Tulip Tuesday

It's Tuesday and that means tulips.  March is shaping up to be the wettest March on record in my neck of the woods, with nearly 10 inches of rain having fallen in my backyard in the last 30 days.  It's pouring again today.  Between the water in my basement and the (hopefully repaired) leak in the dining room, I could use some of the more happy signs of Spring.  Enter the tulips, a very welcome distraction from my rain-induced anxieties.  

More, please.

What He Said......

I had intended to write a post about the ridiculous Republican rhetoric that accompanied the passage of healthcare reform earlier last week.  But Paul Krugman's March 25 editorial in the New York Times really says it all.  So go read it and picture me nodding my head vigorously.

True that, Mr. Krugman.

Reality Bites

As a result of the legal agreement I came to with my ex, she has JT for two weekends a month and for two additional weeks over the course of the calendar year.  In the grand scheme of things, it's not really much.  On a daily basis, my house is his home; I am the parent most often in his life.  Sometimes, when her time comes around I'm even a little grateful for a few hours to myself.

But once those hours have passed, reality sets in.  Reality is that time off isn't really what I want, even if I need it.  Reality is that  her weekends with JT leave me at cross-purposes.  For most of my days and nights I am the mama, party of one.  There are plenty of chores and responsibilities to fill my time.  The time is always carefully marked with the reality of raising my son and keeping our household humming.  And then, just when I've got my pace, along comes a weekend in which I have no parental responsibilities, at least in the form of a ever-present child with immediate needs and requests.  I plan things to do, of course.  And often it's things that I enjoy.  But it's not the same. 

If I mention this to other parents, parents who still have partners, they invariably sigh and tell me how much they'd love some time to themselves.  As if this is a luxury I should enjoy, one they can't take for granted.  I've given up trying to explain that this is no luxury; that there is nothing about my life that should strike longing in their hearts.  In fact, I try not to bring up at all ----- it's not worth being misunderstood or, more often, dismissed.  What I really want to say is that nearly four years into the destruction of my family, those weekends still feel like  interruptions  into my regular routine; a regularly unpleasant reminder of a life I didn't choose.

I feel ungrateful when I express it this way.  I'm frustrated with myself for feeling dissatisfied; I know I should be grateful for everything that I do have in this world.  I am grateful.  But I miss having a family to care for on a Saturday night and I'm tired of pretending otherwise.  So I'm just going to say it:  I really miss loving my life.

Sartorial Issues

I am a girl who demands exacting rigor in her reading of the calendar,  Come November, I expect the weather to turn appropriately cold, so that I can wear sweaters and tights with no fear of being overly warm.  I feel the same way come March, but in the reverse: I'd like to wear warm-weather, spring clothing.  And because that's what I want, that's what I expect ---- so I banish the dark wool and corduroy skirts and tights in favor of lighter weight skirts and sweaters.  While the tights are washed and put away; sandals and flip flops are located.  I am ready for Spring.

This tidy, ordered system would work quite well but for Mother Nature, who is unwilling to just flip a switch and declare the arrival of spring.  So there will be a day or two of warmth followed by the return of cold.  Things will go back and forth and I will be hopelessly unprepared.  And cranky about it.

I refuse to wear tights past the second week of March.  Right up until then, I will tolerate cold weather, taking the attitude that Mother Nature just doesn't get it.  But once past the 15th,  I grow sternly impatient with Mother Nature and her fickle behavior.

Not surprisingly, Mother N doesn't give a damn.  She treats me like the child I am.  I could hear her speaking to me this morning, as temps stopped rising at 45 degrees and I still went to work sans stockings.   I could just hear Mother Nature speaking to me: "Fine, missy.  Dress that way if you like, but you'll be cold."  And, damn it if she isn't right, I am cold........but I blame Mother Nature, not my own poor judgment.

I suppose I should dredge up some tights and wool to deal with the cold.  But the biennial  closet change-out has already been made.  And I am a girl who takes comfort in her strict routines.  And so I am left to hope that my pride will keep me warm.

Life List #23 : Basement Clean Up

Last summer, I put some basement work on my life list.  My basement is large ---- two rooms with nearly 700 square feet of space.  And it was a mess; the depository of all sorts of junk, much of it unneeded and most of it in cardboard boxes.

