Bagels and Lox

The girls were very excited that bagels and lox were on the menu for supper tonight. Watching them gobble it down made me wonder at their ability to eat pretty much anything and enjoy it--especially foods at which I know many adults would turn up their noses! Susan toasted "ET" (for "everything") bagels, which are covered with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, toasted garlic, toasted onion, and caraway seeds. Then she smeared them with cream cheese and piled on smoked salmon (the lox), sliced red onions, and capers.

This is not a meal my own mother ever would have considered serving (if she even knew that it existed as a food item!), but I'm pretty sure that, had she ever served it, my sisters and I would have cringed. Uncooked fish? Red onions? And what's a caper?! Meh, our taste buds were not accustomed to pungently savory items. (The three main spices in my childhood home? Salt, pepper, and white sugar.) Had I been used to such a variety of foods and flavors, as our girls are, I wouldn't have thought it unusual, either, I'm sure.

Gluttony

The Royal Fork is the devil.

No, not really. It's just an innocent little buffet restaurant in Grand Forks, but I never leave it without an uncomfortably full tummy. It's easier to place blame on the tempting restaurant itself than on my own gluttony, so I do.

The girls get certificates for free meals at the Royal Fork with each dental checkup (why area dentists have teamed up with the Royal Fork for this promotion, I do not know), so we used their coupons today for dinner (Susan and I had to pay for ourselves, of course). The soups were delicious, the salad and toppings were fresh, and the hot food was tasty. Chicken, mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans, caramel rolls, tomato soup, herbed chicken and rice soup, chicken and wild rice soup, and on and on. I was too full for dessert (yes, unbelievable--I passed up dessert), but all the ladies had ice cream sundaes.

Thank God for the opportunity to have more than plenty and for the sense to be thankful for it. (Now I need to work on stopping with plenty rather than overindulging . . .)

Stings

A week or so ago, I was trimming the hedges in the front of our house, and I felt a sharp prick on my arm. I looked down to see a bee/hornet/wasp/stinging kind of insect attacking my arm! We have perennials planted all around our house, so there are always swarms enjoying the flowers. Well, one got testy over my presence and let me have it -- my first sting ever, I think. I was alone at the time, so I didn't know what to do. I ran into the house, turned on the computer, and searched the Internet for the correct treatment! I don't remember what I did; it involved soapy water followed by an ice pack, I think. In any case, it became a mildly sore little red spot that disappeared in a day or two -- nothing major.

Well, yesterday I was washing windows on the house, and I was trying to get to the top of the living room picture window. We have a hedge up against the house with the flowers in front of the hedge, so it's pretty difficult to get right up next to the building. I was trying to cram the step ladder between the hedges and the window when I felt two stings simultaneously, one on each leg. Needless to say, I was at that point done washing the window! Today, one of the stings is pretty much gone, but the other one still hurts, and there's a white spot where the sting was, and the pain is spreading outward. Any suggestions, people, for what to do about it?

Yesterday, Susan and the girls and I picnicked at a park in Grand Forks and were pestered there by bees/hornets/wasps/stinging insects. Tonight we joined friends to picnic at a different Grand Forks park, and we were overtaken by a swarm of persistent stingers. I think they could smell the scent of their kin being emitted with my pheromones and were, thus, drawn to me in particular. I was completely emasculated in front of my family and our friends as I grabbed my plate and raced around the table, dodging the carnivorous pests. Meanwhile, Abigail sat completely unfazed, eating her mashed potatoes while bees/hornets/wasps/stinging insects circled her but otherwise did her no harm.

I can't say that I minded going my entire life up to this point without stings.