Dunkin Donuts to the Rescue!!

 OK, so I ordered my espresso machine from Amazon, and it was supposed to be delivered today. I was absolutely looking forward to that machine! Well, Amazon wrote to me and let me know that they had to get my machine from another warehouse and it won't arrive at my city's warehouse until Monday, and out to my place on Tuesday. Oh, the agony! Oh, the wait will kill me!!  (Not really, that was just me being a bit dramatic for effect.)  I'm good.

    What I decided to do was to just tough it out as I've been toughing it out for the past few years without having a real espresso machine. Oh my goodness, I just realized it's been over 10 years since I had an espresso machine in my house. I'm really not sure I was aware of that fact before just now. I was sitting here thinking about the last time we had one, and it was in Indiana, and not just in Indiana, but when we first arrived. It was in 2010 - - now I realize that was 12 years ago, but I didn't sell it or maybe even give it away until we moved to Lebanon, Indiana, so that was 2012. Wow. 

    Anyway, I was OK until I decided to go to the post office and drop off a package for a charity in Scotland (Hi, Bethany Christian Trust! You'll have to wait a week longer) and the post office personnel, who have been so rude in the past, told me that they couldn't take my package as it was about closing time (32 minutes away) and they only do international packages at the start of their day up to about 30 minutes before closing. I looked at my watch (yes, I still have one) and I told them it was 11:58 and they close at 12:30, so yeah, we had 32 minutes, and it was ready to go. I was the ONLY customer in the location as well.  They still refused. Again, WOW!

    Rather than arguing my point, since I knew I couldn't force them to get off their collective asses and do their job, I decided to let them know I would file a formal complaint. I took their names and then, as a woman was walking into the lobby, I stopped her and let her know what they had just told me. She didn't have an international package, but she was upset that they were being so hard to get along with, and she said that she too would go online and complain to their supervisor as well as the state postmaster general. I felt a bit better. She was so kind, and she was so nice. I noticed she had on a work cap that read "Dunkin Donuts".  I asked her if she worked there. She said she did, and she had just gotten off work! She didn't realize she was still wearing the cap.

    I told her that I was going to go to Dunkin Donuts, and I was going to let her boss know how genuinely helpful she had been.  The Dunkin Donuts is literally 2 or 3 blocks from the post office, so I drove there, went inside, and I found the manager. I kept my word and let her know that she had a wonderful worker in Claire and that I was most impressed with her commitment to helping our community become a more open and friendly place rather than allowing some of the older more hard-faced attitudes to get away with their lazy assumptions about life. The manager, Donna, let me know that she was impressed with Claire as well. She mentioned that Claire had won Employee of the Month several times last year. Could this be another Wow moment? I think so.

    Donna asked me what drink I would like, and that it was on the house! Woot!! I got my coffee!  I ordered a double espresso drink, a wet cappuccino, and if she didn't mind, I'd take some chocolate sprinkles on top! She was more than happy to oblige.  I looked over the donuts too, you can't NOT see them you know. I decided a half dozen would do. (I bought the donuts, I didn't ask for them as a gift) Today, because I can, because I'm a community-involved assertive American, I decided to buy 6 donuts for the heck of it!! Why not? Oh, I know, they have calories, they are full of fat, and they aren't the least bit healthy for me.  All that be damned!  Donuts it is!  I was very careful to pick out three I knew I loved, and three I knew Laura would love as well.  I have to include her if I'm going to buy a bunch of unnecessary donuts!

    When I got home with the fantastic load of big, fat, calorie-ridden, love bites, I walked straight to Laura's room to show her my spoils! Rather than argue with me, and tell me how disgusting I am, the woman (my baby) smiled that smile and put her hands together in a prayer-type style.  "Oh my!", she exclaimed...."did you buy the Boston creme one?"  You know I did!!  We are just two really happy, smiling, giggling women over here; me with my big hot cappuccino, she with her LaCroix (room temp because she's really odd).  I can't explain it, but some days you just throw out anything sensible and you live!  I mean, I'm about to empty trash, do the dishes, wash clothes, and change the bed sheets, so yeah, a donut or two...or three, will make things so much better!

