nerdz, forgotten and steamed

A couple of weeks ago, temps got to about 80 F. Hot. I stashed most of the winter clothes and brought out the summer collection. 

As expected, that jinxed the whole thing, and this week we got back to 30's and snow. Not bunches of snow, though. Just enough for muddy pawprints throughout the house.  It won't stop the impending heat.

Yesterday, Magnum and I bundled up for an old-folks-go-get-coffee walk. We decided to dust off our geocaching archives, we haven't gone geocaching probably since before covid. 

I was surprisingly able to remember the username and password and learned that we'd logged 97 caches. Three more and we'd hit triple digits. Excitement ensued.

We noticed a couple of caches along the way back home, so set out to find them. In our freshly caffeinated states, we managed to make quick, satisfying work of the little treasures. So here we sit at 99.

Geocache no. 99 for the nerdz

At work, I guess Boss's status has finally been upgraded to reflect his promotion. A new nametag - we refer to it as the "vanity plate" - arrived for him last week.  And now it appears as though there is no one to approve time sheets for us lowly part-timers - a.k.a. all of us except for Assistant Boss. 

There's been no talk about who or what will be in place of Boss's previous position, but I'm at least expecting to get paid next payday per someone's approval?  We have job titles, but maybe we should just start going by "The Forgotten".

The semester is winding down, stress levels are high among the tutees. Although some tutees don't seem as fired up as others, suggesting they're already planning for a do-over next semester. As a student, I don't recall ever considering taking a class more than once, but I see it happen with surprising frequency. 

In other breaking news, I made steamed rice instead of boiling it on the stovetop (no thanks, I don't want a rice cooker)

It came out perfect. Why had I not thought of this sooner?

YAY for allergies, mishap forensics, chicken

A little over a week ago, one of my tutees emailed me:

"My symptoms started Tuesday night and I tested positive for covid this morning (Thursday)..." 

Yeah, she and I met for a little over an hour that Wednesday. Honestly, I wasn't all that surprised at the email. She'd shown up for tutoring wearing a KN95 mask and admittedly feeling "like crap", but needing the help. During our session, she let out a few all too familiar sounding dry coughs as we sat closely - in hindsight - around a small table.

After receiving her email, I google searched to find the latest regarding covid reinfection. I found one article stating that people who are vaxxed and had covid should be fairly immune for about 10 months from their infection. Okay, I was getting behind that study!

In the days that followed, I had some paranoia inducing scratchy throat, sinus pressure... but YAY! It's allergies!

Welcome spring! Tomorrow is the official start, but I've enjoyed this week of saving the daylight. Can we just pick a time zone and stick to it already?

Spring break was this past week at the college and local school district, so work at the testing center and tutoring was relatively appreciably slow. Back to the grind tomorrow for the big push toward semester's end.

Speaking of big push, I was out running around on a recent morning, and came across this scene:

Curious, I've tried to piece together what happened. Something jumped the curb and crashed into the fence, but seems to me it wasn't a car but could've been. Looks like something tipped over and dragged into the fence. That dark smudge just beyond the fence break appears to be some sort of engine fluid, and there is a trail of it from the splotch indicating the driver turned and headed in the opposite direction.

Motorcycle? Scooter?  

In other imagery, who caught the google doodle for this past Wednesday? The 15th?

It was for Filipono adobo! That was my first thought upon seeing it, but then I thought, "Nah, there wouldn't be a google doodle just for chicken adobo"

But yes! There would be!

Apparently, it was to commemorate the anniversary of "adobo" being added to the Oxford English dictionary in 2006. Happy adobo anniversary!

It’s a symbol and expression of Filipino pride that varies from region to region, family to family, palate to palate.

Ask anyone with a Filipono mom or lola (grandma), "Who makes the best adobo?" The answer is, "My mom/ lola!"

And in MY case, it's actually true!

hospital chicken in the land of flat tires

"Okay, your vehicle is ready", he said with a smile.

"Thanks, uhm...", I looked at him expectedly, "I haven't paid yet"

"Right, we don't charge for fixing flats", he replied, still smiling.

I figured he was joking, so, "haha", followed by *pause*

"Need anything else today?", he queried.

Omigosh, he was serious.  I didn't owe anything.  Thank you, Discount Tire.  I'll be back.

