Most activities fall into one of two categories: "use it or lose it" and "like riding a bike - you never forget". I've had my share of "use it or lose it" activities. I took 3 years of Latin and 5 semesters of Russian and I can't utter more than a couple phrases. I played the clarinet for 5 years and can't play a thing. I doubt I can even get a note to come out of the instrument without sounding like a strangled duck. I played the organ for a year and a half and have retained "chopsticks". However the other category still holds a few things that I can still manage even though I'm out of practice. I can still ride a bicycle. Yep. Even use the hand breaks without flipping myself over the handlebars. I can still drive a manual transmission even if my car is now an automatic. I can sew on a button and put in a zipper though it has been about 25 years since I last had to replace a zipper. And I can still write poetry. You do get out of practice. I feel a little rusty with my rhymes. I used to do a short story once a year but it has been more than a couple years since I started one. Even if it has been a long time since I made it a priority to write at least once a day, I think I need to get back in practice, to supple my writing muscles in order to be ready for April's National Poetry Month. Thus I present my own writing prompt:

Scavenger Hunt Winter 2017
1. Use the phrase “Stronger every day”
2. Use the words: hawk, therapy, window, peach, comfort
3. Include a dragonfly
4. Discuss something in a frame
5. Use the words: technology,
6. Use the words: heat, merit, blue, aardvark
7. Include the phrase “If you’ve ever wanted”
8. Use the words: poke, cascade, pause, gold
9. Mention a famous composer.
10. Write about love
11. Write about a treehouse
12. Use the words: biscuits, beat, choices, pink
13. Write about death
14. Discuss religion
15. Use the phrase “Curiosity killed the cat”
16. Include the life cycle of an insect
17. Use the words: trivia, sunglasses, stratosphere, petulant
18. Discuss shaving your head
19. Include a quote from Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”
20. Include a disease
21. Use the words: cozy, lock, spite, iris
22. Discuss a closet
23. Use a dressing room
24. Use the phrase “I’ve never been good at parallel parking”
25. Include a broken promise
26. Use the words: prospect, scroll, fringe, glasses, flash
27. Discuss a distraction

I know this is posted a bit late but I've been sick... This is a recap of the Family Super Bowl Chili Challenge. Sparky made a Hawaiian Chili. I was not present during the construction of his chili. However I did have to deal with the resulting destruction of my kitchen. When I asked how he managed to get tomato sauce on the microwave, cabinet doors and the entire stove top, his response was, "It was an intense creative experience." His chili was made with pork sausage, tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, crushed pineapple, pineapple-peach salsa, chipotle BBQ sauce, chili powder, yellow peppers, and a couple spoonfuls of the deadly Mrs. Renfro's Salsa Verde. It was a little sweet and a lot spicy. The photo below doesn't capture the eye watering quality of the heat coming off this pot of chili.

I made the Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili. I took some liberties with the recipe and combined several versions to come up with this winner (in my opinion).
Ingredients:
3 medium sweet potatoes - peeled and diced
1 can tomato paste
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1/4 sweet onion diced
1/2 can water

As you can see the next step is to simmer the sweet potatoes until tender. This took about 20 minutes after the pot came to a boil. After the potatoes were fork tender it was time to get serious. I added the following to the pot:
Ingredients:
1 can Hormel Chili no beans
1 can black beans (low sodium)
1 teaspoon Chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
1/4 teaspoon baking cocoa
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons Amish Taco Mix

I let this simmer for about an hour to allow the flavors to mix. I then had Sparky taste it. I served him a couple spoonfuls in a cup. Frankly I couldn't taste anything because of the stinking head cold. I asked him for his opinion and cautioned him not to sabotage my efforts. He said that it was rather "bland" and maybe had too much tomato. That is what he said. But what he did was scrape out the cup and lick the spoon and ask for a little more because I had mentioned "complex flavors" and he wanted to re-evaluate the taste.

