best buys

I think when it comes to women, they will always, always be after the best buy in whatever they shop for, be it clothes, shoes, accessories, or simply things they need at home. Which is why women sooo love SALE items from stores. It gives them a sense of accomplishment in that they were able to save on the costs of the items they bought, regardless if they actually NEED the items they bought. It's like, "I got a good deal!" and not, "I bought what I need". hehe.... Women will always be like that.

Mixed Emotions

I don't know if its for the lack of anything else to do, too much FB-ing, or just me questioning my self-worth again that I feel really sad and empty. Not that its anybody else's fault. But a hundred questions are actually running through my mind each and every time I hear of someone else in my circle (be it in my acquaintances side or friends side or simply batchmates in the N@W and W@W e-groups) getting pregnant for the second time. I mean second time because I surely won't be jealous of first timers. I have one pretty and loveable girl of my own and its the best source of happiness I can ever imagine.
So why do I feel sad? Jessica is turning three this coming May. Sometimes I think that I should just let nature take its course and stop taking the pill. God will surely bless us with another one if its the right time, and he will most likely shower us with more blessings, much as he did when jessica was born and hubby got his new job then. I guess I feel scared because right now there is really that uncertainty, what with me in between jobs and there's no defined job waiting for me yet, what if we get pregnant and life becomes too difficult? That's not questioning faith right, merely asking ourselves if its the right path to take.
Perhaps one of these days I will find the courage to stop taking the pill and move head-on, allowing God to shower us with another child at the right time.
A year ago if you ask us if we're ready, I'd say no, reason being I am not emotionally ready to give up some of the time for Jessica. But now that I gave her one year of an otherwise successful career, I feel that she can already adjust pretty much to a little brother or sister, and with lots of love to shower. Now its just a matter of crossing that bridge...
Just pouring my thoughts....

Rust, Reptile and the Flag: an American Triptych

Our famous nation is 235 today. Here are three snapshots from The Old North State, one of the original 13.

We bought our gas grill as soon as we moved into our first house. In fact, I think it was the very first "homeowner" purchase. I just replaced the lower grate (the grate upon which the lava rocks are piled). Note: it's not supposed to be easy to bend it like that, and, ideally, there should be more metal than rust in this item).I went to the North Carolina Museum of Art on Saturday. Its grounds are adjacent to the Capital Area Greenway, a very enjoyable system of paved walking/paths. In addition to large installations of scuplture, I found this fellow. I believe he's a rat snake, and I'd say he was five or six feet long. Although it's a non-venomouse type, "Don't Tread on Me" still seems appropriate for today.

And finally, here's Old Glory, flying at my house. I artsy-fied it with Photoshop Elements. I think it's the "palette strokes" option in the "contrived ways to make a picture more interesting" pull-down menu.

Items for sale

I'm doing some cleaning up of the items I can afford to let go off (I'm sorta making this a regular habit, because I dont want to accumulate too much of the stuff at home and realize that I'll need to let of it soon anyway because I need some home and shelf space.

1. Leapfrog Little Touch Leappad system - barely used (only 4-5 times). My baby has many toys and sadly, this is one she is not interested in too much, she looks at it then moves on to the next toy. I'm selling it for Php 2,300, will include already all the books we have of it: Pooh loves you, Mr. Brown can moo, Let's get busy baby and A to Z adventure (still unopened). The other 3 books were also barely used. Price exclusive of shipping. Box is intact. It doesn't come with the backpack since the item was bought in the states for me. Here are some pics:
2. My Child's Health Journal baby book - This is much like a baby book only its a bit more focused to health. Bought it at Rockwell Fully Booked (impulse buy, hehe) but never got to use it na. Selling it for 250 exclusive of shipping.


3. The Milk Memos book - How real moms learned to mix business with babies - and how you can too. It was a book I never really got to read. New pa talaga (with tag price). SRP is 529, selling it for 200 na lang excluding shipping.

All for now. Will post as soon as I get to add more stuff to sell.