I'd walked out to the parking lot to see my rear passenger side tire was flat - the silver head of a large screw nestled within the treads.  I called AAA because I can, and then set to work.  The friendly road-side assistor appeared relatively quickly.  By then, I had my car jacked up, lug nuts removed, and doughnut at the ready.  But the tire was not budging.  I asked if I was missing something.

"Oh, yeah, it's just rusted on there", he replied as he retrieved a primitive mallet from his toolbox.

He proceeded to perform a highly technical process of removing the flat tire - giving it a few good whacks with the mallet.  Soon I was on my way and stopped at Discount Tire where they (surprisingly) fixed and installed my flat tire for free even though I didn't buy the tire there.

This incident marked my third flat tire in two months.  Firstly, I discovered the front tire of my mountain bike was flat shortly after we moved.  That's a mystery to me since I hadn't ridden it in a few months, and it was fine when we packed up.  It went flat on the moving truck?

Oh well, fixed it and all's good.

Then last week, I had a flat on my commuter bike - first flat in the two and a half years and who knows how many miles.  Oh well, fixed it and all's good. I'm hoping that's the end of the flat tires for a while.  Does Fort Collins just have an unnatural amount of sharp road crap?

In other news, I started a part-time job last week working in the culinary department of a small hospital.  I'm enjoying it, it's fun, and my coworkers are a talented and friendly bunch. There is potential to progress to bigger things, so we'll see. 

For now, I appreciate the opportunity and the ability to cut back on the tutoring, which I've been doing since 2008.  The burnout is real.

do all the things!

I've recently been blogging about my desire to be a better cook.  That didn't actually start with my stepping over the fence into vegetarianism.  I've never been much of a cook, but just did the bare essentials to keep Child Protective Services away.

It's not that I dislike cooking, it's more of an organizational thing:  the meal planning, the stocking of the pantry, blah, blah, blah, blah.  If I get past that, I'm an awesome cook!  And hey, I've been a middle school lunch lady, and my line was always top shelf!  Probably because I didn't have to order the ingredients or plan the menus...

There are certainly other areas I'd like to improve upon. Let us count the ways

2.  Time management
I have a flexible schedule without set blocks of work hours, which is usually nice.  Lately, it feels like the time in between tutees isn't as productive or interesting as it should/could be.  Again, I chalk that up to organizational deficiency a.k.a. laziness. 




3. Mountain biking
I'd say we made a good use of time off this Monday.  Magnum and I planned a day off to explore some new-to-us mountain bike trails.  Now, there are a lot of trails around because mountain biking is quite popular here.  Weekends are crowded.  Monday was a good day to get while the gettin' was good. 

Along with learning how to maneuver the dang bike is learning the various trail systems.  We were sort of lost a few times as not all trails are marked or noted on the apps.

But we knew "in general" where we were, and getting lost is all part of the adventure, right??










4.  Correspondence
Does anybody use snail mail anymore?  I love the convenience of email and texting, but sometimes, it's nice to get something in the mail, like when you're stuck at home recovering from surgery. 
I have a friend who had foot surgery about a week ago and is temporarily confined to her house.  It's on my to-do list to send her a card, or better yet, go visit.  Have I done either?  Nope.  Today!


5.  Socializing, but  not social media 
On that note, there's nothing (currently) wrong with my feet or otherwise.  I can come and go as I please, but I stick to the same old stuff.  Time for some fresh faces and places!

What is something you wish you were better at?

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Linking up with Mama Kat this week for the prompt:
6. Write about something you wish you were better at.

veggie tales

Happy first day of September.  I don't know about anyone else, but I get a little optimistic for no particular reason at the start of a new month.  Maybe it's because I dwell too much on the bad things of the past month?

Plenty of good things happened in August, the dark spot being Tiffany's abrupt and confusing death.  I've mentioned that she inspired me to become vegetarian, but I'd gotten lazy, then returned with renewed gusto when she passed.

Now lemme just say, I'm not trying to be all zealot and preaching readers to convert. Not at all!  Eat what makes you happy.  My blogging about it helps keep me on the path to learning and becoming a better cook.

On that note, I think I've mastered tofu.

I really like tofu dishes in restaurants, but whenever I've prepared tofu dishes at home, the tofu's been, in a word, Ew.

