Hello! I’ve been away. Did anyone notice? What have I been away doing? Well, first, Thursday last week was Bookman’s birthday. He turned forty-eleven, something worth celebrating, eh? So we did. We went out to breakfast at our favorite breakfast place and I baked him a cake. Per Bookman’s request, the cake was chocolate chocolate chip with peanut butter cream frosting. I am not the cook of the house but that does not mean I don’t know how to cook, and I made a freaking awesome cake if I do say so myself. We had a meandering kind of quiet day with a little of this and a little of that. Some of that included packing because Friday morning we flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Bookman’s brother lives there and his niece got married on Saturday. We were very happy we could make it for the wedding. Bookman and I don’t often get to travel anywhere together, our slow times at work don’t exactly coincide and we both work places with a small staff which requires a whole other level of scheduling consideration. We knew about the wedding though since last winter and were able to make sure everything coordinated.
A friend of ours stopped by and took care of Waldo and Dickens. We travel so little, and, as I said, rarely together, that we had never left the cats alone like this before and they are 8-years-old! They survived just fine though. They were a bit mad at us when we got home last night, did the “I’m going to sniff you but you are not allowed to touch me” bit. Waldo is also an expert at making big sad eyes so he mooned around the house trying to look as wounded as possible to elicit sympathy and then not let us touch him. Ah, the cats, they know how to make their people feel guilty. They soon got over being mad though, their desire for cuddles outweighing their resentment. When I woke up this morning I had Waldo snuggled up and purring on one side of me and Dickens snuggled up and purring on the other. Today they have been sticking to me like glue. Bookman and I left for an hour to go grocery shopping and upon our return they tried to play the “you’re causing us trauma” card but they dropped it pretty fast when they realized we weren’t buying it.
It was a good trip. A Beautiful wedding that even had vegan food! And it was great to catch up with Bookman’s family, many of whom I haven’t seen in a very long time. The flight to and from wasn’t completely terrible. The only snag was on our return yesterday. I opt for the pat down instead of going through those full-body x-ray machines. The TSA agent got a false-positive for explosives on her gloves after the pat down. So then she took everything out of my carry-on bag that had just gone through being x-rayed and had passed and tested it all for evidence of explosives. In the bag was a sealed, just bought container of hummus and some pita bread that was going to be my and Bookman’s lunch. Well, apparently hummus is considered a potential hazard and even though the luggage screener had let it through, the TSA agent emptying my bag refused to. When I told her it was sealed and it was my lunch she told me I could go back out of the airport, eat it and then come back in. And go through all this again? My flight leaves in an hour! She was not sympathetic and tossed my hummus in the trash. I suspect after I left she fished it out and had it for her own lunch.
After going through my bag and finding no explosives, the TSA agent took me to a private room and gave me another pat down. I’m not sure why I needed a private room for this because the pat down was exactly the same as before only she used the palm of her hand down the inside of my legs rather than the back of her hand. Bookman gives them the benefit of the doubt and says they are offering privacy, but I suspect it is meant to be intimidating. Of course on the second go-round everything was fine. Except it wasn’t because Bookman and I no longer had any lunch.
Albuquerque airport does not have an abundance of restaurants like the one in Minneapolis does. There was no decent food to be found so we ended up having a big plate of overly priced, greasy french fries for lunch. I have not had french fries in quite a few years and this “lunch” had the curious effect of feeling both like a naughty treat and disgusting at the same time. But between that, some almonds the TSA agent did not deem a threat, and a tiny bag of airplane peanuts, we made it back to Minneapolis a little hungry but not starving.
There wasn’t much time for reading during our stay in Albuquerque but of course I had plenty of reading material! I had my Kobo with several books on it, my iPad with magazines, and I finished reading The Martian by Andy Weir on the airplane yesterday.
It’s nice to be home, sleeping in my own bed that doesn’t sag in the middle, not having to breathe dry desert air and dry, overly air conditioned air, having my garden-gone-wild and being surrounded by brilliant greens instead of the dusky desert colors, which are pretty but don’t exactly satisfy me.
