Forget Hoverboards

Next year is 2015, the year Marty McFly went to the future.

I don’t care about a hoverboard. They short over water anyway. But there are some things I do want with the coming future.

1. A dryer that folds your clothes. Lost in Space had one. We’ve had over 50 years to come up with one and the only meaningful improvement on a dryer is the addition of wrinkle guard.
2. Over-the-counter codeine. Australia has it, for goodness’ sake! Then again everything there can kill you, so maybe that’s why.
3. Coffee I.V. Surely this is viable by now??
4. Instant nail color. Zorg’s secretar– I mean, administrative assistant had a gizmo in The Fifth Element that would change your nail color and had NO DRYING TIME. I’m tired of gnats landing on my nail polish before it’s dry.

If I had to pick just one of the above, I would be hard pressed between coffee I.V. and the dryer. I’m sure the dryer would win out after a few nanoseconds of thought on the matter. After all, there’s Keurig now, right?

Seriously, tech gods, is this too much to ask?? 😀

Thursday Never List

The other day I had the misfortune of jamming my nail into the back of a chair, causing the nail to bend back and rip from the bed in a very alarming, not to say painful manner.

I cried like a little girl. I admit it.

Once I took care of the bleeding and the whining, I went to look for a bandage to hold my nail down so that it wouldn’t rip any further.

Nothing in my medicine cabinet.

Nothing in the medicine basket in the kitchen.

Nothing in the first aid kit.

Finally I find a box of bandages buried under who knows how many empty bottles and leftover soaps and dried up nail polishes inside the kids’ bath cabinet. So, I am remedying that oversight today. And cleaning out the crap that has collected due to lazy kids.

Stuff One Should Never Be Without in a Medicine Cabinet

#5– Aspirin

Be all and end all of pain relievers, acne sufferers, and let’s not forget those with heart issues.

#4– Isopropyl alcohol

I have to make that distinction. Otherwise, people would stock Everclear™.

#3– Bandages

Blood is sure pretty, unless it’s your own.

#2– Bismuth solution

For every abdomen ailment. And it’s pink! BONUS!!

#1– Topical antibiotic

I must have seventeen tubes of Neosporin™, Lanacane™, and Bacitracin™ all over the house. And I’m of the opinion it’s STILL not enough.

Anyway, I hope y’all have a wonderful Thursday and enjoy the day not needing any of these items. I’m off to clean out the massive collection of crap under the cabinet. Here’s hoping none of it is radioactive by now 🙂

It’s Tuesday??

I didn’t forget to write a post. Honest! I just had to take a break for a bit due to pretty much not having a topic on which to ramble. Sometimes I want to discuss serious issues here, but then I remember that this blog is fluff for fun.

Some of the stuff I did for fun:

Cleaned under the refrigerator and searched for loose change. Found $1.13.

Counted my vast Lolita glass collection. Still aghast that it is not complete.

Watched K-grade movies. Yes, they were that bad.

Acquired an old table that my neighbor was throwing out. Recycling is *in*.

So that was my fun for the past few days. It’s not much, but sure is a change from this meet or that concert or that play all the time. Still, this post took me several hours to write, which should tell you that either I have a slight case of attention deficit, or that my life is really that boring.

I think it’s more the latter than the former.

Hope y’all enjoy the rest of your Tuesday 🙂

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Also known as Valentine’s Day!

Sorry about skipping yesterday’s TNL, but I had to go downtown to pay the property taxes, which took HOURS since there was some sort of spill on the highway, which meant I had to take backroads that were scary enough to send me into prayer, and then arrive to stand in line among the living and the dead (they had been there so long), and finally, painfully hand over a cheque to the smiling young clerk. By the time I made it home, it was too late to make dinner, much less write a post.

And there ends my justification.

Anyway, back to Valentine’s Day. Around here, I don’t really celebrate it for myself as much as I do for the kids and Hubby. It’s not that I am jaded on the holiday. It’s just that loving someone shouldn’t require a specific day. But that doesn’t mean I don’t try to make the day special in some way. So here is a list of things one should never forget to do for their loved ones.