I made myself learn to make restaurant-like tofu, and now it's, Yum!  Here's what I made for lunch a little while ago:

I call it "Tofu and Veggie Stir Fry with Rice, Beans, and Some Kinda Sauce I Threw Together".  On a side note, I made that name up on the fly just now.

In other new-month news, the prompt list for this year's Inktober has just been released.  *rubbing hands together rapidly*.  As I recall, I managed to complete 22 of the 31 drawings last year.  For me, it's a cheap, self-indulgent challenge and a fun way to connect online with other weirdos art hobbyists.  

So I have one month to ponder some ink fun for next month, just in time for crisper temperatures and pumpkin spice everything.  

What are you learning and/or looking forward to this month?

winner winner chili dinner

Thursday night, around 10 pm, Wolfgang started whipping up some chili.  Meego wondered why Wolfgang was whipping up some chili at 10 pm Thursday.  But I knew...

The great chili cook-off of 2018!

Wolfgang's workplace  has held an annual chili cook-off for the past several years, and Friday was the day for 2018.  The thought of a  bunch of engineers cooking chili doesn't naturally inspire high expectations, but apparently the results are quite tasty.  Winner gets a big sombrero.

And darn if Wolfgang didn't almost win that sombrero! 

He got first prize in the "unique" category and second place overall.  Got a trophy and medal, even.  Lookie!

As can be seen, they really pulled out all the stops on that 2nd place medal/magnetic disk clipped to a badge holder.  It's even "inscribed" on the back

He dubbed  his dish "Aloha Sweet Chili".  *Spoiler Alert*  The secret ingredient is pineapple.  Who knew??

He'd actually made it for us a couple of weeks prior to the cook-off, and we got to be the test kitchen.  The only thing he changed for the cook-off was, he let it simmer longer - thus the 10 pm cookfest.

I agree, it's very tasty and worthy of the prizes. 

I'd show a pic of the chili too...

but we ate it. 

foodies and foundlings

Well, this week feels like it was a fly-by.  Wasn't it just last weekend?

It was a good week, though, from what I remember of it. We went through some position shifting at work, and I've got a new role - Fiesta Lady!  (a.k.a. I get to make and serve the Mexican stuff).  I'm liking it!  It's pretty.  Hopefully it tastes good too.  No, I'm not Mexican, but could pass for one in a pinch.

Did anyone catch the blood moon this week?  It was at its bloody peak just as I was going in to work - kind of an eerie site.  That day, it seemed that emotions were running high, and I attribute it to the weird moon activity.

A co-worker whose been struggling to get her teacher certification here in Colorado had reached a frustration peak.  She's normally a "tough chick", but I came upon her crying in the break room and listened as she vented.  Turns out she's a good candidate for help from P.E.O. which she, not surprisingly, had never heard of.

In a timely fashion, we had our annual P.E.O. Founders Day bash today, to celebrate the seven ladies who started this whole ball rolling.  Always a good time with about 200 of my sisters.

My chapter made a pretty good showing at the shindig:

If you ever find yourself crying in a break room on a weird-moon day and wondering how  you're going to pay for completing your master's degree, think of us...

"A" is for apron

So it turns out, I enjoy cooking.  Who knew?  Probably not the family 😕

I started the new job last week, and so far, I really like it.  I'm not quite ready to say "I love you" just yet...

I left my job as a study hall overseer that, frankly, was for me, like watching paint dry.  The school district food service provider had openings, so I signed on.  We discussed my background and blah, blah, blah, and I'm on track for a supervisor position.

The original plan was for me to hop around to various sites and eventually land somewhere, but the boss lady called a couple of days before the kids went back to school and asked if I'd take a position at one of the base kitchens.  Of all the sites they manage, there were four I was mainly interested in.  This school was at the top of my list, so I said, "Yeah, okay."

I wasn't really looking forward to the vagabond life anyways.

So I'm there and it's creative, and fast-paced, and highly productive, and with a fun bunch of coworkers.  The crew is mostly made up of others like me - moms who'd had some career that they'd left to raise the kids.  Now we feed about a thousand of 'em.

Plus, being a base kitchen, we cook a buncha stuff for the elementary schools too and ship it out.  My professional background is in manufacturing, and there are a lot of similarities.