Oh, one last thing! Thursday last week while weeding in the garden around some milkweed and feeling a bit sad about not hosting any monarchs this year, I came upon a big fat monarch caterpillar! It was huge and I suspect, close to being ready to spin a cocoon. I will have to keep my eyes out for it!
Back to work for me tomorrow and back to a regular schedule. Breaking up your routine is good to do now and then, but it is also nice to get back to one as well.
Sounds like a GREAT trip. Yes, I missed you!
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Helen, aw thanks! It was a good trip 🙂
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I’m glad you had an enjoyable trip. I completely agree with you about the desert. It’s pretty to visit, but it’s such a relief to get back to a green landscape!
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biblioglobal, thanks! I do like the desert very much, I grew up in southern California and there were many desert camping trips. But nothing beats a green landscape!
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How nice you could go to the wedding.
I almost wrote “weeding”!
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booksandbuttons, LOL “weeding” would have been way too perfect! 😀
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I noticed you weren’t around…but I’d been gone too. Next week I’m headed for Albuquerque, by car. My cats are unfortunately used to being left, although no cat is ever truly “used” to it.
Those pat-downs are never fun. I have one anytime an airport does’t have a big scanner, because of my artificial knee.
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Jeanne, by car is a long trip! I hope it is a good one!
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To begin with, a very happy birthday to Bookman! Sounds like he had a great birthday…I love the icing on your cake! We missed you Stefanie, but you did mention you had a wedding to attend, so I could account for it! I glad you had fun and vegan food….how cool is that???!!! But the security check must have tried your patience and wile I know all of this is meant for our safety, it does go OTT at times. And of course no matter how much you enjoyed your trip, there is NOTHING like home!
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cirtnecce, Bookman says thank you! We were surprised and delighted there was vegan food because it was not something we expected. The groom has Asian heritage so they dinner buffet was an interesting mix of southwest and Asian and all the Asian food was vegan and so very tasty. As I told one of my coworkers, a recent report revealed TSA has a 95% fail rate at detecting firearms but my hummus was dangerous!
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Wohoo, sounds like a nice trip. How did you like The Martian? Have that on my pile as well…
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nikki, yeah, it was pretty good. I liked The Martian very much. It was funny and suspenseful and very science-y
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Happy belated birthday! And I love the story about the ‘exploding hummus’.
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MarinaSofia, Bookman says thanks for the good wishes! Yes, we must all watch out for exploding hummus, very dangerous stuff! 🙂
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Can’t say I missed you that way you wondered Stefanie, as I’ve been AWOL too! Most of my posts over the past two weeks were prescheduled as Mr Gums and I were heading off on a lovely holiday to the warm Centre and North – but it didn’t quite work out that way for reasons I won’t go into now. (However, this is why I have not commented on your blog for the last couple of weeks).
So now, my comment. First, happy birthday to Bookman. How I wish I were forty-eleven again. So young! Of course we know you can make a cake. You always do for his birthday. We know that!
As for your trip to Albuquerque, how great that you were able to co-ordindate a holiday away together, but that airport stuff is ridiculous. Hummus thrown out. Really? That’a quite bizarre. (Though Bookman sounds like me. I’m always giving people/organisations the benefit of the doubt while Mr Gums tends to be more cynical.)
Like you though, after nearly three weeks of travelling hither and thither, by plane, train and car, Mr Gums and I are very pleased to be back home. We are ready for a little normality (such as it is).
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whisperinggums, heh, I thought you might be away. I hope you had a good holiday in spite of it not working out as you expected. It was nice that we cold make it to Albuquerque, it meant a lot to his brother that we were there. Airport security stuff makes me crazy it has gotten so ridiculous. I understand the need to keep people safe, but really, hummus is a threat? Bookman says thanks for the birthday wishes!
