Patience is not my virtue...

I've had my cast on for almost two weeks.  I'm supposed to get it off on Tuesday.  Thing is, I'm working on a heavy deadline at work that requires that I use my right hand.  This cast is slowing me down!  Plus, we've got our annual Never-On-Cinco-De-Mayo-Cinco-De-Mayo party too.  Sure would be nice to have that hand for party prep.  Hey look!

Mmm hmmm, I called Kaiser and said I wanted it off.  Besides, it was just a little sprain and slightly broken wee little bone.  I went in yesterday afternoon and they guy took it off.  Then they gave me a form and I was to go to xray. I figured that was silly, so instead of going to xray, I came back to work.  I emailed my doctor and told him something suddenly came up between the time the cast came off and the xray.

Remember all those things that I couldn't do that were frustrating?  I can do them now!  I can write my name and everything.

Opposable thumbs are so underrated!

Be safe and enjoy your holiday weekend!

It's all about the pig...

and the beef.  Okay, so Depression-Era-Poppy and I have been talking over the years about getting some...okay, a lot of local grass fed beef.  First, we needed to get a deep freeze.  Did that about a month ago.  Techno-Poppy consulted the Internets about finding us some beef.  While she was at it she found us some pig too.  So, we are splitting a side of beef with Amy-Mae and her hubby and we bought a quarter pig for us.

So, Logistics-Poppy planned the pick-up of said meats to coincide with Trione's wine makers dinner this weekend.  As it happens, they were serving a domestic piggy and a wild boar.  More on that later...

since we had to pick up our meats on Saturday at two different places in Rohnert Park and we were staying overnight in Geyserville, we also needed to get some dry ice.  I had no idea dry ice was so expensive...but sure kept it all frozen.

prior to leaving we borrowed as many coolers as we could fit in the truck; two big chest coolers and three regular coolers...yep, Spacial-Poppy got it all to fit!  Yay for Poppy.

We're so excited cause for all that happy meat it worked out to about $5.00 per pound. Then when we got home, we joined a CSA so if I play my cards right, I may not have to go to the store for a year!

Okay, once we got all our meats, it was time to go check in at our Air B&B. Jessie at Trione hooked us up with this couple that rents out their spare room right in town.  It was fantastic.  Deborah and Tony were our hosts and did they put on a breakfast spread...complete with their own chicken's eggs.  Little slice of heaven!  Only downside was when we came back from the dinner, we were locked out of the house.  The rule was the door was to be left unlocked for us, but their boarder accidentally locked it.  We were finally let in after some persistent doorbell ringing.

The dinner was fabulous.  Different wines paired with each course.  NOMMY!!

We didn't want to come home!

Cast, Day 3...

Turns out being in a cast is a pain in Fatass' ass!  Here are the things I find most difficult:

Showering. This morning, I couldn't face putting those plastic bags on my arm and cutting off my circulation with rubberbands, so I took a "Navy" shower.

Doing my hair. I'm hair-impaired to begin with so this is not helping.

Tieing all my glorious shoes.  Poppy had to re-tie my shoes yesterday. I hate asking for help.

Driving. If you see me on the road, go the other way.

Typing. This is huge...It's how I make my living.  I'm getting pretty good using the mouse with my left hand.

Going pee-pee. No need to elaborate there.

Cutting meat.  Poppy had to do that for me last night.

Every part of cooking.  I can't hold my knife. I love my knife.  I should have had the guy cast me holding my knife.

Petting Jax. I've clobbered her twice now...all I wanted to do was pet her little head.

Putting my hand in  my pocket.  Didn't realize how much I did that.

The list could go on, but I'm getting bored and typing is frustrating.

Why do you suppose when the guy was putting the cast on he said "Shape your hand like you are holding a can of beer."  It's like he was psychic and knew what I'd been doing all weekend!

So, I've got a little ink on the cast now:

Unfortunately, they don't make casts with Plaster of Paris anymore and it's hard to write on it.

Say, what is the origin of Plaster of Paris? Let's consult the Internets!

"It was used since ancient times, plaster of paris is so called because gypsum(mineral) was early used near Paris to make plaster and cement."

That's all I got.

What goes on at Lake Shasta, stays at Lake Shasta...

Never ride a tube using the rodeo method...you'll break something! It was so worth it!

It's another Donner Party Weekend...

That's right, at 2:00 today, half of the Donner-Maes will be on the road to Lake Shasta for a house boating weekend!  According to the Internets weather, it's going to be 103 searing hot degrees there.  So, if I don't die of starvation or a Natalie Wood incident, I'm sure heat exhaustion will get me.

See that orange cooler?

Yeah, like the ones you see all the PG&E workers standing around talking and not working...This is going to hold Poppy's ToKillKelly Margarita Mix.  I'm ascared!

Thing is, as we talked about this trip, and how everyone needed a case of beer each for the 5 days we'll be on the lake, talk then turned to hangover cures.  Everyone has one of their own.  I think it's a sign of age when you start talking about the hangover cure before you even talk about the boozie.

Actually, I'm more afraid of getting some kind of flesh eating bacteria.  I wonder what the ratio of urine to water is in the lake, especially if the lake levels are low?

