Menu Four

It's been quite a while since I've done any of these, so here's hoping I remember how they turned out.

Apple and Horseradish Glazed Salmon with Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage: The salmon was amazing. It was so easy to make and incredibly yummy. The sweet and sour cabbage was not as fantastic. The idea is great, I've had it before. But apparently this wasn't the recipe for it. It wasn't zingy enough. Plus, I think we sliced the cabbage too thick. It never got wilted enough. So, I'll make the salmon again and find a new recipe for the cabbage.

Crustless Broccoli Cheddar Quiche: Unfortunately, this was very blah. It didn't taste bad, it just didn't have much flavor. For some reason the egg taste neutralized all of the cheddar and broccoli flavor, and all of the seasonings we put in. I might try working with this recipe, adding more herbs and salt and pepper but if I find a recipe that looks more interesting, I'll try it instead.

Cornbread and Bean Skillet: This was fantastic. It was kind of dreary out, and I was having a crummy day and this was such good comfort food. Amazingly enough, it was incredibly healthy too. Basically, I dumped a bunch of spicy beans into a pan and made Jiffy cornbread with cheddar cheese. The raw dough was put on top of the beans and then simmered over the stove until it cooked through. It was warm, and the mix of spice with the cornbread was delicious. I might put in one can of regular tomatoes in place of one of the two cans of tomatoes with green chilis. It was a little overwhelming. This also made great leftovers.

Warm Spinach-Pear Salad: So good, and so simple. We made it with a bowl of leftover squash soup. Mmm. The salad was fairly substantial and with the soup was plenty for a meal. I love hot dressing salads. For once, I found one that doesn't involve using bacon grease as part of the dressing, so that was exciting also. I will definitely make it again.

Chicken with Tomatoes and Mushrooms: This was very good too. It needed some time to cook, but the actual preparation was simple. It didn't call for very many ingredients either, which was nice. I was pretty much guaranteed to like this recipe though, anything that calls for two pounds of mushrooms is fine by me.

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili: This recipe didn't taste exactly how I thought it would, but it was amazing. It had a very mexican flavor, which I don't normally associate with sweet potato. It also had a garnish of a little bit of sour cream mixed with cilantro. I added lime juice, and it was even better. I'll certainly make this again.

Feta, Olive and Spicy Sausage Pizza: Using pre-made crust, we brushed olive oil on it and sprinkled garlic, salt, pepper, and rosemary on the crust. We baked that for a few minutes and topped it with feta, black olives, spicy sausage, tomatoes and mushrooms. We baked that for a little bit longer and it turned out AMAZING. Really quick and incredibly good.

Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup: I roasted a chicken, fairly early in the day. I stuffed it with fresh basil and rosemary and put carrots, onions, celery and garlic around it. After it was done roasting, I put the whole thing in a pot of water with all of the drippings and let it boil for about 5 hours. By the end of the night it had completely fallen apart and the whole apartment smelled good. We strained the liquid, and saved it, picked apart the chicken for the good meat and put it back with the broth. We added more herbs and vegetables and noodles and let it cook for another fifteen minutes or so. It was probably the best soup I've ever had. We made a ridiculously large amount of it, so we've been having leftovers all week, and we even froze some.

Curried Cider-Braised Pork Chops and Horseradish Smashed Potatoes: Both were delicious! The pork chops were simple to make and curry is so yummy with cider. It probably would have been even better with sliced apples. I invented the recipe for the potatoes and they were superb, if I do say so myself. I boiled potatoes and then smushed them up with milk, a little sour cream and butter, rosemary and horseradish. The horseradish added a really interesting flavor to it but it wasn't overwhelming at all. Katie tried them, and she really liked them, which is saying a lot, because she's the pickiest eater I know. Luckily, this time she ate something I made, it didn't make her throat close. Hooray for food allergies. No peach shakes for Katie I guess...

There were also plenty of meals of leftovers, and dinner at my parents' house, and I was gone for a while and even a night of sushi. Mmm, sushi. So there aren't as many recipes as there would have been otherwise. I might have forgotten something I made too...

