Update about the house

Bad news first. We got a call on the 24th about the house. Mike got it, to be accurate. He was sitting at lunch with his parents when he heard back that the stupid fuss over the two year old PAID bill had lowered our credit score and when they re-ran it, we no longer qualified for the loan. This was devastating by itself, but then we realized two of the three home inspection costs were worked into the 30 year mortgage and since we no longer had the loan, we would have to pay those back. Several hundred dollars. Insult to injury, as far as I was concerned.
We have turned in our notice and broken the lease, heck we've even SHOWN the house to prospective buyers. The price of the home we're in currently living in has dropped significantly but it's still too high to allow us to buy just the land.
The mortgage broker told us that with our new lower credit score, we still qualified for a loan, but it is a different one, through FHA and not USDA and it requires $6225 down. We have nowhere near that amount available to us, we know no-one who would. Fortunately we had signed an agreement to extend escrow to the 29th, so we had 5 days to find the money/funding.
A co worker asked Mike how the house stuff was going and with a short explanation he got them up to speed. Then he joked "If anyone knows a way of making $6225 in 5 days, be sure to let me know."
His boss, leaving very soon for a business trip that would keep him away two days past our time limit, took him aside and wrote him a check.


Yes, I'm serious.

We never would have thought to ask him. Even if we had, if would have occurred to us later that night or the next morning - after the boss was gone. I was so happy that Mike said it was best for all of us that the boss was already leaving town, lol. I might have attacked him in joy.

SO ..... Mike called our mortgage broker right away to tell her to apply for the FHA loan ASAP because we had the money. At this stage all we can do is wait and try not to think about it falling apart at the last second again. Good and bad news all in one - we only have to wait til the 29th to know for sure. After that, our agreement is no longer valid.

Waiting can kill

I've been told so many times that "XYZ never hurt anyone". the XYZ has been everything from love, to hard work, to a single drink.... but it's not true. I don't know how people can say it when it can't possibly be true.
In my latest situation, it's most commonly been XYZ= waiting/patience. Again, not true, it depends on many factors such as what you are waiting FOR, how long you wait, and if you have any influences on your health that might make the stress a negative in the equation.
And yes, patience IS a virtue, but sitting twiddling ones thumbs is not.
PERSPECTIVE people! Don't bandy around such pat sayings unless you can either back them up with proof or do something to improve the situation.

Quick back story - we got a loan, we found the house, we put in an offer and counter offer on said house, it was accepted, all inspections went well and we were supposed to be IN the house by the 15th of this month. The underwriters got wiggy about a bill that was late by a month and then paid in full TWO YEARS AGO. So of course they held up the works on the very last step.
We needed to get the paper work to prove all was well, but the people who could send it were vacationing. When they got back on Monday they sent the letter and by Friday it was still not at the mortgage brokers office and not here at our house. Now it's Tuesday and still no sign of the darn letter and no calls from anyone to update us.
The strain of trying to wait patiently is starting to hurt. I found myself staring into the bathroom mirror yesterday thinking that we could call every day to see if the letter is there yet. That might get irritating to the broker, I thought to myself, then bristled at the objection the imaginary broker in my head made to my my imaginary daily phone calls for updates and argued with her on the imaginary phone in my head that it only takes 15 seconds and she didn't even have to put herself to the work of dialing and to her this might be paperwork but to me it's a home.
I found myself glaring at my own reflection, all tight in the chest and indignant over the argument.
See? Waiting can hurt, even if it's only my sanity.
I need to MOVE already!!!!!

Crepes are going to be the death of me

I found a wonderful crepe dessert recipe and OOOOOH so good. I made them twice the first week and twice again the second week, three if you count making them for my in-laws as well.
The recipe is at Cooks.com, one of my favorite recipe places EVER. Yes, you have to sift a little to find a recipe that's generally correct but the sheer variety of amazing and sometimes hard to find recipes makes up for such a minor inconvenience.

I love it so much because I lowered the amount of sugar in the filling to taste and it doesn't really make a difference in the outcome other than to make it a little more friendly to the sugar-conscious. For the topping I simply opened a can of Oregon berries or thawed frozen raspberries, though the berry sauce recipe is wonderful... I just like it simple.

One tip- if you want super smooth filling, be sure to beat the daylights out of the cottage cheese before adding the cream cheese - it never quite went smooth for me til I did that. It's just as yummy with a few tiny lumps so I don't let it bother me, lol.

