Showing posts with label Mister. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mister. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Life
It's surprising, sometimes, how easy it is to not care. You'd think that after being with someone for five years, there would still be feelings.
But no. It is no more, and I can't even bring myself to care. I care more about the fact that he's being the biggest asshole on the planet regarding it, is playing the victim card without allowing me the decency of seeing that I might be able to call it myself, and he doesn't have to make a single change in his life.
I have to find a job, find an apartment, and figure out if I'm continuing school. I also have to call off my wedding, return wedding presents, and explain to my mother that I'm not getting married. Some of these tasks are harder than others. :-P
The sweet in the sour? He was out of town when most of the bullshit was happening, so all of our mutual friends heard about it from me. They got to see me fall apart, and hear about how he called the cops on me. He has lost a lot of friends through this. I didn't even know that some friends were more mine than his, I merely thought they were ours.
He apparently doesn't trust me, thinks that I've used him as the sole emotional support, haven't made any attempt to work out my depression and anxiety issues, and then there's the emotional terrorism I employed this past week.
I'll easily admit to emotional terrorism -- I tried asking for information nicely and politely (when he was coming home) and when I garnered no response, my texts and phone calls became wilder and wilder and more and more abusive.
The emotional abuse and abandonment that he showed? Apparently, I'm not "allowed" to count it because "he didn't intend for it" whereas I've admitted to intending to hurt him.
In the words of my friend J, I'm deeply disappointed in him. I just wish I could fast forward a year and not have to deal with this.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Easter, Round Two
So Mister's mother, two sisters and a soon-to-be brother-in-law (I think we won't be related but he's a nice guy so I'll claim him!) were at our apartment Sunday for Easter. Mister's mother is Greek Orthodox (sometimes Russian, depending upon the community she finds), so she celebrated a week later than Rome this year.
In preparation for this visit, as Mister's older sister and fiance had never seen our apartment, Mister and I cleaned like fury. Saturday, I washed tons of dishes and cleaned the kitchen top to bottom, all while prepping bread and intending to make rice pie (we put the oven on self-clean instead, and that takes 3.5 hours. Nothing else was getting baked THAT night!). While doing this, Mister was running loads of laundry and putting away the massive piles of laundry that were on our floor. Did you know that you can WALK in our bedroom now? Shocking! Our energy fizzled out, and that was all that we tackled Saturday.
Sunday, we cleaned the rest of the house. I beat carpets outside, dusted all of the baseboards and chair rails (they're white -- it's super obvious when they're dusty), cleaned the bathroom top to bottom, and cooked. Mister got the main task of removing all of the schlock from the main rooms and either finding homes, or consolidating them in the study.
I did not take pictures of the food, because a) there was no one unified time when all the food was out and b) I was so busy chatting I didn't think about it.
But the food score! Mister's mother brought: greek meatballs, candy, baklava, eggs (which stayed in the car?), and greek olives which we never got into.
We bought or made: sourdough bread (made), bagels and cream cheese (bought), crackers and cheese (bought and didn't eat), horseradish and beets (made), rice pie (made), roast lamb (made), kielbasa (bought). I think that's about it. There was lots of food, to say the least.
Thanks to my beloved Rimi, our roast lamb turned out delicious! This was the way we cooked it (in her words):
We roasted it surrounded by potatoes and a few shallots. We might have cooked it a little long, but it was delicious and tender. We also added a bit more lemon juice and olive oil and marinated it over night to really work that flavoring in. Mister said that the lemon peel really did the trick. Thanks!
All in all, everyone liked our house, our hospitality and our aptitude for cooking. I do so love hosting events.
In preparation for this visit, as Mister's older sister and fiance had never seen our apartment, Mister and I cleaned like fury. Saturday, I washed tons of dishes and cleaned the kitchen top to bottom, all while prepping bread and intending to make rice pie (we put the oven on self-clean instead, and that takes 3.5 hours. Nothing else was getting baked THAT night!). While doing this, Mister was running loads of laundry and putting away the massive piles of laundry that were on our floor. Did you know that you can WALK in our bedroom now? Shocking! Our energy fizzled out, and that was all that we tackled Saturday.
Sunday, we cleaned the rest of the house. I beat carpets outside, dusted all of the baseboards and chair rails (they're white -- it's super obvious when they're dusty), cleaned the bathroom top to bottom, and cooked. Mister got the main task of removing all of the schlock from the main rooms and either finding homes, or consolidating them in the study.
I did not take pictures of the food, because a) there was no one unified time when all the food was out and b) I was so busy chatting I didn't think about it.
But the food score! Mister's mother brought: greek meatballs, candy, baklava, eggs (which stayed in the car?), and greek olives which we never got into.
We bought or made: sourdough bread (made), bagels and cream cheese (bought), crackers and cheese (bought and didn't eat), horseradish and beets (made), rice pie (made), roast lamb (made), kielbasa (bought). I think that's about it. There was lots of food, to say the least.
Thanks to my beloved Rimi, our roast lamb turned out delicious! This was the way we cooked it (in her words):
I'd say about five to eight cloves of garlic, depending how large your leg of lamb is, plus half your average supermarket bunch of oregano, plus the juice of one lemon/half an orange/one small tangerine, plus a little bit of the sun-dried (or lightly toasted) peel of said lemon/orange, grated -- but taste this before adding to make sure it isn't bitter -- and some salt, olive oil, and black pepper.
Personally, I like rubbing in a little pureed or plain chopped tomato myself, but you'll have to decide whether you like tomatoes in the mix. Someone once told me adding some de-seeded, diced olives to the roasting mix is also a great idea, but I've never tried this myself. The basic trick lies in the citrus juice, garlic, oregano, and oil, and in making enough incisions all over the lamb and really rubbing the spices in. If you manage to do that, you're set :-)
We roasted it surrounded by potatoes and a few shallots. We might have cooked it a little long, but it was delicious and tender. We also added a bit more lemon juice and olive oil and marinated it over night to really work that flavoring in. Mister said that the lemon peel really did the trick. Thanks!
All in all, everyone liked our house, our hospitality and our aptitude for cooking. I do so love hosting events.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
New Beginnings!
I recently nursed started back to health. Last Saturday, in fact. I probably had ignored her for almost a month -- if not more! She had a solid inch of alcohol on top when I finally pulled her jar out and was all huddled in the bottom of the jar. But with warm air, warm clean jars, and fresh food, she soon perked right back up.
I pulled her out to feed today, although I probably could have done this yesterday or maybe even Tuesday. I had PLANS for her today. But when I washed out my Official Starter Mixing Bowl and tried to pour some starter in, she refused to budge. I shook the jar a bit. She made a huffing noise as air whooshed in and out. Left with no recourse, I pulled out a big spoon and ruthlessly divided her in half.
And onto the project! Y'see, Mister and I have been sneakily, behind starter's back, looking into recipes for rye bread. Apparently, most traditional german rye breads were sourdough based and cooked over a looooooooooong time to get that dark color (it's now common to use caramel coloring and cook it faster). With that in mind, we even bought rye flour. We bought this... oh probably close to two months ago now. And today I implemented it.
Half of starter got fed with rye flour and water. The other half got fed with all purpose and water, like normal. It did mean that this feeding I would not be able to bake, as when dividing in half, normally with the second half one would make two loaves of bread.
But so now I have two little jars of starter in the fridge. We'll see how the rye comes out! I probably won't be able to bake with it for at least 3 feedings or so, as I want the rye to be the dominant flavor.
I pulled her out to feed today, although I probably could have done this yesterday or maybe even Tuesday. I had PLANS for her today. But when I washed out my Official Starter Mixing Bowl and tried to pour some starter in, she refused to budge. I shook the jar a bit. She made a huffing noise as air whooshed in and out. Left with no recourse, I pulled out a big spoon and ruthlessly divided her in half.
And onto the project! Y'see, Mister and I have been sneakily, behind starter's back, looking into recipes for rye bread. Apparently, most traditional german rye breads were sourdough based and cooked over a looooooooooong time to get that dark color (it's now common to use caramel coloring and cook it faster). With that in mind, we even bought rye flour. We bought this... oh probably close to two months ago now. And today I implemented it.
Half of starter got fed with rye flour and water. The other half got fed with all purpose and water, like normal. It did mean that this feeding I would not be able to bake, as when dividing in half, normally with the second half one would make two loaves of bread.
But so now I have two little jars of starter in the fridge. We'll see how the rye comes out! I probably won't be able to bake with it for at least 3 feedings or so, as I want the rye to be the dominant flavor.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Easter
So Easter with my family did not happen as planned. It turned out that Mister and I got sick over the weekend. A quick jaunt to the doctor's today verified that we each had strep. This would be Mister's second bout of it in as many weeks, and my first lately.
Because of the lack of traveling, Mister and I had Easter at home. I've been pining for such feasts as my family always prepares, so I attempted to recreate it, with a fair amount of success!
Here is our lovely table set with the new china from my mother, Warwick AB9428, and a couple of vintage embroidered cloths. Mister and I had our dear friend M stop by to eat with us. Set on the table you can see: sliced ham, sliced sausage (it claimed to be kielbasa but it lied!), cottage cheese, butter, horseradish and beets, hardboiled eggs (green Americauna eggs, so they sorta look dyed :-P), and bread under the embroidered napkin.
The recipe I used for the horseradish and beets is this one. I only used 3 good sized beets in lieu of the 10-12 small ones they call for. In retrospect, I should have used far more horseradish than I used. Also, it's surprisingly difficult to grate! It flakes more than grates.