Randomness

This past week has not been going well. I wanted to start making and selling greeting cards with my photographs on the front. I bought the cards and envelopes, plastic sleeves to put them in, mounting tape and I picked out photos to use. When I went to order the photos I realized there was a huge problem. York Photo doesn't print 3 by 5 pictures. I assumed it was only that particular company, so I looked on Snapfish, and Shutterfly, and every other online photo processing place. No luck. I went to Meijer, hoping that they could at least print them if I brought in the negatives. I nearly cried when the woman there told me that 3 by 5's are getting discontinued everywhere. Apparently 4 by 6 is now standard. Also, apparently "no one uses 3 by 5's." At that point I was so frustrated I almost screamed "I use them you bitch." But, she was just some lowly photo processing peon. She had no say in it, so I bit my tongue and thanked her for her time. I can use the 4 by 6's on the cards I bought, but they don't look anywhere near as nice. The bigger border was so much better. But I suppose it's asking too much to have things go the way I planned.

I went to Delaware, Ohio this past weekend. My cousin Marthena was having a baptism for her twin babies. While I'm not a particular fan of either the church or babies, it wasn't a bad weekend. Well, sort of. My streak of bad luck did continue. I left half of my stuff at home that I needed, including shampoo and all my styling products. I also somehow managed to leave the gift I had for them in my apartment. I spent MONTHS knitting two baby blankets, and they're sitting here on the floor in their nice gift bag. (grumbles) I also managed to slam my head on the corner of a wall while sitting down. Oh, and I was convinced I'd lost a sock at the hotel, only to find it in one of my bags. Plus, on the way home, I apparently dumped my wallet out of my purse and left it in my parents' car. So I have no money until they either mail it to me, or I go meet them somewhere. Fantastic. Anyone else want to add to my lousy week??

Naked Pillow Fights

Erin and Katie and I decided that we haven't been spending enough time together, just the three of us, so we had a girls' night at Erin's. She kicked Kyle out of their house and I stole Anthony's truck and went up to St. Louis. We spent lots of time talking, eating and drinking. The usual. We also watched "Dead Like Me", a show Erin's been yammering about lately. It's hilarious. Very weird and quirky. I need to hunt down the DVDs, and start it from the beginning. As Katie put it, "What kind of crack do you have to be on to come up with stuff like this??" Sounds like the perfect show for me... We also were incredibly girly and played with makeup. The guys were lucky they weren't around, there's no way they could have made it through the evening without a makeover. (cackles)

Katie slept in the guest bedroom, to avoid having 20 pounds of Boris kitty jumping on her head and licking her. Erin and I stayed in her room, and got tromped on by Boris most of the night. We stayed up talking until about 5 or 6 am, and got up at 9, we haven't done THAT in a while. We also managed to get semi-freaked out because the house was making strange noises. I swear Anthony and Kyle snuck up to the house to freak us out so Erin and I would end up cuddling. (laughs) apparently their secret plot worked, we did sort of end up smushed in the middle of the bed. But I'll let you decide if the three of us ever had the naked pillow fights everyone was so hoping would happen...

Stratford

My parents and I went to Stratford, Ontario last weekend. They picked me up at the apartment friday afternoon, and we drove straight there. We got in around 8pm and checked into our bed and breakfast. Technically it is a guest house, since they don't feed us breakfast. I had a room on the top floor. They aren't wildy exciting rooms, but they are clean and cute and the old lady who rents the house is really nice. We walked around town to find a place to eat. We went to a Chinese Canadian restaurant. That phrase is absolutely hilarious to me...there's something about Chinese Canadian that cracks me up. Maybe it's cause I am used to hearing Chinese American...but I swear there's just something inherently funny about Chinese Canadian food. First of all, what the hell is Canadian food??? Moose? Beer? Anyway, the Chinese part of the menu was fantastic. We had really good soup and egg rolls. None of us were starving, so it was a great dinner. We went for a walk and looked at all of the fantastic old architecture. There are tons of gorgeous brick houses.

On saturday morning we went to a cafe for breakfast. It's called the York Street Kitchen and it's very fun. It's a tiny hole in the wall place, with bright painted walls, and colanders as lamp shades. I had a sandwich called the H.M.S Pinafore, a bagel, goat cheese and smoked salmon. I get it every year when we go. We spent most of the morning and afternoon walking around town. There are a ton of cute little shops and gorgeous gardens. For dinner we went to an inn. They had amazing duck. (drools) Mmm, duck. We went to see the Shakespearean play "As You Like It". It was a different interpretation, it was set in the 60's, and The Barenaked Ladies composed and arranged the music. They did a fantastic job, and I am tempted to get a cd of the music they did.