Being a novice to crepe making, I was sure I would mess it up. Nearly impossible to mess this one up! Using an 8 inch non stick pan with a slightly rounded bottom, I left the heat on medium the whole time. I only used the tiniest bit of butter to lightly coat the bottom of the pan for the first crepe, no more after that because it's too greasy. I put in my two tablespoons and swirled it around gently to coat ONLY the bottom of the pan, not up the sides at all (makes the edges too thin and burns easily) then I left it the heck alone til the surface no longer looked wet or shiny. Then I tipped the pan sideways over a plate and used a silicone spatula with a thin edge to break the seal around the top edge and it slid right out. Lay it flat and make another. If it's cooked through, it won't stick. I did make a couple of crepes too brown, but they softened right up if I let them sit a few minutes before using and they are still soooo good. Three crepes each was more than enough and we're big people and love our food. This recipe really does make 12 crepes as it claims and I like that the filling is also the exact amount for the crepes.
Enjoy!!

STRAWBERRY AND CREAM CHEESE CREPES

CREPE BATTER:

2 eggs
1/4 c. milk
2 tbsp. water
4 tbsp. flour
1/8 tsp. salt

FILLING:

3 oz. cream cheese, softened
6 tbsp. cottage cheese
1/4 c. sugar

SAUCE:

2 c. fresh strawberries Or frozen unsweetened & thawed
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/3 c. sugar

Batter: Beat eggs, milk and water. Add flour and salt, beat just until smooth. Lightly oil a crepe pan or medium skillet. Heat pan over medium heat. When pan is hot spoon 2 tablespoons batter into pan and rotate pan to spread evenly. When edges of crepe are browned, turn crepe onto a plate.

Filling: Place cream cheese, cottage cheese and sugar in mixer. Blend until smooth. Set aside.

Sauce: Coarsely chop strawberries. Add lemon juice and sugar. Toss lightly. When ready to serve spoon 2 tablespoons filling into each crepe and roll. Arrange crepes seam side down on plate. Serve immediately with fresh fruit sauce.

Makes 12 servings, 1 crepe each.

T3 Product Giveaway

I am a subscriber to the review blog, Jamie's Precious Peas. I have entered a few give-aways but this has to be in the top 5 of my Most Wanted. I have really curly hair... like finger sized spirals. I love my hair, but sometimes I want it to look straight and elegant instead so bouncy. I get frustrated that my hair is weaker due to the very nature of the curl and it gets fried easily by low priced irons and I simply can't afford the better ones.
T3 is giving away a product and I am crossing my fingers both that it's a straightening iron (my favorite on the site is the Pro Straightener) and that I win it. I've heard such good things about that brand!

Horray for Garage Sales!

We set out this morning to clean the living room in anticipation of Mike's parents coming over at 1 pm so that his dad can work on the truck and the boys and girls can play together. We get a call near 11 am to let us know Mike's nieces are with their parents and Mike's dad isn't feeling well so they aren't coming over. Instead, they invite us over. It's an hours drive, but now that we don't need to clean the living room all morning, we have the time free to go to the Saturday Market that runs only the first two Saturdays of the month from 11 am to 3 pm. 11 am we get there, fresh signs out and we have the right place... no cars and no vendors. We go by again later... still no one. Dead empty. Did someone not tell the person in charge of the signs, balloons, and Craigslist ads that the vendors had taken off Easter weekend?
color me peeved. We've tried three times to get there this year and so far, we've missed it because of an appointment, fell asleep and missed it, and chose the wrong day altogether. Now we get there on time, the right day, right place, with cash and there is NO ONE. Not a soul, just the balloons and brightly colored signs. It was angering and yet creepy in an Andromeda Strain sort of way.
On the drive back to home so I can get my pills and a present I made for Mike's mom, I offer the info that there was a big garage/estate sale near our house. It was an address nearer the road (sometimes they are a few miles away off the road they say they are on, lol) it was listed recently, too.
We stopped and found for sale a giant collection of miniature tea sets. I am obsessively attracted to miniatures and Mike's mom adores tea sets. They were cheap, abundant, and had two sets of porcelain and china, in cream and gold with pink roses. I got those for Donna and a small heavy silver set for myself. Then I got 4 framed prints - two prints of fruit in vivid colors and a primitive style, black frames. So nice. Then two prints of an old stone building with a door and flower boxes and flower pots. All in creamy soft tones, gorgeous detail, distressed wood frames painted with a cream/tan color.
I also got a set of glass canisters with wooden stoppers in a set of wooden shelves - 6 canisters, two large, two medium, two small in two shelves. One set of shelves for all four medium and small, then a set for the two large ones.
I was interested in a pile of about 12 cloth napkins and handkerchiefs mixed. nothing matching. I wasn't sure about it, so she gave those to me for free, wrapped around the tea set pieces. I was so distracted that I forgot my pill and Donna's present even though I stopped by the house.
I suppose it helped my feeling of victory and self satisfaction after being at the garage sale that the women running it referred to me as "the girl with the pretty hair" between each other, but they also dropped the price of the prints down to $1 a piece (they are 2 feet tall each, the frames alone are worth much more) the canister set to $5 for all, the tea sets down from $10 and $5 to $8 and $2, the napkins/hankys free.
Sweet deals.
Then we had yummy dinner that I didn't have to cook and pineapple upside down cake. It's been so long and MMMMM, my love hasn't waned.

