Smiles

The neighbor of "Giant Frosty" fame is moving! Hurray! No more barking dogs and horrible Christmas decorations! Oh Happy Day!

Birthday

So, my birthday is fast approaching. My husband asked if there was anything special I was hoping for as a birthday present and I really had no ideas to suggest to him. Other than a surprise ultra-romantic fifteen day (or more) cruise around the Greek islands, coupled with the deluxe spa package at the five star hotel we would be staying in for awhile after our cruise, I really had no thoughts on the matter.

Washing Up

So, if you use a knife to remove the foil seal on, let's say, an unopened bottle of aspirin, does that constitute actual use whereby you now are required to WASH the knife before you put it back into the draw? I say definitely NO. Now, let's say you use that same knife to try and slice some bread that happens to be frozen solid. To me, using a knife to slice FROZEN bread does not make the knife un-clean. A simple wipe with a paper towel to remove the condensation and the few crumbs allows me to, with a clear conscience, replace the knife in its CLEANED condition back into the draw. Whereas slicing UNFROZEN bread soils the knife sufficiently to not only qualify for washing with actual SOAP, but in most cases will require a run through the dishwasher at super high sanitizing temperatures. Similarly, do pot lids have to be washed if they have only covered a pot of boiling water and their only sin is a water splattered inside? Absolutely YES. That is because the pot will always need to be washed, and there is certainly no sense in washing the pot and not the lid, too. So with my thoughts on this topic so clear cut, you may be wondering why I simply don't put EVERY item in the dishwasher - Well, sometimes I do. I frequently put the cans and jars destined for the recycling bin in the dishwasher RATHER THAN RINSE THEM OUT. Silverware I have removed from the drawer but wind up not using because I have grabbed the inappropriate item sometimes go in the dishwasher, rather than being replaced, unused and decidedly still clean, in the drawer. I will put what ever will fit into the dishwasher. This irritates other household members to no end, as there is frequently no glassware, no dishware or no eating utensils available for use in our house until the dishwasher stops. And let me tell you, it is no easy task to prepare a PBJ using a meat cleaver to spread the peanut butter.

Fishing for Thought...

So, over the weekend I went fishing. I did not catch anything. I still had fun. I will fish again tomorrow and I will probably not catch anything again. I will still have fun. Obviously, I am not a very "goal oriented" person. Maybe that's why I can't find a job. Prospective employers recognize that for me, its the challenge of actually GETTING the job, not the final event that keeps me interested. I have never been one to rest on my laurels, so to speak. When I have accomplished something, I always feel like 'okay, it's time to move on'. Which is great if it's a renovation project, or planning an event or learning a new skill. But, for job seeking purposes, and ultimately my actual employment, maybe that's not such a great thing!

Tax Day

My goal every year in January is to have all of our household tax stuff pulled together in some usable format by February 1. Well, today is tax day and all I have succeeded in pulling together is a panicked telephone call to the guy who does our taxes to confirm that our extension forms have been filed...I have rifled through the "INBOX" on my desk (which is really just a sorry excuse for a magazine rack, truth be told) looking for receipts and the like which might be useful. I gather up what I can find, scrape some unknown substance from the mortgage statement and attempt to organize all this paper and stuff in the "INBOX". Here is some of what I find: A chain of paper clips that is approximately 4 1/2 feet long (thanks, son). A switch plate that belongs on the wall in the Dining Room. Approximately 50 of my child's completed and graded homework assignments. A spiral notebook with absolutely NO paper in it. A guide to offshore fishing. A pair of 3D glasses. A broken plastic ruler. A greeting card congratulating a first time father (incidentally, I have no idea who the intended recipient of the card is/was - one of my friends became a Daddy for the first time about four years ago - maybe it was for him?). Nine magazines. A portfolio of counter top samples. And, I finally find a receipt, but it's for a pair of socks from Target, purchased in August of 2007. Hmmm, come to think of it, I don't know if the typical 6 month extension is going to be long enough...

Egg-Citement

So, with the Easter holiday and it being Spring Break and all, plus anticipating a visit from out of town family, I was in hyper MEM (please see "Super Woman" posted on 12/17/2009) last week. I even went so far as to buy one of those magazines that explain how to become even MORE of a domestic goddess than I am already. I bought this particular magazine because it had such pretty Easter eggs on the cover, and promised me that I, too, could create such delectable designs and elevate my normally mundane holiday eggs to a higher level. The instructions outlining how to create these masterpieces were very precise, to say the least. So, there I sat, on Easter Eve, at the dining room table with electrical tape, scissors, craft cutters, five colors of egg dye and two dozen perfectly hard boiled eggs. And, there I labored to cut interesting abstract designs out of the electrical tape, so that I could stick them on the eggs and dye them so that when I removed the tape, my breathtaking spectacular eggs would be magically revealed. Not so. No matter what I did, I could not get the stupid tape to stick to the egg. In one instance, I pressed the tape so hard onto the egg in a desperate attempt to make it stick, I poked my finger through the eggshell. In another, the design seemed to stick until I placed the egg into the dye bath, when the tape came loose. After repeatedly drying the condensation from one chilled egg, I finally got my design (or at least part or it) to stick to the eggshell. Quivering with excitement, I put my egg carefully into the dye bath and waited. At last, my egg reached the perfect shade of turquoise and I removed it from the dye, let it dry and began to peel off the tape design. The edge of the tape lifted, and I squealed when I saw the pristine white shell surrounded by the deep, glorious turquoise. My delight didn't last long, when I realized that I was not only removing the tape design, but I was actually peeling the egg at the same time! Interestingly enough, the magazine made no mention of that eventuality...

Makin' Bacon

Here is just one of the reasons I love men:
Mike from Florida writes "I’ve discovered a new way of cooking bacon. All you need is: bacon, tin foil, some string, and... an old worn out 7.62mm machine gun that is about to be discarded, and about 200 rounds of ammunition".

He goes on to provide explicit instructions, diagrams and full color photographs of his cooking device including a picture of the crispy sizzling bacon he has produced. He generally wraps the bacon around the barrel of the gun and then lets it rip...And I thought I was being creative by cooking mine on a barbecue grill so I wouldn't need to wash a frying pan!