not my abs, that's for sure.
no, all the food that i shoveled down my gullet has contentedly settled in like a lead brick. lessee here:
a small top sirloin steak (which was a day from becoming dog food...even tho' she got some too), a couple eggs, and toast for breakfast. (8:30 AM)
three plates of food at countrybuffet, which consisted of turkey, roast beef, carrots, corn, green bean casserole (which was the only disappointment), mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, spaghetti, bbq chicken, rolls, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. this was accompanied by a couple soft drinks and followed with hot tea, hot fudge pudding cake, vanilla soft serve, and peach cobbler. (noon)
m.o.t.s. but mainly turkey, mashed, sweet, peas, stuffing, fruit salad, and apple pie. sorry, only one and a half plates this time ;) (6:30)
yeah, lead brick alright...
btw, the turkey we had tonight was a free range gobbler that we got at vitamin cottage. sure, the $23 price tag for it was a bit more than the ($5-10) that we usually spend on a cheapo, hormone filled one, but it was worth it. we are converts now. never again will we buy a regular ol' turkey at the store. the meat was denser and much more flavorful.
p.s. $23 for an 11 lb. bird was not that much considering it was $1.99/lb. could you imagine buying the ones that were $4.49/lb.?!? sheeyit, it had better be an orgasmic experience...
am i hearing a thunk with everyone else? good.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
is that like six degrees?
last monday, i was looking at a photo that was taken either in '97 or '98 on the fridge. it's of lois, hattie (a goddaughter who used to live next door), and andrea (a gal that used to work with me but moved back to s. carolina in the spring of '99 and lost touch with us a few years ago).
hattie is going to be eleven at the end of next month. she lived next door with her parents until '96 and has moved three times since then, ultimately ending up near her parents' childhood homes in Wisconsin. lois gets to see them once or twice a year when they come to town.
as for andrea, we have been wondering what's been going on with her. before susie became our 'official' housesitter, andrea was the first. she also was the dogs' - when there were three roaming (trashing) the house - original second mother. i think she dropped off the face of the earth either in 2001 or 2002...no replies to emails nor xmas cards. a couple summers ago, a mutual friend from s. carolina filled us in on some details when he was in town.
still, we wondered if we did or said something wrong...
well, on tuesday, lois and i were at wendy's when i saw a big, tall guy who looked familiar, but couldn't place. after awhile, i heard the man speak and recognized the voice...it was the little brother of Jennifer Jordan...who is a good friend of Andrea's and lives in s. carolina as well.
although i didn't speak to him (i knew he wouldn't remember me), the quiet 'andrea wondering' was stoked anew. i mentioned to lois how ironic it was that just the night before, i had looked at the picture on the fridge.
just last night, around 8 PM, we were lazing around when the phone rang. guess who it was...
yep. andrea must've gotten the vibes from 1500 miles away. she said that she had been thinking of us of late and decided to call, even though she was scared to death of getting the cold shoulder from us because of her disappearing act.
of course, we were thrilled to hear her voice and harbored no hard feelings. it took a couple hours to catch up, but now everyone is up-to-date and eagerly awaiting March, when she and her partner are coming to visit.
whew...and yay.
hattie is going to be eleven at the end of next month. she lived next door with her parents until '96 and has moved three times since then, ultimately ending up near her parents' childhood homes in Wisconsin. lois gets to see them once or twice a year when they come to town.
as for andrea, we have been wondering what's been going on with her. before susie became our 'official' housesitter, andrea was the first. she also was the dogs' - when there were three roaming (trashing) the house - original second mother. i think she dropped off the face of the earth either in 2001 or 2002...no replies to emails nor xmas cards. a couple summers ago, a mutual friend from s. carolina filled us in on some details when he was in town.
still, we wondered if we did or said something wrong...
well, on tuesday, lois and i were at wendy's when i saw a big, tall guy who looked familiar, but couldn't place. after awhile, i heard the man speak and recognized the voice...it was the little brother of Jennifer Jordan...who is a good friend of Andrea's and lives in s. carolina as well.
although i didn't speak to him (i knew he wouldn't remember me), the quiet 'andrea wondering' was stoked anew. i mentioned to lois how ironic it was that just the night before, i had looked at the picture on the fridge.
just last night, around 8 PM, we were lazing around when the phone rang. guess who it was...
yep. andrea must've gotten the vibes from 1500 miles away. she said that she had been thinking of us of late and decided to call, even though she was scared to death of getting the cold shoulder from us because of her disappearing act.
of course, we were thrilled to hear her voice and harbored no hard feelings. it took a couple hours to catch up, but now everyone is up-to-date and eagerly awaiting March, when she and her partner are coming to visit.
