My greatest influence - an early MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
81

I’ve had some cow-orkers (dash placement intended) who actually were like this. They tend to find me quite irritating. The few bosses I’ve had who weren’t satisfied with me were like that. Ugh, my tummy gets the icks just thinking of those nonpeople.

Hi, chickie! Hi, QD, we were wondering if you’d gotten lost along the way!

Congratulations, MBG, I know it’s kind of late but I wanted to know what was it I was congratulatin’ you on :smiley:

Spats, grading sucks so much it’s a pity you can’t use it to clean floors. Makes the biggest Hoover look like a wuss. I’m so glad I don’t grade any more!

Congratulations McC! That’s great news both for your plans and your wallet :slight_smile:

82

I have discovered that I must be “in the mood” to shop, or nothing appeals to me. I guess that’s why I rarely go shopping, other than for groceries. When nothing appeals to me, then I become even grumpier. It’s a vicious circle.

I guess I’m going to watch some TV. We’ve finished playing WoW for the night and hubby is heading to bed.

On a not quite so mundane point (at least to me), the 26th of this month is mine and Mr. Taters’ 21st wedding anniversary. Where did the time go?!

We’ve been together since 1983, but got married in 1986. Geeze, when I type it out, that seems like a long time ago. But, all the same, it doesn’t feel like it.

Well, off to moosh my brain by watching TV. I don’t even know whats on tonight.

83

Well, I went to help with inventory at another store, so I get a mid-weekend the next two days. I guess I’ll continue my DVD marathon tomorrow.

Rebo, HELLO WENCH! And a kitten to kill, too. :wink:

Welcome Quazi Daughter, do you have on clean undies?

84

Happy Birthday FCM! (or as we we would say in Korean - saeng-il chuk-ha-ham-ni-da!) Hope it’s full of happiness and chocolate!!

85

What a beautiful idea for a thread. anyrose, your post made me weep.

I had a big long life story here, but it’s far too personal. My greatest life influence is my Aunt, who was 13 years old when I was born and immediately became my best friend and caretaker. I have spent my entire life loving and being influenced by her. By the time I was a teenager, her social circle was my social circle. For all intents and purposes, she raised me. She taught me right from wrong and all the gray areas in between. She told me I was smart and wise and tough and beautiful until I learned to believe it. When I ran away from home at 17, she took me into her home at a great personal sacrifice, and without her support I probably wouldn’t have graduated Salutatorian–or at all.

Now I’m in college and she got married just a year before I did–she has since moved out to New York and left a gaping hole in my heart. We talk on the phone constantly–though I’ve noticed something interesting–sometimes she asks me for advice.

When I got married this past June, my Aunt was the photographer. I didn’t cry the entire day… except once, when these words came through the speakers:
Say goodbye
Not knowing when the truth in my
whole life begins
Say goodbye
Not knowing how to cry
You taught me that

And I’ll remember
The love that you gave me
Now that I’m standing on my own
And I’ll remember
The way that you changed me
I’ll remember.

Inside, I was a child
That could not mend her broken wing
Outside, I looked for a way
To teach my heart to sing.

And I’ll remember
The strength that you gave me
Now that I’m standing
On my own
I’ll remember
The way that you saved me
I’ll remember.

I’ve learned to let go
Of the illusion that we can possess
I’ve learned to let go
And travel in stillness…
And I’ll remember
happiness
I’ll remember.

Ok, I’m weeping now. Just like my Wedding Day … we held each other and wept.

Here’s a clearer pic of the two of us, and a shot of Annie and her husband, Mike.

Today, as in these pictures, I am 23, and she is 36.

86

Oh, cool, I was hoping olive would join the Cool Kids too! Welcome, olive!

Those pics are missing someone, dunnow if you’ve noticed… where’s the groom, eh?

FCM, apologies if it rains. Blame it on your parents:
Cumpleaños feliz,
cumpleaños feliz,
¡teee deseeeaaaamos tooodoooos
cumpleaaaañoooos feeeeeliiiiiiiz!

87

Great OP rosieposie, I also want/need to put some thought into my reply. I had a few people who were integral in the influence of my development, and if I am going to do more than mention their names I need to take the time to make them real in cyberland.

