Things to do in Vegas when you're dead - a holiday MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
461

I got my xA in Feb - they don’t make the xA any longer - they jazzed up the engine and tweaked the exterior a bit, and now it’s xD.

Anyway, I like it a lot, for an econobox. Besides the purchase price, it has some features that really make me happy. The front seats, interestingly enough, sit pretty high, so I don’t have to climb up to get out. I also love that when you put the back seats down, they’re flat with the hatch back area, so loading is very easy. I like that the hatch is quite wide and that the little cover for the back area comes off easily. Plus the display area of the radio changes color - it amuses me!:smiley:

I also got some things I’d not have wanted, but they were on the lot model, so they’re mine now: A port to plug in an iPod (I don’t own one, but my kid does, and she thought it was cool), side curtain air bags (I feel safer already!), and floor mats (I usually buy generic ones, but what the heck.) I’m not all that crazy about the color (Salsa Red) since I kinda wanted a grey one, but it was a good deal and overall, I’m very happy with it. Plus my mileage tends to be higher than advertised, which makes me happy. I just have to remember that I can’t load as much stuff into it as I could in my van…

**snowbunny ** - once, eons ago (not sure if I was in junior high or high school) I made a batch of cupcakes that were so incredibly moist, you truly didn’t need frosting. It was the same recipe I always used (and use to this day - witness the cake) but obviously I did something subtly different that time. That has become my grail quest. Well, OK, not really. But still. Anyway, the current cake was almost that moist. I make the same pudding cake recipe, but yesterday, I used French Vanilla pudding in the devil’s food cake - veddy, veddy yummerrific!

It’s drizzly and cold and grey and ick outside. Even Bernie didn’t want to linger after her morning pee. It is miserable, but not icy, thank goodness. I’ve got a chicken carcass boiling for soup stock. I’ve had to chastise Miss Brandy for climbing to the top of the wall cabinets!! :eek: She apparently leaps from floor to counter (bad kitty!!) to fridge to cabinet top. I had words with her, but like a typical feline, she ignored me. Now she’s blocking my view of the screen, like I’m gonna forgive her… <pause for kitty skritches>

Three loads of laundry today, emptying the load of dishes I just ran, and I’ll likely run the vacuum and do a general, quick tidy. If **FCD ** wants breakfast out, we’ll venture forth (probably in my car because his is freshly waxed :rolleyes: ) but apart from that, I’m thinking it’s an indoor day. I might venture to my studio for a while - I have 4 pieces that I threw last week that need some detail work done. If nothing else, I need to spray them down to keep them damp.

Oh, and I have a boo-boo - my left index finger was bleeding so it’s band-aided. I gots a owie!!! :frowning: Woe is me!! <insert copious tears and wailing>

Yeah, so, back to caffeinating.

462

Up and at it again. It’s rainy, and there is a high wind warning. The cat is in my face.

Rosie, weird would be BSOD wall paper on a Mac.

463

CanineManservant, I’m not so worried about the fact you’ve taken so many photos of your fridge, what’s worrying is the amount of Newkie Brown you’ve got in there! I don’t think I know anyone who has that many bottles of dog in their possession!

I’m just back home from a christmas party at a hotel in Brummyjam. Party was good, food was lovely, had lots of friends to chat with, too much wine was consumed and 'im indoors is feeling the effects! Luckily the hotel provided him with a much-needed greasy fry-up for breakfast so he’s on the long road to recovery. Being far too perky for his liking, I’m keeping out of the way and just keeping the supply of tea coming along.

When we left home yesterday afternoon, there was a white cat on the small sofa and a black cat on the bigger sofa. When we got home around 24hrs later, there was a white cat on the small sofa and a black cat on the bigger sofa. I don’t think they’d actually moved at all in the time we’d been gone. What a life, eh?

I’m going to lay on the sofa and find something trashy to watch for the next couple of hours, then I have to rouse 'im indoors from his wine-induced stupor and take him grocery shopping. Oh joy.

464

Good morning all! I’m up and caffeinating–surfing as well.

My son showed me his grades for first semester online–he’s got a 3.0 GPA!!! I am so proud for him: 1 A, 3 Bs and a C. Really amazing because he did admit that he’d been partying and such! LOL Like I didn’t do the same, and I don’t think I had a 3.0 GPA first semester of my junior year … I don’t even want to think about what my GPA was then, unfortunately. I didn’t clean up my study act until senior year. :frowning: So he’s doing very well, thankfully.

So good to hear about the cake and cupcakes–my grandmother used to let me bake a mayonnaise cake when I was in jr. high–that was the -best- cake! I used to be able to make it from memory, but unfortunately that was so long ago that I no longer remember the ingredients, much less their quantities. It was, I think, originally a recipe from Hershey’s and I’ve tried to find that recipe again but without much luck–at least, one that tasted similar, that is. Essentially, the mayo takes the place of shortening, I think. Makes the cake nice and moist; we then frosted it with a mocha frosting. Damn, now I totally want to make this cake!! I’ll have to get the ingredients at the store.

