But hey, at least I'm learning! Valuable lessons like, "do not use two pie pans to cook one pie" and "take the wrappers off of things before you put them in the oven, or they will melt." In the meantime, I will update you on the other, non-cooking-related goings on.

Since I got my new insurance, I've called the doctor for a couple of different issues. (Apparently nobody goes to the doctor on the weekends, and I got an instantaneous appointment on Saturday.) One issue is that I have been having ongoing foot pain, which turned out to be a mild case of plantar fasciitis, which my spell check wants to be "plantar fascists" which makes me think that I should paint little Hitler moustaches on all my toes.

The doctor showed me some exercises to do, told me to get new shoes with orthopedic inserts (so here's my excuse to get those Dansko clogs I've been wanting) and take it easy, walking-wise, for a while. Moderate walking is okay, so I can still walk to work and home again, and all will be well. Lucky thing I don't have Starbucks shifts anymore, because standing for eight hours would suck. My stupid foot really does hurt.

I also went and took a urine test for the ongoing Tootie trauma: my recurrent UTIs. My doctor called me back and said the urinalysis looked pretty clear, which I explained was due to the fact that I've been taking Uva Ursi (thank you, Tamar) a miraculous herb that makes me feel much better. But if I stop taking it, the problem returns. With a vengeance. And it's "not for prolonged use" so what am I supposed to do?

I asked the doctor about the possibility of taking a low dose of antibiotics for an extended period of time, since I had read that had worked for some people. She said, "Well, I don't really know anything about that," and offered to send me to a urologist.

As she typed the referral into the computer, a message popped up saying, "Try prescribing a low dose of antibiotics for 3+ months before a referral is made." How about that! So I have a six-month prescription waiting for me, and I'm to call her pretty much whenever I feel like it is working or not working, or I have any sort of news to report. I like my new doctor, she is very trusting.

It looks like the house painting is finally getting underway this coming Thursday. I have to go pick out paint chips, which is very intimidating and probably will go horribly awry. I have never picked out paint for a house before, nor have I ever painted a house or contemplated the painting of a house, except when watching Queer Eye and wishing someone would paint my house on my behalf.

After looking through some design magazines (and the Queer Eye book) I am going for medium blue in two rooms and tangerine in the third room. I feel very bold and empowered, except for the part where it will probably look like Tropicana plantation meets nightmarish undersea fantasy. I'll keep you posted.

I am itching to do my taxes this year, and am just waiting for my parents to send me some documentation. I've saved up a lot of my freelancing money, and will probably owe thousands of dollars, but what I am hoping for is that I'll have enough left over to spend $800 or so on a new computer. It will be depressing to pay such a huge chunk of taxes, but that's what happens when you do contract work, I guess.

Speaking of money, I exercised some Starbucks stock options and was truly dismayed to see that the fees and the taxes on $600 worth of stock came to about $350. More than half of my money is already gone. Or, to put it another, more disturbing way, I had to sell 12 shares of stock in order to afford to be able to buy 3 shares.

I don't really understand how it works, but I think my tiny little Starbucks stock nest egg is far tinier than I make it out to be in my head. This is why I need to find an investment brokerage that doesn't charge exorbitant fees and consolidate everything into one IRA or something like that. Any recommendations? Aren't I sexy when I say things like "brokerage" and "consolidate"?

What else, what else. My birthday is in five short days and I am terribly excited. I keep forgetting that it's coming up. Since I'm now living alone and will be gone this weekend, I will have to ask my roommates to keep an eye out for packages coming to my door. I'm afraid that they'll get stolen otherwise. (She says, optimistically imagining a pile of birthday love.)

Other than the cooking thing and various gatherings (like S'mas dinner and Living History Day last weekend and a tragic, drunken approximation of Books & Pie this weekend) I've pretty much been getting up, going to work, coming home, and watching my new magical cable TV. And sleeping too much. And reveling in my new schedule, which has a lot of built-in free time, at least more than it used to.

Oh, and also thinking back with satisfaction on the fact that I have 26 poetry submissions now floating out there in the universe. I spent the vast majority of last week getting all that together, and it took four days! Now comes the easy part, where I put my faith in the universe and wait for the Thank-You and No-Thank-You letters to roll in.

Maybe when I re-paint the house, I'll consult the laws of feng shui. I think I heard somewhere that if you want to get your poems published, tangerine is a very lucky color.