Ugly cover, cool rocker

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Frog

What seems like ages ago, we inherited a rocking chair from the better-half’s mother. The cover was some horrible yellow chenille with massive stains. Naturally, we put the rocker right out in plain sight because that’s the way things work around here. I don’t know that anyone other than the MIL ever sat in it. Why would you? Gross.

The Fuzzy and Anna Mae team discovered they could pull horsehair and stuffing out of the bottom of the chair. They moved to their new home. I tidied up and then our newest addition, Lucy (yes, she’s a permanent resident), found out she could pull stuffing out of the bottom of the chair.

Those cats were the last straw for the ugly cover. I finally went to the fabric store today and now the chair is recovered. I wouldn’t spend too much time staring at details–not that you would, you are the internet.

Before:

After:

As you know, I’m not much of a shopper. I just don’t like looking for anything. If I know what I need, fine, I go out and purchase it. Having to go to the fabric store is like having dental surgery. I know nothing about fabric and people who inhabit fabric stores are crafty in a completely different way than I am. Basically, they can take string and make it into something amazing. They may as well be turning iron into gold as far as I’m concerned.

There’s really no need to wonder what took me so long to recover that chair. As it turns out the two people working in the store were young, knowledgeable and didn’t look at me like I was a nube.

I have some leftover fabric…wonder what I can do with it?

Posted in Generic Thoughts | 2 Comments

Happy New Year (updated)

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Frog

Tonight we’re staying home because we don’t do large groups of drunk people. Small, intimate groups of drunk people just work better for me.

We spent some time today making chorizo sausage. In the taste test, we’ve failed again. This time it’s too salty but the pepper is perfect. So, we’re going to try again soon with a decrease in salt and a slight increase in fat. Should be perfect.

For dinner tonight, we’re having:

Smoked Blue fish dip (horseradish, cream cheese, capers)
Braised Red Cabbage
Mashed Potatoes
Wiener Schnitzel

We have a bottle of champagne chilling. The launch site for our fireworks is set up and, honestly, midnight seems a long way off right now. I’m sure a bit of that smoked fish dish and a cool, refreshing cocktail will help me pass the time.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe night tonight. I’m looking forward to 2012. 2011 has kind of sucked.

Now with pictures:

That looks like a ton of food, but the wiener schnitzel cutlets were very thin pieces of veal–the picture just makes them look big.

After dinner we cleaned up and then went in to sit by the Christmas tree. I awoke with a start and got the better-half awake. It was 11:45. I was so afraid we’d missed the stroke of midnight. We did not toast with champagne but did shoot off some fireworks and wished his mother a happy new year. I think it’s pretty neat that nearly every year I’ve known him they always talk on new year’s night. It’s been an especially good end of the year for her so she did the calling last night.

Posted in Eating, Generic Thoughts | 1 Comment

Favorite Music of 2011

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Frog

This is yet another list that you can take or leave. Isn’t it funny how we all feel like someone gives a darn about our best ofs at the end of the year?

Anyway, I spent a lot of time in the car this year and listened to a lot of music. By the way, each semester I keep track of the number of miles I travel during the semester. Granted, not all of the miles are because of school, but still…
spring semester: 9,945 miles
fall semester: 9,872 miles

In no particular order, here’s my list of songs I really liked this year. I know some of these may not be new in 2011, but that’s when I listened to them often. I also realize I might not have the most original taste. But, at least Justin Be*ber isn’t on my list.

M83:

Lana Del Rey:

My Morning Jacket:

Fitz and the Tantrums:

David Wax Museum (filmed at one of my favorite radio stations):

Mother Mother:

The Head and the Heart (can’t tell you how many times this was on repeat through VA’s mountains):

AWOLNATION:

And, probably, not the Florence and the Machine song you thought I’d pick:

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Oddly, we didn’t take the bait

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Frog

Yesterday we were visiting with one of the better-half’s aunts. She’s the bestest aunt in his large circle of aunts.

