it sucks to be broccoli

the past eight days and counting has taught me one thing: it sucks to be broccoli. it occurred to me a few days ago, the first of several days over 100 degrees (that's before the heat index kicks in), this must be what broccoli feels like when it is steamed. i am literally being cooked alive. literally subjected to a slow, tortuous steaming into a pile of nasty, sweaty, sticky mush. sounds appetizing no? this heat makes breathing difficult. it makes the act of living difficult. it makes crumbling to the sidewalk in  defeat seem so appealing. only, then i'd be going from the steamer into a frying pan - sidewalk fried gracie - extra crispy.

the oppressive heat wave is supposed to finally end come monday, but not before a fond 106 degree farewell, with a heat index of 114, on saturday. just three more days until 87 degrees!!! and we cannot wait. until then, we will pass the time with lots of iced water, gelato,  a slurpee or two, and standing by the freezer section of the 7-11. we're classy like that. it's how we roll.

 

p.s. my dear friend miriam is a certified master of the slurpee machine. video of "slurpee how to" with guest post from miriam in the works. it's a science - to get just the right amount of corn syrup to icee ratio - and don't believe anyone that tells you otherwise.

happy friday and may the countdown to the weekend begin!

upstairs, no downstairs and the derecho effect

so life according to my new obsession, downton abbey, goes something like this: the rich family lives upstairs, and rarely, if ever ventures downstairs, where the servants gather and work.  the carlsons do not have a downstairs, which means we do not have servants which is oh so unfortunate. the past few days would have been the perfect time, or at least, no less perfect than, you know, ALWAYS, to have servants.  for those not in the washington, dc area, a derecho blew through late friday night and wiped out power and therefore electricity and ac for the carlsons for three lovely, over 100 degree days. along with taking down trees and power lines, somehow, this derecho got into our apartment and destroyed what was otherwise a spotless, clutterless home. and left this in its wake.

did anyone else's apartment get caught in the direct line of this derecho's fire? such an interesting effect of the storm no?

so you see, today, i really think it would be wonderful to have servants, especially because tomorrow is a holiday and i can't be bothered with cleaning up after a storm's mess. and then it dawns on me, we do have servants. their names are david and grace. sigh. now here is when i wouldn't mind being mary crawley. carson, anna, help!!!

p.s. let's not pretend that downton abbey isn't anything more than a slightly glorified soap opera and glorified only because of its fabulous costumes and british accents. but hey, i'll take it!