And I'll say that school lunch is a lot different than from when I was a school kid.  All the choices! And the food is appetizing!  It's like a freaking food court!

Now they get the grill, the "fiesta bar" (Mexican), the "upper crust" (Pizzas), the build-your-own subs, and the daily special.  There's hot breakfast too.  Sheesh.

When I was a schoolkid, all the way through high school, we had two choices:  tray or no tray.

For Illustration Friday, the prompt this week is "The letter A".  I wonder if we're going to work through the whole alphabet.  Should I study up for "X"?

oh, that old thing

"Remember that big samwich?"

Uhm.....

Wolfgang was at the house recently, and asked me that question.  Big sandwich?  Remember what big sandwich??

"That big samwich you used to make?  In the oven?  With the french bread and the eggs...?"

A dim light started trying to come on, like a cold fluorescent bulb.  So he kept talking.

"It was ham and cheese..."

Brighter still!

"OH yeah!  That big samwich!"

Yes, slowly it emerged from its hiding place in my brain.  I'd found a recipe in the newspaper, of all places.  Back when newspapers were sources of such things.  It had met all of my requirements for worthy of saving:

1. Easy to make
2. Pretty cheap
3. Easy to make
4. My family might eat it
5. Easy to make

I saved the recipe and made it a few times.  All five criteria were met.  Now, I don't really remember why I'd stopped making it.  I suspect that winter turned to summer and a hot sandwich from the oven wasn't appealing.  I generally tell the oven to take the summer off.

I guess when the following winter rolled around, and maybe as kids started leaving the nest, I  moved on from the big samwich.

But Wolfgang remembered, and he wanted the recipe.  Heck if I could find it.  

I started googling, but I didn't know what terms to use.  We'd always just called it "The Big Samwich".    I tried things like "french toast ham and cheese" and usually just got hits like Monte Cristos and such.  Or breakfast sandwiches.  But none were The Big Samwich.

Finally, one day last week when I thought to try some more, I found it.  I don't even remember now what string of terms I used, but I decided to google images instead.  Lo and behold, there it was.

I'm not going to copy the whole thing here.  Anyone who's interested can follow [this link], which I highly recommend.  

I happily texted the link to Wolfgang.  Now he could make his own The Big Samwich.  And so could I.  I decided to make it last night.

From memory.

I mean, it is really easy to make.  I mainly couldn't remember what temperature to set the oven and how long to cook it, but I memorized that when I found the recipe again, so I didn't pull up the recipe when I made it last night.  

Word to the wise.  Line your bread pan with aluminum foil and spray REALLY Really really good with cooking spray.  And DON'T forget to spray the foil piece you use to cover it as it bakes.  

I sort of sloppily lined my bread pan, and lazily sprayed.  I totally forgot to spray the cover foil.  Plus, I didn't really mush the egg into the bread so much...

But it was edible.

It wasn't necessarily pretty.  I should have taken a photo in order to appreciate the full juxtaposition of my finished product and the image shown above.  But no, that might ruin the appetite.

Live and learn.  And I'm happy to have The Big Samwich back in our lives.  

finally almost

I'm getting so much done!  Strangely, we're in the final weeks of school, so final projects time.  That means I do everything BUT work on final projects.  Funny how that happens...  I tell myself that it's all cooking in my brain while I do all that other stuff.

So while I'm busy procrastinating, I thought I'd drop in on the blog and report that firstly, the sun hath returneth!  Much rejoicing has taken place this week.  See?

"Meow'm SO happy!"

The school year is winding down for Meego too.  The music program had it's annual Spring Concert last week.  The kids and instructors all do a nice job, but there are so many different groups, and they each play multiple songs.  The thing stretches on forEVER!   Look, don't Meego and this gang look like they're having a rip-roaring time?!

Yah! Spring!  Music!  Whoo!

Chaco graced us with his presence this week.  It's finals time for him too, so the procrastination apparently runs in the family.  Actually, he's had a tough case of Senioritis this semester.  He's had  a job since last summer, and he's just having to finish up these last classes to be working full-time.  Anyway, he came over stating that he wanted a haircut.

He and Wolfgang still come over for haircuts since I've been the family barber since forever.  They've considered going to a real hair place, but I guess they like the freebies.  I noted that his hair didn't seem all that long.