Regarding last weeks MMP, VB I know that you know the ahem joys of GI tract inflammation, therefore I will let you off lightly. Besides the thought of “swollen soldiers” has given me a repeated grin and a snort ever since, so you’re golden…for now! :smiley:

::dances around gt singing “Jigzone…jigzone…tra la la…” then d&r… :smiley:

Jahdra, I feed Neutro to the cats and dogs, with fabulous results. I am switching the dogs over to Solid Gold, but I am keeping the cats on Neutro. At the last vet visit doc told me that I have the healthiest cats he’s seen on the island, I hope that your kitty/ies do as well on it.

On the home front, I am in a flare. I have been trying to will it away, but it looks as if it’s going to linger. I mention this because those of you who understand, will, and I know that I have fellow chronic illness Kids here so if I need to vent I can without it causing either family troubles which don’t need to occur, and I know that the Cool Kids have nice, soft shoulders if I need to lean or even cry, and knowing that makes it easier to cope with the symptoms and still run the household. I am not seeking sympathy, I know you guys care, I just want to let you know I may preface a post or dozen with the disclaimer right out front that I am emotional this week. (Yeah, and the peri-menopausal symptoms don’t help, either, grrr.]

With that preface, We are back down into the single digit temperatures with another 6"ish inches of fresh snow, so I have been locking the cats indoors during the late morning until the late afternoon so I can put food out for the birds. I saw a bird today I don’t think I have noticed before. It has the prettiest rose pink blush on it’s chest, I am going to have to identify it. Lots of birdies at my feeders, they are hungry. I haven’t seen any chickadees yet, and even skiffman mentioned the lack of chickadees today. So I am going to get some suet cakes and peanut butter balls out there and try to lure some in.

The snow, from the vantage point inside my toasty den, is quite beautiful, and as I daydreamed out of the window I had the first four lines of a poem come to me. It has been years since I wrote any poetry, but even though I am pure writer wannabe, it feels good to feel some creativity.

To everyone I didn’t mention, I apologise. I blame brain fog, so please, hugs, congrats, etc. to all whom it applies!

So, that’s Monday at my house, I hope to be a little more mobile tomorrow. G’night all!

88

Here he is! (pictured here with his younger sister.)

And us together…

sigh I’m hopeless.

89

OK, see, now I can say it: cute husband! :wink:

You’re a much faster learner than most, I’m impressed. Heck, I’ve been badgering people with tales of The Nephew for over a year and only posted pics last week.

90

Welcome olives! Nice story…and nice pics.

Hope the flare goes away soon, kai.

It’s 4:30 and I am up because, well, I woke up at one and couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d read my book group book some more. And, well, I kept reading and kept reading. And then I was thinking “Didn’t they make a movie of that?” Turns out they did…I’ll link stuff later because I’m yawning now, but I wanted to say:

Happy Birthday, FCM!

and

Welcome, QD! We’ve been expecting you! :smiley: Also, in the future, we hope to be listed as one of your greatest influences. :smiley: :stuck_out_tongue:

Well…maybe I can sleep now, for an hour and a half or so.

GT

91

Notice gt said “greatest”, not “best”. We have swampy here to make sure we stay in the wide and curved.

92

Goodness, you’ve been busy over here!

Happy birthday, FCM! - will there be chocolates and cakes to celebrate?

Welcome QD! We’ve waited so long to see you! Did you wear your fancy skimpies today? You do realise we’ll need a regular update on all sorts of things, like your underwear situation?

I meant to go to the gym last night. I had good intentions all day about going to the gym, and how much better I’d feel afterwards. So what happened? I got sidetracked by a debate on the Beeb’s website about council tax and local services…and I ended up being reminded about the local library which I’ve not set foot inside for ages. In fact, it’s such a long time since I’ve been there, my library card had expired and I had to get it updated. But now I have books! I’m so happy! Books I didn’t have to pay for! Even my bank manager will be happy about that, I’m sure he thinks there’s a direct link between my account and our local branch of Waterstone’s. And well he might, the bank and the bookshop are right opposite each other, so what am I supposed to do?

So the gym was cheerfully forgotten while I wandered round the library wondering how easy it would be to fill my lending limit of 10 items. Nope, not difficult at all. But I have to finish them all by 19th Feb 'cos that’s when they’re due back again. Is that likely to be a problem? Not at all…my next Uni paper’s not due until mid-March!

Swampy - is that long enough for you to stock up on nerve tonic?

