off track…

I’m having a hard time getting the oomph to write anything this week

speaking of writing… not to get off track further but saying the word ‘write’ reminded me of something funny that happened last night

it was Wednesday… on Wednesdays Sam and his brother have a standing date for dinner and to ‘jam’ (that’s a technical term for playing with your instrument)

last night Sam’s instrument (bass) was out of commission and his brother (whom I’ve yet to come up with a name for because I don’t talk about him much) forgot to bring his (guitar)

he’s a starving college student so to tell ya the truth I think sometimes he comes more for the toast than the jam, ya know?

anyway last night we were sitting around talking… he was telling us about school and having to write some paper – he talks with his hands a lot… I don’t know where he gets that from – his italian girlfriend must be rubbing off on him…

but I prefer not to think abut that!! haaaa

anyway… he’s talking away about writing, while wiggling his fingers as if typing away on a keyboard

I just laughed - when did THAT become the universal sign for WRITING??!! – what happened to the scribbling with a pen, sign?
anyway… it’s really not all that funny now - but it was, to me, last night!!
hey cut me some slack – by that time of night my mind is usually mush haaaa

soooo Christmas is right around the corner now huh? I’m REALLY not prepared!!

just to make it a little more… interesting - between now and then I have my mother’s birthday and Sam’s birthday

I think I know what I’m giving my mother – I’d LIKE to give her a swift kick in the ass - but instead, she asked for that new Dr. Oz book I think I mentioned a few posts back – so at least I have one gift figured out - as for Sam... I'm completely clueless!!

as usual funds are limited - Sam and I have decided not to get eachother Christmas gifts this year (so at least that is one less thing to think about) instead we’re going to take the money we would have spent on gifts, and build a loft over our living room

our house is small and since it wasn’t originally meant to be LIVED in, it’s not the best layout for a home… there isn’t a single bit of storage in the whole place – which means we have boxes and rubbermaid totes lined up everywhere – I have to move the weed whacker to get out a new roll of paper towels – all my holiday stuff is in my mother’s moldy attic under her leaky roof

and I just want a place to keep my stuff where it’s convenient for us and protected from mold, water damage and mice – and I’m sure Sam would love to not have to go rummaging through my mother’s house looking for… well ANYTHING – he’d rather never go into my mother’s house for any reason haaaa

wait – have I mentioned all of this before?? my brain is really not being very cooperative today hehehe I think I'm still screwed up from the holiday - I keep thinking it's a day earlier than it really is and my brain just feels really fuzzy

anyway - moving on… I’m trying to think of something good to get my niece for Christmas (that hopefully won’t cost an arm and a leg to ship to Arizona) I’m really at a loss… I’ve seen so many neat toys and stuff but nothing is really jumping out at me

well ONE THING has jumped out at me… I’ve been wanting to get it for her since I saw it at target last year… but I can’t afford it :(

that is something I KNOW she would just LOVE!! I'd give up my loft and the next two years christmas presents just to see the look on her face if she woke up on christmas morning to find that under the tree!!

of course I'm not there to see anything - which kinda makes it that much more important - I mean if I want her to remember me, whatever I give her has to REALLY stand out haaaa

anyway... a $250 animatronic pony isn't anywhere near the realm of possibilities - even if it is the super coolest thing any little girl would crap her pants over hehehe

so I'll have to come up with something else... any ideas?

oh well I'm just rambling - but it's getting kinda late and I wanna get some stuff done around here so I can start focusing better

hopefully tomorrow or next week my brain will be reset and back on track hehehe

number two...

so as I said the other day - we had actual thanksgiving dinner over at my aunts house on thursday...

going to someone else's house for thanksgiving is nice... I mean you don't have to do much cooking or cleaning up - ya can't complain about that!!
but it sucks because you don't have the reward (the reward being mountains of left overs!!) I wanted left overs, man!! what good is all that food if you don’t have any for the next day (or for several days thereafter!!) hehehe

so we had our own big dinner yesterday (thanksgiving number two)

this was the menu:

stuff to nosh on while I slaved away in the kitchen

roasted red pepper dip
mini quesadillas
cheese & crackers

apple cranberry punch

for the actual meal we had:

turkey – 14 pounds
stuffing
gravy, of course
mashed potatoes
candied sweet potatoes
carrot soufflé (even my father who doesn’t eat ANY vegetation, LOVES this)
corn pudding
cranberries
sautéed brussels sprouts
dinner rolls

and for dessert Sam requested pumpkin pie and this chocolate bundt cake that he loves

of course we had to have company in order to have an excuse to make all that food – we invited the Bickersons and at the last minute, my father

originally the plan was to have Sam’s family too, but they couldn’t make it – so when my father called me out of the blue on Thursday, I invited him

this was my first time doing the whole meal entirely by myself and it went surprisingly well

the only two little screw ups were – I doubled the corn pudding recipe and accidentally didn’t double one of the ingredients (flour) which meant it didn’t set up quite as well as it should have :(

AND – while I was letting the turkey rest I removed the stuffing to a metal bowl and set it out of my way (on the stove) – where apparently I had left the burner on (still trying to figure out WHY that burner was on) anyway… the stuffing started to burn on the very bottom… so there was a bit of a smoky flavor throughout… considering that (to me) the turkey is really just a vehicle for the STUFFING, I was a little tweaked about that… but I can barely notice it now so I’m getting over it hehehe

other than that, everything went very well – I made everything but the dinner rolls from scratch with the exception of ONE shortcut… to save time (and because I hate doing it) I let my mother make the crust for the pumpkin pie – I think she used dough she had made a while ago and froze because it was VERY tough… almost inedible!!

