09.28.06
Draaaaaaaaaaaaaaag drag drag
The week is dragging. The days have been dragging. My ass has been dragging.
ARGH!
I just want it to be the weekend, already. Please. NOW, dammit.
09.26.06
Medieval Heat Festival
The Medieval Fest on Saturday was pretty neat, but it was so hot, I was sweating one minute after disembarking from the car!
This was definitley a smaller-scale, lower-budget shindig than the Ren Faire I went to previously in Atlanta. Some of the vendors had neat stuff, and there was a lot of cool spinning and weaving stuff going on. What I saw of the sword fighting demonstrations left much to be desired, but that could be because I saw it more in passing than anything else. Having a hot and cranky 3-year-old in-tow will tend to slow things down a bit. BUT, she got to decorate her own princess hat, and Logan got to design her own shield. The turkey leg was good, and Logan also got to “hold” an owl because she bought a t-shirt. If the weather had been cooler, we may have stayed longer.
I’d still like to go to a Faire sometime and actually dress up for it and have money to buy cool things! Ren Faire in Atlanta would be a good trip again. I might look into that.
09.22.06
Autumn Equinox
Tomorrow is the Autumn Equinox. We were lucky enough to have a couple of really nice days here, weatherwise, but the good old heat and humidity have returned. However, it’s time to celebrate the coming of Autumn, anyway.
Tonight, I’m going to bake some fall-themed cookies, and we shall all eat them as a family and think about Autumn. (Well, I will, anyway. The kids will probably just eat the cookies and think, “YUM.”) After everyone’s in bed and Jake has gone to work, I’m going to have some solitary time outside to pay tribute to those who deserve it right now. I’ll have breads, fruit, cookies, and wine to share.
Tomorrow, I will be further celebrating by spending some great quality time with friends and family at a Medieval Festival near where I live. I’m really excited, and it’s going to be a wonderful day! There will be sword fighting, archery, face-painting and lots of other kids’ crafts & games, birds of prey shows, blacksmith demonstrations, dancing, lute & flute music, lots of good food, and -of course- lots of people in-costume. I’m sure it won’t be as grand a scale as some have been to, but I’m still excited! I’m going to try and get plenty of rest tonight.
Hail the changing seasons!
Small Funnies
My boss was out of the office almost all day today on personal business. He was just leaving again for the day, and on his way out the door, he said, “I ain’t done anything all day… might as well not start now.” I said, “I hear ya!” and he said, “Well, you didn’t have to agree…”
*snicker*
==================
Last night - Jake and I were talking:
Me: “There’s a $100 bill in my wallet with your name written all over it.”
Jake: “Really? It’s actually written all over there?”
Me: “Yeah.. I sat at work today and just wrote your name on it over and over again. It says, ‘Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass.’”
LMAO
09.20.06
More Yummy Food
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts seared in olive oil in a hot pan and finished off in the oven. After removing chicken from the oven and chicken from the pan, added white wine to the pan and deglazed. This was poured over the chicken which was served with a mixture of garlic, onions, roma tomatoes, rosemary, and potatoes which had all been sauteed in olive oil and cooked for awhile on med-low heat.
YUM!!!
Can’t Wait for Fall
While Fall isn’t all that spectacular where I live, since there are truly only two seasons in Georgia: hot and cool, I still love it when the first sign of the cooler weather comes along.
Jake was leaving to take the girls to school this morning, and as I opened the front door to tell them goodbye, the wave of cool air hit me. Ahhhh!! It was just glorious! There’s nothing like feeling a 62 degree breeze when you’ve been sweltering in the 90s for months. Georgia heat is miserably humid, so 90 degrees feels more like 2,487,098 degrees. (Jake says Houston is actually worse; I can’t imagine!)
Here I sit at work, cooped up in an office for the duration of the day, while Jake has been at home doing yardwork all morning. I wish I’d been there doing yardwork with him. 
I know this little bit of cool (today and tomorrow, I think) is fleeting, and the hell will return soon enough, but I love it while it’s here!
Here’s to fall, y’all. 
09.19.06
Soccer Adventure #1
Soccer season is underway.
Logan loves soccer. She’s not very fast, but she always gives 100%+ when she’s out on the field. Last night was supposed to be a 1.5 hour “clinic.” Not more than 5 minutes were the children on the field than the sky opened up and let loose upon their (and our) heads! Logan and I were shelter hopping from one place to the next, getting drenched in between. Jake and Katie were considerably luckier than we were because they were able to get under the shelter closest to the vehicles before it really started coming down. You know what, though? It was fun! Sometimes it’s nice to get caught in the rain. 