"Yeah, but I decided I'd come over here instead of work on projects"

I'm not complaining.  He didn't like what I'd planned for dinner, so he cooked us a better one.

So it's springtime, and it's warm and sunny for now.  I can feel my allergies bubbling up.  I am aware of bugs buzzing around, but I have yet to be stung by a bee.  All is good.  And there, I just finished more final project...

...in my mind.


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updates in haiku

Thirty-four degrees
The windpants, the gloves, the hat
Running in the dark.

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Fish still upside down
Feeding peas every day
Weird creatures they are.

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Each day it reminds
Of the popcorn left too long
New microwave, please. *



*wasn't my fault....

dessert

Happy Illustration Friday! This week's prompt is "dessert".

What's in yours?

.

nooz

Yema balls.

I'm supposed to make Yema balls today. Or at least get them started.

What the Francis are Yema balls??

Apparently, they are some sort of Filipino dessert/cookie thing. Wolfgang said he was bringing them to his "International" party tomorrow. Enter mom-makes-yema-balls request.

He found a recipe online. I searched and found several others. No two match. Dang yema balls.

I will attempt something. Probably an amalgamation of various yema ball recipes. I mean, who's gonna know if they turned out right or not? Yema balls?

IN other news, remember my cute little iPod shuffle? I took it for it's first run today. Oh, so fun! So light! Now the thing with it is, it's so tiny, that there are no controls other than off/on/play/shuffle on the little unit. Volume control and skip/pause are on this little switch attached to the wire of the earbuds.

So I'm on my iPod run, and I go to decrease the volume and some point. Well, nothing changed. I'm like clicking away on that little control and nothing. I try "pause", nothing. It worked fine earlier on the various little test drives.

I'm trying it now, and the pause/skip works, but still no volume control. I think maybe it gets saturated with perspiration, and this perspiration saturation renders it useless? Anyone else have this problem??

updateness: I searched online (how did we get anything done before the internet??) and yes, apprently this is a sweat-gets-into-the-controller problem. Teflon tape anyone?

Other than that, I love it.

IN other news, Meego still wants a baby. What I thought was just a passing phase is still here. Maybe we should start "the talk".

Yema balls should be easier.
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Silver Liningness Sunday

The week started off with heavy, dense snow, and a lot of that snow is still here. Lots to evaporate! Aren't we all thankful for the hydrologic cycle?!

Onto other thankfulness, it was another good week, after all.

Firstly, we are all officially on Fall Break at the moment. An entire 9 days of no work, no school. I'm looking forward to that... I think.

The Thanksgiving Feast at the elementary school was fun and nourishing. Yes, I obediently complied and wore my white shirt/black pants casino outfit. I had stuffing duty, which is quite taxing on the forarm. Luckily, I later rotated to gravy.

No, we did not go camping this week. We would've likely frozen our patooties off had we gone, but since I made it a point to include a photo in the silver liningness entries, I just went and found one to my liking from a camping trip last summer. I'm thankful for technology... and memory.

Remember last week, I was all Laura Ingalls and made banana bread while the snow flew outside? Well Judy subsequently sent me one of her banana bread recipes, which includes crushed pineapple - oh she's a saucy one that Judy! I made two loaves of it this week. Num num num num... (no photo on account of the feeding frenzy that ensued).

We watched G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra this weekend. Clearly, I am not a member of the target audience for this movie. But it did provide a nice little nap opportunity for me.

Oh, and I'm a year older. Beats the alternative.
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Silver Liningness Sunday

Got snow? We Do!!

Woke up to White World this morning. It's pretty. I probably won't like it so much come March, but for now it's good.

Another week down, another batch of things to be thankful for. For starters, I'm thankful for my industrial strength snow shovel, but onto other matters...

Well, it was Veteran's Day on Wednesday, and I'm certainly thankful for all of our veterans. The elementary school sold wristbands (those rubbery kind) for a dollar apiece - all proceeds going to a local VA hospital. It was a feeding frenzy! I managed to buy one of each color before they were all gone. Great idea.

I learned that my neice is getting hitched in January! My oldest brother's daughter. The only girl spawn from my brothers and me. I'm happy for her. Marriage is a nice thing.

When life gives you squishy bananas, what should you do? Make banana bread! I did this last night while it was cold and snowy outside.

