Snow Day!

I love working from home. By working I mean doing laundry, watching TV, blogging, hanging out with Lola and (most importantly) packing for Mexico. I can't wait to hit the beach and leave all this winter behind for a week. 

On a somewhat related topic; when we bought this place we really liked the nature preserve that borders the property. I had a feeling it might be an awesome sight in the snow. Turns out I was right. 

Damn you humans!

Dan's parents bought Lola a sweater. We've never put clothes on her before so we weren't sure what to expect. I will be sleeping with one eye open from now on. Have you ever seen a death glare quite like this one? Didn't think so...

Recipe Swap 2008

I love Shelby's idea for a recipe swap. I didn't grow up eating green bean casserole but a family friend asked me to make one last year. I found Paula Deen's green beans (you have to say it with a Southern accent) and made a few adjustments, mainly for my picky husband who can spot a bit of mushroom from across the room (and complain like a little girl). Here it is, enjoy.

Paula Deen's Green Beans

Ingredients:

2 cups sliced green beans

1/3 stick butter (obv)

1/2 cup diced onions (I use shallots as well)

1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (optional for wives with picky husbands)

3 cups chicken broth

1 10 ounce can cream of mushroom (substitute cream of chicken to avoid childish whining)

1 can french fried onions (necessary)

salt & pepper to taste

1 cup grated cheddar (delicious)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Saute the onions (shallots) and mushrooms in the butter. Boil the green beans in chicken broth for 10 minutes and drain. Add the green beans, mushroom (chicken) soup and salt/pepper to the onion mixture. Stir well. Pour into a greased 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes, then top the casserole with the cheddar and bake for 10 minutes longer, or until the casserole is hot and cheese is melted. Top with french friend onions. 

Paula says to stir the french fried onions into the mixture before you bake it but I don't like soggy onions so I just put them on top at the very end.

This recipe also calls for her house seasoning but I've found that salt and pepper work just as well, the soup is really salty so you don't need much. 

I usually double the recipe and bake in a big Pyrex. 

Bah Humblog

I've mentioned before that I'm not very fond of Christmas. I don't really hate it, but I certainly don't look forward to it either. I find it all really stressful and fake. I don't want to go on and on about rampant consumerism, greed, my horrible gift wrapping skills, shitty holiday work parties, getting hosed at the annual white elephant exchange or someone who will remain unnamed bitching every year about putting up the tree and then bitching about taking it down. No, I won't go into it. Suffice to say I don't like Christmas because of the crappy music. I blame Mariah Carey...and Starbucks.

So this year we're spending Christmas in Mazatlan and we've enforced a very strict no gift policy. It might be the perfect Christmas. I'll let you know.

Thank You

In the spirit of Thanksgiving here's my favorite poem, enjoy.

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of allnothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

-ee cummings

Speedy Wahines Rule!

On Sunday Amy, Betsy and I participated in the Winter Pineapple Classic. It's a 5K with obstacles to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Our team name was the Speedy Wahines. I was super nervous, especially since I didn't even show up to the last 5K in May. There are a variety of reasons why I didn't show to the last race such as shin splints, moving into our condo that same weekend and going to a party the night before that involved a kegerator and the game Rock Band (bad combo). I was determined to at least show up to this one. It turned out to be really fun. I ran about 10 seconds of it and walked the rest of the way. Amy and Bets were really patient and waited for me at each obstacle. I was surprised that I could easily scale the walls. The other obstacles were tires, tubes, hay bales and monkey bars. I couldn't reach the monkey bars so I just ran under them. Afterward there was a luau with a free beer garden and live music. Here's a link to some pictures of the obstacles. As soon as I can move my legs again I'll start training to possibly run the whole thing next year.

Little Lola

Lola went to the groomer today. She's lost so much weight the past few months her ears look huge now that her hair is short. She's a skinny little buddy. I hope she puts on some holiday weight; I know I will.

Before:

After:

Damn you Aniston!

