Zenkitty,

are you sure she mailed them?

Well, she emailed me about two weeks ago, asking me to confirm my mailing address, because she'd gotten the gloves back. She's copied the address wrong from PayPal (I assume) -- wrong house number, wrong city. After I responded, I got no further communication from her until this.

So, either she did mail them, or she was lying two weeks ago to cover for why I hadn't gotten them yet, which doesn't make sense -- if she knew then that she couldn't send them, why not cancel it then? IDEK.

I once had a furniture seller fail to respond to my inquiries about their preferred payment options for an auction I won. But it didn't cost me anything, they never sent me info so I could paypal them or send a check in the first place.

I ended up not having any regrets, as it was a kind of tacky footstool that technically fit the theme of my living room at the time but probably wouldn't have looked that good.

Woof. Just spent the last few hours stripping my medicine cabinet. That was a shitton of paint! And some of the colors I don't understand: a pale rose that matches none of the tile, a seafoam green that doesn't match the seafoam green tile in any respect, more of that nearly painter's tape turquoisey blue, grey and lots of cream and white. I need to sand it, then wipe it down with acetone where I couldn't get the original coating up but the edges are smooth, and then I'll spray paint it.

Somewhere in the next two days. Along with cleaning up storm debris, feeding a friend's cat, most laundry and shopping and of course swimming.

But I'll be glad to have this little project behind me. I'm stalled on so many because they require phone calls and I've been avoidy.

Swim was crap today. Oh, it felt good after, but horrid times and I'd get these twinges like a muscle was just going to quit. I know the exact cause, same thing happened last month, but dear loward. I hate the collapse-y thing. It's working in all major muscle groups right now, which isn't much fun on the stairs or driving.

Dave finished the sauce for me because I crashed out, but we are now chilled on the patio listening to our former recording clients play. Canning actual will have to wait till tomorrow.

Oh, I need to cold pickle some more cukes...

I need to... go have some ice cream.

Oooj, sarameg, do you have a recipe?

And do a manicure! After I'm done with the stripper.

Loki had a 2 hour nap on top of me today (ergo, so did I. Well, I listened to the radio most of it.) So now he wants another, except he keep chewing on my sweaty hair. Uhng.

Oh, my neighbor brought around her new boyfriend for us to vet. The network is abuzz. Potential pitfall: he's with the Hawaiian Orchestra. But, its funding is in doubt, so he's hanging around the east coast until he finds out if he still has a job. (They both do Glimmerglass in the summers.)

It's fascinating learning about professional classical music working world. Two of my neighbors are violists. And there's a guy who rents the basement apartment of another house to give cello and bass lessons. It's a musical neighborhood!

For the pickles? They're sweet pickles. Dead easy: 2 parts sugar to one part vinegar (I prefer white.) I usually throw in a pinch of salt, maybe a pinch of dill, but not much. Heat until the sugar dissolves (don't let it get syrupy.) Let it cool (I've been impatient and it makes the cukes wrinkle a bit and not be as crisp.) Slice up cukes in your preferred shape (I do the teeny ones lengthwise because they do wraps well) with or without peel. Stuff them into jars and pour the solution over 'em and toss them in the fridge. They keep really well and are usually pickled enough after a day. I've occasionally tossed in some bits of red onion, but I like the pure cuke and vinegar flavor the best. Nostalgia, my grandmother always had them in her fridge.

Pair them with some rosemary ham, swiss and spinach or other green in a wrap. NOM. Or just eat them out of the jar...