Where have all the pretty leaves gone?

It happened so fast that I missed it. The trees that held the beautiful Fall leaves were the backdrop of my view out the window each day, and suddenly I noticed that they were gone—not the trees, the leaves. I glanced up and gasped. The rain-darkened naked trees are the last visages of the beautiful splendor. I haven't been the the Park for more than a week, so I'm sure I'll be in for a shock there too as well. I'll admit, things seems a bit more stark now.

With the leaves gone, now you can see that the SUPERMARKET is DELI as well. Interesting concept of Deli in NY. Some pre-made sandwiches and a few choice side salads of the egg, chicken and bean variety all housed behind a glass case. Not very appealing to me, even if I weren't a vegetarian.

So, yeah, food has become my new obsession of sorts. And TV. I NEVER watched television back 'home.' Ask my kids. It was almost a joke. Now I am up-to-date on all the versions of CSI, Law & Order, Glee, Gray's Anatomy, House and I've even seen a few episodes of Desperate Housewives, Oprah and Ellen. I had never watched a daytime talk show. Ever. Hey, there are a lot of hours to fill when you don't have a job. I spend 8-10 hours searching for employment, then see what's on. It's mindless pleasure. Quietly and quickly addictive. Not to worry, I still fit in my yoga session on my ever-present mat in the middle of the living room floor.

But, back to food. My favorite cable category is the Food Network—partly because I only have like 8 channels, and one of them happens to be FN. What an amazing idea. All food all the time. Really, I mean who doesn't want Paula Deen to be their mother or for Rachel Ray to whip up a 30-minute meal for you or the Barefoot Contessa to cater your next party? Who knew that when you measure sticky things like peanut butter or corn syrup you should give the cup a spritz of vegetable spray first? Or that instead of using water in your cake mix, substitute milk or buttermilk. I have a new found love of cooking, and the creative freedom it gives me, so I'm thinking—why couldn't I be a celebrity chef? Or maybe I could start my own vegetarian catering company? I could be on to something here. Tonite I'm making lemony lentil soup with carrots and potatoes, jalepeno cornbread muffins (minus the jalepenos for Olivia) and maybe a lemon pound cake with fresh whipped cream and raspberries. Dinner is my only meal of the day, so I'm really looking forward to this one.

Okay, so I'm procrastinating writing some cover letters and making those calls, but here I go.