    Thanks, Claire!!

Photo Credit:  DunkinDonuts.com

Empty Belly Syndrome

 It's been a minute since I've had this empty belly feeling; I don't like it. Do you know what I'm talking about? It feels like you can't get enough to eat. It doesn't matter if you've just finished an entire large Pizza Hut pizza by yourself, it feels like you're still starving! It feels like nothing can stop the cravings, nothing can fill in the void. Nothing, no matter what you eat, is enough! I hate it. I'm told by my doctor that it's the way the body recovers after a terrible virus, and yeah, I get that, because that's exactly what I'm doing, but dang!!  I don't know if my metabolism is going to recover!!

    Last week, about 10 days ago actually, my daughter was taken to the hospital (by me) with what we knew to be dehydration, but we didn't know the full story until after they did the three-in-one test that tests for C19, Flu, and RSV, an upper respiratory infection type virus that runs the course like any other virus, but in the lungs mostly. Well, turns out she had Covid. Then, about two days later, they called to downgrade or side-step that diagnosis to the common flu because her white count was high and probably caused a false positive. I didn't really get to hear the joyous news because by that time I had a full-blown case of it myself!

    Laying in bed with a fever that just would not stop, in fact, it stayed for more than three full days. I couldn't rest. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I could barely breathe and forget about working. I was out for the count. The fact that I was supposed to be caring for my sick daughter was absolutely on my heart, and on my mind. We did a great deal of praying and crawling around from one room to the other, taking breaks to just try not to die. It was the worse flu case  I have ever had, and I can't sing the praises of DayQuil and Tylenol loud enough. I drank a bottle of DayQuil every day for three days. No, I'm not kidding. My diet consisted of DayQuil, gingersnaps, trail mix bars, and Tylenol. Oh, and I drank nasty Pedialyte, I'm never going to do that again. I'll chug Jack Daniels before I do that again. Come to think of it, I should have done that.

    My grandpa always said that if you're ill whisky will heal ya, and if you're well, whiskey will kill ya. I don't exactly know what it will do for you if you're already mostly dead. I didn't get the chance to find out because  I had three bottles of DayQuil from when there was a sale on it at the store, and I thought I might need it. I was right. I was absolutely right. I did survive the 2022 Flu, but it took a great deal of persuading for that to happen. Now, after the virus has left the building, there is a  void the size of the Grand Canyon in my gut! No matter what I heave down my throat, it feels as if I have plenty of room to shove more in there; this is so not fun.

    I've decided to give into the monster and just eat until I can't eat anymore, then maybe after that's digested I'll find space for another carb or two. It's funny, my body doesn't want sugars, no, it's all about heavy bread, pasta, wheat products, and more trail mix bars. Big Lots had boxes of 30 and 48 for just under $10, so yeah, I bought 3.  I may actually end up packing on a pound or two in the next few days, but I have no choice in this matter. If I want to be healthy enough to stand, walk the dog, drive myself to work, and actually do the work, I'm stuffing my face 24/7.

    I bet if I went to the internet I could find a word for it. I bet there's a medical term for it. Let's see what I can find.  OK, what I found was a lot of sites telling me that people ate a great deal of food when they were sad, depressed, worried, or anxious. I'm not any of those, I am recovering from the Flu. Oh well, at least I know I'm not alone, my daughter is on this happy quest with me. We're thinking of fat burgers and fries later after we cram the pizza.  It may be the worse thing for us, but we'll be sure and wash it all down with a few bubbly LaCroix drinks while watching copious episodes of "Glee".  You can't know how pathetic that sounds, but let me tell you, it really helps get the nostrils flaring and the oxygen back into the body where it belongs.

    HEAL ALREADY!!  This isn't just a cheat day, this is recovery.  I'll survive.

Photo Credit: Digg.com