I wound up making close to 4 cups of horseradish and beets. AND I managed to do it without staining my kitchen counters, any cutting boards, or my hands! Victory!
When making the paska bread, I based it off of this recipe. I halved the recipe, but kept the same amount of eggs, added in craisins (I didn't have golden raisins on hand and I hate cooked dark raisins). I also didn't have sour cream, but I DID have that cottage cheese I bought... so I mixed a bit of cottage cheese with vanilla almond milk and a dash of white vinegar. I shaped it into a boule, not a ring. I also removed the handle of our small 2 quart saucepan to bake it. It also took it much closer to an hour to bake due to it's shape.
Here it is baking.
This is all that remains now! It was a success -- although it could have used a bit more sugar and perhaps another egg or two -- or maybe just the yolks for color? But it was a good substitute for paska bread.
Aside from that, two things remain regarding my Easter.
We bought a little pot of daffodils! When we bought it Saturday, it had no blooms. On Easter morning, it had 2. By that afternoon, it had 4. And it now has 6. It's a cute little plant.
I dyed my first yarn! Since I had to boil beets, I had all this gorgeous beet water. So I boiled some peruvian wool from knitpicks for about an hour, while I was prepping other things Saturday night. But when rinsing, it turned out to be yellow (it is much closer to goldenrod color than is evident in the picture). Who knew?
And that was my exciting Easter!
Because of the lack of traveling, Mister and I had Easter at home. I've been pining for such feasts as my family always prepares, so I attempted to recreate it, with a fair amount of success!
Here is our lovely table set with the new china from my mother, Warwick AB9428, and a couple of vintage embroidered cloths. Mister and I had our dear friend M stop by to eat with us. Set on the table you can see: sliced ham, sliced sausage (it claimed to be kielbasa but it lied!), cottage cheese, butter, horseradish and beets, hardboiled eggs (green Americauna eggs, so they sorta look dyed :-P), and bread under the embroidered napkin.
The recipe I used for the horseradish and beets is this one. I only used 3 good sized beets in lieu of the 10-12 small ones they call for. In retrospect, I should have used far more horseradish than I used. Also, it's surprisingly difficult to grate! It flakes more than grates.
I wound up making close to 4 cups of horseradish and beets. AND I managed to do it without staining my kitchen counters, any cutting boards, or my hands! Victory!
When making the paska bread, I based it off of this recipe. I halved the recipe, but kept the same amount of eggs, added in craisins (I didn't have golden raisins on hand and I hate cooked dark raisins). I also didn't have sour cream, but I DID have that cottage cheese I bought... so I mixed a bit of cottage cheese with vanilla almond milk and a dash of white vinegar. I shaped it into a boule, not a ring. I also removed the handle of our small 2 quart saucepan to bake it. It also took it much closer to an hour to bake due to it's shape.
Here it is baking.
This is all that remains now! It was a success -- although it could have used a bit more sugar and perhaps another egg or two -- or maybe just the yolks for color? But it was a good substitute for paska bread.
Aside from that, two things remain regarding my Easter.
We bought a little pot of daffodils! When we bought it Saturday, it had no blooms. On Easter morning, it had 2. By that afternoon, it had 4. And it now has 6. It's a cute little plant.
I dyed my first yarn! Since I had to boil beets, I had all this gorgeous beet water. So I boiled some peruvian wool from knitpicks for about an hour, while I was prepping other things Saturday night. But when rinsing, it turned out to be yellow (it is much closer to goldenrod color than is evident in the picture). Who knew?
And that was my exciting Easter!
Monday, March 5, 2012
Life is Busy
Man, who knew that classes could keep a person busy? Add in guest performing for a local symphony, applying to a local wind ensemble, and cooking tasty meals with friends, and you have a full schedule.
But yeah, my studio prof invited me to perform with the symphony that he's a member of. First concert was hard as hell as I didn't get the music and I sightread it for the two rehearsals I attended. I get the music for the concert at the end of this month this Thursday. :-P
I have a happy new reed that I made last week. I love having working reeds. The second clarinetist in orchestra sharpened my knives for me as I'm terrible at it.
The county wind ensemble is looking for oboists -- I've put in my application, and the conductor should be getting in contact...
Have I mentioned that I received venison from my dad? We just cooked some tasty venison steak tonight with brussel sprouts. So tasty. And on Saturday, Mister and I went to a local sausage maker and bought knockwurst, smoked Hungarian sausage and smoked Polish sausage. Add in my buddy Martin's fried cabbage, our mashed potatoes with cheese, sourdough bread with spread and lots of beer, and you have the recipe for an awesome night. Sometimes, food really is the greatest thing in life.
On the wedding front: the invitations are in, Mister and I are just hammering out the guest list. I think we're pretty close, although K, you know some of the problems. :-P I've also been poking some more at the dress and possibilities for shoes. The bandmaster of the group we want to hire is incredibly busy so hasn't gotten back to confirm details, but we're pretty sure that it'll work out. We still need to contact the caterer. We had a design session with our jeweler, and good news! The design I want, and the size that I need are in her stock selection. She just has to adjust the size slightly (from a 5.5 to a 5.25). Mister's ring requires a bit more. But knowing that mine'll be pretty cheap makes me happy.
And I think that's life!
But yeah, my studio prof invited me to perform with the symphony that he's a member of. First concert was hard as hell as I didn't get the music and I sightread it for the two rehearsals I attended. I get the music for the concert at the end of this month this Thursday. :-P
I have a happy new reed that I made last week. I love having working reeds. The second clarinetist in orchestra sharpened my knives for me as I'm terrible at it.
The county wind ensemble is looking for oboists -- I've put in my application, and the conductor should be getting in contact...
Have I mentioned that I received venison from my dad? We just cooked some tasty venison steak tonight with brussel sprouts. So tasty. And on Saturday, Mister and I went to a local sausage maker and bought knockwurst, smoked Hungarian sausage and smoked Polish sausage. Add in my buddy Martin's fried cabbage, our mashed potatoes with cheese, sourdough bread with spread and lots of beer, and you have the recipe for an awesome night. Sometimes, food really is the greatest thing in life.
On the wedding front: the invitations are in, Mister and I are just hammering out the guest list. I think we're pretty close, although K, you know some of the problems. :-P I've also been poking some more at the dress and possibilities for shoes. The bandmaster of the group we want to hire is incredibly busy so hasn't gotten back to confirm details, but we're pretty sure that it'll work out. We still need to contact the caterer. We had a design session with our jeweler, and good news! The design I want, and the size that I need are in her stock selection. She just has to adjust the size slightly (from a 5.5 to a 5.25). Mister's ring requires a bit more. But knowing that mine'll be pretty cheap makes me happy.
And I think that's life!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
My Single Problem with Wedding Planning
Mister's got opinions. Oh gods does he have opinions. There is none of the stereotypical "let the bride do what she wants while the groom hides" business. I wish that there was.
Mister always goes on and on about how happy he is that he's with someone with strong opinions -- lemme tell you, the feeling is NOT mutual! I don't want a doormat, but fer the love of the gods, shut up sometimes and lemme do my thing without you deciding it's a poor decision.
This came up in my head as I was rereading some APW articles, and folks were like "my groom doesn't care! waaaaaah" And I'm like whoa whoa, some people get to do this without negotiations? Without massive amounts of discussion and angry faces (from me)? Some ladies get to say: Hmm, I really like this invitation, honey buy it now plx -- and it happens?
That and he keeps saying that there's still so much to decide -- yet whenever I'm like "what do we have to talk about" he's got nothing? I'm sorry, the time is OVER for over-thinking shit, we're at decision-land. I'm getting invites out by March 1st and we have to get our caterer and band set up as we STILL have not contacted them. (Guess who's job that is? If you guessed someone OTHER than me, you'd be right!)
Then there's the fact that I'm writing blog posts about wedding stuff at 2:40pm on a Tuesday, as I've got oodles of free time during business hours and Mister works. This means that I get to think on this kind of stuff for hours before he lets the air out of my balloons.
Bah. I think my life would be easier if Mister stopped acting like he cared.
N.B. This post is merely venting. we're doing fine, even if I sometimes want to throttle him when he vetoes carefully laid out plans.
Mister always goes on and on about how happy he is that he's with someone with strong opinions -- lemme tell you, the feeling is NOT mutual! I don't want a doormat, but fer the love of the gods, shut up sometimes and lemme do my thing without you deciding it's a poor decision.
This came up in my head as I was rereading some APW articles, and folks were like "my groom doesn't care! waaaaaah" And I'm like whoa whoa, some people get to do this without negotiations? Without massive amounts of discussion and angry faces (from me)? Some ladies get to say: Hmm, I really like this invitation, honey buy it now plx -- and it happens?
That and he keeps saying that there's still so much to decide -- yet whenever I'm like "what do we have to talk about" he's got nothing? I'm sorry, the time is OVER for over-thinking shit, we're at decision-land. I'm getting invites out by March 1st and we have to get our caterer and band set up as we STILL have not contacted them. (Guess who's job that is? If you guessed someone OTHER than me, you'd be right!)
Then there's the fact that I'm writing blog posts about wedding stuff at 2:40pm on a Tuesday, as I've got oodles of free time during business hours and Mister works. This means that I get to think on this kind of stuff for hours before he lets the air out of my balloons.
Bah. I think my life would be easier if Mister stopped acting like he cared.