The fact that my basement takes on water when there is a heavy rain meant that on occasion those boxes would become my private disaster zone.  In the aftermath of the first flood in 2007, some things got tossed out.  The rest got stacked up to await an eventual clean-up.

Clean-up arrived in the form of basement flood number two earlier this month. As the stink of wet cardboard filled my home, I was inspired for a massive clean-out.  And that's exactly what happened last weekend.  JT was a tremendous help, helping to haul things out for the garbage men to come and carry it all away.  When the final mountain of trash was collected in the driveway he took a critical look at it and announced. "that's just shameful."

I must agree.  But in the aftermath I have an organized basement. The remaining boxes, filled with things I want, are placed on shelves, carefully ordered so that I can find the things I'll use ---- Christmas decorations, winter scarves and mittens, and some of JT's childhood treasures ----- while the junk has been excised from our lives.

Every once in a while, I just walk downstairs to admire the glorious order of it all.   And, of course, I checked number 23 off the list!

March 24: Tulip Tuesday

Rain fell as I headed upstairs to sleep last night ---- the forecast called for 2 inches of rain ---- and though my basement is now ready to absorb the onslaught (e.g., the cardboard boxes are all gone), I still went to bed with a sidekick of anxiety, worried I'd wake up to flood waters.

Instead I awakened to the sound of birds chirping, always a good sign.  Though the basement has a bit of dampness, it is by no means a crisis situation.  And when I walked outside I could see that my tulips are hard at work in the garden, getting ready to greet the spring.

It's all good.

Keeper

 The final weekend of spring break found me once again pumping excess water out of my basement.  Under the best of circumstances, this is not a fun job.  Between the constantly wet, cold feet; anxiety over the state of the appliances in the basement; and the smell of wet cardboard (best described as the smell of ass), it's just not fun.

I was on my own for much of the work; JT was away for the weekend.  By Sunday afternoon, the pace of the water flow had slowed, the appliances were safe and I had decided that JT"s 7 pm return would be a fine time to break camp from my basement hell.    He had been away for 5 days and I had spent much of Saturday and all of Sunday in a dank, wet basement.  His return was my excuse for a hot shower, a warm supper and some time spent doing something else.  Plus, we had some NCAA tournament brackets to watch together.  When he came home Sunday evening, his first question for me was, "how is the basement?"  I gave him a tour of the mess and he was immediately concerned; especially about me.  "Are you tired, Mama?" he kept asking me. 

I took my scheduled break and JT and I caught up.  As 9 pm approached, I couldn't resist one last look at the basement.  JT came downstairs with me and as I set up to pump out the water, he volunteered to help.  It may have been a weak moment, but I was exhausted and help seemed like a good deal.  I took him up on the offer, though with some trepidation.  There is nothing fun about a wet-dry vac and gallons of water and I figured he'd soon tire of this adventure. 

But I was wrong.  The next afternoon, after we got home from school, JT accompanied me downstairs and set to work again.  This water removal project was the result of a day's over-fill; requiring both the 800 gallon an hour pump and the wet/dry vac to bat clean-up.  It took nearly an hour and JT helped for the duration.   And the next morning, when he heard me arise at 5:30 am, he came downstairs to help again.

It's no secret that this boy of mine is my pride and joy.  I love him with every fiber of my being.  I am regularly proud of his sense of humor, his imagination, and kind heart.  But his good-natured help with the basement simply blew me away.  He was matter-of-fact in his assistance; hard-working and strong and with the ability to laugh thrown in the mix.  As he stood in the basement, wielding the wet/dry vac and laughing all the while, I was as proud of him as I've ever been.

He's a keeper.

The Road Ahead: Healthcare Cost Containment

At the start of the year, I came as close to a New Year's Resolution as I am willing to get by planning some posts on political issues for the next decade.  I've written about cynicism and food security.  This month, I'm thinking about healthcare cost containment.

In the interests of complete transparency, my preference is for universal healthcare using a single-payer system.  If I were in charge, I'd shut down the current private insurance system, organize government ownership of American hospitals, and open government-financed clinics staffed by well-paid physicians and medical specialists for the provision of healthcare.  I am convinced that this would lower costs and improve care.  But I'm not in charge and I've given up hope that the majority of my nation actually considers healthcare a right and a common good that we must provide for one another.

Sigh.

Short of the Sassafras Takeover, we must engage in some cost control of the current multi-heahed hydra that is the American healthcare system.  I have some thoughts.

