Yay for candles! I just did a longish post in LJ mourning that my local candle factory outlet closed last year, and my taper, pillar, votive and tealight stocks are dwindling, and so I've become less profligate about using them. Still, I completely agree that a single flame or two can brighten and give heart to a room.

(((Susan)))

Oh Cindy, sending you all the best thoughts in the world for it's nothing, or it's something little and easily fixed for Ben.

I'm glad you got your smoothie, Maria, and with added!cookie.

One of the women I stayed at Weymouth with last week made me rosemary garlic chicken for dinner, with rosemary cut from the kitchen garden a few steps outside the kitchen door.

Aside: I've never had a dishwasher, and have learned that leaving one dish i the sink just encourages all the other dishes, glasses, pans and utensils to pile up. In my house whichever grownup walks into the kitchen washes whatever dishes happen to be left soaking in the sink. If there are dry dishes in the drainer, we put them away. Or we pick up a sponge and wipe down the counter, the sink and faucets, or the cabinet fronts.

The three other women who were staying there all pack their dirty dishes in the dishwasher at home and run it every other day. Lacking a dishwasher, they ran water in the dishes and left them to soak, rendering the sink unusable. Or if they did the dishes they left the drainer too full to add anything else to drain. So when I ran the water till it was hot (a matter of minutes, it's a retrofitted historic residence), I washed anything that was left lying around, and I emptied the drainer and put things away ready for use again. They all took it as my silent reproach of their habits, which it wasn't. I don't do floors. I just ordinarily don't see dirt on the floor--one of them had a broom in her hand every time I looked at her. It's just that some things bug, and other things are no big deal, to different people.

But because I'd done all the dishes all week, I got dinner made for me. Just a little butter in the pan, chopped fresh garlic, chicken cutlets, and rosemary leaves, all browned till the garlic and rosemary were crunchy, the chicken was browned and cooked through. Yum.meeee.

You're not supposed to get a flu shot when you might be getting a cold, are you?

Annabel was getting over a cold when she got hers last week, and the nurse said it was OK as long as she wasn't running a fever.

Oh yum, Bev!

I don't have a dishwasher either and would sacrifice one of my farther relations for one sometimes. The sink of dishes is overwhelming once they sit, do the dishes as they are dirtied is gospel.

And floors are the worst, for me. I hates cleaning floors.

I do have a hot bath waiting though, those are of the good.

Dirty dishes mean we're eating. Washing them means we're ready and expecting to eat some more. The whole cycle has a nice grateful/hopeful vibe to it.

I wish my mother had said something like this when I was 14. I might have been less resentful of the chore.

Cindy, continued -ma for you and Ben. I want the waiting and worrying to be over for you and your boy to be healthy.

Thanks, Lisa. Hey, how was your birthday party?

Hey, how was your birthday party?

It actually turned out very well. Dad was there and two of my sisters and some friends and Owen. We had a lasagna dinner and this caramel brownie thing that rocked.

The angst never really materialized. Silly me. I should know better.

Most of my party angst is pre-party, these days, which points the finger of blame back at me. I hate when that happens. In your case, the finger still goes to your sister. *g*

How is your nephew doing?

How is your nephew doing?

I almost hate to mention it. Not so good. When I stopped Friday at my sister's house they were gone--trying to gather money to bail him out of jail. Not for drugs, though, at least. He got into a fight at a party and had been arrested for battery.

My sisters helped with the last $200 and they got him out on Saturday--he had *just* started a job (his first!) and it's hoped that if he goes to court and shows that he's working and off drugs, he'll at least avoid going back to jail. I got to see his baby girl. She's so adorable. I hope he gets his act together for her sake.

And Mom didn't make the party because she went to Foxwood Casino with her sisters. *shrug*

But it was a good weekend. Especially watching the Sox game with Dad and Owen on Saturday night.

Oh, Cashmere, I'm sorry to hear about the nephew, but glad the party went well and that you had a good time.

More {{{{}}}} for Cindy, just 'cause.

I need to be getting in the shower soon, but am fighting with my pre-lab first. Ugh. I have no idea what I'm doing, and I can't talk with anyone about it.