And I'm thankful for my students. One of my classes is coming to an end in a couple of days. I gave them their last practice test yesterday. They've worked hard (most of 'em *ahem*) and I really want to see them (most of 'em *ahem*) go on to successful lawyerdom.

Remember how we got new neighbors next door? They seem nice. This week we got new neighbors at the other next door... Stay tuned.

Chaco just said, "I'm going to go shovel the driveway". WHAT?! I'll take it.

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catching up

Thinking.... thinking... thinking.... I'm at a fork in the road and must think.

I'm also going through my e-mail and need to reply to several messages so I can clear out my inbox. I'm getting bad about not replying and then things pile up.

I need to write a letter to my mom and dad too. Bad daughter. Bad bad daughter.

I've got some work to catch up on too.

Well, at least there's something that looks like a dinner in the oven.

With that "to do" list, what shall I do? I shall blog (a.k.a. procrastinate). I thought I would take this moment to reply to some recent comments left here, anyway. That might make me feel like I've accomplished something.

Firstly, Ranter notes, in regard to Magnum's and my kidless hike on Friday: "I prefer other things to do when kidless (which is nearly never). LOL"

My reply: I didn't say that all we did was HIKE on our day of hookie. It's just that that was the only activity I had a photo of. Y

Nextly, Terri says: "Care to share the wing recipe?"

Sure, why not. Sharing is caring!

Chicken (or pork) adobo is practically a national dish in the Phillipines, I think. I've seen several variations on this recipe, but this is what I do because it's the easiest and still tastes yummy! If I'm making it as a main entree', I use thighs, but wings are nice as an appetizer or for potluck.

Igredients:
1.5 T vegetable oil
8 bone-in chicken thighs
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 C apple cider vinegar
1/2 C Soy sauce

Heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat.
Add the chicken and cook about 5 min. per side.
Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.

Pour off all but about 1 T of pan drippings and turn heat to low.
Add garlic and saute for about a minute.
Add the vinegar and soy sauce and stir to incorporate.
Return the chicken to the skillet and cook, covered, for about 20 min.

Uncover, increase the heat to med-low and cook 15-20 minutes longer, occassionally spooning the sauce over the chicken until the sauce thickens and the chicken is nicely glazed.

Serve with rice.

Warning: Your house will smell like adobo afterward. For a while.
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alpha male to omega-3

So Magnum recently had a check-up at the doctor's. They called him back a coupla days later.

"It was my bloodwork", he says.

"They say my triglycerides are high, my HDL is too low, and I need more sex", he continued.

*pause for look of skepticism from me*

"Okay, I threw in the last one. What are triglycerides??"

"I dunno", I adeptly replied, "they've never called ME back *snicker snicker*".

True to form, Magnum looked up information on triglycerides. It's basically fat. He's one of these people that, for most of his life, has eaten however much of whatever he wants without too many repurcussions. Maybe it's catching up. To his defense, he had just returned from a business trip before the check-up. Those business trips are really just week-long artery hardening fests. Plenty of expense account food and beverages, very little exercise.

I guess he's supposed to eat "heart healthy" now? To get his numbers into the normal range? Does this mean I have to learn how to cook? What about my scrawny children?

Anyway, I'm off to the grocery store. At least I won't have to think too much to buy the toilet paper.
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Silver Lining Saturday part XV

Welcome once again to Silver Lining Saturday - where every week, it's Thanksgiving!

okay, okay, enough of that announcer crap.

But it has been another wunnerful week, let's recap!

Well, it was Thanksgiving on Thursday, and we had a nice one here with just the 5 of us. The dysfunctions of my family-in-law do tend to be more apparent around the holidays, but we made it through this one okay. And I'm thankful that Magnum has gotten better at standing up for himself and his values, thusly elevating our black sheep status. Sheesh, talk about your silver lining hunting...

And as far as the actual Thanksgiving day goes, we had a very nice one. I cooked all the traditional stuff - it was all eaten up, and the husband and kids were genuinely appreciative. And we do have lots to be thankful for, everyone's health for example. We had a full day of playing-outside time in honor of all that good health. I think even the dog was extra thankful.

