Friday, July 8, 2022

Honey, You Just Need A Martini. And A Little Bit Less Of A Martyr Complex

Well, the saga of the hormones is over. I have a month's worth with a 'script for another five months safely in the pharmacy's file and no, I did not have to go down to the office and before I say anything else let me say that I am so very grateful that I do have them.
However, I am not thrilled at how it happened. 
Mr. Moon was out of town last night. He had traveled over to St. Augustine with Chip to pick up a motorcycle that he wanted to buy because he doesn't have enough projects to work on, as you know. And because- motorcycles. A friend of Chip's was selling it and Chip's lady love lives in St. Augustine so it was convenient for them to travel over to the Oldest City with a trailer to get the bike and for Chip to spend the night with his darlin'. Mr. Moon stayed at a hotel. He knew how important getting these hormones was for me, both physically and emotionally, and he called to see if the prescription had been called in yet. I told him that no, it had not. 
"Do you want me to call them?" he asked. 
I had told Chuck that I would bet anything that if my husband went down to the office, that 'script would be sent and that the idea of this enraged me. I told Glen what I'd said and then added that at this point, why not? 
So he called them this morning and he is very, very good at getting people to get done what needs to get done in a diplomatic and polite way. He does have a gift and I'm not going to deny that. He now knows the name of every person in that office and within an hour and a half, the prescription had been sent. 
For whatever reason, there is only ONE person in that office who can send in prescriptions electronically and she has been busy, I suppose. I don't really care what the excuse was, the pharmacy had been calling for over a week, I'd called, and nothing happened until Glen Moon called and that's a fact. 
Again- I am not quite sure how to feel about this. 
I suppose, enraged AND grateful. 
So I went to town and picked up my box of life-saving little troches which are a sort of gummy-like way to deliver the goods. I do believe that the pharmacy was as relieved as I was to hand them over because I've been calling them about five times a day. 

I came home and determined to make my fig preserves. Over the past few days I had picked almost six pounds of figs. This is the first year ever that this fig tree has produced enough figs to make even ONE pint of preserves. Fig preserves are relatively easy to make. I used two recipes, really, and consulted a few others just for more help with the process. They only have four ingredients in them- figs, lemon, water, and sugar. You soak the figs in boiling water for a few minutes and then drain them, de-stem them, and, if you want to- chop them a bit. You can leave them whole and I usually do but today I decided to change it up. I do not know why. They were quite roughly chopped, and the resulting pieces are still pretty chunky. I seeded and sliced a lemon and a half and then chopped that up rather more finely. The figs go into a big pot with the lemons, a shit ton of sugar, and a little bit of water, brought to a boil and then simmered until the whole thing is of the consistency to gel. 
Hopefully. 


While all of that was going on, I was also sterilizing the jars in the canning kettle and the lids in a small pan. 

I got five whole pints and two half-pints so, yeah, six pints in all. The lids were so eager to seal that most of them popped before I got them out of the canner rack. 


Biscuits are going to be even better around here now. 
And I will proudly take a pint up to North Carolina. 
Meanwhile, I have not cleaned out the hen house yet, which MUST be done before we leave, I have not picked and shelled more field peas which I also wanted to do so I could take enough with us to make a meal of those for the Weatherfords, I have not packed one darn thing, and, and, and...
I got the dress today that I ordered from eBay and I hemmed it. I like it. I did laundry and our bed has clean sheets as does the bed in the guest room. I have swept up a cat's worth of cat hair and a human's dust-to-dust volume of, well, dust. And sand. 
My life-saving husband is home. He asked me please not to say anything about this motorcycle. I haven't even seen it but I am assuming it may look a bit rough. He knows I don't bitch about his projects. He's worked so hard all of our life together and if these things make him happy, I'm happy. The saying goes "happy wife, happy life" but the opposite is also true, even though it does not rhyme. 


*****************

Mr. Moon just made us a martini. These new martini glasses are very awesome. I am bone-tired. It's been so damn hot that the AC can't keep up with it and while I was making the preserves, the kitchen got up to at least 85. I think about the women who made preserves in this house a hundred and fifty years ago and they had a wood stove and not so much as a battery operated fan AND had to haul their water from a well or a pump and I know I have no reason to complain, especially since I am doing this as a hobby and our winter intake of fruit will not depend on what I can get canned while it's in season. In other words- my choice. I want to do it. I don't need to do it. There is a difference. And I do love to it too so there is that. 
I think about my blessed therapist who said to me so long ago, "I am interested in why you feel such a need to suffer?" 
I never did come up with an answer for her but perhaps I need to start thinking about that again. In the meanwhile, I should stop bitching about getting tired out doing things I love to do. 

We're supposed to get rain tonight and Lord, I hope we do. 
Here's what it looked like last night when I went to put the chickens to bed. 


Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon




28 comments:

  1. well.....I am both happy (that you got your meds) and enraged that after a week, it took Mr Moon's diplomatic and tactful phone call to accomplish the deed. Hmm. But....you have them! Plus....you made fig preserves, hemmed a dress.......and lordy........tomorrow will be a busy day of crossing most things off your *to do* list. so I will bid you adieu tonight........ you will have a wonderful time.......... and I look forward to your tales and pics!
    Susan M

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    1. Thanks, Susan. I doubt a man could understand the frustration a woman feels when his intervention gets things done that we can't get done on our how. Sigh.
      Yep. Got a lot done today.

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  2. Wrote a long comment that disappeared. The gist of it was I'm happy you have someone like Mr. Moon to deploy. Every family needs one, and it's not necessarily gender based. And your biscuits with that fig jam? I can only imagine the deliciousness. Oh my.

