Good start to the year

Whoever said herding cats is difficult obviously didn't have a laser pointer.

We had a lovely night yesterday! We had our sushi, then came home and got all fancy (our Victorian Halloween costumes), then had some red wine and dark chocolate and danced to various tunes until the coming of the new year. Very festive!

Today we're off for a mini-hike in the woods. I'll put on some warm clothes and we'll go wander around in the trees for a couple hours. Being around all that plant life always makes me happy, as anyone who's ever seen me in a greenhouse can attest. This also explains why we have something like 27 plants in this house. Some day maybe I'll be able to have a conservatory, complete with running water. Like an indoor jungle! Sigh. One of my many dreams, along with a giant jet tub. Mmmm!

When I was in college I worked in the nitrogen fixation laboratory of my mentor, and part of that involved growing up a crap ton of alfalfa plants. This was wonderful for me, because it meant that in the icy horribleness of a Pullman winter, I could go spend my afternoons in the sunny greenhouses, at a balmy 75-80F or so, with humidity and green things growing all around me. It was great! And it was awesome for my lungs, which really REALLY don't like cold air and dryness. Probably kept the inevitable yearly pneumonia from being even worse than it already was.

I was remembering this story for some reason the other day, and it still makes me laugh. When I was in martial arts, I had a reputation for being a rather fearsome opponent. (I'm not exaggerating. During one of my belt testing fights I intimidated a 250-lb second degree black belt guy into backing away from me with a look of alarm on his face as I stalked him around the dojo.) The few girls that were in it were mostly all afraid to fight me, except for a black belt who was a friend of mine. Anyway, I was on that horrible Atkins diet at the time, and so the only flavored liquid I was allowing myself was Crystal Light (I know, ick!). I had a big Nalgene bottle full of the red variety, and was slurping it while sitting in the dojo before class began. One of the girls came in and saw me drinking it, then her eyes got big and she asked, "Oh my god, is that BLOOD?" I turned my head, looked her straight in the eye, smiled a little, and said, "Yes."