1.  Wellness Programs
Let's set aside the tyranny of nutrition and instead concentrate on teaching folks how to enjoy food made from things grown in the ground.  Let's make life-long fitness something we pass on to our children.  Let's concentrate on that old-adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  And for the love of God, let's teach ourselves that just because big Pharma says our lives would be better if we take Drug X, doesn't mean we should immediately demand a prescription from our doctor.

2.  Evidence-Based Medicine
There is a lot of research that suggests treatment protocols for various diseases and disorders range so significantly in the United States that we are often providing care that is neither necessary nor recommended.  It may even be dangerous.  In short, because of the balkanization of the practice of medicine and our focus on physician-autonomy, we over-treat in so many regions of the country that we are spending billions treating nothing.  A recent editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine spells it out.  We could cut our healthcare costs by one-third if we would just stop over-treating people.

3.  Tort Reform
I am not convinced that tort reform will actually lower costs much.  I am convinced that physicians believe tort reform is necessary.  And we need physicians on our side.  So let's engage in setting some reasonable limits on the damages people can collect from suing their doctor.  At its best, this will help to reduce some of the backside-covering over-treating that doctors who fear lawsuits engage in.  And at it's worst, well, it won't make things any worse.

4.  Consumer Cost Control
People who do not pay for their health insurance benefits treat it as some sort of free service whose costs do not exist.  This is just ridiculous.  The frank reality is that employer-sponsored healthcare costs an employer at least $10,000 per year per employee (more if family members are also covered).   Healthcare economists agree that Americans who bear some costs of their insurance (paying  a share of their premiums and also reasonable co-pays) will become more responsible consumers; attentive to costs and cost-control.  Let's insist upon doing right by ourselves.   The predominant expert on this issue is Henry J. Aaron, a scholar at the Brookings Institution.  He has a lot to say on this and many other issues.  Read him here.

5.  Pass Obama's Healthcare Legislation
I was among the Obama voters who hoped that the President and Congress would come together to provide healthcare for the 45 million uninsured people in America.  I now realize that many of the 250 million of us who have insurance don't give a fig about those who don't.  I am profoundly disappointed in my nation.

The bill before Congress is imperfect.  But the Congressional Budget Office reports that it will lower costs over the next ten years.  It will cover some of the uninsured; it helps parents to provide insurance for their twenty-something offspring (thus keeping healthy people in the insurance pool and helping to lower costs); it creates some incentives for lower-cost insurance pools.  To be sure, it is only a start.  But it is a start.  President Obama made a strong case yesterday and the final push is on.  Failure this time will leave millions of people with nothing.  Contact your member of Congress and let them know you support the legislation.

Food Friday: Spring Pasta

This dish is a riff on a recipe from Cooking Light.  It's a quick and easy dish to make; and the basics (pasta, the garlic dressing) can be adjusted for whatever you crave (or have on hand).  Don't like asparagus?  Try steamed broccoli.  Crave spinach instead?  Add a few fresh cups to the hot pasta and let it wilt.  Let the contents of your cupboard serve as a guide. 

8 ounces of uncooked pasta (I used mini penne this time; stick with something small)
1 pound of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
2 cloves minced garlic
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
3 ounces diced smoked provolone
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

To toast pine nuts, preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Arrange nuts in a single layer in a shallow pan and toast for 3-4 minutes; the nuts will toast quickly, so keep a close watch.  Remove from the oven and place in a small bowl. 

Cook past according to package directions.  In last few minutes of cooking time, steam asparagus (it should take about 3 minutes....you want the veg to retain its crisp texture).  Drain the pasta and then return it to the pan; sprinkle with the garlic and then add the asparagus.

Combine lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper; stir with a whisk.  Drizzle over the pasta & asparagus mixture; toss well to coat.  Stir in provolone and pine nuts.  Serve immediately.

This recipe will serve 4.

March 16: Tulip Tuesday

Early last week, we had some gloriously sunny warm days.  That bliss was followed by 3 days of rain and wind (more than 6 inches of rain fell in my backyard).  I've spent nearly every spare moment of the last few days in my very wet basement, contending with the rising tide. But this morning I awakened to a world without rain; birds were chirping as the sun rose.  Sunny blue skies and warmth are forecast for the rest of the week. 

The flower bulbs in the front yard seem to sense the promise of it all.  They proclaim it to me every morning: spring is coming, spring is coming.