I don’t eat pumpkin pie but that was Sam’s opinion of it anyway hehehe – so I’ve promised to make him a new pie some time soon

oh and just as we were serving dessert, the Bickersons 9 year old son SNEEZED all over the cake!!

I think Sam was going to cry… seriously!!

although I’m guessing he’s gotten over it now since he just stopped by on his way past the house to pick up a slice (for BREAKFAST) - oh yeah I take care of my man alright!! like a woman waiting to cash in a life insurance policy!! haaaa

anyway - I was VERY organized about the food prep – I made my stuffing, cranberries and punch earlier in the week (I froze the stuffing and took it out Saturday to thaw) – made the cake, pie, boiled and assembled the sweet potatoes and trimmed the brussels sprouts on Saturday – so all I really had to do yesterday was get the turkey in the oven, put together the corn pudding, carrot soufflé (both of which are insanely quick and easy!!) and make the mashed potatoes – and of course the gravy once the turkey was done

oh and throw together the noshy stuff (also very quick and easy)

YAY for organization… I was actually able to hang out with our guests quite a bit and ALMOST enjoy my food without being TOO exhausted – although I know I’ll enjoy the leftovers WAY more :)

obviously I won’t have much to say on the ‘diet’ blog this week… haaaa

because he has a tendency to hover around the kitchen, I was a little concerned about having my father here without my sister and niece to keep him entertained – or the rest of my family for that matter… obviously he goes way back with them… in fact he was a friend of my uncle before he even met my mother… so they always have lots to talk about – but it went well… Sam kept him out of my hair and everyone had plenty to talk about and got along very well

of course at some point my mother came over and as usual had to bring up shit with my father from 31 years ago – this time it was the fact that she was recently going through some old paperwork and came across the bill from her divorce lawyer

she does this in a joking manner but still - talk about holding on to shit!! good grief

anyway… the day went very well – and by the time everyone left they were all overstuffed and sleepy... which is how it should be

Sam was such a HUGE help to me all weekend – he helped me hang up the laundry to dry and put it away the next day, he vacuumed the rugs and did dishes and helped straighten up, he went and did a last minute grocery run (which where we live actually takes a couple hours) – AND on Sunday, since I was using my mother’s oven to cook my sides while my oven was full of turkey, he ran back and forth between the two houses dealing with that stuff (I never did understand how anyone manages a meal like this with only one oven) of course ideally the second oven would be in the same house hehehe

when I design my own kitchen it will have top and bottom ovens with a separate cook top - woo hoo!!

anyway… I seriously don’t think I could have managed this weekend without Sam’s help!! he's like... my HERO!! - I wanna have like 10 thousand of his babies!! hehehe

AND we got along surprisingly well considering how badly I'm PMSing!! a lot of times when I'm feeling pressured to get stuff done I get snippy... I know, it's hard to believe, right?! haaaa

but for once I felt reasonably well prepared... so I had nothing to be snippy about
so YAY for teamwork and YAY for leftovers... and YAY for thanksgiving being OVER for another year - YAY!!

now I have time to start working on Christmas - I don't know whether to smile or curl up in a ball in the corner hehehe

turkey day...

GLAD IT'S OVER!!

THE END

GOBBLE GOBBLE...

I saw that this morning and just had to share it... I think that pretty much says it all haaaa

just like christmas has become all about the gifts, thanksgiving is pretty much all about FOOD... I try to express gratitude for what I have, all year long and this is just kind of an excuse to celebrate all that gratitude with food... and relatives of course - can't forget the relatives... no matter how hard you try!!

don't get me wrong... I'm very grateful to have a loving, if not totally insane, family - I have lots of warm happy memories of thanksgivings as I grew up - which is why I kinda have my heart set on spending holidays with my crazy family every year - even though it just ain't the same now that I'm all growed up - it especially won't be the same this year, without my sister... and of course my niece - I haven't spent many holidays without my sister and well obviously kids always make holidays more fun

blah! - so tomorrow is thanksgiving… ALREADY!! I’m not quite ready for the whirlwind of the next month – nope not ready at all

anyway - this year we’re having TWO thanksgivings… well I am anyway – not sure about Sam yet (he may spend actual thanksgiving day out hunting) although as much as I know he'd like to get loads of deer for us and this hunting season has gotten off to a slow start, due to situations beyond his control... and I know he can't stand most of my family... I'd really like it if he'd come to dinner - if he doesn't, it's just gonna be me and (aside from my grandpa) a bunch of people I normally try to avoid

my aunt down the road is having everyone over tomorrow – my mother and I are on hors d'œuvre and dessert duty so we’re each making a couple of each

she’s making a bunch of stuff that makes me want to puke (ham rolls, some kind of bruschetta, and some other cold concoction with cheese and red peppers or something like that)