N.B. This post is merely venting. we're doing fine, even if I sometimes want to throttle him when he vetoes carefully laid out plans.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Stocking the Kitchen
Mister and I both like to entertain and feed our friends. I also like to make fun, interesting things that use up what ingredients we have. To that extent, we have three syrups in our fridge, not counting maple. We have Apple Cider Syrup, which we had accidentally left a pot of mulled cider on the stove when we went out, and Mister decided to experiment with syrup. The experiment was a success, and it is a favorite in hot toddies.
Last summer, I had attempted to make a large amount of iced tea to drink, and so had several large jars of sweetened tea-water in my fridge, taking up space and using jars. I reduced it down, steeped more strong black tea (using up some old tea bags that are of dubious nature), added that, spiced it, sweetened as needed, etc, and now have Spiced Tea Syrup.
We now have another syrup as of tonight: Cinnamon-Ginger Simple Syrup. I received a lemon in my stocking at Christmas, and as Mister was feeling unwell this evening, I finally got around to juicing said lemon. I mixed the juice with honey, ginger and hot water and he lounged around trying to feel better. I then removed the outer part of the lemon peel, and boiled it in simple syrup and cinnamon to candy it. It is drying as I type this. But then I had all of this excess syrup! So I added some ginger, and rewarmed it to infuse, strained and bottled.
As mentioned previously, these syrups are quite good in hot toddies (hot water, syrup, whiskey, lemon juice optional). They're also good mixed in hot water for a quick warm drink and you can use them any place where you'd normally use honey (drizzled on scones anyone?), but on the whole I use these for "Feel Better" drinks. There's nothing like a warm mug of something delicious and made with love. If it comes with cookies, it'd probably be better, but we can't have everything!
In an endeavor to use up what we've got, I finally got around to finishing a cordial I started 6/10/11. I steeped lemon balm in 63% rum, strained it in probably September, and mixed it 50/50 with simple syrup tonight. I had a bit of that with ginger ale for a candy-sweet but simple beverage.
As I've mentioned probably many times by now, we have a lot of peeled garlic cloves in our freezer that we got for free when a friend was moving and had to get rid of his food. I decided that tonight was a good night to make garlic soup. With a little help from Mister (who discovered some cheese that had gotten unwrapped), and a few softening potatoes, this became Cheese-y Garlic and Potato Soup. Simple really. Fry a chopped onion in bacon fat. Add a bit of flour and stir to combine. Let this cook a few minutes, stirring, until a slight golden color. Add in one carton of veg. stock (or chicken). Throw in one and a half handfuls of garlic cloves, or approximately one head of garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let this cook until nice and soft. If you're energetic, mash the garlic cloves and reincorporate. Chop a few potatoes and add to the soup. Add a teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce. When the potatoes are about done, slice cheese and add, stirring with each addition so the cheese doesn't clump. Adjust seasonings as needed and serve! This one meal used up: hardening cheese, soft potatoes, a lot of frozen garlic cloves, last carton of veg. stock, an ugly looking onion. And since I pulled two rolls out of the freezer and heated them, I also cleared out a bit more freezer space!
On the schedule for tomorrow: making veg stock with the massive amount of odds n ends in the freezer, clean house. Also go to Wegmans (a.k.a. the best grocery store in the world). Now if only I could learn to incorporate my pantry goods as well as my freezer goods...
Last summer, I had attempted to make a large amount of iced tea to drink, and so had several large jars of sweetened tea-water in my fridge, taking up space and using jars. I reduced it down, steeped more strong black tea (using up some old tea bags that are of dubious nature), added that, spiced it, sweetened as needed, etc, and now have Spiced Tea Syrup.
We now have another syrup as of tonight: Cinnamon-Ginger Simple Syrup. I received a lemon in my stocking at Christmas, and as Mister was feeling unwell this evening, I finally got around to juicing said lemon. I mixed the juice with honey, ginger and hot water and he lounged around trying to feel better. I then removed the outer part of the lemon peel, and boiled it in simple syrup and cinnamon to candy it. It is drying as I type this. But then I had all of this excess syrup! So I added some ginger, and rewarmed it to infuse, strained and bottled.
As mentioned previously, these syrups are quite good in hot toddies (hot water, syrup, whiskey, lemon juice optional). They're also good mixed in hot water for a quick warm drink and you can use them any place where you'd normally use honey (drizzled on scones anyone?), but on the whole I use these for "Feel Better" drinks. There's nothing like a warm mug of something delicious and made with love. If it comes with cookies, it'd probably be better, but we can't have everything!
In an endeavor to use up what we've got, I finally got around to finishing a cordial I started 6/10/11. I steeped lemon balm in 63% rum, strained it in probably September, and mixed it 50/50 with simple syrup tonight. I had a bit of that with ginger ale for a candy-sweet but simple beverage.
As I've mentioned probably many times by now, we have a lot of peeled garlic cloves in our freezer that we got for free when a friend was moving and had to get rid of his food. I decided that tonight was a good night to make garlic soup. With a little help from Mister (who discovered some cheese that had gotten unwrapped), and a few softening potatoes, this became Cheese-y Garlic and Potato Soup. Simple really. Fry a chopped onion in bacon fat. Add a bit of flour and stir to combine. Let this cook a few minutes, stirring, until a slight golden color. Add in one carton of veg. stock (or chicken). Throw in one and a half handfuls of garlic cloves, or approximately one head of garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let this cook until nice and soft. If you're energetic, mash the garlic cloves and reincorporate. Chop a few potatoes and add to the soup. Add a teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce. When the potatoes are about done, slice cheese and add, stirring with each addition so the cheese doesn't clump. Adjust seasonings as needed and serve! This one meal used up: hardening cheese, soft potatoes, a lot of frozen garlic cloves, last carton of veg. stock, an ugly looking onion. And since I pulled two rolls out of the freezer and heated them, I also cleared out a bit more freezer space!
On the schedule for tomorrow: making veg stock with the massive amount of odds n ends in the freezer, clean house. Also go to Wegmans (a.k.a. the best grocery store in the world). Now if only I could learn to incorporate my pantry goods as well as my freezer goods...
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Nothing Rhymes With Orange
FUN FACT: The word orange is derived from the Sanskrit word "narangah" which means "orange tree." The Sanskrit word is derived from the Dravidian root for "fragrant."
Thank you Shaw's grocery store weekly email!
Mister and I were fairly recently discussing this, as most people learn in elementary school that nothing rhymes with orange or purple (expect nurple which is of course made up). Yet, it's also super obvious that orange is a loan word in all of Europe (l'orange, arancia, etc.). I proposed the theory that in whatever language it came from, it probably could rhyme.
Now on to find out if narangah rhymes in Sanskrit...
Monday, January 16, 2012
Solitude
Warning: slight bit of angst ahoy. Do not continue unless you're a fan of Russian literature.
This is not my favorite thing. When I'm home alone, I sleep too much, don't eat enough, don't bother getting dressed, and get quite bored. Luckily, I'm also broke, so I'm not tempted to go out and spend money willy-nilly.
It's times like these that I want kittens. I could chase them around the house, and there'd always be some little body around.
Or, I just sit at the comp and wait for Mister to get home. It's never as quickly as I'd like (a.k.a. when I wake up!) and often I am crabby by the time it happens and we get into little spats.
[Uh oh, I think I really should have refridgerated that pudding... maybe I'll drink some water...]
For example, I learned yesterday that even though I've been intending on doing my own invitations since the very beginning, he'd rather PAY someone to do it. With a fricking printer. Ugh. I think that's just the tackiest thing. He also doesn't quite seem to realize that shipping invitations is going to run us about $60-75 and not using the invitations that are sitting in our basement waiting to be used will cost us an additional $50-60. That pretty much doubles the cost of invitations. I, rather pissily, informed him that if he wanted printed invitations I'd rather just open up FileMaker and use a paper cutter. Which was when he informed me that he was busy applying to jobs and not paying attention to the fight I was trying to start. How rude! He's not allowed to be responsible when I'm in a fighting mood!
Even now, although I'm ostensibly doing something for myself that I create while alone, I'm spending more time blankly staring at the screen than blithely typing away. I think my stats include a line like:
"Able to be alone: -3
Need to be near people: +5"
That's not to say that I don't mind the occasional bout of solitude -- rather, I like it for about 5 mins. Tops. Even if we're doing completely separate things, I'd rather be doing them in the same room as another person.
... and now we have a warning at top of this post. Blah. I am just so bored! I'll probably go find something to eat that's not possibly-bad-for-me pudding-that's-already-in-my-stomach.
This is not my favorite thing. When I'm home alone, I sleep too much, don't eat enough, don't bother getting dressed, and get quite bored. Luckily, I'm also broke, so I'm not tempted to go out and spend money willy-nilly.
It's times like these that I want kittens. I could chase them around the house, and there'd always be some little body around.
Or, I just sit at the comp and wait for Mister to get home. It's never as quickly as I'd like (a.k.a. when I wake up!) and often I am crabby by the time it happens and we get into little spats.
[Uh oh, I think I really should have refridgerated that pudding... maybe I'll drink some water...]
For example, I learned yesterday that even though I've been intending on doing my own invitations since the very beginning, he'd rather PAY someone to do it. With a fricking printer. Ugh. I think that's just the tackiest thing. He also doesn't quite seem to realize that shipping invitations is going to run us about $60-75 and not using the invitations that are sitting in our basement waiting to be used will cost us an additional $50-60. That pretty much doubles the cost of invitations. I, rather pissily, informed him that if he wanted printed invitations I'd rather just open up FileMaker and use a paper cutter. Which was when he informed me that he was busy applying to jobs and not paying attention to the fight I was trying to start. How rude! He's not allowed to be responsible when I'm in a fighting mood!
