I Cleaned Out Our Spice Cabinet For The First Time In Years

/ Ally Bean / 27 Comments

Here is an easy quiz for you.

DSCN3948

Q1:  What percentage of our herbs, spices & seeds did I throw away because they had expired?

  • 15%
  • 45%
  • 63%
  • 80%

Q2:  How many containers did I throw away? 

  • 11
  • 23
  • 29
  • 36

Q3:  How much money did I toss out when I cleaned out our spice cupboard? 

  • $18.00
  • $72.00
  • $97.42
  • $150.00, more or less

Q4:  Were any of the herbs, spices & seeds never opened before being tossed out?

  • Yes
  • No

 Q5:  Were any of the containers duplicates?

  • No
  • Yes

Q6:  The following is a list of dates. Which date do you believe accurately describes the oldest container in the cupboard?

  • June 14, 2003
  • October 5, 2002
  • November 25, 2000
  • so old there is no date on the container

Q7:  Are all the above dates real dates that I found on the containers that I threw out?

  • No
  • Yes

Q8:  The following is a list of herbs, spices & seeds.  Which is the oldest one that I found?  

  • Celery Seed
  • Basil
  • Leaf Marjoram
  • Dill Weed

Q9:  Of the following herb/spice blends, which one am I saddest to see go?

  • Poultry Seasoning
  • Lemon Pepper
  • French Seafood Seasoning
  • Pizza Seasoning

Bonus Question for Extra Credit:  Of the following three extracts which was the only one that we opened and used?

  • Pistachio Extract
  • Almond Extract
  • Vanilla Extract

DSCN3938

Answers are in bold.  ðŸ™‚

Stuck At Home On A Winter’s Day: Observations, Musings & Long Sentences

/ Ally Bean / 19 Comments

My world is covered in ice this morning.  Trees. Bushes. Sidewalk. Driveway. Deck. Mailbox.  They are all a mess.  The sky is gray with no sign that the sun even exists, so there’s no sparkle going on with this layer of ice.  Pity that.  Shimmering light refracted from icy tree branches is beautiful to look at.

However, that’s not what we have going on here.  Nope, what we have here is a gloomy, slippery mess.  Ick.

This is one of those days when staying at home seems like the sane thing to do.  I’m lucky that my lifestyle is flexible enough to allow me to do just that.  So home for the day, it is– even though I had some other things planned.

However, plans change, don’t they?  Often, in fact.

I’ve been putting off some boring cleaning projects.  Closets. Cupboards. Cabinets.  Not all of them, but some of them, could use a once over.  So, I suppose, that today would be the day to start on these projects.  The problem is that I dislike beginning things.  I’m good at maintaining things after I get a something going and I’m good at concluding things when I must.

However, starting something new makes me a bit crazy and discombobulated.  Always has.

That being as it may, I think that I’ve dawdled here for about as long as I can.  What is a blog for if not to share your life with the world and to take stock of who you are?  Granted, one hopes when one starts blogging that one’s life is so interesting and compelling that sharing it with the world becomes a moral imperative;  but one learns early on that when one faces up to the dull realities of one’s life, one is left with two options.  Either one must say nothing, or one can say whatever she likes using long sentences.

However, even long sentences can become tedious to write.  So off I go to do something more productive.  Probably.

Of Salesmanship And Sequestration

/ Ally Bean / 14 Comments

Did you know that at one point in my life I worked as a sales representative for a greeting card company?

That’s right, the woman who would prefer to be at home grooving to her own beat had a job dragging samples and order forms around her three-state territory convincing store owners to buy the products that she represented.

In spite of the job being a lousy fit for my personality and energy level, I was moderately successful at sales.  Early on in my career as a sales rep I figured out a few basic principles that helped me focus on what mattered– that is, getting things done.

Here is what I learned:

  1. Getting buyers to feel comfortable with their decisions requires the insight of a family therapist, the explanatory powers of a college professor & the enthusiasm of a family dog.
  2. No one gets everything that they want.  That is why dealmaking requires negotiation– which requires stepping outside your comfort zone and adapting to each unique situation.
  3. Details make it happen.  Chit-chat and generalities, while pleasant, are pointless when it comes time to sign the contract.
  4. Every person you meet could be your next lead, so be polite and listen actively, at least for a little while, to everyone.
  5. Say “thank you” to the buyer no matter what happens.

###

Why, oh why, am I thinking about this topic today?

Well, it is because as I watch Washington NOT find a way to make reasonable deals about managing national finances, I am taken back to my days when my paycheck was tied to my ability to get things done.  Sell more cards, make more money.

Very simple.

And while I was not always enthusiastic about all the deals that I made when I worked in sales, I did make deals.  Lots of them.  Because I knew that was what was expected of me.  It was part of the job.

Very simple. 

So as a way to help our poor [overpaid] Senators and Representatives learn how to focus on what matters and start making sensible deals that are not tied to unrealistic party lines, I have shared my five principles of salesmanship.

Perhaps if all of these Washington jackweasels would apply my principles to their discussions about the impending sequestration they would be moderately successful at their jobs.  And get some things done that benefit all of us… not just their oversized egos.

Very simple.

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News

/ Ally Bean / 16 Comments

In one week I went to the eye doctor and the lady bits doctor.  They are not on the same page as to what I need to do, henceforth, to stay a healthy and whole woman.  In fact, putting together their advice I am left with a math word problem.

I never liked math word problems when I was twelve– and I do not like them any better now that I am many decades beyond twelve.  Here is what I have to figure out:

<begin snarl>

Ally wants to be a healthy person.  She is on a train called YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME heading toward the town known as OLD AGE.

According to the eye doctor, who wants the redness and dryness in her eyes to abate, Ally is to take 2 antibiotics each day.  These are to be taken on an empty stomach 1 hour before eating OR 2-3 hours after eating.  They are never to be taken before eating anything with calcium in it.

According to her lady bits doctor, who wants all women to have strong bones, Ally is supposed to eat 3 servings of calcium-rich food each day.  These foods include all sorts of low-fat, no-fat dairy products + soybeans + raw spinach.  Also, she is to take 1 calcium supplement each day.

So, how does Ally get to the junction of SEEING CLEARLY and NO BROKEN BONES while riding along on the YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME train without making a major stop at I NEED TO GET MY HEAD EXAMINED?  Or before becoming derailed in the ‘burg known as YEAST INFECTION?  Or before being stopped by the outlaw gang known as RAW SPINACH MAKES MY FACE TURN RED?

Hmm?  How does Ally do this?

<end snarl>

And with that question in mind, I shall wander off to solve this ridiculous word problem with a pad of paper + pen, a mug of coffee & a less than enthusiastic attitude.  If figuring out word problems such as this is what old age is going to be all about, I’m having a few doubts about my ability to age gracefully.  Or to even care about good health.  ‘Ya know what I mean?

This is craziness.