Dreamy Coffee

I had a rather eventful day yesterday. In short, I was diagnosed with anaemia, and had to start taking iron. Yay…me…. The way I see it, I have an excellent excuse to eat a lot of bacon and steak. Silver lining, and all that.

Anyway, I finally got to sleep through the night for the first time in days. And dream. Boy howdy, did I dream! I was at Target™ shopping with Hubby, looking at living room furniture (which they don’t carry, but whatever), when Hugh Jackman rounded the corner and greeted us in his Aussie twang, asking if we knew where the coffee was. Hubby turns to me and says, “Go show him, honey. I’ll be in Electronics.”

That part is completely plausible. The electronics, not Hugh Jackman.

So, I take Mr. Wolverine over to the gourmet coffee area and he starts teaching me the finer points on choosing beans, and I tell him I grew up in a coffee plantation (my grandfather’s), and he asks me all sorts of questions about how to pick and roast, and shows me his favorite brand of coffee (comes in a  silver tin), and then asks me to come over to his place for afternoon coffee!!!!

For me? Why, thank you 😉

And then my stupid alarm goes off at 6 AM, thankfully before I make a fool of myself by screaming like a fangurl. To make matters just a bit more Outer Limits©, as I was perusing the interwebs for that drool-worthy pic, I come to find out that he has established a charity that sells fair trade coffee and tea, which comes in a silver tin.

Why can I dream about this stuff, but not lottery numbers?? 😉

Thursday Never List

I have noticed that several bloggers have a day set aside for blog linking, or lists, or other sundry stuff like funnies. So I decided to start my Thursday Never List™. One can never have too many lists, and at least this one won’t alarm the NSA.

One of the things my brother-in-law Draco and I used to like to talk about was movies. He has his favorites, and so do I. But we also had that list. You know, the movies we would never, EVER watch. EVER!!!! Invariably, one of us would screech at the other in disagreement over a classic, but for the most part we tended to agree on most movies we blacklisted. And so, in honor of my brother Draco, here is my list of the top five movies I’ll never, EVER watch.

#5- A Nightmare on Elm Street

It doesn’t matter which version, or sequel. I just don’t care to see some chick transmogrified into a cockroach while some dude runs around with finger blades. Though the blades are rather nice.

#4- Twilight

Seriously, who thought sparkly vampires and expressionless twits were a good combination?

#3- The Notebook

Nicholas Sparks writes the same book with a different title every year.

#2- Avatar

Not to be confused with M. Night Shyamalan’s torturous homage to Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, this film is so riddled with politics and plot holes, I would just as soon clip my nails in a Cuisinart™ than watch more than the ten minutes I wasted.

Ok, this is where y’all will probably hate me.

#1- Top Gun

Can’t stand that over-rated, couch-jumping, peacocking whiner.

So, that’s my Thursday Never List. Feel free to admonish me for never having watched Top Gun. I get that a lot 😀

Small Hiatus

This week I am hosting the Glorious Lemur King and his family, so I am not blogging as usual. But some of y’all may be wondering what we have done, so….

This is where we went:

AQUARENA SPRINGS

OBVIOUS….

And today we shall be going here:

NATURAL BRIDGE CAVERNS

And after that, we shall tour the Alamo and the Riverwalk.

And after that, we shall rest. Maybe. I’m a bit fuzzy right now.

Anyway, hope to be back here soon. I’m off to go gawk at the new electric smoker the Lemurs have been kind enough to gift us. Ta ta for now!! 😀

Ikea™ is Swedish for “Junk”

But what glorious junk it is!

Ikea™ is one of my favorite stores. I love, love, LOVE that place. It has everything. Unfortunately the nearest one is way north of me, about two hours. Hubby doesn’t much care for it because it isn’t solid-wood-to-pass-down-to-our-great-great-grandchildren quality. He also doesn’t like the hugeness of it. Or the crowds. Or the parking lot. About the only thing he likes about it is the view of the store from his rear-view mirror.

Anyway, I have been asking Hubby to stop there whenever we have a road trip up north, but invariably something happens to impede my wishes, be it by accident or design. Well, not this time! There is an Ikea™ on the west side of Houston and I am going to hit it like a screen door in a hurricane during my visit to my in-laws. And all for a few of these frames:

Why? Because they are perfect for collages, and gifts, and pictures, and all sorts of stuff. I had bought several while in Germany, and kept giving them away. So, it’s time to replenish my stash, and maybe pick up a few lamp kits and shades and perhaps some vases to alter.

Because change is good 😀

Got $20 in My Pocket

Sorry about the earworm. But I just couldn’t resist.

Yesterday I went to the local thrift stores. My mom liked the little cupcake stands I made for my friend’s birthday party, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to go check out the treasure troves in search of a candlestick to use, since I have oodles of dessert plates and saucers. In fact, I just found a couple of antique acid-etched saucers in the top shelf of the cabinet. Those I am going to use for another project. Besides, she wants something for serving cheeses as well so I have to use a dessert plate. Whatever makes her happy, right?? I had in mind using a Desert Rose by Franciscan™ dessert plate I bought at the flea market. But I was dissuaded when I went thrifting.

And boy howdy, did I score!

