Little happy surprises

Today was a day of little, happy surprises, which right now are the only kind I really can handle.

First it was rocks.

Since I have effectively flipped my nights and days, my evenings are now early morning. I wait around until other people are up or shops are open, so I can duck in and get a few things done. This morning I went to Cumberland Concrete with a mop-bucket and a spade, begging for rocks. Since they can’t ring anything up that weighs under 100 lbs., I was given leave to fill my bucket after I politely asked.

I felt a bit like a kid asking to play in the sand. Or like Mary from The Secret Garden. Can I have just a bit of rock…

White and yellow quartz, smooth and wet; they really are pretty.

Next, I stopped off at Surplus City for some 8 penny nails to secure the hanging baskets and got a pair of shiny working pliers to boot. I forget they are there all the time, but if they have what you need, they are super cheap.

Lastly, I stopped in Southern States. The hanging baskets are still on sale, so I got two more as well as a fuchsia tomato cage and 4 more bags of soil. I should be all set to transplant/rescue my rose from my parent’s old garden.

Going so early in the morning really helped with the social anxiety, not to mention those businesses are all relatively local and staffed by local people who have slow, meandering ways. While I used to really find that annoying, I find it very reassuring now for some reason. Some things don’t change, maybe. Or maybe because I was there so early, I thought they thought I was super on the ball. Or that I don’t feel that desperate pressure to be phenomenal that I always felt in classroom or workplace environments.

For example, when I was checking out at Southern States, I got a little confused by the math of my total. I made one of those nervous social laughs and said, “Math isn’t my strong suit.” The checkout lady said, “Me neither.” And rather than feeling my normal sense of competition or drive, I just calmly and easily replied, “Yeah, I’d have to take my shoes off.”

It was an extremely normal, local exchange. It felt comfortable, familiar, intimate. And I felt like I got a zillion things done by stopping at those three stores.

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My next little surprise came after I crashed out and slept the day away.

I’d left the door open in case anyone knocked since I have so much trouble hearing over the fans. But when I awoke and went on the porch to check on Madame, I found a charming little basket nestled down in my new hanging baskets. The basket contained a tea towel and was filled with chocolate chip scones!

I love scones!

First I smiled. Then I spent some time wondering if they contained poison (still having some trouble with paranoid delusions). So I decided to stay up and turn on the computer to see if I could determine who left them on my porch. They were, in fact, from a good local friend I hardly ever get to see but is one of my emergency cat sitters in case of hospitalization.

She said, “I left something for you on your porch inside one of your planters. You don’t have to worry about returning the container. I left a message with your cat  ;-) but I wanted to let you know since it was some scones for you.”

What touched me the most was the unexpected and unasked for nature of the gift coupled with the whimsical presentation. I’ve been happily munching on them off and on for hours.

Luckily Madame must have understood my friend since she didn’t eat them. Madame is a carbs nut.

A few days ago, she surprised me at the door with her latest kill, not a mouse or bird, but a slice of French bread pizza with pepperoni and crawling with ants. She was so proud!

~~~

So that was my day/night. It is 5am now, and my counseling appointment is at 8am.

My plan is to go to my counseling appointment and then retrieve my rose. Then I will spend some time planting and messing about on the porch.

The biggest thing I must do is take out the trash! I don’t want to start “depression hording” again. That is just a slippery, slippery slope.

One question, for anyone reading (*crickets*), what is the best depression pick-me-up you have had? I think a lot depends on timing and just where you are, but I am curious…

Why Soak Nuts, Grains and Seeds?

Why Soak Nuts, Grains and Seeds?.

 

Great post from The Nourished Seed. Never thought about this before, but I will be soaking from now on!

Turn that frown upside down, Part II

As I posted yesterday, I have started a regimen of serious, sustained happy-making to pull myself out of a serious depression.

What is the definition of “Happy-making”, you ask?

Happy-making: n. the act of making oneself happy, or at least less depressed, by engaging in simple, subtle, or extreme activities that lift one’s spirits. v. the action of performing these tasks, which may include a variety of diverse and often unrelated things that is different for every person in most cases.

Second on my list was trying to eat better. I don’t exactly mean healthier. When I get very depressed, I find myself eating a single food for days on end. In fact, when I finally started up the other half of the valley this time around, I counted no fewer than 15 boxes of Better Cheddars next to my couch.

So I would not say this has been successfully achieved, but I did stop buying Better Cheddars. I am trying to eat more variety. I am also trying to appreciate my food more. Last Thursday, I spent an enjoyable lunch pretending I was a food blogger (I am a foodie at heart, just lazy).

I also discovered a great little new café: European Desserts and More. I love supporting local businesses.

I just love the design on the business cards. They look yummy…

Makes you hungry, doesn’t it? I’d been hearing rave reviews about this place from several of my friends locally, so I decided to check it out.
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Very easy parking at Canal Place during the week.

This shop used to be a rather unremarkable pizza place, but the new owners have repainted in basic red, yellow, and blue, making the place very cheery!

Sasha, the owner, was very friendly. I was the only one there, so he took the time to ask me how my food was and where I was from. We chatted for a while. He was a little self-conscious about having his picture taken, but I told him everyone would be looking at the cakes!
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Sasha, who made a point to tell me that it is indeed a boy’s name, is from Bosnia. He came to the US after the war in 1997. After having children, he and his wife decided to move some place more rural and safe and picked Cumberland.
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He said this week had been slow because of Lions Chicken. If you are local, you know exactly what I mean. If you are not local…imagine trucks filled to the brim with dead poultry. Imagine them being driven to an empty lot and barbecued in grills that could easily fit a person or two. Imagine people lining up at 7:30am and eating it three times a day. And imagine signs for miles around announcing when the dead birds will be available and when they are sold out.

The dinning service was casual, but Sasha served the food to the table, and I paid after the meal. And what did I order?

I wasn’t quite sure what to order, so I went for a favorite: Spinach Pie.
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I am usually disappointed with commercial pies because the dough is store bought, and you can usually tell it has been reheated in a microwave–hard on the edges and cold in the middle. But not with Sasha’s pie!
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The dough was perfect, great texture with just the right balance of chew and flake. It was also the perfect temperature all the way through–not so hot you can’t taste the subtler flavors, but not cold at all.
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It was a good-sized portion, too.

And of course, I ordered dessert!
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Again I was a little unsure, so Sasha asked me what flavors I liked. When he mentioned hazelnuts, I’m pretty sure my eyes lit up, and he came around the counter to point out the Ferrero Cake.
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Made with Ferrero Rocher candies and Nutella, I really couldn’t ask for a more perfect fit! I tend to eat Nutella by the spoonful! It is “dry” in that it is not a spongy cake, but it is also not a choking hazard. I would suggest a glass of milk or even a scoop of ice cream to go with it.
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The cake was not overwhelmingly sweet. It was more of an earthy, balanced, subtle sweet flavor.

Sasha makes all of the food himself. I don’t think anything is not homemade. The fact that he views Nutella (which I am rather in love with) as an ingredient, makes me like him even more!

And where is this wonderful place?!? In downtown Cumberland in an area known as Canal Place. The C&O Canal ends here, and there is a clutch of mostly empty shop fronts set in a pleasant little area.

The Footer Dye Works Building has been empty for years, and the roof is falling in. But every time I see it, I am overcome with a whimsical urge to buy it. Not that I could ever afford it, but imagine some retail spaces in the bottom and low rent artist studios in the upper floors! Maybe a nice café with big comfy chairs for poets and writers. *sigh*

My foodie experience was a lot of fun. It was a pleasant awkwardness, taking a picture of my food before eating it.

It made me happy!

What makes you happy?