A Yank In Texas

Look a blog post!

2009-01-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Ate one new thing a week from the farmer's market. It was tough and I learned that I don't like a lot of veggies and things (kale- ick) but I did learn to like new veggies (kohlrabi mmmm.)

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make any.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not anyone close to me but several friends and interweb people did.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Not this year.

5. What countries/places did you visit?
Mostly Houston and LaVernia due to the boy not having much time off.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
More $$, a new job, a vacation that's not in Texas.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Nov 4th for the election.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Nailing down a basic salsa and hot sauce recipe that even Mexicans have told me tastes better than their mamas! Just needs tweaking now...

9. What was your biggest failure?
Finding a new job that pays better.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I discovered a lovely wheat allergy. That's been fun. Yay for gluten-free. Ugh.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Our new coffee table. And though I didn't buy it- my programmable slow cooker.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Barack Obama, throughout the entire election process. (Completely agree.)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Lots of people really. Most Austin drivers.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Debt, basic expenses, the vehicles.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The election.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
I always get stuck on this because I just can't remember the songs I liked.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier and more hopeful. Things are starting to look up a bit at work and (crossing all digits) the boy should be getting a raise from his new job.
b) thinner or fatter? A bit thinner, thanks to the step and BodyJam classes I've taken.
c) richer or poorer? Richer in some ways, a bit poorer in others.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Job hunting. Organizing.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Not much really.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With the boy's family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
More in love with the boy and my furbabies.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Bones, Top Chef.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No.

24. What was the best book you read?
Oh there were so many. Most of the books by Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir top the list though.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Um, pass.

26. What did you want and get?
A Wii (seriously best video game system ever and I don't really like them), programmable slow cooker.

27. What did you want and not get?
A raise. (Salary freezes at work.)

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Dark Knight, but I didn't really see all that many.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
My 31st, and we went out to dinner and then went downtown.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Having the boy less stressed out for the first half of the year.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Making sure things fit but staying within a tiny budget.

32. What kept you sane?
The boy, food.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I was pretty enamored of Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin. (Me too.)

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
GLBT rights.

35. Who did you miss?
Friends I haven't seen in a while. Mle and Dan getting married.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Chad and Veronica, Gina.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Working with friends does not always turn out so well. Especially when their values and parenting methods clash with yours violently.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Just dance. or something like that.

This about sums it up:

2008-11-05T16:57:00.000-08:00

Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Barack could run. Barack ran so our children can fly.

I am so proud of America right now.

9/11

2008-09-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

It started out like any other day. I had moved to Sterling, VA a few months ago. Our apt complex was in the flight path of several planes from Dulles, a mere 15 minutes away. I was temping at a company that designed flight simulators. It was just another day to make money.
Then chaos. I first found about it when the boy called and told me to check the internet or find a tv. One of the Towers had been hit. I couldn't believe it but when I FINALLY got on the net, there it was. The internet was impossibly clogged and slow and it was next to impossible to make a call. I was right by Dulles, so everyone was freaking out. It took me an hour to reach my parents to let them know I was ok.
No one knew for sure what was going on. Rumors were flying- were there more planes? One hijacked plane was supposed to be in the area heading towards DC. We all rushed out because rumor had it wad from Dulles.
Then we heard about the second tower. And the Pentagon. We couldn't believe the Pentagon got hit. And then I saw the video of the towers falling. It was surreal. No one really could believe it. They wouldn't let us go home because no one I worked with thought it was important. Oh how that changed the next day when the FBI swarmed the place, looking for info on flight simulators.
One of my friends lived across 395 from the Pentagon. I went to his apartment the next evening and just stared in shock at the smoke and the gaping hole. It was just surreal.
And then the silence. The awful silence of no planes. Living under flight paths you got used to the noise of the jets. And then nothing. It wasn't right.

2008-08-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

Food Meme!

I like food, and I like easy blog posts, so here's a bit from the food blog Very Good Taste.

The rules are pretty standard:
A. List of 100 items
B. Bold items you've eaten
C. Cross out items you'd never consider eating

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare - So yummy- best one I've had was at an Ethiopian place.
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding .
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari -
12. Pho - One of my favoritest foods ever! I could eat this every day.
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans - Been a Tuesday night staple lately.
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. ~~Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper~~ - I like spicy, but that's just crazy. (ditto to what Hulk said)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters- The crispy fried ones at Jeffrey's are divine.
29. Baklava -
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl- New England only.
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. ~~Cognac with a fat cigar~~ Don't do cigars
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O -
39. Gumbo - The boy's family is from Louisiana. Duh.
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat- have not had it but it's on my list to try.
42. Whole insects -
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin -
51. Prickly pear- Fab in a martini
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini- don't like olives
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine- Food of the gods.
60. ~~Carob chips~~ - Ew.
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads- really yummy.
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs- Tastes like chicken
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe -
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. ~~Roadkill~~
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie -
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. ~~Horse~~ - Not unless I were starving to death.
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam -
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake - Rattlesnake

I will try most things just once. Doesn't mean I like them though.

Country Style Beef Ribs

2008-07-14T16:51:00.001-07:00

This is a quick posting as I don't have much time to spare right now.
Country Style Beef or Pork Ribs are generally boneless and the tougher cut of meet. When braised in a sauce they become fork tender and meltingly delicious. We served it them with a wild rice blend and some corn.

1 package country style ribs (I used beef but pork works too)
1 bottle of your favorite bbq sauce
1/3 c ketchup
1-2 tsp hot sauce (siracha is good)
2 TBSP mustard or ground mustard
1 onion, roughly chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 T soy sauce
1 T worchestershire sauce
1 t paprika

Simmer the ribs in the sauce and all of the ingredients for about half an hour. Add salt and pepper if you wish. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 and prepare a baking dish lined in two layers of foil. Place the ribs and sauce into the baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for about 1 and a half hours. Uncover and bake for an additional 45 minutes. Let cool and serve.
This does take a while but it's really delicious. And one day, I'll not be lazy and make my own bbq sauce. Use the above ingredients in greater quantities (minus the bottled sauce of course) and add canned tomatoes, molasses, and brown sugar. Plus any other spices you deem necessary. A jalepeno would also work.
Happy cooking!

Fresh Tomato Pasta

2008-07-09T16:47:00.001-07:00

With so many fresh tomatoes from the garden, easy, summer meals are key.
One of my favorites is quick sauteed cherry tomatoes over pasta with yummy cheese.

Olive oil
1-2 cloves of garlic, diced
1/2 onion, diced
cherry tomatoes, however many you want per person
penne pasta, cooked and drained
fresh basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and parsley
salt and pepper to season
red pepper flakes (optional)

Start a pan of boiling water and salt it well. Add pasta.
Meanwhile, sautee onions and garlic in a pan. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook until soft. When the tomatoes are soft, add herbs and seasoning. If you want, add some red wine and cook further.
Drain the pasta and pour the tomatoes over it. Top with parmesean and mozzarella cheese.

We have both sun-gold and regular cherry tomatoes. I really love the sun-gold.

Lemon Basil Potatoes

2008-07-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

This warm potato salad is simple and delicious. It can be served cool and no mayo involved so it's picnic friendly.

Red potatoes, cubed (amount varies per serving, I used about 8)
juice of 1 lemon
handful of basil, chopped
1 sprig rosemary
salt
pepper
garlic powder to taste
1/2 c or so olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar (champagne would work nicely)
2-4 strips cooked bacon (optional)
red pepper flakes to taste

Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until fork tender. Drain.
Meanwhile, make your vinaigrette. Combine lemon juice, vinegar, and olive oil, whisking thoroughly. Add herbs and seasoning.
Pour the mixture over the potatoes. Add the bacon and red pepper flakes and gently mix.
Serve warm.

Recipe month

2008-07-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, so with this being the NaBloPo whatever recipe month, I'm all over it. I'm going to try to post recipes as much as possible this month, with the exception of this weekend as I won't be home.
Anyway, summer veggies are in full swing here. Lots of fresh goodies and yummy dishes.
This weekend we made a smoked chicken with a special spice rub, a warm lemon basil potato salad, and ancho chile carrots. Everything balanced out rather well.

Ancho carrots:

Carrots, sliced lenghtwise
finely minced garlic, 2-3 cloves
olive oil
1/2 stick of butter
1-2 tsp ancho chile powder
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in the olive oil over med-high heat. Saute the garlic lightly to infuse the butter/oil. Sautee the carrots until just warmed but still crunchy. Season with salt, pepper, and the ancho chile powder. Take off of the heat and stir in the lime juice. Serve warm.

I'm Melting!!!

2008-05-20T18:10:00.001-07:00

Holy cow it's hot already. It's already broken records. 98 degrees in May.
Even for South Central Texas that's not right. I don't mind the heat but
this is insane. Good thing our AC is working well.
I know I've been really remiss in updating this. Really awful. My job has
actually gotten busier and I just haven't felt like staring at a computer
much when I get home. Plus I still have the fun insomnia thing going on.
It's gotten somewhat better but not quite where I'd like it. I've got lots
to talk about but just never get around to doing it. I'm such a
procrastinator.
We have a real garden this year. We used what little of our tax return that
we had left over from the fun car repairs we had to make and the escrow
overage check we got from the mortgage company to buy wood and a dump truck
full of dirt. We now have about 12 tomato plants (romas, sun-golds, Italian
ice, and a few others.) and about 6 pepper plants. (bells, serrano, but no
jalepeno :( ) Plus assorted herbs and things. And then there are the
plumeria. Oh my goodness. The boy went down to the La Vernia house and took
a bunch from the greenhouse. He barely made a dent in the thing too. Our
garden now has no other space for anything else. I don't know what we're
going to do next year if we want more veggies.
I am looking forward to having tomatoes and peppers from my garden this
year. I've been collecting pepper recipes and trying to come up with more
tomato recipes. Once our garden starts producing we're going to be eating
them just about every day. I don't mind but I'm going to have to get
creative. I have hit on a new salsa recipe using the sun-gold roma tomatoes.
They're slightly sweeter and tangier than a regular roma. When you add in a
few jalepenos and a couple habaneros you get a really nice combo of sweet
and spicy. It's going to be fun to experiment with them some more.
This past weekend we made an herbed roast chicken, bacon mashed potatoes
(using the bacon put on top of the chicken when it roasts- keeps it really
moist. You remove the bacon after about an hour) and a bibb lettuce salad
with a blackberry vinaigrette. The blackberries were a really nice
complement to the rest of the meal. And they're in season now so they're
fresh. It's peach and berry season here already. The East Coast is just
getting into the full swing of asparagus and things and we're already done
with that. In fact I haven't seen any lately at the farmer's market. I can't
wait for the summer fruits.
I have an interesting cat story that I will save until later. It goes with
our trip to Houston, which is a completely different post. But let me just
say, it reinforced my belief of keeping the toilet lids up when we leave for
a few days.

Blackberry Vinaigrette:
1/3 cup blackberries, juiced (use a garlic press and don't completely strain
it)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar (champagne vinegar will also work)
chives
salt
pepper
juice of half a lemon

Whisk all the ingredients together, using more or less to taste. Making
dressings is all about taste. It's usually a little bit of this and a little
bit of that. We had everything whisked together except the lemon and thought
something was missing. The flavor was there but it was dull and not as berry
tasting. Then we realized that we needed lemon to brighten the flavors. You
couldn't taste the lemon- it just enhanced the berry flavor. A little bit of
acid can go a long way.
We served it over a salad of grape tomatoes, shallots, and bibb lettuce.

Oh my god, the bird exploded!

2008-04-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

I am really lazy. Really. I keep meaning to post but keep finding excuses not to and other things to do. It’s not as if we’re not busy and all but if MLE and Doola found time to post during their wedding stuff, I have no excuse. Oh well.

So Bone Marrow. The boy got 35 lbs of beef bone marrow from the new meat supplier at work. The restaurant is trying to go as local as possible with suppliers. The new butcher is awesome. He’s very French, and has all sorts of stuff including rabbits, quail, and other lesser used meats. So we got some bone marrow a few weeks ago. I’m going to make beef stock with some of it in the next few weeks but on the day we got it, we just made some for immediate consumption.

Bone marrow is basically sliced up bones with the marrow exposed so you can scoop out the meaty goodness inside.

We roasted the bones at 450 for about 20-25 minutes, a little more for bigger bones. You do not want to over roast these so keep a careful eye on them. I seasoned the tops with garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper. The marrow was served with a crusty baguette, gruyere cheese, radishes, and fresh chives.

It was soo good. It’s really rich and meaty, so you definitely need something to cut it. They gruyere was an excellent compliment to it. I would definitely recommend trying this out if you ever get the chance.

Then there are the other birds, the kind we don’t eat. The cats have been doing a good job of bringing us gifts of birds, bugs, and small reptiles. Alex is not a passive kitten when it comes to this. He does help hunt the birds or rather, likes to take over the prey once it has been caught.

I came home one day a few weeks ago to find a carpet of feathers in my entryway. My first thought was, “Oh my god, the bird exploded.” I mean there were feathers everywhere. It must have been a long, hard fight. They went in four different rooms. I followed the feather trail and found the remains upstairs in our office and had to clean out the lovely blood and all. Poor thing never had a chance. I’m also still finding feathers from that.

Last weekend, Punk caught a robin and brought it inside. It escaped and sat in our garage/junk room for a while. I spent a few minutes shooing it out into the yard. As soon as it flew out the door, bam! So did the cats. They ran out and Alex caught the damn thing and brought it back inside. Much fun ensued while I chased him around our bottom floor, trying to get the bird away from him. He would just not let go of the thing. It took both me and the boy several tries to get the poor birdie away from Alex. But alas, it was too late and the bird had to be mercy-killed. And there were still feathers to be cleaned up.

Punk apparently has a penchant for leaving gifts for our neighbors also. One of them told us that she left them a baby possum at their back door a few days ago. They didn’t mind and thought it was nice of her to share the wealth. (They have 2 dogs and used to have a cat so they understand.) Ah, my crazy kitties.

In a future post: chicken jello, gardens, alex and the hole, and condescending moms

CONGRATS MR. AND MRS. STRYKER!

2008-03-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Emily and Dan! I remember when you guys were just chatting back on Eurotrip! Crazy times then! Whoddathunk that you'd be getting married?! (Well, ok, lots of us could sort of see it but you know...)
Congrats mis internet amigos!

2008-03-26T16:50:00.001-07:00

Bone Marrow! (The kind you eat) and Birds! More coming when I get to it!

Greenhouse Heater Part II

2008-03-06T17:20:00.000-08:00

So the heater for the greenhouse. A huge, actual heater made for greenhouses. We bought it from Amador Farms, a local hydroponic lettuce grower. The couple who owns it is at the local farmer’s market every week and deliver lettuce and other greens to the restaurant every week. One day, the boy got to talking with them about his greenhouse and they mentioned that they had a heater that they weren’t using, in fact had yet to be used, and would we like to buy it? It was a great deal. We went out to their place one night and toured their set-up and came home with a heater. Their set-up is really neat and we got a lot of ideas from them. They didn’t need an extra heater because lettuce grows better in the cold. They had got the heater because they were initially doing other vegetables before focusing on their cash crop of Bibb lettuce.

So, instead of going to the WEDDING, I got a heater. It’ll be worth it in the long run and it was a deal we couldn’t refuse. Plus we made some really great contacts and I now talk to them every Saturday at the market. (I also get a special friends discount on their product, which is really yummy.)

Insomnia rules the day as usual. I just can’t sleep past 3:30 am or so anymore. Going to bed earlier doesn’t work because I wouldn’t be able to do anything after work. Melatonin isn’t working. I can’t drink anything before going to bed because I’ll have to get up to pee, and getting up just ensures that I won’t go back to sleep. It’s fun. I seem to have the same problem that Cil mentioned, but mine lasts all year. I think I may have to try an actual sleeping pill soon. Fun times. But until I figure this out, I’m exhausted when I get home from work.

Of course Alex does not help things out. He loves to put his wet nose in my face and paw at me when he feels that I’m awake, or I should be awake. I got paw-punched the other morning. Another morning he decided to start whining, though that did end up being a good thing. I had forgotten to set my alarm and his whining woke up me up at the right time. Good thing.

The cats continue to do their fight/play thing. Alex loves to play with Pumpkin, so much that he whines when she’s not around. That does get annoying but it’s cute in a way. He is a bit of a whiner. But then he snuggles up next to you and purrs and you just have to forgive that cute little thing. Pumpkin is just a little tempermental bitch most of the time, especially when I try to get her inside when I come home. She never comes when I call her but all the boy has to do is whistle and yell her name once and she comes running. Sigh.

Alex Tree Rescues: 6 Ladders Needed: 3 Tall Boys Used: 2 Step-Stools: 1

In terms of cooking, I’ve been making my own mayo a lot with the fresh eggs from the farmer’s market. It’s really easy.

2 egg yolks

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt, pepper, paprika

1-2 cloves of garlic, minces, more to make aioli

other seasonings

1 c of oil, olive, vegetable, whichever you like but try not to use Extra Virgin, unless you want the mayo to taste like the oil

Beat the egg yolks with all the ingredients except the oil. Slowly, and I mean slowly, whisk in the oil, whisking until all the oil is blended in. Stop every few seconds to completely blend in the oil if needed. This is called emulsification. Mayo will keep for a week or so.

You can use this mayo to make a simple dressing. Just add equal amounts of mayo and buttermilk. Add in other flavorings such as dill, other herbs, and my favorite, blue cheese. It’s that simple. This goes great over Bibb lettuce and some shallots.

This is a greenhouse heater

2008-03-04T18:45:00.001-08:00

I have more in a longer post about it. But it's a nice, fancy, powerful heater that comfortable heats up a 20'x60' greenhouse and then some. And we got it from the lovely people of Amador Farm. I wish I had a link as they are just awesome people who run a hydroponic lettuce farm.

KITTEHS!!!

2008-02-17T15:38:00.000-08:00

PICTURES!!

Just like I promised. New photos of the kitties. When they aren't sleeping, they are fighting. They fight/play a lot. Alex still hasn't won. Punk can rebuff him whilst still catching some zzzs.
The outside pics are from Alex's first day outside. He had a blast. He's already climbed 3 trees and had to be rescued twice by ladder. I give up.

I swear I haven't abandoned!!

2008-02-14T16:30:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy month. I've gotten way more to do at work now and don't have free time there to write my posts. And when I get home, well, I just don't get to it. But I have more kitty pics and some fun Alex stories. (He likes climbing trees but not so much the coming down.) So look for more kitteh pics in the near future!! Plus greenhouse stuff!

Finally a post!!

2008-01-11T15:50:00.000-08:00

Oh I am so bad at updating. So very bad. I just don’t usually feel like writing when I get home and don’t have much time at work lately. (Plus they monitor internet so…)

The New Year started with a whimper more or less. The boy had to work until 11:30 so that made for a real grumpy start to the New Year. (The restaurant was out of nearly everything but still open. It was a bit of a mess.) At least I got New Year’s day off and got some stuff done.
I’ve been using most of my new toys like mad. (Still haven’t got around to the sewing machine yet. But I think I will this weekend.) I got a mandoline slicer and have made waffle fries, potatoes au gratin, and today I will make French fries. Oh I do love this thing. Plus I got tons of cast iron and well, it’s been nice knowing a lot of my other pans. Cast Iron rocks!

Our household has been obsessing a bit over Anthony Bourdain recently. We both watch No Reservations whenever we can. Plus A Cook’s Tour is being re-broadcast on the Food Network. (Bourdain left the FN when they wanted him to tone it down a bit. His sarcasm and cynicism are what make the show IMO.) I’ve read all but one of his food-related books. (Got a copy of Nasty Bits for Giftmas. He’s also written a bunch of spy novels too!) The boy got me a bunch of cookbooks for Giftmas too- Bourdain’s Les Halles cookbook included. Now that’s a cookbook to actually read. He’s voice is ever present. Bourdain just has a great sense of humor and a love of food. I think he’d be a blast to travel with. I would kill to go to Vietnam with him. Oh that stuff looked so good.

In other food news, I’ve been experimenting with the slow cooker and pot roast. I made a beef pot roast a few weeks ago. It was good but needed something acidic. I used a chuck roast, sliced onions, carrots, garlic, a bit of Worcestershire sauce, and a can of cream of mushroom soup. (salt and pepper too. Always.) It tasted good overall but really just needed something. We both thought paprika would be nice. Plus a lot of recipes add in an onion soup mix. So yesterday I tried one with a pork butt. Ohhh it turned out so very yummy. I used the same ingredients but added a packet of onion soup mix and paprika. That made such a difference. (Cooked for about 6-7 hours on low.) The meat was falling apart. I made mashed potatoes to go with it and made a roux and thickened the gravy up. (The amount of liquid that ends up in the pot is pretty amazing.) It’s definitely an easy thing to do. I really don’t like using the processed food stuff but it’s made a big difference so far. I plan to experiment much more with other items for the crock pot. It is rather nice to come home to a dinner that’s ready to serve.

Then there are the kitties. Pumpkin is, well her aloof self. She only seeks people when she wants food or attention. But she does like Alex. Ah Alex. He is a riot. He loves his snuggling. He also will eat anything and everything. I’ve caught him so many times on the counters trying to steal food that has been left open. So far he’s eaten bacon, chicken, pasta, potatoes, and some frosting off of a cake. (Boy did he have a sugar high after that. I put the plate down to go the bathroom and next thing I know he was there.) He’s a little sneaky thing.

On Saturday, as it was mid-70s outside and gorgeous, I decided that he’s old enough to go outside now. He’s been begging for a bit as he’s watched Punk go out. (We set the kitty door to one way so Punk could get in but not easily get out. Of course, smart girl she is, she figured out how to open it on the locked side.) He had a blast exploring the yard and playing with leaves and things. Punk kept an eye on him for the most part. The only problem to this is that he is absolutely TERRIFIED of the kitty door. Unless it is held open for him, he will not use it. I think the noise and the swinging scare him. But I am not going to be opening doors to let him in and out all day long. Plus they are outside when there is no one home- who’s going to open the door for him then? So, he’s stuck inside until he can get over it. He wants to go out. He begs, he whines, he runs to the door. But until he can use the kitty door, not happening. He’s watches Punk do it. I’ve sat there and tried to nudge him through, but he cowers and mews. Poor little baby. He’ll learn eventually if he really wants to go outside.

Really Awesome Baked Chicken

2007-12-19T17:24:00.000-08:00

I have this thing for fried chicken and since I wanted to have some tonight, I decided to try baking it. And well, yum.
I marinated thighs in buttermilk overnight. Then seasoned with salt, pepper, onion, garlic powder, paprika and a bit of cayenne. Coated in Italian bread crumbs. I then baked in a 375 degree oven for about 50 minutes or so. Till the juices ran clear. They turned out moist and delicious. I served with mashed potatoes and made from scratch country gravy. (Make a roux with equal parts butter and flour, cook for a bit, add milk, salt, pepper, paprika to taste. Heat while stirring until thick.)
I do love a good meal.

