As always, the problem with baking manifests itself in a rather large pile of dishes. For an easily distracted writer, the whole process also leads to a few minor issues, which include a dearth of words and other unfinished cleaning goals. I don't forsee a worthy piece of fiction falling from my brain before tomorrow, which means I may bring sadness instead of joy into the world. I should probably work to resolve this problem, but my brain has turned off due to overstimulation.

What is bogging down my brain right now?

The grandmother of two very dear friends passed away this weekend, so I am worried about them. I'm supposed to feel guilty for liking tasty chicken? Some people seem to think money falls out of their butts, and I am afraid of how the truth that they can't afford to live like Rockefellers will affect them. Two of my girls from church seem to be struggling and the current economic situation doesn't seem to offer them a lot of opportunity to change that. Sometimes people look unhappy in pictures and it makes me worry, particularly if they should look happy. I like food too much for the happiness of my pants. Will I ever get the discipline required to learn to play my guitar? What's most important? What's most important?

Oy, my head, she is a jumbled mess...

I spent a couple of days this week in the noble goal of helping someone move. It's amazing how much stuff we accumulate and how well we tuck it away into the smallest spaces. Every time I am reminded of this, I find myself motivated to throw away items that really are useless and weed through my endless collection of minutia. Luckily, such behaviors can be tempered by the ache in my arm muscles. Will someone please remind me to work on my upper body? Oh wait, my muscles are still reminding me.

A few thoughts on what we should all do if we think we might ever move again:

1. Give away the things you never use.
2. Throw away any item with bad memories attached to it.
3. Organize.
4. Stop buying stuff you don't need.
5. Be willing to help others move now because they may be the ones who help you move later.

Another of my deep thoughts for this week centers around our concept of beauty. We all have friends who post "sexy" pictures of themselves on the internet. Usually, such pictures just creep me out. In my mind, the most beautiful images of my friends were captured in moments when they experienced true happiness whether caused by love, accomplishment, or celebrating an important event. Sadly, they prefer to post the world-renowned "duck faces" or shots down their shirt. Have we really reached a level where we think mocking ourselves is attractive?

As my husband and I cooled down with a stroll around that track of our gym, it occurred to me that I would be amused by wearing a cloak to the gym. After all, freaks need to be in shape, too. I should start a gym for vampires, ghouls, were-creatures, and other beasties that go bump in the night. Since some of them exhibit greater strength than others, they'd probably need specialized equipment. I should seek out a specialist to help me with this endeavor.

Whenever I get a little exercise under my belt, I find myself working to fill my kitchen. I baked some caramel swirl brownies to help celebrate my husband's upcoming escape from the womb day. I also made some waffle cookies for an upcoming church activity. I have plans to make donuts and coffee cake to go with them. I decided to pace myself on the sweets and make my first attempt at pesto as well. Now I just have to find an appropriate way to use it. Dinner tomorrow should be tasty.

Dinner this evening proved somewhat interesting. A guy parked his car right outside the restaurant where I was eating. This made it complicated for other people to drive by since that spot actually formed part of the roadway running directly in front of a row of five restaurants. While his beater car remained illegally parked, he came inside to try to convince the hostess that someone promised him a free meal. She didn't look convinced. He wandered back out to chat with his girlfriend whom he had left in the car. Then he came back in and argued with the waitress again. Finally, he went outside and pulled away. A couple of minutes later, he was illegally parked again but facing the same way as traffic. After another argument with the hostess, he wandered out again. I saw his car pull out of the shopping center. Of course, by the time we left, he had returned for another go, leaving his car parked in his favorite non-parking space again. I really should have called to have his car towed for the safety of other drivers, and because I am catty. Meow!

I got to visit the oral surgeon today. I get to schedule an appointment for the tormenting of my jawline sometime in the near future. Granted, I've been told I should do so numerous times over the years, but it didn't happen. I'll try to remember to warn those nearest to me when I have a date set, so they will know to avoid the enraged woman with chipmunk cheeks.

People on the road still haven't grasped that my car is not their buffer. As I took the exit off of the highway, I began to decelerate until I was going about ten miles over the recommended speed limit. A glance in my rear-view revealed that the person behind me felt I was going too slow. I slowed down more anyway since past experience told me I couldn't know what to expect as I rounded the turn. At about the same time, I noticed some flashing blue and red lights blocking two lanes. The other lane had a police officer directing traffic slowly through the intersection. I glanced in my rear-view mirror in time to see the person behind me swerve because they failed to slow down when I did. People really need to work on their ability to read and obey road signs.

I also played amateur doctor today. Somehow, a shard of glass embedded itself in my foot. Since I had to twist my ankle at an odd angle to see it, I tried to enlist the help of my husband but he loves me too much to poke emphatically at my foot. After some twisting, probing, and cleaning, I finally managed to coerce the sliver of glass to come free. I suppose I should have saved it and auctioned it on ebay, but I didn't think of it at the time. Maybe next time... I could auction off my wisdom teeth and someone could clone my genius. On second thought, the world isn't ready for more of me...