Even now, although I'm ostensibly doing something for myself that I create while alone, I'm spending more time blankly staring at the screen than blithely typing away. I think my stats include a line like:
"Able to be alone: -3
Need to be near people: +5"
That's not to say that I don't mind the occasional bout of solitude -- rather, I like it for about 5 mins. Tops. Even if we're doing completely separate things, I'd rather be doing them in the same room as another person.
... and now we have a warning at top of this post. Blah. I am just so bored! I'll probably go find something to eat that's not possibly-bad-for-me pudding-that's-already-in-my-stomach.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Post-Holiday Ramblings
And Mister and I are back from our big car trip. Two full tanks of gas and four days later, we are back home. Thursday we drove out to Syracuse to see my dad. Saturday morning we drove to Albany to see my mom. And Sunday afternoon we came home. It was just about 700 miles round trip.
And to cap it all off, we're driving to Portland tonight to visit Mister's mom and sisters. What a good thing we bought their presents yesterday! ... yeah. That's how Mister does Christmas. :-P He knew what he was going to get them, he just also knew that he didn't need to rush to get them since we weren't sure when we were going to be seeing them.
But the trip went well. We also got the chance to see my aunt/uncle/cousins in their new house on Friday. Dinner was delicious, we got a popcorn maker to use during band practice, and Mister and I had a nice long chat with my aunt. It's funny, I think the relationship I have with my aunt is the one that I -could- have with my mother, once we get it figured out and she stops having 12-year-old-me reactions. Because that seems to be our problem, we'll be chatting, and then she just assume that I have no idea what I'm talking about and need guidance like a wayward sheep. [K, you are not allowed to mention this to mom as I'm merely musing and not actually trying to say something. If wayward sheep comes up in conversation, I'm cutting your hair again -- 'cause that is SUCH an effective threat... :-P] But yeah, my aunt and I are getting along pretty well now, and we never used to as she was always an authority figure. Growing up is WEIRD.
I don't know where I'm going with this post, other than to say: we're super tired! and that this was the most useful Christmas ever. We got a mixer (music), mic stands, popcorn maker, a new nightlight for the kitchen shaped like a duck, a duckie dish scrubber, pjs for Mister, cookbooks, a garlic thingie (it's a little plate with ridges that scrapes the garlic), etc. Lots of useful stuff. This was one of the first years that I didn't have to find places for STUFF. Everything has a natural home and use.
Oh and the verdict of how my stuff was received: my dad like the stool, my sister's screwdriver didn't light up (yes I still need to email them -- I'll bug Mister today), my mom liked her sweater and showergel, my aunt LOVED the fudge, my cousins liked their little hair flowers (A was like "omg I was LOOKING for something like this when I put my hair up today!"), my grandma really liked her ornament (my grandpa was fascinated by how it was made :-P) and pretzels, my grandpa was unsurprised by fruitcake, mom's bf was unsurprised by fruitcake, N&R liked their slippers and the ones I made for their son were too small, and we left before the last family opened their slippers. Also probably too small since I have no idea how big babies feet are. Oh, and the secret stocking for my dad went over well -- I dunno as he liked the stuff in it (it was just random stuff from CVS like a deck of cards and candy sticks), but it gave him something on Christmas day.
And to cap it all off, we're driving to Portland tonight to visit Mister's mom and sisters. What a good thing we bought their presents yesterday! ... yeah. That's how Mister does Christmas. :-P He knew what he was going to get them, he just also knew that he didn't need to rush to get them since we weren't sure when we were going to be seeing them.
But the trip went well. We also got the chance to see my aunt/uncle/cousins in their new house on Friday. Dinner was delicious, we got a popcorn maker to use during band practice, and Mister and I had a nice long chat with my aunt. It's funny, I think the relationship I have with my aunt is the one that I -could- have with my mother, once we get it figured out and she stops having 12-year-old-me reactions. Because that seems to be our problem, we'll be chatting, and then she just assume that I have no idea what I'm talking about and need guidance like a wayward sheep. [K, you are not allowed to mention this to mom as I'm merely musing and not actually trying to say something. If wayward sheep comes up in conversation, I'm cutting your hair again -- 'cause that is SUCH an effective threat... :-P] But yeah, my aunt and I are getting along pretty well now, and we never used to as she was always an authority figure. Growing up is WEIRD.
I don't know where I'm going with this post, other than to say: we're super tired! and that this was the most useful Christmas ever. We got a mixer (music), mic stands, popcorn maker, a new nightlight for the kitchen shaped like a duck, a duckie dish scrubber, pjs for Mister, cookbooks, a garlic thingie (it's a little plate with ridges that scrapes the garlic), etc. Lots of useful stuff. This was one of the first years that I didn't have to find places for STUFF. Everything has a natural home and use.
Oh and the verdict of how my stuff was received: my dad like the stool, my sister's screwdriver didn't light up (yes I still need to email them -- I'll bug Mister today), my mom liked her sweater and showergel, my aunt LOVED the fudge, my cousins liked their little hair flowers (A was like "omg I was LOOKING for something like this when I put my hair up today!"), my grandma really liked her ornament (my grandpa was fascinated by how it was made :-P) and pretzels, my grandpa was unsurprised by fruitcake, mom's bf was unsurprised by fruitcake, N&R liked their slippers and the ones I made for their son were too small, and we left before the last family opened their slippers. Also probably too small since I have no idea how big babies feet are. Oh, and the secret stocking for my dad went over well -- I dunno as he liked the stuff in it (it was just random stuff from CVS like a deck of cards and candy sticks), but it gave him something on Christmas day.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Just Me!
So Mister is off to NYC to hang out/pick up his little sister who will be spending a few days with us. (She has class on Saturday, but not Friday or all next week.) With Mister gone this means several things: One, I keep forgetting to eat and I'm too cheap to go out with just myself. Two, I need to clean the ENTIRE house as it's a complete and utter hole, as my mother would say. Well, and three, I need to study for the two tests that I have tomorrow, but who cares about that? Not me! :-P
Now one of the things that super majorly needed cleaning was our bathroom. Lordy, I wouldn't allow a homeless man to see the inside of that bathroom, it was that dirty. Add to this the fact that Mister trimmed his beard over the sink this morning after I left and I know this without him telling me (read: he left his beard all over the sink). That, and I never actually clean the tub (disgusting I know), and it was getting pretty bad and there was mildew on my curtain! That was a clear sign that I need to attack that.
I know that there are cleaners that can use that massive amount of white vinegar that I have, so I looked into it a bit, and most of them seemed to involve either straight vinegar, or vinegar, water and an essential oil. As my bathroom needs it that badly, I just used straight vinegar in a rinsed out spray bottle. I sprayed vinegar on the shower curtains, let it sit for 5-10 minutes and rinsed with hot water. On the one curtain that was all it needed (although I should probably take a sponge to both of them as they feel a bit slimey... ick). On the other, there were a few spots and the entire hem still needed some work. I discovered that the problem with the hem was there was a factory fold an inch from the bottom that I hadn't noticed when I first put the curtain up. So I unfolded it and sprayed. Rinsed with hot water again et voilà , it's beautiful. (We have clear plastic curtains to let the light in, so it's quite obvious when they're dirty.)
Tackling the bottom of the tub was a different story. What I wound up doing (and it worked beautifully) was this: spraying the tub with vinegar. Using a wet sponge, apply baking soda and scrub a bit. In the worst spots, it didn't even require any scrubbing. It just wiped off. The color of that rinse... ick. But hot water makes it all go away and now it's beautiful as well!
One of the few nice things about Mister being away is I can blast Gloria Estefan while cleaning. :-P A surprising side effect of that is wondering if the keyboard solo is actually my (fairly energetic) ring tone!
______
Update: I've also now made 1 quart, 1 jelly jar and half of a jelly jar of applesauce. Super productive on the non-studying front!
Now one of the things that super majorly needed cleaning was our bathroom. Lordy, I wouldn't allow a homeless man to see the inside of that bathroom, it was that dirty. Add to this the fact that Mister trimmed his beard over the sink this morning after I left and I know this without him telling me (read: he left his beard all over the sink). That, and I never actually clean the tub (disgusting I know), and it was getting pretty bad and there was mildew on my curtain! That was a clear sign that I need to attack that.
I know that there are cleaners that can use that massive amount of white vinegar that I have, so I looked into it a bit, and most of them seemed to involve either straight vinegar, or vinegar, water and an essential oil. As my bathroom needs it that badly, I just used straight vinegar in a rinsed out spray bottle. I sprayed vinegar on the shower curtains, let it sit for 5-10 minutes and rinsed with hot water. On the one curtain that was all it needed (although I should probably take a sponge to both of them as they feel a bit slimey... ick). On the other, there were a few spots and the entire hem still needed some work. I discovered that the problem with the hem was there was a factory fold an inch from the bottom that I hadn't noticed when I first put the curtain up. So I unfolded it and sprayed. Rinsed with hot water again et voilà , it's beautiful. (We have clear plastic curtains to let the light in, so it's quite obvious when they're dirty.)
Tackling the bottom of the tub was a different story. What I wound up doing (and it worked beautifully) was this: spraying the tub with vinegar. Using a wet sponge, apply baking soda and scrub a bit. In the worst spots, it didn't even require any scrubbing. It just wiped off. The color of that rinse... ick. But hot water makes it all go away and now it's beautiful as well!
