Happy Pi Day!!!

That’s right!! The second nerdiest holiday of the year!!

I’m sure I don’t have to tell y’all which is the greatest nerd holiday, right??

So in honor of π, I shall be making a pie. Yes it is Lent and I can’t have any sweets, but the rest of the family wasn’t boneheaded like me, and they sure can partake.

I will also be serving a fruit cooler with ice cubes made from this:

I purchased that tray from Think Geek a while back, and is no longer available through their site. But Woot! has it for today! If you miss out, there is always Amazon. They have everything, apparently.

Anyway, I’m off to start baking. Hope y’all enjoy the day and get your geek on!! 😀

Thursday Never List

As y’all know, it’s Lent and I have a habit of giving up all sorts of things during the season, mostly to test my willpower. So far, I have been sticking to it just fine. The worst part is looking at my Lolita glass collection and knowing I won’t be using it for over a month. This is me for the next few weeks.

Over a month, people!!!

Sure, I can use one for a water glass, and probably will. But it’s just not the same. Little One offered to add food coloring to my water to make it look like a cocktail, but I declined. Her version of what looks like a cocktail is wildly different from mine. It’s not that I have a cocktail or glass of wine every night. It’s just that wine goes in a wine glass and cocktails go in a cocktail glass and water goes in a water glass. I don’t like messing with the order of things.

Anyway, I was looking at the cocktail board on Pinterest a few days ago and it gave me pause. There were some recipes there that called for some spirits best left in the Nether World, if you get my drift. I just don’t get how some people can drink some of the liquors and liqueurs out there. Seriously.

Liquor I Will Never Drink

#5– Chartreuse™

The color is named for its hue. Neither the color nor the taste is appealing to me.

#4– Ouzo

Tastes like oily rotted anise.

#3– Grappa

Fermented grape skins were violated in the making of that stuff.

#2– Jaegermeister™

It is a digestive aid. One doesn’t drink Mylanta™ for kicks, so why drink that stuff to get tipsy?

#1– Absynthe

If I want to take a trip, I will book one through a travel agent.

As far as I’m concerned, these liquors are best used in Molotov cocktails. Your mileage may vary, but I bet some of y’all secretly agree with me.

Especially on the Jaegermeister™ 😀

Hole in the Wall

Would that I referred to a great little eaterie.

Unfortunately, today is the day for home repair. A while back, a certain fist flew and attacked a poor, defenseless wall, causing the wall to suffer a terrible loss of gypsum. A hasty bandage in the form of a calendar was applied until such time as surgery to replace the drywall could be performed.

Let this be a lesson to NEVER get me upset*.

Anyway, I was fortunate enough to find a gentleman who specializes in covering up drama driven fury general home repair. So today the hole will be patched, along with some dents around the house, and a few broken tiles. As a bonus, he will return once the weather is back to being Texan and do the mortar outside along the brick edge. Age is taking its toll on the house, I suppose. I’m just glad I hired someone to do the repairs. Because if it had been up to me, I would have used Lego™ bricks and E-6000™.

Of course, seeing the tile being replaced is giving me the urge to have it ripped out and have wood flooring done. And by “urge”, I mean “all consuming need”. But since this won’t be my retirement home (see what I did there??), I’ll probably just keep to repairing it and concentrate on saving up for the important stuff, like kids’ college and Le Creuset™ pots. And Lolita™ glasses. Drinking out of the bottle is so 80’s. That, and if I do drink out of the bottle people start calling me selfish. It’s a small sacrifice to make.

Have a great Wednesday, and remember to be kind to your walls 😀

* I didn’t actually punch the wall. A wayward ladder being carried clumsily by yours truly did. But being the bigger person, I take responsibility. I’m magnanimous that way.

So Here We Are…

It’s Tuesday, and the entire weekend got away from me.

It’s not that I didn’t even try to write a post. I did. Every time I sat down to write something just came up. First, a friend came in for a weekend visit, then parents surprised us with a weekend visit, then we had to celebrate said visits. It was fun and very hectic, but tiring. Probably because I gave up sugars for Lent.

Anyway, today I get to do something I haven’t done in a long time: stained glass! I enrolled in a class to get my skill level back up to “tolerable”, and will be making a pretty window hanging of a hummingbird and flower.

A word of warning: mine will look NOTHING like that. But that’s the general pattern I will be following. I’m hoping I get to keep this one. Every time I make something new, someone in my family ends up with it. Maybe I’ll have enough time to make more than one. All I know is that it will grace someone’s window next month.

Hopefully mine 😀

Adults Say the Darnedest Things, Too

Most of y’all know I have a Jones for cast iron. Hubby knows to stop in at the Le Creuset™ factory outlet store first whenever he is dragged along accompanies me. We seldom get anything, but I do love to go in and look at all the pretty colors and make a mental list of all the pieces missing from my collection enjoy chatting with the sales people. Sometimes we manage to get a cooking demonstration in and that’s always fun. Especially if we get to sample it. Anyway, last time I was there, the sales gal told me that the company was re-issuing one of my Holy Grails.

The darling pepper-shaped cocotte!!!

I admit, I SQUEEE’d out loud in front of people when she told me. Yes, they looked at me funny. They always do anyway. We got back home in time for me to make dinner, and as we sat around the table, I gingerly brought up the subject of the cocotte. Keep in mind, one has to be very subtle when speaking about such things, especially when there is no occasion pending for the giving of presents.

Me: So (me being subtle)…….. you heard the sales gal say the pepper cocotte is back, right?