In kitteh news, they are doing fabulously well. I am starting to think Punk likes Alex better than she ever liked Gabby. I know but she totally mothers Alex and watches over him. She's even sleeping on the bed with us now. There's a difference.
Alex caught a lizard today. Punk wanted some of it too but he was not sharing. Oh no. He growled every time she came near. It was just too funny. After he did his thing with it, Alex did eventually share and they both finished playing it to death. So cute.
And yes, I have more pics. There are more in the kitty post below at the end- updated with links to picasa and photobucket. (carimwc for photobucket but the pics are the same in both.) I also have more coming. I'm taking a bunch to make an album for my Aunt so there will be tons more. My aunt is about 5 mentally, so the kitty pics will bring at least a week's worth of bragging and talk for her. She asks about them all the time. I don't know why I never thought about this before!

Central Texas Gets Cold Sometimes

2007-11-26T14:58:00.000-08:00

When it rains it pours. It's cold at night here. Like 30s cold. We came home and started up the heater. It stoppped running after 2 minutes. Something fried. Looked like a fuse. It was but it wasn't the only thing wrong. The circuit board is fried. This happens with old age (unit is only 10 years old) or dirt and dust buildup. As some of you may recall, our unit ended up clogged up and disgusting earlier this year. We had it cleaned but it was too late for our heater. Argh.
These boards aren't cheap either. It sucks.
Last month was the civic's tune-up in order to keep it running and inspected. And Alex and his vet visits. Oh and Gabby and her cremation. And the boy dropped his phone in coffee. That was just last month. We've been having a series of mini-disasters. Anytime we bring up the S-word and think we're doing ok, something happens. Like clockwork.
I'm tired of this crap. We need a little bit of good luck. Just a little. Anything.
Looks like another night of sleeping in the cold.

Update- yeah I know

2007-11-19T17:08:00.000-08:00

I know I’ve been really lax in updating this thing in the past few months. I just haven’t had the time or energy. Mostly the energy. I’ve had a super case of insomnia. I’ve been falling asleep fine- I’m exhausted by the end of the day, but I can’t stay asleep. I’ve been waking up any time between 2:30 and 4:30 in the morning and not falling back asleep. And when I mean wake up, I mean I wake with a jump. It’s not good.
It’s gotten a bit better this past week but it’s still not there. At least I’m not feeling too zombie like. There were days when it was all I could do to make it home. Forget about cooking dinner or something. I didn’t trust myself near a stove those days. I shouldn’t even have been driving. (Case in point: one zombie morning, while backing the truck out of the driveway, my sideview mirror hit our brick mailbox. Thankfully the mirror is just cracked and I can order new glass but still. Not so good.)
Alex is a love. He and Punk are getting along. They’ll lie near each other and joyfully chase each other around the house. Alex actually starts a lot of it. He’ll attack Punk and then run away, forcing her to chase him. It’s really cute.
He is a super snuggler. He forces his way onto my lap or shoulder and then makes himself comfortable so he can snooze. He loves to rub his face under my chin and give kisses. It’s all cute until it’s 4am on a Saturday and he starts whacking me with his paw because I’m not making any effort for him. Yeah, that was fun. But he’s a doll and a really great addition.
Punk is dealing quite well with this newcomer. We’ve been letting her run on the weekends but not during the week as Alex is not outside material just yet. Plus we wanted to make sure that they got along and as she would have spent most of her time hiding outside, we felt the forced interaction was best.
She is also keeping her super hunting skills up to par as Friday night she caught a rat. A lovely, furry, largish, rat. I was just sitting on the couch with a sleeping Alex half in my lap, when in walks Pumpkin meowing like crazy. She dropped her present on the floor at the entrance to the living room and stood proudly, waiting for me to come inspect her catch. She got lots of praise and petting while I hurridly ran for the broom and the camera. Upon further inspection, the rodent was still alive. Yikes. I quickly swept it onto the dustpan and brought it outside where I hope it either escaped or died. Either way, Punk got locked inside for the rest of the night as she has a tendency to re-capture things. (She caught the same field mouse 3 times before playing it to death.)
Our Thanksgiving plans have just changed. We were going to drive out to Louisiana to spend time with the boy’s relatives but we’re most likely going to stay around here now. We were only going to be there for a day or so anyway. Staying home makes so much more sense with gas prices the way they are. So I have to go find a turkey today. Joy. At least I have most of the fixins I need to make dinner. I was already going to make the pies. I plan to brine the turkey but I don’t know if we’ll smoke, roast, or fry it. We’ll see. I’m making an herbed pecan stuffing to go with it. We have tons and tons of pecans from the trees around the La Vernia house. Either way, we won’t be lacking in food.

UPDATED: More kitty pics here

The new boy in town

2007-11-04T16:26:00.000-08:00

This is Alex. I know it's only been a few weeks but a new kitten was somewhat of a necessity. First, I needed a new little one, and Punk couldn't get too used to being alone. She was already becoming the diva of the house again.
So last Saturday I went to PetSmart to check out the rescue organizations and their adoptable kittens. I was looking for a tabby, preferably orange but then Alex poked his nose at me. I took him out and we snuggled. That was all it took. He was so lovable and playful I couldn't resist. So I took him home.
It was great timing as about 5 minutes before I walked in the door, Punk caught her first mouse. I had called the boy to warn him so he could prep the Punk but of course she had other ideas. She was all wild and proud. She scared the little one and he hid under a dresser for about 7 hours or so. (Punk spent the rest of the day outside.) During those 7 hours of hiding we could pet him and discovered he loves having his paws played with. I took him from his spot every once in a while and as long as I had a hand on him, he would snuggle and purr and be happy. But move that hand and bye bye!
But after about 7 hours it was like a light switch went on. He came out and started playing and generally going crazy. He also started meowing. Yes, I have another talker. He's not nearly as loud or as constant as Gabby but he loves to meow. He's a chirper actually. It's cute for now. We'll see.
He's a love. He loves to snuggle and curl up with you. He loves everyone. He likes to perch on your shoulder and then stretches out upside down. Strange little thing.
Punk is less than thrilled but she's coming around. She doesn't hiss and growl constantly and can stand to be in the same room as Alex now. They're due for a fight soon. I'm not worried though. They're making progress every day. I don't expect best buds immediately. He's got big shoes to fill.
I will always miss Gabby and she will always be my little baby. But Alex is here to stay and will help fill the hole that was left.

RIP Gabby

2007-10-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

She's gone. My kitten, my shadow, my baby. She was hit by a car this morning.
She wasn't waiting for me to get up, she wasn't begging for tuna, and didn't come when I called. I knew something was wrong. I opened the front door because sometimes she got stuck out front and there she was in the road. I screamed but there was nothing to be done. She had been dead for a few hours it seemed.
I'm heartbroken. She was my loud, curious kitten. She was afraid of cars and the road so I have no idea why she was out there. Pumpkin is waiting for her pal to come play. She's looking for her friend.
It all happened this morning. We took her to the vet to get cremated. It's only been a few hours. I can't stop crying right now. This was my baby. She was MY cat. She followed me around and not the boy.
I miss her so much. I just want my loud, crazy kitten to come running up to me now.

ACL Rant Part 1

2007-09-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

I know i haven't updated in a while. It's been a bit crazy.
Anyway, Austin City Limits Music Festival is this weekend. It's my 30th birthday 3 day weekend bash. I was looking forward to it. Especially Saturday, my birthday, when I was going to hit the trifecta of Amy Winehouse, Indigo Girls, and the White Stripes. Not so anymore.
As the world knows, Amy Winehouse is not touring for the foreseable future. Le sigh. Yesterday it was announce that the Striples are canceling tour dates for the next few weeks. Argh. Now, I understand that Meg White had a nervous breakdown and all but sigh. That stinks. The Stripes were the Saturday headliner. Now Muse is going to fill that spot and well, eh. I'm not a huge Arcade Fire fan either. So it looks like we'll be leaving after the Indigo Girls. Ah well. Still not so good.
People are not happy about the way things are happening. Bob Dylan was not a happy choice to close and now the Stripes with no other real big headliner? Not so good.
Ah well. More to come when the festival actually starts. I did get my wristbands today.

Food updated: sauteed onions and garlic in olive oil, added chicken, salt, pepper, italian seasoning, some smoked paprika. Let cook. Added bacon, a can of drained chickpeas, grape tomatoes, and basil. Let cook until the tomatoes are warmish. Serve over greek seasoned roasted potatoes. Top with parm if desired. Total yum.

Icky Sicky

2007-08-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

Short and sweet. I managed to come down with bronchitis at the beginning of the week. At first I thought it was a head cold that was doing it's normal thing of winding down to my chest but no, the head part all but went away and this thing has taken hold of my lungs. All I do is cough and feel rotten. I went to work on Monday and made it through half of Tuesday before giving up and going home to sleep.
On Wednesday I dragged myself to the doctor only to have them tell me that well, yes, you are sick but we can't do anything for you. I don't have a fever and they don't want to give me antibiotics. I have to get worse first. Awesome.
So it's been fun. OTC meds, the good kind that you have to ask the pharmacist for and prove that you don't have a meth lab, and lots of tea. I still feel crummy but there's not much I can do about it.
And then there's work. I swear the position of the head of my department is cursed. This makes boss #4 in a little over 2 years. Yeah. It was supposedly a mutual decision but I'm pretty sure it wasn't. And of course this all happened on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday, while I was gone. Argh.

Firefly in da house!

2007-08-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

Somehow a firefly, or lightening bugs as they seem to be known around these parts, managed to get into my house last night. Punk had a blast trying to catch it. I had just blissed her out by brushing her (seriously that cat LURVS her brush) when all of a sudden she jumped and started digging through everything on the floor. She went nuts. She climbed over everything and jumped as high as she could, but she never did quite catch it. Ah cats.

I think I've managed to fix my sleeping issues. Well, mostly. I've been taking melatonin, extended release caplets. They've actually helped me to sleep through the night and I only wake up around 5:30 now, which is much better than a few times a night. It's been really nice. I do like feeling rested more often than not. Yay.

I made more salsa this weekend. The roasted garlic and roasted red pepper salsa came out excellent. I've tweaked the recipe a little, decided to use a lot less lime. My only problem is that I seem to filling up the jars too much. I've left plenty of room at the top for expansion, but it doesn't seem enough. The jars don't explode per se but they leak and when you open them, well, it's best to have a bowl underneath and do it in the sink. And open slowly. I haven't lost much, which is good. I did lose a jar while sealing. It just broke and let out all the salsa into the water. A whole quart! And it was my hot stuff too! Oh well. I've got lots more to make for the next few weekends.

Happy Left Hander's Day!

2007-08-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

I hope you smiled at your fellow left-handed people today. (Ahem.) We are not all evil as the origins may presume. We face obstacles daily, living in a blatantly right handed world. (Ever try to pour from a ladle with your left hand? Can't since the spout is on the side made for right handed ease. Don't even get me started on can openers.)
I could rant on and on about the whole left handed thing but I won't.
I'll just leave you with the neat fact that my immediate family, all four of us, is all left-handed. Right handers who came to dinner were truly the odd people out for a change. Ha!

Pickles, pickles everywhere

2007-07-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

In the past 3 weeks, I have made 19 quarts of pickles. My neighbor had an overflow of cucumbers and kept leaving bags at my front door. (I had given him permission so it was ok.) I wanted to make pickles. And man I made pickles. They’re spicy and garlicky. I don’t like sweet pickles, although sugar is a required ingredient in any pickle recipe. I made spears and slices and 2 jars of small, whole pickles. I had fun.
I don’t have a set recipe as of yet. I’ve made 3 different brines but the basic ingredients are the same.

Mason jars
Vinegar- I used cider for most of it and a combo of white and cider for one time. Use any kind you like.
Water
2 T sugar
Salt
Pepper
Red pepper flakes*
Cumin*
Bell peppers, red and green
Onion
Garlic powder*
Onion powder*
Hot sauce*
Garlic cloves- Use however many you want.
Thyme
Dill
Jalepenos*
Cucumbers- sliced, speared, or whole if small enough.

Put water and vinegar in a pot, a 3-2 vinegar/water ratio works best. Add seasoning. Use whatever you like to taste. This is just what I used. Sugar is a must though, to help the cucumbers stay together. Bring brine to a boil and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Let cool.
While the brine is cooling, sterilize the mason jars by boiling just the jars for 10 minutes. Place dill, whole garlic cloves, onion slices or pearl onions, diced jalepenos, thyme, whatever other flavoring you like, in the bottom of the jar. Place cucumbers in jar, leaving at least ½ inch at the top. Pour the brine in, along with any other pieces like the bell peppers or garlic. Leave room at the top. Repeat for each jar. 8 cups of liquid makes about 4-5 quarts.
Seal the jars by placing the lids on them, and tighten but not all the way. Place in about 3-4 inches of boiling water, about halfway up the jar, and cover. You will hear a pop and the jar is sealed.
You can also use a pressure cooker to do this but as I don’t have one, this also works.
I made 4 quarts of salsa this weekend too. I need to make lots of sauce and more salsa next weekend. All this fresh, fun produce!* And it’s so easy to do!

*Sadly, I’ve had to buy tomatoes. All the rain we’ve had is not making our tomatoes do well- they’re just not getting enough sun. Plus we now have leaf-footed bugs which suck all the sweet goodness out of the ‘maters and prevent them from growing really big. It’s been hard to deal with because it’s always freakin’ raining and it just washes away anything you try to do. I’m using a soap and water spray to combat them but I don’t know if I can really save them. We’ll see. We did just get some baby plants so that might save the day.

DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT FINSHED HP7! MAJOR SPOILERS

2007-07-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Spoilers about book 7 below.

I warned you.

They’re coming.

Here it comes.

Ok, Harry Potter Book 7 info below.

I went to one of the midnight release parties to get my book. I am a big dork. I had a good time though. There were lots of kids and adults in costume. At the Barnes and Noble that I was at, there had to be at least 5-600 people there. At least. They gave out tickets in groups of 50 from A-Z and they were on P for the reserved copies and were on C for the unreserved. It was madness but in a good way. I was in group J and got my copy around 12:45am. The line moved quickly and I was home around 1am. I was originally going to read until I feel asleep but I stayed awake until I finished the book around 5-5:30am. I think it was the combination of coffee and adrenaline that kept me awake. Plus I didn’t want to put it down for the last 200 pages or so.
Overall, I am happy with the book. All my questions were answered and then some. I laughed but I also cried. It was well thought out and very detailed, too detailed at times. The beginning flew by but the middle sort of got bogged down a bit. I really didn’t like the last chapter but I understand the need for it. It just didn’t seem to fit in for me, plus it gave me so many more questions like what does Harry do? What are the jobs? Who’s the headmaster or mistress of Hogwarts now? But that’s ok. There are supposed to be questions. I think that’s the mark of a good book. Plus it leaves things open for more.
There was no real wait to get to the meat of the story. The first chapter dived in right away to reveal Voldemort and his Death Eaters planning their overthrow of the wizarding world and the attempts to finally get Harry Potter. Voldemort wants his revenge and wants his one failure to be gone. But of course that doesn’t happen.
This was not a peaceful book. It’s dark and there is a lot of violence and quite a bit of death. Some you expected (Snape, and the big V, yes he dies.) but there were quite a lot of unexpected. I totally did not see Dobby dying. Poor little house-elf. And Hedwig! When Hedwig and Dobby died, I figured that anyone was fair game. I would have been ok if one of the core three had been killed but it wouldn’t have felt right. I had predicted that Neville, Hagrid, or McGonagall would die, but that was not the case. I’m still not sure how I feel about both Tonks and Lupin dying but I can see it to make Harry be the godfather that he never got to have. And what is George, holey George, going to do without his brother? I wished we had seen his reaction, though it may have been too much for readers to take. I did get some comfort out of the fact that Fred went out with a joke.
Dumbledore is not perfect after all, he is fallible. I had always suspected that he was up to something that belied his stature and grandeur but I never suspected the family story nor his long-ago friendship with a Dark Master who was very anti-Muggle. The quest for the Deathly Hallows, that makes sense to me. That fits Dumbledore’s personality. But the story behind his family was a bit of a surprise. Dumbledore had been rather full of himself but he also gave off the air that he understood it too. He made mistakes, quite a few of them, but didn’t always admit them to everyone. He did know his limits. (Never accepting the post of head of Ministry.) I think this realization and discovery did help Harry become a better person. Everyone does make mistakes and keep secrets.
I always knew Snape had some good in him and that Harry’s mother played some part in that, but it was still a nice revelation that he did end up caring for Harry because of Lily and her kindness, even though she did separate herself from him because of his dark tendencies. She was one of the few people to like Snape for himself. Snape’s capacity to love is what made him different. He loved Lily and was able to love her son. I loved how his Patronus was a doe and not something else. Snape really was an old softie.
Love, of course, was a big theme in this book. The ability to love and feel will conquer all. Snape could love, Dumbledore could love, the Malfoys loved their son, Harry loved and was loved, etc. We all know that Voldemort’s biggest downfall was his inability to love, to feel remorse, really to feel anything. He was all hate and pride, and that ultimately destroyed him. He couldn’t imagine that anything could be stronger than his supreme talent and power. I think that was a great theme for the kids to believe in, love is always there and always important, no matter what happens. If you can love, you can do anything.
There were a lot of other underlying themes- a lot of racial implications. The whole purity of the wizarding race just reeks of Nazism. They hunted Muggle-born wizards and forced them to give up their wands. They had no guilt in just killing off Muggle families. Half-blood wizards were seen as of lesser status. It’s all so reminiscent of the Holocaust. There’s a take off of a well known about how they came for the jews and I did nothing and they came for these people and I did nothing, etc. Lupin makes that point on Potterwatch about how first it’s the Muggle-borns, and then the half-bloods, and then the purebloods, and then it will be just the Death-Eaters. You can see the progression. The undercurrent was just there.
You can see it even more with the talk of Grindewald’s camp for non-followers, Nurmengard, and the slogan over the gate. (Wish I could remember it but it’s very reminiscent of “Work Makes You Free”.) It’s very World War II-like. (Even to the little details of no tv and just a wireless radio. Potterwatch and the Order= the resistance.) And it all stems from the fact that Voldemort was more or less screwed over by Muggles in his childhood, even though he is half-blood himself. (Sound familiar to anyone else?) Younger kids might not pick up on it, but anyone who has studied history most likely will. It’s not that subtle.
All in all it was a satisfying end to the story. The battle scene at Hogwarts was fantastic. Neville rocked as I always believed that he would. (And his gran? Awesome lady.) The little details were well thought out and interesting. (Loved the use of the Room of Requirement and McGonagall leading a battalion of desks was priceless!) The last chapter seemed a bit of out of place to me, but I can see where it would be necessary. It is nice knowing what happened afterward and it does leave an opening for more books featuring the kids.
I have so much more to talk about but this will have to do for now.
The books may be done but the phenomenon lives on. Long live Harry Potter.

Holy Harry Potter (36 hours and counting)

2007-07-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

The world isn’t ending but Harry Potter is.(And if you haven’t figured that out yet, what rock are you living under? Seriously.) That great book phenomenon comes to an end this Friday at midnight when the world finds out whether Snape is good or evil, which 2 major characters die, and most importantly, whether Harry lives or dies. Will good vanquish evil like it usually does? There will be unanswered questions, there always are, but I hope that most are satisfied. I just want to read a good book.
Yes, I have read the news reports about all the spoilers but I’ve tried to keep myself from reading them. I accidentally heard something on the radio but I don’t know if it was one of the real or fake spoilers and I don’t care to find out. Whoever posted them has way too much time on their hands anyway. I know people pay big money for something like this and there are the few that will do anything to find out what happens, but part of the hype is waiting and finding out with everyone else what happens. Boo and hiss on those people who are trying to spoil it for everyone. Most people don’t really want to know right now. Really. We can wait.
I am a Harry Potter fan. I really just fell into it in college when I was home on break and a neighbor said here, read this book. (I baby-sat for them and we exchanged books once they realized what a book nerd I was. The dad introduced me to Douglas Adams too, something for which I will be eternally grateful.) I don’t care if these books were meant for kids. They are very well written and draw you into the story. You can imagine yourself as part of their world. I think that’s one of the biggest draws of the story. Plus the attention to detail is incredible. Yes, it’s a trendy thing in some ways but it really is a worthwhile series. I’d read it if it weren’t popular.
I will be at the midnight release party at my local Barnes and Noble. (The closest store to minimize time not reading.) I want my copy as soon as possible so I can start reading. (Yes, I am one of those fans. I don’t care.) I probably won’t stay up all night reading but I do plan to spend all Saturday reading. I won’t go immediately to last page. I’ve never done that and don’t plan to. Plus the last page doesn’t always completely give away the ending anyway. I’ll probably end up posting something about it this weekend, so if you are a slow reader or waiting, I’d watch out. I’ll note major spoilers and all that but if you are in any way connected to the world, you’ll probably know by then anyway.
It’s nice that this series has promoted reading and has sold record numbers of books, but literacy is still down. People just aren’t reading like they used to. Library hours have declined and their use is really now more for computers than books. It’s sad. I got special permission to start checking out more adult books when I was 9 or 10 because I had already gone through the children’s area. I feel sad for those kids who will never understand the thrill of reading and imagination. It’s about creating a fantasy world with your own pictures, not one that someone else has given you. (The movies about books do spoil that somewhat, though I will say that the movie HP looks a lot like how I imagined him.) I hope that the kids reading Harry Potter continue reading in any way possible.

Mondays are just not so fun

2007-07-16T10:18:00.001-07:00

I, like pretty much everyone else, really don’t like Mondays so much. It’s hard having to get up and go back to work after the weekend, especially when you realize that you didn’t do everything you wanted to do, mostly because you just wanted to relax on the weekend. Ah, the vicious circle of having a job. It does pay those bills though.
Our AC is now running better than ever. It’s been nice. We can actually feel the air coming out of the vents upstairs now. We just thought it was old ductwork but that obviously wasn’t the case. The AC guys said it was one of the worst cases they had ever seen, it was that bad. But there’s definitely no way we could have got it that bad, having only been here a year. Bad previous owners!
We went to a friend’s going away party this weekend. They are moving to Atlanta for grad school. We volunteered to do the food for the party as it’s easy for us to do. We scaled back from what we would have normally done (stuffed pork tenderloin, homemade coleslaw, hummus and pita, and stuff like that) and just did fajitas and a lovely watermelon spiked with vodka. I made salsa and pico de gallo from the tomatoes in our garden and the peppers that I bought at the farmer’s market. It turned out excellent. Recipes follow.

