Hearts, Sting, Botti, & Supper

Happy Valentine's Day Y'all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHYImlfwpN0<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tHYImlfwpN0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Not usually a Sting fan, but I have to say, he tugs at my sentimental streak when he sings to his wife, Trudy. 

Chris Botti, man oh man, what else can I say? 

Special Valentine Supper for Sweetie tonight.  On the menu, poached salmon, angel hair pasta with a sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce, and steamed green beans.  For dessert, heart shaped brownie with black walnut ice cream on top. 

p.s.  I wish I knew how to make video appear in this post instead of all that stuff you have to click on...sorry about that, but I hope you do click on it...it's a good 'un.

Super Bug

Did you watch the Super Bowl last night for the football game or for the commercials?  If you watched for the commercials, well here is my first ever, Super-duper, commercial critique. 

Super Bowl XLV.  Forty-five.  I figure I have watched a hefty number of Super Bowls over the course of my life.  Some I actually remember watching.  Like the time I sat on a piano bench for hours it seemed, in a law student's small apartment with a bunch of guys.  Yeah, it was fun. 

I've been to a few Super Bowl parties too.  Some fun, some not so much, but what else would you be doing on a dreary Sunday night in the middle of winter?  Right. 

This year Sweetie and I watched together, no party, no booze, just chile nachos and a lot of Tums.  Man, I hate getting old!  Oh, we did bring the little kitty in that I've been feeding outside.  I've been calling him PJ Leggs.  He's mighty cute, but Miss Kitty, our elder cat, is not so amused.  Presley and Itty Bitty are resigned to the fact that this little one might be joining the clan.  I am well on my way to being the crazy lady with 40 cats.

OK, so out of all the commercials, I found myself writing the words lame or stupid on most of them.  Where are the clever and funny ones I remember over the past few years?  Did imagination get lost as the price for a 30 second ad climbed? 

I found several ads violent and gross.  I realize I am not the demographic these advertisers are targeting, but I do spend some hard earned cash on products.  The Doritos finger sucking ad sunk to the lowest of the low, in my humble opinion.  I'm guessing thirteen year old boys laughed their heads off. 

And Budweiser, always one of my favorites even with some silly ads over the years, lost me this year.  Usually, any time the Budweiser Clydesdales are in the ad, I love it.  This year, not so much.  Both Sweetie and I thought it was stupid.  Tiny Dancer? Come on, you can do better than that.

Most of the Bud Light ads wavered between lame and stupid.  I'll admit to enjoying the dog-sitter one, but I'm a sucker for dogs playing poker.  Again, I think they can do better.

It seemed like every other commercial was for a movie or for Fox Network shows.  Can some one please tell me where Glee started and Chevy ended?  The line seemed blurred.  I did like some of the House commercials, especially the send up of the famous Coke/Mean Joe Green ad.  Sweetie doesn't like House, so he gave it a thumbs down.  Disregard his vote on this one.

Many, many automobile ads, so little of interest.  In the automobile division BMW, especially the BMW Diesel with cha, cha, cha, change.... was a standout. The 'designed in America, built in America' was patriotic and also got my vote because a former customer of ours worked in their South Carolina plant and we love our customers!

I also liked the Audi prison break commercial but Sweetie rolled his eyes which surprised me.  He is a big Kenny G fan.  Me, not so much.

Several prominent advertisers were missing this year.  Hallmark should have run one ad targeting the male viewer.  Here's my pitch.  Handsome, professional, thirty-something man rushes into generic mall.  The first store is a hip, young, clothing store.  A hip teen holds up a ripped and torn, but expensive pair of jeans.  He shakes his head and dashes out.  The next store is a fancy lingerie shop.  A beautiful, curvy young woman holds out a tasteful, but sexy negligee.  He ponders it for a moment, smiles, but shakes his head no, dashes out.  Then he finds the Hallmark store.  An attractive older woman nods and lead him to the racks.  Closing shot.  Handsome young man standing a  front door with an armful of long stem roses, a box of candy and a card.  The door slowly swings open.  "Hey Granny!" He exclaims as her face lights up with joy and love.  The end.

Also missing in action: Viagra and Cialis.  Their target audience was parked in front of their big screens.  Did Fox Sports block ad for impotent, I mean important male medicines?  Hmmmm.