Hubby: *deep sigh*

Me: You know I have wanted that pot since the first time they issued it decades ago, right?

Hubby: *heaves sigh again, keeps eating*

Me: It’s like a Holy Grail, right?

Hubby: Honey, this isn’t Pokemon!! YOU CAN’T CATCH THEM ALL!!

Me: ……………….

Son: That’s epic, Dad.

Me: *glares at Son*

Hubby: *grins evilly*

Me: I may not play the games but I did watch the show, and I am going to catch this one.

Hubby: *deep sigh*

It may take a bit of time to save up for it, but hopefully I will have a baker’s rack all set up to display my preciouses by the time I do get it.

And I will get it. Oh yes, I will 😀

Thursday Never List

Today’s scribbly fluff deals with kindness. As a mom, I find it challenging to teach my kids how to be kind for kindness’ sake. It’s challenging because there are times when I want to go Rambo on some idiot taking up space at the dairy section, trying to decide if his soon-to-be carcass needs 2% or 1% milk. Seriously, is there such a life-threatening difference?? But it wouldn’t do to act like that in front of kids, or anyone for that matter. Nor would it do to be hostile to someone you don’t know simply because you are in a hurry to get creamer because you haven’t had your daily allotment of coffee.

Anyway, I understand there are times when it is very difficult, almost near impossible, to be kind. But there a some things which we should never pass up doing randomly for others.

#5– Never forget to wave

A simple acknowledgement like a hand wave goes a long way to make someone feel appreciated.

#4– Never forget to look behind you

Watching out for others makes one incredibly considerate.

#3– Never respond in anger

You can never take back words once spoken. Also, you can never take back words typed after hitting “send” or “enter”. Always read or think before you act.

#2– Never forget “Please” and “Thank you”

People aren’t your subjects, so don’t treat them like they are.

#1– Never forget to smile

People feel much better when they smile, and when it is returned. As a bonus, they will wonder if you are up to something.

There are many ways to show kindness to others. And by showing kindness, we get it in return.

Unless you are at the DMV. Then it’s a crap shoot 😉

Sith Tuesday!!

Today is Mardi Gras, the last day of indulgence before the start of the Lenten season.

Yay!! At least until tomorrow morning.

As y’all know, I go all out for Lent. I give up booze, and junk food, and sweets, and sodas, and fatty foods. This makes for a very cranky Sith Empress for a few days, and then I am back to my normal Death Star-shiny self. One good thing about giving up so much stuff is the lightness of being. By that, I mean the loss of holiday pounds that invariable stick around after the holidays like an unwanted guest.

I’m already looking forward to Easter Sunday.

Courtesy of Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus

So go and have some fun, and enjoy festivities and drink and food and revelry. Catch some beads and sing along. For tomorrow will come soon enough.

And may your morning be free of nausea and headaches 😀

HAPPY TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

WHOOP!!

So make sure to celebrate today in true Texas style!!

Have a wonderful Sunday 🙂

Thursday Never List

Everyone loves to give advice. Notice I didn’t say “good advice”. We give advice when asked for it, and we give advice unsolicited. Some of the best advice I have followed stemmed from someone’s experience, and not from pearls of wisdom. Some of the worst advice has come from trusted sources (I will never, EVER eat eggplant casserole again). The great thing about advice is not that you can follow it, but that you have the free will to ignore it as well. Unfortunately, the trick is to know when to do one or the other.

That’s usually when hilarity ensues, so you have that going for you.

There are some words of advice that people should never forget, though.

#5– Never go to bed angry

It doesn’t matter if some wizard cleaned your clock in World of Warcraft™ or if you’re miffed because your significant other forgot to DVR your TV show. Resolve your anger and you’ll sleep better. Or at least, sleep with both eyes closed instead of one open.

#4– Never go grocery shopping while hungry

There is a can of octopus in the refrigerator, purchased while having a craving for sushi. I bet that can will evolve into the Kraken before too long.

#3– Never leave chocolate unattended

I speak as a victim. And also as a culprit. Don’t judge me.

#2– Never leave wet towels on the floor

Especially if you have dogs. Double especially if you have wet dogs.

#1– Never skip dessert

Some say with the sweet, comes the sour. I say with dessert, comes happiness. It sure makes for a sweet ending to whatever type of day you are having.

So there’s a few random words of unsolicited advice. As always, take with a grain of sugar or two 😉

Retail Therapy

I don’t care what some people say, I firmly believe everyone enjoys retail therapy to some degree. Whether you are buying ammo or new shoes, or shopping for others or yourself, it makes no difference. There is a part of you that really, really feels good about it.

For some guys, it may be a very tiny part, but it’s there. Especially if it involves booze. Or bacon. Or bullets.

We women get a bad rap for it, but we don’t all follow the norm. For example, I have three sisters. Last evening Sister #2 called to tell me she had bought some furniture for the empty room upstairs, and was so giddy about it she was giggling. Sister #3 sent an MMS to all of us showing her new shoes, which she purchased at a major discount (And I mean MAJOR: Nicole Miller heels for $4.98). And Sister #4 and I (I’m Sister #1, in case y’all wondered) usually SQUEEE over the Lolita glasses we *ahem* acquire. The funny thing is, it doesn’t have to be expensive or blingy or showy for retail therapy to work its magic on your psyche.

It just has to make you happy. Admittedly, a gorgeous diamond ring would make most women happy, and a Ferrari would make most men happy, too. But high maintenance would take away that first blush of happiness and replace it with resentment soon enough. Not that I would know first hand about that, though.

Sure would be fun to try it for a few weeks, though 😉