Nummies

I made the best chicken salad for lunch one day last week (I confess I stole the idea from the chicken salad sandwich at Panino's).

diced chicken
diced granny smith apple
dried cranberries
mayo
curry powder

I wanted to put nuts in it. I thought I had walnuts but after an exhaustive search of my cupboard, all I found was a bag of pecans which expired in 1999? WTF? I am not THAT bad a housekeeper and I HATE old food. The pecans went in the trash.

The salad was good without the nuts.

Progress

How are you doing on your resolutions?

I won't discuss 1 and 2 - TMI. But #3: "finish what I start" is, surprisingly, coming along OK. Friday I cleaned the oven, Saturday I finished recovering the seat of a child's rocking chair* (after 2 boys it was dirty and frayed) and today I washed the floor.

*Now there is no place to put the chair. It was in the garage for more than 6 months while I procrastinated, and now its space has been taken up by the Rock Band equipment.

The Handy Husband was proactive today, and fixed the washing machine when it started making a noise. He's never fixed the washer before, so he looked up diagrams on the internet. It made the same noise a few months ago and $80 later, it turned out to be a wire in the pump. Probably from his pocket. Same thing this time! Glad he saved us the $80.

Happy Birthday House!

Dear House,

It just occured to me that we have lived in you for 20 years today. Happy Birthday, House! I'm sorry I haven't taken any pretty pictures of you recently. Here's one from this afternoon, a little bare. You would look prettier if your wisteria and roses were in bloom.

Here's your front yard in September 2006. Ernest and I were on our way to a Pirate Faire.
Here's our patio in August 2005, where the Handy Husband has barbecued many a yummy tri-tip . And where Frank and Ernest learned to manage the stilts and pogo stick. (Thank you for keeping them uninjured when they fell off!) Here's the back yard in April 2005, hosting Ernest's 9th birthday party. Give that pinata a good whack! (There's the path where Frank whacked the lights!)
When we saw you, we weren't even intending on buying a new house. We remembered you from when we were kids. The Handy Husband delivered papers to you. So we walked through your open house just for fun. Little did we know we would fall in love.

We did a lot of work on you at first. Kitchen, floors, ceilings, doors, bathroom, even doorknobs! 20 years later you need a few more touchups (like my hair!). You could use new paint and new windows.

Thank you, House, for taking care of us for 20 years. Thank you for not complaining when your empty rooms grew overstuffed or when I forgot to clean you. Thank you for keeping us warm and safe and together as a family. We love you.

Love, Mom, Handy Husband, Frank, Ernest and The Cat.

Squeezing Blood from...

...an orange.

There was a box of blood oranges in my way. So I bought some. The checker mistakenly kindly charged me the navel orange price. What to do with blood oranges? Why, Blood Orange Martinis of course! They were pretty good. Tasted a little bit of the oil in the skin, but that may have been the fault of my vigorous juicing with the pit droid juicer. (Mine's an older version, the handle is not as curved.)
At this time, the Pomegranate Martinis still have the edge. The Handy Husband said he felt like a 50's husband, coming home to a Martini. But I was not wearing a housedress and a frilly apron. I have decided to invest in a real cocktail shaker (Tupperware is not cool) and Martini glasses. When they arrive, I may don the frilly apron as a joke. (Yes, there will be clothes beneath it. There are children in the house.)

Growing Up

Even my youngling is growing up. He doesn't want toys anymore (except for the $$$ lego which we aren't talking about till his birthday).

Today he said, "I need a flash drive. Can we get one at the hardware store?" I only laughed a little, then said, "No, but we can look at RiteAid." We found one. This is so he can move files between school and home, for the school newspaper his GATE class is starting.

Now he is asking me math questions. What the heck are complementary and supplementary angles? I looked that one up on Wickipedia. After the second question , I said, "Ask your brother!"

I don't remember Ernest every being naughty. I used to call him my Angel Baby, because he was so good and looked like a curly haired chubby cherub. He liked to wear costumes year round. One favorite was the silver "robot suit" with helmet, which I made. We just gave that to our g-nephew Mr. Thomas, who expressed an interest in becoming a robot. (We'll need a picture, hint hint.)