Salsa
4-5 tomatoes, chopped to fit in processor
1 onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cayenne peppers*
1 serrano pepper*
2 anaheim peppers*
2-3 jalepeno peppers*
1 red bell pepper
1 purple bell (green also works)
1 small bunch cilantro
1 ½ limes
couple tablespoons olive oil
salt
pepper

Roughly chop and put all ingredients into food processor and pulse. You may have to puree some of the tomatoes down at first in order to fit everything in. When done, you should have a semi-chunky but smooth mixture. Almost but not quite a puree. Let sit for one hour or more for the flavors to mix. It gets better as it sits.
For extra spice add Tabasco or siracha sauce. Extra peppers work too. A scotch bonnet would be a great addition or maybe instead of the anaheims. For a slightly different flavor, roast some of the peppers.
Remember, all of this is to taste. Add/delete what you want. This is a bit spicy- it creeps up on you. Leave out the * peppers for less spice. There’s so much you can do with it to make it your own. Cumin and chili powder work. Maybe some paprika.

Pico de gallo

2-3 tomatoes, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalepeno, minced (optional)
1 small bunch cilantro, rough chopped
1 lime, juiced
salt
pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Let sit for one hour to let the flavors mix. Sometimes I add garlic powder for a little extra flavor.

Damn those previous owners!!

2007-07-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

You know it’s hot when Gabby, the whiner and talker, doesn’t say a thing. She was just looking at us, flopped on the tiles. Every once in a while, you’d hear a very weak mrow from her. Punk just lay there. It was too hot for her to say anything and there was nothing I could do about it.
The stupid AC decided to not work properly. It would blow cold air but it just wasn’t blowing enough. You could turn the AC on and in 4 hours it might go down 4 degrees. That’s not right, especially when your house is 89 F. Plus the humidity. It was nasty.
Thankfully we have tile floors in the kitchen and hallways downstairs, so that was something cool for the girls to lie on in the heat of the day. Gabby positioned herself in front of the one blower that is near the floor. Smart cat that one.
Other than that, they just lounged on the floor and gave us piteous looks as if to say- It’s awful. Please do something! So we did- we let them outside at night. We normally don’t do that during the week but it was cooler outside than inside. (If we had a hammock and mosquito netting we would have been there too… or a tent.) They thought it was the greatest thing ever. Of course I woke up to a few dead lizards and bugs, but that’s a small price to pay for the kitties comfort.
AC repairman #1 came yesterday. He found the problem within minutes and basically knew what the problem was as I described it. Unfortunately, it’s going to cost us to repair and it’s not even our fault. The coil and duct are completely gunked up and blocked. So while we could feel cold air coming from the unit and it was working really well, there was no air distribution whatsoever. Apparently, the people who owned the house before us, which I’m now convinced was an elderly couple, never changed their air filters or never even had them. It’s that icky. The guy opened up the heating unit and just grabbed a handful of stuff to show me. He said that the people who installed the BRAND NEW unit should have noticed this or at least the guy who was here, not even a month ago, to fix our clog should have checked it. Heck, our house inspector should have noticed it. Argh.
But at least he said that our unit is really good and even our heating unit is pretty good. It just hadn’t been maintained properly. It definitely wasn’t our fault on this one. He could tell that our house is relatively clean (mostly clutter) and that we changed our filters. He even gave us really good tips on how to service it ourselves and help keep our cooling costs down. I think we found our HVAC/AC company.
It all makes sense now. It hasn’t been cooling right at times, there has been a dank, musty smell every once in a while that we could never figure out. The clog in the condensation pipe makes sense now. So fun. At least the company gives discounts to us home warranty people so it’s not as bad as it could be, but still. It was still awful in the house last night but at least we knew we could run the air all night.
The people will be coming later on this afternoon to clean everything up. I can’t wait to have a cool house again.
Lesson(s) learned: CHANGE THOSE AIR FILTERS!! (We change ours every 60 days.) Check every little thing if you are buying an older house. There are so many details we should have looked at that we know about now.

Ah Reality

2007-07-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

Vacation is so nice. Since the 4th of July holiday was in the middle of the
week, I decided to take the rest of the week off also. We didn't have any plans really, we just needed to unwind. And unwind we did. We didn't really do much of anything. Tuesday night we drove down to the La Vernia house and just hung around there. We played cards and darts, smoked some ribs and chicken, and that's about it. We would have done more but it rained most of the time. Like it has been doing for the past month. Just rain and lots of it.
We came back early Friday and didn't do much more around the house. The boy managed to mow the lawn before it started pouring again and played with some plants. I didn't feel like mustering much energy to do anything so I didn't. I cleaned a bit and did laundry and stuff but that's about it. We didn't even cook, that's how off we were.
The girls were way happy to be outside again. Punk had caught and killed a bird on Tuesday. I came home to lots of feathers but didn't see a bird. I had to hunt for the pieces. Yes, pieces. Ugh. Then on Friday, the two if them maimed a bird and spent the better part of the afternoon stalking it. They weren't doing much to it, just following it around and cornering it. Every once in a while, Gabby would take a swat or two, but that was about it. They broke its wing and all the poor bird could do was walk around.
The boy put the bird on the other side of the fence when we went inside, in the hope that it would waddle away. We brought the girls in with us and shut the door as it had decided to storm. Again. He thought the bird might have escaped to safety somehow. That was not to be. After the storm, we let the girls back out. It was either that or a night of constant meowing, begging, and craziness. (Plus the weekends are their special nights out.) About an hour later we hear a thunk at the front door and a muffled Gabby meow. I open the front door, and there is Gabby, sitting on the windowsill, waiting to be let in. Apparently, she had jumped the fence but couldn't get back over. She came right in and Punk came in through the back door. Not long after, the boy went around the corner of the house
to check on something, and discovered the dead bird. Punk must have jumped the fence to attack the bird and Gabby followed, as she always does. Punk however, can jump back over the fence. Gabby was stuck. This is the third time it has happened. Someday she'll learn.
Today is the boy's birthday. So Happy Birthday!! (His fam doesn't really do birthdays or anything but I made sure the guys at his work knew so they could make him a special meal.)

A Rat in the Kitchen and more

2007-07-03T11:50:00.001-07:00

No, there wasn’t one in mine, but I wouldn’t be shocked to find a dead one there someday. No, I’m talking about that cute rat movie, Ratatouille. We saw it last weekend through a website that streams videos and things and happened upon a screening that had been uploaded. We didn’t even realize that it wasn’t out yet. Ooops. But we hooked up the S-video to our tv and watched the film. Pixar has done well.
The movie is about a rat, Remy, who isn’t satisfied with just garbage to eat and becomes infatuated with the chef du jour, Chef Gasteau, whose philosophy is “Anyone can cook.” Remy’s ability to taste and smell wonderful foods are not wholly appreciated by his rat clan, yet they are his family. He ends up traveling to Paris and ends up in the kitchen of Gasteau’s restaurant, helps a hapless boy become a talented chef by pulling on his hair and well, any more and I would spoil the rest of the story.
It’s well voiced and a cute story but the real star, for me anyway, is the food and the restaurant. They really hit the nose with the set-up of the restaurant and the food presentation. It’s a really great showcase of a restaurant kitchen. The attention to detail is impressive. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have Thomas Keller as a consultant, but still. It’s a great food film and it will leave you hungry. Plus the animation ain’t so bad either. It’s very old-style, which is nice.
If you like to cook, go see this movie. Don’t be squicked out by the idea of rats in the kitchen. It’s really not that bad. (They get cleaned.)

With all that, I felt like cooking this past weekend. I made a pork loin stuffed with goat cheese and mango, wrapped in bacon. To go with it, I made an Asian-flavored slaw.
Ingredients:
Red cabbage, shredded
Green cabbage, shredded
Shaved carrot
Scallions, diced
Bell peppers, all colors, diced
Sesame seeds, toasted preferably
Sesame oil
Rice wine vinegar
A little bit of sugar
Lime juice
Salt
Pepper

Mix all ingredients together, to taste. I have no idea how much I used. I just added stuff until it tasted ok to me. Let sit for a few hours, it will get better the longer it sits. Really. Mix every time you walk by the bowl. Enjoy.

I also made pickles this weekend. Recipe to come as they came out really yummy and spicy-garlicky. Good stuff.

Insomnia, Rain, and the Other Cat on the Roof

2007-06-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

I still can’t sleep. Well, I can get to sleep, and I pass out around 9-9:30 pm. The problem is that I wake up around 3am – 4am and I can’t get back to sleep. My body acts as if it’s gotten a shot of adrenaline and it won’t calm down. In the past two days, I’ve woken up at 12:30am. That’s not fun.
I have no idea how to fix it, other than going and asking for a sleeping pill. Nothing else has worked and believe me, I’ve tried. I can’t do the warm milk due to the lactose intolerance thing, and drinking chamomile tea before bed just makes me have to wake up and pee. I hate the pills as I’ve tried a version before and it made me feel groggy the next day, but maybe there’s another I can try. I just don’t want to keep waking up and not being able to get back to sleep. I just can’t calm my body and mind down. I want to go back to sleep, oh how I want to, but I can’t. (Plus there’s the two furry lumps at the foot of the bed. And yes, they’re on MY side. Gabby still doesn’t like the boy all that much.)
Yesterday, I ended up going home sick from work because a) I could barely keep my eyes open and b) my stomach was really upset. I think the stomach issues have to do with not getting nearly enough sleep. I did the same thing this morning, but I actually got up feeling sort of ok. I felt as if I had slept, when in reality, I tossed and turned all night. My stomach is feeling somewhat better but it’s still eh.
It also keeps raining. Last year we were in a drought. This year, the rain won’t stop and we are under a flash flood warning every time it rains, which seems to be 3-4 days a week. Our lawn is insanely green and long. We’d like to mow it more often, but when it rains all the time, that doesn’t help. Plus cutting it wet is not so good.
Today there is an 80% chance of rain and storms. I’d rather be in bed, attempting to sleep but I don’t want to waste a sick day for not being that sick. It doesn’t help that I haven’t been to the gym since last Wednesday. (There was a small fire on Thurs and everything got soggy.)
Then, this morning, as I was leaving for work, I glanced up to the roof and lo and behold, there was a cat up there. At first I thought it was Pumpkin but then she meowed and I realized that it was Gabby. Lovely. (God that cat has a loud meow.)I hope she’s ok and got down. But great. Now both of the cats can get up on the roof.

Tonight’s dinner (if I can deal with it): Fresh pasta with garden tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzarella, sautéed garlic and onions, and olive oil. Yum! I love produce time! Our neighbor has given us tons of cucumbers so I think I need to pickle. And I bought a head of red cabbage at the farmer’s market so I think there’s a slaw there too. Plus, we’re about to have a tomato explosion. (The bell peppers are coming slower. 2 plants were attacked by caterpillars and we weren’t sure if they were going to make it but they have recovered and are budding. One of the plants just got decimated by a big, fat, green, caterpillar. One day it was fine, the next morning- just stems, and the ‘pillar just hanging there.) We’ve got jalepenos too, so I’ll be making lots of pico and salsas too.
The boy is going to try to sell some at the restaurant- getting his name out there. They want him to write a proposal for a garden that will produce most of the produce for the restaurant. If it works, he’ll be in charge of it. He’s definitely ok with that…
We made potstickers (deep fried of course) on Saturday night and I’ll post the recipe I used later. I’ll also post about the butternut squash, leek, and lemongrass soup I’m making. Yay for the farmer’s market.

Food

2007-06-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

I know the food part of this blog has been rather remiss. I can't do much surfing on the net at work anymore, so scouting for recipes every day has become more of a once weekly thing. Plus there's been so much going on lately, I've only been doing new stuff on the weekends. It's hard when I'm exhausted every day due to the fact that I just can't freakin' sleep properly.
I'm going to try to get in some weekly food-type posts. I do have some good stuff planned for tonight. I've got some London Broil marinating in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice and other assorted herbs. I have fresh corn from the farmer's market this morning (it was picked by headlight- hee) and I plan to make some potato salad with the fresh potatoes and leek I bought there too.
I do love my farmer's market. For less than $20 today I got 6 ears of corn, 1 leek, 3 red onions, 1 bunch carrots, 1 pint blackberries, 1 dozen fresh eggs (pullet so they're smaller but oh so tasty), and 1 pint of tomatoes. It was the 10th anniversary of the market today so it was crazy. They had tastings from local restaurants but that was mostly meh. Not the best ones in town. But oh the produce. It's peach season so I have to get me some Fredericksburg peaches next week. There are also fresh raspberries too. I don't even want to get into the meats and cheeses that you can find there too. It's amazing. And it's all Organic and is reasonably priced. It's happy food. I do most of my produce shopping there, and round out that shopping with a trip to the grocery store.
I've started to plan out my meals for each week. I've realized that I have so much stuff already but I never use half of it. So I'm trying to use what I have. The problem is that I love to buy food and I tend to like to eat the same type of things. Oh well.
I must stop and go soak my dried beans so I can prep and freeze them. Plus I have pasta dough to make and freeze and all sorts of other food planning to do. I love having an extra freezer. We just need another fridge!

Chicken Parmesan and Whole Wheat Pasta (plus a crime scene!)

2007-06-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

Chicken Parmesan and Whole Wheat Pasta

Pasta
1 c all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
2 eggs
1 T olive oil
1-2 T water
salt

Place flour in food processor or bowl. Add eggs and oil. Pulse until combined. Add water and pulse. The dough should be very fine but it will stick together when pressed. Pour onto plastic wrap and mold into a ball, kneading for about a minute. Let rest for at least half an hour or more. Keep in fridge for up to a week and may be frozen if well wrapped. When ready to use, let come to room temperature, roll out either with rolling pin or pasta machine and cut to size. Fresh pasta cooks in boiling water within 2-4 minutes.
Makes about 2-4 servings.

Chicken Parm

2 chicken breasts
1-2 c milk
1 egg
1 c. seasoned bread crumbs or season your own plain ones with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Italian Seasoning.
½ grated parmesan cheese
Marinara sauce (homemade is best, keep it simple though)
Mozzarella cheese
Provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 375.
Pound the breads into thinner pieces if desired. Beat the egg and mix with the milk. In a separate dish, combine parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Dip the chicken into the milk mixture and then coat with the bread crumbs. Place in a hot pan, lightly coated in olive oil, and cook until the bread crumbs turn a golden brown, about 3-5 minutes per side.
Meanwhile, heat the marinara sauce.
If your pan is oven-safe, keep chicken in pan. If not place in a baking dish, placing a thin layer of sauce on the bottom first. Top chicken with mozzarella, provolone, and any extra parmesan cheese. Add sauce to pan and chicken. Bake for about 20 minutes, until juices run clear and chicken is cooked through.
Serve with pasta and a salad. Garlic bread is also welcome.

Interesting note: just got a call from the boy. One of our neighborhood streets is closed down and there are police cars and yellow tape everywhere. There appears to have been a shooting. Yay crime scene! From what we can gather, it’s at what we call the “crack house”, the one duplex that is trashed and run down. There was a DEA raid about 6 months ago that the boy witnessed, so we’re pretty sure there were drugs involved. Our friends, who live a few blocks away said that there was a police chase a few nights ago.
This is a rarity for our neighborhood. Crime is rather low, and stuff like this normally doesn’t happen, and when it does, it’s always the same house. It’s a very kid-friendly neighborhood. I hope that this solves the “crack house” problem for now.

Pink Laundry and Feathers

2007-06-04T10:14:00.001-07:00

One bright red slipcover + 1 load of light colored clothing= pink clothes. No, I didn’t do the laundry, this was the boy’s fault, and it happened to be all his clothing too. We bought a new-to-us couch that came with a red slipcover. (Couch is white with black stripes and well, that doesn’t fit our décor.) The boy washed it but also threw in a partial load of some of his dirty clothes which included several t-shirts, socks, and 3-4 button down shirts for work. Not long after he did this, I got a call asking how could he remove pink stains? Once I found out what happened, I laughed. And laughed. (I mean that’s one of the absolute rules of doing laundry. He knows better.) Two of the button down shirts are ruined as is one of the t-shirts. I was able to salvage most of the t-shirts, the socks, and surprisingly the khaki shorts, by washing them with bleach several times. Some of the button downs actually look ok with a little bit of a pink undertone. The black items escaped unscathed. So lesson learned for the boy: do not EVER, EVER, wash anything bright red with anything else unless you know it is not going to bleed, and then you really can’t ever be sure.
I’m going to dye the slipcover a darker red, more of a wine color this weekend. The red is a little faded, plus the wine color is more our style. Fabric dye is pretty cheap so I can get some more if needed. It will be a fun experiment to see how it goes.
The “new” couch is pretty comfy too. It’s bigger than our old one and doesn’t feel like it’s breaking every time we sit down. It’s nice. The cats love it. We’ve kept the old couch in the living room as well, as we just don’t know where to put it yet, so we have two couches. It works for now.
We also had some fun air-conditioning problems too. We live in Texas. It can hit 90 in April. AC is practically mandatory for comfort. On Friday, before the long weekend and before we were supposed to go out of town, we discovered that the condensation pipe for our AC was overflowing. Fun. I placed a call to our home-warranty company and we turned off the AC. It was supposed to rain most of the weekend so it wasn’t going to be too hot. When we got back, the water level had gone down so we turned the AC back on. The pipe overflowed again. So, for the rest of the week, until the service tech could get to our house on FRIDAY, we could only turn the AC on for about 2 hours at a time. Yeah, that was not fun. The weather was humid and in the high 80s. It was disgusting.
The problem turned out to be a blockage of sorts and was a really easy fix. We now know where the drain for the AC pipe is and how to solve any further blockages. (A bit of bleach and an air compressor.) These things happen and I’m glad it’s not a major problem like the one that one of my co-workers has. (Prev. owners never cleaned out filters and thus all pipes are filled with gunk. It’s bad. And an expensive fix.) Replace those air filters at least every few months if not monthly folks. It’ll save a lot of money in the long run.
On Wednesday I came home to feathers, feathers everywhere, along with little bits of dried corn. There was no bird, just a whole lot of evidence that it had been there. Yes, it was another case of cat catching bird.
Our ever skillful Pumpkin brought in yet another live, squawking bird to play with. That cat is a smart one. She knows that if she tries to completely mess with the bird outside, there’s a very good chance that it will escape and fly away, so she brings it inside. The downfall to this is that if one of us is home, the bird will be captured and let outside, which is no easy task but has to be done. That’s what happened yesterday. (The boy is the only one to have dealt with this twice so far. My bird finds have been dead.)
The boy was home and getting ready for work. Right before he was supposed to leave, Punk brought the bird inside. He heard the squawking and the fun cat noises that our little ones make and went to attempt to capture the bird. Punk had cornered it behind our large freezer and the bird had managed to squeeze itself into the motor area. Thankfully, the boy was able to shoo Punk away long enough with the broom to get the bird out from behind the freezer and out the door. Unfortunately, he was not quick enough in shutting Pumpkin inside and she zoomed out and caught the bird again. This time she didn’t bring it in.
The boy didn’t have time to clean up the mess as he was now late for work. Ever so kindly, he called me to let me know what had happened. And so, I came home to lots of feathers and a very loving Punk. (She’s become quite cuddly lately.)
This was bird number 2 this week. Pumpkin came trotting in Tuesday afternoon with a bird and laid it at my feet, all proud. This bird was barely alive and not really moving. Punk had mutilated one of its wings and it was just not doing well. I quickly wrapped it in a bag and threw it in the outside trash can before the girls could do any more damage to it. I say girls, because Gabby was sniffing around. She’s always following Punk around but just doesn’t have the patience to do anything.
This makes bird #5. Three dead birds inside and two “rescued” birds. (In quotes because Pumpkin is quick to recapture.) I’ve lost count of the lizards. (Only the top half of those too. Never the tail.) They’ve only been out for a few months too. The funny thing is, they really just play with the birds and lizards. Their play is just a little rougher than the animals can handle.
Oh, and to whomever is messing with my trash cans (not animals): PLEASE STOP!I don’t like having to go search for my trash can only to find it across the street in the cul-de-sac. Nor does the boy like coming home and having to move the can from the middle of the driveway so he can park. (I put it out the night before) I also did not appreciate having to move my neighbor’s can and recycling bin back to his driveway and moving my can back to its spot on the curb next to my driveway, not in front of it. I don’t know why it got moved there and it was put out early this morning so please stop it. Thanks assholes..

Don't Play Frogger on the Freeway

2007-05-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Or you just might die. In a horrible way. We got to witness a man try to cross I 35 this evening and pay with it with his life. He had no chance. His body was so twisted and broken. His side was a huge, gaping gash. It was not pretty.
A major highway, people going 65-70, moderate traffic, and the guy decides to cross the highway. It's not like there wasn't an overpass a few hundred yards down the street. It would have been maybe a few minutes extra. It was not far away at all. But he decided to cross the highway. And we got to see what happened. Ugh.
We were driving home from the country, after having finished with some greenhouse stuff. We had stopped at Home Depot to get landscape timbers as they were on sale and we saved $45. We only got 20 the first time and went back for the last 10 because we hadn't been sure if it would fit. If we had got them all at once we would have missed it. Except we didn't. We were on the access road and were coming to the stoplight where we were going to turn. Traffic was a little backed up and we were slowing down. Next thing we know, we hear this THUD and see a car careening to the side of the road, debris flying everywhere. I thought he had blown a tire or something as stuff was just flying from the car. Out of the corner of my eye I see this mass flying through the air and watch the body splat on the pavement. The car who hit him stopped a little ahead, along with 2 other cars that were nearby. Before we even realized it, the boy had pulled over and was out of the truck while I called 911. The truck behind us did the same exact thing. He saw more. An 18 Wheeler narrowly missed hitting the guy again but thankfully the guy knew how to drive his rig and just missed him, otherwise it would have been so much worse. The skid marks are still there. The guy behind us made it to the guy hit first and was on the phone with EMS. The guy wasn't moving and was lying facedown on the pavement.
The boy and a woman on a motorcyle started to direct traffic, diverting it to one lane and giving the cops enough room to work with when they came. He had pretty much stopped traffic as the guy was in the center lane. That part of the highway was pretty much shut down. I talked to dispatch and got disconnected because people were on the way. I did some crowd control on the side of the road, trying to keep those who just wanted to gawk out of the way. Amazingly, everyone was calm and collected and managed to deal with the situation before the cops came. They said we made their job a bit easier. They ended up diverting all traffic to the exit before the accident scene. It wasn't a good idea to have traffic flowing right by the scene.
The guy never had a chance and was pronounced dead on the scene. He had actually made it across the Southbound side but only made it to the center lane of the Northbound. We had to stay around and give statements and all that fun stuff. It would have been a little faster if the guy hadn't died. That just made it vehicular manslaughter so things took longer. We had to wait for forensics and the detectives to come. Plus the crisis unit to talk to all who saw it go down to help us all deal.
The guy who was driving the car that hit him was still there as we left. I don't know what's going to happen to him but this was most definitely an accident. I feel badly for him. There was no way he could have avoided him without causing more issues.
Way to spend a Saturday evening. I got to see a man die. How was your holiday weekend?