While Fatass has lost a few pounds, it's not enough to notice.  She'll be hanging out with the young svelte ladies all weekend seething with jealousy and she tries to daintily dive off the boat wearing her board shorts, sports bra and a big t-shirt.  You know all the other girls will be in skimpy little bikini's talking about how fat they look.  Whatever!  Oh, we'll have a ski-boat too.  Picture Fatass water skiing.  The vision comes to mind of the Coca-Cola commercial with the Lilly-white pleasantly-plump polar bear on skis.   Hmmm, maybe Fatass should stay inside the boat.  It has air-conditioning and a big screen t.v.  Oh, and all the boozie.

Don't make me go!

What did I do this weekend?

Lots of stuff...

There were Avocado Deviled Eggs:

My Worst-Food-Critic-Poppy liked them a lot.  I was so-so about them.  Make them as you would any deviled egg, but substitute avocado for the mayo and add some lime and hot sauce. 

There was bowling:

We suck.  Need to find a different sport.

There was pig:

So I went to my second favorite market to get my pork shanks.  They are practically free!  I bought two of them totally 5lbs for $8.00!  I simmered them for over two hours with leek, onion, celery, carrot a little salt and pepper corns.  When they were done, they went in the oven to get all nice and crispy.

Porcine-Poppy and I sat down to eat them...I noticed that mine tasted, well, odd.  It wasn't bad pork, cause I'd smelled it before I even cooked it, but it tasted like...hmmm, like the barn in Sleepyeye, Minnesota smelled.  Okay, it tasted like poop!  I suggested to Poppy that since this was kind of "barnyardie" maybe we ought to open up some of our barnyardie wine.  We love our "earthy" wines.

I kept eating until it was a wee overwhelming.  I had Taste-Tester-Poppy try it.  She agreed it wasn't bad, but that she wouldn't be able to eat it.  Now, you know, if Poppy can't eat it, ain't nobody better eat it.  She split her porky with me cause that's the kind of gal she is.  Jax-The-Pork-Connesewer much enjoyed the poopy bone.

Nom!

Time to get some new clothes...

So that's what Shoppy-Poppy and I did...

The Donner-Mae's will be taking a houseboat trip to Lake Shasta so SPF-Poppy is looking for a rash-guard to cover up her fish-belly-white skin.

Also needed a little support to go with.

Shopping is fun...especially when I get a reward after!  I hate shopping.

One of the main reasons we were out shopping was to pick up our new deep freeze to hold all that grass-fed meat that we're picking up in a few weeks.

Someone is very excited...

But now she wishes she got black.  I didn't want black cause it would show all the dust and dirt.  I sent this pic to my friend who replied "Well, when you disappear, I'll know where to look for you."

Nice.



iLove my iPhone...

It's barely been 24 hours since iGot it and already iAm learning Mandarin Chinese, iCan track my period, iHave a recipe data base that will make my grocery list for me, iCan play solitaire with a deck of cards with Jax's picture on them, iCan translate any sentence into any language iWant AND iCan light my way in the dark with the flashlight app!  All this for the low, low price of iFree!

Oh, I can check my emails and do work on it too...

iCool!

Technology...

Well, I've just been upgraded from my Blackberry to an iPhone.  Seems pretty intuitive so far...oh fine, I had to make a shout-out to Sydney and George cause I couldn't make the annoying alert go away every time I got an iMail.  Props to Sydney for responding so quickly!  I wonder if they make an iPrinter??

Now that I have this new iPhone, I need to get all the bells and whistles that go with...Here's the case that should be arriving any minute.  Note, I bought this myself, not with government funds.  Don't want you all thinking that I'm spending your money.  Anyway, if I were to spend your money, I'd get me some more new shoes!

That's Ocean Blue Camo...You never know when you're going to be the ocean and you don't want anyone to see you're on the phone.

So last night's dinner was so, well, NOM!  I had some bockwurst in the fridge and a jar of sauerkraut.

I steamed the lily-white bockwurst (I know, they're creepy looking but so darn tasty) in a bottle of Negro Modelo.  The sauerkraut was rinsed and simmered in a little chicken broth and crushed caraway seeds.

I wanted to make a low-carb go with so decided on roasted root veggies and some of my Stevia apple sauce.

I served it with my trio of mustards and one of the last remaining bottles of Trione Rose.

Leftovers for tonight!

So Depression-Era-Poppy and I dropped off the truck for it's 60-month service today...we need three new tires.  I had a new one put on in December when I had the blow-out.  Anyway, Spendthrifty-Poppy wanted to take the truck to Costco cause she's sure we can get a better deal.  I disagreed because we don't have the time and I want the new tires before we head up to Lake Shasta in a few weeks.  We'll have passengers and it'll be so hot, I don't want what's left of the old tires to melt.

Anyway, for three new tires, it's a wee bit over $500.  When I got to work, I priced out the tires that I would have purchased from Costco and that came too $538...so I think it's a wash.

From the dealership, we walked to work.  When we reached the parking lot, we saw this:

I know, it's a bad picture, but what do you expect from a tired-old Blackberry?!  So, on top of that truck is a boob.  Must have been designed by a man cause I've never seen a boobie that color.  Well, maybe on a pig.  On the back of the truck it says "Feed Your Baby Everywhere".  It's called The Milk Truck.  You know I had to consult my Internets on this...

The Milk Truck – to create a mobile breastfeeding unit that allows mothers to feed their babies in places where they have been discouraged – restaurants, shopping malls, public spaces, etc. Babies should be able to eat anywhere. And everywhere.

I'm speechless...