PEERING INTO MY FUTURE

I was doing some half-hearted clutter control this morning when I unearthed this birthday card from my friend Becky. She found it irresistible because the person on the right looks so much like me - the "me" we both see in my future (not to mention that the future "me" shares the thoughts of the current "me").

Becky, Pat, and I (as she has labeled us on the card) like to visit Lake Tahoe when I'm in Sacramento (ex-"hometown"), and take a hike together. Really, looking at this card is like peering into my future (and I am happy to see we are still active).

What Becky didn't realize, though, is how much the woman on the left looks like my MOM! It's positively wierd for me to look at this card - like someone took a photo when we weren't looking. I just HAD to post it for my family to see - plus, now I can move ahead with my clutter cleanup without losing this hilarious image.

Thanks, Becky (yes, the same Becky whose great accessory gifts "made" my party outfit)!

HOW WE SPENT OUR SATURDAY

Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market - have you heard of/seen 'em? We hadn't, until we arrived in Loma Linda. They are physically distinctive and a new one, not yet open, is going in a few blocks from Mission RV Park - which got me curious.

On Saturday, we returned to the nearby town of Yucaipa, the site of our wet Thanksgiving hike, to enjoy it in clear, sunny weather - and to visit the Fresh and Easy store we had noticed in Yucaipa the first time we visited. Before we left for our hike, I did some menu planning and made a short grocery list for a stop at the store after the hike (a 5-mile loop that turned into a 6.1 mile loop).

How many of you think of a grocery store as a “Point of Interest”, a stop to look forward to on a day of sightseeing? Quite a few of the RV'ers, I’ll bet!

In the RV, our kitchen/pantry space is at a premium, so we don’t keep backups of backups on hand (no twelve packs of paper towels in the hall closet, no stashes of sale items in the garage, no deep-freeze full of chicken thighs bought at a good bulk price). And, in spite of the proliferation of generic malls and chain restaurants, there ARE regional foods - and you frequently find them in the grocery store, especially a local chain.

I’ll never forget the hog lard - on sale - that we saw at a small market in Abbeville, Louisiana. Too bad for us, we don't have the space to buy lard in gallon containers. :) Foodie that I am, I love a long, slow, browse through an interesting, well-stocked grocery store!

Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Markets have an interesting concept that combines several leading edge ideas: organic food; prepared/semi-prepared food; environmentally conscious buildings and practices; fair wages and benefits for employees; lower prices; small, easy-in/easy-out stores with wide aisles, good lighting, and a good-but-not-overwhelming selection.

Our grocery list was short but diverse, "express lane" length: salad greens, peeled garlic, a red pepper, scallions, a dozen eggs, a can of unsweetened pineapple, a jar of pasta sauce, a box of chicken broth and 2 rolls of paper towels. That is my LEAST favorite time to visit a supermarket, when the sheer size of the store and it's offerings are overkill compared to my needs.

Because we were going to Fresh and Easy, which I knew from web research specializes in ready to eat foods, the last item was "something for dinner tonight". I had my doubts that we would find everything on the list.

Not to worry. Fresh and Easy truly seems like a timely update to the concept of the "neighborhood market". Once you get the hang of their system, your shopping experience would likely be speedy, reasonably priced, and pleasant. Check out these pictures (double click on the collage to enlarge it).

First off, get your cart from OUTSIDE the store before you go in. We didn't and, after our 6+ mile hike, neither of us wanted to go back and get it! I guess I looked more pathetic than Odel, as he went and brought the cart after we exchanged looks.

Straight ahead is the produce section. All the produce (except winter squash and bananas) is packaged, something I hate at Trader Joe's (the pre-packaged quantities are too big) but liked at F&E, where the quantities were reasonably small. Nice selection of salad greens, many varieties of apples, various herbs - all the items on my small produce list (including peeled garlic) were there and many others, too.

Next I browsed the extensive selection of prepared and semi-prepared foods, while Odel went off to find eggs, paper towels, and chicken broth. He returned shortly, with a bottle of wine (NOT on the list!) - a Reisling, cold, for $4.99, had snagged him. It sounded so good after our hike that I was tempted to screw the top off and chug it right there in the nice, wide aisle.