Memorial was tonight

The boys, not being used to any sort of silence expected of them, stayed home with Daddy. Who cited his beard as a reason for not going. I guess he feels a little odd being bearded in a place where the men don't have beards as a rule. Like everyone knows he's not part of the group... I can understand that. No one likes to be an obvious odd-man-out.
It took longer to get ready to go that I thought it would because I had to change my clothes once (it's hard to remember that I put on 20 pounds over the last 6 months and I've only taken off 6 of it so far, so nothing fit) and then i was ready to head out only to not find my purse. By the time I got there 15 minutes late, the parking lot was full and there was a space and a half to park. One space - mud. Did I mention it was raining? The other was a half spot because someone owned a very large truck and didn't have the ability to park it in only one space.
I hadn't been to this hall before even thought I have been called on by a couple that attend there and since they are the ones that left a reminder tract in my door about the time and date of the Memorial, I thought they would be there. I stuck around afterward to say hello and thank them, but I didn't see them anywhere. And strangely enough, not one person struck up conversation. Usually I get swept up in a flood of people wanting to introduce themselves and chat, but I guess the 279 in attendance tonight left me as a stranger among strangers. I am going back on the 26th so maybe I'll get to say hello then.

how does one spell anal?

U-n-d-e-r-w-r-i-t-e-r-s.
The darn underwriters refused to believe us that we had paid a bill to a cable company 2 years ago. they also refused our final bill marked paid as proof that we actually paid.
We write to the cable company requesting the proof in a copy of our final bill marked paid AND a written letter from the company to our underwriters assuring them we haven't left them unpaid and are not in collections for the matter.
That paper was supposed to be the end of it, but no, that would be too easy, right?
Our cable company sent us to collections 2 YEARS AGO over a bill and we took care of it as soon as we got the first notice.
Now the underwriters are freaked out and want the collection agency to sign off as well. The collection agency refused to talk to our mortgage broker, so Mike had to call. It seems the people we would talk to about it are gone for Easter and it take a couple of days to process our request when they come back... then they mail it. they don't FAX. After the underwriters get it, it'll be two more days - one for signing, one for getting the keys.
So I called my mom to put off the day I come to get her.
All of this over a bill we paid two years ago. Why are they so weirded out over it? I am told the collections agency can out a lien against the house. For a bill with a balance of ZERO. It's marked paid and already deleted, but the notice of deletion is still a mark on the credit that won't disappear for 30 days hence.
Why am *I* so weirded out? Because even if the collections agency sees our request and takes into consideration we sent that request Thursday, seeing that as the 2 days to process it and sends it by Monday, AND sends it fax instead of snail mail, then we get to sign the papers Tuesday and get the keys Wednesday..... which is all very unlikely.... Wednesday is that last day of the extension we signed. Even if it all goes smoothly from this moment on, the seller would have the right to change his mind and consider us in violation of the agreement, send us our Earnest money and sell to someone else.
THAT worries me.