Yes, to many of you that’s just a bunch of junk. But see those pink plates? Those are Majolica from Portugal. And that’s an antique Ball™ blue mason jar. And the cup and saucer is Noritake™. And the little white frame is wrought iron from Italy. If you’re unfamiliar with all the names I just dropped, let me just explain that the plates alone are about $30 each. And out of my $20 bill, I had enough to buy lunch at the local chicken joint. And still have change left over!!

So today I shall be showing my mom her new cheese stand and maybe getting a few orders for more. After all, she has a lot of friends 😀

Ever Have One of Those Weeks When Everything Just Piles On?

Yeah, me too.

On the cusp of my friend’s farewell, my mom came to town for a visit. Then had a BBQ to attend on Sunday, then had to pick up kids from work, then had to fix something for dinner, then get uniforms ironed. Monday it was Eldest’s birthday, which is being observed on Thursday due to work schedules, and she also had to go run to main base and see a friend she hadn’t seen in seven years, because it was her birthday and that’s what she wanted. Then Eldest had to go take her driver’s test today, which took up all morning because she made the appointment waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over on the other side of Texas. But hey, she passed and I am no longer a chauffeur.

WHOO HOO!!!!

And as an intrepid friend pointed out, she can also be a designated driver. It’s a win-win.

Aside from that, we are also getting ready to go to the lake once again. But before we can go, we need to have some work done on the house. Luckily nothing major, just painting the bathroom and decluttering the upstairs. Why? Because the Lemur King and his royal family are coming for a visit!!!

And I can’t wait! We are going to do all the Big Texas things and eat Texas food and have a grand time. They’ll get a chance to rest on the trip back north, not to worry.

I will try to post more fluff this week. I just have to make sure my mom is otherwise occupied. Maybe cooking for the clan. That would be a win-win, too 😉

It Is Never too Late to Think About Halloween

Seriously, Halloween is just over 100 days away. I have to plan accordingly.

Each year, the kids’ costumes get more intricate. Last year, Eldest dressed as a weird, foul character from Skyrim™, complete with live snake for a necklace. Little One chose another character, and her cloak had stuffed crows attached to it.

Not real crows, mind you. I may be crafty, but I have never learned taxidermy.

This year the girls want to do something more subtle. Eldest may or may not participate, due to upcoming commitments, but Little One has plans…. big plans. And they involve cherry syrup and scar makeup. No, I have no idea if it’s for her, or a victim friend. Sometimes that child makes me afraid.

As for myself, I was all set to make an elaborate Steampunk costume. Until I realized that I would be handing out candy to a lot of kids and their parents who would have no idea what the heck Steampunk is. But not to worry. I have an excellent plan in mind. One that will probably get parents to ban my house from trick-or-treating next year. I’m not divulging what it is, but here’s a hint.

Only it will be black and tan. So you get two hints. And no, I am not going as Vader Princess, much as I would love to.

Maybe next year 😉

What a Difference a Weekend Makes

This weekend we traveled up east to visit family. It had been almost a year since we had gone for a visit, and we were chomping at the bit to get there. I have always found cousins to be the ties in families, and this was no different. All in all, my aunt- and uncle-in-law  hosted two of their kids, and their families, two of their nephews, their wives, and their seven children, along with other family friends. And I won’t lie: it was mostly my aunt-in-law! She not only did this at the last minute, but with a gracious heart and plenty of laughter. I’m sure by Sunday she was completely exhausted.

It doesn’t get better than that, huh? Relaxing by a lake, watching them fish and enjoying the sounds of kids playing and laughing. And that was the ONLY time we slowed down. The rest of the time was occupied with visits and cooking and eating and playing games and generally having fun. Sometimes being busy is the best way to unwind.

And I can’t wait to do it all over again 😀

Random Thoughts on a Wednesday—Scratch That. TUESDAY!!! Afternoon

I took Eldest to the mall this afternoon. She needed shoes for her graduation, and I needed shoes for a promotion ceremony. I walked into Macy’s™, where I seldom shop, and went to the shoes, right through to the sales rack, found the perfect pair, and proceeded to check out. “Shopping Like a Man” level: ACHIEVED.

There is no worse earworm than that of a Zelda game.

Funny how cleaning the house takes only minutes when you know you are having company.

Before I went to see Curtis Stone, I had two different types of vinegar in my pantry. Now I have nine.

Kindness is always free.

I have trained my dogs to want to go out as soon as I sit down. Ok, they trained me.

I’m still trying to wrap my mind around how some people claim to be ready for the zombie apocalypse, and yet they can’t manage to kill a spider without the use of five pairs of shoes, several cans of Raid™ and a Bic™ lighter, all the while crying like a toddler who fell off the swing set.

I am never too anything to be hungry.

That does it for today’s randomness. Hope y’all have a pleasant evening!! 😀

UPDATE!!!!!

It has been brought to my attention by Rob that it is Tuesday, not Wednesday. This is what happens when I am on pain meds and have no chocolate in the house.

Ever Feel Like You Have Nothing to Say, but Feel the Need to Type Some Sort of Post Anyway?

Yeah, neither do I.

So, since it has been a while, I give what is possibly the most awesome U.S. soldier, EVAH!!

Platoon Sergeant in Iraq, wearing Tartan Wilson, (found here). EPICNESS!!

Now, go fan yourselves 😉