Monday, May 30, 2011

A good time was had by all...I hope.

Here's what's left...



Wasted away again in Margaritaville...





The aftermath...







Reuse, Renew, Recycle!



Thanks for coming everybody...and for all your NOMMY treats!

Note to Sydney: We missed you!

Have a great week!

Friday, May 27, 2011

I made a boo boo...


Politically-Correct-Poppy let me know that my comment about those who gave up their lives for our three day weekend was in very poor taste.

So, I honestly didn't mean to belittle those who gave their lives for our freedom. I had actually pulled up the definition of Memorial Day so I could see the origin, but I couldn't think of how to put it into words and I was in a rush so that's what I came up with. So...

From Wikipedia:

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 30 in 2011). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates men and women who died while in military service to the United States.[1] First enacted to honor Union and Confederate soldiers following the American Civil War,[2] it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.

Memorial Day often marks the start of the summer vacation season, and Labor Day its end.

Began as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the civil war, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family gatherings, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 (since 1911) and the Coca-Cola 600 (since 1960) auto races.

So there you go.
Later Alligator...

I'm taking a few days off...


From my blogging. It's a three day weekend so y'all have fun!

But, before I go, look what I got...



Yes! Reminds me of my PF Flyers I used to get when I was a kid.

Enjoy your weekend!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

I got nothin but this...



Oh, wait...I was going through my recipe books last night and found this...



NOM!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Homo-Ownership is hard work!

So, after getting to work yesterday, I discovered I was completely exhausted from the weekend. Decided I'd take half day off of work, go home, get my hammock out and read my Sunset Magazine.

Not so fast there, Fatass! After I got home I realized there were things left undone.

I got out the Oxyclean and went to town on the deck:





That was a very dirty job! I'm also wondering if I've removed the seal on the deck from cleaning it. I think I did. Sounds like another project to me!

After that, it was time to relax...



I don't know why Fatass insists on showing everyone her tree stump legs...





Happy Tuesday!

Monday, May 23, 2011

The Final Push...

That's right...we're just about "finished" with the house. This weekend was a Dad weekend, so we kept him busy and well fed.

We painted, hung artwork, organized, etc. I'm tired and ready to kick back and enjoy the house...









While we were all busy working, Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer and Senior-Alley-Cat-Roger were busy as well...







So after a successful weekend of projects, time to relax at the fire pit and do some grilling.







Wonder what that was for dinner?



Lucky for us, Dad's eyes are bad. We told him he was eating minute steaks.

Have a good week!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Dinner at Mochica!

I belive I've mentioned that Spend-Thrify-Poppy is big into the Groupon. One of the Groupons she bought was for Mochica. It's Peruvian and located South of Market. We went last night. NOMMY!!

We had a trio of Civches:



I can't tell you exactly what the spices were, but they when from mild to spicy, to a little more spicy. They all used nice chunks of halibut. Each marinade was so good, I was eating like soup!

Then we had the Anticuchos de Corazon - beef heart anticuchos grilled and served with papa and huacatay sauce. It had a kick to it and the huacatay sauce was fabulous!

Then we had the Chicharones, which were crispy chicken thigh in a sashimi, lime and mostaza sauce. This was good, but really rich.



We had to have something green so we ordered the sauteed spinach. Also really tasty!

Well, Scooter-Poppy has completed outfitting Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer for scooter riding. She now has two jackets and the last piece...Doggles:



Can you see the flames on the sides of the doggles? She didn't seem to mind them too much. Now, we just need to get her on the scooter!

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

What's for dinner?



Lambchop, that's what! So good...





The recipe started with something off the Internet, but then I had to embellish...

Kecky’s Kinda Greek Lamb Chops

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 (4-ounce) lamb loin chops, trimmed
Kecky’s Herb Salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons grape seed oil (or some other oil that can take the heat)
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Kecky’s Herb Salt
1 garlic clove, minced

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle lamb with salt and pepper; rub with oregano mixture. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add oil to pan, swirling to coat. Add lamb, and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Combine sour cream and remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Serve sauce with lamb.


The sauce is an all purpose sauce. I put it all over the broccoli too! NOM!!!

Yesterday was one of those really picture perfect days...so I took a couple of pictures:





Bye bye!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

'Tis The Season and I'm in a mood!

What I mean to say is it's time for Spring/Summer Cold and Flu Season! Well, in this building, it's always Cold and Flu Season. Our building is completely overcrowded and has no HVAC system.

FFM-Laurie was hit hard and is out of work this week. I am blaming one of our Co-Workers for this round of illnesses. I'd love to tell you her name, but let's just call her "Croupy". She came to work the entire time she was sick. For over a week she was an oozy-gooey mess. Then she got Netty-Mae sick. Netty-Mae ended up with Strep Throat and now FFM-Laurie is down with Bronchitis.