Help Me

2007-05-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

I am so ashamed. But I admit that I need help. I, *whispers* LIKE the Avril Lavigne song "Girlfriend". *whispers. There, it's out. I don't know why, don't know how, but I like it. It's catchy and easy to listen to. Oh well. I've liked worse. Tiffany anyone??

So ACL. I've got mixed feelings about it. I'm really excited about Bjork and the White Stripes. Bob Dylan- I don't know. He's a legend and I'm happy to actually be seeing him, but I don't know what kind of show he'll be able to put on. I've heard he's very hit or miss and there are days that he can barely speak. So who knows. I hope that the closing day of the festival is not one of them or there will be MANY upset fans. I had a feeling it was going to be Dylan closing the festival. He was posted as a very accurate rumor (was him, Eddie Vedder or Stevie Wonder. Stevie got ruled out rather quickly.)
The organizers of the fest try to keep most of the bands under wraps and usually nothing leaks out about the lineup. But this year was different, so I wasn't too surprised about who's playing. I know it will be a good time- all that music and people will make it so. Plus I am excited to be seeing certain bands, some for the first some, some for the second or third time. (I've seen Robert Earl Keen 4 times in the past year as he's ALWAYS playing around here.) I just hope the schedule cooperates with my desires.
It will be a fun birthday weekend though. I plan to get rather drunk and happy. We know how the festival works now, so we have better ideas of how to sneak in forbidden items like outside food. We still haven't decided about chairs though. They were nice but a pain the ASS to carry around. So we'll see. A 3 day parking pass for the garage is a must. We had a 2 day last year because we waited too long to decide about it last year. Getting home that first night was not so fun.
But the festival is 4 months away, Sept 14-16. There's still plenty of time to figure things out.

Bob Dylan

2007-05-10T04:46:00.000-07:00

Dylan, the White Stripes, and Bjork. That's going to make for a really interesting birthday weekend!
Stay tuned for a longer post when I have time later on about ACL.

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Potatoes

2007-05-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

Easy and delicious. I rarely have any leftovers. Add more or less depending on how many you serve or to taste. I like lots of garlic so I add more.

3-4 potatoes, whatever kind you wish, red is best but russet or Yukon are ok, chopped into even sized pieces, about 1-2 inches
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 stalks fresh rosemary, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
½ red onion, diced
salt
pepper
garlic power (optional)
olive oil to coat

Heat oven to 425-450. 450 makes for a little crispier.

Dump the potatoes into a baking dish. Add all of the ingredients in order, saving the olive oil for last to coat the potatoes. Mix well, making sure the potatoes are evenly coated in everything.
Place in oven for 30 minutes. Stir halfway through to ensure even cooking. Use a fork to see if the potatoes are done. The fork will slide right through. There is no really set time on this. Roast the potatoes to your liking. I usually go about 40 minutes or so, until most of the potatoes are brownish. This gets the insides all nice and soft while the outside is slightly crispy and wonderful.
These go with about anything but I like to service with roast chicken or pork. It’s a very Mediterranean side dish.

Add parmesan cheese for an additional kick.

I got lucky!

2007-05-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

I never win things. I never get this lucky. I never pick the right stuff but this time I did. Friends of ours had a Kentucky Derby party and we all put in $5 each and picked our Win, Place, or Show. Somehow, my picks were the most accurate and I won the $70 pot! Yay me!
I picked Street Sense to win, Curlin to place, amd Imawildandcrazyguy for Show. (Who could not love that name?!!) I was a horse off and missed Hard Spun for placing but not too bad. One other person picked Street Sense to win but her pick for place was Cowton Cat and well, that was dead last. So I got the pot!
Of course, I already spent it today, on 4 chairs for our patio. I'd been wanting them for a while and now I have them.
The Derby party was tons of fun. We ladies were in our frocks and hats, and 2 of the men showed up in matching seersucker suits. There was tons of food. Tons. This guy Russell was the chef of the day and he made Burgoo (hog, frog, cow, pig, gator, rabbit, among others.) It was amazing. Plus there were garlic-cheese-poblano grits and fried chicken. And Derby pie for dessert. The Mint Juleps were flowing, as was the Tecate (Cinco de Mayo influence there.) It was mostly a restaurant crowd so we were all focused on the food really, and it didn't disappoint.
We took some Burgoo home and it'se even better the next day.
All in all a good weekend.
On Thursday I get to find out who I'll be seeing for my birthday weekend when the ACL list comes out. A few bands have been leaked. I get to see Bjork, the White Stripes, Robert Earl Keen, and the Indigo Girls for my birthday. I can't wait to see who else!

Stuff I want to talk about but can't

2007-05-02T17:31:00.000-07:00

Oh hell. It's been a rough few days. Work has imploded. I would love to say so much more but I can't. It's awful though. I nearly quit on Monday, that's how awful. I just can't deal with it anymore.
Insurance companies should pay their medical claims and not wait, oh 8 months until it goes to collections. It still hasn't been paid. People shouldn't have to fight and complain to get it paid. I've filed reports with many different places to get this done. I can't go into more specifics though. I wish I could.
And then on Monday I went for the state's safety and emissions inspection. Sigh. That was fun. The tires were apparently bad enough to fail the inspection so I had to buy 4 new tires. For a truck. Ugh. I didn't need that. On a Monday morning no less. That sucked. Four hours at the garage. (I drive the truck so I had to get the stuff done.) We were going to do it out at the house in La Vernia but they couldn't do it because they don't do emissions testing and it's $5000 fine if you get caught without it. So yeah. Didn't help that I came home to the collections notice that afternoon.
Anyway, in good news, the Greenhouse is up and running for the most part. We just have to finish and seal the door and we can move plants in. The back wall is up and finished. The water wall is working which means when you walk in, you can breathe. It's pretty cool. Our camera batter ran out so I don't have pics but I will.

5 Questions

2007-04-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

Mle aka Pantalonesdelfuego posted five questions from Abby and invited others to be questioned and in turn invite questions back.
So she sent me her list of questions and here are my answers.

1. What do you like best about yourself?
That's a tough one. My nerdiness I think. I love learning and reading and all that trivia fun stuff. (I kick ASS in most trivia games. People usually don't like playing against me.) I'm very proud of the fact that I can read anywhere. I carry reading material wherever I go. It's really who I am and I really like being a nerd.

2. If you could go anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go and why?
Australia. I've always wanted to go and all expenses paid would make it all the better. The boy and I have talked and talked about it, and if the plumeria thing ever gets going it could even be a business trip. But Australia is the dream trip right now.

3. Are you more likely to vote for a candidate becauseof party affiliation or because of the candidate's stand on particular issues (and why)?
Issues are always first and foremost. They are what's important. I don't care whether they are Democrat or Republican, thought I tend to vote Democrat mostly because I agree with them a bit more but party affiliation really shouldn't matter. Voting usually comes down to who I dislike the least anyway.

4. If you could have dinner with any historical figure, living or dead, who would it be and what wouldyou ask him/her?
It would be my two favorite authors, Laura Ingalls Wilder and LM Mongomery. I know, I'm such a freakin' book nerd. But that's always been my answer. I have no idea exactly what we'd talk about, but I'd even be happy just to sit and listen. I don't have a set of questions to ask as I can never think of good ones. Conversation would just flow.

5. What's your favorite TV show?
Well, it's not on tv anymore but it's Alias. I have never loved a show more. I was devastated when it was cancelled but understood that it had run it's course and was really dying/dead. But sigh. It was so fantastic while it lasted. And Jennifer Garner and Michael Vartan are soooo hot. Period. And I miss Agent Sean.

Ok, so if anyone wants me to ask some rather lame questions, (I suck at question asking but I'll try) let me know and all that.

Pork and Birds

2007-04-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

It was a good weekend for food. It was not a good weekend for birds. But first the food part.
Since The Boy is now working Sundays and has Friday and Saturday off, we are now doing Saturday Dinners instead of Sunday. Plus we usually feeding some of the boy’s male friends, as sadly, it’s one of the best meals they get all week.
I decided on a Greekish theme for this weekend, so I marinated a pork loin in a yogurt mixture and served it with olive oil and rosemary potatoes, and a vaguely greek salad.
Recipe for pork loin:
1 pork loin, defrosted and butterflied. To butterfly- slice down the middle lengthwise, only going about halfway into the loin. Then carefully slice the sides to open up. Take a meat cleaver and pound the hell out of it to flatten it out enough to stuff it.
Marinade:
2/3 of a large container of yogurt
½ cucumber, peeled
4 cloves garlic
½ lemon, juiced
greek seasoning (I had this in my cabinet so if you don’t salt and pepper will work.)
fresh dill
roasted red peppers* (optional but they really added a nice flavor)

Puree the above in your food processor or blender.
Place the pork loin in the marinade and let sit for at least 6 hours, if not more.

Stuffing:
½ of a large red onion
feta cheese
1 tomato
red wine vinegar

Dice the above ingredients and douse in the vinegar. Let sit for at least ½ an hour.

When ready to cook, pre heat your oven to 350.
Take the pork loin out and lay flat on the cutting board. Place the mixture on the pork and roll. You can seal with toothpicks or use twine to hold it together. I recommend twine as toothpicks can be hazardous to eat with. (I couldn’t find my twine so I used the toothpicks and well, that was not so fun.)
Spray your pan with non-stick spray or a thin coating of olive oil.
Place the loin in the pan and cover the top with leftover marinade.
Bake for about an hour, 30 minutes per pound, or until pork hits 145. Take out of the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. The carryover heat will cook the pork further.
Slice and eat.

You can take the leftover marinade and bring it to just under a boil and let cook for a few minutes. This can be used as a sauce for the pork if desired. The cooking kills of any harmful pork juices left in there and it doesn’t change the flavor at all, just the color.

This was totally something I just threw together but the flavors worked well. There weren’t any leftovers either. So it was good for pork.

As for the birds, well, for one of them it was not a good Saturday evening/Sunday morning. We let the girls out to run on the weekend nights. They don’t go very far, in fact they rarely, if ever leave the yard. Gabby is a hunter, something even the neighbor has noticed, and Punk is a lounger and sometimes stalker. But they love to chase bugs and things around the yard.
Earlier this week, Gabby had brought in the head of a lizard that they had apparently been torturing for days. That was lovely. Sunday morning it got even better. I came downstairs only to discover a dead bird on the rug in the kitchen and some bloodstains around it. There was no blood trail from the door, so I can only assume that the final kill occurred inside. It was definitely dead though.
I ran upstairs to let the boy know and his reaction was “Is it all in one piece?” “Yes.” “Easy clean up then.” And with that he went back to sleep. So I had the fun job of picking up the bird and disposing of it and then cleaning up the blood and feathers.
We still don’t know who did it, as neither one claimed it nor did they come looking for validation, but I suspect Gabby. They did bring it inside though.
Ah well. That’s the price you pay for having cats and letting them outside, especially with Gabby, master tree climber and carrier of things in her mouth.

UPDATE: Bird #2 today was in the hallway to our guest bedroom. This one was lying there with guts exposed and feathers all over the guest bedroom. Sigh. It was disgusting. I have a feeling that I may come home to a LIVE bird one day. They do seem to have been alive when they come inside.

Cat on a (Hot Tin) Roof

2007-04-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is a cat on my roof. That’s Pumpkin actually. I apologize for the darkness of the photos as it was dusk and the night camera thing wasn’t working well yet. But Pumpkin climbed onto the roof Saturday night while we were outside grilling some ribs. I think she got confidence from the fact that we were both outside with the girls, especially as they were both pretty bold that night.
The girls had been running around the yard and enjoying themselves, as they love to do at night. Gabby had wandered through a hole in the chain-link fence and into our neighbors yard, the forbidden territory as they have 2 dogs. She couldn’t remember where the hole was though and nearly got stuck coming back over. Hopefully this won’t happen when the dogs are out in the yard but as she loves to antagonize the dogs from the other side of the fence, who knows. She’s trouble, that one.

Pumpkin, on the other hand, decided to climb the fence. There is a tree next to it and she hopped into the tree and the next thing we knew, she was climbing the branches and had stepped onto the roof. She was strutting her stuff along the ridgepole and walked over to the flat part of the roof, where she plopped down and rested for a bit. She was up there for at least 20 minutes. Then she decided to come down, which was a slow process. She almost didn’t want to try it, so we think this was her first time. She tried 3 times before she got the confidence to come down. We were also giving her a bit of encouragement which may have helped. She was extremely cautious and you could hear her claws sticking in the shingles, but she made it down in one piece, and then came running over to us for love and validation. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time that she does this. Gabby was watching closely and worrying (as evidenced by her semi-panicky meows) but wasn’t up to trying it herself.

As for our dinner, well the ribs were FABULOUS. We had a rack of baby back pork ribs and I gave them a dry rub of chili powder, paprika, cayenne, brown sugar, Tony Chacherie’s Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, and fresh ground black pepper. We let that cook for 1.5 hours, occasionally turning and pouring beer over it. We then glazed it with Stubb’s BBQ sauce, which is actually rather good. Not too sweet, with a really nice tartness. That cooked for another 1.5 hours. We served it with corn, ranch style beans, and baked potatoes. There were no complaints.

Two Years

2007-04-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

Our friend’s kid turned 2 yesterday. It’s weird to think that he’s already 2. It doesn’t seem as if it was that long ago. 2 years ago I broke my rib and we were living in La Vernia and getting ready to move to Austin. Strange how time moves like that.

We’ve been getting the “so when are you two going to have kids?” thing all weekend. First it was the boy’s dad asking him. Then his mom asking me, then we got it from his aunt and grandmother. (It was a family thing in Louisiana, and there were lots of other cousins with their kids.) At least we’re on the same page as to someday, if it happens, but definitely not now. We’d be ok if it does happen sooner than later, but we would like to feel a little more financially secure, even though you never really are.

Then, while we had dropped by our friend’s house to give the little boy birthday wishes, the kid’s grandparents asked us the question. We just can’t avoid it lately. But maybe this will get the boy thinking about some other question he needs to get around to asking. (I know it’s going to happen, and I’m pretty sure I know how/where he wants to do it, but I’m not sure when/if we’re going to get to Europe any time soon. He does keep talking about flying there for a weekend but it’s hard to justify spending $1000 for a weekend when we’re still dealing with house fun. And that’s just plane tix. But maybe he’ll do it one day. If we win big at the casino next month…)

All this kid talk gets us to talking about it as usual. It’s nice how we can talk about it and joke about it and know that we area truly on the same page about everything. I mean we even had a conversation about breastfeeding. Well, at least we agree on the important stuff. You can’t agree on everything.

Boots at Target!

2007-03-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

Yay! Boots has finally made it to my Target! Happiness! There's going to be a consultant there every weekend to help out and test stuff. Plus there's samples. Oh yeah. Happy fun!

It's freakin' gorgeous out today. Green trees. Flowers. Happy cats. Once the batteries charge up I'll have pictures. Good stuff. We sat outside and drank beer and just watched the world enjoy the pretty day too.

Fluff n Stuff

2007-03-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

I haven’t been sleeping very well lately, but that’s no surprise. I can’t figure it out. I can fall asleep easily but I can’t stay that way. I tend to wake up at least once or twice a night and if it’s around 3am, I can’t get back to sleep. My body just won’t calm back down. It really sucks. I exercise regularly so that’s not it. I’ve been trying to eat well and I don’t eat after 7:30-8 pm if I can help it. I’ve tried a sleeping pill before, but that just made me feel horrible and it still didn’t stop me from waking up in the middle of the night. So I guess I just need to get used to this not sleeping feeling. I wish I could fix it but I don’t know how.

We went out this weekend so that didn’t help. Friends came up from Houston and we partied Saturday night down on Sixth St. We started out in the Warehouse district on 4th St, which I like, but of course we eventually migrated over to 6th with all the college students and the crowds of crazy, drunk people, with which we blended right in. I haven’t been drunk in a while so that was interesting. We were up until 6am and I only slept till about 9:30. Between my body saying it’s my wake-up time and the girls (well Gabby) standing on top of me and meowing in my face, I had to get up. I felt awful all day long, and it really wasn’t even a hangover. It was a tired-over.

The girls are now officially indoor-outdoor cats. We bought a screen door and installed it on the back laundry room door and the Boy installed the pet flap. They are so happy about the ability to go outside. Right now, they tend to stay in the back yard. Plus there are dogs at the house behind us and next to us, and they are terrified of them, even though the barks are WAY worse than their bites. Every time a dog comes out they run back inside. It’s pretty comical.

For some reason, they both like to stand half in, half out of the flap, as if they can’t decide whether they want in or out. They usually do this when there are birds strutting around the yard and they don’t know quite what to do about it. It’s crazy. They run right back in when one of us comes home or opens the fridge. Actually, they are usually lounging around inside when I come home but when I shut the door (don’t do nights during the week, it’s now a weekend privilege) they go beserk. If I open the door again, they go out, only to come back in and stay in 5 minutes later. They just want the option of being able to go out. Little brats. And they still have to come in to use the litter box. No going outside for them, which is actually good for us.

Gabby is a tree climber though. We have a lowquat (like a kumquat) tree in our yard and it’s not very tall. The first time that we let Gabby out, she headed right for the tree. Next thing I know, the tree was moving and I saw a tail hanging out and Pumpkin was underneath looking up. She didn’t go very high that time and managed to get down pretty easily. The next time she went up, she went a little too high for her comfort and started crying a bit. She didn’t want me grabbing her though, she just needed to be talked down. Silly kitten.

It’s pouring outside right now and the roof leaks at work. One of the ceiling tiles over my desk got too wet and collapsed so I have a hole over my desk. At night I have to cover my computer in plastic and there’s a bucket on my desk behind my computer to catch the drips. The roof is being fixed but it hasn’t been dry enough to do anything, much less the quick tar fix. So there are leaks all around the building. It’s pretty bad. I just can’t get away from structural problems.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss and give a kid a book!

2007-03-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

A recent study concluded that the average child these days has 13 books to call their own. Tragic. (I think I had at least 50, if not tons more. Plus the library at which the librarians knew me by name.)
Go to www.firstbook.org to read more about the study, and if you send the Cat in the Hat a 50th birthday card from the site, a book will be given to a child in need. It literally only takes a minute, so check it out. Or you can get all arty and color for a bit. Skip the surveys today and help a kid learn to read, and hopefully LOVE to read instead.
Repost this so we can get the word around.

Seriously. I went to the site and it's sponsored by Random House. Go give a kid a book!

Yo Monks!

2007-03-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

I need to read your blog!!! It's an addiction! Help a fellow Masshole out!

One problem solved

2007-03-06T15:37:00.000-08:00

The leak is fixed. Yay. There was a nail put through during the remodeling of the house. Apparently it just set and rusted a bit until poof, one day it let loose.
I called the Homevestors people and he came out today. They are going to fix up the wall and restore it to it's original condition. (No more hole!) They are going to reimburse us for the plumber and they will pay for half of the drying out stuff. (It was pricey and could have been done cheaper. I know that now, but oh well. We're eating what would be our deductible.)
So yay! That got resolved! After all, it wasn't our mistake.

These people have been so great in everything. I have nothing bad to say about them. I would recommend them to anyone.

NOTE: Woohoo! Big ol' check in the mail for us! Yay Homevestors! The Austin Branch of the We Buy Ugly Houses people are truly good peeps. As for Centex foundation, we'll see. We made our complaints. We'll see what happens with them. I'm ready to do what it takes to get them to fix their mistake. I WILL go to the media if needed. I know people who know people. So they better fix their problem. Or I will be a big one.

Oh hell

2007-03-01T16:32:00.000-08:00

Looks like I'm not going to the gym tonight. We have a true plumbing leak. Water seeping up through the tiles and the drywall has water spots at the bottom. It's a slow leak and it's the ONLY sign. The water meter isn't running and there's no sounds or anything. Just water on the floor. If this, in any way, is tied to the foundation issue, heads will roll. I'm calling the foundation people tomorrow morning to get the ball rolling on that. They WILL fix the drywall.
I love my house yet I hate it too.

EDIT: So it's fixed. I'm not posting more until homeowner's insurance has taken care of it all but let's just say I'm calling the fuckin' contractors who remodeled. Someone messed up this time for reals. At least it wasn't a slab leak and all but it's still a mess. This is really just a trouble house.

Book Meme

2007-02-28T18:07:00.000-08:00

This is totally up my alley, thanks to A Girl and A Boy (someday I'll link, the few who read this know who I mean though.)

In the list of books below, bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, red the ones you won’t touch with a ten-foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of. In the comments, let me know if you're up for it; I'd love to see if y'all have been puttin your book-learnin' to good use.

1. +The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. +Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. +Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)--
5. +The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. +The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. +The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. +Anne of Green Gables (L. M. Montgomery)- I am obsessed and own every book the author has ever written, including those out of print
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. *A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. +Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. +Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. +Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. +Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. *Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King) HATE King
19. +Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. +Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. +The Hobbit (Tolkien)--tried it as a kid, never got into it, tried again, still not interested
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)
23. +Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)--And all her other books. I go through author phases.
24. +The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)-I have this, just haven't gotten around to reading it
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)-This should be #42
27. +Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. +1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)--I tried but never finished
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43.+ Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. +Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)--
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)--I HATED Dumas.
48. +Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)--
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)--
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)--I would prefer not to read Dickens
53. +Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)- Thanks MLE!
54. +Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. +The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)--
56. *The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. +Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. +The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60.* The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)6
2. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)--
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice)--Never interested
65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. +One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)69. +Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. +The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)--En Francais of course
71. +Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)--
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)--
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)--Couldn't bring myself to read it after the movie
75. +The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. *Not Wanted On the Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. +Of Mice And Men (Steinbecck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)--Put me into a HUGE DuMaurier phase. I've read most of her books
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. +Emma (Jane Austen)--Jane Austen can do no wrong
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)--Simon insists this is awesome
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. *Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. *In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. +Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)--
94. *The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)- UGH
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)--Had to read it in high school

House Update

2007-02-23T15:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, so the house thing isn’t a plumbing leak. 3 Plumbers and only one understood our need to have it tested to make sure it wasn’t. We had to make sure before we start going after the foundation people. So that wasn’t the problem. Yay, except not. Turns out that the foundation just sunk on the other side of the house because we got rain. Yep. And it’s not covered by homeowner’s insurance because they don’t do that in Texas anymore. Yeah.
But we think it’s the fault of the foundation company. When we first did everything, we had one side fixed because it was sloping by 2 inches. The guy who came to our house told us (and our realtor) that we just needed to stabilize it because the house was fine as it is and we just needed to make sure it didn’t sink anymore. There were no obvious huge cracks, just some little ones. Fine. We agreed and the seller agreed to pay for it.
They come out and put the pier thingies underneath and leave in 2 days. We notice a few days later that the cracks in the drywall are horrendous but are told that it is normal. We don’t really think about it and put the paperwork away without really looking at it. (BIG MISTAKE).
Three months later, on December 28, after a weekend of rain, the tiles in our kitchen pop up and our door starts sticking and other things happen. Carpet pulls away from the wall. Drywall gets worse and has issues in new places. This mostly on the side of the house not stabilized. We call the original contractors and that story is in the archives somewhere. When the foundation guy comes out, he tells us that yes, the house was only supposed to be stabilized but it was LEVELED instead. Not what we had been told. Yes, that one side of the house was raised 2 inches to be level with the other side of the house, and not stabilized like we had been told. We were also told that it shouldn’t have caused the other side to go, but we had been told previously that it was an eventual possibility and that was why we opted for just stabilization. Makes sense.
So we are PISSED. We’ve taken some time since the plumbers came to calm down and try to form some sort of plan. We want them to fix the drywall issues on the side that was fixed. There was also some grout that has come away from the wall and cabinets on the floor. We want that fixed. Since our house was NOT supposed to be leveled, this was not supposed to happen. So we should not be responsible for fixing it. We would like the other side of the house to be fixed and the damage that it has caused fixed. We do plan to have a structural engineer come out to look at the house and determine if we truly have a case for that. If the house had been stabilized on one side, the sinking of the house on the other would not have been as much of a problem as it would just end up leveling out. It sucks.
The house seems to have leveled out now that we’ve gotten tons more rain and the ground has adjusted. We plan to water the ground when it stops raining to keep the equilibrium up. The doors and locks don’t stick but there’s still damage to our roof, tiles, and walls. It needs to be fixed. We were told if we stabilized the house, the other side would be fine. If we leveled, the other side would potentially have problems. That’s why we chose stabilization. That’s why the foundation company needs to fix the problem they caused.
Grrgh. I don’t want to hire a lawyer but it looks like we’re going to have to. It’s going to be a fight. I have to call the foundation guy this week or next and get this started. He DID admit to us that there was a communication mistake made so we have that. We need to get him to admit it again though because I want it on tape. I need to research some more, but I think it’s legal to record in Texas and my phone has some nifty features. So it’s going to be fun. I don’t expect them to cave but since it was a pretty big mistake made, who knows. I just want my house fixed.