Rosemary Boule

Reviews for Kltech 2014 Latest KAUKKO FJ76 Canvas Backpack Outfitter Rucksack 30x18x45cm (11.81x7.09x17.72inch)

Kltech 2014 Latest KAUKKO FJ76 Canvas Backpack Outfitter Rucksack 30x18x45cm (11.81x7.09x17.72inch)

Brand : KLTECH

Sales Rank :

Color : Army Green

Amazon.com Price : $42.99

Features Kltech 2014 Latest KAUKKO FJ76 Canvas Backpack Outfitter Rucksack 30x18x45cm (11.81x7.09x17.72inch)

Condition: 100% Brand New
Durable canvas material
Style:Backpack Ruckasack/Bags
Durable and adjustable shoulder straps
Convenient for shopping, travalling, hiking

Descriptions Kltech 2014 Latest KAUKKO FJ76 Canvas Backpack Outfitter Rucksack 30x18x45cm (11.81x7.09x17.72inch)

This Canvas Backpack Great for School and Camping and will be good for your work , life, entertainment classified items placed.
The fabric feels more soft and skin-friendly It is a nice choice for hiking, short trip and so on.


Features:

Made of canvas,100%cotton material

High quality style

Durable and adjustable shoulder straps

Convenient for shopping, travelling, hiking

Suitable for men


Specifications:

Outer material: Canvas

Inner material: Cotton

Structure: Main pocket, front zippered pocket, two-side pockets, laptop compartment, phone pocket

Content: Can hold A4 paper and 13 to 14inch laptop

Style: Backpack

Dimensions:about 30*18*45cm(W*D*H)


Package includes:

1* Canvas backpack

Search Result :

Best Offers for HotStyle TrendyMax Series Print Eyelet Pattern Backpack Rucksack (blue)

HotStyle TrendyMax Series Print Eyelet Pattern Backpack Rucksack (blue)

Brand : hotstyle

Sales Rank :

Color : Blue

Amazon.com Price : $28.99

Features HotStyle TrendyMax Series Print Eyelet Pattern Backpack Rucksack (blue)

Multipurpose casual daypack / school backpack issued by HotStyle.
Material: 90% nylon (600-denier) + 5% polyester + 5% PU
Compartment: Basic main compartment and a front pocket. Extra inner zipper bags, inner organizer pouch for phone and cards. Also built-in a laptop / tablet compartment with 11.02''width and fits 15.4'' device perfectly.
Storage 1,006.9 cubic inches; Measures 11.8 x 16.1 x 5.9 inches (W x H x D);
Shoulder straps adjustable from 29.5'' to 37.4''. Fits for the crowd with height 4'11'' to 6'30''.

Descriptions HotStyle TrendyMax Series Print Eyelet Pattern Backpack Rucksack (blue)

Brand new unique artist pattern, simple but so special. Let's hit the road, break the banality, light up the planet.

Product Description
Classical exterior, sturdy 600-denier nylon construction. Stylish maples pattern printed with modern heat transfer printing technology, ensure the backpack fade in a very slow way for years to come. Mix-match with quality PU padded shoulder straps [2.36(W) x 0.20(T) inches], elegant, fashionable, also comfortable to carry. Specially equipped with a laptop compartment to address your laptop / tablet and protect them from dusts and scratches, besides, the adjustable fastening tape will hold the device tightly when you are moving. Roomy enough to store most of your school / daily necessities such as textbooks, binders, spiral notebooks, a calculator, pens and pencils, a lunch bag case, small coat or shirts, cell phone, cards, portable chargers, MP3 player and a laptop / tablet with 15.4''. Also the backpack is ideal to carrying the personal stuffs of two to three days short term trip.

Specifications
- Max capacity: 1,006.9 cubic inches / 8.82 lb.
- Dimensions: 11.8 x 16.1 x 5.9 inches (W x H x D)
- Weight: 17 ounces

Package includes
- 1 * HotStyle backpack rucksack.
- 2 * Replacement strap buckles

Friendly Reminder
Color difference may be occurred from the reflection when photographing. Measurement error of 0.39'' to 0.78'' may be occurred from the method of manual measuring. Please allow 1-3 pieces of loose threads exist due to the overlook by accident when checking and packing. Please leave the backpack in freely circulating air for 2-3 days to lessen the smell of fabric. Loading weight beyond the max capacity will reduce of service life.