BARF-O-RAMA

I’m taking the warm route and making lazy spanakopita (that’s spanakopita in phyllo cups instead of folding them up in the traditional little triangle packets using sheets of phyllo dough), pigs in a blanket and possibly this yummy kind of middle eastern roasted red pepper dip that you serve with toasted pita chips - hey it’s a multi cultural event!! I’m not sure what culture pigs in a blanket represent… must be an American thing – but since I’m not greek or middle eastern I guess it doesn’t really matter… all I know is I have a wicked hot dog craving lately hehehe

for dessert I’m making pecan pie squares – or at least they would be PECAN pie squares if I could find any pecans in the stores – instead I’m doing them with toasted walnuts… I’m sure they’ll still be good

the key is that the recipe makes 8 dozen and they hold up FOREVER!! so I’ll bring half tomorrow and still have half (ha ha) left for Sunday when we have our own little thanksgiving…

we WERE supposed to be having Sam’s whole family over, but since his mother has to work, we're just having our friends the Bickersons and their kid

Sam plans to quickly put an end to any arguing the two of them try to do – so that should be interesting!!

this is the first time I’m cooking the entire meal by myself – not that it’s really much different from any time I roast a chicken, just a little larger I guess… and I'm making more sides - that and cranberries, I don't usually make cranberries to have with any old roasted bird… although I don’t know why!! I do love me some cranberries... and they're certainly easy enough!!

I was thinking of doing them with a little orange juice and orange zest – we’ll see

of course I’m due for my period any minute now which means I’m bloated and irritable and just feeling generally crappy – but I have a well planned list of the order my week needs to go in, in order to pull this off in a stress free (ha ha) way

I’m not off to a great start as yesterday I was supposed to make my stuffing, cranberries and punch… but all I managed to do was make the punch

as it turned out I spent most of the day Monday grocery shopping with my mother and recovering from said shopping, which means I didn’t get a chance to take care of my usual Monday housework – so basically I’m a day behind

if I don’t haul ass today it looks like I won’t have Sunday’s dinner ready until Monday or Tuesday hehehe

so anyway this is what I’m hoping to get made for Sunday

turkey obviously
stuffing (can’t have turkey without stuffing)
gravy – duh!
sweet potatoes
mashed potatoes (more for everyone else… I’m not much of a mashed potato person when there’s all that other stuff to be eaten!!)
corn pudding
carrot soufflé
roasted brussels sprouts
some kind of dinner rolls
pumpkin pie (for Sam… YUCK!) - that's yuck for the pie, NOT Sam!! hehehe
pecan pie squares
chocolate cake

plus I’ll probably throw together some kind of hors d'œuvrey type stuff to nosh on while we wait… well while THEY wait… I’ll be too busy making gravy and whatnot hehehe

for me it’s all about the leftovers… I’m WAY too tired on the actual day to enjoy the meal, what with all that cooking and cleaning up after myself – so I will spend the whole next week chowing down on leftovers

which is good… because after all that, we won’t have money to buy groceries next week! haaaa

oh well.. I just wanted to pop in and wish you all (all of you who celebrate anyway) a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!



GOBBLE GOBBLE

queen of the losers...

no time today so I’m posting this meme which I stole from NSM

SUPPOSEDLY if you’ve seen over 89 movies, you have no life. mark the ones you’ve seen. there are 266 movies on this list. - if you want to play along all you have to do is copy this list. then, put Xs next to the movies you’ve seen, add them up, and share your number. Have fun!

apparently I’m the queen of the losers, because I’ve seen 107 of them (that I remember) several of which I own and have seen multiple times

P.S. I counted - there are more like 215 movies on the list NOT 266!!

ok on with the list

X = movies I’ve seen X = ones I own – I put a * next to the ones I’ve seen multiple times