We went for a picnic on sunday morning after stopping at the grocery store. We ate along the river and then headed out. It was kind of a long drive back because we stopped in Michigan to look at more bricks. They were making their final decision this week. They're either going with a brick that they can get now, so the bricking will be done this fall, or one that will put it off until the spring. I'm not sure which one they went with. Anyway, it was a good trip and I love going.

Serenity

I loved it! It's taken me a while to get around to posting (yeah, I am slacking again). I saw it last friday...the first showing available. We managed to see it before Anthony had to go to work, and I left for Stratford. (sighs happily) I was so happy with it. They managed to make it hilarious, suspenseful, and incredibly shocking. There are a lot of people complaining about a particular scene in it, but although I didn't like the scene, I thought it was well done and necessary. I'll avoid mentioning what it was in particular, for the people who haven't been able to see it yet. But it brought a different feel to the movie...it created doubt about the ending to the movie, and the possibility of any sequel. Say what you will, but I thought it was well done. I am just so happy it came out and I got to see it. My parents want to borrow the DVDs. My mom caught one or two of the episodes when it was actually on, and she liked it, but it was kicked off the air before she got to watch it more than that. I think it's sort of cute that my parents are getting into "Firefly".

Movies

Anthony and I went to see "Lord of War" last week. I was really surprised by it. Not only did I enjoy it a lot, it was more thought-provoking than I expected. Going into it I expected more of a comedy. It had some hilarious moments, but it also brought up some interesting points. I was impressed that they were able to make a movie about gun running that neither glorified it, nor made it out to be a heinous crime. That opinion was left to the audience to decide. The filming was incredibly well done without being over the top artsy. More than worth seeing.

Erin and Anthony and I watched "Corpse Bride" saturday night. It was every bit as wonderful as I expected. The combination of Johnny Depp (swoons) and Tim Burton is always perfect. It was funny and sweet, and a bit ghoulish all at once. Other than the ridiculously loud audio for the first 20 minutes, it was perfect.

Now I am counting the days until "Serenity". It's driving me insane. I am also going to be very cranky if there isn't a midnight showing on thursday night. Otherwise I'd have to wait until sunday to see it. I am going up to Stratford for my annual trip with my parents. I love the trip but it is quite annoying that it had to be the same weekend as the movie release. If anyone has heard about midnight showings, please let me know.

Menu 3

Man, I really need to come up with a more exciting title than 'Menu 3'...

More recipes...
Greek Rotisserie Chicken Salad - I had half of the rotisserie chicken left, so I added it to a Greek salad. I forgot to get tomatoes, but other than that it was great. Greek dressing is pretty easy to make from scratch so the whole meal went together pretty quickly. Nothing wildly new, but perfect for a simple, healthy dinner.

Spaghetti and Meatballs - We made the meatballs from scratch and clearly this is NOT a recipe I have mastered. The recipe was my mom's and hers are usually fantastic. Mine...not so much. They didn't taste bad, although I think I could have made the recipe a little more exciting. The biggest problem was that they completely fell apart. I need to ask my mom how she does it. Plus, I think we made them a bit large. The faster they cook, the less time they have to crumble. A non stick skillet would have helped too. They tasted pretty good with the spaghetti noodles and sauce. The sauce wasn't homeade, but I added a few spices and a bit of wine and it was really good. Yay Kroger!

Squash Soup - The squash soup recipe is originally Kyle's I believe. It is always delicious. I made a retardedly large amount of it, because squash was on sale for 39 cents/pound. I made the basic recipe: sauteed onion, squash, and stock. Only this time it was beef stock, not chicken. Grr on Kroger not having my Better Than bouillon stock base. How rude. Once it was all cooked down Anthony attacked it with his immersion blender until it was smooth. We divided it into two large bowls. One of the bowls I made a sweet soup. I added apple cider, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and a bit of brown sugar. The other was savory with milk, salt, pepper, rosemary and grated Gruyere cheese. They were both amazing. I froze four huge containers of it. Now I can have squash soup whenever my little heart desires. (swoons)

Cherry Glazed Pork with Green Beans and Feta - Another great recipe that is nice and fast. It's a basic sweet and sour sauce made out of cherry jam and red wine vinegar. It took maybe 15 minutes to make and most of that was just letting it simmer. I've been trying to eat a lot of green beans lately because they're really healthy, but there are only so many ways to prepare them. I was excited because I created another one tonight. I sauteed them in a tiny bit of oil with salt and pepper. Just before I took them off of the heat I added a bit of crumbled feta cheese. Mmm, so good. It caramelizes the cheese, and it's a wonderful blend of sweet and salty.

