*Pokes Blog*

Yes, blog is still here. I took a long weekend off from blogging anywhere. I was a bit rundown, and needed to recharge. There was also the question of cleaning house which had been ignored needed to be addressed. I also managed to address some book folding and some shopping.

Wedding gifts do not purchase themselves. Ask any woman.

Today is April Fools’ Day, and I find myself wondering why we designate only one day for that. In my opinion, designating a month for it is still not long enough. On the other hand, at least I don’t live in France and have to deal with someone trying to adhere a fish to my back. There is always a silver lining. In my case, the silver lining is usually aluminium. Which is fine, because it’s great for cooking.

There’s a lot of rambling in my head today.

Actually, there’s a lot of rambling in my head every day. The sad part is, the absence or presence of booze doesn’t have anything to do with it. So I have that going for me, right? RIGHT?? Don’t answer. I don’t think my ego can take it. At least not until I’ve had my third cup of coffee. Which is probably the reason I ramble so much. Viscous circles, you know.

(I interrupt this not-so-regularly scheduled post while I take Son to get braces. Highlight of day: accomplished!)

So today finds me being a bit domestic, making braised chicken a la Provence, baking bread, organizing stuff to donate, and listening to Vivaldi, at least until Little One comes home and turns on Futurama, or some gameshow. All I know is she thinks she is master of the remote. So with that, I finish rambling and go off to finish making dinner while pretending the glass of water is a glass of wine.

I’m not just good at rambling. I’m good at dreaming, too 😀

Better Late Than Next Week Never List

My niece is getting married in May, and my nephew (her brother) will be getting married in October. Between joining the military, graduations from college, weddings, and family reunions, this year will be a banner year for the family. That also means attending wedding showers, graduation parties, bridal showers, but it does NOT mean attending bachelorette parties. I have a limit. I’m sure it will be fun. For them. It’s just not my thing.

Now, had it been a quilting bee, heck yeah!

Moving on, it got me to thinking about my wedding and the gifts I received. I was very lucky in that we received a lot of kitchen and bath stuff. But we did get some rather odd gifts that never even saw the light of day.

Wedding Gifts to Avoid

#5– Character appliances

We received a Mickey Mouse™ waffle iron as a wedding gift. It stayed in the box until I sold it in a garage sale. Twelve years later.

#4– Lawn equipment

Most times the first home is an apartment. And there is only so much space for a weed whacker.

#3– Artwork

Everyone’s tastes are different, and newlyweds will have enough work finding common ground without having to add Wharhol soup cans to it.

#2– Relationship books

No. Just no.

#1– Anything personalized

As wonderful as the thought may be, you are giving a gift that will be limited in use. A framed item is nice, but where would the personalized throw and the personalized candleholder end up?

I hope this helps some of y’all as we head into summer wedding season. If all else fails, cash is always a welcome gift.

So I’ve been told. Countless of times 😉

Thursday Sithy

I’m a bit swamped today with laundry and groceries and what-not, so I don’t have much to write about. Just one of those days when everything piles up and you feel like you are in the movie Open Water, only with stain remover and toilet brush instead of sharks.

It sounds better in my head. Anyway I will try to have a Thursday Never List up tomorrow. I realize it will be Friday, but it may still be a Thursday on some planet, so I have that going for me.

Anyway, here’s a Sithy!

It sure is dangerous to go Solo. That’s why I’m Sith 😉

Have a great afternoon!!

When Worlds Collide

I love being a geek. I cannot express the joy I get when science fiction characters are assimilated into a smash-up of epic proportions.

Today is the birthday of one of Science Fiction’s most revered icons, none other than the original, and best evah, Captain Kirk.

WILLIAM SHATNER!!!

I saw that photo* on the social-site-with-faces and SQUEEE’d!! How epic is it to find the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise being “escorted” by Stormtroopers?? That made my whole week. Happiest of days to Captain T.J. Crane!! (See what I did there??)

Hope y’all have a long and prosperous weekend 😉

*Special hat tip to my friend, Mr. Fixit 😀

Short Musings

Well, today started off a bit on the off side. The repairman was unable to come and finish the walls, so I am in the uncomfortable position of having to wait a bit longer to do my laundry, since the washer is positioned at an angle and difficult to use. Anyway, I got on to write a post today, but found that decided to change the emoticons we use in our blogs. And of course, some of the emoticons are “secret”, so I had to play all afternoon trying to figure them out.

It was a sacrifice I was willing to make. But never again.

Look, I am a n00b when it comes to computers. I am no nor am I a genius. You know the whole “give a monkey a typewriter” thing? Well, that’s me, only not as cute. Don’t get me wrong. I ❤ writing, even writing just stuff that’s fluffy as a 🐻 is fun for me. But if pressure is involved, like in NaNoWriMo, forget it. You might as well pour me a and leave me alone, because I would never come close to making a dent. Writing under pressure just doesn’t appeal to me. Writing nonsensical musings on a whim is totally different, and should always be celebrated. Of course, there are times when you come up with a clever 💡 and you have to run with it. Those times are few and far between for me, though.

Anyway, the ⭐ s are aligning for me, so I have to get going. It’s Friday, and still Lent, so I’m making rainbow trout for dinner. Easter seems like a long way off to me.

I wish I could have a 🌯 and wash it down with a 🍸 .

😥

Thursday Never List

There is a time to every purpose under Heaven, right?

Take washing the car, for example. After misty, drizzly days, you are itching to wash the accumulated dirt and seeds and what-not that feels glued to the exterior. And the day after you wash your vehicle, it rains. That evul Murphy and his Laws strikes again. Sometimes plans don’t jive with Fate, and the efforts seem wasted. I prefer to think of it as an opportunity to learn.

And I tend to learn a lot. Over and over again, it seems.

Things Never To Do Out of Order

#5– Never wash your car if there is rain in the forecast

As alluded to before, even if you live in the desert, just learn to be patient and wait for endless sunny days.

#4– Never bathe your dog before taking him to the dog park

Hilarity will ensue after he discovers new scents into which to revel.

#3– Never try new cosmetics the day of an event

Redness and splotchy look great in commercials, but not in real life.

#2– Never take the newly-opened exit ramp

People are creatures of habit, and as such will STILL act like the ramp isn’t there for days afterwards.

#1– Never do your nails right before cleaning anything

Or gardening, or sewing, or laundering, or fill-in-the-blank. This is my Achilles heel and forever will be so until such time as I have either a full-time housekeeper, gardener, and cook, or I give up on having pretty nails.

I’m pretty sure the latter will win out 😀

Last Day of Winter

Or so the calendar claims.

I think the calendar is yanking my chain, though. I’m still wearing sweaters and long sleeves and the heater kicks in every night. Usually by mid-March we have nice warm days, precursors to the scorchers we get for living five blocks from the Sun. My bluebonnets are coming up, the mountain laurel has bloomed, but I’m afraid the roses and the Barbados shrubs did not do well in the freezes we had. And you know what that means, right?

Every year I buy plants and flowers, and every year, they die. But for a few weeks they look SPECTACULAR in my yard, so at least I have that going for me.

So today I am off to go look for nice geraniums and roses and petunias. Hopefully they won’t cringe when they see me at the nursery. If they do, I shall spare them the agony of dying in my yard.

It’s the least I can do 😀

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™ 😀

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 😀