Like it says, happy Thanksgiving to all. I will make a pumpkin pie tonight, and lasagna tomorrow, gluten-free of course. I thought I might have to go in to work Friday (we have off), but my cells cooperated and the stars aligned, so I have 4 days off. I left early today (well, late compared to everyone else since we closed at noon) and thought I would stop at the grocery store, but the Shop Rite parking lot was full in places I didn't even know they had spaces, so I decided it could wait. The cats, however, are all thrown off by my coming home early and will spend the next two hours fighting because they think it's dinner time.
My 401(k) is now officially tiny, since I lost $100,000 in stock losses and split what was left with the ex. At least that's one more official thing that's done. They are still pondering the request to split the pension. It's all imaginary money anyway until I retire, which apparently I won't be able to do for a long time.
Not much else going on except for occasional robotics events. I suppose I should put up the tree one of these days, although I expect to be regularly extracting cats from it. I will do what I did last year and wire it to the wall so at least they can't knock the whole thing over.
Fun things I can do with a 4 day weekend:
- vacuum the dust from under the fridge
- shred assorted documents
- order new checks
- change sheets
- scoop the litterbox
- arrange old photos by approximate date
- eat lasagna
- make bread crumbs from GF bread
Are you excited yet? Woohoo!
Have fun, don't eat too much.
Nov 26, 2008
Nov 16, 2008
Back in the saddle
Ooh, has it been that long since I sat down to do this? Maybe I haven't been cranky enough to need to vent.
Things are pretty routine here. Last weekend's visit to Florida messed me all up, though, because of all the weekend stuff I usually do that I didn't get to do, like cooking for the week ahead. I still have yet to rake one leaf because it's either dark or raining or I'm not here. Today is windy and cold and maybe they'll blow away anyway, so screw it for this weekend.
I'm a bad daughter for saying it, but I don't enjoy those visits much. The travel is a pain even without small children, and a good chunk of money to boot. I get to have conversations with dad, but I found myself just enduring mom much of the time. She has very few interests that can get her out of the house, in contrast to dad who is out and about, but is bored in the house. He wants stuff to do, but he doesn't seem to want to do anything with other people, so no joining the Kiwanis or volunteering. Mom narrates everything we see, which really tries my patience, but I do my best to not say anything as she talks over whatever we're watching on TV or at Sea World, which is where we spent Friday. Anything that she finds offensive is "stupid" or "disgusting", her only two adjectives, usually related to sex. I guess maybe this is typical of older people to have fixed and narrowing opinions and interest as they age, but shoot me if I ever get like that. I'm not sure she enjoys our visits either, because she seems to be eager to get back to her routine (but then I guess I was too). And of course she is still more concerned with her possessions not getting messed up than with her grandkids feeling at home. That used to make me feel horribly anxious when I would take my kids to their house and have to spend the whole time making sure they didn't touch any of the attractive nuisances or dare spill anything or leave a crumb - I would get so stressed out I couldn't wait to leave. I love her, but sadly I can't find much connection any more. If I ever have grandkids I want to focus on them having a good time with me and not whether we are making a mess.
Sea World is different from what I remember from about 14 years ago - the shows are now big epic dramas rather than just putting the animals through their paces. No more trainer holding out a fish and explaining how they train the animals and putting them through their paces. Now it's Cirque Du Soleil that just happens to have sea mammals as part of the big costume/video on big moving screen/thundering soundtrack/touching backstory spectacle. They also are apparently very paranoid about ticket sales on line - you have to create an account, and you have everyone's name on their ticket and might have to show ID. For $70 a person (child price stops at 9 and is only $10 less) you get a few sea animals and a lot of very nice landscaping. And yet they want to charge $3 more for a ride up and down an observation tower. Man, I really sound like a cranky old person here. I just wonder, is this what the 2008 audience requires to have a good time at Sea World? Are children (and adults) so jaded that they can't just be awed by the fact that something as intelligent and carnivorous as an orca will willingly cooperate with humans in return for a mouthful of stinky fish?
Okay, end of rant or I could go on until I digust everyone. Yesterday I put a whole chicken in the crockpot. While I was cleaning it I found huge solid globs of yellow fat, and I wondered about how to render it and use it like in Jewish cooking, so I looked that up and saved them. I also skimmed off almost a cup of fat from the Crockpot, leaving behind 2 cups of other juices that cooked out of the bird, which will be broth for making tetrazzini tonight. I kept the skimmed fat also, which is now solid in the fridge. Then I picked off the meat after eating a leg, to use for the tetrazzini, salads, and whatever else. THEN (I wasn't done) I put all the leavings in the soup pot with water, salt, and an onion, and cooked it for 2-3 hours to make 6 cups of broth now in the freezer for future soup, risotto, whatever. I left the cooked solids sitting overnight (it was late), meaning to throw it out today and take it out to the trash. Apparently, though, some feline managed to knock the crockpot lid askew and steal the one leg bone that remained in there, so I'm hoping her digestive system can handle bird bones, being a normal part of a wild feline diet, because I don't see any sign of it on the floor.