A scream

2007-01-24T11:39:00.000-08:00

YARGHGHGHGHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
FUCKITY FUCK FUCK FUCKFUCK FUCK FUCK!
GODDAMN INCOMPETENT PLUMBER. FUCKING DAY SHOT TO HELL!

That is all for now.

So it might be a clog

2007-01-22T17:29:00.000-08:00

The tiles have heaved up. The roof has crumples in it (not hard fix but urgh.) Cracks in the drywall. Door not locking or opening properly. Countertops coming away from the wall. All this could be a result of a clogged pipe underneath the floor. Our washer pipe has had a clog and we thought we blasted it away with the blow bag (pressurized water) but we may have just moved it along, causing this lovely problem. Yay.
That was the plumber's opinion today. They tore up the two broken tiles to see if the cement was wet. It was bone dry. We thought it was a leak, but a leak would be wetter. Plus if we had a regular leak, our water consumption would have gone up. It hasn't. In fact it has gone down. By 1000 gallons. That's a lot. So a clog is plausible.
The plumber is returning on Wednesday with a camera to see if there's a clog. Going down the washer drain and the sink drain. They did a lot of testing on the washer and it DID start to back up a bit again. So something is there. The big question is how it's going to be fixed.
At least we have a maybe solution. Better than what we've had before.

Oh hell

2007-01-16T07:02:00.000-08:00

So the foundation guy came by yesterday. He was really nice and lives down the street so it wasn't bad for him to get here in the cold and potential ice and all. He came in and took one look at it and said it could be a plumbing leak. He said there's no way the foundation should have moved like that. In fact he's pretty sure it's one from looking at the fun roof. (I'll post pics when the weather lets me take them.) He had the same problem at his house too. Plus his house has had the foundation repaired and all. So ugh.
It does make sense, now that we think of it. The bubbling up of the floor. Our washer drain has been clogged and the clog COULD be a broken pipe and the surrounding dirt and all. So I called our home warranty company and requested a plumber. It does cover leaks and all. I'm just waiting for the call back but I'm not expecting one anytime soon as the weather here means that no one is really at work. So we'll see. I just want to know for sure what is fucking wrong with my floor.
UPDATE: Edited for a major typo. still waiting on the plumber. Austin is pretty much shut down. I'm on day 2 of Ice Day. I'm going crazy at home and may venture out soon just to see what's open.

Blergh

2007-01-10T10:30:00.001-08:00

Sigh. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. There’s the small stuff: broke my cell phone last night. I dropped it on the tile floor and it split open. It’s cracked and now ghetto taped so it stays together. It works but only if it stays together. The thing that connects the top part (earpiece and display) got disconnected when it smashed last night. We managed to get the display on the inside and the earpiece working, but that’s it. The front display is gone. Plus it cracks open a bit when you use it. So I need a new phone. Thing is, with the whole wireless industry, unless I’m a brand new customer, I get to pay up the ass for a new phone. I think this phone is under a year old, so still under warranty, so we’ll see. (of course we don’t have insurance, which I think we’ll get now…) Arggh. Not what we need right now. (I really want a razor and all but unless I’m new… What the hell happened to keeping your original customers happy? I mean really.)
There’s the fact that we found out that the hard drive on our old computer is truly corrupted. We bought a USB case that you can put an interior hard drive in to make it an exterior. (Only $50 so it was worth the small amount to find it out than to pay a tech more to find out the same thing.) Then we tried a data retrieval program. That failed. Miserably. I’m going to try to see what I can get before the errors start happening again, but I’m not counting on anything. All those pictures and music gone. It died the week before I was going to back it up. Really. It sucks.
At work, we still can’t eat at our desks, which really doesn’t help the myriad things I have to do during lunch. Since we can’t really do internet stuff during the workday, I have to do it all at lunch, and now in a reduced time frame as I have to go downstairs, wolf down my lunch in 10-15 min. and rush back up to get things done. And I have a lot to do. No one likes the rule, no one can actually see the purpose of it. But yet it stays. The roof leaks and has gigantic holes and other parts of the office building need a complete overhaul but the real reason we have rats and things is that we keep food at our desks. Yes, that’s the real problem.
As for the house, I really don’t want to talk about it. It’s messed up. I think the foundation repair company screwed up when they made the initial repair. It’s awful. I don’t even want to go into detail right now as it makes me cry. Let’s just say that my house is literally falling apart right now, and I have this horrible feeling that we will have to pay for the repairs with money that we simply don’t have right now. It’s bad. Really bad.
I will say that I do not in any way blame the people who sold us the house. They are house flippers but know jack shit about foundations. They listened to the experts like we did and based their decisions on that. They made the same decision we did. They even paid for it all. They’ve actually been extremely helpful in all of this. I just got a phone call from them yesterday wanting to know if we had an update for them. They spent 2 hours at our house a few weeks ago, because we didn’t realize at first it was a foundation issue. I just wanted the name of the contractor that worked on the house. I got so much more. They came and took pictures and pointed out things and really helped us figure out what to do. They’ve told me that we’ve been doing everything right so far. It’s what they would do. This was their baby for a while so they want to know and will help in any way possible. Unfortunately, we’re doing everything that we can and it’s not enough. It’s really a nightmare. We’ve barely lived here for 4 months.

Holy Shit

2007-01-08T10:33:00.000-08:00

We almost killed someone Friday night. It was nowhere near our fault either. That’s the scariest part. I’m not sure what that woman was on, or if she just wasn’t paying attention, but we almost slammed into the back end of her car, something that would have surely killed her baby in the driver’s side back seat.
We had been heading out for a night on the town. Our friend M was in the front seat and I was in the back. The boy was driving. The boy had just completed a move into the left turn lane, signal and all. We were fully in the left lane and the turn signal was already off. There was a red compact in the lane next to us. She had her turn signal on to move into the right lane and seemed to be moving over in that direction. All of a sudden, without any warning, she swerved into our lane, cutting our truck off. The boy slammed on the brakes and swerved into the oncoming traffic lane. (No traffic coming thankfully.) We missed hitting her by inches. She really didn’t have any room to cut into our lane, but she did.
Thankfully the boy has quick reflexes and the truck has excellent brakes. Otherwise, we would have slammed into the back end of the car. We had been slowing down too, so that helped. Either way, it was bad. The scary part was that the other car continued on as if nothing had happened. We had been literally inches from hitting her, yet she didn’t stop or slow down.
We pulled up next to the car at the next light after making our left turn, as that was what she had done and was turning around. No reaction from her. It was then we noticed the car seat in the back. We really freaked out then. We couldn’t believe that someone would drive that recklessly with a child in the back seat like that. Our vehicle was easily twice the size of hers. There’s no contest as to who would have sustained the most damage.
If there had been oncoming traffic, who knows what would have happened. We may have swerved in the opposite direction, sacrificing the back of the truck. Anything to not hit someone else.
There was no way this could have been our fault. If there had been impact, the angle would have clearly showed that we were fully in the lane and the other car would have been at an angle.
Sadly, this wasn’t the first time it has happened and it won’t be the last. It was the scariest though. People in this town have a tendency to drive as if there aren’t any other people on the road. Lots of people don’t use turn signals and many people just cut you off. I remember one time I was driving down the street in the left lane of a 4 lane street. The cars in front of me were going rather slowly and the traffic to the right of me was basically pacing the other cars. No way to get around it. Suddenly, the car two cars in front of me decided to make a right turn, FROM THE LEFT LANE. There was no traffic light, they just saw a place they wanted to go. The traffic in the right lane was alert enough and was able to avoid an accident by turning into the parking lot. It was definitely scary though. No turn signal, nothing. Just a sudden right turn from the left lane.Most people in Austin really should take another driving course. Or get off their cell phones while driving. Something to make them realize that there are other freakin’ cars on the road! Don’t even get me started on the cyclists who don’t obey traffic laws, of which there are many. I need at least 2 hands to count how many I have nearly hit when they come flying out of a cross street with a stop sign that they didn’t stop at, and I had none. But in this city, who would be villainized for the accident? Not the bicyclist, that’s for sure.

2007-01-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

The funeral was Saturday. Joe had gone to talk to Lucy the Friday before Christmas to tell her the news. Of course she knew and all but wondered why he waited and never called. His excuse was that he was sick and all that. Yeah right. He could have freakin’ called at least. I mean this was her brother. He died that MONDAY. But after that, Lucy just decided to pay for the funeral and stuff because it needed to be done and Joe wasn’t going to do it.
My parents and brother went and they gave me the update. They said it was nice. They did the wake right before the funeral, as it was cheaper to do that. Joe did the readings and things, which was ok but blegh. He didn’t show up to the house afterward though, which was a good thing, as I don’t think it would have went well.
Our family does love to keep secrets. Mom talked to a cousin for a while and found out a lot of other stuff that the aunts and uncles didn’t want to let everyone know until, well, who knows. The idea is that no one wants to burden the family. Sigh. Go figure that.

Something not as depressing

2006-12-29T12:47:00.000-08:00

1. What did you do in 2006 that you’d never done before?
I bought a house. That's a big one.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Don't make resolutions.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My second cousin Andie. We're sorta close. Been a while since I've seen her but we email.
4. Did anyone close to you die? My great uncle Louis. He's family close and it's causing lots of drama. (See previous posts.)
5. What countries did you visit? None.
6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? Hmmm. Not sure. We're ok with most of it.
7. What dates from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? December 25- not only Christmas but 6 year anniversary with boy. Sept 15-18- ACL.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Buying a house and a new truck.
9. What was your biggest failure? Not getting off my ass and getting a new job.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Other than my constant shin splint issue, not really.
11. What was the best thing you bought? The house.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration. The boy. He did so well with my parental visit.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My uncle, now disowned.
14. Where did most of your money go? Mortgage, bills, good food. Vegas.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Moving into my house. (See a running theme here?)
16. What song will always remind you of 2006? Fast Cars and Freedom by Rascal Flats is all I can think of right now.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder?  b) thinner or fatter?  c) richer or poorer? Happier, a bit thinner, and well, somewhat poorer monetarily but generally better off.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Travel out of the US, or maybe just travel in general. 19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Dealing with the crappy effects of the boy's job.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? Spent with boy's parents and bro and then drove to Houston to visit a friend.
.21. Did you fall in love in 2006? Yep- with my kitty Gabby.
22. How many one-night stands?None in my whole life.
23. What was your favorite TV program? Grey's Anatomy.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I don't really hate anyone. I dislike quite a few more people.
25. What was the best book you read? Still trying to find that one....
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? The Flaming Lips. I got so freakin tired of them as the boy played them over and over again for months but then I saw them live and I was converted.
27. What did you want and get? A house and a new vehicle.
28. What did you want and not get? A certain ring.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?Film? In the theaters? Still haven't got there.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 29 and I was at Austin City Limits music festival, saw a bunch of bands, most notably Van Morrison. I got rather drunk but it was much fun.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A better job.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006? Um, well, better fitting clothes I guess. I just buy what I like, as long as it's on sale or clearance.
33. What kept you sane? The boy and the kitties. My house was a mix.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Heath Ledger as always.
35. What political issue stirred you the most? Still abortion rights and the crazy religious crap.
36. Who did you miss? Family and friends, the ones that live across the country.
37. Who was the best new person you met? MK and Michelle.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006. Always, always get an inspection before you buy a house and make them fix everything. Also, if you have to get the foundation repaired, make sure you get them to fix any issues that happen afterwards.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year."It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right." Yeah, I'll keep that.

What an asshole

2006-12-28T13:44:00.000-08:00

Guess who showed up to Christmas dinner at the parents' house?? Yep, he did. After trying to communicate with him all week and getting nothing, he dared to show up looking for dinner. I would say that I can't believe it but sadly, I can. I thought that somehting like this would happen. It's just sad and sick. How dare he show up?? How dare he!
My dad went out and told him he was not wanted. That was it. Then he left, or tried to. His car stalled. The car is an old rust bucket so it's not a shock. But still. Dad did a nice thing and called AAA for a jump. He wasn't going to do it. Didn't want to deal with him anymore.
We'll see what happens after this.
Louis is still in the morgue as far as I know. Joe has power of attorney. He should be dealing with it.
Note: Ah how I love public records. Did a search on land records and such and found all sorts of liens and things, including the forced sale of the house. The shit still got $175K for the sale, much of which had to go for payments and things but I don't think it was all that... From what I know, he was still able to live in the house until the new owner kicked him out, which was before October 2004, when it was sold to the current owner. It had to be- that place needed extensive repairs to be inhabitable. I need to look for more stuff later.

Nothing New

2006-12-23T12:48:00.000-08:00

Louis died Monday. It's Saturday. No one has heard anything. Not a thing. Joe has disappeared. It's sad but it's best that we do nothing. Louis' sister has said to do nothing and nothing has been done. Joe has to deal with this. He took on the responsibilty, he must see it through. We'll see. It sucks though.
Fuck Joe.

I've Lost Two Uncles and One Isn't Physically Dead

2006-12-21T11:24:00.000-08:00

I no longer have an uncle but he’s not dead yet

He may as well be though. He’s a first class asswipe, and that’s being kind. There are no words that would accurately describe him or his behavior. His actions have shown us that he wants no part of our family, and so be it. It sucks that this is all coming to pass around the holidays but what are you going to do?
I don’t even know where to start. He’s my dad’s older brother, the oldest of 3 boys. Dad is the middle one and there’s a younger brother who’s an alcoholic. By some miracle, my dad is the only nice one. The one with a heart but also one who will beat your ass if needed. He’s a good guy, but he can be an asshole too.
Anyway, Uncle Joe was the golden child. According to Nana, he could do no wrong, even if he did. Every little thing was covered up or never talked about. Joe could do no wrong. (I’m using his real name because I don’t care if he reads this or not. It doesn’t matter anymore.) He was an altar boy and there was an incident. (Not with the priest but with other, younger boys.) That was all hush-hush and has never been talked about until recently.
When my grandmother died, being the eldest, he got the estate, as Nana didn’t have a will. My grandfather had died years earlier, before I was born. Dad didn’t want to create problems and decided not to fight for his share. He should have because things might be so very different today. Joe was selfish and didn’t even offer anything. Gerard wasn’t going to do anything because he was barely functioning through the alcohol. So Joe got a house, a car, the contents of the house, and a decent amount of money. The house was paid for too. At the time, Joe had a pretty decent job and was making lots of money. He traveled a lot, mostly to Amsterdam, and was actually fairly generous to us kids. But there was always tension between him and my dad.
He never married, and we’re pretty sure we know why, but he’s never stepped out of the closet to us. All the signs are there, mostly male friends, never a girlfriend to speak of, lots of AIDS memorials, stuff like that. We never really cared either way and let him know that, but he never said anything. Maybe it’s because he sensed we never really liked him as a person and thought oh they hate gays or something. Whatever it was, we know, and I think he knows we know, but nothing has ever been said.
He’s always had an assholish personality. I don’t know how to describe it, but he’s arrogant and snobbish. He’s the kind of guy who would do just about anything to benefit himself, no matter who or what it hurt.
Things took a turn for the worse somewhere in the late 90s for him. We don’t know what really happened, but he did work for a bank that went under. He got another job after that but lost it around ’98 or so, and took to fraud. It was obvious he wasn’t doing as well, because he still had the same car that he had 20 years ago. The gifts to us kids had definitely diminished, and his clothes had gotten much shabbier. (Went from all sorts of gourmet stuff, really cool clothes, to maybe a card.) He had always been a sharp dresser, immaculate, lots of cologne, designer clothes. He started wearing lots of tracksuits and cheaper clothes. He never offered any information and never answered if we asked. He didn’t seem to care.
So that happened. Then my great uncle, Louis, had a stroke. Joe ended up taking care of him and taking over his things. This was the good side to him, as Louis always liked Joe, but there was another motive. Louis was loaded. He had had a good job, with a great pension, and lived like a miser. I’m talking re-using the coffee grounds 4-5 times at least. He was fond of dumpster diving. Yet he was always generous. Us kids called him Uncle Moneybags, because he would always leave us with a $10 or $20 after each visit. Before his stroke, he gave my parents $20,000 for our education. He was that kind of guy. He cared about his family and wanted to make sure we did ok. He was never the same after his stroke.
Joe got power of attorney when Louis started really losing his facilities. That meant he had control over his pension and everything else that came with it. That becomes importat. We wanted to do more, but at the time my family was dealing with the death of my mom’s mother and the subsequent move of my Aunt to live with us. So it fell to Joe to do this, and he did. Louis had 2 sisters, but they were elderly and couldn’t do as much. They tried though.
Joe somehow managed to go through most of Louis’ money quite quickly, well before he was put in the expensive Assisted living place that Louis HATED. It wasn’t his style. But Joe insisted because he wanted to show how much he cared, even though Louis really wasn’t thrilled.
Thanksgiving 2003 was the turning point. Joe hadn’t been in a whole lot of contact with anyone, except to drop a bomb saying that he was selling the house, the house my dad grew up in, the house that still contained all of my grandparents’ things. He said he had to sell the house. Words were said, and we weren’t sure if he was going to show up for Thanksgiving dinner, but he did. Never could pass up a free meal. Things were still tense and Dad really wanted to hurt uncle Joe, but for the sake of peace, nothing was done. The boy and I were actually there for once. We had managed to scrape together money for plane tickets, so the boy got the introduction to Joe.
During dinner, Joe casually mentioned the fact that he was going to be moving soon. The house had sold, and if we wanted anything from it, we needed to do it soon, as he didn’t know how long he would be there. (The new owners were letting him stay indefinitely or something.) We were shocked to say the least, and scrambled to figure out how we were going to do this. The boy and I scrapped our plans to do Boston the day after Thanksgiving to help deal with all of this.
So we went over to the house to see what we could save. Oh I could have cried. The house that my Nana had kept so pretty, so clean, was in disrepair. Nana must have turned so many times in her grave that she must have been dizzy. Oh it was bad. The lawn was overgrown, the paint was chipped and faded, the roof needed repair, and oh the backyard. That was just the outside. The inside was dark and dank and musty. It was disgusting. Things were everywhere. Nothing was organized. It was all just there.
We dug in and cleaned and sorted and just went through everything. We managed to save Nana’s hope chest with her wedding dress and other things. We packed up dozens of glasses and antiques. We threw out even more. It took all day Friday and we came back Saturday for more. We were glad that my dad had to work those days because it would have killed him to see the house that way. We had free reign of the house so I did some digging around in some paperwork that I found. Turned out Joe had re-mortgaged the house and had not made payments in a long time. The house had been foreclosed upon. (I later looked it up on a deed site and it was indeed true.) That hurt more than anything. He could have asked. My parents would have helped. Other relatives would have helped, and what had happened with Louis’ money? We all could have saved the house. It was a nice house, a good neighborhood. It didn’t have to end up this way.
While Googling for the information, I also found that Joe had been convicted of credit card and insurance fraud some years before. That wasn’t exactly a shock and it would explain a lot of things.
We didn’t really have much contact with him for a while. He came to KidBro’s college graduation but that was it. He attended holiday dinners and the like but not much else. Relations were strained to say the least.
Then Louis got worse a few weeks ago. He had another massive stroke and got sicker. He had internal bleeding and brain damage. It was bad. Joe kept him alive as long as he could, doing all sorts of things, even when the doctors were saying it wasn’t really worth it. Louis wouldn’t have wanted it, he would have been the first person to tell you to shoot him. But Joe kept him alive, more we think for the checks than anything, and some to just show the world that he pretended to care when if he really did, he would have let him go.
Louis died on Monday. Joe called my dad to tell him the news, and then asked my dad to pay for the funeral. You see, Joe had no money for it. He never saved any of Louis’ money to pay for it and there was nothing. We’re not sure about Life Insurance but we think he may have scammed his way into something there, cashed it, and run through the money. Mom and Dad are NOT happy about this.
Two days pass and they have heard nothing further on the matter. Nothing about a funeral or even anything. No one can get a hold of Joe. Dad calls Aunt Lucy, Louis’ sister, to see if she knows anything. Turns out she didn’t even know that Louis had died. Dad ended up breaking the news. Apparently Joe felt that my parents should be doing it all, even though he had been Louis’ primary caretaker and next of kin for year now. Lucy was upset and furious but also not shocked. Joe’s behavior is no family secret. Dad made a few calls and it turns out that Louis’ body still has not been claimed from the hospital. It’s been 2 days mind you, and there’s only been a phone call from Joe asking my parents to pay for the funeral and they didn’t say yes.
Lucy, Louis’ sister, whom Joe had driven to the hospital only days before mind you, is saying let it be. Let Joe deal with the consequences on this one. Louis doesn’t really deserve this but Joe does. My parents are furious. Dad is ready to find Joe and pummel him. This is the last straw. But wait, there’s more. Oh is there ever more.
It turns out that Joe did move soon after the house clean out. He just never told anyone but Lucy. We didn’t know. Mom has been sending cards and things to the old address for 3 years now. He moved 3 YEARS AGO and didn’t tell us. He still visited and had dinners and things with the family, attended my brother’s graduation, did all sorts of things, but never mentioned a change of address. He did take the phone number with him, a phone number that is still in his father’s name, the father who died 32 years ago. That makes me think that he may still be using his fathers SS# and other things to obtain other stuff.
KidBro Googled Joe again and came up with some new information on him. Turns out that Joe is currently on probation for insurance fraud and kiting checks, plus he has been charged with doing it again. He apparently wrote checks for his car insurance in 2004 from a bank that has been closed since 1992. What a good person he is. Dad is thinking about talking to buddies of his that still work at the prison (Dad is a retired corrections officer) and having them run Joe’s name in the system. If he is on probation, the probation officer will be alerted to the fact that someone ran his name. That’s enough to raise red flags and get him in a bit of hot water. Plus it would make his PO contact him, and since no one can seem to contact him right now… hmmm.
I spent an hour talking this over with my dad last night. He needed to blow off some steam and since I understand him, we cursed Joe over the phone last night. He regrets not doing things differently, not demanding his respect. We always let things be, in order to keep the peace. We shouldn’t have. Like everyone else in the family, I warned my dad not to do anything stupid since he was so pissed off. Dad can get hotheaded and all, and knows people and ways to um, do things. You don’t piss Dad off. We have all put a familial restraining order on Dad to not be alone with Joe for a while, but Dad has realized that he’s just not worth it anymore.
We’ll see how things develop. I’m sure I’ll have updates soon. Joe just sucks, but he isn’t going to be a part of this family anymore. He no longer has the right.