We packed everything up and headed to the Chili Challenge/Super Bowl Party. The competition was fierce - in the kitchen at least. As the Falcons were spanking the Patriots in the first half, we were sampling the various chili soups lined up on the kitchen counter.
This first photo is of the Red Chicken Chili provided by Sparky's unmarried sibling. Her contribution had excellent flavor and a big "burn" that only hit you after the fact. It was tempered by the sour cream with chopped cilantro she served on the side. This got my 2nd place vote.

This photo shows Sparky's sister hosting the party's entry, a Stop Light Chili. So named for the Red and Green peppers and the yellow corn. I tasted a small amount and quietly scraped the remainder from my bowl into the garbage disposal. It had way too many peppers. I was afraid that the single spoonful was going to result in an evening of burping peppers. It turns out I was right in thinking so.

Sparky's youngest sister made her version of White Chicken Chili. Although the photo doesn't do it justice, it had lots of chunks of chicken and a ton of white beans. The only spices were red pepper flakes and a single jalapeno pepper diced finely. It definitely had some "kick" but wasn't so spicy that you needed a beverage after a few bites. Although I gave it a third place vote due to the watery texture (it needed some thickening agent, possibly some instant potatoes) it turned out to be the winner!

As the evening wore on and the Falcons wore out I realized that the indigestion I was feeling was more related to the chili than the come from behind win by the Patriots. Arriving home we had to rearrange the refrigerator to accommodate 3 pots of chili. Sparky's job was to portion it out into single servings and freeze it for later consumption. We've had our fill of chili for the time being!

Sparky and I have a tradition for St. Valentine's Day - we eat out at Taco Bell. It is a long story that I've told before. Anyway I decided we should continue the tradition and have Taco Bell for dinner. It is always interesting to see who is having dinner there on St. Valentine's Day. It seems there are several types represented - the "I hate this day because I don't have a sweetheart" group, the "I refuse to buy into the made-up holiday as an excuse to spend money" crowd, and the "I'm dirt poor and this is as good as a date can get" crew. I was able to people watch. I categorized and analyzed, sorted and evaluated. We sat down with our loaded tray (we splurged and spent nearly $7) near a young woman with an infant and a young man. They weren't married and I'm not even sure he was the father of the child, but he was buying her dinner. I could just over hear that he had to leave so that he could get to work on time. She kissed him good-bye and shortly after finished her meal and left. It made me a little sad that this was as good as it was going to get for her. A pair of couples came in and ordered. They were dressed up and obviously Taco Bell was not their final destination. There were several fancy events going on at some of the local high schools and this group was no doubt headed to a dance. I wondered what would have compelled them to come to Taco Bell - the munchies? Anyway, we mostly had the place to ourselves until we were about to leave. The teens that slouched in made me wonder how they didn't run into things with their hair combed thickly forward over their eyes.  They ordered and sat at  a small table , huddled together an odd lot of Goth teens looking morose and slightly belligerent silently eating soft shell tacos. I imagine they fell into that sweet spot of the convergence of all three categories.

What did you do to remember that special someone?

I have had the worst head cold! I am literally underwater. My sinuses are completely filled with liquid. The more I blow my nose the more stuff comes out. It is an endless supply. I'm rethinking the "drink plenty of fluids" advice of the doctor. The fluids I'm drinking seem to only be fueling the snot factory in my head. And there is the other issue of The Cough. The Cough is a creature of monstrous proportions. It lays dormant until I want to speak. As soon as I try to make vocal noises it awakens and starts roaring. I feel like the little mermaid who has lost her voice. The Cough has prevented me from sleeping. Even with the assistance of NyQuil I still cough myself awake. Granted I'm too groggy to do much except stumble to the bathroom and back to bed - coughing the whole way. Sparky isn't too happy about it but he is the one who started coughing first. My initial plan was to attack the snot with antihistamines. That didn't seem to make any appreciable difference. I started plan B which included a decongestant. Still no relief. I resorted to NyQuil, Zicam, Mentholatum, and a humidifier. The only difference was the consistency of the snot. It was not a change for the better. I'm currently living on Halls cough drops, hot chocolate, and Vitamin C. The Cough has possessed my body and is fighting to take over control of my brain. It is a life or death struggle. If this becomes my last post, remember me as one who fought the snot with every ounce of my being and who valiantly took on The Cough only to fall during the battle.