Fortunately, we only got rain from the storm, which is now turning into a nor’easter, apparently. It’s still cold and nasty and damp out, though, as FCM already noted. And later on today the winds are going to gust up to 50 MPH!! So hold onto your hat, at least in the mid-Atlantic states.

Off to see where the paper is …

465

**tarra ** - might it be among these recipes? I vaguely recall hearing about mayo cakes, but I never made one. I have used applesauce in place of oil, and it makes a nice cake.

**FCD ** is in the shower, deciding whether he wants to go out for breakfast. I’ll shower shortly thereafter, and our day will begin. The carcass is falling apart, smelling very yum. He wants chicken and rice soup, so I have a question for you cooking folks - should I pre-cook the rice and add it to the soup when its done, or can I cook it all together? I don’t want the rice to get all mooshy and disintegrate - I don’t use quick-cooking rice, so maybe it’s not an issue? Anyway, what say y’all?

The shower is now mine - I’m off to cleanse. Do *not * imagine me nekkid and soapy - I am not responsible for night terrors! :stuck_out_tongue:

466

I think I’d just toss it in with the chicken instead of pre-cooking it. Much easier and less likely to smooshify.

We’re back in TVLand now. I tried to take a nap, but since I don’t have my CPAP machine with me I kept waking up feeling like I was suffocating (which, really, I was) and this gave me an anxiety attack. Don’t feel too bad for me, though, If I leave here in an hour, I can get myself together, stop at Gordon Foodservice right when they open and have all the shopping done for tomorrow and back in bed for another nap by 2p.m. :smiley:

467

Morning, all. Well, I was right – it stayed warm here and rained and rained and rained all night. I mean pounding rain. But that’s sure better than if it was 33° and it had all turned to ice! :eek:

It’s terrible you’re so ashamed of your daughter’s performance, Lunch. :wink:

I realize there’s not much to making a real roux, Pie, and for food that actually requires roux, Papa Tigs always does it the oooold-fashioned way. But the instant is a nice seasoning in sauces and casseroles and such – like I said, gives such things a lovely New Orleans spicy flavor without any heat and with minimal work. I also take my cues on such things from the fact that, living in New Orleans, I saw virtually everybody use some of the local quick versions of foods as a base – for example, Zatarain’s jambalaya mix is a great starting point, and it’s seriously genuine (it was made about a mile from where we used to live). Everyone just starts with that and then takes off, so no two dishes taste the same anyway, but it saves a lot of the starting work. Yeah, Cajuns can be lazy cooks, too. :smiley:

And speaking of CPAPs, Emily has long been annoyed by Papa Tigs’ CPAP – she started avoiding him like the plague as soon as he got it, and that’s continued for several years. Until recently. Apparently she’s conquered her fears. Last night about 5:00 a.m., he says she was sitting at the top of his head picking at the band holding his mask on. Stoopid cat. :rolleyes: And does anyone have a way to cure a cat from crawling up and licking one’s chin? Emily does that to me every. single. time. I roll over – she has to sleep right under my chin, and so each time I move, she moves, and then licks must ensue before I’m allowed to go back to sleep. So I come to full alertness every single time I roll over because I do not like animals licking my face. :frowning: Stoopid cat! :smiley:

Off to drink more coffee and get something constructive done. Like wake up.

468

Well, the storm has hit Toronto, and it’s coming down heavy and windy. LiLi ought to like it. Me – meh. It’s not tremendously cold, which is good, but it’s blowin’ like a two dolla ho with a fitty dolla crack habit. When all is said and done we’re supposed to get around 25cm/10" of accumulation. In one. freakin’. day. Ma Nature is really making up for the last few years. I haven’t seen this much snow before Christmas in a good while.

Anyway, I’m up, not yet caffeinating because I’m working up the nerve to trudge out in this stuff. (What us Canadians won’t do for a Timmy’s. It’s liquid crack, I tells ya!)

I’m also mired in trying to work out all this web programming stuff. I’m figuring things out slowly, but I’m also realizing it’s a bit of a bigger subject than I thought. sigh

Tigs - Hey, I like Zatarains. But I’m not a lazy cook. At least, not all the time. :slight_smile:

469

It looks like we got about 5-6 inches of fluffy snow by the time it ended. I just made and et a big breakfast burrito, am caffeinated and just about to put on the snow suit and go start up the Toro.

470

SNOW!!!

This will make food foraging somewhat problematic. I’d do better with a sleigh and some dogs or reindeer. But it is so gorgeous outside–brilliant sun, clear sky, sparkling snow. Love it.

Thanks, Dotty–I wasn’t familiar with Lemslip as such, but we have Theraflu over here (and it doesn’t work). I am all better now—weirdest and fastest cold virus I’ve had in a long time. Just some persistent nose blowing is left.

471

No more snow here. ARRRRRRRRRGH!!!

472

Good morning one and all!

We were fairly succesful with our Christmas shopping yesterday, meaning we got most of it done.

