Japanese Noodles

I was watching TV tonight and I heard that there are some delicious Japanese noodles that are only 40 calories. There are some good receipes on Hungry Girl. I decided to check this out because I have gained so much weight on the Prednisone. I look like Shrek.

It seems these noodles are hard to find. I guess Amazon picked up on that because you can get them there. Today the have a ranking of number number 1 in the gormet foods. But check out the reviews. I really liked this one: "I tried these ...... The smell is pretty bad but I could get past that; it's the fact that it would be easier to eat rubber that got to me. I tried one bite and spit it out. My husband tried it and it took him forever to chew up one bite, we threw the rest in the trash. Sounds good when you read about it, and I have a pretty tough stomach, but even this was just too much for me. Don't waste your money. "

One of the stores the company (House Foods) said carried it, is my favorite store Stew Leonards. You can read about my little tiff I have with them here. So the next time I am in there I will look for them. I doubt if I will find them because everyone seems to be looking for them. Just what we need is more people in Stew Leonards. As it is, I have to go there 7 in the morning or after 10 pm. The best time is in the middle of a snow storm.

I will let you know what I think they taste like. I will be looking for them on Martha Stewart.

New Orleans

I got an email from a grade school friend today. Most people probably don't even remember who was in their grade school class. Heck I don't remember anyone from high school but I could name everyone is my grade school class. There were about 20 of us and we were in the same class from 3rd grade until 7th. Some of the kids started in kindergarten. In 8th grade we were split into two classes. Why? Because it was an Episcopalian school and we had to take bible history. But our class was half Jewish so they didn't have to learn the New Testament. So they divided the class and while we were reading the New Testament they were learning Latin.

You are probably wondering why the Jewish kids were in an Episcopalian school. I am pretty sure it was because it was one of the only private schools in Greenwich Village at the time. And they really did not push the religion down your throat.

To get back to the email. My classmate told me she was living in New Orleans. She had given up her Coop in New York and had bought a cute house just before the hurricane. I hadn’t heard this and was quite surprised. The last time I saw her which was a couple of years ago she had been recovering from Cancer. Anyway, her house wasn’t damaged that much. But I thought I would share what she wrote about living there now.

She writes, “We here refer to New Orleans as Baghdad on the Bayou these days and it is amazing to be part of the re-building/re-newal effort. These are amazing folk !”

I really can't take it anymore

My knee started to hurt again. That is how it all started last time. I don't think I should have been shoveling the driveway yesterday. This morning I couldn't move and I just figured it was raining. But then I walked into the kitchen and my knee hurt like hell.

I go to physical therapy tomorrow so I will see what they say. My doctor's office is across the hall so if I need to see him I can stop by.

Penny, my Amazon, loves when I am in pain. She just cries along with me. I really have to record her. My African Grey is staying with a friend because she is too much for me right now. She is very young and wants to be near you all the time. She has to follow you everywhere and since she has her wings clipped she walks on the floor. Her name is Ruby. She is so funny because she is pigeon toed so it looks like she is waddling when she walks into a room. Her sister, Scarlett, is fine. She walks straight. Anyway, when Ruby walks into the room she says, "What are you doing?" in a New York accent. I have no idea where she got that accent.

I am so glad the Supreme Court upheld Oregon's law on physician-assisted suicide yesterday, ruling that the Justice Department may not punish doctors who help terminally ill patients end their lives. I have been thinking of moving there. I wonder if we will have a law like that in Connecticut. I bet they pass it in Vermont before here.

Please just give me an overdose of Morphine, doctor.

The Golden Globes

Did you watch the Golden Globes? My daughter and I always like to watch them. Now that she is in her 30's we do it over the telephone. We are usually on our cell phones or we are text messaging. We have that plan where you can talk to anyone that has the same plan for free.

i think it was OK. My daughter thought it was boring. She was just glad that Donald Sutherland didn't win anything. She says he gives her the creeps. I can't see it since I always think of him as Hawkeye Pierce in the movie MASH.

Thema (Geena Davis) won Best Actress in a Drama Series. She had a funny speech. .She start with telling everyone that on the way in a little girl in her first party dress (I may have the dress part wrong_) tugged at her dress and said because of you I want to be the President of the United States. Everyone said awww... and then she said she made it up.