Occasionally, to get a rise out of my friends, I make an incredibly ugly scary face. It makes Betsy scream and everyone else recoil with disgust. It's pretty damn ugly. 

I really wish Jennifer Aniston hadn't ripped off my creepy face on the cover of Vogue. She makes the scary face look, dare I say, pretty. 

Unacceptable. Get your own revolting grimace you thief.

**Author's note: I don't have any pictures of myself making the face except this gem from my wedding. It's not straight on but you get the idea. I like calling myself author, sigh, someday, someday...

This post wins the title of best post written by a 20-something Mexican on Veteran's Day in the city of Bellevue

I find it fantastically annoying the way we count, sort, categorize and keep stats on every little thing that has ever happened. The Guinness Book of World Records used to be an oddity, an interesting catalog of the weird and unlikely. Now, it's just stupid. I don't care how many people dressed up and gathered in a city plaza to dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller. I don't think it's amazing that some kid from Aberdeen can blow up 250 balloons in less than a minute with his right nostril. I also do not care that Mariah Carey is the female artist that has sold the most albums in the pop music category between the years of 1990 and 2008 with butterflies on the cover art according to Billboard. Why do we waste our time finding the "st" (biggest, strongest, smallest, longest, shortest, best, worst, most)?
People, heed my warning.
Re-fucking-lax on the counting. You are all going to become OCD statisticians who crank out volumes of mundane figures and records. Just look at the guys who call baseball games, they're crazytown with numbers and stats. Is that what you want to become? Is it? I didn't think so.

YES WE DID!

It is an amazing day to be an American. 

Halloween and Amy's birthday

Blogger is so slow today. I've just about lost all patience trying to upload pictures from this weekend. What is everybody blogging about today anyway? What's more important than Halloween pics? Honestly...

Happy Birthday Kristi!

Happy Birthday to my first friend in Seattle! Have a great time in Boston!

I need your help

What should I be for Halloween? I only have a few days left to figure it out. Your ideas, suggestions, tips and hints are urgently needed.

These have already been ruled out:
Amy Winehouse
Posh Spice
Anything naughty
Sarah Palin
Banana
Ugly Betty

Another reason to love David Sedaris

I saw this quote on Perezhilton.com today and I couldn't agree more. And yes, I read celebrity gossip blogs. So? 

"I look at these people and can't quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention? To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" she asks. "Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?" To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked."

- Author David Sedaris, on undecided voters

Mandatory post about fall

It appears that I, along with every other blogger, love fall. I like the smell of the air on a crisp sunny day in October. I love to be surprised and yanked out of the monotony of my daily commute by a tree-lined street that has quickly and gloriously turned into a masterpiece.
I love bite-sized candy especially Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers and Kit-Kats. I love sweaters, comfy coats and scarves. I like Starbucks apple cider with whipped cream and caramel sauce.
This post wouldn't be complete without a list of the things I hate about fall. You didn't think I was going to leave you on such a precious little note, did you?
I hate things that are pumpkin flavored. Who decided to take a gourd and use its contents to flavor things such as pies and lattes? Bad call, person who invented pumpkin flavored things, bad call.
I hate eggnog. This stems from my days as a barista. Eggnog is nearly impossible to steam. The sound of steaming eggnog is almost as bad as the sound of Christmas music (yes, I hate Christmas music. I'll elaborate in a separate post when the time is right). If it gets too hot it turns to scrambled eggs. If you order an extra hot eggnog latte don't be surprised if it comes with a punch in the face.
I hate trying to figure out what to be for Halloween. Dressing up isn't so bad, it's the thought process that precedes the party that I hate. What will I wear, where do I find it, how do I pull it off? Ugh, too much time and money for something so silly. Amy, I am totally looking forward to your party, don't take it personally.
Mainly, I hate knowing the holidays are "just around the corner". Corporate America thinks the start of fall is a great time to load up the shelves with Christmas decorations and wrapping paper. I have a long and bitter relationship with the holidays. I hope they go as quick as they come.
So there you have a balanced list of things I love and hate about this wonderful season. It's the yin and the yang, if you will. What do you hate about fall? Do you hate that the names of seasons aren't capitalized? Yeah, me too.

