It’s Not Just a Job. It’s an Adventure!

Ok, so for me, shopping isn’t exactly a job. I do enjoy shopping a bit. Ok, quite a bit. FINE!!! A LOT!!! Anyway, sometimes shopping doesn’t go the way I plan it. This past Sunday we went to the outlet mall in search of Timberland boots for Hubby. His were quite old and worn, and he was in desperate need for a new pair.

And since he was getting new shoes, I saw a window of opportunity!

I have been toying with the idea of acquiring cowboy boots. I know, I know…. I live in Texas and don’t own cowboy boots. In my defense I could never make up my mind over which style/ leather/ heel I like. But I think I found a pair I could really enjoy wearing.

Yeah!!! Aggie boots!! And let me tell you, that toe can do serious damage. Anyway, I decided to go look for them at the Cavender’s Factory Store. Full disclosure: I have never been in a “cowboy store” that sold women’s wear. I was bedazzled by rhinestones everywhere!! Jeans, shirts, sandals (yes, sandals at a boot store), candle holders, wall hangings, even cowhides had rhinestones on them. Once I got past the blazing kaleidoscope, I made my way to the women’s shoe section. I had little hope of finding the boots, since we live in relative proximity to three major universities. But look I did.

And ended up questioning my presence on this planet when I saw these:

These are actually rain boots made to look like cowboy boots. My question is WHY?? I just don’t get it. Rain boots don’t need a makeover. It didn’t help matters when I witnessed several women fawning over them. Hubby said they looked like Vera Bradley had metastasized, which is another story altogether. We had gone to the Vera Bradley outlet and his first words in the store were, “It looks like a unicorn beshat the place,” and “This is what happens when a leprecaun vomits.” Needless to say, shopping that day came to an abrupt halt.

He is so much fun to have around 😀

Taking Some Down Time

As y’all may have noticed, I try to post something daily. Ok, maybe some of y’all didn’t notice, but it’s true. Yesterday I took a much needed break from the interwebtubenets. And by “taking a break”, I mean “ran errands for my mom”. Having family around is not conducive to productive posting. It is conducive to plenty of stories, especially when your siblings sit around telling stories from our childhood.

And having your parents laugh at the crazy stuff we did.

And my brother, too!

So today finds me visiting with my nieces and helping my mom cook, and maybe this weekend I’ll be back to my regular groove, posting all the latest gossip from Casa de Aggie.

Who am I kidding?? I’ll probably do that tonight 😉

Easter Came and Went, and No Sugar Coma

I just didn’t have the time!!

Yesterday found us attending a lovely Easter Mass, and then rushing to pack up the Mom Mobile™ for our trip back home. Normally I would have gorged on the Peeps™ once I got home, but we had to unpack and settle my folks in their prospective areas (I got Dad, and sis got Mom), and then had to rush over a late dinner and then get home. It was late, and though I very much wanted to savor the sugary goodness, I was just too tired.

And today finds me in quandary. I have to go pick up my other sister and her family from the airport, and can’t indulge until after they are settled at my sister’s, because even though I am a rather cool aunt, I refuse to share my Peeps™. I know that sounds selfish, but c’mon!!! I have waited for weeks for this stuff!!!

But I think I have found the solution.

AND… I’m using cotton candy vodka.

I would like to see a kid try to take that Peep away from me!!

There will be sweet, sweet sugar tonight 😉

Almost There…

In just a few days, it will be Easter, and I shall be enjoying these:

There is nothing sweeter than biting the head off one of these, and enjoying the satisfying crunch of the sugar crystals as the marshmallow melts on your tongue.

Cry Havoc!! And let slip the Peeps of War!!!

Yeah, I am feeling the strain of sugar deprivation. Why do you ask?? 😉

A Trick and a Treat

I know, I know… wrong day, wrong month, wrong season. But this isn’t about Halloween.

I saw this photo today on a social site, and as my tummy was growling, I was reading the comments on it.

First of all, ZOMGYUMMY!!!! But secondly, just how is it done?

Well, most of my foodie friends have figured it out. But not the commenters at the photo. They kept asking if one presses the uncooked bacon in a muffin pan and bake. Close, but using this is much simpler:

Invert the custard cup upside down, and wrap the bacon around it. Then bake until done, and you have a beautiful little bacon bowl. You can do this with pie crust and phyllo pastry, too. And it makes you look like some big time gourmet!

Can this Sith cook, or can’t she??

An April Fool

I usually don’t prank people on April Fools Day. Actually, I never do. I understand that it’s all in fun, but I am too soft-hearted to trick someone like that. That makes me a prime target for pranks and jokes, and that part is fun, too. Trying to out guess the prankster keeps me sharp. That’s not to say they don’t fool me, but at least it helps keep me sharp.

The best prank ever played on me was done by my sister. And it wasn’t even on April 1st. When we were very young, I think she was in Kindergarten and I was in First Grade, we would go to my grandmother’s house after school to wait for our parents to pick us up after work. We liked going, because our grandma would serve us cafe au lait and slices bread with jam for an after school snack, not to mention sometimes there would be fresh cherries from the tree out back. A tree that we were forbidden to go explore, because it was too high up.