One of the few nice things about Mister being away is I can blast Gloria Estefan while cleaning. :-P A surprising side effect of that is wondering if the keyboard solo is actually my (fairly energetic) ring tone!
______
Update: I've also now made 1 quart, 1 jelly jar and half of a jelly jar of applesauce. Super productive on the non-studying front!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Last Post for October! Household Updates
We had our first snow this past weekend! It snowed a little bit Friday night (it was mostly rain -- horrible, cold, grey rain), and Saturday, it snowed enough that we had our first snow plows. That's right, we had 2" of snow stick to the ground. It of course melted when the sun came out Sunday :-P. Apparently, there are hundreds of homes without power due to the snow. Say what? How can NO ONE have been prepared for snow in October? Seriously folks, it ain't hard. It's kinda a fact of life when you live in the north east US. If you tried to pull that kind of thing in Syracuse or Buffalo they'd laugh you out of town. But that's another story. Mister and I also only turned our heat on the day before any snow hit. We're just awesome like that. :-D
************
I started working on the muslin for my wedding dress. Let's just say that I suck at pleats and measuring the amount of fabric required. At one point, I threw the thing down and told Mister I was done. When I explained that it was too big, he inquired further.
Mister: Well, how big is it supposed to be?
Me: Me-sized.
Mister: How big is it?
Me: (*holds out hands 3' apart)
Mister: You could fit two of you in that!
I'm pretty sure it's because I think it requires three inches of fabric to make one inch of pleated fabric, and it winds up only needing two inches of fabric. But that's just my suspicion. I'm now tacking down pleats and seeing what I've got left after that.
Thankfully, this is the hardest part I think... It's a pleated bodice that connects to a fitted waist, and a full skirt that goes to just below the knee. There will be additional tricksy-ness for the actual dress as I'm doing super cute things with... uh... pleats... (maybe I should rethink :-P)
************
Basil and Pepper are cuddling in the kitchen currently and I may actually get more peppers. I kept meaning to bring Pepper in, and forgetting, and when Sunday, after the snow melted and I saw Pepper acting so happy I figured I'd bring him in. He has little pepper plants set! We'll see how this goes.
************
Still haven't heard from L about the money she owes us. We forgot to call her last Friday, so I've reminded Mister to call her and let her know that we're filing papers tomorrow. (It was supposed to be today.)
************
Bumped into a friend Saturday, as she was on her way back from picking up her sister at the train station. Wound up grabbing a meal with them, and while waiting for a table, it came up that my friend, M, had never seen Dirty Dancing. As this cannot be born, a movie night was had on Sunday after she got out of gamelan practice. Mister made his awesome Boeuf Bourgignon and we had goat cheese of some variety. M cannot have wheat, gluten, cow milk products, or chicken. Mister and I have rolled with this and we often cook delicious things for her (I made her cake for her birthday last week 'cause I rock ;-) ). Yet, every single time we cook something that we find quite obvious and simple (chili, beef stew, cabbage and bean soup, rice flour cake, etc.), she always seems quite surprised and shocked that we've a) cooked for her and b) found something delicious she can eat. Mister even commented to me last night: 'I think she doesn't really cook much or eat much variety...'. Which is quite probably true. I think what makes it perhaps different is that we're not going out and buying gluten-free wanna-be-wheat products or vegan cheese or what-have-you. Now, these are still quite simple meals -- I wouldn't call chili difficult in any sense of the word -- but perhaps it's something that she never thinks of? I dunno. Extrapolating with too few data points.
************
Had another friend, M (too many Ms!), over Saturday night for cards, and the conversation turned to reed making. At which point he proclaimed that it probably wasn't too hard and he could make them. I immediately pulled my kit out and put him to the test. He managed to make a functioning (not perfect) reed in 30 mins, and snapped two others due to a) not soaking b) not sharpening the knife often enough or c) not appreciating the delicate nature of cane. I call that a success. He can work in my reed sweatshop ANY time! :-D
************
Mister and I realized something last night: half of the reason why the kitchen hadn't been getting clean of late is because we kept trying to say it was this person's job or that person's job. When really, we work better when the two of us are in there, and not getting in each other's way. He was cooking and I was washing dishes, and washing what he needed, and cleaning the counter space that he needed -- when we both try to wash, or both clean, we wind up sniping at each other because we work quite differently, yet similarly in one way: we both are brusque and demanding when in work-mode. This has led to quite a few exciting fights.
************
I'll also post today on school updates, as I haven't been posting much of late.
************
I started working on the muslin for my wedding dress. Let's just say that I suck at pleats and measuring the amount of fabric required. At one point, I threw the thing down and told Mister I was done. When I explained that it was too big, he inquired further.
Mister: Well, how big is it supposed to be?
Me: Me-sized.
Mister: How big is it?
Me: (*holds out hands 3' apart)
Mister: You could fit two of you in that!
I'm pretty sure it's because I think it requires three inches of fabric to make one inch of pleated fabric, and it winds up only needing two inches of fabric. But that's just my suspicion. I'm now tacking down pleats and seeing what I've got left after that.
Thankfully, this is the hardest part I think... It's a pleated bodice that connects to a fitted waist, and a full skirt that goes to just below the knee. There will be additional tricksy-ness for the actual dress as I'm doing super cute things with... uh... pleats... (maybe I should rethink :-P)
************
Basil and Pepper are cuddling in the kitchen currently and I may actually get more peppers. I kept meaning to bring Pepper in, and forgetting, and when Sunday, after the snow melted and I saw Pepper acting so happy I figured I'd bring him in. He has little pepper plants set! We'll see how this goes.
************
Still haven't heard from L about the money she owes us. We forgot to call her last Friday, so I've reminded Mister to call her and let her know that we're filing papers tomorrow. (It was supposed to be today.)
************
Bumped into a friend Saturday, as she was on her way back from picking up her sister at the train station. Wound up grabbing a meal with them, and while waiting for a table, it came up that my friend, M, had never seen Dirty Dancing. As this cannot be born, a movie night was had on Sunday after she got out of gamelan practice. Mister made his awesome Boeuf Bourgignon and we had goat cheese of some variety. M cannot have wheat, gluten, cow milk products, or chicken. Mister and I have rolled with this and we often cook delicious things for her (I made her cake for her birthday last week 'cause I rock ;-) ). Yet, every single time we cook something that we find quite obvious and simple (chili, beef stew, cabbage and bean soup, rice flour cake, etc.), she always seems quite surprised and shocked that we've a) cooked for her and b) found something delicious she can eat. Mister even commented to me last night: 'I think she doesn't really cook much or eat much variety...'. Which is quite probably true. I think what makes it perhaps different is that we're not going out and buying gluten-free wanna-be-wheat products or vegan cheese or what-have-you. Now, these are still quite simple meals -- I wouldn't call chili difficult in any sense of the word -- but perhaps it's something that she never thinks of? I dunno. Extrapolating with too few data points.
************
Had another friend, M (too many Ms!), over Saturday night for cards, and the conversation turned to reed making. At which point he proclaimed that it probably wasn't too hard and he could make them. I immediately pulled my kit out and put him to the test. He managed to make a functioning (not perfect) reed in 30 mins, and snapped two others due to a) not soaking b) not sharpening the knife often enough or c) not appreciating the delicate nature of cane. I call that a success. He can work in my reed sweatshop ANY time! :-D
************
Mister and I realized something last night: half of the reason why the kitchen hadn't been getting clean of late is because we kept trying to say it was this person's job or that person's job. When really, we work better when the two of us are in there, and not getting in each other's way. He was cooking and I was washing dishes, and washing what he needed, and cleaning the counter space that he needed -- when we both try to wash, or both clean, we wind up sniping at each other because we work quite differently, yet similarly in one way: we both are brusque and demanding when in work-mode. This has led to quite a few exciting fights.
************
I'll also post today on school updates, as I haven't been posting much of late.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Frustrated As All Get-Out
I try to pay my bills on time. Granted, as I have very little in my own name, and am not currently working, these bills are not particularly many. However, there are several that effect my life.
One -- "temporary" ex-roommate still owes us three weeks worth of rent, and is not responding to phone calls nor returning them.
Two -- I am a guarantor for Mister's car payment, and we just received notice that we're 21 days away from defaulting on this loan.
Three -- last month we had to receive an email from our landlords requesting that we pay rent on the first, not the fifteenth or the 22nd... yeah.
Four -- I received notice from UMass that because my tuition is late, they are charging $100 extra.
_________________________
How I am dealing with these:
One -- I am going to be filing papers as of Monday to take her to court.
Two -- I am going to beat the ever living hell out of Mister. And make him change his godsdamned bank account so the direct deposit that's set up works.
Three -- I am attempting to remember to remind Mister about these on the weekends, so that I don't have to hound him at work and he gets pissy.
Four -- I am making my dad deal with that, as it's his fault that it's late.
_________________________
Why don't people pay their godsdamned bills on time? Why does it have to bother my life? I want to stab things... grr... maybe I should buy meat for dinner.
One -- "temporary" ex-roommate still owes us three weeks worth of rent, and is not responding to phone calls nor returning them.
Two -- I am a guarantor for Mister's car payment, and we just received notice that we're 21 days away from defaulting on this loan.
Three -- last month we had to receive an email from our landlords requesting that we pay rent on the first, not the fifteenth or the 22nd... yeah.
Four -- I received notice from UMass that because my tuition is late, they are charging $100 extra.