A couple stopped by the aunt’s house to show off a picture that a student at the woman’s school had taken at a cemetery. The couple lives in Albany and is the daughter and son-in-law of the aunt’s best friend (she may also be distantly related but some of the familial connections confuse me and this story is already too confusing for me to try to sort that detail out).

I can say I’ve never laid eyes on these people and the better-half couldn’t remember their names 15 minutes after we left so he clearly has no attachment to them. They are older than we are and it was apparent from the second they walked in that they are a bit crunchy. Crunchy works for me (I’m wearing a pair of socks with Birkenstock right now and I make my own granola).

What doesn’t work for me are people I’ve never met leading off with a story that is clearly meant to provoke a response from me. Although it is obvious that any children they have must be at least teenagers by now, they led off with the story of home birthing and burying placentas. Yippeefuckingskippee for you.

Reason #451 that the better-half is meant for me: He followed up that “revelation” with how kids these days just don’t get the importance of burying placentas like they did back in the day.

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The Holidaze

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Frog

Posted in Generic Thoughts | 1 Comment

Fostering

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Frog

This is Lucy:

She’s the kitten that bit the SPCA worker and had to be in quarantine for 10 days. She was released by animal control on Friday to go about her business. Her business has been winning hearts and supervising my every move.

We’ve decided to foster her until she can find her forever home. I keep telling myself that this is not her forever home, but it’s sometimes hard to keep that in mind when she’s purring and wriggling around in my lap. Lucy loves a warm lap.

She’s one of those rare cats that’s not bothered by things. The washing machine spinning furiously? Eh, so what. A roaring fire in the the fireplace? Let me sit right here on the hearth. The hugely big cats that live here? Get low when they look at you and then chase them when their backs are turned.

Posted in Watching | 1 Comment

Cooking a little

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Frog

I really want to make some homemade gifts for some friends, but I’m a bit torn with what to do. I made a batch of wonderful salsa (that website gives me a headache), but since it is still sitting around marrying its flavors (I hate it when cooking shows use that terminology), I’m not sure if that’s an appropriate give-away. And, then do I need to go into some tex-mex theme? I have about a week to figure things out.

I’ve been hanging out with the little biting cat who is a total love bug. We’ve watched nearly every home improvement show I can stand and earlier today I watched an Entertaining show (the word entertaining is in the title of the show)–which I guess is a cooking show that ultimately ends up with a bunch of people pretending to party. Really? Why do these shows pretend to have people gathering to eat whatever it is the host has just whipped up? I don’t believe these are really their friends because who has friends that are always so damn beautiful? And dressed to kill? And, who do NOT sweat during and after a game of volleyball whilst dressed to the nines?

Don’t even get me started on how idiotic Ina Garten’s friends are. I think they are actually robots that are wound up and pointed towards her for the show. Afterwards someone on set puts them back into a closet. The only program these robots are equipped to run are the suck up and act stupid sub-routines. I do like how she has the whole town under her spell so that she’s able to buy things and never hand over one penny. I’m really not sure why she’s not able to work it so the shops deliver to her directly. I guess then we’d be deprived of watching her drive her convertible BMW in picaresque settings.

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Prisoner

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Frog

image

This is the bitey cat who has been in the dog crate for almost a week. I couldn’t take it anymore so she’s having a day in part of our upstairs. I don’t have much to do today and so little miss no name and I are going to hang out.

Posted in Generic Thoughts | 2 Comments

The Semester Ends

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Frog

I talked to my sister last night and I told her I thought I was done with the semester. As it turns out, the professor who wanted to hold class the night of the shooting rescheduled two class meetings to accommodate everyone. I will be Skyped in on Monday afternoon. Two hours on Skype? We’ll see how that goes.