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Glad you worked out that I wasn’t ignoring you! I never would, you know. Airport security is ridiculous and more show than really they can stop. I realised recently that there are a lot of young people now who would not have travelled, at least not in the active memory, under non-security-plus circumstances. How quickly something becomes the norm eh?
The part of the holiday we did manage was good. Love the Centre so it could not be otherwise.
Tell, Bookman, my pleasure!
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whisperinggums, I am glad the part of your holiday you did manage was good. You are right about a lot of young people not knowing what flying used to be like. I remember the first plane trip I took as a kid and my mom made me dress up! Those days are long gone 🙂
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Haha, dress up. Yes! I often think about that when I see how people dress these days – for planes, for shopping. My grandma used to put on her hat and best shoes and gloves to “go into town”.
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Yes, of course you were missed! Welcome back! I’m glad you were away having fun. I used to like to travel, but now I like the comforts of home better.
Those cats really can do it to us, can’t they. We’ve been contemplating renting a house / condo near Boston in the summer, but we can’t make a decision because we’re worried about our 14-year-old cat, Turtle. We certainly can’t leave her here with a pet sitter for six months. But we’re worried about moving her to a new place for half a year.
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Joan, golly, thanks! Yup, the cats really know how to lay it on even when they have never had any practice at it! What a hard decision to make about Turtle. I know you will go with what is best for her 🙂
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Aaargh I do hate flying! I have to do it, of course. I remember the good old days when it was not only fun, but a rather indulgent treat. No worries about tubes of toothpaste, or sharp pencils..or hummus. Oh, the world in which we live today. Mad, I’m afraid. Happy birthday to Bookman! P.S. How do you make a vegan cake? What do you use in place of the eggs, milk, etc? I just watched Food, Inc. upon recommendation of one of my kids, and I’m looking at the meat and dairy aisles in the supermarket with a jaundiced eye these days. Eating a lot more plant based stuff, I can tell you, after that!! Yuk.
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Grad, yes I used to love flying too, it was such an exciting thing! And now it is nothing but grumbling and unhappiness and a necessary evil. As for the cake, I used soy milk. I’m not sure what in the recipe acted like eggs, there was flour and cocoa and sugar and oil and baking soda–or maybe it was baking powder? one of the two–and a little vanilla and vinegar and I think that was it. Ah, Food Inc is a good one, very disturbing and sad.
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May I jump in here? I’m a vegan and I love to bake. I use a home-made egg substitute that works in everything I’ve baked that calls for eggs (except, of course, things like egg custard pie). I egg: 2 Tbsp flour, 1 Tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 3 Tbsp water, whip to a froth and add to recipe when it calls for an egg (or eggs, just double, triple, etc.). Good luck! And, like Stephanie, I just substitute unsweetened soy milk, almond milk, etc., for cow’s milk.
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There are so many great vegan cookbooks these days we tend to avoid recipes that call for an egg substitute. The few recipes that Bookman makes that do require a substitute he’ll use ground flax seeds or silken tofu or banana depending on what it is.
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Wondered where you were…but a break is always nice. Changing your daily routine like that, even for just a few days, gives you a whole new perspective on your world…at least for a while.
Your comments about your airport experience remind me why I will never, ever fly again. If a car or a boat don’t go there, forget it – that’s my perspective on travel.
I’ll be interested in your comments on The Martian because that one disappointed me a little. I have a review ready for posting that will probably go up on Thursday after a little editing to it.
Anyway, welcome home. Your cats are a hoot.
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Sam, I hate long hours in the car more than I do flying. I’d like to take a train to travel sometime but when there is only a limited amount of time you can be away, plane travel is a necessary evil. As a preview regarding The Martian, I really liked it 🙂
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Certainly noticed! Boy it’s a good thing you didn’t take cucumber/yogurt salad too – they might have put you directly in jail. I forget how uncomfortable a constantly A/C’ed environment is, though a little air-conditioning over the past weeks here wouldn’t have gone amiss. It shouldn’t be 90º for days on end in the Pacific Northwest. And a happy forty-eleventh birthday to Bookman!