Search Result :

Prepping for BFAS 3

Things are starting to get busy now.  I'm constantly in check of my personal emails because I have put out the announcements for the bazaar this November and December.  So here come the busy days.  I look forward to it of course, and I am also pretty excited since, 4 days into the announcement I already have several booths reserved.  That goes a lot in saying I've done a great job with the past two years.  Its really exciting.  I'm happy that the sellers are coming back.
This year is going to be different though because on the last day I will be out because of the wedding of my brother in law.  I'm not fearful though, I'm quite sure my parents would do a lovely job at the bazaar.  Me thinks I'll be there in the morning then leave it to them in the afternoon.  The wedding is at 6pm so I still have time for other stuff.  So no, I am not worried.  I can just leave the keys to mom and dad and have them bring back the stuff home.  Of course, I will miss the fun of the last day of the bazaar too. :-(
But its too early to think about that now.  I look forward to the busy days! and here's the ad for this year's event!

Another Triptych: Enjoying the new camera

Roast beef carnage:
After Christmas dinner:
The cooking wife (I cranked it up to ISO 1250 and turned off the overhead light. 1/100 sec exposure):
The camera is the Panasonic Lumix FZ8. It does a lot. We had been wanting an SLR, but Lindz had her eye on this one. It was quite a bit cheaper, and we really like it.

lighting up the house

well, to be honest, despite the recent events that have been happening, I'm still excited and still planning for our moving out. One thing I am happy about is that the house is clean and neat (hopefully more so when we move in). I have a few things to change of course, one such thing is the lights. I noticed that the lights were quite dim around the house, considering we were going there at different times, during daytime and at night, but the lighting was quite that dim the whole time. So its one of the things I plan to change when we are staying there.

No Other Woman Movie: Realizations

The other day I downloaded the movie No Other Woman (sorry to those against piracy!) and I was watching it during break times at work.  I finished it and liked the movie, then asked hubby to watch it again with me two nights ago.  Surprisingly, I enjoyed the movie very much, and it may very well hit a spot in my top ten movies of my time (currently what's in my list are transformers - all three of them, and pretty woman - its a pretty short list now). I think the actors gave a superb performance. I'm not saying they can win best actors or actresses come awards night, but I personally think portrayed their characters very well.  The script was well written, with quite a few quotable quotes in there, and the plot was really so nice because it plays around what actually happens in real life.  That to me is the best thing.

(Spoiler Alert)
The movie plays around the lives of three individuals: Ram (Derek), Charmagne (Christine) and Cara (Anne).  Ram and Charmagne are married for 5 years, with Ram being a furniture salesman (or owner, wasn't clear in the movie) and Charmagne was a housewife.  Cara is the heiress of a successful businessman who happens to be developing a luxury resort, she's liberal and studied in NY.  Ram and Cara meet during one of the visits of Ram to the resort as he is one of the bidders for the furniture of the resort.  To cut the story short, they get into a relationship and Charmagne finds a way to confirm it, and in the end there was fighting, there was temporary separation, but all ends well as Cara leaves and Ram and Charmagne gets back together.

Being a wife myself, I feel the character of Charmagne.  And yet, I can't really blame Ram's character.  Ok, so you may think its all his fault.  I am not all for the getting into an affair is ok thing, but somehow I have come to accept the fact that men are not really that hard to spell.  An affair may not be the first thing on their minds, but offer them something in a silver platter (aka a girl saying that theirs is a non-committal relationship) and you have a guy sold.  Everyone wants freebies anyway.  So ok, in the end Cara falls in love, and apparently for the first time, and she decides to fight for Ram too.

There are soooo many realizations with this movie, I think I can't even spell them out in one post.  For one, wives can think theirs is an ideal marriage.  How do you know when there's something going on? Worse, how do you know something is amiss when your husband is acting normally anyway?  What is normal behavior?

