Monday, November 10, 2014

Eating, purging, moving things around



We have had some of the most beautiful fall days recently. Today was one of the best. I love this golden time of year! We harvested the first of our winter greens yesterday. I really don't think I will want to ever buy another store bought bag of greens again. This was one of the tastiest salads I have ever had! Mesclun mix, chard, brussel flower leaves, basil, parsley, arugula, spinach, radish and yellow pepper, and carrots tossed with lemon juice and olive oil, sprinkled with toasted cashews and dried cranberries. Quite a concoction, but loaded with flavor! 


I roasted some buttery garlic potatoes and mushrooms, and while they were still hot from the oven, poured them over the salad, giving just a bit of wilt to the lettuces and then even more flavor. Simple eating, but I haven't ordered a salad in a fine dining restaurant that was this good. Served on a Jugtown Pottery pie plate with a glass of wine in a Joseph Sand cup, haven't had serving pieces this nice in a restaurant either! 
I had an odd episode the other night, woke up choking and sort of vomiting but not really. Lord have mercy, here comes those aging things! Is this my turn at acid reflux and will I now start paying attention to those Prilosec ads? Fuck.......   I am now watching what I eat to see if I can get this nasty business under control, because I just refuse to let these things get a hold of me! I got living to do, for crying out loud! Old age issues are not a part of my plan right now!!


My new job at The Fifth Season continues to be fun and interesting, I look forward to going to work, which has not happened in a long long time. Working with a bunch of guys in their twenties is amusing and delightful, I feel like a den mother or something, haha! 
The only little hiccup is that we have to wear the store t shirts. Nothing wrong with the way they look, except, I have a really weird thing about t shirts and they have to fit just so or they make my skin crawl. This shirt didn't fit me so well, so I cut it up and made myself an apron to wear. It is very handy and was a big hit. The pockets are perfect for holding my phone, a chap stick, a pen, knife, clippers, whatever I need to tuck away. Now my jean pockets aren't bulging in even more places than usual! Sorry for posting yet another photo of myself, but I wanted to show you this great apron!

I am spending most of my time in the store doing displays and rearranging things to make sense for a customer. Every time I do a display of something, the items featured sell. Imagine that! Take something that is pretty cool, get it down from the top shelf, dust it off, help the customers imagine a use for it, and out the door it goes. I seem to have a pretty intuitive sense for how people shop. I spent Saturday helping one customer put together a beautiful centerpiece for her Thanksgiving table, helped a man and his daughter design a plan for a wall mounted succulent garden, created a display for our new mushroom kits, and created a new window front with colorful paper lanterns that are solar powered. I forgot how clearly I understand retail merchandising. My first job was working as a visual designer for a department store, so I guess I have come full circle, just not dressing mannequins. 

I have realized that I have one particularly strong characteristic that continues to surface.When I was a little girl, I created environments in shoe boxes, terrariums in glass jars, Barbie penthouses on our bookcases or under our end tables. If there was a cubby, I was creating some sort of world in it. I also rearranged things in our house constantly. Every room. Constantly. I still do this. I know that we could go really deep here and find all sorts of psychological reasons for this, but I like this characteristic and don't need to work on getting a hold on this particular quirk! I enjoy making things look nice. I like symmetry and visual harmony and little vignettes that tell a story.

Sometimes my parents would go out to eat, which took hours. I hated going and stayed home on many of those occasions. As soon as they got out the door and the car was out of sight, I started moving furniture and knick knacks around. My poor mom never knew what she would come home and find. One time I actually switched our bedrooms, I mean everything, beds, clothes, lamps, all of it. They came home and just sort of went with it. I have to give them credit, I guess they realized there was nothing they could do about it, so they just went with the flow..... If I come home and a pillow is on the wrong chair, I have a problem.....  But again, Gerry and Wesley just sort of go with it. Once when our very old dog went blind, I had to stop moving things, because he would get so confused and run into the furniture. That might have been the longest I have gone without rearranging.

This past week, I attacked the attic. I took a car load of old toys and junk to the thrift store or out to the trash. It felt so good to have empty space in the attic. I went through boxes of holiday decorations, party things,Wesley's childhood books, her baby clothes, her most prized Pokemon items, her dragons, her dinosaurs, her hot wheels cars, Barbie world, stuffed animal world, so much I have kept! Just the things that were really tattered or not that special went out the door, her most treasured things are still here, waiting on my grand babies one day! 

And now I have a job where once again I get paid to move things around and make little worlds. How cool is that!? 


Today I got to do another fun thing. A friend of mine usually gives a presentation, along with other theatre artists, at Voyager Academy. He couldn't make it this year and suggested me. I said yes. This is a project based school and the sixth grade is working on a play presentation. All of their classes are included in the process. They write a play, vote on the best five, design the set, the props, the lighting, the marketing, all of it and it will be presented next month at The Durham Arts Council. The subject is environmental issues, off shore drilling, fracking, sustainable agriculture, and I forget the other two. Anyway, it was the most fun! Such smart smart kids, very polite, attentive, interested. The other artists invited were also interesting and it was just a fun day. Only one awkward moment when a director I had a past disagreement with walked in as one of the quest speakers. Ugh, don't burn those bridges, it's a small world! 

So, life is a happy place, except trying to find an affordable flight for Wesley to go to California for Christmas. What the hell is up with airfares?! 

Peace y'all
Xo

9 comments:

Dennis Allen said...

I've always admired your ability to arrange and stage items for sale or for pictures. If we were 400 miles closer I seriously would hire you to redecorate my booth.I'm glad this post went where it did. I was worried that eating, purging and moving stuff around were all parts of the same sequence of events.Glad the job is going well.

cookingwithgas said...

You crack me up!! You're such a creative soul. Funny, and sweet.
I just laughed and laughed at your story about the bedrooms.

June Perry said...

Sounds like hiring you was a great decision on their part. Maybe they should give you a raise or a bigger discount on purchases. :-)
Loved your re-decorating experiences - so cute, especially the part switching your parents and your bedroom.
Air fares are always high. Christmas is the heaviest travel day next to Thanksgiving. You can usually save a bit booking weeks early, so keep checking those on line prices.

ShellHawk said...

I'm in the midst of a purge/reorganize, myself! I have to say, when you clear space in your physical life, it makes room for wonderful things to come in! :)

Sandy Miller said...

You sound so great! And love the apron!! Super idea! I moved furniture around all the time until I spent a winter on my hands and knees laying down dark hardwood floors. They scratch like crazy! Due to scratch anxiety the furniture has stayed put and now working on bookcases. It's always something :)

Lori Buff said...

It’s so great that you are enjoying your job and getting to use your creative talents. Yay!

Michèle Hastings said...

I am sure they realize you are the best hire they have ever made!
I don't understand why business's go with the one uniform/shirt for all. Not everyone is comfortable in the same outfit... and you have to wear it ALL day.
The apron was a great idea. Maybe they should start offering it as an alternative to the t-shirt.

Unknown said...

Love the apron! I do the same thing with jeans. And I agree with you attitude about this getting old thing. Fuck it! HA!

Vicki said...

Love the happy content in your "voice" Tracey!
Ageing, ergh, tell me about it. Let's say "no" to ageing - at least, for as long as we can :)