Make Me A Sandwich

This is the yummy veggie sandwich I used to get at our office building café BC. How I miss it… and my office! I’m one of those odd people who like working in an office every day. And I liked going to school way back when too. 📚

At first, I was gonna riff on the whole “sand witch” thing, but a billion people got there first. I hate when that happens. Which it always does. Instead, I will reminisce about the time that I actually got out of bed to make a guy a sandwich and he complained later that I hadn’t baked him a lasagna. True story for the #paulacanpickem file.

Anyway. The veggie sandwich isn’t my very favorite sandwich; it’s just my favorite that I used to get while working. My favorite is probably a grilled cheese and tomato. I’ve experimented with various breads and different cheeses, and I have to say that I always return to rye bread and American cheese. I also like my grilled cheese very well done, almost burnt, not golden like they serve it in restaurants.

Another favorite sandwich is loxonabagel. Yes, all one word like that. Most of the time, I have this deliciousness open-faced, but it still counts as a sandwich.

Please note how it’s perfectly fine and even recommended (by yours truly) to dot the cream cheese with capers, but I’d rather not have onions on my loxonabagel sandwich. And please no tomato! Save that for grilled cheese. Keep your sandwich fixings in their lanes.

Yes, I know there is tomato in this photo. I am just saying. The only way to know your loxonabagel is better sans tomato is to have one with tomato, amirite? 🤣

Moving on. Some people call a hamburger a sandwich… are you one of them?

I think it’s acceptable! The point is to have a thing between two other separate things. I’m defining it that way to eliminate stuff like pie, which is #notasandwich, but to include sandwich cookies, which we will discuss in depth soon. You didn’t think I was going to end this post without talking about cookies, did you? 😱😱😱

Anyway. Here we have a bun (hun), which is two separate bread pieces, and it creates a convenient way to hold the things inside, which we then can nom while continuing to lose at cards, just as the Earl of Sandwich envisioned. Of course, we must not nom on the pictured cheezberder because it is a CD holder and that would be gross.

Five years ago, when we were living like normal humans, relatively speaking, my eldest took me to a wonderful high tea in Northern California. We had the most scrumptious little cucumber sandwiches and other delights and pastries, and of course many pots of lovely tea. 💖

Before I bring the dessert cart, please allow me to pay tribute to one of the best combos ever invented: the peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

My favorite combo is Jif smooth PB with blackberry or strawberry jam (not jelly) on whole wheat. What’s yours?

Okay, onto the sandwich cookie! Oreo has a baZillion flavors out now, some totes ridonkulous, but I must admit that besides the Double Stuf original flavor, I thought the cookie dough was pretty tasty.

Up in Northern California (again ~ they have yummo food!), my daughter treated me to this divine hazelnut pastry at an Italian bakery.

So so so good!

In my fantasy of living a normal life again, whenever that may happen, if it even ever does… I’ll walk into a restaurant without worrying about the last time everything was soaked in bleach, order a sandwich at the counter without fretting over how close people are standing to me, and calmly eat my lunch in a booth with my mind on my blog or a book or work or family or friends or whatever thing other than the you know what!

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Taboo [socs]

Beside me is a game of Taboo without a shoe. It has a mess of cards and a timer too. Does it have a buzzer? Let me look… No, no buzzer. Here’s a pic of the whole thing.

Wow, it really is messy! When I’m finished with this post, I will find a rubber band and neaten up the cards. All the colors should face the same direction, so you can play one set at a time. Idk why there’s no shoe or buzzer, but on the back of the box there’s no mention of such. I guess I got the cheapo version. 🤣

We were playing online Taboo last week, but the site had so many ads that some of us switched to our own cards ~ that’s why this box is sitting out. This is an easy game to play at a distance as long as someone else keeps the time (too hard to watch the time yourself when you’re giving clues), and you all pay attention to any “taboo” words you say inadvertently. I guess you could share your card with someone from the opposing team so they could “buzz” you, but we haven’t bothered to do this.

