Zen 9

Three nights ago Lexi and I made another genius casserole concoction. This time: Huevos Rancheros Casserole, with Beans and rice for a base spiced with cumin and six divots on top, each containing an egg that went into the oven raw and came out kind of crispy, all topped with crumbled tortilla strips. I was waiting anxiously for the timer to go off...I don't know why I set the timer, I just chose an arbitrary amount of time (35 minutes at 350 degrees) that I figured a casserole should be in an oven. Regardless, I was waiting for the timer to go off, and when it did, I realized I hadn't been prepared with an oven mit to pull the dish out. With the timer beeping at me, my heart started to pound and in a moment of need, I used a dish towel in place of a real oven mit. In the heat of the moment (no pun intended) my thumb wiggled its way out of the towel and onto the metal rack in the oven for a split second...and singed off part of my thumbprint forever (I think) ...a minor sacrifice for a meal well done (also, no pun intended). Okay, not THAT well done, Lexi was gone for part of the concocting time, and I think that since part of the genius was absent, the casserole didn't turn out as well as it could have...plus, it would have been better if we'd had cheese or sour cream. But the point is this: I burned my thumb and I didn't even cry. I pulled my hand back sharply (making sure to balance the casserole with the other hand) as one does when surprised, and I didn't make a noise or a tear and my eyes didn't even mist up at all. I didn't even tell anyone about it to get sympathy...until now...it still hurts and the blister hasn't even popped yet *insert big Bambi eyes here*.

I think this characteristic of having a high pain threshold will serve me well when I'm an international spy and my enemies are trying to get top secret information out of me. I mean, I've been through some pretty painful things in my life: I stub a toe at least once a month; I ran into the counter at work the other day and it stabbed me in the elbow making me lose feeling in my hand for several minutes (again, no tears); the following body parts of mine have been broken: two fingers, a toe, my tailbone, my T12 vertebra. Not all at the same time, this is a lifetime count. After two surgeries on my back, I have more titanium in my body than a golf club, which makes me bionic...I'm thinking about having hydraulics put in.

So, even though I may not be able to run away from my enemies or climb a rope to escape from them...if they catch me (which they inevitably will) and they torture me...I might hold out a while before I tell them all of my secrets.