Holiday Madness

2006-12-19T10:16:00.000-08:00

The mess hath begun. Twas the week before Christmas and the stores were getting packed. It wasn’t bad this weekend- didn’t seem as if anyone was out shopping really. Traffic was fine and people weren’t bad. My only issue is that the grocery stores kept running out of butter. Damn you people! Stock more unsalted butter!
One of my co-workers went out shopping last night. She said it was crazy out there. Target was packed and it was impossible to get someone to help you. She was also looking for a Nintendo DS for her kids. Everyone is sold out of them at the moment. That’s always fun. She went to 5 stores and nada. Gotta love that. The boy was at Toys R US and he said it was wiped out. He still found something decent but still.
I’m glad I finished all of my shopping last weekend. I know I should start earlier, but no one gives me any idea of what they want until a month or so before, and we’re the kind of people that if we see it and want it, we buy it. Planning ahead of time for this stuff just doesn’t work.
I’ve finished most of my baking. Last weekend was cookie weekend. I made 5 different kinds of cookies and am making 2 more. I distributed a sampler to my co-workers but we have tons more at home. The boy wanted cookies and now he has them. Of course now he says that there are too many and he wants something else other than cookies. I can’t win. We’re going to a dinner party tonight so I’m bringing some of them with me.
The boy’s restaurant Holiday party was Sunday. That was fun. Good food and lots of wine and beer. Plus we got a bottle of pink champagne and a French press. Yay! Of course it meant a late night for me on a work night but oh well. My work party is this Friday and well, it won’t be as good. It’s during work hours for one and it’s a freakin’ potluck. They say they’ll supply the drinks but what will they be? Ugh. Whatever.

There’s lots of stuff happening at the boy’s restaurant, not a lot that’s good. It’s going to be interesting as to how it all plays out. All I know is that the boy really needs to get another job, because this one is really hurting him. It’s stressing him out to the max. It’s time to leave and he knows it. He just can’t because it would leave a friend hanging, but it’s the friend who has messed everything up. He can’t manage. It’s such a mess and people are going to end up hurt, have already ended up hurt. Boss crossed personal with business and it’s all coming back to haunt him. There’s nothing we can do except to let it blow up and hope the boy doesn’t get completely caught in the crosshairs.

Of Mice and Men

2006-12-12T10:30:00.000-08:00

Eeeeew. We have rats and mice. Not at home but at work. They came in looking for warmth and water and stayed for the food. We started noticing things weren’t right months ago, but they’re only now doing something. The first hint was a chewed up phone cord. It was split in two. Then we noticed that one of the mini-pumpkins on a desk had bite marks taken out of it. We all had one, but that one was the only pumpkin to be affected. Then a coworker’s phone display stopped working. We eventually found out it was because her phone cord had been partially chewed up. Rats.
There are now traps everywhere, and not just the glue boards. They don’t want to use the glue boards as they don’t want the rodents to chew off legs and stuff. So they’re using the traditional traps with peanut butter as bait. It’s been working but I don’t think that will solve the problem. We need outside traps to prevent them from coming in.
There’s also a lovely new rule that prevents us from eating at our desk. No more working through lunch to leave early, no more snacking at your desk even. All food consumption must be done in the one break room. That’s it. That decree has not been met with good cheer. In fact people have grumbled mightily, including me.
It’s thrown my whole eating pattern off. I need to eat on a schedule, due to the whole low blood sugar thing. I now eat breakfast an hour earlier due to the fact that I can’t eat it at my desk. Therefore, I get hungry for lunch way earlier than I should and I need to snack but I have to get up and go somewhere else to do it. We scarf down our lunches quickly so we can come back to our desks to do other stuff at lunch, as we can’t surf the net during the day. And then we snack again in the afternoon. We used to bring in all sorts of things for each other and have potluck breakfasts or lunches all the time. No more. Which stinks. All because of the rodents, and most of us don’t even think this will really solve the problem. The big problem is the holes in the building, of which there are many. When it rains, it pours inside in places.
Oh well. This whole thing sucks but there’s nothing we can do right now, except sneak in bites when we need to, and right now, I need something.

Merry Christmas from the Family

2006-12-11T10:24:00.000-08:00

It was an eventful yet uneventful weekend. Friday night we went out for Mexican. We intended to go to our usual place, Matt’s for margaritas and enchiladas but it was packed and there was no getting to the bar, where we’ve eaten many times before. We didn’t want to wait an hour for dinner, so we decided to try one of the many Taquerias by our house. Taquerias don’t sell alcohol, it’s usually BYOB. But that was ok, we were really just hungry. It was good and really cheap, the way it should be. If only they were open past nine pm. There’s one open until 1am on the weekends that is down the street from us, but it’s not nearly as good. Still, when it’s late, you’re half drunk, and hungry, it does the trick. Nothing like a combo of breakfast and regular tacos in the wee hours of the morning.
Saturday I ran some errands and went Christmas looking. I didn’t buy anything because it was crazy and I couldn’t find anything I wanted. People suck extra during Christmas shopping season. The crazies were out driving, if you could call it driving, and people were just rude in the stores. (The salespeople weren’t but everyone else was. The salespeople were amazingly in good moods. For now.)
Then, when the boy got home, we got on the road to his parents house. We had stuff to get out of storage and we were going to go to a concert. It was Robert Earl Keen’s Christmas Show at Flores Country Store. It’s an annual thing and it always sells out. Lots of beer, fun, and rednecks. A helluva good time. We saw him twice before this year, and I have to say that Saturday’s show was so much better than the other two. He was in a way better mood and he played a better set list. Everybody was singing along and having fun. The coozies were out in full force (everyone seems to have one on hand at all times for a beer emergency I guess.). We had a great time.
We stopped at a diner on the way home for breakfast, it being 1am and all. Drunken eggs and potatoes, yum. We had intended to leave early-ish on Sunday, as we had to get home to give a neighbor’s cat his medicine, but we didn’t. We left around 1:30 or so. It was rainy and cold, so we didn’t get to take everything from storage that we wanted to. But the cat was just fine and was more pissed off that we disturbed his nap than anything. (He has a thing where his jaw swells and hurts but he was just fine and was meowing like crazy.)
We just sat around and watched football for the rest of the day. I made some chili for dinner and that was about it. A pretty good weekend in all.

Tis the season for spending $$$

2006-12-05T10:06:00.001-08:00

Yep, tis the season for that. I’ve done about half of mine so far. The big Christmas present for me and the boy is the truck. It was going to be a present anyway, it was just going to occur closer to Christmas but oh well. I still got him something else. He’s so hard to shop for as his hobbies are so specialized, you sort of have to know stuff about it to buy stuff. Plants and records. I can’t just get any plants and any record. If I come across certain ones, sure, I know about those, but other stuff? No clue. And when I ask him, he says, oh you just know. Like that helps. So I hit upon something that hopefully will work, a car converter for his Ipod. This will make things easier, as instead of carrying the cd case around, he can just use all the songs he has loaded onto his Ipod. It is a 30G one, so it holds a hell of a lot.
I also just discovered a game store in North Austin that sells older video games. We have an original Nintendo set and the boy loves to play games all the time. I think I may just go and get a few games for him. (He doesn’t read this so I know I’m ok blogging her about it.)
I bought stuff for my mom during the Day after Turkey Day crazy sales. She’s easy. My aunt will be getting kitchen towels and such as she may be finally moving into her own little spot. (As long as all that fun goes ok. Aunt is mentally handicapped and has always lived with my grandmother and now my parents. This will be a change.) Bro is the standard gift card, as that’s all he wants, and then there’s Dad. Mom doesn’t even know what to get dad usually. So we talk for weeks and then she tells me what to get him. It works pretty well.
This year Dad is getting a wooden banana holder. Yeah. That’s all my mom could come up with. He has no hobbies really and he’s retired. So urgh. I’m getting him some good Texas jerky so that will be something different too but still. Dad does have a weird thing for banana holders.
I should get something for the boy’s parents too, and the boy’s brother, but I leave that to the Boy, as he does better with that most times. Then again, he has no clue about his parents either. Also, boy’s brother likes a lot of the same stuff as the boy so… I have enlisted his help tons of times for stuff. Maybe I’ll ask him again this year.
We realized last night that we have a few more people to buy for. There’s our friends P&C and their son. Sigh. And the boy’s grandmother. And his great-uncle’s widow. Oi. So many people and not nearly enough $$ for this. What to buy them? We have no idea.
And then there’s Christmas cards. I really should send them out this year. Really. I say that every year but I never get around to it. I need to though.
So all you who made it through this post and all that, email me your address so I can send a card out. It might make it by whatever holiday you celebrate and if not, just think of it as an all-encompassing Holiday card. Yeah, that’s it.

100 Things Part Deux

2006-12-04T10:23:00.001-08:00

51. I apparently look like I’m 5-6 years younger than I actually am. Most people don’t believe me when I tell them my real age. I get carded everywhere. Funnily enough, the Boy doesn’t and he’s 2 years younger.

52. I have short, blond hair and blue eyes. My hair used to be a bit longer but I HATE it long. Short is so much easier and manageable. I hated spending half an hour in the morning just dealing with my hair. Now it’s less than 5 minutes.

53. I have 2 cats who love to double-team me in the morning, begging for their morning food. They’re crazy kittens and I love them to death.

54. I am so not a morning person. I’m not an evening person either as I tend to fall asleep too early. I like mid-afternoon best, but only if I’ve gotten enough sleep.

55. I never thought that I’d be living in Texas when I was younger. If you would have told me this in high school, I would have laughed. I didn’t understand the allure then but I sure do now.

56. I did think that I wouldn’t be living in Massachusetts anymore because I wanted out. I hadn’t lived anywhere else other than my parents house and I wanted a change. Boy did I get it.

57. I have lived in 3 different states and 2 countries so far. I don’t see us moving from Texas any time soon so I don’t think that will change.

58. I don’t know how I ever lived without easily accessible Mexican food. Or Pho.

59. I didn’t even try most ethnic foods I love until college because they weren’t really available in my hometown. There was Chinese and Italian and that’s about it.

60. I grew up surrounded by Italians. My hometown is or rather was very Italian while I was growing up. There used to be a red, white, and green line running through one of the main throroughfares instead of the yellow double line. We had a huge church-run Italian festival every year that the whole town went to.

61. My brother and I look nothing alike. He got the Italian, olive skinned looks while I got the pale, French looks.

62. I, apparently, look just like my dad’s cousin Annette whom I’ve never met. We found this out when she was on Donahue one day for living in a common-law marriage arrangement.

63. That’s pretty interesting since I find myself in a similar arrangement now, except that we haven’t filed the paperwork for the common-law thing, though most people consider us married by now.

64. We’ll have been together 6 years in December.

65. I want kids but sometimes I’m not so sure I actually do. I’m terrified of pregnancy and childbirth.

66. I do know that the boy and I are on the same page when it comes to raising kids and all but it’s still scary. I don’t know how we’ll do it.

67. I don’t make friends easily. I never have. I had close friends in high school and we still keep in touch mostly, but it was hard finding them. Same with college. Now that I’m out in the “real world”, I still don’t have many friends.

68. Most of my friends live across the country now. My best friend lives in PA, my high school friends live mostly in MA, college friends in VA. I have some friends here but a lot of them are the boy’s friends/coworkers.

69. Then there are the internet friends with whom I could not do without. It seems so much easier to communicate this way.

70. I love make-up but usually can’t be bothered to actually spend time on it. My current favorite stuff is ELF products. Cheap and good stuff.

71. I have sensitive skin so everything makes me break out. I still haven’t found anything to work for me, but I also hate to spend a lot of money on it. I guess I’m going to have to soon.

72. I love to shop. LOVE it. But I’m the consummate bargain hunter. I rarely, if ever, pay full price. I shop sales and clearance only.

73. My favorite stores to shop are Target, Old Navy, New York and Company, Kohl’s, JC Penney and TJ Maxx. I’d shop Marshall’s if there was one closer. I used to shop Filenes/Foley’s/Hecht’s before they got bought out by Macy’s. If there was an H&M here, I’d rejoice.

74. I am an earlybird, not in the sense of early to rise, but I’m always early to things like work and meeting up with people. I’m very punctual. I HATE being late. The boy on the other hand, doesn’t care so much about time. That bugs me.

75. My eyesight is terrible. I wear contacts at –10 in my right eye and –9.5 in my left. That’s bad. I have to wear reading glasses over my contacts to read and use the computer or things go fuzzy and I get headaches. I’ve been like this since I was 9.

76. My eyesight changed so quickly when I was little, I thought I was going blind. I went from wearing no glasses, to wearing them for distance, to all the time, to bifocals in 2 years. It sucked.

77. I got contacts in 9th grade and have never looked back. I love them so much more than my glasses, even though my new ones are sort of sexy. I like seeing in the shower.

78. I first smoked a cigarette when I was in France. I was very drunk but I had been around so much smoke I had sort of started to crave them. It was ok. It didn’t make me like them but every now and then I want one when I’m drunk.

79. The boy rolls his own cigarettes and they are so much better than the others. He even puts filters in them.

80. My first smoking experience was in 2002 with the Boy. It wasn’t very good.

81. I’m not a huge fan of and don’t do it very often. It makes me sleepy.

82. I never thought I’d say this, but I’ve become a fan of country music. Hard to believe, but it’s true. I’m going to Robert Earl Keen’s Christmas show next weekend and I can’t wait.

83. I don’t like talking on the phone. I don’t know why, as I’m perfectly find talking through email, but I hate talking on the phone.

84. I love to talk though.

85. Yes, I do talk to myself at times, and in different languages. Sometimes it’s the only way to practice my French.

86. Trashy romance novels that have been translated into French are some of my favorite vocabulary builders. No joke. It’s conversational, which isn’t what they always teach you in school.

87. I wish they had taught us more practical things in French classes like how to get a haircut and how to deal with banks and things like that. It would have made things a bit easier. I know how to do that now, but it would have been nice to know.

88. My ideal job would be running a study abroad company or working for a French speaking person. Anything to really use my degree.

89. I double majored in French and International Affairs, both subjects I liked, not necessarily ones that will make me money.

90. I went to a small college, where class sizes maybe reached 30. Maybe. We had 2 French majors graduate my year.

91. I hate French literature. HATE it. If I had wanted to read lots of literature I would have majored in English. I just wish our major had included more linguistics and language skills.
92. I love beer. The wine expert in the house is the boy. I’m the beer girl, which seems strange to people as I was the one who lived in France, but the area I lived in was big on beer. Mmm Belgian beer.

93. I would love to be able to travel out of the country more, but life keeps getting in the way. I wish I had done more before setting down but loans and bills kept getting in the way.

94. We do manage to travel a little bit, with my family being in MA, but it’s hard. Most of our traveling now is done visiting family.

95. I love to research. Research papers were actually fun for me to do. I know that’s weird but true.

96. I can find most anything if asked. If it’s on the web, I’ll find it. If not, I know where to go to get the information. I’m really good at just knowing where to look.

97. I have an innate sense of direction. I rarely get lost. I can usually figure my way out of things. I have problems reading a map though.

98. I give directions and remember things by landmarks. Most of the time I couldn’t tell you the street name, but I can tell you what’s on the corner.

99. I kissed a girl once. It didn’t do anything for me. We were both really drunk. The boy is really mad he missed that.

100. I can sing. I can carry a tune and it sounds rather good but it’s not pop star quality. It’s more choir-like. I just don’t feel like joining a choir though. I’d rather sing in the shower and freak out the cats.

100 Things Part I (as per pantalones)

2006-12-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

1. I am a sucker for sweet and sour chicken.
2. Those crab puffs too, even though they're really mostly just cream cheese stuffed fried wontons.
3. But I'd love to eat actual Chinese food one day. In China. I like trying authentic foods.
4. I still can't believe I'm a homeowner. Still seems like a weird dream.
5. One of my hard and fast deal-breakers for the house was thatit had to have a gas stove. That and no HOA. I was flexible on most everything else.
6. My favorite color is blue. I abhor pink and try to keep it out of my wardrobe as much as possible, which isn't easy as manufacturers seem to think that all girls love pink. I never have.
7. I was a tomboy as a little girl. I was the girl who was always playing with the boys. I played kickball and soccer with the best of them.
8. In dresses. I loved wearing skirts and dresses and still do. They're way cooler than pants in the summer, a fact I discovered while working in an un-air-conditioned warehouse one summer.
9. I have a whipped cream problem. I'll fill a bowl with the stuff from the can and eat it straight. Sometimes I put hot fudge or chocolate shavings on it, but mostly I like it plain. And it has to be the canned stuff too. I love fresh whipped cream but the canned stuff is just,mmmm.
10. I don't eat as many veggies and fruits as I should. I just don't really like them all that much. I love apples, broccoli, spinach, and strawberries. The others are all just meh.
11. I really hate peas. Really really. I also hate bananas.
12. I have a texture thing with food. If I don't like the texture of something, I can't eat it. This is why I can't eat shrimp. I don't mind the taste but the texture is all weird to me. I would actually eat tripe if it didn't have that weird texture.
13. I am a highly visual learner. I have to write it down or read it to really understand it.
14. If you tell me your name, and I don't write it down, I won't remember it. Even if you just told me a minute ago.
15. Same goes for errands and tasks. I have to write it down. Remind me to write it down if you have to. Just asking won't make a difference. If it's not on my grocery list, I will forget it, even if it's an important ingredient.
16. The boy and I met in Barcelona. In a youth hostel. On Christmas.
17. He was actually intended to be the one and only one night-stand I could ever bring myself to have. That obviously didn't happen.
18. We bonded over mutual love for the New England Patriots, which is a rare thing for a Texas boy. Well, that and great sex.
19. I'm a planner. I like to plan things. I have schedules and routines all planned and mapped out. I already have my weekend errand trip planned out that way.
20. I even organize my grocery list by aisle of the store. I can be in and out of the store in under half an hour.
21. But my actual house and things are a complete mess. I'm so disorganized that way. I'm a clutter bug.
22. I HATE when other people try to organize my stuff for me. I can never find what I'm looking for as I have my own system, which doesn't work for anyone else. I know it's weird, it's just the way I am.
23. I'm a Francophile, but not as obsessed as you'd think I'd be. I tend to defend the French for their thinking because they always get blamed for things, even though they just have a weirdly different mindset.
24. I speak fluent French, some Spanish, and a bit of Italian. My Spanish is improving and my Italian still sounds a lot like Spanish.
25. Living in France for a year was one of the best experiences of my life. I'd move back in a second if I could, though not to Paris. I want to live in a smaller town. Valenciennes, the town I lived in, was ideal. It was big but not big enough so that you couldn't walk everywhere,yet it also had a great bus system. Plus it was close to major cities.
26. I had a pretty normal childhood. No dysfunctional family at all really.
27. My uncle is gay but he's still closeted. We all know but he will never admit it. We're not exactly sure why. He's not a very good person though.
28. My other uncle is an alcoholic. Last we heard, which was years and years ago, he was living in a bar somewhere and had lost an eye. We think he's still alive, as my dad is listed as next of kin and we haven'tbeen notified of a death. This uncle is actually a good guy with serious problems.
29. On my mom's side of the family, I have a mentally disabled aunt. The doctor was blind drunk at her birth and she didn't get enough oxygen and was brain damaged. Thus she will be forever 5ish.
30. My aunt and I used to fight over Barbies. It was weird fighting with a 30something over Barbies, now that I think about it, but back then I just wanted to play.
31. My grandma was a really cool person. I get my independent, wanderlust streak from her. She moved away from home, at a time when it was considered horrific for unmarried girls to do so. She didn't care.
32. I never really got to know my paternal grandparents. Mygrandfather died before I was born and my grandmother died when I was 5. All I remember is visiting her in the hospital and having Eggos and Danishes atthe gathering after the funeral.
33. Nana was very Italian though and I'm told I get my cooking streak from her. She never really liked my mom as no one was ever good enough for her boys.
34. Funnily enough, out of those 3 boys, my dad turned out the best. (Not just saying this because he's my dad either.) He's the only one to have his life together.
35. My dad is retired at age 54. He was a Corrections Officer. He never went to college.
36. The year after he retired, my brother became a Corrections Officer. He graduated college in May 2005. He really wants to be a police officer.
37. I am a nerd and a voracious bookworm.
38. I love Monty Python and The Search for the Holy Grail is my all-time favorite movie.
39. It was my British neighbor who introduced me to British comedy. I used to baby-sit his kids every other Saturday night. Easiest job there was, except for the nights when Mary learned to take her diaper off. (Duct tape is an effective solution for that.) He also introduced me to Douglas Adams and Harry Potter.
40. I got extremely good grades all my life, so much that I graduated 5th in my high school class. In elementary school, the only thing that kept me from straight A's all the time was penmanship. My handwritingis still comparable to chicken scratch.
41. I was a goody-two shoes in high school, and my rebellious streak consisted of sneaking off with my boyfriend to fool around. We spenta lot of time at the "coffee shop".
42. I never got detention but the principal knew me well. Of course it was for good things. I was pretty well known by all the teachers and administrators.
43. Somehow we managed to convince the administration to let us use our National Honor Society cards as Hall Passes. We roamed freely around the school and could go where we pleased during study hall, though not off campus. We were a closed campus. But I still went wherever I wanted in the school. No one really asked me for the pass though. They always figured I had a reason to be out and about.
44. I never really drank in high school. Never really had the opportunity either though. My friends were also goody two shoes types. I could have drank when I went on an exchange in 10th grade but no, I didn't want to. The one time I did was when we were on a school trip to Quebec and I was 18 already so I could legally buy booze there. I bought for our little group and we drank wine coolers. I didn't get drunk though.
45. We always had a sort of parent chaperone when at each others' houses, especially when both boys and girls were present, even in senior year. Our parents wouldn't have let us go otherwise. Didn't matter what kind of gathering it was, a parent had to be home if a boy was going to be there. Of course that didn't stop the sex from happening, but they tried.
46. My parents were extremely overprotective, which is a good and a bad thing.
47. Good thing meant that they knew what I was doing most of the time and thus protected me from doing stupid things.
48. Bad thing was that I didn't do a lot of stupid things then and did them as I got older, which wasn't always the best time for it all.
49. I need 8 hours of sleep function properly. I've always been that way, and was probably one of the few high schoolers who didn't mind going to bed by 10pm.
50. I never really got into late night TV as I was never awake. I still don't watch it as I'm still in bed by 10 pm.

