My ears hurt

Minifacelift this morning, leaving me the spittin' image of jobba the hutt. i am assured by all and sundry that this is merely the swollen, immediately postop visage which will soon be replaced by the gorgeous, smooth, even postop view. when my sister arrived to shuttle me home i detected a distinct note of consternation--she's the one who got all this started when she found our Melinda LaCerna, MD, plastic and reconstructive surgeon extraordinaire.

I'm 63 yrs old, almost 64, actually, my mom is 87 and still going strong and we just buried her uncle who was 100 yrs 9 mos, so if i can avoid accidents, suicide and anemia, i'm probably looking at many more years and i'd like to look at them from a smoother, more relaxed face. also, my husband told me he would pay half, and i definitely don't look a gift husband in the face.

baked art of cooking's apple cake using chopped 'reduced calorie' apricots and it was delicious. toasting the walnuts was the perfect choice and something i always forget to do. had mom over for dinner--this was last night, bytheby PREOP. i had boneless pork loin chops and after slicing those horizontally, prepared them piccata and they were almost worth a photo served in an old california pottery orange platter.

also did mexican zucchini prep with adobo sauce. i never use the complete container/jar of adobo peppers, similar to the tomato paste conundrum. i found knorr's adobo cubes, similar to the old chicken/beef broth cubes added for flavoring. the squash recipe called for adobo, of course, and i added two cubes to 1/2 c chicken broth, zapped them and then added to zucc which had already been sauteed with an onion. covered and mellowed; magnificent. some sour cream at the end. did not have the cotija cheese but will definitely be locating some asap because this is a great recipe.

and, for christ's sake, enough about the olympics. i'm glad the prez and 1st lady gave it a try and sorry chicago wasn't chosen, but so what? we've bigger fish to fry, which reminds me that 1) i'd like to fry some catfish and 2) i have cooking oil to recycle and need to contact my buddy who cooks his own biodiesel. i've officially moved my deep fryer to the back deck and it does involve increased logistical support but lessons the amount of grease in the atmosphere of my kitchen.

we're nearing the end of our contract for health care and even though i am a retired deputy sheriff my union still covers me on their group plan which makes my life easier although it still costs $468/mo to cover my health ins and my dental which includes my husb. although i have never accumulated enough quarters to qualify for social security payments, i will receive medicare from one of my husbands who both qualified. just hoping that rule doesn't change. i was talking to one of my cousins in oklahoma in january and mentioned that i would not get a cash stipend from social security and he was astounded and said he thought everyone was eligible for a grant. as it turns out, many of my friends and associates in the cop shop aren't eligible because of our agreement with the govt in 1937 when our retirement act was voted into law. teachers were also included in that and of course the us govt's own civil service, as well. govt civil service changed many years ago and teachers/cops were brought into the system in 1987 (I think), with teachers being grandfathered, so all existing could qualify. cops were not included in the grandfathering. oh well, i have a good retirement, and keeping all digits crossed, the people of the state of calif will let me keep it.

Fog is back and fires under control

It's time to clean off the patios and outdoor furniture for the last few weeks of good sitting outside weather--Halloween is usually the last time we sit on the front patio. I like to decorate with a lifelike python and skeleton and talk to the little kids who brave our hill. The important part about Halloween is to dispose of the extra candy immediately afterward while willpower is strong. One unfortunate side effect of visiting the wonderful chocolatiers in Paris and frequenting TruffleHound in Ventura is that the average commercially produced candy tastes awful. But, i'll eat it in a pinch.

Over the years I've lived in some great neighborhoods with people who loved to celebrate Halloween. One man put his bbq in the driveway and cooked hotdogs for all and sundry. An elderly couple in my childhood neighborhood invited every kid into the livingroom, had each sign a guest book and gave each a Coca Cola in a bottle, of course there weren't any canned soft drinks then. Regrettably, we little heathens didn't appreciate the effort and opportunity and i recall several antsy moments before being able to effect an escape....

One year my Mom made popcorn balls, another year she prepared candied apples. She made cookies and we distributed and received all kinds of homemade goodies. The 1950's were simpler and certainly innocent. Watching Betty on Mad Men takes me back to the moms I knew except none of them ever treated their kids like Betty treats hers. But my Mom was beautiful and had great clothes and a collection of nifty hostess aprons and she was a great cook, actually she is still all of the above but i'm not sure about the aprons.

We sat on the back patio last night and had dinner--it's starting to get a little nippy but I love eating out. We ate Hebrew National hotdogs, canned/doctored baked beans, cole slaw and, for dessert chocolate cheesecake. Mom brought champagne, so it was the perfect meal.

I'm preparing for my mini-facelift and am trying to acclimate myself to sleeping on my back, so am not sleeping well or much. Guess I'll be blogging through this experience to avoid complete fatigue-induced meltdown.

Time to check Slate, HuffPost, etc.

Adios.