_________________________
How I am dealing with these:
One -- I am going to be filing papers as of Monday to take her to court.
Two -- I am going to beat the ever living hell out of Mister. And make him change his godsdamned bank account so the direct deposit that's set up works.
Three -- I am attempting to remember to remind Mister about these on the weekends, so that I don't have to hound him at work and he gets pissy.
Four -- I am making my dad deal with that, as it's his fault that it's late.
_________________________
Why don't people pay their godsdamned bills on time? Why does it have to bother my life? I want to stab things... grr... maybe I should buy meat for dinner.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Frustration
I am easily frustrated most of the time, but I've been noticing it more lately. Between picking fights with classmates over stupid things like politics and religion (why oh why would I ever get involved in those discussions...) and just day-to-day stresses, I have been snappy lately.
My current problem? I both feel neglected by some and taken advantage of by others. Mister has been having to work 12+ hour days at his job nearly every day. This is because HIS coworkers have not really been doing their jobs and he's been doing most of the work. So when he gets home, he's tired, he's hungry and he's pissed at his job. I feel like I never see him, as he's always at work, and when he is at home, he's usually trying to distract himself with video games or something. Now, I realize that I'm needy and that he's the only one making money in this household, but still -- a little attention?
I also have a temporary roommate that has been here for over a month. She's making some questionable life choices in that she's waiting on two non-dependable people to move out here by the end of this month or mid-November (say what?), and hasn't paid rent for two weeks because she hasn't gotten paid...? I am thoroughly confused as to how she could have been working for several weeks and not gotten paid. We're asking a nominal amount of money -- it's really not that significant, but it's spending money for us as we're spending most of the paycheck on rent and payments.
She's also currently sleeping, as she works the overnight shift. Which means that when I come home to my house, I have to tiptoe around and not play music because there's someone sleeping. Or, at least the door is shut, so I assume she's sleeping.
Also in cranky mode over here, she leaves the fan on ALL THE TIME. I tried explaining to her that the fan works much better if you OPEN THE WINDOW rather than move the same stale, hot air around, but she kinda brushed it off by saying that she didn't want to hear people on the street. I can HEAR the fan, and it frustrates the hell out of me, knowing that it's 60 degrees F outside, yet my roommate "needs" a fan running on my electricity. I'm currently wearing two sweaters for crissakes.
The other thing that's been frustrating me is part of school. For my eartraining class, there was a group performance/sight-reading assignment for LAST Friday that got pushed to THIS Friday as most were not ready. I banged it out over and over on the keyboard until I got it in my head while home sick last week, and I've had it memorized (all three parts) since last Thursday. My partners? The one is nearly tone-deaf, and the other claims to have no time. Ok, I can work with this, and I'll set aside time when I'm on campus to practice (I'm not about to go too far out of my way as to be available during times when I'm not on campus). So the performance in front of my professor is tomorrow, and for the rehearsal today? The one who texted back saying he'd be there never showed, and the other one hadn't brought his book, looked off of mine but so clearly didn't care that he was misreading rhythms that are less complex than children's songs. (Seriously, it's in 3/4 and the rhythm was 1--|1 2 3|1--|1 2 3|1- 3|1 2 3|1- 3+| etc.) I was having to add a beat every other measure just to keep the harmony accurate.
I mean, I realize it's a stupid little assignment that really doesn't mean anything. I know this because I've had it MEMORIZED for a solid week. You can't tell me that I'm so magically brilliant that I'm learning stuff easily that others cannot, when it's frickin' quarter notes and dotted halves. I can tell some things that my partners are doing wrong and hindering their learning, but it's not my job to teach them how to learn. So I've been trying to beat the melody into their heads. As much as I like these two people, I need to have a talk with them about taking my time for granted as well as whether or not it would be worth it to attempt to work with them again.
The one kid who doesn't care, I'll just be blunt and explain that unless he's not going to be an ass (unlikely), I will let him work with others. The other kid tries -- I've seen him try. Him blowing me off today is what frustrated me the most, as I was in the practice room because HE needed it, not I. I also can't tell whether or not he practices. If he does, he doesn't get any better so he must be doing something wrong. Add in the tone-deafness and it's a fabulous combination. He'd say 'do' and sing "mi" or something similar -- and not hear the difference! I've tried saying: stay on the SAME NOTE -- and he still gets off somehow. I dunno. Again, not my job to figure out how to make this work for him but I can certainly try with what is within my power.
... it's funny, but they both were asking if I was in the education track, as I guess they felt that I was either being teacher-ly (I probably was) or doing a decent job of teaching. It's just so frustrating to see something being done WRONG and not be able to fix it personally. I just wish that I could record my voice singing three times and loop it and call the project done. :-P But then that eliminates the other part of the test which is listening to your partners and making music. And that's what it's all about.
My current problem? I both feel neglected by some and taken advantage of by others. Mister has been having to work 12+ hour days at his job nearly every day. This is because HIS coworkers have not really been doing their jobs and he's been doing most of the work. So when he gets home, he's tired, he's hungry and he's pissed at his job. I feel like I never see him, as he's always at work, and when he is at home, he's usually trying to distract himself with video games or something. Now, I realize that I'm needy and that he's the only one making money in this household, but still -- a little attention?
I also have a temporary roommate that has been here for over a month. She's making some questionable life choices in that she's waiting on two non-dependable people to move out here by the end of this month or mid-November (say what?), and hasn't paid rent for two weeks because she hasn't gotten paid...? I am thoroughly confused as to how she could have been working for several weeks and not gotten paid. We're asking a nominal amount of money -- it's really not that significant, but it's spending money for us as we're spending most of the paycheck on rent and payments.
She's also currently sleeping, as she works the overnight shift. Which means that when I come home to my house, I have to tiptoe around and not play music because there's someone sleeping. Or, at least the door is shut, so I assume she's sleeping.
Also in cranky mode over here, she leaves the fan on ALL THE TIME. I tried explaining to her that the fan works much better if you OPEN THE WINDOW rather than move the same stale, hot air around, but she kinda brushed it off by saying that she didn't want to hear people on the street. I can HEAR the fan, and it frustrates the hell out of me, knowing that it's 60 degrees F outside, yet my roommate "needs" a fan running on my electricity. I'm currently wearing two sweaters for crissakes.
The other thing that's been frustrating me is part of school. For my eartraining class, there was a group performance/sight-reading assignment for LAST Friday that got pushed to THIS Friday as most were not ready. I banged it out over and over on the keyboard until I got it in my head while home sick last week, and I've had it memorized (all three parts) since last Thursday. My partners? The one is nearly tone-deaf, and the other claims to have no time. Ok, I can work with this, and I'll set aside time when I'm on campus to practice (I'm not about to go too far out of my way as to be available during times when I'm not on campus). So the performance in front of my professor is tomorrow, and for the rehearsal today? The one who texted back saying he'd be there never showed, and the other one hadn't brought his book, looked off of mine but so clearly didn't care that he was misreading rhythms that are less complex than children's songs. (Seriously, it's in 3/4 and the rhythm was 1--|1 2 3|1--|1 2 3|1- 3|1 2 3|1- 3+| etc.) I was having to add a beat every other measure just to keep the harmony accurate.
I mean, I realize it's a stupid little assignment that really doesn't mean anything. I know this because I've had it MEMORIZED for a solid week. You can't tell me that I'm so magically brilliant that I'm learning stuff easily that others cannot, when it's frickin' quarter notes and dotted halves. I can tell some things that my partners are doing wrong and hindering their learning, but it's not my job to teach them how to learn. So I've been trying to beat the melody into their heads. As much as I like these two people, I need to have a talk with them about taking my time for granted as well as whether or not it would be worth it to attempt to work with them again.
The one kid who doesn't care, I'll just be blunt and explain that unless he's not going to be an ass (unlikely), I will let him work with others. The other kid tries -- I've seen him try. Him blowing me off today is what frustrated me the most, as I was in the practice room because HE needed it, not I. I also can't tell whether or not he practices. If he does, he doesn't get any better so he must be doing something wrong. Add in the tone-deafness and it's a fabulous combination. He'd say 'do' and sing "mi" or something similar -- and not hear the difference! I've tried saying: stay on the SAME NOTE -- and he still gets off somehow. I dunno. Again, not my job to figure out how to make this work for him but I can certainly try with what is within my power.
... it's funny, but they both were asking if I was in the education track, as I guess they felt that I was either being teacher-ly (I probably was) or doing a decent job of teaching. It's just so frustrating to see something being done WRONG and not be able to fix it personally. I just wish that I could record my voice singing three times and loop it and call the project done. :-P But then that eliminates the other part of the test which is listening to your partners and making music. And that's what it's all about.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Schedule
Mister and I had a bit of brainstorming Saturday, and this is what we came up with.
Monday: clean out fridge, take out trash, buy groceries
Tuesday: wash floors
Wednesday: (no chores)
Thursday: clean bathroom, new towels
Friday: (no chores)
Saturday: (no chores)
Sunday: sweep floors, dust baseboards and surfaces, wash laundry, put laundry away
As we often have guests on the weeked, or go out ourselves, we wrote in a break. Wednesdays are also no chores because we get home late that day.
We also put together a basic rotating meal plan.
Monday: vegetarian
Tuesday: pasta and salad
Wednesday: breakfast for dinner (Mister's in charge)
Thursday: crock pot (I'm in charge)
Friday: roast chicken or casserole (I'm in charge)
Saturday: no plan
Sunday: soup or stew
We'll do a roast chicken twice a month or so because it's some of the best bang-per-buck options. Tuesdays are pasta because we have band practice, and it needs to be fast. Lunches will be leftovers, PBJ, fruit, trailmix, etc.