I’m just glad I was wearing my Skechers instead of my flip-flops.
Hopefully this isn’t an indication of what the rest of the season has in store!
Here’s to FUTBOL.
09.18.06
To All the Snobs
I hope that the next time you look down your nose at me, you see a huge zit which won’t go away.
Food Review
The Scotch Eggs and Colcannon were wonderful! Katie (she’ll be 4 in November) ate a whole egg and a half, and Jake had about 3 or 4 helpings of Colcannon. I was quite pleased. 
I even “made” my own sausage this time for the Scotch eggs. By “made,” I mean I took plain ground pork and added seasonings. It worked very well! Rubbed sage, marjoram, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. It was YUM.
The cabbage for the Colcannon was so beautiful. I’d never steamed cabbage before; I’d only ever boiled it. It’s the brightest prettiest green color when you steam it. I put some caraway seeds down into the water I was steaming with. I’d like to think it added a bit of flavor, but I really can’t say for sure. It was good, though.
So, to sum it up… I’m not sure how often we’ll have Scotch Eggs around here (even though Katie loved them so much, and she can be really picky sometimes), but I imagine Colcannon may become a bit of a regular on our table. It’s not so much more involved than regular mashed potatoes which we always make from scratch, anyway.
Tomorrow night, Logan has her first soccer meeting, so we’ll be having a picnic in the recreation department park.
I hate peeling boiled eggs, by the way. If you cook them JUST right, they supposedly peel fairly easily. I, however, never can seem to get them just right(*), so it took us probably 20 minutes to peel 8 boiled eggs. LOL.
Ok, I’m going to quit babbling now, go read some of Ender’s Shadow, and take my tired ass off to bed.
(*)I’ve tried the “perfect way to cook them” thing I’ve read online before. Cover the eggs with water, bring them to a boil, promptly remove them from the heat, cover, and let them sit for 15 minutes. Then plunge them into an ice water bath. Every time I’ve tried that, the yolks never get QUITE done enough. So, today, I took them off when they started to boil and just let them sit in the water they’d already been in. Overcooked. I mean, they tasted fine, but peeling them was an absolute bitch.
09.16.06
Perception and Time
I’ve been re-reading old blog entires & comments tonight… back in 2002. I didn’t get anywhere past that year, as there were so many, I just don’t have the time nor energy right now! However, I read enough to make me really think.
It’s amazing how time and experience can change your perspective and how loyalty can - sometimes - cause adverse consequences in your life. I saw myself refer to my ex-ex- (that’s second ex-husband), Draaz, as my “soul mate” and my “knight-in-shining-armor” on one occasion or two. Needless to say, he was NEITHER. EVER!! But at the time, I was married to him, it seemed he needed to be. Looking back, however, I see that he was the cad, and my first ex-husband was actually the one with a (somewhat, at the time) level head.
Now, I finally got rid of the “sorry excuse for a man leech” which was my second husband (Draaz), and my first ex-husband (gods, this sounds like a soap opera) and his wife are getting a divorce, and we’re getting along fine again. I read some of the terrible things I wrote about him, and I think, “Man… I can’t believe I said that.” Regardless of how much I may have disagreed with what he was doing/saying.
We’re loyal to those we have at the time, I suppose, and everyone else becomes a possible enemy. Now, for instance, my man is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I don’t see that ever changing because I’ve never had such before. Granted, I’ve said *that* before, but it’s different this time.
Strange how time and experience changes perception. But IS it really so strange, after all?
I’m nostalgic….
09.15.06
Scotch Irish
In honor of my Scottish heritage and Jake’s Irish heritage, we’re going to have a culinary celebration of the two on Sunday evening. I say “celebration,” but it will actually only be two dishes. 
We shall have Scotch Eggs and Colcannon.
I’ve made Scotch Eggs before, but this will be my first go at Colcannon. I don’t anticipate any problems, quite honestly, but I guess we’ll see!
In case you don’t know, here are the basics. Scotch Eggs are hard-boiled eggs which you allow to cool, peel, then wrap them in a ground sausage mixture. Completely wrapped, mind you! Like a big oval sausage ball. Then you dip that into an egg mixture, roll it in bread crumbs, and deep fry. YUM!
Colcannon is basically a mixture of mashed potatoes, steamed cabbage, milk, and butter.