#5– Carry their burden

Big or small, physical or emotional, it doesn’t matter as long as you make it your own, even for a short time.

#4– Wash their hair

Or give them a foot rub, or massage their shoulders. Anyone that watched Out of Africa knows what I’m talking about.

#3– Be their harbor

No matter what the trouble, be there to offer them safety. You are their shield.

#2– Listen

No matter that it’s gossip or complaints, just listen to them. Usually that is all we want anyway.

#1– Tell them you love them

Sometimes we forget to do that. So don’t.

Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy today, be it in celebration of Valentine’s Day or because it’s Friday finally. I’m going with the latter 😉

The Year of the Horse

It’s my year. I was born in the Year of the Horse, four cycles this year.

Quick, do the math. Done? Ok, moving on.

I have never been a fan of horses the way some people are. I think they are beautiful and graceful, and have a rather dry sense of humor. But my one encounter with horses left me scarred and frightened for life a bit wary of them. And yet Frederic Remington is one of my favorite artists, and I love the way horses are portrayed in Chinese art. The neighbor down the street has one in his garden and I keep hoping he puts it in a garage sale so I can get my hands on it.

I tend to covet weird, inconsequential things, like glass buttons and tin cans. Don’t ask.

Anyway, my dad gave me a wonderful gift this past weekend. It had been his for years, a gift from a good friend, and now it is mine.

So now I have my very own horse to celebrate the year of my birth, even though I am Puerto Rican and Catholic and not Chinese and Buddhist. And this is the only way I will ever have a horse in this house. We already have a Rat, and Snake, and I refuse to tend a Pig.

Just as well Dragons are on the endangered list, too 😀

Sunday Sithy

Do you ever wake up disoriented from a weird dream and feel the dream follows you when you’re awake?

That’s how my day started.

Last night I fell asleep watching The Fifth Element, and woke up to Mimic, and of course cockroaches with Jean Paul Gauthier costumes were involved in my dream. And as all of humanity was succumbing to the giant cockroaches’ will to rule the galaxy (I think that’s from Men in Black) while infiltrating our brains (maybe The Wrath of Khan), all I could think about is how they got such tiny rooster feathers to fit around the necks of their fur coats. So, this morning as I go to the kitchen to feed the Sheltie, I see a weird shaped leaf on the tile and immediately freak out because it looks like a cockroach sporting a cane. But it was just a leaf with a stem. Once again, this is why I shouldn’t eat sweets late in the evening.

So, here’s a Sithy to cleanse the insect fashion palate.

My late BIL Draco would have snorted his coffee out his nose at that 😀

Hope y’all have a wonderful Sunday!!

Thursday Never List

Baby, it’s cold outside.

We were blessed with winter again. Hail last night, sleet this morning, and ice on the roads. And do you see me complaining?? Nope. Not one bit. Why? Because I could be in Pennsylvania or Michigan. By the same logic, I could be in Australia and enjoying summer. Glass half empty or half full? It doesn’t matter as long as there’s more wine to fill it.

Anyway, the weather got me to thinking. Yes, sometimes the synapses fire off. Living in Texas, we tend to enjoy mild winters for the most part. But we do get our share of ice and sn*w. And that’s when we step into the Outer Limits™ because apparently three sn*wflakes can shut down the area. However, there are some steps we in the South can take to be ready for the unforeseen.

Winter Gear to Never Do Without

#5– Head covering

A hat, a scarf, anything that would keep your body heat from dissipating out through your head is necessary. Unless you like tears freezing on your cheeks. Then that’s ok.

#4– Ice scraper

Nothing worse than cracking your windshield while pouring hot water over the ice. Not good at all.

#3– Sand

In case of ice or slush, or kitty litter is good too. Also good for your enemies gas tanks. So I hear.

#2– Extra socks

Because you never know if that icy patch is solid.