Kids were on break from school and Magnum took the week off from work. My work schedule was lighter than usual too, so we had more time for some good ol' R&R. I actually did go and see the movie "Twilight". Magnum tagged along. I warned him that the audience would probably be a bunch of 15 year-old-girls, and he had NO problem with that *rolls eyes*. We enjoyed the movie - was a nice little "escape", and I can certainly see the appeal to the teen girl crowd.

And I mentioned that our week also included a day at Memorial Park. It's nice to get away from the daily grind and just go out and play with like-minded people... like we did when we were kids... and not think about bills and government bailouts and dirty toilets and whatnot. It was a good systems flush.

Now it's the weekend, and December is upon us. I took a raucous, snowy run this morning in 24 invigorating degrees! I am thankful for my physical health, and I'm thankful that everyone returns to school and work next week (that's for my mental health).
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now we're cookin'!

AAaaaaaaaaah.... Woke up to the smell of cooking flesh this morning.

Got my turkey S-L-O-W cooking, put it in at bedtime last night. So now it's officially Thanksgiving and I'm in more of a cooking mood. We went out yesterday, got some fresh air at a local park and got rid of the domestic doldrums, so now I'm ready for some culinary adventures.

Chaco and Wolfgang cut up the park sidewalks with their rollerblades while Meego terrorized some ducks and geese for a while before hitting the playground aparati.

It was a nice day to get out. I'd been feeling a little caged with Magnum and the kids all home from work and school this week. Causing ruckuses and making messes and talking about the food they're going to eat - that just magically appears in that fantasy land of theirs. I was feeling a bit abused.


So the fresh air and people watching the park provided was a good thing. Got outside the box.

Meego successfully

and unsuccessfully hiding

from the camera.

So Happy Thanksgiving to all of my blog friends! I'm truly thankful for all of ya's!

Love and kisses,

Abby<--------- (That's webdings for "Abby". Cool that it's got 2 bicycles, no??)

Abby
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bon apetite

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the U.S. The guy on the radio this morning kept referring to it as "Turkey Day" and it started to bug me.

"Here's the weather forecast for your Turkey Day".... "Here's what you should know about closures on Turkey Day".... "Our program lineup for Turkey Day is..." I don't have a problem with people who say "Happy Holidays", but c'mon. Turkey Day? He doesn't even need to say "Thanksgiving" if he doesn't want to. Just say "Thursday" or "Tomorrow", I'd be good with that, but "Turkey Day"??

I know people put much preparation into their Thanksgiving meal. I'm just cooking for the 5 of us this year, so no pressure. I made my last stop at the grocery store yesterday, and if I forgot something, well, too bad. I'm not going there today. No way.

I do like to cook. If I've got the time. And the proper equipment. And the food is interesting. And someone will actually eat it. Uhm, remember when I blogged about the Army recruiter in High School telling me I could "do anything but cook"? And remember how I'd felt a bit offended? And perplexed about how he could get that from an ASVAB test?

Truth is, deep down, I know he's right.

I see cooking as a creative activity, but I don't worry about it much. My own tastes are very simple when it comes to the actual eating part. Cooking is just a pastime - like making mud pies or paper snowflakes. I don't particularly like eating in restaurants either. It's just "recreational eating".

But I do try, most of the time, to be a healthy conscientious meal planner. Somebody's gotta do it.

I saw this meme over at Brandy101's and thought it seemed timely and worth thinking about on Thanksgiving Eve:

#1. What's the worst tasting food you've ever eaten?
Oh, GAG, that's gotta be flax seeds. I got some of those a while back because I'd heard they're supposed to be good and healthy. Thought I'd throw some in with a bowl of oatmeal. Don't do it! DON'T!! I deplore you!!! Some people offered me alternative ways to get some flax, but I just can't go back.

#2. Share a funny or embarassing story about a meal you've made.
Did you know that if you don't put enough sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish for a "quick pasta casserole", the pasta doesn't cook? At all? I do. Now.

#3. What food do you burn or have problems cooking most often?
I guess I'll go with bacon. Such fine lines there between too squishy, just right, and burnt.

#4. Name two foods you'll be eating on this Thanksgiving.
That remains to be seen. I'm planning the traditional turkey/stuffing/gravy/yams/etc. But if something gets ruined, I just don't really care enough to try to fix it. There's always peanut butter and pickle samwiches.

Thankfully.
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