Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Where Did I Get Mango Salsa? And Why Haven't I Eaten It?


Nothing makes me feel as if I'm speeding down the highway of senility faster than not being able to find things I know I have. Or, alternately, buying things and bringing them home, only to discover that I have five other jars of the same thing. Or boxes. Whatever.

I've been trying to just keep moving today. Not that I ever really spend a great deal of time sitting around but still, trying to move more than usual. I hung laundry, three loads, brought it in, folded it, put it away, pulled a few weeds, picked greens and carrots for a salad, made bread, cooked soybeans, cleaned my old office up a bit, threw away some shit in there including bank records that go back to the early 2000's. Then I moved on to the cabinet in the kitchen where I keep most of my packaged foods, although not the canned goods. They're in another place. I don't have very many of those but they're next on the list. I threw away things whose sell-by dates have long since expired and things like opened-but-not-used-up packages of the seaweed you roll sushi in. I have no idea when the last time we made sushi was but I think my mother may have been alive. I found the Tamari I knew I had as well as the box of lasagna noodles I was absolutely certain I'd purchased just last week but could not find when it came time to make the lasagna. Luckily, I did find a box of partly used noodles from when I made tuna lasagna for Kathleen some months ago and there were just the right number to make my casserole. I was astounded to find jars of delicious pickled things to put in martinis: green baby tomatoes, green beans, okra, and jalapeno-stuffed olives. I threw out honey bears with approximately one teaspoon of honey in them, some home-canned peppers that I don't have the slightest clue as to age (they look like they might have been here since the house was built in 1859), a jar of grape leaves meant for stuffing that I bought at Publix on the discontinued display about three years ago, a small container of open butter-flavored Crisco which smelled rancid, and a teeny jar of orange marmalade with a rusty lid and I'm pissed that I never ate it. I love orange marmalade.

Anyway, that all added up to two bags of garbage that I'll definitely be glad to take to the dump facility. It's certainly not in any way representative of the complete purging I need to do but it's a start. It must be spring because today I actually thought about washing our pillows. I've read those articles about how pillows, after a time, are about 90% dust mites and although that should make me feel skeevy, all it does is make me think, "Dust mites are so cozy and comfy!"
But still.
It does definitely feel like spring, as I have pointed out, but it's supposed to get down to near freezing again Friday night with a high temperature during the day of fifty. This is going to twist our tails into tangles. I've been wearing a tank top and shorts all day long and glad for it although the fact that I need to shave my legs is painfully obvious.

Mr. Moon and Bug are doing something manly out in the garage which seems to involve motors and I need to put the rice on. It occurs to me that I may lead one of the most boring lives in the world.
Oh well.
La-di-dah.

It is my life and I feel quite certain that most people have lives that are similar in some ways. We all buy things we do not need and forget, we all need to check our sell-by dates occasionally, we all (eventually- trust me) worry that we've all taken the fucking exit which leads to I've-Lost-My-Mindville entirely by accident and it's too late to turn this beast around. So we do what we can.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Love...Ms. Moon






18 comments:

  1. Dear Mary-

    I love you so and that is all.

    What about our Betsy? Wonderful. I'll give her a hug for you the next time I see her (unless she's got bodyguards to protect her from the paparazzi, of course-in that case, I'll call ahead.)

    And thanks for the sweet card. If I had $150, I buy you that delicious book after looking at it a little.

    XXXX B

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beth- It seems to me that that card took an awfully long time to get there.
    PLEASE give Betsy a hug for me. I would be far happier with that than the book. Although the book would be fun, wouldn't it?
    I love you so too. Count on it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. After almost six months in an 'over 55' park in Sarasota, hubby and I finally went to a dinner/dance tonight. It was an outside barbecue, and, yes, it started at 6 pm and was over at 9, but we had the best time! Good barbecue, a good band, and dancing to the oldies. Yes, by golly, old folks have a shit load of fun! And when I got home, while looking for something in the pantry, I found an open jar of orange marmalade that 1) I didn't know that hubby had opened it in October, and 2) I've been looking in the fridge for it since October! No more marmalade...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I contemplated doing a bit more purging today, but that's as far as I got. I spy a jar of Miracle Whip in your cupboard. Are you a MW person or a Hellman's person?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've-Lost-My-Mindville - yes, I've been heading in that general direction more than a few times myself! I blame it on the amount of stuff filling up my head - names and birthdates and recipes and medical history and, well, life to date. There's not much storage room left. Which is why I like lists.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I need coffee after reading this.
    Glad you didn't eat those pears.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I can't say I have a huge amount of food stuffs that I don't know about but some. It's things. Too many things. I want to simplify and I love my things.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi dear Ms. Moon,
    I was reading that and thinking that really I can't do without you any more because we lead such similar lives in so many ways (even though it's near freezing during the day here right now) and even when we don't, we think in such similar ways, so while I may be "off blogs" still, I can't any longer be "off you." (Though truly I never actually was.) And then you said that thing about how so many people must lead similar lives and that clinched it for me.
    So - love - and - I'm back - and - I'm sorry I was away for so long.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love cleaning out the refrigerator. In fact we were on the same wavelength because I threw away approximately five containers of expired dairy products (whipping cream, single cream, sour cream, cream cheese, etc.) yesterday and MAN did they need to be thrown out. I won't go into detail except to say that some of them were no longer white.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I hate the same things you described. Not knowing what I have in the cupboard. Only using part of something and then tossing it b/c it got old.

    And I have the same question as Elizabeth. For some reason I coined you as a real mayo person. But are you a salad dressing person instead?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gosh it's so true. We all do these things and that is comforting. You really do astound me with how much you accomplish most days.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I did my pantry recently too and my fridge just the other day. It breaks my heart to throw food out, but it doesn't last forever.
    I love mango salsa.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Catrina- Sounds like my house. Glad you had fun!

    Elizabeth- Believe it or not, I was raised on Miracle Whip. I have no idea why. I like mayonnaise too. I am currently loving the Mayo with Olive Oil from Kraft.

    jenny_o- Yes. Available space is getting extremely limited. Retrieval of data is a problem too. For me, at least.

    Denise- I've about finished my daily half-a-pot of coffee. I'm still not awake.

    Joanne- I can't bring myself to throw out things I don't even LIKE that much. Shit.

    Fien- Hello my dear! I am so glad you're back! I have missed you! I hope all is well and please know that I do think about you so often. Kisses and hugs! Welcome back!

    Steve Reed- I threw away sun-dried tomatoes that were black. I'm sure they were still good but hey!

    Jill- I do not discriminate. One product for some things, another for others.

    Ms. Vesuvius- Trust me. I don't accomplish much. I just piddle with a lot.

    Heartinhand- When food becomes a health hazard, it is time to throw it out. But it is still hard, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  14. boring is sitting on the couch all day twiddling your thumbs. your life is not boring. and what is up with this weather. we plunged from mid 70s to high 30s yesterday and supposed to be even colder tonight. and guess what...still overcast.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yup...you nailed it again. Except you have Mr. Moon and all your family and chickens. Without them, I've lost my mindville would be no fun at all.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ellen Abbott- You are right about this weather although we've had some nicer days than you have. I'd go mad if the sun hadn't come out some this week.

    e- It's still not that fun, even with my loves. Dammit.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I almost answered. I think I remember you buying mango salsa at Trader Joe's?

    Sometimes I laugh at how well I know these certain aspects of your life, being the devoted reader that I am.

    Also, my heart wrenches a little bit every time you say Kathleen. I toast to her life.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.