Just A Blip

2006-11-30T15:36:00.000-08:00

I'd love to post more but it's hard to eat and type. So much to do lately and not enough time in the day. Pilates class tonight so I have to eat and then run. Title and registration did not come today so I get to go to the dealer tomorrow and get a sticker that lets me drive legally until the new one comes. Sigh. I should have just gotten one when we bought it but we all figured it would be here by now. Oh well. At least my new AAA stuff came. Yay for Plus!

Books Books Books!

2006-11-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

I am a bookworm. I’ve always been a voracious reader, ever since I figured out that hey, these words on the page actually mean something. Once I started, I was hooked and I’ve never looked back.
I like to read by myself. I hate being read to- no one ever goes fast enough for me. I like to devour my books and being read to just doesn’t work for me. (I’m a visual learner so I’m sure that has a whole lot to do with it also.) This fact greatly disappointed my mom when I was younger, as it was the end of reading bedtime stories to me. Once I could read on my own, it was all I wanted to do.
I have my phases and obsessions with books and authors. I was, and still am, a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. Those books brought the past alive for me and I was obsessed with the time period for a long time, to the point that I even dressed like the women for a while. I credit those books for creating in me my absolute love of history and the past. LM Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables is my absolute favorite author. Her books are also set in a different time period, in the late 1890s, early 1900s. I really and truly enjoy reading and learning about that time period, and it’s all thanks to my precious books.
Bookstores are my favorite stores. I love to shop and I love to shop for books even more. I have a hard time passing a bookstore without going in, especially if it’s a used/discount store. Libraries are basically like second homes to me. I spent so much time in my local one growing up. I always amazed the librarians with the amount of books I took out each time, and they would be all read before or by the time they were due back.
I am also the nerd who carries a book or magazine wherever I go. Just in case I am stuck somewhere, I have a book. I read when I am bored. I read when I’m not bored. If I could read all the time I probably would. I have no problem walking into a restaurant by myself and reading while eating my meal. In fact, that’s rather normal for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love going out with other people, but I’m also comfortable being alone too. It’s ended up being a sort of Saturday lunch thing for me. I usually end up at the boy’s restaurant and sit at the counter reading while munching on a yummy pizza. I don’t even have to order anymore, the Boy puts it in as soon as I walk in. On weekends when the Boy is in the country, I go for Pho. (Though it is difficult to read and eat Pho at the same time, it can be done. Magazines are best for this but I’ve done it with books too.)
Now I can’t wait to get home and read some more.
Current book: The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart
Just read: Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichel

2006-11-28T10:23:00.000-08:00

Damn, bad things really do come in threes. In my office, I have 3 coworkers who have sick moms. One mom is getting her hip replaced after the pin she got pin in last year started causing her pain. Another mom has cancer and is in the hospital. She hasn’t really done much for treatment but she’s been doing ok. And the third mom was just told yesterday that her cancer is terminal and there’s nothing more for them to really do. It just sucks all around.
That just makes me thankful that my family is in relatively good health. For now anyway.
This whole mom with cancer thing is nuts. That makes 3 coworkers that have moms with cancer and 1 coworker whose husband is in remission. Yeah. What are the odds for that?
In other family news, my aunt may be finally moving out into a group home arrangement. She’ll have her own apartment and all that but will do meals in a communal setting. My aunt is 63 and has lived with either my grandmother or my mom all her life. This will be a change. She’ll fight it for a bit but she’ll be ok. She can handle most stuff on her own, with lots of direction. She’s like a 4-5 year old that will never grow up.
I hate to blame my grandparents for her attitude, but it’s all in the way she was raised. Grandma raised her with the idea that there were lots of things that she couldn’t and shouldn’t do. She did have her small tasks around the house but she wasn’t self-sufficient at all. It was a huge struggle when she moved in as she felt that she couldn’t and shouldn’t do anything, but my parents felt otherwise. Plus she could do it, she just didn’t want to.
Understandably, this has cause a whole lot of friction in my family, especially when she first moved in after grandma died. Anthony had just left for college and my parents had just gotten the whole empty nest thing. And then came the perma-child who worships the ground my mom walks on but doesn’t give a damn about anyone else really. It was an upheaval. They had to fight to get any sort of help to deal with this. It was over a year before they could get her put into a day program so she wouldn’t be home alone and watching tv all day while my parents worked. Another year later, they managed to get a helper in to teach her skills that they couldn’t. Plus there was counseling for everyone to deal with it. Needless to say, it put a strain on my parents marriage. But they managed to weather through it and deal with everything.
Hopefully this will go through this time. She was supposed to be in this summer but the people handling her case screwed up big time. She was initially rejected because the dumbasses didn’t do their job. They didn’t read her doctor’s notes, her files, or anything really. They hadn’t even met her and talked to her, and they just rejected her, which is not the proper process. Mom was stunned to find out about the rejection, and when she had a meeting about the appeal, she was told that they messed up and they messed up bad. In fact, the people in charge told her that she had a lawsuit if she wanted to sue. (When people are telling you that you should sue them because you have a really good case, there’s a problem, doncha think?) So much fun.
So Aunt is on a waiting list right now, which is strange as there are open spots so there really isn’t a waiting list so we’re not sure what’s up. But hopefully she’ll be in soon. If she’s not, I’m not sure what will happen.

After the long weekend

2006-11-27T10:06:00.000-08:00

Coming back to work after a long weekend is so hard. I just didn’t want to get up this morning, even though I knew that I had to. My alarm startled me, which in turn scared the heck out of Gabby, who fell off the bed. (That is the chance she takes for sleeping at the edge but hee…) Punk was in the window, as usual. This morning, they were even more vocal than usual about the food thing. They were both meowing from the moment I sat up. Pumpkin was even meowing at me while I was in the shower. Normally she waits patiently on the toilet but I guess she really wanted her tuna this morning. (Normally the boy feeds them first but it’s his day off and he wasn’t getting up just to feed the girls.) It was just a fun morning I tell ya.
This weekend was also a test for the kittens. As Thanksgiving was such a beautiful day, we had the doors open to the back yard. This also meant that the girls could wander in and out as they pleased. This was Gabby’s first time outside (not counting her escapes, which are now so common that we have to close the door within seconds or she’ll be out.) and it was Punk’s first time out at the new house. It took them a few minutes for them to realize that yes, they could go out and no, no one was running after them to shove them back inside.
Things went well. Gabby stayed near the doors for the most part and hid under plants, while Punk did a little more exploring, but still stayed in the yard. She ended up sleeping under a favorite plant for a while, and then being chased by Gabby. Then the dogs next door came out and it was over for Punk.. She tried being all brave by walking halfway to the fence, but ran as soon as the dog noticed her. She hid in the house for the rest of the day and wasn’t too keen on going back out. Gabby however, got up the nerve to do a lot more exploring. The dog had no effect on her. She chased loads of butterflies and birds and had a few adventures. One of these included climbing the fence and trying to escape. As Gabby still needs her rabies shots (getting this week as she needed to be 4 months before they would do it) that was not good. We had to grab her off the top of the fence 3 times before making the ultimate wise decision to shut her inside. It was starting to get dark anyway, so we moved inside.That Gabby, she is going to be trouble. Punk wasn’t even considering climbing the fence at that age. This worries as I think Gabby might actually do the tree climbing that I thought Punk would do. The boy thinks that Punk will follow Gabby most everywhere, and while that is true, if there’s a dog, Punk will run. Gabby does not have that fear yet. So we’ll see. I guess I have to go get a kitty door this weekend. Le sigh. I just worry about the little one. But she’ll be back for food at least.

Sunday Blah

2006-11-26T12:45:00.000-08:00

Today we were supposed to arrange and clean stuff. We got some cleaning done but took a look at the room we need to tackle and said no way. The converted garage is the space where we just dumped everythng that doesn't fit anywhere just yet. It's also the spot where all of our plants go at night when it freezes. Suffice to say: it's a mess.
So we're just leaving it for now.
I wanted to cook somethng today but we still have so much freakin' leftover food that it's sort of dumb to. We're going to be eating leftovers for a while. Not that they don't taste bad at all, but it gets old after a while. I do plan to make fried mashed potato balls with maybe some mozzarella inside and all, but I'm stuck on what to do with the stuffing. I might do something with the pies, not sure what but it'll involve cream and a blender. Or some rebaking. Who knows.
Right now, I'm just reading all the books I scored for $1 apiece yesterday. Yay for thriftstores.

Shopping Madness

2006-11-25T12:26:00.000-08:00

Like an idiot, I went out shopping yesterday. I left later than I intended to because first I had to hook up a newish printer to my computer and it decided not to cooperate. (I needed a coupon to NY and Company- my fave store.) After an hour of issues, I managed to print it out and rush out. First stop was Kohl's. I think I lasted 10 minutes there. I found a watch I needed and some stuff for my mom but the lines were like 2 hours long. So I just left. It was easier that way. My next stop was the mall. Ah the mall. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going ot be. First stop was JC Penney where I scored stuff for my mom, a great shirt, and fuck me boots for me. I've been looking for great boots that will fit my calves and voila, I did. And for $30 to boot. Yay for good deals!
Then it was off to NY and Co. Way too much money later, I had got some great stuff. And then it was off to the bookstore for some fun and to the restaurant to eat. Then home.
All in all an interesting day.

Happy Turkey Day!

2006-11-23T08:43:00.000-08:00

Ah the calm before the storm. I'm just finishing up breakfast and have to go shower and start the rest of the cooking. I've started the bread and just have to mix up the green bean casserole and make the stuffing. Then when the turkey goes in I'll start the mashed potatoes and the savory sweet potatoes. While that's cooking I'll do the salad. Everything else is done and easy and whew. This hosting Turkey day is insane!
Ok, I need to go do stuff so later!

The calm before the storm

2006-11-22T11:54:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm just relaxing for a little while before I start the flurry of fun. I have 3 pies to bake, a casserole to prep, veggies to slice and dice, dips to create, and other things that I'm sure I'm forgetting.
I really would rather nap and all but that's not going to happen. Well, maybe for an hour or so. Ok, naptime it is.
I'm so easy.

No time to post

2006-11-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

I'm just sitting down for a quick dinner in the midst of cleaning. Thanksgiving has ballooned to at least 8 so far and maybe more. Some arrive tomorrow so I must finish cleaning. So much to do. Plus there's the prep work. Oh my. I'm cooking so much food.
Anyway, love my new truck.
More when I have time.
Ciao!

We're in more debt now

2006-11-20T14:47:00.000-08:00

But it's all for a good cause. I have a truck now. We bought a white, '01 Chevy Silverado. We had to finance part of it but whatever. We needed a vehicle and needed a truck, so we bought one. Oh my god. It's crazy.
I love driving it though. It's so different being up so high but I love it. And it's so nice having an automobile that you aren't wondering if it will break down, but when. Wheeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More later as I have to go clean now. People coming!

Oh this is so much fun

2006-11-18T16:18:00.000-08:00

Yay. Went to the famer's market this morning. Got some lovely stuff to use for Turkey day. Apparently, it's not going to be just me, the boy, and his bro, it's going to be a party! We're deep frying a turkey and our chef friend is cooking a goose. So yeah. I'm planning a salad, mashed taters, green bean casserole (don't judge, it's the only time I ever eat green beans), homemade stuffing, 3 pies, bread, and whatever else. Oh yeah, apps. I need apps. I think we'll go low-key with chips and dips, hummus, cheeses, and crackers.

As for the truck search, I went to a dealership this morning. It's a small, used dealership, that has tons of trucks in our budget range. We're going to have a huge down payment with some financing. The sales are no pressure and the guy took a lot of time with me, showing me the trucks. I've got about 3 choices, all reasonable and really nice trucks. I even test drove and have decided that the truck will be mine for a while as I loved driving it. I have driven my parents 7 passenger van before and used to be a driver in college for the 15 passenger vans, so I can drive big trucks. I loved being up so high. And thank goodness my parents taught me how to mirror drive. So we'll see. The dealership is not open Sundays, which sucks, as the boy is at work still. So we're going to go over there tomorrow anyway, just to look, and then the boy will go in on Monday and talk to the salesman and we'll make a decision. Hopefully it will be good.

Still Nothing

2006-11-17T20:02:00.000-08:00

Car searching sucks. We've seen 2 trucks and they were not great. THere's not much in our budget range for trucks. We're starting to look at dealers and maybe finance a bit. We can do that. But urgh. This sucks so much. We have a huge down payment.

I just want a vehicle. Right now, I'm not caring whether it's a car or truck. Of course that's not how the boy feels. But he's not the one without a vehicle.

Bye by Bonnie

2006-11-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

So the car is dead. Long live whatever vehicle we get next, that is whenever we get it.
My car died Wednesday and we made the decision not to revive it for the simple fact that we wanted to blow it up for New Year’s. The inspection ran out in December and as it just wasn’t going to pass again, no matter whom we bribed or whom the boy knew, it was time to lay it to rest. Except that it beat us to the punch.
The car had been leaking all sorts of fluids, brake and transmission, there hadn’t been washer fluid for years, there was an awful clanking sound, a huge crack in the windshield, and so forth. Apparently there was also a power steering leak, which must have been a new one because it wasn’t an issue before. A bearing froze up, which meant that no belts were running, no power getting to the battery, no cooling system working. I also lost power steering which meant no actual driving. And all this happened while I was sitting at a stop light. Thankfully, I was near a gas station and could pull in.
We called AAA and arranged for a tow. We looked at the car, realized that it wasn’t a fix we could do ourselves, and decided that the car wasn’t worth the little fix. So we’re junking it. And I need a new car. Now.
But my version of now is yesterday and it seems the boy’s version is sometime. Which is fine for him, as he’s driving the car I OWN but the car I can’t drive because it’s stick. We’ve owned it for 3 years now and he still hasn’t taught me how to drive it. 3 years of me begging once a month, but it was never a good time. Well, it’s not a good time now either but it HAS to be done. Personally, I think he didn’t want me to learn because he didn’t want me driving it. Well too bad now.
The second we got home from the gas station on Wednesday, I was on the computer looking at want ads. The boy, he decided to take his time finding the perfect music channel to listen to and just sat on the couch listening to music. The problem with this is that the plan is to buy a truck FOR HIM to use and I’ll take over the Civic. So the vehicle is going to be his. Yet he hasn’t done anything to look for one. Nothing. I looked all Wed night. I spent what little lunch break I had yesterday looking. I looked when I got home. I made tons of printouts and notes. Did he do anything? Nope. He fell asleep. I could understand it and all if he had gotten up earlier and had done other stuff but no, I got up at the same time, managed to rent a car (which was actually a pretty impressive feat when there were maybe 20 cars available in all of Austin yesterday.), and still did some cleaning and research for a vehicle. I can’t exactly go to the dealerships as arriving in a cab or by bus is an automatic target. So I’m stuck. If he doesn’t make a move to even talk about stuff, which we were supposed to do last night, except that he kept getting annoyed and saying I don’t care every time I mentioned something. Next time he says I don’t care it’s not going to go well. I know of 2 cars, in good shape, for less than $3000. It’s not the truck he wants, but it’s something. One is a Ford Ranger, which he doesn’t want but hell, I’ll take it.
I’m the one depending on the kindness of a co-worker to take me to work. I’m the one who can’t get stuff done, like the grocery shopping for Thanksgiving. He was talking about going out somewhere this weekend to look at some guy’s plants. If he wants a Thanksgiving, that’s not going to happen. Hell, if he wants a truck that’s not going to happen. I have our Sunday planned. It includes shopping for necessities and stick shift driving lessons. Saturday is out as he works from 11-6, which makes it really sucky because dealers aren’t open on Sunday. We better do something tonight or I’m going to be even unhappier than I am now.
I need help on this car thing but I’m not getting it from the person who is actually involved in the decision making. If he doesn’t start helping soon, he’s not going to be involved.

My car she is dead

2006-11-15T16:59:00.000-08:00

Car stopped driving last night. Got a tow from a cool AAA dude, thank god for that. Now we must search for a new car. Yay. More details later. But oh the joy.

Cock a strangle doo

2006-11-14T10:07:00.000-08:00

Holy hell, one of my neighbors has a rooster. If I chance to hear it crowing on the weekends, there will be hell to pay. I don’t know who it is yet, but I plan to find out. It’s not right to have a rooster in the fricken’ city! Not when you’re close to your neighbors like this, and not when your neighbors might not want to be woken up at 5 am by the crowing of a loud rooster.
Yeah, 5am. That’s when it starts. I heard it this morning. (First hearing was yesterday.) And it was still crowing about every 10-15 minutes when I left around 7am this morning. Not fun. It’s the alarm clock that you can’t shut off.
If we go out on the weekends, chances are we don’t get home until 2ish and don’t go to bed until 3ish or later. I don’t sleep well as it is and I don’t need a cock-a-doodle-doo waking me out of whatever little sleep I got at 6am. I don’t go back to sleep once I wake up like that.
There has got to be some sort of city ordinance for this. I’m not one to make trouble and all usually but if it’s something that disturbs my precious sleep, I will raise hell. It’s not right. Plus I’m sure the other neighbors aren’t exactly too thrilled about this either.
I could understand if we were out in the country because that happens there. More land, more space, way more animals. But we’re inside city limits. Way inside. Downtown is 3.5 miles north. Roosters do not belong here. Not when there’s an excellent chance that you have neighbors who are still sleeping when the rooster goes off. What about those who work nights and don’t get home until midnight, 2am? They don’t usually go to bed until 3 or 4. I mean seriously. (That was the boy until recently.) Grrr.
I’ve thought about setting the kitties on it but I don’t think they’d know what to do. I can see them thinking, ooh a moving toy! They’re pretty nonplussed by the noise- just another normal noise to them.
In other notes, I’m now receiving religious emails of sorts from credentialing contacts that I work with. Not exactly appropriate to be sending to strangers and stuff from your workplace but whatever. There’s always the delete button.
Current song on Mp3 player: Whistling in the Dark by TMBG.

Mah babies

2006-11-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

I don’t actually have kids yet but there are days when I sure feel that I do. My kittens can act like kids on their worst days. They are such handfuls. Gabby is a ball of energy, as only a 3 month old kitten can be. Punk follows Gabby and does the Mama Bear/Sister thing, depending on what’s needed. Together they’re just trouble. (But so freakin’ cute when they’re asleep, no?) When they’re cooperating and playing together, it’s insane. We’ve gotten used to hearing random noises and crashes. Someday those noises might be something else but we’ll just probably chalk it up to kitty play. Our blinds will never be the same. We also have random bags and boxes littered around the kitchen that get used as cat toys. The Calaphon outlet bags are the best. They’re made of a stiff material that the cats can’t scratch up. They spend hours playing in them and trying to mutilate them. Yay for cheap cat toys!
They’re now double teaming the morning wake up. It used to be just Gabby who jumped on me. Now the Punk is in on it too. I try to ignore it for the most part, but it’s hard, especially when there’s 2 cats fighting/playing on top of you. I’ve taken to sleeping with the water bottle right next to me for maximum protection but even then it’s not a sure thing. Gabby still comes right back. Punk runs, she hates the water, though she does sit on the side of the tub, in between the curtains, while I’m showering. Her tail gets rather wet. Gabby is still meh about it, though she has just discovered the wonders of the toilet bowl.
Last night Gabby discovered the joys of burrowing under the covers. She’s so different than Punk that way. Punk HATES feeling trapped and does not like being under the covers. (Can’t see a way out.) I think she may have been trapped once as a wee kitten and that traumatized her. She even tried to break out of the car. (A hyperventilating cat pacing around the car and throwing herself at the windows while driving home is well, interesting. That was the Boy’s marvelous idea.) Gabby on the other had doesn’t care. She’s fine with being under the covers and in her carrier and all that. Plus she can attack feet much easier under the covers.
I talk about my kitties all the time. They’re always up to something and/or always getting into something. There’s always a story.

My first spam

2006-11-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

I got my first spam. Aww how sweet. That means at least someone can find this blog.
Argh, I forgot to post yesterday. Oh well. It was a lazy day too. I got up, did some cleaning, and then got out of the house. The library around the corner closed just as we moved in so I've been mourning the loss of my library but I did some research and found a library that's not to far away. Happy me! I love free books, the only part I don't like is giving them back. Ah well.
Then I went up to the restaurant and got a pizza- margharita, garlic, extra tomatoes. Yum. I love pizza and I really do love the pizza at Cipollina. Then came back home and did some more cleaning and stuff. Took a bit of a nap and then made dinner. God, I was lazy. But that's ok with me. I need that every once in a while.
Today is another slightly lazy day. I'm baking a cake because well, I feel like it, and catching up on all my DVRd shows like Gilmore Girls and Ugly Betty. It's 2 and the boy is still asleep. Late night- a friend came over after work (midnight) so they were up for a while. Me, I conked out. Weekends are sleep time for me.
Anyway, happy lazy day!

TGIF and all that!

2006-11-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

Yay for Friday! Weekend! It’s Veterans Day and of course I’m at work. I need to work for the government man. Oh well. We’re having an ice cream party this afternoon. That will just have to do.
No real plans for the weekend. We’re pretty much broke so anything we do will have to be on the cheap. I have stuff I need to do at home but I’ll probably end up reading or something. It’s so easy to just put it off.
I do need to start prepping for Thanksgiving. The boy’s parents won’t be here so it’ll probably be at my house this year. Last year we went to chef friend’s house but since his wife and kid will be gone… I don’t know. I’m not going all out, just simple stuff really. I just want to enjoy the time off and then go shopping on Friday. Oh yeah the shopping, but that also depends on what the sales are going to be like. We’ll see.