My teeth the day after

I won't post any pictures since all are unpleasant in one way or another. When I fell asleep, my face was still numb in the same area, but the tingling about-to-wake-up feeling got intense around the edges. I had to pile as many pillows as I could behind me and sleep upright since every time I lay down I bled a bit and I am too freaked by the description of dry socket to want to risk dislodging the cloth that formed.
I was sleepy, but I have to be falling down tired to sleep upright so I ended up staying awake til 5 am. When I woke at 9, I felt great. I mean, I really felt great. There was no bleeding, no numbness and best of all, the aching throbbing constant pain I had endured for two years was gone. Even the ache from the extraction, the soreness from my jaw cramping after such a long and difficult dentist appointment, the spot where I had been injected so often they formed a swollen collage of tiny holes and a couple of slices.... none of it hurt as bad as the pain of those bad teeth for so long.
I considered crying because of the freedom from pain, but decided quickly that it would only give me puffy eyes and a red and snotty nose. That wouldn't help anything. So instead, I smiled and had a calm happy day despite the plan my children had to make me crazy.
Three more days of steroid pills and 600mg of ibuprofen a day. A couple of weeks til I can eat normally. The NEXT DAY I had nearly no pain. this is something I don't say about run-in's with dental professionals, so mark this day....

It was worth it. Forcing myself past the fear, enduring the pain, sitting in that chair for half a day and living on squishable foods. Worth it.

Today I ate solid food for the first time in 30 hours. Leftover chili with a dollop of sour cream. I was so excited that I ate the donut that taunted me... that was slightly more involved since I had to tear it to small bits, put it in the right side of my mouth manually and then take a sip of milk to soak into it and make it mushy. I got bold and tried a pb&j... too much. I ended up making a duck egg omlette and topped it with olives and cheddar. It was too much to eat, but it was gooooood. Lots of water and a cup of coffee rounded out my day. I am digging the idea of something interesting to eat, but since it has to be soft, I think I'll make raspberry cream cheese crepes with a little sprinkle of nutmeg.
I am dieting but no fears, this is still within my limits and it's working. I have lost two more pounds!! That's a total of 6 pounds in as many weeks. Sigh, it's slow, but working. I'm changing my approach to food instead of planning special meals.

YUM!!!

I love cooking, I hate standing over a stove or being tied to a timer. I love my crockpot for those reasons but it's hard to find a good recipe. Samma, from my Granola Chicks group, shared this and I think I found my new favorite go-to recipe source. It helps that Stephanie has possibly the cutest personality ever, but the recipes, OH, the recipes!
Mom, I know you're gonna love this blog, so take a look around. We'll have to compare once we've made a few dishes :)
A Year of Crockpotting
I think my first recipe will be the Crockpot Chicken Makhani.

updates, even you don't want to know!

We heard back, we are definitely closing escrow on the 10th, possibly getting the keys that day but more likely, since it's a Friday, we'll be getting them on the following Monday. Mom is supposed to come up on the 10th, Erin is supposed to be here the 11th, and Mase has a dentist appointment on the 14th.
Man, everything in my life these days seems to be either directly related to or orbiting the subjects of dentists and home ownership.
Mack's teeth are paid for in two more payments of $250 THANK GOD! Mase's teeth are getting preventative care (brushing and flossing several times a day and a professional cleaning every two months) to stave off the same prob Mack had and I am hopeful.
Mick has great teeth and his single cavity was fast and easily treated with no trauma at all. Lucky punk.
Today was my big appointment.
Mike needs to get two cavities filled, which his insurances covers, so in 1-2 more appointments, he'll be gravvy.

