Because Stained Carpets Means Move Furniture, or Something.

Today I decided to tackle the stains in my carpeting. I have Berber carpet, so it’s maddening to get anything off, but I was willing to try some ammonia to it. Only I couldn’t find the ammonia, so I used Oxy-Clean™. Y’all know Billy Mays is smiling down at this very minute. Anyway, right beside Hubby’s nightstand is a stain from when he spilled water with lemon juice. It has always bugged me, and I decided that I was going to scrub it, as soon as I finished scrubbing the red wine stain that is right by the bathroom door, from when he spilled his glass a few nights ago.

He’s not clumsy. Considering these two spillages occurred five years apart, he has a pretty good track record.

So, I get down to treat it, only there are fifteen books that I have to move. So, I decide to move the books, only to find the rest of his medical papers and lectures, so those get moved, as well. Pretty soon, there are five big stacks of books and stuff out of the way. And then I remembered the books he has under the bed because he has no place to put them. I’m sorry, but  THIS WILL NOT STAND!!!

Up the stairs I have a tall bookcase that is just displaying some of my many, many lighthouses. Hm…. my little braincell decides to twitch its axon and bother the dormant braincell and an idea is born. And this is what transpired:

• Remove all lighthouses, then shelves.
• Bring down behemoth, taller-than-me bookcase to room.
• Find out it doesn’t fit.
• Cry.
• Braincell reminds me of Son’s smaller bookcase.
• Go to Son’s room, remove books, and move smaller bookcase to my room.
• Fits fine!
• Move taller-than-me behemoth bookcase to Son’s room.
• Find that it fits only if I move the chests of drawers and the treadmill, which outweighs me by 300 pounds (137 kilograms for my foreign readers).
• Cry.
• Begin to move treadmill. Curse the earth where it was made.
• Move chests of drawers. Think of an explanation for Son. Braincell not co-operating.
• Keep moving treadmill. Swear to all that is holy to set it on fire at the earliest opportunity.
• Keep moving treadmill.
• Keep moving treadmill.
• Cry.
• Finally finish moving stuff around, set up Son’s room to normality levels.
• Come back to my room, set books on shelf.
• Remember the lighthouses.
• Cry.
• Begin taking boxes down.
• Finish putting almost all of the lighthouses away.
• Begin putting boxes back up.
• Remember stain, the little thing that began the whole journey.
• Scrub a bit, stain still there.
• Scrub harder, stain remains.
• Places old book over stain.

Luckily, the red wine stain came off just fine. Otherwise I would have been forced to dye my carpet a nice maroon 😉

In Vino Logica

Today I am finally going to a local winery for a tasting tour. I have been wanting to go for about…. Hm…. I want to say six months or so. Why? Because apparently I can only buy a certain wine at that particular winery and I need it like burning.

Let me attempt to explain the logic here. I like sangria. My father’s cousin used to make the best sangria ever, but she passed away before I was old enough to ask for the recipe. Don’t judge me. Anyway, I have tried sangria everywhere it was offered, hoping to find one that was close enough to her recipe, usually to no avail. Once while in Berlin we saw an offering at a biergarten. That alone should have tipped us off, but we went ahead and tried it. It looked like someone had *ahem* upchucked their fruit salad, and tasted just as vile. After that, I tried the bottled sangrias, but usually they are not sweet enough, and the citric acid tends to conflict with the alcohol somewhat.

Bunch of liars…

Fast forward to May 2012. The ladies of our local wine club make plans to go to the Wein and Sangerfest just north of here, and ZOMG!!! I find the best cheap sangria recipe EVAH!!

Texas Style Sangria

• 1 6oz can of frozen orange juice concentrate, plus one can of water
• 1 6oz can of frozen limeade concentrate, plus one can of water
• 1 liter of grapefruit soda
• 1 bottle Dry Comal Creek Foot Pressed Red Wine™

Blend limeade and orange juice concentrates with water. Add the wine, stirring well, then add the grapefruit soda, and stir well again. Freeze until slushy, or serve over ice if you are impatient, like me. Garnish with orange slices, or pass on the fruit if your impatient, like me. Those of you that are sharp-eyed will recognize where I originally posted this recipe.

