rain in susans backyard

rain in susans backyard
Originally uploaded by mygothlaundry

It is always somewhat of a shock when you take your car in for an oil change and a check up, knowing that they will find something wrong with it, because they always do, and expecting it to cost probably three times what you think it will cost, and then find out that it's going to cost TWENTY times as much as you thought. Yup, here I am again with my old car - spending more than it is worth but knowing that I can't afford to buy a different car for that much money but dreading that possibility that I am well into the land of diminishing returns now and maybe it is time to come up with, say, 8 grand and buy a relatively decent used car. Or maybe the auto gods will now be kind and my car will never cost me any more money and will go happily for another 100,000 miles and five years. It had better. Hell, it had better make it to New Orleans, because the budget for that trip just shrank and not only am I driving my own damn car, I'm leaving it out on the street and saving the $25 a night valet parking fee, because I have faith that even in the big city, car thieves are not looking to steal a hippie Saturn station wagon with stickers all over it, 165,000 miles on it and a cassette deck. It's survived New York and Baltimore, I bet it can survive New Orleans and if it doesn't, well, it's a dramatic way for my car to go and hey, creates an anecdote I can tell for years. Bitterly, with my tears spilling into my beer at some downscale hellhole bar, but an anecdote nevertheless.

At any rate yesterday they gave me a rental car which is big and bland and clunky and gray and I'm glad it is not my car. In about 40 minutes I will pilot the rental back over to the Saturn dealership and get my ancient and beloved car back and then tonight I am meeting my brother and Annie and Susan for dinner at the Admiral to celebrate the launching at last of Annie's AMAZING website which you can find right here and if you are a mefite you can go forth and vote for it on projects and if you want to give Susan a design job based on her incredible designy work for Annie - you should do that, yes you should - you can see more of her stuff and contact her here.

In other news that's already been posted on Twitter I have been in a mad baking frenzy lately, which on Wednesday night encompassed a chocolate zucchini cake with mocha cream cheese frosting and two loaves of zucchini bread. Even though I was forced to drown my car sorrows in more than a few PBRs last night, I still managed to make a big veggie (mostly, wait for it, zucchini!) fritatta and cheese biscuits. And, bonus, I freaked out my son by demonstrating to him the terrible truth of where sour cream actually comes from by using the very sour old milk in the biscuits to great and delicious effect. Okay, he turned green and put his biscuit down when I let him on the little secret, but, whatever. That just means more biscuits for me, hurrah.