Breathing In and Breathing Out. Repeat.

• After Thursday at Ganymede I wanted to just pick up a book and hit the beach and simply wait for the foreclosure papers on the studio. I decided to just stay clear for a bit and instead TY and I went to Whole Foods for a morning field trip. Oh geesh, shoot me now. Shopping with him at a food store is like herding cats- we hit the halfway mark and he is DONE and I have fifteen cheeses in the cart. So, whenever I shop with him I make sure I don't need anything.

$263 later of buying 'nothing' we left and headed home. It took me no time to unload the few bags of stuff- why in hell do I need NINE fresh sardines, I ask you? Two would have been plenty for us- they are about the size of a trout.

• 

So, it's sardines for dinner for the next week, ugh. I don't think he has ever had a sardine that didn't come in a can drowned in oil- should be interesting around here. This is tonight's recipe:

Mediterranean sardines

• Serves 2.

• Rinse the sardines under running cold water. Pat them dry with paper towels.
• Dredge each sardine in flour.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet, and fry the sardines over medium heat. If the heat is too low, it takes to long to cook them, and this sardine recipe will be dry and unappetizing. If the heat is too high Mediterranean sardines burn easily. The olive oil should be very hot before placing the sardines in the skillet, or they will stick to the bottom.
• Mediterranean sardines should be cooked after 7 to 10 minutes on each side,depending on their size.
• Start the vinaigrette while the sardines are cooking in the skillet. Put the herbs in a mortar and crush and pound them with a pestle. For this sardine recipe, a spice grinder or food processor can give acceptable results too. Pour the 1/2-cup extra virgin olive oil and mix very wellwith the pestle. When you have obtained a homogeneous sauce, add the lemon juice, and mix well again.Add a pinch of salt and mix. The vinaigrette dressing is ready. If you have a nice ceramic mortar, you can serve the vinaigrette in it.As soon as the sardines are done, serve them hot together with the vinaigrette

• Speaking of herding cats, we have lots of feral cats in the neighborhood that may just be getting a sardine treat this week.

Off I went to return a box fan I had bought only to find out my windows are fixed and don't open. Ya think I would have noticed that, right? But this is Florida and nobody ever opens windows! I didn't have the receipt, but the guy just returned cash for it and off I went happy as I could be with my new $15 in my wallet. Which pays for a few sardines if you look at the Big Picture.

So, by 10:30 that was done and I knew the studio was a mess and needed to be cleaned up and organized after my hasty retreat. I also knew the printer wasn't going anywhere without me dealing with it. And I needed to see if the flood had dried up. So off I went. I found that if I folded all my huge papers in half they would fit in a cabinet if I simply emptied off a shelf or two, so I amused myself doing that for a few hours- now at least I can ruffle through the papers when I need something, and rarely do I need a full sheet for a project. If I do I can always iron it, right?
While I was breaking my back on the floor sorting papers the phone rang and it was the guy who had installed my sink!
TY had run into him and told him I had a problem and he called immediately and showed up 10 minutes later to investigate. He figured out what was wrong and off he went to Home Depot to get 'a piece' of something or other.

Because he was there I had to get off the floor, then I couldn't get back ON the floor so busied myself packing up the printer to take back to see if a tech could figure it out. I would have never done this because I knew full well it was my error, but Laurie had stopped into Office Depot on her way home and they told her to bring it in (!) for a look-see. I had no faith they could fix it but packed it all up anyway. I parked the car and was wrestling the damn box out when a guy cam running out and offered to help me. The fact that he called me ma'am was offputting but he hoisted it on his shoulder and raced inside to my amazement. We hunted down 'Steve' who appeared out of the mist and he took it and threw it on the floor and asked me if I wanted a replacement or a different one. HUH? He didn't even want to hear my story about what happened- and I was fully prepared to tell him it was All My Fault. Off he went to get a fresh printer, he reappeared in seconds and then CARRIED IT OUT TO MY CAR! No questions asked. I guess I now have to always shop at Office Depot, and not resent the flyers and catalogs they send me all the time.

Today I get to go re-connect the printer and clean up the sink and hope that my Ikea rug has dried out- the only reason I am wanting it dry is I don't want the mold that will stink up the place- I am not at all concerned about the beauty of the rug being compromised.

I checked the mail on my way home and Medicare has refunded me $167. So, not only am I happy about my day of errands being successfully completed, messes cleaned up, and a full refrigerator- I am in the money! Don't think I didn't find twenty things in the Jerrys Artorama Catalog that will use up that refund and a lot more. (Unless I show up at their store 50 miles away between 7 and 9 AM on Black Friday so I can save 40%!)

Whatevah. It's a new day, the sun is coming up, the coffee is almost gone, my post is written and I'm gonna hit the showers. You never know what this day will bring- perhaps some artwork! What are the chances...