whew...and yay.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
guess not...
the bidding on the camera has eclipsed my max by about $10. what should i look for now...
i'm thinking of perusing the ads for some pre-thanksgiving sales. we used to join the throngs of shopping fools the day after, but we are just so anti-crowd now. i'd rather spend my time buying online through amazon, bmgmusic, bookcloseouts, and eBay.
just bring it to the door and i'll wrap it then :)
i'm thinking of perusing the ads for some pre-thanksgiving sales. we used to join the throngs of shopping fools the day after, but we are just so anti-crowd now. i'd rather spend my time buying online through amazon, bmgmusic, bookcloseouts, and eBay.
just bring it to the door and i'll wrap it then :)
oops...
nix one of the auction wins. apparently, i shouldn't have assumed anything. seems that someone outbid me with NINE seconds left. ah well. guess that'll give me a few more bucks to spend on the camera...
watchin' Christian...
susie's over with the kid. he just turned six months yesterday...yay! he's so good. other than cooing, sucking his WHOLE hand, and eating like there's no tomorrow, he's no trouble at all. right now, lois and i are planning to get susie and andy some $50 gift certificates to a few restaurants so we'll hafta watch leetle christian...heh
two outta three...
i won two cds and am waiting to place one last bid in about twenty minutes. it's for a camera that's worth about $180. mebbe i can get it for around $30...
what am i doing? i need two more cds and another camera like a hole in the head. 'course, after you get a half dozen or so (holes) you just get used to it :)
what am i doing? i need two more cds and another camera like a hole in the head. 'course, after you get a half dozen or so (holes) you just get used to it :)
just sittin' here...
bidding on a couple items on eBay. hope i'm high bidder...the auctions end in less than three minutes.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
just how far...
are ya gonna go with that needle?
as you know, i've been seeing the acupuncturist again for my eye and big toe, which are slowly getting better...just not as fast as i'd like it.
anyway, the last two visits, the last needle she placed has been just above my tear duct. she takes the needle and pushes it down as far as i can stand it (which might be a half inch), holds it there for about ten seconds, and removes it. the first time she did this, i felt a liquid sensation washing over my eye. kinda weird, but it improved the acuity of my vision - less haziness. this time, however, there was no liquid sensation. it did, though, drain the steroid drop that i instilled last night. i dunno how the drop would still be there since i usually taste the drop within the first few hours of putting it into the eye. perhaps my dilation will dissipate; that would be good.
i go back next tuesday for another session. i wonder what the long needle push will bring then...
as you know, i've been seeing the acupuncturist again for my eye and big toe, which are slowly getting better...just not as fast as i'd like it.
anyway, the last two visits, the last needle she placed has been just above my tear duct. she takes the needle and pushes it down as far as i can stand it (which might be a half inch), holds it there for about ten seconds, and removes it. the first time she did this, i felt a liquid sensation washing over my eye. kinda weird, but it improved the acuity of my vision - less haziness. this time, however, there was no liquid sensation. it did, though, drain the steroid drop that i instilled last night. i dunno how the drop would still be there since i usually taste the drop within the first few hours of putting it into the eye. perhaps my dilation will dissipate; that would be good.
i go back next tuesday for another session. i wonder what the long needle push will bring then...
they say...
they're going out of business, but the sale isn't great. i'm talkin' about Mervyn's. in sunday's paper, there was an advertisement stating, "Save Up To 50%!"
BULL.
everything in the store is more like 20% off...FULL RETAIL. nothing special there. and the half off stuff is the dregs of marked down out of season clothing. seems like they're trying to make a bunch o' money before they close.
mebbe we'll wait until everything is 75% off and try our luck then.
BULL.
everything in the store is more like 20% off...FULL RETAIL. nothing special there. and the half off stuff is the dregs of marked down out of season clothing. seems like they're trying to make a bunch o' money before they close.
mebbe we'll wait until everything is 75% off and try our luck then.
stayin' in...
kinda wanting to go to a cheapie...but it's just too cold outside. perhaps i'm not ready to let go of our mild fall temps. when is it gonna be in the 60's again? this 25 degree thing is for december.
brrr...and bleah
brrr...and bleah
Sunday, November 13, 2005
so full...
went out for a special dinner tonight. a twelfth anniversary dinner, to be exact.
and it was GOO-OOD.
our reservation was for 6:45 at Rioja, a relatively new restaurant that opened in part of the space that once housed Josephina's for a quarter century in Larimer Square.