In the meantime, we found online Code Names, which is more fun anyway. It’s our favorite game at the moment ~ even my daughter joined in the other night. What a blast! Now, I have to admit something: this was more fun at a distance than in person because my daughter was there. She would not have joined us in person because she’s at home with her husband and baby. 💕

And another great thing about games from a distance is of course… NO DRIVING!

Tonight we’re going to have a big virtual game night with 16 people invited. We do this over Zoom paid accounts. It works out really well except (as I mentioned) the camera on my laptop doesn’t function. So, I will just use a static photo, no big deal. My phone loses battery too fast to Zoom on and it’s annoying to have to charge it during a game. Plus, it’s just better to use a laptop with all the features visible on one screen.

I know we’ll return to meatspace game nights as soon as we’re allowed to, but I really enjoy sitting in my own place, with the heater blasting, hot tea on demand, chatting into the night… and not having to brave the roads after with the drunken maniacs. The only issue is that some of our favorite games simply can’t be played online. Oh, and some of our peeps won’t play this way. 😢

Next week we start April A-Z, and though I couldn’t be bothered with the rigmarole of filling out forms and such, I’ll still be doing the thing on my own. My theme is games! They won’t all be board games. Hope you’ll be reading and participating. 😻

~*~

Image from my photo library.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

PFF43: Trekkin’

Welcome to Paula’s Friday Flashback! This is a challenge begun by Fandango and it’s fun to see what we posted back when (as well as the comments). The post below is a reblog of a post I made almost 7 years ago (one day off). When I saw the title, and esp the alt title, I thought oh goody a dating post… my peeps will have fun reading this. But alas it is not. Sorry about that. 🙁

The Trek to Santa Ana

[Alt: Why I Still Get Valium Refilled]

I hate California ~ have I ever said this? Someday I shall retire to an idyllic place where there’s way less traffic and constant hassle.

So my dad had a checking account at Bank of America. As you may know, this is an institution with a ton of problems, but one thing they’re right on top of is freezing the small accounts of dead old people. I produced all manner of ID and stuffs, including a power of attorney, but none of that was good enough ~ I had to get his death certificate for them, plus then wait 40 days, for them to give me the money. If only I had thought of writing a check to myself for the full amount the minute I heard the news, right? But no.

The death certificate is available (for $16) in Santa Ana at the OC Health Care Agency, where it marinates for 60 days and then is transferred to the Hall of Records. Why is that? Because we need to have arbitrary rules. Dur. So, I left early Tuesday morning to go to the HCA, but the freeways were all messed up even then, so I arrived in Santa Ana at almost 8:00AM, and the streets were all crowded and miserable.

I found the building and saw the parking was all metered, natch. I had to drive around the block, and on the other side was the High School for the Performing Arts, mashed between all the gobblement buildings. WTF? Who’d put a high school there? Oh, and it was time for school, yay. So, I had to wait while all the budding Rembrandts and Lady Gagas ambled across the street, ushered by cops, and the mommies in their ginormous SUVs dropped off their preciousnesses. Gah!

OK. Finally I got back to my building, parked, found two quarters for the meter, and went inside. I was the only customer, whew. I decided to get two certificates, just in case. This was the easy part, figures. It’s always the driving/parking that stresses me out.

My grandmother’s middle name was Ann, like mine. I never knew. Strange to find out this way, after all this time.

/end reblog

~*~

Image from Pexels.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

A Bunch Of Nonsense

To distract myself from myself, I’m going to answer these super intrusive questions about myself from Melanie…

1. Tell us how you met your partner. Please be specific in telling your tale.

I don’t have a “partner.” I’ve been divorced since 2011 and all my attempts at dating were documented disasters. Right now, it might be nice to have someone to be cooped up with though. Or maybe not.