Alright, so which ad did I pick as my favorite?  Overall, I think Volkswagen took the prize.  The Passat  young Darth Vader one was cute and funny and seems to be one of the fans favorite.  But I pick....drum role please.... the Volkswagen Black Beetle commercial, bam-a-lam!  Clever, imaginative, and a catchy tune.  A winner!
http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=f93a6bb6-44ff-407f-ac4c-dc5bbd26269a&from=foxsports_en-us_videocentralhttp://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=f93a6bb6-44ff-407f-ac4c-dc5bbd26269a&from=foxsports_en-us_videocentral

A Good Book is Hard to Put Down

Note to readers:  I am not a Jane Austin scholar, 'nuff said.

Every night I like to read in bed when the house is quiet and still.  If I'm reading a good book, I will stay up until the wee hours, telling myself, 'just one more chapter, then lights out'.  Usually it is Sweetie who rolls over, groans, and mutters about too much light.  Even when I know I have to get up the next morning, I will continue to read knowing I will regret it when the alarm rings.

Some people believe reading puts them to sleep.  I am just the opposite.  A good book keeps my mind racing long after I finally turn out the lights.  NyQuil and Tylenol PM do the same thing with me.  Instead of getting drowsy and drifting off into a restful sleep, those so-called nighttime over the counter medicines rev me up.  Just like a good book!

Exception:  Over the past year, I have been reading Jane Austin.  It had been years since I read Pride & Prejudice and I've only seen bits and parts of the movie version.  A few months ago, I reread Emma and this week I'm reading Mansfield Park for the first time.

Maybe it's the language, maybe something else, but for the last two nights, I have barely been able to get through twelve pages.  Twelve pages!  It took me two weeks to reread Pride & Prejudice and I knew the story!  I don't remember how long Emma took this time, I guess I erased my memory drive. 

I'm a fast reader.  Always have been, without any speed reading courses.  Of course, reading fast can mean that I don't recollect certain passages or even an entire book.  I started an Anne Rivers Siddons novel a few years ago and was halfway through when I realized I had already read it. If time is on my side, I can and will read a book a day.  Usually vacations are the only time that happens, in the real world, late at night is my reading time of choice.

I hate it when a good book is over.  Yes, I'm glad for the resolution, but it's over...sometimes I'll start back over or at least, reread the final few chapters.  There are several favorites that I reread and reread, easing them into the unread pile of books.

I am not a quitter, so I will muddle through Mansfield Park.  In the six page forward, the Jane Austin expert warns that many readers do not empathize with Fanny Price as they do Elizabeth Bennett and even Emma, so I am somewhat intrigued to learn about this little creature.  Fanny is thrust into a situation she is completely ill prepared to handle.  I'll see where this goes...slowly, I'm afraid.

I know there are thousands, nay millions of Jane Austin fans who will wrinkle their pretty little noses and shake their fair heads as I admit this.  I'm sorry, but I prefer contemporary fiction.  I'm getting way too much sleep!


two nights, too few pages



Subsitute Cook

While Sweetie and I were dating, while we were still learning about each other, I might have mentioned that I liked to cook.  Cooking is part of daily life, but there is no law about enjoying it.  So maybe I stretched the truth a bit...I was trying to put my best foot forward.

Alright, truth be told, I don't mind cooking and I do enjoy preparing certain dishes for my Sweetie.  Thank goodness he is not a picky eater.  One day early in our marriage, he suggested I fix cubed steak for supper.  I nodded, but didn't pursue it.  I had never fixed cubed steak.  It reminded me of lunch rooms and thick, greasy gravy.  And what exactly does "cubed" mean?  It sounds like a math problem and math was not my strongest subject. Is it three times removed from steak?  Or, is it pounded three times with that funny kitchen hammer thing?  I don't really know...

He persisted, asking again and again for cubed steak.  So I finally confessed and said I had never fixed it and had no idea how to cook it.  "Fry it," he explained.  "Umm, I don't know how to fry and anyway, it's not very healthy," I said.  He continued to request it.  I continued to resist.

About four years ago when we lived in the mountains, a friend gave us some venison cubed steak.  It sat in our freezer for awhile until Sweetie finally offered to fix supper.  I agreed.  He would do all the work, what ever it involved.  I would watch and learn.  I was skeptical.  Sweetie didn't really know his way around the kitchen, just straight through it. From the chair in den to the fridge, then back.  A bee-line.

Sweetie did an excellent job.  I really liked it and was pleasantly surprised, but I still didn't add it to the grocery list.  A few months ago, one our cousins here at the lake gave us a package of beef cubed steak from a great butcher shop in Baldwin County.  Sweetie offered to prepare it.  I let him and again, it was delicious! 

Cousin Edward gave us another package of meat the other day.  Isn't he just the nicest second cousin ever?  Cubed steak.  Yummy.  Since Friday is one of my work days, Sweetie offered to fix supper last night.

 Sweetie in our tiny kitchen, frying the cubed steaks. 