Anyway, one day there were no cherries, and my sister, who is younger than I am, suggested we sneak out back to get some while my parents were visiting with grandma. So off we went, and looked around for the cherries. As we went around the house, we spied a small bush with semi-round red berries. She ran to it, and started plucking the berries off, though I hesitated, telling her the berries didn’t look right. The were not as red, and were not as round, and are they not supposed to be on a tree?? But she knew best, and told me they were cherries, and so, like a fool, I partook.

Only to scream as I felt my mouth be set on fire.

We ran back in, screaming and alarming the folks, and since we were unable to speak, they correctly deduced what had occurred: we had eaten ajíes, a common chile found in Puerto Rico. Many glasses of sugared water later (we didn’t know we could use milk for the heat), and sporting beards of my grandma’s Pond’s Cold Cream™, we left for home. My mom was still upset, but my dad laughed the whole time, which didn’t make my mom any happier.

This did happen in Spring, but not on April 1st. Even the Fates are not that unkind. As for my sister, I never got back at her for the pranks (yes, there are more). She is a best friend, just like the others and my brother, and has been there for me always. Besides, she ended up having and raising five kids, and that was enough Karma for me 😉

Gag Worthy

Be advised: pictures are forthcoming!

There are some foods that, by the pure loving grace of my Creator, I will never, ever ingest. Don’t get me wrong. I have eaten some pretty weird things, like muk tuk, but even the anthropologist in me has her limits.

First, there is Balut. Considered a delicacy in some Asian countries, it is a cooked fertilized duck egg. Yes, fertilized as in embryo.

Just add a dash of salt and some lemon juice, and you are good to go.

To the bathroom to hurl, that is.

Next up we have Haggis. Haggis is nothing more than a sausage, really. A sausage composed of sheep’s liver, heart, and lungs, seasoned and then stuffed into a sheep’s stomach, and then boiled for a few hours.

Hubby has partaken of this while deployed during a celebration. He said it wasn’t bad at all.

I don’t care to find out.

And finally, I come to a heartbreaker, Sardinian Marzu. I love cheese. I really do. I even partake of Limburger. But this…. I just could never, ever eat. Marzu is a goat’s milk cheese to which maggots are added.

Now, after “fermentation”, you are supposed to remove the maggots carefully, and eat the cheese. But some people leave the maggots, because they add an additional rich flavor to the cheese.

I don’t know about y’all, but I can do without ever knowing what cheese-infested maggots taste like.

As a reminder, it’s only a week until Easter, which means I do get to partake of some serious chocolate. That should make up for this post 😉

It’s Quiet….TOO Quiet…

And that’s just how I like it.

I’m still in my very comfy pajamas, drinking my second cup of coffee, and listening in my head to this:

Soon enough the kids will shuffle in like zombies wake and start the weekly chores, and I will spend time in the garden beds pulling weeds and digging holes for new flowers. Once that begins, I shall be listening in my head to this:

Sorry, but there is no way I am listening to the actual Wagner opera. I have better things to do with my braincells than keep Wagner pickling them for sixteen hours 😉

Tattoo You

Full disclosure: I don’t have any tattoos. Nevertheless, I love the intricate works of art that can grace someone’s body. I remember back in the early 90’s, the Dallas Museum of Art had a photograph collection on display of 114 tattoos by 68 different artists, and I was mesmerized. It is different than painting on a canvas. The precision, the detail, and the no-room-for-mistakes make for some beautiful work, and sometimes for major drama when the artist does makes a mistake. Unlike tattoos in the past, nowadays you can correct mistakes a bit more easily, though not without added discomfort!

I had briefly toyed with the idea of either getting a tattoo, or a (SHOCK!!) belly button piercing when I lived in Germany. It seemed everyone was getting one. And Hubby wasn’t opposed to it either, as long as it held some sort of significance.

Me: Significance? Like the kids’ names?

Hubby: No, something oblique that only you and me understand.

Me: Kids’ names in Sanskrit??

Hubby: (big sigh) No, no names. But you do have a lot of moles on your back. Maybe like Connect the Dots? Or hey! How about the Big Dipper? You do have moles that look like the stars in the Big Dipper….

Me: ………

Needless to say, that never came to fruition. And in retrospect I suppose it’s a good thing. But sometimes I think wistfully of the remarks a Big Dipper tattoo would have generated 😉

Sometimes My Kids Forget How Cool I Am

Yesterday I was cleaning out my jewelry stash, preparing to let the girls go through my discards of fashion baubles prior to giving the rest to my nieces. Sometimes I do wonder whatever motivated me to buy certain pieces of jewelry. No, I have nothing with skulls and crossbones in the lot. Not yet, anyway. Suffice it to say, most of it is usually appreciated by the girls, so it’s never a loss. But the cascading shell earrings were a wash for sure.

Anyway, as I was reorganizing my treasure chest the lot, I came across certain pieces that Hubby acquired during a conference he attended in Scottsdale, Arizona. I usually wear the earrings and necklaces, but had completely forgotten about this one:

Those who know me will probably be surprised that I own a “slave bracelet”. They would be more surprised to find that I own more than one. And let’s not start on the ankle bracelets. That inventory can take a while.

That’s right, kidlets: your momma is way cool, and she has the creds to prove it 😉