(X*) Rocky Horror Picture Show – bought this movie the moment it came out on tape and watch it at least once a year ever since!!
(X*) Grease – LOVE the movie – could do without Travolta
(X*) Pirates of the Caribbean – I’ve seen the whole movie several times but never all in one sitting
() Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
() Boondock Saints
(X) Fight Club
(X) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X*) Blazing Saddles
() Universal Soldier
() Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(X) Along Came Polly
() Deep Impact
(X*) KingPin – one of the funniest movies ever made
(X*) Never Been Kissed
(X*) Meet The Parents
(X*) Meet the Fockers
() Eight Crazy Nights
(X*) Joe Dirt – I LOVE JOE DIRT!!
() KING KONG
() A Cinderella Story
() The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
() Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
(X) Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
(X*) Halloween
(X*) The Ring
(X) The Ring 2
() Surviving X-MAS
() Flubber
(X) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X) Practical Magic
() Chicago
() Ghost Ship
(X) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
(X) Secret Window
() I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards
() The Whole Ten Yards
(X) The Day After Tomorrow
(X*) Child’s Play
(see comment) Seed of Chucky – I just haven’t had a chance to see this one yet
(X) Bride of Chucky
(X*) Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
(X) Gothika
(X*) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X*) Sixteen Candles – I’m a girl who grew up in the 80’s of course I’ve seen this
() Remember the Titans
() Coach Carter
(X) The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
() The Mask
() Son Of The Mask
() Bad Boys
() Bad Boys 2
(X) Joy Ride
() Lucky Number Slevin
() Ocean’s Eleven
() Ocean’s Twelve
() Bourne Identity
() Bourne Supremecy
() Lone Star
() Bedazzled
() Predator I
() Predator II
() The Fog
() Ice Age
() Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
() Independence Day
(X) Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
(X) Darkness Falls
(X) Christine
(X*) ET
(X*) Children of the Corn
() My Bosses Daughter
() Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds – seen both versions
() Rush Hour
() Rush Hour 2
() Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
() She’s All That
() Calendar Girls
() Sideways
() Mars Attacks
() Event Horizon
() Ever After
(X*) Wizard of Oz
(X*) Forrest Gump
() Big Trouble in Little China
() The Terminator
() The Terminator 2
() The Terminator 3
(X) X-Men
() X2
() X-3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
() Sky High
(X) Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
() Catch Me If You Can
() The Little Mermaid – I had nearly killed myself with booze one night and spent the whole night puking to the sound of this movie in the background – ever since, hearing anything involving the little mermaid makes me sick to my stomach!!
(X*) Freaky Friday – I’ve seen the original several times, started watching the remake and had to turn it off
() Reign of Fire
(X*) The Skulls – seen it at least 3 times and would totally get it in DVD
(X*) Cruel Intentions – LOVE this movie – I was actually thinking of watching it again today
() Cruel Intentions 2
(X) The Hot Chick – was NOT impressed
(X) Shrek – I FINALLY saw this a couple months ago – it was cute but I don’t think it’s really appropriate for children
() Shrek 2
() Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street
(X) Old School
() The Notebook
(X) K-Pax – LOVE Kevin Spacey but what the hell was this???
() Krippendorf’s Tribe
() A Walk to Remember
(X) Ice Castles – I’m sure I saw this in the 80’s – I know I read the book *BARF-O-RAMA*
(X) Boogeyman
(X) The 40-year-old-virgin – saw this the same night as we saw wedding crashers – I’m sure it was funny but after seeing wedding crashers nothing was going to compare!!
(X*) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring – I also have the animated ‘hobbit’ movies
(X*) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(X*) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
() Baseketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
(X*) House of 1000 Corpses – LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie
(X*) Devil’s Rejects – one of the few sequels that’s actually better than the original… this movie is AWESOME!!!
(X*) Elf – if you don’t love this movie… well then you’re a cotton headed ninny muggings!!
(X*) Highlander – not because I wanted to
(X) Mothman Prophecies
(X) American History X – would LOVE to get this on DVD
() Three
() The Jacket
() Kung Fu Hustle
() Shaolin Soccer
() Night Watch
() Monsters Inc.
(X*) Titanic – I’ve seen this too many times
(X*) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
() Willard
() High Tension
() Club Dread
() Hulk
(X) Dawn Of the Dead – seen both versions
() Hook
(X) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(X) 28 days later
() Orgazmo
(X) Phantasm
() Waterworld
() Kill Bill vol 1
() Kill Bill vol 2
() Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
(X) The Hills Have Eyes – I’ve seen both and own the original
(see comment) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman – can’t find this movie anywhere for a decent price or I would own it even though I’ve never seen it
(X*) The Last House on the Left
(X*) Re-Animator
(X) Army of Darkness
(X*) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X*) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X*) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X*) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope -.
(X*) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back -
(X*) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi –
(X) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
(X) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
(X*) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix Reloaded
(X) The Matrix Revolutions
() Animatrix
(X*) Evil Dead
(X) Evil Dead 2
(X) Team America: World Police
(X) Red Dragon
(X*) Silence of the Lambs
(X) Hannibal
() Battle Royale
() Battle Royale 2
() Brazil
() Contact
(X) Cube – this is actually a VERY good movie!! I’ve been wanting to see cube 2 for years but have never gotten around to it :(
(X) Dr. Strangelove
() Enlightenment Guaranteed
(X) Four Rooms
(X) Memento
(X) Pi – one of Sam’s favorite movies
(X) Requiem for a Dream – Jared Leto… YUM!
(X) Pulp Fiction
(X) Reservoir Dogs – I think I’ve seen this but I don’t really remember
() Run Lola Run
() Russian Ark
() Serenity
(X) Sin City
(X) Snatch
() Spider
(X*) The Sixth Sense
(X*) The Village
() Waking Life
() Zatoichi
() Ikiru
() The Seven Samurai
(X) Brick
() Akira

anonymity...

I was talking to Sam last night, double checking that he didn't mind me posting his picture here... and he reminded me that I should feel free to vent here... and that the more I expose the less free I might feel - he's right, of course

I mean it’s possible that even without full face pics on here that the people who know us could THINK it’s me writing this… they might THINK it, but they couldn’t be SURE – the word coincidence exists for a reason, right? hehehe

I think part of my motivation for throwing in little bits of stuff that reveals our secret identities is that I’m trying to be a better person and anonymity has made me feel too free to kinda slam the people closest to me during my rantings - I don’t like that - I don't MEAN to slam them, but I know me - sometimes the things I say come out more offensive than I intend

I try to live by the rule of never saying anything about anyone that I wouldn’t want them to hear me say – to know me you'd never think that, but it's true - that is how I TRY to live - I heard that saying somewhere once and it really struck me – because I was raised around people who have a tendency to be VERY critical of everyone they see… as a result I find myself doing some of the same things and I HATE IT!! I like to think I don’t do it to the same degree but I could be wrong

although thankfully I've never stuck my head out a car window and asked a chubby person I saw jogging, if they were running home to get the oreos (like someone related to me once did) HA!

anyway… even though I’m just venting about something an individual did, it bothers me to say some of the things I say – so in a way I think I’ve been trying to be accountable – like if it’s obvious to people who know me that this is MY blog I’ll be less likely to say things I wouldn’t want them to read (about THEM, not about me)

