Caliente

Posted on February 19, 2005 by Frog

This morning we created a twist on the usual breakfast burritos. We created the burritos in the same way except I added some leftover white rice to the mix (we don’t always have that ingredient) and we made four burritos instead of the typical three. While we were getting coffee ready and the burritos were staying warm in the oven, we heated some salsa verde.

I sprinkled some shredded colby and monterey jack cheese on the burritos and then spooned on the salsa verde. It was lip-smacking delicious. The citrus and spicy flavor of the green sauce really worked well with the other ingredients.

This breakfast was huge and should tie us over until dinner. I’m not sure what we’re having yet but I’ve been very inspired to get out of our usual rut ever since we made those pasties.

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Can’t Decide

Posted on February 18, 2005 by Frog

I can’t decide if I’m getting a cold or if I’m under a sinus/allergy attack. Since my head is stuffed with so much stuff, I’m going to unload in a completely random fashion. If you can spot any reason why these things should be related, you get extra points.

Digging it:

A “He’s got a tattoo on his arm that says baby/he’s got another one that just says hey”
B “Liquid, melancholy dreams/Tell me what it means”
C The better-half ordering a chai tea and having the so-not-a-barista behind the counter say we only have chai tea latte and the better-half didn’t say well, duh. This happened weeks ago and it still makes me smile.
D Watching a squirrel climb up a shepard’s hook to eat out of a bird feeder and then watching the squirrel slide down the hook like a little stuffed fireman.
E Beef Lo mein and hot and sour soup.

Posted in Thinking | 3 Comments

Delicate but Tough

Posted on February 18, 2005 by Frog

Outside my window is an oak leaf rolled into a shape that resembles a chrysalis. It is attached to a tree by either the thinnest of branches or by a spider web. With the wind blowing, the leaf looks like a wind sock. When the leaf is vertical rather than horizontal to the ground it reminds me of one of the three wise men in my parent’s creche. The creche is old and fragile and the figures seem like they could crumble under their own weight.

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It Ain’t Easy On Your Own

Posted on February 17, 2005 by Frog

Ricky Fante is my new boyfriend.

The other day as the better-half was turning into our driveway he saw 10 wild turkeys crossing the street. We suspected turkeys were on the prowl on Saturday when we were walking with The Niece in the woods. They left signs everywhere. I especially liked the one that said “wild turkey on the rocks”.

I’ve relaunched my project turkey watch. For years at the other house, I would stare out the window on damp days and tell the better-half I was looking for turkeys. Because I once saw turkeys on a damp day.

Today isn’t a damp day, but I’m glued to the window looking for turkeys and listening to my new boyfriend in a house that is heated again. Thank the heating gods that the heat pump has been repaired.

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Whatever Happened To Baby Naptime?

Posted on February 17, 2005 by Frog

I woke up this morning feeling as if I’d been hit by a truck. I was having some really weird dreams and I now have Kwame stuck in my head. I have never watched TheApprentice but for some reason that name is stuck in my head. It didn’t help that I read an article today about how that chick with the unusual name who did or didn’t win Apprentice glory is disgruntled and Kwame was mentioned in that article. How is that possible?

Part of my not sleeping came from the fact that I was congested to the hilt this morning and I think it is from the fresh paint in the dining room. I took a sinus pill but I guess when you are putting Pollen Grains on the wall and you are, in fact, allergic to pollen that your head might get all stuffy. Our dining room is Pollen Grains on the top and Ripe Currant on the bottom. Which is actually quite awesome even though I wonder where paint names come from.

Back in college I loved to scrape together money and order clothes from Tweeds. Sadly, they aren’t around any more. Let me tell you, they had interesting color names. I always wondered how you could get a job coming up with color names.

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Call me morbid, call me pale

Posted on February 16, 2005 by Frog

Yesterday afternoon was a brilliant weather day and so, naturally, I decided to sit on the deck for a little while. I took my crossword puzzle book out there with me so I could tackle a couple of puzzles and enjoy the weather. Imagine my surprise when I noticed one and a half puzzles had been completed at the back of the book.

I can only surmise that someone who has recently been at our house and who was unattended for a decent amount of time did the one and a half puzzles after excusing himself from the table while the rest of us sat and merrily discussed whatever it was that we were discussing. You know, that horrible part of the gathering where we were enjoying family time together.

I’m thinking of ripping the half done puzzle out of the book and mailing it to him so he can finish it.

Posted in General Spleen Venting | 1 Comment

Technology Woes

Posted on February 16, 2005 by Frog

Last weekend the DSL died. Verizon admitted it was a problem on their end but we headed to the office to reset the thing anyway. The DSL was back up Sunday morning. Wethinks a batch job cleaned up the problem. All day Monday Verizon tried to call the DSL (which is not the voice line). Instead of looking in their records, they just called the DSL and that annoyed me. At least the DSL works.

Last night the hosting company dumped some servers for non-payment. It isn’t that we didn’t pay the bill. The hosting company didn’t draft the payment. The same payment they’ve drafted 4 times previously. The better-half got up in their grill and the servers were reconnected.

We’ve decided we’re going to start a business where we do whatever we want and customers pay for it. We should be rolling in the dough in no time at all.

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Cornish Pasties

Posted on February 15, 2005 by Frog

From my travel notebook (entry dated 5/11/01): We ate pasties from a shop across from the castle [Cardiff Castle] and both had cranberry juice–a joy. CORNISH PASTY SHOP!!

Whenever we’re feeling sentimental and start naming our favorite foods, cornish pasties get mentioned. Simple and delicious food. Last night we made cornish pasties because that’s how we do romance around here.

We found a recipe and except for using store-bought pie crusts we followed the recipe exactly.

Here are our root veggies chopped (turnip, onion and potato):

We added everything to our flattened out pie crusts:

After sealing them, we gave them an egg wash:

They cooked for about an hour and the house smelled wonderful:

We served with green beans and the remaining fried roots:

Posted in Eating | 4 Comments

Warming the Cockles of my Heart

Posted on February 14, 2005 by Frog

I just got off the phone with one of the co-chairs for the department I’ll be working for when I finally start the new job. She said they couldn’t wait for me to start because there’s so much to work to do. She has no idea how much I love the words “there’s so much work to do”. Some people get all dizzy on Valentine’s Day from flowers, a box of chocolates, shiny lingerie, but for me “much work to do” is what sends me over the moon.

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Furthing Our Image of Cool

Posted on February 13, 2005 by Frog

To counteract the ickyness of the last entry, I’ve decided to indulge in cute.

Yesterday morning we babysat The Niece for a few hours. As her father was dropping her off, she asked him if she was in our community. She’s a smart-whipper, that one.

When I told her we bought a new coloring book, she dropped what she was looking at and said “where”. I’ve noticed that it isn’t so much about her coloring as it is about her telling me which colors to use and me coloring. She’s a good manager. The better-half took a picture of her then photoshopped it so she could color pictures of herself. Her alter-ego ended up with yellow and green hair.

Continue reading →

Posted in Thinking | 4 Comments