The CLAMorous Life

Yesterday I received a Lobstergram in the mail (as you may know from my previous post). It was a Lobster dinner/feast for two that my sister gave me for Christmas ... and it was fantastic.


Part of the dinner was a choice between clams, shrimp or mussels. I chose the clams. They arrived looking like this:

Yum! I steamed them in butter, garlic, parsley and white wine. Two dozen of them ... expecting them to turn out like this .....

Guess what? Ever hear of a geoduck? (It's pronouned "gooey duck") Well it's a type of clam, and it's the kind that arrived in my lobster dinner feast. So I cooked them up , and here's what they looked like ...





















Imagine two dozen of these staring you in the face.

Goodies

I've gone a little crazy with the online shopping over the past week. As a result, I've had a parade of delivery guys and a stack of pick-up slips on my front door. Well, "parade" and "stack"may be a slight exaggeration, but since I never really buy anything online it seems like a lot to me.

Anyway, here's what I've been finding on the world wide webmall:

Shampoo - My Mom left a near-empty bottle of her shampoo when she stayed over the holidays, so I decided to use the last of it before throwing the bottle away. It's a special shampoo that she used when her hair was growing back after chemo, and the label says it's for fine or thinning hair. I loved this stuff. My hair is very fine, and thankfully after my own bout with hair loss it's all grown back .... but, I dig this shampoo and want to keep using it. I couldn't find it in a regular retail store, but Amazon came through!

Camera - I've been taking pictures with the same Spiderman disposable for the last 2+ years and a digital camera that I got for Christmas about 8 years ago. I really do like to take pictures, so it was time to make an investment in something decent. Let's hope it's not too hard to use! I've been stalking this camera for about 2 months, and found it online for half the price of anywhere else. Nice!!

Curtains -- OK, so I didn't turn my house into a theatre and the curtains don't look anything like this, but I need curtains for the french doors in my bedroom. Thank you, Target!

Piano music -- I bought a piano over the holidays, which has been great. If you thought my blogging hiatus was long, it's nothing compared to the 25 year vacation I took from my first love. Not only am I pretty rusty on the ivories, but my music is terribly outdated. One book cover boasts that it includes "Everyone's Favorites" -- "What's Love Got to Do with It" and "Axel F" (you know, the theme song from "Beverly Hills Cop") Another book of "Today's Hits" contains the theme to "Hill Street Blues" and "Tomorrow" (from Annie). Now, the majority of what I play is classical music, but still .... it would be nice to have something a little more up to date. So what did I do? I ordered a book of 400 Broadway Show Tunes!! I CANNOT WAIT to have a big singalong party!!! (I know, it may just be Schue, my sister and I for that one!)

And the grand finale of deliveries .....

My sister gave me a Lobstergram for Christmas. Today, I'm working at home because the lobsters are live and have to be cooked the same day. The "Down East Feast" dinner for two contains:

Live Maine Lobsters

Lobster Bisque (I picked this over Clam Chowder)

Corn on the Cob (or potatoes)

Clams (shrimp or mussels are the other choices)

Bibs

Shell crackers

A lobster pot

Lemon

Butter

Thanks Laura ... I'm really excited to try this out, and will call to give a full report!!

Room 503

I've been on an unplanned blogging hiatus for the last 2 months. Computer problems were overtaken by work travel ... then Christmas and party hostessing took center stage ... then de-Christmasing the house ... then back to work and now I've been mesmerized by the wonders of Facebook.

Anyway, enough of that. Here's a funny little story that happened this past week ...


I went to the doctor on Tuesday because I haven't been feeling too hot. After asking the usual littany of questions and looking a little puzzled about my mystery symptoms, the nurse instructed me:

"We want to collect a 'sample'. Go around the corner, down the hall to the last door on the right. Clean cups are in a basket on the floor. Urine room 503."

I nodded as she talked to me, trying to remember all of this stuff while contemplating why they keep the pee cups on the floor. At the end of these instructions, I replied "Okay, Urine Room 503. I'll be right back."

So I wandered down the hall, around the corner, down another hallway looking at the room numbers. Where was Urine Room 503? And what a weird name for a bathroom. There was a closed door which I thought might be it. I asked a passing nurse, just to confirm "Is this Urine Room 503?"

She replied "Yes, this is a bathroom."

So I did my thing and wandered back to my examination room. When I got to my room, I noticed a sign by the door "Room 503."

It occured to me, the nurse didn't send me to "Urine Room 503" ... she was telling me "You're in 503" so I'd know where to go when I returned.

Am I the only person who would've gotten that wrong? Duh!!!