I really don’t have that much of an issue with people knowing the things I say about me here (things that most people try to hide) – if they don’t already have an inkling as to the way things roll around here then they’re too clueless to worry about anyway hehehe

but the thing is – I’ve had this blog for going on 3 years now (holy crap! can you believe that?!) and I have NO clue at this point what is floating around on here – so I kinda feel like it’s in my best interest and the best interest of anyone I may have vented about over the years (considering that I’m sure I’ve given up some pretty personal junk about other people in the process of venting) to keep this place as anonymous as possible

so that’s that… I’m glad you guys have all made me feel comfortable enough to start being less anonymous… but now, for whatever reason I feel like going back into the shadows

tomorrow I may feel like deleting THIS post and replace it with our wedding pictures haaa who the hell knows hehehe

whoa - that turned out to be WAY more than I planned to say on that matter - now there hardly seems like any room to say anything else today =(

so I guess I’ll leave you with this very cool TOTALLY AWESOME VIDEO!! (really I swear this time it IS cool!!) haha

for Sam because I know he digs this geeky stuff hehehe

victory...

it’s 6:53am NOVEMBER 15th and I’m hearing THUNDER
I don’t know what it’s like where you are…. but here in kittyville – it is NOT normal to hear thunder in November!!

it’s also raining – AGAIN!!

it rains A LOT here these days… it’s been this way for about the last 4 years or so – not that I’m complaining… rainy days are one of my favorite things in life

although, I usually get so excited by the prospect of a rainy day that I somehow manage to waste most of it in my efforts to get the most out of it – I don’t know how that works, but it does!!

anyway… like I said, we have so many rainy days anymore I don’t know why I should care… if I lose track of time, there is sure to be another rainy day soon enough *knock on wood* hehehe

Zucchini was on sale the other day so I bought some, planning to make zucchini parmigiana – as usual I was putting it off because as much as I love to EAT zucchini parmigiana I can’t stand making it!! it’s way too much work and it tends to piss me off… that was until I learned the best cooking trick I’ve learned in a LONG time – the trick of how to keep the stupid breading from falling off!!

Usually when I make things that require breading I make a huge mess and in the end no matter what I do, 95% of the stupid breading falls off – so not only do I lose the breading… but it winds up left in the oil to burn which is obviously NOT a good thing!!

but the other day I was watching Tyler Florence (who for some reason, I NEVER watch) he was making ‘chicken parmesan’ (I suppose that spelling is ok for a guy named Tyler) anyway… he said the trick to keeping the breading on is to flour it BEFORE you dip it in the egg and milk… THEN do the breadcrumbs!!

the next day I saw someone else do the same thing… as if it were some well known thing – I’ve been cooking and watching cooking shows for YEARS and this idea is totally new to me – DUH!!

so anyway – I had all that zucchini and now I was eager to test out this new trick…

guess what – IT WORKS!! it seriously looked like it had been done in a factory or by Lidia or something – if I had been thinking, I would have taken a picture of it!!

so last night Sam and I feasted on the most yummiest zucchini parmigiana



which I’m actually eating again right now, cold, for breakfast haaaa

YUMMY!!

**the comments won't make any sense now on account of I deleted the rest of this post for anonymity purposes... oh well

strays...

you hear people ‘joking’ all the time about how some beloved pet was ‘sent to live on a farm’ so they could run and play and catch mice or whatever parents think will make their kid feel better about the fact that their pet is gone
for some reason they think they need to lie… they're probably lying just as much to themselves as their kids… they need to do something to soothe their conscience!! granted SOME of these animals may have been put to sleep or gotten a new home for whatever reason - but the truth is A LOT of the times these kittens or puppies either just grew up and were no longer cute OR summer is over and these people either aren't allowed or just can't be bothered to have a dog or cat in their apartment in the city!!

so they leave them on the side of the road somewhere, figuring someone will take them in or they’ll find a farm somewhere, where they assume people won’t mind having another animal running around keeping strangers, predators or rats away

having a deli for years people would dump cats on us almost every fall – I guess they’d see a dumpster and think at least the animal won’t starve – or maybe they assumed being a food business we’d appreciate having someone outside keeping any mice from coming in – who knows what these idiots think!!

but you can tell they’re not wild cats, born outside, they look too clean and healthy for that… initially anyway – the ones that survive eventually take on that gruff pitiful ‘alley cat’ look

in the past we have taken a few of them in... one was the sweetest little fluff ball… he came to use when I was a teenager he found his way into my mother’s house through the cat door – first thing he did was go for our cat’s food bowl – then he curled up in the living room and took a nap… just like he owned the place

we named him Owen Z. Quackenbush – but we usually called him Nermel (the worlds cutest kitten) unfortunately Nermal’s life was cut short – he was hit by a car one morning, weaving in and out of my feet while I was waiting for the school bus

another was Hell Cat – Sam’s sister found her and her sister in a closed up box on the side of the road!! can you believe such a thing??? she was only 11 and not allowed to keep her, so I brought her home - she was an adorable little calico puff ball (at first)

she turned out to be a complete mental nut job who would scratch anyone who went near her – for years I had scars and scratches all over my arms from trying to get snuggly with her

she had one love in life which she spent years pursuing and it eventually was the death of her… every day she would go back and forth across the road, up over the rock ledge to what must have been the largest chipmunk population EVER!!