Sleep, I need sleep

2006-11-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

I need to sleep. I don’t know why, but I just can’t sleep through the damn night. No matter what I do, I wake up around 3ish or so. I pass out by 9-9:30pm and going to bed earlier won’t work, as that doesn’t leave me enough time to do anything. I fall asleep easily as I’m exhausted because I didn’t get enough sleep the night before. It’s a vicious circle.
I don’t eat after 7 or 8 pm depending on the night. No drinking of any kind either, lest I have to get up to pee in the middle of the night. I only really sleep in my bed with maybe a little reading and TV watching, which usually puts me to sleep. I sleep with a mask and earplugs. My bed is comfy and warm. I exercise daily. I eat a relatively balanced diet. I’m not sure what else I should be doing. Oh and warm milk is just out as that will just make my stomach do more flip-flops. Lactose intolerance and all.
I really don’t want to take meds for this as I took them before and I hated it. Plus it didn’t stop the waking up in the middle of the night completely. I still got up and peed when I had to, and let me tell you, that was not a fun thing. Body feels like lead when you do that. I’m just frustrated. By 3:30 pm I’m crashing hard. I come home and want to nap. I struggle to stay awake past 8 sometimes but if I want even a semblance of a life with the Boy I need to. This is so frustrating. It got better for a bit but now I’m back to the fun of 3am waking.
Someday I’ll get the sleep I need. It’s not doing me any good not to though. I’d love to be even able to nap but 1) there’s this work thing that prevents me from doing so and 2) I can’t sleep during the day for some reason. Even when I’m sick I have issues with it. Weird I know.
Damn Gabby didn’t help with the sleep last night. The bedroom smelled stale as we have no screens on our windows yet so we don’t open them. I sprayed some Febreeze to make it a bit better. Well it smelled ok but it must have triggered something in Gabby, because no sooner had I gotten into bed than, boom, kitten pee in between my legs. (Seriously, that’s her spot to snuggle anyway.) Urgh. I did spray around the litterbox so it had to have something to do with that. Plus I used it the times she peed before. She avoided me and the bed for the rest of the night. Thank goodness for Nature’s Miracle. That stuff does work. But sigh. The sheets needed to be washed anyway but I wasn’t planning on doing them at night.

Bit of a Rant

2006-11-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

This morning: woken up by boy’s alarm even though he and it were downstairs. I know he came to bed at some point but I didn’t hear the first alarm go off while in the room. I only heard it from the living room. Go figure. About 2 seconds after my alarm went off, the wake up crew bounded upstairs to make sure that I was getting up soon. They were both meowing, which is unusual. Gabby was in my face and Punk was at the side of the bed, on the floor, and both were meowing. What a way to wake up.

Cooking has been sort of boring lately. Monday was veal (yeah I know but it’s good) with pasta and a wine sauce of sorts. Not bad but I can do better. Yesterday was chicken quesadillas made with the leftover chicken from the roast I made last week. Tonight is Brats and potatoes. Tomorrow I think tacos or something easy. I’m just not in the mood to cook and take out is on hold this week until we figure out the budget thing. This whole mortgage thing has blown our budgeting and we’re still working everything out. If we didn’t have to have a month’s payment ahead of time, we’d be signed up for biweekly.

As soon as we figure out the car thing, that’s next. The Boy wants a project truck. I just want a truck that we don’t have to throw money at all the time. (We’re getting a truck because we need one to haul all of the plants) Boy wants something to work on. I want something that runs and won’t need all sorts of expensive parts to fix. Boy doesn’t seem to care. He’s drooling. I think a hit over the head with the reality frying pan is in order. I found a really good used truck for sale yesterday, in excellent condition, with lots of new parts and for a very reasonable price. But it’s not a project truck so the boy was like meh. I know it’s going to be his truck to drive and all but still. We can’t be just hemorrhaging money to keep fixing the thing. We do that already for the damn car I drive. I want that to change. I’d like to save money for once, instead of having to wipe out whatever we saved to fix something again. But of course that hasn’t gotten through to him as all he can see is the fun of fixing up a vehicle. It’s the driveway syndrome. We have a driveway so he must do car stuff in it.

Why do all the good sales have to happen when I’m broke?? Arghhh.

Weirdness

2006-11-07T15:55:00.000-08:00

Oh this was a weird day. My boss is leaving. I’ve been here about a year and a half and this will make boss #4 now. Yeah. I wish I were surprised at this but I’m not. Head of Marketing is a really good stepping stone to other positions. (Ok, so one got promoted, one got fired, and this one got a new job.) At least his replacement is someone I actually respect, so I’m happy about that. Poor new girl though. She just started yesterday and her boss is being promoted. Eeeks. But the new boss deserves this job. She should have gotten it before almost former boss. (Ok does that make sense??) I’m actually looking forward to seeing what she does with this job. She knows her stuff and is a much better leader.
I am looking for a new job anyway, just haven’t found one I like yet. I’m allowed to be picky now. I don’t have to take the first few offered to me because I’m unemployed and need a job. My resume is out there and I’m getting some calls, mostly from recruiters. I really need to call some of them back. I just don’t like the jobs they’re offering, but they are contacts and all. I just hate meeting with the staffing agencies and doing all the testing and stuff. Oh well. I really need to get my ass out there and apply for things. At least I can ask almost old boss for a reference now and not feel weird about it.
I just hate staying at a company that’s having a hard time staying afloat. It was even mentioned in a meeting today that we were able to get cash for 5-6 months and all but who knows after that. I didn’t know the extent of the money loss before, but damn, it was big. Basically we lost some big state contracts through crappy politics and Haliburton-esque stuff. (Thanks Gov. Perry.) Although big boss did make a mention of long overdue raises, I just don’t see that happening for a while. Urgh. It is nice to know that he realizes that we do deserve them. Our department is what keeps the company running- we are the ones who create the network.
In other happy fun news, I got my Mp3 player fixed last night so that’s happiness. It took some finagling and fun downloads but everything is cool now with that. Note to self: keep connected while updating firmware. Damn cats. I stepped on Gabby this morning too. She was sleeping at my feet, as she loves to do, and I didn’t realize she was there so, oops. She’s still small enough to curl into this itty bitty ball. She really has this thing about sleeping at feet or in the space behind the knees. Other cats sleep at the head, Gabby sleeps in the middle. She’s really a strange little one with attitude.
Shit is about to go down at the boy’s restaurant. It’s going to be interesting to see how it all plays out. Let’s just say that hiring your wife to be a manager is NOT a good idea, especially when she’s a harried new mom and is just not a restaurant person to begin with. (The owners have gotten so many complaints that they’ve sent in people to spy on her service. And the reports aren’t good.) We’re giving it 2 weeks until she leaves to visit family for Turkey Day and is gone for 10 days. They’re betting on a huge difference in how things run. The scary thing is that I haven’t heard this just
This is something that’s hard to deal with as she’s the mom friend I posted about previously and is a friend and hubby is a friend and also boy’s boss. It’s going to get bad and we don’t know what to do. We can’t do anything really. All we can do is just let it develop. I mean, how do you tell someone, especially your freakin’ boss, that he has to fire his wife, especially when it’s the wife who runs the show in their relationship?
Seriously, the one good thing about this is that it’s made the Boy and I talk about things more and realize that we really believe in the same things and we agree on the important relationship stuff- like it’s ok to say NO to your SO. All we can think is we’re glad we’re not them. We’re not perfect in any way but from this it seems as if we have a much more solid grip on reality than they do.

Monday, Monday

2006-11-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

Blah, I hate Mondays. Especially overcast ones. I just never want to get out of bed. Of course there’s the alarm clock, and I could hit snooze, I just never do. Plus there’s my other 2 alarm clocks, and there’s no snooze for them. They sometimes quit after 2 hours but it’s not as easy as just hitting a button. (Weekend mornings they will quit eventually once they see that we’re not moving anytime soon.) Plus Punk has started to meow just as often as Gabby now. It’s just crazy in the morning. They both weave in and out of my legs and watch me shower. Then they get on the sink and try to interrupt me from doing my stuff. Gabby especially- she tries to rub against me in hopes that it will make me go downstairs faster. Punk just sits at the top of the stairs and meows.
As soon as I get downstairs, all hell breaks loose and both start meowing like crazy until they get their food, even if the Boy has given them their treats before he left. Oh no, they still need more. I just give them regular stuff. Gabby gets hers first, as she’s the loudest and most annoying. Plus she’ll try to eat the stuff out of Punk’s bowl if I do that first. Punk seems to understand, as I think she realizes that she’ll actually get to eat her food if I feed Gabby first. Of course, if Punk takes her time eating, Gabby will come over and try to eat that too. Oh well. Crazy kitties.I’m tired this morning. Don’t know why. Can’t seem to wake up. Have too much to do. But just want to go to bed. The weekends should be longer somehow. Still didn’t get everything done that I wanted to do. Of course the flat tire didn’t help. Oh well.

Go Pats!

2006-11-05T17:47:00.000-08:00

Indy vs New England tonight. I'm a Pats girl. I mean I grew up a couple towns away from the Stadium and a bunch of players lived in my hometown. (They gave the BEST candy on Halloween.) So GO PATS!
Car is fixed. The boy went out and got a new tire. We had to move the car out into the street in order to change it. That was fun. Our driveway is on an incline so the car kept moving forward. So we gently and slowly moved the car to the street- not fun when you are basically driving on the rim and the tire isn't doing much. But it's done and driveable. For now.
Mp3 player will be fixed soon. I found the CD after much digging. I really need to organize everything now. Things are just everywhere. We'll get around to that. We are such procrastinators- the both of us.
Oh gotta go, Gabby is attacking my kitty necklace.
I'll leave you guys with a cute kitty pic of Gabby in a bowl.

Arghh

2006-11-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

That describes my day yesterday and why I forgot to post. The tire on my car is flat- so flat that it's off the rim. Have no idea why. It wasn't low or anything before. Sigh. Couldn't do anything because boy was at work and he said he'd fix it. So everything I had to do yesterday was put on hold. I did get some stuff done but ugh.
Then I decided to put new music on my Mp3 player. That did not go well. I need to reinstall the drivers on the player but I can't find the CD it came with. It's here but I don't know where and we don't have lightbulbs in the rooms that I need to search in. (Also the boy's fault as he took the bulbs out for something else a month ago and has yet to replace them. It's his thing and I'm not doing his work for him. ) So fun fun fun.
And then I passed out around 8 because we had gone to bed at 5am and the cats did their wake up call around 8 or so. They waited a bit longer than usual. Sigh.

Cold hands and Cold Feet

2006-11-03T13:55:00.000-08:00

Daylight savings has ended and I'm still adjusting to it. I'm still having issues staying asleep so this sun coming up at an earlier time thing is not helping me. Making the room darker won't really work, as the cats have ways of letting in the light with their affection for sitting on the windowsill. Plus they, well Gabby mostly, start whining once they determine it's time to be fed. I've just given up. With the light change also comes cooler weather. Of course this hasn't affected the temperature inside the house as the Boy likes it on COLD. Me, I hate it. We have thermostat wars all winter long. He says I can put clothes on. I agree but I say that I shouldn't be freezing inside my own home. I also state that I shouldn't have to wear freaking gloves in my own house. I have this same problem at work too. Can't win either way. You see, I have Reynaud's phenomenon. It's a circulatory disease that basically means that when it's cold outside (and in), the arteries and veins in my hands and feet constrict making it difficult for blood to flow to my digits. This results in pain and numbness in my hands and feet. They turn a blueish tinge first and then turn white, which is almost frostbite. This happens at 65 degrees. Easily. I can't even hold a cold drink in my hands without it hurting after about 15-20 seconds. I always keep a coozie with me now for this purpose or I use a napkin, wrapped around the drink. Rummaging around the fridge and freezer is hard. I usually have something like a towel for grabbing things. I mean, it hurts. I remember one time, when I first started issues with my hands, I had to drive my boyfriend home. It was about 40 outside and my hands just went nuts. I had gloves on but it didn't matter. My hands hurt so bad I could barely move them. All I could do was clutch the wheel. I was crying because it hurt so bad. Warming up was even worse. It took me a while for me to be able to move my hands. When the blood starts flowing it starts to hurt too. So for me COLD=PAIN. It really stinks. There's no cure. It's a tissue thing, which means I should see a rheumatologist eventually. It's also potentially linked to Lupus as about 25% of those with Reynaud's get Lupus, for which there is also no cure. But I also think it's hereditary, as my mom has it. I know of 3 other people who have this problem. And we all have different symptoms. One of them, S, her hands just turn purple. They've never really been a normal color. She isn't as sensitive to cold but her hands are just funky. She has the link to Lupus as it runs in her family. Another girl just has cold hands. Another one actually has Lupus. Me, I lose feeling. My hands and feet also go numb when I cross my legs for too long, sit cross-legged, sit with my head on my hands, lean on my arm, stuff like that. I mean my arm goes completely numb, to sleep as most people would say. It really stinks but you get used to it. It really sucks that there's not much you can do about it. There's little medication out there and it helps about 3% of the people who have it. (I'm not one of them.) Exercise helps but trust me, it doesn't do as much as I'd like. The best solution is to keep your hands and feet warm. The feet are easy. It's the hands I have issues with. I have really good gloves, but I can't wear them all the time and they don't always work as well when it's colder. Mittens are the best but have you ever driven or tried doing lots of stuff with mittens? Not much mobility in the hands. I'd wear gloves to work, but even the thin ones inhibit typing and stuff. People have suggested I wear the ones with no fingertips, but that just means that my fingertips go white and numb. It's a no win situation. I've learned to sit on my hands when I need to and even stick my hands under my armpits to warm them up. I know it's weird and all Mary Katherine Superstah and all but it's one of the warmest places on your body and it works. I'm also rather good at one-handed typing now. My gloves are already out for the season. It's hard. I feel so weird wearing just a long sleeve shirt and gloves but I have to. I carry them everywhere now. That's about the only thing I can do to make my hands and feet feel better: keep them warm.

Halloween

2006-11-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

So Halloween is over and the Christmas things are out. Then again, the Christmas stuff has been out since sometime in September, and in some stores I think August. That’s just scary. (I was wandering around Target looking for simple Halloween decorations that don’t seem to exist anymore and boom! It was Christmas all of a sudden. Ugh.)
We didn’t decorate for Halloween this year but we plan to go all out next year. We want to be one of “those” houses, ones that people want to come to. We love Trick-or-Treaters. We couldn’t wait for them to come around this year. And they didn’t disappoint. I even had to send the boys (Boy’s brother was here) on an emergency run as we started to run low an hour into it. It was great. The kids (and parents) just showed up in mobs and most were polite and did the trick or treat thing. Lots of cute little ones and some creative costumes. We ran out of candy at about 8pm. I hated having to turn off the porch light but we weren’t the only ones. The other houses on the street were slowly going dark one by one.
I can’t wait for next year. Kids! And Candy! It’s seriously one of our favorite holidays. Next time we’ll be prepared with twice as much candy and if there’s any left over? Darn, guess we’ll have to eat it. Terrible.
I do have more pictures of the kitties. Some are already uploaded to my yahoo photos site. I’m switching to flickr eventually, but like most things, I just haven’t gotten to it yet. Gabby is a little diva/attention whore so it’s hard to capture her when she’s sleeping. She wakes up so quickly. Punk is much lazier and is now a total lounger.

2006-11-01T16:18:00.000-08:00

Not a very interesting post today. Too much to do, not enough time. Halloween was fun. Lots of trick or treaters- so many that we had to make an emergency run for more candy and we STILL ran out. Not bad that.
Kitties are still crazy- the spent the night on the stairs, freaked out. All the kids saw them and kept commenting but the girls wouldn't go anywhere near all the strangers. Rather funny.
Anyway, more later.

Watching my friends parent

2006-10-30T10:40:00.000-08:00

Watching my friends deal with their toddler has helped the boy and I realize that we are so on the same page when it comes to how we are going to raise our kids, if we ever have any. I can’t judge my friends for what they are doing, as they are doing what they feel is best for them, but it’s not the way I would want to do it. After a visit with them, or a day after work as the boy works with both parents, we both end up talking about what we would do different.
I love my friends and I love their kid, I just don’t agree with what they are doing. A lot of times it seems that they are just creating more problems and stress on themselves, which they end up taking out on other things. Of course we could never tell them that they are wrong, or rather that we feel they are wrong, because unless they are physically hurting or emotionally abusing the kid, you just can’t. Everyone parents differently. Plus he’s a happy, highly energetic little boy. Their style just isn’t ours. And that’s ok. It’s been good for us because we can talk about what we would do differently and it’s helped us see that we’re completely on the same page.
Their parenting style is attachment parenting. This means that the kid sleeps in their bed, is pretty much in mom’s arms (or dad when he’s home), breast fed for a while (which I agree with), and picked up whenever he cries, no matter the reason. They don’t want him to feel alone or unloved. And there lies our problem because they pick him up and cuddle and kiss no matter why he’s crying. He can be upset because he fell or upset because he didn’t get his way and he’ll get coddled. I just don’t see how that’s good for a kid. I was there the other day, doing my laundry as our washer was having drain issues. I was playing with the kid like I normally do- basically watching him run around and stuff. At one point in time, he was going after something he wasn’t supposed to. We all said no, you can’t have that. He got upset, started to pout and cry, and mom picked him up and soothed him, thus teaching that whenever he doesn’t get his way, he can just cry and all will be fine. That just doesn’t work for me. At all. (He’s 18 months old and understands no and all that perfectly. Plus he knows what he’s doing.) They just can’t stand to see him cry. They feel that if they let him cry, he’ll feel unloved. From a different point of view that just seems to be spoiling the kid and starting to turn him into a brat who will always get his way.
It’s frustrating to see that and knowing that you can’t say or do anything about that. Mom already gets crap from other people for the way she does things. We can’t add on to the pile, even though we agree with the others. It wouldn’t be right. So we don’t say anything to them and just talk about it afterwards.
And then there’s the abandonment issue. Mom’s sister lives with them for now, and she’s used as a babysitter for short periods of time as she lives with them. They won’t let anyone else watch the kid though, as they don’t want anyone else to have to deal with him. (Their words.) They also feel that if he’s asleep or whatever and wakes up and realizes that mom and dad aren’t there, he’ll feel abandoned and be traumatized forever and feel unloved. (Also their words. We asked about that one night when offering to baby-sit.They don’t trust anyone but themselves.) Doesn’t matter if they come back. To me, that just doesn’t seem right. It’s a little extreme, in my opinion. We’ve offered to baby-sit tons of times. He knows us well and loves playing with us. We end up watching him half the time at the restaurant or at their house but they won’t leave him and go out because they don’t want us to deal with his tantrums. It’s frustrating to see that, because they need breaks but they won’t give it to themselves because they don’t want to burden anyone else. They’re afraid to let go, even for just a little bit.
I hate feeling like I’m attacking someone for doing things differently than I would. It’s just that their style is nowhere near what ours would be. And it’s hard to deal with sometimes, especially when they complain about things that could be dealt with so differently, but they won’t because they’re afraid of messing up their kid. I know it’s hard being a parent, harder than I know at the moment. But it’s hard being a friend too and watching them.

Queens of the Castle and other things

2006-10-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

The kitties have taken over. They really do own us, and not the other way around. Gabby is the ultimate beggar, who just does not want to eat dry food. We’re trying, but she won’t eat it. We even took to putting some water/chicken broth in her dry food, microwaving it for a minute, and then refrigerating it, trying to make it like wet food. She likes that, and will eat it, but that’s as far as it goes. The kibble in her bowl stays, unless the Punk eats it. I’ve tried mixing it all up, but she eats around it. It’s not like her teeth can’t handle it- she just doesn’t want it. She likes to beg and have it spooned out as mush. (Tried spooning out the kibble- no go.) We figure one weekend we’ll just give her nothing but kibble and she’ll be so hungry she’ll have to eat. But she’ll meow us to death in the process. (I never thought it was possible until I heard this one. Sheesh. I swear she has some Siamese in her.) Plus she also runs right under our feet while we’re in the kitchen. If we’re in bed and she’s hungry, she just sticks her nose in our faces and purrs. Then whines. Then jumps and flips and tries to get us up. Punk will eventually join in a few hours later, until one of us finally gets up and gives them what they want.

Punk is the normal one, sort of, and just watches Gabby and makes sure she’s ok. She is also a beggar, but not nearly as bad as Gabby. Though when she doesn’t get her tuna, oy. We ran out this weekend and I had to go to the store yesterday for some. I was hit up as soon as I walked in the door. She just knew I had some tuna. That cat and her tuna. She’ll never leave us, unless she finds some other shmuck to feed her that. All I have to do is rattle food in her bowl and she comes running. She will stop whatever she is doing and run for the food. It’s so funny.

Gabby has started exploring more. She’s getting over her fear of heights and climbed the clothes in the closet the other day. Her only problem was figuring out how to get back down. That took a good 20 minutes and a lot of me just watching and laughing. She eventually crawled halfway down the clothes and fell. Not too graceful but it works.
She is also the lump on my side of the bed. The boy gets Pumpkin on his side, all sprawled out, taking up the bottom corner so the boy has to sleep diagonal. I get Gabby, curled up right next to me, in between my legs, or in a recent development, on top of my legs. That makes for an interesting night. She just moves with me.

Gabby hasn’t peed in the bed since I put the litter box upstairs. The boy is still against it, but it gets used, and that’s all I need. I’ve moved it to the corner now, where it’s less conspicuous.

Double vet visit this Friday for the kitties. Gabby needs her rabies, boosters, and roundworm. Punk needs the rabies. Oh it’s going to be fun with the both of them. I think I’m making the boy come with me. He’s going to be on poo duty anyway- the attempt to bring a fecal sample. Punk hates the car, Gabby falls asleep. It will be interesting. Thankfully it’s 5 minutes away. Still enough for Punk to flip the hell out.

In non-kitty news, our washer drain is clogged up. (That was a fun discovery. Nothing like wet clothes with soapy residue and water gushing everywhere.) There’s some lovely looking sludge in the pipe. No draino can be used. We called a plumber, as stoppage is covered by the blessed home warranty and he tried a bit but couldn’t unclog it. It seems that the clean out valve for the pipes in our house is in the front and our washer is in the back. So we need one of those valves installed in the back so he can go up the other way in the pipe in order to clear it all out. Makes sense but sounds like a pain and $$. But we need to do it. Urgh. We’re trying a low-tech solution tonight that he said might work, called a blow out bag, It shoots a stream of high pressure water through the pipe, so we’ll see. Might just be another mess. Who knows. I’m willing to try anything right now to do laundry. (Spent Saturday at a friend’s house doing laundry and while I know they don’t mind, I don’t want to have to do it all the time. Plus being able to do laundry when I just need to is better.) What is it with us and washer/dryer issues? I mean come on!
As to why it clogged, it seems that the connections weren’t used for a while, as we had to buy new faucets for the water hookups. So dust and dirt got into the pipe and after enough uses, everything got wet and just congealed and stuff. Ick.

The Texas book festival is this weekend. I’m still debating on whether I’m going to make it up early enough to see Barack Obama speak. He’s there at 10am but you need to go get wristbands at 8am and Friday night is the official CD release party for Cienfuegos, the awesome Cuban jazz band that plays at Cipollina every Friday. That means a late night of drinking and stuff. But I also plan to go see Amy Sedaris speak about her new book and that’s not until 2. Sadly, she’s scheduled against Frank McCourt, the only other major author I wanted to see. Oh well.