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the cold and cough. If you try it, you will be sick and lonely often, and sometimes frightened by The Cough. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself, breaking free from the hideous virus.
A quote by Friedrich Nietzsche altered by murisopsis.

P.S. I may have coughed up a lung and sloughed my nasal lining but I still have my sense of humor mostly intact (warped but whole).

I waited a long time for this piece to surface. This coccolith is Poricalyptra found in the North Atlantic. The cold waters (and probably the cold weather) inspired me to try a new blue glaze. It is supposed to be a semi-matte translucent glaze. The kiln tech made a "test" batch and if people like it it will be added to the choices. I was not happy with the outcome. It didn't cover evenly and the color is, um, insipid. I had placed Super-T in the holes but it doesn't show up and doesn't give the little orb any pizzazz.

I was able to talk to the kiln tech and register my "no" vote for keeping this glaze around. I'd much rather have them bring back the Grape glaze or maybe the Chun Blue.

I really try to be honest with people. However the work I've been assigned has required me to withhold information. The change committee is starting to get into some serious stuff. Stuff that makes me want to avoid being alone with any of my coworkers for fear that they will ask me questions that I can't answer or pump me for information I can't discuss. I am feeling shifty.

Uncomfortable
Questions fly like stinging bees
I shift in my chair

The committee held "listen-in" meetings with the staff. They could come to talk either in groups or individually. Most took advantage of the opportunity. We gathered information and took note of concerns and conflicts. We will compile the information to assist in coming up with a new way of working.

Uncomfortable
Eyes darting from side to side
Shifty souls laid bare

The next step will be to survey the management team. They are as nervous as the staff. Change is hard on everyone. Especially so when the management has been excluded from the change team. Management by definition likes to be in charge and they aren't.

Uncomfortable
Reins in hand without a horse
Shift in the saddle

This is my little Haibun. A Haibun is prose interspersed with haiku. Haiku are 3 line poems with a strict syllable count of 5-7-5 for the lines. (At least that is the Americanized version.)

We had originally decided to give our sons a garbage disposal for Christmas. After a nearly month an a half of trying to wrangle an estimate, the price came in at $700 for the wiring, parts and installation. That is more than double what we had anticipated. We called some electricians and got a couple more estimates all of them still above what we wanted to pay. I had talked with the electrician at work and he said it was a simple thing and shouldn't cost more than $150 to $200 dollars for labor and parts. He checked with a retired friend but he was too busy to take on another job... maybe next fall. We gave up on the garbage disposal. After consulting with the boys, we settled on a new floor in the kitchen. Sparky can do the tear out of the existing floor and he has done 3 floors already at our house so he is experienced. Even if we get the more expensive laminate floor it shouldn't run more than the $300 we had originally decided we would spend on them at Christmas.

While at Lowe's examining the different flooring, we came upon a display in the main aisle. It was not for tile or hard wood floors. It was for grilling accessories. Specifically sauces, marinades and rubs to use while preparing the food on the grill. We laughed hard and loud. We were so amused and tickled that we decided that we needed to purchase some. There was so much to choose from that it was a difficult decision. We settled on these two:

We passed on the sauce since we were already rubbing some Booty! I am thinking that I should gift these to my sister for Christmas... it would give me joy and I know she would laugh every time she used them!!