Monday: clean out fridge, take out trash, buy groceries
Tuesday: wash floors
Wednesday: (no chores)
Thursday: clean bathroom, new towels
Friday: (no chores)
Saturday: (no chores)
Sunday: sweep floors, dust baseboards and surfaces, wash laundry, put laundry away
As we often have guests on the weeked, or go out ourselves, we wrote in a break. Wednesdays are also no chores because we get home late that day.
We also put together a basic rotating meal plan.
Monday: vegetarian
Tuesday: pasta and salad
Wednesday: breakfast for dinner (Mister's in charge)
Thursday: crock pot (I'm in charge)
Friday: roast chicken or casserole (I'm in charge)
Saturday: no plan
Sunday: soup or stew
We'll do a roast chicken twice a month or so because it's some of the best bang-per-buck options. Tuesdays are pasta because we have band practice, and it needs to be fast. Lunches will be leftovers, PBJ, fruit, trailmix, etc.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Horror of All Horrors, Wedding Stuff!
Mister and I are taking the super slow route of figuring stuff out (a.k.a. he's being a bum and claiming he needs to 'think it over' for everything :-P). Now our reactions are completely par for the course as I want shit DONE and he wants it RIGHT.
What has been more or less decided:
Food: Redbones BBQ, a local (and amazing) BBQ place with catering starting from around $10/head
Ceremony: City Hall, Justice of the Peace, no witnesses (not required for JoP :-D). It requires $50 cash for license, and $12 per copy of certificate
Reception Location: Mister's uncle's house 40 mins away (which I am super proud of finding on google maps) They also have a couple of acres not visible from the road (Mister would like to add that we really have no idea where it's going to be held, but that it is an option that has been offered but we haven't actually spoken to them.)
Headcount: 60
Time of day: 1pm-4/5pm
Time of year: late September, 2012
Music: not sure if there will be any, but if we do have music, it will be Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band
Photographer: not sure if there will be one, but if we do have a photographer, it will probably be Mister's coworker, Todd
Rings: Jade Moran, same as my engagement. I will probably get palladium with a design similar to the vines on my engagement ring, although hopefully I can reuse someone's custom design for cheaper (Jade draws all of her vines very similarly :-P).
Invitations: will be done by me
Decorations: I've handed off to Mister. He said that he wanted a say in it, so I said "awesome. Your job now!" When he tried to protest, I informed him that I like surprises (unlike him) and I don't want to hear a thing about it.
Hair: I'm doing
Makeup: I'm doing
Dress: I will be making
Stats
Color: white
length: just below the knee
size: full skirt
crinoline: no, but probably petticoats (I like the weight)
sleeves: no, wide straps plus a shawl
details: some lace trim (maybe), red sash
aesthetic: fairly casual
Some Things We Are NOT Having At the Wedding*:
-- alcohol
-- first dance/Mother-Son dance/Father-Daughter dance/retardedness
-- cake. We'll probably have cookies
-- a wedding party (i.e., bridesmaids, groomsmen, etc.)
-- videographer
-- stage manager
-- bachelor/bachelorette parties
-- wedding insurance (seriously guys? that's a thing?)
-- florist. any flowers will either be picked or bought at the grocery store
-- limos or other specialty vehicles
-- tuxedos
-- ring inscriptions
-- spa treatments
-- name change arrangements. Not happening for either of us.
-- toasts
-- "Throw bridesmaids' lunch or party, at which you'll distribute gifts/jewelry." <-- what is that shit? People have too much money to burn...
I dunno what else to even talk about. The registry is at Amazon, but still needs a final going over by Mister ("we have time, I'll get to it..."), I haven't picked out pretty shoes yet, I am only 12% done on my shawl, I'm not sure if there will be favors or what they would be (Mister was like "Etsy!" and I was like "$10-15/person?!" to which he went "oh yeah..." and I reminded him that my uncle's wedding had after dinner mints in a bundle of tulle.). I thought about perhaps doing the Indian Wedding Henna Party type thing, but as I'm not Indian, I can't really pull that one off. I thought about having a nuclear family brunch pre-reception, but Mister says that requiring people to have to stay two nights in an expensive area isn't very nice.
I did put my foot down and say that I'm getting prepped with the ladies, which he grumbled about. Our budget is around $2000, but we're not quite sure what ENSMB's and Todd's prices would be. If it's too much, or would double our budget ($3200 starting rates for wedding photography my ass) it shall be cut. If the music gets cut, then there won't be dancing as I find both DJs (expensive and retarded) and iPods (cheap and retarded) unworthy of attention. It'll just be food and hanging out.
Mister is super upset and worried about the dates for when we'll have the party, as his sister's getting married early September, and he's claiming late September could be too cold ("it could be snowing!"). I told him that if it's snowing I'll just add grey knitted tights to my grey crocheted shawl and call it a day.
_________
*I'm maybe acting a bit angry about some of this stuff, but I've been wading through a sea of BS ever since I started looking into a wedding. I have found exactly ONE website that I respect: A Practical Wedding as it's the only one that doesn't try to sell you stuff, have you make hand-painted tchotchkes, or care what you do so long as it's YOU. They don't care what your budget is, or what you have so long as you know why you're including what you are. Whether you're doing it because "everyone is and you hadn't thought of it/don't care enough to change it" or "it's a tradition that I find meaningful joining" or even "it's what feels right to me and my partner". The other thing I super respect is their respect towards LGBTQ weddings. Wanna hear something scary? The uber wedding site "The Knot" has this lovely little notice on the bottom:
Is that not the scariest thing you've ever heard? Because once you've wasted your life planning your wedding, you're clearly not going to be doing anything other than redecorating your husbands home and popping babies. (*shudder)
P.S. Awesome pick of Mister, taken by Todd, while at Redbones
What has been more or less decided:
Food: Redbones BBQ, a local (and amazing) BBQ place with catering starting from around $10/head
Ceremony: City Hall, Justice of the Peace, no witnesses (not required for JoP :-D). It requires $50 cash for license, and $12 per copy of certificate
Reception Location: Mister's uncle's house 40 mins away (which I am super proud of finding on google maps) They also have a couple of acres not visible from the road (Mister would like to add that we really have no idea where it's going to be held, but that it is an option that has been offered but we haven't actually spoken to them.)
Headcount: 60
Time of day: 1pm-4/5pm
Time of year: late September, 2012
Music: not sure if there will be any, but if we do have music, it will be Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band
Photographer: not sure if there will be one, but if we do have a photographer, it will probably be Mister's coworker, Todd
Rings: Jade Moran, same as my engagement. I will probably get palladium with a design similar to the vines on my engagement ring, although hopefully I can reuse someone's custom design for cheaper (Jade draws all of her vines very similarly :-P).
Invitations: will be done by me
Decorations: I've handed off to Mister. He said that he wanted a say in it, so I said "awesome. Your job now!" When he tried to protest, I informed him that I like surprises (unlike him) and I don't want to hear a thing about it.
Hair: I'm doing
Makeup: I'm doing
Dress: I will be making
Stats
Color: white
length: just below the knee
size: full skirt
crinoline: no, but probably petticoats (I like the weight)
sleeves: no, wide straps plus a shawl
details: some lace trim (maybe), red sash
aesthetic: fairly casual
Some Things We Are NOT Having At the Wedding*:
-- alcohol
-- first dance/Mother-Son dance/Father-Daughter dance/retardedness
-- cake. We'll probably have cookies
-- a wedding party (i.e., bridesmaids, groomsmen, etc.)
-- videographer
-- stage manager
-- bachelor/bachelorette parties
-- wedding insurance (seriously guys? that's a thing?)
-- florist. any flowers will either be picked or bought at the grocery store
-- limos or other specialty vehicles
-- tuxedos
-- ring inscriptions
-- spa treatments
-- name change arrangements. Not happening for either of us.
-- toasts
-- "Throw bridesmaids' lunch or party, at which you'll distribute gifts/jewelry." <-- what is that shit? People have too much money to burn...
I dunno what else to even talk about. The registry is at Amazon, but still needs a final going over by Mister ("we have time, I'll get to it..."), I haven't picked out pretty shoes yet, I am only 12% done on my shawl, I'm not sure if there will be favors or what they would be (Mister was like "Etsy!" and I was like "$10-15/person?!" to which he went "oh yeah..." and I reminded him that my uncle's wedding had after dinner mints in a bundle of tulle.). I thought about perhaps doing the Indian Wedding Henna Party type thing, but as I'm not Indian, I can't really pull that one off. I thought about having a nuclear family brunch pre-reception, but Mister says that requiring people to have to stay two nights in an expensive area isn't very nice.
I did put my foot down and say that I'm getting prepped with the ladies, which he grumbled about. Our budget is around $2000, but we're not quite sure what ENSMB's and Todd's prices would be. If it's too much, or would double our budget ($3200 starting rates for wedding photography my ass) it shall be cut. If the music gets cut, then there won't be dancing as I find both DJs (expensive and retarded) and iPods (cheap and retarded) unworthy of attention. It'll just be food and hanging out.
Mister is super upset and worried about the dates for when we'll have the party, as his sister's getting married early September, and he's claiming late September could be too cold ("it could be snowing!"). I told him that if it's snowing I'll just add grey knitted tights to my grey crocheted shawl and call it a day.