What a rich meal we shall have! I think we might watch one of the Kung Fu movies I rented to go along with it. Tee hee! (I’ve never actually watched one, and I picked these out at the video store, so hopefully they’ll be alright!)
09.13.06
Inspiration & Action
We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.
- Frank Tibolt
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Is that really true? I wonder.
09.12.06
Um… Heh
I’ve been feeling lately like I’ve been getting fat again. Jake keeps telling me, “You’re not getting fat!” A little while back, I weighed myself, and I was, indeed, not gaining weight but was still at the point I had been last time I weighed.
This morning - in an effort to prove myself right - I stepped onto the scale.
I’d actually lost 4 pounds.
So, yay! (But I still feel like I’m getting fat. What’s up with that?)
09.11.06
It’s Always Something
I blogged about hating being on a budget the other day. Remember? Yeah.
It’s always something! Recently it was work on the car. Now, we have issues with the truck.
Considering all this and how it’s impacting our money situation, I’ve decided to try and be more optimistic about things in my life - just in general. Remind myself of the GOOD things I have and not think about the things I DON’T have. So, we’ll handle this. We need both vehicles in order for both of us to get to work and get the kids where they need to be. So, this is one of the top priorities. What’s the worst that could happen? We’d lose cell phones or satellite t.v. or not get to cook as many yummy things or get behind on some other bills and get a dent in the ol’ credit report. These things aren’t optimal, but they’re not the end of the fucking world, either.
So, there it is.
In trying to be more optimistic, I turned to Google - my dear friend - for resources and ideas. I turned up a couple of interesting articles with some good pointers, and I found these two quotes which I really like.
[Quote] “You either have a problem, you just got over one, or you’re about to hit another one,”
“Expect the best, prepare for the worst, and celebrate it all.”
— Willie Jolley, author of A Setback Is A Setup For A Comeback [Quote]
I’ve heard the second one before (at least part of it), but this was the first time I’d ever heard that first one. SO true!
So, I’m choosing to be grateful today and not worry about where the money will come from. We’ll work it out somehow.
Pork Provençale with Mushrooms and Wild Rice
I’ve been watching Food Network again. This was so yummy (my own recipe); I was quite proud of myself!
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 med yellow onion, chopped
8-10 medium mushrooms, sliced
1 lb pork stew meat
1-2 twigs fresh rosemary
1-2 twigs fresh thyme
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can chicken stock
1-2 cups white wine
1 tbs corn starch
salt and pepper
Directions:
In nonstick skillet, sauté onion, garlic, and mushrooms in olive oil and butter.
Season pork with salt and pepper. In a large stock pot, brown pork in olive oil. Add rosemary and thyme. Once pork is browned, add white wine and reduce. Add onion and mushroom mixture, tomatoes, and chicken stock. Season with a bit more salt and pepper. Simmer on med-low heat for about 30 minutes.
Mix corn starch with cold water. Add to mixture and allow to come to boil. Let thicken to desired consistency.
Serve with wild rice (*) and enjoy!!
(*) We used Uncle Ben’s brown and wild rice mixture. It was very good!!!
09.08.06
I GIVE UP!
A bunch of us from work went out for lunch today, and I saw a video news clip on T.V. (Fox News) about a girl on a roller coaster or amusement park ride. Something happened with her seat, and she was slipping out, but her criss-crossed seatbelt was under her chin and holding her. The volume was turned down, so I couldn’t hear anything. All I know is it was on Fox News. So… wanting to know more, I went to the Fox News website. I can find *NOTHING* about this at all!! Am I completely blind? or stupid? or just don’t know how to search? I even went to CNN to look. I’ve typed in roller coaster, amusement park, roller coaster accident, amusement park accident, ride, malfunction…
ARGH! I just want to know what happened. I’m curious.
Impressionism
Ever known someone who resembles an Impressionist painting? From far away, it looks pretty good, but the closer you get, the uglier it becomes?
Yeah, I know someone like that.
Budget
I hate being on a budget. I’m very detailed about bills and income, and I update my spreadsheet several times per week with every individual instance of money spending. This is a good thing because I can see where we’ll be three, four, 30 weeks from now in my perpetual. This is a bad thing because I can see where we’ll be three, four… you get the point.
Money woes are universal, I know. Most folks have them. I don’t bemoan my lack of money because I want a new car or more stuff or fancy things or jewelry. I bemoan my lack of money because I would *love* to be able to go to the grocery store and buy whatever I want in order to cook whatever I want and not have to worry about spending too much.
Yep. Feeling sorry for myself today. It will pass — for awhile, anyway.
*sigh*