Catching up

I have a few things I want to say, I'm behind on the blogging:
1. Congrats to the Kalamakis family on the birth of beautiful Payton Andrew! I wish you guys the very best and send you lots of love!
2. Congrats to Cynthia and Will on their engagement. What a surprise! I can't wait for the planning and the big day. We're dying to find out where the wedding will be, make a decision immediately!
3. I just finished reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccault. Wow was I pissed off after I read the last chapter. Man, talk about a stupid ending. I feel robbed; I spent all this time reading the book only to be slapped in the face in the end. Hated it. hated, hated, hated it.
4. I am eating a Cup Noodles (I thought there was an O in there but apparently not). It's really good. It reminds me of cheap lunches in the student center at LW. Good times. As a side note, it is impossible to gracefully eat noodle soup; it is also impossible to gracefully walk downhill. These are two things I am sure of.
5. I am not so sure what's wrong with my furry friend Lola. After a trip to the emergency vet (cue cash register ringing sound), we think she might have a disease called Addison's. We don't know for sure yet but it's really very sad and expensive. The disease is treatable but it's hard to see our little buddy so sick. I am wondering if I should have kids; some things are really hard to handle.

You, M.D.

I feel awful. I've had a cough for a couple of weeks but today is the apex of my discomfort so far.
The cough has worsened, I can only take short breaths (I can't take a big deep breath without coughing), my chest feels congested and heavy and I have a little bit of pain like heartburn.
Before I go and do something erratic like go to the doctor I'd like you to take a stab at my diagnosis. Please also include your recommended treatment.

Random + Unexpected = Fantastic

This morning my very grumpy, ornery 50-something coworker called me into his cubicle. I thought, "oh great, I made another mistake and I'm screwed." Turns out he just wanted me to listen to his favorite song. I was thoroughly expecting Steely Dan, Chicago or Hall and Oates but I got in there and he was dancing and pumping his fist to some new Pink song. He even sang a lyric out loud. It was "I want to fight" or something like that. Hilarious!

Confessions of a hoarder

The battle against junk is the never ending story at my place. I can’t say, “never ending story” without singing it like the theme song of the movie. How bad did you want to be the princess when you were a kid? Yeah, me too. Did you hang a necklace on your head and get teary eyed over your impending doom? No? Oh, nevermind. Moving on…
On Saturday morning we donated a load of crap to the Goodwill. After that we went to my parent’s house for lunch and they were cleaning the garage. A few hours later we left with more junk than we gave away that morning.
Here’s the breakdown, did we lose or did we score?

Gave away:
6 blue wine glasses left in old apartment by crazy ex-roommate
1 annoyingly short scarf
2 Helly Hansen jackets in good condition but embroidered with a large philanthropic logo and never worn
1 homemade cave girl Halloween costume
1 coffee percolator without its cord
1 ancient Pyrex dish sans lid
1 terra cotta dish of unspecified purpose
2 bedding sets

Took home:
1 red fuzzy OSU Sooner’s golf club cover (disclaimer: I’m from OK)
1 black shelf
1 German rotating Christmas ornament thing w/ candles
2 boxes of Lake City Rotary 1999 golf balls
1 portable tool set
1 All Clad slow cooker
1 Polo fleece jacket
1 shoe box of old pictures from Jr High and HS
1 pistachio tin full of old notes from HS (funny stuff, BTW)
1 shoe box of old craft supplies

Now, before you vote that we totally scored I have to let you know that the All Clad slow cooker was ours to begin with. I let my parents borrow it a couple of weeks ago and just took it back. I think we scored but Dan thinks I’m a crazy hoarder. What do you think?

Happy Birthday Stacie

I'll call you, I promise.