When you're in the position of the wife who had been cheated on, how do you move on?  Or do you forgive at all?  This is a subject of discussion in the forum I'm in with mostly wives and moms.  You know what?  I've told myself over and over again that I don't mind one-night stands.  What I can't tolerate will be him getting into an affair.  I can't share him with anyone else.  But you know what, after watching that movie, I realize how much pain an affair can cause in a relationship.  I won't change my stand, but understand where the wife is coming from, having to leave the house to allow herself to heal.  I might have done the same thing, heal, then fight for him.  but that will only be after I see that he really commits to the marriage.  If he's staying just because and there is no love left, then why bother?  I'll show him what he's losing though?

In the end, I realize that more than preparing for a fight with the mistress, its important that a wife makes sure that she can be the other woman.  Be as desirable as you can be.  You can be a housewife (but not a boring housewife), a career woman, or a mom, but you have to also play the role of the mistress. That way, who would think to go astray?

Pretzels

(listening to "Cortege et Litanie," by Marcel Dupre)
I can't come up with a word that describes the way fresh pretzels smell. It's bread, but there is something else there. Pretzels are bathed in hot, slightly alkaline water before they are baked (for the glossy skin and chewy texture). Perhaps that makes the smell slightly different, but I don't know how to describe it. It smells like it did when I made pretzels with my late grandmother as a kid. Exactly the same. I baked these pretzels for a potluck at work, but I felt some very personal emotions when I made them. These feelings were strong when I struggled with the elastic dough, seeking the perfect amount of flour on my hands. Grandma's knobby hands, with their flowerpetal-delicate skin, subdued the dough with infuriating ease. You are not a true master of something before you've done it a lot. Her pretzels were slender, shiny and consistent. They were laid out to cool on towels beneath the high ceiling of the bright farmhouse kitchen. It was a thousand years ago, and it was this morning.
I squeezed mustard onto one at midnight, and I felt that I had not wasted my time and flour.
As with my stollen, the pretzels taste pretty decent, but they are uglier than Grandma's. It is my fond wish that people eat them and are happy. I would hope that Grandpa would have given a herzlich "Ausgezeichnet."

Guarding your health

These days people live very busy lives. Unlike a few years ago when people could enjoy leisurely lives, now people seems to be running around trying to get from place to place and always trying to do so many things at the same time. This has somewhat of an effect to our health. Now more than ever, lifestyle diseases are taking its toll, diseases such as AIDS, diabetes, allergies, and the like. This makes the use of a medical id bracelet useful to a person because wherever he or she, when an emergency should happen, the medical personnel can easily be informed of any medical information that can spell the difference between life and death.

Best Offers for COOLOUT Girl's Lovely Sweet Cute Bowknot Leisure Canvas Backpack for Student School (Rice White)

COOLOUT Girl's Lovely Sweet Cute Bowknot Leisure Canvas Backpack for Student School (Rice White)

Brand : COOLOUT

Sales Rank : 193651

Color : Rice White

Amazon.com Price : $13.79

Features COOLOUT Girl's Lovely Sweet Cute Bowknot Leisure Canvas Backpack for Student School (Rice White)

Dimensions: 36*30*16 cm
Suit for：Packing books, mobile phone, wallet, computer
Material: Canvas ; Inner: Nylon
Weight: 0.5 KG
Handbag design: Geometric pattern

Descriptions COOLOUT Girl's Lovely Sweet Cute Bowknot Leisure Canvas Backpack for Student School (Rice White)

Product Description:


Positive level off, not wrinkle, not deformation.


It's more efficient to widen the shoulder belt thickening, easily.


Luggage bag opening way: Belt buckles.


Convenient to carry when you go outdoor to have a travel.




Package Include :


1 x Girl Backpack

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I believe the drought is over

Yes, that's about 5 1/2" of rain your'e looking at. It is by no means unprecedented.
Tropical Storm Hanna passed by last night and this morning. The thick of it was closer to the coast, but we got the rain you see here in a fairly brief period of time (pretty much within 8 or 10 hours). Crabtree Valley Mall is nearby, and it is built on low ground. They have to erect steel-and-sandbag barriers in front of most of the entrances during times like these. Our house, thankfully, appears to be in a good spot.

The Third Thursday of November...

...is traditionally the day for installing drawer pulls. It dates back to Roman times, when the emperor would grant a selection of tasteful cabinet hardware to a victorious gladiator. The eleventh month of the year was known as Knobvember for centuries before it gradually morphed into what we call it today.
As coincidence would have it, it is also the day when Beaujolais Nouveau is released. It is a bright, tart, youthful contrast to the blustery fall weather outside.