We also went to dinner with Ashley and Kracker, and Erin and Kyle. It's nice to do the dinner party thing again. Ashley made lamb, and mashed potatoes and carrots and Yorkshire puddings. I'd never had them before but they were really good. The lamb was wonderful too. Apparently Al has a slight obsession with gravy, which we teased her unmercifully about. My contribution to dinner was a key lime pie. I've made plenty of them before, but this was a new recipe. It was amazing. Just a few different twists on the standard recipe that made it really outstanding. Since the recipe came from someone online, of course I got harassed. Erin accused me of having secret pie affairs with strange men online. I have to admit, she's right. Luckily my boyfriend doesn't mind if I talk dirty about baking with other people.

Menu 2

More recipe reviews...

Pasta with Butternut Squash and Spinach - This recipe didn't taste how I expected it to, but it was very good. It wasn't too time consuming and made a ton. I was able to put a lot of it in the freezer, and have some for lunch the next day. The only thing I would do differently would be to use chicken stock instead of water, but I was out. I also added rosemary (yeah, I know, I'll put rosemary in anything) to make up for the lack of stock. I think I'll keep rosemary in even if I make it with chicken stock next time. It gives the dish a little more depth. We had the pasta with a really good Chardonnay. It was one I'd had before, and I love it. Kroger has it on sale on a fairly regular basis for around 5 dollars.

Barton et Guestier Chardonnay, France 2002 - A really good chardonnay. Not much of an oak flavor and it's easy to drink. It has a very full flavor, warm and buttery. There's a definitely apple taste. A good white wine for fall.

Rotisserie Chicken and Tuscan Bean and Wilted Arugula Salad - I bought a rotisserie chicken from Kroger because they were having a really good sale. I've been wanting to try this salad for a while. I used spinach instead of arugula, added a tiny bit of vinegar to the dressing (warm olive oil, lemon juice and zest) and cooked the onion instead of leaving it raw. It was phenomenal, and with the pre-cooked chicken it was really quick to make. I haven't enjoyed a salad that much in a long time.

Honey Glazed Pork Loin with Applesauce - I was a bit disappointed in the way this recipe turned out, but I think it had more to do with cooking difficulties than the recipe. I didn't have any aluminum foil, so the edges of the tenderloin got a little crispy. Adding water to the roasting pan helped, but I didn't do it until half way through. The flavor of the honey glaze was wonderful though. I usually prefer to make applesauce with a variety of apples, but this time I only made it with Granny Smith apples. It's definitely better to do the mix, there is a better texture to it. The apples cook at different rates and it makes a much chunkier applesauce. It had cinnamon, ginger, orange zest, apple cider, and honey in it. The flavor was different in a very good way.

Chicken with Pear, Sage and Cheese and French Peas - I am absolutely in love with this! It was so easy to make, and delicious. It was flattened sauteed chicken with Gruyere cheese melted on top and a sauce of pear, sage and cider. I've been so excited about fall arriving, and this was the perfect fall food. The traditional way to make French peas is to steam them in a pan lined with lettuce and seasoned with butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg. I didn't have the lettuce, but I kept the seasonings the same. Well, less butter, but enough to leave a nice taste. The nutmeg adds the perfect flavor. From start to finish dinner probably was done in less than 15 minutes. Mmm, quickie gourmet. ;)

Disappointed

I am incredibly disappointed that I haven't sold anything on Etsy yet. It's an awesome site and I know some people have been doing really well on it. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. There's a limited market for handmade crafts. Plus, I am trying to sell photography and that really isn't a high demand thing. Fairly soon I am going to make up some photo cards. Nice white cardstock with a photo mounted on the front. I am hoping that will be a little more appealing. I did make some changes to the site, and Stav made me a spiffy banner. I'll give it a little more time and see if the changes have any effect. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I can always use feedback. The link to the site is Drifting Visions Etsy and it's also to the right. Any kind of feedback; on the photos, the prices, shipping, my avatar, the descriptions or even suggestions of what kinds of photos you think people would buy. If I don't have something similar already I'll go out and take the pictures. I also am listing two of my photos on Crafters United to donate the profits of any sales to Hurricane Katrina Relief. The money goes directly to the Red Cross. Sooo, if you've been wanting to donate to it, and get a fantastic photograph, check it out.