A Choice is Made

In my last post I mentioned Frank was taking Calculus instead of Concert Band due to a scheduling conflict. Yesterday he asked if he could switch at the semester. He laid out his reasons: he's taken more than enough math to satisfy the requirements, Calculus is a little boring because they covered most of it last year, he misses band, and the band misses him (the saxophone section is a little weak). So we thought about it, and we thought, "Why not?" Let him have some more fun in his last semester. That would make 2 music classes, 2 computer classes, TA in Physics, and only two classes which require studying: English and Government. Lucky bum! My senior year was crammed with academics.

He's a good kid. He does well in school (even English is better this year), he is a careful driver, he doesn't take drugs, he comes home on time, he doesn't argue with me, he has a great sense of humor...I could go on. I was trying to think of anything really naughty he'd done (besides failing English) and all I could think of was when he was 3 and got hold of a big barbeque spatula and happily went down the backyard path smashing the ceramic lights on his way. We still haven't replaced them all. Fourteen years later.

Rock Band Live -- some names changed to protect the innocent

Yes, ROCK BAND LIVE has performed here in my living room. After the usual Monday all-you-can-eat-taco-night (which Frank used to just be invited to, but now he does the inviting), they all showed up: Frank plus 5 others. Plus Ernest who is now Baby Jesus or Little Jesus.*

There's a South Park name grouping: Frank could be Eric Cartman (some of you know his real name)...but far less disgusting... and his stage band+ friends are Kenny (no one's killed this Kenny), Kyle and Stan (only Stan's real name is different but it uses some the same letters),

Also there was Gonzo, plus the singer in Frank's real garage band^ whom I have not nicknamed yet, and a girl who is the daughter of an English teacher#.

+Stage band: the 7th period class where sometimes they do drumline and sometimes they just jam. Frank couldn't schedule Concert Band because it conflicted with AP calculus B/C. He chose calculus.

^Garage band: In the drummer's garage, they are trying to be a real band. They have played "Paint it Black" in public.

#He got a D- last year, but the teacher still liked him.

*OK, final footnote. We don't want to insult anyone who loves Jesus. Here is the story behind the nickname: 2 years ago, Frank went to Australia and had a home stay. He went to school with the boy from the home stay. Someone at the boy's Christian school shouted out, "It's Jesus" and took Frank's picture with his cell phone. (Frank had lovely long hair and a beard.) So Frank (the older brother) has been called Jesus for a while, and this year when his friends met Ernest (with lovely long hair and no beard) they called him "Little Jesus," or, my favorite "Baby Jesus." No offence meant to anyone, it is based on portraits of Jesus, especially the one that hung on my godmother's wall for 50 years.

This post has gone on long enough. Goodnight!

Centerpiece #3

On Saturday we had an improptu visit from the Beloved Niece and sons. Her sons are technically our great-nephews. That makes me feel old. I'm only 47. (Handy Husband just turned 48). So I cheat and just call them nephews.

So the older (11 in January) g-nephew, a real car guy, provided our centerpiece for the evening. He knows everything about cars.

I was going to call him CarGuy, but that's just too... ordinary and garage-mechanic-y. So I'm going to call him McQueen (as a tribute to both Steve and Lightning) which is uber-cool. If he would prefer another name, he can e-mail me.

His 3.5 year old brother will be called Mr. Thomas. Because he is obsessed with... yeah, you know. Mr. Thomas loves to visit us because we have Thomas videos and Thomas toys (...from the early 1990's. We don't know if they are lead infected but Frank and Ernest survived them OK.) There's "Small Thomas, " the small box of metal Thomas toys. Then there's "Big Thomas," the huge yellow box of Brio trains with some Thomas trains added.

So, McQueen and Mr. Thomas, come back soon.

New Toy

I got a Kindle! See my book blog for details.

http://smalltownmombooks.blogspot.com/2008/01/kindle.html

My resolutions

Not so noble or lofty as some, but doable.

1. Use hand lotion on a regular basis.

2. Ditto dental floss.

3. The biggie: finish what I start! I am the world's best (or is it worst) procrastinator. Today's job: put the Christmas decorations away.