More Progress

Lindz and her dad put up a few more tiles. While they were doing that, I was making a carrot cake:

trip to HK

We actually have a trip scheduled to Hongkong this November, unfortunately am not in such a good mood lately to mull over it. Maybe I'll get excited come September or October. But right now, well, the experience of moving into a new home has been in my mind the past few weeks, and they seem to be occupying my thoughts and will be occupying my thoughts for the next few weeks more. Nevertheless, I've come to think that since we will be bringing with me my darling daughter, Jess, then I would have to buy us some luggage bags, since the ones we have right now are rather small ones. That will have to wait till October though, things are crazy these days at home and at work. Believe me when I tell you, I want a new job!!!!

Afternoon Snack

A pan-seared flatiron steak with salt & pepper, a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of black truffle oil.
We chased it with a bit of the Death by Christmas Brownies that arrived the previous day (shudders with pleasure).

Best Price for kmbuy - Quality Korean Vintage Style UNISEX Casual Travel Fashion School Laptop Backpack bag (W)29CM/(H)41CM/(T)14CM (Grey)

kmbuy - Quality Korean Vintage Style UNISEX Casual Travel Fashion School Laptop Backpack bag (W)29CM/(H)41CM/(T)14CM (Grey)

Brand : hotstyle

Sales Rank :

Color : Grey

Amazon.com Price : $26.03

Features kmbuy - Quality Korean Vintage Style UNISEX Casual Travel Fashion School Laptop Backpack bag (W)29CM/(H)41CM/(T)14CM (Grey)

Material: 90% Linen Canvas, 10% PU Leather
Dim: 44CM(Height)*31CM(Width)*15CM(Thickness), shoulder straps adjuestable from 70CM to 90CM
Weight: 0.6kg / Capacity: 22L (medium capacity)
Linings: Combination design, 1 * laptop/Tablet Linings (29CM width, suitable for 15.6 inch laptop)

For the crowd: Male and Female with height 150CM to 190CM

Descriptions kmbuy - Quality Korean Vintage Style UNISEX Casual Travel Fashion School Laptop Backpack bag (W)29CM/(H)41CM/(T)14CM (Grey)

Features:
- The backpack made with high-grade waterproof durable canvas, simple but detailed design.
- Mixmatch with qualify leather accessories, make the bag looks more elegant and fashionable
- Plenty capacity design, most of your living necessities can be fully loaded freely.
- Scientific and reasonable pocket and lining design will make your goods lay in the bag systematically
- Specially equiped with laptop linings, provide fully protection for your laptop or tablet.
- Casual Easy style using for: School, Excursion, Going out, window shopping etc..

Package includes
1 X Backpack (other accessories shown on pic was no inclued)

Important Note:
- The actual item's colour maybe slightly different from the picture shown due to the lighting when the picture was shot. please understand and thanks

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The Gramma Table

In memory of both of my departed grandmothers, I have constructed the Gramma Table. My father-in-law helped by offering advice and an extra pair of hands. He probably prevented some mistakes, injuries and obscenities.

It's bigger than it looks here. It's eight feet long and over two feet wide. It weighs a lot, over 200 pounds to be sure. We've already eaten at this table twice, and it was only finished this morning. This evening's dinner showed that it goes well with beef kebabs, couscous, Mozart quintets and birds. I like it.

Best Offers for HotStyle TrendyMax Series Print Maples Pattern Backpack Rucksack (blue)

HotStyle TrendyMax Series Print Maples Pattern Backpack Rucksack (blue)

Brand : hotstyle

Sales Rank :

Color : Blue

Amazon.com Price : $28.99

Features HotStyle TrendyMax Series Print Maples Pattern Backpack Rucksack (blue)

Multipurpose casual daypack / school backpack issued by HotStyle.
Material: 90% nylon (600-denier) + 5% polyester + 5% PU
Compartment: Basic main compartment and a front pocket. Extra inner zipper bags, inner organizer pouch for phone and cards. Also built-in a laptop / tablet compartment with 11.02''width and fits 15.4'' device perfectly.
Storage 1,006.9 cubic inches; Measures 11.8 x 16.1 x 5.9 inches (W x H x D);
Shoulder straps adjustable from 29.5'' to 37.4''. Fits for the crowd with height 4'11'' to 6'30''.