Refrigerated cases abound. The least "prepared" foods are the meat and fish, but even they have some element of pre-preparation. Ground beef was formed into patties, and sometimes packaged with bratwurst in a "grilling pak". Some meats and fish had been marinated, some skewered, some paired with complementary sauce packets... and all are packaged in reasonably portion-controlled sizes, for two or four. Cooking directions are included for all.

Another cold case is filled with "Mix and Match" foods - fully cooked entrees and sides (with heating directions), portion-controlled for two, that can be combined into an appealing meal. "Something for dinner tonight" translated to a pound of pork tenderloin medallions with Dijonnaise sauce (saute the pork for 10 minutes, add the sauce and cook until it bubbles); mashed potatoes (about 3 cups, nuke for 4 minutes); and green beans mixed with peas and a small scoop of herb butter (nuke for 3 minutes). I had my doubts about the vegies - figured they would be overcooked, but was hungry enough to give 'em a try.

While I picked out dinner, Odel scored a coup - a 4 pack of Scott's single ply toilet paper, the most cost-effective TP for RV use and not available everywhere. Wow - F&E was really beginning to impress us! We finished up the shopping - found everything on the list and more - and moved to the checkout.

Uh, oh. It's all DIY - do your own scanning, do your own bagging. Yep, that slowed us down! With the assistance of the checkout supervisor, Odel stepped up to the scanner and we had a lesson in Do It Yourself checkout. Not bad - I'm sure we could handle it easily and quickly next time (or maybe the time after that). F&E has both cloth ($2? each) and recycled plastic ($0.20) bags for sale - if the plastic bag wears out, you can bring it back for a free replacement. Of course, they have standard free bags, too.

Then we were out the door and headed home. Dinner was easy and surprisingly good - and the vegetables were perfect, not overcooked at all. We paid $5.99 for the pork, $2.99 for the mashed potatoes, and $3.49 for the green beans. This could have been stretched to feed 3 small-to-moderate eaters, but we two hearty hikers consumed it all, washed down with Two Buck Chuck - about $15 for a very good dinner for two. It's the niche between "time and cooking utensil intensive" from-scratch cooking and dining out, both in time and cost - probably twice the cost of cooking from scratch and definitely less than half the cost of dining out. We were impressed.

After we got home, I researched their website and found a $6 off coupon - with a 12/9 expiration date. We had been given two $5 off coupons when we left the store, also with soon-to-expire dates. It's a smart ploy to get you back soon, and I am sure we would be if the store was actually in OUR neighborhood.

Lots of good ideas at Fresh and Easy, well presented and executed. They have grand expansion plans - I hope they can make it in these troubled financial times. If you live in California, Nevada, or Arizona, check out their website for a store in your neighborhood, or coming soon (to Sacramento!).

LAURIE'S MISSION: CHRISTMAS DRESS REHEARSAL

It's Wednesday, which means that Odel is on the golf course with the proton beam guys, and I have the morning to myself. After meeting Luna's many and varied morning needs, I got right down to the business of the day: put together a Special Outfit.

Can you believe it is December, and that Christmas is just around the corner?? All the PBT patients and spouses who will be here on Christmas are invited to the home of one of the doctors for Christmas dinner.

Let's see now, where did I put my party clothes? Oh, that's right, they went in the Goodwill bag during the "third year on the road" closet cleaning.

I have an extensive wardrobe of clothing suitable for hiking, camping in the desert, grocery shopping, eating delicious greasy grilled chicken over a plate balanced on my lap, flea-combing the cat, checking tire pressures... and some recent purchases for working out at the gym. I'm light on "Christmas Dinner at the Doctor's House". I've been mulling over a purchase or two, but decided first to see what I could pull together from recent acquisitions and the very few more elegant articles left from my pre-retirement days - an expenditure of creativity rather than of cash.