We got all of our ducks in a row, T's signed, I's dotted, affairs in order, and many other time honored cliches of a similar bent. Basically, alllll good. We passed all our inspections, the full price plus all the little add-ons and such is still within our loan limit and our monthly budget, we turned in notice with our landlord, we have arranged help for the house moving AND kid watching (thank you MOM!) Mike heard from our mortgage broker that we had been approved 1 day before the acceptable credit score was raised ... to a score above Mike's median by 10. BUT we got it just in time. Phew!
Back to my teeth.... I know, you SO want to hear this. I had gone to the dentist for a cleaning and assessment. I would have said 'check up' but that implied that I had no idea anything could be wrong and it was simply to make sure all was still hunky dory in my mouth. I KNEW it wasn't. I had broken my #18 tooth. Lower left side, last molar. I broke it the Christmas before I got pregnant with my now-17 month old. Since I never saw a dentist, it understandably got worse. At my assessment, the dentist told me I needed a root canal on a tooth that didn't hurt at all (#16), no damage to be seen, and that the broken tooth needed pulled. Extracted. Like it was that simple. Bah. Oh, and 17 fillings, plus a possible second root canal (#3, upper right hand second in from the back) depending on how bad it looked once I was under anesthesia.
Right about then was when Mack had seen a pediatric dentist and we both turned out to need thousands of dollars in care. Mine could be fixed later, Mack's were more important. Still, it took months to get things in order and in the end, Mack got 4 upper center teeth pulled and every single tooth in his head got a crown. All of them. Tiny, shiny, silver crowns all around except for his eye teeth, which are large white things. He calls them his Super Teeth.
Once that was taken care of, I was supposed to go to the dentist. Being scared as I am, I put it off a couple of weeks. Two weeks too long. The root canal that didn't hurt got sore, like I had a popcorn skin stuck not in the gum, but UNDER the tooth. Then one day while flossing, it snapped off a chunk of tooth between it and the molar behind it. The next day I noticed swelling, tenderness... then dark purple color streaking from it... then white spots on top of that. Crap. Abscess. Well, at least it explained why I had been sick to my stomach after eating for so long. I used oil pulling to clear it up, which worked in about three days. I figured I would let it heal completely because all they would do is put me on antibiotics and wait 10 days anyhow.
Another mistake. I was eating one night and my second possible root canal broke. A chunk of tooth and a giant filling. I was pissed, but the next morning when my attempt to eat a banana put me spasms of pain, I realized I had a big problem.
Mike made my appointment that day, but they only had an appointment for two weeks later. I dealt, I ate mush and drank meal replacement shakes and avoided soda because it invariably cause throbbing pain everywhere.
And the appointment? Scary as hell and I hope I never have to do it again. The dentist, while congenial and talented was easily distracted and a little slow to warn me he was about to do something that "might pinch a little". If by pinching, you mean less like a Aunty grabbing my cheek and more like Aunty slapping me silly, then yes, it pinched a bit.
Let me go back and start at the beginning. Good place, right? I know, I am brilliant. At the appointment Mike made, they looked me over, painlessly poked around and gave me the verdict of two root canals and extraction. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I was quoted a price that, combined with my pain (emotional and physical) had me crying like a big moron. It would max my dental coverage for a YEAR as well as cost me $609 out of pocket. Upon the tears falling, the hygienist recommended Care Credit. I could get a loan for $1000 over the phone and take care of my teeth plus some, then pay it back at $83 a month for the next 12 months. If I screwed up at all, the charges and fees applied would be outrageous, but if I stuck to the agreement I was saved. Of course did the only thing I could. I called Care Credit and put myself into debt. I had been making the call outside the office, got approval and went straight back in only to be told I couldn't have an appointment for another 8 days. Instead, they called me last night with a cancellation. I took it, scared out of my wits.
I went in this morning at 10:40 and left the kids with Mike to go to the park. The dentist and hygienist reviewed the plan with me again and I was surprised to find it included both root canals, but not the extraction, which pained me most. I added it on because saving a tooth is $1100 but pulling one was only $125.
They numbed me with a weird new tool - a normal looking syringe with a wicked long thin needle, but instead of a plunger, it was attached by hose to a machine that pumped the right amount of anesthesia. It talked and whirred while it worked and freaked me out at first. Two deep shots to the lower left where the extraction and abscessed tooth were. This left my face numb up to the corner of my eye. The same thing on the upper right. It was painful, but I was way too scared in response to something so simple. I was getting so tense that my muscles were twitching and shaking like crazy. I was asked many times if I was ok.

Why would they ask that? Did I look ok?