Menu

I've been planning on making up a weekly menu for months now. I know it would cheaper, easier and healthier, but this is the first week I've been able to get around to it. It's actually going really well. I even managed to sort of incorporate it into the camping last weekend. It's also a good way to get me to try out new recipes. I have thousands of recipes that I've never tried. Here's a list of what we did this week and a quick review:

Chinese Grilled Pork and Spicy Green Beans- This morphed into grilled chicken because of a small pork disaster. The pork I had bought THE NIGHT BEFORE was green when I pulled it out of the refrigerator. It was from Kroger, and I've never had a problem with them before, so I am just assuming it was a strange fluke. If my food turns weird colors again, they're in trouble though. The Chinese marinade was awesome with chicken and would no doubt be just as good with pork, if not better. I will definitely try to make it again with the proper ingredients. I also broiled it instead of grilling it this time. The Spicy Green Beans were fantastic. Spicy and sweet at the same time and I could probably eat pounds of them in a sitting. Luckily they are quite healthy, so that won't be a problem.

Pesto Chicken Packets - Amazing. We took them camping and everyone loved them. Very simple and healthy too. It was just chicken, tomato, zucchini and a tablespoon or two of pesto. We wrapped it all up in foil and put it on a grill over the fire for 20 minutes or so. Also, halved tomatoes with pesto, salt and pepper in foil on the fire are also incredible.

Cream of Broccoli Soup - Very good. Surprisingly healthy for how good it tasted. It was simple to make, and really inexpensive. The recipe calls for rice to thicken the soup, and then some cream or 2% milk. I usually only buy skim, so instead I added a little bit of cream cheese. No doubt it would have been even nicer with cream, but in the interest of not dying before 25, it seemed like a good compromise. We did add a little too much pepper, but other than that, it was a great recipe. I even have a decent amount of it to put in the freezer.

Curried Chicken with Plums and Ginger and Sweet Potato Wedges - Anthony made the chicken and it was fantastic. It was pretty simple and didn't take long to make. The ginger was supposed to be crystallized ginger, but at $12 a bottle, that wasn't happening. If I can find it in bulk I will probably buy a little bit the next time I make it. Using powdered ginger instead wasn't a problem though. The chicken thighs were insanely tender, and mixed with the sweet plums, spicy curry, and green onions they were to die for. I made baked sweet potato wedges with salt, pepper, lemon juice and a tiny bit of cumin. They went really well with the curry and were really quick to make since I put them in the microwave for 5 minutes before I baked them.

There are a few more recipes for the week that I'll update as we go. If anyone wants any of these recipes, let me know. If you have any fantastic recipes to barter, that would be even better. Also, if anyone wants me to make these recipes for them, they either need to pay me/bribe me with backrubs or a bottle of wine but I will cook for hire.

Camping: Take Two

Last weekend was fantastic. Anthony and I met Erin and Kyle at their house, and followed them north to the Au Sable River Primitive Campground at Sawmill Point . We got a site, set up our tents, started a fire and made dinner. Pruden and Sung got there around 11. We basically spent the weekend relaxing around the fire, cooking and swimming. We hiked down a dune to the river and despite none of us having suits with us, we decided to jump in anyway. The hike back up the dune was nothing short of torture, but probably a sign that I need to hike up hills more often and NEVER do it three days after I give blood. Despite the heart attack, it was more than worth it. The view was gorgeous. I'd like to go back and take a canoe/rowboat out and explore the river. On our way out on sunday we drove east to Tawas. We had lunch near the beach, and went swimming for a couple of hours. Anthony literally had to drag me out of the water. I hadn't had much time to swim this summer and I miss it so much. I always feel better when I'm in the water. It makes my arthritis disappear and I feel so relaxed. It's sort of hard to explain, but I always feel more centered and more myself in the water. Like all of the day to day things that drive me crazy just don't exist. It's just me and the sky and the water. This might have something to do with the fact that I was in the water before I could walk, when I was barely 6 months old. I spent 90 percent of my summers from then until we moved at the age of 10 in the water. If it was daylight, I was in the water, and plenty of times even when it was dark. I doubt I'll be able to make it swimming again this fall, but it's top priority next year. Kyle suggested winter hiking...I don't know how I feel about it, but we'll see. If nothing else I do want to make sure we (Anthony and I, and Erin and KYle) try to go once a year. I always forget how much I enjoy it until I go.