Anyway, see that last item?? THAT wine is ONLY sold at the winery. Why?? Why can’t they offer it locally in all other stores that carry their brand?? It is a nice table wine, and a less expensive alternative to their Black White Spanish, which is also awesome, by the way. My point is, if you want people to buy your wine and entice them with an awesome cheap recipe, you should make said wine available to the masses. But no…. Now I have to make the sacrifice of an afternoon, and go to a tasting room just so that I can purchase a bottle or five of wine.

It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make 😉

My 500th Post, a Birthday, and Update

And I really don’t know how that happened.

Today is my blogger friend XBradTC’s birthday!!! And like a good friend, I made him brownies. I say “good”, because if I were a great friend, I would have mailed them to him.

They were delicious. Take my word for it, Brad.

Also, an update on Eldest’s room. Yes, the big reveal was postponed forever due to school commitments, but here is a pic of the final big project I did for her room.

It’s a light fixture made from two hanging baskets, a lantern light kit and an Edison lightbulb. And as you can see, that is the cord cover I was sewing my fingers on that inspired me to ask for a sewing machine for my birthday, which I probably won’t get because I really have no room upstairs for it at this time.

Hope you like the sneak peek. I am counting on getting everything done today so that I can FINALLY do the Big Reveal™ tomorrow. If not, I’ll just make more brownies 🙂

Question to Ponder

Yesterday was a hectic day. ROTC returned from their Lex trip, Little One was still enjoying a sleepover in the afternoon, and Eldest wanted to practice driving. Short story: I didn’t get to enjoy a visit to a winery as planned. But no matter, because I did have time to make a turkey roast which was delish. And that’s what inspired the question:

Why do we wait to have turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas??

Now, obviously I didn’t do a whole turkey. That’s just ridiculous. But doing a boneless roast is not hard, and takes only a couple of hours in the oven, which is pretty much what meatloaf or a pot roast take to bake. From now on I think I will make a turkey at at least once a month.

Variety being the spice of Life and all, along with rosemary!

Weekends Should Start on Mondays

I just do NOT understand why everything piles up on Fridays.

One kid has Sign Language Club, another has German Club. Then we have high school football, and tonight Little One’s band gets to play with the High School band, which means she gets to sit with them all through the game, which also means she has to stay until the end of the game, which translates to traffic jam afterwards. Tomorrow, the other two get to enjoy an ROTC trip to the USS Lexington for the weekend, and that means that Little One will enjoy having a sleepover for her birthday.

From Roamy, who knows me well 🙂

Just what I need: a bunch of screaming teens in the house, eating sweets and chocolate and drinking sodas and gossiping about the cutest boys in school. And I will be serving and cleaning up and praying the earplugs hold up.

Hope y’all’s weekend is far quieter 😉

Food Blogging: Day Three, I Think

I told Laura that for “NATIONAL IRRITATE A FOOD PIC HATER FOOD PIC POSTING WEEK”, known as NIAFPHFPPW, for short, I would have the BEST Sunday breakfast evah!!!

I bet you it will cure a hangover, too.

And this phoned in post concludes my food contributions for NIAFPHFPPW. I can tell you I got some awesome recipes from the bloggers to try in the next few weeks…. Ok, maybe the next few months. If you haven’t been to Bad Bad Juju yet, go….NOW!!

Have a great Friday!! 😀

Food Blogging: Day Two

There was a time in my married life that I made an effort to cook one gourmet meal a week.

And then the kids started growing up.

I’m trying to get back into that, but it’s difficult when some don’t eat certain foods, or others don’t like spices, or still others do not care for cooked vegetables. One thing that they ALL like, however, is steak. You can’t go wrong with steak, ever. I draw the line at Steak Tartare, though. There is no way I am serving raw steak with a raw egg on top.