#1– Blanket or throw

If ever you are stuck and need warmth, or for visiting your inlaws who think 45* F is breezy and healthy for you. You can never have too many throws. Ever.

Just a disclaimer: I am from Puerto Rico, and reside in Texas. I am more than sure EVERYONE north of the Mason-Dixon line has better advice, so please do chime in 🙂

Is This *Really* What You’re Looking For??

I was over at The Bloggess the other day, and as usual I ended up snorting coffee out through my nose while reading her blog. I must say some of the search terms people use to arrive at her site are…. intriguing. Out of curiosity, I looked up the search terms at Sithy, and I must say, there are some odd people out there.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. At all.

Besides, there is coffee for that, right?

So here are some of the search terms for this past week:

I got my voodoo doll out — Look, I get it, but you really should keep that to yourself. I certainly don’t need the NSA knocking on my door for someone else’s voodoo. I got special brand of crazy without adding to it.

Nobody move I just cleaned the house — Why in the heck would you come to THIS blog for THAT?? As if!!

козы плавают в море — I’m at a loss here.

Squirrels with lightsabers — Never gets old.

Mmmm — Candy, food, drink…what??

Kilt exposed — If only!!

Hope y’all have a great Tuesday, and feel free to translate. But only is it’s family friendly 😉

Thursday Never List

ZOMG!!! My 20th TNL!!!

Not counting the ones bumped to Fridays due to laziness.

It’s hard coming up with Never Lists. Pretty soon I’ll run out of Nevers and sound like a Puritan. But on the plus side, there is a lot of stupid out there from which to choose, so I have that going for me.

(So, Hubby came home early and we decided to watch A Good day to Die Hard, and then my mom needed some stuff, and then dinnertime came, and went, and so I am just now getting back to this post. I suck at blogging, I know.)

Advice One Should Never Ignore

#5– Always have an umbrella

Yes, even in South Texas. Because the day you don’t have one is the day you are all dressed up for that date you have been planning for months, wearing your new silk dress, and that just-out-of-the-salon hair style. So I hear.

#4– Keep spare glasses in your nightstand

Last thing you need is to look for things you can’t see.

#3– Play more

Be active and enjoy life. There is nothing worse than being dead inside. Unless you’re a zombie, I guess.

#2– Find a happy place

You don’t have to be happy all day, but you should find something to be happy about every day.

#1– Never get involved in a land war in Asia

Seriously, remember Qin??

Anyway, I do hope y’all had a wonderful day and are relaxing now. If not, then I hope the non-relaxation is worth it 😀

Mmmm, Mmmm, Stew!

It has been a while since I have posted a recipe here. With the passing of our blogging friend Yabu, I lost the desire to annoy food pic haters, as he used to call them. But after yesterday’s near debacle, I felt I should share the wondrousness of the beef stew. So easy, and so good, you’ll want to make it every week. Or so my kid tells me.

It was inhaled so fast I had no time to take nice photos.

Simple Beef Stew

(Adapted from Lipton Recipe Secrets™)

• 2 lbs. Sirloin, cut up into cubes
• 4 medium gold potatoes, halved and quartered
• 4 carrots, cut into 1 inch lengths
• 1 small white onion, halved and quartered
• 2 envelopes Lipton Recipe Secrets™ Onion Mushroom Soup mix
• 2 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
• 1 C water
• 1 C Red wine*
• 1 C peas (waaaaaay optional)

*You can substitute a cup of water for the wine.

If using a Dutch oven, preheat oven to 275* F.

Brown the sirloin in a large pan with a bit of cooking oil. Once browned, transfer all the sirloin and the collected juices to a Dutch oven. Add the carrots, potatoes, onion, and peas (if you must…). Add the soup mix and tomato paste to the water, and mix well. Pour over meat and vegetables. Pour wine if desired. Stir well, and close lid. Place in oven for three hours or until meat is tender.

If using a crock pot, follow the same steps but heat on low for six hours, or high for 3½ hours.

Good food doesn’t have to be complicated. Thank goodness 😀