What does all this mean to me? Well, as we know FFM-Typhoid-Laurie is all things front desk, so I've been picking up her shift while she's out. It's not a big deal, really, it's just...well, I'm the wrong person to be working with the public. I have little patience for stupid people. There are lots of them that call here or come through the door. I realize that may sound snooty, but it's true.

The best part about working with our public is that pretty much everyone hates us. They walk in the door already pissed off. For example, I had a tenant ring our handicapped doorbell on the other side of the building. She wanted in bad. Was she handicapped? Nope. Well, she had a baby in a stroller, so as far as I'm concerned, that's a handicap.

Anyway, I start running down to the door only to find that she was so impatient that she'd started walking to the front door. When I say walking, think Wicked Witch of the West and that music playing in the background. So back I run to the front door. When she came in she proceeded to lecture me on how we needed signage on the handicap door cause no one ever answers it. I explained to her that we're not allowed to willy-nilly let anyone in that door and I was on my way back there to fetch her. She didn't like that answer and said again that we needed signage. I pretty much repeated what I'd said and then she said "DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID?"...

Very calmly, I turned my head so she wouldn't see the smoke coming out of my ears, gathered myself, turned to face her and said "Why yes, I heard what you said. Now, what can I help you with?" She handed me a couple of letters for our Executive Director. I said "Thank you! You have a lovely day!" (...BITCH!)

Here's another good one...We've got a free shuttle, PresidiGo. There are two lines; Around The Park and The Downtown Shuttle. So this lady calls...here's how the conversation went..."Hi, I'm a teacher how many people does the Shuttle seat?" How the F do I know and why do I care that you're a teacher?! I reply "a lot. How many do you have?" She says "Twenty-One kids, but I'm sure they can squeeze together." Actually, what I really thought was "You're a teacher, you do the math cause I sure as hell can't."

Then she says "I'm looking at the shuttle map, where are Shuttle Stops 27 and 27(a)?" Okay, lady yer just being stupid now...So I say "There on the map." She says "I have another question." Now I'm rolling my eyes cause I can't imagine what's gonna come out of her mouth. "How long does it take from Stop 27-27(a) to get to the bowling center because that's where we're going?" I start banging the phone receiver on the desk. ACK!! How the hell do I know?? I reply "a half-hour." GOD-DUH!!

Oh look, Croupy just walked by the front desk huff'n and puff'n.

But wait, there's more...Last year, we and Forrest City Development had the grand opening of the Landmark Apartments. Where is that you might ask? Well, that's where freakin Shuttle Stop 27 and 27(a) are! Anyway, I guess at the grand opening they gave out plastic water bottles with the Landmark Apartments logo on it. Last week, some guy came in and said his bottle was defective and could he get another.

I'm still speechless.



Okay, so Boss-K has not been around much this week with taking care of her Seester and attending a seminar. That's good, since I'm at the front desk. Today, I'll be working on the next front desk rotation schedule. I'm also going to catch up on my catalogs...and If I have time, I'm going to start a rubber-band ball! There is only so much real work you can do at the front desk because you're constantly being interrupted by that silly public!

Alright, I gotta go do the mail...

Monday, May 16, 2011

Happy Monday!

Pretty fun and busy weekend. Started Friday night with a scooter ride over to South Beach to meet some of Poppy's friends. Nobody showed, so we headed over to REI to pick up some stuff we had on hold.

From there, we headed to the Lexington for a cocktail and then to the Phoenix for a bite to eat. I had the Colcannon. It was okay but I took most of it home...then on Saturday, I made a couple of patties out of it and gave it a quick fry and called it brunch:



Everything is better with an egg on it!

Project-Poppy is in full project mode. We're closing in on final Kasa Kecky improvements. We've culled more stuff and now it's time to get some art on the walls. I also painted a few doors and finally fixed the trim in the dining room. Not sure when/if we'll ever do the wainscoting.



I also went around the house with my Magic Sponge so it's all looking great!

Saturday night we had plans to meet our new friend, Kris. We met her at the Derby Party weekend before last. I'd seen her jogging around the hood before and she recognized me too. She's from Kentucky which is why she came to the Derby Party. She plays pool too so the three of us made a pool date for Saturday. Here's Pool-Shark-Poppy running the table...



Anyway, we had fun. Our New-Friend-Kris is a teacher and also surfs. I'm sure she and Bro-N-Law have seen each other in the water.

This morning I was getting ready for work. I opened my closet and just about had a heart attack...



Why, why, why?