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Jule, oh my goodness, if I had had that, you would probably never hear from me again since everyone knows how dangerous cucumbers and yogurt are! Oh, you’ve been hot! I hope you aren’t near where any of the fires are. Bookman says thanks for the birthday wishes 🙂
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No, no wildfires near Seattle, we just have to worry about the usual mudslides, volcanoes, tsunamis and soaring costs with what seems to be half the world moving here. Oh, and that little matter of the Cascadia fault that will cause the Extremely Big One that’s supposed happen any minute now. Makes Minnesota winters look downright appealing doesn’t it!
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Aw so you’ve got nothing to worry about! 😉 I grew up in Southern California to the constant refrain of “The Big One” on the San Andreas fault. It was always about to happen and still hasn’t. I did live in Northridge during the 1994 earthquake and moved to Minnesota six months later. The two weren’t related but I would much rather have MN winters than another 6.7 earthquake!
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Sounds like a nice trip apart from all the searching at the airport. Whenever I travel with my polaroid camera, I get searched extra hard. Even when I tell them “hey, my camera will trigger a flag,” and take it out and show it to them, I have to do all this extra search stuff. Takes forever!
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Jenny, apart from the airport it was a good trip. Weird they should give you so much trouble over a polaroid camera!
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Being from the Detroit area, we have a huge Arab-American population. They always have a tough time getting through the airport either here or in New York. We have many Christian Chaldeans and Lebanese along with Muslims who have been in the USA for many generations. Due to the current state of the world, I feel bad that they have to feel like a suspected terrorist. On a side note, we also probably have the most Middle Eastern restaurants of any urban area of our size. People who travel here, (and they are few, because who travels to Detroit unless they have to for business?) But oh, the Detroit area does have some gems because the food is so good, and many vegan options as well. We live like kings here and someday the outsiders are going to discover that Detroit is not so bad after all.
Butterfly bushes are aptly named. I have two of them and they really do attract such a diverse variety of butterflies.
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Lynette, you’re making me want to visit Detroit just for the food!
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Thanks, I know I write off the cuff stuff, but we are definitely worth a long weekend. If you know of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, it is so worth it. We have the chair that President Lincoln sat in when he was murdered. Creepily, it still has the blood stains. We also have President Kennedy’s car and the actual bus that Rosa Parks sat in when she refused to sit in the back of the bus.
You recently mentioned Frida Kahlo. She and Diego Rivera famously lived in Detroit from 1935-36. I don’t think she liked it much here, but our most famous piece of artwork is Rivera’s mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts. During Detroit’s bankruptcy, our creditors most definitely wanted to get hold of our priceless artwork at the DIA. Thank goodness it survived unscathed.
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Happy Birthday Bookman!
I missed you. 🙂 And I had a TOTAL shock when I went back to England and flew for the first time in about a billion years. So many things you’re not allowed to take, and of course I’d taken them all. And then the security staff in Stansted are so RUDE! I think they must have a lot of stress.
I don’t want anyone to blow up a plane, but if someone could explain to me the potential security implications of a cheese sandwich, I’d be interested!
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Helen, you’re right, airport security people are probably really stressed, but I still don’t forgive them for always being so rude. I don’t fly very often either and it seems every time I do there are new rules and I am always breaking one of them. They wouldn’t let you have your cheese sandwich? Was it close to lunch time? Maybe one of the security agents was hungry 😉
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Very happy (very belated) Forty-eleventh birthday (heh) to the Bookman! Tell him I like his dewey-decimal system for human ageing. Might have to borrow it myself. And the trip and wedding sound lovely. I am sending a Paddington Hard Stare in the direction of the airport security people. Quite unnecessary to relieve you of your lunch!!
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Litlove, Bookman sends his thanks! Feel free to use his aging system 🙂 I wonder what would have happened if I had opened my hummus and started eating it right there in front of the TSA agent? I might have made the news when someone caught a crazy woman stuffing pita and hummus into her mouth on video while she was being dragged away!
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