Presley, sitting on the edge of the kitchen, wondering what the hell he is doing in there.  You can't see me, but I'm sitting in the arm chair with my glass of wine, watching and learning.

Oh, by the way, it was really delicious with whole grain rice, reduced fat gravy, and steamed green beans!

Spring Signs?

 On my morning walk with Presley, I noticed two particular things that I took as a sign.  Could we be heading out of this hard, cold winter?  Is it too early to begin dreaming of spring?

Sign #1 - It rained off and on all day and night yesterday.  This morning I found not one, but two earthworms on the pavement.  Now, I'm not a scientist, but I don't recall ever seeing earthworms up on the ground during the winter months.  I decided it was a small sign that winter is on the wane.

Sign #2 - In a large puddle left from the rain, three plump robins were bathing.  I tried to get a photograph of it, but Presley decided to act like a bird dog and tried to flush them out.  It worked.  They flew up into the tall pine tree.  I'm sure they were fussing at us.  I found this stock picture that captured the moment my camera missed.

I will have to wait until Groundhog day to be completely sure, but in my mind, I'm going with the hope that the worst of our winter is behind us.

The January sun rose over the pines and chased away the gray dawn mist. We turned toward home as daylight invaded the dark woods. I caught a whiff of spring...

The Not-For-Two Dollar Gray Slippers

Last weekend, I went shopping.  This is news because I rarely shop for myself but I needed a few things.  A new dressy blouse, maybe some dressy, flat shoes, and pantyhose.  Not very exciting, but I was looking forward to spending a few hours traipsing around the stores with a friend.

It had probably been four or five years since I had been to the Mall in Macon.  The one on Eisenhower, I'm not sure what they call it now.  I rarely shop for anything that can't be purchased at Kroger or Walmart.  Mama suggested that Macy's was having a sale (imagine that) and I might find what I was looking for...blouse, shoes, panty hose.

I didn't find those, but I did find a pair of gray bedroom slippers, the good kind with soft, fleecy insides and a thick rubber sole.  Slip-ons.  In my size and on sale.  Originally $24, now half off.  I decided to get them.

I handed the item to the clerk who immediately told me that I could get an additional 10% off  IF I opened a Macy's charge account.  Let me back up and tell you that I have not had a Macy's charge in years.  I paid it off and closed the account.  I do not want a Macy's charge, even for an extra 10%.  I nicely, I thought, declined the offer. 

The clerk repeated the offer, this time slightly incredulous that I would refuse such a deal.  She said, and I quote, "You can get dese fo' two dollars!"  She pointed to the slippers.

I did some quick math in my head...OK, maybe not real fast, I usually prefer a calculator instead of my poor ol' tired brain. Anyway, 10% off $12 comes to $10.80 not $2.  I looked at my friend who probably did the math instantaneously while I multiplied and subtracted, trying not to move my lips or fingers.  She rolled her eyes.

"No thanks, I'm fine paying $12," I said firmly and handed over my cash money.  As I walked away with my change and my small Macy's bag, the clerk told the next woman in line about the offer.  That woman nodded excitedly and took her up on the deal.

The  Slippers

I Resolve to Break Resolutions

A belated Happy New Year y'all!  It is January ninth and due to the impending ice storm and what have you, I have busted all of my resolutions.  Yes, there is ice cream in the freezer and it has been sampled, because, well, what if the power goes out?  I would not want to lose all that delicious, cold, sweet Moose Tracks ice cream.  That would be a crying shame plus a huge waste.  Waste not, want not...Mama's words echo in my head.

The ice cream resolution was going to be broken sooner or later, so why wait?  Am I ashamed of my weakness?  Sorta, but it sure was good! 

I succumbed to the pressure pressing down on me due to the impending ice storm and rushed to the Kroger yesterday morning, early, before the crowds that I'm sure stampeded down the aisles to get beef, bread, and beer (the 3 B's of ice storms when you are shut inside with others and only a grill to cook on).  As I perused other early shopper's carts to see what other provisions they would purchase, I noticed one primary thing...vegetables were not high on any one's list. 

So I tossed in a bag of frozen baby lima beans just because I decided I could boil baby limas in a pot on the grill.  Last night Sweetie informed me that our grill is almost out of propane.  OK, so the ground beef and hot dogs will have to be cooked on the small charcoal smoker grill.  I picked up a bag of charcoal, just in case...

Today, January ninth, the weather is currently cold, but clear.  There is not a cloud in the sky.  I peek out the window again as the television weatherman, umm, I mean meteorologist, speaks of the worsening conditions, due to move in later today.
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=108296&catid=7


OK I'm ready...