all i can say is, "Wow." we haven't had excellent food and service like that in many years. the staff there made sure all the little details were taken care of. our dining experience was impeccable.
after our arrival, we were treated with a couple small flutes of champagne. lois was pleasantly surprised that they knew. of course, just a little note about it when i made the online reservations made it easy :)
we ended up with:
pear and caramelized onion flatbread as an appetizer...to die for! think of thin crust pizza with sweet comice pears, heady gorgonzola, smoky red onions, and fresh basil.
curried lentil soup. very smooth but not that special.
the house salad...which consisted of baby arugula, Medjool dates, gorgonzola, toasted almond vinaigrette. the spiciness of the arugula and the sweetness of the dates complemented each other well. put those two with creamy gorgonzola and the crunchy almond bits in the dressing and you have salad heaven!
pan roasted salmon with pistachio crust, roasted butternut squash, wilted chard, coconut curry sauce. a great medley of flavors...although the pistachio crust was a bit muted, the chard and coconut curry sauce were the true stars of this dish. i really liked the slight bitterness of the chard and the creamy red curry combination. makes me drool a bit just thinking about it ;)
hanger steak on a bed of caramelized onion mashed potatoes, baked gorgonzola stuffed figs, port wine reduction. now, hanger steak has become somewhat common in dining circles. you can find it in numerous restaurants in town (especially downtown). most serve it with mashed potatoes, some blue cheese or gorgonzola crumbles, a red wine or port sauce and some haricot verts (aka slim green beans). the hanger at Rioja was smoky and the gorgonzola stuffed figs made it stand out amongst the sea of downtown hanger steaks.
are you familiar with hanger steak? it's a cut that was not normally available at the store because the traditionally butchers kept it all to themselves; it was that coveted of a cut for them but unknown to the general public. now, it's showing up on many menus of 'nicer' restaurants, so you still can't get it. basically, it's part of the diaphragm muscle that hangs between the loin and the ribs. the flavor is really rich and the meat is usually very lean and tender. think of it as a poor man's tenderloin. the hanger in France is kinda like top sirloin here (in popularity).
for wine, we had a half glass of Riesling with the appetizer. and with dinner, we decided on red. a chilean red from the Maipo Valley for Lois and an american cabernet for me. very nice. we even had some dessert wine...German...Auslese...very cold and apple-ly. ooh.
even though we shoulda passed, we gave in and topped dinner off with a warm pumpkin bread pudding. talk about sublime...spiced pumpkin, dried cherries, walnut streusel, whiskey caramel sauce, pumpkin seeds. what made it even sweeter was them comping it for the occasion.
we were so spoiled tonight. i know the initial reviews for the restaurant were a bit mixed (good food but not up to par service or great service and inconsistent food) but i think the all the problems at Rioja have been ironed out. we'll definitely go back...but with a little self control in tow the next time ;)
hope you all had a fine weekend...
and it was GOO-OOD.
our reservation was for 6:45 at Rioja, a relatively new restaurant that opened in part of the space that once housed Josephina's for a quarter century in Larimer Square.
all i can say is, "Wow." we haven't had excellent food and service like that in many years. the staff there made sure all the little details were taken care of. our dining experience was impeccable.
after our arrival, we were treated with a couple small flutes of champagne. lois was pleasantly surprised that they knew. of course, just a little note about it when i made the online reservations made it easy :)
we ended up with:
pear and caramelized onion flatbread as an appetizer...to die for! think of thin crust pizza with sweet comice pears, heady gorgonzola, smoky red onions, and fresh basil.
curried lentil soup. very smooth but not that special.
the house salad...which consisted of baby arugula, Medjool dates, gorgonzola, toasted almond vinaigrette. the spiciness of the arugula and the sweetness of the dates complemented each other well. put those two with creamy gorgonzola and the crunchy almond bits in the dressing and you have salad heaven!
pan roasted salmon with pistachio crust, roasted butternut squash, wilted chard, coconut curry sauce. a great medley of flavors...although the pistachio crust was a bit muted, the chard and coconut curry sauce were the true stars of this dish. i really liked the slight bitterness of the chard and the creamy red curry combination. makes me drool a bit just thinking about it ;)
hanger steak on a bed of caramelized onion mashed potatoes, baked gorgonzola stuffed figs, port wine reduction. now, hanger steak has become somewhat common in dining circles. you can find it in numerous restaurants in town (especially downtown). most serve it with mashed potatoes, some blue cheese or gorgonzola crumbles, a red wine or port sauce and some haricot verts (aka slim green beans). the hanger at Rioja was smoky and the gorgonzola stuffed figs made it stand out amongst the sea of downtown hanger steaks.