I had been through an emergency root canal once 6 years ago and I remember the pain being a single zing of an electric shock through the center of my tooth. That happened with the first root canal today. It would have been bearable, but the fine, tiny, mosquito-like drill was replaced with a larger, eyeball shaking, pavement cutter inspired thing. Right about the time the dentist let it wind down while touching tooth then whirred the RPMs back up, I felt the tell-tale tingling waterfall from my crown to my toes. I was shaking so bad no one noticed the sudden and unexplainable rush of large goosebumps all over my body so I had to wave my hand frantically. NO NO NO I cannot have a seizure with a drill in my mouth!!!
The two looked at me in concern and pulled the instruments away just in time for me to do my impression of a floppy fish dying, the hygienist asking urgently if I had a foul taste. How would I know? I've never tasted me thanks, and promptly pass out.
I woke to see the dentist comforting the 25 year old hygienist and telling her he thought it was a petit mal and it should be fine now. He went on as if I hadn't moments ago caused him to hold a drill behind his head. Maybe I'm being presumptuous, but I would believe he hasn't had much call to do that before.
She, on the other hand... she was pissed. I got that "you scared me bad, jerk!" look for a few minutes while they finished my tooth. I also got several comments about seizures not being in my medical history.
I was silly enough to believe they wanted to know about seizures because of the meds I would be taking. Since I was un-diagnosed with something between a petit mal and epilepsy, they never gave me meds. Thus I didn't mention it, besides, the seizures are uncommon enough I never thought I would have one. Thankfully, I was spaced and zombie-like after, relaxing to the point of Limpnoodlyness and my lack of muscle tone and response prompted them to ask again, repeatedly if I was ok.
Moving on to root canal number two! Yippee! This felt numb til they drilled it. I then screamed and bucked and kicked. He asked calmly 'did you feel something?'
As if to make sure I wasn't being dramatic, he poked the exposed and mangled but live nerve with a sharp metal thing. Same response. The cure? Jab it again with anesthesia. Twice he did this and the third time still it hurt I closed my eyes and thought of my happy place and pretended to feel no pain so it would be over. The hygienist said over and over "that's a LIVE tooth" After all, once the nerve was out, shouldn't the pain stop? It did til he "tested the depth of the dentine" It was an acceptable level of 19, whatever that means, and it hurt like fire. As with the first tooth, he screwed in a pin that on x-rays looked wood screw eating accident and covered it up with an amalgam that was cured with a black light looking device.
Next came the fastest and least painful procedure, the extraction.
WRONG.
He had numbed the nerve in my jaw a few extra times for the 2nd root canal and assumed it would hold back the pain from the extraction. Nope. It was as if there was no anesthesia. He had wrenched on it a few times when he realized I was softly squealing in pain.
Another local directly into my inflamed and abused tooth involved first drilling the center away. Oh, such pain. It still didn't work, so another local as well as another long acting anesthetic. Then after one more failed attempt to deaden the fire, he gave me another long acting dose and left for a while. While he was gone, I noticed no difference and steeled myself for the inevitable. Sure enough, with a sympathetic look and a firm hand on my shoulder, he literally muscled that sucker out through my pain. Every touch, every tweak felt like an electric shock in the center of my tooth. Like a weed-burner fence, the pain was stronger each shock til with an anticlimactic ending, the tooth came free. Near complete cessation of pain, no more shock, no noise or sensation to indicate it was free of my jaw. After this, the woman had the ... let's use the word 'gall' because she obviously didn't have the anatomy that came to mind as a descriptive and let's face it, my Mom reads this once in a while) to turn to me and say that sometimes pressure was interpreted as pain... to which I yelled " Holy Crap! I couldn't feel my FACE but I felt that tooth, like a shock in the core every time it was touched"
Oh. she says, that does sound like nerve pain.

You THINK!?!
By this time I had stopped twice to pee, the dentist had seen three other patients and it was 2pm. I had been through three births and never wanted pain killers, but when the Dr mentioned a RX, I said Bring it on! only to find that once I got to the pharmacy, it was for steroids. Not pain relief. Cus I needs to be bulkier, hairier and have a smidge more mean attitude. What about my pian?!?!
Take 600 mg ibuprofen he says.
It's now 3:26 am and I am still numb. I am unable to feel my left eye, left ear and the scalp for about two inches around said ear. I cannot feel my lower lip or any of the teeth in my lower left jaw. If I cannot feel, I cannot eat. It's now been 24 hours and I have had the total of 1 cup milk and half a cup water. I want to wake up with feeling but I also dread the ache. At least most of the grossly swollen cheek is down. Now I am worrying about dry socket ratios and the fact that women get twice as many occurrences. Once I had the used of my right side and half of my tongue, I talked to my mom and she was sure I wasn't ok, even before I told her about my day. She is a font of deep sympathy and unquestionable sincerity... she called me Nancy (sewing with Nancy)

Mike bought me a donut and a warm, not hot, coffee to make me feel better. The coffee was do-able if I was paying close attention, but the solid food was not. Now that donut sits taunting me. Damn pastries. it feels a little like the grave yard hallucination scene from the movie Young Sherlock. I'm Watson. The donut is the cream filled cruller. And the zombies... well, does a van of sleeping kids count?