she would bring home at least 3 chipmunks every day and let them lose in the house!! sometimes she’d kill them (I assume by accident) usually they were alive

at one point she let one loose in my bedroom and I couldn’t get rid of it for MONTHS!!! I tried the humane approach at first, have a heart traps and whatnot, then I tried quicker more deadly methods

eventually either he died from natural causes or he FINALLY ate the poison I had set out for him for weeks – I came home one day to find him face up on the floor, dead! (I was actually sad to see him gone)

before all was said and done though, he had chewed the screens out of both windows, chewed the fur off and removed the stuffing from half my stuffed animals and had gotten so friendly with us that he would practically beg at our feet when we ate our dinner!!

it actually wasn’t long after the chipmunk died that Hell Cat died too… hit by a car doing what she loved best – chipmunk hunting!!

then there was Jethro, who we found by a farm around the corner… he was in the road with 3 or 4 other kittens – they didn’t belong to anyone near there so we took the one we could catch and brought him home – he was a very sweet little tabby… the first pet Sam and I had together

one night while he was still in that attack anything that moves phase – we were ummm participating in ADULT activities and he wouldn’t leave us alone – so we kicked him out of the bedroom – the next morning we found him and his guts strewn 8 feet down the road – obviously hit repeatedly throughout the night

I never felt so bad in my whole life – I swore I would never have another warm blooded pet as long as I lived – I seriously cried for weeks after he died!! It was TERRIBLE!! I’ll never get the image of us finding him, realizing WHAT we were seeing and that we hadn’t seen Jethro all morning - and then Sam shoveling up what was left of him, out of my head!! It was one of the worst mornings of my life!!

these three cats are why my current cat isn’t allowed outside!! no way am I letting her get hit by a car!!

anyway… boy I do get sidetracked easily!! - none of this was really the point of this post… this post is about abandoned animals

specifically the two ADORABLE kittens someone must have dumped near here about a month ago – it has been years since I’ve seen any kittens dumped here – not being a store anymore I guess people found other places to leave the pets they were done with - but I think some of these people see a house with a cat in the window and HOPE that those people will take theirs in when they see the poor things out in the cold (at least this is what I tell myself... that way these people seem to at least have SOME concern and hope for the animal)

anyway - I first noticed these two when I was going out to burn garbage – as I stepped out our back door I saw a kitten with white feet take off around the fence toward my mother’s house

I dropped the bag of paper in the can, lit it up and went to sit on the picnic table bench (all of which took about 45 seconds) when I saw him again under my bedroom window (in the exact opposite direction I had seen him take off in) I didn’t get a good look but it was about the same size and was also tabby-ish – it seemed impossible that he could have gotten over there that quickly but rather than assume there were two of them I figured he must have some sort of super powers hehehe

until the day I saw him again only this time he didn’t have white feet – well a cat might have super powers but there’s no way he changed his markings like that – there MUST be two of them!!

sure enough there are… I’ve seen them together a few times now – they look to be a few months old – no more than 6 months… they’re not full grown

they’re very clean and healthy looking but skittish – they were raised around people but probably not given much attention or love =(

it takes all I have not to feed them – I don’t because I know they’ll hang around and upset my baby (who isn’t fully vaccinated, because I’m a BAD kitty mama!!) I worry that she’ll get out and tangle with them – and I have no idea where they’ve been or what they might have… I also worry that they’ll eventually try to get in the house

yesterday morning Sam and I were looking out the kitchen window and the two of them were running back and forth frolicking in the leaves, climbing trees and having big fun hunting for their breakfast... this is the first time I've seen them look comfortable, like they belong here

Sam hadn't ever caught more than a brief glimpse of them before... but seeing them out there playing in the cold made him want to build them a warm place to spend the winter - but he worries too about our cat getting out or them getting in - we've had some bad experiences!!

I only mentioned the lovey dovey strays we took in… there have a been a couple over the years that were NOT lovey dovey!! one we actually had to trap have put to sleep because it kept attacking us!! and another was such a pest, it wouldn’t let you walk outside without trying to trip you by weaving in and out of your feet and nipping at your ankles – to the point where we were almost afraid to go out of the house!! I wouldn’t go across the yard without a stick… not that I would hit him but I would swing it around, trying to keep him away from me!!

we’re not exactly wealthy people here… we can barely afford the pets we chose to have – there’s just no way we can afford to feed these guys, let alone take them to the vet and get them vaccinated and fixed – and the SPCA is always too full to take anyone that isn’t in an emergency situation… like the crazy cat lady’s house was raided by animal control or something like that

anyway – I don’t know what my point is… just to vent I guess

it just pisses me off that these people get kittens and then when they get tired of them or need to get rid of them for whatever reason they choose to just dump them somewhere instead of doing the responsible thing (whatever that may be) I reckon it’s NOT getting kittens in the fucking first place!!!

where are the cutesy little LOLpeeplz images of stupid humans saying cute things like:

“I R a pet abandoning TWAT if u c me plz take me far from home n leve me 2 dai” ???

**update** Brian was nice enough to make me this lovely 'LOLpeep' (yes I just made that up myself) haaaa

now this post is complete hehehe

sooooooo...

