EEL!!!!! Thar she blows

Ok, I'm turning into Mom with all the food posts-but today's find was canned smoked eel at the Asian food store. Well, it was actually a lot more than that, but I got 6 cans of smoked eel and some Unagi sauce. Since I can't eat the rice with sushi, I'm good to go. Got a tube of wasabi and I already have sushi ginger because I eat it like it's going out of style.

Most of the Asian markets are over in the near north side - OKC is still fairly segregated. But, in a nice new shopping center was a nice BIG Asian market and I had a big old time loading up on things I thought you had to go to China or California or at LEAST Dallas to get.

I must have had a big smile on my face because several people commented on how happy I looked. No one there thought it odd that I stocked up on eel, jackfruit, dried mustard and sea salt.

And, as I was driving out of the center, I saw it. A Pho house. Oklahoma may be civilized after all.

The nice thing about Pho is that even if I find I can't eat the noodles, there will be plenty of other stuff in the brew that will fill me up. I can't wait to go try out the Pho house! In Sunnvyale (California) the Pho house was a little refuge for me from the duel job of my real job and sorting out Uncle John's affairs. English was rarely spoken and I could go there and sit and enjoy a bowl of soup and not be distracted by conversation or evesdropping. From the blue roof I surmised it began life as an IHOP, but I liked it much better as a Pho house.

At Big Lots I found several nice bottles for my voodoo potion (mustard foot soak) so I stocked up for gifting purposes. At the Natural Food store I found, wonder of wonders, Tofu shaped like spaghetti noodles. I know I can eat tofu and have steered clear of pasta since it's not really worth getting stuck for.

I've been halfway praying for a sign of some sort to know that I'm still on the right track with this move and embarking on home business, lap bands and my current reptile fascination. I've really felt lost in the past few days-but a town that stocks several brands of smoked eel is MY kind of town.

Wow, I'm really a mess

Sold the kayak, almost aborted the horse project, DID buy 10 horned lizards for breeding. They are threatened and my new deal is to collect, breed critters whose habitat is threatened. Of course, that really applies to almost every species on the planet. But, I have been thinking a lot about horney toads-well, maybe not a lot. But I've thought of them several times lately-how I never see them anymore and how much I enjoyed them as a kid. I saw a lot of 10 for sale, I have the rack space, so why not.

With the sick dog, sick Uncle and aging parents, its kind of nice to have a project that is hopeful and future looking. I'm just in no shape to go off and join the peace corp or picket but I can feed ants to lizards and maybe something good will come of it. I mean really, at this point a small dream is all I can manage, but its better than no dream at all.

I also got a good idea for a good feature story-Odd Farms. I already know of a Rat Farm, a bunch of Snake Farms and I've got lines on others as well. Just got to pitch it, sell it and write it.

I've decided to keep much of my "business" activities to my self for now. I know Mom and Dad are frustrated with my apparent lack of initiative, but bless their heart, they can kill a budding young idea quicker than an April Frost. Old people ARE wise, but not necessarily about what will and won't work in modern business or popular culture. That is a hard thing to realize. In spite of my ever present need to have my own way, I always liked to believe my parents really knew everything that a person needed to know. And they DO, if that person wants to live their life in the same neighborhood with minimal contact to the outside world.

Well, not THIS kid. I've been as far as Dallas Texas! Ok, that was for dramatic effect, I've actually been further down the road.

Point is, I need to take care of my own dreams while I take care of them, because, in the end, the dreams are what I will have left.

I did revisit the urban chicken idea-but was horrified with myself as I watched little banties and calculated how many I could use as snake food today, raise, etc.....I wasn't all that horrified, but the sales lady who came up and said "aren't they just adorable?" probably would have been. Then I realized I was the only woman in the farm store with multiple tattoos, piercings and an undershirt instead of a bra. I just didn't BELONG.

But that isn't true-I bought some things I needed, got some ideas. I just wasn't like everyone else in the store. I'm working really hard to acknowledge this and get over it. Part of coming home to Oklahoma was to explore what it would be like to be the me I've become while I was away. Heaven help the sooner state.

God Save The Queen

One of the protocols surrounding the Queen’s visit was not speaking unless spoken to. Another was “when the Queen is finished eating and puts down her fork, no one else may continue to eat.” Did anyone tell the old bat that we pulled away from England a few years ago?

There is respect, and respecting other customs, but when those customs elevate one human being above another-that goes too far. The Queen is just a wealthy old lady-a figurehead, and no real political power any longer. The fact that she insists on following the ancient protocols really makes me think a little less of her. It’s insulting.

The search goes on for a small house, flat yard, good fence, trailer pad for the Scotty in Oklahoma City. The rain continues to fall-so the paint job, restore plans are pretty much on hold. In the meantime, I’m learning to walk again.

In the back of my mind is a pilgrimage to Bristow Oklahoma-to search for unloved and abandoned Scotty’s, and of course, the faint hope that someday I will run across my own first Scotty. But I doubt I would even recognize it.

Change Management

I told Uncle John and I told my parents and their reaction was confirmation enough that I did the right thing. It is the thing that is needed right now.

My friends Jay and Sue are moving to Florida in about the same time period-we're all about the same age and we love to navel gaze and second guess ourselves. And underlying all our angast is Is this the right decision? Am I screwing up?

But I got some good thoughts on my 4 hour medidiation (drive along I 35 to Oklahoma City). First a rebellious thought-So what if we screwed up? It's our screw up and we'll fix it. Then a flash of reality-this is just another in a series of "final answers". We always think our current decision is going to be our last one-probably something we tell ourselves to keep us from freaking out completely.

This morning, whilst heating my burrito-came an even bigger insight. For both of us, if Oklahoma and Florida are wrong, we wouldn't come back HERE. Maybe that's how you know where home is-home is the place you'd go back to if your current location turned out to be a bust.

Diving in headfirst

Oh holy shit-I resigned my position and I’m moving to Oklahoma this summer. The logistics of moving me, 4 dogs, a trailer, a dog kart and kayak, 13 snakes and a 71 year old man with Parkinson’s are a little daunting. But the logistics of juggling all the above, my current job, and elderly parents in Oklahoma City are even more daunting.

Maybe buying the Scotty opened my heart up to the possibility of going back-first in spirit and now for real. Where is that little trailer going to take me next?