93

<AHEM> CLEARING THROAT <AHEM>

**
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAYYY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAYYY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAYYY DEEEAAARRR FAAAIIIIRRRYYYCCCHHHAAATTTMMMOOOMMM!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAYYY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
**

P.S. She’s six months and six days older than me. :stuck_out_tongue:

94

Many Happy Returns of the Day, FCM.

Off to work soon. #2 son is still sick-fever, but Mom’s gotta go to work. Grrrr. Dad will be here, but it’s not the same (for Mom that is).

Have a good day, all.

95

I hereby bestow olivesmarch4th the moniker Reindeer, based upon the line from RudolphTRNR: “…Olive the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names…”

Other than that, I got nuttin. Mornin, y’all. Happy BDay, ClayElfParent…

96

Happy Birthday, FCM
Welcome Olive and QD to where the cool kids hang. Please don’t forget your sacreficial gifts of good chocolate to FairyChatMom. Not because it’s her birthday, but because she’s nice, dammit. If you don’t, we may have to consider unleashing the goat and draggin out the squid.
Oh, and watch out for the hamsters - they eat posts and nibble on coding.

btw - Olive - those are great pics.

97

No link, just advice: get a slow cooker (aka crock pot). There are a lot of recipe books out there for them, and almost none that I’ve seen are too expensive.

And you don’t have to cook just stew in them. They’re very versatile. Here’s a recipe I successfully used to make Hot Fudge Sundae Cake. Also consider this a Happy Birthday FCM choclate offering.

Hot Fudge Sundae Cake

cake:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp baking cocoa (I use Hershey’s)
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsps vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use walnuts)

sauce:
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 1/2 cups hot water

  1. Spray inside of crockpot with nonstick cooking spray. (2-3 1/2 quart cooker). Mix first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Stir in milk, oil and vanilla until smooth. Add nuts. Spread batter evenly in crock pot.

  2. Mix brown sugar and cocoa together, add hot water and stir until smooth. Pour evenly over batter in cooker. It is watery, but it’s supposed to be.

  3. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2- 2 1/2 hours or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Turn off crockpot; let cake stand UNCOVERED for 30 minutes.

  4. Spoon into dessert dishes, ladle Hot Fudge sauce over cake.

98

must … buy … crock … pot …

99

Mom was quite surprised when she found out that SiL and her mom still use a pressure cooker. SiL was terribly surprised that eating canned beans (which in Spain are often sold without any sauce, just the beans) does not automatically cause botulism: as Mom told her “I don’t think there would be a canning industry if cans were an automatic cause of death.” SiL and her Mom were again surprised that day Mom was cooking pasta at SiL’s house, the only pot available was the pressure cooker and Mom went and used it. The notion of treating the lid just as a regular lid, without locking it in place, had never occurred to them :smack:

Sometimes I think the two families are actually from parallel universes.

McC, pasta is probably the easiest thing in the world. The sauce is the tricky part, and not so much. The sauce we make at home:

  • tomato purée (usually from a can),
  • a spiral of oil (olive or corn),
  • two peeled “teeth” of garlic (I’m sure this isn’t the right word… what is the right word?): do not chop them or smash them,
  • a bit of salt.

Heat to boiling, stir and then lower the heat so it just simmers. The pot should not be closed tight, since you want to evaporate part of the water. Use a lid but leave it slightly tilted or, if you can find them, there’s these circles of mesh that are great as a “lid that doesn’t close things but keeps the liquid from jumping all over the place”. They’re in the same supermarket alley as pots and pans. Once it’s been simmering for about 20 min, take a bit of sauce with a wooden spoon, blow on it to cool it and taste it. It’s better to put not enough salt at first and have to add than the other way 'round.

Once it has the right texture, take out the garlic. The sauce can be stored in the fridge for a couple days if you take it out often, a week if it’s been sitting there.

If you’re going to freeze it, make it without the salt. Not sure if it’s “old wives’ wisdom” or “unproven scientific fact found out by kitchen scientists” but it’s more likely to separate if you freeze it with salt, my gurus say.

Once you’ve learned to make that version, you can see how it works with additional herbs and spices. That sauce is great for pasta, rice and meatballs.

100

We call them “cloves” of garlic, and the whole thing is a “bulb”. It can be very unpleasant if you get the two mixed up, and bad news if you have local vampires!

Pasta is very easy to cook and it’s one of my favourite things to use because you can chuck pretty much anything in and it comes out ok. I must get through an inordinate amount of jars of passata though, it seems to end up in everything!