It's A Party!

Katie and I finally decided when we are going to have our housewarming (apartmentwarming?) party. To make things easier, we decided to make it a combined housewarming/Halloween party. It will be Saturday, October 29. I suppose that makes it a pre-Halloween party, but the same rules still apply. COSTUMES for everyone. I will be sending out invitations. Probably just by email but we'll see. Everyone I know/have ever met is invited. So, give me a call, send me an email/IM or post a comment to let me know if you can make it. The more the merrier.

...and she's out...

I donated blood tonight. I had a feeling it was going to make me really lightheaded. And apparently I was right. They drew the blood and as she finished up I got really flushed all of a sudden. It's always my first clue that I'm not feeling well. I got flushed, and then cold and clammy and really dizzy. It's never a good sign when you feel like you're going to fall over when you're laying down. They gave me an ice pack to put on the back of my neck, and had me breath into a paper bag. I spent about 15 minutes just lying there. Then they put me into a wheel chair and wheeled me over to a cot. I spent about another half hour relaxing. They kept feeding me peach juice, which for Hi-C was actually fantastic tasting, and a couple of cookies. Anthony of course had no problems. Punk. He was very helpful though. I am sure Erin will be relieved to not have to cart my passed out body around again. I had the same thing happen when I donated blood in high school. Only that time I actually did pass out cold...more than once. Poor Erin. No one should have to deal with me when I go limp as a noodle. I felt much better this time at least.

Catch Up

So I guess I've been slacking about posting. My excuse is that I've still been unpacking. Plus, classes started last week, so I have been trying to get those in order. MSU bites my many testicles and my schedule NEVER WORKS. I always spend a few weeks switching crap around and trying to scramble to get organized. The weekend before they started, Anthony and I went camping. We went to Sleepy Hollow State Park. It was so nice and relaxing. We did go for an 8 mile hike with my parents. I wish I could go hiking every weekend, it's always exercise I actually enjoy. We took the rabbits with us. They actually did really well. They were very calm and didn't seem to get stressed out from any of it. Even with dogs barking and kids shrieking. I wasn't sure if it would bother them or not, so it was kind of a test run. We set up their cage next to our tent and covered it with a tarp. (grins) I have such good critters.

Other than that I don't think I've had anything terribly exciting happen. I did have my mom's car for about a week and a half, so that came in handy. I had a chance to go up and hang out with Erin for an afternoon, and have dinner with Erin and Kyle. I've been shopping like a lunatic lately, I went with Erin, Katie and Anthony, all on separate occasions. In my defense I actually didn't buy anything that was over 20 dollars, and that was for jeans. I needed a few things for the fall. Or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Secession

Dear Red States...

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're
taking the other Blue States with us.

In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe
this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of
the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get Elliot Spitzer. You
get Ken Lay.

We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.
We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get
Alabama.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay
their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian
Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single
moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and
we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need
people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently
willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you
don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you
success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to
spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the
country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92
percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines
(you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90
percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all
living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools,
plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88
percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92
percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90
percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually
100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University,
Clemson and the University of Georgia.

We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was
actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless
we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that
evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and
61 percent of you crazy b*****ds believe you are people with higher morals
then we lefties.

By the way, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they
grow in Mexico.

Peace out,
Blue States

Thank you Suzette. That was one of the most entertaining things I've read in a long time.

No More Ghetto!

I am finally done with the ghetto fabulous house at 1002. It is empty, clean and I will never ever have to go back there. My sinuses are rejoicing. Anthony, Katie and Ion were a huge help cleaning it out. Katie came by several nights after work to get the last of the stuff, Ion cleaned up the kitchen (a monumental task). And Anthony is my hero. He cleaned out the ENTIRE basement. For those of you who don't know what it looked like, imagine a garbage dump. With a working washer and dryer. He did it one evening when I went home to my parents' house. It was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I was dreading the thought of cleaning it. Anthony and I took a truckload of trash from the house to the apartment and filled up a whole dumpster here. Ion and Katie came over yesterday to help me get the rest of junk out. I am so relieved to be done with it.

