Day without MacGyver 1

What's wrong with this picture?

If you said some version of, "OMG, I can actually see most of your kitchen table!"  "Wow, what an immaculate griddle you have on that 1910's Chicago stove,"  "Where are all of the tools?" "Flowers?!... how uncharacteristically romantic," or "dude, that looks like a lot of medications..."  Give yourself a cookie.

Sigh.  MacGyver has been sent to China for 13 days to fabricate software using scraps of aluminum foil, a shoe lace and a paperclip.

Fortunately, his Christmas [sic] present to me arrived before his departure.  It is that nifty copper thing in the foreground, also known as Dr. Alexander's Botanical Vasculum  p.s. its solar charger (which looks suspiciously like a spray painted decapitated lawn path light) allows its preserved moss terrarium to glow in the dark.  tres romantic vasculum-lit dinners of home brew, chips, and guac.

He was also able to suspend my parent's Christmas present, a skillet and matching deeper skillet whose powers combine make Dutch Oven (yes, I know, I too was more familiar with the *other* definition of Dutch Oven before reading Ferriss' 4 Hour Chef).  It is pictured in the background.  Also clutch for perfectly circular hangover crepes after aforementioned romantic dinners.  

Flowers?  OK, so by and large, I miss MacG.  This is why I was crazy enough to buy a house with him and continue to pretend to our friendly elderly neighbors that we are married and thus not living in sin (just dust and dog hair).  However, being a bit introverted and substantially codependent, I hazard that it would be healthy to revisit my roots once in a while and find my buzz even if it isn't a pre-existing mutual one.  On my commute to and from school, I used to trudge past this awesome flower shop in Beacon Hill.  One day, possibly influenced by a girly self-empowerment book or the ambiance of living with 3 estrogen-fueled single roommates, I bought myself a dozen roses.  They were orange which I've always gravitated to, possibly because I was presented with one in a prom corsage.  I started doing this semi-frequently on Tough Days.  My awesome landlord, Gerry even showed up on my birthday with a dozen for me when an aforementioned estrogen-filled roommate insisted I call him to get him to drive in and fix a light bulb.  Did I mention Gerry is awesome?  But I digress.  These were $7 at TJ's and worth every penny.  I've also been fantasizing about swapping out some of the heirloom (aka uber prickly and prudish) roses behind the chicken coop with an Osiria (pictured).  These are hard to find rootstock for, so this might be a multi-month project.  I got intrigued with the concept of "black" roses when a college dorm-mate received a dozen of them one fine Valentine's day (she was goth, not to be confused with the Susie in a fraught relationship with Mick Jagger).  

Pristine Griddle.  Yeah.  MacGyver reminds me to eat and does most of the cooking.  He's not much for multi-tasking, so there's usually a huge mess in his wake.  I learned how to clean as I cook because otherwise I would miss passing time in Home Ec (back when schools could afford such things).  I also learned that plastic cookie sheets should not go in the oven, but in a pinch, are more effective than bomb threats for evacuating the school.  I am down 5 lbs from normal and he's been gone less than 12 hours.  This could be because I took a Valium instead of dinner yesterday.  Or it could be because I ran Rho a casual 3.5 miles today (so as not to violate doctor's mandate not to exercise "strenuously.")  Or because I ate plantains and spinach for breakfast, a chai latte for "lunch," and 2 frozen taquitos and a glass of milk for dinner.  The world may never know.  By the way, yes, the stove works.  It is our only stove.  We cook on it every day.  It isn't for sale; every contractor we've hired has tried to buy it.  It is a pain in the butt to clean.

Meds.  There are three things going on here.
1.  I got sort of infatuated with Traditional Chinese Medicine/homeopathic remedies.  So I started taking Free and Easy Wanderer tea pills for anxiety.  Royal Jelly for an energy boost.  Korean Ginseng tea to replace coffee which I quit a couple weeks ago.  Couldn't tell you whether the supplements amped my octane, or the coffee detox, or the admission I was in a rut and needed to stretch my comfort zone.
2.  I got Lasik yesterday afternoon.  I was nervous.  It went awesome.  I could drive into my post-op the next day and now I cruise around in iconic Ray-Ban aviators and feel like a celeb.  MaGyver hypnotized me the night before, which isn't like "when I clap my hands, you'll cluck like a chicken."  It's more like the sort of positive affirmations sports psychologists and law of attraction devotees use.  This new lifestyle does seem to take a lot of eye drops to maintain, at least in the short-term.
3.  Kai (the 2.5 yr old "pet" Klee Kai) has a bad knee and Rho (the 1 yr old "stud" Klee Kai) likes to rough-house.  I came back from my 20x20 post-op victorious, only to find Kai hopping around on 3 paws again.  She's on anti-inflammatories for the next week which I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to solo administer.  Guess we'll take it a day at a time...