, chocolate hazelnut, Christmas spice, China Black, English Teatime and Scottish Blend sitting in the window sill behind the stove. If I squeeze the budget, I can get a box of Darjeeling or Irish Breakfast at the grocery.

I used to stop at Caribou once a week. They got to know me. Then October came and I didn't go for 6 weeks. That's kind of my frequency lately. Roughly every 6 weeks unless I knew I could expense it to a client. When you need to cut to the bare minimum, things like breakfast out must go. Still, it was a nice affirmation of me. Dunkin' Donuts makes good tea. Plus, if I add 2 donuts, the cost for breakfast there is $3.18 instead of the $6.53 without coupon of Caribou. But I don't need donuts and I have to get up earlier to get going if I want Dunkin' as it's the opposite direction of the office.

Therefore, the cosmos is telling me that breakfast is best eaten at home. I have the capabilities to make and freeze pancakes when can then be just nuked in the morning. Or dig out the waffle iron and make Mickey Mouse-shaped waffles. So many ideas. Coffee cake and my every popular muffins.

Goodbye Caribou. It was nice. Bring back real tea and not these "affected" drinks and I'll be back, not as much as I used to, but I'll come back.

Beverage: my last Caribou tea-Darjeeling

Deb

EAT! NOW!

The email was aghast!

"Peanut butter M&Ms? That's it?"

It's hard, very hard, to want to be in the kitchen when I'm so used to watching where I step or where I back up. The kitchen floor is still slightly messy. Betsy was a very, very messy eater the last 6 months of her life. I don't want to let go of things. It almost feels as if I'm letting go of their memory to clean up the bits of their lives still around.

So, I did the dishes, but that's it. I make tea. I've stopped at Caribou Coffee for their white chocolate black raspberry scones more times this week than in the previous month. I don't want to cook.

Pam knows. In times like these, if you don't take me somewhere, sit me down and stick a menu in my hands, I won't eat or it will be peanut butter M&Ms.

We went to Steak 'n Shake.

I had the bacon cheddar burger and fries with a chocolate banana shake.

It was more than enough to satisfy my hunger and remind me that food is necessary. I have muffins frozen in a couple of large bags in the freezer. Simple to take 2 or 3 out and even if I don't want to eat them at home, they will thaw by the time I get to the office. I'm always making tea. Tea and muffins is a nice breakfast combo.

I love my friends. I'm waiting for Jessie to call and cluck at me, too. "What? Peanut butter M&Ms?"

But they are pretty good.

Beverage: English Teatime

Deb