So Low-Carb-LuvBacon and Fatass have been a little indulgent lately so they've decided to do the "Induction" phase of the low-carb lifestyle again. This is where you try to keep your carbs under 20 grams for a couple of weeks. Gets that whole fat burning engine all tuned up.

That's about it, I guess.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Flame On!

I swear I wrote a post yesterday all about my surgery and now it's gone. Stupid technology!

Anyway, last night I stayed over at Seester's house. We had Million-Dollar-Happy-Grass-Fed-Ribeyes and were they ever good! I grilled them on Bro-N-Law's gas grill. Note to Darryll: Time for a new grill.

I'm not sure what was going on with the grill, but it was like grilling over a house fire. I'd put the Happy-Ribeye on the grill and when I came back after a few minutes, there was large amounts of smoke billowing out of the grill. YIKES!

Fortunately, nothing bad happened and I was able to cook the meat and was it ever good. We served it with my balsamic reduction, baked potatoes and a salad.





Happy Friday!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Nubbins Gets Her Surgery!!



Yep, went to see the hand surgeon yesterday, Dr. Engel. He specializes in hand overuse injuries. Most of his clients are musicians. That means, Fatass is like a rock star, only different!

I'm scheduled to have my Transverse Carpal Ligament released at 2:00 on Tuesday, June 21.



Here's how it's gonna to go down...

I will be awake for the procedure and it will take 10 minutes. I show up 15 minutes before.

The surgery is on Tuesday and I'll be back to work on Friday.

I will have a big wrap thing on it for two days. Then I will remove it, take a shower and wash it, then stick an adhesive bandage (that will look strangely like a strip of bacon) on it.

For the next few days I'll keep a clean bacon adhesive bandage on it. Just need to be careful of it, but can resume my normal life

Here's the best part, I will not be wearing a brace after the surgery or ever again! Well, I suppose if the procedure doesn't work, then I will, but he said that Fatass is a great candidate...she doesn't smoke or have diabetes, oh, and she's young!

There is no rhyme or reason as to why people get the carpal tunnel. Said that there is too much stuff in the tunnel and that causes the blood vessels to compress. During the surgery, he will show me the very pale nerve, release the ligament, then blood will immediately flow to the nerve and it will turn bright pink before my very eyes. Guess that’s about when I’ll pass out. ;)

I told him that the odd thing was my right hand was feeling pretty good. He said that he’s seen folks that have had it in both hands but once they have surgery in one hand, the other hand somehow fixes itself. Weird.

Since Adventure-Poppy will be gallivanting around Europe somewhere with MomJean while I'm under the knife (really, it's okay, I'll be fine...), Seester has happily stepped in to take me for the procedure and then take me home. She'll even spend the night with me. Sounds like a party, if you ask me!

Let's talk about the dinnah...I'd been marinating my NOM NOM Chicken since Tuesday night. As I was spatchcocking him, I noticed my knife was making an odd turn. Either that or he was deformed to begin with. I think I'll go for the latter.



He tasted good all the same.

Tonight, Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer and I head down to Seester's to cook some ribeyes for her, Dad and Nephew-Lucas. Unfortunately, Bro-N-Law is somewhere in the Elk Grove area taking care of his Father and that means he ain't surfing and that means he ain't too happy. He has definitely earned his way through the pearly gates!

Oh, if you're wondering about the reference to "Nubbins", that's one of my office nicknames because of my disproportionately sized pinkies.



Chow!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

My Sunset Magazine Came...

There was a recipe in it for Ribeye and Spring Onions. I had to have it. I'd been to the grocery store and found a great deal on some NY Steaks. There were four on sale from $46 to $24. Depression-Era-Poppy was so proud!

So anyway, I pretty much followed the recipe...kinda...sorta...not really:

Two fat steaks
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
4 Spring onions
1 bunch baby asparagus
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Kecky's Chili Salt
2 TBS chopped parsley
2 TBS minced garlic

Mix the oil, vinegar, salts, parsley and garlic. Spoon over the veggies and marinate for at least an hour. Can also marinate over night. Throw it all on the grill.


Uber-NOM!





Friend-Co-Worker-Drea read in her prevention magazine that Tumeric pills are evidently being used as an anti-inflamitory with much success. Dr. Andrew Weil says it's as good as ibuprofen. Since I'm taking some pretty heavy-duty NSAIDs for that silly carpal tunnel, I figure i'll give these a try. I'll let you know how it works out.

Oh, I have an appointment tomorrow with the hand surgeon. Hope I can get the surgery pronto cause I'm tired of not sleeping!

Interesting thing, as I was playing with the pills, I noticed my hand changed color.



Note to self...don't play with drugs!

Chow