Yesterday I archived all my school work, tidied up the apartment and brought my plant home. I’m just waiting for grades. Aside from one paper that I got back on Thursday morning, I’ve received zero grades this semester. What are the odds that both of the classes I took have no grades so far? It’s not like we didn’t have assignments due.

I talked to my advisor/professor on Thursday morning and we’re set on my project for next semester. I’m so happy that the project is going to be pretty large-scale (ultimately training faculty members) and that it is paying for my tuition next year. There’s also some money left over for me to work as a part-time graduate assistant. I think that pretty much means I’ll be paid to do school work…sweet! While it isn’t a lot of money (actually, I have no idea how much), it will be nice to be able to concentrate on the last semester and not worry about employment until late spring.

In other news, we’ve done nothing about decorating for Christmas. We’re about to head out to see if we can find brighter lights for the windows and, hopefully, a tree. I’m ready to decorate and get with the making merry. The Nieces gifts arrived this week (all hail the internet) and I’m thinking about some homemade gifts for friends. I rooted a piece of the Aunt Annie plant for the better-half’s aunt. I’m sure she’ll be happy to receive it. The actual Aunt Annie was her aunt and that plant is a family favorite. In fact, when the better-half’s aunt (MB) stayed at our house for Thanksgiving, she asked that I root a piece for her.

Now that I think about it, here’s a long story. Gather ’round.

Once upon a time there was a livestock barn that my MIL’s parents had on their farm. That particular barn held junk and old furniture. In that barn was a unique cedar chest. It was unique because it looks more like a sideboard than a typical cedar chest. One day the MIL and her sister-in-law (AD) pulled the chest out of the barn and restored it. The chest stood in the MIL’s house for years.

When the MIL’s house was sold, the better-half checked with his mother and asked where the cedar chest should go. She said let AD have it since we both worked so hard to restore the piece. When the better-half dropped it off, AD said when she dies it will come back to him. The better-half likes the piece, but I don’t think he’s that sentimental about it. He’s happy that his aunt is happy.

Here’s where it gets complicated. During the process of selling the MIL’s house, MB said that cedar chest is a family piece and it should go to family (MB is MIL’s sister). The better-half said don’t worry and has been evasive about it since then. When MB spent the night at our house for Thanksgiving, she apparently did some furniture counting. The day after Thanksgiving she asked where the cedar chest was. The better-half said it was with AD. MB said that’s a family piece. The better-half said AD is borrowing it. I remained silent but couldn’t help but think that if AD isn’t family (because she is my husband’s aunt) then I am clearly not either.

As I think about the Aunt Annie plant, I’m a bit torn about the whole idea of who deserves what…it’s a family plant. Shouldn’t it stay in the family?

Actually, I don’t give a rat’s ass. I just like to point out the hypocrisy. I’ll root a piece for MB in the spring.

Posted in Gardening, Thinking | 3 Comments

I’m surprised at how sad I am

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Frog

Today I’m on the campus of that big university that I’ve not named on the site. It’s in the news today because two people were killed. I wasn’t part of this community back in 2007 and when I did become part of the community, it was obvious the wounds were still raw. I foolishly thought that as people graduated things would be eased. Yeah, not so much. Maybe in another few years things won’t be as bad.

When I worked for another large university, there were numerous alerts about students being robbed, mugged, or raped. There was that one girl who was murdered and buried out in the country. But, having a shooter on campus is completely different than the bad doo-dad that happens at urban universities. There’s regular crime that happens in a city that spills over onto the university grounds and then there’s crazies who run around and shoot people. Completely different and very unsettling.

Right now, the campus is still locked down and the transit system isn’t running. According to the twitter feed I’m watching, police are searching town. There’s a press conference at 4:30. I’m staying put in my apartment about a mile from campus. I’ll be eating pimento cheese sandwiches for dinner. We were going to have a celebration in class tonight as a large project is coming to a close for the semester-not much to celebrate now.

Posted in Generic Thoughts | 2 Comments