I had this whole long post ready to go, and then I realized I’d be better off posting it HERE
so that is what I did… feel free to go there and read it… or stay here and watch this weeks TOTALLY AWESOME VIDEO!!

or better yet - do both!!

monkey wrench...

shortly after I posted my very fascinating to-do list the other day, Sam called to give me the wonderful news that some belt went on our truck... he managed to make it to work and was hoping to fix it on his lunch break... I wasn't overly worried but I was kinda concerned that it wouldn't be as easy as he thought and he might end up needing to be picked up... and if he didn't tell me early enough my mother would probably be half in the bag when he called ~ monkey wrench number one keeping me from staying focused on my chores

a couple hours went by and I was starting to make some decent progress on my to-do list when monkey wrench number two got thrown in... AC (ass crack) called and asked if I wanted some company…

ummm… if it means I don’t have to clean out the fridge this afternoon, SURE!

shortly after he got here Sam called to have me make sure my mother would be around in case he needed a ride home - but thankfully AC being here meant that my mother's services weren't needed

even though he wasn't here long before leaving to help Sam, my momentum was lost, so the fridge never did get done – but a bunch of other stuff did… some that wasn’t even on the list, so I was satisfied hehehe

anyway… I doubled up dinner while they drove all over the countryside on an unsuccessful search for the part needed to fix the truck (some sort of pulley)

since the truck wasn't drivable AC (who is in between jobs at the moment) said he would bring Sam to work in the morning and then go out in search of the part

because he lives close to an hour away from us, I assumed he'd be spending the night... so I made sure to make our bedroom look presentable so he could crash in there - but rather than spend the night here and keep us up all night (since he's a night owl) he drove home and then dragged his ass out of bed in time to get here by 6:15 to get Sam to work on time

whenever anyone asks why on earth Sam would be willing to take two weekends in a row out of his life to help someone move to a new apartment only to move him back to his old one a week later... this is why!! when you're blessed with friends like this you would walk to the ends of the earth for them!! THAT is what TRUE friends are... and THAT is why I get so tweaked when people who barely know me think they are my friend... but I suppose that is a whole 'nother post in itself huh?

he actually got him there a little early and they had time to go to an auto parts store near his job and get the part!! so the poor guy didn’t wind up having to search through 3 counties (like he planned) he was able to go right home and go to sleep – YAY!!

Sam got out of work a little early and got the car fixed and everyone lived happily ever after!!

The End




oh wait I forgot to tell you the best part!!

on Monday, after they finally got home from their unsuccessful search for the part, AC stayed for dinner and talked me into playing a game of Monopoly - he didn’t exactly have to twist my arm… usually NOBODY is willing play monopoly with me :(
actually he’s about the only one… we used to play more often but him working nights and us, well… sleeping nights, has kinda put a crimp in our game playing :(

it’s actually been a couple years since we’ve gotten to play anything together I think the last time was a game of scrabble where he wound up with THIS picture worthy set of tiles - and since that is our old apartment I guess it had to be at least 4 years ago!!

anyway - while we were playing I told him about how I posted that picture of his ass crack and how he shall henceforth be known as ASS CRACK to everyone who reads my blog – he didn’t have a problem with the picture but sure didn’t seem thrilled by his new nickname – hence the new, less offensive abbreviation (someone willing to go that far out of their way to help a friend deserves a better name than ASS CRACK... he told me to just use his real name... and I would but I don't want anyone tracking me down by googling him) hehehe

anyway... he also gave me permission to post these two pictures, taken during our game

so here he is toward the beginning… when things were looking good for him… he had houses all over the orange properties and all I had going for me was 3 railroads and the stupid utilities



and here he is about an hour and a half later after I totally KICKED HIS ASS!!



huh? what's that? where are your puny little green houses now sucker? hehehe (I am so NOT a good winner)

FYI - if you are playing monopoly and you own Baltic Ave. and your opponent owns both utilities and Mediterranean... do NOT accept a trade of their two utilities for your Baltic - you CAN'T put hotels on a stupid utility!!

so much time and so little to do...

strike that... reverse it!!

it's monday, which means I have lots to do around the house... this place is always a mess on Mondays (I'm sure I've mentioned that before) I get lazy on the weekends when Sam is home... I just want to hang out and enjoy the time with him, so I neglect other things - like doing dishes, straightening up and just all those little things you normally do every day to keep your house from looking like a bomb went off in it

but first things first I wanted to post something here... unfortunately the later it gets in the day the more my head feels like this

clicky to biggy



so I'm having a hard time focusing

since the first two things on my mental 'to do' list are 'post blog' and 'make to do list' I guess I'll kill two birds with one stone and post my to do list here haaaa

ok here we go:

~ do dishes
~ clean out fridge
~ do MORE dishes
~ straighten up
~ dust
~ clean bathroom/toilet!!
~ sweep
~ fix bird feeder
~ burn garbage
~ make apple crisp
~ hang up laundry to dry
~ wash another load
~ make dinner (chicken & dumplings)
~ make fruit salad
~ try to finish baby blanket (a friend had a baby a couple months ago and I've been lazy about getting a gift made)
~ hopefully find time to put new paints to use (work on ornaments)
~ start thinking about christmas

of course out of the 17 things on that list, all I really WANT to do today is work on ornaments and make apple crisp hehehe

but since it's already noon, my guess is all I'll get to is the less fun stuff (in bold)

one things for sure... none of it's getting done as long as I'm sitting here!! hehehe

halloween at the old folks home...

ya know you’re old when you have no costume, no party, and your only plan for the evening is going to the chiropractor!!

as usual I burned out on horror movies about a week before halloween – I’ve spent the last two days looking forward to something else… ANYTHING else being on tv – why can’t all the spooky scary goodness be spread out throughout the year instead of concentrated into one month like it is?

it’s a good thing I have a kick ass movie collection

anyway… so yeah yesterday… HALLOWEEN… wanna hear what I did?