Here's what the world wide web told me to do with that chicken fat: take those globs of fat (possibly saved in the freezer to make a large quantity) and the skimmed fat, melt it down, add salt and a sliced onion, and cook it until the onion and fat are dark brown but not burned. Pour through a sieve, save the fat in the fridge, and eat the crackly onion pieces and whatever chicken cracklings remain. Use the fat for cooking whatever would be good cooked in oniony salty fat. I may do this with the onion, it sounds awesome.
I have to thaw a bun for a sandwich for tomorrow, when I am helping disassemble 70 mice for their assorted parts and won't have a fridge or microwave for my lunch. We will be taking skin, kidneys, liver, diaphragm, blood, heart, tongue, brain, all four legs (one of the co-ops is still amused by my image of said mouse up on cinder blocks after removing all four tires) to have multiple muscles dissected out later, and spine with tail attached. In a hot noisy room next to the cage washer, with the sound of that and the smell of autoclaved mouse bedding all day, on my feet. And a new person who is pissing off everyone else by not listening to anyone, but we have to take her. Friday I spent my afternoon sorting through about 30 boxes of frozen mouse parts for another study, pulling out tubes containing 182 hearts, kidney pairs, and pieces of skin and then putting them in numerical order in other boxes. It was a swell time! One tube popped open while thawing and shot a kidney across the room, which I managed to recover. Mamas, don't let yer babies grow up to do in vivo studies.
The boy shaved - came out of the shower one night and showed me his clean baby face. He's so cute. His dad was disappointed he missed this father-son bonding opportunity, so I suppose he'll lay some guilt on him for a while because that's what he does. I got him some shaving cream and razors today so he doesn't have to use his sister's expensive razor heads again. He probably won't need it for a few weeks anyway.
In general, I find I am happy and content (notwithstanding the complaining above). I splurged on a whole pound of spring mix and I am eating awesome salads with chicken, clementine sections, and sugared sliced almonds. I put chocolate syrup on my plain yogurt with cashews for breakfast because I was out of fruit, and it was like a sundae. I got out yesterday (72 and sunny!!!) and got the two big Christmas items (Xbox for boy and PSP for girl) before the carols in the store could drive me nuts. The juvenile delinquent cat has discovered the joy of lap, and has been coming to curl up with us unbidden - he even tried to share this typing experience with me. My knitting is going well, bills are paid, kids are not in trouble. House could be cleaner, but eh. Hope all is well with you and your trips to Florida are peaceful and easy.
Things are pretty routine here. Last weekend's visit to Florida messed me all up, though, because of all the weekend stuff I usually do that I didn't get to do, like cooking for the week ahead. I still have yet to rake one leaf because it's either dark or raining or I'm not here. Today is windy and cold and maybe they'll blow away anyway, so screw it for this weekend.
I'm a bad daughter for saying it, but I don't enjoy those visits much. The travel is a pain even without small children, and a good chunk of money to boot. I get to have conversations with dad, but I found myself just enduring mom much of the time. She has very few interests that can get her out of the house, in contrast to dad who is out and about, but is bored in the house. He wants stuff to do, but he doesn't seem to want to do anything with other people, so no joining the Kiwanis or volunteering. Mom narrates everything we see, which really tries my patience, but I do my best to not say anything as she talks over whatever we're watching on TV or at Sea World, which is where we spent Friday. Anything that she finds offensive is "stupid" or "disgusting", her only two adjectives, usually related to sex. I guess maybe this is typical of older people to have fixed and narrowing opinions and interest as they age, but shoot me if I ever get like that. I'm not sure she enjoys our visits either, because she seems to be eager to get back to her routine (but then I guess I was too). And of course she is still more concerned with her possessions not getting messed up than with her grandkids feeling at home. That used to make me feel horribly anxious when I would take my kids to their house and have to spend the whole time making sure they didn't touch any of the attractive nuisances or dare spill anything or leave a crumb - I would get so stressed out I couldn't wait to leave. I love her, but sadly I can't find much connection any more. If I ever have grandkids I want to focus on them having a good time with me and not whether we are making a mess.