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    1. We broke open a jar of the preserves last night and damn...that is some good shit.

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  3. There's nothing like the vast Florida sky. Ahhhh.

    Best of luck getting that to-do list whittled down to something that you can live with before embarking on your NC adventure.

    Mr. Moon is a mensch. A perfect pair the two of you make.

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    1. He IS indeed a mensch and what he did was a mitzvah for me for sure. I sure wish he hadn't had to step in though.

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  4. I agree those meds materialized for the wrong reason, but they did. The office manager needs a course in 21st century medicine! And, you have a great time up "nort".

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    1. Thanks, Joanne. At least I got my hormones and will not be peeing in my pants. Very much.

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  5. Well I'm glad you finally got the rx and equally enraged at the dark ages mentality that it took one call From a Man to accomplish it. But there's figs! And a new toy, I mean bike, for Mr Moon. So there's that.

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    1. Toy indeed! I think he's convinced that if he has about four hundred big projects going on at all times he will never die. Sounds okay to me. At least he's not out in the bars all night, right? I had one of those husbands which may be why I'm so sanguine about things like a huge garage full of...things.

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  6. Oh, I hope you have a wonderful time up north! THose fig preserves look amazing.

    A couple years ago I treated myself to a Martini glass (same shape as yours) where the base is encrusted with rhinestones. It goes with the tiara I bought to wear on Zoom meetings. Silly but I feel special every time I use it.
    Do you make standard martinis? I like to experiment with replacements for the vermouth. One of my favorites is creme de violette, which makes a martini that is a beautiful lavender gray.

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    1. A rhinestone encrusted martini glass? I must find one of those for Lis! We just make standard vodka martinis. Again, Lis is more apt to make special drinks. She's such a lady.

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    2. My martinis MUST be gin. https://smile.amazon.com/Stemless-Cocktail-Accessories-Margarita-Manhattan/dp/B096SSV4DS/ref=sr_1_2?crid=C7EHHVFDNCIE&keywords=crystal%2Bball%2Bbase%2Bmartini&qid=1657411196&sprefix=crystal%2Bball%2Bbase%2Bmartini%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-2&th=1
      These are similar to the one I have.

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  7. Your one sentence about wondering why you have to suffer caught me off guard. It's a good question, not for you, but for me. Maybe for you too, I don't know, but definitely for me.
    I asked one of the young nurses at work if she thought some people were just shit magnets, because I feel like one sometimes. But maybe it's me attracting shit, or putting up with shit or not dealing with shit. Now I've got something to think about.
    We don't have Jack this weekend, he's gone to the lake with his other grandma, and although our house is quiet, I miss him so much.
    Not sure when you're leaving, but have a safe drive and a wonderful trip.

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    1. Pixie- I have a feeling that our need to suffer is probably something else we have in common. I've been pondering this question for decades and I really still don't quite understand.
      I know you miss your Jack! I am so excited to see August and Levon! And their mom and dad, of course.

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  8. It does look hot there. like you, I am enraged as well as grateful, WHY did it take a man calling to get that prescription through?
    I was thinking last summer as you were now, about women doing all the cooking and housework 150 years ago, in the same heat, but no air conditioning, not even fans AND all the layers of clothing they wore back then. Out in the heat, scrubbing clothes by hand in tubs of water heated by fires, they certainly were tough back then. They did it all because they had no choice. We do these things because we love to do them, it makes us happy to provide for our families this way. It's tiring for sure, but it's a happy tired feeling most of the time, when we finish and look at what we did.

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    1. Exactly- it is a GOOD tired. A valid exhaustion, even if we don't have to do it. I swear- I have no idea how the ladies who lived in Florida managed to make it through their lives. I guess they either died early or were so tough they lived forever. I think I would have died early.

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  9. The Preserves look tasty. I'm glad that the Hormone Rx got resolved but it is annoying it took a Man calling to get that Script filled, why is that?! Right now is not the time to be jerking Women around, is it? That was an interesting and deep Question the Therapist asked. I suppose some things we 'suffer' out of an abundance of Love and the Choice to be sacrificial in giving of ourselves to those most Beloved, even when it's not at all a comfortable Choice to make. You do so much for your Beloved Family and to me that is a Sacrifice always worth making and pays it's Dividends for sure. The Memories they all will Cherish because of your Sacrificial Love are Priceless. Of coarse a lot of our 'suffering' could perhaps be avoided... but some of it can't be, that's just Life... and Balancing suffering and joy is the Human condition.

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    1. This is ABSOLUTELY NOT THE TIME to be jerking women around. I take your point on sacrificing and it being worth it but I know damn well that there is a part of me which doesn't feel valid or deserving if I do not suffer regularly. And that seems fucked up.

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  10. Glad you got your hormones and yes, it does suck that people don't listen to women, that we are dismissed but let a man call and yes sir, right away sir. The fig preserves look just fine. I used to be able to get as many figs as I wanted when Frank of the Bountiful Garden was alive. The woman that lives there now put up a fence and has let the place go to weeds

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    1. I'm serious- oh, yes sir! We shall attend to your wife's needs now that we understand the seriousness of the situation!
      Fuck.
      I'm so sorry that you have that crappy neighbor. Maybe you should plant a fig tree of your own.

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  11. Glad things are working out and you soon will be on the road to NC! You will get everything done, you always do I bet!
    Safe travels!!

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  12. Well, I can certainly see why it would both relieve and annoy you that Glen successfully got the prescription sent. I hate to write it off as simple sexism but it is frustrating. Maybe it's really down to Glen's powers of persuasion. As for suffering, you don't strike me as someone who makes a meal of their own misery. (Some people do.)

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  13. Happy spouse, happy house.

    That's what we say.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.