Descriptions HotStyle TrendyMax Series Print Maples Pattern Backpack Rucksack (blue)

Brand new unique artist pattern, simple but so special. Let's hit the road, break the banality, light up the planet.

Product Description
Classical exterior, sturdy 600-denier nylon construction. Stylish maples pattern printed with modern heat transfer printing technology, ensure the backpack fade in a very slow way for years to come. Mix-match with quality PU padded shoulder straps [2.36(W) x 0.20(T) inches], elegant, fashionable, also comfortable to carry. Specially equipped with a laptop compartment to address your laptop / tablet and protect them from dusts and scratches, besides, the adjustable fastening tape will hold the device tightly when you are moving. Roomy enough to store most of your school / daily necessities such as textbooks, binders, spiral notebooks, a calculator, pens and pencils, a lunch bag case, small coat or shirts, cell phone, cards, portable chargers, MP3 player and a laptop / tablet with 15.4''. Also the backpack is ideal to carrying the personal stuffs of two to three days short term trip.

Specifications
- Max capacity: 1,006.9 cubic inches / 8.82 lb.
- Dimensions: 11.8 x 16.1 x 5.9 inches (W x H x D)
- Weight: 17 ounces

Package includes
- 1 * HotStyle backpack rucksack.
- 2 * Replacement strap buckles

Friendly Reminder
Color difference may be occurred from the reflection when photographing. Measurement error of 0.39'' to 0.78'' may be occurred from the method of manual measuring. Please allow 1-3 pieces of loose threads exist due to the overlook by accident when checking and packing. Please leave the backpack in freely circulating air for 2-3 days to lessen the smell of fabric. Loading weight beyond the max capacity will reduce of service life.

Search Result :

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Thanksgiving

(listening to Franck's Chorale #3 in A Minor)
I have much to be thankful for. Generally speaking, I have more than I deserve in life. In particular, I'm thinking of this weekend (all four days of it). I left Sauron's Corporate Pit of Toil on Wednesday afternoon, and I bent all my thought and will toward Thanksgiving dinner. My back had been steadily improving since last week's lumbar sprain, so I was able to do the cooking (I work with a roomful of pharmacists. I gleaned enough information to decide to interrupt my muscle relaxer for a day, allowing me to drink Beaujolais while safely using a knife).

Thanksgiving is a day of cooking and gluttony; it is therefore my favorite holiday. I picked up a few things at the mobbed grocery store on the way home. I was greeted by my wife and her parents, who stayed with us for the holiday. I love having them around. Lindz and her Mom had already made two fine pies: one pumpkin and one cranberry-pear.

(Karg-Elert's "Marche Triomphale: Nun Danket alle Gott")

I got up early on Thanksgiving morning. Lindsey's father and I procured a few more forgotten items at the store, and I started poring over timelines and steps in The New Best Recipe. I was pleased to have been allowed to cook everything (I like being in control of my kitchen), but much work stood between me and six sated diners (Lindz's aunt and a guest were to join us). I had prepared the cranberry-onion confit, a jamlike, flavorful delight, two days earlier. I had already dried a mountain of bread cubes for the stuffing. I began sipping a Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale at 11 am. I started chopping onions, carrots, celery, apples and bacon. This was the menu:

Roast Turkey (a 13.5 pound Kosher bird)
Bread Stuffing with Granny Smith Apples, Sage and Bacon
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Gravy (made from scratch with vegetables, roux and turkey drippings)
Cranberry-Onion Confit
Green Bean Casserole (brought by Lindz's aunt)
Several bottles of Georges DuBoeuf Beaujolais Nouveau 2005
Pumpkin Pie and Cranberry-Pear Pie with Frangelico-spiked Whipped Cream

I spent a total of five blissful hours in the kitchen. Lindz's folks tidied up the house, went for a stroll, played Scrabble and offered me help several hundred times. They know I love to cook, but they were convinced that I was working too hard. Chopping and sweating four pounds of onions is profoundly relaxing to a weirdo like me. I had a lovely time. I accepted the gracious offers of help when it came time to turn the sizzling bird over. Other than that, I monopolized the kitchen entirely. I even made some pita chips for an appetizer while all this was going on. My back felt pretty good, even though I knew I would pay for it later. The beer and wine helped things, most assuredly.