Now I just have to finish unpacking and organizing everything here at the apartment. It's still a bit chaotic at the moment and people are coming over tonight. Speaking of which (should that be typing of which?) anyone who wants to go out to the club tonight to celebrate Joe being home on leave and Erin and Brigit's birthdays, let me know and I'll give you directions. We are meeting here at 9pm.

Moving

This past week or so has been absolutely exhausting. Between trying to pack and clean I nearly went insane. The house we were in hasn't been cleaned in about 10 years and it is absolutely disgusting. There is crap there that I don't have a clue who it belongs to, or what to do with it. Here's a quick timeline of what last weekend was like.

Friday: Pack, clean, run to new apartment to pick up keys. Take up a load of kitchen stuff. Collapse for a few minutes. Take a quick shower, attempt to look somewhat presentable. Go with Katie to a party in Flint. Drive Katie home from party because she was way too drunk to drive. (By the way, her new G6 is VERY fun to drive). Shower, collapse in bed.

Saturday: Get up ass early to pack a few more things. Go to apartment with 700 gallons of paint. Paint until our arms fall off. Thank you for all of your help Brigit, we love you! Order a GIANT order of Pokey sticks (story to follow when I have more time). Go back to house. Pack/clean more. Collapse into bed again.

Sunday: Get up ass early. Pack and clean more. Wait for parents to arrive. Load 10 million boxes into a moving truck, Anthony's truck and a my parents' huge van. Drive 5 miles to the new apartment, unload. Collapse.

Sunday wasn't actually as bad as I thought it was going to be, between Katie's parents, my parents, Katie and Anthony we got things loaded and unloaded fairly quickly. After we unloaded we went out to lunch at Clara's. A couple of us had their breakfast buffet. It was so good. That might have been partly because we were starving. I'd been wanting to check it out for years, but I hadn't ever been there on a sunday afternoon before.

Megan is...

megan is the devil
megan is an angel
megan is partially correct
megan is a loser
megan is green
megan is doing an interview
megan is leaving
megan is a rat
megan is so offended
megan is born
megan is number 2000
megan is thrown to the ground
megan is connected to the following things
megan is here with all of us
megan is only 3 years old
megan is my pride and joy
megan is not dying from aids
megan is available to perform with such musical combinations as duos with guitar or piano
megan is admiring the sky
megan is listening to us today
megan is the one who publishes the movies
megan is at wit's end when circumstances change her life in ways she cannot even contemplate
megan is trapped in the game while an electrical fire is sweeping the building
megan is king for a day
megan is the cutest baby
megan is hardly average
megan is straight into this acting stuff in a big way
megan is in her second season with the big red
megan is becoming
megan is confident that everyone can master the basics of floral arrangement
megan is passionate about this genre of literature and this approach to teaching history
megan is very precious
megan is in the fifth grade
megan is happy to oblige
megan is more active now because she feels so much better with the treatments
megan is starting to look more like michael
megan is still a little unsure of what to do with
megan is on stage
megan is one of the leaders of the in group
megan is no longer so frantic
megan is the young adventuresome woman who stows away on the pirate ship as the captains boy
megan is being featured on many canadian tv guides
megan is looking for dustin
megan is now back in school
megan is coming downstairs for her date
megan is saying hello
megan is a great
megan is the very first to actually mention and discuss it
megan is a new and hot model with a great body
megan is doing an interview
megan is unbelievabally thrilled to be in miami
megan is a babe btw
megan is our new friend
megan is delighted
megan is hardly average
megan is not here by choice
megan is an author and freelance writer
megan is no longer so frantic
megan is living the dream
megan is flattered
megan is unable to resist the temptation to create this new machine
megan is so cute
megan is straight into this acting stuff in a big way
megan is up at 4
megan is completely fictional
megan is happy to oblige
megan is clearly an accomplice
megan is just a pawn in soneji’s elaborate chess game
megan is going steady with the team quarterback
megan is now 6 years old and is a true character
megan is already the number one ranked female surfer in the united states

I found a very entertaining site called Googlism . It searches the web for all sorts of interesting things related to your name. I have to say, there were a few parts it was definitely right about. Megan is...the devil. The odd thing was, that was actually the VERY FIRST on the list. I didn't move it around. I deleted a few, and some were repeats, but there you go, if you ever wondered what your name has been doing without you...

