I still have that tie to the land of my section of Southwest Pennsylvania. I was shocked at how little has changed, but in another 10 years it could start to become a bedroom community for the greater Pittsburgh area. I'd forgotten how much I love the hills I grew up in. It's like a landscape I could snuggle into and pull over myself, all nooks and crannies and dark woods. Much of my current desert mountain landscape is gorgeous and impressive, but it's a bigger beauty than the ancient hills my people settled in.

What's amusing is how twitchy I get in the flatlands. I need massive earthworks to put my mental back against. But I do love big sky.

I need to pick up a Tennessee accent (neither the text nor the news give me any sort of idea of which one)

Dinah Shore had a classic Middle Tennessee accent, and there are a fair number of clips of The Dinah Shore Show online.

Oh gods yes, Connie. My usual description of being in flat country is, "exposed as a seal on an ice floe," or "a bug on a plate." One of my supervisors decided my desk and I should be marooned in the center of a large reception area in our new offices--and then expected me to spread out thousands of dollars in cash and coin to count, or to concentrate on nitpicky records. Right, while my head is on a swivel searching for oncoming predators? Yeah, no. We quickly relocated me to a wall at my back, and I arranged desk, return, guest chair, bookcase and filing cabinet as barricades against the oncoming horde. Much cozier--and more productive!

So: taste good, consistency FAIL.

I'm fairly tolerant of consistency, so I might try them anyway, but I'll stay tuned for future outcomes.

I've watched a passel of pro-vegan documentaries lately...thank you netflicks...and have reflected on the last 6 years of non-vegetarianism as my least healthy. Now, a lot of that is no doubt due to middle age, etc. but what I cram into my face feels like the one thing, over which I have much control these days. So, yeah.

The tricky bit for me now is also wanting to avoid wheat, corn, sugar and soy. I think something is going to have to give in that formula.

Heh, Beverly, I think I might be similarly 'predator wary', though my twitch manifests in needing to live above the first floor. No basements or first floors for me. Perhaps I was an unsuccessful warren-dweller in another life.

The tricky bit for me now is also wanting to avoid wheat, corn, sugar and soy. I think something is going to have to give in that formula.

There are a lot more recipe blogs out there than you might think that address limited diets (whether it's for food allergies or by choice or whatever) -- I'm sure there are vegetarian gluten-free recipe blogs. I see a lot of gluten-free recipes avoiding corn (or all grains) and soy and refined sugar.

It's true that there are a HUGE number of cheery, supportive websites out there. So much more support than I ever remember back in the day. It's not so 'underground' anymore, I suppose.

I'll check around for some appropriate recipe options.

I won't give up, but it does feel like work right at the moment.

Though, my goal for this year is to go 'gently' into whatever comes next. The first week sucking so badly has GOT to guarantee me some slack, right? RIGHT? Don't answer that. I don't want to know.

Fair warning: It's less than a month to the first anniversary. I'm already not doing well. Actually, it's worse than I expected. This Saturday would have been his 41st birthday. I've come to the conclusion that while I loved my husband, I was no longer in love with him, and it sucks because we wasted time being unhappy together, when we could have perhaps found what we were missing elsewhere. Now I'm stuck.

So I don't know what exactly I'm going to need over the next month or so, but you people are high on the list. Forgive me if I'm tone deaf to everything else. I don't know if I can handle anything but getting through this next little bit at the moment.

{{{{{Maria}}}}} Anything at all that you need, we're here for you.

(((((Maria)))) We're here for you and don't worry about being tone deaf. Please use us in any way that you need.