2. What is your most romantic experience, again with details?

I have a post in drafts called Skyloft. It’s about the best first date I ever had ~ my last first date. I had a couple more first meetings since, but they don’t count as first dates. This man was also a disaster, like the others, but worse because I’d finally begun to trust again, and after him everything was impossibly shattered. The date itself was incredible. It was the hottest day of the year, and I was sick, had been sick for a month, which made the whole experience surreal. I felt I was in a painting, with all the colors and sounds and tastes and smells so exquisitely bright. When he touched me, I felt transported to another plane. Nothing was the same again… it still isn’t. He kissed me at the beach, with the turquoise waves crashing in, just like a dream. I will never forget this, no matter what he did later.

3. What is the most extravagant purchase you’ve ever made, and why did you buy it?

I have not bought anything extravagant for a really long time. I’m super careful. I’ve spent money, sometimes a lot, but on stuff that’s necessary, such as a car (a sensible one). I simply can’t think of anything. Oh! I know. My daughter went to Costa Rica several years ago and brought me some very cool artwork. I spent $400 to have it framed. But I love it. ❤️

4. What is your favorite swear word or expression, and when are you most likely to use it?

I’m an equal opportunity swearer. I try to give all the bad words a good workout daily, but I must admit that since I haven’t been driving they’ve been sitting in a sad heap on the sofa watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island and munching potato chips. 😢

5. What is your favorite kind of pie? With or without ice cream?

Ooh pie! I had the best pie up in Northern California ~ key lime with whipped cream and a thick graham cracker crust. That is my fave, followed closely by lemon cream and then cherry. No ice cream necessary.

6. While we’re on the subject, what is your favorite ice cream, and where did you last eat it?

Cookie dough! I don’t remember when or where I ate it last. I don’t eat ice cream often because I’m always freezing. 🥶

7. Who is your most unique friend and why? (May be someone from the past.)

My daughters are both brilliant and hilarious and totally unique. I love them to bits! My besties! 💖💖 (Why? Because I raised them! Duh.)

8. What is your most irritating habit?

Yelling at my cat to quit yelling. 🐱

9. Who was your favorite teacher and why?

I loved many of my philosophy and writing professors at CSUN.

10. Do you like being alone and if so, what would you probably be doing?

I enjoy choosing to be alone; I don’t enjoy this forced isolation and not being allowed to go to work. It’s super depressing. When alone, I read, write, play phone games, chat with peeps online, etc.

11. What is the most outlandish thing you’ve ever done?

Probably picked up hitchhikers and taken rides from strange men back in Illinois. Nothing bad ever happened even though this is a terribly stupid thing to do.

12. What superstition do you always follow?

I count things a lot, which isn’t really a superstition, but more an OCD, except not that much since I don’t do it consistently. I just feel things will work out better when there’s the right number of ’em.

13. What famous person or animal have you met? Tell us about the meeting.

Not really. I’ve seen various celebs in the Los Angeles area, but haven’t hung out with any. I don’t think celebs or royals are better than anyone else, and people ought to quit making such a fuss over them. 😛

~*~

Image credit to Bitmoji.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

FPQ62: Homebound

Fandango provocatively asks…

What activities have you cut from your life since this pandemic started that you DON’T really miss?

Unlike some, I don’t see a silver lining in this thing for me personally although yay less pollution right now, so that’s great. I miss everything I was doing because I had my life the way I liked… work, family, pets, friends, hobbies, etc. Still have pets around. Everything else is online or not at all and geez I get tired of staring at screens.

However! There is one thing I’m not doing or hardly at all and I do not miss it because I hate it. Can you guess?

God, I despise driving. It’s just the worst and I don’t miss it one bit. Wish I could resume a normal life without it, but I live in Southern California, so lol.

It was making me more depressed to keep documenting my days of nothingness, so I stopped. I’ve been working on Ghosted 👻 and playing games.

~*~

Images from Fandango and me.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

I Think It’s Tuesday #PoiMe

Warning: this is not gonna be one of those smell the flowers in the pandemic posts, but there are plenty of those around, so if you would rather read something cheery, move along now.