Crazy Weekend

This weekend was insane to say the least. Anthony and I left Thursday morning, drove to Kalamazoo, picked up his tux, drove to his parents' house (a half hour past Kzoo), relaxed for a few, got dressed, drove to a rehearsal at Western, then to a dinner in Kzoo, and back to his parents'. The next afternoon we got partially ready, and went back to Western for the wedding. It was very nice. I sat around knitting for the first couple of hours. Anthony was a groomsman and had to put on his tux and be in the pictures. I waited to dress until just before the wedding. No point in ruining the gorgeous dress my mom bought me. I inadvertently matched the bridal party, which worked out, because I sat at the head table. It was a nice wedding. Not exactly my taste, but anyone who knows me should know that when I get married things are going to be a bit creative...The ceremony was gorgeous though. On a deck behind the building, overlooking the trees. It was very pretty and the ceremony was sweet. Anthony looked incredibly hot in a tux...it's official, guys should wear them more often. After the ceremony we went inside for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Then we went to the reception. They had very yummy crab stuffed salmon, and an ice cream cake. The cake was made by Coldstone Creamery. Apparently it was the first wedding cake they've ever made. Kendalyn talked them into it. It was really really good. I am never a big fan of wedding cake, but if you include ice cream...much better. We hung out with Anthony's friend Trevor for a while at the wedding. He and I spent quite a while discussing what wine snobs we were.

The rehearsal dinner the night before was great. It was at a little bistro. Mixed greens and vinaigrette with goat cheese, chicken and mushroom pasta and berry crisp with vanilla ice cream. Plus, a good chardonnay. Mmm. And it was free...even better. Anthony got a great groomsman gift. A box of 10 Beers of the World from World Market, and an engraved bottle opener.

When we got back to his parents' house after the wedding, a couple of his sisters were there. It was a family reunion weekend. We slept in as late as we possibly could the next day. Luckily we had his old bedroom instead of having to stay in a tent like the rest of his siblings. I am still kinda overwhelmed by the whole family. Mostly just the amount of people, especially kids. I haven't been around that many kids at one time since I was in elementary school. I have finally met ALL of his sisters and brothers. Plus, I got a little time to sit down in smaller groups with them. It's no longer scary, just still something I can't quite wrap my brain around. I do really like how much they look after each other. As his sister Leanne said "we may fight with each other, but if anyone outside the family tries to say something bad about one of us, the rest are there to back them up." It's a nice thought. That was the one thing I hated about being an only child. I apparently am being adopted into the family. One of his nieces gave me a hug when she left and said "cause you're part of the family too now". It was sweet. We also played Bingo (a demented version) late into the night for various prizes. I suck apparently....my luck is non existent. But Anthony won a giant jar of pickles. Erin and I always said we'd buy one at some point. Well, now I have more pickles than I know what to do with. I did get a cookbook as a consolation prize. (sigh) There's some good recipes in there though. We also roasted marshmallows and made hot iron pies. They are something Anthony has been raving about for months. They're two slices of bread, with butter on the outside, and pie filling in the middle. You put them in little metal presses on sticks and put them in the coals of the fire. QUITE delicious.

Ugh, all I've talked about for the weekend was food. I expected to have gained 5 pounds when I got home, but amazingly enough, I lost a little. That is nothing short of miraculous. We headed out Sunday morning, and drove back to Lansing. I collapsed on the couch, and Anthony went to work. Like I said, the weekend was nothing short of insane.

Ooh, also, on the way home we stopped at a garage sale. We got a big oval mirror and candle sticks for my new apartment, a wooden salad bowl set, and a mesh splatter cooking screen for his place. All for under $15.

And They're Here!

Well, Marthena didn't give birth that night. They managed to keep the babies from appearing until early wednesday morning. They're both healthy and so is Marthena. They'll stay in the hospital for a few more weeks because they are so tiny. Andrew weighs 4lbs 4oz and Bryan weighs 4lbs 10oz. I am just really happy they're doing well. I guess this means I need to finish up the second baby blanket I am knitting. Although with this weather, they won't need it until January.