Just Like Cleaning Out the Fridge

I appreciate clean-out-the-fridge dinners.  It's gloriously unplanned -- no recipe, no grocery lists, no trips to the store.  It's  just you in front of the open refrigerator, handing Tupperware containers back to whoever stands behind you, mumbling snippets of sentences like, "There's only a little spaghetti with meat sauce left, but it'll work with the leftover chicken, and those grapes, and this jar of pickles, and this block of cheese, and that one banana that's getting too ripe on the counter."

Given that the snow keeps falling and I have no intentions of driving to the store, tonight's dinner will fall into this free-for-all category.  Incidentally, so will this blog post, which ultimately is cleaning out the loose thoughts thoughts that lately have been streaming through my mind.

Snow.  Snow is beautiful, especially when I see it on postcards and I'm someplace warm.  When snow enters the house via my kids' crumpled snowsuits that they pile by the door, the less-beautiful byproduct is the puddles of frigid water that are invisible to the naked eye but somehow invite you to step on them.  While wearing socks.  ALWAYS while wearing socks.

Worst Cooks in America.  I know I shouldn't compare myself with others, but after watching one episode of this show, I'm now convinced that I'm a culinary genius.

Dry Heat.  While driving to work on bitter mornings, I crank the heat to the highest possible setting and point the blowers directly toward me.  Sometimes when I turn a corner, the heat seems to hang in the air, momentarily suspended, before shifting and reaching my face.  I never tire of this sensation.

Folding Bulky Bedding.  I recently bought a new comforter.  Let me clarify: I recently bought two new comforters, brought them both home, pulled them from their packaging, placed them on my bed one at a time, and painstakingly deliberated their merits and drawbacks.  Then I attempted to fold and repackage the comforter that didn't make the cut.  Have you ever noticed that packaging always shrinks by roughly 30% when attempting this feat?

Indecisive Consumer Habits.  Some people -- among them, decisive individuals and those folks who stick to literal antonyms -- think that the opposite of buy is to sell.  In my world of receipts and merchandise credit, the opposite of buy is more often return.

My new eye shadow palate.  Thirty-six years old, and I'm still trying to figure out how to master the smoky eye.

Learning New Names.  In the past two weeks, I've learned the names of my 90 incoming students with whom I'll spend the next fifteen weeks.  I have no idea what I've forgotten in place of this new knowledge.

What random thoughts have you been thinking these days, my dear readers?