On Saturday, the VIM and I spent the afternoon tramping through the woods at a nearby state game lands.
These game lands happened to be on top of a mountain (mountain in PA = big hill in most other states.) We drove up then walked, following the powerlines, to the edge of the top – a steep drop off with nothing but rolling hills of changing leaves below us.
In the distance, a good 25 miles away, I could see the little valley where my home is, and had such a stab of wistful nostalgia that I can’t even describe it. I live in a beautiful area of the world.
After the hike, we ate the best damned brisket ever, then did our own thing for a half hour or so. I decided to take pictures of the burning candles.
The VIM, in his neverending quest to drive me insane took the opportunity to teach himself “Georgie Girl” on the guitar so he could serenade me over and over and over later in the evening because I happened to mention earlier that I DESPISE that song.
He’s a prince, that VIM of mine.
And if you’re interested, I added the weekend pics to Flickr. Go. Look. Be very very jealous.
Filed under: The VIM
The VIM bought a brisket to cook this weekend.
I’ve only ever had brisket once, at a Jewish ex-boyfriend’s house for some long-forgotten holiday. I don’t think it was the same holiday where his drunk mother grabbed my boob in one hand and the boob of my boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend in the other and said slurred, “I always wanted to have a large chest, and now I have two daughters-in-law with Great squeeze Big squeeze Ones squeeze” but it might have been.
But I digress.
The VIM will be cookin’ up a brisket.
Me: What do you make with brisket? Is there some special side dish?
VIM: I don’t know what I’ll make yet. I think any side dish will do. I could have beans. Or rice.
Me: Oh, ok.
*a minute later*
VIM: or carrots. or corn.
Me: Hmmm. Ok.
*a while later*
VIM: Or broccoli. Broccoli would be nice. Or okra. Or artichokes. Or…
Me: Ok, I get it. Knock it off.
*a few minutes later*
VIM: Beets might be good with the brisket – something different
Me: Pizza? Pizza with brisket? (then, as soon as I say it, I realize he said “beets”)
VIM: Yes, Pizza. Hey, let’s whip up your 15 pound unleavened pizza crust recipe, and top it with the 3 pound brisket. We’ll call it the Brisket-Lover’s Pizza.
Me:*silence*
VIM: You’re PMSy, aren’t you?
Me:*silence*
VIM: mmmMMMMMmmmm that pizza was goooooOOOOOOooood.
Filed under: Daily
Ok, I’ve decided to abandon my Yeast Lawsuit, since Bill has pointed out that there are expiration dates on the yeast packets.
But how about THIS for a case: The mystery woman at work who seems to be on a peeing schedule approximately 4 minutes ahead of my own schedule who NEVER FAILS to leave pee on the seat.
I want to sue her because I pulled an ab muscle during one of my visits to the stall, and had to struggle to hold down my lunch while wiping off the seat. If that’s not pain and suffering, I don’t know what is.
Filed under: General
Bill commented on the last post that the teeth-shattering crust could have been caused by old yeast.
That was obviously the problem. It could not have been MY fault in any way, shape or form. I followed the recipe. I held up my end of the bargain. The yeast…the bad, bad yeast reneged on the agreement (the agreement where I feed the yeast warm water and yummy sugar, and the yeast farts.)
I had dysfunctional yeast.
I’m thinking of suing.
Filed under: Lists
- …finished my web design site and have taken on my first official client.
- …had a tire replaced on my 2005 car. This is the second tire I’ve had to buy in 10 months. For the same wheel. The first time was a flat. This time I ran over a giant (Frankenstein sized) bolt.
- …drove 3 hours to a job fair, then promptly locked my keys in my car. With everything still inside.
- …attempted to make a from-scratch whole wheat pizza crust. Failed miserably. I had no idea how teeth-cracking-hard baked unleavened dough could get. Yes, I said unleavened. Why didn’t it leaven? How the hell should I know? I followed the recipe. It was supposed to leaven, I expected it to leaven a lot. There was no leavening going on that sad, sad, day. On the bright side, the VIM actually said,”ummmmm, this is good,” as his face contorted and turned purple as he tried to bite through the very thick and very hard unleavened crust. Just thinking about the look on his face at that moment STILL makes me laugh out loud.
- …watched Ken Burns’ Mark Twain. I so very badly want to sit still on a sunny afternoon and read Huck Finn.
Filed under: Daily
This week I’m studying adult learning styles in my certification test study group. It made me think about my own style, which is (no surprise here) extremely laid back. If I see or hear a word, phrase, or idea that I haven’t run across before I don’t stress out or run to the dictionary to look it up. I try to either get the meaning from the context that it’s used in, or, if that doesn’t do the trick and it’s not something I need to know RIGHT NOW, I’ll simply file it away. At least once a week I see or hear or read something and the lightbulb comes on – “Aha! So THAT’S what that means!” Then the file clerk in my head takes the previously unknown term from the “pending” file and files it in the knowledge files.
I have no idea if this is the most common way for learning, or if I’m a little weird. Either way, it works for me.
On a recent roadtrip I was tuned into but not really paying full attention to NPR News. A term came up that I wasn’t familiar with – “reptile dysfuntion”. Without even actively thinking about it, I buzzed my brain’s file clerk and asked her to file the term in the “pending” file. At the very last moment, just as the file drawer was snapping shut, the file clerk stopped short.
“Waaaaaait a minute…Reptile dysfunction? REPTILE dysfuntion??? What could that possibly be? “
So I focused on the news story – they were reporting on Medicare’s coverage of Viagra.
Apparently the biggest problem of my own adult learning is hearing loss.
Filed under: Daily
Just a note to let you know I’m alive. I spent several days trapped under a giant pile of dirty laundry.
It was a close call, but I’m ok.
On a completely related side-note: This weekend I discovered that I’m allergic to Mountain Fresh Tide. Everytime I put on a shirt that has been recently washed in the evil Tide I become a watery-eyed, sneezy mess. Unfortunate, since I spent all my free time this weekend doing more laundry than you can shake a stick at.
I absolutely positively cannot deal with the spam comments any longer. I cannot believe how many minutes of my life I have wasted by going through and deleting this shit. And for some reason my blacklist doesn’t seem to work.
So – I’ve changed the settings on my comments and installed SpamKarma. I’m not sure exactly what’s going to happen on your end if you comment. Hopefully it won’t involve any electrical shocks or pinching. I think I may have to approve comments now, so if you happen to leave one and it doesn’t show right up, don’t fret.
That’s all I have to say about that.
More reports as events warrant.
Filed under: Analyze This
Kathy’s comment on the Hall and Oates post (she’s pro-Oates) sparked a memory of a journal entry from a few years ago…I had to dig it up and repost it:
In my dream last night, I was flipping through tv channels. I stopped on an infomercial. John Oates was telling the host how, after Hall and Oates, he went on to a successful career as an album cover artist, and his technique was so simple that anyone could be an artist.
“Ren, ” John said (the infomercial host’s name was apparently Ren), “I uncovered these techniques at a time when there were many demons in my life.”
“Uh huh, the life of a rock star is full of temptations. Drugs. Alcohol. It’s all too easy to give in to temptation, isn’t it John?”
“No Ren, I mean real demons. There were these little creatures running around my feet. Sort of a cross between a toothy chicken and a swan, and they barked at me like dogs.”