Sea World is different from what I remember from about 14 years ago - the shows are now big epic dramas rather than just putting the animals through their paces. No more trainer holding out a fish and explaining how they train the animals and putting them through their paces. Now it's Cirque Du Soleil that just happens to have sea mammals as part of the big costume/video on big moving screen/thundering soundtrack/touching backstory spectacle. They also are apparently very paranoid about ticket sales on line - you have to create an account, and you have everyone's name on their ticket and might have to show ID. For $70 a person (child price stops at 9 and is only $10 less) you get a few sea animals and a lot of very nice landscaping. And yet they want to charge $3 more for a ride up and down an observation tower. Man, I really sound like a cranky old person here. I just wonder, is this what the 2008 audience requires to have a good time at Sea World? Are children (and adults) so jaded that they can't just be awed by the fact that something as intelligent and carnivorous as an orca will willingly cooperate with humans in return for a mouthful of stinky fish?
Okay, end of rant or I could go on until I digust everyone. Yesterday I put a whole chicken in the crockpot. While I was cleaning it I found huge solid globs of yellow fat, and I wondered about how to render it and use it like in Jewish cooking, so I looked that up and saved them. I also skimmed off almost a cup of fat from the Crockpot, leaving behind 2 cups of other juices that cooked out of the bird, which will be broth for making tetrazzini tonight. I kept the skimmed fat also, which is now solid in the fridge. Then I picked off the meat after eating a leg, to use for the tetrazzini, salads, and whatever else. THEN (I wasn't done) I put all the leavings in the soup pot with water, salt, and an onion, and cooked it for 2-3 hours to make 6 cups of broth now in the freezer for future soup, risotto, whatever. I left the cooked solids sitting overnight (it was late), meaning to throw it out today and take it out to the trash. Apparently, though, some feline managed to knock the crockpot lid askew and steal the one leg bone that remained in there, so I'm hoping her digestive system can handle bird bones, being a normal part of a wild feline diet, because I don't see any sign of it on the floor.
Here's what the world wide web told me to do with that chicken fat: take those globs of fat (possibly saved in the freezer to make a large quantity) and the skimmed fat, melt it down, add salt and a sliced onion, and cook it until the onion and fat are dark brown but not burned. Pour through a sieve, save the fat in the fridge, and eat the crackly onion pieces and whatever chicken cracklings remain. Use the fat for cooking whatever would be good cooked in oniony salty fat. I may do this with the onion, it sounds awesome.
I have to thaw a bun for a sandwich for tomorrow, when I am helping disassemble 70 mice for their assorted parts and won't have a fridge or microwave for my lunch. We will be taking skin, kidneys, liver, diaphragm, blood, heart, tongue, brain, all four legs (one of the co-ops is still amused by my image of said mouse up on cinder blocks after removing all four tires) to have multiple muscles dissected out later, and spine with tail attached. In a hot noisy room next to the cage washer, with the sound of that and the smell of autoclaved mouse bedding all day, on my feet. And a new person who is pissing off everyone else by not listening to anyone, but we have to take her. Friday I spent my afternoon sorting through about 30 boxes of frozen mouse parts for another study, pulling out tubes containing 182 hearts, kidney pairs, and pieces of skin and then putting them in numerical order in other boxes. It was a swell time! One tube popped open while thawing and shot a kidney across the room, which I managed to recover. Mamas, don't let yer babies grow up to do in vivo studies.
The boy shaved - came out of the shower one night and showed me his clean baby face. He's so cute. His dad was disappointed he missed this father-son bonding opportunity, so I suppose he'll lay some guilt on him for a while because that's what he does. I got him some shaving cream and razors today so he doesn't have to use his sister's expensive razor heads again. He probably won't need it for a few weeks anyway.
In general, I find I am happy and content (notwithstanding the complaining above). I splurged on a whole pound of spring mix and I am eating awesome salads with chicken, clementine sections, and sugared sliced almonds. I put chocolate syrup on my plain yogurt with cashews for breakfast because I was out of fruit, and it was like a sundae. I got out yesterday (72 and sunny!!!) and got the two big Christmas items (Xbox for boy and PSP for girl) before the carols in the store could drive me nuts. The juvenile delinquent cat has discovered the joy of lap, and has been coming to curl up with us unbidden - he even tried to share this typing experience with me. My knitting is going well, bills are paid, kids are not in trouble. House could be cleaner, but eh. Hope all is well with you and your trips to Florida are peaceful and easy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)