I had been anticipating having to call the doctor for some more BP pills because my samples were running out… I chose yesterday to call… they made me come in to check my pressure – immediately when I realize my pills are running low my BP starts rising in anticipation of just having to CALL the doctor – when I hear I will have to go in, it gets even worse!! I have such bad anxiety about it!!

anxiety over going to the doctor is NOT my idea of a good heart pounding thrill on Halloween day!! or any other day for that matter!!

about an hour before I had to leave for my appointment, my sister called – she has an uncanny knack for calling right before I have to go to the doctor – and she ALWAYS raises my blood pressure!! but she’s in the middle of moving and dealing with some stressful stuff so I thought I should answer it

I DID get to talk to my niece though… she was completely unaware that it was Halloween… of course I told her

me: heyyyyy it’s HALLOWEEN!! ya gonna be a mermaid today?

niece (who’s going on 4): nooooo it not Halloweeeeeeen

me: uh huh, is too!!

niece: mommy is it Halloween today?

sister (in the background): yes it is

niece (all excited-like): mommy I gonna be a mermaid todaaayyyyy??

sister (all grumpy-like): not until later… eat your breakfast!

niece: (long pause) …I love you aunt kitty!

me (trying not to cry cause I miss her so much): I love you too monkey (I always call her monkey)

niece: I not a monkey… I a mermaid!!

seriously… could she BE any cuter??!!

anyway I got off the phone with them and went to the doctor… the nurse checked my BP

she always has a good reaction – she say’s with a smile - ‘it’s not as bad as you were thinking it would be… 142/90!’

that won’t give me a stroke… I’ll take it!!

doctor comes in – looking all glum as usual (she’s going through a divorce)

she’s not as ok with my blood pressure as me and the nurse (as usual) but I think she’s FINALLY starting to understand that it’s worse when I’m there – it’s usually anywhere from 116/75 – 130/85 when I check it at home

my heart rate was about 100 the whole time I was there though which helps substantiate my claim of anxiety… that and the fact that I was practically hyperventilating

she breaks out her stethoscope and starts listening to my heart… takes my bp again – and then again on the other arm – each time looking very focused and making that mental check mark sound

and she wonders WHY she makes me nervous!!

she’s checking me out like I had collapsed and am now in an ambulance on my way to the hospital for fuck sake… how could I NOT be nervous??!!

she said my bp still isn’t great… and asked what I’m going to do about that… I said ‘I’m gonna GO HOME! it’s not like this when I’m not HERE!!’

she seemed to accept that and sent me on my way…

but before I left I did get her to give me a name for the pain I’ve been having in my left ankle… which I thought was my Achilles tendon… she said it’s plantar fasciitis (at least I think that’s what she said) – I have no clue what the difference is… they both hurt, they both take months to sort out and they both take the same stretches to fix

and they both mean I can’t ride my new bike for a while :(

it IS coming in handy as a second drying rack though - now that it’s too cold to hang the laundry outside

so I went home, relieved to have that taken care of for another couple months

a couple hours later my bp was 120/75 and my heart rate was down to 80

seeeeeeee told ya so!!

I put on AMC – they were running all the halloween movies all day and I felt like I HAD to at least have them on in the background as I did stuff around the house

then it was time to go to the chiropractor… I was happy just to at least get to leave the house and MAYBE see a trick-or-treater or two along the way – which I did – YAY!!

the chiropractor had candy out too… and I didn’t even need a costume to get some!! while we waited for him, I ate a ‘fun size’ crunch bar (I really don’t see what’s so FUN about miniaturized candy!! wouldn’t it be MORE fun if they made them super GIANT sized?!)

anyway… while we were waiting, a grey haired lady came in who REEKED of alcohol!! she had a water bottle with her which I think must have been filled with vodka!! at first (even though I’m very familiar with the smell of booze soaked old lady) I thought (hoped) I was just imagining it - but then she started saying things that a sober person wouldn’t say in a doctor’s office waiting room – so THAT was entertaining!!

after that we headed out to get some dinner – we ordered Chinese food… of course they only take cash – so rather than hit the ATM and pay a fee, we went around the corner to the supermarket (to use the debit card and get cash back) so we grabbed a bag of butterfingers and a bag of crunch bars ‘just in case’ (we NEVER get any trick-or-treaters)

anyway - we picked up our dinner and headed home…

when we got here we turned off the outside light… dashing my hopes of seeing any kids in cute costumes begging for candy for yet another year :(
it was at least 8pm by then and WAY past dark… so nobody was coming anyway

we sat down to eat our Chinese food (or at least tried to)

I ordered a sesame chicken combination (sesame chicken with friend rice and an egg roll) we asked them to substitute white rice instead (sesame chicken is bad enough - I DON’T need the extra fat!!)

Sam ordered mixed fried rice and a shrimp roll

when we got home – mine had no white rice… it was loaded with pork fried rice and his mixed fried was just fried rice with NOTHING in it – I’ve never seen anything like that before… I didn’t even know that was an option

I gave him some of my chicken and we ate while watching it’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which I had recorded the night before… I just HAVE to watch the Great Pumpkin!!

then I rubbed Sam’s feet… we each ate some candy and then we fell asleep

I woke up with a food hangover from eating too late and falling asleep with a creamy chocolate coating in my mouth

further proving the fact that I AM a geezer