The turkey was resting on a carving board on top of the clothes dryer (every horizontal surface in the kitchen's vicinity was occupied by some part of the preparations), and I was bringing everything else together: mashing the potatoes, adjusting the thickness of the gravy and putting the bread, stuffing and green bean casserole into the vacated oven. The house was full of conversation and laughter. I put all the food on the kitchen counters, and the guests filed in to fill their plates. We sat down, Lindsey said a blessing, and we ate. All was right with the world. The food turned out to my satisfaction, and everyone enjoyed themselves. We ate heartily and spent a good while chatting over after-dinner drinks and pie, bobbing gauzily on a sea of Frangelico and tryptophan.

My guests admonished me to stay seated while they cleaned up. It's fairly difficult to fit five people into my little kitchen, but they did it. Fortunately, I was stuffed and slightly drunk, and that allowed me to relinquish control of my precious little realm over which I had held dominion all day. The most impressive feat was fitting the leftovers into the fridge. I chatted with my brother and my friend Charlotte on the phone while this was going on. They spent Thanksgiving together, sipping champagne and nibbling all sorts of good things. They had been the core of my Thanksgiving ritual for years in San Diego, and we had soared to dizzying heights of gluttony and epicurean gratification. We had always cooked lots of non-traditional things and gorged ourselves with whatever conglomeration of transplanted individuals we could assemble. In some ways, it was always the opposite of the traditional, family-oriented thing I did this year. In many ways, it was the same day of good food and good company that one would hope for. I miss the San Diego style Thanksgiving, but I certainly love the Raleigh version as well.

Lindz's aunt and her friend expressed their thanks and said their farewells. The rest of us stumbled off to bed. We spent the next day loafing around, not shopping with the rest of the world. My father-in-law wanted to take us out to dinner. It seemed, however, that all of us were enjoying the quiet of the house. After taking thought, I decided that we would light a fire in the fireplace, get a bunch of take-out Chinese food, and open the bottle of Mumm's Blanc de Noirs which I had purchased a few days earlier. It was perfect. A good sparkling wine goes with anything, but sitting around the table with good company and a variety of Chinese food is as good as it gets. We had some pie afterwards, played a game of Scrabble (I won!) and sipped Frangelico by the fire. Lovely.

So here we are, staring down the barrel of another Christmas. The in-laws have gone home. Lindz and I have enough leftovers to sustain us for weeks. The turkey carcass and a bunch of rice from the Chinese take-out have been reborn as a huge batch of soup. The weather is becoming bleaker. My gift shopping is not done yet. I should bake Christmas cookies. When did I start trying to impersonate a grownup?
(Boellmann's "Suite Gothique," Op. 25)

I need help standing up

Yippee! Good times.

I was making some chicken soup Thursday evening. I was digging around in the fridge, and I felt a twinge. As soon as the words "Fuck Fuck Fuck, not again, Pig Fuckin' Whore, Fuckass Fuck Fuck Fuck!" passed my lips, an electric cattleprod was firmly pushed into my lower back. I was moving slowly that evening, and a couple of beers helped (particularly Bell's Batch 7000, thanks Tim), but the next morning was when I really knew the good times were a-rollin.' I couldn't sit up, get up or roll over without spasms that took my breath away with their intensity.

I don't like to miss work, despite the fact that I don't enjoy it. However, in the light of the fact that I was incapable of even the first of many activities that getting to work required, I called in.

Lindz got out of work early and helped me out of bed (where I had been lying motionless for six hours or so). We looked up a doctor online (I hadn't needed my current employer's benefits yet) and before long, Flexeril was coursing through my veins. I'm still pretty much useless, but it's fractionally better.

It's humbling. It's frustrating.