I’ve been doing my side work from home as usual but not my main work. It would be complicated to set up. The days blend in a haze of sleeping late, sweatpants, coffee, news, news, and more news. 😢

It’s depressing to live this way and never see any of my favorite humans. I don’t know when I’ll be able to visit my daughter up North again. Or even see my family in Los Angeles. Everything seems terrifying. But I’ve been staying indoors mostly and not even going for walks. I don’t like getting the mail because I never know if someone will stand too close. Today was okay. No one was at the mailboxes when I was.

The worst thing is reading these constant bits of news and feeling more horrified. But I need to know what’s happening! I live near a busy street and traffic never stops whooshing by… where are they all going? Why aren’t they staying home like they’re supposed to? Aren’t they hearing the same stuff I am? 😡

I’ve been cleaning a lot. I have nothing else to do but keep checking the mishmash of news. I read a book. Probably will read another. Been chatting with friends. I was gonna bake banana bread, but no one else is around to help me eat it, so I didn’t. No need to turn into a chubby hermit. Got bored with the phone games. I’m finally working on Ghosted. 👻 Luckily, I really like it.

I am grumpy and sad. I don’t find the beauty in this. Maybe if I had a partner? Then we could be having luscious sex and engaging in wonderful deep conversations and playing chess and watching lovely old movies and making lasagna and planning our escape from this mad mad world, but instead I just keep checking the cat boxes to make sure no poop needs to be removed.

It’s not that I mind being alone. I like to be alone. It’s the forced aspect of it. And it’s the constant uncertainty in every direction. Health, family, finances, job, future. What’s going to happen? Even if things tentatively begin to improve, will we be re-whomped with this, or a new version, next winter?

Sorry, I can’t put up some Hallmark card type of post. This really sucks. 🙁

~*~

Image originally from Pixabay.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Bingo Update 5

See my previous update here.

For the anthology box, I read When Love Rises by Michelle Stradford. I enjoyed it and gave it a 4-star review. Not 5, since I couldn’t connect that well with some of the poetry at the beginning. Here is my full review on Goodreads, Amazon, etc.:

I especially connected with the later poems in this book where I felt her true soul was laid bare. That painful, powerful imagery resonated with me. Throughout, her poetry contains wonderful metaphors and striking language. A joy to absorb.

I love poetry. I’m trying to get in the mindset to write more myself, but it’s so hard to focus because of the thing.

Next, I read Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, a book I meant to read last year. This book really grabbed me, which is odd because it focuses on topics I normally shun. First, it has a huge emphasis on the mother-child bond, in a kaleidoscope of viewpoints. Second, the story is told from the eyes of teenagers a huge chunk of the time. These days I generally dgaf about the angst of teenagers. You think it’s bad now, kids? Just wait. Third, there’s the familiar trope of boring suburbia, the bad that lurks beneath, and the MPDG who twirls in and shakes everything up.

And yet… the story held me immediately. I needed something exactly like this right now, something so different from what’s happening in the news. Remember when we as a nation were riveted by a stain on a dress? That was the most important thing going on. I find it hard to focus on trivia, but I don’t feel like watching a movie either. I haven’t turned on my TV in days except to exercise to a video (I get the news online).

So anyway. That’s when LFE took place, in the Time of the Blue Dress, around 1997, in a wealthy Ohio suburb. I was riveted by the story; I really wanted to discover what the various characters would do. Their actions seemed surprising at times and yet also inevitable, which I admire in writing. It’s a fine line. You don’t want to be predictable, and yet you want your readers to say… oh, of course. They would have done such a thing. I can totally see it now. And there were so many layers upon layers to each character and the part they played in this drama, that the finished “cake” felt fully earned.

I gave LFE 5 stars despite the fact that Ms. Ng had POV breaks within scenes and lengthy, meandering backstories with POV breaks in those too. That just goes to show you that the story and characters are everything; rules are still important, but they can be broken. I’m not sure why Ms. Ng broke them, but with her credentials you know she knows them. They weren’t mistakes. One critic suggested it’s a cliche to have someone die on an icy road or of a brain tumor. I didn’t cringe when reading them, but I can understand someone not liking those sections.