I still have get Mr. Taters’ gift, plus one for a niece, sister and BIL, and the parents. The sister, BIL, and parents is going to be easy. I’m just going to get them a gift card for a really nice restaurant in town. I’ll probably get a gift card for the niece too, but since she lives in Portland, I’ll get her a gift card for a store.

We also got our tree yesterday. I’ll have to decorate it today, because I didn’t get the time yesterday.

Some good friends came over and we ended up going out to dinner at a new greek place near here. The food was very tasty. After that, we all went to another friend’s house to hang out, play ping-pong, and play 99. We didn’t get home until after 2:00 in the morning. I’m a little tired.

Today brings many chores. I must clean out the fridge, do laundry, decorate the tree, and go to the store for some food. My office branch is supplying our division with food for the day, and I’m supposed to bring in caesar salad and garlic bread.

We’ve added three more folks to our Christmas day festivities, but I’m good with that. It’s a couple we’re very good friends with, along with the wife’s son who lives out of town. It’s all good because two of the folks we were planning on won’t be in town. So, as of now, it looks like I’ve got a total of 13 people coming for Christmas Day dinner. I’ll have to order one big-ass prime rib roast. Last year, I ordered a 15 pound roast. I may have to go slightly bigger. I like the a little left over roast because I like to make stock with the shine (chine?), and the leftover carmely bits of roast. I then like to take some of the leftove rmeat to put in the soup I make from the stock. I put barley, egg noodles, and veggies in there too. My whole family looks forward to that soup and are already smacking their chops in anticipation of it.

Mr. Taters was all ready to get my Christmas present until he heard what kind of camera I wanted. The camera I want is pretty damn spendy. He was looking at one that’s pretty much point and shoot, but I want a camera that allows me to swap out lenses and stuff. He didn’t know that until last night. Our friends had bought a camera and were discussing it, and not knowing that my huband was planning on getting me one, I discussed what I wanted in a camera.

So, now, he’s at a loss as to what to get me for Christmas. I feel bad because I don’t really know what I want. The camera I want is a “someday” item and not anything I really “need”. Hell, I don’t know what I want for Christmas. He’s asked me to think about it.

No snow here, just rain and cold.

473

I forgot to mention a Christmas present we received in the mail the other day from Papa Tigs’ sister who’s the one snowbunny went to try working for in the wilds of Idaho. Buffalo bratwurst! Yum yum yum! Truly delicious – it’s the leanest, most flavorful bratwurst I have ever had. Yum!

And don’t worry, snowbunny, you’ll get snow. More than you ever wanted. Trust me.

474

It’s not objectionable snow really, it’s fluffy and not heavy or wet. But it’s windy, so it takes some planning when shoveling or snowblowing. You wanna make sure you toss the snow WITH the wind.

Then you want to guilt the child into making you some hot cocoa when you come in by pointing out that you swept her car off too.

Then you want a warm orange boy kitty to sit on your lap while you drink the cocoa.

475

No wind here…

476

Third load of laundry in the washer, second in the dryer. Soup simmering - chickie, rice, carrots, celery, mushrooms. It should be yum! Meanwhile, I’m having some cake.

FCD has just about finished waxing his car. He dug out an old propane heater and heated up the garage while he worked. With my car out on the driveway… hmmmmmm.

Still thinking about the whole vacuuming thing. I need to do it before we leave, so I don’t **have ** to do it today. I do need to water my houseplants. We’ll see how it all plays out.

477

I’d say that I timed that pretty well. It’s 2:34, I’m home, fed, and relaxing. Off to nap now.

The snow is starting to accumulate. I’m glad I came back home when I did.

478

I hadn’t realized there was more than buffalo bratwurst in that package from SIL – we just had a heavenly lunch of crackers, cheese (from the Amish market, natch), and buffalo smoked sausage. It definitely was Teh Yum! I have a happy tum-tum now, that’s for sure.

I wish we were getting lots of snow. <sniffle> I love sitting inside and looking out at pretty snow!

479

Drive-by. Went to church early then to our volunteer group holiday brunch. Lots of fun. Need to go out for extra Christmas cards, a couple of books for FarAway Best Friend, and a few ornaments for the wreath I put together for my front door.

Back later to say hello properly.

GT

480

It’s sunny and cool here. Well, mid 50s which is cool for here. Also windy.

Ok, so here’s what I did today. See, the third Monday of the month is our men’s night at church. I’ve explained this before. Everyone brings a steak and beverage of choice and the host provides salad, N.O.T., bread, whatever. Then everyone chips in a couple bucks to help with the host’s costs.

However, tomorrow night, the church is being given over to the local Chorale for their annual holiday thingy. Ok, fine. They’re good and they need to do their annual thingy somewhere. Thus, we cannot have men’s night at the church. Y’all still with me?

Well, thinks I, when we were meeting at the Methodist church whilst our building was being built, several of us took turns hosting men’s night. So, I volunteered to host tomorrow night. This means I have been busy spiffin’ up da cave and such. Nuttin’ motivates to clean like knowin’ company’s comin’! :smiley:

Yeah, I’m nice. Got a problem with that dammit?