are you familiar with hanger steak? it's a cut that was not normally available at the store because the traditionally butchers kept it all to themselves; it was that coveted of a cut for them but unknown to the general public. now, it's showing up on many menus of 'nicer' restaurants, so you still can't get it. basically, it's part of the diaphragm muscle that hangs between the loin and the ribs. the flavor is really rich and the meat is usually very lean and tender. think of it as a poor man's tenderloin. the hanger in France is kinda like top sirloin here (in popularity).
for wine, we had a half glass of Riesling with the appetizer. and with dinner, we decided on red. a chilean red from the Maipo Valley for Lois and an american cabernet for me. very nice. we even had some dessert wine...German...Auslese...very cold and apple-ly. ooh.
even though we shoulda passed, we gave in and topped dinner off with a warm pumpkin bread pudding. talk about sublime...spiced pumpkin, dried cherries, walnut streusel, whiskey caramel sauce, pumpkin seeds. what made it even sweeter was them comping it for the occasion.
we were so spoiled tonight. i know the initial reviews for the restaurant were a bit mixed (good food but not up to par service or great service and inconsistent food) but i think the all the problems at Rioja have been ironed out. we'll definitely go back...but with a little self control in tow the next time ;)
hope you all had a fine weekend...
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
starting to fade...
sure, it's nice to have that extra hour for the end of daylight savings. however, that means falling asleep an hour earlier too ;)
not really an eventful day. went to see the acupuncturist this morning. pretty routine. although i did get a little extra work on my bum big right toe. just more needles and herbs - crossing fingers can't hurt either. i'm back on steroid eye drops for another three months...one every other day. i think i can handle that...
what i'm not willing to handle anymore is the damn dilation. having a huge left pupil and that crappy light sensitivity is finally getting on my nerves after five months. argh.
after the needles though, i did take a brisk stroll around Southmoor Park, which backs up against the parking lot of Dr. Wang's building. was it not a great day to just wander in the sunlight, letting go of your problems...even if you have to face 'em another day.
parched, i hopped in the car and headed over to the west Aurora Target (located in Buckingham). that store has much better buys than the Glendale store, which is much closer to the house but also a bigger hassle to find a parking space; it is such a zoo in the parking lot.
of course, i expressly went today to see if there were any Halloween throws left over. picked up a couple for half price ($4)...assorted junk food...and final markdown bath towels ($0.74 each!). suprisingly, i got outta there without spending over $20.
actually ate in tonight. we had been so lazy about cooking in october that all the food that we went out for, started tasting the same. really though, we ate in because we had reservations for the Chamberlain Observatory at 7:00. i'll tell you about that tomorrow, just too tired right now.
movies anyone? during october, we took full advantage of the free rentals on Monday at McD's. we watched Robots, Crash (which was really thought provoking), Because of Winn Dixie, and Lilo & Stitch 2. we also got Kicking and Screaming, but we didn't have the time to watch it.
and now that i KNOW i'm not making any sense...i'll go to bed
nightynight
not really an eventful day. went to see the acupuncturist this morning. pretty routine. although i did get a little extra work on my bum big right toe. just more needles and herbs - crossing fingers can't hurt either. i'm back on steroid eye drops for another three months...one every other day. i think i can handle that...
what i'm not willing to handle anymore is the damn dilation. having a huge left pupil and that crappy light sensitivity is finally getting on my nerves after five months. argh.
after the needles though, i did take a brisk stroll around Southmoor Park, which backs up against the parking lot of Dr. Wang's building. was it not a great day to just wander in the sunlight, letting go of your problems...even if you have to face 'em another day.
parched, i hopped in the car and headed over to the west Aurora Target (located in Buckingham). that store has much better buys than the Glendale store, which is much closer to the house but also a bigger hassle to find a parking space; it is such a zoo in the parking lot.
of course, i expressly went today to see if there were any Halloween throws left over. picked up a couple for half price ($4)...assorted junk food...and final markdown bath towels ($0.74 each!). suprisingly, i got outta there without spending over $20.
actually ate in tonight. we had been so lazy about cooking in october that all the food that we went out for, started tasting the same. really though, we ate in because we had reservations for the Chamberlain Observatory at 7:00. i'll tell you about that tomorrow, just too tired right now.
movies anyone? during october, we took full advantage of the free rentals on Monday at McD's. we watched Robots, Crash (which was really thought provoking), Because of Winn Dixie, and Lilo & Stitch 2. we also got Kicking and Screaming, but we didn't have the time to watch it.
and now that i KNOW i'm not making any sense...i'll go to bed
nightynight
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
