Today was a plein air day. I met up with some other members of the El Cerrito Art Assn. at a garden nursery in San Pablo called Annie's Annuals . Tho I'd driven by before, today was the first time I actually went in and was hugely rewarded for my efforts. Just tons of plants to look at and buy, but what I liked most was the planted areas. If only I could transform my square of dirt that I generously call my yard into something like these. I painted for a couple hours in my sketch book. Then went searching for some plants. Although there are literally thousands of plants and flowers to choose from, I eventually narrowed my purchases down to 4 or 5. My criteria are tough: must be able to withstand drought conditions (cuz you won't get much water from me); be able to survive severe to total neglect; have a natural repellant that discourages weeds, snails, slugs, and hopefully raccoons; and ideally, be self-pruning and gorgeous. I know, I demand a lot. But there are a few thi...
Aaaaaaaaaaaah . . . . That's just me heaving a great big sigh of relief. Even though I know that that year-end blitz of too-much-to-do, too-little-time is coming, and try to downsize and minimize the stress factors, I still get caught up in it. Cards never got sent, packages didn't get mailed til after Christmas (it's in the mail, no really, you know how the Post Office is), and now I want to finish decorating, while everyone around me has all their assorted holiday crappage thrown out/packed away/put out on the curb. I guess I just move to a different (slower) beat. On a lighter note, after two months of eating like a sumo wrestler caught in a burning marijuana-field downdraft, I've lost three pounds since Sunday, after starting to eat more sensibly. No ice cream, no cookies. No white flour stuff, pasta, pizza. Just wanna lose another seven pounds. Time to get in shape for the annual migration to Brazil. Gotta dust off the old bikini. Figuratively speaking, of course...
So I haven't written for awhile. Last week was muddled up, and included an unplanned tooth misbehavior that culminated with an appointment Thursday the 9th to have a tooth removed. #30 in case you're interested. I think it's cool that each of our teeth has its own number. Even after that tooth is gone, its number remains. But it was not salvageable. Kaput, had to come Out. The root's broken. How did that happen, I want to know, I did not treat it roughly. No crazy faceplants on my board, no passing out in the parking lot, no barroom brawls (lately). Well, in any case, it's history now. I need to find out the outta pockets expenses for an implant and then my dental coverage's uncovered portion of a bridge with crowns. I think there's going to be a gap in my mouth for quite a while.
I always enjoy the Olympics in other countries because of all the coverage of local color and customs - it's fun to learn about other cultures!
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