2007-12-23 - 8:52 a.m.

...stream-of-consciousness picture of a Sunday morning...

It's an amazingly grey Sunday morning - again. And I've had a pounding headache for more than twelve hours. Weather and headaches are generally correlated around here, so I'm hoping for a sun storm with the light of day... sometimes humor comes in hoping for the unlikely.

In the meantime, I'm treating myself to a real hazelnut instead of decaf cappuccino - mostly because we are out of decaf and I was too tired to stop and get some yesterday. Besides, as the bus rolled past, I noticed that the coffee shop was packed with a line full of human life stories that were just waiting to be spilled to the barista at the front counter. Getting a half-kilo of whole beans was bound to take a looonng time. So I'm peacefully drinking the real thing today, and not minding at all that I avoided standing in that long line that would undoubtedly have raised my blood pressure.

Lyra is sitting near me, on the edge of the electronic piano, which means her back half is sitting on the silent keyboard, depressing half of the top octave, and her front half is supported by the windowsill. She's also staring out at the greyness. I think she's also wishing for a sun storm. Either that, or she's thinking, "I'm a cat" or "when's the next meal?" Or perhaps, she's thinking nothing. I suspect that cats are much better at yoga than I am. They can get into outrageous positions in order to lick spots I would never want to lick. And they were born with an ability to think about nothing. Whereas I lie perfectly still in yoga, concentrating on nothingness, only to start asking myself questions, 'hmm, did K buy potatoes at the store?' and 'I wonder when I need to go to the dentist again?' I think that cats have this wonderful innate ability to think about nothing. I see it - or rather the lack of it - in their eyes sometimes.

I spoke too soon - Lyra just saw a bird and has catapulted herself across my desk (or the chess table that I call my desk) to the back door. She wants to join the great grey world out there. or not. Actually she wants to hover between two worlds: great grey and warm inside - I opened the door for her so that she could plant herself halfway in and halfway out - for all of 10 seconds before I ended that game. Not surprisingly, she chose warm and dry over grey and wet.

I want a second cup of coffee. Ah. Much better.

The spanakopita was excellent - even better this morning for breakfast. But I'm about to pack up the little squares and toss them into the freezer for a future meal. And I'm about to transform this kitchen into a cooking show. There is a beautiful pile of colorful vegetables on the counter - it's almost a shame to start cutting them up. But if I don't use them soon, they will start growing all kinds of colonies with new bright colors that aren't particularly nice in a kitchen.

So the cooking must begin, because I will have to be cleaned up before this afternoon, when the clutter lady (the woman we met at the Christmas party a few weeks ago) comes over for a 4th advent tea. I wonder if I should work on a better name than Clutter Lady. I just think it's such a cool job - to get yourself hired to dump out and organize other people's STUFF. I will avoid asking her questions about her work, unless of course she asks me about climate change. ;-)

Okay, I'm feeling kind of awake now. Still stuffy from the cold, and still hazy from the headache. But a little more awake than before. Chicken Chili and White Beans, here I come.