Any woman reading this - most especially those of you who live in 300 sq feet - know that the absence of your spouse is critical to Creating An Outfit. Nothing will wither your creative impulses more quickly than innocent, casual questions ("What are you doing with all that stuff?"), unsolicited advice ("Are you going to wear that?"), eye-rolling, or wondering aloud how much longer you are going to have your "stuff" spread around the bedroom and bathroom. Not to say Odel would do any of these things, but even the thought of it...!

First, I dug through the medicine cabinet to inventory all my available cosmetic resources. Since I've retired, my makeup routine - never very extensive - has shrunk to the two most critical aspects: comb my hair (which I occasionally forget) and apply chapstick. However, reading mainstream magazines - filled with makeup tips, hairstyles, and current fashions - in the LLUMC patient lounge while I wait for Odel has reminded me that the average urban woman probably budgets for more than three new chapsticks, two new toothbrushes and a new washcloth each year.

Consequently, in preparation for our Big Night, I made a few cosmetic purchases when Odel and I shopped Target yesterday: a moisturizer, a "bronzer", and an "eye-brightening duo". When Odel looked at our receipt and said "Wow, what did we buy that cost so much??", I renewed my Note to Self: if you can't be with girlfriends, purchasing and experimenting with makeup and clothing is best done in solitude.

I augmented my new products with hair goop I got for my birthday from Sydney, whose hairdo I admire; a fistful of makeup brushes, always fun; an old mascara, remarkably liquid given it's probable age; and Burt's Bees lipgloss in my favorite color, Nutmeg - no doubt discontinued by now. After I washed and moisturized my face, I worked on one eye at a time - a scientific method designed to determine whether the "eye brightening duo", the eyebrow powder (when did the outer half of my eyebrows fall out?) and the mascara were actually improvements. Well... yes, they were, even in my inexperienced hands. I finished putting on my party face and went to the closet.

My potential party clothes were easily inventoried. Over an ankle length, jet black tube skirt (pre-retirement), I could wear: the red long-sleeved top from our trip to the outlet stores; a slinky, pre-retirement lizard print sleeveless top; or a boat-neck, blue, 3/4 sleeve top. For the "dress-up" aspect, I had layers (color me fashion-savvy): a lushly embroidered blue wrap given to me as a gift by Kim; a heavily embroidered vest; or a new red wrap given to me by Becky for my birthday a few weeks ago.

A year ago, channel surfing late one night, I came across Oprah's show on the importance of the right bra (really, I kid you not - it was a real show and I WATCHED IT!) and became convinced that I should switch from my usual camisoles (purchased in bulk at Costco) to a well-fitted bra. My sister Nancy and I headed to the mall for an Oprah-inspired bra fitting, and I came home with two. I wore one twice, the other once. For the past year, they have traveled in the back corner of the camisole drawer. It appears that our visit to Loma Linda is their shining hour, as I dug out the plain beige one for my gym workouts and auditioned the deep brown one for the Christmas party.

Thus prepared with my face made up, my hair styled, and my boobs lifted to a more youthful level, I got started. First, the skirt. It's stretchy, it fits and - the main reason I love and it have kept it all these years - it is ankle length, so no need to shave my legs (another of those work-related cosmetic items that has fallen by the wayside) or wear tights or pantyhose (shudder). Lookin' good.

Dress rehearsal came to a screetching halt when I slipped the slinky lizard print sleeveless top over my head. Still fits, and I love the print - but the parts of my upper arms that swing freely of their own accord are better left covered around all but the most intimate of friends and family. Unless my current workout program works much more quickly than seems possible, this is a dangerous holiday option.

The remaining, upper-arm friendly tops and potential accessories cycled through their numerous permutations over the next half hour, accessorized and scrutinized with jewelry and handbags, tweaked detail by detail. And, guess what? No need to hit the stores.

I settled on the reds - more Christmas-y than blue. I have new black flats I got on sale in Palm Desert when my girlfriends visited. I'll wear my silver Peace earrings from Bisbee (big danglies etched over and over with the words Peace and Love), my $5 beaded barcelet from San Antonio, the necklace Becky never wore so she gave it to me, and the woven handbag Becky gave me (along with the wrap) for my birthday (gosh, Becky, I couldn't have done it without your excellent taste!).

I wonder what Odel is wearing? :)