Grilled steak with cubit potatoes, romaine and bleu cheese dressing, and random roll. AWESOME!!

CUBIT POTATOES

• Three to Four Large Gold Potatoes
• Oil of Choice
• Salt and Pepper
• Rosemary (optional)

Peel and rinse potatoes, then cube. Place in bowl, adding approximately ¼ cup of oil, and then salt and pepper to coat. Toss well, then place in an 8×8 pan, making sure to dust the top again with salt, pepper, and the rosemary if desired. Bake at 400* F (or 204* C for my foreign readers), for about 40 minutes.

Enjoy!! 🙂

Food Blogging: Day One

Technically, I suppose it’s Day Two, but yesterday was a rambling post with the addition of the food blogging, so I shall declare today as Day One and go from there. In case some of you missed it, I am participating in Yabu‘s “NATIONAL IRRITATE A FOOD PIC HATER FOOD PIC POSTING WEEK”, henceforth known as NIAFPHFPPW, for short. Click on his name and you’ll see the multitudinous postings of delish entries.

Today I shall feature what is probably my most requested dessert. Not only is it popular, but very, and I mean VERY, easy to make. It is also a good alternative to using raw eggs.

Chocolate Mousse

• 1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream
• ½ large jar Nutella Spread.
• 1 tbsp. Grand Marnier (optional)

In a medium bowl, whip the cream on a high setting until stiff peaks form. Add the Nutella and the liqueur if desired, and whip again until thoroughly mixed. Using a spatula, make sure to smooth out, and then spoon into custard cups. Makes about six servings.

Enjoy!! 🙂

*UPDATE*

I erroneously typed “small” instead of “large” for the Nutella jar. Correction done!!

Sometimes Psychiatric Help is a Blessing

So I’m told. I have no idea why I wrote that title. Maybe I do need some psychiatric help. Or chocolate.

Anyway, I am going to be working on my little work area upstairs momentarily, in preparation for the coming of Nomstress, Nightflyer, and Rat Boy this weekend. I’m afraid when I start to do some art, and I use that term very loosely, I tend to make piles of my discards and my paints and my embellishments so that the original work area has shrunk by 75%. Working in a space the size of a sheet of notebook paper is not conducive to creativity, so the piles transfer down to the floor, leaving space open for yet more piles.

It’s like the Circle of Life™, only with scissors and glue instead of lions and zebras.

Don’t get me wrong. I can find EVERYTHING. Usually because it’s piled somewhere around the area, but I can still find it, so there’s a method. But I need to clean out a lot of old stuff and organize what I wish to keep. I should start with organization, though. If I start to clean out, then I will have piles and piles and more piles and my guests won’t be able to fit upstairs. My shrink, AKA the gal at the wine section, suggested I get those restaurant racks that are adjustable and shiny. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I already had shelves in the closet, and by that I meant I didn’t want her judging me. Her thing is wine, not hoarding intervention.

Anyway, I shall do my best to clear the area of the gingerly-placed piles of creativity. Hopefully it won’t take long.

And hopefully I won’t get distracted by starting yet another project… 😉

It’s Almost Over

I DON’T WANNA LEAVE!!!!!!!!!

Ok, whining over. Had to be done.

This past week has been great downtime. Kids have enjoyed being by the lake, and as for Hubby, he has been fishing every day. From the balcony. And he has been successful!! First few days he got catfish, then yesterday and today it was carp….HUGE carp. The carp was for catch and release, since I don’t eat that stuff, but last night we had fresh catfish and it was sooooo goooood!!!

Yes, that’s the tub. Anyway, Hubby is still fishing, hoping for General Sherman to take the bait so that we can enjoy catfish for the next two months or so. Tomorrow we return home and enjoy a day or two off from our vacation.

One always needs a vacation from vacation 😉