On My Mind

I was going to write this post as a "Three Things Thursday" but I think I have more than three random things to share. Because I have thoughts. Lots of them.

• On Saturday, in the midst of prepping a dinner/early birthday for Mark party, I had the brilliant idea to clean out the cabinet above my stove. Good or bad, wrong or right, it's the place I store vinegars, some spices, baking ingredients and other seasonings that don't seem to have a place. It was a good clean as I uncovered many things that I had bought for a single recipe and totally forgot about – vanilla sugar, unflavored gelatin, pumpkin spice pudding mix. All of it was expired. But the best thing about the effort was not a clean cabinet, albeit nice, was that I found the bladder to my Nathan hydration vest.

::cue chorus of angels::

I had placed the pack in the basement to wash (where it's still waiting) and placed the bladder somewhere for safe keeping. The problem was that I didn't remember where that safe place was. I had looked for it in vain before the HUFF and was quite close to buying a replacement on Amazon. It was not ridiculously expensive, in the $25 range, but it seemed unnecessary if there was one in my house.

As it turns out, it was in the drawer with the kitchen towels buried underneath the linens. I'm not sure I want to use it quite yet – there's a year of drawer funk to contend with . I just need to pick up a cleaning kit and actually do it ... before I lose the bladder again.

• Now, back to the party. I like to have a theme for get-togethers so that, if anything, the menu is cohesive. For Saturday night, I set my sights on a grown-up pizza party. I made two batches of homemade crust and four pies. We had a traditional sausage and mushroom to suit the less adventurous and for the rest, there was a Philly chicken pie, a jalapeno popper version and a pear and gorgonzola variety. I had the latter three and they were amazing. To round it out, I served one of those chopped salads from the produce section.

• Mark's actual birthday is Friday, and I am tasked with making his favorite treat – a chocolate raspberry cake. It's a process. Not a difficult one but just enough work that I only do it once a year. As for his gift, I'm really excited about it. He reads here so I won't share just yet but there is a story, and I plan to divulge it next week.

• This morning, I had the lovely pleasure of going to the dentist. I'm lying. It wasn't a pleasure. I hate it. I have terrible teeth, and they always want me to do something. Two years ago, it was fill the gap between my front teeth. Last year, I had to have old silver fillings replaced. Anyway. When the hygienist called me back, I had that nagging feeling I knew her. I hadn't seen her there before but elsewhere. As it turns out, she used to take my Piloxing classes. When I made the connection, the first thing I thought was: Thank goodness, I waxed my mustache.

• At my appointment, I got dinged for not flossing the right way. I don't get to my back teeth well enough, and the picks apparently are inferior to actual floss. Actual floss hugs the teeth as you floss. You want to hug your teeth.When the hygienist told me this, I felt rather defensive. I wanted to shout, "Well, you really should squat like this." Except she wasn't doing squats and her form could very well be good.

Excuse me now. My molars asked for an embrace.