1)Mere seconds and one wrong move are all that separate me from being an invalid.
2)I've had a richly blessed, healthy life. When pain does show up, I'm unprepared for it.
3)Who the hell turned up the gravity?
4)Now that it hurts to even stand up, I'm filled with a desire to clean, fix or improve all sorts of things around the house. When I felt fine, I had no recollection that I even have gutters, much less that they are full of leaves.
5)I do not like being waited on in my own home. I appreciate it, but I prefer to be doing the serving.
6)If I'm still crippled on Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday, when I spend all day in the kitchen cooking and sipping Beaujolais Nouveau), I will be very pissed off indeed.

But hey, what the hell. I'm alive, this will get better, and, after all, God doesn't owe me shit. I've got it easy.

The December Cocktail

(Listening to "The Color of Right" from Test for Echo, by Rush)

I whipped this up for Lindz and myself after a day of her being very productive and of me being much less so. She painted the upstairs (almost the entire upper storey), and I raked a couple of leaves, oiled a squeaky storm door and bloodied my thumb somehow.

It is built on standard cocktail methodology, but it has a magical ingredient that wouldn't be sitting around the house any other time of year. Lindz made candied orange peels, and the sugar syrup that was left is packed with flavor. The oranges were cara-cara oranges, rich in that spritzy orange zest goodness. My favorite cocktails (especially the whiskey sour) involve the use of simple syrup, but it was clear that this orange syrup would add more to a drink than just sweetness.

I figured "December Cocktail" would be a fairly civilized name that wouldn't be out of place in the Savoy Cocktail Book. More respectable than "Winter Bitch-Slap" or "Aberdeen Reacharound."

2 ounces gin (I used Amsterdam)
3/4 ounce sweet Italian Vermouth
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce orange peel infused sugar syrup

Add the ingredients to a cocktail shaker full of ice cubes. Shake the hell out of it, and strain the drink into a red or green cocktail glass. Put a few ice cubes in there and garnish with a candied orange peel. Enjoy. Repeat as necessary.

If you use bourbon instead of gin, it is a delicious but different cocktail. A bit darker in character. I would call that one a "Manhattan in December."

The Sides

There's no better way to relax after a busy work week than tiling. Lindz and I are now concentrating on the sides of the shower surround, with the hopes that the tiles will meet up in the middle. We are optimistic.
The right:

The left:

Much to my satisfaction, I installed the shower valve at the correct depth. I also managed to make a tile fit around it (only breaking one in the process):

Up in Michigan (some random pics)

My brother and I drove up to Michigan. In Ohio, we purchased a bunch of fireworks for the delight of our nephews and ourselves. Here's one lighting up the sky above our elder brother's back yard:

This is the bathroom I shared with my siblings as a child. I believe it's original to the 1964 construction of the house. One doesn't find lavender toilets, tubs and sinks very often anymore.

Here is part of the slate backsplash in my sister and brother-in-law's new basement kitchen. The basement is gorgeous, and there are no purple fixtures.

The reason for our journey was the baptism of our new niece, Cecilia. It was a beautiful day, and she is a beautiful baby.

As always, food was crucial to the family visit. I helped my sister make three caramelized onion pizzas for the baptism lunch. Here's the first one out of the oven:

It was goooood. We drank plenty of beer with it, such as Bell's Pale Ale, Bell's Amber Ale and, most importantly, the dedicatory homebrew: Petite Merde Transverse Brown Ale. There was plenty of food of all sorts, and lots of family & friends.

Dinner with the Wife

This is the first time I've been able to fully apply myself to cooking for my wife, and only my wife, for one month. There has been much cooking, but often for a crowd in recent weeks.

The menu is:

Lamb chops on a bed of roasted red peppers with mint

Risotto with garlic and fresh oregano and rosemary

Salad of organic greens with beets, goat cheese and pecans

I had Acacia pinot noir. Lindz had San Pellegrino Limonata with muddled mint.

She took all these pictures. Here's an action shot of me preparing the red peppers:

The meat meets the heat:

I used Grandma's spoon for the risotto:

Here's the finished plate:

I was pleased with how the mint worked with the peppers and the lamb. I also enjoyed using my new All-Clad saucepan for the risotto. Lindz and I had a nice, romantic dinner while thunder rumbled outside.