I can see that same critic’s point about the trope of the MPDG breezing into the small town and turning it upside down while discovering all is not what it seems. I guess there’s also the trope of the naive country bumpkin stumbling into the big city and encountering cynics and meanies. But everything has been done. The key is to bring your own voice and spin. That critic doesn’t believe that Ms. Ng added anything new, but LFE struck me as fresh and engaging.

To each their own! 🙂

~*~

Image from Kriti & Ariel.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Self-Isolation Report 3

Saturday Morning

7:30 ~ got up earlier than yesterday to be productive, wasn’t…

8:00 ~ Noon… finished the Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies, had coffee & tea, played with cats, read news to further terrify self, did phone games and Messenger chat

Saturday Afternoon

12:30 ~ did a couple hours actual work, moped, felt sad, depressed, horrified, etc.

3:00 ~ texted with drunk friend in MA 💖

4:00 ~ had a salad, quesadilla, blackberries

Later Saturday

5:30 ~ cleaned up kitchen, still feeling bad

6:00 ~ did stretches, had snacks, made tea

7:00 ~ 10:00… chatted online with friends & daughters, set up Zoom to play party games later, did really well at 2048, played the Cat Lady app for the first time (very fun)

10:00 ~ decided to look at writing messes in progress… NO WAIT! Schedule more posts for April, whew. Almost got trapped into doing actual writing, close call there 😱

~*~

Images from Bitmoji and me.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Neep [socs]

Fred saw that his son had cleaned up the garage as he’d been told. He went into the family room where Dylan was watching a movie with Grandpa. “Dylan, thanks! The garage looks great.”

“Neep,” Dylan said.

“Neep?” Fred asked.

Dylan waved a hand. “Like yeah… neep. I’m acknowledging your compliment, Dad.”

“Whatever happened to no problem?” Fred said. “I hope you aren’t using this casual language to your teachers.”

“Like they ever give me compliments,” Dylan muttered.

Grandpa spoke up. “Back in my day, we said you’re welcome.”

Fred rolled his eyes. “How many times have I heard back in my day?”

“Not enough!” Grandpa chuckled.

“I like you’re welcome,” Dylan said. And he began using it with his friends, who thought it was hilarious. They said it instead of neep. It was fun! Made them stand out from the crowd.

At the parent-teacher conference, Ms. Pine told Fred she was pleased with Dylan’s progress. “He’s a very well-spoken young man. He even says you’re welcome when I thank him for turning in his English homework. You’ve done a great job with him, Mr. Hartley. Thank you.”

Fred, being divorced and thinking Ms. Pine was very pretty, wanted to seem cool. So, he smiled and said… “Neep.”

Ms. Pine frowned at him over her glasses.

~*~

Image credited to Shelley Krupa.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Self-Isolation Report 2

Friday Morning

8:30 ~ finally got up after sleeping until 7ish & then lazing in bed playing games on my phone until I ran out the battery

9:00 ~ Noon… had coffee but wasn’t hungry for breakfast, chatted with friends online, played with cats, took shower, read news to further terrify self, ate a protein bar, had tea

Friday Afternoon

12:30 ~ drove to Crystal Cove State Beach & walked around for a couple hours taking pics

Later Friday

3:00 ~ stopped at grocery store to get fresh produce, milk, bread (they were pretty well stocked)

4:00 ~ put groceries away, ate late lunch of spicy vegan black bean burgers topped with melted non-vegan brie (yummy)

5:00 ~ FaceTime with elder daughter

6:00 ~ tea and phone games

7:00 ~ contemplated writing… decided to do this report first and also the SOCS and the SLS… plenty of time to write… plenty… my gosh, I’ll be knocking out so many new books soon they’ll probably ban me for hogging all the Kindle space! 🤣

~*~

Images from Bitmoji and me.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.