UPDATE on #3, yes all the decorations are put away. And I also put away most of the crap in the "sewing room" aka "spare 'oom" aka "room of one's own" aka "room of requirement" aka "retreat from snoring room." 1/7/08

More Cowbell

Rock Band is very popular here. Yesterday there was a group: As I expected, Ernest was asked to sing, Frank played guitar, his friend (I'll call him Unicycle because he rides one) drummed. Ernest sounded really good! My favorite was "Don't Fear the Reaper." The singer gets to do the cowbell by tapping on the mike.

Shaken, not Stirred

Here's a way to get your anti-oxidants...

Oprah's Pomegranate Martini

1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
2 oz Absolut Citron vodka
1 oz Cointreau
cup of ice

Shake ingredients in a shaker and pour in chilled Martini glasses.

Tasty, even when shaken in Tupperware and served in a wine glass.

Rock Band is in the Bulding

Frank is setting up his Rock Band video game. I am still asking, "Why did you need this game?," because he and Ernest can play the real instruments. I think Ernest will be forced to sing, because he doesn't want to set up the drums. Apparently there is no bass. Those evil bassophobic game developers.

We're going to leave the room for a while while they get organized.

P.S. Later... drums have been set up. They both like the drums. Now we hear a constant tap tap tap.

Pie

I forgot to post this earlier, but it is important.

Ernest made the pumpkin pie himself. Completely by himself. (At Thanksgiving he had a LITTLE help.) I am quite impressed. Kudos to Ernest.

Ninjas Strike Again!

It's beginning to look (a little) like Christmas

After watching A Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and a Charlie Brown Christmas, I feel a little more holiday-like. Today I'm going to take a nap, then start cooking:

That damn man-cold!

So I've had "it", or several "its" since November 30. I like to say that Ozzy made me sick. Cold, cough, laryngytis, and now it feels like it's starting all over again, and I STILL can't talk. AAAAaaarrrrrggggghhhh! I have two vocal ranges: a whisper or a really bass voice which scares both my own children and the ones at school!


I barely got Christmas pulled together for my own family. No cards or letters, they will wait till New Years.


We took a trip to the big town today, most importantly to see Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp Johnny Depp Johnny Depp) and also to buy a ham.

Christmas Party

Here we are, all dolled up for the Handy Husband's Christmas party last night.

His company spares no expense and hosts a really good Christmas party. Good food: "eclectic California cuisine." Good door prizes: many gift certificates, several iPods, and 2 iPhones. (The HH won an iPod shuffle and 50 free songs.) Good alcohol: Lots of it. Greeters at the door handed out margaritas and mojitos. And there were 2 bars. Good band: The HH made me promise I wouldn't make him dance, but two of his friends nagged shamed him into it, so he danced with me once. My cute shoes weren't too good for dancing (wedgies with non-skid soles). But they looked good.

Thank You, Gentle Knight

My Handy Husband went on a quest today, into the dark soulless void of Costco, to acquire a gift for one of our spawn. He was successful in his hunt and brought the gift home, secretly sequestering it in his private vault. I was in another part of our castle, and when I came into our great hall I found a lovely offering from my knight in shining armor:

Unsolicited, Unhinted-For Flowers!!!

And so we must have a little ZepTribute here... to my sweet knight, just reverse the gender:

If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.

When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me.

Kind woman, I give you my all,

Kind woman, nothing more.

Little drops of rain whisper of the pain,

tears of loves lost in the days gone by.

My love is strong, with you there is no wrong,

together we shall go until we die. My, my, my.

An inspiration is what you are to me, inspiration, look... see.

And so today, my world it smiles,

your hand in mine, we walk the miles,

Thanks to you it will be done,

for you to me are the only one.

Happiness, no more be sad, happiness....I'm glad.

If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.

When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me.

Centerpiece, number 2

"The Centerpiece" may become a new feature on my blog.

Drumsticks appeared on the table this week, courtesy of Frank and stage band. Then Ernest wanted more cowbell. So I told him where to find one.


Our cowbell does not sound as good as this one...

By the way, Blue Oyster Cult was my first rock concert! With the Handy Husband, who was the Handy Boyfriend back then. This was years before Don't Fear the Reaper.