Five(ish) For Friday

1. I bought myself some flowers at Farm Boy last week to put on the table by my computer, and it was immensely cheering. This week I was there, and when I went to the cash the bouquets in front of it were $25. I was stuck between "things cost money, beauty is worth paying for" and "25 is a little steep." I decided I wouldn't get any this week, then as I was loading my groceries I turned my head, and across the aisle were ten-dollar bouquets that were just as nice (maybe older?). I looked up all the tips for getting flowers to last longer and they're doing well so far, and they make me so happy every time I look at them.

2. When we went for lunch last week and then Bath and Body Works, Pam and I mocked Sonia gently for buying eight hand soaps. Then I got home and kept looking at the shades-of-pink candles behind us in our selfie, and THEN I got an email saying the three-wick candles were half-price, and friends, mock on.

I'm a tiny bit angry about the silver lid

3. I actually made something from one of Suzanne's Dinners This Week post, after saying dozens of times that I was going to. A modified version of the Sheet Pan Veggie Shawarma, with what I had in the house plus sweet potatoes and the lemon-garlic yogurt dip I had left over from the couscous bowls. As it was cooking, I went out to the garage to get something, and when I opened the door to come back in, the house smelled amazing. Again, ridiculously proud of myself. Lucy also really liked it.

Not a food blogger

4. Angus came home for Christmas with only a carry-on, because he was going from here to a friend's bachelor weekend in Rochester and then driving back to Canada to fly back to Charlotte (if you want the long version: we were stuck trying to figure out how this was all going to work logistically because we didn't know if he could rent a car here and drive it over the border and back. After long deliberation, Matt decided that Angus would drive our car from Hamilton to Rochester. Then Matt got a one-way rental in Ottawa, drove Eve back to Hamilton, met Angus at the Hamilton airport to drop the rental, drove Angus to the Toronto airport for his flight, and then drove home. I still can't quite believe it all worked out like it was supposed to).

Anyway, because of this he didn't take most of his Christmas presents home, or a couple of framed things he wanted for his wall. I boxed them all up, but then Matt went away for three weeks in January and February and I just wasn't physically able to get the packages to UPS by myself. Then when Matt was home, Angus was renewing his visa and told us that we should hold off until that was done, even though there was a 97% chance that it would go through. Because of this he just received the box yesterday, and I got a series of delightful texts about it.

I find it impressive that he already got the pictures up rather than propping them up against a wall for six months. I guess picture-hanging procrastination isn't a heritable trait.

5. I've been having trouble finding something to watch on my own. Matt and I are watching Severance, which I find clever and also claustrophobically terrifying. Jody (HI JODY) and I are watching season 3 of Reacher on Wednesday date nights, and looking forward to season 3 of The Gilded Age. But when I sit down on my own I can't settle on anything. Everything looks too dark, or too light, or has too many episodes, or too few, but mostly nothing is quite RIGHT. This is usually where I think "why is there nothing good on" for five seconds and then realize that it's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me. It's not quite winter and not quite spring and I'm just enough out of my winter depression to be looking around and wondering what the hell I've been doing with my life for the last three months (surviving, mainly, but come on, I was raised Catholic, that's not enough). 

Anyway, I made myself press play on something called Mid-Century Modern, because I love Nathan Lane and it kind of looked like a gay Golden Girls. Three gay best friends move in to one's California house after their friend dies, and Nathan Lane's mom is played with impeccable queenly gives-zero-fuck-ness (fucklessness?) by Linda Lavin. It was delicious - mostly not very subtle, but very funny with good heart. Then in the second-last episode (bit of a spoiler, but obvious if you look at the episode summaries), Sybil Schneiderman dies. I was a little bit angry, like I was when they killed off Alan Arkin's character in The Kominsky Method - yeah, people get old and die, but when the actor isn't actually dead, why kill their character? God plays God, you don't need to. Then I had a terrible feeling, and I googled (somebody tell me to STOP GOOGLING STUFF) and Linda Lavin actually DIED during filming, and when she was diagnosed with cancer she told them to write it into the series. I mean, as life stories and endings go, it's pretty good - she was 87, fabulous, worked at a job she loved pretty much up until she died. But still. 

6. Shit, I ended on a bummer note again. I am still trying to get snail mail out at the rate of more than one card a week. This is my second for this week.

7. Also I just saw this online and it made me laugh. And now I have an inexplicable urge to watch Donnie Darko.