Sparky wanted to buy me a birthday present. I thought long and hard. I got sick. He got sick. Money is a little tight. I figured I really didn't need anything. I got an email from Shop Your Way Rewards asking me if I wanted to play one of the stupid survey games. Being sick I decided that taking a survey and then pressing a button on the spinning wheel to see if I win would be a nice diversion. Well I played 4 times and I won! So I had some surprise points at Sears or K-Mart. As I was tidying up my coupons I found one for Sears - 30% off any footwear purchase. Hmm. I thought about my perfect shoes that I got from Sears. I remembered seeing them on sale for 50% off. When Sparky asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday I had originally said rest and drink fluids and curl up in my fleece blanket in my fleece pajamas with the space heater on and my cozy spot on my lap. I decided instead that a trip to Sears would possibly be where he could buy me my birthday present. He reluctantly agreed. Shoe shopping is not high on his list. It ranks for him about even with having an ingrown toenail removed. He loves me so we went to Sears.
These are the shoes I bought. They are just like my favorite pair except instead of black they are dark brown.

Normally they are a little pricey.

But the nice thing is that they were still half price. And I had that 30% off coupon, and surprise points and Shop Your Way points.

Sparky couldn't believe his ears when I handed the sales clerk my coupons. I had another one for $6 in surprise points and I had just earned from the survey the Shop Your Way points to the tune of $5.59, plus she gave me an additional 30% on the Shop Your Way card. She announced that I owed 70 cents. Sparky had been standing off to the side and he rushed to the counter to stare at the price screen. I made him give me a dollar. He let me keep the 30 cents in change. As we left the store he commented that he was willing to buy me a little something more. I told him I'd think about it and let him know!  I'm quite pleased with my gift and Sparky is impressed with my shopping acumen.

So Sparky and I have been under the weather. Just before my birthday, I started getting a sore throat. I brushed it off as just dry air and being a mouth breather at night. Wednesday morning it was sore but it went away by midday. Thursday morning it was sore again but it didn't go away at all. By Thursday night I wasn't feeling too perky at ceramics class but not really sick. Thursday night I had trouble sleeping because my throat really hurt. I considered calling off Friday morning but I had a critical part of a study to do at 8:00 AM followed by a meeting at 9:00 AM and then the big meeting at 10:00 AM - none of which I felt comfortable missing. I did my thing and then managed a doctor's appointment at 11:45 AM. The good news was that I didn't have strep throat. The bad news was that I had the same virus that the rest of the world seems to have. The doctor recommended plenty of fluids, rest, chicken soup, Ibuprofen and antihistamines. She assured me that in a few days I'd feel much better. I was determined that the cold would not interfere with my birthday celebrations. Unfortunately Sparky caught it. Men are such babies sometimes. So we took turns napping and waking up to go to the bathroom, which is what happens when you drink copious amounts of liquids. How bad was it? Sparky couldn't sing in the choir on Sunday. I didn't feel like cooking so we ate leftovers all weekend. Because of the colds we limited our activities but I did make Sparky drive me to Sears on Saturday before he collapsed. I wanted my Birthday present. And I got it... but that's another post! Here it is almost 2 weeks later and we are still not healthy. I worked a half day yesterday because I was not feeling well. Today I don't have that luxury. I will soldier on and hopefully this cold will fade away.

So I know you have been grinding your teeth waiting for the Trivia answers. Well, the wait is over. Did you write your answers down? I'm doing this on the honor system... So what was your score??

Round 1: Famous Animals in TV and Movies
1. Odie and Garfield
2. Sants's Little Helper
3. Mr. Ed
4. Rufus a naked mole rat
5. Toto
6. Pinky and the Brain
7. Nemo
8. Sven
9. Babe
10.Rango

Round 2: Name that Dog Breed
1. Afghan Hound
2. Shar Pei
3. Chinese Crested
4. West Highland White Terrier
5. Doberman Pinscher
6. Papillon
7. Bedlington Terrier
8. Puli
9. Boxer
10.Wire Haired Pointing Griffon

Round 9: Famous Cats
1. Grumpy Cat
2. Colonel Meow
3. Buttercup
4. The Cat in the Hat
5. Hello Kitty
6. The Cheshire Cat
7. Mrs. Norris
8. Mr. Bigglesworth
9. Morris
10.Puss in Boots