Paul Newman won Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie. Of course, he wasn't there but I thought it was funny that they said Paul isn't here tonight he is home in Connecticut. Don't you think that is wierd?

Did you see Drew Barrymore ? I think she better start wearing a bra. She certainly could not pass the pencil test. On the other hand we know Gwyneth Paltrow was wearing a bra because her bra strap was showing.

I am so glad Hugh Laurie won for Best Actor in a Drama Series. I love his show, House.

I guess there was a big upset for the Desperate housewive's ladies. Mary Louise Parker won the award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Series against all housewives. Don't worry they won Best Musical or Comedy TV Series. I wonder what it is a musical or a conedy?

John Travolta looked really good presenting Joaquin Phoenix the Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. When did Joaquin change his name back to Joaquin. Remember when he was Leaf. His brother was River and he has a sister, Rain. River died of an overdose in front of Johnny Depp's Club in LA. That was so sad. My daughter had such a crush on him but she insists now she didn't but I remember. Anyway, I remember all the kids had weird names. Now that I think of it they weren't that weird. Remember Frank Zappa' kid's names. One was Moon Unit and I think there was Diva Muffin and Dweezil. For some reason Dweezil doesn't sound that funny. I must have gotten used to it over the years.

I loved Larry McMurtry's speech for winning Best Screenplay along with Dianna Ossana for Brokeback Mountain which also won best picture. He also wrote Lonesome Dove which is one of my favorite books. Anyway Larry thanked his typewriter which he has been using for over 30 years. It was a Hermes 3000. I had a Hermes, too. I don't remember the model. I am sure it is in this house somewhere.

I really have to go to sleep now. I am coming off the steriods and I am crashing all the time. I could sleep all day and night.

Good Night. Good Night, Norah.

Scandal

A lot of people would not admit that they were curious about Brad Pitt and Angeline Jolie. But who were the 17 million people who logged into People Magazine's web site in one day when they reported Jolie was pregnant.

I must admit I am curious and I admit I read People Magazine. They say that there are 8 readers for every issue of People Magazine. They way they get that figure is: Readers-Per-Copy (RPC) – the average number of readers who read/look into an average issue of a magazine. Formula: RPC X circulation = average issue audience.

I used to work for Time Inc Magazines which is the publisher of People Magazine. We used to get all the magazines delivered to our mailboxes. Let me tell you that as soon as People was delivered the word went out and everyone ran to their mailboxes. The only other time everyone would run to the mailnox was when the Swimsuit Issue of Sports Illustrated came out. The men ran so they could compare the women. (This was before it was considered sexual harassment ). The woman would run and get theirs before they were stolen or to look at the bathing suits. Well, maybe some of them had lust in their hearts.

I wonder if this scandal matches Liz Taylor and Eddie Fisher. And did Jennifer feel like Debbie Reymolds did? Will this scandal last as long or are have our morals changed too much?

When I see Debbie Reynolds I still think about it. (This was in 1958 and I was hardly born) Liz and Debbie seem to be good friends now. Will Jennifer and Angeline be good friends 30 years from now? I doubt it because I think it is different if there is a baby involved.

Well, I guess I will still have to read People magazine. I am lucky because I go to a doctor's office at least every other week and that is the first magazine I pick up. Maybe I am not so lucky.....

Ordering too many things

I do think I have cut down on my ordering but I have another problem. I order something from the Yarn Place or Overstock.com and I am not taking the time to really go over the invoice before I press pay invoice. A very stupid thing. Last week I had ordered 145 balls of yarn when I wanted 5. Yesterday I opened the big box from Tassimo and it was a coffee maker I didn't ordered. I had tried to order one and send it to my friend. It wouldn't let me put in another address to have it sent to. I thought I had canceled it but it had stayed in the shopping cart so the next time I ordered coffee it was there. I thought it was expensive but I was ordering a lot of tea and coffee.

So now I have that big box that I have to take to Katonah in my tiny sports car. And now I have to send all that yarn back. They said they don't take returns but they are making an exception but I have to pay the shipping.