_________
*I'm maybe acting a bit angry about some of this stuff, but I've been wading through a sea of BS ever since I started looking into a wedding. I have found exactly ONE website that I respect: A Practical Wedding as it's the only one that doesn't try to sell you stuff, have you make hand-painted tchotchkes, or care what you do so long as it's YOU. They don't care what your budget is, or what you have so long as you know why you're including what you are. Whether you're doing it because "everyone is and you hadn't thought of it/don't care enough to change it" or "it's a tradition that I find meaningful joining" or even "it's what feels right to me and my partner". The other thing I super respect is their respect towards LGBTQ weddings. Wanna hear something scary? The uber wedding site "The Knot" has this lovely little notice on the bottom:
Once you're a member of The Knot, you can easily log in to our sister sites The Nest and The Bump.
Is that not the scariest thing you've ever heard? Because once you've wasted your life planning your wedding, you're clearly not going to be doing anything other than redecorating your husbands home and popping babies. (*shudder)
P.S. Awesome pick of Mister, taken by Todd, while at Redbones
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Hot
It is hotter than hell out here these days. Now, I'm not gonna lie, this apartment is miles about the last in that it has great air flow, and that makes such a difference. Yesterday, Mister and I set the futon mattresses up in the living room and slept out there instead of in the bedroom. Aside from the jackhammers at 8am, it was a great situation with the breeziness of the living room AND away from the neverending 24/7 light of my neighbors that shines in my bedroom window.
(Ooh, a breeze just came through the house to me RIGHT NOW.)
The peas are completely dead. The fusillarium wilt or whatever did a job on it. My beans are middlin' (they have a lot of yellow leaves and I'm not quite sure why), the peppers are such prima donnas, and the tomatoes that AREN'T in cages are much happier than those in cages... but I've got blossoms on peppers, tomatoes and my vining critters as well -- so I should get some yields at the very least.
Mister and I are attempting to eat down the pantry. I find it hard, because I so much prefer snacks. I had to fight to buy cereal the other day! :-P In light of such decisions, we had mexican for dinner last night. Mexican rice (using some broth from the fridge and a hefty amount of adobo -- finally found a use for it!), beans (using half of an onion from the fridge) and tortillas and cheese (which we bought). I now have leftover rice, beans and tortillas.
I went to the Farmer's Market today and bought zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, grean beans (which I've already trimmed), a bag of salad mix (which I need to take care of asap), strawberries (which I've already eaten), cherries, blueberries and raspberries.
Since using the oven or the stove heats up the kitchen so much I feel that I should plan what I'm cooking today. I want to make some soda bread, I want to make some mini pies, I might make blueberry muffins, and I don't know what's for dinner yet. Hm...
Also Mister and I have undertaken a Project together. There is not one, but TWO nasty plants in my backyard (one is Trumpet Creeper and I haven't figured out the other yet, but it's main branches are 6" diameter...) that we want gone. I went out twice yesterday, and Mister once to go out and kill those plants. (Mister has no care for my herbs which makes me want to smack him with my knives.) We've gotten a lot of the green and branches out, and detached it forcibly from the garage, but we're no where near done. There are 3x as much green to remove as well as attempting to deal with the massive tap roots and other such pests.
In a similar note, I'm apparently allergic to something in the backyard. I know that it makes my hands itchy, so I wore gloves and a flannel going out the first time, and forgot the flannel the second -- I had hives all up and down my arms, so yes, I am allergic to something!
(Ooh, a breeze just came through the house to me RIGHT NOW.)
The peas are completely dead. The fusillarium wilt or whatever did a job on it. My beans are middlin' (they have a lot of yellow leaves and I'm not quite sure why), the peppers are such prima donnas, and the tomatoes that AREN'T in cages are much happier than those in cages... but I've got blossoms on peppers, tomatoes and my vining critters as well -- so I should get some yields at the very least.
Mister and I are attempting to eat down the pantry. I find it hard, because I so much prefer snacks. I had to fight to buy cereal the other day! :-P In light of such decisions, we had mexican for dinner last night. Mexican rice (using some broth from the fridge and a hefty amount of adobo -- finally found a use for it!), beans (using half of an onion from the fridge) and tortillas and cheese (which we bought). I now have leftover rice, beans and tortillas.
I went to the Farmer's Market today and bought zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, grean beans (which I've already trimmed), a bag of salad mix (which I need to take care of asap), strawberries (which I've already eaten), cherries, blueberries and raspberries.
Since using the oven or the stove heats up the kitchen so much I feel that I should plan what I'm cooking today. I want to make some soda bread, I want to make some mini pies, I might make blueberry muffins, and I don't know what's for dinner yet. Hm...
Also Mister and I have undertaken a Project together. There is not one, but TWO nasty plants in my backyard (one is Trumpet Creeper and I haven't figured out the other yet, but it's main branches are 6" diameter...) that we want gone. I went out twice yesterday, and Mister once to go out and kill those plants. (Mister has no care for my herbs which makes me want to smack him with my knives.) We've gotten a lot of the green and branches out, and detached it forcibly from the garage, but we're no where near done. There are 3x as much green to remove as well as attempting to deal with the massive tap roots and other such pests.
In a similar note, I'm apparently allergic to something in the backyard. I know that it makes my hands itchy, so I wore gloves and a flannel going out the first time, and forgot the flannel the second -- I had hives all up and down my arms, so yes, I am allergic to something!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Kitchen Thoughts
While I was away in NJ with family this past weekend, Mister cleaned the entire kitchen. Needless to say, this is not just a little bit exciting and rather novel. However, as I walked in to look at his fine work, I realized that (having moved my stereo) the room looked incredibly empty and bare.
I need something along that wall shown above. This is a rental, so tiles or that lovely detailed metal sheeting is out of the question. Trivets? Decorative cutting boards? Mugs? I have no idea.
N.B. Also, looking at that picture again, you can see both of my little ducks! The ducky tea strainer from my sis, and the rounded belly of my ducky tea kettle from my mom. :-P
Thursday, May 5, 2011
House Cleaning
Mister and I are not what one might call experts in keeping house. We're both fairly ADD, lazy, and after all, it's our own mess! But we've been eating out (or ordering pizza) for average one meal a day for a week or two. This is Not Acceptable to either of us.
Yesterday, Mister pinpointed that the kitchen being a mess was part of the problem, and cleaning it would solve many things (not the least giving us a clean kitchen). So with a will, he set to work.
Myself, feeling very discouraged by the kitchen, decided that it was time for me to tackle the Pile 'o Laundry, both clean and dirty, that was our bedroom. After four hours of work, we emerged victorious with a nearly clean kitchen and a nearly neat bedroom. It being 1am, we figured it was bedtime -- so we read until 4am. :-P
This morning, I woke up feeling like I wanted to do something. Heavens forbid that I work on the project of massive amounts of work, so I decided to tackle the pile of fruit that was growing sadder and sadder by the day.
The pear was a complete loss. Rotted clear through.
But the bananas became banana bread. The apples are becoming applesauce. The clementines are becoming marmalade. I consider this productive! It's amazing what a clean kitchen makes you want to do!
(There will be pics, but as I'm still in the process of making these, I'll post later.)
Yesterday, Mister pinpointed that the kitchen being a mess was part of the problem, and cleaning it would solve many things (not the least giving us a clean kitchen). So with a will, he set to work.
Myself, feeling very discouraged by the kitchen, decided that it was time for me to tackle the Pile 'o Laundry, both clean and dirty, that was our bedroom. After four hours of work, we emerged victorious with a nearly clean kitchen and a nearly neat bedroom. It being 1am, we figured it was bedtime -- so we read until 4am. :-P
This morning, I woke up feeling like I wanted to do something. Heavens forbid that I work on the project of massive amounts of work, so I decided to tackle the pile of fruit that was growing sadder and sadder by the day.
The pear was a complete loss. Rotted clear through.
But the bananas became banana bread. The apples are becoming applesauce. The clementines are becoming marmalade. I consider this productive! It's amazing what a clean kitchen makes you want to do!
(There will be pics, but as I'm still in the process of making these, I'll post later.)
Friday, April 8, 2011
Birthday Dinner Party
Since the boys totally went all out on the dinner they made us M and I decided that Something Must Be Done.
(Apparently also, M's boyfriend keeps making that stew and going "you'll never top this.")
So, here is the fabulous Italian inspired dinner to whup the boys' French inspired dinner:
Course One: Antipasti platter
Course Two: Pasta with garlic and oil (we'll probably get a really awesome looking pasta)
Course Three: Sliced strawberries and kiwi in a fun design
Course Four: Braised beef with a wine and mushroom sauce, topped with fried onions
Course Five: Steamed fresh sugar snap peas with lemon juice
Course Six: Biscotti, espresso, sambucca
We'll also have little Petit Four holding the place cards at the table (since M does love her little desserts).
We're going to WIN. :-D
(Apparently also, M's boyfriend keeps making that stew and going "you'll never top this.")
So, here is the fabulous Italian inspired dinner to whup the boys' French inspired dinner:
Course One: Antipasti platter
Course Two: Pasta with garlic and oil (we'll probably get a really awesome looking pasta)
Course Three: Sliced strawberries and kiwi in a fun design
Course Four: Braised beef with a wine and mushroom sauce, topped with fried onions
Course Five: Steamed fresh sugar snap peas with lemon juice
Course Six: Biscotti, espresso, sambucca
We'll also have little Petit Four holding the place cards at the table (since M does love her little desserts).
We're going to WIN. :-D
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