That reminds me of the new post office we have down the street. It is in my town but it belongs to the neighbor town. This is so wierd. I went to it the other day and they don't take customers. It seems that my town didn't want them to be able to take customers away from them. I thought the Post Office was a goverment place. Our post offices are horrible. You wait in line forever. That is if you ever find a parking spot so you can go in there. The new post office has so many parking places. It is always empty. It just doesn't seem fair.

The Tiara and the UPS man

Yesterday I was browsing Ebay when I heard a knock on the door. I headed towards the door climbing over the cats and empty boxes. It was my friend the UPS guy. I don't know why he even knocked because I didn't have to sign anything. Anyway he had two boxes from Tassimo which is the coffee maker. (http://www.tassimo.com/ ) One box was very large and I knew I didn't order anything but coffee. I said to the UPS guy that I had no idea what it was because I didn't order anything. Then I said "I better get off this drugs". Jim, my UPS guy, agreed.

After taking in the boxes I rested. I get exhausted just standing up for a while. An hour later I was scratching my head (no, I do not have lice) and I felt something. It was a tiara. I had bought one for my friend's daughter and I was trying it out. Then I realized that I had it on when I was talking to the UPS guy. I wonder what he thinks. He probably thinks I am really mad as a hatter and should be in a looney bin.

I wonder if I am a funny story my UPS guys tells his buddies. His friends probably ask him if he has a wierdos on his route. Then the UPS guy says "Oh yeah, I have one customer that comes to the door in her pajamas with a tiara on her head".

I don't know if I should say anything the next time I see him or just pretend it didn't happen. I think it better be the latter.

Physical Therapy

I went to the physical therapist yesterday. When I went to the car I saw the trunk was open. Oh no, I knew the car wouldn't start. I only had 10 mins to get to my appointment. Luckily it was just down the street. I really didn't think I could do it but I walked there.

I ask Mark, my therapist, why I could walk and it didn't hurt but I couldn't stand still for more than 5-10 mins. He said when you stand everything gets compressed and puts pressure on your hips. That is my problem, my right hip, and when I stand too long it hurts so much I have to lay down right there. Not so great when you are in the grocery store.

Penny, my Amazon parrot, makes fun of me all the time. She imitates my sounds of pain and believe me I have many. She has them up down exactly. How embarassing!!! As soon as I walk in to the living room to fall on the couch until the pain leaves, Penny starts laughing and cries in pain. She is so mean. I have two African greys and they just say, "Ouch Ouch Ouch".

I told Mark that I just want to move without making noises. That is my goal.

Idioms

There is one expression that I just hate. It is "you're the best". I think I get an email a day that has that expression. I am the best what? Best thing since sliced bread? And what does the person say to the next person ? Since I am the best, is the next person better than best. What would that be?

I love idioms. I really started thinking about when I worked with a lot of Russians. They would always ask me what certain expression meant. I didn't realize until then how many we use during the day.

If you go to http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/ you can see a lot of idioms.

I never realized how we got the expression "mad as a hatter". In the past many people who made hats went insane because they had a lot of contact with mercury nitrate in the processing of fur pelts. There must have been a lot of insane people around here. Did you know that Danbury was known as the hat making capital of the world in the 19th century. During the industry boom of the 1880s, over five million hats a year were produced there in 56 different factories.

The state of Connecticut outlawed the use of mercury in hat making in the early 1940s. But there are signs that mercury remains in soil and river sediment not far from where factories once stood. So don't move to Danbury.

Medically induced coma

I think I would like the doctors to do that to me. Wake me up when you have a cure, please.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon seems to be better. His stroke has really affected the right side of the brain.

They say that the left side processes language and logic, the right side deals with imagination and creativity.

Needless to say he will be different.

After my brother had a stroke, his emotions were different. He cried whenever I mentioned our mother. He also had to have everything in order. If anything was out of place he grew very angry. It will be interesting to know how Sharon will act.

I am afraid we will never know.

What the new year brings

Today the doctor said I had Steroid myopathy. Oh Joy!! Muscular Atrophy is so much fun!

Now I have to go to physical therapy for who knows how long. The doctor said it could be months to years.

This is all due to taking the steroids to get rid of the alien growths I had.

The way I see it is these doctors are giving me drugs for the symptoms and then they give me more drugs to treat the side effects of the other drugs.

Lets hope this year I find my own Dr House. I sure need him or her.